Azula opened Whiskers' kennel and instructed him to exit. Naruto crawled out and looked around him. He was in a tunnel underground somewhere. He wondered why Azula had chosen to bring him here. Azula herself was unsure of why. She supposed she needed a quiet place to clear her head and deal with her actions earlier in the day. This underground bunker (used to hide the fire lord during an emergency) was the perfect place to do that. Permission from the royal family was needed to enter this chamber and with her father away having a conference with his troops and her brother god knows where pursuing the avatar, she would have the time alone with her pet.

She looked affectionately at Whiskers still feeling a little guilty over setting him on fire. While she tried to portray herself as cruel, she hated the fact that even her own mother had thought her a monster. Yet what she had done to her obedient pet certainly proved her mother right. There was the added fact that eventhough she had burned her pet, he had come out of the pond without a mark on him. Now she had to worry about karma as well.

Seeing her pet look up at her inquisitively, she decided to put her thoughts on hold. If karma was after her, she would deal with it later. In any case, for now she would give cruelty a break and just have some gentle fun with her pet.

"Whiskers I want to play a game of Dragon Cards with you."

Naruto nodded. Although he was still scared of his owner, the game sounded like fun. While he was not as skilled as Shikamaru, Naruto was a mischief maker at heart and liked playing games. Plus it sure beat having to go through the ring of fire again. Azula lead Whiskers to a table and they both took a seat at opposites sides. As Azula shuffled the deck, she spoke to her pet.

"Lets make this game interesting" She said. "If you lose, I'll punish you in my usual way."

Naruto shivered then looked up at her dying to say something. Azula chuckled realizing that her pet didn't dare speak unless she gave him permission to.

"What's on your mind Whiskers?" She asked.

"Well shouldn't I get something if I win?" Naruto asked. He cringed thinking Azula might punish him for daring to suggest that.

Instead she smiled before asking "What do you want?"

There were alot of things Naruto wanted at the moment considering he was currently a pet for a girl with a penchant for sick tortures...But as he thought about it, there was one thing he wanted from his owner maybe even more than his freedom.

"Let's call it a request to be named later." He finally said.

Azula scratched her head. Her pet was definitely up to something.

"Interesting," She said.

"Of course if you're not confident in your skills, I'll understand if you just want to play it safe and stick with just punishing me if I lose" Naruto said smiling. "After all losing to a first time player would be a sore wound in itself."

The crafty ninja was beginning to learn enough about his owner to know she wouldn't refuse that kind of challenge. Azula tried to make an angry face but she couldn't help admiring her opponent's guts.

"Me!! Lose!!!! Dream on!!!" She said laughing. "You got yourself a deal but when I win I'm going to enjoy punishing you"

Both players shook hands before getting the game underway.

Azula was born lucky but Naruto is the kid everyone wants to bet on.
How does the "Dragon Cards" game turn out?