A/N: Alright, so this is a short prequel to a bigger story I have planned. I hope you enjoy it.

Korra is stronger here. Sorry if that isn't your cup of tea.

Not beta'd. There will be mistakes.

"Normal Speech"

'Human thoughts.'

"Inner... Voices?"

"Bijuu Speaking"

'Bijuu thoughts'

"He'll be your doom, retrieve him!" The voice came from deep inside her, ringing inside her ear like her thoughts - stern and forceful. Korra screamed, filling her screech with a wave of firebending. The move took her opponent by surprise, and he recoiled - barely avoiding getting licked by the flames. She launched herself at the opening, grabbing his arms and flipping him over her - crouching on top of him as soon as his back hit the snow. A heavy breath escaped her lips.

Hands on his throat, she glared at him - her blue eyes meeting his own. Her grip tightened around his neck - he gasped. Korra hadn't known what happened next till her own back was on the ground again, pain shooting through her from it and air leaving her. She choked. A crack buckled the ground underneath her, and her stomach dropped. A huff of annoyance left his lips.

The world exploded in a flurry of white and black, frosty and suffocating. Korra thrashed, flailing and kicking.

"Stop panicking!" The voice boomed the loudest it ever has this time. But the advice fell on deaf ears. The current pulled Korra down, forcing her deeper into the cold water. Her back hit something sharp, and she nearly released the breath her subconscious had been holding for her in her panic. He was nowhere in sight, and the hole they had broken through grew smaller and smaller.

A steady hand suddenly tightened around her wrist. Korra whirled, forcing a kicking through the water. Korra's boot collided with something solid, but softer than the rocks beneath her. The hand released her. Calming, she thrust out her arms, turning in the water to wander the darkness for her enemy. All she could see was bubbles and dancing streaks of silver. She drove her foot into the base of the river and launched herself upwards.

Her fist collided with another icy sheet atop the water. It was thicker, much thicker than where they had gone under from. Another wave of panic approached. She pounded her fists on it, a scream leaving her throat. She tried to will some fire to emerge from her fist, but it shimmered into nothingness around her knuckles.

"Move!" The voice screamed even louder than before. Korra calmed a bit, but quickly averted her gaze back to the base of the body of water at the sight of rising bubbles beneath her, and growing heat that slowly covered her from toe to head. A powerful, large orange ball approached her - seeming to cover a large part of the water beneath her, and boiling the water it came into direct contact to, "Move, or you'll die!"

Korra barely managed to avoid it and thrust herself past the edge of its vicinity. It exploded past the thick sheet of ice she had struggled with like tissue paper, the explosion upon impact sending shock waves through the water and nearly making her lose her balance underneath. She wasted no time, waterbending herself forward and heading towards the new hole.

"Get him..." The voice seemed unsure this time, the words coming out as more a suggestion than an actual command. Korra choked, she was so close - her lungs burned, "Get him!" It screamed, more confident this time. She twisted - inches from the surface - looking down once again. She noticed him. He was drifting, close to her - blooding further darkening the water around him.

'Spirits,' She wanted to leave him, but she couldn't just let him die. Her title forbade it. Korra kicked herself down to the darkened area, her hand gripping around his forearm. She felt his fist suddenly clench, and he tried to pull away, but she dug her fingernails. Every muscle in her body burned now. Using every ounce of her remaining strength, she pushed them forward - even with her head becoming foggy.

Her head broke through the thin sheet that begun to form again after the water had cool, inhaling a lungful of oxygen. Quickly, she pulled his body up onto the ice beside her. She sighed in relief when he gasped as well.

"We -" He coughed up some water, and for a few moments - he remained silent, as did she - both of them struggling to fill their lungs with oxygen. It was a wonder he'd managed to speak as soon she got him out. Korra didn't know how long they had been coughing up water when she suddenly felt two warm, strong arms slide beneath her. She recoiled and tried to twist away immediately.

"What are you-"

"Getting us to safety," He'd interrupted her, stifling a scream as pain shot through his right shoulder, "The surface here will buckle again. And we'll be under," Korra wanted to argue, but she felt too tired to struggle. Her muscles had already begun relaxing when he picked her up bridal style. Her head was tucked in his chest, and she nearly frowned. The heat he emitted was unnaturally hot, considering what they had just been through.

A feeling of weightlessness suddenly enveloped her, but it was over before she could enjoy feeling it gave her muscles. He dropped her by the riverbank and fell to one knee next to her. Korra's eyelid grew heavy. As much as she wanted to keep cautious - her strength left her.

The cold closed around her, and the last thing she saw was a drop of red landing on the snow in front of her face.

Naruto carried her body on his good shoulder. His right one was dislocated, and he hadn't the faintest idea on how to relocate it himself. Though, he knew the longer he waited, the harder it would be for it to be put back into place. There was also a deep gash on his left thigh that made movement difficult - he'd removed the long bandage fastened under his shuriken holster on his right leg to stop the excessive bleeding.

Naruto cut it in half first, intending to use the rest of it later when he swapped out the one currently trying to stop the blood. He also put the holster over the wound on the bleeding leg, tightening it to lessen the blood flow. There was also a cut on his forehead, one that could've been a lot worse had he note pushed himself off the base of a sharp rock.

He didn't know where they were going precisely if he was earnest. Their battle had dragged them kilometres from their initial positions, and any directional evidence was likely covered by snow at this point. He didn't limp aimlessly, however. There was a cave some distance away from the river, anyone else would've missed it, but he always made sure to understand his surroundings whenever engaging in a battle.

"Aww, man," He grunted. Korra grew heavier with each step he took, and the cold made things worse. It was a wonder how someone could sleep through this weather. Though, maybe she was better suited for these conditions. She had her fur-lined blue garb on. He only adorned his regular orange clothing. Perhaps, it was just exhaustion. Even he couldn't say how long they'd gone at it for.

The avatar on her own wasn't anything special. An easy win for him, he thought, if they had fought without her accessing her extended powers. But when she entered the avatar state, as he'd heard her deem it, fights became an entirely different story. Her taijutsu skill skyrocketed - a ninja connected to one of her predecessors he was sure, Sasuke and him weren't the first here. Her bending prowess increased as well. To the point were where he'd admit she had the slightest edge.

Naruto nearly screamed when he found the cave entrance covered by snow. He felt week, and he imagined himself sleeping as Korra was more times than he could count. But he knew death awaited him if he didn't find sort of shelter soon, considering the impending storm approaching. Dropping her carelessly to the ground, he raised his only good hand - his fingers forming a half-ox seal.

Inhaling deeply, he held the air until his lungs burned. It took longer to shape his chakra with the air when he did it with one hand. Upon releasing his breath, a powerful gust of wind blew the snow from the entrance. He held Korra by the hems of her upper clothing, unwilling to go through the pain of picking her up as he had before. Thoughts of closing the entrance with earth left his mind just as they came.

The temperature wouldn't be any better here. Naruto realised that after he had dropped her body to the floor. He slumped back against the frosted stump of a dead tree that was inside the cave, shutting his eyes as his muscles relaxed. The cut on his forehead had frosted, stopping the bloody for leaking - but a headache was coming on. A growl escaped his lips.

He needed to close the entrance and get a fire going.

Screaming freely at the pain from his shoulder, he raised both his hands and formed a tiger seal, which turned into a hare, boar before finally his hands formed a dog. The earth rumbled as a wall shut the cave entrance, blocking the snow from continuing to freeze into the cave. Korra stirred at that.

"Hey," Naruto called, trying to bring her back ultimately. That was the last of his chakra gone, but he forced himself to remain awake. The cave was still cold, and they needed heat. Him more than her, "Hey, uh... Damn," He shifted his injured leg, "Korra!"

Her eyelids parted at the shout of her name. Her near blue lips parting to mutter, "N-Naruto?" She immediately shifted away from him as recognition overcame her. He didn't blame her.

"A fire... Please," He pleaded, "I wouldn't bother you unless... Damn it!" He shifted his body, "No... No, fix my shoulder first. I wouldn't bother you unless I needed to. I know you don't exactly like me..." She regarded him for a long moment, a judging and disgusted expression on her face. He sighed when she struggled to get up, her face white from pain and clutching her head for a moment.

But, she did not approach him. Korra only gathered the few branches around the cave and close to them. Making no sound as she picked up each one, even though the pain was visible on her features. Her eyes were closed when she had called on all of her remaining strength to light up the sticks. Naruto thought she would pass out and leave him in his pain when the fire was going. The avatar had fallen to the floor but picked herself as soon as she did and forced herself to him.

"Wait, wait, let me pre- Ahhh!" She popped his shoulder into place, giving him no countdown as Sakura had done the few times he had dislocated a joint, "Geez... Thanks," he muttered, but weight pressing on the newly fix arm made her turn to her. Korra had fallen asleep again, crouched and face flat on his upper arm. She was sick, he acknowledged.

Using his good arm, he grabbed the hem of her clothing again and forced himself up on one foot. He pulled her closer to the heat of flames. He settled back onto the stump.

They were in trouble. His rations weren't going to last long between the two of them. And they were going to run out of branches eventually. He was hurt, and Korra was sick. Naruto was quite sure he too was going to get sick at a certain point. There had to be a limit to how much the nine-tails chakra could protect from that, and at this point, he most certainly must've passed it.

"Man..." He whispered, his eyelids growing heavy. No, he wasn't going to die. That much was clear as day in his head. Not until he gave the people here justice from what he had done, became Hokage and brought Sasuke back.

All challenges he continued to accept.

A/N: That's the first one done. Again, it won't be a long story.

Thanks for reading.

Please review.