Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor The Legend of Korra. This is strictly a work of fanfiction that's being written and published without any intention of making a profit.

Author's Notes

Just a quick note to clarify that there will be only single pairings within this story. Sorry to those of you who are obviously wanting to see it, but while Asami will end up paired with someone, it won't be Naruto and Korra.

You are not Alone

Chapter 2

'Why do you have to be so evil, sun? What have I ever done to you?'

Having let his eyes drift open just enough to catch a glimpse of the sunlight that beamed through the window of the room he was in, Naruto immediately slammed them shut again. After realizing that the light was bright enough to shine partially through his eyelids, he draped the back of his forearm across his face to block it out. Letting out a deeper-than-normal breath, he shifted his head and found a relatively cool portion of the pillow.

'I swear, Air Nomads have the best beds. I really wish they had made them like this back home.' The blond let another deep breath escape him. 'I could probably go back to sleep for another hour or two. I shouldn't have anything to do until later tonight.'

As if to spite him, mere moments after the thought crossed his mind, Naruto's ears perked up as he heard the door to his room slowly slide open.

'So much for that idea. This has to be karma for being a shitty person in a past life or something.'

The attempt to sneak up on him was a rather valiant effort, truth be told. The perpetrator hardly made any noise when opening the door and their footsteps were as light as a father. Unfortunately, not only had Naruto picked up on what little noise had been made, but his footsteps – light as they may have been – still made vibrations along the floor.

'Too easy.' Hearing the footsteps grow near, Naruto struggled to keep the grin off of his face. 'Just get a little closer…'

"SNEAK ATTA—"

"BOO!"

"AHH!" Stumbling back in surprise, Meelo managed to stay on his feet for a few steps before falling butt-first onto the hardwood floor with a solid thump.

"Nice try, Squirt. Maybe next time."

"How the heck did you know I was gonna sneak attack you? I was super sneaky this time and everything! You're cheating!"

"Maybe I am." Chuckling, Naruto pushed himself up into a sitting position and swung his legs over the bed. Letting his bared feet touched the ground, he almost immediately felt himself relax. Despite the bed being comfortable, it did slightly deprive him of a sense that few people in the world would ever experience in any real depth. "Then again, maybe you just aren't as stealthy as you think you are."

"I am though!" Looking outraged as the accusation, Meelo quickly leapt up to his feet and raised his hands up into what appeared to be some kind of hand sign. "I'm as quiet as a ninja!"

"I don't think any ninja would go around yelling about how quiet they are." Pushing himself up to his feet, Naruto scratched his bared chest and yawned lazily. Reaching out a hand, he rubbed over the young Airbender's shaved scalp. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get the jump on me eventually."

It took a few moments, but eventually Meelo grinned so wide that it forced his eyes shut.

"Your mom and dad awake yet?"

"Yeah. Mommy's sewing with Jinora and Ikki; Daddy's eating breakfast with Korra."

"Really now? And they just left you all to yourself?"

"Uh huh!"

Finally removing his hand from Meelo's scalp, Naruto crouched down until the two of them were nearly at eye-level with one another.

"You wanna know a secret?" At the young Airbender's nod, he continued. "My grandma taught me this really neat trick she knows. When her feet are on the ground, she can use her Earthbending to sense vibrations through it. Even though she was blind, she could actually see more than almost anyone else in the world."

"Whoa…" Meelo's eyes were wide in wonder. "Even more than we can from on top of Oogie?"

"Mhmm." Naruto grinned. "Most people actually know about that part though. What most of them don't realize is that being able to feel vibrations in the ground can let you do some other neat tricks too."

"Really? Like what?"

"Like being able to tell when someone's lying." Spotting how Meelo suddenly looked slightly panicked, Naruto's grin grew another inch. "Pretty neat, huh?"

"Uh…yeah."

"I thought so too. Now, how about we find your mom and see what she thinks about you running around without someone watching over you?"

"…"

"…"

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!" Reaching into one of his pockets, Meelo quickly withdrew a small black ball that easily fit into the palm of his hand. "VANISHING SMOKESCREEN!" Throwing the ball down with seemingly all of the strength that his arm could muster, it burst into a large cloud of grey smoke that almost immediately filled the room.

'I wonder if he even realizes that I literally just told him I would be able to sense where he's at? Heh, oh well. I guess he'll find out soon enough either way.'

'I wonder what they're having today?' Standing before the sliding door that led to the Mess Hall, Naruto took in a deep whiff of air. 'Some kind of soup from the smell of it, I think.'

Opening the door, Naruto was greeted with a sight that had become a rather common occurrence to him throughout the past year. Several low-sitting tables filled up the room with small, undecorated cushions placed on the floor around each of them. Air Nomads of various ages occupied the spots at many tables, conversing with one another as they ate.

'Soup. Totally called it.' Glancing around, he felt his eyes widen slightly upon noting several men in blue uniforms stations along each wall. 'Geez, I get wanting to keep the Avatar safe and all, but this is a bit much.'

"Good morning, Naruto." Snapping his head to the left, the blond's eyes fell upon Tenzin and Korra – both of them seated as a nearby table, the former blowing looking at him as he gently on a steaming cup of tea while the latter promptly lowered the top half of the newspaper she was reading to do the same. "You slept well, I trust?"

'Well enough until your son woke me up.'

"Well enough," Naruto cut his thoughts off there, shrugging as he walked over to the duo's table and stood over a cushion that was positioned directly across from Korra. "Thanks for letting me stay here, by the way. If it wouldn't be too much trouble though, would you mind if I snagged some grub before I left?"

"Not at all." Smiling kindly, Tenzin gestured towards the two steaming bowls that were placed in the middle of the table. "Please feel free to help yourself."

"Awesome, thanks." Plopping himself down on the cushion beneath him, Naruto reached out and pulled one of the bowls towards him. 'Miso. Sweet, I can work with this.'

"Hey," Korra spoke up, still peaking over her newspaper as Naruto brought the small bowl to his lips and took a sip. "How good are the Buzzard Wasps?"

"The Pro-Bending Team?"

"Yeah."

Glancing to his side, Naruto saw that Tenzin looked a bit exasperated, but was making no obvious effort to speak up.

"They're pretty bad to be honest. Why?"

"Oh." Seemingly caught a bit off-guard, it took a few moments before Korra replied properly. "It was just…the paper said that the match between them and the Rabbit Leopards was really good."

"Hah! If that's true, then I'm the freaking Avatar." It took a few moments, but upon realizing the irony of using that particular expression in present company, he chuckled heartily.

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." Korra sighed. "Everybody thinks they're so funny with that joke."

"Ah, sorry. I honestly didn't even think before I said it." Naruto paused until his chuckles died off. "Anyway, to answer your question, do you remember what I told you yesterday about the Wolfbats cheating in the finals?"

Korra deadpanned. "Kinda hard to forget your first time in handcuffs."

"…You're not going to let me forget about that anytime soon, are you?"

"Not a chance." Despite her words, a small smile pulled at the brunette's lips.

"Heh, fair enough I guess. Well, going back to the Wolfbats thing, there were a lot of people who saw them cheating like I told you before. Regardless of that though, the paper didn't mention anything about it – the only thing they talked about in that issue was about how great the match was."

"Okay…so they just don't mention some of the stuff about the matches then?"

"Whenever it suits them not to. The paper's only job is to hype up the matches, so they'll say whatever they need to in order to make them sound good so that there are more butts in the seats. Naruto quickly tipped back the bowl and swallowed another mouthful of soup before continuing. "Who did you say the Buzzard Wasps were playing against again? The Rabbit Leopards?"

"Yeah." Korra paused for a moment and lowered her nose into the paper to double-check her information. Seemingly finding what she was looking for, she tapped over something with her finger. "Yeah, Wasps vs. Leopards."

"Right. Well, the Rabbit Leopards are Rookies who barely managed to qualify for the League at the start of the year. Out of the three people who were originally on the team, only the Firebender still plays; the other two quit because of personal drama from what I've heard. Not only are the people that replaced those two pretty bad at Pro-Bending, but now the three of them have almost teamwork to speak of. I think they've got something like two wins under their belt for the entire season. The Buzzard Wasps aren't much better when it comes to the bending skills, but the same three guys have been working on that team together for years and their teamwork is really good. If I had to guess, I'd say that match was probably a first round knockout."

"Really? You think it was over that quick?"

"Mhmm."

"Wouldn't people figure out the paper wasn't telling the truth though? I mean, wouldn't it be obvious they lied if people saw some of the matches in person?"

"Yup. A lot of people have picked up on it already, but a lot of other folks in the city can't afford to see games on a regular basis, so they can't realize the paper lies a lot. Tickets are a bit on the pricy side."

"How pricy, exactly?"

"Depends." Naruto took a big drink of his soup. "Front-row seats will probably run you something like ten-thousand Yuans, but seats in the back will probably only run around a thousand or so. It's still pretty steep to ask from most people, but definitely a lot more reasonable."

"Yuans?" Korra looked confounded. "What are Yuans?"

Naruto blinked a few times in surprise before slowly turning his gaze to Tenzin. "You guys didn't even teach her that much? Seriously?"

"We believed it would be best for Korra to master the four elements prior to learning about the various dynamics of the world." To his credit, Tenzin looked sheepish despite attempting to defend himself. "In hindsight, I now see we should have at least taught her about some of the more basic matters."

"You think?" Scoffing, Naruto drew in a calming breath and met Korra's gaze again. "Yuans are basically like gold, silver and copper pieces that only work in Republic City. One gold piece is around one-thousand Yuans."

"Oh." Korra's brow furrowed slightly before her head cocked slightly to the side. "Why would they make something like that? Wouldn't it be easier just to keep using gold, silver and copper? It's kind of silly to make entirely different money, isn't it?"

'Ugh. Of course she would ask that.' For a brief moment, Naruto could've sworn he heard his mother's smug-sounding voice echoing faintly in the back of his mind. 'Mom would try to bury me under a pile of books if she knew that I didn't remember why they made a whole new system of currency.'

"That would probably be something to ask tall, bald and windy over there." Jerking his head towards Tenzin, the blond pointedly ignored the noise the offended noise the man made. "I was never really good at learning and remembering stuff like that."

Korra turned to her Airbending Master expectantly.

"It's a rather complicated economic matter that I will teach you about sometime in the future. I'm afraid your training schedule is already rather full and I wouldn't want to overburden you right away."

"Oh yeah, you two are doing Airbending stuff today, aren't you?" Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw the brunette grin.

"I intend to begin instructing Korra on the basics of Airbending, yes. Why do you ask?"

Naruto shrugged. "I have a Pro-Bending match tonight. I was gonna ask if she'd be free to come and watch if she felt up for it."

Tenzin's brow furrowed deeply. "You know I detest that…sport."

"Heh, yeah, you've made that clear enough. Korra, on the other hand, seems to like the idea behind it. Don't you think she at least deserves the chance to see it for herself and make her own judgement?"

"If that were the only factor, then I would not only allow her to go, but I would fully encourage it." Tenzin took in a deep breath and exhaled it sharply through his nose. "However, not only might it cause her to become lax in her Airbending lessons, but her safety among such a large crowd is a serious concern."

"What?!" I'm not some helpless kid, Tenzin! I can protect myself!"

"I'm not saying you can't, Korra. I know you're fully capable of defending yourself, but not every threat is something you will simply be able to overcome with your bending."

"Look," Naruto rose his voice slightly to interrupt any potential argument between the two before it truly had a chance to begin. "If she wants to see a match, I'll be right next to her practically the whole time. Even when I'm not, the stadium's security would keep anyone that isn't a Pro-Bender from getting into the locker rooms where she'd be watching the matches from. I guarantee you that she'd be completely safe. Besides, I'm probably better security than most of the White Lotus guards here, so her safety shouldn't really be in question here. When it comes to her lessons, I don't think her slacking will be a problem either. I could tell just how excited she was when you mentioned teaching her the basics."

A tense silence filled the air, the soft noise of the conversations the other Air Nomads in the room were having with one another having long since ceased as they listened in. Tenzin's expression and posture remained firm, but his eyes were closed in thought. As the seconds ticked by, his shoulders slowly sagged in defeat.

"After tonight, when is your next match?"

"Tomorrow. The tournament starts next week, so there are going to be a lot of games played throughout the next few days."

Tenzin nodded, raising a hand and running it along his goatee. "Very well. Given that I have a press conference scheduled for Korra a bit later today and I intend to drill her in the fundamental Airbending stances after that has finished, I'm afraid she will still be preoccupied by the time the matches are due to begin. However," he emphasized the word strongly, interrupting the brunette and turning towards her before she could speak up. "Tomorrow she should be free by mid-afternoon if you two wish to make plans."

"Awesome! So Korra, would you l—"

"Hell yeah!"

"Language!"

"Oh. Uh, sorry…" The grin on Korra's face betrayed her true feelings on the matter despite her apology.

"So then, could you be ready by five-ish tomorrow afternoon?"

"Definitely!" Turning to face him, Korra's grin grew another inch and she seemed to practically shake with excitement. "I can't wait!"

"Well I don't think I can help you any more than I have, so you'll have to find a way to manage until then. Sorry." Chuckling, Naruto tipped his bowl up again and drained what little liquid had remained. "It's probably best this way, truth be told," he continued as he placed the bowl down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "The match tonight will almost definitely be a first round knockout, but the one tomorrow should be a lot better."

"What teams are you playing?"

Pushing himself up to his feet, Naruto arched his back until it popped. "We play the Riding Rhinos tonight and the Fire Ferrets tomorrow." Turning towards Tenzin, he bowed at the hips. "Thanks again for everything. Sorry if I ruined your morning."

Despite the fact that his mood had quite clearly been soured slightly, the aged Airbending master smiled. "You have nothing to apologize for. You're welcome at my home and table anytime you wish to be here, you know that."

"I know," Naruto grinned. Out of habit, he reached up and scratched along the back of his head. "I'll try to stop by a little more often than I have been lately. Teuchi gave me some time off, so I'm a bit less busy nowadays."

"That's probably for the best if you wish to make any progress with your meditation."

"Ugh! Naruto's entire posture suddenly sagged. "You just had to go and ruin a perfectly alright morning for me, didn't you?" Shaking his head before the man could respond, he sighed and offered a lazy wave to the duo before turning towards the entrance of the Mess Hall. "I'll talk to you guys sometime tomorrow."

"Seriously?"

"Uh huh."

"…No way, I'm not buyin' it."

Naruto scoffed and tucked his helmet into his armpit. Using his free limb, he closed and locked the full-sized locker in front of him. In lieu of his standard attire, he was clad in a padded leather uniform that covered nearly every inch of his body save only his head. The leather was primarily dyed black, but the knee and elbow pads were a bright orange that contrasted harshly with the dark color and a blossoming lotus flower was embroidered into the back in silver thread. As was required of all Pro-Bending Earthbenders, a simple green sash was tied into a firm knot around his waist.

"Is that because you genuinely don't believe it or because you're too broke to afford literally anything?"

"Ouch. Low-blow, man." Despite his words, the green-eyed, dark-haired teen didn't look offended in the least. "Me and Mako might not be able to buy a lot of things, but you accidentally bumping into the Avatar the first day she's here? Heh, that's a steep sale to anybody."

"C'mon Bo, you're supposed to take me at my word on things like this. Best bud rules, remember?"

"I do, I do," Bolin waved him off. Clad in a similarly designed uniform that was dyed red and white instead of black and orange, he sighed as he leaned back on the bench he was seated on. "So you really met her then?"

"Yes! Do you really think I'd lie about something like that?!"

"Well…there was that one time you said you met Zuko face-to-face."

"Totally different thing. Besides, I was lying to your brother, not to you. You just happened to be there and take me at my word."

"Uh huh. Well what about when you said Teuchi started serving dumplings?"

"Doesn't count. I only said that so you would agree to eat there and we could have ramen. Sacrifices must be made in order to appease the Ramen Gods, my friend."

"Right. Okay, well what about that time you tried hooking me up with a fan who was totally into me and it ended up being a guy?"

"…Didn't we agree to never speak about that again?"

Bolin paused for a moment before a fierce shudder ran through his body and his face turned slightly green. "Fair point, forget I mentioned that one."

"Already happily forgotten." Lifting up his helmet, Naruto slipped it down over his head. "I look good?"

"Yeah. Well, as good as you can hope to, anyway. There's no way you can compare to all this." Bolin gestured over his entire body, but focused mostly on his face.

"Ah. What can I say?" Naruto shrugged. "Some of us are attractive and some of us aren't. You just got the short end of the stick."

"I know." Bolin leaned back and sighed wistfully. "I guess I'll just have to find a way to live with being this ruggedly handsome."

"Heh, you do that."

DING DING!

An almost deafening roar echoed through the room, though it was somewhat muffled thanks to the thick stone walls that surrounded them. Shortly thereafter, a loud, basey murmur began echoing through the room at regular intervals.

"Man, I can't wait to get an actual locker room of our own next year. Getting to see the matches from the group ones facing the arena is nice, but it's so awkward changing in front of people you don't know. Not to mention how insanely loud it is."

"Heh, yeah, I definitely don't miss the changing part – especially if the Wolfbats are in there and being dicks like usual. Still…" Naruto trailed off for a moment and smiled as the dull roar of the crowd echoed through the room again. "I kind of miss being out there and hearing the crowd even while I'm getting changed. It's a little invigorating, y'know?"

"Huh…I never thought about it like that." Bolin paused, brought a hand up to his chin and idly scratched it. "I guess I can see where you're coming from though."

Knock Knock

The door to the room promptly opened. Glancing over, Naruto spotted Sasuke and an all-too-familiar pink-haired girl both clad in uniforms nearly identical to his own. The only substantial difference were the different patterns embroidered into their backs.

"Hey lovebirds!"

Not terribly long ago, Naruto would've felt rather peeved at hearing Bolin address the duo as such. Thankfully, however, enough time had passed that it no longer bothered him.

"Sasuke," he greeted with a lazy wave. "Sakura."

"Hn."

"Hey you two." The genuine warmth in Sakura's greeting and the smile she gave them contrasted harshly with how Sasuke all but ignored them. "You ready to go?"

"Yup, I was just putting on the finishing touches." Turning, Naruto eyed his best friend. "You gonna come watch or are you gonna call it a night and turn in?"

"I'm comin, I'm comin'. Yeesh, cut an injured guy a little slack, would you?" Bolin pushed himself off of the bench with a grunt of exertion, his left arm immediately shooting down and resting over his abdomen.

"What happened?" Sakura immediately took a few steps in the room, the tone of her voice conveying just how concerned she was. "Are you alright? You aren't hurt too badly, are you?"

"Nah, this is practically nothing!" Bolin laughed, but immediately winced after starting to do so. "Chen managed to clip me pretty good with a disc in my match earlier is all. I'll be fine."

"Heh, hopefully that'll teach you to not trust Hasook to watch your back. I swear, I still don't know how you and Mako managed to carry him this far."

"He's not that bad most of the time."

"Yes he is."

"Uh…right. Maybe he is, I guess." Bolin looked uncomfortable in admitting that, but against everyone else's unified voice, he seemed to at least genuinely concede the point. "Still, I don't think we would've gotten this far without him." Glancing around, he grinned boyishly. "Or without you guys, of course."

Naruto reached over and clapped his fellow Earthbender's shoulder pad. "You know it was no big deal. Besides, it's fun having some actual competition this year, right guys?"

"Mhmm!"

"Speak for yourself. I could take the thug with one arm tied behind my back." Despite his words, Sasuke had a small smirk stretched across his lips.

Naruto and Bolin met each other's gaze and rolled their eyes. "Whatever you say," they chorused. It was almost to the level of a running gag that their team's Firebenders would insult one another despite the begrudging respect they clearly had for one another.

"Hey." A new voice drew everyone's attention to the door. Standing there was a short, mousey-looking man with spiky grey hair. He was clad in standard attire for a Pro-Bending referee and looked to be rather nervous. Then again, he always looked rather nervous when he had to encounter any member of Team Seven by his lonesome nowadays. "Y-You guys are u-up next."

Nothing but four rather intense stares were given in response. It was enough to make him start to sweat rather intensely.

"H-Hey, did you gu—"

"We heard you. You just aren't worth the breath it would take to respond." Sasuke's voice was as ice-cold as his stare. "Leave."

The referee seemed quite happy to scurry away and, after a brief stumble at the door, did so at a rather impressive speed.

"Heh, nice to know that personality of yours is actually good for something after all." Naruto smirked. "I knew Sakura must have seem something decent in you."

"Hn." Sasuke shook his head and turned towards the hall, seemingly not willing to properly respond to the blond's jab at him. "Are you guys coming or what? We're going to be late at this rate."

'I really hate it when he does that.'

"Ah, Sasuke! Wait for me!" Sakura promptly turned and ran out of the room after him.

"Hey," Naruto felt a bump on his shoulder pad. Glancing over, he saw Bolin pinning him with a concerned look. "You alright?"

"I'm fine. Like I said last week, I've been over her for a while now." The blond felt himself smile. "Thanks though, I appreciate it."

"I remember what you said, just wanted to make sure you're holding up okay is all." Bolin raised his hand and audibly clapped the shoulder pad. "Best bud rules, remember?"

"Heh, yeah. I remember."

Korra

Seated atop the roof of a small building that Tenzin had permitted her White Lotus guards to use for their own purposes, Korra's gaze rested firmly upon the large, brightly lit stadium across the waters of the Republic City Harbor. She paid little mind to the voice bickering beneath her, choosing instead to drown them out and paint a mental of what was potentially going on within the stadium.

'Listening to theses matches just makes me want to see one that much more. I'm glad Tenzin agreed to let me actually go to one tomorrow or I might have just snuck out.' Thoughts of what had happened earlier that day made her grin. 'I'm seriously gonna have to thank Blondie for everything the next time I see him.'

"I'm telling you, Mako takes Sasuke any day of the week. It isn't even a contest!"

"There isn't any contest, I agree. But Mako would get his ass handed to him from here to the South Pole!"

"Pft! In your dreams, maybe!"

"In my dreams?! Sasuke showed Mako the ropes – the paper even confirmed it! What world do you live in where the Ferrets beat Team Seven?!"

"Oh, I don't know, the one where students surpass masters all the time? Besides, I never said the Ferrets would win in a fight against Team Seven. I only said Mako would get the better of Sasuke."

"You are so full of crap that it's almost unbelievable."

"Says the guy who honestly thought the Wolfbats won the championship last year fair and square."

"I was sitting at a different angle, dammit! I didn't see the same things you guys all did!"

'I really wish those guys would quiet down already.' Korra sighed. They had been bickering just as intensely when the radio had cut to something called a commercial break several minutes ago. It was one of the big reasons she had tried to drown them out, truth be told. Before that, they had given her some insight as to what level of skill the various teams that played were at which was rather useful.

Suddenly, the rather soft voice that had been coming through the radio cut out. Loud static was the only noise received for a moment before it cut again – this time to loud, uncoordinated cheering. The sound of so many people being so excited about bending not only made Korra grin again, but it made her heart race in her chest in a way she hadn't felt since she was first allowed to spar with other benders.

"Welcome back ladies and gentlemen to night twenty-eight of the Pro-Bending League. As I'm sure you can hear from the sound of the crowd, we have had one slobber-knocker after another throughout the entirety of this evening."

"Go wolfbats! Woooooooooooo~!"

"Go Wolfbats indeed, random guy! For those just tuning in or who otherwise missed the broadcast of our previous match, the reigning champs absolutely decimated the local Sparrow Eagles in a round one knockout. Far be it from me to make any predictions, but it's rather clear that our champs are in tip-top shape and ready for the League Tournament to officially begin. However, there's little doubt they'll need to be at their best in order to come out on top once again – something I think our final match for the evening is about to show us. Let's find out together, shall we folks? Are you ready for the main event?!"

The crowd cheered, some yelling while others whistled, clapped, stomped their feet or presumably performed any combination of the aforementioned actions.

"I don't think our listeners could hear you! I said: ARE. YOU. READY?!"

If the crowd had cheered before, now they absolutely roared. The responding yells and other forms of cheering were so loud that Korra nearly had to cover her ears until one of the White Lotus guards turned down the volume of the radio.

'That's so crazy! If it's that loud on the radio, I wonder what it's like in the stadium?'

"That's more like it! Well then, since you're all ready, leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet's get ready to rumble~!"

'How in the heck can he scream like that before practically every match? Spirits, my voice would be gone before the night was halfway over.' Once her curiosity passed, Korra's ears perked up slightly as some people in the crowd began to chant something. Before she could actually decipher what it was though, the announcer's voice overpowered the voices of the others.

"Introducing first, the challengers: The Riding Rhinos~!" As if on cue, the sound of two lutes being strummed in unison came through the radio.

'This is different. I guess they play music for the main events or something?' As it continued on, Korra found herself bobbing her head from side to side in tune with the rhythm. 'It's kind of nice, actually. I like it."

The crowd cheered and applauded, though even with the music playing over their reactions, it was clear that it paled in comparison to the volume from just before the entrances had begun. Throughout the entire period of time the lutes were playing, Korra heard the chant from before growing louder and louder. Before long, she could make out the one word they were saying together even through the sound of the instruments.

"Bei-fong…Bei-fong…Bei-fong...Bei-fong...BEI-FONG...BEI-FONG!"

"Well, I don't think there's any question of the crowd favorite here folks!" The announcer laughed. Even after the lutes finally stopped, he had to raise his voice slightly to be heard as the crowd's chanting grew louder and louder. "Let's bring in the golden boy and his team, shall we? Introducing last year's runner up, Republic City's own Team Seven~!"

The crowd went crazy, but loud, rhythmic drumbeats quickly muffled their cheers to a degree. Occasionally though, a voice that was far louder than usual would make a grunt-like noise in-time with the drumbeat. After three or four of the odd-sounding noises, what sounded like a bamboo flute suddenly joined into the mix.

'What in the world is this?' Korra grinned, suddenly feeling a thrill shoot through her. 'It sounds amazing!' Mere moments after that thought crossed her mind, yet another instrument – one that sounded like nothing she had ever heard before – joined into the mix. The crowd's cheering increased notably in volume as it did, leading her to think that something probably happened in the stadium at that point. The music lasted for another minute or so before it finally quieted down. Even after it had finished, the crowd was still chanting the Beifong name, but significantly fewer people were likely doing so based on how loud it came across.

"Yet another unforgettable entrance by Team Seven to the main event! I tell ya folks, the guy they get to make their music is gonna be one busy fella after this year. You simply have to be here in person to get the full experience – I promise it's worth the Yuans." He paused for a moment before continuing. "As is tradition, our teams meet in the center and exchange bows with one another. Respectful bows all around this time, thankfully. They're turning back and walking to their designated zones, but Mister Beifong lingers behind as usual to pay his respects to the statue of his grandfather.'

'Statue of his grandfather? Huh, I wonder who he was.'

"Ah, it appears he has finished now as he walks towards his starting position. Nothing fancy today it seems, both teams running the standard layout of an Earthbender in the referee is waiting for the final go-ahead signal before the match begins. We should be getting started just about any moment now."

DING DING

"The bell rings and both teams come out swinging hard! Team Seven falls back into their standard strategy of having Beifong primarily focus on defense while Uchiha and Haruno pick off the other team one-by-one. The Rhinos look to be…well…this announcer isn't sure they even have a team strategy, folks. They look to be targeting Haruno first much like virtually every other team, but otherwise they seem as if they— Oh man! Beifong suddenly swings out with a low, offensive disc and sweeps Lock right off his feet! Haruno hammers him back with a blast of water he goes rolling right off of the arena and into the drink below! The Rhinos are already a man down almost right after the starting bell!"

'Yes!' Korra pumped both of her fists. 'Come on first round knockout!'

"I'm not sure the Rhinos can come back against this team with a man down so early, but it certainly won't be from a lack of effort! Page is tucked in tight against the robes and using small blasts of her Firebending to keep herself from getting hit while Biggs is in the middle of the zone using discs to block everything coming his way. They're definitely aiming to best Team Seven on stamina, but you folks likely know as well as I do that – Oooh, Uchiha breaks Biggs' disc with a burst of flame and Haruno nails him in the gut to send him sliding back into his own zone two! Beifong isn't idle either, he's ruthlessly hammering away on Page's defense with disc after disc. Those suckers are flying so fast that I reckon our lovely police force would have some choice words to share with them!"

'Come on Naruto, you're the only guy I know to root for. Kick their asses!'

"Unless my eyes are deceiving me, Biggs looks to be sliding slowly back towards zone three. Say what you will about the Rhino's League record, but he is one tough son of a gun. He just might be able to hold off against Haruno and Uchiha unless PAGE IS DOWN! BEIFONG BOUNCES A DISC OFF THE ROPES AND SWEEPS RIGHT HER OFF HER FEET!'

'Yes! Come on, you guys can do it!'

"Team Seven capitalizes and slams here with the bending trifecta! Hopefully she's thirsty if she decided to travel that far for a drink!" He paused for a brief moment. "Biggs is still standing and seemingly used the time he was given thanks to Page to move back up to the front of zone two, but you have to wonder if he has it in him to pull back from this. The buzzer sounds and allows Beifong and crew to move into the Rhinos' zone one. Beifong is shouting something at his teammates as they move forward and…yes, they seem to be moving off to the far right. It seems they're going to go for the classic pincer play. Play is resuming now and Biggs is immediately put back on the defensive. He's being hammered hard from both sides and – ouch! A disc slipped through his guard and hit him in the ribs! Even with the padding, that has got to sting like the dickens! He's obviously feeling it, but he's gritting his teeth and doing his best to weather the storm that is Team Seven's offense. Ah, and there it is – the ref calls that he has slipped back into zone three. Biggs moves back as Team Seven moves forward yet again. Have your ears open, because I think the fat lady is about to be singing."

Korra nearly bounced with excitement. Clenching her fists, she practically slammed the bottoms of them into the top of her thighs.

"Play is resumed yet again for what is quite likely the final time this evening. Biggs is obviously hurting and looks to be quite winded while Team Seven look as if they're just getting started. With still over a minute to go in the round, the bending trifecta is hammering on the big guy's defense. Haruno clips him in the side with another water blast and Uchiha tries to finish him off with a flurry of fiery fists to no avail! Biggs managed to ward them off BUT LETS ANOTHER DISC SLIP BY FROM BEIFONG AND CLIP HIM IN THE LEG. HE'S LEANING HEAVILY TO THE SIDE NOW AND ANOTHER DISC HITS HIM HARD! HE'S STAGGERING BACK, TEETERING ON THE EDGE OF THE ARENA. HE'S STRUGGLING TO STAY ON, REELING HIS ARMS TO STAY BALANCED, BUT A FINAL SHOT OF WATER FROM HARUNO SEALS THE DEAL AND SENDS HIM OVER THE EDGE! THAT'S THE MATCH! TEAM SEVEN COMES OUT ON TOP YET AGAIN!"

"Yes! Woohoo~!" Korra pumped her arms fully up into the air, a toothy grin stretching as widely as it could over her face. It was probably fortunate that the radio and the cheers of the guards below her drowned out her voice lest she be caught and unable to do this again in the future. Laughing softly at herself, she let her torso fall back against the roof, clenching the surface with her legs so she wouldn't risk falling off. Letting her gaze wander, it lingered on the stars for a few moments before it slowly turned back towards the Pro-Bending Stadium.

'I seriously can't wait until tomorrow. Even if I have to go through those stupid gates again, it'd be totally worth it to see a match.' Closing her eyes, she let her mind wander about what exactly she might see. 'I'm definitely gonna have to find a way to thank Naruto for all this.'

End Chapter 2

Post-Notes

If you didn't pick it up within the chapter, I'm playing a bit fast and loose with the timeline. Here, Korra had her press conference and went through the Airbending gates on the same day – her first full day in Republic City. I will likely treat other relatively minor events in a similar manner. Major events should be spaced out fairly accurately.

I modeled several things that Korra heard through the radio during the Pro-Bending matches after professional wrestling. I thought most of them were fitting, so they will likely continue to occur through the first season while the Pro-Bending League and tournament are going on.

Team Seven's entrance song was the Naruto Main Theme from the first OST. If you want to hear it, you should be able to find it pretty easily on Youtube. The 'weird instrument' I spoke of was the guitar.

Pro-Bending matches will eventually occur in first-person perspective, I simply wanted to give the first one from Korra's perspective while she's listening to the radio since that's how you're first introduced to it in the show.