A/N: HELLO! MISS ME GUYS?! I'm back with request week! I really should start calling it request month or YEAR even, since I've been on an updating frenzy as of late and its been showing no signs of stopping. Also, a wedding! So, yeah, that happened. No, no, it wasn't mine thankfully, don't really consider myself the marrying sort. I'd much rather me and my girl just buy a house and settle down. Marriage...marriage is just too complicated for my liking and in experience, rarely ends well.

Meh, semantics.

Also, I've actually gotten a fair bit of hate for this story, surprisingly. I've been accused of making Naruto a "sue" a villain, among other things. A few even demanded that I drop this, I believe the word "drivel" was used, and write something else altogether. I'm not going to name names, but...jeez, harsh, much? Now, I have gotten some good criticism, which I've since used to improve the story, but there's a fair bit of nastiness too. So lets address that, shall we?

Guys, this is fan-fiction. Naruto grew up in a different world here, a different time, a different place! Did ya THINK he'd just be his usual canon self?

NOPE!

On another matter, to the reviewer "Nine Mice" Naruto is not a sue. He is not a viliain, he's simply flawed, as flawed as all human beings are for that mater. And this is not drivel. I write these stories for OTHERS, not myself. I'm sorry if you don't like the story, but please don't insult me by calling it drivel. I work HARD on all of my fics to entertain others-which is damn difficult when you're working and trying to go back to school, bub.

If don't see you with any stories, and if you did have them, I wouldn't attack them either. Can we just agree to let bygones be bygones, mate?

Also, someone asked why Naruto and Korra fight so much. They're teenagers, folks. Hard-headed and stubborn as hell. There's no such thing-in my mind-as a perfect relationship, so of course they'll bicker sometimes. But at the end of the day, they really do care about one another. Love one another, even. Now...

...ON WITH THE STORY! Now, if you recall, we left the last chapter with a rather tense note.

And now, finally, FINALLY we see the culmination of many chapter's worth of tension and emotions between Korra and Naruto!

Needless to say...

...Hilarity ensues. AND THIS STORY IS OFFICIALLY M-RATED FOR A DAMN GOOD REASON! YE HAVE BEEN WARNED! This chapter is mostly Korra's perspective; the next one is Naruto's and so on...

"This is a bad idea."

"Isn't that why we're doing it?"

...I stand corrected."

~an odd conversation between Korra and Naruto.)

A Broken Circle

"Look, I really like you and I think we were meant for each other!"

A beat of agonizing silence passed between Naruto and Korra as the words cracked between them a like a frantic whip, sharp and stinging. They hung there, too late to take back, too loud to ignore. Realizing the gravity of what she'd just said-of what she'd confessed!-the waterbender colored deeply, right to the very roots of her hair. It took everything she had not to bolt on the spot; not to hurtle past him and lock herself away where no one would ever find her. Spirits, by the blank look in his eyes, she didn't even think he'd heard her! How embarassing!

Then it happened.

Naruto's.

Eyes.

Got.

Really.

Big.

"What?" the word was little more than a dry croak.

Korra opened his mouth to repeat herself...

...aaaand Naruto vanished.

YOINK!

Korra's only warning came when the blond literally disappeared into thin air. Had she not known him for years, this would've been utterly baffling. And for a handful of seconds it actually was. One moment Naruto had been standing to the east of her, his mouth hanging agape like a fish. The next he simply ceased to exist. Now, there was no telltale spark to herald his exit; no brief glimpse of bright blue to suggest he'd simply gone and morphed into lightning to make his quick escape. That would've been too obvious.

And it nearly wasn't.

Until she saw his helmet clatter to the floor and noticed a shadow shoot out under the door.

Sapphire eyes bulged to the size of saucer plates.

Then they narrowed into angry white slits.

"No you don't~!

Tearing after the rapidly retreating shadow, the young avater ran pell-mell into the exterior hall in her haste to catch him, upturning benches and tables alike in her wake; all but demolishing anything or anyone foolish enough to get in her way. To her dismay there were quite a few obstacles that slowed or otherwise tripped her up, some of them much more vocal than others. Still, Korra liked to think that she dealt with each of them as a true Avatar should.

Noisy team?

Shove 'em aside.

Annoying fan?

Jump over him.

Equalist protester?

Earthbend that sumbitch.

In relatively short order she'd left the stadium long behind, making haste for the bridge connecting the isle to the mainland. In her anger it never even remotely occurred to her that she ought need pause for breath. Her mind was locked on this sole course of action, the desire for answers welling up in the forefront of her mind. Nothing else existed. Although her legs viciously protested such harsh treatment, the Waterbender simply told them to shut the hell up and keep running.

"Naruto, I swear to god if you don't get back here right NOW...!"

The silence proved telling.

Thankfully, the golden luminance of the proud pro-bending arena quickly lent its light to her cause. Squinting against the spotlight's she caught the retreating streak of Naruto's shadow in the distance. It would've been another matter entirely if the blond had chosen to simply jump into the sea and swim for shore. But a master of water he was not whereas, Korra however, most certainly was. And by contrast, there was only one clear link to land. Her best friend was nothing if not repetitive in his methods.

He was also known for being supremely confident in his stealth skills.

Which meant she didn't have to look far.

Not far at all.

"Gotcha!"

Loosing a fiery blast ahead of where she suspected him to be, Korra expelled a fiery cone into his path, forcing the blond's shadow up short. Too late; he was unable to slow his momentum in time and crashed through the raging element, tumbling wildly.

"Owowowow! HOT!"

Naruto squawked loudly in equal parts surprise and pain. Flushed out of cover and into the open by the unexpected blas,t he startled Korra by turning his uncontrolled tumble into a roll and slamming into the side of an old dilapidated building, clinging to it like some sort of mad monkey. Clothes still smoldering from the heat he landed in a pointed crouch across from her, growling like some eldritch beast, sharpened fingernails digging angry red grooves into the bridge.

"Look, can you just hold...?" His expression brought her up short.

The look in his eyes was one of sheer panic.

Raw, utter terror.

Then he hissed.

Hissed!

At her!

"Did you just...?!"

Scarce had he reemerged from the shadows than he was gone again, crackling past her in a blinding blue bolt of lightning across the rooftops that left the young avatar reeling. Her vision burned a blinding white for an agonizing instant, the sudden dearth of her sight causing Korra to lose control over her earthbending technique and end her followup altogether. By the time she recovered he was nearly out of sight, the only sign of his presence the distant crackle of sparks against the metal roofs.

It took everything she had to scream in sheer exasperation.

"I'm serious!" she shouted at his rapidly retreating back. "Stop running!"

"You'll never take me alive, 'ttebayo~!"

Wow. He really could shout.

Equal parts shame and distress kept the determined Avatar forging forwards now; the first because Naruto had never blatantly run away from her like this before. The second...well, a very large part of Korra feared she might have blundered, screwed over their friendship forever by bleating out her feelings for him like some lovesick fangirl. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid KORRA!' she berated herself ruthlessly as she leaped after him, alighting on a nearby chimney. 'What was I thinking?! Look, I really like you and I think we were meant for each other! Idiot! Why didn't you just take it slow?!'

Unfortunately she couldn't rightly tell Naruto that now, what with him running for his life. Why was he running anyway?! For the life of her she couldn't understand why; only that he seemed at least determined to put as much distance between the two of them as possible.

Needless to say, she wasn't having that.

Determined to have an answer one way or another, she gave chase.

Chaos ensued.

It continued like that for some time, Korra would corner him, and somehow Naruto would always manage to wriggle away again. It even briefly became something of a water chase when the blond berserker shifted back to wind in an attempt to escape to Air Temple island and elude her. Of course, that only narrowed his avenues of escape, which in turn made it that much easier for Korra to track him down. Isolated as they were, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Eventually, one of them made a mistake.

Naruto's blunder finally came in the form of pausing to swerve around a lemur, unwilling to trod upon the poor creature in his haste to escape. By the time he gathered himself to leap again-this time aiming back out to the sea-Korra had already closed the distance in spades. A harsh stomp channeled the earth into a pillar beneath her feet, shooting the dark-skinned girl up after the blond. A jet of flame beneath her feet increased her speed tenfold, hurlin her towards him like an arrow loosed from a bow. Naruto, caught in mid-leap, suddenly found himself ripped out of the sky as a devastating right hook thundered through his guard, clenched knuckles barreling into his unsuspecting visage with all the force of an avalanche.

It was a very good punch, all things considered; perfect angle, flawless precision, just the right amount of strength to smack some sense into him without inflicting any serious damage. A startled grunt answered her.

She'd put her all into it.

That was Korra's mistake.

One can't properly move when they're hanging in the air, or even dodge. And no matter how good it might have felt to slug him, she'd exhausted the last of her chi in doing so. So had Naruto with that last gust of wind. They certainly weren't going to strike the ground or a building, but what was all that blue...below...them...!

Korra realized this a heartbeat too late.

Gravity sank its claws into them.

Then they hit the water.

Hard.

It took Korra a full three seconds before she recalled she couldn't properly bend at the moment; having exhausted herself in the chase. Still, water was her natural element and any residual panic she might have initially felt quickly evaporated as she reoriented herself in the warm, shallow depths. With quick and nimble strokes, she reached the surface and inhaled, clearing it with ease. Dark strands of hair fell into her vision, informing her that her braids had disintegrated sometime during her free fall. Or had she lost them during the chase?

Meh, semantics.

Naruto, never a fan of being wet to begin with, was already thrashing his way to the bank by the time she reached him. Somehow he'd come out of the water only a little worse for the wear. His shirt lay in tatters round his shoulders and judging by the way he was limping his right leg he wouldn't be bolting anytime soon.

Sputtering, he flopped to the shore.

"Are you done?" Korra asked, stumbling after him.

"That...depends." he rasped, expelling a lungful of water. "Are yo going to stop chasing me...now?"

"That depends." she parroted back at him. "You gonna give me an answer?"

...is there a third option?"

Her answer came in the form of a headbutt.

Unprepared for the sudden assault and with no time to defend himself Naruto slammed backwards, tumbling roughly onto the ground. Korra crashed into him with sound and fury, locking a hand around his wrist to keep him from fleeing again even as he kicked out with a knee. From there their little chase rapidly dissolved into a rough, knockdown, hair-pulling, senseless brawl, the like of which they hadn't been involved with since they were children.

At some point, they started laughing.

Korra could scarcely believe how childishly she was acting; how fun it was! He hadn't given her a good rumble like this in years! Eventually she put her greater strength to use and pinned him to the sand, stradling the stubborn blond. With that, the last of his resistance crumbled and he sagged back to the damp ground.

"Alright!" Soaked to the bone, Naruto gasped, holding out a hand for mercy. "Alright. I give. You caught me. Jeez, when did you get so determined?!"

"When did you start running with your tail between your legs?!" she shot back hotly.

"I don't know, alright?!" came the groan. "I panicked! Ow! I think you knocked a tooth loose!"

"Good!" she sniped. "I hope it hurts!"

"Wow. That's surprisingly cold!"

"So was running away!"

"Touche!"

Flushing deeply, the Waterbender managed to slug him in the arm before rolling off him and toppling down beside him. Wholly out of breath, she simply didn't have the strength to do much else. Naruto had indeed led her on a merry chase through the city; she didn't even know how they'd managed to make it back to Air Temple Island in the first place. Everything had been a blur. Didn't matter. She was too exhausted to even make the attempt of caring. At least things were back to normal between them now.

Weren't they?

"Why'd you run?" She asked into the silence, staring up at the starry sky. "Tell me the truth, this time. Please." Her hand closed around his before he could offer an excuse, stopping him cold. His hand was warm to the touch, a burning flame made flesh, and eventually, those firm fingers curled around hers.

"Like I said, I panicked, okay?" Naruto muttered crossly, coloring at the quiet affection. "I wasn't expecting you to drop that bomb on me out of the blue. You always do that, ya know? Remember?" He glanced at her, chuckling, and she felt her face warm anew despite his laughter. "I'm the Avatar and you gotta deal with it! Hehehehe," the words ended with a quiet groan. "I guess we're the same. You do what you want, I do what I want, consequences be damned. I'm just still dealing with it, that's all. But I do care about you, Korra. Always have. Always will."

Korra's heart nearly burst.

A thousand tiny butterflies ran rampant in her stomach, rioting madly in a single cry, a lone, insistent demand. Just kiss him already! But it wasn't enough. It was the same old-same old. Words. Reaching down with her off hand, she scooped up a handful of stand, forming a fist around the loose soil. Naruto watched her intently but didn't interrupt, opting instead to observe; watching as Korra swirled the loose element loosely. For that much she was grateful. It gave her time to think, to find the words she'd been reaching for all this time.

"I'm tired of going around in circles," she muttered, watching the coarse grains drain out of her palm and pool at her feet. "We're always like this. Always talking. Always fighting. Back and forth. I say something stupid or you do something dumb and we're back at each other's throats by the end of the day. Her hand curled around the rest of the sand, hardening it back into stern soil once more. "Look, what I'm trying to say, is that I care about you, too. I l...lo..." there it was again. The word she wanted to say yet couldn't, a thick emotion that trapped itself in her throat and choked her until she could barely breathe.

"Then let's break the circle." he posited. "I don't want you to hate me."

"I don't hate you!" Korra felt like tearing her hair out!

"Hate you? I'd kiss you right about now if I thought I could get away with it.

The light in Naruto's eyes died, his smile closing down sharply.

"You don't have to force yourself for my sake, Korra."

Something snapped in the young Avatar, then.

"I'm not forcing myself, stupid!"

In a blur she rolled atop him all at once, pinning the startled blond to the sand. Leaning over him, uncaring that her dark hair framed fell into Naruto's face. Korra didn't care. She chewed her lip nervously, fighting with the rising urge in her breast, but in the end, even that was swiftly overridden.

There was only the burning need to speak.

"I LOVE you for crying out loud!" the words burst out of Korra all at once, before her hesitant heart could think to hold back. "There!" The sudden shout left her feeling weightless, as though a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders. With that the damn finally burst and the floodwaters poured forth. Finally said it! I care about you, damnit!" she gave him a hard shake, rattling the stunned blond against the shore. "I love everything about you! I love that you make me smile! I love when we fight, when we play word games, anything that has to do with you! Me! Us! I want to be with you! Spend the rest of my life with you! I don't want anyone else! In fact I want to kiss you so badly right now that its driving me crazy!"

Naruto fell silent, almost deathly so.

"Then what's stopping you?" he whispered.

Korra blinked, wondering just that.

"I don't know."

Then she lunged forward and the blond's brow shot straight to his hairline.

"Mmmph!"

The kiss was as sharp as it was sudden, and almost painfully awkward on Korra's part; if only because she'd never kissed a boy before. Her mouth caged his clumsily at first, their teeth clicking together in her haste to meet him, painfully infuriating until Naruto tilted his own, returning her affection with surprising gentleness and tender care on his part. But not entirely unwanted. It was a lousy attempt, but her heart warmed to it all the same, her hands finding his face and holding fast, heedless of the water rising around their knees.

Then the blond started doing something with his tongue.

Korra gasped softly, lips parting as he coaxed her onward, renewing their kiss with frightful intensity.

Her mouth molded marvelously against his, bringing with it the repressed passion of an eternity. It was everything she'd ever hoped it would be and more. Strong hands hooked beneath her legs and hoisted her upright, gripping her thighs with crushing strength, as Naruto held her aloft with his arm strength alone. The next thing Korra knew she was on her back, crushed against the sandy shores. Then he was grinding against her, and she him, each movement sending shivers of delight shooting down her spine as she arched her hips to meet him through cloth.

Korra didn't want this to stop.

She wanted him.

Here.

Now.

"Too many clothes."

He laughed into her mouth.

"Stop teasing." she growled. "Not fair."

Supple fingers danced across his soaked shirt, peeling the thick film away to dance across the hardened plane of his chest. Naruto's own hands were equally explorative as he pushed her down, caressing her wide hips, gripping her firm rear and traveling northward to curl around the edges of her clothing. Eager palms fisted clumsily around his belt a moment longer before she was forced to give up and let him do it for her.

"Up?"

"Yes. God, yes..."

Korra raised her arms for him gladly, wriggling free of her uniform with only minor difficulty. The rest came next, her arm-baring shirt nearly torn from her shoulders in his haste to get at her, followed by what remained of her torn pants. The gentlest of breezes tickled her nether regions as she exposed herself to him, followed by the tiniest pang of virgin embarrassment. Vulnerability stung at her like a petulant wasp-one she forcefully shunted it aside, willing herself to relax as the blond loomed over her, admiring the way her dark skin shone in the night, watching the waves wash over her...

"Well, don't just stare!" The Avatar muttered, covering herself.

"Sorry, I can't help myself. You're beautiful."

She nearly melted into a puddle right then and there.

"Flattery will get you everywhere, you know."

"I try-ACH!"

"Got you!"

Pivoting her hips, she gave the baffled blond a mighty heave, tossing him to the ground so that she might straddle him once more. A small part of her took fierce pride in his startled expression, the way those bright blue eyes roamed over her breasts with naked desire, desire that piqued as a hand rose to cup them, kneading the toned flesh. Tongue swirling with his, she bucked against him, her hips grinding against his groin in silent demand, urging him to enter her, take her, fill her...!

"C'mon, you blond bastard! What are you waiting for?!"

Scarce had she done so than she experienced a firm pressure against her nether lips. Then he entered her. It was a strangely pleasant sensation, oddly devoid of the pain she'd been told to expect, the tearing she had dreaded. She had no way of knowing that years of exercise and relentless training regiments had done away with that long ago. Instead of pain-or anything resembling discomfort really-she felt only sweet satisfaction followed by bliss as she stretched to accommodate him.

"Hmm," she hummed. "There. Right there."

Then Naruto began to move, attacking her mouth with renewed ferocity, one she found herself hard-pressed to match.

With each successive thrust she felt him ram deeper into her, rough hands dancing across her hyper-sensitive skin to further fan the flames of her desire. Despite her best efforts to bite her tongue and keep quiet Korra found herself moaning, audibly crying out as her lover hastened his place. She placed her hands upon the taut plane of chest and began to bounce against him, making more of an up and down motion with her hips. She could feel it coming now a building pressure in her core, rushing toward release as he thrust into the very depths of her being.

Soft cries grew progressively louder and louder as their pace hastened, his mouth roaming faster, faster...faster still. Shrieking as he thrust harder, until, until...UNTIL...!

Korra exhaled explosively as her orgasm hit with the force of a rolling hurricane, eyes sliding shut as his seed spilled into her and she arched her head back.

"NARUTO~!"

Sex on the beach took on an entirely new meaning on that glorious, wonderful night.

A/N: Jeez, that was steamy! Believe it or not, this was going to be a LOT more grpahic, but I had to cut out some stuff for fear of violating the site's explicit policy.

Good lord though, that last line was CORNY. Totally worth it, though. This is the nearest thing I've written in regards to a lemon in some time, and after that whole debacle with the site targeting M-rated stories way back, I've been rather leery of it. Seriously, there are stories on here that are pure SMUT and mine get targeted for a few scenes? Anywho, I've backed this story and a number of others up just in case it seems too explicit, but still...

...lets just cross our fingers and pray this stays up, shall we?

Plots are unfolding, chaos is starting to rear its ugly head, and who knows what is to come...?

FIND OUT NEXT TIME!

So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review, Would You Kindly? Omake or preview, This oughta make ya giggle~!

(Preview(s)!)

"Come with us, Kyuubi."

There was an awkward silence, broken only by the sound of crackling flames. Burning buildings simmered around them, the city still smoldering from the attack. The streets were empty but for them; the avatar and her best friend; squaring off against two men in strange, red-clouded cloaks.

Naomi whined and hid behind Naruto. "See?! You SEE?! I told you they would come! Why don't you people listen to me?!"

Naruto and Korra exchanged a glance.

"Erm...you know these guys?" Korra inquired.

"Never seen them in my life."

"Then you don't mind if I roast them?"

"After you, m'lady!"

Naruto snapped his fingers in the same instant that Korra thrust her own forward.

"Aw, shi-

That was all Hidan and Kakuzu had time for before their world erupted in a sea of fire.


OMAKE:

Never Mess with a Man's Ramen.

Naruto stared at the shattered esbablishment. The glorious restaurant that had once served his favorite meal; the glorious restaurant that made the best noodles in Republic City.

Now a smoldering ruin.

Blue eyes twitched.

"That's it."

Narrowed.

"EVERYTHING DIES~!"

His arms rose slowly-ponderously. His right hand coated in violent arcs of lightning, the left, a shrieking column of wind. Korra took a swift step backwards. The enemy, not nearly as agile, had only a heartbeat to realize his peril before the blazing blond pressed his twin techniques together, molding them into a keening sphere. As the Avatar looked on Naruto forcibly exhaled, breathing a line of azure flame into the swirling vortex. Took up with the wind, the seething maelstrom flared in his palms, burning brighter than any sun.

The master of the Rinnegan frowned.

"Did I touch a nerve?"

You pressed the Ramen button!" Korra called out, struggling to mak herself over the storm.

"The what...?"

Like a million little knives on glass, the shriek rose into the air, snaring the attention of the entire block in one savage, snarling note. A hand rose, cradling the newly formed element-a weapon of mass destruction in its own right-holding it aloft like a blazing blue torch in the night. The astral bender cradled it for a moment more, eyes blazing.

"YOU SHOULDN'TA DID THAT!"

Then he threw it.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF THIS STORY! RASENSHURIKEN!"

Hard.

Pein swore.

I have blundered.

R&R! =D