Okay, you people know the drill; I own nothing
Alright, quick heads up— there is very little action in this chapter. However, this one is probably going to wind up being one of the more important parts of the story as a whole, so... can't have everything.
Beta'd by Vandenbz
Interlude 2: Home
Next time would be different. That he promised to himself, and Naruto Uzumaki never made a promise that he couldn't keep.
Resolved, Naruto re-holstered the kunai and made his way back to the Temple.
While he wanted to get down to training again immediately, he had to see to this first.
A few hours had passed since the failed raid, Naruto, Korra, and the others having returned to the Temple to recover. Well, most of them had.
Before Naruto could leave to begin his exercises with the kunai, Lin had intercepted him and very bluntly told him that she had some questions that she wanted answered.
Naruto suppressed the anxiety welling up in his stomach as the lights came into view— since he was pretty positive that a situation like this had never happened before, he would more or less have to make it up as he went along.
While that was his usual style, at the moment, Naruto couldn't help but wish that he would be able to come up with a better plan.
Well, not much he could really do about it now.
He was amused to note that the meeting would be taking place in the same area where he had first met Asami and the others. Maybe it had been chosen on purpose?
Naruto's distracted musings were broken when he heard someone say "It's about time."
Turning in the direction of the voice, Naruto recognized Lin Beifong, staring him down from her position at the entrance to the Temple. Naruto didn't need to read body language to guess that the Police Chief was angry, and most of that anger seemed to be focused on him at the moment. Just like Baa-chan, he thought only half-jokingly. Though really, the older woman still reminded him more of Ibiki than anyone else.
Taking a quick look around, Naruto was relieved to see Korra there as well—she had gone to Tenzin about something quickly after they had all returned. At the very least, she appeared unharmed. Naruto knew that she hadn't been severely damaged in any way, but given that she had almost been flattened, he couldn't help himself.
Tarrlok was absent, though. If Naruto had to guess, he'd say the man was running damage control back at the Sato estate.
The others were gone too, probably forced away by Beifong, Tenzin, or both.
"We need to talk."
Well, might as well get it over with. "About what?" He asked, injecting a slight hint of a challenge into his voice.
"I think you already know." Lin shot back in a near-growl.
Naruto said nothing, waiting for her to make the first move.
Lin huffed. "Fine, we'll do it your way."
Naruto blinked in surprise. Given how the Police Chief had acted around him for the past few hours (and to a lesser extent since they had first met, although they hadn't spoken more than ten words to each other) he wouldn't have thought that she would give in so easily.
In truth, Lin hadn't given in—she'd just changed tactics.
"Why don't we start with your… techniques at the factory, hmm?"
Naruto knew he had to be cautious here; he might have been in another world, but he still couldn't jeopardize Konoha's security. "What about them?"
"I might not have whatever it is you use, but I'm not blind. The way you moved, the way you held that knife? Whatever you are, you're no civilian, and I want to know how and why you learned to fight like that."
Warning bells set off in his head as Lin finished. She was fishing for something; that much he was sure of. Naruto just wished that he knew what she was looking for.
Still, there wasn't any reason he couldn't answer this honestly. "It's really no big deal. I've been trained to fight since I was six."
The admission had about the effect he thought it would. Tenzin didn't outwardly react, but Korra glanced away briefly, and Naruto guessed that she was uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had turned.
Lin, however, pressed forward, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Listen very carefully, boy; I don't know how it's done in whatever world you came from, but here—"
"WHAT!?"
Whatever Lin had been about to say was cut off by a loud yelp from some nearby buildings.
To her credit, Lin was only surprised for a brief moment, before she turned towards the source of the sound. "Show yourself!"
A few moments later, they were all treated to the sight of Bolin entering the area, his oddly—colored Ferret on his shoulder. "Hi."
"Care to try again? I don't think they heard you in the city." Mako spoke up as he followed, his face a mix of embarrassment and resignation.
"Okay, is there anybody else listening in on this?" Naruto muttered softly. He hadn't spoken loudly enough for anyone else to hear him, but was nonetheless rewarded with Asami sheepishly following in Mako's footsteps. "Of course."
Lin briefly looked taken aback as well, before she schooled her features back into what Korra had (very privately) taken to calling her 'Chief Mode.' "What are you three doing here?" She growled as menacingly as possible given the circumstances.
"Well—" Mako spoke for the rest, briefly flinching under Lin's harsh glare before continuing— "We noticed you guys were having some kind of secret club meeting—" he either didn't notice the police chief's twitching eyebrow or ignored it altogether— "and given everything that's happened tonight, we wanted to see what was up."
Naruto honestly wasn't sure how to react to the 'plan' the three had come up with, but Korra had to work to keep a proud grin from breaking out on her face. Even Tenzin had to admire their loyalty, if nothing else.
But Lin would not be moved so easily, and whether it was from anger at the three for eavesdropping or embarrassment for not noticing them sooner, she pressed on. "And how exactly did you picture this going?"
Mako only shrugged unrepentantly. "Pretty much like this."
Asami spoke up, seemingly unfazed. "After… what happened with my father, did you honestly expect us to just stay out the way?"
Lin growled again, though whether her anger was focused on the three intruders or at herself Naruto wasn't sure.
"Lin." Tenzin broke in, "I think, given the circumstances, it would be best if we informed them of what we know. I'm sure it would only have been a matter of time before they learned the truth one way or another." Here, he glanced in Korra's direction, who smiled sheepishly in response, though she didn't deny his claim.
"Fine." Lin huffed, surprising even Tenzin with the concession. "But not until this discussion is over."
Naruto could deal with that. She had just lost eight people; he supposed she deserved that much.
Her composure recovered, Lin rounded on him. "Have you killed anyone?"
Naruto's response was immediate. "Yes." He was vaguely aware of the multiple gasps of the others around him, but at the moment, Naruto's attention was focused almost completely on the intimidating (not that he would ever admit it) woman in front of him.
"How many?"
Again, Naruto didn't hesitate. "I try not to think about it."
Lin's eyes narrowed, and something told Naruto that this was what she had been waiting for.
"Judging from your stance, you've had a lot of experience with this." Lin paused, giving time to let her words sink in. "It's almost enough to make me question the safety of those around you."
Naruto really had to reign in his temper at that; unless he was mistaken, she was labeling him a murderer. Naruto had certainly killed in the war, far more times than he had ever wanted to, but it was not murder. Despite what even some people back home would occasionally try to tell him, there was a difference between the two. Something told him that Lin was a woman who understood that. But if that was true, then why would she be so aggressive about it?
"The only people I killed," he began, stressing the last word, "Were the ones who wanted to see my home burn to the ground."
Lin's eyes narrowed even further. "And what do you mean by that?"
Well, no point in holding anything back now. "We were at war."
A sudden, abrupt silence followed the declaration, as if they all couldn't quite comprehend what he was telling them.
"The vision." Korra's softly—spoken words broke the silence, as well as drawing the group's attention towards her.
"That vision," Korra continued, "the one I had before you came here— it was real, wasn't it?"
Recalling Korra briefly explaining her dream, or what he had thought was just a dream at the time, Naruto only nodded. "Looks like." That Korra had had a vision of the final battle in the Akatsuki War brought up a hundred more questions, and his head was actually starting to hurt just thinking about it.
"Okay, back up." Bolin broke in, arms flailing in a slightly exaggerated manner. "What's going on here? What are you guys talking about?"
Korra sighed, more out of exhaustion than anything else. "We'll talk later."
Bolin sighed. "Fine. Leave us in the dark."
"Should have seen this coming." Mako muttered, a slightly teasing grin on his lips.
"If you're all done," Lin growled, "I believe we were in the middle of something?"
Bolin smiled sheepishly. "Right, Right! Just pretend we're not here!" Naruto wasn't positive, but it looked like the Ferret—Pabu, was it?—was nodding as well.
The interruption dealt with, Lin turned her full attention back on Naruto, and he somehow knew that this was what she had been waiting for the entire time. "Would you kill again?"
Naruto met her eyes without flinching. "If I was left no other choice, or if it would protect the innocent, I would do it in a heartbeat."
"Why?"
The small trace of honest curiosity in her voice piqued Naruto's interest. "Could you be a little more specific?"
"If you are from another world, why would you care about what happens here? If you were at war, why would you have any desire to get yourself involved in another?" Lin demanded, not breaking eye contact.
Naruto answered with pure conviction. "Because I care about my friends." Since he was so focused on the older woman, Naruto didn't notice Korra's cheeks heat up slightly in a pleased blush.
Lin only scoffed. "That's it?" She demanded incredulously.
"That's it." Naruto echoed.
The two continued to stare one another down, the others around them fading into the background. Privately Naruto was confused; why was she hounding him like this? Sure, they didn't really know each other, but—at least as far as he could tell—Naruto hadn't done anything wrong. He didn't think that he had broken any laws, and he definitely hadn't done anything like she was suggesting, so why-
The staring contest abruptly ended when Lin released a sigh, her features softening. "Good enough, I suppose."
Naruto blinked; what just happened?
Bolin apparently shared his confusion. "What just happened?"
Tenzin sighed. "I should have known."
"Known what?" Korra asked, just as confused as the rest of them.
"Well, Tenzin," Lin started, ignoring all the others. "I'll leave the rest in your hands."
The airbending master sighed again. "I really wish you had told me you were going to do this."
Naruto could have sworn that he heard a bit of smugness in Lin's tone as she replied. "Wouldn't have been as fun that way."
"Wait a second. That's it?" Naruto certainly didn't mind that the conversation was over, but he had to admit it seemed a bit… anticlimactic.
Lin shrugged. "I was curious."
No way. "So instead of just asking, you went with a full-blown interrogation?!"
Lin shrugged again. "It worked, didn't it?"
Naruto groaned; the woman wasn't just like Ibiki, she was practically a clone!
"But before I'm done here, is there anything else we should know about?" Lin asked, though with far less hostility than just a few moments before.
Naruto briefly considered his former Jinchuuriki status, but disregarded it just as quickly. It had nothing to do with what they were talking about now, and since Kurama appeared to be gone, Naruto would be more than happy to take that bit of information to the grave.
"Nothing else."
Lin nodded, turning to leave, before she stopped. "One last thing." Here, she seemed to pause, as if she was having difficulty forming the right words. "Thank you. If you hadn't jumped in when you did tonight, it would have been a lot worse."
Naruto blinked in surprise before he regained his bearings. "No problem!"
After she had departed, with a warm (for her, anyway) 'Say hi to Pema for me,' Tenzin spoke up. "Korra, about what happened to you at the factory-" He got out before Korra interrupted.
"Look, Tenzin, I get that this is important, but if you don't mind, it's been a long night."
Tenzin sighed in exasperation. "Have it your way," he muttered, heading back inside the Temple himself.
The silence after his departure was broken by Bolin's "So, anything you want to tell us, Korra?"
Korra turned to Naruto. "You want to help here?" She asked hopefully.
Naruto grinned in response. "Hey, it's been a long night." He turned to leave, barely holding in his amusement at the sight of her face falling so fast.
"Good luck, though."
XXX
Tenzin was greatly relieved by the time he saw Pema again. Even he had to agree with the others— it had been a long night.
Korra had been right— they could discuss everything that had happened at a later date. For now, they would allow Korra's friends to adjust to life on the island. And for Lin and the police to lick their wounds.
He was still worried about that. While, sadly, the metalbenders had incurred some casualties in their decades of service, it had never been this bad or this fast. He would not be at all surprised if any of the other survivors would desire vengeance. It would be understandable, but they needed level heads if they wanted to defeat the Equalists.
However, as they (nearly) always did, his concerns melted away as soon as he saw Pema, waiting for him in the doorway.
"You look tired," she greeted him, a teasing light in her eyes.
"It was exhausting," Tenzin replied, greeting her with the ritual they had jokingly started when they had first started dating. After tonight, the familiar routine did wonders for him.
Recognizing his stress, Pema's eyes soften, her features gaining becoming more concerned. "What happened?" Tenzin knew she wasn't asking about the factory.
He released a tired sigh in response. "How are the children?"
Pema frowned slightly at the change in topic, but didn't react otherwise— she knew her husband would tell her in time. "They're waiting for you."
Tenzin nodded, relief rushing through him. The entire night had been taxing, and at the moment, he just wanted to see his family and go to sleep.
He found all three of his children waiting for him in the next room. Well, technically just two— Meelo was asleep, snoring loudly.
"Daddy!" Ikki exclaimed upon hearing him, all but tackling him as she threw herself into his arms.
"Is something wrong, dad?" Jinora asked somewhat anxiously, perhaps picking up on some of what her mother had as well.
Though he was physically and mentally exhausted, the reassuring smile came easily to his face. "It's nothing, Jinora. Your aunt just wanted to have a… talk with Naruto."
Though he had meant to calm her, Tenzin's words seemed to have the opposite effect. "Is he okay?"
Tenzin paused, trying to read what he could of Jinora's body language before he answered. Up until this moment he had been worried—alright, terrified—that Jinora had become… infatuated with the young man. While he supposed it was understandable, he was by no means happy about it. Now, however, Jinora displayed none of the signs that she had previously, and concern in her eyes was only the concern for someone she considered a friend, or at most, for a close relation of the family like Katara or Bumi.
The little brat had been teasing him!
Tenzin groaned internally. It seemed that Jinora really had inherited some of her grandfather's humor.
He could have sworn he glimpsed Pema smiling in amusement out of the corner of his eye.
"He's fine, dear." Tenzin said at last. Then, he remembered something else that he had been intending to ask about before the whole mess had occurred. "How's the surprise coming along?"
As he expected, the topic seized his daughters' attention almost immediately, both launching into details about the progress they had made along with Pema over the last week.
A few minutes later, it was time for them all to go sleep. Tenzin wasn't looking forward to the inevitable chaos of his work in the morning.
"You think he'll like it, daddy?" Jinora asked, her eyes sparkling in a way that reminded him that no matter how mature she was for her age, she was still a child.
Tenzin smiled, feeling no small amount of pride for his eldest daughter. It had been her idea, after all. "I think he'll love it."
000
In his office, Tarrlok massaged his temples in an attempt to stave off his growing headache. One more reason to dislike the Equalists— they made his job even more unbearable than it was on a regular day.
Trying to manage any sort of damage control after a disaster like tonight's would be quite a task in and of itself. Add into that the panic that would follow once the city learned that almost ten metalbenders had died against 'a small group of radicals,' and it was borderline impossible.
But the damage had been done already.
Blood had been shed tonight.
It had not been the first time lives were lost for the sake of Republic City, and it would not be the last. Only next time, Tarrlok was determined to ensure that it would be Equalist lives that were taken.
The problem was that they had no leads they could follow.
Not one of his many sources had been able to find anything solid, so at this point, their only choices were to wait for the Equalists to make the next move, or take more… drastic measures.
Once again, his gaze was drawn to the files scattered on his desk. Twelve files for the twelve Equalists that they had managed to capture up to this point.
Tarrlok had always prided himself for being able to face reality no matter how painful it may be, and he certainly wouldn't stop now.
But maybe they didn't need to resort to that just yet.
While Tarrlok wouldn't hesitate should the need arise, perhaps there were still a few more cards they could play.
000
Three Days Later…
Amon was standing right in front of her, not moving.
Korra charged and attacked, lashing out with punches and kicks, but they didn't even faze him.
The whole time, he just stood there, almost as if he was mocking her. Once again, her attacks of water and earth did nothing.
There was a flash, and suddenly Amon was further away, standing over eight bodies, none of which were moving. His sword was stained red.
He spoke, for the first time since the fight started. "This is the price of your failure, Avatar."
She charged, fist bursting into intense flames, launching a fire—charged punch straight at Amon's heart—
Korra shot up in her bed, gasping, beads of sweat rolling down her face.
Another nightmare.
The second in a row.
Still feeling her heart pounding, Korra shakily got up. She knew she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep tonight.
She had been restless for the past three days, her sleep getting erratic. She had attempted the meditation exercises Tenzin had tried to teach her, but she hadn't even been able to get close to what they both wanted.
Tenzin believed that Avatar Roku, and by extension the Avatars of the past, wanted to tell her something. He wanted to know if it was a way they could defeat the Equalists. Korra, on the other hand, just wanted the… man, for lack of a better term, to stay out of her head.
Needless to say, progress on the meditation front had been slow, to say the least.
But her own hang-ups on the matter of dead people trying to talk to her were only part of the problem.
By the time she had reached the lake, Korra's heartbeat had returned to its normal pace.
"How could the people of this city, of this world, depend on someone like you?" Unfortunately, her mind was still running a mile a minute.
Amon's words echoed in her head, had been ever since the day after Naruto had told them all where he had come from. Korra knew that she shouldn't be letting him get to her like this, but no matter what she did, she just couldn't drown them out.
No matter what she did, a small part of her whispered that Amon was right.
She was the Avatar, chosen by the spirits to bring peace and order to the world.
The Equalists were threatening to break that peace— had been since they'd first appeared.
Tonight had been her first real encounter with the Equalists, rather than just Amon himself, her first chance to truly prove herself to the people of Republic City. To show them all that she was capable of protecting them, that she was worthy of her position. And she had been the first to fall. Yeah, she had been more than a little distracted by the sudden vision that Roku had sent her, but that was still no excuse.
Because of her failure, her weakness, eight people were dead. Korra tried not to focus on that last bit— whenever she did, her thoughts would always stray into darker territory.
Unbidden, her thoughts strayed back to her most recent dream, to the image of her flaming fist poised above Amon's heart.
Maybe that was what was worrying her the most—
"Can't sleep, huh?' a voice broke into her thoughts, and Korra turned, startled, to see Naruto standing a few feet behind her, concern apparent in his eyes.
"W—well, what are you doing up so late?" Korra asked, mostly just to cover up her embarrassment at being startled so easily.
With a raised eyebrow, Naruto replied, "I know you've been coming here the past two nights— I just wanted to know why."
"Wait," Korra started, confused, "how did you know I was here?"
Naruto only smirked. "Ninja, remember?"
Oh, right. Well, now she just felt stupid.
Sighing Korra said, "I just needed to think."
By now, Naruto knew Korra well enough to know when something was bothering her. "What about?" He asked.
Korra paused. She wasn't sure if she wanted to let Naruto know about what had been bothering her. She wasn't sure if she wanted anyone else to know. She had already imagined the worst possible reactions of her friends, and she had no desire to live them out. But Naruto had openly admitted to doing the same thing, hadn't he? Surely he of all people wouldn't judge her too harshly for thinking along these lines, right?
Still, none of that made it any easier to bring the subject up.
Taking a deep breath, Korra finally voiced what had been worrying her for the past three days. "What if I have to kill him?"
Naruto blinked, as if he was surprised. "Kill who?"
And Korra could have slapped herself. "Amon." She elaborated roughly in an attempt to cover her embarrassment, hoping that Naruto couldn't see her sudden blush.
When Naruto still looked lost, Korra got curious. "The leader of the Equalists?" Surely Tenzin would have told him by now?
Naruto just shrugged. "Never heard of him."
What? "So, Tenzin told you all about the Equalists, but he never once mentioned the guy in charge?" Korra asked, honestly baffled. How was that even possible?
"If it helps, I'm sure Tenzin thought he was being clear as day." Naruto grinned, and Korra could feel herself grinning back in response.
The grin dropped, however, when Korra remembered what had brought her out here.
Picking up on Korra's mood, Naruto also grew more serious. Whatever was bothering her, it was probably big, and he had learned that sometimes it was best to just wait for the other person to speak first.
He didn't have to wait long, as Korra soon poured out her worries in a rush. "It's just… I've never had to really think about something like this before, and I just don't know what I'd do if I ever actually had to…" And she stopped as she caught sight of the emotions in Naruto's eyes. There wasn't a trace of anger or disbelief— or worse, fear —like she might have expected. Instead, Naruto's blue eyes showed only sympathy. As if he actually understood.
"You don't want to kill, even if you know it might be the only way." At his statement, so casual and yet so, so right, Korra could do nothing but nod dumbly. She had never expected anyone to be so understanding if she had actually breached the topic.
Naruto gave her a reassuring smile, and Korra was confused by the sensation of her heart skipping a beat. What the…?
"It's alright to be afraid, you know." Naruto's next words brought her out of her thoughts. He chuckled somewhat ruefully before continuing, "Hell, I'd actually be more worried if you weren't at least a little afraid."
Korra smiled again, grateful that Naruto didn't seem to think any less of her. "It's not just that, though. I came to this city just a few weeks ago to learn how to airbend, and now I might actually have to kill someone?"
Naruto nodded in an almost sage—like manner. "Yeah, life sucks like that." And despite herself, Korra felt laughter bubbling in the back of her throat.
"Look, Korra, I don't know how people would react in this world, but where I come from, if you did have to kill this Amon, and based on what I know about you so far, there wouldn't be a single person in the world who would blame you for it."
While that was probably meant to be comforting in some way, Korra found it only increased her concerns— only not for herself this time, but for her friend.
"What happened to you?" She asked before she could stop herself.
Naruto's answering smile was more than a little bitter. "You don't want to know." was all he said.
Korra did want to know, if only to help him deal with whatever it was he was going through, but she didn't feel like prying, so she let it slide for now. Instead, she wracked her brain to try and think of something to say that would break Naruto out of his daze.
She needn't have bothered though, because Naruto spoke up again a short while later. "Korra, I know you're scared—hell, I was downright terrified when I first thought of this stuff—but there's nothing you can do about it until it actually happens, so for now… I would say just try not to think about it."
The advice wasn't what Korra would call 'satisfying,' but… she found it did help, if only a little.
"Thanks." She said quietly, though sincerely.
Naruto grinned in response. "No problem." Then, he yawned stretching. "Now if you don't mind, it's late and this has gotten a little… heavy for me." Korra had to fight the little grin that was threatening to break out— now that sounded more like the Naruto she knew.
"I'm gonna go back to sleep." Naruto finished, turning back to the temple. As he left, Naruto called over his shoulder "Believe me, Korra, you'll know what to do when the time comes." Korra did smile at that.
"Good night." she called after his diminishing form. She still wasn't ready to try and sleep again just yet.
Turning back around, Korra's gaze was drawn to the lake, as it was the other two nights she had come here, but the experience was noticeably different now.
Watching the light of the full moon dancing of the water, Korra idly wondered why she had never noticed how beautiful the lake could be at night before.
It was amazing, really. She had spent the better part of three days and two nights constantly fretting over maybe having to kill Amon, and yet after a five-minute conversation with Naruto, her concerns might not have vanished completely, but they were far more manageable. Naruto was right, after all— there wasn't really anything she could do about it at this point.
Now she wondered why she hadn't just come to Naruto in the beginning. If for no other reason than to thank her for what he did at the factory.
Korra blushed at the thought, feeling slightly irritated for doing so, but she really couldn't help it. Nobody had ever done anything like that for her before.
Sure, she knew that the Order was… concerned for her, but if any of them had ever done what Naruto did, she knew it would only be to protect the Avatar, not Korra herself.
She knew Mako and Bolin, and possibly Asami, would also do everything they could to help her, along with Tenzin and his family, but the fact remained that Naruto had been the one who did it first.
Korra supposed she should have been surprised that Naruto had become such a close friend even though they had only known one another for less than a month, but she certainly didn't mind.
Even if she had only known him for a short while, Korra found that she truly enjoyed spending time with him. He was fun. She also had a great deal more in common with him than most of the other people around her age.
He clearly enjoyed a good fight as much as she did, if the grin he had been wearing during their spar was any indication.
He was also an incredibly good teacher; if he hadn't stepped in that day, she would probably still be struggling with those stupid airbending gates, rather than learning how to actually walk on water.
He was just so…
Korra blinked, realizing what she was thinking, and shook her head rapidly.
What in the world was happening to her?
000
The next day…
Korra launched another fire blast at the charging clone, the fire leaving a trail of steam in its wake as it flew across the water.
The clone burst into smoke upon contact, dissipating rapidly.
From her position on the center of the lake, small planes of ice formed underneath her feet, Korra grinned. "Come on, Naruto!" she called out tauntingly. "I thought you said this was going to be a challenge!"
From the shoreline, Naruto answered with a grin of his own. "I'm just getting started!"
Korra only grinned wider, slamming her fist into her open palm. "Bring it!" She challenged.
With a cry of Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clone) Jutsu!," her challenge was answered, three clones appearing and spreading out, closing in on her from multiple directions.
Preparing herself, Korra focused— what she had in mind would be difficult, but by no means impossible.
She turned slowly to the clone that was nearest to her, the one coming in from her right, and sent another burst of fire in its direction, destroying it.
That's one down!
Now came the tricky part, as Korra lifted her right foot off the water, quickly pivoting to the next nearest clone at her left and releasing an arc of flame, finishing it off as well.
That's two!
Still pivoting, Korra brought the foot that was still in the air back to where it had been originally, slamming down into the water and rapidly re—forming the ice that had broken when her foot had left it, releasing one more fireball at the last clone— which was now only a few feet away from her —and incinerated it.
And that's three!
Now alone on the water again, Korra paused to catch her breath. She was sweaty and tired, but the payoff was more than worth it.
After brainstorming a few possible ideas for her newly—discovered ability, Naruto and Korra had decided to head to the lake and see if any of them would work. The one that Korra had wanted to focus on the most was trying to find some way to incorporate some of her other bending abilities into it as well— walking on water was just awesome, but it wouldn't have been very practical if she couldn't use her bending as well.
As they had discovered, using firebending—and presumably airbending once she had unlocked it—actually wasn't that difficult. It just took a great deal of concentration and control over her movements.
One wrong move, one small lapse in concentration, and she would plummet into the water.
Korra loved it.
Even all those years training with the Order couldn't compare to the sheer adrenaline that rushed through her body while she fought off the unending stream of blonde clones.
Training with Naruto was more draining yet more exhilarating than anything she had ever experienced before in her life, and during their sessions, Korra found that just about all of her worries—such as her inevitable encounter with Amon—just disappeared.
"Hey, Korra!" Naruto's shout broke into her thoughts. "That's enough for today, come on back!"
Still grinning, Korra did as he suggested, moving back to the shore.
Once she was within a few feet of Naruto, Korra gave a somewhat breathless "That was incredible!"
Naruto's lips turned upward, and he was about to answer, when they both heard a familiar voice exclaim "So this is where you train."
They both paused, before turning to the direction of the voice to see Asami making her way towards them, smiling with a slightly awed look on her face, and Korra could only guess that she had seen them training.
"So is this what you guys normally do?" Asami asked a tad hesitantly.
"Yep!" Korra answered happily before Naruto even opened his mouth.
For some reason, the statement made Asami frown slightly, before she seemed to gather her courage and continued. "I want to join you."
What? Korra paused, unsure if she had heard the older girl correctly. "What did you say?"
Asami meet her gaze, all of her attention seemingly focused on her. "My father is working with the Equalists," she began, and Korra had to resist the urge to wince— she had almost forgotten that. "I want to find out why, and you seem like the best chance I'll have to do that."
Korra still hesitated. While she definitely understood Asami's reasons, and would normally welcome another friend, she still wasn't sure. She chanced a quick glance at Naruto, who only shrugged as if to say 'Your call.' "Are you sure you can handle it?"
Asami huffed in a way that vaguely reminded Korra of Lin. "I can take care of myself, you know," she started. "My father wanted to make sure that I could after—" Whatever Asami had been about to say was interrupted by the sound of two of Naruto's clones popping into existence before charging her.
Asami reacted quickly, though, dispersing the first clone with a hammerstrike that would have immobilized a normal human and grabbing the second by the throat before slamming it into the ground, where it too dispersed.
Breathing a little harder but showing no other signs being affected, Asami glanced over and noticed Korra's awestruck expression. "Like I said, I can handle myself."
"Damn." Naruto muttered under his breath, impressed despite himself. Yeah, he had intentionally made the clones weaker, but still.
"That was awesome!" Came a jubilant shout, and all three teens turned to see Bolin and Mako emerging from the same direction Asami had come from.
"Why are you guys here?" Asami asked quickly. So apparently she hadn't known that the two had been following her.
"Really?" Mako shot back, amusement in his eyes. "My best friend and my girlfriend"— Naruto raised an eyebrow at that and glanced over at Asami, but chose not to comment— "are planning to fight against a group of lunatics, and you thought we'd just… sit back and watch? I thought you guys would have known us better by now!" he finished with fake offense.
Korra could only stare, unable to form the right words, before she finally got out "You guys do know how dangerous this is going to be, right?" While she knew they could all fight if they had to, this was probably beyond what any of them were expecting.
"We're in." Mako replied confidently.
Meanwhile, Bolin had gone over to talk to Naruto. "So you're from another world?" he asked, wide—eyed.
"Yup." Naruto sighed. This would probably take time for them to get used to.
Bolin shrugged. "All right."
Naruto blinked— that was it?
"That's it?"
"Well," Asami broke in, apparently having overheard them, "compared to some of the things we've seen you do, you coming from another world isn't really all that far—fetched." She blinked, before muttering, "I can't believe I just said that." though she seemed more amused than anything.
"Yeah," Bolin agreed, "Korra was pretty clear about that."
Mako only shrugged, which Naruto took to mean he didn't care one way or the other.
"Okay, then?" he said, confusion still apparent on his face, causing Korra to snicker lightly.
"Alright!" Mako exclaimed, clenching his fist. "From now on, we're Team Avatar!"
Korra grinned again. "Team Avatar."
If nothing else, at least she wouldn't be alone.