Welcome folks, it looks like we got an update for Spirits this time. I hope you are enjoying the story, we are starting to get some momentum built up now that we have better set up the relationships of characters and Korra has met the future Krew as a whole.
A quick couple responses to reviews before we get started.
Review from Daniel-G20019: dude i have a question, you said a few chapters ago that Naruto has a strong connection with an unknown spirit now my question is, what possible abilities this spirit could give to him? it could be a power up for his phisycal qualities or something like that
Response: That will be part of the story's main plot my friend. Just like LOK began to move toward more spirit focused stuff following Amon, so will this fic. However, that isn't to say we won't get any knowledge about Naruto's…situation, prior to that.
Review from Yohnos: You know, someone once said that "violence is not a solution, it's THE solution" so maybe that having Naruto breaking Tenzin jaws might prevent him from speaking shit? And I'm I the only one who believes that he tries to sabotage Korra's training? Airbenders are supposed to be free and he impose rules against freedom…
Response: Oh yeah, things might be better if the two of them just had it out, or it might be much much worse. Every time they fight though, the rest of the family gets caught in the crossfire so to speak and Naruto doesn't want that, even if Tenzin has his head too far up his own ass to see it. As for him sabotaging Korra. I agree, just that it's not intentional. Tenzin will have his own development in this story. Actually he might end up with the most I'm not sure.
For those interested in joining a discord server filled with readers and writers of fanfiction I encourage you to come try out AizenTheGoat's server a link for which is right here - /7x4YFstKcz
On to the story!
Naruto grunted in frustration as he shredded another page up with a tiny isolated flurry of razor shop winds he bent with a flick of his wrist. The confetti paper he inadvertently created swept up with the air current before drifting into the wastebasket. One that would soon be overflowing at the rate he was going.
Needless to say, the last few days Naruto had been struggling. His family had come to the realization he might be avoiding them, or at least the island and had sent a few letters. He'd replied and made excuses for his absence. He just didn't want to deal with Tenzin at the moment or Korra either really.
When he bumped into her he put on a good facade but really he was currently a wreck. His current objective was to bury himself in his work to try and avoid the whole world and the things that were aggravating him. He had known that things with Lin probably wouldn't last forever but he was still distraught.
It hadn't really helped that his actual factory was running smoothly. It would have left him with nothing to do had he not decided to delve deep into the rough idea regarding air transport he'd had. Frustratingly that was turning out to be nearly impossible to make progress on though.
He couldn't utilize sky bison on a commercial scale. Their population remained too small as for a century they had nearly been hunted to extinction in sport. Just like the Air Nation that had once raised and rode them.
Whatever other plans he had also had the issue that the core part of his plan centered on making his people an important part. After all, mechanical air ships already existed. Balloons were even popular enough that some people rode in them as an outing. There really was no limit to the balloons numbers either as over half a dozen manufacturers produced them across the globe, at least one in the capital of every major nation and a few more minor ones spread across the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom.
Naruto blew a frustrated gust of air out of his nose as leaned back in his chair and rubbed his tired face. He was just punishing himself at this point and not really making any progress in his project. With nothing right in front of him to work on, his mind began to wander. Wander to thoughts of Lin and as much as it confused and bothered him, Korra as well.
"Why can't I just put you both out of my mind?" He asked the room weakly.
As if to taunt him, a knock at the door called his attention. When he got close to the door though he could tell who was behind it by their breathing. Lin. This was going to be awkward. Still he was no coward and opened the door to face his…ex-lover.
"Lin." He greeted awkwardly. A bit sadly.
"Naruto." She answered in almost the exact same fashion before straightening up. "There was an incident at your factory. We need you to come down there."
"An incident? What do you mean?" Naruto asked in worry.
"Best you see for yourself." She said with a frown. She hadn't wanted the first time they saw one another since splitting up to be about something like this.
Naruto quickly got his staff and an overcoat before climbing into the Satomobile with Lin. The pair were soon on their way to Naruto's factory.
Korra practically snarled as she launched herself at the gates once again. As with all the previous attempts, she soon found herself bouncing back and forth between the spinning tablets. This time though it proved to be too much.
With a burst of flame, Korra quickly began tearing the gates apart, burning some, snapping others, and altogether wrecking the lot of them. The Air benders in attendance, Tenzin and his three younger children, all stared in shock at what she had just done.
"That was a two thousand year old historical treasure! What? What is wrong with you?" Tenzin demanded in outrage. Wind began to kick up around him and fluttering his robes as his temper fueled his own bending faintly.
"There's nothing wrong with me! I've been practicing just like you taught me, but it isn't sinking in okay?" Korra fired back. Her voice grew more quiet and ashamed then. "It hasn't clicked like you said it would."
"Korra, this isn't something you can force. You have to have patience." Tenzin began to lecture. "If you would only listen to me-"
"I have been!" Korra shouted, cutting him off. "You wanna know what I think, maybe the problem isn't me. Maybe the reason I haven't learned airbending yet is because you are just a terrible teacher. I mean so far the only one of your students to earn those stupid tattoos can't stand being around you, and right now neither can I!"
With that Korra stormed off ignoring Meelo jumping out to call Tenzin a terrible teacher before playing at destroying the gates himself. Ikki at least took pity on her father and wrapped him in a hug, one that Jinora hesitantly joined in on after a moment of internal debate.
Korra avoided Tenzin the rest of the day after that. Even at dinner, something that had become a somber affair in the last week or so as Naruto had seemingly made a point to avoid the island. Pema was sure it had something to do with Naruto getting his own place and moving out of Lin's house, but she was always certain Tenzin had something to do with it. So his bowl of soup was just a bit colder than everyone else's. And she sat beside her babies rather than him for the moment.
"No Korra tonight?" She asked as she noticed the avatar wasn't present.
"Honestly Pema I am at my wits end with that girl." Tenzin complained. "I-I don't know how to get through to her."
Pema's eyes softened at that. She decided to drop the cold shoulder for a while to try and play her part as wife and mother in this household. Complicated as that had steadily become over the years.
"Give her some space dear." Pema said with a soft voice.
"Promise me you won't be like this." Tenzin said to his daughters.
Jinora lowered her book slightly to glance at him over the top of it. "No."
Tenzin sighed in defeat at that, not knowing that now that she knew Naruto had a house of his own, Jinora fully intended into guilt tripping him into letting her stay with him from time to time now. She just wondered what he was up to today.
Naruto felt rage boil beneath the surface though the calm blank exterior seemed too empty to be described in such a way. Lin knew he would need an outlet but she wasn't providing one to him any more. She had left the situation in the care of her detectives and returned to work, trying to keep herself from holding him tightly as he looked down at the ruins of so much work and effort.
"Was anyone hurt?" He asked the detectives nearby.
"Huh? Oh, well a couple of workers got some minor burns or a broken limb or two. Nothing life threatening." One of the detectives said without a care.
Naruto glared at the man, causing him to take a step back. "For a non bender who does labor for a living, having a broken bone can be life threatening. They can't work with a break, so they can't buy food, and if they can't buy food they go hungry. Not that you would know anything about missing a meal would you detective…"
"Look kid, I don't know what to tell you. We can't change what's already been done." The thin detective said, coming to his partner's rescue.
Naruto wanted to crack the man over the head with his staff. Of course they couldn't he wasn't asking that of them. Only that they take the situation seriously. He had to rebuild his operation from scratch and support the families of the workers he had. They were trained to work the equipment he needed for his company, but beyond that they were his employees. He owed it to them to be taken care of after something like this.
"Do you have any leads?" He asked, forcing himself to calm down. He wanted someone to pay, just not financially. He had plenty of money to get everything going again. He needed to make sure this never happened again though.
The pair glanced at one another and shuffled awkwardly. They were kind of surprised by the kid during this interaction. He was nothing like his father. Or at least nothing that they could tell. Then again they had never spoken to the patriarch of the air benders either. Maybe they were all aggressive assholes.
As if he could tell what they were thinking, Naruto all but growled at them. "Well?"
"Err, well you are just a civilian. Not really supposed to share details of the investigation with you unless absolutely necessary." The fat one said.
"Well lucky for you it's absolutely necessary that you share that information with me, isn't it?" Naruto said as he stepped closer.
"Don't you mean lucky for me, uhm I mean as in lucky for you?" The thin one asked with a nervous laugh.
"No, I mean you as in lucky for you that you don't slow this investigation or the process of justice down with incompetence because the consequences wouldn't be solely of the legal kind!" Naruto was roaring into their faces by the end of his brief rant.
Neither man spoke as they were taken off guard by the anger the air bender wielded. Shows of force from benders rendered others speechless often enough. From an airbender it rendered even other benders silent as well.
"Say something!" He bellowed, tired of the silence.
"The, uh the triads did it. They roughed up some of the workers and told them to pass on the message." The thin one answered.
Naruto said nothing else to the two men after that. Simply spun on a foot and launched himself into the air with his glider before flying away. They let out a deep sigh of relief before chuckling between the two of them. They could see why the kid and Chief Beifong got along so well. They were definitely cut from the same cloth so to speak.
"That was intense." One said to the other.
"That's for sure. It was like talking to a younger male version of the chief." The other replied.
"At least he's gone now." The first said with a chuckle only for both men to slowly frown and pale in terror.
"Didn't the chief say to keep him here no matter what, until she got in touch with his family?" The second pointed out.
"We're going to get fired." The first said with a hollow voice.
Korra found herself at the Pro-bending arena after bailing from Airbender island. She felt drawn to it. The pure focus on fighting and not to mention the friendly natures of Bolin and to a very much lesser extent Mako drew her in. Well she supposed Mako drew her in other ways. Something she wasn't really used to.
Despite having felt a similar pull, maybe even a stronger one with Naruto, the awkward air hanging between them kept her from looking into him at all. She wanted to be around Mako though. As if to escape her frustration with bending and just relax.
Sadly, the atmosphere she walked into wasn't the energetic pick-me-up she was looking for. If anything the two brothers looked as if they had already lost, badly at that. Their third member was nowhere to be found and both boys sagged down and stared intently at the floor.
"I didn't miss your match, did I? You guys look like you lost already." Korra asked.
"We might as well have." Bolin said sadly.
"Hasook's a no good no show." Mako bit out angrily.
The door opened then and the manager leaned in to tell the team that they had two minutes before they had to come out ready to play or they would be disqualified. As the door slammed closed again Bolin and Mako seemed to sag down in even greater depression.
"Well, there goes our shot at the tournament…and the winnings." Mako bemoaned.
"Wait, can't you ask one of those guys to fill in?" Korra asked, pointing at another team nearby.
"Nah, the rules say you can only compete on one team." Bolin replied.
"Well, then…how about me? I'm a top-notch waterbender, if I do say so myself." Korra said with a confident smirk.
"But you're the avatar. Isn't that cheating?" Bolin asked Mako who simply stared at Korra as his mind spun with thoughts about her being on the team.
"It isn't cheating if I only do waterbending." Korra chimed back in with a grin.
"No. No way. I'd rather forfeit than look like a fool out there." Mako said with a huff.
Korra blinked at his words, a bit surprised by how outright mean and hostile they were. With how she had kind of crushed on him for his skill in bending and general good looks it kind of hurt her feelings to hear that actually. Not that she let it show beyond an annoyed pout.
"Wow, thanks for the vote of confidence." Korra mumbled.
The door to the room swung open again with the manager hanging back in the open doorway. "Times almost up, are you in or are you out?"
"We're in!" Korra announced before running toward a locker to suit up.
"Yes!" Bolin announced as he chased after her while Mako leaned off of the wall in shock.
"We are? Hey, wait, I didn't agree to this!" He said while pointing at the avatar and his brother.
"You can thank me later." Korra replied cheekily as she pulled on the uniform for the team.
Mako only sighed as he turned to face the arena. "This girl is crazy."
Before long the team took their positions opposite their opponents on the arena floor. Korra was nervous but excited to participate. She practically lived for bending and even just being out here on the arena floor filled her with an excited energy that she only got when in the midst of a fight of bending.
"Looks like the Fire Ferrets have ferreted out a last minute replacement waterbender. Let's see if she is another diamond in the rough like the brothers from the school of hard knocks." The announcer reported.
"Alright, just don't do anything too fancy or aggressive." Mako instructed Korra as the team took their ready stances. "In fact, don't do anything. Just try to not get knocked out of the ring."
Korra narrowed her eyes in annoyance before letting loose with some usual snark. "You got it captain."
"Players, are you ready?" The referee asked, getting a thumbs up from both team captains.
With a lifted hand he whistled and chopped his hand down as a signal to being. The bell rang and right out the gate Korra did as she had planned and ignored Mako's instructions. With a kick she bent a blast of water out of the grate in the floor and slammed it into the side of the opposing player directly across from her. The man bounced off the edge of the ring and went spinning end over end into the water below with a scream.
Mako slapped his hand against the facemask of his helmet as the audience fell into a droning series of boos for the Fire Ferrets and more specifically Korra. Not that the young avatar noticed as she began to celebrate crouching down and jumping back up again with a loud shout of joy.
"Man overboard!" She cackled as she ran in a little circle, only to stop at the sound of the ref's whistle.
"Fire Ferret waterbender penalty. Move back one zone." The ref called.
"What? Why?" She asked.
"You're only allowed to knock players off the back of the ring. Not over the sides." Mako explained with an annoyed tone.
"Oh…whoops?" Korra sheepishly replied as she stepped back into the next zone.
With a ding of the bell the match restarted. Immediately out of the gate Korra tried to launch a whip of water at her opponents only to have to dodge a pair of earth disks and fail to dodge a third that burst against the padded armor she wore throwing her backward.
"And we're back in action after that hiccup. But I'm not so sure that this replacement player really knows what she's doing." The announcer stated.
As if on que Korra ran through an impressive spinning kick to launch a water attack, but on her landing she slid over the line back into the first zone. Of course getting another whistle blast.
"Foul, over the line." The ref announced. "Move back to zone three."
"I'll show you over the line." Korra growled despite the renewed boos from the audience. By now Mako was struggling to keep his temper in check and Bolin was even starting to get nervous about Korra being on the team.
"The Platypus-bears take round one!" The announcer called as the teams reset to continue the match.
As the bell rang to start round two, the two teams opened up with a flurry of bending moves. The two teams unleashed everything they had against one another straight out of the gate. It soon became clear to the Fire Ferrets and the announcer that the Platypus-bears had a strategy.
"The Platypus-bears know a green player when they see one and they are focusing the brunt of their bending on this poor girl." The announcer explained as Korra was steadily pushed further and further back in the ring by a continuous onslaught of bending attacks.
Eventually the pressure was too much and to defend herself Korra naturally bent the stone disks used by earth bending players to help protect herself from an oncoming attack from the opposing team's water and fire benders. It blocked the attack with relative ease. The water deflected off of the stone while the flames simply dissipated as they hit the earth.
"Wait a minute, did that waterbender just earthbend?" The announcer asked, getting a plethora of gasps from the audience.
The referee blew his whistle again. "Foul…I think."
Mako and Bolin both sighed as Korra sheepishly shrugged and smiled back at them, before her helmet slid down her face to cover her eyes.
"Did I see that right?" The Announcer began. "Hold on folks I'm still waiting on confirmation from the arena but I think that this replacement player could be….you've gotta be kidding me! It is her! She is the avatar folks! Playing in a pro-bending match! Can you believe that folks?"
Eventually the ref came back out onto his platform. "The avatar will be permitted to continue, so long as she solely bends water."
The other team was less than enthusiastic about that ruling, but soon the game was back underway and they simply settled in to eliminate her from the game as quickly as possible.
"This girl may be the avatar but she's no pro bender and the Platypus-bears are intent on exploiting that weakness." The announcer called out. "They're giving her their very best and she can't do much against it all, oh annnnddd she's in the drink."
Korra was sent flying off the back of the ring and into the water below. Slowly she swam back up to the Fire Ferret's exit platform and began to climb out of the water only for her to look up at the looming figure of Tenzin staring down at her. Well so much for sneaking out to put the man out of her head. With a small sigh she shot him a weak smile.
"Hey, Tenzin. I thought you didn't like coming to these matches." Korra said awkwardly.
Tenzin ignored her words as she climbed out of the water. "Once again you have flagrantly disobeyed my were to stay on the island. Let's go."
"No. I'm kind of in the middle of something." Korra argued.
"I have tried my very best to get through to you by being gentle and patient, but clearly the only thing you respond to is force." Tenzin's face became more stern as he turned to face the girl once again. "I am ordering you to come back to the temple right now."
"You order me? You aren't my father, then again that didn't work with your own kid either." Korra bit back, not feeling the slightest bit guilty at using Naruto against this man.
"Don't bring my son into this!" Tenzin snarled.
"You are so worried about controlling everything the only way Naruto became a master was by going around you. I'm starting to think that I might have to as well. You aren't the only airbending master in the world anymore!" Korra shouted back.
Tenzin blinked in surprise and changed tactics. "Korra, wait a moment-"
"No, he's right about you. You're too worried about tradition. This is what I need to learn. Modern styles of fighting." Korra argued.
"Being the Avatar isn't all about fighting, Korra. When will you learn that?" Tenzin asked in exasperation.
"I have a match to finish." Korra growled as she stormed off back toward the arena.
At the start of round three, the Fire Ferrets and Korra were down by two on the scoreboard. Like Round two when the bell rang and started the game again the Platypus-bears wasted no time in focusing on a portion of the team. Unlike earlier though, this time it was Bolin and Mako that came under the barrage of bending from the opposing team.
"The Platypus-bears come out of the gate and quickly go after the Ferret brothers. They're corralled in the corner. Wedged in the edge of zone one, unable to come to the avatar's rescue and boy does she need it." The announcer stated.
As the platypus-bear waterbender focused down on the brothers and kept them off balance, it freed up both the firebender and earthbender to turn all their attention onto Korra. The match quickly turned into a two versus one session of them pummeling the avatar as they drove her back zone by zone once again.
"Looks like the avatar's pro-bending adventure is going to be cut short. She's been pushed back to zone three and the water is calling her name." The announcer called as Korra teetered on the very edge of the arena.
"It's only a matter of time before-" The announcer began before suddenly Korra's entire move set seemed to shift.
Korra began to rotate her hands as Jinora had done whenever she was demonstrating how to move through the gates. Her arms twisted in the same form soon followed by the rest of her body as she sidestepped a ball of fire that flew past her. She continued to maneuver in the new set as she easily ducked under one stone disk and spun around another sent her way.
"Hold the phone. Stop the presses. She's still in the game, folks! And she's moving like an entirely different player. All of a sudden the Platypus-bear strikes are only striking air." The announcer began to shout in excitement.
As Korra began to move back up the field, the Platypus-bears began to run out of energy. Their attacks became steadily more sluggish and weaker. From the stands Tenzin watched on in awe and shock as he watched Korra begin to incorporate the circular motion he had struggled to train into her.
With Mako and Bolin joining her as they turned the tables on the opposing team they quickly began forcing the other team back further into their side of the arena. The crowd as well as the announcer roared in excitement and cheers broke out at the sudden turning of the tables for the game.
One right after another the Platypus-bears were knocked off the back of the arena into the water below. The Fire Ferrets swept the entire opposing team off the arena counting as a knockout. Which earned them the win for the match. Causing the crowd, even Tenzin to cheer ecstatically for the upset in the match. Though Tenzin quickly regained his usual stoic composure and swept back out of the auditorium.
"What an upset folks! The rookies, avatar in tow, have pulled the win and nabbed a place in the championship tournament!" The announcer bellowed in joy along with the thousand or so fans in the stands.
The teammates celebrated. Korra and Bolin high fiving and laughing loudly as Mako made his way over to her.
"Korra, what can I say? You really came alive in that last round. The way you dodged their attacks. You are a natural." Mako said as he eyed her with a little more interest than before.
As Bolin continued to wave and ham it up for the cheering fans, Korra turned to face Mako with a bright smile. It felt nice to earn the boy's respect like this. She fought back the crazy grin that threatened to spread onto her face while taking a humble route. "Thanks, but I can't take all the credit. Someone else taught me those moves."
Korra smiled softly at that thought. All things considered she had learned that all from Tenzin. She knew there were issues in the airbender family but she was becoming far too personally invested to help them she thought. Especially when she was being taught by that family. And housed by that family….and fed and clothed, and all sorts of other things by that family.
She needed to talk with Tenzin again. Maybe they could work things out before they blew up too big and she wound up in a cold war with Tenzin like Naruto was.
Naruto had spent his day visiting the workers he employed and their families to reassure all of them that he would take care of them. The next on his list to visit was Rohi, one of the men who had been the most roughed up by the gangsters. Rohi was one of his first employees as well. A strong loyal and dedicated man who simply wished for fair work to earn a wage and support his family.
Now he was in a hospital bed surrounded by his wife and four kids. Both of his arms and one of his legs were broken and he had some serious bruising of his ribs and face. The image of the man who Naruto considered his responsibility so injured filled him with extreme anger, even as the man himself and his family all smiled and warmly welcomed him.
"Sir, you didn't need to come visit old me! A young man like yourself should be out enjoying his life or visiting a young lady!" Rohi exclaimed as he saw Naruto enter.
"Nonsense. You and the others folks at the factory are my first priority, Rohi." Naruto said softly as he gently laid a hand on the man's uninjured leg.
"It really does mean a lot to Rohi, and us that you came sir." Rohi's wife…Kyali if he recalled, said quietly.
Naruto smiled at the woman before glancing at the children. This family seemed so much closer and happier than his own. All the more reason for him to make sure they were taken care of.
"I didn't come to just give you my well wishes. I've set up several small accounts with my bank today to make sure each of my employees and their families have enough to live on while they become healthy again. Well that and while I rebuild the factory." Naruto said with a smile.
Rohi blinked in shock, likewise so did Kyali and their children before the children and Rohi's dutiful wife seemed to become worried.
"I mean no offense sir but Rohi was injured so badly because he tried to stop those gangsters from forcing their way into the factory." Kyali said.
"Kyali!" Rohi tried to shush her.
"No! He needs to know." Kyali responded with intensity before turning back to Naruto. "That earthbender already knocked him out of the fight but made an example out of Rohi for trying to fight back by breaking his arms. I don't want to worry about thugs storming in and hurting him again."
Naruto was silent as he stared back at the woman. He felt guilty about all of this. He had been the one to ignore the repeated threats levied at him by the triads. He hadn't really thought much about them trying anything. After all, he was one of Republic City's golden children. To attack his business was unheard of. To attack his workers was uncalled for.
He needed to have a word with the triads. It would be nice to work out too.
"I promise you, I will make sure this sort of thing never happens again. Just rest easy okay, Rohi? I want you up and training new workers as soon as you can." Naruto said getting a confused look from the man. He hadn't been a trainer previously.
"Sir?" Rohi asked in confusion.
"Well, I wanted to promote you, but I fear Miss Kyali will wring my neck if I put you in as head of security. Floor trainer will have to do." Naruto said with a reassuring grin.
"Thank you sir! I won't let you down on this." Rohi thanked him.
"I know you won't. Miss Kyali, this is the account information with the bank. If there's any issues my address is on the back so you can reach me if they give you any trouble." The blond further explained.
Kyali caused Naruto's back to pop as she hugged him tightly causing him to chuckle at the reaction. It made him feel pretty good to have such a happy reaction to something he was doing. He cared about these people even if they weren't close to him.
With that, Naruto said his goodbyes before heading off from the hospital. He needed to visit a few clubs. Some people had some information, he was sure of it.
One thing was certain, this wasn't a typical move of the triads. His factory was far too big in business to suffer such an open act from the gangs. Which meant they probably had some support from someone with a lot of power. That made things a bit more problematic, but Naruto wasn't about to sit aside and let this go unanswered.
Korra quietly approached Tenzin as he oversaw the acolytes replacing the panels for the gates. She winced at the sight of the blackened and cracked panels that were being drug off. Stopping beside Tenzin she dropped her head slightly before speaking.
"I'm really sorry…about everything I said. It was uncalled for." Korra apologized. "I was really frustrated with myself, and I took it out on you."
Tenzin nodded. "I think I owe you an apology too. I was trying to teach you about patience, but I lost mine."
Korra smiled. "What about with Naruto, maybe you two could talk like this and I'm not saying it will be perfectly fine right away but a start could be good."
"No. The situation with Naruto and I isn't something we are going to discuss. It's also none of your business Korra." Tenzin said, though he simply seemed more tired than upset.
"Okay…no hard feelings?" She asked, putting the discussion regarding the other bender aside for now.
"Of course not. By the way, you were really good out there tonight. You moved just like an airbender." He said with a grin.
Korra's eyes widened at what she had just heard. "Wait, you stayed and watched?"
"I did. Pro-bending turned out to be the perfect teaching tool for you. Perhaps different students require different approaches, sometimes drastically different ones." Tenzin admitted.
Korra nodded and grinned as she started to leave. She was pretty ecstatic from his words. "Alright then I'll see you in the morning bright and early for airbending practice. Oh and by the way I kind of permanently joined the Fire Ferrets and we start playing in the tournament in a couple of weeks."
As she disappeared back into the compound Tenzin realized what she said and let out a sigh. He would always wonder where all these teenagers got all this energy. He didn't recall being like that at their age.
The next morning Korra was forced to be up bright and early with her teammates. As it turned out, benign the rookie team meant that they got the worst time slot on the gym hours. Mako and Bolin didn't seem to mind all that much, though Mako did still manage to aggravate Korra occasionally by acting all put upon by having to train her up for the tournament. Not that she let him just say it and get away with it. Despite what most might expect, out of the three in the room she was easily the strongest, and not just in bending. She was happy enough to make use of the extra punch she packed with her physique.
Sadly their session for the day ended with the unpleasant meeting of Butakha, the boss of the entire pro-bending arena. He owned the property, the equipment, and through means of salary and room and board…the players. Especially the Fire Ferrets.
After pretty much taking every bit of money the team earned Butakha dropped the bomb on them that they needed to scrape another thirty thousand yuans to participate in the tournament. Korra thought it was highway robbery but didn't say anything as she let Bolin and Mako handle the man. That brought them to trying to figure out what to do for their buy in for the tournament.
"You wouldn't happen to have some secret Avatar stash of money we could borrow form would you?" Bolin asked.
"Sorry, I got nothing." Korra replied as she pulled her pockets inside out. "I've never really had to worry about money. There's always been someone looking out for me."
"Then I wouldn't say you have nothing." Mako remarked as he collected up the gear the team had used.
"Sorry, I didn't mean–" Korra stammered as she realized she had put her foot in her mouth.
"No, it's alright. It's just that, ever since we lost our parents, we've been on our own." Bolin said a bit someberly.
"I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Korra apologized.
"So anyway." Mako began hotly, forcibly shifting topic from discussing the loss of parents. "How are we gonna come up with the money we need?"
"Ooh! Ooh! I got it!" Bolin excitedly hollered. "I've been training Pabu to do circus tricks."
Bolin presented the team mascot, his pet Fire Ferret Pabu to the other two with pride. "Now people would pay good money to see that."
"Come on Bolin. We need serious ideas." Mako snapped.
"I was serious." The earthbender mumbled as he pulled the Ferret closer to himself.
"Don't worry about it. I'll figure something out…I always do." Mako said as he left the room, missing the determined look on his younger brother's face.
Later that day, in one of the busiest squares in town, Bolin and Pabu had set up a tiny street performer set. He wore a cheap costume and Pabu was done up in a little hat and vest Bolin had made for him from an old curtain.
"Come one come all to see Pabu, the fantastic Fire Ferret as he crosses the ladder of peril-" And here he gasped for dramatic effect. "Upside down!"
People didn't really stop. The ladder was just a board balanced on both ends by a pair of cups and Pabu seemed more interested in grooming himself with his tongue than doing tricks. At least until Bolin proved his training had been effective with a simple 'psst' sound that sent Pabu into a handstand as he crossed the board.
"Big finish buddy, stick the landing!" Bolin whispered, getting Pabu to flip and land in a pose.
"Ta-da!" He cried, getting a single coin tossed into his collection cup. "Thank you ladies and gentlemen."
"You are too kind, really too kind. You can come back here and put money in this…okay, that's fine." Bolin sagged as he realized they had only made a single coin all day.
"One Yuan down…twenty nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine to go." Bolin said sadly.
As he pouted at the lack of earnings a cherry red satomobile pulled up in front of him. It was brand new and clearly cost a fortune. The window rolled down to reveal a bender in a blue jacket reminiscent of water tribe style but mixed with that of Republic City.
"Hey Bolin, is that you?" The man asked with a sly grin.
"Oh, hey there Shady Shin." Bolin awkwardly replied.
Shin smirked and got out of his car, showing off the expensive clothes and accessories he had as he did. "Heard you're a big time pro-bending player now. Not bad."
"Uh, thanks." Bolin replied sheepishly.
"So listen. I got an offer for you. Lightning Bolt Zolt is looking to hire some extra muscle." Shin said with never dropping his smirk.
"Uh, I don't know, Shin. Mako told me to stay away from the Triple Threats." Bolin said.
Shin simply scoffed. "Your brother ain't the boss of you. It's just a little security work. Nothing crooked I swear. Just a punk who's been trying to scare some of the folks we're protecting you know how it is."
Shin tossed a wad of Yuans into Bolin's cup, more than the Fire Ferrets had made from their last match before all their expenses came out. He couldn't even mask the gasp from seeing so much money so casually tossed his way.
"So, you game?" Shin asked with a weasely smile.
And that's it for today. I have to cut it there because if I don't this bad boy will be double the length. So next time we get to see what exactly Naruto has been up to after making sure his workers were taken care of and for those familiar with the show we receive a little revelation.
Till Next Time.