The Avatar and The Revolutionary

by Agurra of the Darkness

Behind the mask wasn't a fraud trying to incite war, but a visionary hoping to inspire change. Someone truly chosen by the spirits, but besieged by those who would misuse their power. Could he make the world truly equal for all? Or would his vision become another crusade snuffed about before it was finished? Let this Amon try to make a better world.

4. Chapter Three - Differing Perspectives

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; it is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Avatar: The Legend of Korra is owned by Nickelodeon. I own nothing. I am just a fan.

Special Thanks to The Fan Without a Face and Mustard for their contributions to this series.

Author's Note: Hello everyone, here we are with another chapter. I hope you all enjoy it. I, Metroid, the co-writer of the story, apologize for the delay. I have been sick for a while, and I am getting better now. I hope you like the chapter. Without further ado, let us begin.

Chapter Three- Differing Perspectives

"Alright Korra, let's give this another try." Tenzin spoke with a trace of hesitation, Korra standing before the Airbending gates once again.

After the previous day had ended with the young Avatar being knocked for a loop, the Air Master knew he'd have a lot of work ahead of him. Korra's own frustration at her failure didn't help either, practically storming off the island to clear her head.

Naturally he'd be apprehensive of just letting her run loose, but after her display of humility the previous day, he decided she'd earned a degree of leeway. And to his surprise, Korra returned before dark without incident, even if it was a little close for his liking. Most surprising was her attitude, she appeared calmer somehow.

And that seemed to carry over to her training, as while Korra's face was still focused, it lacked the previous aggressive edge and brash arrogance from before. Something had clearly changed.

Giving the nod to Jinora, she let loose a blast of air that once again caused the gates to rapidly spin, Korra eying the gates carefully.

Taking a single breath, she advanced more cautiously than before, getting between the first few gates at the entrance without much trouble. Keeping her eyes trained on the gates she stepped forward trying to keep pace with the gates, making sure to recall what Tenzin had said previously about spiral motions.

From outside the veteran Airbenders watched with surprise at the Avatar's progress.

"Wow, Korra's doing great." Ikki cheered as she watched onwards.

"She's keeping pace with the gates and hasn't gotten hit yet, she might actually make it." Jinora spoke with a hint of admiration at the young woman's progress.

Tenzin meanwhile was again stunned by his pupil's progress. "She's actually keeping calm and listening to what I'd mentioned before, maybe this won't be as difficult as I originally believed."

Within the gates, Korra had made it about half way through the gates and could see the exit just a few gates away.

"I'm actually doing it. HAH, take that Gates. Avatar Korra's on her way to being an Airbender."

Korra's little celebration however proved premature, as her focus slipped for a moment, causing one of the gates to clip her elbow.

"Ugh, damnit." Korra swore with a wince of pain, her concentration starting to fracture.

"Just stay calm Korra. Be like the leaf and follow the flow of the gates." Tenzin yelled out to her, which for a moment seemed to click as she took another few steps forward. Sadly it was brief as she overstepped causing another gate to slam into her knee.

"OUCH!" Korra yelled as her sense of focus was finally broken, her body instinctively stepping back in response to the pain, causing it to meet with another gate.

Outside the Airbenders flinched, watching with sympathy and pity as Korra was quickly hit again and again by the gates, going on for several seconds, before she was finally launched out the way she entered, landing flat on her face.

Silence held for a moment save for the sound of the gates still spinning, Korra seemingly just laying there for a moment. Tenzin merely sighed. "Her focus still needs work, but she did much better than before."

Slowly he walked towards the downed Avatar, Ikki and Jinora walking alongside him. "Well, that was an improvement Korra, with a little more practice I'm confident you'll make it through without fail."

His words were supportive and Korra did finally pick herself up….only for Tenzin to immediately start to panic when he saw Korra's rage filled face, along with her clenched fists.

"Oh no."

Practically leaping to her feet, the angry Avatar spun towards the gates, fist reeling back with flames starting to form as she prepared to incinerate them. However, as she stepped forward, a familiar voice rang through her head.

"Just learn to take things slower is all. Who knows, you might end up liking it….assuming you get that temper of yours under control."

From the side Tenzin looked about ready to have a heart attack at Korra's attempt to torch a two thousand year old historical treasure. However, right before the flames were unleashed, Korra's foot stopped mid step and the flames in her hand fizzled out.

The young Avatar looked at her hand as she recalled the noodle cook's words and how he'd stopped her from similarly setting his cart on fire. "Maybe taking things a little slower wouldn't hurt."

Hesitatingly Tenzin and his daughters approached Korra, wondering if she was merely pausing before attacking again.

"Hey Korra, you alright? You're weirdly quiet all of a sudden." Ikki, ever the blunt one, said what the others were thinking, getting Korra to break from her trance.

"Huh, oh, yeah. Sorry about that, Tenzin, almost torched your fancy airbending tool," Korra tried to sound nonchalant about the whole thing, though Tenzin could tell while she'd held herself back, she was still a bit frustrated over the matter.

"Yes well, I'm glad to see you restrained yourself Korra. Airbending takes time to master and you seem to be slowly grasping the fundamentals. With more time, I'm confident we'll make an Airbender out of you yet."

His words seemed to make Korra perk up a bit as she turned back to the gates, slamming her fist into her open palm.

"Alright, let's go again. I'm sure I can make it this time."

Tenzin however, held his hand up and quickly shook his head. "Actually, I think we'll focus on meditation instead. A calm mind is what's needed most in Airbending and you still haven't even begun to master the basics there."

Korra's fire quickly fizzled out with a groan, already dreading the idea of meditating. Yet, it didn't last long as she felt a bit of joy build up in her at the progress she'd managed to make while looking towards the city across the bay.

"Wait till Naruto hears about this."

However, as the pair prepared to head to the gazebo to mediate an Air Acolyte approached the group.

"Apologies for interrupting but there's a phone call for Korra. Someone named Naruto?"

Korra immediately perked up, though quickly shrunk when she felt Tenzin's parental gaze peering down on her.

"Something you'd like to tell me Korra?"

-Scene Transition-

"I still can't believe we're even doing this."

"Come on Mako, try to be open-minded."

Looking out from the window of his noodle cart, Naruto watched as his current two customers were in the middle of a disagreement. Specifically Bolin trying to get his brother and fellow Pro-Bender, Mako, to agree to hear out Naruto's suggestion from the previous night.

"Seriously sourpuss, not like you've got anything to lose at this point." Naruto smirked while stirring some noodles. "Actually, you'll lose pretty much everything if you do nothing, so it's kind of out of your hands."

The young firebender glared at the blonde, less than amused by his wisecrack. "Sorry I'm not crazy about potentially being humiliated by letting some untested rookie join our team a match before the Championship Tournament?"

Bolin flinched a little at his brother's irritated tone, but couldn't exactly fault some of his logic. "Mako, we don't exactly have a lot of options and Naruto wouldn't just set us up to fail right?" His face turned to Naruto, practically begging for help. "You wouldn't do that to us, right?"

"Listen, Korra might not be a Pro-Bender, but I've seen her in action. She's really talented and can hold her own in a fight. All you need to do is show her the basics and she'll pick it up in no time." Naruto spoke with confidence as he poured the brothers their respective bowls.

Mako sneered a little as his noodles were pushed his way and broke his chopsticks. "I'll believe it when I see it."

Bolin followed silently with his brother, while Naruto seemed to perk up at something behind him. "Well you won't have to wait long, cause she's about, oh, fifty yards away and closing fast."

Both brothers immediately turned around and had differing reactions to the sight of a massive polar bear dog charging towards them at an impressive speed. The sight caused Bolin's faithful companion Pabu, who'd been sitting on the counter enjoying a small bowl of nuts, to immediately panic and hide in his master's shirt.

Atop her faithful steed, Korra was eagerly riding towards Naruto's cart, the noodle stand owner waving to her as she tugged the reins to get Naga to stop before causing a particularly painful collision.

The result kicked up a bit of dust and rock, one of which lightly smacked against the forehead of the unfortunate Mako, whose already dour expression turned even more sullen by the minute.

"I'm immediately regretting this."

Korra smiled apologetically at the young firebender and jumped off her friend's back, quickly approaching the stand. "Hey Naruto, sorry I'm a little late."

"Trouble with Tenzin again?" Naruto spoke with a knowing smirk, causing the Avatar to shrink a little bit.

"There might've been a little questioning before I got here. Maybe warn me next time you decide to call out of the blue." Korra's tone had a bit more bite as she lightly glared at the noodle seller, taking a seat at the counter on the other side of Bolin.

Naruto chuckled and bowed his head a little. "Sorry, it was a kind of spur of the moment thing." He quickly prepared a bowl for Korra and handed it to her, which she happily accepted.

"So, what'd you wanna talk about? Need some more help at the shelter?"

"No, I think we should wait until you've had a few dozen more cooking lessons before we try that again." Naruto immediately ducked as Korra threw a piece of fish at his head. "Rather, I wanted to introduce you to some people."

Popping his head out and gesturing to the two other customers. "Korra, meet two of my regulars, Bolin and Mako. Better known as…"

"The Fire Ferrets!" Korra practically jumped in her seat, causing droplets from her still hot soup to go flying, forcing the Pro-Bending duo to duck to avoid getting burned. "I heard your guys match on the radio the other day against the Golden Temple Tigerdillos. Talk about a come from behind victory."

"Yeah, well, it was a hard fought match but we were more than up to the task." Bolin preened at the praise, lightly flexing just to show off while Mako just slurped his noodles, making Korra's eye twitch a little, but still let her excitement remain present.

"Wait, shouldn't you guys be practicing? Don't you have a match tonight?"

Mako seemed to get a little annoyed at the mention, while Bolin shrugged a little. "Well we would, but there's a tiny little hiccup."

Confused, Korra turned to Naruto for an answer.

"Their team's resident Watebender's ego was bigger than his skillset and he quit last night."

Korra's prior excitement shifted to pity as she looked at the two brothers. "I'm sorry to hear that. Don't suppose you guys have a replacement in mind or someone in reserve do you?"

"That's actually why I called you over here Korra." Naruto said, looking a bit proud of himself. "You mentioned yesterday you wanted to get into Pro-Bending and a couple of my regulars happen to be Pro-Benders in need of a Waterbender for their team."

The moodlemaker spoke with a completely nonchalant tone of voice, his smile getting a bit bigger as he saw Korra's own smile start to grow as she put the pieces together. "So, I figured, if you were given the chance you'd want to…"

"YES!" Korra practically jumped out of her seat, unintentionally waterbending the noodles and broth from her bowl, sending them splashing into Naruto's face, leaving the vendor with noodles, vegetables and other ingredients dripping down his face.

Korra, quickly recovering from her high, immediately went about apologizing and grabbing some napkins, before handing them to Naruto to wipe his face. All the while Mako just groaned at the display.

"Real top notch Waterbender you picked for us Naruto. I can already feel my confidence rising."

That comment got a mild glare from Korra, while Naruto, having cleaned his face up enough, looked to the Firebender. "Tell you what, why don't you finish your food and run through some drills with Korra at the arena. I'm pretty confident she'll impress you. Besides, even if she isn't perfect, I imagine you'd rather go down fighting than just surrender right?"

Mako didn't offer a word of argument, while Bolin looked at Korra with excitement. "Whelp, looks like you're officially a member. Welcome to the Fire Ferrets Korra."

Korra quickly grabbed Bolin's hand and shook it. "Happy to be here."

Naruto smiled a little as he could practically feel the beaming joy coming from Korra at being offered a chance to be a Pro-Bender. "Hopefully this'll help keep her mind off Airbending for a little while."

"Just to be clear, you're not officially a member yet." Mako spoke matter of factly as he finished his bowl. "Need to make sure your skills are up to par before we let you join the team for real."

"Way to be a buzzkill Mako." Naruto snarked a little, lightly glaring at the firebender, though Korra was full on glaring at him.

"Oh, I'm pretty confident I'll get it nailed down. Wouldn't be the first time I mastered a new bending skill in record time." Korra's expression turned a little smug, getting Bolin curious.

"Really, like some other kind of Waterbending style? Oh, oh, can you do Plantbending like the guys from Foggy Swamp in the Earth Kingdom?" Bolin got a bit more excited at the idea, having heard of said elusive benders from the many tales of Avatar Aang.

"Sorry, never quite worked that one out, not exactly a lot of plants in the South Pole." Korra sounded a little annoyed admitting to that, especially considering Water was her natural element. "But I'm pretty decent Firebender and Earthbender if I do say so myself."

Both Bolin and Mako were silent for a moment, while Naruto mentally counted to their reaction.

"And three, two, one.."

"WHATTTTT!" Bolin literally jumped up, causing Pabu to leap from his jacket and onto the counter as his master stared and pointed at Korra having trouble processing everything. "But, then you'd have to be…"

Korra's grin returned in full force. "Yup, I'm the Avatar."

The Earthbender's jaw dropped completely as he froze in place, while Mako, looking similarly stunned, managed to control himself better than his brother, Naruto chuckling at his reaction.

"My goodness Korra, I do believe you broke them." Korra in turn feigned a bit of shock and horror, as Naruto lightly elbowed Mako out of his stupor. "So Mako, still having second thoughts?"

Now on the spot, with Korra, Naruto and Bolin, who managed to regain control of his faculties, looking at him waiting for his response, he ultimately sighed in defeat.

"Alright, maybe this won't be as bad as I originally thought."

The three onlookers had varying reactions, with Bolin looking about ready to cry while Korra happily jumped about. "But we're still gonna practice as soon as we're done here, I wanna make sure you know the game inside and out, are we clear?"

Korra stopped jumping and gave her new teammate a mock salute. "Crystal sir."

Mako groaned already feeling a headache coming while Bolin eagerly started chatting up with Korra about their upcoming practice. Naruto meanwhile simply watched the trio with a smile on his face and a warm feeling growing.

"If only the issues in the City could be solved this easily. Life would be a lot simpler."

And again as if on cue, a light scream caught the attention of the four occupants, quickly looking in the direction near an alleyway. Currently there was a young woman pressed against a wall by a man wearing a red jacket with a fur lined collar using one hand to hold her in place and the other to form a fireball.

"I told you lady. Hand over your money now, otherwise I'll have to scar that beautiful face of yours."

Mako's face hardened at the display recognizing. "Agni Kais."

Bolin flinched at the mention of the name while Korra's own expression darkened at the attack. "Another Triad group?"

The Earthbender nodded, looking upon the scene with pity. "Yeah, made up exclusively of firebenders, formed by Fire Nation citizens who supposedly weren't exactly thrilled over how the War ended. Make it their personal mission to ruin the city Aang and his friends helped create."

Korra quickly started cracking her knuckles and taking steps towards the thug. "Well, let's see if a talk with the current Avatar can get them to see things differently."

However, Korra only made it a few steps before another individual approached the Firebending criminal.

The stranger in question was hard to identify due to wearing baggy clothing, having seemingly short black hair and eyes, though what was striking to Korra was the black cloth covering the individual's face, with red circle and the symbol of Equal emblazoned on it.

The would-be victim noticed the oncoming stranger, alerting her attacker. The criminal quickly turned around and shifted his palm to launch the flames in his hand at the oncoming assault. However, the masked stranger quickly closed the gap, grabbed the offending limb by the wrist before it could be directed at him and quickly followed up with two precise strikes with his fingers, one to the shoulder and the other to his bicep.

Like a noodle in boiling water, the arm immediately went limp along with the flames, leaving the criminal shocked. This only became more prominent as the stranger quickly grabbed the remaining arm and spun the Triad member around, before unleashing three more jabs to his back, before letting him go, falling to the ground completely limp, though his open eyes made it clear he was still conscious.

The sight left Korra completely awestruck, her anger replaced with amazement, excitement and surprise.

"What…..what just happened. That guy just jabbed that triad guy a couple of times and suddenly he goes all limp."

Bolin seemed to share the sentiment, looking just as stunned while Mako remained fairly neutral of the display, though again still surprised.

The group was so awestruck and stunned they didn't notice Naruto watching the entire event with a satisfied smirk on his face, which only grew more as the stranger approached the still shaken woman.

"Are you hurt miss?" He asked with a calm tone, that left the victim a little off balance.

"I…no, I'm fine. Just a little shook up is all."

The stranger nodded, and quickly reached into his waist and pulled out some kind of cord, which he set about using to tie up the still paralyzed criminal, who offered no resistance. Once he was properly secured the stranger turned to her.

"Please try to be more careful in the future and contact the police to pick up this scum."

Offering the woman a light bow he quickly turned and ran straight into the alley, disappearing into the labyrinth of back ways.

The woman, still stunned, slid back a little on the wall, trying to regain her barings, with some onlookers quickly running to her aide, leaving the group at the noodle shop to react to the situation in their own way.

"Okay, what was that?" Korra practically shouted pointing at the soon to be active crime scene. "I mean, was that guy a member of another Triad group or some special undercover police officer?"

"I can't believe we just saw an Equalist in broad daylight." Bolin still seemed to be holding a mixture of awe and surprise at what they just witnessed. "I mean I'd heard rumors about them, but I thought they only came out at night."

"Uh, hello. Someone want to clue me in here?" Korra huffed, not happy at being ignored despite asking for an answer twice.

Naruto, ever the informative one, opted to fill in the blanks. "He was one of the Equalists. They're a group that started appearing in Republic City about a year ago. They say their aim is to improve the status of Non-benders within Republic City. Originally they were just an advocacy group who tried to push for reform within the city, before shifting around to helping combat the various triad groups within the city."

Korra turned back and looked on, still surprised by the display, more specifically the triad member being placed against the nearby walls while another citizen checked on the would-be victim.

"Generally from what I've heard, they try to keep things relatively peaceful, but if they need to fight they use Chi-Blocking, the same technique Princess Azula's friend Ty Lee used to paralyze and even shut down a bender's abilities during the 100 Years War."

At the mention of shutting down bending, Korra's amazement shifted to shock and a hint of worry. "Taking away someone's ability to bend?"

Shaking that thought off she looked back to the scene, a police car finally arriving with one officer hoisting the criminal up into his cart as the various witnesses detailed what happened.

"Not gonna lie, that sounds like a pretty scary technique. I mean…." Korra's eyes drifted to her arms, imagining those same strikes robbing her of all the strength and skill she'd spent her life cultivating. "Taking away someone's ability to move and bend?"

Her eyes widened as she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder, finding Naruto offering her a comforting smile. "I know it sounds bad, but it's actually pretty tame. The paralysis is temporary, same with the bending removal. You just end up feeling sore for a bit, the Equalists aren't interested in crippling or killing people, just trying to help out."

"Still weird to see them out in broad daylight." Mako absentmindedly stirred his noodles while watching the scene. "Usually they stick to the shadows of the poorer districts after dark, though I've heard rumors they've been getting more bold as of late for some reason."

Though he didn't intend it, his tone had an ominous air about it that left Korra a little spooked. "I mean, sure that sounds shady, but they are just helping out right?"

Mako shrugged. "Some of their more vocal members can be a bit on the pushy side, but Bolin and I have never had a problem with them. Long as they don't cause any real trouble, I'm fine with having them around."

That seemed to help put Korra at ease, yet even then her eyes still drifted to the alley the Equalist retreated to, knowing that there were many like him hiding throughout the city.

"Okay, let's all lighten up guys." Bolin quickly leaned in with his bright smile, Pabu on his head just to add to the disarming charm. "All this super serious discussion is really interesting, but we have a match to prep for and a new teammate to break in. So, what say we head down to the arena, and run through some basics with Korra."

His words seemed to work, Mako letting out a breath as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a few yuans. "Yeah, we've got more important things to worry about right now."

Placing the money on the table, which Naruto quickly collected, Mako shifted his attention to Korra. "The match is in about 7 hours. Think you can figure out how to Pro-Bend in that amount of time."

Korra's fiery grin returned in full force, slamming her fist into her open palm. "Let's do this!"

Nodding, the brother's turned and started heading for the Stadium, Korra turning back to Naruto who, in contrast to the somewhat harsh discussion, was now looking pretty proud of himself.

"Well, I do believe a certain Avatar owes this noodle vendor something." He tapped his finger with his chin, never losing his smug grin. "But, what oh what could it be?"

Much to his surprise however, Korra quickly responded, tightly hugging him while bouncing up and down in a manner that betrayed her more aggressive persona.

"THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!" Korra's grip refused to break as Naruto struggled a little to breathe, yet still laughed in spite of it.

"H-Heh, you're welcome. Happy to lend a hand where it's needed."

Korra, still smiling, broke the hug and looked ready to head to the Stadium as well, but not before giving Naruto one last look.

"Make sure to tune into the match. I won't forgive you if you miss my debut."

Naruto laughed heartily. "I'll glue my radio to my ear so I don't miss a moment."

Korra chuckled as she hopped on Naga and rode her away, leaving the noodle vendor alone, his smile dropping a little.

"That went a bit better than expected, though it seems like Mako isn't quite as onboard with us as I thought. Hopefully it shouldn't be too much of a problem."

Walking back to his cart, he opened one of the hatches and pulled out his portable radio. "Looks like I'll be getting some entertainment before the Revelation. Here's hoping Korra puts on a good show."

-Scene Transition-

"This has certainly been an interesting Pro-Bending match ladies and gentlemen. The Fire Ferrets seemed on shaky ground after substituting Hansook for the Avatar of all people, who clearly needed some spit and polish when it came to her Pro-Bending. But with some surprising teamwork the trio has managed to push the Pinnacle Palace Platypus Bears back and are just one victory away from qualifying for the Pro-Bending Championship Tournament. Can the Avatar help bring them to victory, or will the Platypus Bears snatch it away from them."

Korra lightly glared at the announcer's booth as being reminded of her minor misstep…literally. Once they left Naruto's cart, Mako and Bolin gave her a quick crash course on all the rules of Pro-Bending.

Despite listening to many of the broadcasts at the South Pole, she had tended to focus purely on the action without paying much attention to the rules, not helped that she couldn't exactly see the game in action.

Thankfully she'd been given enough time to get the basics down, along with the standard forms which while more rigid compared to traditional bending, was much quicker in terms of offense and defense, which she had managed to pick up quickly enough. Sadly that didn't stop her from getting a little over zealous and, much like with the gates, overstepping and earning herself a penalty that ultimately lost them a round.

Now they were down to the last round, and with her having a fairly decent grasp of the fundamentals.

"Alright, one more round and the match is ours." Mako said firmly as the Fire Ferrets stood ready at the first Zone. "Think you can keep your feet in our territory this time?"

Korra growled at the shot thrown her way.

"Come on guys, just focus on winning the match. We can smack talk each other afterwards." Bolin spoke out, eyes still trained on their opponents, though his tone made it clear he was practically begging his teammates to keep their head in the game.

Both teams stood at the ready, waiting for the signal from the Ref, who took a quick glance at both teams to make sure they were in place, before giving the signal.

"And the final round of this match is underway ladies and gentlemen."

Chaos quickly erupted as earth, fire and water flew in every direction, though it only lasted for a few seconds before the elemental assault was focused on one person in particular.

"Looks like the Platypus Bears are continuing to target the greenhorn Avatar with a nearly overwhelming barrage of attacks. And I get the feeling she'd need more than just waterbending if she wants to survive this onslaught."

Korra grit her teeth as she struggled to dodge and block every attack, forming a shield of water in front of her to block an oncoming fire blast, only for an earth disk to burst through it, pushing her backwards, breaking her concentration and dropping the shield.

Seeing an opening the opposing team's firebender went in for an attack only for an earth disk from Bolin to strike him in the chest, knocking him flat on his back, Mako quickly following up with three fire blasts that forced him and his earthbending teammate to back off.

Korra looked grateful for the assist only to be reminded there were three opponents as the opposing waterbender hit her clean with a watery blast that knocked her flat on her back, forcing her to quickly backflip to her feet to avoid another blast.

A loud buzzer sound however, quickly drew her eyes to the ground and angrily growling when she saw she'd crossed one of the zone lines.

"And the Avatar is pushed back into Zone 2. She'd better pick up the pace soon, otherwise she'll be knocked back into the water like in the previous round."

Feeling her anger flare up, Korra quickly launched a blast of water at the bender who knocked her down, only for him to easily catch the blast and fire it directly back at her, knocking her down. Thankfully no buzzer sounded, to indicate she'd been pushed to the final zone.

"Looks like the Platypus Bears are taking a moment from focusing on the Avatar to shift to the two bending brothers. And with three elements to two, they've got the pair on the ropes."

Korra quickly got back to her feet, spotting Bolin and Mako struggling to stay within Zone 1, Mako's fire barely getting into the opponent's zone before being smothered by the waterbender, with the earthbender sending several discs in retaliation.

Bolin quickly ran in front to cover for his brother, destroying one disc with one of his own, smashing the second with a punch, only for a third one to slam into his gut, sending him crashing backwards into Mako, sending both flying past the border into Zone 2.

"And with some quick teamwork the Platypus Bears have pushed all the Ferrets into Zone 2. If these frisky Ferrets don't do something this will be the end of their Pro-Bending Season."

Frustration quickly bubbled up in Korra as she turned towards the three opposing benders, looking quite proud of themselves as they advanced into the Ferret's territory. The young Avatar quickly set to release another blast of water, only for the three to repeat the same tactic, unleashing water, fire and earth all at once.

Mako and Bolin were still reeling from the last attack and couldn't get up in time to muster a defense, as Korra stared down the wall of elements heading straight for her, no hope of blocking any of them.

In that instant time started to slow to a crawl, Korra's mind quickly shifting into overdrive, trying to think of some kind of a solution to get her out of this inevitable disaster.

And in that moment, two familiar voices again echoed in her mind.

"Just learn to take things slower."

"Airbending is all about spiral motions. When you meet resistance, you must switch direction at a moment's notice."

Korra's eyes closed as she focused on the words from both Naruto and Tenzin, what they meant and more importantly how to use them.

"Learn to be patient, focus on reacting….Be like the Leaf."

Mindset in hand, Korra's eyes shot open as the earth disks proved the fastest and were heading straight for her face. Yet just as the stone was about to make contact with her face, with a quick shift of her feet, she spun clean out of the way of the attack.

The opposing team looked surprised by the sudden dodge, more so when she quickly did the same to avoid the oncoming fire and water attacks just as easily, her expression one of stillness and calm.

"Unbelievable. Mere moments ago the Avatar was completely at the mercy of the Platypus Bears. But with some impressive footwork unlike any Pro-Bender I've seen, she's still in the match."

The aforementioned Pro-Bending team, unwilling to change tactics, tried another elemental barrage to take out what they thought was the weakest link in the team. However, to their shock, once again Korra easily and effortlessly danced out of the way of their attacks, weaving past each element in quick succession to their growing irritation.

However, that irritation proved to be their undoing as the team's resident waterbender quickly found himself getting sent flying thanks to an earth disk to the face, flying backwards across the arena floor into Zone 2 of his own territory.

The remaining two members of the team, momentarily shocked by the attack, quickly remembered the other Fire Ferrets a few seconds too late, as Mako was right on them, blasting them backwards to their teammate with his fiery attacks.

"Amazing. The Fire Ferrets have turned the tide and pushed their opponents back into their own territory and are not letting up the assault."

Bolin and Mako quickly rushed into the opposing zone while their opponents were still down, Korra meanwhile stunned somewhat silent by her own performance, completely deaf to the loud buzzer sound of her teammates successfully knocking the still stunned Platypus Bears into the drink below.

"It worked….It actually worked. I WAS THE LEAF!" Korra's face broke into a massive smile as she jumped up with excitement, just missing Bolin and Mako running up to her with matching smiles on their faces.

"And with that exceptional come from behind performance the Fire Ferrets have won this match and a coveted seat in the Championship. Lookout Republic City, with the Avatar on their side, we could be seeing the dawn of some new champion Pro-Benders."

Whilst the Fire Ferrets celebrated their victory, from within the stands a familiar arrow marked man stared down at the display with a mixture of annoyance and surprise.

-Scene Transition-

"And you're absolutely certain this information is accurate?"

"Yes sir, Lightning Bolt Zolt as well as several of his lieutenants will be meeting tomorrow night. If we strike, we can finally cripple their organization."

From behind his cart with his hidden radio, Naruto felt a ghost of a smile form on his face, and quickly took a moment to make sure no one was around to hear what he was saying.

"It seems like we'll need to pay Viper a visit to congratulate him on his recent release and hopefully he'll be more than happy to reveal where exactly this meeting will be taking place."

"Given his position among the Triple Threats, I'm confident he'll know the exact location."

At the mention of the waterbending criminal Naruto felt a degree of satisfaction well up inside of him. "And it looks like I'll be able to get some revenge for Old Man Chung after the crap that assclown pulled. Would've cleaned his clock sooner if Korra hadn't shown up."

At the mention of the Avatar, Naruto felt his grin drop, a sense of unease forming inside of him, knowing full well that once he carried out this plan, it would likely bring to question whether or not Korra was truly a friend or foe.

"Here's hoping luck is on my side this time." His eyes drifted to his bandaged left hand, slowly and angrily clenching it as a familiar sensation coursed through his body. "For once."

Shaking that thought aside he quickly picked the receiver of his radio back up. "Awesome work as usual Liu. I always know I can rely on you."

"No need to thank me Sir, I'm merely doing what's required."

Naruto merely shook his head. "Come on Liu. Don't sell yourself short. You're probably one of the few people I can genuinely trust with this whole thing. And again, I told you to give the Sir thing a rest. At least when I don't have my mask on."

"...Fine, but I'm still not happy about being so informal."

Naruto chuckled a little at his second in command's stubbornness, though perked up when he heard a mixture of laughter and footsteps not too far away. "Sorry Liu, customers are coming. I'll meet you and the others at Viper's location in two hours. Make sure everyone is ready."

"Will do Sir, just make sure you are ready as well."

Naruto's eyes drifted to the compartment in his cart, noting a large bag next to the radio, and a corner of something yellow poking out of it.

"Believe me, I'll be ready. Over and out."

Quickly hanging up the radio, and shutting the compartment before covering the door, Naruto quickly popped back up and opened the window of his cart, to be greeted by three familiar faces.

"Well, well, if it isn't the hottest team of Pro-Benders in the league! Happy to have you back!"

The three benders all had mixed looks of pride, excitement and joy on their faces….and Mako who was content with a slightly bigger than average smile on his face as they all sat down at the counter, Naruto already working on preparing them a bowl each.

"You listened to the entire match, right?" Korra asked a little eagerly, looking at the noodle vendor almost pleading for a response, Naruto in turn laughed.

"Well that depends, did you manage to get a penalty during your very first round for stepping over the line or was that someone else?"

Mako snickered along with Bolin, earning a heated glare from Korra, who seemed to deflate a little at Naruto's response.

"Okay, I made one mistake, but I came around in the end didn't I?"

Naruto in turn smiled and nodded. "Yes you did. One heck of a turn around from what I heard." The blonde quickly poured out three bowls for the three Pro-benders and handed them off. "And pulled off some impressive dodging by the sounds of it."

"It was totally incredible." Bolin practically jumped some noodles in his mouth. "I mean she was totally untouchable. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before."

Mako nodded, taking a more composed sample of his own bowl. "Yeah, didn't look like any Pro-Bending forms I'd ever seen before. Or even Waterbending for that matter."

Korra, now looking a little smug about her accomplishment, felt the need to preen a little. "Well, it wasn't exactly Pro-Bending or Waterbending. Actually it was…"

"It was Airbending Forms."

Korra practically jolted, her knee actually smacking the counter, though she barely noticed that, head turning around along with the others, save Naruto whose own smile narrowed a little at the figure standing just behind them, who was currently leveling a neutral expression at the Avatar, currently sweating under his gaze.

"Oh….hey there Tenzin. How's it going?"

A vein started to pulse on the air master's forehead as he struggled to keep calm. "Considering you never came back to the temple and I didn't know where you were until I overheard your debut on the White Lotus's radio, I'd say it's far from ideal, Korra."

The Avatar immediately started to sink into her seat, Tenzin's words pressing down on her like weights, Mako and Bolin offering little help since neither was sure what to do. Naruto meanwhile, merely shifted gears and adopted his usual bright grin.

"Councilman Tenzin, a pleasure to finally meet you and welcome to my cart. Korra's told me quite a bit about you."

Tenzin's eyes shifted to the still smiling noodle vendor, drifting to the sign on the cart and narrowing as he read it.

"And I take it you are the Naruto who called Air Temple Island earlier today?"

"Guilty. Sorry if I pulled Korra away from some important Avatar training, but when she mentioned wanting to get into Pro-Bending and some of my frequent customers happened to be Pro-Benders in need of a Waterbender, well it only felt proper to let Korra know."

Tenzin's eyes briefly shifted to the two aforementioned bending brothers, Bolin awkwardly waving while Mako suddenly found his bowl of noodles especially interesting.

"Oh, I'm sorry Councilman, might I offer you a bowl. I imagine you must be a bit hungry having come from Air Temple Island and by the sounds of it, watching most of Korra's match?"

Naruto continued to keep up his friendly demeanor, though his mind was going a mile a minute. "Tenzin has always seemed like one of the more level-headed members of the Council, this is a perfect chance to see where exactly he stands."

The Air Nomad looked briefly at the bowls on the counter, before shaking his head. "Thank you, but I'm fine. I only came here to speak to Korra."

"Well this seems like a pretty personal conversation, so we'll just get out of your hair and leave you to it." Mako spoke quickly, placing a couple of yuans on the counter, nudging Bolin along who offered Korra look of sympathy as he started walking, "Good job tonight, Korra, and good luck"

"See you at practice tomorrow Korra. Remember to come early."

Once the brother's were gone, Korra was left shrinking under Tenzin's gaze, briefly glancing back at Naruto. "Hey, I own the cart and can't exactly leave until you pay."

Seeing as she wasn't gonna get any help Korra opted to just take things on the chin and hope to avoid too much of a lecture.

"Tenzin, I know how you feel about Pro-Bending, how it's inferior to normal bending and everything, but with how things were going with my Airbending training, I just needed something to take my mind off things for a bit. I didn't mean to keep you in the dark about it, but it was sort of a last minute thing."

Surprisingly the older airbender didn't immediately go into some rehearsed tirade, sighing instead as he looked back at the stadium. "You can imagine my concern when I don't see you for several hours only to overhear you suddenly taking part in one of these…unconventional competitions."

The Avatar had a look of regret on her face, which Tenzin picked up on. "However, it would seem there is some merit to it. I came to retrieve you during your last match and, well…I found the thrill of the game a little more inviting than I anticipated."

Korra and Naruto blinked rapidly in surprise, looking to each other for a moment before turning back to Tenzin. He coughed and regained most of his composure, "Judging by that last round, it appears you're finally starting to think like an Airbender."

"So…does that mean I can stay on the team?" Korra's voice was hopeful as she leaned in towards Tenzin, who groaned as a parent would in such a situation.

"As long as it doesn't take time away from your Airbending training….I suppose it couldn't hurt."

Korra let out a loud whoop and gave her mentor a quick hug before following up with a high five to Naruto, matching her smile with one of his own.

"However, I'd prefer you come home before dark." Tenzin's voice grew more serious as his eyes drifted to the barely lite streets of the city. "The Triads tend to be more active during the night and the last thing I want is you getting dragged into another unnecessary fight."

Korra, still a little on her excitement high, merely rolled her eyes at such a thing. "Please, those goons should know better than to mess with me. Plus, from what I've heard, the Equalists are taking care of them."

Tenzin's eyes widened considerably at the mention of the group, looking as though he just burst a blood vessel. "Korra, do not refer to those criminals as though they are any better."

The atmosphere of the area suddenly grew much colder, Korra's previous joviality drying up, while Naruto from behind the counter narrowed his eyes and his smile turned flat.

"Tenzin, what're you talking about? I saw one of them early today and he helped save an innocent lady from an Agni Kai member."

Tenzin pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration at Korra's attempt at a defense. "They may seem noble Korra, but they are still a vigilante group taking the law into their own hands. If they truly care about helping, they'd leave this to the police."

Her mentor's words stopped Korra cold, unsure of how to respond, only to feel Naruto's own cold stare behind her.

"And what about if the police aren't around, Councilman?"

Both benders looked at the non-bending cook, now completely devoid of his usual cheer and mirth. "Are you really saying the people of this city should just lay down and let those thugs walk all over them?"

Naruto's own irritation was evident from his tone as he walked out from behind his cart. "Though, I suppose that's a little easier to say when you have bending to fall back on if you really need it. Not so much so for a good chunk of us."

Tenzin looked almost like he'd been slapped by the accusation, Korra similarly looking stunned.

"That's not what….I can understand yours and other people's frustrations over how things have been as of late. My father always intended for Republic City to be a haven for everyone, bender and non-bender. Yet, sadly accomplishing that goal has been a slow process. One we are still trudging through even to this day."

Naruto didn't respond, crossing his arms in annoyance, letting Tenzin continue to speak.

"However, lashing out at those who've wronged you will only escalate things and sooner or later, lead to unchecked violence from both sides."

"That doesn't solve the issue of things right now. The police can't be everywhere at once, and people need help all over the city. Unless someone does something about the Triads, things are just gonna keep getting worse." Naruto spoke with a firm tone.

"I agree, but I can't rightly condone civilians stepping up, taking justice into their own hands and sorting matters out however they see fit."

"For some of them it's the only justice they'll ever properly see."

"If people continue to respond like this - dressed in masks and ducking away into the shadows in order to avoid being caught - then soon enough they won't just be acting in defense of the innocent. They'll go steps farther into securing whatever they want."

"They aren't a gang. They're not going around throwing their power every which way to scare and terrorize innocents."

By now Korra could feel the tension between the two as the conversation continued to escalate.

"Power isn't measured by just throwing water, fire, and earth around, young man. If they have an ability they can use to their advantage over others, a time will come where they may consider using it to change things as they see fit."

Naruto tried to keep his own anger in check to avoid causing a potential scene, yet the Air Master's words were chipping away at his patience.

Luckily someone else decided to step in.

"Uh, hello aren't you both forgetting someone?"

The two feuding individuals shifted back to Korra, now looking less skittish and more serious. "I've only been in this city for a few days, but it's pretty obvious things are pretty out of balance here. And it's the Avatar's job to restore balance. Sounds to me like this is right up my alley."

The two had differing reactions to this sentiment. Tenzin looked positively mortified at the idea of Korra going on some kind of anti-criminal crusade, while Naruto looked momentarily stunned, yet also pleasantly surprised.

"Seems more and more like I was right about you after all, Korra."

Regaining his bearing, Tenzin coughed to try and retake control of the conversation. "We can discuss this later at the Temple Korra. For now, it's time we head back, it's getting late and I imagine Pema is struggling to get Meelo and Ikki to go to sleep without me around."

Seeing the previous tension was gone, Korra deflated a little in relief before giving Naruto another smile.

"Guess I'll see you around huh?"

Naruto responded with a smile in kind. "My cart's always open to you Korra, though before you go."

The noodle maker held out his hand to the Avatar, gesturing with his fingers. "I'm afraid I can't keep giving you free bowls. I do still need to run a business after all."

Korra's face turned pale as she reached into her pockets and pulled them out, only getting a moth of all things for her troubles. Craned her head slowly to Tenzin, the old master sighed and pulled out his wallet.

With his Yuans in hand, Naruto waved the bending pair off, and returned behind the counter to close up for the night, though now before reopening the secret compartment of his cart.

"Now that things are all settled….time to pay a certain snake a visit.

-Transition-

"Feels good to be back home again." Viper sighed contently as he lounged about in his expensive, luxury chair, purchased thanks to the many ill gotten gains he'd acquired in his time as a criminal. "And given what Old Man Zolt said, pretty soon we're gonna have this whole city eating out the palm of our hands.

Chuckling to himself he got up to pour himself a drink, though opted to use his water bending to pull the alcohol out of the bottle into his glass, swirling it around in his hand for good measure.

"First chance I get, I'm gonna pay little Miss Avatar a visit. Make her pay me back for what she did to my car."

As he was about to take a sip, a loud banging could be heard at his front door.

"Hey, unless your name is Zolt, kindly buzz off, I'm not in the mood right now."

As the banging continued, Viper grew more irritated and quickly started to approach the door, using his right hand to bend some water and form it into an icicle.

"Alright wise guy, you wanna be loud, let's see how loudly you can scream."

However, as he reached to touch the door knob, his body was suddenly set alight by a massive pulse of electricity that coursed through his body, breaking his hold on the water, which splashed harmlessly to the ground, along with himself as he fell on his back, barely conscious.

The door opened up, revealing a man in a green and gold colored fully bodysuit, with noticeable shoulder pads, a top that completely covered his head save for his face, which had a prominent mustache while his eyes were covered with green and gold colored goggles.

More curious was a strange arm length stick he held in one of his hands that seemed to glow with an eerie blue light.

"Apologies for the intrusion, we'll just let ourselves in." The stranger spoke coldly as he entered, followed by two other individuals covered in similar green suits with wine red boots and gloves, their faces covered with haunting black masks with green glowing eyes.

Viper, still able to move somewhat, attempted to sit up, struggling to speak from the shock. "Wh…who…who are you?"

"My my, if that isn't the question of the day."

A new voice entered the room, sounding somewhat muffled as if the mouth was blocked by something.

The two masked individuals quickly stood at attention, while the third man sheathed his stick on his back and turned out the opened doorway.

Viper followed his gaze and felt his blood run cold at the man standing just in the doorway.

The individual was fairly tall, a little over six feet, though what he actually looked like beyond that was unknown as his body was completely covered.

His torso was hidden behind a dark gray coat and black undershirt, with sleeves that covered most of his arms, save for a set of dark red wrist guards and black gloves. His body similarly had similar red colored shoulder guards as well as leg guards that stretched up to his knees, a pair of dark gray boots adorning his feet.

However, most chilling was what was on his face. That is, instead of skin and flesh, Viper could only see a hauntingly still white and yellow mask, with narrow eyes and a flat mouth, topped by a red sun like emblem directly in the forehead.

It may have just been the recent shock, but Viper half believed he was staring at some kind of spirit right now.

The masked figure in question slowly entered the apartment, eyes drifting to the other three, who lightly bowed their heads to him, before he shifted back to Viper, now trying to move away with little success.

The figure closed the distance in milliseconds, getting down on one knee and though Viper couldn't see his eyes, he could feel them peering right at him.

"You asked who we are Mr. Viper?"

The criminal began to sweat as he swore he could see a red glow coming from the man's previously shadowed eyes.

"We….are the Solution."

-End-

Well that took a bit longer than the previous ones but overall thought it came out pretty well. But yeah, finally get Naruto as Amon, Korra as a Pro-Bender and a bit more discussion regarding the whole status of the Equalists in this continuity.

Hope you guys enjoyed it and I'll try to get the next chapter out soon enough. Till then, Agurra out.