Merry Christmas/Happy New Year/Whatever else to everyone present, sorry for the long wait. I'm back with another Korra chapter and we really are starting to see the major changes to the story that Naruto's presence is causing and the shake ups will only continue to grow.
As mentioned in my own Oneshot, I'm also going to be writing Oneshots every now and again as a way to shake up my writing and help me when I get writers block on this particular story, but again those are Oneshots while this is my primary focus. My job already makes writing complicated as is and I prefer to focus on one story rather than splitting my focus on a bunch.
Anyway, this chapter in particular will be where certain aspects will start to really form in the story though I won't say what they will be only, to quote Senku from Dr. Stone: "Get Excited."
Lastly as a fun little aside I want to see which Oneshot idea you guys wanna see me do next.
Naruto x Helluva Boss
Naruto x Jujutsu Kaisen
Naruto x Kill la Kill
Naruto x DanDaDan
Naruto x Bleach
Curious to see which you're most interested to see show up next. But for now, let's get it started.
Chapter 6: Terror and Competition
-Chapter Start-
The sound of coughing proved the only other sound capable of breaking through a massive blaze, flames coating the few walls of the room, a pair of people huddled in the only non-burning corner, a woman tightly holding a small child, her back turned to the rapidly approaching blaze.
"Mom….I can't breathe, it's too hot." The child spoke with a struggling gasp, his dry throat working hard to form words, yet his mother only smiled somberly at him, trying her best to look strong in the face of their fate.
"It'll be fine honey, just keep your eyes on me. No matter what happens I'll keep you safe."
Sadly, as she spoke those words, she too broke out in a series of coughs, yet never let her smile break for more than a moment, even as the flames grew closer, the boy's blue eyes widening as he saw them.
"Mom. (cough), the fire! We need to move."
He struggled to break from his mother's grip to pull her away from the encroaching heat, yet she didn't release her hold on him, still smiling even as tears started to leak from her eyes.
"Don't worry Naruto. I promise, no matter what happens, you'll be okay."
As if fate chose to mock them, a few sparks finally reached them…and set the poor women's beautiful red hair alight.
"MOM!"
Feeling the flames spreading on her back, the woman pushed her son hard on the floor, tightening her grip to keep his arms under her and doing the same with her legs, wincing and biting back pain as she looked into her son's tear-filled eyes.
"I'll be fine honey, just look at me. I won't let anything happen to you. That's what a mom's supposed to do, y'know?"
Her smile broke again as Naruto's eyes flooded with tears as her winces of pain grew ever stronger, biting her lip to fight back the scream as the flames consumed her back, the boy struggling with all his might to break free. Finally his left arm managed to riggle from his mother's grasp and pull out from her body.
And then, a burning chunk of the ceiling slammed onto his freed arm, the boy howling in pure agony as his body started to convulse from the pain.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Yet as his eyes started to fade into darkness from the shock, for the briefest moment he swore he saw something in the shadow of his mother's body.
A single, blood red eye!
-Transition: Roku District Apartment -
"MOM!" A loud yell echoed through the modest apartment, as Naruto's blue eyes opened with a start, sweat dripping down his body, his right hand instinctively grabbing his bandaged left bicep with a familiar ache flowing through the damaged limb.
Taking a few breaths to calm himself, the blonde eyed the limb and gave his hand a few flexes, needing to remind himself it still functioned properly before rubbing some of the sweat from his eyes.
"Nice way to start the morning. Hopefully it's not a bad omen." With another sigh he pushed his blanket away and walked towards the modest kitchen of his apartment before flicking on the portable radio on the counter.
"In other news, tonight is the long awaited start to the yearly Pro-Bending Championship Tournament. 16 teams of Republic City's best benders competing to find out who are the true kings of the ring. And the first few matches look to be a positively stacked cast.
We've got the Capital City Catgators squaring off against the Ember Island Eel Hounds, the United Forces Iquana-Seals taking on the Laogai Lion Vultures and probably the most anticipated match of the night, the former reigning champion Black Quarry Boar-Q-Pines taking on the Fire Ferrets, who in a surprise twist are being sponsored by Republic City magnet, Future Industries.
Quite the illustrious line up, but what can we expect from the team with Avatar Korra on their side. And given her recent impressive performance, this reporter is fairly confident the match will be something to see.
And now, here's Jong with the weekly weather report."
With another click, Naruto turned the radio off, glancing out the kitchen window towards the city, more specifically the Pro-Bending arena.
"Things are gonna start to liven up quite a bit in the coming weeks. And I imagine Korra will have her hands full with Airbending training on top of the tournament."
As he opened the fridge and pulled out some fruit, his mind drifted back to the rather abrupt conversation the two had the previous day.
"I'm…I'm afraid I guess."
The Avatar's words had been ringing in his ear like a Buzzerwasp since they'd spoken and it'd been driving him mad. He'd always considered his abilities would freak people out, that was kind of unavoidable and even a necessary evil considering they typically went up against criminals.
And on some level he'd even accepted that some civilians would also fear him. It was sadly the result of a masked man with such an unheard-of power suddenly appearing and speaking of changing the world.
Granted he certainly didn't feel pity for the criminals who feared Amon. After all the pain and anguish they'd caused so many people they should be afraid. But this on the other hand was something he didn't like knowing.
"She certainly did seem shaken up when I spoke to her. Though, it's not like she thinks I'm evil or anything, so that's good right?" He spoke to no one, the silence making him groan in anger, dragging his unbandaged hand across his face. "If I don't do something soon, either the council, Tenzin or someone else will convince Korra I'm a threat, and then what? Do I fight her?"
Naruto's question again went unanswered as his eyes drifted back to his bandaged arm, his expression soured for a moment.
"No, I can't let that happen. The point of the Equalists is to unify the people of Republic City, not drag everyone into another pointless fight. I just need to figure out some way to hopefully mend this bridge before it burns completely."
Pouring himself some tea and taking a quick sip, a ring from his phone got his attention. Putting down his cup and picking up the receiver he answered.
"Hello?"
A voice on the other line spoke quietly, making Naruto's eyes widen a little. "Was wondering when I'd be hearing from you. Mission going okay?"
Taking another sip of his tea, he listened to the speaker closely. "I know it's not exactly an ideal situation, but we need to be on top of everything with Korra and her group."
Again, the voice spoke a bit louder with Naruto nodding along. "I understand. So, they'll be stopping by around noon? Perfect, hopefully we can get a little insight and perhaps even shift some minds in our direction. Keep me posted and with any luck, we can resolve this whole thing without any incident."
Hanging up the phone, Naruto sighed as he finished his tea. "Looks like my luck might actually be turning around today…hopefully."
-Transition: Naruto's Noodle Cart, Mid-Day-
"I still can't believe it. Can you guys believe it, I just can't believe it. I'm convinced I'm dreaming right now, I mean seriously how can…"
"Bo, how about you take a minute and breathe before you bite your tongue again."
The rather animated earthbender quickly clammed up and sat back down at being reminded of his little mishap, stirring his bowl of noodles in an attempt to channel his remaining energy. "But come on guys, how am I the only one freaking out about this?"
He spoke pointedly to the rest of the Fire Ferrets currently enjoying a bowl of noodles, Naruto himself by the service window and chuckling at the conversation, Korra matching his grin while Mako was glaring at his brother for the comment.
"Didn't realize me getting a girlfriend was such an unprecedented event Bo."
Korra snickered, elbowing the angsty firebender in the side. "Yeah, after all with that winning personality of yours you were practically beating girls off with a stick."
"Though in this case the girl happened to hit him with something a bit harder," Naruto added with a laugh, getting a high five and smile from Korra while Mako continued to seethe even further.
Bolin however, seemed to miss the joke, distracted by his bowl in the brief exchange. "What, no, not that. I meant Mako managed to get us sponsored by one of the hugest companies in all of Republic City AND got that same sponsor to pay our entire thirty-thousand-yuan entrance fee."
The younger brother's joy turned to suspicion as he started eyeing his brother, who found himself leaning back at his brother's close proximity. "How is it when I go looking for money to support our team I get dragged into working for criminals, while you end up getting to date a crazy beautiful heiress while also getting us all the money we could ever need?"
Mako mused for a second before shrugging, an all too proud smirk on his face "What can I say little brother, guess between the two of us, I'm the lucky one."
"You're certainly not the modest one." Mako immediately gave Korra the stink eye as she continued to snigger at him.
"Laugh all you want guys but I'm still the one who guaranteed us a slot in the tournament, so maybe be a little more supportive for today."
Naruto laughed again. "Absolutely Young Master Mako. You deserve all the praise in the world. In fact, why don't you have another bowl on me."
Mako wanted to sneer at the backhanded compliment but was happy to accept the bowl, only to have Naruto pull it back out of his hand. "Hey! I thought you said I could have it?"
Naruto's eyes merely drifted behind Mako. "I actually meant you get another bowl for your better half."
Mako's neck practically turned 180 degrees as his normally stoic face broke out into an uncharacteristic smile that actually left Korra a little unnerved.
"Wow, I almost forgot you could smile like that."
Mako however didn't hear her, getting up from his seat and hugging the young woman who'd just arrived.
"Was a little worried you might not come. Figured you'd be busy."
Asami gave a half-hearted shrug. "I mean my dad is sponsoring you guys, wouldn't be a good look if one of us didn't at least meet with the rest of the team? Besides…"
With a quick lean in, Mako's face turned red when he felt the young lady's soft lips on his cheek. "Spending time with my boyfriend is one of the things you do when you're dating right?"
She quickly got a series of incoherent mumbles and giggles for her trouble, along with a couple knowing and amused looks from the rest of the assembled party. "It's nice to officially meet you guys. I'm Asami Sato."
Immediately Bolin was in front of the lady bowing to her as if she were a royal. "I'm Bolin and on behalf of myself and the Fire Ferrets, I just want to thank you personally for convincing your dad to sponsor us." Immediately his head bowed lower, almost touching the ground. "We REALLY needed the money."
A little off put, but keeping her pleasant demeanor Asami gestured the earthbender to stand back up. "It's nice to meet you Bolin and it's no big deal at all. My dad's actually been wanting to sponsor a pro-bending team for a while, so it was a win-win for us both."
"I wouldn't exactly call dating Mako a win." Korra gave a snarky smirk, snapping Mako out of his love induced haze. "I mean he's a decent enough guy, when he's not acting like he's got a Komodo Rhino horn up his…."
A slight tug on her collar stopped Korra's little comment, Naruto sliding his hand across his neck, signaling her to cut it out, which a quick glance at a fuming Mako was enough to get the point across.
"Jokes aside, it's cool to meet you too." Korra happily held out her hand to Asami. "Though, I get the sneaking suspicion you already know my name."
Asami smiled and nodded, accepting the gesture with a noticeably firm handshake that seemed to betray her more traditionally feminine appearance. "I mean, it's kind of hard to not know the Avatar after all. You really shook things up when you decided to start Pro-Bending."
"Yeah, sort of wish my first match hadn't been so…rough, but hey I figured it out quick enough."
"Not quick enough to avoid a penalty in round 1." Mako spoke under his breath, getting an angry sneer from Korra, only for the firebender to get a light elbow from Asami. "What, just a little ribbing between teammates."
Asami merely rolled her eyes at the deflection and took a seat at the counter with the others, Naruto placing the bowl of noodles in front of her. "I'm Naruto, owner of this cart, and supporter of the Ferrets. Proud to say I'm the one who convinced these two jokers to let Korra join them."
"And we're still just as grateful for it." Bolin spoke with more pep in his step as he took a slurp of his own bowl.
Asami quietly broke her chopsticks and took a helping of noodles, gently blowing on them before taking a bite. "I have to say it's really tasty, I'm a little surprised you don't have a shop somewhere around here."
Naruto smirked. "Happy to have another satisfied customer. And while a shop would be nice, I like staying mobile, helps me keep up to date on everything going on in the city. Plus, I get to meet all kinds of interesting people, case in point."
The blonde immediately gestured to the three, more so to Korra who preened at the flattery.
A brief bout of silence hung through the cart as everyone ate in peace, Naruto merely keeping himself busy with some cleaning, while keeping his eyes on the group.
"So, now that you guys don't have to worry about money anymore. Are you ready for your first tournament match?"
"Are you kidding, I couldn't sleep last night. I'm so nervous and excited." Bolin practically vibrated in his seat, his brother pinching his nose in irritation while Asami and Korra just chuckled at the man's enthusiasm.
"It's really impressive how you're able to bounce back after what happened the other day." Asami asked pointedly. "I mean, given what you went through with the Equalists I'm a little surprised you aren't more shaken up."
At the mention of his kidnappers, Bolin's energy and mood dropped a little. "Yeah it was pretty scary, thought I was gonna kiss my bending goodbye. Good reminder to avoid any and all criminal activity from now on. Just the straight and narrow for good old Bolin."
His attempt to downplay the situation got a concerned glance from Korra and a bit of irritation from Mako.
"Don't you think you're being a little too forgiving Bo? Those guys kidnapped you and then attacked Korra and me when we tried to get you out of that truck."
Korra winced at the memory, still recalling the unsettling feeling of her limbs going numb and her bending refusing to work. Mako's more sour mood certainly wasn't helping things either.
"Yeah, but I didn't exactly do myself any favors working with the Triple Threats." Bolin's smile turned guilty as he looked down at his bowl. "I knew those guys were bad news and took the money anyway. Even if I was desperate, I should've told Shin no and tried something else."
His answer didn't seem to satisfy Mako, who huffed angrily into his bowl. "Still doesn't make it right. Taking down criminals like Zolt is one thing. I'm glad that scumbag and his goons are finally off the street, but what the Equalists did to you Bo. Let's just say it soured my opinion of them a little bit."
Bolin's mood dropped a bit more, while Asami gave her boyfriend a worried glance. "It wasn't the best look, but I mean they didn't chase after you and Korra when you saved Bolin right?"
Korra nodded. "Yeah, though saying we saved Bolin doesn't feel right. I didn't see it because I was backstage, but Amon let him go without a fight. Odds are we probably could have walked right on stage and left with Bolin out the front door."
"So, we're just ignoring Amon and his right hand goon following after us right when we were about to escape?" Mako quickly brought up the remaining red flag of the night, a point Korra had a hard time arguing against. True no punches were thrown, but it didn't exactly end with either pair leaving a good impression.
"Hey, Amon still could've chosen to attack us, but he didn't."
Her response only seemed to make Mako angrier. "Probably because we got out of there before he could try anything. Or do you really think all he wanted to do was talk?"
Korra's own temper started to flare as she stood up, getting close to Mako's face. "He was willing to let Bolin explain himself, don't see any reason he wouldn't do the same for us."
The discussion was quickly starting to grow more heated and Bolin looked about ready to say something, when the angry pair found themselves lightly splashed with water.
"GAH! Dang it Naruto, what was that for!?" Mako shouted, his hair now dripping all over his jacket. The blonde chef merely rolled his eyes at the anger.
"Just trying to keep you two from biting your respective heads off. I get friends fight from time to time but lighten up. Or at least don't do it at my cart."
Korra, who was equally wet, with a good amount of her hair in front of her eyes, still glared at her non bending friend. "And you couldn't do that without the sudden splash?"
Naruto responded with a flat glare, quickly pointing at Korra. "You're a waterbender remember, just bend the water off. And as for you hot head." Mako's weak glare simmered down as he was called out. "Pretty sure you can dry yourself off in like two seconds, so relax a little alright?"
The two benders leveled another glare at each other before doing as instructed. Korra bent the water off her body and face before throwing it onto the ground nearby, while Mako took in a couple of breaths causing the water on his body to evaporate.
"I keep forgetting how useful bending is outside of fighting," Asami said as she watched the steam flowing off Mako. "Can't tell you how handy that would be in the rain."
"Yeah, bending is pretty cool." Korra said with pride before gesturing one of her hands over her bowl and actually bent some of the broth and noodles into the air and then into her mouth.
"Just remember to be a bit more cautious." Naruto spoke with a firm tone. "Yeah it's easy and even pretty neat, but all it takes is a single jolt and suddenly you've got hot broth all over your lap, or face in the case of you Korra."
Korra puckered her lips. "That was one time and I was excited to get over here, plus I've gotten a lot better since then."
"Let's hope when we get to the ring tonight you're right." Mako muttered loud enough for Korra to hear, only for Asami to give her a mild look that brought his anger to a simmer.
In spite of the two still looking more than a bit perturbed it did seem to quell the argument for the moment, though Asami had her attention focused on Korra.
"I'm a little surprised Korra."
The Avatar's anger shifted to confusion looking at Asami. "About what?"
Her question left Asami looking a little awkward, shifting her shoulders from the side, discomfort apparent to even a Badger Mole.
"It's just that, it's obvious bending means a lot to you, especially with you being the Avatar, so it's kind of strange you're not siding with Mako on the whole Amon situation."
Asami's eyes drifted towards the crowded streets, watching all manner of people walk by with the occasional bender using their abilities for minor amusement or simple matters. "A decent number of the benders I know in the city have been pretty on edge after what happened at that rally. I figured if anyone would be concerned about what Amon could do, it'd be you."
Asami's question gave Korra pause as she genuinely wondered how to respond.
"I mean, the whole point of the Avatar is to maintain balance in the world. If Amon is helping with that, then why would I have a problem with him?" Korra answered matter of factly before turning her attention back to her bowl, stirring it for a moment trying her best not to linger on the dreams she'd had as of late. "He said it himself, he's trying to keep bending out of the hands of the corrupt like Zolt. I'd figure everyone would be onboard with that."
From his position in the cart, Naruto's smile grew, feeling a sense of relief start to form. "Looks like she's not quite as shook up as I thought."
Asami similarly seemed to give Korra's response some pause, taking a few bites from her own bowl as another thought seemed to weigh on her mind.
"Well, here's hoping the Council doesn't decide for you. They were pretty wary of the Equalists already, I can't imagine they'll just ignore someone who can do what he does."
Korra felt another pit form in her stomach. While Lin and even Tenzin seemed willing to somewhat accept the relative peace of things for the moment, she couldn't help but be reminded of what her master had told her at the police station, about the Equalists provoking a potential war with the other Triads.
The Triple Threats had been taken down relatively quickly and without incident, but now that the other gangs knew about Amon and what he was capable of, they wouldn't just stay ideal. They would respond, it was just a question of when and how.
It left some very dangerous and very real possibilities that would almost certainly lead her and the Equalists coming to blows.
And that meant….
"This is for the best, Avatar. I hope you can understand that."
Korra's face started to break out in a slight cold sweat, recalling the dream of Amon's hand pressing against her forehead. Even if it hadn't been real, she swore she could feel the cold grip of his gloved hand, and the terrifying glare of those eyes.
Those glowing red eyes.
For a brief moment her mind seemed to almost go blank…. until she was brought from her mind by a sensation on her right bicep.
"Korra?"
(BANG)
Korra's body jolted, her knee hitting the counter of the cart, causing the multiple bowls to slosh about, sending droplets of broth and noodles on the counter, earning a few shocked cries from the attendants.
However, Korra didn't pay them any attention, instead focusing on the hand on her arm, looking up to find the concerned blue eyes of Naruto looking at her.
"Korra, you okay? You zoned out for a minute."
The Water Tribe native's eyes drifted quickly to her companions and the weariness was obvious at a glance, most especially from Naruto himself. "You need some water or something? Kind of seems like you're a little spooked?
Internal panic started to set in as Korra shook her head rapidly and then slapped her cheeks a couple times, again startling those in attendance. "Nope, all good over here. Just got lost in my own head for a second there, but I'm okay."
Mako didn't look convinced. "Let's just hope you can keep your head in the game for the match tonight."
"Mako come on, lighten up. We're teammates, remember?" Bolin practically pleaded with his brother who sighed and went back to eating his noodles.
Asami however, looked quite guilty and offered a light bow to Korra. "Sorry for pressing the issue like that. It's just one of those things that's kind of hard to avoid talking about right now?"
Her words made Korra's confident smile shake a little, knowing full well this wasn't an issue she could just ignore or avoid forever…. she'd have to confront Amon eventually, either by her own choice or someone else forcing her hand. And that in turn left the grim question still hanging over her.
If she and Amon were forced to fight each other... would he try to take her bending away? She shook her head to try and clear it of such thoughts lest her fears get to her again. Now wasn't the time to let fear distract her.
"Let's just focus on the match for right now." Korra mentally droned, hoping that a nice, healthy rush of adrenaline would help sort her out, or at least be a nice distraction for a little while. "Damnit, just stop thinking about it Korra. Nothing's happened yet, just keep your eyes on the now for the moment."
With an angry huff Korra grabbed her bowl and lifted it up to her mouth, chugging the entire remainder of its contents, leaving everyone else at the counter stunned, only broken free from the spell when she slammed the now empty bowl on the counter.
"Well, um…." Naruto wasn't sure what to say in that moment, and thus just blurted out what popped into his head. "Gotta respect a girl with a healthy appetite. Especially for ramen."
His compliment caused Korra's face to develop a light red dusting, before she quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a small number of bills.
"Oh my Spirits. Korra actually has her own money now." Naruto practically cheered, making the remaining Ferrets chuckle save for Asami, who looked a bit perplexed. "It's a miracle."
Now redder from embarrassment, Korra slammed the money onto the table and started walking towards the stadium. "Nice meeting you Asami, but we've gotta practice before tonight. Come on Bo."
With barely enough time for Bolin to process, his collar was grabbed and he was quickly dragged away from the cart, offering little resistance.
"It was awesome meeting you Asami, thanks again to your dad. Also Mako, mind covering for me, you're the best."
The duo was dragged away, leaving Mako to groan at their antics and reach into his pocket. "Once again Bolin is dragging me away to save him." Putting down some yuans he gave Asami a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I'll see you after the match, just make sure you're watching."
Asami smiled and returned the kiss onto Mako's own cheek. "Wouldn't miss it. Need to be there for the Fire Ferrets debut after all."
With one more smile, Mako quickly chased after his teammates, leaving Asami alone at the counter.
"They're certainly an energetic bunch huh?" Naruto spoke candidly with Asami, the young heiress nodding as she finished off her bowl. "Then again, Mako getting himself a girlfriend out the blue is quite a change."
"It's certainly an adjustment. I've definitely got my work cut out for me, but I'm pretty sure I can handle things." Asami spoke with a smile as she handed the empty bowl to Naruto, who took it graciously.
"I don't doubt that for a moment." Naruto spoke as he washed the bowl. "Though after what's already happened, you'll have to keep a close eye on them. They tend to attract a lot of attention it seems."
Asami merely continued to offer her usual full smile, pulling out her wallet and placing the necessary yuans on the table. "Don't worry, I won't let them out of my sight. Thanks again."
With a nod, Naruto went back to cleaning as Asami left Naruto's eyes drifting back to his portable radio and then the Pro-Bending arena, his mind wondering how things would play out this time.
-Scene Transition: Pro-Bending Arena: Tournament Match 1-
"Well folks, things have proven quite intense for the Fire Ferrets in their tournament premiere. Bad luck getting matched up against the long time former champion Boar Q Pines, but it seems youthful vigor has managed to hold out against aged experience.
Round One proved to be a pretty rough affair with the Board Q Pines taking a sizeable lead. Though the Ferrets were able to rally and managed to pull off a surprise comeback in Round Two despite a few hiccups here and there. However, Round 3 proved easily the most shocking with neither side truly getting the edge, ultimately resulting in a draw and now here we are, a tiebreaker to decide the round. Question is can the Ferrets pull off a surprise upset?
"At this point it's anyone's game ladies and gentlemen."
"Okay, so how should we do this?" Bolin asked, eying both of his teammates for any kind of suggestions or input. "I'm totally ready to step up and put this match away."
"Not sure about that Bo." Mako gave an apologetic glance to his brother. "Their earthbender is also their captain and he's the most experienced of the three of them. You'd be at a pretty big disadvantage."
"Yeah, but Xin's no slouch either. He's one of the top ranked firebenders in the entire competition. I mean I trust you bro, but it doesn't leave us in a good position either."
"What about me?" Korra chimed in, looking almost offended at not being considered. "I've been waterbending since I could walk and was trained by Master Katara in the South Pole. Pretty sure I've got more experience than their guy."
"Regular Bending sure, but not Pro-Bending." Mako spoke firmly. "Shui has been with the Boar Q Pines for at least five years now, you've barely been with us for two weeks."
"Yeah and I've gotten the hang of things pretty well by now. I seem to recall playing a pretty big part in winning us Round 2."
"You also got blown back to Zone 3 in Round 3, which was part of the reason we have to do a tiebreaker now." Mako said matter of factly, making Korra huff angrily.
"Then let me make up for it and win us this thing. I know I can do it."
Mako looked ready to protest when Bolin pulled him back ever so slightly. "Come on Mako, we're at a disadvantage no matter who we choose. Might as well let Korra take a shot."
Seeing himself outvoted, Mako merely crossed his arms with a huff. "Fine, but if she loses, you two are covering my bill at Naruto's cart until the next tournament."
"Seriously?" Bolin yelled over the crowd. "But you're already dating one of the richest girls in the whole city."
"Hey thanks for reminding me Bolin, you can help cover Asami's food too."
Immediately Bolin grabbed Korra by her uniform top and looked at her pleadingly. "Korra, you have to win!"
With an awkward smile she nodded and gently pulled her friends hands off. "Trust me Bolin, I don't plan on losing."
Another nod from her teammates she approached the ref. "We chose Water as our element."
The ref agreed and gestured to Shui to join Korra on the platform in the center of the ring before it started to ascend.
"And it looks like the Fire Ferrets are going with Avatar Korra to square off against the Boar Q Pines Shui in this final match. Boy I don't envy Shui fighting the Avatar with her own native element. Not to sound prophetic folks but I can't help but predict this'll be a short bout."
As the platform finished its ascent Korra did a few quick jumps and arm pumps to loosen up before getting into her stance, eying her opponent with a cocky smirk.
"Sorry you're not getting a whole lot of support from the audience. Hopefully we can give them a nice show at least."
Shui didn't share Korra's enthusiasm, the veteran Pro-Bender looking stone serious as he took his stance, eyes trained on the Avatar with hawk-like precision. "Keep on joking, Avatar. No matter what, I'm not letting you win this."
Korra's smile dropped, feeling a bit irritated at the man, almost seeming offended by her light hearted jab. "Eh, let him act how he wants. I came here to win and that's what I'm gonna do."
At the sound of the buzzer going off, the two immediately commenced their attack, though Shui decided to be more direct and actually pulled up some water before charging forward to rapidly close the distance between them, no longer held back by zone lines of the normal rounds.
With a quick throw he unleashed multiple blasts of water at Korra, who immediately shifted into her go to Airbending defensive forms, spinning in circles to avoid the blasts as Shui closed in.
"Once again Avatar Korra uses her exceptional foot work to avoid every one of Shui's attacks, but the Boar Q Pine is quickly closing the gap between them. How will the Avatar counter?"
Once he was only 10 or so steps away Shui launched his attack, this time launching two large blasts of water simultaneously, almost right next to each other, just leaving a gap between the two barely big enough to fit an arm through.
"Oh crap!" Korra screamed mentally as she immediately dropped her stance and jumped hard to the right to avoid the massive blast, yet she barely had time to get onto her feet before another blast from Shui sent her rolling back, Shui looking quite pleased with himself.
"Quite a shocking development, fans. Seems Shui has found a way past Avatar Korra's normally unbreakable defense. Seems like the tide has turned in the Boar Q Pine's favor.
With an angry huff Korra quickly leapt to her feet and stared down the smirking Shui. "Funny thing about your little spinning trick. Make the attack big enough and you've gotta jump out of the way to avoid it. I made sure to do my homework on you, Avatar."
The smug satisfaction in his voice made Korra lightly snarl as she quickly responded with several quick water jabs, which Shui managed to avoid in rapid succession, closing the distance between them.
Not wanting to give an inch, Korra charged forward as well, launching a haymaker water blast square at Shui's jaw. However, the more seasoned waterbender quickly responded with a snap kick, sending a ball sized burst of water square into Korra's stomach.
The Avatar gasped in pain at the sudden strike, managing to avoid getting knocked off her feet by spreading her legs into a wider stance, but still curling over in pain. Desperately she tried to catch her breath and look up, only to be met by a watery uppercut to the chin by Shui.
With a jolt and shake, Korra felt her neck snap violently upwards, her entire head shaking about as she was sent off her feet, the bright lights of the arena entering her vision along with the loud and muffled sounds of the crowd before she landed on her back with a thud, her head quickly slamming against the hard surface.
A loud ringing entered her ear that further muffled the sounds around her, eyes still open, if barely as the Avatar felt her entire head spinning, struggling to get up.
"Wha…. what's…. The match…. got to get up!"
Fighting against the quaking through her body, Korra slowly started to lift her torso up, planting one of her legs enough to slowly push her body to its feet, the loud sound of the crowd still ringing in her ears, louder than ever, made only worse by the dizziness she was feeling. However, the sound was of little consequence to her as she looked ahead.
Her vision still blurry and disoriented, all she could make out were black, formless blobs or rather one that was slowly approaching her with head, loud footsteps.
And it was as they drew closer did Korra's hearing finally start to clear out some of the noise, if only somewhat.
"Sorry Avatar, but you've got nowhere to run!"
The voice was deep, muffled, unfamiliar and looking at it again, Korra swore she saw something glowing on what she thought was its face as he extended his hands out towards her.
Her eyes widening as a familiar memory flew back to her.
"AMON!"
Still delirious and shaken, Korra all but dove to the side of the attacker, narrowly avoiding his grasp. The now shaken Avatar scurrying to the edge of the platform. The voices of the crowd growing even louder as Korra heard her enemy charging towards her.
"NO! GET AWAY!"
On reflex, Korra fired a blast of water at the attacker, aiming lower than she'd initially intended but striking the back of his leg mid step. Causing his foot to be knocked off balance, placing all his weight on his front leg, sending him flying towards her.
With barely a moment to think, Korra dropped to her knees, feeling the enemy fly over her head and a loud buzzing sound, before an equally loud voice managed to finally break through the dizziness.
"And despite quite a brute blow from Shui, Avatar Korra, through some unconventional tactics, managed to take down her opponent and win both the bout and the match for the Future Industries Fire Ferrets."
"Wait…what?"
Korra tried to get to her knees, only to flinch feeling a couple pairs of arms helping her up.
"Take it easy there Korra."
"Yeah, that was a heck of a hit you took."
Blinking a bit, Korra's eyes finally started to focus properly, finding the smiling, if concerned faces of her two teammates.
"Bolin, Mako? What happened?" Korra's voice stumbled a little, still shaken from the hit.
"Shui was about to throw you out of the ring after he knocked you down." Mako quickly summarized the events, a sliver of worry on his face as he looked her over.
"Yeah, and then you jumped away from him like he was on fire and made him fall out of the ring. Not gonna lie, I was kind of freaking out through the whole thing." Bolin spoke with a chuckle despite the visible nervous sweat on his face. "But who cares, we won and got to move on to the next round."
Korra however, barely heard Bolin's last words as her head was still shaking a little from the blow, but her eyes quickly drifted over to Shui, who was currently getting scolded by his teammates, while the crowd around them continued to roar with excitement at the performance. However, Korra to an extent couldn't quite share the enjoyment.
"We won…but it was a total fluke. All I did was run and make Shui trip on his own feet."
That thought left made a pit of frustration start to form. Not just from the fact that she hadn't so much beaten her opponent as gotten a lucky hit in, but also the more pressing issue.
"For a brief moment, I thought I was fighting against Amon…and I was terrified!"
-Scene Transition: Next Day, Naruto's Cart-
"Korra and the Ferrets pulled off another win, guess I can expect them to pop by soon to celebrate."
Naruto hummed quietly to himself as he was cleaning some bowls for the lunch rush that was soon to come. Naturally he'd listened to the entire match on his radio and it'd proven to be quite the nail bitter compared to the previous one.
However, it was when things got to the final bout and Korra taking that particular hit that caught Naruto's ear. Being that he wasn't there personally he couldn't properly account for how things went down and only go by the announcer's words, but again given how it was described it left him feeling a bit…concerned.
"My gut says Korra probably won't be her normal cocky self when I see her, hopefully I'm just overthinking things, but given who I'm talking about, best ere on the side of caution."
"Hey, you open or what?"
An unfamiliar voice broke Naruto from his self reflection and immediately he reapplied the same friendly smile he gave to all his customers. "Just one minute."
Putting his bowls down and making sure his ingredients were all in place, he opened the window.
"Welcome sir, what kind of noodles can I interest you in today?" Naruto spoke candidly as he eyed his latest customer, while handing him a menu.
The man in question looked a bit older than Naruto, probably mid twenties and was Water Tribe in origin. Clad in a simple light blue jacket and pants with a white undershirt, and black boots, he looked like any average joe you'd walk by on your day to day.
"Heard this place has some of the best food in town." He spoke half heartedly, eyes looking over the menu with a passing interest that made Naruto's eye twitch.
"Well I don't like to brag or anything, but I never get any complaints."
"Uh huh, sure."
Again, Naruto felt his brow tighten ever so slightly. "Friendly guy. Here's hoping I can feed him and boot him quick."
In the end he ordered a simple bowl with Artic Hen meat, which despite his initial snide attitude he quickly changed his tune when trying it and practically wolfed it down in seconds. It even brought a satisfied smile at having his hunger satiated.
"Seems someone enjoyed himself."
"Gotta admit, that was a lot better than I thought." The customer spoke with a more pleasant, yet still annoyingly smug tone that made Naruto silently pray for the man's swift exit.
"Glad to hear it." Naruto quickly pulled out the necessary receipt. "Now that, that'll be 20 yuans if you don't mind."
"Yeah, how about no."
Immediately Naruto's fake cheer started to crack, his smile becoming almost a thin line as his eyes opened slightly, looking at the guy, who now seemed almost offended by the request. "Sorry, I didn't quite hear that."
The guy clicked his tongue, leaning back further while loudly pressing his foot against Naruto's cart, causing it to shake and leaving a nice dirty shoe print on the wall. "I said I wasn't interested in paying. Or can you not hear as well as not bend."
"Oh, so that's what's going on."
Internally Naruto let out a heavily exhausted sigh, and felt an old anger start to slowly rise up inside, his previously flat smile now dropping into a neutral expression. "I wasn't aware my inability to bend somehow translated to you not paying me for the food I served you."
"Should be pretty obvious why." The now identified Waterbender spoke as he gestured with his hand, causing some of the leftover broth from his bowl to quickly be pulled towards his hand before compressing into a blade of ice. "I mean, if I don't want to pay, then you should have no problem with that. Not like you can stop me and is 20 yuans really worth the hassle?"
He spoke those last words with a slimy level of self assurance, like they'd been soaked in grease. It left the blonde wondering how many times this scumbag pulled this same song and dance.
Just the thought of him doing this to some other unfortunate shop clerk or salesman, made his blood boil, his hands and muscles tightening behind the counter. Yet, he still tried to maintain some level of peace.
"Better question, is 20 yuans really worth potentially getting run down by the police? Your grip on your wallet that tight you can't shell out what amounts to pocket change for some food?" Naruto's words, followed by the same smile he'd given earlier, made the aggressive bender's teeth clench as did his hand around the makeshift weapon.
"With those Chi-Blocking schools going up, pretty soon it'll be impossible to tell which of you guys I can knock over and which I can't, so I'm making the most of it while I can."
Naruto again felt his mask crack further. "You know, guys like you are a nice reminder of why places like that should exist in the first place." For a brief moment, Naruto let his friendly facade fall, his eyes turning angry as he flexed his fingers, loud cracks sounding from years of physical training just waiting to be unleashed.
However, he then had a thought and decided to see what this chump's reaction would be to a certain fact that had been rapidly spreading around the city. "It's also another reason people are glad Amon is around. And the way you're acting, I imagine he'll pay you a visit sooner rather than later?"
For a moment Naruto was secretly pleased to see some fear momentarily show in the guys eyes. The fear of losing their bending was filling the criminal world and they were being left quite shaken. Though this guy seemed more or a punk than a criminal he wasn't the type to settle for one over the other. If anyone misused their bending then that made them a target.
However, the guy seemed to regain his nerve and smugness. "Yeah well he's not here and I'm sure he's got bigger fish to fry then a guy like me. There's still plenty of gangs for him to go after."
"Until the City runs out and then that just leaves the small fry like you." Naruto said with a bit of mocking tone as he stared down the rude guy. "You think just cause you can throw a little water around it means you're untouchable."
"You know, you're pretty cocky for a non-bender." The would be criminal smirked, giving his makeshift weapon a spin. "So what's it gonna be tough guy, you wanna try your luck?"
However, a very heavy and hard hand immediately clapped on the man's shoulder followed by an equally heavy and angry voice.
"No, but I do!"
The guy barely had a chance to make a sound before being violently spun around and being immediately greeted by a fast and equally heavy fist to the face that sent him rolling backwards, slamming his back against Naruto's cart.
The resulting jolt caused several items, pots, utensils and the like to be jostled out of place but Naruto didn't care much about that. No, he was instead distracted by the visibly angry look on his favorite customer, who'd immediately grabbed the would-be dine and dasher and lifted him up by his shirt.
"I was right, she's clearly in a bad mood."
-A few minutes earlier -
"Hey Avatar, great match the other day. I'm rooting for you to win the whole dang tournament."
Korra gave a weak smile back at the encouraging fan and a wave. "Really appreciate it."
Her momentary cheer vanished as the man turned around and she quietly walked down through the Roku District of the City, having finished another session of meditation with less success than before, which did little to improve her already sour mood.
And things only got worse as she decided to venture into the city to pay her favorite cart owner a visit, getting compliments left and right from more than a few Pro-Bending fans. Normally she'd be beaming with glee at the praise, ego swelling like a balloon given access to water…but now.
"I didn't win anything…I got scared, ran away and got a lucky hit in." That thought alone made her entire body tighten in anger. "The whole thing was pure dumb luck."
That lingering truth only served to make her frustration grow as she was practically stomping along the sidewalk, mind practically on autopilot. "I can just imagine what Mako would say if he figured out the truth, he'd never let me hear the end of it. Big Bad Avatar wins cause of a lucky punch, you really are an amateur."
Korra's fake Mako voice actually brought a moment of levity to the situation. While the fact her victory was technically unearned, that wasn't the most pressing issue for her.
"Worst part though…I got shook up. AGAIN!" Korra's inner voice practically screamed as she brought her clenched fists close to her chest before shaking them out. "The dreams were bad enough, but now it's starting to affect me when I'm awake. Even if it was just because I got my head knocked in for a second, I can't just keep ignoring this…or rather him."
As Korra walked a bit further, she looked towards a nearby wall and felt a cold chill go down her spine.
On the wall were several posters with Amon's mask proudly displayed at the top, the Equalist symbol just below him and several small images of people in different combat stances. And at the bottom of it the words: Equalist Chi-Blocking Academy, available to all who wish to learn the Art of Self Defense. Starting Monday at 6 PM in Old Cranefish Town.
However, her eyes again were drawn to Amon's masked face. The empty eyes, she could practically feel them peering into her soul, the linger dread from her dreams starting to wash over her.
Feeling herself start to shake, she broke contact with the poster and quickened her pace.
"Here's hoping Naruto has a nice bowl of noodles ready for me. I could really use a pick me up right now."
Walking another block or two, she felt her spirits perk up at the sight of the familiar cart and a smile broke out on her face. Her pace quickened as she closed the distance, spotting an unknown man at the counter speaking with Naruto.
"Guess business is a little slow today. Hopefully I can brighten things up once he's done with this guy."
However, her cheery mood fizzled out when she started to hear part of what they were saying, more specifically Naruto's next words.
"I wasn't aware my inability to bend somehow translated to you not paying me for the food I served you."
Eyes went wide with horrified shock, which only grew as the man, a waterbender just to add salt to the wound, formed a makeshift ice knife from the leftover broth in his bowl and then proceeded to threaten the noodle vendor with it.
Korra felt the world go quiet for a moment, struggling to process what she was hearing and a pressure of some kind starting to form within her. However, her hearing came back to her when she heard the waterbender speak again.
"With those Chi-Blocking schools going up, pretty soon it'll be impossible to tell which of you guys I can knock over and which I can't, so I'm making the most of it while I can."
And in that moment, Korra's eyes only saw red, her thoughts turning positively frigid as she rapidly approached the bender as spoke again.
"Oh what tough guy, you wanna try your luck?"
And in that moment Korra's vice-like grip latched onto the bender's shoulder and her instincts took over.
"No, but I do"
-Scene Transition: Present Time-
"Not so tough now are you?" Korra practically snarled as she glared into the eyes of the offender, now looking at Korra more than a little frightened as Korra effortlessly released one of her hands yet still held him up, using her own waterbending to form a much larger bubble of liquid from the air around her. "Wonder how many times I can knock you over before the cops show up. Want to find out?"
The would-be criminal was now sweating profusely in Korra's grip, struggling to form a sentence. "Hey come on Avatar. What's the big deal, not like I was doing anything that bad. Just a free meal here and there, you understand don't you?"
That proved the wrong thing to say, as Korra's grip quickly tightened and her anger reached a boiling point.
"Oh I get it alright." Korra's ball of water started to harden around her hand and turned into a solid block of ice. "I understand it's guys like you are the reason people like Amon and the Equalists have such a low opinion of benders."
Now the guy in question had almost certainly wet himself and Korra actually looked to be contemplating making good on her threat, only to feel a familiar hand on her shoulder.
"Okay Korra, I appreciate the help and I'm even a bit flattered, but this is going too far."
Korra's anger finally broke hearing Naruto's voice, turning to see him looking at her with his usual smile, marred with clear concern. "Don't waste your anger on this clown. Trust me, he's not worth getting chewed out by Old Lady Ironside."
The playful nickname actually made the hot headed Avatar finally cool off and realize what exactly she was doing. With another sneer at the now thoroughly chastised waterbender, she dropped him like a bag of garbage on the ground.
Naruto himself gave the would-be thug a flat look. "You're lucky my good friend here is as forgiving as I am. Take this little encounter as a sign from the Spirits to clean up your act. In fact, I do believe Korra would be more than happy to start you on that journey, wouldn't you Korra?"
Seeing Naruto's eyes shift slightly to her still ice covered hand, a knowing smirk broke out on her face.
"Well, it is my job to help out where I can." Immediately the ice on her hand turned back into water and with a flick of the wrist, the sizable glob of water hovered over the man's head for a second, before dropping down, soaking him to the bone.
Both Naruto and Korra laughed at the man's misfortune and Naruto eyed him with a hint of anger. "Now, why don't you get up and start rethinking your perspective on life. I hear that journey takes about a thousand miles to complete."
Fearing for his safety, the criminal bender quickly got to his feet and was about to run, only for Naruto to cough, getting him to stop.
"Forgetting something?"
Immediately the man thrust his hand into his pocket, ripped out his wallet and dumped every cent he had on the counter, far more than he owed.
"Ke…keep the change."
"Appreciated and please come again." Naruto offered a wave and a smile as the man fled the scene, dripping all over as Naruto continued to smile and wave before he was finally out of sight.
A dead silence hung between the two for a few seconds as Naruto gave Korra a friendly glance. "Always great to see you, Korra. Heard about your win the other day, congrats on moving up in the tournament."
Korra however didn't share his enthusiasm, merely giving him a look that simply said she wasn't in the mood for pleasantries at the moment. So Naruto sighed and walked back over to his cart, collecting the money left behind while Korra her usual seat.
"So, how much of that did you hear?"
"Enough to get the message that guy thought he could basically rob you." Korra's voice rose several octaves, lightly slamming her palm on the counter. "Is that just some kind of regular thing here?"
Again Naruto sighed as he walked behind the cart, eyes drifting to the spot where his hidden Equalist radio was located. "It…happens a bit more than you think and more than I'd like. Most of the time the guys are a bit more subtle about it, a couple backhanded insults when they think I'm not listening. But there's always the occasional jackass like that guy who is about as obvious as a Moose Lion in a china shop."
The blonde stopped for a moment and looked out the window, seeing Korra's fire dimming, looking now far more sullen at this new information. "I knew things in Republic City were bad, but I figured it was mostly the Triads."
"I wish it was only them, would make fixing the problem a lot easier. But sadly, you don't need to be a criminal to be an idiot or a jerk. It's sadly something a lot of us here have come to accept." Naruto spoke solemnly as his grip on the kitchen counter of his cart tightened. "And it's why I came to this city…to finally change things."
"But that's wrong. You shouldn't have to accept that sort of behavior." Korra looked up with an angry fire in her eyes, yet Naruto could also see far more than just fury.
"While I don't disagree with you, it's also pretty obvious that's not the only thing bothering you Korra."
The Avatar quickly turned away, almost ashamed to talk about it, looking about ready to bury her head in her arms or run away. However, Naruto wasn't going to have any of that and reached out, gently placing his hand on Korra's arm, causing the Avatar a slight jolt before looking back and finding Naruto's warm smile waiting for her.
"Hey, I told you I'd always be honest with you and I'd be there if you need someone to talk to." Slowly he pulled his hand back, before leaning in the window and resting his chin on his hands. "I know you're the Avatar and everyone expects you to handle your problems on your own, but there's no shame in asking for help Korra. So, let me help you."
His kind words left Korra feeling a familiar warmth start to stir inside of her chest and a sense of almost relief or alleviation wash over her. Like she truly almost felt safe in his presence.
Thus with a heavy sigh, she laid it all out.
"You heard how my match yesterday went right?" Korra began.
"Yeah, had me a little worried after that big hit you took. But you won in the end right?" Naruto answered.
Again Korra flinched, both from the memory of the uppercut and the truth of what happened. "Truth is, I didn't beat him, not really. I….I panicked." The Avatar almost retched at speaking those words, still reeling that she could feel such a thing.
Naruto however didn't see the issue. "So what, you freaked out. Big deal, what's the problem?"
"The problem is I won because of a lucky shot." Korra's fists slammed on the counter, causing a cup of chopsticks to almost tumble over before Naruto caught them. "Here I am constantly bragging about what an awesome bender I am and my biggest win as a Pro-Bender was me basically sticking my foot out and tripping my opponent. And now everyone is treating it like it was some kind of epic finishing move."
With some clarification Naruto could understand things a little better. "Geez Korra, lighten up. Sure it's not exactly the most dignified win, but it's not like you cheated or anything."
Shaking his mental thoughts aside, Naruto's eyes narrowed as he looked closer at Korra, noting that while there was shame on her face, it wasn't the kind someone felt simply from misplaced glory.
"Okay, Korra. I'm gonna be frank, this really doesn't sound like that big of a deal."
Korra looked ready to protest, only for Naruto to cut her off mid sentence.
"But, it seems like that's not the real issue here is it? Something else is bothering you."
Whatever bite Korra had quickly shrunk as she looked down again. "After I got knocked down I couldn't think straight. Everything looked and sounded off and when the guy I was fighting went to throw me out, for a brief minute….I thought I was fighting Amon and I panicked."
That actually made Naruto's eyes widen considerably and a spike of fear started to form as Korra continued.
"When I had to speak while Lin was interviewing Zolt about what happened at the rally, Zolt said Amon would eventually come after me, cause I'm the Avatar and eventually the Council would order me to confront him. And ever since then I started having nightmares of him taking my bending away."
Again, mentioning those dreams caused the familiar cold chill to bring a shiver to Avatar, a humorous thought given her home in the Southern Water Tribe, yet it was clear for anyone to see, as she gently hugged her arms against herself.
"It's been like that for a few days now and as if that wasn't bad enough, it's also making meditating harder than it already was." Korra's hand slumped onto the counter, face devoid of her usual confidence and brash arrogance. "For the first time in my life, I'm actually scared of someone and I don't know what to do about it."
And that was something Naruto had hoped not to hear as behind the smile he was trying to keep on his face, his mind was awash with thoughts and concerns, trying to figure out some kind of solution to this problem.
"I've barely been in public as Amon for a week and it's actually affecting Korra's own mental health. Sure, what Zolt told her isn't completely impossible and a scenario I'd considered, but I never thought just that possibility would rattle Korra this much."
Naruto's mind quickly went into panic mode and tried to think of a solution on how to resolve this issue.
"Okay, Amon thing aside, main thing s that Korra has so much weighing on her mind right now, Mastering Airbending and Meditation, Pro-Bending and just being the Avatar in general. All of that has got to be stressing her out even if she's acting like it isn't….and I think I know how to help her with that."
Quickly Naruto pulled back into the kitchen of his cart and started packing things up, getting Korra to perk up a little. "Everything okay back there?"
The noodle vendor popped out with a smile and nodded. "Yeah, just had a thought of sorts."
"And that would be?"
Naruto's smile grew a little.
-Scene Transition: Naruto's Apartment-
"Cooking lessons?" Korra asked, almost stunned as she found herself now standing in Naruto's kitchen of all places. She was now clad in a light blue apron, standing in front of a kitchen island with a large pile of flour, eggs, salt and other ingredients on the top. "This is your solution?"
"Absolutely."
Her eyes drifted over to Naruto, who had donned his own orange apron with a green Earth Kingdom symbol on the front. As usual the blonde still had his typical grin, but Korra wasn't seemingly in a grinning mood.
"And how is making noodles gonna help me with anything?" Korra questioned the usefulness of all this.
Naruto's grin dropped a little as he joined her at the island. "Tell me Korra, have you ever in your life cooked or prepared food?"
"No, not really." Korra admitted, not seeing the issue. "Usually either my mom, Katara or the White Lotus handled that sort of thing so I could focus on my bending training."
"Well, that helps explain how you almost burned my cart down at the Sanctuary last week." Naruto spoke candidly, causing Korra's face to morph into an angry growl.
"I thought we were over that already." Seriously, she said she was sorry.
Naruto simply ignored that and divided the ingredients into halves and started mixing his pile together. "Look Korra, I know cooking isn't exactly the most exciting thing in the world, but you can learn quite a lot of useful things from it, outside of just making food."
That made Korra huff rather angrily as she watched his pile of ingredients slowly start to congeal into dough, her eyes drifting to her own pile.
"Not really sure what swirling a bunch of stuff together is gonna teach me." Immediately Korra stuck her hands into the pile and tried to follow Naruto's example…except she saw fit to do it with a considerably large amount of speed.
Pretty soon both parties had turned their ingredients into dough. However, to Korra's irritation, while Naruto's dough was quite pliable and easy to stretch to the required length, her dough was more akin to concrete. The ball struggled to stretch even a centimeter, even outright breaking when the Avatar tried to force it.
It left her huffing rather angrily at the ball, practically throwing it on the table. "Why won't this stupid dough stretch?"
Naruto in turn sighed. "Remember those things I said cooking can teach, well one of those things is patience. You mix the ingredients too quickly and the dough becomes overstressed, practically hard rock and needing to be thrown away."
Korra's eye twitched as she looked at the confirmed useless dough with her frustration growing.
Her teacher again offered her a comforting smile. "But it's also important to remember trial and error. If you mess up, just learn from it and try again right?"
However, Korra got a look in her eye that Naruto quickly recognized from the last time he let her help.
"Oh no!"
Immediately Korra used waterbending to pull some water from the sink and, taking the dough ball in one hand, started adding the water to it.
"Korra, what are you…"
"The dough needs to soften up right. Just add some water and it's good to…."
Korra's plan had actually proven somewhat accurate, as the dough did soften when she added the water. Unfortunately, it softened more than she'd wanted as it was now starting to melt in her hand.
"Yeah, water can soften dough, but it also makes it difficult to handle and pretty sticky." Naruto said as he watched Korra try in vain to keep the dough in some kind of semi stable form. "Okay, now you want to dry the dough out some more by using…"
However, the instant Korra heard the words dry, she immediately took a breath and made her hands start to heat up…which proved to be a mistake if the large bubble forming on the dough was anything to go by.
"Uh oh."
A loud pop sounded, globs of dough flying around the kitchen, sticking to the ceiling, the walls, the floor and most especially, to Korra and to Naruto, the latter of whom was holding a small bag in front of him.
"...Flour. You add a little flour to the dough and that helps dry it out."
Her face now covered with smudges of dough, Korra blinked a few times, partially to get some of the gunk from her eyes before looking at the forced smile on Naruto's face, being reminded of a similar look her own mother had shown her a couple of times. "Um….eheh, sorry about that."
Korra half expected Naruto to snap at her, a back and forth she'd grown accustomed to with Tenzin. However, Naruto took a few breaths, wiped the bits of dough from his face and merely shrugged. "Honestly, after the cart incident, I anticipated something like this happening. And like I said, cooking is all about making mistakes, then learning from them and improving. So, we'll chalk this up as a teachable moment."
Despite the understanding tone, Naruto did still give her the slightest bit of a glare. "Though, I trust next time you'll listen before deciding to fly off the handle like that?"
Korra quickly nodded and bowed. "Absolutely. I'll help clean up too, of course."
That brought Naruto's smile back. "Glad to hear it." With a sigh, Naruto eyed the globs of goop on the sleeves of his jacket. "Looks like I'll be doing a load of laundry today…but nothing I'm not used to."
Naruto started rolling up his sleeves, only to hear a gasp from Korra when he got to his left side, and immediately kick himself when he realized why.
"Naruto….your arm."
Groaning at the awkward conversation coming, Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head in a half hearted manner. "Heheh, hope that doesn't freak you out or anything."
Korra quickly approached Naruto and got a closer look at the bandage covered arm. "I never really noticed, I guess I just assumed it was a glove."
Again Naruto chuckled. "A glove would certainly be preferable, and easier to put on."
Seeing her unsatisfied with the answer, Naruto sighed as he slowly took his apron off and opened his jacket, revealing an orange tank top underneath and to Korra's horror, revealing the bandages went up from his fingertips all the way to his shoulder.
"What….what happened to you?" Korra asked, eyes tracing the heavily wrapped limb.
"A few years back, my home caught fire. Both my parents died and well, I'm still here with this…" He lifted the limb and gently shook it about for emphasis. "As a fun little reminder."
Korra's eyes only widened further as she fought off the temptation to touch the burned limb, amazed he could even move it with how damaged it must've been.
"Yeah, it's pretty bad. Luckily for me there was a healer in town. Said I'd be fortunate to ever make a fist or even lift up my arm again…of course I proved him wrong." Naruto's fingers tightened into a fist and his fingers flexed again and again, showing he still had the normal dexterity of anyone in spite of the injuries.
He spoke about the whole thing so casually you would think he was talking about a minor scar he got from riding a bike or tripping over his own feet. Not a potentially crippling injury.
"Does…does it hurt?" Korra asked, almost scared to think about the possibility. Naruto merely shrugged as he continued to move the arm without care.
"It did at first. Could barely make it twitch without feeling my skin crack and my muscles burn. But, I managed to figure it out with some help."
His bandaged hand gestured over to the kitchen, more specifically the disaster area they were at just a minute ago, making Korra put the pieces together.
"Cooking?"
"Yup," Naruto spoke with a nod. "Doctors said I'd need a lot of intense and precise physical therapy to even try to move my arm again. And one of the few things that survived the fire was some of my mom's old noodle recipes. So, I practiced learning how to make them from scratch."
A smile full of memories appeared on Naruto's face as he approached the kitchen and grabbed a small book near the fridge. Opening it and looking through the pages, he handed it to Korra, who looked at the page, more specifically the signature at the bottom.
"Kushina Uzumaki?"
Naruto nodded. "It took me a lot of pain and a lot of practice, but I didn't care. Besides learning to use my arm again, it helped me keep at least some part of my family's memory alive. And in the end it worked out."
Stunned somewhat by the revelation, Korra's eyes drifted again to the signature, and the wisdom from Naruto's words, wincing a little as she now thought over what she'd done.
"Guess I didn't really think things through, did I?"
Handing the book back to Naruto, "Eh, a little but that's the point." Naruto closed the book and returned it to its spot. "I know being the Avatar comes with a lot of expectations, but you're allowed to make mistakes every now and again Korra. You're still human, just like everyone else. As long as you learn from those mistakes, don't dwell on them, and take the time to think things through, you'll be all the better for it."
As he said those things, Korra felt almost like a weight was taken off her shoulders and as she approached the kitchen counter, looking at the mess that was her dough, she felt a mixture of relief and even excitement start to take root.
"Any chance after we clean up we could try again maybe?"
Her question made Naruto give her a smirk that she swore reminded her of a fox. "You promise not to detonate any more dough?"
Korra returned the smirk in full, as she put her fist into her open palm and half bowed to the young man. "This humble student is in your capable hands, Master Naruto."
That got the blonde full blown laughing, with Korra quickly following suit.
"Right, well, first things first. Let's clean this place up before I need a chisel instead of a mop to get this stuff off the walls."
Korra nodded and smiled, some of her prior cheer returning. "Sounds good."
-Scene Transition: The Jade Cavern-
Jagarala sat quietly in her office, her hands holding up a familiar looking flier.
"Seems like we'll need to start taking action pretty soon…but not need to rush. After all, it takes time before the Creeping Crystal completely ensnares its victims."
-Chapter End-
Okay, sorry again about the long wait, holidays were very much a hassle and I needed to focus more on my job than writing. But I'll try to keep things more consistent in the future, along with adding a few more pieces of fan art in the future.
Quick aside, obviously things are deviating a bit from canon but that's kind of what I wanted as let's face it, each season of Korra was pretty rushed compared to Avatar, which is something I want to avoid. So don't expect the episodes to match up 100% with chapters and there will be some other major changes but I'll let you try to figure those out.
Anyway, I'll try my best to get the next chapter out soon. Thanks to Master Attlon and Masamunex23 (Co-writer/Editor of The Tides Change Once More) who lent me some editing assistance with this chapter.
Hope it was worth the wait and I'll see you again soon. Agurra out.