Laughter. Laughter was the first thing he registered as the haze of a dream filtered into the cold consciousness of a nightmare. He knew this street. These lights. These streets were as foreign as they were hauntingly familiar. The main attraction of these streets, the large theater situated near the end of it bustling with people all excitedly jabbering away about the play, loomed in the distance, an ever gloomy figurehead. Blonde and Red hair suddenly blinded his vision, and wet squelching deafened him, his world ringing while he unconsciously recalled the events that were burned into his eyes, even as his nightmare was merciful enough to blind him with blood. Blood that splattered. Blood that squirted. Blood that stained.

He felt, rather than saw, the way the bodies slumped forward, perhaps a world away from him now. He felt the way the skin on the outer parts of his eye strained with how wide his eyes were, his body unmoving as his heart thundered in his chest. Certainly, the reason the man turned around. His grin etched itself into his mind. Carved itself into his chest. Wrenched a knife into his gut and gutted him in its image. He felt it. The smile did not leave his mind. Nor the simple, deliberate, ignorance of his presence. The man didn't care. The man cared less than the unliving duo of people he left behind, flipping his knife as he left. The boy could only watch.

He continued to watch, even as his world became white. Bustling herds of people were replaced with calm waters. Police were replaced with White Lotus. Buildings were replaced with snowy walls. The bodies were replaced with nothing. They remained, unmoving as matches of Water, Earth, and Fire Bending occured atop of their forms. In the sky, be it nightly aurora borealis or daily bunny clouds, the smile haunted him, watching in eternal dominance over his life even as he momentarily forgot it each day, only to return with a fervent desire to finish its work when he came of age at night.

Thus, the eyes slowly narrowed into calm, peaceful sapphire gemstones as the observant boy grew to a smiling teen, distracting himself from his problems with the problems of his much more important friend, the Avatar.

The boy continued to look up at the smile. His eyes wide and his heart thundering in his chest, before his world washed away in a brilliant plume of fire.

"AHHHHH! Korra!" Korra began to laugh maniacally as she watched her friend quickly bend some water out of a large bowl of the liquid meant specifically for bending in his room to drench the fire she had bent towards his sleeping form, waking him with only the most drastic and evil of methods. She may have felt bad, but there was an anxiety in her chest and she always went to him to relieve it. Rushing towards him, Korra grasped his hand and began to pull him out of his bed, despite the fact that the boy only had pants on and was without a shirt let alone shoes or socks.

"Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeon! Today's the day of my firebending test! You can't miss it Naruto!~" She called out to him happily, even as she dragged him by his arm nearly tearing it out of its socket. Naruto, having enough, stomped his foot forcing Korra to stop as her legs, up to mid calf, had frozen after the boy's stomp. Turning around with a questioning face, Korra soon flustered and turned around with a slight coloring of her face as she had come face to face with Naruto who was staring with a clearly annoyed face as he shivered slightly in the cold winds of the South Pole in the Southern Water Tribe Compound.

"I still need to get dressed Korra. Spirtis above, I've been hearing about this test for two weeks now. Plus, I wasn't planning on missing it. Besides," Naruto and Korra leisurely strolled back into his small home, consisting of one large 'main' room and two smaller ones, one of the smaller ones being his bathroom. "Isn't it in an hour?" Naruto chided, pulling on the first layer of many that went into a water tribe outfit. Korra had the decency to look embarrassed that she had pulled him out of his house an entire hour early.

"Yea, but, I thought we could spar as practice like we do before every test." Korra explained in a quieter voice than normal, showing her embarrassment. Naruto looked up as he pulled on the heavy fur coat that finished the traditional outfit.

"Korra, we spar everyday. And everyday its a win for you. Come on, don't worry about it, you'll pass." Naruto laced his arm around her shoulder with a big grin, and Korra looked up slightly to see a cheeky Naruto with his eyes squinted and a thumbs up on the other hand greeting her eye. As they exited, Korra smiled as his hair, a staple of his appearance, beamed gold in the sunlight. It seemed like a good omen for her test.

Approaching the open field of snow in front of the real trial fighting ground, the pair stared at each other, Korra with a determined smile, and Naruto with a rather cheeky, accepting smile. Each of them knew who would win this fight, that was not a question. The girl of the pair had always been the better bender between the two, leaping beyond Naruto's skill before the pair even met, and then leaping some more even after Naruto began to learn bending from Katara, who had free time to teach the boy after the White Lotus delegated Korra's waterbending instruction to a younger, much nimbler teacher who could keep pace with Korra's energy.

Staring forward at his sparring partner, Naruto had to take a moment to calm himself as he spied a devious smile on her face, one that made his heart beat two thunderous booms into his ear before it vanished as Korra began rushing him, fire lighting small trails behind her fingers. Naruto reacted by planting his feet, his knees crouching slightly for movement as the Avatar continued her aggressive rush on his person.

Korra leaped into the air, releasing a growling yell of exertion as she launched a plume of fire towards the blonde teen who reacted by bending water out of the pouch he always carried with him in a defensive manor, the water evaporating into steam to reveal Korra as she barreled into him, grabbing onto his clothing and launching him into the air with a firebending enhanced throw evident by the fire spewing out behind her elbow.

Naruto screamed, having never been thrown in one of their bouts, before regaining composure and turning his neck to watch as Korra began to throw more fireballs towards his position in the air. She could kill me! With that realization, Naruto once more bent water out of his pouch, defensively shielding himself even as he landed, his feet once more gaining footing, shifting into offensive movements.

"Alright you're finally getting into it!" Korra shouted happily, bracing herself for Naruto's attack with a determined grin. Naruto grinned back, water raising over each of his hands, before his body lurched forward, the water suddenly freezing around his hands. Korra's eyes widened, even as the boy sprinted towards her. She grinned once more, launching herself into the air with a plume of fire releasing from her feet, though her grin was cut short as the boy grinned once more.

Utilizing the melted snow that she had left behind, Naruto launched himself up with a quick use of bending, bringing his hand back in preparation to unleash an icy right hook across Korra's cheek, only to quickly melt it and use it as a water whip to confuse the girl, wrapping the water around her leg and using it as leverage to throw Korra into the watery moat around the middle tower of the compound. Laughing to himself, elated at this apparent victory, Naruto was unable to react to the steamy figure that launched a plume of fire at the boy as it emerged from the same moat. Naruto was sent flying backwards, finding himself wrapped up in one of the compound's many ropes courses meant for Korra's training.

Naruto sighed, grumbling to himself as he gained once again another loss in his and Korra's sparing history. A tanned hand reached down into his vision, prompting the boy to look up into Korra's sparkling eyes, as blue as his own, a joyful smile adorning her face.

"Looks like it's another loss for you, eh Naruto?" Korra teased, grabbing onto the boy and hoisting him out of the ropes course, untangling him in the process.

"We both knew it was gonna end like this Korra, come on. I just can't do the things you can." Naruto's rebuttal prompted Korra to laugh slightly and slap his back a little rougher than she intended, nearly making the boy tumble forward.

"I was only using firebending Naruto, you can't use that excuse this time." Naruto stared at her with an annoyed glance, cracking his back with a wince of pain.

"Oh shut it Korra, you've always been better than me at anything bending related. I mean, remember you had to teach me waterbending until they passed you on it, before that Elder Katara wasn't available to teach me, and it's not like they're gonna let anyone else in this damn place if it doesn't help you with your oooohhoho Ahhhvaaahhtaaarrr Deeeessstiiiny!" Naruto's joke, not really joke, made Korra laugh out loud, latching onto the boy's shoulder with her arm to support herself as she bent forward. Naruto smiled, the pair having frequently made jokes such as this that downplayed the White Lotus in anyway possible, though Naruto's eyes trailed up at the sentry that frowned at him as Korra continued to laugh. The White Lotus had never approved of Naruto's residency.

"Come on Korra, we've gotta make it to that test, remember?" Naruto chided, tugging the still laughing Korra along.

-Dinner that evening with Tenzin-

"Well, there's another solution to my airbending problem…" Korra trailed off with an absolutely giddy smile, her words dawning on Tenzin and the White Lotus elder seated in front of her, as well as the blonde to her left. Tenzin had been explaining that his stay in the South Pole was going to be a short one, a mere formality to explain to Korra why her training would have to be postponed, the reason being… issues in Republic City. To Naruto, it made sense, the man was one of the council members of the City and thus had to attend to his responsibilities, but on the other hand…

"Absolutely not!" The White Lotus elder slammed his hands on the table in clear anger at Korra's insinuated suggestion. Naruto's eye brows leaped up, his eyes darting over to watch Korra's reaction. Naturally, she wasn't taking it well.

"But why!? All I do is sit behind these walls and learn bending, that's it! Part of being the Avatar is going out and exploring the world on a path to help people! This is the perfect opportunity to begin! Not only could I start my airbending training, something that is necessary to becoming a true Avatar, but I could begin to help the people of Republic City. It's perfect!" Korra's explanation, clearly, fell on deaf ears as the elder's face only grew redder with each syllable.

"That's preposterous! Avatar Aang tasked us with your safety until you had mastered the elements! Even if he didn't, Republic City is a dangerous place. It is far too early for you to leave the compound, Avatar Korra." The elder replied with a vile mix of anger and reverent respect towards the Avatar. Naruto decided he hated the way that mix seemed to encompass everything he knew and had experienced with the White Lotus. Another slam on the table brought Naruto forth from his thoughts, watching as Korra began to leave in a frustrated huff.

"Korra wait! Sit down." Naruto called out, grasping onto Korra's wrist, prompting the girl to turn around with an angry flush, only to be met with Naruto's reassuring and caring eyes, calming her down significantly, enough to sit back down at least, the feeling of Naruto's hand lingering on her wrist in her mind as she sat down, looking into her lap in order to avoid the anger that was summoned by looking at that, fat ugly, respected elder of the White Lotus.

"With all due respect, gentlemen," Naruto's voice brought those at the table back to attention, the three of them turning to stare at the seemingly out of place blonde, "While Avatar Aang's instructions to safeguard Korra were done with good intentions, they are wildly outdated as it stands today." His words baffled, and even offended, the two eldest men at the table, while Korra's eyes widened in amazement.

"You insolent brat! Avatar Aang entru-" "Let's consider where Aang's words may have come from." Naruto purposefully interrupted the elder, ignoring him in favor of staring at the man with the real power in the room, Tenzin. "The world Aang remembers, and saved, was one of constant war, of hiding from fire nation soldiers, of poverty and despair. A world of death. A world that didn't want an Avatar. A world that didn't greet him with the open arms that perhaps he rightfully should've recieved. However, the world today is largely changed, for the better if I might add." His words seemed to have struck a chord within Korra, as she seemed to hang onto each and every letter with eager anticipation and excitement, while Tenzin merely sat and listened with, what he hoped, was an open mind. The elder was just struggling in anger, his face red with frustration.

"The world is no longer in a state of war, nor is it the dangerous, uninviting battleground that Aang remembers from his learning days, the same days Korra is going through right now. However, let us consider another fact. Aang faced the world with 1 element and 1 element only, Air bending. And yet, he prevailed. Not through restrictive measures of his safety, but rather the exact opposite. Korra, on the other hand, has 3 mastered elements at her hands. Not proficient, mastered. As it stands, I believe it is rather," Naruto looked down, seeming to consider his next words with serious thought.

"Asinine, to keep the Avatar locked away within the compound, especially given that the situation at Republic City does not have a concrete time of completion nor does it grant Korra a task to do while she waits for its completion, which, ultimately, stemms Korra's progress. I think we can all agree that it's better for the world to have a fully realized Avatar earlier rather than later, hmm?" His piece finished, Naruto lowered his posture once more, staring at the table in wait of a response. Naturally, Korra was first.

"Ha! See! Naruto agrees with me! What's so bad about me going to Republic City?" Korra demanded, a determined and once more emboldened face glaring at the two older men, clearly a result of Naruto's deliberate argument.

"Absolutely not! The White Lotus will not even consider it! It is foolish to go off of the words of some, some BOY than the words of the previous Avatar! And you, Avatar Korra, are a fool to entrust so much to this jester!" The elder, his ravaged anger overtaking his sense of duty, launched himself at the Avatar, leaning over the table and stuffing his finger angrily in her face. Korra was disgusted, not at his actions, but rather the way he treated her closest friend.

"Naruto has done more for me than any of you White Lotus ever have!" Korra's words made Naruto look up, but the angry face of the elder once more pushed his head down into a submissive posture. The verbal and facial war between Korra and the elder began to escalate, until seemingly the quiet Tenzin grew too frustrated with the pair's feud.

"ENOUGH! Elder, sit down! You too Korra!" The old man's voice boomed with a subtle use of airbending that Naruto caught, his eyes flicking upwards to stare at the man. "Both of you are disrespecting the severity of this situation as well as the well structured response by this young man. Spirits, you two acted like beasts! Elder, as a man of your age and discipline, this is hardly becoming behavior. And you, Korra, as the Avatar you need to learn to properly deal with those that do not agree with your decisions or your actions. Now, ultimately the decision resides within my discretion, considering I am to be Korra's teacher." Tenzin's outburst had effectively calmed the two, and even humbled the pair of… excitable debaters.

"Now, young Naruto, I will propose a course of action that may placate both parties. Korra," the girl perked up, as did her blonde friend, "You may accompany me to Republic City," seeing the girl's coming explosion of happiness, Tenzin quickly laid down the rules, "On the condition that White Lotus sentries be placed around the Air Temple, as well as you respect the cities rules, my rules, and naturally," Tenzin gestured towards Naruto, prompting the room to stare at the boy, "The wishes of this young man."

Blood. No matter what he tried to wash it off with. Water, cold or hot. Soap, soft or harsh. Even bleach in one stupid attempt. It stayed there. A large splatter across his left cheek, trailing up to his left eye and drying over his lower eyelashes. One splatter trailed to his nose, drying into a dark red line across the bride of his nose and connecting to his right eye lash where it dripped down into his right eye, blurring over his pupil and forever showing him what he would not forget. Lastly, the largest splatter trailed over his mouth, hardening into a dark paste over his lips and seeping into his mouth, cascading down his tongue and drying over his throat, casing it in blood that had mixed together to form his own life.

Boring walls of snow and ice melted, the pools of water reflecting red until they jumped up and reached for the sky, turning gray and solid in the process and becoming a jumbled, confusing mess of skyscrapers and factories that both confused and reminisced. The calming waters gained energy, the wind encouraged by bustling crowds of people that waded through the water, adding their own filth to the waters as they cascaded over the city, becoming criminals and lowlifes. Few White Lotus remained, though the ones that were forgotten were replaced with angry, metal-adorned police officers. Naturally, the bodies stayed, a tangible white outline of their bodies being drawn in the middle of the street.

Cars and people passed the teen by, even as he began to regress, separated from the bodies by a threateningly corrupt, pure white line. And thus, the now small boy's blonde hair was stained and became filthy in the smog and trash of Republic City.

"Augh… ungh… ahhh spirits…" Naruto mumbled breathlessly, rolling over in his bed and staring out of the window, surprised to no longer see the blue ocean but rather the gray stone of a port. He still felt the numbing sensation of the boat rocking with the waves of the sea, as he had for the past week. At first the waves had been disorienting, sickening even, but as a waterbender Naruto's keen sense of water and its motions had quickly quelled whatever queasiness was there from a life behind solid walls on solid ground.

"NarutoNarutoNarutoNaruto!" Naturally, Korra gave the boy no time to properly wake up, her muffled shouts through the metal walls of the ship's hull bringing a soft smile to the boy's still sleep-stiffened face. Groaning lightly, he swung his legs over his bed's edge in time for his door to burst open by an energetic and, at times, immature bender.

"Hello Kor-ough!" Naruto's greeting was cut short as the girl propelled herself at him, wrapping her arms around his torso as she toppled over him in her excitement, raising her head to flash the boy with a smile perhaps as bright as the lights of Republic City.

"We're here! We're really here! Agh spirits it took so long I thought they were pulling a fast one and turning around to go back to the South Pole! But we're here, we're here. We're here! Can you believe it Naruto!?" Korra shouted, bouncing up and down on his chest, the bed squeaking and groaning with her added weight, Naruto doing the same as her rather… dense body from a literal lifetime of training beat upon his body.

"Gahk, Korra! Let me get up and then I'll tell you!" Naruto groaned out irritated, heaving the girl off of his body and quickly rising to avoid another pounce. Rapidly, Naruto began to put on the traditional water tribe clothing, only to be stopped by an aggressive tug from Korra, nearly throwing his balance out completely.

"You're not wearing that whole getup, are you?" Her glance told him she thought he was being stupid.

"Well, yea. I mean, I've been wearing it for what, 11 years now? I don't see a reason to stop now." Her stare only became worse as he finished, her mouth dropping open and her eyes widening, before an excitement overcame her accusatory stare as she grabbed his arm.

"But don't you see!? We're past all of that now! This is the next step in our lives Naruto! You can't keep wearing that stuff anymore! Plus, it'll be waaaaaaaaay to hot with that on in Republic City."

"Hrmmm well, I guess you're right, for once." Naruto elbowed the girl and laughed, a teasing look on his face as his sapphire eyes glowed with amusement at her pouting glare. "But, what should I wear then?"

"Welllll… you don't have much to work with, do you? Just all this water tribe junk huh?"

"Oi, don't talk about it like that. For one, this is your heritage might I remind you, and two, I'm proud to have been brought up in the Southern Water Tribe. I would've been a criminal, if not dead, had your father not taken pity on me. I'm wearing this junk as you called it, whether you want me to or not." Finishing with a huff of irritation, Naruto began to pull on his water tribe gear with angry, aggravated movements, though Korra spoke up.

"Come on, you know I didn't mean it that way." Naruto didn't look at her. "Come onnn. I'm sorry, okay? Is that what you wanted." Glancing at her, Naruto sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Fine. How about a compromise, I won't wear the jacket. Deal?" Seeing the way she beamed up at him, Naruto smiled as well.

Finally finished a minute later, Naruto stepped out of his room with a large pack on. His top consisted of a tightly-fit light blue shirt completed with a dark blue band on his left arm, and two dark blue fit sleeves on his forearms. Adorning his waist were wolf furs, symbols of becoming a man in the eyes of the Southern Water Tribe, and as such, he would never take them off to remember perhaps one of the best nights of his life. Baggy, snow-ready dark blue pants, and his lower appearance finished with standard boots. Though, Korra noticed, he did have a circular pendant hanging from his neck, roughly half an inch in diameter, adorned with a swirling symbol. She had never noticed he worn it around his neck.

"Hey, what's this Naruto?" Voicing her curiosity, Naruto stared at the pendant as she appraised it, the swirling symbol glinting in the light. For a brief moment, the world darkened and blood caked his eye, the symbol beaming into his only remaining eye, a smile holding it impossibly far away from him. In a panic, Naruto tore the pendant out of Korra's hand and clutched it to his chest, breathing slowly. Korra looked at him in shock.

"Sorry, just, this means a lot to me. It was my mother's." Naruto did not say more, brushing lightly past Korra and down the hall of the boat.

Korra caught up, but figured that the pendant was a touchy subject and wisely choose to ignore it. Growing irritated by the silence though, as the overwhelming energy she exhibited, she quickly began to skip and grin.

"So, Naruto, remember anything about Republic City?" Korra questioned, knowing that he had initially grown up in the city until her father had brought him to the Southern Water Tribe, though she knew nothing of his life before that point, except for that his parents had experienced an early death. In her excitement, and her skipping, she did not notice the way Naruto's sapphire's darkened into ice, a trail of icy breeze following his pouch he kept for waterbending purposes.

"Yeah actually. When we get a chance, there's a theater my family used to go to every week. I think I still remember where it was. As for other things, well the police are metalbenders almost exclusively. At least the special forces are exclusively metalbenders, if I remember correctly. Ahhhmmm, well, all of the buildings are these towering achievements of modern architecture. And well, there's a massive statue of you. Well, the Aang you. Republic City's got a lot of places to visit and look at, so we'd best be sure to see all of em' so that you don't throw a fit."

"Hey!" Korra roughly jabbed into Naruto's side, though the boy found it hard to care, the smile on his face dulling the pain in his ribs. The pair continued until the light from the outside world burned Naruto's pupils, the initial bright glare dulling until eventually he could make out the looming skyline of Republic City from the dock.

Staring at the pair were a collection of very important people to the world, Naruto could tell simply by the way they held themselves, and well, he knew the majority of them. There was, of course, Tenzin, who had left with his family on his flying bison, preparing Republic City for Korra's arrival while she and him had taken the trip by boat. Next to his shiny bald head stood a woman clad in equally shiny metal armor, Lin Beifong. Damn, that woman was still running the police force of Republic City? Next to her was a wild card, a man dressed in some sort of Waterbender apparel, and flashing a massive and welcoming smile at specifically Korra, ignoring Naruto's presence, even at her immediate side. Finally, standing some distance away from the rest were a trio of people, all dressed in grass green apparel adorned with metal accessories, their apparent leader being a woman of similar looks to Lin Beifong, gray hair included. Tenzin went to step forward, only to be beaten to the punch by the man in watertribe apparel, who stepped forward with wide, welcoming arms.

"Ahhh greetings, Avatar Korra," the man dramatically bowed, causing Naruto to reel back slightly in shock, a confused look on his face, prompting a giggle from one of the people in green, "My name is Tarrlok. I'm the chairman of the United Republic Council. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm sure we'll be able to do great things for Republic City, together." Naruto instantly knew he hated that grin the man gave with a guttural, instinctual hatred. Korra, while clearly discomforted by the man, managed an awkward smile and a nod of acknowledgment. A clearly annoyed, and irritated, Tenzin stepped forward, making for a sight Naruto honestly thought he would never see.

"Yes well, it is good to see you Korra, and you too Naruto. These two lovely ladies behind me are Lin and Suyin Beifong. Lin is the Chief of the Republic City police force, and Suyin is the acting leader of Zaofu, the city state in the Earth Kingdom." Tenzin introduced the pair as they stepped forward, raising his hand towards the aged women. "This here is Avatar Korra and her friend, Naruto."

"Why hello! It's so good to see you Korra! And I'm sure you'll make wonderful company, uh, Naruto was it?" the Suyin lady stated with an airy, happy mood, grasping Korra's hands gently and smiling at the pair. "Over there's my stick in the mud sister, Lin, we don't agree on much other than not talking to each other. But well, you win some you lose some, and Lin wins a lot. Well," Suyin leaned in, a teasing smile on her face, "She likes to think so anyway. Hehe." Korra genuinely laughed at the energetic woman, seeming to enjoy herself, while Naruto continued to stare at Lin rather intently, thinking about something.

Lin stepped forward, ignoring both Naruto and Suyin, and leaning into Korra's personal face.

"I came today simply to inform you that, despite your status as the Avatar and Avatar Aang's good relations with my mother, you will not be receiving any special treatment from the Republic City police force, especially from me. You take one step out of line and you will be punished accordingly. A connection to the spirits and glowing eyes will not save you from the law. Remember that. And you, young man, when I was told of your arrival I did some digging to make sure I knew who you were. After what I found," Naruto stepped back in fear when Lin reached out her hand, only to stare into her eyes when she rested her hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner, "I'm sorry for what happened, and should you need anything, I will extend at least formal help that I feel is necessary. Beyond that, you're on your own." Patting his shoulder once more, the rough woman walked away, ignoring her sister completely.

Naruto watched her go, his mind pulled back into his misery from her words, not even noticing that the eyes of everyone in the group were on him. Naruto did not acknowledge the eyes, but looked at Korra with a fiery intensity and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey Korra, I got some things I need to do. I'll uhhh, I'll see you tonight and we'll go tour the city like we said, ok?" Without giving the girl a chance to reply, Naruto jogged off towards Chief Beifong, catching up quickly, leaving an intrigued, and slightly worried, group of people, and a bewildered and slightly hurt Korra.

"Well, anyway, I think it's time that we introduced Republic City to the Avatar, huh?" Tarrlok offered, trying to sway the group's attention from the rapidly disappearing figure that was Naruto, only to be met with some well hidden irritation from Tenzin.

"That can wait for later Tarrlok. This is Korra's first day in Republic City and there are much more important things to do. We've got to show her Air Temple Island and see if she's got any natural skill at Airbending, and then we've got to get her settled in. Besides, it seems she's got plans with that young man, so whatever you've got planned for her can wait. End of story."

Tarrlok seemed very annoyed, even angry, though he was ignored as the group began to walk forward, forming a protective semi-circle at Korra's sides. Suyin smiled, and walked close to the girl, placing her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Don't worry Korra, he's just dealing with my sister. He should be fine." She comforted, seeing the clear discomfort on Korra's face, the girl ignoring the rest of the group and staring at where Naruto's figure had disappeared.

"Yea but, we're always together. If he needs to deal with something, why couldn't I help? I mean, I'm the Avatar, I should definitely be able to handle whatever it is that he needs help with, right?" Korra questioned, looking into the eyes of the Beifong woman for guidance, to which she smiled.

"Perhaps it is because you are the Avatar that he did not ask you. You've got a lot on your plate as it is, simply by being the Avatar. Maybe he feels that his problems are beneath you, and because of that he doesn't want to bother you about them. But of course, maybe he just doesn't wanna make you worry. Besides, you two've got that date later tonight hmm?" Suyin teased, smiling as the girl's face colored in embarrassment.

"D-Date?! No. Nonononono we're just friends! Plus, I've never been to Republic City and he has, so… so he's gonna be my tour guide! Yeah, my tourguide!" Korra rebutted, though Suyin merely laughed at the poor girl.

"I know a crush when I see one little girl, you can't fool these eyes." Suyin laughed as Korra grew increasingly frustrated at her coy attitude, though she grew slightly serious in an instant. "Though, I hate to be a tough old woman, but as the Avatar, your security must be ensured. I don't doubt that not only you and that boy are capable, but there is still concern. I'll have one of my people act as your security during this so called 'tour', so don't be surprised when they show up ok?"

The #1 concern that I saw in the reviews after posting Chapter 1 was the lack of power Naruto wields as a character. While I am a little irritated by these concerns, I understand why they are there. The majority of stories in this crossover's space, actually really just any story with Naruto in it, have his character as an overpowered god there so that the entire world and story revolves around him. I get that, I enjoy that from time to time. But this story isn't like that. Naruto's power in this story doesn't come from wielding two elements or some overpowered fox in his gut or something like that. Naruto is, for the most part, a normal character in the universe he's set in. However, this doesn't mean that Naruto is just some run of the mill bender.

The concern that Naruto won't stand out is justified, and my response to the power and stand out concerns are simply this:

1:) That was the first chapter, be patient. Goku didn't destroy planets in the first episode of Dragon Ball.

2:) Naruto isn't from his own universe, he's a normal citizen of Korra's Universe.

3:) Korra is the Avatar, so by default she should, generally, be the strongest bender on the planet. She's leagues ahead of other benders who have mastered their element simply by being intermediate in all of her elements.

4:) No, Naruto will not simply go to Korra to have her resolve her issues. His whole character works as quite the opposite as I will explore.

And finally 5:) He'll have power. Naruto will be a mover and a shaker. Eventually. Be patient.

Hopefully I was able to put to rest the concerns that you guys have.