The Avatar's Will of Fire

Training Begins

"Three days after the finals, the city had finally calmed down.

Naruto followed Korra as she lead him through the city to their destination while acting as tour guide. After a while, he internally let out a relieved sigh.

No one in the streets was giving him any odd reactions, so Naruto assumed that no one in the arena had gotten a good look at him.

That was good; anybody seeing him fight, or even worse, getting a picture of him, would have been a nightmare.

Sure, when he had been younger, Naruto would have probably shown off for just that event, basking in the attention of the public. But he knew that for the moment, he had to keep a low profile, for Korra and the others' sakes if nothing else. He still didn't know specifically who it was that had he had beaten, but he wasn't dead, and would probably want a rematch. Naruto didn't want to take any more risks than were necessary at the moment.

"Hurry up, slowpoke!"

Naruto's train of thought was broken by Korra's yell, and he looked up to see that she had gotten a dozen yards ahead of him, now waiting for him at the end of the street and tapping her foot impatiently.

Naruto fought back a smile at the sight; Korra really was like himself when he was younger. Well, except that she actually had the ability and the skill to back up her boasts when she made them.

Okay, so maybe they weren't that similar.

But there were other traits they shared.

At times Korra could just be a bundle of energy, seeming to find great difficulty in keeping still for an extended period of time. On the other hand, at times she would relax, calm herself, and if he hadn't seen it beforehand, Naruto would have found it tough to believe that she was the same person.

Naruto's friends back home had said on more than one occasion that he was the same way.

Shaking out of those thoughts, Naruto picked up his pace. He was tempted to just pump some chakra into his legs and close the distance almost instantly, to see the look on Korra's face if nothing else, but that would have defeated the purpose of laying low.

Though he did wonder why Korra seemed to bring the prankster in him back to the surface.

"So," Naruto started once he had reached her and they continued, "Where are we going, exactly?"

"You forgot already?" Korra asked, looking at him in exaggerated disbelief.

"I didn't forget," Naruto answered flippantly, "I just wasn't paying attention the first time; there's a difference!"

"And that's better how?"

Naruto's comeback -which would have been absolutely brilliant- was cut off by the sound of somebody bellowing through a megaphone as he and Korra rounded the corner.

"Are you tired of living under the tyranny of our so-called 'leaders?'"

Curious, both teenagers stopped to examine what was going on.

"Are you tired of the corruption, arrogance, and greed that the council has inflicted upon our once-great city?"

Moving a bit closer, Naruto and Korra saw the source of the commotion; a man, standing on some kind of makeshift stage, bellowing through a megaphone. However, what caught both their interests were the Equalist banners littered around the area, and the small crowd that had gathered around him.

"We, the Equalists, are going to change that! We are going to cast out those who have failed us, and restore Republic City to its former glory!"

Naruto had to admit a part of him was impressed; if nothing else, the guy had balls to actually try and hold a rally like this considering the attack three days ago.