crawling from the battle to the other side; if courage is a lot lighter, i see it in your eyes

[unrestraint]

The problem with busy, frenzied shopping days is that the plethora of merchandise hanging out in vehicles and carts draws a lot of thieves out from the shadows. Technically, Korra isn't due to start work until well after the sunrise, but it's the middle of the night that she finds the most worrisome, so she decides to take things into her own hands and patrol around. Especially after she gets a tip-off about one of the more prominent gangs of petty thieves preparing for a heist.

She doesn't cover her face, but to better blend into the dark, Korra's swathed head to toe in dark browns and grays, pressing her body close to the wall of the alley as she watches the gang members from afar. Technically, they haven't done anything yet, save for skulking around in an area where they're not intended to be. Catching them now would just earn a slap on the wrist for trespassing.

It's not until she notices one of them sneaking back with a large package that Korra leaps down from the balcony, breaking her fall with a rush of air as she takes off immediately in their direction.

"Hey, you, stop right there!" she calls, sending a stream of water headed in their direction, sweeping it under the guy's legs to break his run.

Comments

[outfoxy]

The water around the thief's leg stops him, tripping him to send him hard against the asphalt to knock the air out of him. It sends the other black-dressed criminals to scattering, and the package that the man had been sneaking back, a fancy new stereo system worth almost a grand, skitters across the road. A moment later, it hisses with smoke and a soft bang, leaving a dizzy Naruto on the ground in its stead to pull himself to his feet and beat quickly after one of the retreating men.

He expected this to go really differently, but he isn't particularly one to cry over spilled milk when his plan doesn't work, especially because the A plan almost never works to begin with. "You got that one?" he asks, intent to leave it to her to take after the others. He can't hurt any of them badly, so the only real option is to send out a few kagebunshin.

[unrestraint]

Korra blinks for several seconds, dumbfounded as the heavy package on the man's back goes up in smoke and reveals Naruto sprawled on the ground. For a moment, she wonders if Naruto's actually a part of the gang, before shaking her head and rushing forward, deciding to trust him. She has to. He's too earnest to be a liar about something like this.

Still, what is she supposed to do when she hauls these guys in now? She has no evidence that they'd stolen anything. Growling under her breath briefly, she quickly freezes the water over, trapping the guy in place. Maybe she'll rely on being able to warn them away from repeat activity.

"Yeah, I got him," she says with a frown, pulling out more water from the storm drain and using it to shackle the robber down at the wrists and ankles before taking off after one of the stragglers. "Who are you going after?"

[outfoxy]

Before she even finishes her first question, Naruto's arms are already in the air firmly in front of himself to form the set of hand seals necessary, and in a half second, there are three. He'd been planning to go after all of them, of course, had not even thought about what else he might have done before doing it. Anyone he would have been working with from home, nearly anyone, would already have assumed the same from him. The sky was blue. Water was wet. Uzumaki Naruto used shadow clones.

"The ones on the left," he says, only belatedly rethinking his plan to include Korra. "No, the right." He peels off to chase after the two who had gone together with one clone.

The other really isn't sure what the plan was in the first place, and decides to look to Korra instead for instruction. "I didn't know you were after these guys too," he says. "My new boss mentioned they broke into his car and stole all the presents for his kids the other night."

[unrestraint]

Brows raising in surprise when Naruto mentions having tailed after these guys, Korra gives him an appraising look before turning her attention back on the man running away, knocking up a small block of asphalt to trip him up. Unfortunately, his balance seems a lot better than the guy who'd actually performed the theft, and he's on his feet quickly, a gun in each hand raised at the both of them.

"Next time, you should call the police for help," she says, eyes wide as she freezes in place. "Even though I know I'm kind of being a hypocrite, since this isn't my job or anything, but... ugh, hold on."

"Don't move," the thief yells, growling at them from a distance, and Korra's eyes widen as his hairline seems to shift, drawing down on his face, his nose slightly elongating.

"Okay, that's not something I've ever seen before. I'll try to take out the guns. You got any idea what else he might have up his sleeve?" Korra asks, not waiting for an answer before running forward, using a shield of water to block herself as she rushes forward.

A few shots ring out, but hitting the thick wall of water, each of the bullets falls and bounces lightly on the ground.

[outfoxy]

By the time the man starts to change - into what, Naruto doesn't know - the two clones who had gone after the two who had taken off to the right as a pair have them forced to the ground intently.

But the Naruto that had been left behind with Korra points at the transformed man. "What's he? What's going on with that?" he asks, before watching Korra start after him with a deeply bemused expression.

"What's guns?" he follows with, giving a slight wince when the guns in question go off, firing projectiles at Korra. The water she's using to shield herself stops them, but Naruto shouts before running quickly after Korra, not waiting for answers he's not sure will come immeditely. Maybe not until after this is finished. And he wants to know sooner rather than later.

"Aa, mou!"

[unrestraint]

"Don't get in the way of fire! Like, the long end, if it points at you like a finger then it's going to shoot something your way," Korra yells over her shoulder before sending the water at the thief, surrounding him in a sphere and narrowing the radius. Unfortunately, what made a decently thick column in front of her is spread thin, and Korra's forced to dodge to the side when the man shoots another bullet.

Bringing both of her hands together in a larger, balled fist, the water wraps fully around the attacker and quickly turns to ice. Unfortunately, Korra can already see the cracks forming around his arms and hands.

"He's stronger than a regular human," Korra says, panicked. "I, I don't know, I think he's turning into something or revealing another form. The ice isn't strong enough to hold him for long."

[outfoxy]

Watching Korra get something shot at her like that raises Naruto's hackles, and he narrows his eyes at the man, or whatever it is he's becoming. It doesn't come as a surprise to him. So many members of Akatsuki had been so totally inhuman, Naruto knew exactly how far a person would go to gain power, or once they'd lost their own connection to humanity in general.

If this guy wants to play it that way, fine.

"Hold him as long as you can," he tells Korra, having shed the hapless confusion of a moment ago. There was a real chance someone could get seriously hurt now. "Guys!"

The two that had moved off are nearly caught up with them again, the men in their tow looking a little worse for the wear, unconscious but aware, and they get dumped with the first, still cemented to the ground with ice. It's a handy trick, and Naruto wishes a little that he knew how to manage the same. Good luck with that, he thinks.

"Like, two minutes, three if you can manage, that's all I'm asking," the clone that had stayed with Korra practically begs, before plopping himself to the street and folding himself into a meditative pose. The other two clue in immediately, to flank him and Korra alike.

"What can we do?"

[unrestraint]

As the ice fractures, Korra turns to Naruto, eyes flitting from one to the next with alarm. She's not even sure which of them she should be listening to or addressing right now, doesn't even know what level of illusion this is as she quickly turns her attention back on the criminal.

"Talk to me," she says, quickly melting some of the ice around the man's arms and driving it into the guns in his hands, hoping to render them useless. "What are you going to do if I hold him off for a couple of minutes? I'm thinking I should probably just knock him—"

Korra's words are cut off suddenly when a few needles shoot in every which direction. Ice shards scatter on the ground as the man emerges from the block of ice, most of his body covered in a dark brown, needles protruding out from his clothing. One of them shoots towards her, nicking her upper arm as Korra tries to slide out of the way.

"What are you, a porcuperson?" Korra asks, flabbergasted as she channels the water underneath her, smoothing out a path of ice to skate around him, looking for blind spots.

[outfoxy]

A needle hits one of the clones squarely in the upper chest before he can react, and he disappears in a thin puff of smoke and a shout of pain and surprise. Naruto swears under his breath before quickly creating two more, wary and narrowed eyes on the guy who's apparently turned himself into some kind of .... were porcupine.

"Why is it always needles?" Naruto asks, one clone crouching to protect the pile of captured men on the ground. It's evident that the leader no longer has any intention of protecting his comrades. The lack of loyalty really pisses Naruto off.

"He's gathering chakra," the remaining clone explains, digging a kunai out of the pouch at his thigh and giving it a slow spin on his index finger. "The old frog sage on the mountain taught me how. But it's taking him a longer time here than it did at home. I think it's becuse there aren't that many plants in the city, and the air isn't as clean and everything."

He gets a reminder to pay attention even while his mouth is running by another needle whizzing through the air, way too close to the curve of his cheek.

[unrestraint]

"Naruto!"

Blanching when one of the needs hits Naruto directly in the chest, Korra's concentration breaks long enough that another hits her in the thigh, eliciting a sharp roar of pain as she looks around in confusion when Naruto disappears in a puff of smoke. It can't be him, not the real him, she thinks to herself with some relief, drawing in a shaky breath as she yanks the needle out of her thigh.

The rest of the explanation barely registers, Naruto doing something that must be approximately like collecting energy from other living beings in the area, but Korra doesn't wait to find out as she charges forward. When water doesn't work, she pulls at the ground, struggling for a moment before the road suddenly shoots up over the enemy's head in a long tube.

Breathing heavily, Korra staggers back and watches, but as soon as she relaxes, a screeching sound warns her of a rolling presence in the sky. Balled up and sensitive belly hidden, needles start flying in every direction, and without thinking, Korra rushes back to where Naruto's seated on the ground, quickly raising a couple slabs of asphalt to block the needles from reaching him.

"Any bright ideas?" she asks.

[outfoxy]

"Korra-chan, you're amazing," supplies Naruto as he gathers under her shield of road asphalt with the one remaining clone to avoid the barrage of needles. He takes a minute to frown at the small blooms of blood over the wounds on Korra's arm and thigh.

The clone that had been seated on the floor finally opens his eyes, lids splashed with violent red over foreign irises with their strange square pupils. Holding out a hand, he accepts a tag-in from the original Naruto before turning to Korra.

"I'm gonna get in toe-to-toe with him, but I don't know any kind of technique that can protect those guys." He points toward the criminals. "And that's more important than anything else."

[unrestraint]

Still confused and overwhelmed as she looks from one version of Naruto to the next, Korra simply takes the hand of the one without the strange eyes and hauls him back in the direction of the other criminals. She's not super enthusiastic about leaving the enemy to Naruto alone to conquer, but if he tells her that there's something he isn't capable of doing, Korra wants to trust him at his words.

"Okay, tell me that keeping one of you out of harm's way is enough to keep you safe," she asks Naruto — the one next to her — with wide eyes as she lifts another wall of asphalt around them, curved, with a small hole that she quickly fills with a smooth sheet of ice.

She appreciates the city's drain system for giving her the ability to do that almost at all times.

"And how are there so many of you, anyway?" she exclaims then, letting her guard down only slightly to flail at the remaining Naruto, her cheeks suddenly flushed in frustration. "Is there anything you can't do?"

[outfoxy]

Glancing through the glazed hole in the makeshift shelter Korra's erected, Naruto gives her a nod of acknowledgement before trusting the fight to the clone making his way after the porcupine-thief.

"Kagebunshin," he explains. "I'm the real Naruto, so as long as I'm still standing, I'm okay. Ish. It's complicated, but the point is, I can use my chakra for a lot of things other than elemental jutsu. It's really not what I'm best at. This is what I'm best at. Making these physical clones."

Across the street, the clone now has the benefit of the speed, strength, and durability of the senjutsu, though it won't last long. Managing to dart out of the way of a barrage of needles, he grapples the porcupine creature by its shoulders, intent on overturning it to get at its belly.

"I'm really not used to ... fighting people who aren't ninja," he admits, sheepish. "Or with people who I haven't fought with or against before. Like I said, I couldn't fight and protect these guys at the same time. That's something I can't do. I'm so used to just ... being sent out alone to fight."

[unrestraint]

Seeing the enemy splayed flat by the clone's tough hold, Korra punches her fist in the air in excitement with a whoop. The needles spray in every direction, bouncing off of the walls and the ground, but none of them are angled enough to hit Naruto's clone, and for the first time Korra notices that this type of opponent may indeed be best tackled on one's own. Tempted though she may be to dart in and take care of the final blow, she might get pierced in the process.

As she watches, Korra suppresses a wince as the thought causes a throb in her thigh.

"I like to think that I'm a decent fighter, though I definitely can't do half of the stuff you can," Korra says, suddenly reminded of the Naruto beside her, the real one. Not that any of the clones had really felt in any way inferior. "Actually, I haven't even had a lot of experience fighting other than in training. And here in Darrow, I feel like my skills have kind of weakened a bit. I don't spar with my bending very often."

She frowns, staring out the makeshift window. "Do you think he — you — do you think this is under control? I feel weird just watching."

[outfoxy]

"He'll be fine," Naruto decides, almost flippantly. "He had to sit completely still for a while to gather the sage chakra, but now that he's using it, he's stronger and faster than the two of us. More importantly, he can see and hear better, and sense porcu-dude's chakra."

He lifts a thumb to toss it over his shoulder, ready to add more to the explanation, but a wobble from the clone's stance gets his attention, and he plasters himself in front of the window in just enough time to watch the clone slip, skid, and lose balance on the thick layer of ice Korra had spread on the road earlier.

"Nevermind, he's not fine. How am I screwing this up? Why am I so clumsy?"

[unrestraint]

Korra slaps her forehead with a palm a second after the clone slips, cringing as the clone gets a fist slammed squarely against his sternum and coughs from the impact. "No, it's my fault," she argues, stepping to the edge of the shield. "I should have melted it ahead of time. You're not the one who works with water and ice."

Casting a quick look over her shoulder, she shakes her head quickly. "Okay, stay here, I'm going after him. The wall should hold," Korra says, stepping out before waiting for a response.

Sweeping the air up around her, Korra rushes in the direction of the criminal, bringing both hands together in a clap to send a slice of air in his direction, one which slams him chin-first against the ground. Instinctively curling up and drawing the ice up to block herself from the shower of needles headed her way, Korra growls in frustration as she lands back on the ground.

"If you don't it with the needles soon," she warns, before taking a deep breath and spitting fire out in the man's direction, only redirecting it with a hand at the last moment, sending it arcing neatly over his body.

[outfoxy]

It's hard not to be impressed with a display of fire like that, not after Sasuke and Jiraiya and all of the other skilled katon users Konoha had on offer. Naruto lifts fingers to his mouth and lets out a loud, appreciative whistle of encouragement.

The clone continues to cough harshly for a few seconds, but eventually manages to stand, wiping the wetness from around his mouth with the back of a hand. That hurt like a bitch, but he's not going to just disappear before he's out of sage chakra.

"Korra," he shouts across to her. "How's your aim? I want you to launch him! Then, launch me at him!"

[unrestraint]

The whistle catches Korra off-guard, and she shoots a panicked look over her shoulder before sighing in relative relief at the smile Naruto — or his clone, at least — wears. While she can't really fathom how he manages to smile in a moment like this, Korra doesn't stop to ponder for long when the quills of the man start to quiver in spite of the earlier threat.

That solidifies the choice in Korra's mind.

With a frustrated growl, she stomps a foot against the ground, driving up a column of earth that sends the man shooting up into the air.

"Hold your breath, Naruto!"

Favoring a slightly softer approach with Naruto, Korra bends the air around him, quickly driving up a cyclone of wind before punching it in the direction of the falling criminal, accelerating him above the speed of the man's fall.

[outfoxy]

It's starting to work out a little better, their teamwork. But only a little. As optimistic as Naruto is, he's also skilled enough at working in small cells that he can see that he and Korra need work.

Cupping his hands, he shouts, "Punch it!" at the clone as Korra launches him. He knows where his advantage is. With the fuuton, he can work to redirect himself while off the ground. The porcupine man isn't likely to have the same advantage.

Tossing a last minute tailwind behind himself for an extra cry of speed, the clone lowers his head, counting on his last few seconds of sage chakra to headbutt the creature firmly in its unprotected gut.

He falls gracelessly to the asphalt after, landing and skidding with a loud grunt and cradling his head for a second before, in a puff of smoke, finally deciding to disappear.

Beside Korra, Naruto gives a softer noise of pain, but steps forward again to peer around Korra's barrier, watching to see if the other guy gets up to move again.

[unrestraint]

Korra watches with bated breath as Naruto manages a little bit of airbending in the air, just enough to slam his head against the criminal, Korra whooping when the two make impact.

It's not the most graceful of attacks, and Korra can't help but wonder how effective it is, but there's something about this different form of Naruto's that seems to amplify the effect, and she tries her best to follow the progress of both men as they drop to the ground. A small spin of her body helps create a slight blast of air to break Naruto's fall, but it's not enough to keep the clone from disappearing, and she startles when Naruto lets out a cry of pain from behind.

Watching him for only a second, Korra then rushes forward to the criminal, who's heavily slumped against the ground. She crouches, checking for breathing and marveling at the now entirely human-looking skin that he sports. Sighing in relief, she carefully turns him over on his back before earthbending to pack the ground tightly around the back of his body, where the spines had grown before.

"Naruto, are you okay?" she calls out, waving for him to come. The whole alley looks like a mess, but Korra can't be bothered to clean it up before the police take the criminals away. "I'm going to call the police, okay?"

[outfoxy]

Giving a low whistle, Naruto nods, and steps out from behind the shelter Korra had made out of a part of the roadway. He's followed by a single remaining clone, the one that had been doing what he could to watch over the other three criminals.

"I'm fine. It's just that he was still hurting pretty badly from that fist he took to the chest," Naruto explains. "He was me, after all. After everything's said and done, it's not like I don't have to pay up for whatever I do with my body, even if there are a hundred of me."

Crossing his arms over his chest, he surveys the mess of the small section of roadway, wishing he could do something to help. It'd be nice to have skills like Yamato-sensei's right now. So practical.

"I think that went well," the clone says, earning himself a glare from Naruto. He disappears soon after.

"I think I screwed this up for you, actually," he says apologetically to Korra. "I might've got in the way a little and ruined your plan. It's not good to take your teammates by surprise, but I'm no good at working with new people."

[unrestraint]

The clone's remark earns an amused snort from Korra before she turns to face Naruto, expression quickly sobering. "I'm... not that great working with new people, either. For a while, I was working in a team of four and we all figured out how to work with another really well, but that's pretty much the limit of my experience. You've probably got more of it than I do."

Hearing sirens in the distance after her call, Korra exhales deeply and seats herself on the ground, gesturing for Naruto to follow. She feels a little bad about how messy the street looks now, and she'll try to do what she can to fix it later, but messing up a street is far easier than fixing one, as it turns out. The road wouldn't have been worth tearing up at all were it just regular guys trying to steal a stereo.

"Come on, sit down. We'll figure out what we can do better next time," Korra tells him, reaching an arm out to melt some of the ice in the street and carefully filtering it with dragging motions from her free hand. After a few filters, she takes the water and divides it between her two hands, palms beginning to glow as she reaches out towards Naruto's chest, letting the water press up against his skin, cool and healing. "Let me know when I get close."

[outfoxy]

Watching her hands start to glow, Naruto's brows slowly ride up his face until he makes a little noise of surprise at the feel of that water against his skin, cool and relieving. It isn't very long at all until all of the lingering pain is gone. He can hardly pay attention to the approaching sirens with her this near, his attention on her face close to his as he looks into her attentive eyes. He remembers that she could heal, but he'd never felt her do it before. It's easily as impressive as Sakura-chan's skills.

"That's the spot," he says, voice a little soft and awed, before finding his voice again. "Would you practice with me? Practice your bending with me! I want to be able to work with you. And not just by accident, I want that to be a thing."

[unrestraint]

Directing most of her attention towards Naruto's injury, it's not until his voice suddenly jars in her periphery that Korra looks up, blinking at his request. It's a sweet offer, whether or not Naruto intended for it to be, and Korra's cheeks flush at his earnest tone as she continues circling her hands over his chest. He's easier to heal than most people seem to be — but Korra has the feeling that Kurama probably has something to do with that. There's a lot of energy flowing in Naruto right now.

"I think we could arrange that," she says, pursing her lips shyly before exhaling, directing the water back down to the drains. "I mean, I haven't practiced my bending nearly enough for my taste, and it's probably a good idea to make sure that we know how to work together. Maybe I can even teach you a thing or two. Or maybe you could... even teach me how to do some of that stuff with clones?"

She grins, before glancing to the side, hearing the police cars approach. "This might become a long night," she says, frowning slightly. "Questioning and explaining all of this might... take a while. If you'd rather not stick around, I totally understand."

[outfoxy]

He nods. The only real student he's ever had was Konohamaru, who had, and Naruto knows it, probably more raw talent than Naruto ever could. Still, he's not unconfident of his ability to teach someone else what he knows. He thinks that Korra could manage a lot of things. She's got a powerful chakra, the clone had seen it when he'd been using senjutsu, and it's not like she's totally unfamiliar with combat in general. The opposite is true, even if she'd been pretty modest about herself.

"I don't mind talking to the police with you," he says, earnest. "I couldn't just bail when you got to the difficult part like that, and if there's two of us, we can corroborate one another separately if we need to." He didn't particularly like this part of things, finding it boring more than anything, but all missions had ended with a debriefing once he'd gotten back to the village. Nobody could be more intimidating to explain a little public property damage to than the old bag.

"It actually makes me feel kind of nostalgic."