A Spirit of Elements Chapter 13 (Red Eyes of Hatred) (Patreon)

Korra was currently making her way through the spinning gates. She noticed that the spinning gates exercise was getting easier ever since she started training with Naruto. No longer did she get caught up in them, and now she could actually move without getting hit. She no longer feeling so frustrated over not being able to airbend as of lately. Slowly but surely she was making progress. It was only a matter of time.

"Good, light on your feet!" Ikki shouted at her. As they were waiting for Korra to come out, Naruto came into the scene.

"Hey girls, how are you doing?"

"Hey Naruto!" Ikki and Jinora greeted their cousin.

"I see Korra is getting the hang of it." the airbender commented. He was fairly impressed by Korra's progress, he didn't thought she would get adjusted to the airbending ways so quickly. But it was to be expected. After all, she had the best airbender ever as her teacher. And Naruto wasn't exactly thinking of Tenzin.

"That's because Korra is working really hard lately. I think it's because she's trying to impress you." Jinora said but in same time she felt annoyed for some reason.

Of course, after hearing what her sister just said, Ikki simply had to step in. "Korra is in love with Naruto! Korra is in love with Naruto!"

"Who's in love with who?" a certain water tribe girl asked as she finished going through the gates. Both Jinora and Ikki giggled but said nothing. Korra then turned to face Naruto. "Hey Naruto, how's it going?"

"All good. I see you have the spinning gates exercise down. You should be airbending anytime now." Naruto said with a smile.

"Thanks. I guess I have two good teachers." she responded a little embarrassed.

Jinora spotted a guy coming over. "Oh, he's cute. Korra is that the firebender that drives you crazy?"

Both Naruto and Korra turned around and saw that the cute firebender Jinora was talking about was none other than Mako, who was making his way to them.

Ikki was confused. "Huh, but didn't Korra loved Nar-" before she could finish her question, Ikki and Jinora were earthbended away, courtesy of the Avatar.

"Hey Mako." Korra started to say while trying to act normal, which was a difficult thing to do with both Ikki and Jinora giggling behind her.

"Mako, what's up?" Naruto greeted.

"You guys seen Bolin?" Mako asked rather rudely. He was aware of that but didn't really care. Right now he was looking for his younger brother and didn't have time to be polite.

"Nice seeing you too." Korra muttered loudly, annoyed by her teammate's attitude. "And no, we haven't seen Bolin since training. Why? You think something's wrong?"

The firebender sighed. "I don't know. Bolin has a knack for getting into stupid situations. See you guys later."

"Wait, if Bolin is missing we could help you look for him." Korra offered as she glanced at Naruto. "Right Naruto?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "I don't have anything better to do. Sure, I'll help out."

"Nah, I got it." Mako said as he started to leave. He had enough stress for a day to deal with Republic City's Avatar and Pretty Boy.

Korra grabbed his arm and slightly pulled him back. "Hey cool guy, let us help you. We can take Naga." she said with a smile.

"And I can go with Sozu." Naruto added.

"Who are Naga and Sozu?" Mako asked with curiosity.

Before they responded, Korra and Naruto looked at each other mischievously. "A great tracker and my best friend." both of them answered at the same time as they looked at Mako again.

Poor Mako could only raise his eyebrow.

.

.

"Your best friend is a... Polar Bear Dog. Somehow that makes perfect sense." Mako said as he, Naruto and Korra were ridding Naga through the streets of Republic City.

"I'll take that as a compliment, city boy." Korra retorted sheepishly.

"If you think having Naga as a best friend is strange, wait till' you see Sozu." the airbender of the group said with a smirk. Mako was yet to see the most majestic, proud and awesome creature to ever live.

"You keep talking about this Sozu guy. Who is he anyways?"

Tease mode activated.

"Who said Sozu was a guy?"

Mako was starting to get confused. "Sozu is a girl then?"

"What makes you think that?" Naruto continued to tease. Korra was struggling to hold her laughter.

"Ok, then what is Sozu?" the firebender said annoyed.

"Look up in the sky, Mako." Naruto said, thinking that he had teased him enough for the time being.

Mako did as told and stared at the sky. At first, he saw nothing. But then he caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a bird of some kind flying near them. "I get it now, Sozu is a bird." Mako said in realization. "Is it a hawk or something?"

"A Raven Eagle to be exact."

"And what makes him so special?" Mako questioned. Since they left the Air Temple, Naruto wouldn't stop talking about Sozu for some reason.

Naruto widened his smirk. Sozu was very big in size, but because he was so far away it looked like he was a normal bird. "You'll see in due time."

'Why can't I meet normal people for once?' Mako thought sighing inwardly.

After a while, the group arrived at Republic City square. The place had a big statue of Firelord Zuko and had a couple of food stands placed around. "This is Bolin's usual hangout." Mako said as they dismounted Naga. He took a quick look at the place, but found no signs of Bolin. That was when he spotted a group of kids playing around.

"You guys seen my little brother around?" Mako asked. A kid wearing a strange-looking hat spoke up.

"Perhaps. But my memory is a little... foggy. Maybe you could help clear it up?" the kid said as he stuck out his hand. Naruto stared at the kid and couldn't help but notice how much of a rat he resembled.

"You're good Skoochy, I'll give you that. A real pro." Mako said as he pulled a couple of yuans out of his pocket. Before he could give it to the rat kid, Naruto stopped his hand. "What are you doing?" Mako asked the airbender.

"Don't worry, I got this." Naruto responded as he pulled some yuans out of his wallet. "You and Bolin need your money more than I need mine." Mako nodded and kept his yuans, silently thanking him for the act. Naruto handed the money over to 'rat kid'. "Alright rat k- Skoochy, spit it out."

"Yeah, I've seen him." 'Rat kid' answered.

"When?" Mako questioned him.

"About noon."

"What was he doing?"

"He was performing some kind of monkey rat circus and then..." he stopped as he stuck his hand again.

This time Naruto didn't give money, instead he grabbed his hand "gently" the kid immediately felt Fear, his lips started shaking, his face went as white as snow something Korra noticed immediately but couldn't understand what happened. "And then what?"

"Shady Shin showed up and flashed some serious cash. Bo took off with him in his hotrod. The Triple Threats, The Red Monsoons, the Agni Kai's, all of the Triads are muscling up for something big. Now that's all you're getting out of me." he said before immediately running away after Naruto let go of his hand.

Mako was looking serious. "Sounds like a turf war is brewin' and Bolin's about to get caught in the middle of it."

"I don't want to question Bolin's judgement or anything, but seriously, who in their right mind would trust a guy called Shady Shin?" Naruto asked out loud. It was like telling a secret to a girl named 'Gossip Guma' and expect her to be quiet.

"Bolin is... a little naive." Mako excused his childish brother.

'A little naive? That's some understatement right there.' Korra thought as she and her two friends hopped on Naga and continued their search. "So where are we headed?"

"Triple Threat Triad HQ. Hopefully Bolin's there and nothing has gone down yet." Mako answered.

"Triple Threat Triad? Me and Naruto beat up some of those thugs when I got in town. But why would Bolin get tangl-" Korra's question was interrupted as Naga freaked out and started chasing something on the street. That something was a Fire Ferret.

"That's Pabu!" Mako exclaimed as he recognized his brother's pet, which was escalating and clenching into a pole for dear life.

Korra tried to calm down her own pet. "No Naga. Pabu is a friend, not a snack." Finally, Naga settled down and allowed Pabu to jump on her back and go to Mako.

"We gotta' hurry."

10 minutes later...

Naruto, Mako and Korra arrived at the T.T.T. HQ.

"Something's not right." Mako started to say as he carefully approached the entrance. "There' usually thugs posted up front. We gotta be cautious."

Apparently, Korra had a different meaning of the word cautious. Before Mako or Naruto could do anything, Korra kicked the doors open, destroying them in the process.

"Wow, real cautious." Naruto commented, but Korra ignored him.

The place was abandoned. There were several chairs and tables around and an almost empty bar. Naruto went to the bar and, after searching for any clue or indication that might tell him anything about Bolin's whereabouts, he found an empty bottle of cheap sake. He smelled the inside of the bottle and noticed that it still smelled like alcohol. One of the things Rom-Tom taught him was that the scent of an empty alcoholic beverage bottle, specially a cheap one, didn't last long once it was opened.

Even if it was cheap, the sake inside the bottle was still strong stuff. No man could possibly drink an entire bottle of that and still be able to think properly. That could only mean that it was shared between 3 to 5 people. 3 to 5 people were usually the number of members of a gang from the Triads.

There was no doubt. People had been here recently.

"Bolin! You in here?" Mako asked. The room was still silent.

However, that silence was broken by the sound of an engine starting. The three of them went outside. In the streets, there were two trucks ready to go along with five men wearing black suits and masks riding motorcycles. The truck on the left was being closed, but not before Mako, Korra and Naruto saw Bolin inside tied up and gagged.

They throw smoke grenades at Naruto and the others, causing them to cough.

"Come on, Naga!" Korra screamed and dashed towards the masked group, followed by Naga.

They pounced on Naga and caught up to the rest of the gang.

"I'll be back," Naruto said before leaping onto a rider's motorcycle and hurling him onto some trash bags on the street.

He caught up to another and opened fire on the motorcycle's engine, causing it to short out.

Two masked people appeared out of nowhere and threw bolas at Naga's legs, causing her to trip, as well as throwing Mako and Korra off of her. When Naruto saw the people jabbing Korra and Mako under the arms and sides, he came to a halt on his motorcycle.

'Wait, why am I seeing at such a slow pace?' He leaped over to attack the person who was attacking Korra.

The woman continued to attack Naruto, but because he noticed her movements were slow, he immediately blocked all of her attacks, smirking.

"Do you think that'll deter me?" Naruto punched the other person in the face, knocking them out, before rising and fleeing after dropping smoke grenades.

"Get back here!" Korra yelled, throwing her arm out. "Huh? I can't bend." She said, trying to throw fire out of her hands.

"Don't worry, it'll go away. Chi Blockers are what they're called. They're Henchmen of Amon "Mako stated as he stretched his arms.

"Are you referring to the masked anti-bending vigilante?" Korra inquired, nodding.

"Of course, the Equalists' leader." Before sighing, he replied.

Dawn.

"We've been out all night. No signs of him." Korra said. They had been looking for Bolin for about two hours, but it was no use. The Equalists could be anywhere in such a big city like this one.

"We have to keep looking." Mako replied stubbornly. "But where?"

After thinking for a while, the Avatar gasped. "I have an idea!"

Naruto looked at her suspiciously. "You do?"

Korra glared at him. "Yes, I do." she said before turning Naga around.

|Republic City's Central Park|

"The first day I got into town I ran into an Equalist protestor over there." Korra explained as she took a sit on a water fountain. Naga came and started drinking the water from the fountain with Pabu. She was exhausted.

"You think they'll know where Bolin is?" Mako asked.

"It's our only lead right now."

And so, the three friends lay down on the soft grass the park had to offer. Mako was leaning on a tree while Kora and Naruto were leaning their backs on Naga, who was sleeping soundly. After a moment of silence, Mako recalled something. "Hey Naruto, when we were chasing those motorcyclists you said you would go with that Sozu bird of yours. Care to explain?"

"Well, it might sound hard to believe, but Sozu isn't a normal Raven Eagle. He is one of the last species of an ancient breed were common Raven Eagles come from. He's an Alpha Raven Eagle." Naruto explained as Mako and Korra were listening to him with great interest. "Alpha Raven Eagles look the same as normal Raven Eagles, with the exception that they are a lot bigger and smarter. I found Sozu in the Air Temple years ago, and he has been my loyal companion and closest friend ever since."

Now Mako was really surprised. "Wow, well that's something alright. But that still doesn't answer my question."

The young airbender smirked. "You see, because Sozu is a great deal bigger than most birds, I can ride him. We sorta' bonded since we met each other and he eventually allowed me to fly with him. That's how I got to you so fast back when we were fighting those chi-blockers."

"That's amazing." Mako said sincerely. He would have never thought that Republic City's Pretty Boy was the owner of an almost extinct bird species. Then, another memory came into his head. "Are you an airbender?"

Naruto was mildly surprised by the question. He figured Mako saw when he airbended away the green smoke from the bombs of the chi-blockers. After letting out a sigh, he responded. "Yeah, I am."

Mako was stunned. The nephew of Councilman Tenzin was also an airbender? He rubbed his temples. This was simply too much for him. This had to be the craziest day of his life. Was it too much to ask for a small break?

Now it was the Avatar's time for questioning Naruto. "Hey Naruto, when we were fighting those chi-blockers you never got caught by them. How did you do it?" Korra asked her friend. While she was on the ground with Mako, she saw Naruto going toe-to-toe with those Equalists without even bending. On the other hand, she and Mako got their butts handed to them in a matter of seconds.

Turning his head, Naruto faced Korra. "I learned how to fight without my bending. If you depend on your bending too much, you could be in disadvantage when going against someone who knows how to counter it." he explained.

Korra nodded. She had never thought about fighting without her bending before. Kinda' hard to do when you are the Avatar. Korra then faced Mako. "So, why is Bolin running around with the Triple Threats Triad anyway?"

The firebender moved his head avoiding Korra's eyes. "Well, we... used to do some work for them back in the day." Mako said awkwardly.

'Now I get it. That's why he looked a little strange when I told him they shouldn't work for the Triads to get the money for the tournament.' Naruto thought.

"What!? Are you some kind of criminal!?" the water tribe girl asked/shouted.

"No, you don't know what you're talking about." Mako replied offended. "I just ran numbers for them and stuff. We were orphans out on the streets. I did what I had to do to survive and protect my little brother."

"I'm sorry. It must have been really hard." Korra said feeling guilty. "Can I... ask what happened to your parents?"

Hearing the question, Naruto couldn't stop himself and facepalmed as hard as he could. He knew Korra could be a tiny bit socially-awkward at times. Not that he could blame her. After all, she spent her whole life away without having the chance to meet people her age because of the Avatar training. However, it was only common sense NOT to ask an orphan what happened to his parents.

Mako sighed. "They were mugged by a firebender. He cut them down right in front of me. I was eight when that happened."

"Mako..."

Mako pulled his scarf up, covering his mouth. "Bolin's the only family I have left. If anything happens to him..."

"Nothing will happen to him Mako." Naruto interrupted. "I promise."

After a while, the group decided it was time to get some sleep. None of them moved from their sitting spots. However, Korra did make sure to leave some space between her and Naruto.

But Naruto instead stood up, feeling something strange, walking up to a store, he looked at a mirror of a store, he focused his chi on his eyes, they immediately change colour, turning Red, but not like Kyuubi, instead each eye had two strange tomoe!

"WTF"