A/N: Alrighty! I've been watching the new season of Avatar, Legend of Korra. as of late. And I gotta say; I'm surprised there hasn't been any real forray into this area of the crossover. Or if there is, it hasn't been done well. I respect the ability to write as much as any other man, but Ill-written stories are, not my cup of tea. There's so much potential in this series, and the episodes, themselves always amuse the hell out of me when I watch them, so I took it upon myself to make my idea a reality.

On another note...

Here it is, and thank you all for your support in this hard time! Its been really hard with my uncle having died; I knew him ever since I was little and the thought of him being gone like that...by his own hand no less...it makes me wonder if I really knew him at all. So once again, thank you for all the kind, encouraging words.

I love you guys so, soooo much! *Cries*

I suppose I'm still writing on this site this as a result of his death, instead of drowning my woes in other...less savory means. My uncle never really had many friends, you see, and sometimes I wonder if just one would've changed that. It was either continue writing as always, or drown my sorrows in alchohol and violence. And, as much as a might enjoy the occasional beer, I'd much rather pour out my grief into something productive, that will hopefully make me feel better, rather than get drunk and angry. Now, without further adeu, with an idea hours in the making...

So I'll skip the introduction, but might I advise you all to leave your assumptions behind you! This...is going to be one helluva story. On another note, this Naruto is the one from Avatar of the Gods, needless to say, so if you haven't read that story, please do. So I'll say this now, this story hints at things to come in that tale. Once again: SPOILERS AHEAD! Also the timeline has been changed, ever so slightly, so please, forgive the discrepancy...

"Wow, things have changed in the last century...

~?

Change

Change is a funny, fickle thing.

It can be gentle and kind, or severe and harsh. Good or bad, depending on your point of view. Light or dark. Change can be any one of these things. It can come in the form of anyone. Anything. Sometimes the world is ready for this change-sometimes it is prepared. Sometimes it isn't. Sometines a new age starts. And when it does, there is no going back. Sometimes you're ready for change. Sometimes you're not.

Republic City was not ready for this change. Definitely not.

"I'm the Avatar." Korra muttered to herself as she stalked down another vine-covered street. "I should be able to fix this." So why hadn't she?

I've failed. Words roiled in her head incessantly, rollling from her tongue like a mantra. Her dark skin flushed, both with anger and exertion, chestnut-colored hair unbound and sticking to her face, she struggled to keep from lashing out. Tiny tongues of orange flame flickered from her fingers at the thought of her fifth, and final failure. This would've been so much easier if she hadn't been disconnected from her past lives, Aang and the others would've had some much-needed wisdom for her to draw upon. But there was none of that now. She was alone.

Korra hated being powerless. She loathed this feeling of weakness, of being unable to help the people of Republic City. She was supposed to be the Avater for crying out loud! Yet half the time it felt like she didn't know what she was doing. Aang at least, had someone to guide him. Another Avatar, one not of the elements but as legend had it, another realm entirely. An Avatar of the Gods. Some called him the Avatar of Change during the waning days of his life, before he'd sacrificed it in the service of the world.

She could certainly use a guide like that now.

Rumor had it that someone had seen him thirteen years ago, but there was nothing to back it up. He was probably gone as well, lost to the mists of time like her past lives. No, there would be no help from the past. He was extinct, like all the other Avatars before him. In this mater Korra realized, she was on her own. That didn't mean she had to like it, though! Still...

It didn't make any sense! She'd mastered all of the elements. Learned to commune with the spirits. Vanquished a force of incredible evil only two weeks ago. And yet for all her power, she was powerlless when it came to vanquishing these vines! They were nearly everywhere after Harmonic Convergence, and thus far any attempt on her part to eradicate them only resulted in the loathsome weeds come back all the stronger. It wasn't the spirits fault she supposed, after all, she was the one who had chosen to leave the portals open.

But if she'd known this would happen she might've reconsidered. As things stood, today's news conference has proved disastrous. An eight percent approval rating?! Who the hell were they talking to?! Not even Asami's optimism had been able to cheer her. Something needed to change in this city. Maybe she needed to change. Leave, even? Something had to give, and it certainly wouldn't be the spirits or the vines, she'd even tried to send them away peacefuly with her new technique-and that had only made things worse. She just wanted to make things better! Was that so wrong? If not...then how the heck was she supposed to do it?!

"What am I supposed to do, darnit?!" Frustration finally claiming her, she threw her staff down to the ground. The delicate instrument clattered harshly against the streets, skittering away and out of arms reach. Almost immediately she regretted the action, clamoring to retrieve her beloved weapon. It rolled to a halt at the feet of an old, frail-looking man, his body stooped and hunched beneath that dirty brown cloak. A whiskered face pinched in confusion for a moment as he regarded the staff at his sandalled feet. But instead of reaching down for it he stomped, bending the earth at his feet to shoot the weapon into his hand.

"Does this belong to you?" he asked, proffering the glider to her.

"Hey, thanks for the help." humbled, she accepted it. Someone outside her circle of friends actually being polite? That was new. Turning, she prepared to return down the way she'd come-

"If you would give an old man a moment of your time," he spoke softly, "I might be able to help you."

Reluctantly, she turned around. He was just an old man. How could he possibly help her? But then again, what did she have to lose?

"Something troubles you, my young Avatar." Bright blue eyes bored into her behind the cowl. "Your spirit carries a heavy burden, one you're not certain you can bear."

Looking back, Korra should've realized it right then and there. Those whiskers should've given him away. That familiar way in which he'd addressed her was cause enough to sound the alarm. But upset as she was, stilll very much frustrated by her failure to help the people of Republic city, she failed to recognize to whom she was speaking.

"I'm kinda having a rough day." she admitted, taking a seat beside him on the worn, battered bench. Part of her was pleased to finally have a civilian address her with something short of sneering anger; for the last two weeks she'd had to endure countless jeers and booing-inquiries that she would've rather left unspoken. It was a nice change of pace, she thought.

"Aren't we all?" A tittering laugh escaped his dried mouth, warbling into the humid space between them. "Change is not always a pleasant thing, Korra. But sometimes, it is a neccessary part of life. We cannot expect it to always be gentle or kind but we must accept it nevertheless. Even, if it hurts us. To not change with the times is to remain rigid, and stagnant. Without it we can never progress. Look," A wrinkled hand took its leave of a sleeve and proudced a tiny, green leaf from within its folds. "If the leaf does not fall from the tree in autumn, then it cannot be rborn in the summer. That, is life. Death. Rebirth. We are all part of the cycle. Caught up in the flow of the river, bound to its flow, unable to escape it."

Korra frowned, her gaze roaming across the vine-infested streets, the buildings that had once been whole. "So what you're saying is, I just need to go with the flow?"

"If only it were that easy." the stranger chuckled across from her. "No, what I'm saying is this: you can't stop change. It is impossible. The best we can do, is try to make it a positive one. After all, when you've lived as many lives as I have, it really puts things in perspective."

Something about the way he said those words gave her pause.

"What did you mean by-

When next she turned to look, he was gone. All that remained of the man was a plume of smoke. Strange old man. And she would've left at just that if she hadn't heard his voice again. Hadn't seen him again, standing straight and tall, back unbowed by age.

"Well, I'll be damned," she heard them speak again more quietly this time. Stronger and lacking the crack of old age. "Looks like Aang and Azula did a bang up job of it while I was away." Frowning, Korra backpedalled, just in time to catch a flash of blond hair rounding the corner opposite her, vanishing into the shadows of a nearby alleway. Something -she knew not what- caused her to dart after him, but instead of apprehending the stranger, she found herself standing in an empty street, no sign him in sight. A blur of black and red flashed in her peripheals, soaring into the sky.

"Republic City, eh?" Once more that strange voice taunted her with its subtle mockery; this time hailing high over her head. "Not a bad place. I guess it was worth dying for after all. Could do without the vines, though. Guess this is what happens when you take a hundred year nap. Maybe I should've stayed and caught up? Nah. I've probably got kids, and grandkids who're dying to see me." He laughed at himself; the sound carrying deep and far and somehow, strangely familiar to her ears.

"Too bad I have no idea where they are!"

Without thinking, she Airbent and shot up onto the rooftops after him, desperate to follow the voice. "Wait!" The old man did not wait. She was fairly certain he wasn't even that old; no wheezy old-timer should be able to outrun her in a contest of pure stamina. He flitted across the city like some sort of ghost, making impossible leaps with no airbending, just raw, physical prowess. She was running now, sweating, heart hammering as she chased him. There was no way. It couldn't be. He was gone. Dead. Deceased. And even if he wasn't, what was he doing here?

"Will you just," she growled, vaulting over a clothesline. "Hold on a second?!"

"Where's the fun in that, Korra?" he laughed, whirling. A swift swing of his foot bent the earth and hurled a pillar of stone at her, one she effortlessly bent aside. Too late she realized the distraction, saw the water rising out of his pouch to drench her, head to toe. Thoroughly soaked, she surged after him. Since when was he able to bend?!

"Stop!" She airbent at him, a powerful gale that tore back his hood and sent him stumbling. Even as he staggered, she pounced, grabbing him by the arms. It was like grabbing a writhing Eel-Swan; he just slipped right out of the cloak, leaving her with a fistful of fabric.

"Hey!"

Exposed was a young man in his late teens, his azure orbs sparkling with mirth as he skidded to a grinding halt upon a nearby silo. His outfit was oddly reminscent of something she'd expect Mako or Bo Lin to wear and yet not, the rising red collar and black trim suggested he'd acquired this particular outfit through less than savory means.

"Ahhh," he groaned. "Now you've done it. And here I was hoping for a little time off before I got dragged back into things again. It's only been two days since I woke up here, after all."

Korra's draw dropped straight to the ground and shattered the street below her feet. Blue eyes bulged, helpless sounds squeaking out of her mouth. Even with his long hair and pale complexion, it was impossible not to recognize that face. After all, there was a statue of him in the bay, right next to Aang's. But this didn't make any sense. He hadn't been seen for...decades. He'd killed Fire Lord Ozai all those years ago, laid waste to the Fire Nation, put Azula on the throne...and vanished. Just like that. Removing Ozai had ushered in a new era of peace, one that lasted the world over, but his act of cruel culling had never been forgotten.

Even so, it was impossible not to be glad for his return.

"Naruto?!"

The blond smiled sheepishly.

"It's been a long time, Avatar. What did I miss?"

A/N: Alright, I'm guilty. After seeing the new season, I simply couldn't resist throwing Naruto into it. And there we go! On another note, expecte an update for Die Another Day...now. That's right! Its out! I posted it last night! Feel free to go on and read it after dropping a review!

So...in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review...Would You Kindly? And of course, enjoy the preview!

(Preview)

Naruto's jaw dropped to the floor. Korra thought she saw those sapphire eyes water for a moment, the dampness vanishing as he stubbornly scrubbed at his dirty face with the back of a hand. When next the Avatar of Change spoke, his words were hoarse. Throaty. Thick with emotion.

"Holy crap," he muttered, eyes threatening to tear all over again as he laid eyes on Lin. "You...You look just like your mother...just like Toph...

R&R! =D