Hey guys! This is a kinda important issue to me, so please don't skip.
To all of you who've read this, thanks! I can't believe you've made it this far. I'm really happy that people are actually reading this.
There is one thing, though. You may have noticed that I'm endeavoring to keep this fanfic pretty family friendly, i.e, lack of vulgar language, mature content, etc, etc. Thus is because 1), I dislike it and 2), if my parents see stuff like that from me/my phone, they'll make me quit Wattpad in general.
That means that I won't be able to update anymore.
I cannot stress how badly I want to finish this fan fiction, and being curtailed by someone else's words would be really sad.
So, in short, please don't cuss in the comments.
If you find you just can't help yourself, please copy paste something else into your comment, such as:
Oh, cabbages.
Oma and Shu.
Agni.
Oh my pippinpaddleopsicopolis!
That's rough, buddy.
Can I get an Avatar in the chat room?
Space sword that cabbage crusher!
And so forth.
If you won't, then please simply refrain from commenting at all.
Thank you for your consideration.
Please enjoy!
▪▪▪
Toph stood in front of the empty looking slider door, the smell of chemicals stinging her nose.
This was her first time in one of Konoha's hospitals. It was big, much bigger than any other healer's hut she had ever visited. There were lots of people, both hurt and the caretakers for them. The floor was this odd type of polished rock that allowed her to see, but was cold against her bare feet.
Kakashi coughed from besides her, his nose buried in his usual book. Toph heard the paper rustle as he turned a page.
She knew what that meant. Hurry up and get on with it.
Sakura was fine. She had checked on her sometime after her team had arrived in the village and Toph had felt her chipping in to clean up some straggling invaders and had joined her. Her student was apparently the only member of her team that was still in action.
Sunshine and Broody Boy were both in the hospital.
Therefore the reason why she was standing in front of this sliding door.
Toph had dallied and pushed this part off waiting and waiting and not-
Kakashi slid open the door for her, gave her a slight push, and left.
Toph moved slowly into the room.
It was a pretty small area. She could feel a single chair next to a bed and a nightstand. There was an open window on the far wall, sending a breeze through the room.
She slid the door shut.
Sunshine was so, so still in a way he never was. He smelled like linen and what Kakashi had said were antiseptics, not his usual scent of ramen broth and puppy.
Toph sat down besides him, then lay back.
He was as warm as the sun.
She rolled over and wrapped her arms around him, hooking her chin over his shoulder and closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry," Toph whispered.
In the course of a few hours, she had felt someone die, killed a giant snake, let someone die, and captured the killer. She had been caught in an freaking invasion, for Oma and Shu's sake. People had actually died.
Even during the day of black sun most of the fighting had been nonlethal.
Toph took a deep breath, then another, and another. The tears came almost without her realizing, and then they wouldn't stop.
She squeezed Sunshine a little tighter and let them flow.
It was okay to not be tough all the time.
Just so long as no one saw her.
▪▪▪
Naruto woke up to unexpected warmth. It felt like basking in the sun, or drinking several super hot bowls of ramen. It was something he had never really felt before.
Ever.
He opened his eyes and froze.
Black hair. Long black hair. It was right in front of his face, smelling like fresh fruit and other feminine things he had only known because of Sakura.
Flowy green sleeves.
It was Miss Toph.
He shifted. Something was lying over his side and slightly squeezing him. What could that feeling possibly-
It hit him in an instant.
Miss Toph was hugging him.
While sleeping.
What?
For a second he let himself lay there and feel her warmth and love, love that he had never really experienced before. Then he carefully pulled free from her embrace and settled her back down on the bed. She curled slightly in the direction he had been, but didn't wake up.
Had she been there all night?
He rubbed his face.
She smelled reeeaally good.
Naruto remembered that night, the night she threw back juice like it was whiskey, beat up people who had intruded in his apartment, and taken him to live with her...
...and Sensei. That hadn't been exactly thrilling, but she had refused to let him stay where he had been.
Then he had found out she was visited by night terrors and would wake him up every few nights or so. He had lain there in the darkness listening to her ragged, muffled breathing.
Naruto had rarely felt so useless.
He didn't deserve this.
Then again, he decided. Miss Toph is probably really tired from the whole invasion thing. I should just let her sleep.
Besides, no one would say anything about it if they didn't know.
▪▪▪
Anko Mitarashi was in shock.
Her old sensei, one of the three Sannin and Hokage killer, a man she had been training herself to kill for years, had just been taken down by a blind teenager.
Yes, the Melon Lord was special, but strong enough to defeat an S-ranked nukenin pretty much on her own...
She slammed open the hospital door.
The Uzumaki jumped so high he fell off the hospital bed. Toph shot upright as well, but there was no meet-and-greet with the floor for her.
"You!" Anko managed.
Toph heard her voice and relaxed. Uzumaki managed to pick himself off the ground and he clambered up next to her. "What's up, Lady Dango?"
"You captured Orochimaru." Anko tried to keep her voice civil. "And you didn't think to, I don't know, maybe report in or something?"
"I'm not really a ninja, though," Toph remarked. "Why would I have to do ninja stuff like that?"
Anko held up a finger, mouth open, and stopped.
She had a pretty good point there, actually.
"Besides, Sunshine here took down that Gaara kid and I don't hear anyone trying to tell him that he should report in or anything."
"While Gaara was an unstable jinchuuriki," the kunoichi explained. "He wasn't a Kami-forsaken, S-ranked missing nin, Toph! Besides, Uzumaki's in the hospital."
"Technically," Toph slid over to the side of the crappy hospital bed and touched her toes to the floor. "I'm in the hospital too. So are you."
For the love of-! Anko took a deep breath. "Would you mind coming with me? Shikaku wants to chat with you. He also wants you to be there while the council decides what to do with Gaara."
The blind Earthbender stood and stretched. "Sure. I think I might be able to fit that into my schedule."
"Wait wait wait," Uzumaki chimed in. "What do you mean, do with Gaara? He's not going to hurt anyone else. Probably."
Ah. Right. Uzumaki was a jinchuuriki too, as well as the one who brought Gaara down. Anko supposed he did have a vested interest in the sand ninja's fate.
"We can't really let him roam around the village with such a faulty seal," she tried to explain. "And with Suna's lack of seal masters and their Kazekage dead, we simply can't risk sending him back."
Toph moved her arms oddly, and her hair twisted itself into her usual large bun. "Don't worry Sunshine. I'll make sure nothing happens to the kiddo. Hang tight and get better quickly, okay?"
Before the Uzumaki could protest any more, Anko slammed the hospital door shut and led Toph back out through the maze of twisty halls.
"So," this time her voice easily changed into her usual teasing tone. "What's with you and Uzumaki?"
"Oh, shut it!"
▪▪▪
They had decided to check on the kid first.
Gaara.
Toph leaned back onto the wall, standing just out of his line of sight. She knew he knew she was there, though. She could tell from every single move he made, shifting towards her, moving away, being prepared for anything she might try...
Toph had to admit, it was nice to have someone so wary of her. She felt her grin stretch wide across her face.
Someone was talking, droning on about safety procedures and taking caution from others mistakes. Across from him were the three genin, a few sand ninja who had been taken prisoner, and then Toph and Anko standing behind them all. There were ANBU on the ceiling and probably some in the rafters, but those were made of wood so she couldn't tell for sure.
They were in this huge circular building that was rather similar to the tower structure that Kakashi had taken her to during the Chuunin Exams. Before entering, Anko had told her that this wasn't a building the village usually used for prisoners.
They had chosen it so that she would be equipped to deal with Gaara easily, should it come to that.
Toph felt his heartbeat with her feet as she leaned a little further into the slightly rounded wall. It was somehow easier to pick out his pulse from the rest than it should be. She had no idea why, though.
Maybe because he used earth too?
But no. It was impossible to tell an Earthbender from an ordinary person unless they were asked and they lied. Toph cocked her head.
Anko nudged her. "What's up?"
She was whispering in a very quiet tone, but Toph could hear her easily. "So what have they decided to do?"
"Well," Anko evaluated the group. "Since it wasn't really their kage who gave the order, we'll probably release all of them except the jinchuuriki. With that faulty a seal..."
What.
Toph cocked her head. "I know all those words separately, but I have zero idea what they mean together."
Anko seemed to realise the secrets she was spilling and shut up. "It's safe to say that they're all getting sent back except for Gaara."
A few seconds later, almost exactly what Anko said was reiterated by the man who had been talking. Toph listened to the terms and conditions for the POWs.
Basic, basic. There were no convoluted requirements from what Toph could tell. It was so much better than any terms the Fire nation had ever offered (there were none. People were usually just executed, killed, or enslaved).
"Right," Anko said suddenly. "Let's get a move on. Shikaku is standing in for-" she choked up a little. "- The new Hokage, whoever the council is deciding on. We shouldn't keep him waiting too long."
Toph felt a sudden stab of terrified guilt. Shame for letting the bloody old man die mixed with fear that the ninjas would find out what she had done and decide to kill her.
Well, it wasn't like any of them were there. Who would possibly know what she had-!
Anko pushed off the wall and was heading out, but Toph stayed a heartbeat longer, mind whirling.
Orochimaru. The snake knew.
He had been there.
One more...
A hand tapped at her shoulder. Toph spun towards the person who had touched her, tense as a coiled ratviper.
It was only one of the mini ninjas who were on Gaara's ninja team. The girl. What was her name again?
"Um, we have a few minutes before the guards come to get us, and I was hoping to ask you a few questions," the girl managed. Toph could feel her heartbeat all over the place.
This kunoichi was scared to death, or almost there, anyway.
"Sure, miss-?"
"I'm called Temari," the girl offered freely. "Are you a Konoha nin?"
That was simple enough. "Nope. I'm just hanging around." Anko was still moving away; either she was fully distracted or she had forgotten she was with Toph.
"Where are you from?"
That question was a little more probing, with deeper meaning. It could be just a simple timewaster, but this chick was a ninja, so Toph doubted it. It could be a disguise for: why haven't I heard of someone so powerful before? Something like that would be more likely.
"A little bit of everywhere," Toph decided. "I've been practically a nomad for the past few years or so."
Not quite a lie; she had been to many different places with Aang, Sokka, and Katara. They were just in a totally different world.
"Oh," Temari seemed to consider. "I should have heard of someone like you, though. You're young and powerful..."
Anko seemed to have remembered her. Lady Dango stuck her head back into the room. "Toph! Let's move."
Toph gave Temari a deep nod. "Well, you know me now. I hope that next time we meet, it'll be on friendlier terms."
Temari flushed, then nodded fervently. "Of course!"
She waved as she followed Anko out the doorway, then headed towards certain doom.
▪▪▪
Okay, maybe Shikaku wasn't certain doom, but he came pretty close. He was helping conduct business in the old man's office. Toph felt the subtle differences in the stone floor (where she had torn it up and someone replaced it with new flooring) and hid her grin.
The office actually smelled pretty nice now that the Hokage and his scent were gone. It smelled like herbs and deer and alcohol. Toph sauntered over to where Shikaku sat and leaned against the desk."Heard you wanted to have a chat with me?"
He sighed. "I heard from the Hokage's personal guard that you were with him before the barriers came down."
Toph felt the smile on her face freeze. "I'd rather not talk about it."
She felt Anko stir suspiciously. "Why not?"
Toph rubbed her arms and felt the hard band of her meteorite bracelet underneath her sleeve. It was comforting, knowing that it was there if she needed it. "Before.... all that, I'd never ever felt anyone die. I'd never helped anyone kill someone else-"
Her voice caught in her throat. "If that's what you want to talk about, I'm afraid I have to decline. I'll see myself out thanks."
Toph only made it to the next block before she ducked into an alleyway and slid to the ground. She pulled her knees closer to her body and wrapped her arms around herself.
"I want to go home," she whispered. "Back where everything makes sense."
Toph closed her eyes and folded deeper into herself, alone in the darkness.
▪▪▪
I'm trying to add a picture, but it keeps on coming out sideways and it's really frustrating. Here. Enjoy the sidewaysness and know it cost me tears of RAGE.
It's Toph on the Hokage mountain, btw. Not shaded or anything but whatever.
Thanks for reading!!!