Zuko easily manoeuvres around the market, carefully avoiding bumping into a stranger. Once he's finally found the cheaper stalls of produce, he begins focusing more on what's in front of him rather than what's following him.
There's a surprising amount of leafy greens for sale, and Zuko is vaguely amused by a stall with just cabbage. He doesn't have much money on him since he wants to avoid spending too much of their grant money, but he's sure he has enough to prepare some meals for him and Toph for the week.
As he carefully inspects a rather large lotus root, he hears a merchant angrily yelling.
"No! I have told you many times, you are not allowed to buy from my stall. Leave."
Zuko keeps from tensing up and doesn't move his eyes from where they focus on the vegetable in his hand. He breathes out calmly before deciding he should not intervene, it wouldn't be good to alienate himself so early.
"I just want some daikon! I need to eat more vegetables to grow stronger! You have so much and I have money! I can pay you!" A young voice yells back. Zuko's eyes widen slightly as he recognizes the voice. Still, he's set on not interfering. He doesn't know what Naruto did, but he's not about to start a fight with a civilian.
But then he hears more yelling, and then a thud on the ground.
"You little brat. I don't care about your dirty cash, I'm not selling anything to a demon."
Zuko places the lotus root down and turns. When he stops, he looks on unimpressed at the merchant towering over Naruto, who's been pushed onto the ground. Zuko curses his years of reformation for only a moment before he stalks forward. Idly, he registers the chakra following him spiking. Plastering on a polite smile, he looks toward the merchant and appears to ignore the boy. He can feel Naruto tensing below him.
"Excuse me, how much are your daikon radish?" Zuko asks. Carefully diverting the merchant's attention away from Naruto.
The seller grins at him, a complete change from the scowl he directed at the kid, and tells him. The seller even mentions other vegetables that go well with the produce. Zuko continues smiling, his head tilts indulgently at the seller.
Zuko swiftly picks out the nicest daikon he can find and quietly buys it. He can hear Naruto behind him, breathing heavily and angrily. While the merchant turns to get a bag for him, Zuko quickly glances back at Naruto and winks. Naruto visibly becomes confused and looks about ready to yell at him before Zuko turns back towards the merchant.
As soon as Zuko receives the bag, he drops his smile and regards the merchant.
"I would think such displays of abuse would be bad for business, but I guess it did get me to buy some of your cheap produce," Zuko says succinctly. He turns his back on the sputtering merchant and leans down to help Naruto up. As soon as the boy is back on his feet, Zuko hands the bag of daikon to him.
Naruto looks at the bag in his hands and then back at Zuko. Zuko's only a bit taller yet Naruto tilts his chin up and thanks to him softly.
Zuko nods back and straightens regally before he makes a motion to go back to the other stall. Before he can, Naruto stops him.
The blonde presses some cash into his hands.
"I really could pay for it. Thanks for the help!" Naruto says. Naruto's smile feels intense in its gratitude. Zuko carefully smiles back. They both ignore the merchant spewing hateful speech about "foreigners" and "demons."
Naruto squints at him for a moment before smiling again. Then, the kid bolts off, running toward what Zuko recognizes as another cheap neighbourhood. He silently hopes the kid has nice parents.
Zuko takes the cash and continues shopping, well aware of the tense chakra following him. It's strange how his little stalkers are acting after his moment with Naruto. If anything, they almost seem suspicious of him just for helping the poor kid.
He carefully walks home with his acquired produce.
Toph silently raises an eyebrow as Iruka carefully reminds them of all of the safety rules and guidelines. Toph breathes out evenly as Iruka lets two students begin.
She puts some of her attention towards them. Their stances aren't very solid and the way they shuffle their feet on the ground is unintentional and sloppy. She figures a good hit to their knees would bring them down. She feels the vibrations of one of them going for a punch to the head instead.
The two students currently fighting aren't too good, to be completely honest, and Toph isn't surprised when Iruka quietly calls her over.
As she carefully makes her way over, she hears a student relenting and Iruka calmly calling the match in another student's favour. Toph stops herself from laughing at how indeed the students sound. She carefully stands near Iruka as he quickly calls up another set of students to spar. Then, she feels him directing his attention to her.
"Will you be participating in the spars today? You've joined rather late in our school year so you might have a disadvantage in forms. I would also like to know if you have any weaknesses I should be aware of," Iruka says quietly. Toph is glad to hear the absence of pity in the man's voice.
Toph nods easily and tilts her head a small bit.
"I don't have chakra. I know how to fight though."
She hears Iruka move slightly and recognizes it as a surprise. He stills for a moment before seemingly surprised again. Toph figures he must've reached out to her core or whatever.
"Oh, I see. You have very little inherent chakra but still some naturally lining your core. Not enough to use, but that's alright. I had a student similar to you a while back. Thank you for informing me, we'll be adjusting your exams and tests for that here on out. Do you still want to spar today?"
Toph smiles sweetly.
"I'd like to try it,"
Zuko carefully rolls out the forms on the short coffee table of the apartment. Toph is still at school- hopefully not causing too much chaos- and Zuko has finally found something to actually do. If he does what he needs correctly, he'll soon be with a job and an excuse to learn more about the world here.
The forms laid in front of him are strangely detailed. Questions are asking for height, graduation age, and fighting style of choice. Zuko carefully marks down his sword skills and, after a moment of consideration, adds that he has an affinity for fire. The other questions are simple, asking for his background and his reason for wanting to be a shinobi.
It's all very strange and almost feels like he's filling out a joke form.
Regardless, he dutifully fills out every space he can and does his best to fill in the questions he's confused with. It takes some time, but soon he's rolling the papers back up and carefully placing them within a bag.
Then, he gets up and enters the small kitchen. He had the vegetables already laid out and he had a pot of water boiling as he worked.
He gets started on prepping food for the week. The cheap knife handle in his palm feels light as he dices the vegetables for a broth.
Toph copies the bow the other student makes before settling into a smooth stance. She has her left foot planted in front of her and her right behind her. It's different from the traditionally sturdy earthbender form that she's familiar with, but she knows the forms here are more similar to firebending styles than earthbending.
She feels a flicker of chakra beyond the window focusing attention on her. Their heartbeats have slightly changed and their breathing is less purposefully focused. Overall, they sound more attentive to her.
She vaguely wonders if this would negatively affect her and Zuko before shrugging.
"Come on, Mouth-Breather, show me what you've got!" Toph taunts the student ahead of her. She remembers his name is something along the lines of or perhaps exactly "Konohamaru." She hears a scoff.
Toph shifts her body and raises a steady arm to block a kick aimed at her neck. Quickly. She brings an elbow down on the leg before forcing her body forward and moving her right foot in front of her, effectively bringing her close enough to the kid's space to land a swift punch at his shoulder.
The force of her arm hitting down the boy's shin and the force of her punch to his shoulder has him tipping backwards and falling on his ass. She's impressed when the kid continues pushing backwards and rolls away from her.
Toph takes a step back and readjusts her form. She was aiming more for his knee but her body wasn't tall enough. Her arm wasn't long enough. She hears Konoham-and-soup or whatever kick back up onto his legs and resume a form himself.
As soon as he sprints forward and throws a punch at her own shoulder, she twists, grabbing his arm and pressing her back to his surprised front before pulling hard and managing to throw him over her and onto his back in front of her. She backs away again, ready to continue.
He groans and makes no move to get up.
Iruka calls the match in her favour. She feels smug despite her opponent being a kid.
When Zuko is just about finished with the food, he hears the movement of the front door opening, and Toph's loud "I'm home!" accompanying it.
She enters the kitchen, nose twitching and mouth stretched into a self-satisfied grin. Zuko sighs, spoons some of the brothy stew into a bowl, and sets it on the counter. He pushes it toward her and she takes a graceful seat.
"I can tell you've won a fight. Are you alright though?" Zuko asks, more out of courtesy than any worry for Toph. Toph snorts and shakes her head.
"Nah, I'm not hurt. I got to spar though, and it was actually a little fun!" Toph says. She picks up the bowl and swallows down some of it, completely disregarding the spoon Zuko had also set out for her. She screws her face slightly and pouts.
"You added so much spice," She states, slightly put off by it. She continues eating it anyways.
Zuko nods idly and gets himself a serving. He spoons some broth and a piece of softened lotus root into his mouth. The warmth of it fills him nicely.
"I'll be getting a license for missions soon. The exam itself mentions the use of chakra though, and I will be asking for a replacement test of some sort." Zuko reports. He stares at Toph drinking the soup as though she were drinking from a cup and grimaces.
"Oh, cool. They're actually going to help me with that stuff too at the academy, they have some nice teachers."
They both relax slightly as they feel the chakra sources around their home leave. However, one from each of their patrolling groups remain. Toph stills as she hears footsteps outside their apartment door. Someone knocks.
Zuko straightens and is about to go to the door before Toph stops him. They both feel the chakra watching them from their window tense. When she opens the door, Toph listens to the way Zuko actually relaxes from his few meters away from the door. Someone he knows then.
"Hiya! I didn't think I'd get any neighbours and technically you aren't since you live a floor below me but-"
"Naruto?" Zuko asks, walking up to the door and standing a little behind Toph.
"-Scar Face?"