Zuko's head tilts as he listens to Toph explain her chakra problem to him. They're in their apartment and recently they've both been noticing multiple presences outside their temporary home, potentially listening in. One way they've quickly decided to fix that problem is communication through speaking Chinese. After some simple research, they quickly found that their world's dialects and languages were not existing in this one. Toph is actually better at the language than he is, since she spent most of her childhood learning multiple forms of communication while Zuko only recently began learning the language for reading old formal texts.
'I can't seem to feel any of their kind of chakra within me, but if I focus I can feel it in other people and around us! I thought it might have been something to do with our bending, but when I meditated around you, you had their type of chakra. It's like-' Toph says, she gestures frustratedly and ends up waving her hand in the general direction of Zuko's head. 'You have all their type of chakra focused in your head, behind your eye.'
Zuko nods along, carefully memorizing the specific words Toph is using for 'bending' and 'chakra.' He half-heartedly reaches within himself to find the chakra Toph claims to feel in his, and is surprised to find that it really was piled up in his head. He reaches to pull at it, and is immediately met with an annoyed growl.
I actually enjoy resting, Zuko, so I would prefer for you to not bother me when you aren't in a desperate situation. Druk says lowly into Zuko's mind. Surprised, Zuko's eyebrows raise and he quickl informs Toph.
'It is not chakra, it is Druk, " Zuko says, his Chinese is slightly bumpy but Toph seems to get the idea.
'You have Druk in your head?' she asks, incredulous. She closes ehr eyes, breathes out, and carefully senses the chakra in Zuko's body.
'It feels a lot like their chakra, but I guess it is different. It's more...fiery. Of course it is,' Toph huffs out and leans back. 'Can you do anything with it? Or do you just have Druk's soul in you?'
Zuko readies himself to respond but pauses. He doesn't know.
Toph forces herself to relax as she steps into the classroom. One of the presences from earlier had trailed her entire trip and has settled nearby outside a window. There aren't many young heartbeats in the room yet, but she's aware of the many hammering outside so she knows not to get too used to the adequate quietness of the class currently. She easily manoeuvres around the desks and places her bag down next to the one she chooses. It's almost too easy to register the number of people around her. She quietly notes to tell Zuko about the strangely quiet heartbeats that seem to have been following them now that she's started school. For some reason, she's being watched. Zuko probably is too.
Just as she begins to feel comfortable in her chair, she hears and feels the vibrations of the other kids approaching and entering the room. It's not overwhelming at all, but Toph scrunches up her shoulders and sinks a bit regardless. Her ears catch a familiar step pattern and her nose recognizes a scent.
Oh. Her new teacher is Iruka. Students begin piling and rushing into the room, they are loud and alive and smelly. Toph doesn't even scrunch her nose at the stench of gross dirt sticking to the shoes of some children. She's used to most sensations and sensory information.
"Hey! Who're you?" a young voice suddenly shouts from across the room. Toph is surprised only a little bit, she hadn't expected to be called out so quickly. She hears Iruka sigh and she is called to the front to introduce herself. She carefully steps up, purposefully avoiding other desks and feet and instead gracefully heading to the front of the classroom. It'd be good to establish dominance early, even if they really are just children. She turns and faces the classroom.
"Hello. My name is Toph and I hope to enjoy learning with you. Pease accept me as a new classmate," Toph says, if albeit with obviously fake enthusiasm that should be detectable by the smiles serenely at them and bows before getting back to her chair. She's not planning on making friends, she just needs to get through this whole academy thing so that their government can lay off.
On the way to the supposed registration office, Zuko carefully memorizes the chakra that follows him. The flow and carefully-hidden restraint of it tells him that it's a professional, yet he doesn't know exactly why it is following him around. It has yet to attack him or Toph, but he is not ready to dismiss it as just governmental monitoring. When he finally arrives at the building, the presence stops just a couple meters from outside the door he enters. He can feel the presence soon shifting to a nearby window, however.
Zuko idly moves around the strange office as he waits for someone to come to the front desk. He was told by that blonde kid before that he could get some sort of license for taking missions here and he's decided that this career was the best course of action for him.
His swords are familiarly weighing slightly on his back. They're comfortable there, and Zuko is glad that this strange trip at least brought those with him. Them, and Druk and Toph. While he knows that Toph is definitely having a difficult time adjusting to her younger body and to this new world, a small part of him is glad that he isn't alone.
Finally, a woman exits from another room and tiredly sits behind the counter, Zuko straightens formally as he approaches and puts on a respectful smile.
"I was wondering if I could register for missions? I don't have any academy experience here, but I am trained and experienced,"
The woman sighs and gives a cursory glance over Zuko. Her eyes catch unimpressed over the handles of his swords that poke out from behind him.
"You'll have to take a test to register as a shinobi."
Zuko nods carefully and relaxes his shoulders. He isn't yet used to people underestimating him again, but he guesses it might be better for him and Toph in the long run.
"I would not classify myself as a shinobi, but I am willing to take any tests required for taking on missions,"
She makes a little annoyed face before she's suddenly professional. Her back straightens as she moves to pull out forms from the cabinets under the counter.
"Alright then, you'll have to fill out these forms, send them in, and wait for an approval and a meeting date to continue. It could take a couple of business days, as our Hokage and the council oversee shinobi business. I don't know how your situation will be handled as you apparently haven't attended the Academy,"
She hands the rolled-up forms to him and Zuko thanks her as he places them into his left pocket. The papers fit comfortably in his formal traveller's wear. As he heads out, Zuko breathes out hotly as almost-perfectly hidden chakra flickers a small distance away. He's being monitored, it seems. He'll be sure to be on his best behaviour.
Toph tries her best to remain as innocent as she can, but the amount of absolute noise in the classroom just might tip her over the edge.
For a ninja village, she had expected Fire Nation School levels of respect and discipline from the students as soon as they got into class. Unfortunately, the opposite seems to be the case.
"Sensei! Sensei! Can we start are duels early today? I want to fight the new girl!" an obnoxious kid, Konohamaru if Toph remembers correctly, yells at their teacher. Toph straightens a bit at the mention of her, and she immediately feels ready to beat up a couple of brats who don't know what fighting is. Toph hears Iruka sigh heavily.
"Please sit back down, Konohamaru. We need to go over Henges since all-" Toph assumes Iruka is sending a glare across the class,"-of you slacked off last week when we were first going over it. However, if review goes well, we can go back to practice in performing the Henge."
Toph's heart stops for a moment at the lesson plan. She hadn't been able to access their sort of chakra the other day, nor was she able to do it the small times she tried it at other times. She couldn't find any of their type of chakra within her, but she was able to sense it in the people around her if she focused.
At least she got caught up on the class material the few days she had before her first day. It wasn't that large of an amount of information, though it was a bit hard getting used to their slightly different form of braille. It helped that Zuko studied with her, that he was equally interested in the subjects as she was. She has a better memory than Zuko does but she can be a slow reader.
"-Would anyone like to tell me one way you can potentially recognize someone's appearance as a Henge?" Iruka asks. Toph scowls a moment, bored, before a new idea settles in her mind. She feels like she already knows enough to pass this little academy altogether, why not actually do so? She raises her hand. Iruka hesitantly calls on her.
"Apparently, if you focus on a person's defining features, such as jawlines or hand shapes, you might be able to catch the waver of chakra curled around them. Practised users can hide it seamlessly, but less experienced ninja often have edges that shift unnaturally," Toph answers. She trickles in a bit of humour at the beginning. She looks straight at where Iruka's head would be, her eyes stare blankly at him.
"Thank you, Toph. Already a good student, many of you could do to be like her in your studies-" Iruka begins to say. Toph can hear the awkward smile in his voice.
"She's blind, how does she even read-" a student whines, cutting their teacher off. Toph stiffens up and affects a cold expression as she fixes her "gaze" ahead of her, ignoring the other student.
"Kaneto, you better apologize right this instant. You know what? History lesson time, for the whole class." The students groan, and Toph carefully hides her confusion at Iruka's quick scolding. "One of the most powerful known Illusion specialistsin our history, Ugau Shirasu, was able to steal over four-hundred scrolls of enemy information. She had mastered the Henge perfectly and was able to talk to enemy generals as though she was one of them. She was blind since the age of twelve and died of old age in her nineties."
Toph's heart warms a bit at the information. She was a bit surprised at the blatant use of the words "enemy" and "steal" but she guesses that such terms and practice would be normal for a ninja-governed and focused village. Iruka's obvious confidence in Toph's ability to become a ninja reminds her of the interrogators not dismissing her as just some useless blind girl. It quickly becomes apparent to her that she can not as easily get away with the innocent blind man act unless she's talking to a civilian. It's nice, but also frustrating.
Iruka finishes his tangent and breathes in steadily. Surprised, Toph notices how easily Iruka is able to steady his heart beat. It's not so perfect that she wouldn't be able to tell what he's feeling, but it's quick enough that she's impressed.
"As I was saying, before we were distracted, Toph answered my question correctly. To expand on that, a steady and stable flow of chakra is essential for performing and maintaining a Henge, when a ninja fails to even out their flow, the Henge suffers from hazy and-"