Clash of Ninja
By: The White Dragon Rider
Disclaimer: I own NOTHING! We clear? Good! P.S. Please don't sue me
(Man I'm so glad I got so many reviews on that first chapter alone. I'm definitely going to continue this story and now I'm going to try a lot harder on it)
(PS. I'm not going to bother describing the Avatar cast unlike the Naruto cast. I figure if you don't know what the Avatar cast looks like and you're reading fanfics about the Avatar something is wrong with you)
Chapter 2: Toph's Fall
It was midday and the sun was bearing down hard on the dirt path the Avatar group was walking on
Well only Katara and Sokka were walking
Aang was flying using the mild breeze with his glider and Toph was lying on the ground and using her earth bending to make the ground move underneath her like a moving path
Katara was looking on the bright side and happy they hadn't run into anything that wanted to kill them…yet
Meanwhile Sokka did what he was good at…complain
"Man its hot" said Sokka in a overdramatic tone acting like was about to die of heat
"Will you quit complaining?" asked Katara annoyed at her older, stupider brother
"But we've been walking for hours!" complained Sokka
"We stopped for lunch a half hour ago!" said Katara annoyed
"What about second lunch?" asked Sokka eagerly
"How am I related to you?" asked Katara in a depressed tone
"Suck it up and quit complaining!" shouted Toph as she rode past them on the earth she was bending
"Aw come on! That's no fair! She can do that and Aang can fly! We're the only ones who have to walk!" complained Sokka
"We'll be able to fly again once we get Appa back at Ba Sing Se" said Katara
"So we're going have to walk all the way there!" asked Sokka
"Yes" said Katara
"Great just great" said Sokka sarcastically
"Will you stop complaining!" shouted Toph "That's all you do!"
"At least I'm not too lazy to walk!" shouted Sokka angrily
"I'm only doing this to practice earth bending since I couldn't do it in the desert!" argued Toph
"Maybe we should have left her there" whispered Sokka to Katara bitterly
Suddenly a huge pillar of rock burst out of the ground under Sokka's feet sending him flying into the air at least ten feet
"I heard that!" shouted Toph angrily as Sokka flew through the air
Sokka hit the ground nearby with a loud, painful thud
"Owww" he moaned as he removed his face from the crater it had made when it hit the ground
"Stupid little!…she can't she a thing but she can hear everything!" muttered Sokka bitterly under his breath as he got up
As soon as he finished saying that another pillar came out of the ground and sent him flying
"I heard that too you idiot!" shouted Toph as Sokka flew into the air about fifteen feet up before crashing back down painfully
Katara went over to see if he was alright
Sokka was laying face first in a small hole he had made when he hit the ground
"Sokka you ok?" she asked as she flipped him over onto his back so he could look up at her
"I'm ok mommy, can I sleep for five more minutes?" said Sokka stupidly in a daze
Katara used her waterbending to slash him with some water to get him back to his senses
Sokka snapped back to attention after the shock of the cold water hitting him
"Wow where'd that cart that hit me come from?" asked Sokka shaking his head to clear it
He then looked over at Toph angrily
Sokka ran over to her and got right in her face
"Why you little!" began Sokka
"You want to fight?" asked Toph tauntingly getting into an earth bending pose
Sokka screamed, ran to a nearby tree, and climbed up it faster than Momo
"No that's ok" said Sokka nervously from the top branch
"Can we please try and stop fighting? That's what got up in trouble in the desert and when Azula was following us" pointed out Katara trying to stop the two from fighting
"That sounds good to me" said Sokka nervously from the top branch
"Fine" said Toph bitterly
"This is going to be a long trip" said Katara in an annoyed tone
In the Sky
Meanwhile Aang and Momo were flying over the path
They were doing this so that they could spot any dangers on the path and so that they wouldn't have to walk
From the sky they could see for miles around
The path they were following was covered on both sides by think forest
Aang could see mountains and miles of forest to the right of the path
On the left was a much narrower patch of forest that bordered some cliffs and canyons
Aang could see that the path turned up ahead to the right
On the turn there was no forest to the left, the path ran along a steep cliff that lead right into the canyon below
Aang then heard a scream from below him
He looked down to see Sokka spinning while flying through the air after being launched by Toph the first time
'Must have made Toph mad' thought Aang knowing her temper
Aang went back to scouting for about half a second before he was disrupted by Sokka screaming and flying through the air a second time
He watched the ground until he saw Katara break the two up
Aang then turned his attention back to the surrounding area
He was looking for any clues that they were close to Ba Sing Se
Katara said that based on the map they wouldn't be there for a week at least and possibly longer
But still Aang kept looking for any signs that meant they were close
He was eager to reach Ba Sing Se and get Appa back
Aang was very attached to Appa and had nearly destroyed all the sand benders when he found out they had taken him and sold him
Appa was the only friend he had left from the Air Nomads and was one of the few good things he had left from 100 years ago
He was determined to get him back no matter what
Aang was snapped out of his thoughts of Appa by the sound of Momo screeching in panic
"What is it?" he asked the lemur
Momo was looking backwards while screeching in panic and pointing at something
Aang looked back just in time to see a fire ball heading right at him
He screamed as he dove quickly to barely avoid the fireball
The fireball flew over his head so close that if had hair it would have been burnt off
It flew over him and exploded when it hit the tree tops below setting them on fire
Aang looked back to see a large amount of fire nation soldiers following the path they were on
It looked like a big force
There was a large amount of soldiers, a few mobile catapults that were now firing at him, and a squad of fire benders
Aang dove again to dodge several oncoming fireballs that were sent his way
He knew that if he stayed in the sky they would just keep firing so he decided to join up with his friends on the ground
On the Path
"What was that?" asked Sokka after he and the others heard the first fireball crash into the trees
"Look up!" shouted Katara pointing up
Sokka and Katara both looked up
Toph didn't for obvious reasons
They saw Aang dodge the second volley of fireballs before coming in for a landing
Aang landed on the ground a few feet away from them
Toph felt the vibration of Aang and Momo landing and turned to them
"What is it twinkle toes?" she asked
"A bunch of fire nation soldiers heading our way" said Aang seriously
"Great" said Sokka sarcastically
"What should we do?" asked Katara worriedly
"Let's fight them! I can handle them!" said Toph eagerly
"I don't know there was a lot of them" said Aang unsure that they could handle that many on their own
"We better leave" said Katara seriously
"Please I can handle them!" shouted Toph
"But without Appa we can't just fly away if things look bad" pointed out Katara
"Yeah and I'm not sure if there are more of them around here" said Aang
"We should run for now" said Sokka seriously
"Fine" said Toph bitterly in defeat
Toph hated running away but she knew that they were right
"We better get moving" said Katara
"Yeah there getting close" said Toph feeling the vibrations from them approaching and growing stronger
"I saw that the path turns right up ahead, we'll follow it until we get to that point and then we'll move off the path and head through the woods to lose them" said Aang
They then began running down the path with the Fire Nation right on their heels
Cliffside Path
After about five minutes of furious running they managed to reach the Cliffside turn in the path
As they ran they had think forest to the right of them and a huge drop into a canyon to their left
"Come on guys we're nearly there" said Katara urgently
It was just then that Toph felt something
She felt a slight vibration in the ground in front of them and a little off to the left in the forest
It was only one foot step but the vibrations were enough to give her a clear picture of who it was
She recognized who it was instantly and also recognized the stance they were in
"Guys get down!" she shouted urgently as she dove to the ground
The rest of the group dove to the ground just as a streak of blue fire blasted over their heads
"You missed" said a dull, bored, girl voice
"Well at least it'll be more fun this way" said an evil voice mildly amused
Aang and the others stood up and looked at where the voices and fire blast had come from
The fire blast had burnt a hole into the trees and revealed the figures of Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee standing in the forest
"Aww man it's a trap!" said Sokka as he and the rest quickly got to their feet to defend themselves
They realized that the troops behind them were just a trap so that they would go down the path to the cliff were they had nowhere to run
Aang and the rest of the group now had their backs to a giant cliff drop and were cornered
Aang prepared his staff, Katara got into a waterbending pose, Sokka got out his boomerang (He needs to learn some bending or at least get a better weapon like a sword), Toph got into an earthbending pose, and even Momo bared his teeth at them
Azula and her group casually walked out of the forest and onto the path as though the fact that Aang and the others were preparing to fight didn't matter
Azula just put on a confident smile when she looked at the pathetic resistance
"Perfect, this wouldn't be any fun if it was as easy as setting a trap and killing all of you at once" said Azula confidently and evilly
"I agree this is a lot better" said Mai in her usual tone
"This is going to be fun" said Ty Lee in her usual peppy, happy tone
"You won't be having fun by the time I'm done with you" said Toph also eager for a good fight
"Ha! The little earthbending rat thinks she can beat us!" said Azula slightly amused
"What did you call me!" asked Toph angrily
"A rat" said Mai plainly
"I'm going to destroy you!" shouted Toph fiercely
"Please you don't stand a chance" said Azula confidently
She, Mai, and Ty Lee all got into fighting stances
"Ty Lee you get the two from the water tribe, Mai you get the earthbender, I got the Avatar" ordered Azula
Everyone turned to face their opponents
This was going to be a good fight
Azula Vs. Aang
Azula started things off by sending a blast of blue flame at Aang who ducked to avoid it
Aang then countered with an air blast from his fan
Azula blocked it by using a fire blast to stop the attack
Aang screamed and jumped high into the air
The fire blast flew underneath him and scorched the ground in a long line pattern
From the air Aang opened up his glider and used it like a giant fan
He brought the fan down as hard as he could to create a giant gust of wind that blew Azula away with enough force to send her slamming into a nearby tree
Aang looked happy for a moment thinking he had won but Azula just got up
"Is that all you got? Zu Zu might've been beaten that easily but I won't" said Azula tauntingly
Aang let out a frustrated grunt and then tried hitting her with another gust of wind
Azula countered with a giant stream of fire
The powerful attacks collided in mid-air
Both fighters put all their strength into their attacks
Neither attack was strong enough to cancel out the other
It was like a tug of war between wind and fire
The two of them kept at it while the others fought around them
Katara Vs. Ty Lee
Meanwhile Sokka and Katara were fighting Ty Lee
Sokka charged at her and attacked with his boomerang in a series of slashes
The girl in pink was extremely swift and dodged all of Sokka's boomerang attacks and easily countered with her pressure point attacks
Within seconds Sokka was laying on the ground unable to move his legs
"Well that worked well" said Sokka as he laid there helpless
That only left Katara to fight the nimble acrobat
Katara attacked with a water whip that Ty Lee ducked under with ease
Ty Lee then tried to attack Katara with her pressure point attacks at close range
Katara quickly stepped back as fast as she could and countered with another water whip
She knew from experience that she had to keep Ty Lee from getting close at shutting off her bending
Ty Lee easily dodged the whip by flipping away from it
She tried to move around to Katara's side to attack
Katara quickly reacted and put up and ice barrier to stop Ty Lee's attacks
Ty Lee's fingers hit the hard ice painfully
Ty Lee jumped back from Katara in mild pain
Katara took advantage of the opening and hit Ty Lee hard with a water whip aimed at her chest
The attack connected painfully and sent Ty Lee flying back a bit
She landed on Sokka who was still on the ground
Both groaned in pain upon impact
Ty Lee nearly had the wind knocked out of her from that last attack but she was able to fight
She got up painfully and looked down to see what she had landed on
"You couldn't have picked someplace else to land could've you?" asked Sokka annoyed and in pain
Ty Lee blushed franticly before she quickly got up off him
"Hey get off!" said someone in pain below her when she got up
She looked down to see her foot was on Sokka's face
Ty Lee quickly removed her foot off Sokka's face
"Opps sorry!" said Ty Lee due to her naturally nice nature
"I'm just glad you weren't wearing heels" said Sokka below her
Ty Lee then charged at Katara again in an attempt to get close and shut off her bending with her attacks
Katara barely dodged out of the way in time
She saw Ty Lee's fingers miss her by inches
Katara tired to counterattack with another water whip only to have Ty Lee dodge it using her acrobatics
The two of them also began exchanging blows rapidly
Mai Vs. Toph
While all this was going on Toph was having a hard time with Mai
Toph was having a hard time against all the projectiles sent her way
Based on the vibrations Toph could see when Mai was in a stance to throw her needles but she was never able to tell where exactly the airborne projectiles were
Toph would raise a wall of rock to block the needles and other projectiles
The problem was that Mai attacked too quickly for Toph to counterattack with earthbending
Whenever Toph would put her rock wall down and get into a bending stance to attack Mai would throw more projectiles and Toph would be forced to use her earthbending to defend herself
Toph realized she was in trouble if all she could do was barely defend herself and not attack in retaliation
But her pride kept her from asking for help
She refused to show any weakness by asking for help
As Toph hid behind her rock wall again she had an idea
As soon as Mai's needles hit the wall she pushed it forward at high speed using her earthbending
Mai barely managed to dodge out of the way of the rock wall come charging at her
She flipped out of the way and the wall crashed into a nearby tree
Toph used the opening to attack Mai with some earthbending
She stomped on the ground and caused a few rocks to fly up
Toph then sent them flying at Mai with powerful hits
Mai quickly did her best to avoid them but one of them came dangerously close to her shoulder and scraped it a bit
Toph then made a pillar of rock come bursting out of the ground under Mai
Mai was flung into the air but managed to right herself and send a few needles from her sleeve towards Toph
Toph couldn't see Mai throw the needles so she was standing their with a confident smile on her face thinking she had won when an intense pain struck her in her legs
She fell back in pain as Mai's needles pierced her legs a bit
Toph let out a scream pain that caught everyone else's attention
"Toph!" yelled Aang, Katara, and Sokka worriedly at the same time upon hearing the scream
They all looked to see that several of Mai's needles had gotten into Toph's legs
They had only pierced a little bit but Toph's legs were bleeding and she was in pain
Toph tried to get up but the pain was too strong
The pain had also messed up her ability to see vibrations with her feet
So not only was she wounded and in pain she was also blind and the word she hated…helpless
"Hold on I'm coming!" said Aang as he tried to get over to her
Azula took advantage of his distraction and sent a fire blast at him
Aang managed to dodge it with his swiftness
Azula then began an unrelenting series of fire attacks
Aang was too busy dodging all of Azula's attacks to get over to Toph
Meanwhile Mai had landed and was now closing in on her helpless prey with and few arrows in her hand
Katara saw this and wanted to help but she was too busy trying to hit Ty Lee as she was flipping and cart wheeling all over the place dodging her attacks more easily than Aang
She needed to come up with a plan to stop Ty Lee and stop Mai at once
Katara saw an opening when she saw Ty Lee flip in the direction of Mai
She quickly aimed a water blast at the ground underneath Ty Lee
"Hitting my feet isn't going to work" said Ty Lee happily as she did a flip over it
"I wasn't aiming there" said Katara with a smile
Ty Lee failed to notice all the water around her on the ground
Katara blew a cold breath and used her water bending to turn the water into a sheet of ice
As soon as Ty Lee's hands hit the ground at the end of the flip she slipped and fell right on her face
She then slid right at Mai at high speed
Ty Lee caught Mai by surprise when she crashed into her and knocked her off her feet just as she was about to strike Toph
Katara quickly ran over to Toph who was on the ground
"Toph are you ok?" she asked concerned
"I'm fine!" shouted Toph bitterly
"Your legs look pretty bad let me heal you" offered Katara
"I don't need your help!" shouted Toph
"Yes you do! Now let me help you up" said Katara as she grabbed onto Toph's arm and pulled her up
"I said I don't need your help! I can stand on my own!" said Toph bitterly as she shacked off Katara and tried to stand on her own wounded legs
Her legs were shaking like crazy and threatened to give out at any second
Katara could tell that there was no way Toph could walk like this let alone run away
She could barely stand and Katara was betting Toph would fall the second she tried to take a step
"Katara is she ok?" asked Aang worriedly as he still fought with Azula nearby
"She's ok Aang but we need to get out of here now" said Katara seriously
Sokka was down, Toph was down, and Ty Lee and Mai were only stunned and would soon be up
They had to leave now
Aang got the message and quickly fought as hard as he could to beat Azula quickly
He sent a powerful wind blast at her which she managed to dodge
"What the matter Avatar worried about your friends?" asked Azula in a evil playful voice
"Shut up!" said Aang fiercely
"You're mad now aren't you?" she asked evilly
"Why do you care?" shouted Aang as he quickly tried to charge her and hit her with his staff
Azula sent a blue fire blast at him that he managed dodge by jumping over it
What he didn't realize was that the fire blast was now heading right towards Katara and Toph who were behind him right next to the cliff
Katara screamed as dove out of the way as fast as she could
However Toph's pain was still blocking her ability to see through her feet and she had no idea that Azula had sent a fire blast or that Katara had ducked out of the way
She just stood there as the fire blast roared towards her
"Toph!" screamed Katara as she saw the attack head towards her friend
Toph felt the heat of the fire a second before the attack and barely managed to dodge
She leaned back to avoid the attack
The blue fire blast barely missed her head by inches but it had sent her off balance right next to the edge of the cliff
Aang turned around in time to see Toph trying to keep her balance on one wounded leg at the very edge of the cliff
Katara quickly rushed over to her to grab her but it was too late…
Toph lost her balance and fell off the cliff into the deep valley below
To Katara and Aang it all seemed to be in slow motion
Katara could see into Toph's sea foam green eyes as she missed grabbing onto Toph's hand and saving her by inches
She then watched as Toph fell down the canyon slowly before eventually descending into darkness
"No" was all she could say breathlessly as Toph fell out of sight
Aang just stood in place watching the scene unfold
His entire body seemed to be paralyzed
He couldn't believe it
Toph was…gone
Katara fell back onto the ground away from the cliff
She immediately broke into tears
"What happened!" asked Sokka who couldn't see what had happened
"Toph's gone!" shouted Katara sadly
"Did she run away?" asked Sokka
"No she's literally gone!" said Katara between sobs
"You mean…!" asked Sokka in shock
"Yes" said Katara weakly
"So there earthbender is gone, big deal. You'll be next!" said Azula evilly breaking the moment of sadness briefly
Aang turned to her and gave her a look that could kill
"How dare you say that!" roared Aang as he unleashed a gust of hurricane power
The wind was so powerful Azula was throw a good distance into the forest
Nearby trees were uprooted and tossed like twigs in a strong wind
Leaves few everywhere as the wind removed every leave from nearby trees
Katara could tell that Aang was close to the Avatar state
Nearby Lee and Mai were slowly getting up from their fall and Katara could hear the sound of approaching Fire Nation soldiers
Katara knew Aang could handle them in the Avatar state but she thought it would be best to escape now before they couldn't
She quickly got up
"Aang we need to leave now!" shouted Katara to Aang
"Not now! I'm going to get revenge!" said Aang in a rage with a slightly evil tone
He wasn't about to let someone who killed one of his friends get away that easily
"The soldiers are coming, Sokka is down and I'm out of water. We should go now! Please!" she begged
Aang gave the area where he had sent Azula one last look before turning away with a look of anger clear on his face
"Fine let's go!" shouted Aang bitterly
Katara then ran over to Sokka and grabbed his hand
She then dragged him along the ground as she and Aang made their escape
Toph's POV
All Toph knew was that she was falling through the air
She couldn't see how fast she was going but she could feel the wind rush past her as she fell at great speed
'Great, this is how I'm going to die? In the air? That's ironic' she thought as she fell
She had no doubt that she was going to die
Since she wasn't connected to the ground she couldn't feel where the rock walls were so she couldn't save herself with earthbending
And she figured that if she had been falling this long that it was at enough height to kill her upon impact
She then realized that it wasn't the fall that would kill her it would be the ground at the bottom of the canyon
'So it's going to be the ground that kills me? That's even more ironic. It's like some higher being is having some sick joke' thought Toph
She just waited for the last vibration she would ever feel
The force of her impacting the ground and dieing upon impact
'At least there are worse ways of going. This probably won't hurt much' thought Toph as she fell
She felt that she must have been close to the ground by now
'Geez this is taking a while! How deep is this thing?' she thought impatiently
Toph thought she heard something below her
She took that to meaning she was about to hit the ground
Toph was surprised when instead of hitting solid ground she hit water
She had landed in a river at the bottom of the canyon
Toph felt the cold water as she broke through the surface of the river at high speeds
She was plunged deep into the cold river with strong currents
Toph was now in here worst nightmare
She had never been able to swim due to the fact she couldn't feel the vibrations of the ever changing water
Ground was solid and conducted vibrations well, water was another story
It was constantly changing and shifting and she could never get her bearings in it
She had once fell into a pound on their estate when she was younger and nearly drowned
Her mother had barely saved her and since her father had banned any large bodies of water from their estate
She still didn't even like to take baths…wait that was because she liked being dirty
Now she wished she had just hit ground and died
Sudden impact was fast and painless
Drowning was slow and horrible
And due to the fact she couldn't see in water she felt like she was drowning in a sea of darkness
The strong tides threw her all over the river bottom
One of the currents slammed her against a rock
The vibration gave her a look at the river bottom
She grabbed onto the rock and used the last of her strength to do some earthbending and create a rock pillar that pushed her enough to get to the surface
Toph's face appeared on the surface just as she was about to run out of air
She gave a few gasping breaths for air when she was above the water
Although Toph was on the surface she was still in deep trouble
The rapid current threw her all over the place
She was still had no idea where the shore was and even if she did she didn't know who to swim
The current dunked her under several times and she had to fight to get back up every time
Toph was using the last of her strength to stay afloat but her wounds were bleeding still and she was tired and weak
She slowly began to lose consciousness as she fought to live
The last thing she remembered before she black out was thinking
'Good bye guys'
Campsite
Toph slowly came to a while later
Her entire body was aching, she felt like she had just had a boulder dropped on her, and she felt weak but she was still alive
She was surprised that she was still alive
'I'm alive? How?' she wondered surprised that she wasn't dead at the bottom of the river
She couldn't see where she was but she was able to feel a few things
The first thing she noticed was that she was laying on the grassy ground but the odd thing was that she had a blanket over her
Her earth senses told her that she was in a small open clearing away from the river she was drowning in earlier
She could feel a backpack on the ground nearby and she could hear a fire crackling nearby
Based on the fact that there was a fire going Toph guessed that it was night or early evening
It was actually late sunset when the sky was just turning dark
Toph could also feel that her legs were bandaged and the needles had been removed
She realized that someone must have saved her and taken care of her
'But who?' she wondered
Suddenly she felt someone walk over to the fire that was going and sit down
Naruto POV
Naruto had just returned with some fire wood to his campsite
It had been a little over an hour since he had saved the drowning stranger from the river
He had brought him (Naruto taught the person looked like a boy but he wasn't about to invade privacy and make sure) to this small clearing and made sure he was ok
Naruto was shocked when he noticed that the person had throwing needles stuck in their legs
He had removed them and did his best with the first aid kit that was in his backpack
Thankfully most ninja had some form of basic first aid training so he had did a pretty good job
The wounds weren't serious or life threatening and would heal quickly
Naruto had been hit with a lot more needles than that during one of his battles and survived
The person still hadn't woken up so Naruto decided to set up camp and make the person was as comfortable as he could
Naruto was currently making a fire so he could cook some of the Ramen he had brought with him
As he put the wood on the fire and tended to it he wondered who this person was
He figured that they had to be a fighter and have gotten into a fight based on the throwing needles in their legs
Naruto wondered his he was dealing with another ninja
The odd thing was he found no headband
But some ninja didn't wear them so he couldn't it out
Then of course was the question of who they had been fighting
Based on the fact that throwing needles were used he could probably assume another ninja was involved
Perhaps it might've been the same ones who took his team
He was worried about all this
He didn't know exactly where he was, his team was missing, and he now was with a strange person that was possibly a ninja maybe even a hostile one
Naruto hoped he wasn't getting involved in something bad
But he knew that odds are that he was
Another thing had been troubling him as well
The strange blue spirit looking guy had mentioned something about the fox
Naruto couldn't help but look at were the fox seal was when he thought about it
'Could the fox have something to do with this?' wondered Naruto
He thought that wasn't possible since no one besides the adults in the Hidden Leaf Village knew he had the fox in him
But he knew if this did had something to do with the fox it was going to be bad
No POV
He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of a groan nearby
"Ughhh" moaned Toph
"Huh?" asked Naruto as he looked over to where Toph was resting
He saw Toph sit up with a little difficulty
Toph's strength had still not returned and her entire body ached so getting up was hard
"Oh you're up" said Naruto to Toph
Toph turned and looked over at where the voice had come from
For the first time Naruto saw Toph's pale eyes
They reminded him of Hinata's almost…
They were pale like Hinata's but they had a green tint to them
Naruto wondered if he was dealing with a Hyuga clan member
He made a note to ask about the eyes later
"Where am I?" asked Toph
"You're at my camp" explained Naruto
Naruto got up and took a step forward
The vibration was enough for Toph to get a pretty good picture of what Naruto looked like
She was surprised when she found out that the person that saved her was only a boy about her age
"What happened?" asked Toph with a slight hint of pain to her voice
"I found you face down in the river floating by, I jumped in and saved you" said Naruto
'So much for the others saving me' thought Toph disappointedly
She wondered what happened to the others
Toph wasn't one to get emotional but she was hoping her friends got away safely
She knew she had to go back and see what had happened to them
Toph threw the blanket off and tried to get up
"Whoa! What are you doing?" asked Naruto shocked
"Thanks for the help but I have to get going" said Toph stubbornly as she tried to stand on her legs
She barely got onto her feet when an intense pain struck her legs and she fell to the ground
"Hey! Hold on!" said Naruto as he walked over to help her
"I don't need your help!" shouted Toph as waved him off
She then tried to get up again
This time she got to her feet and barely stood up
The pain was intense and her legs were shaking madly but she was standing
Naruto was shocked by this
'Whoa! After all that and whoever this person is standing!' thought Naruto
He could also see that Toph was going to fall any second
"Hey careful! You shouldn't be up right now! You were half dead when I pulled you from the river! You should rest now!" said Naruto concerned
"I don't need your help, I have to go now" said Toph fiercely
She then turned around and took several painful, slow steps away from Naruto
After about four steps her legs gave out and she fell face first into the ground
"Um…" began Naruto
"Don't…say… anything" said Toph bitterly her voice muffled by the ground
Naruto walked over and pulled her up
He then helped support Toph by letting her hang onto his shoulder
"I was telling you, you're way too badly hurt to be walking around now!" said Naruto
"Ah shut up!" said Toph bitterly
Naruto helped her limp over to the fireside and then put her down gently
He sat down next to her
"I don't think you're going to be able to walk on your own for a while" said Naruto
"I don't have a while" said Toph bitterly
"What's the rush?" asked Naruto curiously
"None of your business!" shouted Toph
"Ok! Yeesh! Someone's in a bad mood!" said Naruto defensively
There was an awkward silence for a minute and a half before Naruto spoke up
"So who are you anyway?" asked Naruto
"If you have to know my name is Toph Bi Fong" said Toph
"Really? I thought you might have been of the Hyuga clan" said Naruto
"The what clan?" asked Toph confused
"The Hyuga clan, I have a friend called Hinata Hyuga and she has eyes a lot like yours" said Naruto
"Really?" asked Toph curiously
'So he knows another blind girl?' thought Toph
"Yeah, they're all pale and stuff except that hers are pure white while yours have green in them" said Naruto
"So you know a blind girl?" asked Toph
"Blind? What do you mean? Hinata has good vision" said Naruto confused
'Wait! He doesn't realize I'm blind!' thought Toph shock
She guessed that either he was being nice or that she didn't look blind thanks to her earth senses
Toph decided to see how long it would take this kid to figure it out for fun
After Naruto stopped talking there was another silence for a brief period
"So aren't you going to ask my name?" asked Naruto to Toph
"I could care less" said Toph
Naruto got one of those shocked/annoyed looks on his faces
'Why does no one care who I am!' thought Naruto bitterly
"I'm going to tell you anyway!" shouted Naruto fiercely
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! The next Hokage of Hidden Leaf Village!" yelled Naruto while standing up and doing a heroic gesture
Toph looked on with an annoyed look
'He's out of his mind!' thought Toph at the display
"So you're from a place called Hidden Leaf Village?" asked Toph wondering where in the Earth Kingdom that was
"Yeah" said Naruto
"Where's that?" asked Toph
"The Land of Fire of course" said Naruto
"Wait! You're from the Fire Nation!" asked Toph shocked
Toph immediately got ready for anything
She prepared to defend herself as best she could
This could be a Fire Nation spy sent to capture her for Azula
"Fire Nation? What the heck are you talking about? I said the Land of Fire. What the heck is the Fire Nation?" asked Naruto confused and totally oblivious to the fact that Toph was now very tense
"You're kidding right? You honestly don't know what the Fire Nation is?" asked Toph surprised
"No, is it a new village or something?" asked Naruto curiously
Toph wondered if what this kid said was true
Was he honestly not from the Fire Nation?
And if so how could he have not known about the Fire Nation that had been conquering the world in the last 100 years?
Based on his tone it didn't sound like he was lying but how could he have not know what the Fire Nation is
'Has this kid been living under a rock all his life or something?' wondered Toph
Plus she still didn't know where this Land of Fire was either
Something about this kid was off
Before they could discuss things further Naruto changed the subject
"So where are you from?" asked Naruto curiously
Toph thought that if this kid was of the Fire Nation is would be better to not mention exactly who she was and where she came from
"That's none of your business" said Toph
"Um ok" said Naruto
Whoever this person was they really didn't want to talk about their past
Naruto found it odd how Toph had reacted to him when he said when he was from the Land of Fire
'Could she be from a rival village?' wondered Naruto
"So what are you going to do now?" asked Naruto
"I've got to go find my friends" said Toph
"Really? Did you get separated during your battle?" asked Naruto
"How do you know I was in a fight?" asked Toph suspiciously
"You had throwing needles in your legs so I figured you got into a fight" answered Naruto
'Oh yeah…' thought Toph realizing that was a dead giveaway
"My and my friends got ambushed and fought, I fell off a cliff after getting hit and wound up in the river below" explained Toph
"Wow" said Naruto
"I'm looking for my friends too" said Naruto
"Really?" asked Toph
"Yup, we got ambushed and knocked out. When I woke up I was here and the rest of my team was gone" explained Naruto
"Hey I got an idea! We can look together!" said Naruto
"No thanks, I can find them on my own" refused Toph stubbornly
"I don't think you can" said Naruto
"Why's that!" yelled Toph angrily expecting the usual reasons
She was a blind girl
"It's because your legs are still hurt and you can barely walk" said Naruto
Toph realized this was true
She could barely walk
There was no way she could cover enough ground fast enough to find her friends in her condition
Plus she could barely earthbend if she wasn't able to stand
She'd be a sitting duck
If she got attacked she was finished
As much as she hated getting help she had to admit to herself she needed it badly
"Humph! Fine!" said Toph in defeat
"Alright dude we can look together!" said Naruto happily
"Wait a second! What did you call me?" asked Toph in shock after Naruto's comment
"Um dude? Is that a problem?" asked Naruto confused
'Wait a second…he thinks I'm a boy!' thought Toph shocked
Toph knew she wasn't ladylike like her parents wanted her to be but she never imagined that she would be confused for a boy!
So he thought she was a seeing boy!
'This kid is denser that Sokka!' thought Toph in surprise
She was about to correct him when she got an idea
Most people underestimated her and treated her differently because she was a blind girl
But since Naruto didn't know that Toph thought she would finally have someone who treated her like an ordinary kid and not a helpless blind girl
Toph decided to go along with him for now
"Just call me by my name" said Toph with a smile
"Ok Toph" said Naruto
"When can we get going?" asked Toph
"Well it's pretty late now, we should have a good nights rest and head out in the morning" said Naruto
During the time they had been talking it had become dark out and Toph could hear the crickets chirping in the woods
"Ok" said Toph thinking that might be a good idea
Aang and the others would probably do the same
"I only brought one blanket though" said Naruto
"No problem I don't need one" said Toph just laying back on the ground near the fire
"You sure?" asked Naruto
"Yup" said Toph
"Ok" said Naruto
Naruto then went over to the blanket and got underneath it
It wasn't five seconds later Toph could hear him snoring nearby
Toph lay on the ground near the fire and went to sleep
'This might actually not be that bad' thought Toph before finally going to sleep
End Chapter
(There you go! I hope you liked it. I want to say that I don't hate Toph but she had to be wounded in order for the storyline to work. The next chapter might not be out for a while due to the fact that I just got back into school and I have work to do)
(P.S. I will be choosing what to do in the next chapter based on reviews. I will either follow Toph and Naruto or we can see what happened to Sakura. Please tell me which you would prefer)
Next Chapter:
Chapter 3?????