A/N: Yelllooo fellow follows!

This chapter is shorter than I thought it was. On the word document, it was massive. Ah well. Quality rather than quantity, right?

Hehe, you should've seen all the virtual arguments we got into over Toph's character here. (Morllyber keeps forgetting that she is BLIND! and I kept getting Gaara's character wrong.)

Review us!*Does the please-will-you-review-this-story-dance*

[Toph]

"Show me what you got." I demanded, getting into my fighting stance. His heartbeat didn't change, the sand curling around his arm. I smirked. "Oh dear, always needing sand to protect you?" I laughed. "You some kind of wimp?"

"Why fight here?" He asked.

"Because I said so. You got a problem with that?" I stamped my foot. The ground crumpled and lurched towards him, but he jumped backwards before it could crush him. His sand shot through the air and grabbed hold of my left arm. Damn it. I couldn't see the sand in the air.

"If you insist on fighting, not here." he said. I tilted my head, raising an eyebrow.

"Where then?"

He didn't say anything, just walked out f the door. I hesitated, then followed.

He led me to an area, completely bare of anything, except sand and dirt. I stopped when his weight lifted from the ground and reappeared a little way away. I shifted my foot slightly and felt Kankuro standing a way off. He was shaking a little from silent laughter. Huh. I'll show him.

I got into my typical stance - knees bent, feet apart, fists at my side. I took little breaths, trying to be as quiet as possible, so I could hear everything. We were still until he shifted and threw his arm out. I could feel some sand in the air and before I could move, it had covered me. I grinned and clenched my hands.

"Impossible!" I heard Gaara gasp. "It's turned to stone!" And indeed it had. I had turned the sand covering me to solid stone.

"You just trapped yourself."

I just grinned and started laughing.

But, no, I haven't just trapped myself. Blind, not stupid.

Drawing my arms over my chest, making myself as small as possible, I stamped my foot. The ground below me opened up, and fell down into the hole I created. The stone statue thing I had made stayed above, unmoving.

I silently earthbent a tunnel, leading directly behind Gaara. he was still staring at my statue, waiting for something to happen. His eyes narrowed.

Ignorant.

I widened my stance, and took a deep breath. Then my shot my arms up, hands fisted, punching the earth above me, right where Gaara was standing.

The earth exploded outwards, Gaara with it. I could feel boulders and rock - the debris - falling heavily back to the ground, and waited for Gaara to fall, as well. With a thump, he did as well. But before I could move again he was on his feet.

Grinning ear to ear, I climbed out of my tunnel and smirked in his general direction.

"If you can't see me, don't just presume I'm where you think I am. I am Toph Bei Fong, remember? I don't easily trap myself in my own stone."

Gaara was silent. He just thrust his hand out and I heard more sand flying through the air. I bent my own sand up to meet it. At the same time I stamped my foot and brought up a huge rock. I jumped and kicked it, landing squarely on my feet as it barreled towards him. Sand simply came up and blocked it, before covering it and crushing it to bits. The small smile that I had on my face faded.

Crap. He's better than I thought. I felt Kankuro's weight not far off and he was perfectly still. He seemed to be gaping.

The sand that I was bending to block his was weakening. I didn't feel Gaara move at all! He was still as a rock (no pun intended). But his sand got stringer and stronger until eventually it broke mine and hit me square in the stomach. It sent me flying.

I managed to flip myself over and land on my feet. Then I dropped to one knee and doubled over, coughing up blood.