Okay here we go the final chapter! I cannot believe I'm finally here! Thank you all so much who've followed this story/favourite/reviewed & put up with my incredibly slow updates! And also another thank you to those who've contributed & given me some great ideas! I would have updated this earlier but my laptop shat itself so I had to get a new one & buy Office & what not (all that jazz). Alright, let's get this going shall we?
Oh yes on a side note, this chapter does not follow the Naruto manga at all. So pretty much all the events are made up…& yes…from how I'd like the manga to go ehehe. So ah there's going to be some SasuNaru slash (I'm sorry I couldn't resist)! But as with Zutara, I won't go into very much detail. And I've also put in other pairings that I like – sorry if you don't like them but as I previously stated: I won't go into any detail! And don't forget: Gaara will most likely be OOC & those spoilers!
Disclaimer: I own nothing; Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto & Avatar: the Last Airbender belongs to Michael DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko.
Naruto – six years later
"I'm so bored dammit!" Naruto cried out, flopping back into his chair, "Who'd knew being Hokage would be so boring!"
"Well Naruto, the job's not all about being heroic" Sasuke stated.
Eyeing his boyfriend, Naruto knew Sasuke was right. Naruto had been the Hokage for six months now. After the war old Granny Tsunade thought it best that he become Hokage; especially after his efforts during the war and getting Sasuke back to their side thanks to their mutual feelings for each other and a little help from Itachi. Itachi didn't last much longer after he knocked some sense into his little brother, and he desiccated and died (again) peacefully in Sasuke's arms. Naruto would be forever grateful for what Itachi did. Sasuke was soon at peace; however he didn't want to come back to Konoha. But thanks to the efforts of the Konoha eleven and Sai, Sasuke was convinced to come back home. Many of the villagers and older ninja were still suspicious of him, so kept to himself as much as he could. But as time went on, they were slowly getting over Sasuke (it helped greatly that he was Naruto's partner as well).
"Sasukeeeeee!" Naruto whined, "Let's go do something exciting!"
"And what do you have in mind?"
"Well I've done all the crap paperwork I have to, and there's not much need for missions anymore since all the villages are at peace with each other….Hey! I've got it! Let's go somewhere!"
Before Sasuke had a chance to answer Sakura came in with Sai and Lee in tow (Sakura and Lee were now an item).
"What's this about going somewhere?" she asked, sounding interested.
"That's it I've got an even better idea!" Naruto cried out and he turned to Sai, "Sai! Can you find Shikamaru for me? I'm pretty sure he doesn't leave back to Suna till tomorrow, go and find him for me!"
"I'm on it" Sai said and with that he left.
Naruto then turned to Lee and asked, "Lee! Go find the rest of our friends and bring them all here!"
"Got it!" Lee said with a salute and left.
"Naruto what are you up to?" Sakura asked.
"Let's wait for everyone to get back I don't want to explain myself twice."
Sakura and Sasuke looked at each other, too used to Naruto to question his motives.
When everyone had assembled, Naruto started, "We're all going on a holiday!"
Shikamaru was the first to talk, "Naruto, I've got to leave for Suna tomorrow". Shikamaru and Temari had finally gotten together after the war, everyone was not surprised and the new couple were met with, "about time" other than, "congratulations". He now lived in Sunagakure, but every now and then he came back to spend the weekend in Konoha and sometimes the Sand Siblings joined him.
Turning to Shikamaru, Naruto said, "Go back and bring Gaara and the others with you. They're coming whether they like it or not. I'll even make an official Hokage statement if I have to."
"Where are you thinking of going?" Kiba asked; who was quite keen for a holiday with the whole group.
His enthusiasm dropped with that question, "I ah…hadn't thought of that" he admitted sheepishly.
He then got the typical, "NARUTO!" thrown at him. He was glad however that his friends still treated him the same since becoming Hokage (Sakura still even punched him every now and then!).
After everyone has quietened down, Tenten spoke up, "How about to Aang's world?" she suggested.
"Who?" Naruto asked, ignorant for a quick moment. For that ignorance he was earned a punch from Sakura.
"One of your closest friends you idiot!" She started, "The Avatar, the one who came to visit with friends! The one who got dragged into our war! The one who unlike you I've bothered to keep in touch with!"
"Ah yeah, I figured it Sakura" he said, rubbing his cheek.
"I'm with Tenten" Neji said, speaking with his usual calmness, "The Fire Nation is a very nice place, I'm confident we'd all enjoy our time there."
Everyone agreed, all excited to visit Aang and the others and to see what their home is like. Sasuke was as well, which he told Naruto later within the privacy of their home; that he wanted to apologize for his actions during the war.
"And with that" Shikamaru started, "Will guarantee Gaara coming with us."
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.
Shikamaru didn't say anything, he simply smirked, "Don't worry about it Naruto, just be reassured that he won't say no."
"Who are you going to get to look after the village once you've gone though?" Sakura asked, ever thinking of everything, as usual.
"I'm sure Granny Tsunade wouldn't mind being Hokage again for a little while. If she can't I'll get Kakashi sensei or someone else. Don't worry Sakura I'll get it all sorted!"
With that Sakura was sure that she would be the one ending up having to organise everything, as usual.
Toph
Standing in front of a mirror, she sighed, "How do I look?" she asked Katara.
"Beautiful" Katara answered, whilst tugging on her hair.
"Ouch!" Toph cried out.
"Well if you let me cut it…"
"No! I like having my hair long!"
"But you complain every time I do your hair!"
"That's because you tug at it too much! And you wonder why Kya screams every time you touch her hair!"
Kya was Katara and Zuko's daughter. She was three years old and had more of Katara's features though she had Zuko's skin tone and hair. She was named after Katara and Sokka's mother, not only for Katara but also for Zuko, as she was the reason they became friends.
"So when are Sokka and Suki getting here?" Toph asked, impatient for those two to come, especially since she had some great jokes to tell Sokka.
"They should be here already; they're probably helping Aang and Zuko setting up for your party."
That's right it was Toph's birthday! She was turning eighteen! And even though she couldn't see it, she had definitely grown into a woman. Curves had appeared, her face had a more mature look to it and she was definitely catching the attention of boys – not that she cared. Toph only cared for one boy, and he hadn't even bothered to keep in touch with her since the end of that war. She wrote to him a few times but he never replied. She understood he would've been busy with his Kage duties, but still! It had been six years! And it's not hard to send a letter! They heard from Sakura at least once a month! It wasn't as if she was expecting him to randomly show up and whisk her off into the sunset, but a reply would be nice.
Pushing thoughts of Gaara out of her mind, Toph focused on the upcoming Earth Rumble tournament in three days' time. She skipped out on the last two as she happened to be either in the Fire Nation with Zuko, Aang and Katara (Zuko and Aang were planning to build a major city to be called Republic City and will be welcome to people from the four nations…well three) or she was in the Southern Water Tribe spending time with Sokka and Suki. So naturally, she had lost her championship title; it was time to win it back! And she wasn't missing this tournament for anything!
"All done!" Katara said happily, "I wish you could see yourself, you look really pretty!"
Even though she couldn't see, she still stood there staring at herself in the mirror. Turning to Katara she said, "Thanks Katara" and she made her way to leave, "Let's get this party started!" she yelled, all thoughts of Gaara disappearing and party mode taking over.
When they made it out into the gardens Toph cried out with delight when she 'saw' who was all here: of course team Avatar, but then there was Iroh, Master Jeong Jeong, Master Pakku with Kanna, Master Piandao, King Bumi, Ty Lee, Mai, the rest of the Kyoshi warriors, The Duke, Pipsqueak, Teo and his father, Haru, Hakoda, along with The Boulder and The Hippo!
"Everyone's here!" she cried out in delight, and with the "happy birthday Toph" she went around and mingled, asking everyone how they were, what they were up to and what not.
She joked with The Boulder and The Hippo how she was going to kickass in Earth Rumble and bantered with King Bumi how she was the strongest earthbender in the world.
She was having a great time when she 'saw' a group of people hurrying towards the party. Moving to find Katara she grabbed her and pulled her to the side.
"People are trying to crash my party!" she explained, "I know I'm so awesome that people want to come but I'm not tolerating gate-crashers! Help me kick them out!"
And with that the two benders excused themselves and planned a quick assault on the gate-crashers. Toph and Katara hid behind a tree and waited. When they got close enough the two girls jumped out and used their bending skills to show that absolutely zero gate-crashers would be allowed in.
The two benders went all out for a quick moment till they realised who it was.
"Naruto?" Katara asked just after she doused him with water.
"Ah yeah…" he said, shocked from the girls' assault.
"Oh crap sorry!" Toph cried out, and she let Kiba and Hinata out of the earth walls she set them in.
"Toph?" Sakura asked; who was surprised by Toph's growth these past six years.
"I am so sorry!" Katara said, "We thought you were gate-crashers!"
"Why would you think we'd-" Naruto started but he stopped when he remembered Toph's abilities.
"It's my eighteenth so we're celebrating!" Toph said happily, "Come on in, come on in the more the merrier!" and she led the way inside.
"Aang and the others will be so happy to see you all" Katara said, and she joined Katara and the two instantly began chatting.
When Toph and Katara re-emerged with the ninja, Team Avatar were the first to run over and Aang was excited most of all. After the introductions the ninja began to mingle with everyone and Sasuke quietly pulled Team Avatar aside and apologised for his actions during the war.
"Don't worry about it!" Sokka said happily, "Water under the bridge!"
Toph soon found herself talking with Neji; the two had formed a strong friendship thanks to their time spent together rushing back to the war.
"How did you guys know how to come here?"
"We first went to the Fire Nation, many of them remembering Tenten and myself. They told us that you were all at your home so with directions we made our way over here with many arguments and getting lost on the way."
"I can imagine" Toph laughed, she paused and continued, "I noticed that smart kid, what's his name...Shikamaru isn't here."
"He's on his way" Neji answered, "He and Temari became a couple after the war so he went to live in Sunagakure. Naturally they'd be longer coming from Suna."
Fighting back trying to spit out her drink, Toph fought to not freak out nor show any signs of freaking out, "That's nice" was all she managed to say.
Oh bloody hell! Did that mean Gaara was on his way? Or was he too busy to bother to deal with her? Trying to keep herself composed, she moved the conversation on, soon being joined by others.
oOo
Later that evening once Toph, Suki and Katara had settled everyone in (Toph did have quite a large house). Toph was venting with Katara and Suki.
"How dare he come here!" she yelled whilst pacing back and forth, "After no word for six years? Ugh I'm going to pound him when he comes!"
"Toph we don't even know if he's coming or not. All we know is that Shikamaru is on his way" Katara pointed out.
"Most likely with Temari" Suki added.
"Yeah if Temari's coming then for sure Gaara and Kankuro would be joining them!" Toph complained.
Suki earned a glare from Katara for her comment.
"Alright let's focus on something else. What will you do if Gaara does happen to turn up?" Katara asked. She was curious as Toph hadn't mentioned him much for a while now.
Katara's question calmed Toph down, and she answered, "In all honesty, I don't know. All I know is that it's not going to be the same. It's been six years after all; he's probably settled down with some girl and started a family."
Neither Katara nor Suki said anything, after all Toph could've been right.
"First things first just be friendly" Suki said, she paused and then added in a more playful tone, "And if he does happen to have some girl, then show him what he missed out on!"
With that the three girls cracked up laughing, "As fun as that would sound, I don't think I could keep up the charade. I'd probably burst out laughing at any minute!" Toph said, now quietened down to chuckling.
"It's going to be quite an event that's for sure!" she added.
oOo
During the next three days before Earth Rumble, Team Avatar's roles were reversed for they were now the guides, showing around the ninja. Toph was the lead guide, showing them all the cook places of her home. Zuko then suggested a tour around all four nations, to which everyone eagerly agreed.
"We're NOT going to Ba Sing Se though!" Toph said, making Aang laugh as she said the exact same thing when they were at Sunagakure.
"What's so wrong with Ba Sing Se?" Ino asked.
"Toph just doesn't like it because she hated the whole society life she had before she joined us" Sokka explained, "Ba Sing Se's not such a bad place. Especially when we've got Iroh's tea shop there!"
"Seriously you guys have no had tea till you've tried my Uncle's!" Zuko added.
"Fine!" Toph gave in, "We'll go to Ba Sing Se!"
"So tell us about this tournament think you're in" Kiba said, "It sounds like something I'd want to enter!"
Kiba's remark made Toph scoff, "Hah I'd love to see you try! The earthbenders will break you within five seconds! Remember how I caught you the night of my party?"
Grumbling, he said, "Alright fine I won't enter."
"What about if I enter Toph?" Naruto asked.
"Don't even think about it."
Like Kiba, Naruto got moody.
Soon the conversation turned to how Naruto was as Hokage, with the ninja teasing him that he was a lazy Hokage, always complaining about there not being much adventure and too much paperwork.
"Aww guys I'm not that bad!"
When the topic of conversation then turned to Gaara, Toph made a strategic move to excuse herself as she wanted to work on her earthbending for Earth Rumble. No way did she want to hang around and be told that Gaara was all loved up with a family!
"I'll come with you!" Lee sad, "I've missed out on quite a bit of my training since we all left for this holiday, I need to get back into shape otherwise I'll lose my youth!"
"Uh yeah sure fine" Toph said, happy with Lee to join her yet still finding him a little strange.
oOo
It was finally the day of Earth Rumble! Jumping out of bed Toph got ready as quickly as she could, had breakfast and ran outside into the gardens to start some last minute training.
"You all ready?" she heard Katara's voice ask.
"More than ever!"
Gaara
Gaara looked around at the Earth Kingdom town they were in, so this is Toph's home he thought. He was nervous to see her. He last saw her six years ago and if she still had that same personality, then she wouldn't be happy with him. He had been meaning to reply to her letters for a while, but he had been so busy with Kazekage duties that he had pushed her to the back of his mind. When he remembered about her he thought it too late, that she'd be angrier to hear from him than happy. She had also stopped writing. So he thought it best to leave her alone. Six years passed, and he was positive he'd never see her again; till his surprise that when Shikamaru came back to Suna, he said that Naruto wanted all of them to join him to go to Aang's world! And with the proper arrangements, Gaara left Suna in Baki's hands till he returned. He was not going to pass up a chance to see Toph again! He wondered what she'd be like now, of course she'd look older, she'd be eighteen now, a grown adult! He thought about how different she'd look now, more womanly, definitely.
"How you going bro?" Temari asked, putting an arm around him, "You all excited to meet Toph?"
A little while after the war, sick of Temari's questions about when he'll settle down (and who with), he confided in her that it was Toph whom he wanted. And since Shikamaru telling them of Naruto wanting everyone to come here, it has been Temari's mission to get them together.
"Oh hey look at this!" Kankuro pointed out a poster.
"The annual Earth Rumble; sign up now. For one day only. Come see the Blind Bandit back in action" Shikamaru read out loud.
"Let's go" Gaara said, immediately knowing who the Blind Bandit was.
"I thought you wanted to catch up with everyone else?" Kankuro asked.
"They'll be at this tournament, trust me."
Toph
With only having to use her feet, she knocked her opponent out of the arena.
"Give it up for your new Earth Rumble champion!" the MC called out, grabbing Toph's hand and putting it up in the air.
Everyone cheered and quietened down as she grabbed the microphone, "Anyone else wanna challenge me?" she challenged.
After a quick moment of silence an, "I will" was heard. Toph froze, even though it had been six years she knew that voice anywhere.
Keeping her resolve, she 'saw' him walk down the steps and enter the arena.
"And who's this new challenger?" the MC asked into the mic.
"Gaara" he answered; and a loud cheer came from where all their friends were sitting.
"Alright then let's begin!" the MC screamed, and he quickly got off the arena.
The earthbender and the ninja stood there facing each other off. Toph couldn't believe this! How dare he challenge her like this! She couldn't hold back though, the championship title was on the line! She felt him move first; he was trying to float on his sand. Smirking, she brought down his sand with just a grabbing movement of her hand. Oh yes, she had been working extensively on her sandbending these past six years. All too late she felt the sand grab and trip her and when she fell she made a fist and smashed it against the ground, causing the whole arena to break and move and in a quick movement Gaara succeeded at his second attempt at using the floating sand. Toph followed suit, smirking as she could imagine the look on his face at her new skill. The two of them then sent flying sand at each other, dodging and moving very quickly. Getting sick of this, Toph jumped to the ground and then started to hurl mounds of earth at him. This soon made Gaara jump to the ground as well. However he too must've learned from their last encounter as he only stood still in one spot for a quick second before moving to another place. His downfall in this, however, was that Toph was able to predict his movement and as soon as he moved to his next spot, she grabbed his feet, and when he was caught off balance she caught his arms in earth as well. When the match was over she let him go.
"Your new champion, THE BLIND BANDIT!" the MC called out and as everyone was cheering she was given the all too familiar belt.
"And how do you feel to be back home?" she asked it, laughing and putting it around her waist, "That's right!" she called out, "The Blind Bandit is back!"
All her friends came down to congratulate her.
"I was so obvious you were going to win this!" Sokka cried out.
"Damn straight!" she called back.
As much as she prepared to be bombarded by her friends, she wasn't prepared for Katara, Suki and Temari who had gotten together and made a plan for Gaara and Toph to talk. And that's just what happened when Katara told her that there was another challenger in the Earth Rumble who arrived too late so Katara sent him to Toph's house to challenge her there. Keen for this, Toph ran back home without any suspicion. However, she was prepared to murder when she saw Gaara standing in her gardens.
"I see Katara pulled a fast one on you as well" he said, "Temari did the same to me."
Growing stiff, she said, "Well that's nice to know."
An awkward silence passed between them, till Toph decided to speak, "So ah…did you want to see anything particular during your stay here?"
Ugh she wanted to hit herself for that comment! Could she be any more awkward?
After another silence, he answered, "I wouldn't mind enquiring after something."
"Go ahead!"
And after another silence, he started, "I've wanted to be with you, for quite a while now. I think it started when you and Aang came to Suna. There was something about you which drew me in."
She couldn't take this in, was he saying what she thought he meant?
"So what you told me, when we parted ways. You to that meeting and Aang and I back to Konoha, you really mean it?"
"Why would I say it if I didn't?"
For some reason, his comment made her angry, "Then why not reply to any of my letters? I understand that you would've been busy with being a Kage and all, but six years busy? It doesn't make sense to me!"
"You're right that I was busy, and by the time I remembered it was too late and that you had stopped writing. I figured that you would be angrier to hear from me."
Bloody hell he just knew her so well! And this made her feelings towards him even stronger. And with that, she knew what she wanted to do. Taking a few steps towards him she grabbed him and kissed him! When she pulled away from him she blushed, "I've wanted you too."
Gaara then pulled her into a hug. But their little moment was interrupted by a squeal.
"About time you two!" Katara, Suki and Temari all said at once.
"You three!" Toph called out, but before she had a chance to say anything more everyone else showed up.
"What's going on here?" Naruto started, but when he saw Gaara blushing and standing very close to Toph he broke into a grin, "Gaara and Toph sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-" but he was cut off thanks to a whack from Sasuke.
Getting fed up with everyone's behaviour; Toph cried out, "Alright! If anyone doesn't want to be caught in my special metalbending move, they'd better leave now!"
And with that everyone cleared off.
Letting out a sigh, Toph said, "Finally"
"They won't give up that easily, you realise that right?" Gaara said, "We'll be the hot topic of conversation for a while."
Turning back to face him she said, "Let's just worry about that later." Then she remembered something, "Wait you said you started to fall for me when I was at Suna with Aang right?"
"Yes"
"You've got to be kidding me! That's when I started to like you! Do you realise how much easier this would have been if I wasn't such an idiot?"
Gaara pulled her into a hug again, "Not just you, myself as well. I shouldn't be so shy."
It wasn't until a few years later, when the two of them had settled down and Gaara told her his full story; of how he used to be, was when Toph understood what he said that day.
And there you have it! It's all over! This chapter turned out much longer than I had intended it to be but oh well ehehe. I hope you all liked it & that thank you again for sticking with this story! I may continue to write more Gaara x Toph stories as they're just too awesome together. Again, thank you!