Questions.

All I have are questions.

How does a man, a civilian no less, get murdered blatantly in broad daylight? How does a child -in the outer districts or not- get kidnapped in the process? I have a few speculations as to why this happened of course, but none as to how. The village is well-protected and if someone unknown wanted in, they were to undergo a screening process, and even then they were monitored until we were satisfied.

"Report," the Hokage ordered. He's furious, as he should be. His village had been attacked by unknown shinobi, a child he personally put under watch had been kidnapped, and a civilian had been beheaded. All in one go.

"One casualty, thirteen injured, and two MIA. Teams have been sent to find the child, by your orders however, we are prioritizing the safety of the village, looking for more bombs and anyone who shouldn't be within our walls," Zo, our leader, stated.

"Good," the Hokage spoke calmly. "Now," he snapped his pipe, only to pull out another from below his desk, "Do we have any idea who was the cause of this?"

Shikaku stepped up, "We aren't sure Hokage-sama, no anomalies have been detected from the traffic in and out of the village in the last several weeks, I went over the records myself. Eyewitnesses, civilians and shinobi alike, have stated the explosions came out of nowhere."

"No theories at all, Shikaku?" I'd be surprised if he didn't have at least a few. Shikaku Nara, even among a clan famed for their intelligence, is known for his brilliant mind. It's the reason he's in his current position.

"Nothing concrete I'm afraid," Shikaku started, "Too many variables to come up with a single conclusion. The Cloud has had no qualms about kidnapping in the past, and Toph Beifong does share a striking resemblance to the Huega at a passing glance. This 'smash and grab' does fall in with their known tactics."

This is true. Every fucking civilian and an embarrassing amount of shinobi mistake the kid for being a Hyuga when they first see her. Pretty sure the only reason the clan itself hasn't gotten involved is that the stuck-up pricks see it as 'beneath' them to hound a civilian girl over her appearance.

"-However, we would have likely known if they were in our lands. Iwagakure's Explosion Corps is another suspect, this isn't their usual approach but the explosions combined with the fact that they took the girl points to this being their doing as well," he continued.

Okay, I understand the Cloud, they're quick to violence and extremely rash compared to the other hidden villages but Iwa too? Why would they want Toph?

"-Then of course there's the main reason this is so foggy. The girl herself," he glanced around the room, "I'm assuming everyone is in the know concerning Toph Beifong?" he asked Lord Third.

"Yes, everything that matters at the moment," the Hokage replied.

"Good, Toph Beifong is constantly displaying feats with her chakra that are beyond most seasoned chunin, apparently she likes 'playing' with it. What she has displayed so far is astounding if the reports are true and even with my limited sensory abilities, I could tell her chakra is in constant flux when I walked past her. Not to mention the incident with the other children a few months ago, hell her time at the hospital alone put her on watch for a variety of mental illnesses," he sighed, "What I'm saying is certain people would love to get their hands on her if they found out." He finished while rubbing his forehead.

"The Hokage closed his eyes, "So nothing new…" he turned to Zo, "And the Anbu that were keeping an eye on the girl?" he questioned.

"One of the two, two-man teams are currently MIA. At this time, we don't know their whereabouts. Snake here, was one of those assigned to watch duty. Her partner, Bear, was the first to go looking for the child," Zo answered.

Even when kneeling I could feel Lord Third's gaze piercing me for my failure, "And you snake, did you notice anything amiss?"

"No Hokage-sama, everything was normal. When our shift ended, Rabbit and Fox took over as they had for the last few months. The assignment had just left the hospital and was headed to the orphanage with the Toshiro Konami," I stated.

The name burned as it left my lips. If I wasn't currently wearing this mask, I'd be fuming. I'd be out finding the murderers and trying to bring the kid home. But the mask is on, so of burning fury, there was only cold rage. Pragmatism forced me to stay here and report while Bear -the better tracker- went searching.

"I see," he took a puff from his pipe, "We will address the missing shinobi after the immediate threat is over, my orders still stand. However, we will find this girl, and the perpetrators of this failure will answer to T&I.

None of us jumped when the doors slammed open. I nearly flickered away out of reflex but logically knew anyone with the balls to storm into the Hokage's office when the village was is high alert is important enough they the authority to see me and Zo.

And if they didn't, the five Anbu guarding the Hokage at all times would be more than enough.

"Hokage-sama," the dark-haired woman kneeled. The woman from the orphanage was dressed in the standard jounin vest with dark clothing underneath. I had a hunch that this was the babysitter but they're usually unknown to all but a few due to some incidences from the past few years.

"Roroshi." Lord Third's tone was hard, likely from her barging in unannounced, "I assume you came here out of concern for little Toph-chan? That's the only reason I can possibly think of for you to not be at your post."

"Yes, Hokage-sama. I'd like to join the search for Toph," her body language didn't give anything away and her voice was smooth and steady even in the face of an angry Lord Third. Definitely the babysitter.

"Roroshi, I understand your plight, truly, I do. However, we both know why you were placed into your current position. I can't, in good faith, let you go," his tone softened just a little.

"Hokage-sama, with all due respect, this visit was mainly to inform you of what I'm already doing. I am but a shadow clone and will disperse after this conversation." Damn, I wonder what this chick did to be able to speak to the Hokage like that.

Lord Third took a long pull from his pipe, "You will come back immediately, this is not a suggestion but an order from your Hokage.

The babysitter's clone stood and looked the third Hokage straight in the eye and said the one word that you absolutely don't say when faced with a direct order from your commander, much less the Hokage himself.

"No."

Then she dispersed. I don't know about the others but I was shook. The sheer balls on this woman were astounding. She could likely pull me if I wasn't on duty, I'd be tempted to even try if she wasn't going to be imprisoned for insubordination.

For a few seconds, no one said a word. The Hokage was just staring hard where the clone dispelled and we were waiting on orders. Before he opened his mouth the doors opened again, instead of a badass babysitter it was a man that needed his throat slit. Voicing those thoughts would get me executed real quick but I didn't care, I knew a few of his secrets after all.

"Danzo."

"Hiruzen."

The Hokage must have realized we were all still waiting and dismissed us, thank Kami. The atmosphere was getting a bit too much for a lowly subordinate such as myself. Maybe I can catch up to Bear if I hurry up, or even better…

I can find the bastards myself.

With Toph

What's another word for scared?

Scared would work but I'm feeling more than that. Super scared? No, that wouldn't work either. I'm feeling more scared than super scared. Especially since they shoved me into this bag… Sack? Same thing. The material is rough and itchy and not comfortable at all. Before the sack, I was being carried under one of their arms but after I bit a piece of this guy's arm off they got mad.

I've never been hit that hard.

I started to breathe harder, like when I play with chakra too much or got really mad but different cause I'm scared and not actually doing anything.

I think I'm doing what Roro said not to do when I'm in a bad situation -distracting myself by focusing on anything else- but when I think of how scary these people are, or why they took me, or Toshi's chakra- I cut that thinking off and tried to stop breathing so hard, I was getting lightheaded again.

They haven't spoken a word, whoever these people are. Their chakra is active so I'm pretty sure they're shinobi or something like shinobi. Even if I didn't sense the chakra, they're jumping from tree to tree really fast so it's obvious.

Okay. Take everything in, you can be scared and still be smart right? I'm in a bag… sack that's really uncomfortable. That's not really the sack's fault I guess. The position I'm in really doesn't help, I'm folded like- No. Stop focusing on the sack… bag…

I'm not touching anything because of the sack, I can't really feel the wind but I can hear it. Even if I could, the wind doesn't like playing anyways. It's kind of shy. I definitely can't feel the earth for obvious reasons, but it's not like it would help anyway.

My stomach hurts from where the guy hit me, when that kid hit me it didn't hurt nearly that bad, but that probably just cause it's a kid and an adult. No. The guy's chakra was really active too. Toshi said- No. Don't think about him. Don't freak out. Roshi told me that shinobi use chakra for all sorts of things. They're jumping and moving faster than any civilian can. Tosh- No. Stop. They're using chakra to do something to their bodies. Can I do that? That'd be super cool- Stop. Focus. Just like Roro taught me.

A small whine escaped me. This is hard. There's too much to think about and I keep on getting distracted by my own brain. Okay. Ignore the pain from my stomach. The throbbing has gotten less painful anyways. Slowly, but I could barely breathe for a while after he hit me so this is a step up. I can't feel anything but their chakra right now, no earth, wind, water, definitely not fire. Not that any of that would help. I can smell a bunch of new stuff but I can only hear a bunch of muffled wind.

None of that would help me though. I don't care about that, I can't. I need to get away from these people. Back to Roro, she's still waiting on me to come back…

Roro's waiting.

I started struggling in the bag I was in, kicking, scratching, biting. It tore easily. I even started to scream through it all.

Roro's waiting!

The thought just kept pounding into my head. She'll probably scold me, I missed lessons after all. I don't want to worry her by not coming home. Plus she probably saved some meat just for me.

I didn't even notice they stopped until I touched the ground, they threw me pretty roughly but that's okay. As soon as I touched it, I felt better. It reminds me of drinking a cold glass of water when I haven't had any for a while, my chakra quickly calmed down to the earth's steady thrum.

Suddenly I felt the air knocked out from my chest and bile come up my throat, I flew a bit before my back hit a tree. As soon as I bounced to the ground I shot up and started to run. I didn't care that every breath brought a series of coughing fits. Worse than last time even. I couldn't feel the pain yet so I just needed to get away.

I was slammed into the ground by the same guy that's been hitting me. The three others just stood there probably watching, "Damn you're pretty hardy for a brat.," he said while stomping on me repeatedly, "Listen, kid, I don't like doing this but I wouldn't mind breaking every bone in your body so just stop being a brat and come quietly yeah?" he finished by kicking me again, this time there was no tree so I just skidded on the ground. "Hey, she can be knocked around a little right?"

"We were never told she couldn't be," the only female shape out of the three said, "Don't go too far though, we don't want damaged goods."

"Alright, alright," he walked to where I was trying to crawl away and lifted me by my hair. "I can still cause you a lot of pain, ya know." He did a hand sign and his chakra got really weird. I didn't have enough time to really feel it before he pinched my neck.

For the first time since they started hitting me I screamed or tried to, no sound came out. It felt like my insides were burning, from my head to the nails on my toes I couldn't feel anything but pain. I couldn't compare it to anything, it hurt so bad. It felt like it when on for hours before he stopped, even then my body was still twitching and spasming as if it was still going.

"See kid, I'm not a fan of hurting brats so please stop being difficult," he let go of my hair, and I felt instant relief, especially when I hit the ground. My body still felt like it was on fire from the inside but at least my hair wasn't being pulled. I tried to keep crawling but couldn't move like my body wasn't listening to me. "Gotta say, I'm surprised you're still conscious. Now that I think about it, that had a pretty high chance of killing you with how young you are…" he trailed off at the end.

The woman appeared next to him with something to his neck, "Yes it did, and if you do something that stupid again, I'll leave your head for Konoha shinobi to find. Said shinobi are definitely getting closer by the second so please stop throwing your fit and let's get going." Her tone was like acid.

"Alright got it." The man complained, "Sheesh, I didn't see you stopping me."

"That's cause I don't give a shit if you rough her up a bit. She was getting annoying." She picked me up and tossed me to the other man in the group, "You hold her." She turned to the guy again, "If you had killed her, you'd already be dead and we'd already be out of here, going into hiding."

They started jumping again. The guy who caught me was holding me under his arm, he didn't have any trouble though. I couldn't move and even if I could I didn't want to feel that again.

I can barely hear, smell, or feel anything but pain and chakra. Three maybe shinobi are taking me away and I don't know what to do. The only person I could think of wanting me back is Roro so I don't think anyone's coming for me. I'm scared and I don't have Roro to hold me and make it better. I can barely even twitch now.

I'm scared and I don't know what to do.

So I have to be smart.

-An unknown amount of time later-

I don't know how long we've been moving, it feels like it's been a while but all my usual tell can't be used. I'm slowly getting feeling back but I can't tell if the suns going down cause there's no warmth cause of the wind, no lack of villagers in the streets cause there are no streets. I can't hear anything cause of, hey guess what? The wind.

At least I can feel the chakra in my body. It's still flowing through me, vibrating with the same enthusiasm as the wind around me. Well, not exactly the same. It can't match it yet, not even close. But it's trying even though I'm not trying so that's neat.

Now that I've decided to be smart, I realize that I was being really stupid earlier. I freaked out cause these people are taking me away from Roro, and got myself hurt from it. These people are adults, and I'm pretty sure they're shinobi. They aren't other kids who are weak and stupid.

They're enemies. I have to use everything I can to kill them. I have to be sneaky. I don't know how to kill anything, Roro hasn't gotten around to teaching me that yet. I've felt animals do it though so it can't be that hard.

Eyes, throat, ears, and groin. Those are easy targets that most everyone has. Roro said to go after them if someone I don't know is touching me inappropriately. I think this counts. These people have been touching me when I don't want to be touched this whole time.

They can make my chakra fade away though, they did the same thing to Tosh- don't think about him. I can't let them do that to me. I took a deep breath through my nose and out my mouth. it was kind of difficult because my body still hurts, there were a few hitches but I managed well enough.

"Where are you taking me?" I spoke for the first time since they'd kidnapped me. They stopped their jumping and are now just walking. I was so swept up in my thoughts and chakra that I almost didn't notice the wind stopped howling around me.

"Damn, so that's what you sound like when you aren't screaming," The guy who hurt me said. "Surprised you still haven't started to bawl yet."

Crying shows weakness. I can't look weaker than I already am.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked again.

"Somewhere safe enough for us to hide out until the heat dies down." The woman said, "It's right here actually." She made a few hand signs, different than what the guy did. She used two hands too. Whatever I could sense simmering in front of us responded to her chakra. I have no idea what though. It was weirder than feeling healing for the first time.

When they walked through whatever it was, I could instantly feel more people's chakra. Twenty here, and even more farther out. Only two of them had active chakra though, and they had more than the three that walked in.

"Yo Boss!" everyone cheered. "It go according to plan?"

The man who was carrying me chuckled, his voice was deep and I could feel it even through my side. "Yeah pretty much, the cargo," he shook me for emphasis took a chunk out of Shin's arm though. He had to break off from the group until he got it healed."

Shin's a stupid name. Might as well call him knee.

"No shit?" the man came closer, "Oh damn, she's got blood on her face and everything! How'd you let that happen?"

"She surprised me," the man, Knee, answered. "Wasn't expecting the brat to be that vicious, I got her nice and trained now though," he grabbed my face and squeezed my jaw, and turned my head upwards. I snapped at his hand as best as I could but my teeth clicked on air.

"Huh, looks like it."

I was suddenly tossed to the group, "Tie her up and put her somewhere out of the way." he said. "And quiet down, this base apparently can't be found no matter how much noise you make but I don't trust it."

When the men caught me, two of them, I had to fight the urge to squirm. I have to be calm and sneaky. "Damn, she's pretty light. There's no way this slip of a thing gave Shin a har-!" I slammed my forehead into his nose. He was getting too close to my face, his breath stank. "Gah! The little bitch broke my nose!"

Shoot. Might as well go with it.

I started to struggle harder. Lashing out with my nails, teeth, punching and kicking whatever I could until they dropped me. It hurt and was hard to move still, but I ignored it.

When I hit the ground, I instantly grabbed the man and front of me by his groin and pulled my hardest. Roro said it was the best method to use for men of my height. I felt something give and something began seeping through his baggy pants. I let go and ignore the man's screaming to move on. I jumped at the next one face and jammed two fingers into his eye, bringing him down with me on top of him.

"You little bitch!" One kicked me off the man, I flew and it hurt. A lot. But the only reason it hurt so much was cause of whatever Knee did when he pinched me. The kick was a lot weaker than whenever Knee did it.

I bounced once, but then hit another guy's knees. The guy proceeded to kick me, and I bounced again, this happened a few more times but the sixth time a guy was about to kick me, I grabbed his foot and twisted. I remember Ochicho complaining about her twisted angle one time, she could walk for a day. So it should work.

With a crack that almost made me pause his foot twisted to the point it was facing backward. He screamed, loudly. I scrambled up and ran at the next. Ducking under attempts to grab me, kick me, or hit me with weapons. These people are slow… I jumped on another and jammed my fingers into his eyes, both this time.

Something bashed me on my head, and I immediately collapsed, fingers still in his eye sockets. "Fuck!" the man yelled, picking me up by my throat. "Boss, I thought you said this kid was blind!" I couldn't breathe.

"She is," the man chuckled, "but obviously she's a bit more interesting than I was led to believe." His voice carried from the other side of the room.

"I'm gonna kill her," The man started squeezing my throat with both hands, this little bitch tore off Tony's nuts." I was clawing at his hands, but whatever hit my head really messed me up, plus my not being able to breathe made me even weaker than I already am.

"Nah, let her go," Knee said. "You all just let a four-year-old kick your asses. Whoever got injured deserves it."

"But this bitch- FUCK!" he finally let go of me, his finger bent the wrong way. I fell to the ground, gasping and coughing for air, "She broke my fucking finger!"

"Ha!" Knee laughed. "You dumbass. Should have listened to me when you had the chance."

"Well, I'm still gonna kill her." He said, beginning to kneel down. I felt him pull out what I think is a knife, heard it too. My body was too focused on breathing to do anything though.

Suddenly, he dropped to the ground with something that felt like what Richi used to knit, only it was longer and thicker. The little bit of chakra he had was fading.

"He said to stop, dumbass," the woman said. Walking over to his body, she pulled whatever was in his head out. It didn't make a sound. "All of you, pick up whoever's injured I'll heal what I can. And you," she grabbed me by the hair and pulled, "Don't think of pulling any more of that shit, got it?"

I let her start tying me up, "That was stupid, you know that right? All you did was cause me a fucking headache," She picked me up and tossed me in a corner. "Freaky or not, you're still a child, there's a fuck ton of us and one of you. You should've waited a bit before pulling that crap."

"That's what I meant to do." I know I should keep my mouth shut but this woman just keeps nagging. It's annoying.

"You 'meant' too? The hell you go apeshit for?" the woman asked, I didn't answer right away. She's my enemy.

"Hey kid, I asked you a question? Don't give me that tight-lipped shit now, you got me curious." She pulled out that big needle and started to twirl it through her fingers. When I still didn't answer she flicked my head hard enough for it to slam into the wall behind me. "Just answer the damn question. And stop with the glaring, you ain't shit."

Shoot, I messed up. I relaxed my face, making it expressionless again. "His breath stank."

She was silent for a few seconds, before laughing loudly, "All that c-cause a dude has bad breath!" she broke down into giggles again. "Hey Shin, get over here!"

"The hell has you laughing like that?" he walked over.

She explained the reason.

"Holy shit!" he laughed louder than her, "That's fucking great!"

Their laughing is making my head hurt worse. And now that I've gotten a break, I think my body realized it's tired and bruised. I let them laugh though. I couldn't show them how scared I am, she put a needle in her own guy's head. His chakra faded away too.

Now I know that it means death.

-Bosses PoV-

We shouldn't have taken this job, too risky. The reward outweighed the risk at the time, especially with the money we were paid upfront but now it's getting more sketchy. Our employer said she was just a blind kid, that she could be related to the Hyuga, she resembles certain individuals from the stone if you look past the eyes though.

"Fuck." The girl obviously wasn't normal, blind or not. She should have been knocked unconscious seven times over by now, much less being able to move. From the Jutsu Shin used, to being kicked around, to being bashed on the head with a club. Hell, she should be near death by now.

I hear Shin's and Laura's laughing by the kid. Toph Beifong. She's too calm, too thoughtful for a kid her age. She's scared but she's doing her best to ignore it. It's strange. There's a reason none of us stepped in while she threw her little fit. I wanted to see what she would do, especially with the mannerisms shown so far.

Thirteen injured, with four wishing they were dead. Laura needs to get to healing soon. This kid's supposed to be blind, she's supposed to be a weak, little girl. But watching what just happened I -and likely all the higher-ups- could tell that isn't the case. Not only is she stronger and faster than she should be, but she also knew where everyone was, and moving like she knew where they were going to be. It was rough, unrefined, and all instinctive, but it was there.

"What are you thinking so hard about boss?" Laura asked, walking over my way.

"That girl… you saw it too right?"

She snorted. "Course I did, we all did. The brat's a freak. Pretty cool kid though."

"Yeah…" I trailed off, listening to Shin talk to said brat.

"-You're named after a body part, you might as well be called knee or toe knuckle."

"I have a common name you brat, and the fuck's a toe knuckle? That sounds disgusting!-"

"Hey, boss? You there?" Laura asked.

"Yeah, I'm here," I answered. "You should be healing the boys up."

She shrugged, "Eh, let them sit a bit. I'm still tired from running all the way here as fast as we did. Plus they should stew a little after they got shown up by a little girl."

"That girl's-"

"-a freak, I know. But that's not an excuse." She said. "I at least stopped Tony's bleeding."

"You're truly a kind soul," I said with as much sarcasm as possible. "But seriously get going, we might have to move soon, and the more of these expendables are in top shape, the longer we have if things go sideways."

"Fine." She walked away, "But I expect a damn nap soon." She called back. "Shin c'mon, let the kid rest. Keep me company while I patch up the losers."

When Laura and Shin left the large main room, I yawned nice and long.

Thinking of the girl, and how valuable she might actually be I might need to do some actual research.

"Fuck, looks like plans have changed-"

-With Roro-

'That's one down,' I thought as I used a variation of the hidden mole jutsu to swallow the leader's body up. At the same time, I replaced him with a clone. 'fifty-three more to go.'

One glance at Toph threatened to send me into a rage, seeing her all bruised and bloodied up. How dare they lay their hands on my Toph. The only thing that stopped me was prioritizing Toph's safety and the fact the girl is keeping it together. What kind of role model would I be if I lost it?

I headed deeper into the tunnels. Silently killing who I could, then hiding the bodies. I kept my Jutsu up. Hidden in rock's name is a little on point for my taste but it's extremely useful.

Arriving in a cavern with most of the other mercenaries inside, I nearly coughed. I need to finish up soon. I'm running out of time.

I could collapse the tunnel, but that'd risk Toph on the chance it went wrong. I threw four camouflaged kunai with wire attached through the crowd, not hitting anyone, of course, I gave them enough slack that when they suck into the stone wall, the men just kept getting more and more tangled. The wire, like all ninja wire, was fine enough that they wouldn't feel threw it their clothing.

Once I was mas mostly out of thread, my finger twitched.

The effect was instant.

When the lines went taught, it sliced through most bodies in the room. The attack even got a portion of the male's leg. This will be easier now.

The man took a senbon out of the woman's pouch and threw it into her neck, she crumpled to the ground. What he just did is obvious and even admirable, but it won't be enough to save him. Or her.

"You fucker! Get out here and fight me!" he yelled over the pained groans of his companions who haven't died yet. "Coward!"

Really? Of course, I'm a coward. I wouldn't have been in this profession for as long as I have if I wasn't. I cut off any more of the ridiculous ranting with a quick slice to his throat from behind, I could have made it clean but decided to take his head off his shoulders halfway through his neck. At least one of them deserved it after what they did to Toshiro-san.

Toph liked him.

I looked down at the woman. The man I just killed had to be pretty skilled to pull something like that. Probably would have tricked most people. I stabbed my tanto into her heart. It was painless, the man did something for her at least.

I can hear footsteps running in this direction, so I quickly put up another Hidden in Rock Jutsu and jumped to stick to the ceiling. Only seventeen have been taken out so far, and they'll be much more alert now. Toph should be fine with my clone acting as the leader but I can't take any chances.

Around twenty filed in the room with looks of horror and disbelief, taking in the bloody limbs and bisected bodies they started screaming nonsense, some crying, most getting angry. They were shouting for their 'boss' but my clone won't leave Toph. She's probably caught on that I'm here, probably doing her best to keep it together while I take care of things.

The wires from earlier are still connected to my fingers, no one noticed, too focused on the carnage around them.

I lift my finger to pull the wires taught, do to the angle I couldn't just twitch and make the lines go taut-

Suddenly I dropped from the ceiling, the Jutsu that had been camouflaging me dropping with it. Landing on my back, I had the sense to yank the wires, eviscerating a few bandits but not enough.

The bandits were frozen as I got up, wiping blood from my lips. Pain radiated through my body but I still managed to keep my clone up. I would only manage for around half a minute at most.

I smirked, pulling out my tanto and a few kunai.

"Fuck it."

I sped through the bandits, leaving a bloody trail of bodies in my wake. Any who got between me and the hallway leading to Toph were killed swiftly. When I was past the entrance of the room, I flicked the two kunai behind me, one in the wall and one in between a bandit's eyes.

I held the one-handed snake seal and kept running. I only have half a second before the explosive tags attached to the kunai and the tags I planted near the two other entrances of the room ignite and go off.

I felt the explosions before I heard them, the tunnel shook and the wind from the blast almost took me off my feet without chakra to keep me stable, my ears were left ringing.

This is why I hate explosions, too noisy and too obvious. Also, Iwa's little group took a fair few of dear friends away from me so I'm even more opposed to using them. If not for Toph I likely wouldn't be resorting to such methods, the memories they bring are awful…

I bit my hand, drawing blood. I can't get lost in the past now, not when Toph is still in danger.

Reaching the room Toph is in I see four bodies with senbon sticking out of their temples. My clone nodded to me and dispersed, instantly the pain was soothed. The urge to cough up my lungs is slightly less now.

Glancing behind me to make sure the tunnel was caved in, I quickly made my way over to Toph. The integrity of this place is probably shot now, I need to get Toph out of here.

I pulled her into a hug, not too tight though, the bastards roughed her up quite a bit, she even had bruising around her neck.

I should have given them much more painful deaths.

I let go of all of it for a moment, the rage I felt melted away with relief in having the shaking girl in my arms, "Toph, you're safe now. It's time to go home," I said gently, my voice was probably a bit thick with emotion itself.

With her head on my shoulder, she whispered something I wasn't expecting into my ear, her voice filled with fear.

"There's still two more."

What.

Just then a searing pain appeared in my lower back. I pushed Toph away before the blade went fully through me.

"RORO!" Toph let out the loudest, most terrified shriek I've ever heard from her. Honestly, it hurt more than the blade through my gut.

I shakily stood, turning to my attacker. In my relief of seeing Toph, I must have gotten sloppy, because two men stood in front of me. Two men I recognized.

"Heh, so the MIA, I presume," hopefully I can get them talking, I need time to figure out how I'll get Toph out of this.

"Yes." The man known as Fox said, holding his dripping tanto. "Stand down, Mina of the Thread. Your death will be less painful if you do."

I couldn't help but laugh, "My name is Roroshi now," I told them, struggling to keep standing, "And I've been dying for a while now, what's the harm in lasting a little longer?" Shit, these two are on the upper brackets when it comes to combat/ Even if I was fresh, my dwindling chakra won't last a long battle. I also have to think about how rusty I am compared to them.

"It will be pointless, you probably can't even produce a simple hinge right now, you're critically wounded, and likely in a massive amount of pain." He listed, "Please don't make this difficult, let us take the girl and you might survive.

I grin and drew my tanto. I could already feel the poison eating away at me, it's unfortunate that this is the only solution I can think of, I hate open conflict.

"You're at a disadvantage," him and his partner got in their respective stances.

"No, I'm not," my body flared with pain as my grin grew, near untraceable thread shooting out of my mouth.

I have something to protect after all.

"Toph, it's time your first lesson in combat. Observe carefully."

The three of us burst into action, I met Fox's blade with my own in a clash of sparks only to immediately have to duck jump away from a swipe from Rabbits tanto.

Flipping through the air, I bite the bit of webbing I had spun and pulled. Rabbit's weapon shot out of his hand as the lines wrapped around it were drawn to me. I didn't catch it though, instead, I whipped it around and tried to cut Fox down from afar.

He twisted around it of course. Meanwhile, I had to keep moving. Rabbit launched a giant ball of flame at me, forcing me to jump over it with his blade trailing behind me. When I landed, I had barely any time to react before they were on me again. I met them in a flurry of strikes. Blade against blade, kick against kick, some struck but most didn't. I don't care though, I won't stand down no matter how agonizing this is. Luckily I'm already poisoned so I don't need to worry about that.

As I overextended a kick aimed for Fox while ducking under a kunai from Rabbit, I flicked my wrist and Rabbit's tanto pierced his shoulder. We disengaged, jumping away from each other. I fell to a knee, coughing up blood.

"Impressive," Fox praised, "but you can't last much longer." He started walking towards me, tanto still in hand.

He's right, unfortunately. I'm weakened already, then on top of that, the poison running in my veins is making it much more difficult to breathe. He's still a dumbass, there's a reason enemy Shinobi were advised not to engage me in close courters.

With a pull from my middle finger, the thin, imperceivable threads that had been wrapping around Fox grew taught at once. With only a slight tug, he exploded in a shower of gore.

"You'll pay for that," Rabbit emotionlessly spoke for the first time. He started building a massive amount of chakra up whole weaving hand seals

No, I won't.

I opened my mouth wide, my jaw unhinging inhumanly.

Piercing threads.

Thousands of imperceivable threads shot past my teeth piercing Rabbit's body in its entirety. There was no blood or shower of limbs, he was just dead. His body didn't drop right away due to the threads embedding into the wall behind him.

Immediately I crumple to the ground. I have nothing left, might have pushed too hard with that last technique but Toph could have gotten caught in whatever that jutsu he was trying to get off. I couldn't let that happen.

I felt small hands turn me over, and could hazily make out Toph's tear-stained face. Slowly reaching up and stroking her cheeks, just the way she likes, I smile. I know she can't see it but I'm so happy she's alive.

I'm happy my final moments are with the child I love.

Her hands are stroking my face too, cradling it gently as can be, "Roro, you're okay right? Why did you come? You shouldn't have because now you're hurt, Roro I'm so sorry," she blathered on, saying nonsensible things. I felt her tears dropping on my face.

"Toph… baby please don't cry…" I shushed her. My voice is weak, soft. I wish it could be reassuring and strong like she so desperately needs right now. She didn't listen and just kept apologizing. Repeating herself.

"Toph, we're running out of time." I tried.

"No!" she snapped, "No. We have plenty. I- I'll take you to the hospital, I'll take care of you until you're better! You're fine. You have to be fine." She clutched onto my chest, it brought a brief flare of pain to my numbing body but I paid it no mind.

"Toph, honey, please." I tried again.

She must have heard me that time because she lifted her head from my chest, "Roro…" she pleaded with the smallest voice I've ever heard from her, "Please don't fade away."

I couldn't help the tears that escaped my eyes, how long has it been since I've shed a tear? Not since the war, I think.

"I'm dying," I told her.

The expression she made at that moment hurt, more than the disease I've been battling for years, more than the wounds I've accumulated throughout my life, more than every torture I've endured. More tears dripped down my face.

I'm sorry Toph, sorry for being a failure, sorry for not being able to stay with you a little longer. Sorry, I'm so incredibly weak. She doesn't need to hear me wallow in my own self-pity though.

I have to teach one last time.

"Toph." I managed to say with a bit more firmness. It got her attention.

"Yes?" she answered in a small voice, sounding like every bit the child she is.

"It's time for your last lesson," More tears dropped from her eyes but she nodded.

"I need you to reach in the pouch near my leg and get a Kunai, be careful not to cut yourself." I felt her fumble feel around for the right pouch, "Not that one, the one next to it." She unclasped the pouch and pulled a blade out.

"Okay, now what?" she asked crawling back to my face, holding the kunai carefully by the blade.

"First-" I was interrupted by a series of wet coughs that made Toph's eyes go frantic, "First, hold it by the grip. You can't use it like that." She changed her grip, someone would still be able to take it from her with ease, but she'd learn later. It'll do for now.

"Now, we help each other remember?" she nodded.

"I help you and you help me," she said, still in that tiny voice so unlike her, "Roro, what's my lesson?" she asked with increasing trepidation. It seems she's already caught on.

"In this lesson, you'll…" I ran out of breath and had to take another, "be learning how to take a life."

The full weight of my words hit her, "Roro, no… No. You can't fade too. You can't leave! I won't do it!" she screamed. Dropping the kunai and clutching my chest again. "You're Roro, you can't go!"

"Toph, I'm dying." I tell her with as much strength as I can, it isn't a lot, "And I'm in a lot of pain right now." She rose from my chest, "We help each other right?" I repeated the question.

"Yeah…" she answered.

"So please," I looked into her beautiful, pale-green eyes, placing the kunai back in her hands, "grant me the honor of being your first kill."

She was silent for a few moments before she whispered, "I don't think I can…" she started to cry even more.

"Hey, come here." I rose my head as much as I could and kissed her forehead, "You're the most amazing girl I know," my head dropped, and I used my remaining strength to place a hand on hers and guide the kunai over my chest. "I'll be with you every step of the way. We need to hurry these tunnels aren't stable anymore.

"What will I do without you?" she asked.

"Keep learning and grow stronger," I say without pause, "You don't have a choice, you have to live." her response was more tears.

She'll become strong, I have no doubt. Legends will be born from her feats, by allies and foes alike. She truly is amazing.

And I'll be the first life she takes.

"I'll always be proud of you."

"I know."

"Remember to take everything in."

"Yes, mam."

"Remember I'll always be your Roro."

"And… I'll always be your Toph."

Kami, I wish I could stay with you. I was drowning in my memories before you came along, swallowed up by the darkness that is this world. You drove it all away, you blessed someone as undeserving as me.

I took in my beautiful, little girl's face one last time.

"Thank you, Toph."

And the Kunai was plunged into my heart.

Toph's Pov

I don't move for a while, even when my tears dried up, I didn't do anything except hold Roro's lifeless body. I don't even know why. No chakra flowed through it anymore, it wasn't Roro.

I killed her, I pushed the knife into her chest, I felt her chakra fade from her body, her heart stop beating, her blood stop pumping. I felt it all.

This is my fault.

I felt the area around me shake, I don't care but I have to move. Roro told me too.

It's just a thing. A body. It's not Roro so don't care about it even if I don't want to leave it. I slowly stand, pulling the kunai from the body with a squelching sound. I hated it.

I slowly make my way to the exit, kunai in hand.

"Love you, Roro."

Guess I won't be going home after all.

AN: Sorry it took so long to get this done. Job kept me pretty freaking tired these last few weeks. Plus I was struggling with some shit in this chapter. Lots of shit I haven't done before, like those first-person fight scenes, an emotional scene (I tried), and more so let me know what y'all think.

Also I'm sleep-deprived so I probably forgot some shit. Please forgive any errors.

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