"Kizara, you're late again, you need more sleep," I noticed her a while ago, slowly walking towards our meeting spot. Usually, she's at least jogging, if not sprinting here after she's done with classes for the deal. Today she's walking.

"Yeah," she scratches the back of her head, "Sorry bout that, I'll try to go to bed earlier tonight."

I 'look' at her face, "Do you need help? You can sleep with me if you want. Richi left last week so I'm alone right now."

She yawned, "Nah, I can deal with Kin's snoring. You don't have to give up a room to yourself."

I wouldn't be giving anything up… It's weird without Richi. I don't like it.

"I'll just try to deal with it."

"Falling asleep in classes isn't good." The kids who do it when being taught by Ochicho always get in trouble. Plus, they don't learn anything when they're asleep, or maybe they do and it's just me who can't learn when asleep.

Wait- "Kizara, can you learn when you're asleep?"

"Er, no? Where did that come from?"

I nodded, okay it's not just a blind person thing. Cool.

"Stop napping in class then." I ignore her question, thinking of a way she can get more rest, "We can train less so you can nap now if that works?" As much as I like spending time with Kizara, her getting proper sleep is more important. Ino told me all about what not sleeping does to the brain.

"Oh, Kami no. I'll get more sleep. Don't worry about it too much. Let's start." She says while starting to stretch.

As much as I want to start, I hesitate, this has been going on for weeks now, "Are you sure?" I ask.

"Yeah, I'm sure." She dipped down into a lunge, "C'mon, as ridiculous as you are, you need to warm up too."

"Yeah."

Once we were done warming up, we moved on to the rest of our routine. We've added more as we -Mainly just Kizara- learned more about exercising and what we should be doing at our age. For example, we've been working on flexibility and balance more, Kizara asked around and apparently, it's better to put more focus on that when you're young.

She says core exercises are the way to go right now.

We still do everything else. Push-ups, Sit-ups, pull-ups, and stuff like that. We run a LOT, it's fun.

Somethings off though.

Kizara isn't as springy as she usually is. She usually out-paces me by at least a little and is constantly eager for more. Right now she's… not. She's a little bit slower than she should be, a little less grumbly too. She always grumbles.

I don't like it.

We stop the physical part of our training, this is where we usually do stuff with chakra.

"Sooo, it turns out I'm more tired than I thought, I think I'm going to eat and lie down," Kizara huffs out. We just finished our cooldown.

I frowned, Kizara likes working with chakra. She gets really happy when she gets better at Jutsu, and then I feel nice cause she's happy.

"Are you sick?" I cut straight to the point. "If you're sick, tell me. I can't heal you yet but getting sent to the hospital's easy. They have people who can make you better, and-"

"-O-oh, uh. No offense Toph, but I'm not sure I wanna try out your method of going to the hospital…" she cut me off. "Plus, I'm not sick remember? Relax."

I felt my eyebrows scrunch together, "But you always want to play with chakra, no matter what," I emphasize how different she's acting.

"It's fine, I'll train by myself whenever I wake up."

"By… yourself?" I tilt my head. I don't understand. We always do this part together.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I think I've gotten good enough to feel it out alone, you're not always going to be around ya know?"

"Oh," I understand now, "Okay."

Even though I understand, I still have a… bad feeling in my stomach. I don't even help her all that much anymore, I just tell her if she's playing with chakra right and usually she is. Sometimes she asks me whether she's doing her jutsu right or not…

Huh, guess she doesn't need me for that anymore.

The bad feeling in my stomach was quickly replaced with the feeling I get when Ino compliments my eyes, or when I play with water for more than a few seconds.

"Um, why are you smiling like that?" She asks, leaning away slightly.

Oh, I guess I am smiling. Shoot. "Even if you're sleeping in class, you're still getting less stupid." And if she's getting less stupid, that means she's getting less likely to die.

She blinks, "I… think I'm gonna head in for some food. See you tomorrow."

"You too."

As she's walking away, the smile slips off my face. Even if she's getting better with chakra. She still can't stay awake for classes for some reason. That's a problem.

Education is important.

I'm bored.

I don't get bored a lot these days. I usually always have something to do. Whether it's to play with chakra, with Ino, or train with Kizara. I exercise on my own too, sometimes I even go to the academy and practice fighting that tree.

But none of those options are open to me right now. Well, technically I'm always playing with chakra but Earth doesn't count cause I'm always playing with it. I could go play with Water but that's more of a late-night thing when no one's there.

It's Tuesday, so Ino's doing special training. She said she trains in her Clan's techniques every day, but on Tuesdays, she tends to get 'put through the wringer' cause she practices with Inoichi. She's only allowed to push that hard once a week so she tries to make the most of it. Don't know what she does though.

And I'm not even going to ask Kizara to play cause she's tired. Sleep is important.

So, I'm walking around with my cane and a small headache from the village. I decided to practice being sneaky. I've been slacking with it lately. Luckily, wherever I'm walking today isn't as loud as the usual path I take.

"I miss Richi…" I mutter to myself.

"Hey little girl, are you alright?" An unfamiliar voice gets my attention.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for asking." I found out that if I'm polite people leave me alone faster.

"Are you sure?" The woman asks.

Most of the time.

I nod, "Yes, I walk all the time." Every day since I can remember.

"I'd hope so," the woman sets down the baskets she was carrying. "You wouldn't happen to be the blind girl I've been hearing about lately, would you?"

I tilted my head, not sure how to respond. "I don't know?" How would I know what people she hears about?

"Yep, you're the one." She said, puzzling me further. Her chakra's boring so she's not a ninja, but how would she know I'm the girl she's heard about? If it were so easy to figure out I'm the girl she's heard of then why did she ask me that question to begin with?

This is confusing.

My eyes widened, "Is there another blind girl you know of?" If so, I want to meet her. Just to compare.

"Er- ah, no. Can't say there is." The woman stammers.

"Oh." Hmm, back to square one of why she asked such a dumb question.

The woman clears her throat, "Alright, so are you sure you don't need any help? If not then how about you just turn around? You're awfully close to the Uchiha's compound, I'd hate for you to have a run-in with any of them."

I tilted my head even more, Uchiha's are the ones with the neat eyes, right? Everyone I've met has helped me. Why would she hate it if I run into them? I mean, I wouldn't like to run into anyone that would hurt. But hate is extreme.

"I don't run into people." I pause, remembering I'm practicing being sneaky. "I have my cane," I hold it up.

"I…" the woman ran a hand through her hair, "I wasn't prepared for this."

"Prepared for what?" I ask.

"This conversation."

"Oh, that's okay." I wasn't either. We're the same there.

She sighs, "No, dear. It's a figure of speech, I meant that I wouldn't want you to meet any Uchiha. They're a suspicious bunch."

I tilted my head further, "They're nice though."

Now the woman tilted her head a little too. Hah! I knew I was doing it right. "What do you mean?"

I have to pause and think about that for a second. Is she asking about them being nice? Or the word itself. Nice. Either way, this woman is missing an important part of education and has probably lived a very sad life.

I'll just choose, "I think nice means when people aren't mean, or when they give you a soft blanket."

"W-what?" the woman asked.

I push down the urge to sigh as I repeat myself, "I said, I think-"

"-No! No." She interrupts me. "I meant, in what instances have they been "nice" to you? I know what nice means."

Oh, okay slightly less sad.

I think about my answer, there's been a lot of times actually. "Sometimes they carry me back to where I live or show me where places are. Some buy snacks for me too…" As I go down the list of things an Uchiha has done for me, the lady's jaw drops more and more, it's kind of funny. "-And they helped get my blanket back too. It's really soft so I missed it."

"Alright, alright." She waved her hand, "Your claims certainly go against certain rumors I've heard. It still doesn't change the fact you need to go home dear."

I sharply tap my cane against the ground a few times, trying to focus on the vibrations it caused instead of the villagers around me. My head is starting to hurt a little more so I probably do need to go home.

But I don't want to. I'm bored, Kizara is sleeping, and Richi isn't there.

Wait, she said the Uchiha compound is nearby? I wouldn't be surprised, lots of ninja are walking in a specific direction, the few that are close enough have more chakra around their eyes.

"Where's the Uchiha compound?"

"I'm sorry?" The lady apologizes for some reason.

"You're forgiven," I don't even take time to try and get why she said sorry. "The Uchiha compound?"

"Why would you- no, nice or not you can't walk into a clan's compound. Especially not that clan's compound."

I barely listen to her as I start walking away, shoot, Ino said to practice being more polite in case I need to be in the future.

I turn back around and bow, "It's nice to meet you, my name is Toph." I quickly spin back around and keep walking in the direction the ninja are going.

"I'm Mebuki…" I distantly hear the lady say.

Turns out, I didn't need anyone's help after all. I only needed to take a few more steps to the left then I would have felt what I think is a compound. I think. A compound is where people live right?

As I got closer and closer to the gates, I felt more people -civilians, and ninja- gathered in this one place. Interestingly enough, the few people who weren't ninja still had chakra focused around their eyes.

Cool.

There was also a squirrel packing seeds in its mouth. Its mouth is tiny though… how does it fit so many?

"Kid, you need something?" A gruff voice asked. Oh, I'm at the gate already.

I turned to 'look' at one of the two ninja standing in front of me.

"Yes. How do squirrels fit so much in their mouths?"

The man was silent as the woman snorted, he took a deep breath before he spoke, "Their cheeks stretch." He said simply. I appreciated it.

"Hm," I wonder if my cheeks can stretch like that, "Thank you."

We stood there, facing each other while I tried to figure out if I could beat the squirrel in cheek stretchiness. I'll try later.

Blinking, I realize that I'm getting distracted again. Shoot.

"I'm going into the compound," I tell them.

"No." the gruff man says.

"Please?"

"No."

"May I go into the compound?"

"No."

"I want to though."

"Don't care."

"Wait," the woman interrupts. "Toph, why are you here." Huh, she knows my name too.

"Yon invited me and I'm bored."

At that the man slides his hand over his face, "Da- arn it."

The lady chuckles, "I'm sure she's heard a few 'bad words' before. Relax."

The man grunted, "Children her age shouldn't be exposed to that sort of language."

She outright laughs at that. "Obitsu, you're such a teddy bear," she starts walking away, "I'm pretty sure I heard something about this, let me go see what's up."

While she left to find out whatever is going on, me and the man stood in silence for a few moments.

"My name's Toph." Aw, that squirrel stopped stretching its cheeks.

"I know." He's not moving at all, not even a little twitch. Lots of ninja can be still like that but I still think it's neat.

"What's your name?" I think it's 'Obitsu' but he needs to introduce himself first.

"Obitsu." Oh! His finger twitched!

"Neat. I'm practicing how to be polite. What are you doing?" I tilt my head for added effect. My lips twitch upwards, I need to tell Ino I'm getting better at acting.

"Standing guard."

I let the conversation end there, happy at my progress and because I don't know what to say anymore. This is hard.

"So, uh, why are you practicing manners?" Obitsu asks, he shifts his weight from being perfectly balanced to leaning towards me a little."

"Oh, cause Ino said that I might need it for when I become a ninja and stuff." He shifts again when I mention Ino.

"Ah… you're wanting to become a ninja?"

I let out a little gasp, the squirrel is stuffing its cheeks again. Why did Obitsu tense?

"Is there something wrong?" he asks.

I shook my head, he asked a question right? Oh yeah, "Yes, I'm becoming a Ninja."

''You're blind."

"Yes, I am." Is pointing out the obvious a requirement for ninja? Lots of people tend to do it.

"No, I mean they'll let just about anybody become a ninja, a bit stricter in peacetime but…" He deflates slightly, "I'm sure you'll be a splendid ninja."

I tilted my head.

"It's nothing, kid."

"Hey, Obitsu! Let the kid through, got an escort for her."

"Oh thank Kami." Wait, why does he sound relieved? I thought I was doing a good job…

The woman had brought someone familiar at least, Yon was with her. Maybe. It's difficult to tell because I forget what people feel like sometimes.

I feel a LOT of people and Uchiha all feel at least a little like each other.

"Hey Toph, was wondering if you'd show. How's it going?" He waved.

Cool, I was right.

I opened my mouth to answer, then closed it. How is it going? I miss Richi, our room is now my room, everyone is doing other things, I'm bored, Water is still being mean.

Hmm.

"Toph?" Yon said my name.

"I'm bored and Obitsu is terrible practice for talking to people." I decided on the quickest answer.

"Wait what?" Obitsu looked at me.

Yon laughed, "Heh, well you're not wrong. C'mon, there's someone who wants to meet you." He jerked his head for me to follow.

I lean my cane against the fence post since I'm done practicing for now.

As we walked away, the woman took her place beside Obitsu. She leaned over, "You know she has you pegged right?"

"Don't start."

Me and Yon walk in silence for a while, not speaking a word as we passed through the compound. I didn't mind this at all. It gave me time to just feel what's around me instead of having to focus on following along with what he's saying.

And what's going on around me is more interesting anyways.

Most around us were just sitting and talking with each other in buildings. I think they were waiting on food because a woman was cooking in most cases. There were three men cooking but most were ladies.

I'm kind of hungry now that I think about it.

There were kids too. Not as many as the adults but almost as much. Lots were inside with the adults, probably families. In some houses, there was only a kid and an adult cooking. The majority of these adults were men actually, but some were women too.

But farther out where things got more fun.

Throughout clearings in the trees, occasionally a fuzziness that let me know a pond was there, and people were training. Ninja were sparing, meditating, throwing things at targets behind them by throwing things in front of them.

My brain struggled with the last one.

Kids were training too and seemed much better than most I feel at the academy. Even the Uchiha that go there. I bet Kizara could still kick their butts though.

Still, why are they so much better than when they go to the academy?

I was so deep into feeling everything around me, I almost ran into a door Yon stopped in front of.

"You sure you okay? I've never seen you run into anything you didn't mean to.

My eyebrows shot up, people can tell!? "I'm fine." My face went back to normal, I just need to get better at running into things then.

"Alright, if you're sure." He went to knock on the door but hesitated. "Okay, Toph you're about to meet someone important. So be on your best behavior, got it?"

I nodded, "I'm always on my best behavior."

He let out a small laugh that also sounded like he was choking, "That's concerning." He grumbled but knocked anyways.

When the door opened, a woman -she had to be a ninja- opened the door. "Oh? Hello Yon, and who is this?" She's definitely a ninja. Her and the other person, I can't really tell if the child is or not. His chakra is fun and he obviously plays with it a lot but it's still small compared to the lady in front of me.

Could be that he's a weak ninja, who knows?

Yon bowed, "Lady Mikoto."

Silence stretched as I waited to listen to how this conversation would go. Hopefully, I can learn something. Yon cleared his throat and 'Lady' Mikoto chuckled a little. Why is she called Lady? Am I a Lady? I thought she was a Uchiha.

"Toph, introduce yourself please," Yon whispered out.

I blinked. Oh, I guess I forgot about that huh.

"Hello, my name is Toph." A half second later, I bowed. Mine was better than Yons though, it was much faster. He's bowing so slowly that he's stayed with his head down for a minute.

Mikoto -or is it Lady? Lady nodded her head. "Well met Toph. I've heard quite a lot about you." She turned to Yon, " Thank you, Yon you may leave now. We will take her from here."

"Yes." With that, he rose his head -finally- and walked off.

Wait, what's happening? I started to tilt my head before realizing this wasn't a conversation. It's just now, Yon isn't here and I'm with a stranger.

"Why don't you come in Toph? I'll have dinner ready soon." She stepped to the right. My nose twitched, that food does smell good… It could be meat.

I guess I didn't know that Yon would be here anyways, leaving him behind isn't a big loss. Especially if there's food.

I walk forward. "Can I ask you a question?" I need to get this out of the way before it eats my brain, or settles down. I don't know, Ino said something about unanswered questions before. I don't want that to happen to me.

"Go ahead." She agreed. We were walking toward the dining room, or at least one of them. There's another room with a big table under the building so maybe they just eat there.

"Why do they call you 'Lady' Mikoto? I thought you were an Uchiha? Should I be calling every lady that? Am I a Lady? I've only been called Toph?"

When I finish, I feel her lips turn up into a smile, "Yon calls me Lady Mikoto because I am married to the leader of our Clan, Fugaku Uchiha. 'Lady' is just a title so no, I don't think you should give it to every woman you meet. Though, you are a lady Toph. If a bit small. You just aren't a Lady, as in, you do not have the title of Lady. Does that make sense?"

I mean it makes moresense than it did before, but… no. I'll ask Ino if I should start calling her Lady too. "Do I call you Lady Mikoto?"

She patted a cushion, "No. This is not a formal setting and you are a guest. It's fine to just call me Mikoto."

I tilt my head, why are there mats instead of chairs? "Okay, will I get food?" I don't know if that was rude or not, but whatever is cooking smells amazing.

At that Mikoto actually laughed, "Of course, why else would we be in the dining room?"

I shrugged, "Sometimes that doesn't matter."

She frowned, "I see… regardless, you will be fed. Now please sit while I finish with dinner." She was still standing beside that mat.

"…On the mat?" My head tilted even further.

"Yes, on the mat." She confirmed.

"Okay." I sat down.

"Alright," she clasped her hands together, "I'll finish dinner, my son will keep you company in the meantime." The kid that felt almost like a ninja flinched from his peaking through the door, he came down whenever Mikoto first greeted Yon and me.

I sagged just a little, I'll have to talk to him, won't I? Most of the time that doesn't work out because kids are stupid. I got lucky with Ino, and Kizara is a special case in that she worked hard to be not stupid as fast as possible.

But I'm sure that won't be the case for any other kid.

The boy walked in with his head ducked in a way that makes me think he was in trouble, "I still can't sneak up on you…" he mumbled out.

Mikoto's smile grew wider, she's a very… smiley person. "Not just yet. Now," she crossed her arms, "We have a guest, you will entertain her in this room until I'm done with dinner. By that time, Fugaku should be back with Itachi."

"ITACHI'S COMING HOME!?" I flinched at his shout, it was so sudden I wasn't prepared for it.

Mikoto laughed into her hand, "Yes, he is. Focus on our guest for now though, you haven't even introduced yourself to her."

The boy's mouth dropped, "Oh! Shoot. I'm so sorry!" As Mikoto walked out, he bowed, "I'm Sasuke Uchiha. What's your name?"

"Toph Beifong," I answer blandly. I don't mean to, I'm just not excited about this conversation at all. I'm not excited about most actually… Okay, I'll try and do better with this one.

"So, uh," he looked away, "Why are you sitting like that?"

"Like what?" Is there a certain way people sit on mats? Is it more effective?

"With your knees up, when you're at the table you're supposed to sit like this," he sat on his ankles, "See?"

"No." I copied him, this is uncomfortable.

"Yeah, just like that!" Why is he yelling? "Now adults won't get mad at you!"

My eyebrows shot up, I would have gotten in trouble for sitting comfortably?

"Thank you." Maybe he won't be that stupid after all? His chakra's already getting not boring.

"No problem!" he was grinning so hard my cheek twitched from phantom pain, "Now uh, no offense but why are you here? We don't get many outsiders and I've never seen any my age inside the compound."

"I was bored." Oh! The sparing ninja are starting to use jutsu!

How are they standing on the tree like that?

"Bored? I don't get it." He tilted his head like I do.

Okay, he must be confused. I'll explain better.

"Yep, Kizara is tired, Ino was probably still training, and I can only play with water at night so I was bored. Yon invited me so I came here."

"Huh? Wait, Ino as in the Yamanaka heiress?" he reeled back.

I nodded, "Yes, do you know her?"

He looked away, "No, not really… she an heiress and I'm not."

Aw, the sparing stopped… Oh! More squirrels! And one just disappeared I wonder why. "Correct, you're not a girl. Good job." That was a lie, it's obvious he's not a girl, so he can't be a heiress. I'm trying to figure out where the squirrel went though, so I can't focus on giving a proper answer.

"Wha- No! Of course I'm not a girl. I meant I'm not an heir so we wouldn't talk much you know?" he crossed his arms.

Wait. That got my attention. I stopped trying to sort out which squirrel could be the one that disappeared.

I tilted my head, "I'm not an heir and me and Ino talk almost every day."

He shrugged, "You're a girl, you can't be an heir remember?"

Something in his tone made me want to hit him.

"I know that. I'm the one who told you first." I reminded him, maybe he forgot.

He pointed his nose up, "I don't think I remember that at all."

"I know, that's why I reminded you."

"Did you? Can you prove it?"

…I don't like this conversation.

I huffed, "So why is your chakra less boring than other kids?"

I felt him stick out his tongue and then freeze, "What do you mean by that?"

I blew air out my mouth, puffing up my cheeks, "Yeah, most kids' chakra are really boring. Yours isn't though, it feels like you play with it a lot. Is that the reason?" That'd be cool if it is. I've only felt a few kids that have chakra like a ninja's, but they've all been older than even Kizara and with another adult Ninja so I haven't been able to ask them questions.

He was silent for a few more seconds before answering, "Well, I train a lot so that could be it… Hey, you're a sensor aren't you?"

I shrugged, not knowing what that is. "I don't know," I told him honestly. I'm much more interested in his training so I'll check that as something to ask someone later. "How much do you train?"

He scratched his head, "Every day if I can help it."

I lean towards him, nose to nose. I think this is what Ino does when she wants to know something, and I'm suddenly more interested in this conversation than even the people sparing in the forest. "Neat, I do too. How do you train?"

He leaned away, "I uh, I have instructors. And sometimes Father or Itachi will supervise me. I practice on my own too. I just got the Fireball Jutsu down."

I leaned forward even more, he leaned farther back, "Fireball Jutsu? Can you show me?" A fireball sounds cool. Scary too, like the sun.

He shook his head, "N-no, I'd burn the house down. Plus you're an outsider. I'm not allowed to show anyone what I can do yet."

I puffed out my cheeks and leaned back causing him to untense for some reason, "Why not?"

Before he could answer I heard the front door opened by the two ninja I felt coming in this direction a while ago opened the door and Sasuke shot off the mat he was sitting on.

Why does one of them feel familiar?

I think I might have figured it out, but there's meat so I'll deal with it later.

We're all sitting at the table. Me and the family that invited me to eat for some reason, I don't really get why they're letting me eat right now, especially food this good. Maybe they're nice like Ino and her parents?

I'm still eating as fast as I can, I don't want them to change their mind and take my bowl away. What is this? Some kind of soup? I don't care of course; all I know is that theirs rice and meat in some type of liquid that tastes good.

They're all eating so slowly.

I'm sitting by Sasuke, while his brother Itachi is sitting on the other side of him. Mikoto is sitting in front of him and Fugaku, her husband, is sitting at the end of the table.

They look uncomfortable but apparently sitting the way Sasuke showed me is the right way.

Fugaku hasn't said a word to me, I don't mind but I'm not sure if that's considered rude or not, all he did when he walked in was kiss Mikoto, place a hand on Sasuke's head, and go into a room to write something down.

A bird took it away so that was neat.

Itachi on the other hand, took the hug Sasuke tackled him with and kissed Mikoto on the cheek.

I stayed in here, of course, I wanted food.

When Itachi saw me he bowed a little and introduced himself.

Fugaku just came out when the food was on the table and sat down, thanking Mikoto for the meal. Commenting on how it was delicious.

We both agree on that.

I finish the meat and rice in the soupy stuff, then slurp the rest of it down.

And slurp.

And slurp.

By the time I was done, Fugaku was facing me while Sasuke was fidgeting a little.

"Are you done?" He asked. His voice is deep, and my spine got just a little bit straighter when I listened to it.

I place the bowl down, "May I have more?" Hopefully, that was good enough.

He sighed, "Mikoto."

"Yes, dear."

Shoot, I forgot.

"Thank you for the food Mikoto-san, it's good." I tried to smile at her but… well, smiles are hard to do on purpose.

"You're welcome Toph." With that, she poured me another bowl with more rice.

"Um, how much can I eat?" This is a very important question to ask.

"Eat as much as you'd like."

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. Even Ino's mom stopped me after five plates that one time. Of course, she never stopped me again after that. Now that I think of it, she might have just ran out of food…

Yeah, that makes sense.

"Okay, thanks." I'm really glad I came here now.

So we ate in silence after that, and I had more meat than I had in my life. It was after my sixth bowl and my stomach feeling like it was going to come up my throat did Mikoto say something.

"I think that's enough Toph, at this rate you might make yourself sick." She said, holding my empty bowl.

I tilted my head, "But you said I could have as much as I wanted." Did she lie?

"I know but- Mikoto, it's fine." Fugaku interrupted, "If she wants more, give her more."

Mikoto sighed, "Alright then." I grinned as she poured me another bowl.

I was halfway through when I felt food come up my throat. Sasuke's reflexes had to be pretty good because none of my puke landed on him.

I groaned, "That's-" I swallowed, "-never happened before… Why?" I asked weakly, not caring that I was covered in my own puke at all.

"Too little food can be a problem," Fugaku began, "However, too much can be just as bad for you. Do not overeat in this compound again."

I nodded, "I understand," Okay, maybe that's why Hina-san stopped me that one time.

"Come here," Mikoto took my hand, "Let's clean you up, I think Sasuke's clothes might fit you." She led me to a room, stripped me and washed me off.

The shorts did not fit.

And she was surprisingly okay about Roro's Kunai. She didn't even question it.

Ten minutes later

She ended up having to tie Sasuke's shorts around my waist, and the shirt was bigger than I'm used to.

Good news is the twine she used made keeping Roro's Kunai there easier.

She led me to a room next to the dining room, it had… more mats. These were a little thicker than the others. Fugaku, Itachi, and Sasuke were all sitting with their legs crossed so that's a step up at least.

But before I forget -not that I would- I need to use my manners.

I stopped in front of Itachi and bowed, just like I did for the other guy, "Thanks for saving me." Then I turned to Fugaku, "Hello, I'm Toph. Who are you?" Shoot, I already know who he is. But we haven't introduced ourselves yet… I don't know what to do.

The room was still for a few moments, "…You've not known who I was for all this time?" Fugaku finally said.

I shook my head, "No, I'm pretty sure you're married to Mikoto, Fugaku Uchiha, but we haven't introduced ourselves so I'm not sure. Husbands and wives are supposed to kiss each other, aren't they?"

"How did you… Oh yes, I was informed of this but it's still surprising to see." My head tilted, he nodded his head. "My name is Fugaku Uchiha, you're correct in saying husband and wives kiss each other," I clench my fist in victory, "But that's not always the case, do not assume anything based on evidence as flimsy as that."

I tilted my head. I mean, I thought it was good enough. Does this mean all of those people I feel kissing all the time might not be married? I can feel people kissing right now, are they married? They're kissing a lot. Is that allowed?

"Now that introductions are out of the way," I felt him and Itachi doing something with their hands, I think they're making signs at each other? They're moving too fast for me to be sure though, "Sit."

Oh, I'm still standing. Mikoto is in the other room cleaning my puke. I sat in front of him, beside Itachi.

"Many of our members speak of you. Of how you get lost, overwhelmed, or injured frequently enough that they find it strange when a day goes by and they don't hear word of you."

I tilt my head, I don't know how to respond to that. Is he accusing me? Asking me a question? Is he stating something? I can't help that people talk about me, I can't control that.

He continued, "Explain yourself."

My head tilted even further. Wait, no. Ino said that that isn't how works. I tilted it to the right instead of the left this time.

His eye twitched, "Do you have a question?"

I nod, I have lots of questions. Questions about this conversation, about fireballs, about the squirrel that disappeared… Oh! Especially about the giant cave thing under the village. Lots of people are down there. Training. It's neat.

I'm getting distracted. What question do I have right now?

"Yes. I have lots of questions. Please be more specific." There, that's exactly what Ino told me to say if I needed help with talking to people.

"In the time you sat down, has anything I've just said confused you in any way?" He rumbled out, it feels like it could cause its own vibrations.

Could that happen? Sound causing vibrations just like chakra? Or everything else?

I lightly shook my head. Focus.

"Yes. What do I explain? You never asked me a question."

"I see. Then explain why Uchiha have found you covered in your own blood more often or not?"

Oh, that's easy, he should have just asked that in the first place. "Well, sometimes everything is too much so my nose bleeds but I bleed the most when I'm trying to play with Water."

"You injure yourself when playing in water?"

I shook my head, "No, I play with Water. I don't think playing in water would be very fun." I paused, shoot I left something out. "I also bleed sometimes when I want to go to the hospital."

"Why on earth would you want to go to the hospital?" A soft, steady voice asked. Itachi turned his head towards me.

My eyebrows furrowed, "The ninja in there do neat things with their chakra. It's cool. Plus, sometimes I want candy."

"Please don't do that."

My head tilted, "Why?"

"-Because if you want candy, ask any Uchiha. They will have some for you." Fugaku interrupted.

"I think that would be rude-" I began.

"No, they'll be happy to give you candy. There's no need to go to the hospital for something so trivial." He cut me off.

"What if I want to see Nurse Ann?"

"Then visit her when you're uninjured. The healers at the hospital are incredibly busy. It is selfish to maim yourself for their attention, to take away from people who truly need it. Understand?"

Huh. I didn't think about it like that.

I slowly nodded, okay so I'll only stab myself when I need to go to the hospital.

"Now, back to the discussion. How exactly do you play with water? I've never heard of anyone injuring themselves by simply playing with it?"

"I'm still getting to know Water right now. I think it's jealous of Earth so it doesn't like to play. But it's getting better so it's fine."

"What?"

At that, Mikoto walked in from changing her clothes. I felt her get rid of her old ones in another room.

"Don't mind me, please continue." She said, sitting down.

"What do you mean when you say Earth or Water?"

"I mean-" My mouth promptly shut. This is getting into stuff Roro told me not to tell anyone about. I already messed up with Oji-san. I won't mess up again. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Fugaku raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Did the Hokage tell you not to say anything?"

I shook my head, and Roro did.

"I see... Yon told me about people following you. Is this true?"

Why would Yon tell him about that?

"Yeah," I nod. "They stopped though so it's no big deal."

"And why were they following you in the first place?"

Hm, Oji-san had lots of reasons but I don't want to get into any of them right now so I just shrug.

Silence fills the room. I don't mind but Ino says that there's apparently 'good' silence and 'bad' silence in conversations. People might feel like they can't contribute to the conversation anymore and need the other party to keep it going.

I still don't get it but I'll try to contribute better.

"How are those ninja standing sideways like that?" I fill the silence.

"What do you mean?" Mikoto asks this time.

I turn my head towards her, "Some ninja sparing in the forest are standing on trees, only they're sideways. How are they doing that?" I clarify.

"How many Ninja are in the area?"

"Um, seventeen? There's some kids too but I don't think they're ninja." She didn't answer my question.

"I see," She looked at Fugaku, "Dear? May I explain the basics to her?"

Fugaku huffed, "Chakra control is hardly a guarded secret by any Clan, it's fine. Sasuke!" he barked, making the boy jump, "Pay attention, this is important!"

I sat up straighter too. This feels like it's going to be a lesson. Better yet, it's going to be a lesson about chakra. I've only had a few of those.

"How much do you know about chakra Toph?" Mikoto asked.

I shrugged, "Not much." I should clarify, "Chakra's everywhere, everything has it. It's the combination of physical and spiritual energy. You can increase the physical by exercising and training -I do that- and the spiritual by meditation. That one's hard, I try sometimes but usually end up falling asleep."

I take a deep breath and can feel myself getting excited, "It reacts to different chakra too. Like I can get Kizara's chakra to be more playful if I message it with mine, it's really neat. She's getting really good with it- Oh! When I was playing with the earth too much, mine was getting really stiff and I wasn't controlling it very well but now that I'm playing with Water it's getting easier so- Oh! There's different vibrations besides chakra too! Enma's -he's a Monkey King- Chakra felt weird, like the trees sometimes do whenever I start bleeding a lot. Some people don't have a lot of chakra but then some people do! Like Oji-san or this boy I felt one time, I get him confused with Oji-san sometimes but it's okay cause Yon helped me find the Hokage's office."

I'm out of breath, nobody's asked me that question before so I don't know exactly how to answer it. I probably messed up somehow, but I want to learn more so it's Mikoto's turn to speak now. Why are Mikoto and Fugaku tense though? Itachi's heart started to beat faster too- Dang it, that mouse disappeared just like the squirrels. I thought they were disappearing cause trees didn't like them but the mouse was on the ground.

"It's impressive you are so knowledgeable, most don't know much theory until after the academy," Mikoto said after relaxing.

I tilted my head, "Then why go at all?"

She closed her eyes, "Why indeed?"

Before I could tell her she didn't answer my question at all, she clasped her hands. "However, we'll be diving into more of the application of chakra than theory for now. I'd like to know more about what you and your friend are doing after though, if you don't mind." I nodded, anything to get her talking faster.

"Great. Now, tree walking -what those men and women are doing in the forest- is, while fairly basic in theory, more complicated in execution. In theory, it's no more than an advanced application of the leaf concentration exercise you'd be learning in the academy Toph. Sasuke you've already learned it so this will be a review for you." Sasuke smiled at that; I think he's excited. Kids are easier to tell than adults. I know I'd be excited if I were him.

Mikoto unclasped her hands and held a leaf in between her fingers. That was kind of cool, how did the leaf get there? "So let's start with that. Yes?" Me and Sasuke nodded quickly, "Alright then, the leaf concentration exercise is just that, an exercise in concentration." She brought the leaf to her forehead, "It's used to teach children the bare minimum of control by using a leaf -or any small object- as a focal point for their chakra. At first, this is by placing the leaf on the forehead since it's usually the place easiest for children to gather chakra. When a sufficient amount of chakra is gathered-" a bit of chakra went to her forehead, "-the leaf sticks. Like so." She removed her fingers and the leaf stayed stuck to her forehead.

That. Is. So. Cool.

I still have a question. I opened my mouth to ask but- "Why is tree walking so much harder though?" Sasuke spoke up before me.

Mikoto grinned, "Because there's just more to it." The leaf started to spin on her forehead. I leaned forward, her chakra doing something interesting. "First there's movement, just moving your body will make focusing chakra more difficult." The leaf slowly made its way down her face onto her cheek, "Think of the act of walking as well, while the leaf exercise requires a fixed amount of chakra at one point, tree walking is, well, walking. An equal amount of chakra is applied to every point of contact with the material you're walking on. Each step has to be measured and carefully applied at first." The leaf came to a stop on her other cheek, "Too much chakra will push you away, sometimes violently." I nearly flinched as chakra surged underneath the leaf causing it to tear to launch and tear into pieces. Her chakra vibrated really fast for a split second and all the pieces were sucked back to her cheek. "Too little chakra and you won't stick at all." The pieces fell as she let her chakra return to normal. "It's a balance that will get easier with experience."

I felt Mikoto's chakra do something weird again and a breeze come through the open window, suddenly she was holding two more leaves, "Of course, that's not mentioning the extra weight and the physicality of holding your body vertical like that. It's the reason students aren't taught tree walking in the academy, because their bodies can't handle it. Personally, I think that that's just an excuse-"

"Mikoto, that's enough. You're getting too excited." Fugaku interrupted her as she was sticking several leaves to her face.

She wilted, "Yes dear."

"Is that answer satisfactory?" he asked.

I nodded. That was more than enough, Mikoto's definitely one of my all-time favorite adults now. "Yes, thank you very much."

"What's this about you 'messaging' your friend's chakra? Where would you learn something like that?" He quickly asked before I could say anything else.

"Well Kazara's chakra used to be boring, but I didn't like that since boring ninja die more…" I began. I figure I could tell them this since Mikoto taught me all that cool stuff about chakra. It's only fair.

When I finished my explanation everyone's eyebrows had risen higher than mine ever had, I think. Probably. Mikoto had risen her hand to her mouth and Sasuke's mouth was open.

I kind of wanted to stick my finger inside it.

"And… you taught yourself this?" Itachi slowly asked. He has a nice voice, much softer than I'm used to. It's nice on my ears.

I shook my head, "Nope, I learned it from the doctors. Kinda. It's like the 'diagnosis' thing doctors do but with extra steps."

"How… how many people know about this technique of yours?" Fugaku asked.

I rub my chin, people do that when they're thinking right? I mean it's stupid, but people must do it for a reason. "Kizara knows 'cause I do it with her, Ino knows too. I asked if she wants to do it but she said not until I get better at it because I might mess up her chakra control or something."

He didn't say anything after that, I think he was thinking. I don't know why though. They're acting weird over something as simple as a chakra message. Why? This leaf sticking and tree walking is the real cool stuff.

"Toph Beifong," he finally spoke up, "Would you like to marry my son, Sasuke?"

The reaction was immediate, Mikoto's leaves all burst off of her face while Sasuke choked on… nothing? Air, maybe? Itachi's jaw dropped.

"Fugaku, what was that? I might have misheard you." Mikoto's tone was, well it sounded nice but I… don't think it was. It made me kind of want to shiver.

"Mikoto she is five. Obviously, it will be years until the marriage if she agrees." He looked at me.

Oh, I think I'm supposed to answer.

"No thank you. I don't want to kiss him at all." I only kiss and get kissed by Richi sometimes, these cheeks are only to be touched by her lips. Sometimes she'll mix it up and go for my forehead though.

…I miss her.

Fugaku sighed, "Fair enough. How about Itachi?"

"Tou-san." Itachi's steady voice came out for once.

He got the same answer from me, "Nah, I'm good."

Fugaku's frown got even frown-ier, "Shame. Alright then, it's time you went home for now. As it's late, Itachi will escort you back home. Remember the offer is always there.

I nodded, "Alright, thanks." I don't think I'll take it but that's nice of him I guess.

Oh, more people started sparing.

They're better than the academy kids.

I'm stupid.

"Can you teach me how to fight like the people in the woods?" I ask before I had to leave.

Sasuke looked at me like he was shocked, I don't get why though.

"I'm afraid not. While the Uchiha isn't as specialized in taijutsu as the Hyuga. Our children still need to be taught a style that is more specialized than most. It's used best with the Sharingan."

I pouted, or tried to, "Okay then, goodbye." I stood and walked out. Stopping, I turn to bow, "Thank you for the food."

And with Itachi following me to the orphanage, I leave the Uchiha Compound.

That was fun.

Later that night

It was sweet of Itachi to walk me home but still have things to do, so it was kind of pointless for him to take me all the way back.

The walk to the lake is nice. There's not too many people out, the ground is cool beneath my feet, and right now there's an amazing breeze.

But yeah, cool of him and all. He even gave me some advice, "That technique of yours… keep it close. Don't show anyone else. Don't let people know what you can truly do." And like, I already knew that.

All I did was tell them about petting chakra, I didn't tell them about the actual cool stuff. Like me getting better at taijutsu, slowly. Mr. Tree still wins half the time. Or my range getting larger without all the blood. Or even the fact that I can tell where Richi is most of the time.

I near the fuzziness of the lake and slow my walk.

It's still a bummer that the Uchiha won't teach me how to fight like them. I'm learning the academy stuff just fine, though Kizara would still kick my butt. After two of the instructors spared for her class her skill shot up the next day. And if I can tell, that's saying something.

Reaching down, I rip a blade of grass out of the ground and play with it, twirling it around.

But yeah, the academy stuff. It's easy enough. How hard could what the Uchiha do be?

I stop.

Huh, there's an idea.

Putting the blade of grass to my cheek, it stays.

"This is pretty neat."

AN: Hey guys sorry for the wait, money sucks and finding time to write is a little difficult atm. Sucks cause I enjoy this shit.

But yeah, I know not alot happened but I still think it's a fun chapter. Love writing Toph's limited view of the world and all the little details she gets distracted with.

plus her meeting with the Uchiha's has been a long time coming.

Interaction feeds me so tell me what you think! And as always thanks Redking 96.

OHH, almost forgot but how'd yall like Mikoto's explanation?