"Hey, Kizara." I greet her as she's walking -still not running- towards me.

And she keeps walking, without a word.

"Kizara?" I fall in line with her and reach out to grab her hand, only for her to jerk away.

"H-hey Toph." I feel her smile at me. It's... weird, nothing like her normal smiles. "Sorry, I'm kinda dazed right now. I don't think I'm going to be able to train with you today."

I frown, feeling my eyebrows scrunch together.

"Why? What's wrong?" This isn't like her. She's always trained after her lessons. It's a thing, it's our thing. This is weird.

She chuckles a little, "Yeah, I don't know what to tell ya, I had to spar with my Sensei today and he didn't let up. I'm super tired."

"Oh, that makes sense," I relax. I wish I could have been there for that, it would have been cool to feel. I've been busy during their sparing time for the past few days though so it's no big deal. I have something cool to show her now.

…I'm going to the academy tomorrow.

"Did you learn anything?"

"What?" She takes another step away from me when I make another grab for her hand.

"From the spar? Did you learn anything?" I can't imagine any other outcome from her sparring with a Sensei.

"Oh yeah!" Her tone changes to the normal excitement for a moment, "They're saying I'm pretty good at taijutsu. It's the reason I'm having to spar with Sensei, all the other kids aren't up to snuff ya know?."

I grin, happy that other people can tell how amazing she is, "That's really neat! Why won't you hold my hand?" I ask, another attempt at her hand failing.

Instantly her mood shifts, "Oh uhh…" She trails off. It's okay though, I can be patient. I have to think about what I say all the time. "A virus!" She blurts, "Something's been going around and I'm not feeling too good. I don't want you to get sick."

Wait, she's sick? Is that why I haven't touched her in weeks? Is that why she's been training with me less in less?

Oh, no.

She's felt bad this entire time, and she's still done stuff with me? I didn't even notice. I'm supposed to notice everything. How is it that I'm still so stupid?

Why am I still bad at this?

"Hey Toph, you alright?" Kizara asks. Oh, we've stopped.

Why are my eyes wet?

"I'm sorry."

Her eyebrows shoot up, "What?" She asks while leaning back.

I take a big breath, because I'm a big girl and big girls don't cry. "You're sick. I've been stupid. I'm sorry."

And of course, I'm still making stupid mistakes. Kizara should have been resting, but no. I've been making her train with me, on top of her still going to the academy, on top of her not getting any sleep cause of her roommates.

I should have noticed.

"W-What? No!" Her body moves as if she's going to grab my shoulders but stops at the last second. "No. You're fine. It's not your fault, so stop freaking out, please. I should have told you sooner anyways. It's my fault, not yours."

I sniffle, "No, I should have noticed. Please go eat," I'm pretty sure that's what sick people do, "Go to sleep afterward okay?"

She bites her lip before sighing, "Yeah okay… don't beat yourself up. I'll try to get better soon, then everything can go back to normal."

I nod once, then walk away without a single word. I feel her standing there looking in my direction for a solid minute or two but eventually she goes inside.

I keep walking.

I have a destination.

Doctors are supposed to help sick people, right?

It's been a while since I've been to the hospital without being hurt. It's kind of weird. The familiar stench of nothing is the same though, the same with the dozens of medical ninjas working all the time.

Are those guys putting a leg back on? How did it get taken off in the first place?

I shake my head. Cool stuff later, focus on now.

Walking up to the front desk, I don't have to wait too long for Kinichi to notice me. "Oh, Kami, Toph why are you here?" He rubs the bridge of his nose.

I tilt my head, "Is Nurse Annette busy?"

He shrugs, "Probably, we're all busy here. What's wrong? Normally you're more demanding than this." He leans forward, "Is everything okay? I don't think I've heard of you coming in here without being injured."

I shook my head. So Fugaku was right about them being busy… This visit isn't for me though so it should be fine.

"What's the matter Toph?" He asks again.

I bit my lip, I'd much rather have Ann-san help Kisara. She's the best and Kisara deserves nothing less than that.

"I really need to talk to Annette-san, please."

He rubs his forehead, "Listen, you've already been told multiple times that Ann can't just drop everything she's doing for you. She has patients who actually need attending to."

Hmm, Fugaku might have been wrong about one thing at least. I raise my arm to my mouth to bite it.

"Hey!" Suddenly Kenichi was grabbing my arm, "None of that! Kami, is this what the others were talking about? I'll go see if I can find Ann, just don't maim yourself." I noticed him move but couldn't bring my body to react at all.

That's… I'm going to have to fix that.

Just another thing really.

I frown as he walks off, grumbling to himself. His chakra felt like it needed to be played with more, but I won't tell him that unless he actually brings Ann.

But he probably is. Most people who work here aren't liars.

Tantan, who was sitting beside him, looks at me. I 'look' right back. She slowly scoots away.

Oh? Kenichi is talking with someone? Who's not Annette?

I grab something random off the desk, quickly realizing that he's going to be slow.

"Hey! Beifong-san that's-" Tantan suddenly stops talking as I stick whatever this is to my face. I face her, waiting to hear.

She scoots a little closer to me.

-Fifteen minutes later-

So it turns out Kenichi knows a lot of people. He stopped to talk to five before he did what he was supposed to.

"What's happening here?" Annette asked as Tantan calmly pressed another piece of paper to my cheek, I held it there with chakra.

"We got bored," Tantan answered for me, sticking a pencil to my lower back.

I'm sitting on the desk that I've been expressly told I'm not allowed on. Tantan sat me on it a little after I started sticking stuff onto my face. I guess she was bored too because she started to do it with me, but then that got boring so she started to stick stuff on different parts of my body.

"I see…" Annette went silent for a moment. "Toph, do you want to learn how to heal?"

Tantan spoke up for me again, "Already asked. Said she's down but wants to learn some other shit first."

I frowned, that's not what I said at all.

Annette took out a pen and stuck it against the bottom of my foot, "You sure I can't convince you Toph?"

I nodded, paused, then shook my head. I think I just confused myself, "Yes, I'm sure."

She pouted, "Well, maybe I can help. Or at least give you resources?"

I tilt my head, confused, "You help me all the time though?" Hers is the chakra I like feeling the most.

"Maybe I can help more."

I opened my mouth, about to politely decline, but then actually thought about it. If I say yes could I feel them without being a bother like Fugaku said?

I shook my head, this isn't the time. I'm here for a reason. Stop getting distracted.

"Kisara's sick."

One of Annette's eyebrows rose. How does she get them to do that? Every time I try my face goes weird.

"Who's that?"

"Kisara."

"No, I mean is she your friend or...?" Annette trailed off.

I hesitated only for a moment, "Yes," and before I forgot I added, "Annette-san, please tell Kenichi he needs to play with his chakra more, it's bored. I'm also pretty sure there's something wrong with Tantan. You should watch out for that. She's being… Sus-pi-cious?" I sound out the word. Adults aren't usually that friendly with me.

Tantan's mouth dropped as Annette yawned, giving me a thumbs up, "Yeah, good job- Wait," She froze. "How do you even know their names? They're both new. Hell, I barely know their names- Nope. Not important. So your friend's sick?" I feel her chakra gently probe me as she starts checking me over.

"Yes, please fix her."

"What's wrong with her?"

"A virus."

She crosses her arms, "A virus?"

I nod, "Yes."

She sighs as her chakra stops probing mine, "And what are the symptoms of this virus?"

I almost shrug again but pause midway, I don't think that I'm supposed to shrug multiple times in a row, am I? I shook my head. It doesn't matter right now.

"She isn't holding my hand."

I tilted my head when she slapped a hand to her mouth and looked away. I heard a muffled squeal too. Tantan quickly rolled away, also covering her mouth.

I don't think this is normal.

"Annette-san, are you okay?" I waited as the adult got control of herself.

"Y-yes." She cleared her throat, "Wasn't expecting that." She pulls a chair and sits down in front of me, "So, can you tell me more about her symptoms? Like when did it start?"

I nod, "Yeah, I think it started four weeks ago," I'm pretty sure it's been four. "But she still trained so I didn't notice." I take a deep breath, trying to will away the wetness building up in my eyes. "She's been more and more tired though so it's kind of my fault. I should have noticed."

Without warning, she picks me up and sets me in her lap, "Why do you say that?"

I shrug, "I notice everything else."

Arms wrap around me, "You can't notice everything Toph."

I sniffle, "Not yet."

Obviously, I can't notice everything, Kisara wouldn't be in this situation if I could.

Annette's chakra pulses in a pattern I like, "Okay, I think I know what's going on with your friend."

I wiggle, "So you can help?"

She sighs, "Sorry Toph, I don't think I can do anything about this virus. It's just something that happens sometimes."

I tilt my head again, "Something that happens?"

She nods, "Yep, kids are especially susceptible to it but adults have been known to get it too."

"The same virus Kisara has?" I lean my head back on her chest.

"Yep." She popped the P, "Once you get it there's nothing you can do, Brightside is I think you'll be immune to it."

My eyebrows furrow, "How do you know?"

She grins, "Trust me, I know."

My body sort of sags, "So Kisara's gonna be sick forever?" I don't like that.

She hums, and I start to copy her chakra when it starts to do more interesting things. "Maybe. You never know. She'll always be scarred by it. You'll always be able to tell. But she might be able to heal."

She sets her chin on top of my head, "You can't control it though, okay? It isn't your fault."

I pout, "That's what she said too." I know her having a virus isn't my fault, I just want to know how to help her. "What do I do?" I ask.

"Nothing to do. It's on her if it gets any worse."

"That doesn't help."

She sits me on the table again, "I know, but that's just the way it is." Her eyes narrow, "Now, it's about time I hear more about this training you're doing."

Well, this was a dud.

Ann made me tell her everything about my training. About what I do, where I do it, how hard I push myself, and what I eat, and she was super interested in the fact that me and Kisara don't have anyone 'supervising' us. Whatever that means. She didn't let me go until I promised to let her watch our next session.

I didn't tell her about the chakra petting. I also didn't tell her about what I do on my own.

Later that day

"And you said this girl's name is Kisara?" Ino asked after I explained the situation. She was still smiling but I think it's… off. The muscles in her face don't feel how they normally do.

"Yeah," I nod, "Do you know how to fix her?"

"Before we get into that," she begins and suddenly grabs my hand. Sometimes I still get surprised when I'm sitting on fluffy beds like this. "You know you can hold my hand any time you want right?" She pulls me into a hug, "I'll give you hugs too!"

I hug her back, "I know," I pat her back, "You hug me every time you see me. But I'm talking about Kisara. What if the virus gets worse? She might get hurt, or worse," a chill runs down my spine and I tighten my hold, "She might die. Dying's real easy, you know."

Ino sighs, "Yeah, I know." She whispers then pulls back, "You don't need to worry about her though! All you need is me!"

I puff my cheeks out, "Well yeah," She grins wider, "But Kisara's still sick. I think she's neat, so she needs to be un-sick."

Ino puffs her cheeks out then flops on her back, "Well, I haven't heard of a virus like that. I don't think Daddy's heard anything about it either."

"Oh," My body sags. Of course Ino doesn't know, it's not her fault though. Annette probably only knew because she's a nurse. I get up, "Thank you anyways. I'll go try and find out more." If Ann can't heal it, maybe she can pass it to me or something?

Ino grabs my hand again, "Hey! Uh, you know she could be… not exactly telling the truth right?"

I frowned, something… weird bubbling in my stomach. "No."

She continues, heart steadily beating faster. "I mean, yeah, kids do it all the time. Lying, that is. They lie to their friends, their teachers, their parents-"

"She doesn't have parents," I interrupt.

She slaps her forehead, "Shoot. Um, okay, their caretakers. Sorry. The point is she could be saying that stuff 'cause she doesn't want to be around you."

Something mixes with the feeling in my stomach, and I feel kind of floaty.

She groans, "I did not just say that. Okay, you like feeling her spar, right? When you're spying on the academy? Which, by the way, is stupid useful." She grumbles.

I nod. "Well, why don't you feel her all day tomorrow? I know you're trying to do that anyways, but your range is just a little short. Feel if she and the others are showing the symptoms or not?" she finishes.

I think about it. Ino hasn't been wrong before, but she also hasn't met Kisara. She doesn't know that Kisara wouldn't do that.

The uncomfortable weird feeling is getting worse the longer I think about it. It feels familiar to something. It's almost like a pit is growing inside me, or like I fell on my back. Maybe both? I also don't like how Ino's talking about Kisara. I know that for sure.

Am I angry? No. Ino's my friend. I don't get angry at her. Or at least, I never have before. Why would I be angry at her though? I was probably going to do what she did anyways, it's a good idea.

But she said Kisara could be lying.

If any other person said that I'd be more than angry, I think I'd want to hurt them. It's the same when people talk bad about Roro or Richi, or if someone talked about Ino herself.

I don't want to hurt Ino though. Just the thought of that makes my skin itch.

This is confusing.

"Toph?" Ino broke me out of my thoughts, "You alright? You haven't said anything for a few minutes."

"I'll feel them all day tomorrow," I don't answer her question. I don't think I'm alright, but nothing hurt me so I should be fine right?

She smiles, "Okay cool, you wanna go ask Mom for some snacks? She can never say no to you. Maybe you can spend the night?"

I shook my head while extracting my hand from hers. "No, I think I'm… angry at you. I'll just go to the lake instead." I say, hopping off the bed.

"Oh," she whispers, sort of shrinking in on herself, "Sorry."

A person just tripped a few streets away, a ninja caught her though, saved whatever she was carrying too. "It's okay, I probably won't be able to play tomorrow so is it okay if I come by the next day?"

She looks up, "What?"

I tilt my head, "I'll be at the academy all day tomorrow, so I won't be able to play," I explain, usually she's quicker than this. "Can I come by the next day or will you be training?"

Her open mouth snaps closed, "No! No. I won't be doing anything, you can come over whenever you want. But…" her body tenses up, "I thought I made you mad?"

I tilt my head further, "So?" Why does it matter if I'm angry today? I don't even know if I'm actually mad or not. It's just the closest thing I can think of.

Ino pauses for a moment, then asks in that weird whispery voice, "So, um, before you go can we hug?"

I nod and climb back onto the bed, still confused.

Of course, I'll hug her. What a strange question.

At the lake

Water's starting to be nicer to me at least, I step back into the water with only a terrible headache instead of blood running down my face. I've whittled it down enough that I think I'm… tolerated. I think that's the right word for it.

Which is still unfair, I've been playing with it as much as I can. Pretty much every night if I can help it.

Whenever I'm ankle-deep in the water, I stop focusing so much on the kunai in my hand. Instantly, the foreign feeling of being a spectator to own my chakra was there. It still feels funny, like someone else taking control of my arm and directing it.

I'll have to get over that. My chakra is a part of me. It's mine.

Although feeling it shift and react faster than I ever could made me question that a little.

It still hurts, of course, just like Earth did at first. But it's getting better, every night I'm lasting a little bit longer in the water. I'm able to pick out more of the jumbled mess of constant movement underneath the lake.

That's another thing. Snake described how the lake looked once, the surface that is. She said it looked like it'd feel smooth as if it were made of glass. I still have a hard time believing that.

I ignored the throbbing in my brain and tried following the big snake thing that liked playing with Water too. I only managed a few seconds.

There's just so much that happens underneath. Comparing it to the earth that has a lot but not so much that I couldn't keep up was like night and day. There's just so much movement. Everything made everything shift, and that shift rippled into something more, and then that something more interacted with something else's something more.

It's never-ending.

I step back out when the throbbing gets really bad and focus on my kunai. It's something I learned that could be helpful, having something to focus on. It kind of anchors me down when I want to get lost in the vibrations. Usually, I don't mind that too much but when I need to think it's better if I stay on task.

I flop down on my back and roll. I grin as I pick up a bunch of leaves, to the point I'm covered in them.

Chakra's great. I knew it could do stuff like jutsu, whacky things that I don't understand yet. It could heal, make people fast and strong, people can even make fire with it apparently. All of those I just accepted as things I'd be able to do eventually.

But something as simple as making things stick to the skin? That's something I didn't know about, it's something I could do. I could have done it a long time ago.

I wonder what else I could do? I wonder what I can do.

I frown, holding Roro's kunai in front of me facing the sky.

She would know.

Sometimes it still doesn't feel real. Sometimes I pretend that she'll be waiting for me when I wake up in the morning, that she'll come in and cuddle me while I wake up. Everything was better when she was there, she always had answers. It wasn't all so confusing.

But then I touch this. This Kunai. Roro's kunai, and I wake up. It reminds me she's gone and that as amazing as she was, she died. I hate it so so much.

My grip tightens and I slam it against the ground. Why do I think like this? What's done is done. It's just a piece of metal.

I shake my head, rolling up to my feet. Despite hating it, I make sure to brush off the dirt from the pommel.

It's probably getting kind of late now, I'll need to head back.

A frog's tongue lashes out and gets a small bird. Cool.

I bite my lip, It's been harder and harder to sleep there. Roro's not there, Richi's not there, there's nothing there. Nobody besides Kisara, and she's sick so I can't even sleep with her.

Why am I thinking so much tonight? I usually don't bother with stuff like this.

I wish Roro was here.

I violently shake my head, gripping the kunai even harder. No. I don't like thinking about her, it makes me feel bad.

Still, I don't want to go back to the orphanage tonight.

What I want to do is get better.

With a deep breath, I take a step into the water.

The next day

"Toph! Where on earth were you!" Ochicho picks me up and plops me down on a stool.

I open my mouth to speak, "I was-"

"You didn't come in for dinner last night, but I thought to myself 'Oh no, that's fine. She's just with Ino.' But then I don't get a message from anyone. Then you didn't come home last night! What do you think me and Yuchi were doing?"

"Sleeping?" I ask with a tilted head.

I feel her eyes twitch, "No, we were up all night worrying! Where on earth were you?!"

I don't respond right away. They were worried. Why? My head is already tilted so I don't bother with that, "I was at the lake."

Ochicho released, her body relaxing. "And what were you doing at the lake?"

"Playing." This is weird. Ochicho shouldn't care about where I go.

Her body tenses back up, "Toph, you can't swim?!"

I nod, she's right.

"You could have drowned for Kami's sake!"

I shake my head this time, "I didn't go deep enough to drown, the water only went up to my ankles." Passing out and drowning would be a stupid way to die. Plus vibrations feel weird covering my whole body.

I'll have to get over that.

If anything my response only made her tense more, but as she goes to yell she stops herself while taking a deep breath, "Okay Toph, say you weren't in danger of drowning- which you were, what if you were taken again? What if someone kidnapped you while you were playing in the water?" she crosses her arms. She's squeezing her right arm though.

"I wasn't playing in water…" I mumble. Shoot, I'm not supposed to do that.

"What was that?" she asks.

I speak clearly, "I was playing with Water. Not in water." There's a major difference.

She rubs her temples, "Okay Toph, you can't say things like that and not clarify."

I blink, what doesn't she get? I'm always super clear with what I say. It's everyone else that's confusing.

"I wasn't just playing with Water," I decided to move on. "I played with my chakra too."

Ochicho goes silent, "I… see." She turns away, sighing, "Just don't stay out without warning again." She's gritting her teeth. "And make sure to eat breakfast."

"Okay." I agreed to both and walk past her, still confused with that interaction.

Just one thing after another.

I eat breakfast and change clothes. It's weird, my clothes for the day are always in premade stacks. They must 'match' -whatever that means- because after the first day, I haven't heard anyone say anything about them.

After brushing my teeth, eating a slightly bigger portion than normal, then doing some stretching, I head out to the academy. Walking there, I stick some leaves to random places on my body and slowly move them around.

Mikoto is really skilled to be able to do this so easily. Even copying her like I am, to move different things across my body at the same time is weird. I keep paying attention to one and not moving the other.

Well, in this case, I'm paying attention to three and not moving the other five.

Now sitting beneath a tree, I set a hand on it to try and feel whatever that chakra inside King Enma is. I know I've felt it before, it was only an instant but I know it was focused in a tree.

But no, the tree felt normal. I settle down to feel Kisara. All day. Right now, it's early enough that she isn't doing too much. Just sitting there while everyone else talks in groups around her.

I frown, why is she alone? I mean, she stands out to me because she's amazing. But Ino told me most people flock to amazing people… Maybe she's too amazing? Maybe they're jealous.

A boy throws something at her, whatever it is bouncing off her head.

"Oh?" I blink in surprise, the bark beneath my hand cracked. I didn't notice I squeezed at all.

Must be because of the anger.

Only, unlike with Ino, I want to hurt.

The only thing that's stopping me from going inside and ripping his throat out is that Kisara isn't actually hurt. A pathetic attack like that isn't enough to hurt anyone. I still make a note of the boy though.

Wait, no, maybe they're playing? Kisara's cool enough that she probably has lots of friends. Kids throw things at each other right?

Kisara doesn't seem happy though.

With that, I take my hand off the tree and focus on Kisara, well, as much as I can at least. It's hard to focus on one specific thing, especially if I'm not talking to it or personally touching it. And even then it's a give and take.

Me and Ino brainstormed about it whenever I brought it up. It's annoying.

So I sit.

I let everything wash over me. That cool bug doesn't matter, neither does that ninja or that animal. Everything but Kisara. The academy might have gotten caught up in the vibrations a little but I make sure that doesn't happen too much.

And the more I sit and feel, the more I know that the boy from before wasn't playing, the more I can feel something trying to crawl out my chest. I hear it beating in my ears, scratching at my brain, making my teeth clench.

Because the others joined in.

Not all of the class, just two groups of kids. I could feel them all even when they took their seats. Most of them were boring, but one had a puppy with him. I can't even like the puppy because its owner is that boy.

There's another though. The one with eyes that are kind of like a Uchiha but not, that boy always does really well when they're sparring. He never did anything but the people around him did, and the few times he said something Kisara slunk lower in her seat.

Why isn't her Sensei doing anything? The man is just letting whatever's happening wash over him like the vibrations and me. Is he bad? Why is he teaching?

Does he need to go away?

Focus.

Why is Kisara letting them make her sad? She's better than all of them so why is she lowering her head like that? They don't matter.

There's another thing I notice though. While Kisara seems tired and quiet, most of the other kids aren't. They take every chance they have to talk and play. They don't seem sick.

I ignore my stomach growling and stretch out, the little pops throughout my body are nice.

I haven't moved in a long time, but it's passed quickly. The class finally went outside and after some stretches, split into pairs. Kisara paired with an instructor. I don't copy them like I usually would. This isn't training.

Kisara was amazing, of course.

It felt closer to when I feel real ninja spar than any of the other kids. From the moment Kisara and the large man made that hand sign, their spar was just different. Theirs was faster, more precise, they were putting more effort into it.

I rocked back and forth when Kisara sidestepped a punch and countered with a kick to his side, but tensed when he responded with an open-palmed thrust that sent her skidding away. Not a moment passed before she rushed him again.

That's how the rest of it went too. Every time Kisara got a hit in an exchange, the man would counter with a strike that pushed her away, and then she would jump back in to repeat the process over again. But with every push back, she'd last just a little longer till the next.

The man was pushed an inch back blocking a kick aimed for his head. He smiled and dropped his hands, saying something as Kisara did the same, breathing hard.

Whatever he said made Kisara smile wider than I've felt in a long time. With another hand sign and a bow, they were both walking back to the main group.

I was so focused on their spar, I didn't notice a bird had landed on my head or the snake that coiled in my lap.

"Hello, bird." I greet, twitching as it suddenly flew off, or did it fly away because I twitched? The snake stayed.

I shook my head, focus. The rest of the kids were done too.

I let my brain wander as Kisara's class went inside and started packing up. I'm more confused than before. Is Kisara sick? She didn't talk to any of them so maybe they were avoiding her cause of the virus?

I'm still going to find out where all of them live.

A few of those worms with a bunch of legs dropped from the tree and into my hair.

But still, Kisara seems fine. She doesn't seem tired at all.

So she lied? Or she's good at hiding it.

I brushed a worm-bug away from my neck. Kisara was one of the last ones out of the classroom, only she didn't walk towards the orphanage like she was supposed to, she slowly went towards the trees.

Towards the kids from earlier.

I got up, the snake dropping from my lap, and brushed the bugs out of my hair. While I can feel them just fine, I can't hear anyone.

By the time I was close enough to hear, I had crawled up a tree by sticking my hands and feet to the bark. I think I was high enough that they wouldn't notice me. I don't really know how eyes work so hopefully I'm not wrong.

I'm probably not. Roro told me that eyes can be tricked easily.

"-told you to stop showing off!" My thoughts were interrupted by the boy with the puppy's voice. Him and the other kids were circling her.

I know he's not yelling at Kisara like that.

"I-I'm not," Kisara sounded similar to the first day I met her, "I'm really not trying to-"

"Save it, Mutty," A girl's high-pitched voice interrupted her, "You're just digging a deeper hole for yourself."

"Not today, please?" Kisara ducked her head, "I have a doctor's appointment after this…"

She does? Maybe she's going to see Annette.

"Heh," the puppy boy did a ridiculous walk up to her. Every muscle in my body tensed when he took a swipe at her, but she casually ducked out of the way with that same hunch in her shoulders.

Kisara's better than these kids, she doesn't need my help.

She rubbed her arm, hunched in on herself, "Please… I haven't been able to go to a meeting in weeks. She'll get suspicious, and that'd be bad for everyone."

"You're seeing a girl?" Puppy boy sneered, "Stay still."

Kisara stilled.

Why is she listening to them? Why not just scare them into leaving her alone? She's acting like she's the one scared.

This doesn't make sense.

The boy continued talking, "Alright, we'll be nice today. We won't beat you-"

I stopped breathing. Beat her? As in hurt her. Kisara?

"-Just remember my Clan owns you, mutt." Kisara flinchedat the name. "Instead of being our practice dummy tomorrow. You can help us out for target practice."

I swallowed down the urge to break these kids. Clan. Like the Uchiha's? No, not like the Uchiha's, they gave me food so they're nice. But still Ino says Clans are powerful right? They can sway the Hokage and he's the strongest person. I know.

I forced myself to calm down. I have to think. Puppy Boy said his Clan owns Kisara, which is stupid because nobody should own her. They need her for practice. Why would she ever teach them? And that's what would be happening cause those wouldn't be able to practice properly with her.

But he also said he would beat her today.

They hurt her.

Focus, I grit my teeth, having to hold the part of me that wants to hurt them back. Something… something's going on here. I have to be smart.

Kisara had walked away now, now they were just laughing at her. Making fun of her, even though she isn't here to hear it.

Focus. Why is she letting them hurt her? They're weak, and she's Kisara. Even if the puppy boy has a little more chakra than the rest of his group, Kisara has more chakra than him. A lot more actually. She also is way better at fighting.

So why?

He brought up his Clan a lot and Kisara got a lot less Kisara-ish every time he did. Is that it?

I swallowed. If I hurt these kids, would I hurt Kisara as well? She's scared. And these kids aren't scary, they're weak. Strong people are scary. Clans are strong.

That's it.

I jumped out the tree, taking in that brief feeling of touching nothing before I landed on top of a boy. He crumpled. The kids went silent for a second before they started to make noise at me. I didn't care about it. Getting up, I 'looked' right at Puppy Boy.

"I'm taking Kisara's place."

Puppy Boy stepped back, "K-Kisara? I don't know what you talking about. You didn't see anything.

I nodded, "Correct." Obviously. "I'm taking her place, you can use you're Clan on me, not her."

"Boji I think that's the blind girl everyone talks about. My big sister saw her once." A girl made more noise.

Puppy Boy tilted his head like I do sometimes before he did something silly with his face. I think it was a smirk? The muscles in his face seemed almost right. "So, she's just some blind kid?" He laughed, "That's no problem then. Go home, before you get hurt." He puffed out his chest.

I wonder what he's doing, but I don't tilt my head. I don't want any answers from him so there's no point.

"No. Use you're Clan against me, not Kisara."

Puppy Boy's face twisted, "What do you know? I'm an Inuzuka, I don't need my Clan to beat her! She's just a mutt!"

My chakra pulsed in anger, "You'll stop calling her that too." I kept my face blank, not knowing what expression I'd make if I didn't.

The rest of the kids circled me, kind of like they did Kisara. "Why should we listen to you?" Puppy Boy asked, getting real close to me.

I tilted my head at that, what kind of question is that?

My lip just barely curled, Roro's words coming back again,

"I'll scare you."

At that Puppy Boy laughed, the others joining after. "Nah, that's not gonna happen. Just go home." He started walking past me, "Come on guys."

His back thumped against a tree. I lowered my fist and caught the puppy that was sitting on the -now wheezing- boy's head.

The puppy was growling and yapping, trying to bite me. I brought it eye-level with my face, "Stop, please." It sniffed me once then licked my nose.

Okay, maybe Puppy Boy's puppy is still cute.

Setting down the dog, I walked to the boy, he was still trying to catch his breath.

The other kids made more noise but most didn't move, I sidestepped and tripped the two that ran at me.

What were they trying to do? I wondered, hopping over their bodies.

I took Puppy Boy by his neck and dragged him away from the tree, wouldn't want to get blood on it. Dropping him, I sat down on his chest while ignoring his struggling. I think he hit me a few times? He's so weak that compared to the people who have hit me, I didn't know what to call that.

I leaned over his face, wrapped my hands around his throat, and squeezed. Not as hard as I could, of course. I'm only scaring him, not ripping out his throat sadly.

Although, if I just squeeze a little harder… I puff my cheeks out, focus. He has a Clan. A Clan that owns Kisara. You can't do what you want all the time.

"I'm scaring you," I tell him, he clawed at my neck. "I'll make an example out of you if you don't listen to me, I'll be mean, I'll hurt you." My spine got tingly at the thought, "Don't use your Clan on Kisara anymore, use it against me."

I let go of his neck and hopped off his chest. Wait, I paused for a moment and stepped on his face. With force.

Ew. I wiped my foot on his clothes, something warm came from his nose. I think it's blood? I sniffed the air and nodded.

Yeah, that's blood.

I crinkled my nose, one of the kids soiled himself. Gross. They all just stood, silent, watching me.

I waited.

One of the kids, the one that soiled himself ran away after a moment, while we all waited for Puppy Boy to get up.

"I-I'm sorry!" Puppy Boy said after a minute, voice pinched, "I won't do it again, just go away!"

I tilted my head. Is… Is there something wrong with his brain?

I shook my head, "No. I'm practicing with you instead of Kisara." His Clan still has something over her, I don't want her to get hurt. "Whatever you do to Kisara, you do to me."

He paused, still pinching his nose. "What?"

I'm going to actually hurt him at this rate, "If you can't listen, stop trying to be ninja."

He wobbled to his face, "S-so, we can do what we want?"

"No." my chakra grew violent. I'll make him an example if he touches Kisara again. "Use your Clan against me, not Kisara." He has one more chance to get it.

"…Use my Clan against you?"

My face twitched. "Yes."

He picked up his puppy, "Okay, um, be still."

I didn't move. This is stupid.

"Let Hina push you."

He jerked his head, and a girl approached me slowly. She gave me a light shove.

I didn't do anything.

"Okay, um, d-don't do anything." Isn't that what I was already doing?

I felt one of the kids walk up to me and shove me in the back, I didn't brace myself so I fell to the ground.

Puppy Boy grinned, or at least tried to. "Yeah."

One of them kicked lightly my side. Another threw a rock at me.

They waited a moment before throwing another rock at me. When I still didn't do anything, one kicked me.

This slowly escalated into more kicks, a few stomped on my head, one even snapped a branch on my chest while just making more noise. Laughing louder and louder.

Puppy Boy laughed, "This is how it should be you fucking freak," He said, kicking me a bit harder than the rest, "I've heard about you, some blind orphan. Nobody's ever gonna want you!"

None of it hurt. Not really. No, instead of pain, all this was doing was making me angrier. This is what they did to Kisara?

Hurt them.

Everything they did, every kick, punch, stomp, and word that came out of their mouths just made me want to take away their ability to speak forever. But no, he has a Clan. He can do something against Kisara.

When they eventually tired themselves out, I felt a bit sore all over. My head hurt from being stomped on so much, my stomach did a little too. But with each pulse of the Earth, it was all fading.

"Boji," a girl said between breaths, "She beat you up."

Puppy Boy's nose pointed up, "That was just a fluke. I'm from a Clan, she knows it. Just look at her," he kicks me again, "She knows she's just a blind freak."

I sit up, they flinch and their mouths open. They feel like fish. This is annoying though, I'm getting a headache "Are you done? This is annoying."

"What are you…?" A kid's voice shook.

The boy, the Huyga from Kisara's class spoke up from his spot in the trees, "What she is…" he hopped down. Unlike me, he landed on his feet, "-Is a waste of the village's resources. And you aren't doing anything to her."

Yeah they are. They're making me mad, er, they're making me more mad.

"Tepo?" Puppy Boy asked, "What are you doing here, I thought you left? And why do you have your eyes turned on?"

Hmm. His chakra is vibrating faster the closer it gets to his eyes. Weird.

"I saw that… thing and decided to follow it." He did? He was standing near the academy for a while before he came over.

Anyways, the way he talks is stupid. I don't like it.

"Oh yeah," Puppy Boy said, spitting to the side, "You want in? Just showing the kid her place, you know?"

The Hyuga scoffed, "No, you weren't. She let you beat her and you didn't even phase her, you're pathetic."

I mean, yeah.

"Puppy Boy scoffed, "Oh, yeah? Like you can do any better."

"Hyuga boy walked towards me, "I intend to. Didn't you get the notice about her? The Clans aren't supposed to touch her. My elders said she wasn't worth the hassle long ago." He took a stance, it wasn't one I've felt before.

He sneered, "I intend to teach this waste of resources not to show her face in public again."

With that, I felt actual pain for the first time today.

Fear too.

When he struck, barely brushing my stomach, I crumpled to the ground and everything got fuzzy for a second.

Ow.

More noise was made, but I paid it no attention.

What happened? It's like there's a hitch inside me, messing up my chakra and making it flow weird.

Focusing inwards, on my chakra, I realize that's exactly it. It's like a point in my stomach is pinched, making that small 'hitch' that's making everything fuzzy. A beat later, there's a pulse from both my chakra and the earth, then the hitch is straightened out.

Well, I didn't like that.

Oh, they're kicking me again. I stopped paying attention after Hyuga did the thing.

Ignoring the kids, fighting back the very large part of me that wanted to break them, I stood back up.

The Hyuga sneered and an open palm sent me flying back. I coughed up what tasted like blood, rolling on the ground.

Okay, that one hurt a little more. I wiped my mouth.

"Must have hit some organ." The Hyuga said while fixing his hair, "My mistake."

"Tepo, you finally got her!" one of the boys cheered.

"Yes," his face pinched, "Well!? What are you waiting for?" he gestured towards me, 'Get to it. Boji, practice your Clans jutsu on her."

Puppy Boy shuffled, "I don't know… I'm still not good at it and I, uh, I don't want to kill her you know?" He walked towards me, ignoring his puppy trying to pull him back.

"Don't worry," the Hyuga faced me, his face contorting into something I think Ino would consider ugly.

"She can take it."

With Kisara

I can't help but smile as I wait for Toph. Yeah, tomorrow's gonna suck but I deal with that when it comes.

Cause today I get to train with Toph! I've been having to half-ass it cause my body was too sore from being a 'training dummy' but I managed to avoid too much damage so I think I can play it off as Ojiro-sensei kicking my butt during training.

And it wouldn't even be lying!

I bounce on my heels. It's strange that Toph isn't here though, she's always waiting for me. Ironic that the one day I can properly play- train with her she isn't here.

Maybe she's mad cause of yesterday? Maybe, she's sick of me being a bad friend…

My bouncing slowly came to a stop. No. No! She's late. She has to be late.

But… I've been letting her down for a while, huh. Worst of all, I made her cry. The last time I saw her cry was at Roroshi-san's funeral and even then it was only a few tears… I thought she was infallible because well, she's Toph! She's amazing! To see her cry like that… To hear her call herself a bad friend?

My fists clench. I hate that I made her think anything like that. She's not a bad friend, she's perfect, my only friend really…

A chuckle escapes my lips. Figures that the only blind person in the village would get along with me. She can't see how much of a freak I am with my red hair and eyes.

Hell, my eyes are slits! What kind of freak has slit eyes!?

I still have to hide whenever the festival comes around. I'll never forget when I tossed that Naruto kid in the dumpster while a drunk guy chased after us.

I shook those thoughts out of my head, that doesn't matter.

What matters is the fact I've been terrible to the one person in this village that likes me. Who actually wants me to do well. Without her, I'd still be going through the motions.

I won't strengthen my body with chakra tomorrow. I deserve the pain.

I hate lying to her, but it can't be helped.

Imagining what she would do to the Boji or Kepo's groups if she found out they've been bullying me… I shiver. Toph is great, but she's also protective. And violent.

I saw what she did to those kids last year, she doesn't need to get into trouble for me.

They're from Clans after all. That'd be really bad.

"Hey, Kisara." I look up when I hear Toph's sort of monotone voice, smiling.

It's wiped off my face.

"Toph!" I rush to her, she's covered in blood. Which, for her, isn't exactly strange but that never happens this early. Her clothes are ripped, and she's bruised.

"What happened?!" My voice sounds frantic even to my ears. I'm not touching her, scared of hurting her even more.

She shrugged, smiling, beaming even. Or at least her version of it. Like she isn't concerned that she's beaten and bloody, "You won't be sick anymore. We can train now, right?" she does that super cute head tilt thing.

I freeze, "What?"

"You don't have the virus Nurse Ann and Ino said you did, so you're fine. You won't be sick anymore."

I gently squeeze her shoulders, "Toph… who did this to you?" something's filling my gut. Is… Is this what horror feels like?

She shakes her head, "Doesn't matter. They're weak so they can't hurt me. I'll be fine."

"Let's go, train. Please?" She asks so… sweetly. As if I'm the one hurt. There's something about the way she's speaking though. She's usually brutally honest and blunt. She's terrible at lying.

"Toph. Please tell me what you did." I think I'm hyperventilating. If she did what I think she did, the Inuzuka's are gonna have her head.

She paused, "You don't have that virus anymore. I took it, so you can go back to normal."

She took it.

No… She's not stating the obvious for some reason. She took my virus? I couldn't train cause I couldn't risk her touching me. Because I was too bruised from their beating to pass it off as just sparing.

Oh, that's horror.

Carefully, I pull Toph in and wrap my arms around her.

"So… we aren't training today?" she hugs me back, "Kisara, why are you crying? Who hurt you?" her voice dropped back into that cold, emotionless tone that promised violence.

Huh, I'm crying. I didn't realize.

She pulls back, and pulls my head into her chest. "There. There." She rubs my head awkwardly, "It's okay."

I cry harder and push my face further into the blood-soaked shirt of a girl half my age.

I'm horrible.

But as she tried to soothe me in her own way, I decided something, through the snot and tears.

If they aren't dead, I'm going to make them wish they were.

I don't care if I'm a mutt.

That night

I pull the centipede out of my nose, snorting. "Man, that always sucks."

Reviewing the memory, I still can't help but be amazing at my summon. These guys are so much more than they appear.

Course, when you have an elder like theirs- er, ours. It's inevitable that you're more than you appear.

I hold the little guy at eye level, "I ordered you to get me if she's in danger."

He chitters in response.

My eyes narrow, "What are you playing at?" I know I'm not talking to the summon I'm holding.

Another chitter.

I sigh, "Welp if you say so." I tilt my head and drop him in my mouth. He crawls down my throat. If they didn't warn me, Toph must not have been in any real danger. No matter how it looked.

The centipedes believe in tough love. Survival of the fittest and all that. Plus, this guy sensed whatever the hell her chakra was doing.

But holy shit are those kids lucky. They don't realize how close to death they were.

I mean, they're all going to suffer, obviously, but at least they'll still be alive. Plus, that'll be later. After I snitch to Lord Third and their Clans find out. The civilian-born followers are going to be kicked out of the academy though.

I don't actually know much beyond that.

Still though, just thinking about the kid taking everything with that creepy-as-hell blank face of hers…

She'd have a much easier time getting the centipede contract than me.

And then, when she got "scary", fuck that was cool.

I'll be sure to mention that in my report in detail. The Third is going to love it.

Wait. I ripped the kunai from the third assassin this week's neck. Remember, people don't appreciate the finer things in life like I do.

But this was funny, so it'll be fine.

My mood took a nosedive when I processed the rest of the memory.

I'll be sure to tell Lord Third all about the Inuzuka and Hyuga. I'll even insist on him snorting up a centipede so he can see it for himself. He'll probably be okay with the kid getting roughed up, he believes in tough love too, despite that kind old man routine he has going.

I'm lucky Toph's hardy. Don't want my neck to be without a head and all that.

I wipe my kunai off and stretch, stepping over the corpse.

I don't pick it up.

If Lord Third wants him to keep sending bodies to me, it's on him to deal with the cleanup

"Now, let's go ruin someone's night."

AN: Heh, not me getting through this in like three day from rage of losing a substantial amount of my original story. (I almost cried)

And thank you to the reviewer that pointed out that her names Kisara not Kizara.

Thanks, Redking96.