Toph took a deep breath and sighed.

Sakura was good at thinking and planning. She could memorize great swaths of information, making her useful for lots of things.

It would not, however, help her when the creepy child with the sand killed her during their match, because Sakura sucked at Sandbending. Bigtime.

She moved a lance.

Shikaku chuckled. "You're always to focused on the front; you leave the sides open every time."

He moved and put her in check.

Toph grinned and took his piece. "As you have said before. It would be stupid of me to ignore you."

"You took advantage of the fact that you have weak flanks and set up a trap." Shikaku mused with a grin. "Rather clever of you, Toph-chan. How did you know I'd come at you from your right?"

She smirked. "That is for me to know, and you to figure out."

"Hmm." Shikaku deftly moved a piece. "What's up? You seem to be a lot less focused than usual."

Toph rubbed her whole face. "How do I know that you won't blab to Shikamaru?"

"Really, Toph-chan?" Shikaku tapped something out on the ground. "If you're worried about my son knowing, I would surmise it has something to do with Sakura. Based on what I've heard about her first opponent..." he trailed off. "Need I go on?"

"I trust in your discretion." Toph finally admitted. "Sakura is screwed if she doesn't get better at Sandbending. The thing is, it's a really bad match for her, with all her bigger is better attitude. She's actually better at heavy lifting then she should be because she uses chakra, but with more delicate stuff she's total crap."

He put her in check again. "Well, she does have a month."

Toph moved her king, avoided the obvious trap, and fell prey to a hidden one. It was almost total checkmate. "Yeah. I guess she does. But still. It was hard for me to control the creepy kid's sand, and I'm me."

They began putting the pieces back where they belonged. Shikaku gave her the first move, and they were off again.

"Would you perhaps tell me a story of your homeland?" The Nara asked. "I heard the ones you told Shikamaru, and I enjoyed them."

Toph tilted her head, considering. "All right. When I was younger, my parents thought I was helpless. They didn't even let other people I existed. No one knew the Bei Fong family had a daughter except for my Earthbending teacher. Then one day I snuck out and met some giant Bagdermoles who taught me how to Earthbend like Oma and Shu themselves..."

▪▪▪

Hot sand.

Burning sun.

Sakura tried to kick an attack to a specific target that she'd made out of pale grey stone, but the sand shifted and her shot went off. She ignored it and continued her three hit attack.

Kick, punch punch.

Kick, punch punch.

Kick, punch punch.

Each time her attack came a little closer and yet...

"What are you doing here?" An angry voice asked.

Sakura gave him a cursory glance, then tried again. Kick, punch punch. "What does it look like I'm doing, rocks-for-brains?"

Standing out in the empty arena, under the sun, trying to not die when she had to fight a monster that had put his own teammate in the hosital.

Neji Hyuuga stepped onto the sands of the arena. "It looks like you're trying to hit anywhere but that target."

Well. If that was how he was going to play it...

"Why, you're quite right! This target is the exact thing I don't want to hit!" She knew she was being ridiculously sarcastic despite her sarachine sweet tone, but she didn't care. Her day was going horribly, and his stupidly shiny and glossy hair was rubbing her the wrong way.

He watched as she tried again.

And again.

"While it's true that your opponent goes stationary after choosing his spot to stand, I do not think that he'll stay still while you attempt to hit him that many times."

Stupid Hyuuga and his stupid hair.

In a fit of rage, Sakura spun and launched an attack right at him. To her utter surprise, the sand barreled right towards him, spraying tiny flecks until it made contact with where he had been standing.

Neji dodged easily, then took a stance. "That was better, but still pathetic."

Her eyes narrowed, then she scooped her hand forward, fingers cupped. The sand mimicked her motions, but Neji once again dodged, charging towards her.

Was he seriously going to do this?

Sakura spun out of the way, throwing up sand as she moved until she had to squeeze her eyes tight shut to avoid the dust.

He came unerringly at her, his flat palms up to get her.

Sakura had a sudden, horrible flashback of the chuunin exams, where he had driven Hinata to heart failure. She could not let him touch her.

She flung upwards, sending a fresh gout of sand right in between them. Neji was forced back for a second, but he came for her again.

Block. Block!

Sakura twisted her feet, anchoring herself as she pulled up. A wall of sand flew up and hardened.

If it had worked for Gaara, it could work for her.

He ran right up it, then sprang at her again. Sakura reached for the sand, then reached deeper. A circular pillar of stone rose under her feet, propelling her up and away from the Hyuuga.

The arena was literally a stone bowl with sand at the bottom. Sakura could use that...

She reached the end of the height and backflipped off of it, twisting and pulling on the sand until it spun around her like a cyclone. She rose again, wobbling and unable to see, but Neji wouldn't be able to get close-

A hand landed flat on her chest, throwing her right out of the sandstorm. She peeked up through her lashes as she fell, and saw him soaring down after her, eyes shut but with the bulging veins marking the byakugan around them.

He activated the byakugan, then shut his eyes and used the fact that his eyes can see through his eyelids to find my chakra system.

Clever.

Sakura twisted, then landed hard. The second her feet touched the ground she was moving, throwing up geysers as he zigzagged towards her.

His palm was coming towards her again when she pulled up again, encasing her whole torso in sand. His hit was solid, throwing her back a little, but she buried her feet in hardened sand and let it climb her until she was encased in itchy sand armour.

"Impressive," Neji admitted, his tone never wavering. "But is defending and evading all you can do?"

Sakura spun to the pillar and kicked. About a foot of it flew towards him in a circular disk. He dodged, but Sakura was on a roll.

Literally. She kicked again and again, rolling over in the air, still encased in sand. It had crumbled off her in places, but her chest, forearms, and legs were still protected.

Her eyes were still squeezed shut.

He dodged, approaching until she had run out of pillar, and then they were on to one of the things she had been neglecting; Taijutsu.

His hands hammered on her hardened sand shell, but he couldn't break through. She tried to attack him, but she was too slow and he too accomplished in that area.

They had gotten to a deadbeat standstill where neither's attack could break through the other's defense.

Sakura was breathing hard, sweating harder, and loosing her grip on the hardened sand around her. Neji seemed unaffected, but his strikes were lessening in ferocity.

Or it was just her imagination.

She thrust her hands out in front of her for a heartbeat, preparing for one final, desperate attack-

Slow clapping interrupted them. Sakura forced her eyes open to see Toph-sensei and Neji's oddly dressed teacher, who was crying.

They broke apart awkwardly, Neji wiping his eyes while Sakura shed the sand armour, attempting to wipe the gritty grains off of her sweaty skin.

She had little success.

Toph-sensei leaped down into the arena, then sauntered over, the green jumpsuit man following. "You've gotten a lot better in the past five minutes. Did he really scare you that much?"

Sakura glared at her teacher, then continued wiping hopelessly at her shirt. "He's older and better than I am-"

"Yet you held your own! So very youthful of you!" The man sobbed. "Neji, when I heard you were heading to the arena to scope out the terrain I couldn't help but follow you! And to find you in a friendly spar with this beautiful blossom! It seems it is truly your springtime of youth!"

Toph was listening to his spiel in utter disbelief.

"It was nothing like that," Neji said as dignified as one could be when covered in sand and sweat. "I simply wished to try my hand at beating someone who didn't use chakra to attack."

"And?" Toph-sensei asked, moving pointedly away from the man in the jumpsuit.

"I would not be afraid to take her on," Neji replied stiffly. "If this is all she can do, beating her will be doable."

Sakura glared. "You seemed be having trouble a little while ago."

"With moves as unrefined as yours, one must simply get over the shock of the lack of chakra and handsigns. Once you do, your defeat is inevitable." Neji scoffed. He dusted off his clothes. "Most of your attacks were fueled by desperation, not honed by hard work or techniques."

Sakura felt a surge of fury. "Yeah, sure. Earthbending isn't like your stupid palms stuff. It follows your intent-"

Toph-sensei cut her off. "That's not quite right, Sakura. However, it seems that you did discover something..."

Sakura looked at the ruined arena and then at her own callused hands, dirt under her nails and caked on her skin. She turned away from the group, kicked, then instead of punching, she thrust forward with flat palms.

The sand erupted.

She spun back to her sensei, giddy. "Sandbending is best done with open hands!"

Like Hyuuga with their stupidly perfect hair.

Her mood brightened and she beamed at the stuck up teenager.

Toph-sensei placed her hands together, then pulled them apart and down. The encased sand shot off her and piled in front of her. Sakura stretched, feeling the wonderful lack of sand in her clothing.

She bowed to her teacher. "Thank you, sensei."

Toph punched her in the shoulder. "Go home and get some rest. You've had a long day. I'll take care of the sand mess."

Oh, that was right. Toph-sensei had done something to the arena that morning before she'd gotten there. It was supposed to be like ordinary terrain, but when she'd shown up it was a desert.

It was still light out, but Sakura thanked her gratefully. She picked up her forgotten target, bowed to Neji and his sensei, and then left the arena.

▪▪▪

Toph strolled down the street, arms behind her head and humming a song she'd heard Sakura singing.

She quite enjoyed these little walks. They reminded her of different times, like when they were on the run from the fire nation. How they'd stop to pick up supplies in every other town like the naive children they were.

She grinned, remembering an especially fun streak where she had coined the moniker the Runaway. It hadn't ended very well (with her and Katara stuck in a wooden cage as bait for Aang), but it had still been exciting while it lasted.

Someone jostled her. She smelled the strong scent of alcohol and gagged. Toph slid them imperceptibly to the left using only one hand. They seemed to be so drunk that they didn't notice-...

Her eyes narrowed. Toph slipped into an alleyway, pulled up some of the pavement, and mimicked the Dai Lee agents, clambering quickly up the side of the wall. She bent the rocks over her hands and told them to go up, and they did, bringing her with them.

A few seconds later the drunk man had entered the alleyway as well. She could smell his drink and hear his-

His footsteps were totally silent. Toph pressed her feet to the wall and felt for his vibrations.

It was a lot harder then it seemed to pick vibrations up while clinging to the side of a building trying to be totally silent. However, since she was the absolute best, she honed in on him as he meandered through the alleyway, out the other side, and then froze.

She felt his head turn from side to side, then felt him run up the side of the building she was on, luckily just around the corner. Toph hunched down a little and waited while he scanned the surrounding area.

So much for NOT getting a babysitter.

Toph waited until he'd darted off to the left before letting herself descend. She decided to keep the clunky gloves, but didn't take any chances and headed off the opposite direction then the 'drunken man' has taken.

Should she just call it a night and head back to the apartment?

No. This was her free time, and she refused to let anyone, especially that lying old man, take it away from her.

Maybe if she checked the sweet shops she might be able to find Lady Dango and have her hang out with her; Toph had a feeling that any spy would think twice if confronted with her brash personality.

She walked a little quicker, squeezing the stiff gloves a little too tight.

Where were you supposed to hide in a village where the leader had a ninja army?

Toph missed the shadowy figure on top of the building opposite to where she stood. She didn't notice as he, small and short as he was, unrolled a scroll and painted something.

It was this operative's first mission within the Village, and failure was not an option.

A bird took shape under his talented hands, and he continued tracking his blind target until she located Mitarashi Anko in a shop and sat to talk with her.

Then he left, silently and unseen by any. It would have been too risky continuing his surveillance with someone who had been taught by one if the Sanin.

And besides.

Lord Danzo would be waiting for his report.

▪▪▪

Okay, time for a little bit of clarification: Sakura's opponent for the chuunin exams final stage is Gaara. The run in with the sand siblings was actually avoided because Sakura was training while Naruto is playing with the Konohamaru squad, therefore changing canon events. In fact, I'll put that little scene at the end.

She gave up on Sauske so easily because one, I don't ship them (they just don't mesh very well), and two, Sauske wants to be strong. Sakura, weaker, moony eyed Sakura, is learning something incredible that he has no chance of pulling off. In short: he's caught a bad case of jealousy.

Toph is integrating quite well because she's never really had a problem adapting to change. In the comics, after the end of ATLA, Toph actually has an arc where she settles down as a teacher. She's here, she's teaching, and yes, she does miss her friends but she won't let that consume her.

Does that make sense?

Also, I find it really hard to write Toph feeling depressed. Her whole character is tough as nails. No time for feeling sorry for herself, she has to crush Gaara.

Thanks for reading!!

Naruto was chasing Konohamaru, almost preening as he mentored the younger kid.

"Stupid Konohan ninjas, playing around with kids all the time." It was a ninja Naruto had never seen before, but he really didn't care. He ignored the ridiculous face paint and led the Konohamaru squad away, laughing quietly at the mess that ninja had put all over himself.

Temari came up behind him. "Are we lost?"

Kankuro slumped. "Yeah. Kind of."

They both watched the blonde ninja run off with the younger kids in silence.

And that was that.