Toph was running.

She held the hands of the smallest two, the older children following along behind.

Behind them, people screamed and died.

She felt Kisame fending off three attackers at once, but he wasn't fighting as hard as he usually would. He barely seemed to keep on top of them, allowing several hits to slice through his clothing and scrape against his hardened skin.

"Toph-san!" Akiko whimpered from behind. "You're a shinobi too, right? Please do something!"

Toph bit back a snarl, not pausing as she tugged the children away from the battle. "Kisame-sensei told me to take care of you lot. That's what I'm doing."

The youngest of all of them, a boy called Shibata, clung to her fingers, his hand hot and slippery. Toph barely managed to keep a hold of him.

"Are we gonna die?" Shibata whispered.

"Absolutely not," Toph pulled them behind a wagon, crouching down so as to be out of the way of any stray projectiles. The others followed, though she had to pull down the youngest girl.

Behind them, some woman was begging, pleading with the attackers. "Please no! Please don't-"

Her cries ended in a sudden gurgling that cut off into choked silence.

Toph cradled Shibata's head against her side and prayed for the children's silence.

"Ugh, this is such a pain!" A man suddenly exclaimed from right on the other side of the Kami forsaken wagon! "Where's that annoying kid at?"

One of the girls, Kiya, whimpered.

Toph clapped a hand over her mouth. Her fingers met the girl's own hands, but Toph held her position.

"So much pay for such simple work," a second drawled. "You'd have thought the Daimyo would've hired someone more high-profile to guard his kid, rather than some low-class grunts."

As one, the other children's heads turned towards-

Shibata.

Shibata was their target.

He let out a muffled sob.

"Did you hear that?" The first man asked.

Toph's blood ran cold.

"Hear what?"

"That noise," his footsteps came closer and Toph prayed to whatever deity who would listen to please, turn him away...

But Kami was deaf to her plea.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here," the man said. Toph could hear his smirk in his voice, could feel his exhilaration at finding them. "If it isn't a bunch of rats!"

Slowly, Toph shifted, moving herself in front of the boy and her hand a little closer to the sword. "Go away. I don't want to hurt you."

He outright laughed at that, his friend coming towards him, them, coming to kill them all because if they had just wanted Shibata they wouldn't have killed that woman.

Toph's sword snapped into her hand. She raised it, her hand steady. She could tell when people were lying. They couldn't.

Hopefully that meant they wouldn't call her bluff.

The first man squatted down just out of reach. Toph gathered her legs under her, heart pounding like a war drum.

"Let's see. Boy, so not one of the girls. Hey, Gaku, which one do you think is the target?" He asked.

They were completely ignoring her.

"Can't tell. Guess we'll just have to eliminate them all just to be sure we got the right one," his friend chimed, sounding dangerous and deadly and far, far too much for Toph to handle without her Earthbending.

She felt as they approached, one standing, one almost crawling towards them. Akiko began sobbing, harsh, stifled gasps.

Toph moved, and the tip of her blade stopped less than a centimeter away from the kneeling one's neck. "Get back."

"Or what?" He snarled gleefully. Toph felt rising terror as he began talking, not sensing a single lie in any of his statements. "You'll kill me? You won't. I've seen your type before, all flashy-like, but you never have the guts to back up your claims."

He slid closer, resting his neck on her blade. "If you're going to kill me, do it now."

Her hand shook. Eyes blown wide, Toph did nothing.

"That's what I thought," he laughed.

He wasn't laughing a moment later, when a bloody smile slit his throat. He gagged, unconprehending, then began to fall forward.

Toph was moving before her mind had even registered what she'd done. She lunged for the last man, leading with her left shoulder, her bloody blade parallel to her body.

His was not as clean a death as his companion's. She stabbed him again and again, but he wouldn't stop, he kept moving. Kept coming for them.

Then she blinked, and it was just her, just her standing in a warm puddle over a person who had no heartbeat.

Not anymore.

Toph dropped the sword.

Behind her, the children cried, but the sounds of combat faded. Kisame and Itachi were taking out the last of the enemy, working in tandem.

Why hadn't they done that earlier?

She stood there a moment longer.

And then she fled.

▪▪▪

Hey, Ran?

Yes, child?

Why are you here?

I am here for the children. Here for those who died unfairly and were forgotten by those who should have protected them. Here to right wrongs and-

But you're not.

What?

You're not righting anything; I am.

I am by proxy, child.

...Ran?

Yes, child?

I just killed someone. Two people.

I know.

Do you care about them?

No.

What makes them so different?

They chose the path of evil. You were protecting those you were charged with. There is no court in this world, or the next, that could ever charge you.

But they're dead.

You are not. Those children you guarded are not.

It's not right.

All is well with me.

But nothing is right for me.

▪▪▪

It was official.

Shikamaru hated traveling.

For one, it was hours of just walking. Want to stop for a break? Too bad, we're still walking. Want to look up at the clouds? That sucks, but we're still walking.

If he even slowed down a little bit, Ino would shriek at him like a rabid coyote.

And his bag was digging into his shoulder blades.

Such. A pain.

Shikamaru sighed with relief as they crested a hill and a tiny little village came into view. If they followed the pattern they had the past few days, they would likely stop there.

He started sliding the backpack off his shoulders, but stopped when he caught Asuma-sensei's expression.

No! Don't-

"There's still enough light to make it to the next town over if we hurry," Asuma-sensei decided.

Upon all three's collective groans he stopped, mulling something over.

"All right then," he decided. "We'll break here for an hour. You guys go out and covertly collect Intel. If you guys do well enough, you can have the rest of the day off. If not, we move on."

Shikamaru traded glances with Ino and Choji. The three all nodded in unison and ran for it before their teacher could change his mind.

▪▪▪

"A merchant caravan passed through here a little while ago," the woman told him. "It was pretty big, and they only had three nin for an escort!"

"Sounds unsafe," Shikamaru deadpanned. He scanned the area, watching Ino chat up the butcher as she bought a pound or so of dried jerky.

He couldn't see Choji, but no doubt the Akimichi was somewhere with people and food.

He himself was talking with the blacksmith's wife, a larger, middle-aged woman with more grey than black in her hair and a single large mole below her lip. It was so distracting that Shikamaru had to pull his eyes away from it three times.

"I know, right!" The woman giggled into her hand. "I think the girl was blind, too!"

Shikamaru's world stopped.

"What?" He asked. Surely there were more blind girls out there. She'd said nin, after all, and while Toph was many things, she wasn't a shinobi.

"Oh, they had a kunoichi with them," the woman held her hand at the same height as her ample bosom. "This tall, scar, black hair, skin to die for. And a sword, too."

Ah. So not Toph.

Although the description seemed a little too close to how he remembered her to completely brush off his worries. Something still tugged and flapped in the back of his brain, warning him that something was wrong with this whole thing.

"What did the other two look like?" Shikamaru probed. His eyes started drifting down, but he caught himself and yanked them back up.

The woman laughed, then seemed to be trying to remember. "Hmm. One of them was tall. Brown hair, I think. I can't quite recall."

He felt his blood run ice cold.

Genjutsu.

"Do you know which way they went?" He asked, suddenly much more alert.

She shrugged, then pointed out of town. "Same route merchants always take. Why? Interested?"

From what Shikamaru could tell, Toph had escaped with Orochimaru. If they were trying to get out of the country easily, the fastest way would be with a merchant caravan. They'd need a third cohort to hide Orochimaru's distinct appearance, but other than that...

It could very well have been Toph. She could've been carrying the sword as a prop to throw pursuers off the scent.

After a few more niceties, Shikamaru bowed his way out of the conversation, hustling to find Asuma-sensei and the rest of his team.

If he was right, they had a prime opportunity to find To- strike down a weakened Orochimaru.

If he was wrong... well, it wouldn't be any skin off his nose. That was the way they were already going.

They just needed to go a little faster.

Mind made up, Shikamaru laid to rest the thought of sleep and, moving unusually quickly, scampered over to where Asuma-sensei stood chatting with an aged woodcarver.

"Sensei!" He called. "We need to go!"

▪▪▪

Sakura stared up at the plain, unassuming grey door.

If not for the crinkled paper with the scrawled address on it, Sakura wouldn't have been able to distinguish it from the dozens of other identical doors lining the third floor of the apartment building.

She put a rock gloved hand to the worn paint and tapped.

It was late. Golden sunlight streaked through the open wall at the end of the hall. It painted the dull, drab building with a warm cast, lighting her up too and changing her hair from pink to a creamy sherbet color.

There was no reply from the inside. Sakura huffed and tried the knob.

Surprisingly, it turned. She cracked the door open and peeked inside, not letting a sliver of her coat cross the threshold.

A small, judgemental face met her gaze.

"'Bout time," the pug grunted. "Hurry up. Boss man's over this way."

Sakura stared after the talking animal incredulously. He peered back over his tiny animal shoulder and looked at her.

Timidly, Sakura edged into the tile hallway. There was a messy kitchen to her left, but the pathway led right past it and seemed to end in a living room.

The suffocating scent of alcohol washed over her in a wave. Sakura stifled her cough and followed the puppy. She glanced at the kitchen while she passed, noting the mound of dirty dishes in the sink and take out boxes piled high on the table.

Then she turned the corner and froze.

Kakashi lay on a couch, a thick red blanket draped over his lap, the material spilling down to the floor. His vest was nowhere to be found, which gave him a strange, sleeker look when compared to his usual silhouette. A bunch of empty bottles and beer cans littered the ground on the side closest to his head.

Sakura sighed and stepped closer, crouching besides her teacher. He was obviously very drunk, his eye glazed and reactions nonexistent.

"Sensei," Sakura called, shaking his shoulder slightly. "Kakashi-sensei."

He mumbled, then looked slowly up at her. Sakura tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear and cocked her head. "Sensei. Are you all right?"

"-ys?" He muttered. "Why-"

Sakura leaned a little closer.

"Why can I never protect the people close to me?" He asked softly, slurring a few words.

Sakura felt her eyes begin stinging. She moved some cans out of the way and slid into their spot, pulling the end of the red blanket around her waist. She leaned her head back against the couch.

"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the dog nod, then waddle away, disappearing into an open doorway.

"Tou-san. Minato-sensei. Kushina. Obito. Rin." He began listing a bunch of people, none of whom Sakura recognized until the last two. "Toph. Sasuke."

"Oh, sensei," Sakura said as warmly as she could through her tears. "You can't save everyone."

"Ev'ry one else does," he managed.

"They don't. They lose, and then they hide their pain, just like you're doing right now," she craned her head until she had locked eyes with him. "Besides, you haven't lost everyone. You still have me, right?"

His onyx black eye looked away from her.

"I'm not going anywhere," Sakura reassured him. "I still need you, sensei."

That was the first, last, and only time Sakura ever saw her teacher cry.

▪▪▪

Toph sat on a rock.

Her toes were curled under her, bending turned off. She couldn't sense anything, didn't want to.

Her hands wouldn't stop shaking. Again and again she felt the hilt of her katana in her hands, the blade up against his throat, his laughter-

Then the gargled choking, the warm, wet blood that had sprayed, the smell of it cloying and irony and-... and...

Then the other.

Stabbing. Over and over and over.

How could she ever have asked this of Aang?!

She held her hands closer to her chest, trying to still their ceaseless motions. It was futile, but she still hunched over, trying to cope.

She had killed someone.

She had killed someone.

Kami, what had she done?!

Toph felt her breath coming in shorter and shorter gasps. Everything sounded tinny and faint, like it was coming through a tunnel or somewhere far off.

She felt something heavy and warm come to rest on her head. Toph started, reaching for her sword automatically, but it wasn't there, and a second later she had gathered enough of her wits about her to recognise Kisame's scent.

"Deep breath," he advised. "In and out. Do it with me."

She managed to copy him, letting out a shuddering breath before trying to inhale. It was like there was something stuck in her throat, suffocating her.

His hand didn't move.

"I-," she tried to string the condemning words together. "I k-killed someone."

"I know," he replied.

It seemed like the whole world was closing in on her, crushing her under its weight.

"I'm a murderer," she whispered.

He sat quiet for a long moment before speaking. "It gets easier."

"How?! The word tore itself from her throat. "How could taking a life get easier?! I'm a murderer, Kisame-sensei."

And then she was being held. Kisame hugged her tightly, holding her and she started just bawling.

He didn't let her go, and in all the inner turmoil, Toph couldn't once remember ever being hugged like this.

He let her cry herself out, until she felt empty and hollow inside, and then he let her go.

Her hands were still.

She touched her toes back to the ground, allowing her Earthbending to give her sight again. Toph wiped at her face, then felt Kisame offering her something.

She reached out, then touched a familiar hilt. Toph snatched her hand away as though she had been burned.

It was the sword.

"I-" Toph squeezed her fingers together. "I can't."

He didn't move. "What would have happened if you hadn't killed him?"

"He'd still be alive," Toph said bluntly.

"He would have killed you. He would have killed Shizuko. He would have killed Kiya, Shibata, and Hirano. And he wouldn't beat himself about you like you are about him," Kisame took her hand, unfolding her fingers. "Instead of thinking about how you took a future, a life, think about how you saved five others.

"Killing is always an option," he placed the sword hilt in her hand, folding her fingers closed over it. He didn't remove his hand from hers. "Sometimes you've got to hit them hard enough to make sure they never hurt anyone else ever again."

His heat backed away as he stood up, leaving her holding the sword. "You did good, Toph. You didn't just take lives, you saved some, too."

He stood there for a moment longer, but when Toph didn't respond, he left.

Toph squeezed a little harder. The soft bindings of the hilt felt reassuring, as if it wasn't a weapon of death.

She bowed her head over it. There was no more smell of blood on the blade; Kisame had probably cleaned it off for her. She thanked him silently, touching her forehead to the cold metal of the blade.

Slowly at first, then smoothly, Toph slid the sword back into its sheath. It let out a quiet snk as it fit once more perfectly at her waist.

She didn't know how she felt about it, that she was carrying something that had killed-

No.

It was a tool.

She was the killer.

Toph dug her teeth into her bottom lip.

No. I saved lives. I saved people.

She rose from the rock and started walking away, fisting her hands at her sides. All she had to do was think about those she had saved, not- not him.

"Toph!" The younger boy shrieked her name and catapulted against her legs. She jumped, but realized who it was. "I thought I was gonna die!"

"S-Shibata," Toph stammered, then caught herself. "Of course you weren't. I was right there."

He squeezed his arms tighter around her thighs. "I know. But it was so scary!"

She smiled, albeit shakily, patting the top of his head. "It was, huh?"

"Thank you," he murmured. "Thank you for saving me."

Toph knew she wasn't okay, and didn't know if she ever really would be again.

But right there, right then, this little boy was thanking her.

And that would be enough to get her through today.