I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Naruto. If I did, Boruto would not exist.

▪▪▪

Sakura watched as Kakashi-sensei and Miss Toph sat across from each other, playing shogi as they studiously ignored the three genin tied together.

Naruto pulled at the ropes and tried to get the group to move more to the left as they attempted the obstacle course for the 26th time. Sasuke snorted, somehow managing to look hot despite the fact he was sweaty and covered in dirt, just like Naruto-...

And herself. Oh Kami, did she forget her deodorant?

Toph let out a loud sigh. "I surrender."

Kakashi-sensei gave an eyesmile, and they began to set the board up again. "Sakura, you'll never get anywhere just staring. Try to make more of an effort."

Sakura flushed as Toph raised her head, her grey eyes seeming to stare right into her soul.

She had gone to bed late because she had been trying to make something happen to the stupid rock. She had had to drag herself out of bed, and the rock simply maintained its smug little shape.

Sakura would've sworn it was laughing at her.

As they charged the stupid obstacle course again, Sakura could almost hear the stupid chuckle their Sensei let out.

▪▪▪

"Gosh, Sakura! Can't you jump higher? We're never gonna be able to get over this stupid wall if you don't." Naruto said loudly.

Right. In front. Of. Sasuke.

"Shut it, dummy!" Sakura spat back. "I'm trying!"

She was, too. She was sweating all over, her feet were covered in Mus, and she had various scrapes and scratches on her arms and legs.

Somehow, she was the only one who seemed to be hurt. Sasuke, though slightly dusty, didn't have a mark on his skin. Naruto too.

(She wouldn't know that his injuries were healed in seconds because if his status as jinchuriki.)

"That was rather disappointing," Kakashi-sensei had appeared behind them, using a kunai to slice them free. Toph was there too, stretching.

Sakura hadn't seen anymore Earthbending from her since the huge display as she fought Sasuke.

Would I really be able to do that too?

Sakura rubbed a spot where the rope had been particular unforgiving. Toph moved closer, ignoring the boys as she spoke to Sakura.

"Have you made any progress?"

Although it felt like she was betraying the older girls expectations, she hunched up and shook her head.

"She can't see you," Naruto stage-whispered. "She said no, Miss Toph."

"I see." Ignoring the irony of that statement, Toph turned away and walked off.

"And here I was thinking that you all would be able to complete the course in one day. Maa, no matter. Training tomorrow at seven. Don't be late." Kakashi-sensei strolled off after the blind girl. They turned a corner and were gone.

Sasuke blew a sweaty tuft of hair off of his forehead. "You should just give up on the earth thing. You can't do it."

Sakura's jaw dropped.

Sasuke really thought that?!

That she wasn't enough? That she couldn't do it? That she couldn't do anything?!

Sakura stiffened. The two boys had already moved on, leaving her standing there looking after where Toph had gone. The prickle of tears stung at her eyes.

She wasn't good enough for Sasuke.

▪▪▪

Kakashi was looking at her. Toph could feel his annoying stare drilling into her.

"What?" She snapped.

"I'm not very much of a teacher, but even I agree that you can't teach someone by leaving them to figure things like that by themselves," Kakashi remarked in his annoyingly chipper voice. "You've got to actually teach your cute kiddies."

Toph sniffed. The city was almost overwhelming with its huge amount of smells and noises. People moved and laughed and talked and lived, and it was exhilarating.

She did notice how people were avoiding her and Kakashi, giving them a rather wide berth.

What was that all about?

Toph stretched and kept walking with her hands folded behind her head. What had he asked about?

"Earthbending is innate. Either she has it or she doesn't, simple. And if she does, she'll figure it out. Besides, it's not like you do any better. You give Broody Boy all the attention and pretty much ignore her and Sunshine. Besides, she'll get it. She's pretty smart."

"That's her strength. She's a paper-nin." Kakashi sighed. "Better in a classroom than on a battlefield."

"Don't look down on her because she has different strengths," Toph reprimanded. "Flowers is good at what she does. You said that she didn't have that much chakra, right? Well, Earthbending doesn't need chakra. Sounds like a perfect fit."

"What made you decide to give her a chance?" Kakashi asked. "You seemed pretty dead set against it earlier."

"Well." There was really no way to go about this gently. Be the rock. "Seeing as I'm stuck here for the foreseeable future, I might as well continue on with my life. I was already planning on taking on students; teaching is the only thing I'm really good at doing. Teaching here shouldn't be all that different from teaching..... at home."

"Maa, Toph. You'll be good at teaching. If you learn to actually show your students how to do what you're trying to teach them.

Toph felt his hand on her head and hid her smile.

▪▪▪

Ino's laugh was long, loud, and full of mirth. "Is that seriously what you've been trying to keep secret? That you got totally destroyed by a girl?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome woman."

They had finished with training for the day and had been about to head home when Asuma-sensei sprung exactly what he had discovered had happened in the Hokage tower.

All. Of. It.

"Apparently, that's not even the best part," Asuma-sensei said with a sadistic grin. "She wasn't a ninja."

There was a short pause. "Like, at all?"

Choji crunched his chips and squinted at his best friend. "I'm with Ino on this one. How did you, Shikamaru Nara, get defeated by a civilian?"

He groaned. "She wasn't a normal civilian. She had combat training. And she could do stuff to the ground."

"She was blind, too," Asuma-sensei remarked idly.

There was a stunned silence. Shikamaru eloquently closed his eyes.

"You got taken down by a blind civilian girl." Ino summarized. "Seriously?!"

"You've never met her," Shikamaru tried. "Or fought her. There's like, no way-"

He stopped. Ino was to busy actually rolling on the ground laughing to listen.

"To be fair, she did engage three clan heads simultaneously," their teacher took a long drag on his ever present cigarette. "Had the better of them for a few seconds, too."

"Who took her down?" Ino wiped a tear of mirth from the corner of her eye.

"That was actually your father," Asuma-sensei replied. "She couldn't see, so she thought he was down when his body hit the floor. Too bad for her his soul-transfer jutsu was already in motion."

Ino frowned. "Tou-chan hasn't been feeling all that well lately. Is that why?"

Shikamaru shot her a quick glance. "He didn't look all that good afterwards."

"Yeah, I'm sure Shikamaru had a good view from the side of the wall," their teacher said with a slight snort. "Whelp, she's in Kakashi's 'gentle care', now. She won't be causing any trouble."

There was an especially loud crunch, than Choji spoke up. "Is she pretty short, with black hair and bangs?"

Shikamaru blinked. "Yeah, actually. You've seen her?"

"Tou-san took me along with him on an errand, and she was with Kakashi Hatake. He was having her hold some stuff for him while he shopped."

Ino narrowed in on him like a snake. "Did you overhear anything? Is there anything that stuck out to you about her?"

Choji shrugged. "She didn't seem like she was blind at all; I only made the connection when you talked about Hatake. She moved like she could see."

That sounded like Toph. Shikamaru stretched. "I should probably be heading. See you later."

"Hey!" Ino shouted after him. "If you run into her again, I want to meet her!"

Shikamaru waved her off. "Sure. If it's not too much of a drag."

He did not mention that she would likely stop by his house to play his dad. That was odd in and of itself. The only beginner he had ever seen his dad play repeatedly was himself. And yet, he and Toph would play game after game together.

Was she really someone able to keep his attention for so long?

"Promise me, idiot!" Ino shouted.

He chose to ignore her as he continued on his way, his brain spinning in hundreds of different directions.

Oh, well. Maybe the weather will hold and I can go cloud-watching later.

▪▪▪

Sakura marched back home, swiping angrily at the tears that fell freely, now. She had given up everything for him. She had ended her friendship with Ino, grown out her hair, dieted and fasted and gone through so much pain-

And she wasn't good enough.

Her mom was in the kitchen, but Sakura didn't stop to tell her she was home. She headed right up to her room and threw herself down on her bed.

The unstoppable tears gave way to total and utter rage.

She was good enough.

If the only way Sasuke would see it was by her blatantly rubbing it in his face, she would.

Sakura abruptly sat up and snatched the smug little rock up from where she had left it on her desk earlier. She grasped it as hard as she could and actually leaned in to talk to it.

"Listen here, you little rock. Toph won't take me as a student until I do something with you. So work with me, Kami!"

The rock didn't move.

It didn't soften. It didn't crumble.

Sakura felt her anger dissipating. She really was useless, wasn't she?

She hurled the stone onto her floor where it promptly dissolved into dirt.

Dirt.

She'd been holding a solid rock two seconds ago.

Sakura prodded the dirt with her house slipper, then darted from her room, down the stairs and hall, stopping only to slip on her blue sandals.

"Sakura! Is that you?" Her mom asked from the kitchen.

"I've got to go, Kaa-chan! I think I've figured something out!" Sakura was out the door and down the street in seconds, running as fast as she could and trying to go faster.

She arrived at the abandoned training ground by where Toph had been sitting and threw herself down. Sakura buried her fingers in the dirt, gasping, and willed it to move.

Nothing happened. The rock liked where it lay, and it didn't listen. She wasn't doing it right, wasn't strong enough to force it to do what she wanted.

Sakura tried again, and this time, she didn't take no for an answer.

She pulled up, using her whole body, not just her fingers, and the ground rose with the motions.

She stopped, darting backwards in shock.

She had done it!

Sakura was an Earthbender!

▪▪▪

In a dark corner of a dim room, an older man swathed in bandages spoke to one who smelled of blood.

"She arrived here out of nowhere, and she's incredibly powerful. If what Inoichi-sama says is true, she's not from around here. No one will know she's gone."

The words were like a poisonous snake, creeping and spewing toxins.

"I would prefer to stay on friendly terms with Miss Bei Fong. She's had good upbringing, and her unexpected strength could be a welcome addition to our villages forces."

"Could." The other spat. "You saw how she destroyed your office. It's a risk you shouldn't take. Give her to me. I'll make sure she doesn't get into trouble. She could be taught to be a ninja even with her... late start."

There was a pause as the second considered. "You have good results, but I have to decline. She's the age that most graduate. I don't think that she'll be able to start learning the most basic things now. Besides, her chakra is likely set."

There was a hiss of agreement. "This is true. You should still let me have her, Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen shook his head. "No. You will leave her be. For now."

Danzo let out a sigh. "Very well."

"You may put agents on her if you wish to observe her. So long as neither she nor Hatake-san notice them."

Danzo bowed his head in acknowledgement. Then he swept from the chambers.

This girl.

She could be the key to what he sought.

Behind him, a pale, ephemeral spirit misted into existence. She looked at the heavily bandaged man and leaned close to his ear. When she spoke, her voice was that of an old woman's.

"Your time will be soon," she hissed. "Vengeance will be theirs."

He didn't seem to hear her as she faded from existance, her blood red eyes glinting and the tomoes in them spinning wildly.

"I have to deal with a pest now.

"Stupid Avatar."