The next day, Sakura was sweaty, dirty, and triumphant. She had hardly gotten any sleep, and had missed breakfast and dinner because she hadn't gone home, but she understood, now. She could feel the earth.

And with that, her lack of chakra was no issue.

The only problem was that she had no idea how to use it. She could Earthbend, now, but how did one do what Toph did?

Oh, well. Sakura knew that Toph would teach her now. She had moved the earth practically all night, and her euphoria had yet to fade.

Naruto came next, surprisingly, smelling of stale noodles and.... other, less pleasant things. He started when he saw Sakura, but she glared at him until he looked away.

Okay, so today was not her best day. Sometime during the night, Sakura had tied up her hair in a messy bun, her makup was missing, and her dress was absolutely covered in dirt.

But that didn't matter.

Sakura could Earthbend.

Sakura could Earthbend!

Would she finally be enough for Sasuke to reconise her and a acknowledge her hard work?

He was later then usual, something she was eternally indebted to Kami for. She was able to use the extra time to zip home, through the window, and back.

Dry shampoo was truly a woman's best friend.

Although, Sakura had been forced to leave the red dress she usually wore at home; it was simply too dirty and torn up to wear again, and, contrary to belief, she only had that one.

She had substituted with a blue cammie that had lain forgotten at the bottom of her top drawer, a white overshirt that she tied neatly to one side, and a paneled pink skirt over her usual half-leggings.

All in all, she felt like a lot less of a total mess when she got back, especially considering that Sasuke had arrived and was sitting on one of the tallest outcroppings that she had made, a slanted pillar of sandstone almost as tall as Kakashi-sensei.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called. "Guess what! I can Earthbend! I can do what Miss Toph does!"

Instead of gaining a more pleased aura to his usual broodiness, he seemed to darken. He folded his fingers and looked down on Sakura as if trying to convey..... displeasure?

Why would he be displeased?

Was it her outfit? Was she less aesthetically pleasing? Did he not like the way her hair was done? She probably looked like a mess and should go shower before-

Nope. Too late. Kakashi-sensei came strolling into their training ground, Toph at her now usual place at his side. Sakura watched as Kakashi-sensei's eye widened.

Miss Toph just grinned.

"Well, Sakura," he looked at her rather messy work. "It looks like you learned how to bend."

Toph shot her arm out around Sakura's shoulders, and she pulled her slightly away from the two boys. "I'm going to have to steal your cute little student away from you, Mr Hatake. Hope you don't miss her too much."

Kakashi almost waved them away. "I won't. We'll be working on chakra control, and Sakura has no need to work on that at all."

Sakura looked back at Sasuke. He looked very upset. Why? Did Naruto do something to upset him? No, probably not. If so, he'd be glaring at their other teammate, not her. So why-

It hit like a lightning strike.

Sasuke had wanted to learn Earthbending, but he didn't have Earth natured chakra. He wouldn't be able to learn under Toph.

And Sakura would.

She was.

Sasuke was.... he was....

Sasuke was jealous of her.

Sakura didn't know how she felt about that.

▪▪▪

"Why do I have to take off my shoes?" Sakura asked, plopping down on a rock to obey even as she obeyed.

The two girls were in a quiet training ground with a shallow river to her left, Sakura's right, some trees, and a large expanse of grass and dirt, marked with a few dandelions and the like.

Toph stretched and burrowed her feet into the dirt. "Haven't you ever wondered how I can see even though I'm blind?"

"Well-... yeah, kinda," Toph felt Sakura shift uncomfortably before standing.

With a deft motion, Toph pulled the slip of fabric she'd been carrying around out of her pocket. She tied it around her newest pupils eyes.

"I see with Earthbending," she explained, checking to be sure Sakura couldn't see. With her hands, Toph learned details that Earthbending did not show. Sakura had a slightly larger than average forehead, big eyes, and delicate features.

"I feel the vibrations in the ground and am able to 'see' pretty much everything from those ants over there to those ninja who think I can't sense them in those trees." Toph pulled the younger girl to her feet and guided her into a basic stance.

"You'll have to learn it too," Toph pulled up a pillar, then helped her mimic it. She was learning remarkably well, even if she was ridiculously old to start learning the basic stances.

Toph shook that thought off. The only person she had ever taught before was Aang, the Avatar, and he had been Sakura's age or younger. This was no time to be having second thoughts.

During their first hour, Sakura really struggled. She had obviously been up all night, and she was having a hard time learning the forms with no vision. After the first several times Toph had had to chop her on the head to make her quit instinctively using her chakra, she had stopped. Now, though, she was back at it.

Toph stepped back and stomped a stop. "That's enough. Take a break."

Sakura pulled off the sweaty blindfold and bowed in her direction. "Thank you, Toph-sensei. I apologise."

"For what?" Toph pulled at the earth, and it spat out two lunch boxes. One for her, one for her new little student. "Everyone is horrid at Earthbending at first. Except me. Even Aang. You'll get it."

Sakura breathed deeply before coming over to Toph and accepting the bento the ground had been keeping cool. "I'm just no good at anything. I feel so useless sometimes."

Although she would never admit it, Toph knew just how the girl felt. Useless in the air, in the dark all the time.

Maybe you should stay back this time, Toph.

"You're not useless," Toph hissed brusquely. "Or, at least, you won't be useless once we're done. From what I've heard, you ninja people rely on your chakra for everything. Earthbending does not require chakra. That means that you'll have an edge."

There was a long pause, then, startled by the amount of kindness in her voice, Toph finished off her speech. "You'll get there."

Sakura seemed like a pretty bright girl. She saw the truth in a second and bowed her head in acknowledgement.  "You're right."

There was a slight pause, then Toph heard the slight whack of Sakura retying the blindfold. "I will get strong enough for Sauske to see me as an equal. I won't be a burden to him."

"That's the spirit," Toph held out the lunchbox in her direction. "Now, eat up. You'll need your strength."

The words sounded ominous even to her, but Sakura only grunted in agreement. "Yes, Toph-sensei!"

▪▪▪

"You seem to be adjusting well," Shikaku remarked, taking one of her Gold Generals. They had ditched the ostentatious set in favor of pieces that looked more similar to ordinary Shogi tiles, only they were weighted differently and had raised kanji.

Toph responded by putting him in check. "I was always planning on teaching. I just thought that I would be in the Earth Kingdom when I took on students."

It had been a whole week. Not very long, but it had felt like an eternity. Sakura was improving rapidly, almost as fast as Aang, though she still couldn't sense the vibrations of anything but the largest, most heavy rocks.

Lazybones Senior smoothly swiped his king from her reach, leaving her free to attack and take his own Gold General. He retaliated after a short pause. This was, by far, their longest game ever. It was clocking in at almost two and a half hours.

There was the noise of the slider door, then Lazybones Junior stepped off the porch and onto the ground.

He sauntered over, yawning, then flopped down on Toph's left. "Who's winning?"

Toph felt the unholy trap Shikaku had lured her into and scowled. "Take a guess."

There was a brief silence, then he let out a long, slow whistle. "He broke that out for you, huh."

"Apparently," Toph tried her best to salvage, taking a lance, but Shikaku had devastated her plans and pieces. She grimaced.

"Have you met up with the Hokage again?" Shikaku asked, moving for her king. Toph tapped the ground, then sighed, surrendering.

"Nope. And frankly, I don't want to. I have never met anyone who smelled as horrid as he does." She helped gather the pieces up. "I will get you one day, old man."

She felt his amusement. "We'll see."

"What do you mean by him stinking? It's just smoke, right? And even in group reports Inuzuka haven't been all to bothered by it." Shikamaru remarked, idly. "It's a drag, yes, but you seem to abhorr him."

"Oooo, fancy vocabulary." Toph snorted, then stretched. "I'm blind, see."

"No offense, Toph, but that's kind of obvious," Lazybones Junior began to help his dad set up again.

"I've heard such before," she kept a straight face for a second, then cracked up. "It means that my other senses are extremely sharp. And it smells like that Hokage dude bathed in blood. It clings to him like shogi skills to your dad."

There was a slight pause as Shikamaru tried to decipher what she meant. "So he smells like blood as much as my dad is good at Shogi?"

"Exactly. Does that make sense? I'm usually not the person making comparisons. That's Sugar Queen's job, not mine." Toph waved a hand as Shikaku offered the first move to her. "Play with your kid for a while. I've got to head."

"I'll take you," Shikamaru stood. "I have stuff I want to ask you, even if it's a drag."

Toph thumped the ground and it almost catapulted her to her feet. The two Naras flinched but didn't remark on it. The teens began walking away from the forlorn elder with no partner.

Toph felt him sigh, then put away the set. She snickered, then placed her hands together behind her head as she walked. "What's up?"

"What've you been up to?" He asked, slouching.

"Well, seeing as I'm stuck here," Toph made a face. "I've been making the best of it. Mr Hatake isn't all that bad."

"You don't know what he reads," Shikamaru replied darkly.

"So?" Toph shot back. "Would it make any difference?"

"A huge one." He paused, then just came out with it. "It's porn."

"What's that?"

"You cannot be serious," Shikamaru turned and she felt his eyes roam her face. "You don't know-..."

"Um, no." Toph felt around her, sensing the trees, the rocks, and that Lazybones Junior had faltered. "Sheltered upbringing, blind, helpless, remember?"

He snorted at that. "You are anything but helpless."

That was.... obscenely flattering. She felt her cheeks heat in pleasure but pretended nothing was happening.

"So? Care to explain?" She tried to change the subject.

"Umm," Shikamaru faltered in his step again. "Well. How do I put this? You know how people make babies, right?"

"Oh?" His embarrassment was so amusing.

It was less amusing when he explained it more.

"Huh." She tried to push down her embarrassment and keep a cool face. "So that's what he's always reading. I don't think I needed to know that."

"You should be aware." Oma and Shu, even his voice sounded like it was blushing. "I think you deserve to know why people stare and whisper when he takes you out after training."

Toph slapped her cheeks. How to hastily change the subject? "Speaking of training, I've been teaching Sakura."

He stopped dead. "You can teach what you do?"

"Only to certain people." Toph waved a hand. "She's so eager to become strong. I don't have the heart to tell her it's taken me years to get where I am."

"So it's not a kekkei genkai," he muttered. "What makes Sakura so special?"

"She's pretty determined, and she has the gift. Mr Hatake said something about Earth natured and chakra, but you don't use chakra while Earthbending; you use chi. I suspect that her gift influenced her chakra and any blow ups she's had have been passed over because she's a 'ninja'."

"Thats-... actually a pretty good theory," Shikamaru remarked. They left the quiet forest lanes of the Nara compound and merged into the throngs of people in the outskirts of the city. "So she's an Earthbender, too?"

"Yep. She'll get to where she wants to be as long as she sticks with it."

Toph felt him shiver. "She's stuck with an obsessive crush on a single boy for years. If she wants something, she'll hold on like a rabid dog."

"Good." Toph felt some pest try to pickpocket someone up ahead. Shikamaru stiffened but didn't do anything so she kicked the ground lightly. As he turned to make his exit he tripped, one foot wedged firmly into the ground, stolen wallet held in the air.

As the victim reclaimed their property, Toph turned and cocked her head in Shikamaru's direction. "Aren't you supposed to do something about that sort of thing?"

He shrugged as they moved on. "Probably."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Why did you?"

Toph considered the best way to answer that. "I was here, dummy."

"If someone can't be bothered to keep track of their stuff, they don't need it." Shikamaru remarked. "It's their problem, not mine. It would have been too much of a drag to do anything."

Toph snorted. "Really?"

Was that the truth, or was it because he had wanted to see what she would do? Did he have an ulterior motive?

He shrugged again. "Where does Mr Hatake live again?"

"You came without even knowing that?"

He shrugged. "It would be too much trouble-"

"Oma and Shu," Toph grabbed his arm and started towing him in a different direction. "Here's a tip: if you're ever going to court a girl, know where she's staying so you can walk her home without looking like an idiot."

She heard his sigh. "Sorry. I suppose I'll know for next time."

"Next time?" Toph asked, her fingers loosening. "What's that mean?"

He shrugged again, then sped up the slightest bit so he could walk by her side. "Exactly what it sounds."

Well. If that wasn't something that sent a warm, fuzzy, buzz all the way down to her toes....

"Hurry up," she barked, trying to hide the heat in her face.

Unbeknownst to her, Shikamaru shot her a soft smile.