(Gaara and Toph)

Chapter 4

Gaara's POV

I let my sand spill out of its gourd and surround me, ready should she pose a threat. “So, you are a shinobi. Why did attempt to conceal this?”

She scoffed, “I don’t know what a shinobi is, but yes, I’m an earthbender if that’s what you’re asking. It looks like you’re one, too, since you can control the sand.”

Earth…bender? “What is an ‘earthbender’?” I asked, “I can control the sand because I house Shukaku, the one-tailed beast.”

“An earthbender. As in. Able to bend the earth,” she said with annoyance, lifting first her left, then right arm, raising the sand with them. “Well, most earthbenders bend earth, not sand, but I taught myself both. I can also metalbend,” she said. My eyes widened as she shot metal rods out from her armor, though handling them with such fluidity they would be better named metal ropes. How was she doing this? I was monitoring her chakra network closely, and, once again, it hadn’t fluctuated at all, the way it should have if she had used a jutsu. Wait a minute, her chakra network didn’t extend into her eyes the way it should have... That would mean she shouldn’t be able to see. But then…how was she able to pinpoint my location so exactly? Yet, it was unmistakable… I paused and then asked, “By any chance…are you blind?” 

 “You didn’t catch on from the eyes?” she deadpanned. I was startled, she was right, I should have noticed. After spending so much time with the leaf shinobi, though, I’d become used to the strange eyes that accompanied their ocular jutsus. The grayness of her eyes reminded me of the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan. I hadn’t considered her strange eyes might just be from being blind since she was able to…see so well. I didn’t know many blind people, but though they’d all developed stronger senses to compensate for their lack of vision, all of them had been obviously blind. Her, on the other hand…if I hadn’t examined her chakra network, I would never have known she was blind.

“How are you able to sense your surroundings so well?” I asked.

“I use my bending to sense vibrations in the ground,” she explained. Interesting. Did that mean I would also be able to do that with my sand? It would be a useful skill to learn. 

“Are you a rogue-nin?” I asked, “If so, I cannot permit you to enter the village.”

“Rogue? What does that mean?” she asked.

“It means you deserted your village,” I said. I had stopped becoming surprised every time she asked a question even the youngest of children knows the answer to.

“Well, I left my hometown to travel with the Avatar,” she responded.

“What is ‘the Avatar’?” I asked. I suppose I had also stopped becoming surprised every time she used strange terms I had never heard of before. I was quickly becoming more and more suspicious that she really wasn't from around here.

“The Avatar is the master of all four elements: earth, fire, water, and air. Most benders can only use one,” she replied. She trailed off, finally unsure of herself, and finished quietly, “Look, I’m not in Republic City anymore, am I? There’s no way you wouldn’t know that.”

“No,” I answered, “you are not. I don't know where you're from, but now you're in the Land of WInd. Normally you would be taken to the Kazekage and he would determine your fate, but right now we don’t have one. You don’t seem like a threat, but you’ll have to face the council’s final decision,” I said, “Follow me.”

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Comments appreciated, don't be an invisible reader! Is this OOC? Minimal effort, just comment "OOC," or, "boring," or, or, something :C lol also each chapter has less reads -.-" 

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