Boulders

Quartz

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Naruto. Wish I did though.

There was somebody out there.

Toph could feel it. And yet, their footsteps were light, they hardly struck the ground as they walked.

And they were at the edge of her range.

Toph growled under her breath and waited, for them to come to her, for her friends to find her, for anything-

Just not being alone.

She felt him -yes, it was a he, she could tell- draw closer, until he was at the edge of the clearing she was in, then he paused.

"The Nara forest is not a playground, kid," he said in an almost scolding tone.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tophs' tone all but dripped with sarcasm. "I'll try to control where I land, next time."

"Who are you, anyway?" He asked. "You don't look like a village kid, and no shinobi-in-training would be stupid enough to come in here alone, with no Nara guide."

Toph felt him step forward, so she moved slightly back. Though it galled her to use Twinkle Toes tactics, there was something so off about that man that she didn't even want to get near him.

"Hey," he called. "You're going to need to leave. Either you scram on your own, or I take you, and that's not going to be a very nice conversation with your parents."

"Um, yeah. Thanks, but no. My parents taught me never to go anywhere with strangers, and you're by far the most suspicious thing I've seen all day." Toph turned to face him.

She felt him stiffen from five yards away. "You're blind."

No snap, Sherlock.

Toph pushed the sarcastic voice inside of her down. "Could you point me the direction of the Avatar, please? We got separated and I'm not even sure where here is."

He came much closer, and suddenly his hand was on her head before she could back away.

Toph batted him off. "I'm not some helpless little kid. I just want to know the direction of the-"

He was trying to pick her up.

Nope.

Toph pulled back, forcing the rock out of its place in the ground and between them, like a shield.

She felt him move back, startled, and sink into a fighting position. Good. It seemed he was starting to take her seriously.

Toph turned and left, leaving him behind. Yes, it was fun and all, but she really had to be finding Aang. Those idiots needed her, especially if they were facing a spirit that zapped people weird places.

The faint signal behind her vanished.

Toph spun back around, hands up as she moved into a form. "Where'd you go?"

"I'm right here," his voice breathed from behind her, and then something hit her in the back of the neck and Toph knew no more.

▪▪▪

Shikaku opened the door to his home and sighed. This was such a pain.

He set the small girl down on the couch and sighed.

What was that?

She had pulled the earth up with no handsigns or even using chakra! In fact, her chakra coil was as underdeveloped as any normal civilian. He was no expert, but even he could see it in all of its non-ninja glory. What was Shikaku supposed to do in this situation?