Boulders

Ijolite

Morning found Toph out in the sunlight. It had been about a week since she and Orochimaru had busted out, and thank the earth, her bending was back to normal.

Orochimaru's arms however...

Let's just say that there had been a halt on his usual life of experimenting. He couldn't wield a scalpel, couldn't throw a kunai, could hardly even get dressed in the morning.

Toph thought that if he hadn't been hurt, she would've left already. She hated feeling people in pain and anguish knowing she couldn't do anything to help them, and the Sannin's labs would've been a nest of them.

She shivered.

Kabuto stepped out besides her. "Good morning, miss Toph."

Honestly, he was like a butler or a servant. After hearing Orochimaru talk to her with a measure of respect, she had been promoted from 'Toph' to 'miss Toph',  and felt that it would only be a short time before she became 'lady'.

"Morning Kabuto. Where are you off to?" Toph stretched a little bit more into the ground.

"Back to Konoha. My cover there hasn't been blown yet, and it would be prudent to return before I am missed." He gave her a slight bow, then leaped into the trees. "I'll be back tonight!"

Konoha.

Sakura!

Toph sat bolt upright, raising a hand to call him back, but stopped herself. What was she supposed to do? Go back?

No. Those shinobi who attacked her had said that they weren't bound by any one man's word.

Toph reached a hand up her sleeve, feeling for the comforting reassurance of her bracelet, then froze.

Grinned.

Once Kabuto returned, she would need his literacy.

But before that...

She pinched a bit out of her meteorite bracelet and felt it in between her hands.

Sakura knew she had this. It was unmistakable, unique, and undeniably Toph's. No one could ever fake what she was about to do.

She set to work fashioning it into something Sakura would like, turning over words and phrases in her mind.

Hmm.

What would Sakura like? Something cute and girlish, probably. That way it could blend into the persona she had said she was planning on adopting.

Something cute....

Maybe some sort of flower?

▪▪▪

By the time weary feet announced Kabuto's reappearance, Toph had finished with the small charm, spent hours crafting a unique chain, and had decided exactly what she wanted to tell her student.

She leaped to her feet. "Kabuto!"

"Yes, Miss Toph?" He asked. Now that her Earthbending was better, she could feel in full detail as he pushed up his glasses.

"I need you to write something for me. And deliver it." She cocked her head. "Please and thank you."

He sighed quietly, then bowed. "Of course. I have some paper in the laboratory. Allow me to fetch it for you."

She sank back down into the grass. "Very well."

"Where will I be delivering it to?"

"A civilian house in Konoha," Toph tried to sound flippant. "To my student, Haruno Sakura. You will have to remain unseen."