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Toph would then hear the words of the cook and know that she was about half way to her goal of scoring a free meal. Toph had hear many people talk in her years and she knew when she hear the simpothy within a voice of someone. Toph did not want to blow the chances of getting a mean by telling him who she really was and risk getting taken back to her parents in Hidden Cloud. Toph would only take a second to respond to his request for her name, "My name is Toph Fong. I am willing to work to pay for the meal, sir." A slight smile would start to form across her face.


As the cook would hear Toph's responce to his request for her name, a number of different thought would instantly start to fill his head about just what exactly he might be able to allow her to do in order to pay him back for the food that he had all but completely made up his mind about giving the little girl. The cook would then slightly shake his head before clearing his thoat and saying, "Well Toph. See the thing is that there is not anything that I will need help with..." He sightly paused before continueing, "Other than empting this bowl of romen right her."


As the smile that was forming across Toph's face would continue to grown until a point that it would streach from ear to ear. Toph would then slightly nod her head as an acknowledgement of his statement while at the same time saying, "You are much to kind my good, sir." Toph would carefully make her way across the kitchen towards the cook and slow reach up with her left hand to grab the steaming hot bowl of romen that the cook had prepaired her while she was walking towards him. As Toph's hand gripped the bowl she would then go on to say, "Your kindness will be repaid still."


The cook would then slightly change his facial expression as he would begin to let go of the bowl of romen. The cook would then struggle to say, "Forgive me in asking, Toph. I am not really sure what you are planning on doing to repay this action." As the finially word would exit his mouth, the boat would slightly shift from left to right as it passed over a wave. The shifting was heard by Toph as the dishs that had been pilled high in the sink would move and then ring out as they would connect with each other. Toph would instantly rotate her head towards them.


Toph would then draw in a quick breath as she rotated her head around once agian to look at the cook and say, "I am able to wash the dishs, my friend. I would only ask that you let me eat first so that my rumbling stomach would not cause me to drop any of them." The cook would at first drawn in a breath of his own while nodding his head to acknowledge the request. It would only take a second for him to remember that she was blind and would not understand that he accepted the request unless he was going to voice it for her to hear. The cook would then say, "Very well."


Toph would then slowly make her way over towards a table that was in the kitchen and find the stool and sit upon it. Toph would then quickly begin to devalour the meal in only a few quick spoon fulls of food. Toph was eating as if she had not seen food in weeks. Once the bowl was completely empty Toph would then quietly stand up and begin making her way towards the large sink of dirty dishs that needed to be cleaned. Toph would not take long to fix the water and begin working her way through the pots, pans, bowls, and plates that had completely filled the sink.


As Toph would patiently and quietly work her way through the different pots, pans, bowls, and plates that her hands would pull from the sink full of them that was covered in soapy water. Toph went about scrubbing each and every one with the most delignate of care to ensure that she would not leave the cook with anything that would need to be re-washed following the work that she was preforming. As about an hour would pass while she worked on the dishs, the boat would continue to make its way through a number of different waterways while heading towards Hidden Leaf.


As the finial dish was scrubbed and then put away to allow it to dry, Toph would then look over in the direction that the cook was working and say, "I am sure that clean up tonight will be much easier now, my friend." Toph would smile to once agian fill her face as the finial word left her mouth.

The cook would then turn as he would hear the vociallation of the completion of the task that she had set out to complete only a little while before. The cook would then allow his eyes to jump from stack of washed items to another stack of washed items as a smile would form across his face while beginning to nod his head while then saying, "Thank you, Toph. And you are correct in the fact that dinner clean up will be much easier tonight." Toph would then slowly begin to make her way across the kitchen while heading back to the door that lead to the dinning room.


As Toph would reach the door she would then be brought to a complete stop as she would then once agian hear the voice of the cook begin to speak up, "You know I have heard stories that a young blind girl of a really rich family in Hidden Cloud had ran away recently." The cook would then pause for a second to draw in a breath before continueing, "I have even heard that they are offering a high reward for the safe return of this little girl." Toph would feel her facial expression begin to change as she was shooked by the words the cook was using to tell his story.


The cook would then allow his face to and voice to soften slightly as he would then say to her, "However I am sure that there is another blind girl that might be who they are looking for my young friend." Toph would then finially allow the breath that had filled her lungs and remained there until she would hear the finial words that the cook would say. Toph would then slightly look over her left shoulder as she would then mutter, "Thank you once agian my good, sir. I am sure that if the boat happens to return to Hidden cloud that you will tell them their little girl is safe."


As the words of Toph would quickly bring forth a reply from the cook of, "I just might pass that along to them when we return to Hidden Cloud after a few more stops." Toph would then once agian alow a smile to form across her face as she would then turn her head back around straight and then push her way through the door and head out into the empty dinning room once agian. Toph would not linger as she crossed he room and exited the doors that lead back into the hallway. Toph made sure to pull the door shut behind her and turned to the right and head back towards the stairs.


Toph's mind would now begin to wonder who else in the crew might have seen the posters around Hidden Cloud that offered up the reward for the return of the young princess. Toph would be careful as she would make her way down the hallway to avoid running into anyone at all so that none of them would be offered a chance to return the girl to her parents. Reaching the stairway in only about half the time it took her to get to the dinning room doors, Toph would quickly but carefully make her way down the stairs to the animal and cargo area in the bottum of the boat.


As Toph reached the bottum stair the boat would once agian be greeted by a huge wave that was moving left to right, while most the waves were moving from front to back. Toph would quickly be sent airborn once agian as the stairs would leave her feet. Toph would instantly tighten her grip on the handrail with her left hand in hopes of not being sent flying into an unfriendly caged animal that was being moved about the lands of Shinobi by some rich ninja. Toph was able to hold on to the handrail for a good three seconds, but this grip was not long enough.


As Toph would be sent flying through the air, she would instantly reach by balling herself up slightly to limit the number of injuries that might be brought to the flying girl. As Toph would slame hard into the outer wall of the ship she would not managed to hang onto her breath as much as she had hoped. Toph know that she would loose some of her breath but did not count on loosing as much as would have been driven from her lungs with such a lucky blow delieved by the wall of the ship. Toph would somewhat slide down the wall and land at the bottum with her back to it.


Toph would remain there for a second as she would begin to hear a number of different animals that start to cry out from the fear that was driven into them because of the trip across the storm tossed sea while heading towards Hidden Leaf. Toph would finially manage to catch her breath as she would then be greeted by a little puppy that had managed to get free of its cage and make its way across the storm tossed deck to her location. Toph had her attention brought to the puppy as it would begin to calmly and playfully lick at the face of the blind little girl.


Toph would actually be caught of guard by the puppy and would instantly bring her hands up and knock the puppy away from her face before she would realize that it was a small little puppy. Toph would barely manage to stop herself from knocking the puppy across the deck as the boat would then make its way across a few more waves. The puppy would then quickly run for cover as the boat would begin to make its way across the waves. Toph was not able to keep track of where the puppy had went since there was just to much going on this far down in the ship that was get thrown around.


Toph would then slowly lean her head back and rest it up agianst the wall for a few hours, Toph was taking the time to safely rest while hidden from the crew and any other passengers that might know who she was truely. Toph would only be woken from the sleep as the ship had accually entered into the port of Hidden Leaf and the crew would begin heading down into the bottum of the boat while prepairing the cargo that would need to be off loaded once they had been safely tied off on the dock. Toph would then raise to her feet and make her way towards the stairway.

As Toph reached the main deck of the ship she would then be greeted by a gental breeze that was blowing from left to right. Even though Toph was hiding her face she could tell that it was cool breeze that would have brought refreshment to a tired soul after a long day of training in the hot sun. Toph would then waste little time as she would carefully and causously make her way across the deck with a combination of swaying hands and feet movement that would prevent her from running into an unwanted object that was between herself and the side of the boat.


Toph would then quickly make her way down the plank that streached out from the main deck to the large wooden dock that extended deep into the port that was not far from Hidden Leaf. Toph was well rested and ready to try and find one of the sensei that might be willing to take on another student. Toph would carefully, causously, and as quickly as she could travel down the wooden docks while attempting to reach the solid shores of this great Shinobi nation. As Toph would finially reach the end of the dock she knew that she was now safe from anyone that might try to send her back.


Toph would head off along a path that was mostly like to safely lead her towards the wall that surrounded and protected the great Shinobi village of Hidden Leaf. Toph was able to see the path by using her passive technique of Seismic Sense that allowed her to feel the slightest vibration in the earth. Using these vibrations Toph was able to clearly picture the earth around her in her head clear as if seeing them with her own eyes. The only down side to the whole thing is that if something was not in contact with the ground she could not see it in her minds picture.


As Toph would travel she would now constancely start to casually sway her hands infront of her face so that she would not had the misfortion of running into a flying object face first. Toph did not take long to make her way to the great wall that surrounded the city, Toph was slight caught off guard with a sense of awe while the pitch of the village would fill her mind. Toph would only pause for a second to take in the view while at the same time searching for a path into the city. Once the gate was located Toph would quickly head towards the gate and enter the city.

As Toph entered the village from the southern side of Hidden Leaf, it would not take Toph every long to make her way into a busy street while heading towards the market to start her search for a teacher. As Toph slowly weeved her way through the crowded steet with the cloak still pulled up to consile her face from the crowd. Suddenly from the backside Toph would then get a gental knock that would send her falling foward towards the dusty narrow streets on the ground and then was quick appoligy from the man that would accidently knock her down towards the ground.


To avoid risking and damage to herself, Toph would quickly roll her body fowards and tucking her head and legs slightly to allow her to roll through the blow and end up in a croached position. Toph would instantly shoot herself back up to her feet and drop her hands to her side before then quickly dusting the dirt from her clothing and then say, "It is okay." Toph would slightly turn her head over her left shoulder as she was talking to allow the man to hear her a little better. Toph would then take another long second breath to say, "Would you mind helping me out a little here."


Toph would then pause as she would wait to see if the man was actually paying attention to her or had moved on to another task. Toph realized that she had managed to get his undivided attention as she had begun to speak and would then continue with, "I am looking for someone to teach me a few techniques." Toph would then slowly start to turn herself around to face Lyon directly as she would slowly hilt her head foward to look at the ground while hiding her pale green eyes that would be a dead give away about her. Toph did not want the man to turn her down because of it.

As Toph would listen to Lyon talk for a second she would allow a slight smile to start to form across her face. Toph would listen as he talked about her meeting him somewhere and handing her a map. As Toph reached out and took the outstreached map she would not give him a hint as to the fact that she might just have a small problem reading the map. As Toph would reach with her other hand to grab at his wrist she would only find air as her hand closed. Toph would then slightly look at the sky and then slowly mutter, "This is just a little jacked up, you think!"


As Toph would stand there for a second another passing Shinobi would notice the helpless girl just kinda standing there on the street with a scroll in one hand while the second would be outstreached and gripping nothing but air. The man would walk over to her and then ask, "Is there something that I might be able to help you with?" Toph would then slightly chuckle under her breath before then quickly gathering herself and then saying, "Do you think that you might be able to look at this." Upon saying this Toph would then hold up the map she was given only a second ago.


Toph would then wait until she would then feel a slight tug on the other end of the paper before she would then go on to say, "Then you might be a kind soul and tell me where it is located." The man would then examen the map for a quick second and then say, "Oh I know where this is. It is the training field that is just outside of the wall. It is not far from the waterfall." Toph would then kindly thank the man for his help as she would then take the map and quickly roll it up and place it in her pocket. Toph would then start to head back out of the city walls towards the waterfall.


It would not take Toph long to get out of the crowded streets of Hidden Leaf's market. As Toph made her way out of the wall that surrounded the village the noice that covered up most of the natural sounds that filled the air of these great lands. Toph would focus her mind as she would carefully listen for the falling sound of the water as it would leap from the cliff and then fall a little before smashing themselves on the rocks below. Toph would enter the training field she would then hold out the map and say, "You could have waited a second, since that would have made your wait less."

As Toph would stand there holding the map in her hand while hearing Lyon jump down from the branch in the tree where he was resting. Toph would then open her hand and then drop the map to the ground and then she would reach up with both her hands to remove the hood of the cloak that covered her head completely. As the sun would greet her face that was pointing generally towards the ground for a second. As the sun and the breeze meet Toph's face she would then finially raise her head to look towards Lyon and allow him to see her glassed over pale green eyes.


Toph's mind would slowly start to race as this would be the first time that she had actually been allowed to spar with another Shinobi. If her parents were here right now they would be a pawled by someone letting her fight with another. Toph would then quickly throw this thought from her mind as she would then quickly shake her head side to side twice before then starting to form a plan of action to take. It would only take Toph a quick passing second to come up with a plan of action that just might allow her to maybe get a jump on her sparring partener and catch him slightly of guard.


Toph would then listen to the words of Lyon as he would then increase the distance between the two and patiently wait for her next move. Toph could tell that Lyon had moved back to a distance of about two meters because she listened to the change in his voice as he travelled. Toph would then nod and say, "If that is what you want." Toph would then kneel down on her left leg as she would then tilt her head to the ground for a second before then quickly rushing fowards to close the gap before she would then leap up from the low profile and attempt to kick his square in the face.

((Body Flicker Skill and Dynamic Entry))

As Toph quickly closed the distance between the two before then pushing off the ground and shooting herself up into the air while kicking as had as she can towards his face. As Lyon would blink it would leave him no time to react to the speed at which she covered the gap. Toph's kick would only be slowed as her foot would connect with his face while at the same time he would then attempt to grab at her leg. Because of the quickness of the attack she launched, he would not manage to grab anything other than air while being surely being knocked of blance slightly if not to the ground completely.


As Lyon would then stuble slightly as he would move backwards and regain his balance, Toph would be coming back down towards the ground and land in a croaching position with her left hand on the ground while at the same time kneeling down. Toph would not have to wait long for a counter attack from Lyon due to the fact that once he managed to gain his balance and lean slightly foward to charge towards her. As Lyon increased he speed he would then manage to change up his attacks direction, by approaching her from behind while attempting to upper cut her with his elbow.


As Toph's ears carefully listened to the direction at with he was coming towards her. Toph would then mutter to herself, "Twinkle toes is light on his fast and light on his feet." As the finial word would leave her mouth Toph knows that she would not be able to avoid the attack because of the fact that he is able to out match her in speed. Toph would quickly duck her head as much as she could while he was approaching. Toph was able to make it so that she would miss about 70% of the effective force of the blow, it still would cause her to be knocked foward onto the ground before her.


Toph would barely managed to get her right hand down to a point that it would prevent her from slamming her face into the ground. Toph would actually manage to cause herself to roll towards the right as her body came towards the ground and looked up at Lyon from the ground. Toph would then say, "Just exactly how did you manage to move so fast just then?" Toph's facial expression was that of confussion more than anything else. Toph was use to the pain of getting hit on different parts of her body since she was blind all of her life she has ran into many different objects over that time.


((I am about to get off since it is late here. I figured I would make it so that you can move on if you need to.))

After entering another training area Toph would then begin her self traininf agian. Another swing of the Toph's two blades and the training target was nothing more than a pile of sawdust. Spinning her blades in her hands in a rather showy fashion, she then sheathed the two expertly crafted katanas at her sides. With the same showy manner, she tossed the blade held in her mouth up into the air, then shifted for the blade to slide smoothly into the saya on her back. After a deep breath, she turned to look at her work, a smirk on her face. "I think I might feel sorry for the poor bastards in charge of keeping up the training grounds."

4th: Wound Gate: Post 3 of 12.5

It was definitely understandable, as the entire training ground was barren of anything besides the trees. Stones were turned into near dust, and wooden targets turned to a similar fashion. The only thing that wasn't in a powdered state was the single metal target that Toph had specially set up to improve her training. It was dented and misshapen, but not a single clean cut through the target. This had the unfortunate effect of- "G**DAMMIT!!!" she screamed as she struck the ground so hard that it cracked beneath her fist "I've tried to cut that damn thing for a good six months now!"

4th: Wound Gate: Post 4 of 12.5

Several more ground shattering blows later, she finally decided to make her way from the training grounds. Her body was tired, tense and weary, yet somehow she didn't smell like she had just spent several straight hours training. She didn't care though, as she had no current reason to smell nice. It's not like she was planning on heading to a bar or whatnot to flirt with whomever she deemed fit. Instead, she was headed for the bath and hot springs, a good place to relax her muscles, clear her mind, and remove whatever amount of odor and sweat actually did cover her body.

4th: Wound Gate: Post 5 of 12.5

Luckily, the trip was relatively short, as the baths weren't more than a few minutes run from the training grounds where she had arived at shortly after leaving Lyon. Well, about seven minutes walking, but still not too long. Her trip was spent with a slight scowl on her face, her anger at her lack of ability to use a technique showing greatly. 'I can cleave a man in two, turn stones and wood into dust, but I can't cut a small bit of steel with a simple iado technique! This f***ing sucks!' Anyway, she arrived at the bath entrance at last, making haste as she entered the establishment.

4th: Wound Gate: Post 6 of 12.5

She had just barely entered the building, and hadn't even gotten out of view of the street when she began to peel clothes from her body. Luckily, nobody got a free show. The clothes were off in record time, and were put away in even less time. Her blades took a little longer though, as she had to ensure they would not be 'misplaced'. Luckily for Toph, she had a summoning scroll with another set of clothing in the pants she just pulled off, meaning no wearing dirty clothing to her house or whatnot. Toph made her way towards the currently empty bath, noticing the sign and the entire pile of towels, merely smirking as she passed by them.

4th: Wound Gate: Post 7 of 12.5

'Screw that, I don't have anything to hide.' She entered into the natural stone bath and submerged herself, rather gracelessly, into the water. The warming, soothing sensation hit her instantly as the water covered everything up to just past her large chest, obscuring everything worth seeing in the cloudy water. She sighed as her anger left her and she relaxed against the back of the bath, her head resting on the rocks as she let out a long sigh. "Damn this feels good..." she said in a rather sultry tone that expressed just how good she was currently feeling.

4th: Wound Gate: Post 8 of 12.5