It was night, and all was quiet in the house of Kurenai Yuhi, or so it would seem. Kurenai layed alseep in her bed completely unaware of the danger aproaching her. As the shadow crept closer to Kurenai's bedside, a kunai knife was drawn from it's pocket. The shadow raised the kunai and struck Kurenai in the heart, waking her.
Struggling it stay alive, she reached for the attackers clothes and dragged it into the moonlight of her window, Kurenai asked, "Who..who are...you?"
"Your death," said the shadow as it was brought into the light.
To Kurenai's surprise the person who had come to kill her was none other than her own student, Tatsu.

"NOOOOO!" Tatsu screamed as she woke from her dream.

Gasping for breath, Tatsu began to calm herself, "Just a dream."

Tatsu then saw outside it was morning, "Guess it's time I got up anyway."

Later that day she decided to take a walk around the Village, to try and take her mind off her dream. While she was walking she saw a man taking his little girl shopping.

"I want this one daddy!" said the little girl pointing to a dog stuffed animal, "Pleeeeeaaaaase!"

"Ok, ok," said the man, "Just let me get my money."

"Yay! Ooo and can we go have a pinic later with my new friend!" begged the little girl.

"Of course," said the man, "Today's you're birthday, so what ever you like."

"YAY! I love you Daddy!" said the little girl as she squeased the dog tightly.

"I love you too," said the man as they both walked away.

"It's too bad that not everyone's father is like him," thought Tatsu.

Suddenly Tatsu was sent collapsing to the floor, And felt another person on top of her.

"Menma! You've got to watch were you're going!" said the familiar voice of Naruto.

"Sorry guess a got a little excited is all," said the guy on top of her.

The guy then picked himself off and reached his hand for Tatsu, "I'm really sorry about that. Here let me help you up."

Tatsu turning herself around, turned to see who knocked her over. He had shoulder-length, blond hair and grey eyes. He also wore a lavender long-sleeved shirt with a green scarf along with dark pants and shoes.

"Aw crud!" said Naruto making Menma turn toward him in confusion, "Of all the people you had to run into, it had to be Tatsu."

"What do you mean?" asked Menma as Tatsu bat his hand away standing up.

"If I had wanted help I would have asked for it," said Tatsu walking away, "Next time you should watch where you're going."

"Geez, she's more threatning than usual" said Naruto.

"Is she ok?" asked Menma.

"Don't worry about it," said Naruto leaving the area as well with Menma, "You won't be the first person to hit Tatsu's enemy list."

"Tatsu!" called the familar voice of Yakumo, "Hey Tatsu wait up!"

Tatsu finally stopped, folding her arms, and waited for Yakumo to catch up to her, "What do you want, Yakumo?"

"The Hokage's summoned you and two others," explained Yakumo, "Kurenai sensai told me to find you and let you know."

"Two others?" asked Tatsu, "What for?"

"I don't know," answered Yakumo, "But I'm guessing it means you get to go on another mission."
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When Tatsu arrived in the Hokage's office, to her surprise, Tenten and Neji were waiting for her.

"Good you've arrived," said Lady Tsunade, "Now I'll explain you're mission. Naruto is making a venture to the land of rice patties with a boy named Menma."

"Menma?" asked Tenten.

"He was discovered unconsious near the border by Naruto," explained Lady Tsunade, "When he came to, Menma had no memory of who he was or where he came from. Naruto then gave him the name Menma. Naruto and Menma believe they may find some answers to Menma's past in the Land of Rice Patties. So you're mission is to accompany them. Also if it turns out that Menma is a spy, I want you three to protect Naruto as best you can."

"Why would he be a spy?" Tatsu asked.

"Menma's jutsu is similar to the Sound ninja that Shikamaru fought, Tayuya," explained Lady Tsunade.

"So you think he might be a spy for Orochimaru?" asked Neji.

"It's possible," admitted Lady Tsunade, "But I'm just being cautious. You're dismissed."
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The next day, Tatsu met up with Neji, Tenten, Naruto, and Menma at the main gate. Once everyone was ready they all made their way to the Land of Rice Patties. As they rushed through the trees to the Land of Rice patties, Tatsu tried her best to stay the farthest she could from Neji.

"You guys didn't have to come you know," said Naruto, "We would have been fine."

"Like I really want to be traveling with an idoit like you," said Tatsu.

"It's not like we had a choice, we're on the job here," said Tenten.

"We were told to accompany you," explained Neji, "That is the mission."

To Tatsu's surprise, Menma was keeping up very well with everyone. Jumping from branch to branch with ease, like a ninja.

"Pretty smooth for a kid with amnesia," thought Tatsu as she noticed Neji speeding up next to him, "Guess he thinks so too."

As Neji sped past him, Tenten and Menma also sped up, leaving Tatsu and Naruto near the rear. Neji and Menma were going at top speeds, almost like they were racing. Then without paying attention, Neji stepped on a dead branch causing him to fall. Menma quickly leaped down to grab his hand and pull him back up into the trees.

"Are you hurt?" asked Menma.

"No, thanks to you," said Neji.

"You were going a little too fast there," said Naruto as Tenten and Tatsu landed in the tree with them.

"We'll take a rest here," said Neji.

"Worn out already?" mocked Tatsu earning a glare from Neji.

They went a little further and found some mountain hills to rest on. Menma stood at the top, taking in the fresh air, while the rest of the group was on a lower mountain. Neji was unusually quiet, which Naruto noticed almost immediately.

"Alright spill it!" said Naruto," What's eatin yah?"

"Who on earth is this boy Nartuto?" asked Neji.

"Well how the heck should I know?" asked Naruto, "That's why we're on this mission isn't it?"

"I was moving at full speed when that happened back there," explained Neji, "And losing my footing was no accident either. Not only could he match my speed, but he was swift enough to catch me. He shouldn't be as quick as we are."

"What if he turns those powers of his against us?" asked Tenten.

"Hey hold on a second here!" snapped Naruto, "Menma isn't our enemy! He risked his life to save a baby! All this guy does, all day is help people, morning, noon and night okay!"

"Don't you find that a little strange to you Naruto?" Tatsu asked, "While there maybe people, who show kindness to others, there isn't a single person in the world incapable of evil. And if you keep going through life ignoring that fact, like an ignorant fool, you'll whined up dead."

"Whatever," said Naruto as he went to check on Menma.

"That was a little harsh," said Tenten.

"Not any harsher than the two of you," Tatsu replied.

Suddenly the three of them heard the sound of a flute like instrument, making them all rush to the hill with Menma and Naruto.

"Hey!" shouted Neji, "Not another breath! Do you hear? I'm warning you!"

"Neji, what the heck are you doing?" asked Naruto as the three of us prepared to fight.

"Quite Naruto," ordered Neji.

"Come again?" snapped Naruto.

"Neji's right Naruto," defended Tenten, "It could have been somekind of signal to the enemy."

"A signal?" asked Naruto.

"We still haven't caught that guy who was sneaking around the village," explained Tenten, "Who ever that creep is, he could be following Menma. We're pretty certain he's somewhere nearby.

"Though he hasn't yet revealed his presence to us," added Neji, "Our mission is to accompany Naruto, find out who this person is, then capture him. Plain and simple. And I'm sorry, but at this point I don't trust you."

"That's alright," said Menma, "It's only natural you feel this way. And now that you mention it, I don't even know what kind of person I am. What would I do if I found out I was a terrible person? What kind of person would you want to be Naruto? You know if you were reborn?"

"Reborn? What the hell is he talking about?" thought Tatsu.

"Where's this coming from?" asked Naruto.

"I was just wondering," said Menma.

"Don't know," said Naruto, "I've never really thought about it."

"I gotcha," said Menma.

"Wait a sec! What are you asking that for?" asked Naruto.

"Aw it's nothing," dismissed Menma.

"Getting reborn huh? What a joke! You can't change you're past," thought Tatsu as she smelt something in the breeze.

"What am I smelling?" asked Neji as a small breeze came through.

"It smells like somthings burning," said Naruto.

"Over there!" pointed Tenten.

"Let's go!" ordered Neji as the group ran for the smell.

When they arrived at the source, they found a small village and was burned to the ground. The smell of burnt wood and the sight of the village, made Tatsu very uneasy.

"Well here's what we were smelling," stated Naruto, "I wonder what happened here."

As they walked through the village, Tatsu's hand was gripped tight to a kunai in her pouch.

"I know he's not here," she thought to herself, "He not here. But then why am I..."

"Tatsu," called an eerie voice, "Tatsu."

Tatsu turned toward the source of the voice near a burnt house. Tatsu froze with fear as she saw the house was on fire with two people burning inside.

"Why didn't you save us?" they cried trying to reach for her, "Why?"

"Tatsu?" asked Menma as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Get away from me!" Tatsu screamed as she pulled out the kunai to defend herself.

"Tatsu! Stop!" ordered Neji, snapping Tatsu back to reality.

"What the heck is you're problem Tatsu!?" asked Naruto.

Tatsu, breathing heavily, looked back toward the house and found it completely normal, "Just my mind playing tricks on me. Thank goodness."

Suddenly Menma rushed to Tenten and Naruto, pushing them to the ground, dodging arrows that were fired. Then a group of people came out from behind the rubble, weapons in hand.

"Don't move or I'll fire," said the guy in front.

"What the heck is you're problem pal?" asked Naruto.

"You a bunch of their underlings then?" asked the guy.

"Who's?" asked Naruto.

"If you're a part of their brood, you'll die here," threatened the guy preparing his crossbow.

"I don't even know who you're talking about?" protested Naruto as the guy pointed his crossbow at Naruto's face.

"If you're not one of them then prove it!" said the guy.

"We're shinobi of the Leaf Village," explained Tenten, "That's not prof enough!"

"The Leaf Village?" asked the guy.

"See, right up here," said Tenten pointing at her headband.

"Well, so you are," said the guy telling his men to stand down, "What business does the Leaf have in these parts?"

"None really," said Naruto, "We just happened to be passing through this area."

"As you can see, there isn't anything left here," explained the guy, "If you don't need anything then beat it. I can't garenty you're safety."

"Like you can do so much with a crossbow," mocked Tatsu to herself.

"Well, what's he got to be like that for?" asked Naruto as the group walked away, "He's the one going picking fights!"

The group then found a spot next to the nearby stream to rest. As the group thought about the recent event, Naruto started throwing stone's into the water to pass the time. Tatsu was wrapped in her thoughts about the recent events, happening to her.

"Why did I lose control like that?" thought Tatsu as she stared at the water, "That was a long time ago....I should've realized it was just my thoughts playing tricks on me."

Tatsu then looked at her hands and they were still shaking from the halusionation.

"Once we've taken a breather for a while, we can get out of here and start looking for Menma's memories," said Naruto.

"Uh, right," muttered Menma.

"What is it, have you remembered something?" asked Tenten.

"Uh, no," answered Menma.

"You might as well come out!" said Neji as a woman and a small child appeared from behind a pile of rubble.

Menma walked over to the little girl, picked a nearby flower, and gave it to her. However the girl coward in fear behind the woman.

"You guys are ninja aren't you?" asked the woman, "I over heard you guys talking back there."

"No kidding!" smiled Naruto, "I don't want to brag or nothing, but it just so happens, you're talking to Naruto Uzamaki of the Hidden Leaf Village!"

"Oh really? I'm sorry I didn't know," said the woman, making Naruto fall to the floor in disapointment.

"Idoit," thought Tatsu.

"So why did you follow us?" asked Neji.

"I had a favor to ask of you," said the woman, "That was actually my brother you were talking to."

"Your brother?" asked Tenten.

"That jerk from earlier?!" asked Naruto picking himself off the ground.

"Our village is in great danger," explained the woman, "We need someone to help save it!"

"Some one to save your village?" asked Naruto, as this peaked Tatsu's interest.

"What do you mean?" asked Neji.

"We were once part of the Land of Rice Patties border," explained the woman, "However, so much trouble has originated from this part of the country that the villages in the surrounding area have been demiliterized."

"It probably has to do with Orochimaru," explained Neji, "Because of the Sounds involvement, the whole region has been punished."

"There's a small mine, just outside the village, that produces a little gold," continued the woman, "Once people realized it was out of the Land of Rice Patties juristiction, the bandits came. No matter how many times we pleaded with the Futle Lord, he would always insist that the nation's treaty's couldn't be broken!....Our village..."

"It was attacked by bandits right?" confirmed Tenten.

"They actually just took off a little while ago, when a big storm hit the area," said the woman, "But there's no question they'll be back! I beg you, please save our village! You guys could handle them I'm sure of it!"

"Right you can count on.." started Naruto but was quickly interupted.

"I'm sorry," said Neji, "We'd like to assist you here, but we can't."

"What?" thought Tatsu.

"Are you kidding?" asked Naruto, "How come we can't help 'em out?"

"We're in the middle of a mission Naruto!" reminded Neji, "Without a direct order from the Village our hand's are tied!"

"As if!" thought Tatsu, "This is different! Why can't we take care of a group of stupid bandits?"

"Yeah but.." said Naruto.

"Besides we don't even know when they're coming back!" added Tenten, "It's not like we can wait around here forever."

"Hmph, that great," huffed Naruto.

"Alright then," sighed the woman.

"Ran," said the guy from earlier standing on the pile of rubble, "What are you and Fuki doing here?"

"Nan! I..I uh," Ran tried to explain.

"Stay away from these guys," ordered Nan, "There's no such thing as a good ninja."

"You sure about that!" argued Naruto.

"I'm just speaking the truth," said Nan, "Rumor is the guys who attacked the village were rouge ninja from the Hidden Sound."

"You mean those bandits are ninja?" asked Naruto.

"Now this group has become even more dangerous," thought Tatsu.

"Come with me," said Nan as he lead the group to what looked like a huge graveyard, "Take a look."

"Are these?" asked Naruto.

"One third of the villagers were killed in their last attack," explained Nan, "And half of the survivers have abondoned their homes and fled."

"So..many," thought Tatsu who could look at the sight for too long as her hair covered her face.

"The rest of you should evacuate too," said Tenten.

"And go where!" snapped Nan, "Our ansestors lived here, our people have been cultivating this land for ages! Why should we have to go anywhere!? They brandish a sword and we're supost to just coware in fear!? What would you have us do? Flee for the rest of our lives!?"

"Please big brother," pleaded Ran, "You have to stop yelling. You'll frighten Fuki."

"Forgive me," apologized Nan as he petted her hair, "I shouldn't have shouted. This child's parents were cut down in the raid and she hasn't spoken a word since their death. There's no where for us to run anyway. Now why don't you disappear already."

"We have no choice," said Neji as Ran, Nan, and Fuki left, "Come on, we'd better get moving."

"I'm not going anywhere," said Menma, "If these people are in trouble, I want to try to help them if I can."

"Are you nuts?" asked Tenten, "You don't even know what you'd be up against with these bandits. If you really want to help them we should go back to the Hokage!"

"We have no idea when they're next attack'll be," argued Menma, "We don't have time to go back to the Leaf Village!"

"Well if you're staying then so am I," agreed Naruto.

"Forget it!" said Neji, "It's beyond the scope of our mission."

"It's not!" corrected Menma, "For some reason..I feel..I might remember something in this place."

"Stop messing around here," said Tenten, "You expect us to believe that, an hour ago you couldn't remember a thing!"

"We don't have a choice do we?" asked Naruto, "You heard the man, we'll find answers here. Besides he just wants to help these people, you can't fault him for that really."

"Thanks Naruto," thanked Menma.

"Come on Menma lets go!" cheered Naruto.

"Right," agreed Menma as the two ran back to the village.

"Naruto wait!" called Tenten, but they were already gone, "So what do we do here Neji?"

"We let them go," said Neji, "It's highly unlikely the Villagers will accept them anyway."

"So you're just going to sit and wait until you can point the 'I told you so' card at them," said Tatsu.

"It's the only thing we can do at the moment," explained Neji, "Maybe if you had helped us covince them we wouldn't have to?"

"Excuse me?" snapped Tatsu.

"You know what the Hokage assigned us to do," said Neji, "So why didn't you try to stop them?"

"Because I don't see a problem with what their doing," explained Tatsu, "I don't remember the Hokage saying anything about leaving innocent people to die! I may not be nicest person in the world, but I'm not heartless!"

Tatsu then left to find Naruto, leaving Neji and Tenten behind. As she aprroached the village, she saw Naruto and Menma discussing something.

"I don't know how effective this is going to be, but it's worth a try," said Menma.

"Got it!" agreed Naruto.

"What's worth a try?" asked Tatsu, surprising both Menma and Naruto.

"Tatsu?" asked Naruto, "What the heck are you still here for?"

Tatsu motioned to the ground, letting her hair fall over her face, "Well...I.."

"Did you come to help us?" asked Menma.

"Damn it," thought Tatsu, "I can't say yes, cause of my Father. But if I say no, then what do I say?"

"Uh, Tatsu?" asked Menma, "Are you ok?"

"I just," started Tatsu as she lifted her head, "I just want to get back to the Leaf. I'm tired of wasting my time here, chatting with these villagers."

"Rright," muttered Naruto.

"Alright," smiled Menma, "If you want you could knock down some trees for us, if you'd like to do something."

"Tsk," glared Tatsu as she headed into the forest, "Fine whatever."

"What the heck was that all about?" asked Naruto.

"Don't know," said Menma after a while, "But at least she's going to get the trees for the wall."

"I guess so," shugged Naruto.

As Tatsu made her way into the forest she placed her hands on one of the trees. Then she pulled her arms backs and began to punch the tree one fist at a time until the tree came crashing down. Whenever she'd finish knocking down a tree, Tatsu brought it to Naruto and Menma to make their wall. Then as Tatsu helped them put up their first wood stake, they made from the trees, an arrow was fired close to Naruto's head.

"What are you doing here?" asked Nan readying his crossbow, "I thought I told you to get lost!"

"Forget it pal," snapped Naruto struggling to hold the stake, "We ain't leavin!"

"We're trying to help," struggled Menma, "All we're trying to do is help the village!"

"Nobody asked you to do that," said Nan, "This is our problem."

"I'd like to see how far you'd guys get by hidding and whinning," said Tatsu as the three continued to put up the stake.

"Alright lets prop it up," said Menma once the stake was up.

"Ok," agreed Naruto as Nan walked away.

They continued to work on the wall through-out the day, night and morning. However the fatigue was getting to them as they placed another stake up.

"Ok I'm ready for yah," breathed Naruto heavily holding the prop up, "Let er rip."

"Ok," agreed Menma equally tired as he raised the hammer.

Suddenly Naruto fall forward, about to be hit by Menma's mallet, then out of nowhere a morning star knocked the mallet out of Menma's hands.

"Tenten!" said Naruto as the group saw her standing behind them, "You're still here."

"You know a thank you would be nice once and awhile," said Tenten as she moved to the fallen prop.

"Thank you Tenten that was close," thanked Menma as Tenten put the prop back up.

"Now come on get a good grip on it this time," said Tenten.

"Oh, hehe, right!" laughed Naruto.

When the four of them began to work again, Fuki and Ran came to us. Fuki then gave Naruto a vile of water.

"Hi there," said Ran carrying some onigiri, "We brought this too. I came to help."

"Thanks!" thanked Naruto, then suddenly Tatsu's stomach began to growl making her blush and turn away.

"But we can eat first," laughed Ran.

After their meal the group continued to work, as more and more of the villagers came to help with the wall. Even Nan eventually put down his crossbow and helped out. Tatsu went back into the forest to get more wood and Menma joined her.

"You know I can knock down a tree by myself," said Tatsu as they continued through the forest, "You should be back there with the others help prop up the stakes or something."

"I know, but I wanted to ask you something," said Menma, "You wanted to help the village right from the start didn't you?"

Tatsu stopped keeping her back to Menma.

"I wanted to ask you that since we're away from everyone else," explained Menma, "So you don't have to admit it in front of Naruto and everyone else. I think behind that wall and tough act you put up, you're actually a really nice person."

Suddenly Tatsu grabbed Menma by the collar and slammed him against a tree.

"You listen and you listen good," growled Tatsu at the very confused and Menma, "I'm not what you think I am! There's no wall and there's no act. What you see is what I am. And if you breath a word about this to anyone, I'll kill you where you stand got it!?"

Tatsu dropped Menma and the two parted ways in the forest.

Later as everyone was working, Tatsu and Tenten noticed a light coming from the farther part of the forest. Tenten whistled, signalling the villagers to stop and hide. While Naruto and Tatsu quickly made their way to the light.

"Gotcha!" shouted Naruto as we approached the person behind the light.

He had long black hair and palish skin and was carrying a telescope. The guy quickly moved away from Naruto's kick, then fired a kunai at the guy. The guy shot a kunai attached to a ribbon at Naruto's kunai stopping it. The ribbon continued for Naruto, but Neji, appearing almost out of nowhere, and Tatsu threw kunai of their own, blocking his attack.

"Neji! Tatsu! Wait up!" shouted Naruto as the two darted past him.

"Catching him is in the perameters of our mission is it not?" asked Neji.

"Yeah right," thought Tatsu.

"Yeah, but this guy's no joke," said Naruto as they followed the guy through the forest.

Suddenly he turned around and fires the ribbon kunai toward them, trying to delay them so he could escape. However Neji, Naruto, and Tatsu easily dodged the attacks and were still on his trail. Then Naruto ran into a ribbon net, the guy quickly set up and began to fall to the ground. Neji and Tatsu continued to move towards the guy.

"I'm tired of chasing this guy!" snapped Tatsu as she began to speed up a little ahead of Neji.

"Calm down Tatsu," ordered Neji, "You need to save you're energy as best you can. We don't know the extent of his abilities yet."

"Yeah but.." started Tatsu, but was stopped by the sound of Menma's oracon.

The music felt different though, it was effecting the chakra in her body, making her stronger. Although it also started to awaken the power deep inside of Tatsu, making her cringe. Neji moved up ahead along with Naruto, who had quickly caught up, stopping the guy from advancing any further. Tatsu stopped, landing on a tree branch near them. Tatsu clenched her left eye, trying to hold back the newly surge of power.

"I've..got to fight it," thought Tatsu, "Neji and Naruto are here, if they see me...they might...UGHAA!!!

The green chakra from inside of her began to burst through until her face was covered in scales once again. Just as Neji was about to attack, Tatsu quickly intervened and began to rapidly attack the guy, by herself. destroying everything in her path to try and catch him.

"That chakra!" said Neji shocked.

"What the heck is she doing?" asked Naruto.

Then an arrow was shot at the guy, by Nan, as he was trying to escape Tatsu's wrath.

"Out of my way you little fool!" cursed the guy dodging the arrow as he fired his kunai at Nan.

Suddenly Menma appeared sheilding Nan from the kunai, but getting himself it in the progress.

"Menma no!" screamed Naruto.

Then the guy quickly kicked Tatsu to the ground near Menma and Nan, escaping the group.

"You alright?" Naruto asked Menma, "Talk to me!"

"To the village hurry!" ordered Nan as they rushed to the village.

"Naruto! Look out!" yelled Neji as Tatsu charged for him, "Rotation!"

Tatsu quickly moved back away from Neji's attack, growling at him as she waited to attack.

"What's Tatsu's problem?" asked Naruto.

"I'm not sure," said Neji, "I think she's in some kind of shock from Menma's jutsu."

"Well, what are we gonna do?" asked Naruto.

"Naruto, you and Nan get Menma out of here," ordered Neji, "I'll deal with Tatsu."

"You sure about that?" asked Naruto.

"Right now we need to get Menma some medical treatment," explained Neji, "If we wait here, he won't make it."

"Alright," agreed Naruto carrying Menma, "Be careful."

"Tatsu," called Neji after Nan and Naruto left, "Calm down and come to you're senses! The fight is over!"

Tatsu then charged for Neji, trying to punch him, but Neji continued to dodge her. Until Neji caught her hands, and the two were locked in a dead lock.

"Tatsu! Look at what you're doing!" called Neji then noticed her face was completely covered in scales and her eyes were yellow, "What on earth?"

Tatsu then began to push Neji to the ground. Neji quickly regained himself and upperpalmed Tatsu in the face knocking her back. But before Tatsu could strike back, Neji began his next attack.

"8 trigrams: sixty-four palms!" shouted Neji as he struck Tatsu's chakra points, slaming her against a tree.

Her scales began to fade as she regained consciousness, "What..happened? Why can't I move?"

"Sorry about that," said Neji calming himself, "It was the only way I could get you to stop moving."

"Stop moving? Why would he need me to.." thought Tatsu, "I..I did it again.."

"Where's Naruto and that bandit?" asked Tatsu.

"Gone, Naruto went back to the village with Nan to treat Menma," explained Neji walking over to her.

"What happened to Menma?" Tatsu asked.

"The bandit attacked him while trying to protect Nan," explained Neji as he picked up Tatsu.

"What the heck are you doing?" yelled Tatsu.

"Well you can't walk," explained Neji, "And we need to be heading back to Naruto and the others."

"Tsk, whatever," said Tatsu, "Just so you know this'll never happen again."
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When they arrived at Nan's house, Tatsu, Neji, Tenten and Naruto all watched as Nan ripped open the back of Menmas shirt to examine the wound.

"Boiling water and alchohal," said Nan as Ran and Fuki ran out to fetch them.

"Are you going to operate on him?" asked Neji.

"I may not look it, but I have had some medical training," explained Nan.

"We'll get you through this Menma, don't worry," said Naruto clenching his oracon.

As Nan opened Menma's shirt to see the wound, he stopped and stood.

"What's wrong?" asked Neji.

"There is no way in hell I'm going to treat this guy!" growled Nan.

"But why what's the matter?" asked Naruto.

"That mark," said Nan refering to the blue stripes on Menma's right shoulder, "He's in league with the people who attacked this village!"

"That's a lie!" shouted Naruto.

"It's the truth," insisted Nan, "I saw that mark the night they came. That's the exact mark the bandits had."

"No way," said Naruto.

"But how come the medical team didn't ay anything about the markings?" asked Tenten.

"It seems that this type of marking only appears when the body sweats," explained Neji as he used his Byakugan.

"I'd think you better go," said Nan.

"Why would we leave?" asked Naruto.

"Because I'm going to take care of him," said Nan in a threatening tone.

"Your gonna what?" snapped Naruto, "No way! I won't let you do that!"

"He saved you wretched life!" snapped Tatsu, "But you would rather let him die! I don't care if he's the most sinister person that ever lived, killing him after what he did for you...makes you no better than those bandits!"

"Why would you protect this man?" asked Nan, "Is the Leaf Village his ally?"

"We have nothing to do with him!" said Naruto, "But the fact is this guy doesn't remember anything that happened in this past. His memory is totally blank."

"He doesn't remember?" asked Nan.

"He has anmesia," explained Neji, "We traveled here to piece together his past."

"Well then now you know everything," said Nan, "He's a filthy bandit and wiether or not he may have amnesia makes no difference to me!"

"Hold on a minute!" said Neji, "If you were to punish someone who can't even remember his crime, it wouldn't be right."

"Shut up!" snapped Nan.

"If it's revenge you want go ahead and take it," said Neji, "As longas you wait until me and my friends get this man's memory back. I promise I won't stop you."

Naruto wanted to argue, but was quickly stopped by Tenten.

"I'll stitch up his wounds," agreed Nan, "Hold him steady."

As they started to begin the procedure, Menma screamed as they operated on him. Tatsu ended up going outside to escape the screams of pain. Staring at the stars, and began to cry.

"I..I lost control again," Tatsu thought, "What the hell is wrong with me? Why can't I control it? If it's my power, shouldn't I be able to control it? And now, Neji and Naruto have seen it. What am I going to do?"

"Tatsu," she heard Neji say from behind her, "It's done."

When she walked back in, Menma was passed out and his back was covered in bandages. Then Nan, unhappily left the room as Tatsu leaned against a wall.

"I don't get it," said Naruto, "He seemed like a kind hearted guy, but he's really a low life bandit?"

"Maybe the amnesia made him act like he was good?" thought Tenten aloud.

"There's just got to be a coincidence that he has the same marking that those guys did," said Naruto, "If he was evil deep down inside he couldn't be nice, not even if he did lose his memory."

"Well either way, we'll know everything once he starts remembering," said Neji.

"I was...one of the bandits, wasn't I?" asked Menma waking from the procedure.

"Your awake?" asked Naruto, "You must've heard us talking. Listen, don't worry about that. We still don't know what actually happened, it's just all theroys at this point. Ok?"

"You need to rest and let that wound heal up," said Neji as he began to leave, "Tatsu a moment please."

Tatsu said nothing, and left outside with Neji. As they started to walk away, Nan came out of a nearby house.

"We're going to take a look around the area," explained Neji.

"That guy is mine," said Nan, "If your people try anything funny, then you're going to pay for it."

"When the time comes you'll get your shot," said Neji as they walked away.

"Are you honestly going to let the villagers kill him?" asked Tatsu.

"If he's actually like the bandits and the villagers want to take revenge on him, that'll be up to them," said Neji, "But they'll have to wait until we recover the rest of his memories."

"Something doesn't feel right about this," muttered Tatsu.

"It's the best we can do for him at this point," said Neji, "However I didn't ask you to come with me, so we could talk about Menma."

"Then what is it?" asked Tatsu.

"It's about what happened with the bandit," explained Neji, "When Menma's jutsu amplified our chakra, you're body exerted a different kind of chakra. I've only ever seen that happen once and it wasn't from you."

"Damn, what do I say?" thought Tatsu.

"Not only that," continued Neji, "But you couldn't control it. Putting Naruto, Menma, Nan, myself and the whole village in danger. What kind of power is that? And why haven't you said anything about this before?"

"What makes..." Tatsu started to say.

"Don't try and tell me it's your first time using this power!" snapped Neji surprising Tatsu, "It was obvious, that a part of you had used this before!"

"There he is get him!" we heard someone shout making Neji and Tatsu run to the scene.

"Stop right there!" we heard Naruto shout, "We don't know for sure if Menma is one of the bandits that attacked you!"

"Your just as much to blame if you stand with him!" shouted a villager.

"What's going on?" asked Neji as they arrived.

"Neji, Tatsu," called Naruto.

"Naruto," called Tenten arriving.

Tatsu saw Menma bowing to the ground as Naruto blocked him from the villagers.

"Why'd you let him out?" Neji asked angrily.

"It's my fault," said Tenten, "I must've fallen asleep."

"I let my guard down cause I thought he couldn't stand up," explained Naruto.

"Damn it!" Neji cursed.

"Listen everyone, the guys got total amnesia," explained Naruto, "I'm telling yah, even he doesn't know if he was one of the bad guys or not."

"We gave you far warning," shouted a villager as they began to throw rocks at them, "If you four protect him, you're going to suffer the same fate as him!"

"We need to get him out of here," said Tenten dodging the rocks.

"It's fine...go," said Menma, "They have every right to be angry. I deserve all of this."

"You'll be killed," said Neji.

"If I must," agreed Menma.

"Come on Menma, what are you saying!?" asked Naruto.

Suddenly they heard weapon fire, as a rain of arrows came over them.

"Guys look out!" shouted Tatsu as she covered Menma from the attack.

"Thanks," thanked Menma.

"Save the thanks for later," said Tatsu, "We're not done yet."

"They're here," said Neji.

"The draw bridge," said Menma.

"Right we're on it!" agreed Naruto as he and Tenten went to close the draw bridge they made.

As the draw bridge began to close, one of the bandits snuck through, but was quickly knocked out by the villager's rock attack.

"Nows our chance, everyone hide!" ordered Neji then looked toward Menma, "You should go too."

"Don't worry the four of us can handle these guys," said Naruto.

"Right," agreed Menma as he left with the villagers.

As they prepared to fight, two explotions appeared on two different sides of the wall. Then as they came through, the bandits vanished.

"What?" said Tenten.

"It's like they just vanished!" said Naruto.

"Both of you quiet!" ordered Neji, "Be careful, we've been put under some kind of sonic Genjutsu."

"That explains the annoying ring," said Tatsu, "Maybe I can try to use my own Genjutsu at him."

"Too late!" said the bandit they fought earlier as he played an eerie toon from his flute.

"My..body," growned Naruto.

"It's..heavy," struggled Tenten.

"I'm paralized," said Neji.

"Damn it!" cursed Tatsu as more of the bandits appeared and threw kunai's at them, "I've got...to move."

Then a calming toon rang over the eerie one canceling out the Genjutsu.

"Now!" thought Tatsu she blocked the kunai attack with her Kekkei Genkai.

"Something released the paralisis," said Tenten.

"That little backstaber!" cursed the head bandit as the others came to attack them.

"Here they come," said Tenten.

"Don't worry leave em to me!" assured Naruto as he charged the head bandit with his Shadow Clones.

"It's futile!" shouted the head bandit as he destroyed the clones with his kunai ribbon, "Well that was easy I don't even have a scratch on me."

"I wasn't trying to hurt yah!" shouted Naruto as he swiped the flute from behind, snaping it in half, "I wanted this!"

Meanwhile, Neji, Tenten and Tatsu were doing their best to handle the other bandits.

"Fire Style: Flame Blitz Strike!" shouted Tatsu as she attacked multiple bandits around her.

"Rotation!" shouted Neji knocking away some more of the bandits.

"Where's Naruto?" asked Tenten knocking more of them away.

"He went after the bandit," said Neji, "We'll find him after we handle these guys, quickly."

"How much time do you need?" asked Tatsu.

"What do you.." started Tenten.

"I'll buy you guys enough time to find Naruto and help him stop the bandits," interrupted Tatsu.

"What are you planning to do?" asked Neji, "You're not going to.."

"Hell no," shot Tatsu, "I'm just going to give them my special Genjutsu. It's only fair, since they place me under one."

"Be careful," said Neji as they left.

"A little girl like you thinks they can take care of us all by themselfs?" laughed one of the bandits.

"Careful," taunted Tatsu as she made her handsigns, "This little girl isn't just going to take care of you, but send you straight to hell! Lizard Eye Jutsu!"

As her Lizard Eye Jutsu gazed at the bandits, one by one they fell to the ground, tormented by their worst nightmares. Then an explotion startled Tatsu, but thankfully she was already done with the attack.
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As the sun crept over the mountain side, Naruto had came back and explained everything to them. How Menma was indeed apart of the bandit group, but was never truely with them. How Menma had his memory the whole time and used his amnesia to get help from the Leaf Village. And how he sacrifised himself to save the village from a landslide.

"So he gave his life to save these people," summed up Neji.

"Despite his evil deeds in the past, deep down he was good," realised Tenten.

"I owe him..an apology," said Nan.

"We didn't know it then, but in the end wiping away that memory was the only salvation, that Menma needed," said Neji as Naruto walked away.
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When the group came back to the village, Neji and Tenten went to report to the Hokage, Naruto left on his own somewhere, and Tatsu went to her favorite spot on the hill. She stayed there until night, her mind racing through everything that's happened.

"Hey," Tatsu heard someone call softly.

When she turned around it was Yakumo coming to sit beside her.

"I heard what happened," said Yakumo, "About that boy, Menma."

"Yeah," agreed Tatsu.

"Are you ok?" asked Yakumo.

"No," said Tatsu clenching her fits, "I'm far from ok...If he had let us know from the beginning about those bombs, we could've done something. Anything, that didn't involve him having to sacrifice himself!"

"So..that's what's eating you," understood Yakumo, "You know that wall and tough act you put up, makes you seem like a cold hearted person, but inside you're actually different."

"There's no wall or act, damn it," snapped Tatsu then muttered, "Why does everyone think that?"

"I don't know why you insist that you don't care," smiled Yakumo, "But your actions say otherwise. Don't worry I'll keep your secret, but it might be nice to see the real Tatsu once in a while."

"The real me huh?" thought Tatsu, "The real me died 7 years ago, with them."