In the back side of the Inuzuka compound, in a modest bedroom, the covers of a two person bed lay still. The sun was about to come up when a child began to cry inaudibly to a normal person in a nearby room. Long brown hair slid off a pillow as a woman got out of the bed and walked out of the room. She walked into the next room and picked up the crying four year old.
“Toshiro sweetie, what’s wrong?” She said.
Toshiro stopped sobbing.
“There’s a scary man in the corner.” Toshiro whined.
The woman walked to the corner with the boy.
“I don’t see a man. Why do you think there is one?” She said patiently.
The boy pointed to his twin brother in the other bed in the room.
“Teiji said there was one.” He whined.
She walked over to Teiji.
“Teiji, is that true?”
“There really was. I saw him. He was big and scary and had a really humungorificus scar on his chest.” Teiji protested.
The woman smiled.
“Humungorificus huh?”
“Hai.” Teiji nodded.
“Did you happen to be having a nightmare?” She asked.
Teiji stopped to think.
“Maybe.”
“See sweetie, everything’s fine. Teiji just had a bad dream.” She said to Toshiro.
She placed the boy back down on his bed and kissed him on the forehead.
“Go back to sleep. There’s still a few hours left before you have to get up.” She said to both boys.
“Hai, mama.” They said in unison.
As she turned around and walked out of the room a man reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist. He pulled her back against his body. He let out a growl and the woman let a giggle escape her lips.
“Kiba, what are you doing up? You’ll wake the children.” She whispered.
“I heard you get up. You sure are good with them, Tala-hime.” Kiba whispered back.
“Well, go back to bed. You don’t have a mission today.” She chided.
He nodded.
“Hai babe, but you have to come too.” He cooed.
He wrapped his arms around her upper legs and picked her up. He walked back down the hall and back into the bedroom. He set her down on the bed and looked at her suggestively.
“We both need some sleep, not that.” She giggled.
“Fine, but how about……”
She cut him off.
“Maybe tonight.”
“Okay,” He replied, wrapping his arms around her and falling asleep.

About an hour later the Inuzuka dogs began to bark. Tala nudged Kiba.
“Time to wake up dear.” She whispered in his ear.
He opened his eyes and yawned.
“It’s too early.”
She giggled and unwrapped is arms from around her waist.
“You’ve got to train, remember?”
“Hai.” He replied.
She got up and walked into the kitchen. Tala pulled some cereal out of a cabinet and poured five bowls. Kiba’s sister was the first one in the room. She sat down and began to eat. Tala sat down after her. Next into the room were Kiba’s parents.
“Good morning.” Kiba’s mother said.
They sat down and began to eat as well. Kiba was the last one in the kitchen. He walked in, obviously still half asleep, and sat down.
Tala finished her cereal first and began to clear off the table. Kiba’s mother soon finished and began to help her. The rest finished a little while later and cleared away their own dishes. With that done, Tala walked back into the bedroom and changed into her favorite dress. She placed her daggers inside her boots and put on her locket carefully. Tala went into the children’s room and gave each of them a nudge.
“Come on, get up. We have a meeting with Hokage-sama today.”
Teiji peeked out from under the covers.
“Hokage-sama?”
“Hai, so get dressed.”
She walked out of the room, confident that they would be ready to go in a matter of minutes. She went back into her own room where Kiba was getting dressed.
“Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?” Kiba asked her as he put his coat on.
“No, but I can’t risk not doing it.”
Tala sighed. She was clearly worried about something. Kiba pulled her close to him and kissed her gently.
“I trust your judgment. You know more about these things than I do.” He whispered to her.
He walked out of the room to go to his training. Tala sighed again. She was about to go check on Teiji and Toshiro when they came running into the room.
“Mama, we’re ready to see Hokage-sama.” Toshiro squealed.
Teiji looked at the solemn look on Tala’s face.
“Mama, is something wrong?” He asked, tugging on Tala’s dress.
Tala smiled.
“No, everything’s just fine.”
She led the boys away by the hand and walked them to Hokage tower. When they arrived Shizune greeted them.
“Hokage-sama is expecting you.” She said.
Tala nodded to her.
“You two wait out here for a while. I’ll come get you in a minute.” Tala said to Toshiro and Teiji.
“But…” Teiji said.
“No buts. Stay.” She said, very seriously.
“Hai.” Both boys answered.
Tala entered the Hokage’s office. Tsunade looked up from her paperwork.
“Tala-san, are you sure this is what you want to do?” Tsunade asked.
“Hai, it’s the only way.” Tala answered with a tear in her eye.
“This will greatly decrease their potential as ninja.” Tsunade warned.
“I know. But, if we don’t they’ll be in too much danger. Besides, it’s removable. When they’re older we can remove it.”
Tsunade nodded in understanding and gestured for Tala to bring the boys in. Tala walked out of the room and returned with her sons.
“Hey, Hokage-sama.” Toshiro said and giggled.
“Close your eyes and don’t move.” Tala commanded them rather coldly.
They looked at her in confusion, but soon complied.
Tsunade stood up and placed one hand on each boy’s back. She released immense amounts of chakra into both of them. Toshiro and Teiji fell down onto the floor, unconscious.
“There, it’s done. I can’t say how long it’ll last. ” Tsunade said.
Tala picked them up and carried them out of the room.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered to them.

Tala carried the boys back to their rooms and tucked them into bed. She knew they wouldn’t remember a thing of the entire morning. Several hours later there was a soft knock at the outside door and Tala walked over and opened it.
“Good morning Hinata-chan.” Tala said, ushering Hinata inside the house.
“Good morning.” Hinata replied.
Tala led Hinata into the living room and motioned for her to take a seat.
“If you’re looking for Kiba, he already left for his training.”
“Actually I was looking for you.”
Tala sat down on the couch near Hinata.
“For me?”
“Hai, I was wondering why you carried Toshiro-kun and Teiji-kun home this morning.”
Tala looked at Hinata questioningly.
“Neji saw when he went to pick up his mission.” Hinata explained.
Tala nodded.
“I had Hokage-sama seal them.”
“Seal?”
Hinata didn’t seem to understand.
“You see, when I reached the age of four, I began to exhibit signs of my hearing ability. Back then I couldn’t control my hearing at all. At times I couldn’t hear the person next to me, and at other times I would hear every word said by every person in the entire village. It was very painful. At one point it overwhelmed me and I slipped into a coma. I survived because Sandaime Hokage placed a seal on my back.”
Hinata took advantage of Tala’s pause to ask a question.
“But I’ve never seen any sort of mark on your back.”
“That’s because it’s gone now. The shock and angry and all the other feelings I felt when my teammates were killed removed the seal. I must have been finally powerful enough to control it. That’s why when I left the village I chose to go into the mountains. It was so quiet and peaceful there. I was finally able to learn how to control my abilities.”
“So you want to prevent your children from going through what you went through?”
“Hai, they may be able to handle it when they’re older, but not at their age. It’s also probably best that they are sealed when I enroll them in the academy tomorrow.”
“I see. How are they doing?” Hinata asked.
“They’re sleeping.”
Just then a cry came from the boys’ room.
“Mama!” Toshiro cried.
Tala stood up.
“I should get going to my training.” Hinata said, leaving.
“Okay.” Tala replied, going into her children’s room.
Tala walked into the room to find Teiji lying on the bed crying. She sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around him.
“What’s wrong dear?” She asked, already knowing the answer.
“I had a bad dream. You and Hokage-sama were really mean.”
She picked him up and carried out of the room, so he didn’t wake his brother.
“It was just a dream. Everything is fine now.”
She tried to comfort the boy by taking him into the kitchen.
“What would you like for lunch?” She asked, hoping to take his mind off what happened earlier in the morning.
“I want to go out for lunch.” Teiji said cheerfully.
He recognized that his mother was trying to please him and planned to take advantage of the situation.
“Please……” Teiji begged.
Tala sighed.
“Alright. We’ll leave when Toshiro wakes up.”
“I’m up!” A squeak came from behind the kitchen door.
Teiji squirmed out of his mother’s arms and ran over to his brother.
“Look mama, he’s awake. We can go now right?”
“Alright, alright.” She took their hands in hers and walked with them to Ichiraku’s.
She sat down on a stool at Ichiraku’s next to a tall bond man in an orange outfit. Toshiro and Teiji sat beside her. Tala ordered ramen for her and her sons. The man next to her looked at her.
“Hey Tala-chan, Hinata told me what happened.”
“I figured she would, Naruto-kun. Word travels fast around here.” She replied.
Toshiro looked up from his ramen.
“What happened mama?”
“Nothing dear.” She replied.
She patted the boy’s head and turned back to Naruto.
“Speaking of word traveling fast, Congratulations. It’s about time.”
“Arigato.”
“So when’s the wedding?”
“Hinata and I haven’t decided yet. We’re thinking in the spring or fall.”
“How’s her father taking it?” Tala asked softly.
Naruto grumbled.
“Better than we expected, but still not good. I think he’ll get over it.”
A large bang erupted behind them. Tala turned around to see a mist ninja standing on the roof of a charred building. She and Naruto both stood up and ran at the man. She turned around and looked and Toshiro and Teiji.
“Make sure they stay safe.” She yelled to the man behind the counter of Ichiraku’s.
The man nodded and Tala followed Naruto towards the intruder. The man saw them coming and threw a smoke bomb into the air. Smoke erupted all around them, making it impossible to see for almost an entire block. Tala continued forward, listening for where the man was, while Naruto slowed down to try and follow her. Tala pulled out her daggers as she caught up with the man. Turning around, he threw a massive number of kunai in every direction. She held up her daggers but was unable to block them all. A kunai hit her leg and imbedded itself deeply. Another one scratched the side of her stomach. She ignored the pain and continued to run. Tala slashed at him with her left blade towards his neck and he brought bought of his hands with kunai in them up to protect himself. She used this opportunity to stab through his stomach with her right blade. The nin fell back and would have fallen down but Tala’s dagger held him up. She pulled her dagger out and blood poured out of his body. The mist faded and Naruto found Tala standing over the dead man. She turned to face Naruto.
“He must have been a real idiot to attack inside the village.” She said.
Naruto picked up the man’s body.
“I’ll take him to Sakura-chan and see if she can find out anything.”
“Hai.”
Naruto left with the dead nin on his back and Tala walked back to Ichiraku’s. When she walked up to the counter she looked around at screamed at what she saw. Tala quickly made several hand signs, pricked her finger on one of her daggers, and slammed her hand on the ground.
“Summoning!”
Uru appeared in front of her in a puff of smoke.
“Uru, we’ve got an emergency!”

Uru looked around to see what the emergency was. Standing in front of her was an older man dressed all in black. He appeared as if he had been in quite a few fights in his life. The scars all over his body made him look dangerously experienced in fighting. He held up a Konoha forehead protector with a slash through it in his hand.
“Don’t even think of sending you pet out for help Tala-chan. I don’t want to kill your little ones too soon.” The man threatened.
Tala gritted her teeth, “What did you do with them, Yukio-sensei?”
Uru looked back and forth. This man didn’t look or smell like the man Tala called sensei at all to her.
The man laughed at Tala, “Don’t worry; they’re alive, for now. But that could change at any moment, all depending on what you do next. Throw away your daggers and remove your forehead protector. Oh, and get rid of that wolf. After all, I wouldn’t want you telling anyone where you’re going and ruining the surprise.” Tala nodded. She removed her daggers and set them on the ground.
“Uru, leave.” She muttered as she pulled her forehead protector from her leg. The forehead protector made a thump as it hit the ground, and Uru poofed away sadly. Tala took a step forward.
‘Damn it, there’s no sign or sound of them.’ She thought.
There weren’t very many people around because of the battle either. Tala couldn’t find any way to get a messenger to Kiba.
Yukio interrupted her thoughts. “Don’t even bother trying to escape and find your sons. They’re long gone. Not even you can find them. The only way for you to ever see them again is to come with me.” He held up a pair of earplugs. “Normally we would use a blindfold, but you’re special.” He said, smiling.
‘We? He’s not alone?’ She thought.
Tala took the earplugs and put them in her ears. Yukio smiled as he thought of the money he would make. The hidden mist would pay greatly for her hearing. Ever since the hidden mist got its new kage, it had undergone serious changes in all areas in order to become more powerful. Yukio was one of the missing ninjas they had recruited to do their dirty work. Not that he minded. He wanted to see Tala suffer for what she did to him. He had minor scars all over his body and one hug scar on his chest. He grabbed Tala’s arm angrily as he thought about how much pain he had been in after she used that earth attack of hers. He pulled her away from the village and into the surrounding area. Tala stumbled several times as she tried to keep up with him. She had learned to rely on her hearing so much over the years that she could barely function without it. Her eyes continued to look for help, but everyone had gone to look for other invading ninjas. Yukio pulled her into the woods that were near Konoha. Tala listened for the sounds of people and no one was near. She yanked her arm away from Yukio and pulled out the ear plugs.
“You should have known better than to take me to an area where I can tell that one of your allies isn’t near. I may not have been able to tell inside the village, but out here there is no on to tell your allies what happened to you.” She said to him.
He laughed at her, “Do you honestly think I didn’t know that? I’m always one step ahead of you Tala-chan. I don’t plan to kill you while you’re defenseless. I want a rematch. Then I’ll kill you. The mist will just have to examine the bloodline limit of your dead body instead. If that doesn’t work, there’s always those brats of yours.”
Tala made several hand signs. “You bastard, I won’t let you hurt them! Fire wave!” She yelled. Fire spewed from her mouth to form a circle around the man. It inched closer to him, making the circle smaller every second. Yukio just sneered, “Is that your best?” He made the same hand signs as Tala and let loose his own fire. It combined with Tala’s fire and flew towards Tala. She prepared for her favorite jutsu. Mud spewed from her mouth as she spun in a circled around herself. It formed a giant wall between her and the fire.
Yukio appeared from above her suddenly and jumped into the enclosure of mud.
“Just give up. I know all your moves,” he said as he spun around and punched Tala in the chest, making her hit the wall. She pushed away from the wall with her arms and attempted to kick him. He jumped over her kick but she punched so soon after that he was still in midair and couldn’t avoid being hit in the face. He fell backwards and landed on his back.
“You don’t know ALL my moves anymore. I’m not a kid anymore, sensei. I’m a jounin now, and your enemy. I don’t know how you survived last time, but I will kill you,” she said, remembering the last time she saw her sensei. She made more hand signs, “Earth Style: Dragon Missile Jutsu!” The wall turned back into mud and became a dragon. The dragon spit missiles at Yukio, but he poofed away.
‘Shadow clone, it’s a good thing I’ve been training with Naruto-kun.’ Tala thought.
She listened around for the original Yukio. He was hiding in a tree.
Tala jumped into the trees after him, “You can’t fool me. My hearing may not be at its best without my eyes covered, but I can still hear you.” She heard him rush towards her and met him at the trunk of a large tree. Yukio stood in front of her and laughed, “Even if you do defeat me you’ll never see your little brats again. I still win. You’ll have to live your whole life knowing that their death is your fault. Face it, you lose.”
Tala shook her head, “I refuse to lose. Besides, I’ve already won.” Yukio shook his head, “How do you figure?”
It was Tala who sneered this time, “Reinforcements have arrived.” She pointed over to her right side where Kiba was running toward her with the rest of his team.
“Tala, where are Toshiro and Teiji?” Kiba shouted. Tala used the distraction to grab Yukio and knock him out. “You’re getting rusty. I don’t think you were this weak when we first met.” Tala turned to Kiba, “He knows where they are. We just have to get a few ANBU to interrogate him. I think that Neji-kun will be more than happy to find out for us.” She picked up Yukio’s limp body and handed him to Kiba, “Take care of him. I have to talk to Hokage-sama.”
Kiba stared at her as she walked away, “Hai.”

Tala walked back into town and picked up her forehead protector and daggers. She placed her daggers back into her boots and stood looking at her forehead protector for a second. She thought about why Yukio would possibly want her to take it off. She could have covered her eyes easily with something else. It didn’t make any sense to her. Anyone in the village would recognize her anyways. Tala sighed and tied it around her neck. If he didn’t want anyone to see it, she would make sure everyone did. It made a clanking noise as the metal on it touched the chain for her locket. She looked down and opened the locket.
‘Their pictures seem sad today.’ She thought, closing the locket as she realized she had reached Hokage tower.
She walked up the stairs and into the Hokage’s office. Tsunade was inside talking to Naruto. Naruto stood up to leave when he say Tala entering. “Tala-chan, what are you doing here?” Naruto exclaimed. Tala grabbed his arm as she passed him and pulled him back inside. “Stay,” she said coldly. She turned to Tsunade, “Toshiro and Teiji have been kidnapped by the hidden mist village in an attempt to capture me and discover how my bloodline limit works. I need a team of jounin to go after them. I should find out where they are being held as soon as the ANBU finish interrogating Yukio-sensei.” Tsunade nodded while looking somewhat puzzled, “Naruto, get Neji, Shino, Hinata, Kiba, and Kakashi. Bring them to the village gate and wait for Tala.” Naruto ran out of the room. Tsunade looked again to Tala, “I thought you killed Yukio.” Tala shook her head, “So did I. But there’s a more important matter right now. I experienced something very odd in my fight with Yukio-sensei. It was way too easy to defeat him. I didn’t have my forehead protector or daggers. I should have had a much harder time.”
Tsunade stood up and walked over to Tala. “I’ll look into it. I’m going to see Yukio myself. But you should give yourself more credit. You’re not a scared genin anymore; you’re a jounin now and are a strong ninja.” Tala sighed, “I know. I still think I shouldn’t have been able to win so easily.” Tsunade nodded and left the room. Tala took a deep breath and turned around. She walked out of Tsunade’s office and toward the front gate of Konoha. She let herself get lost in her thought as she walked. ‘Why me? Why this? Why aren’t they after the Byakugan or something? Since when is an unnamed bloodline limit the best thing to steal? Damn it! It’s all my …’
“Omph...” Tala jerked backwards as she ran into something, or more appropriately, someone. “Hyuga-sama, excuse me.” Tala said politely to Hiashi, the person she had just almost knocked over. “Tala-chan, I’ve been looking for you. I heard what happened. This is why I didn’t want you to marry the Inuzuka boy. I knew that someone would come after your children just like they came after Hinata.” Tala stared at the man, “And your point is?” Hiashi sighed, “Just good luck. I hope you find your sons safe.” Tala nodded and ran towards the gate.
As she approached the gate she saw an ANBU waiting for her. “What’s the report?” She asked him. “The children are being held inside the kage tower of the Hidden Mist Village. Apparently they have undergone a recent change in leadership and are now focused on power instead of peace. That is all the information we have for now. You should leave as soon as possible. We will send you more information when the interrogation is complete.” Tala nodded, “Hai.” The ANBU disappeared in a puff of smoke. Tala looked around to see that Naruto hadn’t arrived with the others yet. Within a few seconds she was surrounded by several of Naruto’s shadow clones, each followed by a member of the group assigned to help find Toshiro and Teiji. All to clones poofed away to reveal the real Naruto talking to Kakashi. Tala looked at the group, “Alright, we’re headed to the hidden mist. Toshiro and Teiji are being held there in the kage’s tower. Let’s move!” The whole group jumped into the trees, with Tala and Kiba in the front. “We’re going to get them back. Don’t worry,” Kiba said, not sure he believed himself. Tala nodded and turned away from him. For some reason there was a knot in her stomach that wouldn’t go away. She just felt like something wasn’t right. Kiba shook his head and figured she was just worried.
After about two hours of traveling, Kiba stopped and sniffed the air. He had notice two human scents ahead of them. Akumaru, who had been traveling next to him, noticed it too. Kiba signaled for everyone to stop. They all stopped silently and Kiba pointed to the area where he smelled the people. “Strangers,” He whispered. Both Hinata and Neji activated their Byakugan and looked at the people in front of them. “One male and one female,” Neji said. Hinata added on, “It looks like they’re waiting for someone or something. They could be mist ninja setting and ambush, but I can’t tell. They’re too far away.” Kakashi signaled for them to split up into two groups and they crept up on either side of the two people. As they were getting closer, Kiba realized something. He jumped out of where he was hiding, to stand directly in front of the people they were trying to surprise. “Ha, I knew I recognized that perfume!” Everyone else jumped down into plain sight. Standing in front of them were Temari and Gaara. “What’s with sneaking up on us?” Temari exclaimed. “We thought you were the enemy,” Shino explained calmly. Kakashi nodded, “Why are you here anyways?” Gaara sighed, “On our way to Konoha for a visit, but Kankoro forgot the important document we were bringing. He went back to get and we’re waiting for him.” Tala nodded, “Then let’s keep going. We’ve got to get there as soon as possible.” They left on their way to the mist, and during the long journey, Tala couldn’t help but let her mind wander. It just happened to wander back to her genin days. A week before she took the chuunin exam actually.

“Toshiro please don’t!” A young girl whispered to the boy she was clinging to. The boy turned toward her and whispered back, “But Tala, I’m getting tired of pretending there’s nothing going on. You should just tell him.” Brown hair went flying as the girl shook her head furiously. She tightened her grip on the boy’s arm and pulled him behind a tree. “It doesn’t matter anyway,” She pleaded with him. His light blue eyes gave her a questioning look and she did her best to avoid his gaze, “He doesn’t feel the same so there’s just no point. It would only put more stress on the team.” Toshiro placed one hand on her shoulder and the other under her chin. He lifted up her chin and looked directly into her eyes, causing her to blush. “Listen runt, if you don’t tell him then you’ll never know,” he said. Tala placed her hand on the one he had on her shoulder, “I…” She stopped midsentence when she saw a flash of dark blue out of the corner of her eye. “Hey guys are we…” The boy who just stumbled upon them stopped when he saw the two of them and looked at them up and down. Tala looked at what he was looking at and realized how close she was to the other boy. “Teiji-kun, it’s not what it looks like. We were just talking,” she said pushing Toshiro away from her. Teiji turned around and stomped angrily back the way he came. “I guess we’re not training today,” he mumbled. Tala ran after Teiji, who seemed to have disappeared, “Teiji-kun wait! I have to tell you something!”

Toshiro just sat on the ground where Tala had pushed him. “So much for not stressing the team. Yukio-sensei’s not going to be happy when he sees senses the tension in the group. I can just hear him now, ‘I can tell there’s something up so fix it or I’ll fix it for you.’” Toshiro said the last part in his version of his sensei’s voice. “I don’t sound that old,” came a voice from the tree branch above him. Toshiro looked up and turned slightly pale, “Hiya sensei, what are you doing here?” His voice was slightly shaky with fear. Yukio jumped out of the tree and looked at the boy, inwardly amused. “We have practice today. So, where are Tala and Teiji?” Yukio made his voice angry in order to keep his pupil scared. “You didn’t hear? … I mean, they’re sick. They’ve got … um… the flu. Yeah, they’ve got the flu.” Toshiro has though that Yukio heard the whole conversation, but he had just arrived for Toshiro’s little impersonation. Yukio nodded and turned to leave, “I guess I should check on them then.” Toshiro stopped him by jumping up in front of him, “I’ll do it. I mean, Tala is still mad at you for tripping her on purpose the other day.” Yukio looked at Toshiro suspiciously, “Fine, but don’t get sick.” He doubted that the boy was telling the truth but knew there must be a good reason, so he didn’t push the issue.
“Yosh!” Toshiro ran off in the direction Tala and Toshiro went. He figured he should try to do some damage control anyways. He knew that the whole situation was his fault for not noticing Teiji. He knew exactly where Teiji would hide, the scroll room in Hokage tower. Tala never went in there and would never find him. Toshiro jumped through the scroll room’s window only to have three kunai fly past his head. “Hey, what’s your damage?!” He shouted at Teiji, who was standing on the other side of the room. “My damage?! How dare you ask me that?!” Teiji yelled back. Two more kunai flew at Toshiro. He caught them both and dropped them on the ground. “Just give up. I won’t fight you like this.” Teiji ran toward Toshiro and threw and angry punch his way. Toshiro ducked under the punch and kicked Teiji’s feet out from under him. A thump could be heard as Teiji hit the ground. “You know that relationships within the team are forbidden by sensei. And yet, you still… AGH!! You asshole!” He pushed himself back onto his feet and prepared to attack again. “It’s not like that. I don’t like her like that. We were just talking.” Teiji half growled, “Since when do you talk to someone two centimeters from their face?” Before Toshiro could answer the door to the room burst open and the Hokage herself entered the room. “What is going on in here?!” Tsunade bellowed. “Nothing,” both boys mumbled. She looked at them suspiciously, “Both of you in my office now.” She appeared to have calmed down some, but still looked annoyed. The boys followed her up to her office where their sensei was waiting for them. “Sensei, why are you here?” Toshiro asked. Yukio gestured to the papers in his hand, “I was just handing in some paperwork, but now it looks like I’ll have to deal with the two of you.” He gave Toshiro a look as if to say ‘sick huh?’ Toshiro looked away from his sensei. Tsunade sat down at her desk, “I don’t know what up with you two, but your training will be cancelled until you figure out how to get along. Now go.” The boys nodded and hurried out of the Hokage tower. When they were finally away Toshiro turned to Teiji, “Will you just talk to her?” Teiji shook his head and walked away. Toshiro simply sighed and headed for Tala’s apartment. It was where she always went there when she was upset.
He opened the door to the tiny apartment and looked around for Tala. “Hey runt, where are you?” He half-shouted. His answer came in the form of a sob coming from the bedroom. He grabbed a box of tissues off the kitchen counter and walked into her bedroom. She was sitting on the bed with her face buried in a pillow. Toshiro sat beside her a pulled the pillow away. “Hey, don’t cry.” He handed her the tissues. She took a tissue and wiped her eyes. “Why shouldn’t I? Teiji-kun will never like me now.” Toshiro put his arm around her shoulder, “That’s nonsense. Why do you think he got mad in the first place?” Tala sniffled, “Because he hates it when people break the rules.” Toshiro handed her another tissue, “That could be it, or it’s because he secretly likes you too. My bet’s on the last one.” Tala pushed him off the bed, “What did you tell him?” Toshiro sighed. He always ended up on the ground, “Nothing. I just think you should talk to him.” Tala stood up and walked to the window. It made a creaking noise as she pulled it open to get some air. She leaned out and looked at the scenery. She rubbed her eyes at what she saw. ‘Did that tree trunk just move?’ she thought. She looked again and recognized the jutsu. “Teiji, what are you doing?” Teiji appeared from behind the tree and Tala’s face turned red as she realized he had been listening to her and Toshiro. Toshiro walked to the window to see what was going on. Tala looked back and forth between the boys, “You planned this didn’t you? You made me confess my feelings so he could hear. How could you?” Before either boy could answer Tala jumped out the window and disappeared.

Toshiro jumped out the window and pushed Teiji, who had just been staring, “Are you going to chase her of what?” Teiji looked and him and followed Tala silently. He had no idea what just happened but he knew that Tala was mad at him. While he was outside the window he’d heard enough to know that there was nothing going on between his team mates, which made him feel bad for not believing Tala.

As he was approaching the outskirts of the village he finally saw her. He moved chakra into his feet in order to catch up with her and ran up beside her. Teiji jumped in front of her to stop her but she didn’t see him and ran into him, causing them both to fall. Teiji hit the ground with a thump followed by Tala landing on top on him. “Teiji-kun, wha…” Teiji put his hand over her mouth, “I’m not the most handsome guy ever. I’m stubborn, arrogant, rude, and completely clueless when it comes to girls. But if you can see past all that then… maybe…you and I…” Tala let out a squeal of delight when he took his hand off her mouth, causing him to replace it. “How about you get off me before you cause a scene?” Tala nodded and rolled over and sat up. Teiji sat up beside her. “I got you something. Here.” He thrust a small package at her. “A present? What for?” Tala said, taking the gift. Teiji shrugged, “In case you decided to stay mad. Just open it. And don’t be expecting any more presents any time soon. It’s not my thing.” Tala nodded. She opened the box slowly and peered inside. Something inside caught the light. Tala lifted the object up and examined it carefully. Teiji looked down, “You hate it don’t you?” Tala shook her head, “No that’s not it. I just don’t know what it is.” She looked at the trinket in her hand. It was a colorful metal fairy that had a clasp on the back. Teiji took it from her a squeezed the clasp. He carefully placed the fairy in her hair. “It’s a hair pin. The lady in the shop said girls like those. I’m sorry if you don’t like it,” Toshiro said. Tala hugged him tightly, almost knocking him down, “I love it.” Teiji pushed her away. “You’re causing a scene again,” he mumbled. Tala stood up looked at him, “You really are a jerk.” She smiled and held out his hand to help him up. As he took her hand, he pulled himself up and her towards him. She fell into his chest and he put his arm around her waist. “I may be a jerk, but I’m your jerk,” He teased. She giggled and pulled him down the street by the hand. “Come on, let’s go tell Toshiro that everything’s okay now.”

Tala awoke from her daydream as the group approached the Hidden Mist Village. The gates came into view a few feet away. The group slowed down and approached the village cautiously. Not a sound could be heard anywhere around. Tala closed her eyes and listened carefully. A clink of metal occurred on the outskirts of the village. “What do you hear?” Shino asked. “I don't hear anyone at all except for one house that way and I'm not even sure about that,” Tala pointed to the east. Kakashi nodded, “Whoever they are, they must know you're coming. They're being too quiet. Hinata, use you're Byakugan over there.” Hinata made her hand sign and activated the Byakugan. A frown formed on her face as she found where Tala had gestured. “There's a chakra barrier around the house. I can't see a thing.” Kiba ran forward, “They must be there. That's the only reason they would put up a chakra barrier.” Neji ran after Kiba, “Wait you idiot! It could be a trap.” The others followed and almost caught up to Kiba when he suddenly stopped in front of the house. Tala was just about to ask why he stopped when she noticed two figures in the doorway. “Yo runt!” One of them shouted. Kiba rushed at them, “Give them back!” Wind flew all around the group and Kiba was knocked back by the sheer force. “Don't underestimate us,” the second figure said. The rest of the group rushed them while Tala watched in fear. 'Runt?' She thought to her self. Before she could contemplate that a voice filled the air. “Water style: Exploding water shockwave!” Water came rushing toward her along with everyone else. Since she was farther back, the water only reached the top of her boots and she was able to keep her footing barely. 'The strength of this water's amazing. Not even Kakashi-san stood a chance,' she thought. She drew her daggers and prepared to attack. The dagger in her right hand flipped upside down and she began her original technique. Before the daggers were going very fast the men disappeared and each reappeared holding the hilt of one of her daggers. Tala gasped as she observed the man holding her right dagger. He was wearing a blue jacket with a green shirt underneath and blue shorts. She looked into his deep green eyes before noticing his hair was a mixture of sea green and ocean blue. Her head turned towards the man holding her left dagger. He had on a white sleeveless shirt over fishnets and baggy pants. His bright blue hair seemed to float in the air, while his similarly blue eyes had a familiar arrogance. “You can't activate the true power of this,” he said, pulling the dagger from the stunned woman's hand. He spun it in a circle easily and a huge amount of air was released, destroying a tree in front of it. “It's all about the chakra and being able to control the element,” he said. The other man took the dagger from her right hand and held it like she had, upside down. The water from before lifted up into the air a swirled around. He turned to Tala, “What wrong runt? It's not like you haven't seen this before.” Tala shook her head, “Only Teiji and Toshio can do that. Those were made special for them. You shouldn't be able to use it. And why aren't you attacking me?” The man that used the air dagger let out a grunt, “Haven't you figured it out yet? We haven't attacked you because you didn't attack us. Neji-kun and the others did. Come on Tala, use your brain.” Tala's face turned slightly red, “You jerk! Don't refer to me in the familiar when you don't... Wait. How do you know my and Neji's names?” The air user sighed, “Do I have to spell out everything for you? You sure have gotten dumb. We went to the academy with Neji-kun and were on a team with you.” A look of disbelieve appeared on Tala's face. The water user smiled, “Roka Toshiro at your service, runt” The air user shook his head, “Shu Teiji.” Tala squeezed her eyes shut, “No that's not possible. They're dead. I know they are.” Teiji smirked, “Oh really did you see us die?” “No,” Tala mumbled. “Were our bodies ever found?” “They assumed they'd been burned to death the the burn marks all over.” “So you don't know.” Tala sighed. He was right.
She opened her eyes and looked into the eyes of the man who claimed to be Toshiro, her best friend since her second year at the academy. “Prove it. Prove you're Toshiro.” Toshiro placed his hand on her arm. “The first time we met I pulled your ridiculous looking pigtail, you used to sleep at my house all the time when we were little because you were scared to be alone, and before the chuunin exam you made me promise that if we fought in the final round I wouldn't go easy on you.” Tala turned her gaze to the man who said he was Teiji. “I'm not going to prove that I'm who I am. You should be able to tell that by know. Besides, it's not dignifying.” Tears filled Tala's eyes, “But how'd you...” “Survive?” Teiji cut her off, “Someone used a jutsu on us to erase our memories. I guess it just wore off. We’ve been living here ever since.” Teiji looked Tala up and down, “I take it those kids inside are yours. Your eyes are the same.” Tala suddenly realized why she was there and ran into the building to find her sons sitting on the ground. When they saw her they jumped up into her arms. “Are you two okay?” she asked them. “We’re fine,” Teiji answered, trying to hide tears. Toshiro gripped his mother and refused to let go, “Mommy, I was so scared. But then those big men came and rescued us. They’re really cool. They have the same names as us.” Tala picked them up and carried them outside. She noticed that the rest of her group had recovered and were preparing to rush her former team mates. “Wait!” Tala yelled to try and stop them.