[OP: "Lay Me Down"--The Oh Hellos]

Ino had found herself wandering along the far side of the river, though she didn't know it was the far side when she regained awareness.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been wandering in a kind of fog, but she felt tired and kind of feverish.

She also, as she wore short sleeves most of the time, realized quickly that she had a strange rash going over her arms in patches.

It looked like an allergic reaction, little bumps and redness... It wasn't that severe and wasn't really painful, but she assumed she'd touched some plant or something.

Funny, though, she saw no toxic plants around that would have caused it.

Then she wondered if it was the drug, because her head felt so heavy at first she was sure she'd been drugged.

She drank some water and washed her arms and face, and it woke her up a bit more.

She soon realized that she didn't know where she was, or with whom, just like the others.

But Ino was a bit more resistant to mental restraint than the others were, and she dimly thought she'd been on a mission... She'd been running...with people...

She couldn't make any faces come to mind or remember the point of the mission, but she at least understood she should be on her guard. Someone had done this, and they were likely close.

And no doubt other people were around who were also in her state of confusion.

She was kind of scared though. She was pretty vulnerable like this--what if a bunch of enemies just jumped at her, and she couldn't fight them off?

She tried to find cover, real quietly.

She found some large rocks and hid between them.

She then thought to look through her pack... She found books... She didn't recognize them. They seemed to be religious texts or stories that she'd never heard of.

Also a book about plants in the Land of Lightning (something she'd gotten in the bookstore in Cloud but didn't remember getting). [Continuity. That was actually in that chapter.]

That clued her in that she might be in the Land of Lightning, but that only increased her fear. Here? Somewhere that hated Leaf? Why was she here? The war had happened, but that didn't mean they were on this kind of friendly terms... They'd think she was spying if they found her here--if it wasn't them who'd done this to begin with!

She covered her head, as if that would help. What to do now?

A while passed with her hiding, undecided.

Then suddenly she heard a sound. It was like the rustle of doves wings, only it was much, much louder, as if there was a whole flock of them.

Then a huge shape went overhead. The sparse trees partially blocked her view of it, but it was definitely an animal of some kind, and it was bigger than a horse!

She held dead still, terrified of anything that big noticing her. 

[Image of Ino looking scared from the show.]

A huge feather fell off it and fell through the branches.

It might have been as long as her arm!

Ino didn't have time to process what she'd just seen before another person suddenly came scrambling over the rocks and then proceeded to trip on the curve of one and fall sideways across the curve of the big one she was next to.

They fell so that they wouldn't have seen her; the rock was mostly blocking them like a huge tin can might block something behind it on the shelf.

She held dead still again, trying to not even think.

She heard a groan of pain.

Then a very placid-sounding voice saying to itself. "I don't seem to be in very good condition... I wonder why it just flew away."

It was a guy, Ino thought...but pretty soft spoken.

She debated whether she should show herself or not. 

Before she could decide, the person hopped onto the top of the rocks.

It was a guy...a pretty cute one, too, though Ino didn't think she should care at a time like this.

He was pretty pale, like he hadn't seen the sun in years, but he was dressed like an ANBU Black Ops member would be. They wore asymmetrical outfits.

But that would make him Leaf. No headband, but...

She hoped so, because any second and he was going to look down.

She kept holding dead still.

He was looking around like he was trying to get his bearings.

But he didn't seem to know where this was any more than she did, because he shook his head and then took out a scroll and a paint brush.

He made some strokes, and a few birds formed out of ink and flew up off the scroll and away.

Ino didn't remember having seen any jutsu like that, and she gasped before she could stop herself.

The person jumped in surprise and then looked at her.

She looked at him.

They just stared for a moment.

* * *

Sai thought two things when he found the kunoichi--one was, he should have checked the area more before he got up high enough to be seen.

Two was she looked more scared than hostile.

And then he thought, how did he know what scared looked like? Or hostile, for that matter? He'd never thought to notice any facial expressions before.

Right?

But he was sure it was scared. (It would have been hard to miss for anyone else; her eyes were huge.

Sai also thought he didn't normally like to scare people--though he didn't know why he thought so.

He backed up a little. "I didn't see anyone..." He stated the obvious.

The girl blinked at him warily, then she said, "Are you Leaf? I mean...ANBU?"

Sai glanced at his clothes. 

"Oh..." He wasn't supposed to answer that. "Well--"

"Just tell me if you're Leaf," she cut in.

"I am..." Sai had no memory of being told to hide this...or of why he was here at all...

"Oh...okay," she sighed. "Me too."

"You don't have a headband."

He didn't speak skeptically, just stated it like a fact.

The girl pulled it out of her belt. "I don't know why I took it off. I thought maybe I should leave it off though... This is the Land of Lightning... They hate Leaf here."

"This is the Land of Lightning?!" Sai knew its reputation as well as anyone else. "That's concerning."

"Right?" She nodded.

Then she tucked hair behind her ear kind of nervously--Sai again wondered how he knew it was nervous.

"I'm Ino," she said. "Yamanaka... Maybe you've heard of my clan?"

Sai had...and he knew Danzo didn't like them.

But Danzo was dead...right?

But how did he die?

Sai had no feelings at all about him dying and wouldn't have even if he'd remembered the reason, but he was puzzled by why he didn't know the cause.

The Yamanaka clan was dangerous to the Foundation because they could invade your mind and find out secrets, even if you were sworn not to tell them. [You know, I really think that would have been a realistic issue for Danzo to have with them, given how secretive he was, and it's too bad the author never put any thought into giving any deeper connection to any other characters. Sai being nervous around Ino at first and then changing his mind later would have been a great addition to their ship.]

However, she didn't look that dangerous.

"And you are...?" Ino prompted.

Sai looked confused for a moment. "I shouldn't have a name..." But he did have one, didn't he? Maybe it was a cover.

"Why not? Everyone has a name," Ino said.

That would explain why it was a cover.

"We in the Foundation have no name, no past, no future--" Sai recited and stopped.

He wasn't supposed to be able to say that to an outsider.

But it had just rolled off his tongue like nothing... Oh...well, if Danzo was dead, the seal was gone. That was why.

He didn't realize he'd kept just staring into space while he was thinking, but Ino waved her hand. "Uh...hello? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I think so," Sai said automatically. "I wasn't injured."

"You seem a little out of it... Maybe it was the drug they used... I mean, if you don't remember why you're here... Do you remember anything?"

"Lots of things," Sai said. "But not why I'm here."

She laughed. He wondered why.

She had a nice laugh though...

Then he wondered why he thought that also.

"Me too," Ino said, a little strained. "But it's good at least to find another Leaf. I was getting pretty worried about being out here alone. So...you really don't have a name? What was that about the Foundation?"

"It's not important." Sai didn't want to explain, even if he could. "I think I go by 'Sai'. I just don't know why."

"Well, that's an odd name, but I guess it'll work for now," Ino said.

"Odder than yours?" Sai said without thinking.

Ino frowned. "Hey!" But then she paused. "Okay, I shouldn't have said that. Sorry."

"I wasn't offended," Sai said, with his usual fake smile.

"You seemed offended."

"I did?" Confused.

Ino raised an eyebrow. "You're kind of an odd person, aren't you?"

"Am I?" Sai had the same smile on.

"Yes...but I can't be picky right now." Ino tugged her bangs. "So...you have no idea why you're out here? No papers, nothing?"

"Nothing that says why I'm here. I did have books about some philosophy I don't recall purchasing, but I am interested in those things." Sai thought to himself it was odd that he knew that also.

What was going on with him?

He had an uneasy sort of unsettled feeling in his stomach, too... He wondered what it was.

"I also had a book about the language of flowers," he added. "I don't recognize that."

"Oh, really? I have a book like that at home." Ino brightened. "We sell them, actually. My family owns the flower shop. Maybe you've been there."

"I've passed by it." Sai didn't recall that he'd even gone inside.

"Yeah, it's great. I mean...it's a living, you know...when you don't have ninja work," she said too quickly. "Anyway, the language of flowers is pretty cool. I wish I had a rhododendron right now."

"Why?" 

"It means 'danger' or 'beware'," she replied.

"That would be a good flower to have now," Sai said with a straight face.

Ino laughed again. "You're kind of funny, Sai."

"I didn't think I was comical." Sai was disappointed to hear this. "ANBU are supposed to be very serious."

"That what's funny about it," Ino said. "Sorry...I shouldn't laugh. That's rude. You were just...so flat about it--it seemed ironic."

"Ironic...what do you mean?"

"Uh...ironic...you know...seeming like it is kind of the opposite of what you'd expect for the situation?" she replied. [And that's what ironic actually means, in this context.]

"Is that what it means?" Sai actually got a real smile. "I've never understood that term."

"No one does very well," Ino said. "Which is ironic, because people use it all the time."

She smirked as if she'd just made a joke.

How did he know that also?

Sai wondered if he was supposed to act like it was funny, because humor was kind of a struggle for him.

"Can I ask what that big thing you were chasing was?" Ino asked.

"Oh...I wasn't chasing it. I was being chased by it," Sai said. "It appeared to be a very large bird. It flew towards me, and I ran. I thought it might attack--it had huge talons. It kept screeching at me also, very alarming..." He paused. "Though, why I know that, I don't know."

"I'd think anyone would be alarmed," Ino said.

"No, it's just that members of the Foundation are not supposed to experience emotions," Sai said.

Ino frowned. "That seems dumb. Why wouldn't you have emotions?"

"I--I really don't know the reason for it, actually, just that it makes us better ninjas, but I don't see why," Sai answered oddly.

"Everyone has emotions. Why would it make you a better ninja? Seems more like it would make it hard to read a room," Ino said. "Duh."

"That's a good point. I wonder if anyone ever brought it up to him," Sai admitted.

"Who knows?" Ino really didn't know what that meant but didn't want to talk about it right now. "Well, if the big bird is gone, I guess... Do you know where to go?"

"No, but I can draw another bird and fly out of here. I was hesitant to try it before. I thought there might be enemies in this area."

"There still might be," Ino objected. "We'd be sitting ducks for anything down here if we go over the trees... There's not much of them, but it's some cover."

"I could make a lion instead," Sai offered.

"Sure...why?"

"To ride on."

"Oh...of course." Ino rubbed her forehead. "That's an interesting jutsu you have. I've never seen it before. Can you make anything with it?"

"Any animal pretty much, but I mostly stick to the ones I know how to draw the best." 

"Must be nice to be able to draw. I always wished I could. Never had much time to learn though. Flowers were a more practical kind of creative pursuit," Ino remarked. "I can arrange flowers really well."

"Is that useful in combat?" Sai asked with a straight face.

"No. Unless you want to poison someone."

Pause.

"Do you?"

"No. But I could." Ino shrugged.

"Please don't." Sai didn't like that.

Ino laughed again. "I think you're safe, Mr. Sai... Is that all right?"

"It doesn't sound quite right, actually, but I suppose it's customary," Sai said.

"Hey, if we can't remember what we were both doing, then do you think we were out here together?" Ino asked.

"That's possible." Sai drew a lion sketch while he was talking, and it hopped off the page and stood there. "Do you want a personal one?"

"Oh...you don't mind sharing?" Ino said.

"I was thinking pragmatically. Do you know how to steer one of those?"

"No..." Ino tugged her hair.

"Then perhaps it's better to just share," Sai said. 

Ino swallowed. "Okay."

It's no big deal, she told herself. This is an emergency. Doesn't matter that the guy is a little cute... He seems like he doesn't really understand the situation and is awkward anyway...kind of a space cadet.

She wondered if she did know him and how well. It would be awful to not remember.

Sai got on the lion, and she got on behind him.

"Should I hang on?" she asked.

"With chakra," Sai said. "Don't slip off. They go pretty fast."

He was right. It took off very quickly.

Ino quickly decided to hang onto Sai, whether or not he said to, before she lost her balance.

They were running for only a short time--this area wasn't that big--before they hopped over the river ,and some of Sai's paint birds flew up.

"They seem to be telling us to keep going his way," Sai said. "I asked them to find civilization or other people."

"Good," Ino said.

The birds directed them to turn slightly.

At the speed they were moving, though, they nearly ran the person over before they saw them.

It was a kind of dumpy-looking guy dressed in red, and another guy with dark red hair and dark eyeliner on, with a huge...gourd?

The lion skidded to a stop so hard that they nearly fell off it, and it still kicked up leaves and dust at the two newcomers.

Both of them tensed. The one with the gourd raised his hands, and Sand rose out of the ground and towards them like a defensive arm.

"Sand shinobi," Ino gasped.

"Indeed," Sai said, straightening. "This does not bode well."

"The Sand and Leaf are allies now," Ino said. "But why on earth would one be all the way out here?"

"Leaf?" the guy said in a voice that sounded like he'd swallowed smoke for his entire life. "Then we are allies... How strange. I don't recall that I was going anywhere with Leaf shinobi."

"I told you, I'm Leaf too," the chubby guy said.

"I was going to tell you the same thing," the Sand said. "But we were talking about what happened to us... Do either of you know how you got to this area?"

"No, but I know it's the Land of Lightning." Ino slid off the lion. "So who are you?"

"I hope it is not unwise to tell you this, but I am Gaara, the Kazekage of Sand," the guy said.

Ino raised an eyebrow. "You are?"

Gaara pulled the Kage hat out of his bag--which was hidden somewhere under the gourd.

"I see..." Ino looked stunned. "Why not? The Kazekage too."

"What would the Kazekage be doing out here with a bunch of Leaf?" the chubby guy said. "I'm Choji, by the way. Amajiki clan."

"What? My family is close to that clan," Ino said. "I'm Ino Yamanaka."

"Are you?" Choji said. "I should know you then, but I don't."

"Or you do and you just don't remember," Sai offered. "We have discussed that possibility already. I am also Leaf, ANBU."

"You wouldn't be on our team then," Choji said. "If we had one...which we should...but I can't recall it at all." He frowned at Ino in confusion. "But it's tradition."

"It is... Maybe we truly do not remember." Ino was scared again. "This is so freaky... I could know all of you and not remember it? What kind of drug-genjutsu is this?"

"Is that what it is?" Gaara said. "I have wondered why I don't remember. I thought perhaps I hit my head, but you're right, that would hardly explain such widespread memory loss. I feel I was here with other people from my Village, but I don't know who they were. I can't recall if I have teammates or not."

"They don't let you go alone, unless you're kidnapped," Choji said. "Are you?"

"How could I know the answer to that?" Gaara said.

"Good point," Choji said.

"It's a powerful genjutsu that could keep all of us under its spell for so long," Sai said. "I don't like it."

"I wish I could break it," Ino said. "But I've tried already, and I couldn't. I don't think it's just chakra-based, I have this rash, like I was poisoned with something..." She raised her arms.

The others stared at her, then they checked themselves.

"I have it also," Choji said.

"Me too." Sai had not even noticed till now.

Gaara had to peel the sand grains on his skin back to check, but he found a rash. "Something shouldn't have touched my skin through the sand armor."

"You can get a rash from eating something too," Ino said. "Even smelling it, if it's strong enough."

"I didn't know that," Gaara said. "It seems I have been poisoned then. How troubling. Yet, other than a headache at first, I didn't have any symptoms."

"The symptoms are in our minds," Ino said. "This is awful... What if we've lost weeks of our lives? Or years...? Do I look older than 17 to you?"

"No..." Choji said.

"I couldn't tell," Sai said flatly.

"Me neither," Gaara said. "I hope I do not look older. My Village would have been left without a Kage for years then."

"You seem about our age," Choji said comfortingly. "I don't think it's been years. Maybe just days."

"Could only be hours, for all we know," Gaara said. "And I hope so. Whoever we were with is more likely to be alive, then. I have met no one but Choji-san until you two appeared."

"Me neither," Ino said. "No one but Sai."

"And I was being chased by a bird," Sai said.

"You're afraid of birds?" Choji was amused.

"Thai bird was huge," Ino said. "I saw it... It was bigger than we are! It was terrifying. I bet it's a summoning of some sort. No normal bird is that big."

"That is concerning, but perhaps it would lead us to the enemy then," Gaara said. "Any idea where it went?"

"It flew away a while ago," Sai said. "But if it's near, it might fly overhead again. It would be hard to miss that bird."

"It will be nighttime soon." Gaara looked at the sky. It was starting to get dim. "We might be safer to wait till morning. While we could sneak around better at night, our enemies likely will be more ready than we are for it. And they may outnumber us."

"I do have some food rations," Choji said. It was quite generous of him to offer this at all, though they didn't know he was not the type to.

"I have some also," Ino said. "And a bunch of books I don't know why I have."

"Books..." Gaara said. "Hmm..."

He began to look into his bag more. "I have papers designating me as the Kazekage...and some funds from my Village, no doubt travel support...and...a letter from the Mizukage saying I visited her Village...and...one from Rain Village? That is unbelievable."

"Maybe it's fake," Choji said.

"Maybe...but why save it then?" Gaara asked.

"Evidence?" Sai suggested.

"This bears investigation, if we get out of here." Gaara shook his head.

"We should look for shelter now if we're going to," Sai said. "My scouts can tell us if anyone is looking for us."

"One thing," Choji said. "We did find a fire in the trees... Gaara-sama put it out with his sand."

"I saw someone using a fire jutsu with my eye," Gaara said.

"Your eye? You mean your sensory?" In asked.

Gaara cover one eye, and an eyeball of sand formed in the air.

Ino choked back a gasp of disgust.

"That's interesting." Sai seemed fine.

"I didn't get a great look through the brush, but I remember seeing a tall person dressed in black mostly," Gaara said.

"Sounds like the potential enemy," Choji remarked.

"Who would set trees on fire in a spot like this?" Ino said.

"They may have intended to burn us all to death by doing so while we were lost in here," Gaara said. "We probably should have a watch. Between the four of us, we can manage it."

"And you think we're all here together?" Ino asked.

"It makes the most sense, though still no sense at all why Leaf and only the Kazekage of Sand would be together," Gaara mused. "But, we're allies, so I think we must be."

"It wouldn't be so bad to be on a team with you," Choji said amiably. "You seem prepared."

"I feel as if I have done this a lot--though I've only been on a few missions outside my Village since becoming Kage," Gaara mused.

"I guess he's the team leader by default." Ino tugged her hair. "But what if there really are other people who were with us?"

"Four is the standard number--or 3," Choji said.

"But why not more Sand shinobi? And I don't think..." Ino frowned. "I have a team...but I don't think an ANBU Black Ops would be on it. I don't remember you..." Looking at Choji hard. 

"Me either," Choji said. "But I do have a team... I did, anyway. Only, our sensei passed away not that long ago."

"Mine did too!" Ino said. Then looked sad. "And my father."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Choji said nicely.

"Perhaps you have the same teacher." Gaara said what he thought was obvious enough.

"You really think we could forget even who was on our team then?" Ino asked. "It's Team 10."

"That is my team!" Choji was shocked. "But I don't remember any of my teammates aside from Asuma."

"Asuma was my sensei also!" Ino gasped. "So...we are on the same team...and we don't remember each other? I feared this was the case!" She gripped her face frantically. "This is horrible. That means anyone, I mean anyone we're close to, who we've known for years, we could be complete strangers to!"

"Why is she in distress?" Sai asked blankly.

"It is pretty disturbing to think about." Choji was not usually disturbed, but even he found it unsettling.

"Yes, I understand their fear," Gaara said. "We could kill our best friends, our family, if we mistook them for enemies under such a genjutsu. Which may well be the enemy's other intention, if the fire did not work... I think it's best if we all vow to kill no one we meet until we've verified if they are also suffering memory loss."

"And if they decide not to hold back?" Sai asked.

"We must do our best to explain," Gaara said. "They may not realize the truth. It would be tragic to do as our enemies' wish, would it not?"

"I agree," Choji said. "We shouldn't attack in haste...but then, the real enemy might pretend to be a friend."

"Is there some signal we could use that only someone who was truly under it would respond to?" Sai mused.

They looked at each other blankly.

"Well, the enemy would know what's really happening," Gaara said. "So...I suppose if we said the wrong thing, and they didn't correct us, we might know...but they might not correct us."

"Maybe we should just pretend to know everyone we see," Ino said. "And if they act confused...but no, the enemy could do that too."

"I don't know that there is a foolproof way," Choji said.

"I do...have a jutsu that lets me go into people's minds," Ino said, sheepishly. "But it's dangerous to use it in battle. I'd be dead weight, almost, to you if I did."

"We may be able to work around it," Gaara said. "That something at least. For now, let's find shelter and try to come up with a plan... There must be some way to break this genjutsu. I will pray about it."

"That's a good idea," Sai said automatically.

Then they all glanced at each other oddly again.

"Pray to what?" Choji asked. 

"I...kind of just assumed..." Ino said. "That...God... Well, there's only one, right?"

"I assumed that also," Sai said.

"I feel as if I knew that," Choji said. "But I don't know why I knew. That's why I asked."

"I know I believe in one thing," Gaara said. "But...I don't know who told me about it or how I found out. Only I know I have for a while...strange. This is part of the memory loss, but I'm not sure where the danger in that would be. Why would the enemy care?"

"Maybe they don't. Maybe it connects to someone else you can't remember," Ino suggested nervously. "I mean...my mom taught me about flowers. If I forgot her, and I still remembered the flowers, it would be pretty hard for me to explain that."

"This gets more disturbing the longer we consider it." Gaara looked unsettled finally. "We must solve it. And soon."

But for now all they really could do was take cover, as he said, so they did.

[This gets creepier the longer you think about it, doesn't it?

Memory loss story lines are challenging because people disagree about how much memory plays a part in what makes us who we are. 

Since this is not total memory loss, I can partially avoid trying to answer that question in its entirety, but what memories are essential? Inside Out had the idea of core memories, but some people think that it's not memory but choices that make you who you are, that what you remember doesn't influence it as much as we think.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

From a pragmatic standpoint though, at least, memory loss is dangerous, whether it affects your personality or not. And I think this shows why.]

* * *

Temari was avoided by the enemy after she came to her senses from the jutsu. She'd knocked down a few trees by then, and they'd decided it wasn't worth it to try to capture her.

Apparently even while under genjutsu and drugs, Temari was a fighter.

Not being the type to really understand medical jutsu at all, even though she was smart, she worked out that the whole thing was a tactic to divide and conquer--but she did not figure out how the jutsu worked.

Her memory was as hazy as the others, but she knew she had to be on an assignment. 

She also had the nagging idea that she'd forgotten someone really important. And they might be at risk. 

In fact, being aware of it was more frustrating, because it was like when something is at the tip of your tongue, but you can't say it, and you can't form it enough to know what you're missing. And that feeling just continued for hours till the sun went down.

That was when she found someone, because they were, in her own words, "dumb enough to light a fire".

It was Shoto, who'd been lost by himself for the same amount of time. 

He'd at least thought not to use ice because it would give away his position too easily. He'd wandered around but not been able to get out of the rocks or the trees, or he'd hit the shoreline but then had to head back into the trees because he saw people he didn't know.

No one bothered him--maybe he also seemed like he'd be more trouble than it was worth.

He finally gave up. He was tired, and it was getting chilly with the sun going down and then being by the northern ocean.

He thought a small fire wouldn't matter--and for some reason, he remembered how to gather the right sticks for it and clear the grass away, though even at summer camp he didn't recall ever doing it that way before.

Temari found him like this--and after looking him up and down from her hiding place, she decided he was probably not the enemy. He was alone, he was naive-looking, and he also looked like he'd never been outside a city before--to her, anyway.

So she blew out the fire from her vantage point.

Shoto jumped to his feet and looked around, hand icing over.

Temari stepped into view under the dim moonlight coming through the sparse trees. At least it was lighter than forest in the Land of Fire would have been.

"Hello, moron," she said unceremoniously. "You trying to get yourself killed?"

"Are you here to kill me?" Shoto was not subtle in the least.

Temari just laughed dryly. "If I was, you'd be dead before you ever saw me. You realize that lighting a fire when there're unknown enemies in the area is the best way to lead them right to you?"

"I haven't met any of them so far," Shoto said warily.

"They'll wait till you're asleep then," Temari said. "You use ice?" She saw the frost on his hands.

Shoto lit up his left side. "I use fire also."

"Don't use that around trees." Temari held up her hands. She didn't like fire attacks. "Two opposite centers? That's rare...unheard of, even. Maybe they didn't want to mess with you because of that, but it's still stupid to leave yourself wide open. Consider this free advice. I don't usually save idiots, but I need answers, and you strike me as the helpless type in the wild."

"Do I?" Shoto wasn't buying this yet. "And how do I know you're not an enemy?"

"I could have just not bothered putting out the fire then," Temari said.

To her this made sense...to Shoto, it wasn't so clear.

"I don't want to fight a random girl if I don't have to," he said, stepping back. "But I don't know if I can trust you."

"At least you're not a total idiot then," Temari conceded. "I'll lower the fan if you lower your ice."

"Fine." Shoto lowered his hand slowly.

She put her fan away just as slowly.

"So, Peppermint Boy--" She tilted her head. "--what do you remember?"

"Not much," Shoto said, too honestly.

"If you don't trust me, why would you admit that?" she said in disbelief.

"If you're really an ally, maybe you also have no memory," Shoto said. "I wondered if other people were caught in that quirk... It must have been a quirk, I think, to be so specific. If you're an enemy, you'd know I was lying. Unless I was immune. But if you'd tested that, I'd not be able to convince you. So there was no point lying."

"Maybe you're smarter than you look," Temari acknowledged. She stepped closer. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Hmm, you're a Chunin?"

"I...have no idea what you mean by that. I'm a hero student. I have a provisional licence. Not a professional one, yet."

"A license?" Temari said. "Fine then...but why would you call it a hero student?"

"That's what it is..." Shoto looked at her like she was stupid now.

"Right... What's your name?" 

"Shoto...Todoroki," he said cautiously.

"Last name clan, huh? Must be an important family."

"It is...sort of," he said. "But you've never heard of my father?"

"No...should I have?"

"That would be...a nice chance of pace, actually."

"Hmprf, yours too, huh?" Temari said, though she didn't usually complain about her family to people...but then, who was he going to tell? "I'm Temari of Sand..."

But no reaction.

"Where is that?" he said.

"You don't know where Sand is...?"