Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart stopped atop a small hill overlooking north Wutai. Tifa sat down beneath one of the tall pines cresting the rise, leaned back, and watched Cloud pace the length of the area. His spiked blond hair shone in the late afternoon sunlight and his glowing mako eyes looked troubled.
"What did you want to ask me?" Tifa crossed her arms. Cloud jumped and glanced over at her.
"I, um, just wanted to tell you something," he said nervously.
"Well, what?" she asked. Cloud looked at her and his breath caught in his throat: her long, thick brown hair, deep hazel eyes, soft tanned skin... He sighed and licked his lips, opening his mouth to say something.
"Hiya!" Yuffie Kisaragi dropped down from the tree beside him. Cloud glowered at her and Tifa blinked.
"Yuffie, what are you doing here?" she asked the other girl.
"I live here, smart one," Yuffie rolled her bright green eyes. "The million-gil question is: what are you doing here?"
"How did you know we were up here?" Cloud demanded.
"It's not hard to spot a blond porcupine with a sword as big as he is and a long haired, barely dressed tomboy."
"Hey!" Tifa got quickly to her feet.
"Watch it..." Cloud snarled through clenched teeth. Yuffie glanced at them, then laughed nervously.
"Heh, just kidding. Can't you guys take a joke?" she backed away. Apparently not, because the two of them were advancing on her, shoulder to shoulder.
"Did you follow us here?" Tifa raised one eyebrow suspiciously.
"No way!" Yuffie shook her head.
"I think you're lying," Cloud growled, taking another step forward. Yuffie stumbled over a tree root in her haste to back away.
"I, uh, I'm going to leave now!" she cried and leapt back up into the trees.
"Yuffie!" Tifa called after her.
"Let her go," Cloud waved it off, returning to the top of the hill. Tifa let out a sigh, turned, and followed him. When he reached the top, Cloud looked back at her and was once more at a loss for words. He stood there gaping. Tifa looked up at him and he quickly averted his gaze to the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something different about his uniform. Something very important was missing...
"Yuffie!" Cloud growled, turning to look down on northern Wutai. The aforementioned girl darted across the courtyard and toward the Temple of the Five Gods, where her father sat in wait for her to return with Cloud's materia.
"What about her?" Tifa asked.
"She stole my materia, again!" Cloud cried, jumping down from the hill. He broke into a run near the bottom of the slope and heard Tifa land behind him and start to run as well. Halfway to the temple, Yuffie turned–saw Cloud giving chase–yelped, and instead broke toward southern Wutai. He and Tifa followed her down the steps and continued the pursuit.
Yuffie ran down the streets of her village, ducking in and out of scores of people that entered and exited the shops. Cloud fell behind, being hindered by his larger size and the huge Ultima Sword. Tifa ran ahead, yelling at Yuffie as she pushed through the crowds after the other girl.
"Yuffie! Get back here, now!"
"Like hell I will!" the ninja thief called over her shoulder and darted out past the village gates. Tifa groaned and chased her out of Wutai. Cloud lost sight of them as they disappeared around a bend in the dirt road. He sighed and shook his head.
"Not again..."

Tifa cut through the forest, always keeping Yuffie's darting figure on her right. As the path swung to the left, Tifa burst out of the woods and tackled her. The two girls hit the dirt, rolled, and landed hard atop one another.
"Man!" Yuffie wailed.
"Why...do you always...do this?" Tifa gasped. They both sat up, groaning.
"I didn't take your materia..."
"That's not the point!"
"And what is the point?" a male voice broke into the conversation.
"That you can't go around stea–" Tifa began, then cut herself off and looked up at the young man. Yuffie followed her gaze and blinked.

"Who're you?"
"The name's Zeo; First Class SOLDIER working for the scientist, Hojo."
"Hojo...?" Yuffie asked, puzzled. Tifa yelped and scurried backwards.
"SOLDIER!"
Zeo just laughed as the girls got to their feet and took their fighting stances.
"Why are you here!" Yuffie demanded.
"I'm looking for the best of the best," he replied. Tifa growled and Yuffie pulled out a green materia orb. Cloud ran out from the forest.
"Tifa!" he spotted them.
"Cloud, it's the Shin-Ra!" she called back.
"I'll use it!" Yuffie threatened the guy with the green materia.
He chuckled. "Do you even know which spell that is?"
"No..." Yuffie blinked, "but I'll still use it!"
"I think it was a mistake hunting you down," Zeo shook his head.
"Yuffie, don't use that!" Cloud raced over to them. Yuffie didn't listen and poised for an attack. The materia glowed, then sparked violently, a huge white crack running across its surface. She stopped and studied it.
"What's going on?" Tifa looked back at Cloud. There was a huge explosion. Yuffie screamed and flew back into Tifa. Not expecting it, Tifa hit the ground and her head slammed against the hard-packed dirt. The two girls lay in a heap on the floor. Cloud reached them and knelt beside their unconscious figures.
"Tifa? Yuffie?"
Neither responded. Cloud whirled around just in time to see a staff swinging toward him. It connected with the side of his head and he collapsed beside the others. Zeo chuckled, strapping his bow staff onto his back and picking up the cracked materia.
"She tried to attack with a busted materia? Hmph. Come and get them!"
At his command, four men in Shin-Ra uniforms appeared from the forest. Two men hoisted Cloud in between them, one gathered Yuffie up in his arms, and Zeo lifted Tifa onto his back. The other man was saying commands into a walkie-talkie.
"Yes, just out of Wutai. Come pick us up."
Seconds later the steady hum of a propeller sounded through the evening sky. Rushing toward the group was a large white Shin-Ra helicopter. It landed beside them, the side door swinging open. Zeo carried Tifa Lockheart inside. The men threw Cloud Strife into the chopper after them. Yuffie Kisaragi was brought in last, and the rest of the men leapt in after. The door slammed shut and the chopper rose back into the air. It circled Wutai once, then slipped past the Dai-Cho mountains and toward the small beach at the end of the island, where a continental transport was sitting in wait.
The three were taken into the bowels of the ship where they were placed in separate cells. Each was injected with a greenish-blue fluid from a syringe, then all their weapons, materia, and armors were taken. Beside them were five other occupied cells: Barret Wallace, Vincent Valentine, Cid Highwind, Red XIII, and Cait Sith lay in the same coma-like state, stripped of their possessions as well.