I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

Trial Run

Tsunade and Ryuu stood as the door opened and Inoichi stepped out, expression dark. Fu and Yugao both stood as well, all four watching Inoichi, waiting for him to speak.

"Everything she's said so far has been the truth," Inoichi said, Tsunade nodding. "I searched for any sort of loyalty to Orochimaru and...she's not. She's terrified of him. And rightly so."

"Would you say it's safe to trust her?" Tsunade asked.

"I think we should test her loyalty," Inoichi said. "But...maybe not yet. She's not...she's a bit...shaken up, right now."

"What happened?" Ryuu asked.

"While I was searching for any sign of loyalty to Orochimaru, I accidentally found a memory of her..." Inoichi trailed off, expression darker than before.

"What?" Tsunade asked. "How bad could it be?"

"I found a memory of her...being raped and tortured by Orochimaru," Inoichi said. "I tried to stop the memory from playing, but her mind...the mental scarring and the trauma she has from it...they latched onto the memory and forced my control of it out. I couldn't stop it. The things he did to her...it's amazing she's alive at all, let alone sane. Once Orochimaru was finally done, Kabuto had to spend months healing and rehabbing her."

"Kabuto?" Tsunade asked.

"He's Orochimaru's right hand," Inoichi said. "He also is the one that makes sure Orochimaru's experiments don't kill the subjects too fast. Or that Orochimaru's...hobbies, don't kill his henchmen, like that time."

"Is she okay?" Ryuu asked.

"She's...no," Inoichi said. "She was having a panic attack, and was stuck in the memory, so we put her to sleep with a genjutsu, also using one to block any dreams."

"I see," Ryuu nodded. "Lady Tsunade?"

"We'll give her a chance," Tsunade sighed. "You're going to the hideout in the Land of Rice Paddies to see if you can find any hint at Orochimaru's location. If she can prove herself loyal during the mission, she'll be allowed to stay. If not, she'll be imprisoned."

Ryuu nodded. Then, he walked into the room Inoichi had just left, kneeling in front of Tayuya and lifting her head, releasing her from the genjutsu. She began to panic instantly but he activated his Sharingan, using a weak genjutsu to calm her and make her focus on him.

"Relax, Tayuya," Ryuu said. "You're safe. It's over. He can't hurt you."

Tayuya blinked slowly before looking around and back to him, recognition setting in. She nodded and he opened the thing she was sitting in, helping her stand. She wiped her eyes and nodded.

"I'm fine," Tayuya said. "Thank you."

He nodded and they walked out of the room to the others and Tsunade filled Tayuya in on what was going to happen, and what would happen if she proved to be anything less than loyal. Tayuya agreed, but Ryuu could tell by her rigid posture that the thought of going to one of Orochimaru's hideouts terrified. Her. Still, she agreed, so a few minutes later, they were heading toward the main gate.

"Do I get any ninja tools?" Tayuya asked. "Or a flute?"

"No," Yugao said. "I don't trust you, unlike Ryuu and Fu, because I'm not naive. I don't believe that people can change allegiances that fast and yet still be trusted. So for the duration of as many missions as it takes to prove yourself loyal, you will have no ninja tools, you will not leave Ryuu's side, and you will especially get no flute."

Tayuya nodded, remaining silent.

"Oh, and if you summon your puppets, flute or no, even once, I'll take it as a sign of hostility," Yugao warned. "The same goes for activating your Curse Mark.

Tayuya nodded again as they stopped at a clothing store, Yugao instructing them to buy something that wouldn't make them look like a ninja. Instead, Ryuu changed back into his normal outfit, his tanto remaining on his shoulder. Fu opted to stay in her own outfit as well, as did Tayuya, with the exception of getting rid of the rope belt, while Yugao bought a black shirt and pants. Once they had all changed, they left the village, heading North toward the Land of Rice Paddies. Ryuu sighed. Apparently, the whole, trust is a two way street, thing didn't quite make it to Yugao. As they traveled, Yugao collected their headbands, throwing Tayuya's away, and stored them in a scroll. After a few more minutes, they reached the Land of Rice Paddies' border, and a couple hours later, they stopped as they reached a run-down village that looked completely abandoned.

"This place...is trashed," Ryuu said. "What should we do?"

"Let's head inside," Yugao said. "We'll try and find some information from anyone that's still living here. The bar would probably be the best place to start."

Ryuu nodded, the four of them walking into the town. Ryuu looked around carefully, sensing people in all of the houses, watching them. Finally, they reached the bar and Yugao turned to them.

"Start knocking on doors and see what information you can find," Yugao said. "Try to keep your shinobi status hidden."

"Okay," Ryuu nodded.

Yugao walked into the bar and Ryuu and Fu walked to opposite sides of the street, Tayuya obediently following Ryuu. House after house, everyone completely ignored the three of them. So, after the first row, they walked away from the main street to the next row. Ryuu knocked on the first door and motioned for Tayuya to go and knock on the second. She nodded, walking toward it. Ryuu sighed, turning to follow her just as the door flew open and something solid cracked him over the back of the head. He went down hard, groaning. He turned his head slowly, pain lancing through it, and looked toward Tayuya, seeing her being grabbed and restrained by almost a dozen men, all of them already ripping her clothes off of her. Tayuya was screaming and sobbing, trying to fight back, but was having a panic attack due to her memories and couldn't muster the strength even to defend herself.

Ryuu grit his teeth against the pain, shoving himself up and raising a hand to his wound, numbing the wound. Then, he leapt over the railing of the porch he was on, clearing the gap between himself and the group of men molesting Tayuya, greeting them by kicking one man in the side of the head and launching him into a wall, knocking him out. The others instantly dropped Tayuya, grabbing pipes and boards, turning to fight Ryuu only for him to quickly drop them all in the span of time it took them to realize he had moved. Once he had knocked them all out, he knelt beside Tayuya, pulling her into a hug and unsealing a cloak from a scroll in his ninja tool pouch, wrapping it around her. Fu arrived a moment later, stopping as she saw Tayuya's shredded clothing on the ground and said nothing.

After a few minutes, Tayuya was calm enough to stand and Ryuu pulled her up, unsealing a pair of blue pants and a blue shirt from another scroll then turning away so she could change. While she did, Fu healed Ryuu's head for him.

"Done," Tayuya said, barely above a whisper.

Ryuu nodded and they left the back street they were on, heading back to the bar just as Yugao walked out of it, a group of thugs inside all lying unconscious on the floor.

"Time to leave," Yugao said. "What happened to you?"

"A group of villagers tried to rape her," Ryuu said. "I had to put them down."

"Did anyone die?" Yugao asked.

Ryuu shook his head and she nodded.

"Okay," Yugao said. "Let's keep moving."

Ryuu nodded and they all walked away from the village, heading a short distance to a signpost and stopping for a lunch break. It was a little after noon and they hadn't had much for breakfast, so Ryuu had packed a relatively big lunch. He had a large bowl of Fu's leftover ramen, rice balls, sandwiches, and a fresh cake, just for fun. Everyone smiled when they saw all of the food he pulled out of a scroll, even Tayuya.

"Why does it not surprise me that you packed enough food for several days as one meal?" Yugao asked.

"There's plenty of food for us to last a month in this scroll," Ryuu said. "Dig in."

Just then, he spun, drawing his tanto and deflecting several kunai, kicking one of them back into the bushes and forcing their attacker to leap out of them. It was a girl wearing a cloth full-face mask leaving her eyes as the only thing not hidden, an orange ponytail sticking up out of a hole in the back, a loose purple vest that almost hid the fact that she was a girl, a pair of dark green shorts, white yellow socks halfway up her shins, and sandals the same color as her vest. She also didn't seem much older than them, or very strong at all.

She drew four kunai and Ryuu smirked, putting his tanto away. She lowered her hand a fraction of an inch, confusion showing in her eyes.

"Judging by the fact that you're not overly powerful, I'd be willing to bet you don't work for Orochimaru, which means you thought we do," Ryuu said, the girl staring at him. "Actually, we're here to find him, or any information leading to him. If you could help, we'd really appreciate it, Miss..."

She blinked twice before lowering her hand and putting the kunai away. "How did...forget this!"

She slammed a smoke bomb down and Ryuu sighed, sitting back down.

"Oh well," Ryuu said. "I'm sure we'll see her again."

"Most likely," Yugao nodded. "Once we've eaten, we better put some distance between ourselves and the town."

Ryuu nodded in agreement. They all ate in silence before Ryuu sealed the various plates and bowls into the scroll again, putting it away. Then, they all turned North and continued on their way.

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