"We were four. Now there are two-in-one. You're right. If I gave up, we'd still be trapped in that maximum cell prison by the Akatsuki. Lucky we have Fushigi village now huh?" She grinned as she picked up the items.
"Did you say Akatsuki? What do you know about them?" Tsunade asked suddenly alert.
"Oh? You heard me? I forgot you were in here for a moment. Well, the Akatsuki had a lab where they tested on random people. The lynx you see here was a fierce beast. I was awarded the honor one day of becoming his sacrifice. It was a bad mistake. A chain suddenly appeared chaining us together for eternity. With that, we saved Asagi and Shin (death) and burned the place down. Unfortunately, the others were too dead to be saved. As far as I know, Asagi and I were the only ones sane there. Now, only the Akatsuki and I know what really happened there. Oh yes, Oni too." Makoto explained as she walked out the door.
It only took a couple of days to get to her village, so when Makoto came back to Konoha early with her head down, people expected the worst. Their presumptions proved factual as Makoto explained that her small village was burned to the ground by the Akatsuki as soon as she had left for Konoha the first time. Tsunade took pity on her and offered her a place to stay until she could get back on her feet. Once again, Makoto refused a grieving period and went straight to work for Tsunade. She was put temporarily on Team 7 until she got the hang of being a Konoha ninja. Then, Tsunade told Makoto that she could continue being a solo ninja if she was ready enough.
Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, and even Gaara, all stared bewildered at Makoto, trying to understand why she didn't have two other teammates. Makoto wondered why a Sand ninja was in Konoha, but she didn't ask, seeing as how she didn't have the place to question.