A/N: W00t, new story up! Yeah, I'm being very lazy about my other stories, I know! Bad Tsuki, very bad Tsuki! -scolds self- Oh yeah, I keep forgetting to put this, but I'm not going to repeat it. I AM NOT KISHIMOTO-SAN! I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! Okay, now that that's outta da way, enjoy the story! Please review!

I lay facedown. My entire body was numb, unfeeling…it seemed as if my senses themselves had died. I strained my mind, trying to think through the thick haze behind my closed eyes, to remember something. But I had absolutely no recollection of my past whatsoever, not where I was from, others I may have known, nor any idea of how I had gotten where I was. Not even my own name. Whenever I tried to bring forth any sort of memory, I only encountered that same impenetrable barrier into my mind, which blocked any sense of who I was.

It seemed like an eternity before I had any sensation of where I was. I felt a sort of grime underneath me…probably mud. But why was I laying here, on the ground? Before I could ponder the thought any more, I noticed a pattering sound coming from all directions. It was rain, and it left icy trails as the drops ran down my skin, causing me to shiver slightly. It was very cold.

Then, slowly, carefully, I tried moving my right hand in front of my face. But as soon as the muscles tensed, an excruciating, nearly unbearable pain immediately shot up my arm to my side, which hurt terribly. I put my other hand on my side and felt warm blood. I winced, but kept moving my arm. Pushing myself almost upright (despite my protesting side), I squinted through the small gap between my eyelids. A thick forest, darkened by black clouds overhead, swam into view. Then, with much difficulty, I stood, swaying on the spot, and tried walking along the narrow and winding trail. After a few minutes, though, I had to lean on a nearby tree for support, panting heavily. After regaining enough strength to move a little farther, I staggered once again into the unknown woods.

The trail soon widened considerably, yet I was still too weak to support myself, so I kept to the edge of the forest so the trees could continue to hold my weight. But my foot suddenly caught on a protruding root and I fell foreword. I tried to get up again but fell again when I realized that my ankle had broken. I sobbed hopelessly, certain that I would die right here when no one would bother to look for me; helpless, hurt, hungry, and cold…

About an hour passed before I stopped crying, but my face was far from dry due to the rain, which seemed to be falling heavier than ever before. My swollen ankle throbbed painfully and prevented me from getting up. Yet I did not want to give up hope just yet; I feebly attempted to convince myself that there was still a chance of being found by somebody, anybody…

I winced as a sudden, unexpected pain came from my left shoulder. Reaching there, I felt that the skin was raw and hot, and there were two puncture wounds under my fingers. Pulling my hand away, I figured that the wounds were fresh, since the tips of my fingers were covered by a small trickle of blood.

Then, unexpectedly, I felt extremely drained. I felt consciousness leaving me again. But before my eyes closed once more, I thought I saw the blurry outline of someone coming down the trail in my direction. It could have been wishful thinking, but I highly doubted that my mind was playing tricks on me as I fainted.

Shizune bustled through the room, tidying up around the small futon near the wall. She paused in her work to glance at the unconscious girl buried under the multitude of thick blankets. Shizune and Tonton had been in a neighboring town to get some herbs for Tsunade, and it had started to rain on the way back to Konoha. But as they were running down the path, they came across the girl. She seemed to be almost dead, extremely pale due to blood loss from a deep gash in her side. Her ankle was broken, and her long black hair was matted with mud. Also, it appeared as if Orochimaru had found another victim for the infamous curse mark. It was no wonder that she had already been asleep for almost two days now.

Just then Tsunade herself came through the doorway, Tonton trotting at her heels.

"How is she?"

"She still hasn't shown any signs of waking up," replied Shizune, glancing nervously at the girl's headband lying on the small table nearby, and at the Hidden Mist Village's symbol etched into it.

"I wouldn't expect her to, just yet," said Tsunade, feeling the kunoichi's forehead. "Besides, her fever is still very high. It wouldn't do us much good if she woke up and strained herself right now."

"You're probably right. But what I'm most concerned about is why she was in Konoha's forest to begin with when she was hurt so badly, and especially when her village is on an island far from here." She sighed wearily. "I just don't understand."

"If you're so curious about it, maybe you should ask her the same thing when she wakes up, Shizune."

"Maybe…" She was still a bit discontented, though. Especially remembering the extremely sharp sword that the girl had carried with her. Surely, with a weapon like that, she could have prevented almost anyone from injuring her so badly?

Oh well, she thought, I guess I'll listen to Tsunade-sama for once and wait until the girl wakes up. I'll ask her then.

Just then, the girl rolled over in her sleep, her arm flopping over the edge of the futon. Tonton walked up and nudged her hand, but jumped back when it suddenly twitched.

"Byuuuiii!" she squealed, making Shizune and Tsunade turn around to see the girl roll back over.

"She's waking up already?" Tsunade wondered aloud. She walked over and put her hand on the girl's forehead again.

"Her fever's already down."

The Hokage's hand was knocked away, and the girl attempted to sit up. But Tsunade wouldn't let her, although the thick layer of bandages around her middle made it impossible anyway.

"You shouldn't move just yet, you're still very weak," Tsunade said softly.

"Mnn…where am I?" the girl asked, opening her eyes. They were silver in color.

"You're in Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves," Tsunade told her. "What's you're name? How did you get here?"

The girl's eyes closed, and her forehead creased as she tried to concentrate. "I…I don't know…" she finally answered, opening her eyes again.

"You're probably just in shock," said Tsunade, reaching for a small cup of liquid. "Here, drink this. It'll help you feel better."

I took the cup from the woman's hands and drank the cool liquid. It had a strong herbal flavor, but I drank it anyway because I was so thirsty after waking up. It felt like I hadn't eaten or drink anything for days. But as I handed the small cup back to the woman, I did feel much better, and sank back into the soft pillows.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"My name is Tsunade," the woman answered. "And this is Shizune, my assistant." I turned my head to see someone with short, dark hair standing near the door, but my eyes still couldn't focus very clearly, so her face just looked like a blurry blob. I suddenly felt something nudging my hand, and looked down to see a small pink pig.

"Byui," she squealed.

"And this is Tonton," said Tsunade.

"She's cute," I said, petting Tonton's head, which she enjoyed thoroughly. She then jumped up onto the futon and settled in my lap.

"It seems as if she likes you," said Tsunade, smiling.

"Well, I guess that's one good thing that's happened to me so far." Then I flinched, and my hand flew to my shoulder. The burning pain was still there."What's happened to me, though?"

Shizune spoke up. "I found you in the nearby forest, unconcious. You had a huge gash in your side, your ankle was broken, and..." She took a deep breath before continuing. "And you also have a curse mark on your shoulder."

"A curse mark?" I asked, confused.

"You shouldn't worry about it," said Tsunade, cutting in. "It's already been sealed, and it'll stop hurting in a few days. But tell me...do you have any sort of kekkei genkai, a power that only your clan has and that someone else would want?"

I was now more confused than ever. "I have no idea."

Now it was Tsunade's turn to be confused. What would Orochimaru want with this girl if she didn't have any known bloodline traits? But then again, she had no recollection of anything, no memory whatsoever. No one would know, unless...

"I have an idea," she said slowly, thinking aloud. "Maybe, once you're fully healed, you can start training if you want, to see what sort of abilities you have." The girl's face lit up, so Tsunade continued. "We could see if you could train with one of the teams here. Who knows, maybe you'll become stronger than you were before you came into Konoha."

"That would be greatly appreciated! Thank you very much, Tsunade-san!" The girl smiled for the first time since she was found.