Characters introduced:

Seiko (age 15, height 5'8)
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~~The Mysterious Stranger~~
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Where am I? Tsunade wonders groggily, it hurts, it hurts so badly.

(***)

What happened? I was fighting… then…

"Orochimaru!" Tsunade scrambles into a sitting position, only to double over, crying out in pain.

"Lie down, you don't want to cause more damage." A figure bends over Tsunade, helping her to lie back down slowly. Tsunade tries to make out a face but all she can see is a silhouette of a person with short hair and sturdy build.

"Who are you?" She whispers warily, hoping that she hadn't fallen into yet another foe's hands. Why does it hurt so badly? Everything else feels perfectly fine so he or she must have healed me, but why does my belly still feel like it's on fire?

"Lie still and try not to talk, I'm not an enemy." The stranger's voice betrays no hint of emotion and the healing of Tsunade's muscle injury resumes. The question remains unanswered, and there was nothing to be done except to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Tsunade moans quietly as the pain gradually begins to recede. Still, it was bad enough to render her immobile. Her medical instincts tell her that touching her belly will only make the pain worse, so she resists the urge to clutch at it and instead, tries to steady her breathing and relax her muscles.

The stranger rises swiftly and walks over to the corner of the room where a little table stands. Tsunade hears the sound of water being swished around in a basin, then the stranger returns with a damp cloth and gently wipes the sweat off her face. Looking up, Tsunade is finally able to see a face.

A firmly set jaw, a face framed with short dark hair, knitted brows, an emotionless looking face marked with faint scars, save an angry red scar that runs across the left temple and cheek. It was by all means a handsome face, even with all the scars, but with a definite trace of femininity. As her eyes meet the stranger's hardened ones, Tsunade feels a jolt of surprise.

But, she's so young! She can't possibly be older than 15 years of age. Could this really be the person who saved me? Or did she just find me after I'd passed out? And those eyes, I've never seen anyone with such intense eyes in my whole life.

As the stranger finishes wiping the sweat off Tsunade's face and lays a clean piece of damp cloth on her brow, Tsunade closes her eyes and drifts off into an exhausted sleep.

The next week for Tsunade passes as a hazy dream. All she could recall was floating between struggling to bear the pain and a state of near-unconscious sleep. But for all the times that she could recall, the stranger was always hovering near her – healing her injury some more, wiping her down, feeding her water and soup or embarrassingly enough for Tsunade, helping her relieve herself into a makeshift bedpan.

(***)

Oww, my belly. The pain's still quite bad but at least it's barely comparable to when I first woke.

A quiet moan reaches the stranger's ears and she is instantly awake and alert.

"Hey, can you hear me? How're you feeling?"

She's still here? Why is she doing all this for me? Tsunade tries to answer the stranger's questions but her throat is dry.

"Here, drink." The stranger gently supports Tsunade into a half-sitting position and slowly tips a cup of water into her mouth.

"Thanks. For, well… everything." Tsunade is only able to answer weakly as it even hurt to project her voice. "Why are you doing this for me? Who are you?"

"My name is Seiko. And I know that you're Tsunade of Konoha village, one of the legendary Sannin." Seiko's answers quietly, yet her voice is firm and surprisingly deep for a girl. Tsunade barely detects the exhaustion in her voice even though she knows that Seiko has barely slept in the last week. "My best friend was hurt by Orochimaru and I didn't want to stand by and watch yet another person get hurt by him too."

"If you hadn't been there…" Tsunade leaves the sentence hanging.

"I would have been able to fully heal your uterus if you weren't pregnant. However, I can only enhance the regeneration of your cells at a really slow pace to protect the fetus. I'm afraid there will be quite a bit of scarring and you'll have to deal with the pain until after you've given birth."

"P-PREGNANT? You've got to be kidding me! NO! No, please no!"

"I'm sorry, I guess you weren't aware of it then." Seiko's voice is still emotionless, but her brows furrow ever so slightly.

Tsunade's face is ashen and tears well up in her eyes and stream down her face. She begins to sob, but at the first sharp intake of breath, she whimpers in pain and her hand flies to clutch at her belly. Belatedly, Tsunade realizes her mistake as searing pain streaks across her belly and she cries out helplessly. She desperately clutches at Seiko as she arches her back powerfully, trying to cope with and hoping to ease the pain. Without a word, Seiko had already formed a series of single-handed seals and placed her hand on Tsunade's belly. As Seiko applies light pressure to a spot on Tsunade's belly, an even more painful surge rips through Tsunade and just as quickly, all the pain disappears. Tsunade turns to see Seiko shaking uncontrollably, her left hand curled into a tight fist.

"Seiko! Are you alright? What happened?" Tsunade sits up quickly, free to move without pain. In immediate response to Tsunade's actions, Seiko falls onto her hands and knees in pain.

"Lie still. Breathe. NOW!" Seiko just manages to gasp out those words. Terrified, Tsunade obeys without question and after a minute of slow breathing, Seiko is able to sit up, albeit pale and sweaty.

"What happened?" Tsunade asks shakily.
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A/N: Yes so I do realize that uterine injury that serious would mean a miscarriage and potential danger to the mother's life. This is one of the few liberties I'm allowing myself to take, so let's just pretend that somehow Tsunade got healed quickly enough just to save hers and the baby's lives.

As for the people wondering why Tsunade doesn't just get rid of the baby seeing as she didn't plan for it, I guess it's just my own personal beliefs. So simply put – even though she didn't plan for it, Tsunade does still recognize it as another life, which she decides to protect.

Also, I didn't want to state it explicitly in the story, but Seiko has a very manly build – broad shoulder, muscular, very flat-chested etc.