"Mo, Gai-sinsei? You have to go to another mission again after we finish our training right? You've been busy with missions a lot since third Hokage-sama was appointed…" Gai and Lee were walking side by side on their hands through the forest which surrounded the hidden village of leaves. Gai was about to answer before Lee abruptly tripped over something while he was watching Gai as he waited for his teacher's answer.

"Lee-kun! Is my adorable pupil alright?" Lee rubbed his head as he remarked his pain softly before he looked up and realized just what he had tripped over, and when he did, both Lee and Gai gasped.

"The emergency room is prepared Hokage-sama, the healers are keeping her stable for now but she needs immediate care!" A curvy blond woman rushed through the impeccably clean hallways of the Konoha hospital. In addition to being the Hokage, the highest role a ninja could hope to gain in the Konoha hidden village of leaves, she was also the most knowledgeable doctor among the entire village. The two ninja Gai and Lee, both wearing their unique green jumpsuits jumped to their feet when the Hokage came into view, her jacket fanning out behind her as she rushed into the ER, her assistant rushing behind her holding her pet pig Ton-Ton. She said nothing to the two but rushed into the room ignoring the two's questions for the moment as she rushed to the injured girl inside.

"Gai-sinsei? Do you think that girl will be alright? She was barely breathing when we found her…" Lee watched the door of the ER worriedly. The girls figure came to mind as she was when they had found her during training. Her hair was shorter than Lee's, and dusky-red, as well as her eyelashes, though It could've been blood caking them from what was coming from her eyes. Her clothes had been very complex and with many pieces of leather armor, all of which torn into strips and dyed with more blood than one would expect someone to survive. Indeed when Lee first tripped on her, he had immediately assumed what he had fallen over was a corpse. But the girl had still been breathing, despite the blood that had already spilled so much that the wound seemed to have run dry. Even on his missions he hadn't seen such a badly mutilated body which still lived. He wondered if even he could've survived such a horrible state. Gai was silent during this, just watching the concern in his apprentice with his own. Unlike Lee, he had seen such things before, but never had he seen someone with the will to survive it as the girl seemed to have, even remaining conscious with such blood loss. The two of them grunted softly as the light above turned off, signifying that the care was over. Whether the patient had survived or not still remained to be seen. Tsunade, otherwise known as Hokage, stepped out, letting out a soft sigh. But when she smiled, the two who waited anxiously let out great sighs of relief. Tsunade-sama spoke first.

"She was very fortunate that you were able to find her. I'm amazed though. She was running on almost no blood. Her brain didn't even appear to become retarded by the lack of oxygen. What concerns me however is what she had on her." Lee and Gai, who had been dancing about like five year olds suddenly stopped, their faces sobering into seriousness. Lee spoke first.

"What was it Hokage-sama? Her clothes were so bloodied, I didn't think to look for anything." Indeed Lee's green jumper had been dyed by the girls blood as he carried her quickly to the hospital. Tsunade held out her right hand, in which a ninja-clan headband was held. She opened it and clearly on the metallic forehead protector was a musical note, cleanly sliced in half horizontally. Now it was Gai who spoke

"Hokage-sama, do you think she was coming here after betraying the hidden village of sound?" The blond woman shook her head abruptly, letting her hand fall as she put her left hand on her hip.

"I don't think so. Even if she had betrayed them, she could've gone to the stone country or the mist country rather than Konoha, the enemy of sound. She'd only be giving them another reason to attack us, and we wouldn't be the most accommodating of a sound ninja, whether she betrayed them or not… Huh?" Tsunade leaned back and looked behind her as she felt something on the small of her back. Lee and Gai turned bright red and spun on their heels to turn away. The same girl they had saved was standing behind Tsunade, naked as the day she was born, gripping the soft fabric of Tsunade's jacket.

"Excuse me. Where is this?" Tsunade gasped (though not nescessarily about her lack of clothes) and immediately took off her jacket, putting it around the girls shoulders. She thought furiously. 'This girl can't be younger than 16, surely she knows not to go out in public like that.. Wait.. She just had complete reconstructive surgery on three organs and twelve broken bones.. How the hell is she standing up already! Where are the healers!' Tsunade looked into the room and gasped. All of the healers were against the walls, completely asleep. She rushed into the room and the girl looked at her for a moment before leaving the room and down the hallway, holding the jacket around herself calmly. Lee curiously looked down to make sure she was wearing something now. And then turned to the girl.

"He… Hey! Wait! You just went through surgery right? I know how you feel but you can't just get up after something like that!" The girl turned to him and scrutinized him with very curious eyes. Gai jogged over and nodded in agreement to Lee. She looked at him as well, as if memorizing his appearance. She turned back to Lee, completely ignoring Gai after scrutinizing him.

"Where is this?" Lee smiled and held her shoulders as he answered.

"The hidden villiage of leaves Konoha. Come on. You should rest now." She shook him off with a motion so quick that even Lee was unable to see the change, only feel the friction nearly burn his hand until he pulled away.

"I don't want to." Tsunade came out of the room and rushed over. The girl immediately jumped back and into a defensive position as she saw Tsunade coming. When Tsunade tried to get any closer than Lee already was she shot sideways, ducking around the three of them just as quickly as Lee would without his weights.

"Lee Gai, catch her! She may cause a problem if she's so paranoid without even knowing who we are!" It wasn't a very quick chase however since not even getting to the stairs, the girl collapsed, Lee catching her deftly, though he turned bright red and tugged Tsunade's jacket around her tighter as he realized that the oversiezed jacket had slipped right off her shoulder and exposed her chest. Tsunade took her from him and watched her face curiously.

"Amazing. Its not even the surgery which made her collapse. She's fatigued. I've never seen such endurance, even Naruto doesn't heal as quickly as this girl." She carefully carried her to an empty room, beckoning Lee and Gai to follow as she spoke, placing the girl on the bed and closing the window.

"Lee, Kakashi should have just come back from his mission. Could you bring him here, as well as Shikaku?" Lee took a dutiful pose and shot out of the room, practically leaving track marks from the friction. Gai for once wasn't bursting with pride for his pupil as he watched the girl curiously. "What are you planning to do?" Tsunade sighed and sat down on a chair at the foot of the bed.

"The girl needs guards until she can be interrogated." The girl was completely silent and still as she slept. If one didn't know better, you'd think she were dead, just as she looked when Lee ran across her. Tsunade watched the girl even as Gai left to meet Lee and talk to the two jounen he had summoned. So many questions arose about this strange girl…

"Let me go! Let me go dammit! I won't be kept here! Where the fuck am I! LET ME GO!" Shikaku struggled to maintain control of the girl, even with the shadow techniques he mastered from his family, she still somehow was overpowering him, forcing her way out of his hold as she threw her tantrum. Kakashi was trying to hold her back physically, and with wires, trying to think of a way to restrain her without harming her. Lee had been coming to visit her when he heard by chance from Gai that she was now awake, and rushed into the room as he saw Tsunade come before him. As he entered the room the scene was astounding.

The girl, now wearing the standard hospital gown was struggling angrily, thrashing in Kakashi's arms as her shadow was bound and further shadows were laced around her body all in effort to restrain her. Both Kakashi and Shikaku were speaking at once, trying to convince the girl that she was fine here, and Tsunade was writing something down on a tag-sheet. She thrashed angrily as she finally broke right through Shikaku's shadows, tossing Kakashi into the wall as if he were a rag doll. Lee could only watch in astonishment as Tsunade slapped the tag onto the girls neck and she suddenly stood still, and then fell backwards, the Hokage catching her gracefully. The two jounen were picking themselves up. Kakashi whistled as he looked down at the girl who was now immobile but still conscious.

"She's quite a handful. I've never seen someone so powerful since I met you Tsunade." Tsunade put her on the hospital bed and the girls eyes shot directly at the window, narrowed in fury at the three in the room.

"Yes. She's got quite a spirit. I don't know why Orochimaru banished her. She seems like just the type of person he would want. She's uncannily strong, has impossible endurance for pain… But when she was brought in, Orochimaru's mark wasn't anywhere on her body. Just imagine what she would be like if he had cursed her…" Evidently they hadn't noticed Lee yet, but he came to their attention as he spoke.

"Tsunade-sama, I have a request." The blond woman turned to face Lee, silent for the moment despite his obvious spying.

"Go ahead Lee." Lee pressed his index fingers together coyly as he watched the girl, also with her attention on the green-clad taijutsu master.

"I'd like to be her guard."