(A/N: Mkay. So. Ya. A kinda creative title. I'm happy w/ it –took me a while, too-. Umm… let me kno wut u think, cuz if I get good reviews, then I'm gonna keep goin and stick more in here. I'm working on sticking it on the comp –I wrote it out first-. But I'm not gonna waste my time if nobody says nething about it. And that's about it. Necomplaints, e-mail me)

Yukieopened her eyes slowly. The morning's first rays of light shone upon her face. Her brilliant green eyes seemed to jump from her pale skin and contrasted her raven black hair. Something was wrong; she realized it the moment she looked around the room. She was lying on a bed surrounded by many other beds. The room was clean- creepy clean- almost sterile. Every breath brought the smell of medicine and cleaning products. Nobody was around her, but she didn't need to ask where she was. She was lying smack in the center of a medical ward.

A chill went through her spine as Yukie wondered what had brought her here. She couldn't think of what it could have been. She couldn't remember much before she woke up. It was like chunks of memory had been stolen from her. She remembered her name, what various objects in the room were, and how to walk and write and things like that. But everything else was a complete blur. She could remember bits and pieces of her past, but none of the people in her memories had names, or even faces.

Distress seemed to overwhelm her when she realized how odd the room really was. Nowhere in her portions of memories did she remember rooms being so brightly decorated. Something was very wrong; she felt it in her gut. But before she could think any further on the subject, two women walked into the room. The one standing in front looked to be in her mid-twenties. She had long blonde hair that was pulled back into two loose ponytails that draped down her back. She wore a large hat that was red with a white tip. Over the white a red Japanese symbol that read "Hokage" was inscribed. She smiled wide when she was Yukie, making her more beautiful than before.

The woman behind her seemed to be around 18 to 20 years old. Her hair was bright, almost pink, and ended just below her chin. She wore a pink and black outfit with black fingerless gloves. She eyed Yukie then lowered her eyes back to the ground, like she didn't want to be noticed.

The elder woman stepped forward and Yukie looked back at her. "I see you're awake," she said cheerfully, "My name is Tsunade. I'm Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village. My assistant, Sakura, and I have been worrying about you since we found you."

Yukie searched for words, and then decided it would be best to keep things simple. "What happened?"

"One of our more powerful ANBU, Shino, and his group leader, Shikamaru, found you in the forest beyond the village. Shikamaru brought you back here and Sakura and I healed you as best as we could," Tsunade replied simply.

"Healed… like how?" Yukie asked slowly.

"Using jutsus… how else?" Sakura replied, looking at Yukie like she was either insane or just dumb for not realizing this.

"Jutsus," Yukie replied skeptically. "So… you're ninjas…?" The two nodded and Yukie almost fell out of her bed. They couldn't possibly be ninjas! From what Yukie could remember, ninjas were strong and dark. The ones who specialized in healing jutsus stayed in the medical ward. Ninjas fought each other for ranks and respect. They were ruthless, and should never be disrespected. But, because she new she was at a disadvantage, Yukie decided to play along. "So two… ANBU…?"

"ANBU are secret-nins at the Jounin level. They are the highest rank you can get without becoming Hokage. They specialize in certain individual areas of their abilities," Sakura explained, almost like she was reciting from a book.

"You… know a lot about this stuff… don't you?" Yukie asked quietly.

"Sakura is the smartest Shinobi of her rank – Jounin. In fact, Sakura had been telling me that she wished to teach young Genin… if you're interested," Tsunade said proudly.

"How do you know I'm a Genin?" Yukie asked, turning from Tsunade to Sakura.

Sure enough, Sakura had another explanation. "Your chakra has been released before. When a person is born, their chakra's locked inside them. It stays that way until they learn to release the Chakra. You've obviously learned how to use your chakra before, and you have a great amount of it. If you're not a Genin now, you should be."

"While we were taking a look at your injuries," Tsunade said, drawing Yukie's attention back to her, "We noticed a memory jutsu had been used on you. By your reactions, I'm guessing you don't remember anything of your best ninja life. Starting as a Genin would make the most sense. I'd like to have Kakashi use his Sharingan Eye on you, to see if he can pick up anything on your past." She turned to Sakura. "Tell him he must be here as soon as he can." Sakura nodded and left the room.

Tsunade turned back to Yukie. "When Kakashi comes, I'm going to need you to relax. He has a special type of Sharingan that allows him to see on the border of people's minds. It's almost like using the Sharingan's hypnotic ability, but it's specially developed. We don't know why he's so different, but we think it has something to do with the fact that he is not the original owner of his Sharingan Eye."

Before Yukie could ask about this strange comment, Sakura came back in with a man behind her. He was tall and fit; his hair was grey and disheveled. He wore what Yukie recognized as the classic Leaf ninja outfit. His head protector had the Leaf Village symbol on it and was pulled over his left eye. A navy blue cloth was pulled around his neck and over his mouth, to rest just above his nose. All that was easily visible of his face was his right eye. He seemed carefree when he addressed Tsunade and Sakura, but he was constantly alert.

He bowed his head when he turned to Yukie. "I'm Hatake Kakashi. I'm supposed to 'see' how much power you have and how much you remember." He lifted his head protector from his eye to reveal a huge gash over his eye; long since healed over. He opened his eye; it was red, with three small black dots on it. "If you could just relax and look into my eye, I will be able to see." The black dots spun and changed to look almost like a bent windmill. It continued to spin and Yukie could feel it bore into her mind.

It felt like hours, almost days, but Yukie knew it could only have been a couple of minutes. Kakashi blinked and his Sharingan eye stopped spinning. Once it went back to normal, Yukie noticed Tsunade and Sakura standing on either side of Kakashi. The room came into focus, light shining through the windows, people talking outside.

Kakashi turned to Tsunade. "She has a great amount of chakra, and experience in some… darker jutsus. It also looks like she has a bloodline trait; a shadow jutsu I've never seen before. She should have no trouble mastering it, if taught properly."

"What do you suggest?" Tsunade asked in a quiet voice.

"Neji," Kakashi replied without a moment's hesitation, "He's mastered his Byakugan, and he's younger than their leader was when he was at this point. Hinata's still studying, and this jutsu is a lot like Byakugan and Sharingan. I would teach her myself, but because I've re-joined the ANBU, I've been too busy looking for Orochimaru and Kabuto, his lackey."

Orochimaru, Kabuto; their names struck a cord in Yukie's mind, but she gave no indication. This Orochimaru sounded dangerous; she didn't want them to think she was linked to him.

"Very well," Tsunade's words cut through Yukie's thoughts. "Neji should be practicing in the forest. Sakura, because you will soon be teaching Yukie and two others, would you take her to Neji? With any luck, he will be willing to teach her; as long as it's alright with you, Yukie." Yukie nodded and Tsunade continued, "Thank you, Kakashi, for your help. You can go back, I'm sure Anko would like to have you back from the training."

Kakashi heaved a sigh, "Training the new ANBU is a real hassle. Especially because Naruto's one of them; along with Rock Lee- a bad combination. Ever since Lee helped Naruto out with that sound nin, the two have been more competitive than ever."

"That was years ago," Sakura said quietly, her mind trailing back to that fateful time.

"But they still haven't given it up," Kakashi replied with another sigh, "It's just like in the Wave Country when Naruto and Sasuk-" Sakura's face fell and Tsunade shot a sharp look at Kakashi, who cleared his throat and quickly turned away from Sakura. "I've gotta go, Anko's waiting for me." He walked quickly out of the room, leaving it in an uncomfortable silence.

After a moment, Tsunade turned to Sakura, "If you could take Yukie to Neji now, that'd be great." Sakura nodded and Yukie solemnly followed her out the door.