"I'm so glad that mission was over," grumbled Naruto Uzumaki as he sprang from another tree branch. Right behind him was a pink-haired kunoichi.

"Yeah," Sakura Haruno agreed, her pink hair flying behind her.

"It was quite tedious," pipped a pale boy, Sai Yamanaka. With each leap from a tree branch, the leaves rustled. It was late evening and Team Seven was making their way back to their village. The sun was dipping behind the distant mountains, giving the sky a blood red color of the sunset.

"Kakashi sensei," Naruto whined over his shoulder. The silver-haired shinobi raised an eyebrow. "Why do we have to do missions like this?"

"Well, Naruto," Kakashi Hatake said slowly. "Sometimes it's best to not always have combat-involved missions. It means that so far, everything's at peace."

Naruto didn't know what to say to that, except for grumble incoherent words. The rest of the team proceeded towards Konoha in silence. At least that was until Sakura's sharp green eyes caught a blur of a human figure.

"Stop!" Sakura shouted. Everyone did so.

"What is it, Sakura?" Naruto asked, confused. "I'm hungry!"

"Naruto, be quiet. Look," Sakura said, pointing to a figure laying against a tree. Naruto had to jump down from the tree branch to get a better look. The rest of Team Seven follow him down.

"Oh dang, she looks pretty beat up," Naruto murmured underneath his breath. Sakura stared at the unconscious girl. Her shoes were covered in dirt like she had been running for quite a while, and her black stockings were thoroughly ripped, along with parts of her skirt and three-quarters-sleeved top with a red bow. It was a Japanese school uniform. Blood was seeping from multiple cuts that were displayed all over her body.

[A/N: pic attached is her, my OC]

"She's a student," Sakura deduced. Her deep and long brown hair was put into pigtails that cascaded over her shoulders. Over her left eye was a white, rectangular eyepatch with four strings coming from each corner of it. All the strings then tied around her head. Her brown bangs were styled so that the longer part of it flopped over her eyepatch and covered half of it while the short part of her bangs framed her other eye.

"What should we do with her?" Sai asked Kakashi. Kakashi eyed the long sword that laid forgotten next to the girl.

"Well..." Kakashi drawled. "We can't just take an outsider to the Hidden Leaf - "

"Why not?" Naruto interrupted. "She's clearly injured. She would probably die out here if she doesn't get help."

"Kakashi sensei's right, Naruto," Sakura said firmly, although there was a bitter tone to her voice. "It's against the rules to take an outsider into the village."

"But she's hurt!" Naruto emphasized. "Look at her condition!"

Something must've stirred the girl, because she moaned and brought one of her wounded legs up to her chest.

"Please make it quick," the wounded girl croaked as she slowly opened her eye, revealing a bright red iris and a dark pupil. Naruto was aware that Kakashi, behind him, inhale sharply.

Sakura's apple green eyes grew wide. "Oh, are you okay?"

The girl swallowed and it looked like it took a lot of effort to do so. "Just make...it...quick..." And the girl's head slumped.

Sai cleared his throat awkwardly. "She's asking for a quick death, sensei. What should we do?"

"Not kill her, of course!" Naruto cried as he grabbed Sai's shoulder and shook them. "Can't you see that she's hurt? She need medical attention right now! Sakura, can you - "

"No." The two chuunin and gennin looked at their sensei in surprise.

"Kakashi sensei - "

"No Naruto, we're bringing her to the village," Kakashi stated firmly. Slowly, he delicately picked up the injured girl and held her bridal style.

Sakura's pink eye brows furrowed together. "Why?"

Kakashi looked at the unconscious girl through his one eye. "She's an...interesting case. I feel like Lady Tsuande would want to see her."

"A-alright," Sakura stammered, clearly perplexed. "Let's go, she should get medical attention as soon as possible."

"Right," Sai and Naruto chorused as the rest of Team Seven raced through the trees once more. It's a shame that when Team Seven arrived in Konoha and demanded that the stranger would receive medical attention that it would spark a forever burning flame when the girl would wake up in village not hers.

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A/N: Yay, nay? What do you think? Please R&R and ILY!