I should warn you, I plan to make this a bit darker than what I normally write, so if you are not comfortable with that I would not read it. I'll try to put a warning at the beginning of the chapter like my other stories. Topics it may touch: drug use, sex, mental and physical abuse, gore and torture. Not 100% sure yet, my mind usually has a concept but when I start writing it ends up taking weird turns.

"Speaking in Japanese"

"Speaking in English"

"Speaking in Spanish"

'Thoughts'

I don't proofread my chapters! I just dish them out as I write them because I'm lazy so keep in mind it'll probably have a lot of grammar errors.

Any who, on with the story!

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO. JUST MY OCs.

It was cold and the constant beeping was making her wake up from how loud it was. Opening her eyes was a mission in itself, when she finally did manage to open them, she snapped them closed again from the bright harsh lights. Her mouth was dry, and she wanted to throw up and her shoulder hurt, burned even. Azucena tried to sit up, but a hand gently pushed her down and she heard something she hadn't heard in the past five years.

English.

"Doctor! Nurse! Somebody! She's waking up!" it was English, but it had a thick accent. One that sounded so familiar to her and hadn't heard since she went missing.

"...Mom..." Azucena rasped out at the blurry person.

"It's okay, you're going to be okay mija" that was her mother's voice no doubt about it and at hearing it Azucena wanted to sob but her body was too weak and she lost consciousness once more.

The next time Azucena woke it was dark and her mother was sitting in a chair fast asleep using her jacket as a blanket. The lights were off and it helped her eyes adjust to the low lighting easier. Azucena glanced around the room, she knew she was in a hospital and her mom was here, that meant she was back in her world. But how? Azucena had died, she was sure of it...or had she imaged everything and was in the hospital for a different reason? She glanced over to her mother again she was contemplating on waking her up. Her mother looked like she hadn't been sleeping well in weeks maybe in months. Her mother looked older and thinner than she remembered maybe she'll let her rest more. Azucena sighed softly to not wake her up and closed her eyes once more letting sleep take over her exhausted body once more.

The third time she woke it was bright again and she was alone, but she didn't have to wait long because in the next few minutes her mother came into the room with food in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

"Hey mom" Azucena waved weakly and it almost made her mother drop everything that she had been holding. Her mother began to cry and rush over to her bedside. Azucena's heart clenched at the sound and she grabbed her mother's hand squeezing it to assure her that she was fine.

"Don't cry mom, please, I'm fine" it felt strange speaking her mother's native language. She could feel it on her tongue as she struggled to pronounce some words or even remember them. She was out of practice. Having no one to speak to in English or Spanish in that other world really messed with her pronouncing.

"I was so worried about you! Do have any idea how long we've been looking for you! And then you show up at home on the front lawn almost half dead! Don't you ever do that again! I thought I almost—" her mother paused trying to collect her feelings but Azucena knew what she meant. She had almost lost her meaning she almost died.

"I'm sorry..." Azucena said. It was all she could say. She didn't know what was going on or how long she was out cold.

"What happened? Where did you go? Who did this to you?" It was one question after another and her mind couldn't come up with a single thing to say. What could she say? That she woke up in the forest and had to learn to survive off the land for a good two months before being found. Should she tell her that once found she was forced to become a shinobi. That she was forced to kill? That's she had been held prisoner for three and half years before escaping and fleeing to another place, only to be taken in and beaten to an inch of her life during interrogations. Or maybe tell her the part where she was branded like a slave?

"I...I don't...remember" Azucena finally said. She couldn't tell her mother the truth. It would break her heart to hear everything she went through. Azucena watched her mother eye her and she knew that her mother suspected something was wrong, but she didn't question her about it.

"I'll be back I'm going to go get the doctor" her mother said patting her hand and leaving her alone once more. She could see her talking to one of the nurses just outside her room. Azucena didn't even bother ease dropping her mind kept going back to the last mission she had been on. She really hoped her squad made it back to Konoha okay. Her being there must have caused a chain reaction. She needed to see Thea and talk with her, maybe even borrow her whole collection of Naruto manga she had and read up on what happens next. Perhaps she could prevent somethings if she went back— She froze at the thought. Go back? Did she want to go back?

"Azucena?"

She didn't deserve that name her mother had given her not with everything she has done.

"Don't call me that" She turned at the call of her name and saw an old balding man with a white doctor coat on walked into the room, a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other. He smiled at her kindly, but his face was serious, meaning her condition wasn't all that great. She was used to getting that look from Nao, the medic the Hokage had assigned to her specifically. Nao would always frown at her when she woke up from being treated from an injury, before going on a rant of how careless she was being. The old bat would even slap her on her wound just to prove a point and then smirk at her pain. She was pretty sure the old woman was a sadist.

"What do you prefer I call you?"

"Just Azu"

"Alright I'm Dr. Moore, I preformed the emergency surgery when you were brought in, how are you feeling?"

"Fine, when can I go home?" she honestly did just want to go home. She wanted to make sure this wasn't another one of her dreams but the pain in her shoulder assured it wasn't. That didn't stop her from wanting to see it for herself.

"How about we check your shoulder first before we discuss that" the doctor tried to reason with her. He slipped on some blue rubber gloves and asked her to move her gown to be able to look at her injury. It had been covered in gauze and medical tape, when he uncovered it the wound had been closed with stitches. She knew it would scar like all the others.

Azucena nodded for Dr. Moore to continue, checking her vitals following his instructions sloppily because of the pain medications that were in her. Glancing around the room she spotted her mother sitting in the chair from before waiting patiently for Dr. Moore to make his assessment on her. His hands where cold and it caused goosebumps to rise on her skin, this was nothing like the medics back in Konoha who's hands were always warm from the chakra flowing through them. He asked her questions while touching certain spots near her shoulder.

"Can you feel this?"

"Yes, and it hurts" she hissed as he poked near the skin that had electrical burns from where Kakashi had impaled her.

"Good, that means the nerves still work" He nodded and took off his glove throwing them in the trash and faced her once more "You're lucky to be alive, your mother was smart to drive you over to us instead of call an ambulance by the time it arrived and got you here you might have bled out"

"What happened?"

"I was hoping you could answer that, there are a number of wounds on you, some years old others…more recent, by what your mother has informed me, none of these were on you on the day you disappeared"

"I...don't know" it was a another lie but she wasn't sure if her family could handle the truth much less her doctors. They would put her in a mental hospital or just tell her she made everything up to cope with the trauma. What if she did imagine it all to cope with it? What had been real and what wasn't? There was only one way to find out and that was to talk to the last person she was with when she had gone missing. Thea.

"I see" He frowned "Sometimes, if the trauma is too much, the mind tends to block it out until we are ready to face it"

"Will she remember?" Her mother asked.

"Eventually, however there have been rare cases where she might not. I recommend trying not to force her and let it come to her naturally" Dr. Moore stated.

"How long have I've been unconscious?" she figured that was good question to ask after his explanation.

Her mother took her hand and squeezed it gently "Mija, you've been in the ICU for two weeks"

"I want to go home" Azu told her mother tiredly then turned to Dr. Moore and told him in English "When can I go home?"

"It's a little early to be discussing that-"

"Let me rephrase that, I want to go home"

"I would love to send you on your way home but the extent of your injuries" He shook his head letting her know it was too soon "You ruptured your subclavian vein in your left shoulder and broke through your clavicle bone...I'm sorry but I'd like to keep you here for a few more days for observation and lower the risk of infection"

"I want to go home" Azucena mumbled low.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that?" Dr. Moore asked not quite catching what she said.

"Nothing"

She didn't say anything more after that except that she was sleepy. They left her to rest as Dr. Moore stepped outside the room with her mother and they shut the door behind them. She could faintly hear him tell her mother that he wanted to talk to her more in his office about the extent of her injuries. She figure it was for physical therapy and things she needed to be cautious about while she still healed. She could worry about that later for know she just wanted to sleep.

Zabuza stood up straight after finishing the last enemy and with practiced easy he placed his sword back on its holster on his back before turning to Haku. The boy made his way over to him and checked his injuries. The woman was no where to be found, the only evidence she left behind was a puddle of blood on the ground where she had last been. If she was dead wouldn't she have just died then and there? Something wasn't adding up and his instincts were never wrong.

"Normal protocol would be I turn you in" Kakashi sighed scratching the back of his head "But seeing as you helped us out in end, I can over look it. Besides, I'm sure it would have been something Azu would have wanted, at least for Haku anyway"

"She would also want him to live with her and have a normal life in a village" Zabuza rolled his eyes. That stupid woman was still in his mind.

"Come back with us! I'm sure I can talk to the old man on letting you stay!" Naruto called out to him before receiving a hard punch in the back of the head by the pink haired genin.

"Naruto! What have I told you about calling him that!"

"Ow Sakura-chan but he is old!" Naruto whimper holding his head while the dark-haired boy, Sasuke, scoffed at their antics.

"I doubt the Hokage will be willing to let two missing nins into the village just because your old man told him too" Zabuza scoffed.

"What are you talking about? He's is the Hokage, I'm sure if we told him everything, he'll let you both stay"

The Hokage? This blonde brat had connections to the leader now that was interesting.

"Naruto, you can't make decisions like that without discussing them with me first" Kakashi said pinching the bridge of his nose and then turned to Zabuza "We still have a few more weeks left of this mission. We have to stay until it's done being built, in the mean time I guess I can send word to him and let him know what has happened" Kakashi sighed.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered pumping a fist into the air "You're going to like our village Haku-"

"Naruto! Stop talking like the descision has already been made!" Sakura scowled her teammate "You're going to give them false hope! What if the Hokage doesn't approve it!" Sakura snapped at him.

"It's okay, I'm just glad we aren't fighting anymore" Haku smiled down at the trio.

"At what cost? Azu-sensei is dead" the brooding one, Sasuke, stated with a glare.

"Stop saying that!" Naruto glared at Sasuke, Kakashi noted that Sakura held her tongue on lashing out at Naruto for raising his voice at Sasuke.

"Naruto" Sakura said softly placed a hand on his shoulder in sympathy, he smacked her hand away and glared at her too

"She's not dead! I refuse to believe that!" Naruto snapped at his teammates and ran off into the forest.

"Naruto! Where are you going!" Sakura called out.

"Leave him, I'll go speak with him in a bit, he needs time to process what happened here today" Kakashi told his two remaining students. Kakashi zoned out his students as they began to talk to Haku, leaving the two adults to talk among themselves.

"You really think the Hokage will let us stay?" Zabuza

"Perhaps, you may be restricted from using chakra for a while, but if you prove that you are loyal and he may let you. Are you actually thinking about it?" Kakashi said a bit surprised.

"My intuition tells me no..." Zubuza admitted "...But my instincts tell me yes"

I wonder why that is, Kakashi thought as he pulled out his orange book from his pouch as they walked back to Tazuna's house.

Second chapter re-write is done!