"Enkai! Grab the map off the wagon for me." I hear Reku shout waking me from my nap in the shade of the wagon.

Grabbing the scroll from the pouch I run up to Reku and wait for him to put his hand out so I can place the scroll in it.

The map is oversized. Nearly half as big as I am, I struggle to hold it while waiting.

A part of me suspects that Reku knows I am not really a crew member and is giving me tasks hard for my age to teach me a lesson.

But Reku is kind, and the food is better than the orphanage goop, so I quickly dismiss the idea.

Overall I like this living arrangement better than my previous one.

Reku opens the map across a stone and begins to go over our path.

"The land of rice has been plagued with bandits recently, So we have to go off our usual route , a little more south , to avoid them." Reku says as he traces a line through the bottom of the Land Of Rice leading into the Land Of Fire.

"Once we hit the land of fire we can sell our metals and once getting to the middle we should start picking up food goods to sell to Suna, a good profit as they can hardly grow anything with no water." Reku says as he continues to trace a line to the west on the map.

"I'll go get the plan approved with the leader then I'll be back. Until then don't stack off! Get the pottery we bought from this town into Jiro's wagon then you're good to rest."

It's been a week since I joined the caravan and we are halfway through the Land of Hot water.

If I am lucky I'll be able to seperate somewhere in the land of fire, not sure how I am supposed to get citizenship though.

I have been able to get through the borders so far because of the caravans credentials but from what I understand there is paperwork in this world.

I knew paperwork ninjas were something previously joked about but I didn't think a world without a central economy would have such detailed bookkeeping.

I grab a small crate of pottery and head over to Jiro's wagon.

Jiro is a middle aged woman with greying purple hair, apparently the daughter of one of the co-owners.

She runs the wagon two behind Reku's and constantly makes jokes about being "the ass" of the caravan.

She think's the name came from her being the last wagon on the trail. But by her foul mouth and pushy attitude I feel like it has a different origin.

"Hey Brat! Yer better not be breaking my shit!" I hear the a- I mean Jiro shout

Her voice is rough from smoking, a close comparison to the gorilla-like voice of the matron that was likely made rough from yelling at misbehaving kids.

"Yes Ma'am!" I say back as clear as I can knowing any show of weakness she would dig in her heels and say I am incompetent.

" Yer better!" She grumbles to herself as I set down the crate.

I have twenty-nine more crates to transfer, each small enough to move easy enough due to there only being one pot in each; packaged singularly to avoid damage I heard Reku once say.

After about the fifth crate I see Jiro lighting a cigarette, I can only guess she has a bit of money to spend due to her family background being middle class.

I relax seeing the old hag has stopped her grumbling, besides a bit of money I see no real good in that woman. I don't see why Reku likes her.

Or at least I assume he does by the light teasing of the crewmates and the blush that showed on Reku's tanned face when they mentioned how he rejected moving closer to the front of the wagon, the crewmate nearby saying it's because he wants to stay close to his 'lady'.

After loading the last crate up, I crawl up into Reku's wagon hoping to get a nap.

I hear the loud whistles echoing that signals the start of the caravan, each member hearing the whistle and giving a whistle in response.

I lay on top of the crates in Reku's wagon, leaning against a heavy crate of metal to keep myself from falling out the back end.

—-

It's a week later when my plans go to the metaphorical toilet.

I wake to a scream of pain.

"Jiro! No! Jiro stay with me, stay awake!" Reku's screams seem to echo.

I peek out between the panels of wood of the wagon.

I see the back of Reku on the ground, holding someone with purple hair, Jiro I assume, red pooling at his knees.

I can't see much, I reach out mentally, sensing the surrounding chakras, Jiro's is fading fast and Reku's is shaking like a flame in a storm.

That is all I notice before I release there are over half a dozen large and oppressive chakra signatures surrounding our wagons.

"Shut up!" I hear an unfamiliar voice shout.

I watch through the boards trying to see what is going on.

I see a flash of silver and there is an addition of red splatters to the cloth of the top of the wagon I am in, Reku is dyed with more red than previously.

I suddenly wish I hadn't looked.

I can't move frozen in fear, I can't blink, my eyes burn, my throat burns, and I feel like shrinking into myself.

I can only sit and stare and watch and the lifeblood of the caravan workers, Reku's lifeblood mixing with Jiro's , seeps into the ground with painful clarity.

Reku collapses onto the ground, Jiro's chakra fading into nothing and Reku's becoming weak.

I feel like screaming, acid burning my throat.

Am I going to die?

My thoughts are cut short as I see the nin collapse to the ground, the other large signatures flicker out and I feel ten large tightly bound signatures land and grab the body's of the nin.

The new nin that landed to grab our attackers body- corpse , I think to myself that I just witnessed death, those signatures going out, meaning they are dead.

The figure that landed has an animal mask on, feline looking in nature, similar to what I remember ANBU to look like.

I see another figure walk up to the one that started to grab the person who attacked Reku.

" Senpai, two of the missing sound nin fled south." The new figure with the mask of some kind of sea creature says to the feline masked nin.

Hunter nin maybe, because they called the attackers missing nin.

"I'll finish sealing here. Take the others in pursuit, leave Rabbit with me for cleanup."

It's strange they are talking, ANBU I knew used sign language on missions , don't they know I'm here?

I take a moment to focus on my own energy and see it has shrunk and almost depleted.

I suddenly feel dizzy.

Everything becomes dark and the world seems to fall into itself.

—-

Everything is so peaceful.

I can only hear my heart, I float alone in a void , darkness acting like water.

I look up , above me is a red moon, it seems to shift and dig into the darkness releasing blood that seeps out like screams of pain.

I pry my eyes away and look down.

Below me is a cold sun, a blue and purple hue that reminds me of the lips and fingers of the people dying of frostbite on the streets of my birth village, Echoing the feeling of hopelessness in their eyes.

I stay in the middle, a peaceful inbetween where the cold wisps barely brush the soles of my feet and the angry moon's tiny droplets of blood touch my forehead , burning my eyes and running down my cheeks.

I shy from the extremes.

"Wake up kid" I hear Reku's voice

But Reku died, didn't he?

" Kid, Wake up!" I hear Reku shout, A little more forceful now.

I gasp awake.

Air filled my lungs for what felt like the first time in years.

I breathe hard, as if I am starved for breath.

I feel a hand on my back.

"Breathe kid, slowly."

I look up and see Reku, his chakra weak but stable.

I stare at him, drinking in the sight of his survival.

I've only met him a couple of weeks ago but It seems I've gotten attached.

Looking down, I see Reku's arm, or there lack of.

A bandage wrapped stump, little above where his elbow should be, remains where his arm once was.

I feel tears coming to my eyes.

For the first time in forever, I let them fall, and I let myself wail.

—-

Later that night , Reku and I sat around the small fire that was boiling the beginning of a soup, Reku being put on found duty due to his new disability.

"Enkai, the road is no place for a kid."

I stare up at him.

" The next town over my family runs a tea shop, just inside the land of fire. When we get there, go there and ask for work, tell them I sent you."

Reku says in a dead tone as he pokes the fire with a wet stick.

"Why?"

I came to a realisation all at once, he knew I wasn't a crew member, he just didn't care.

"It's safer there, right inside the border, lots of ninja guards to keep ya safe, I don't blame you for sneaking on, I know the Frost ain't a nice place to live."

I try to choke out words, because I don't want to leave, while in the long run this would be better for my plans. Reku is the closest I've come to feeling like a family ever.

Sucking in my chest I nod weakly in acceptance.

My emotions are high strung, I feel like if I ate dinner I would puke. I go to the back of Reku's wagon and sleep.

It's been a long day.

AN: Four updates four days in a row? Isn't that strange…

I was aiming for a solid 2k words on this chapter, all mine before being a bit short of it, but if i did that then it wouldn't have a a good stopping point.