I wake up, head aching, pain sending echoing pulses throughout my body, which distracts me for a while till I realize I'm now in a completely different place then I was last.

'I'm batting fucking 100 now aren't I?' I think sarcastically, trying to keep my breathing steady and assess my situation. Peeking out from below my eyelashes, I see I'm in a wagon of some sort, going by the wood wall to my left, to my right I see bags of stuff, probably rice or grain based of their smooth sides. I almost turn my head when I catch sight of the guy sitting at my feet. Hitate, green vest, and looking towards the front of the wagon, immediately I know it's a ninja, probably from Konoha, as the green vest announces a chunin level ninja. I go to sit up and talk, using my arm to press myself up when I feel my shoulder light up in pain, a grinding sensation at its core.

"FuuuuuuUUUUCCCCKKKKKK!" I scream out, voice ripping out of my throat, collapsing back and grabbing my left shoulder, crying as I grit my teeth against the pain.

"SHIT! Damn kid, you alright?!" He asks, starting at the noise and leaning over to help, letting me get a look at his face through blurry tear filled eyes, 'scar across nose, brown hair, tan, it's Iruka. Wow. This is lucky as shit. Damn, he looks so young, the scars still pretty prominent.'

"Fuck. That really fuckin hurt." I croak out, noticing him grin a bit at what I said still looking me over. Iruka helps me up to a sitting position, mindful about my arm. I notice he's still looking at me once the pain dies down.

"Thanks." I say shortly, keeping my guard up, trying to look around me, and sorely missing my glasses as I touch my nose in a nervous tic.

"Not a problem, but I do have some questions for you." He says kindly, but I can see he's still tense and this isn't casual, it's a cursory interrogation.

"Shoot." I say, cautiously setting my head back against the wood wall, resting it, trying to relieve the pounding headache still racing through my head.

"What's our name? Where you from?"

"Taoreta Yari, who the fuck knows, I'm a fuckin orphan. Have been for years." I answer back tiredly,

"Are you from a clan? Do you remember from what country you came from at least? How did your parents die?" All asked in the most polite voice, the last one said decidedly more delicate.

'Oh yeah, he's an orphan as well, parents died in the fox attack.' I remember, feeling bad, knowing that I'm lying to him.

"But are you? You died, your parents are in another universe. There's no family waiting for you here. You ARE an orphan."

"What the Hell, Editor? Really? Telepathy?"

"Just Checking in. And reminding you of certain facts. You have no safety nets here, you're on your own."

"…Yeah…Thanks, I guess…I needed that reminder."

"Might want to tune back into the real world, you've got a question to answer."

"SHIT!"

"TAORETA-SAN!" I come back to my name being screamed, starting, slamming my head into Iruka's bottom lip and jerking my injured arm, falling back against the wood and biting my lip against the pain as Iruka cursed in front of me, holding his injured lip.

"Fuck! DUDE!? WHAT THE HELL?" I yell at him once the pain lulls a bit.

"I should be asking you that! And keep your voice down, were in bandit country." Iruka reprimanded, rubbing at the cut in his lip where I smashed into it.

"What? Oh, yeah, sorry. Clan? Yeah, the Yari Clan, but the only ones left were me and my parents, and when they died, I became the last one. I don't really remember much about us. We never really did join a village, we were always moving around. And they were butchered. In front of me. That…I can't forget."

I see flashes of the faces of two unknown but familiar people, a deep voice telling me it's okay to be afraid. I tense. Red. I see so much red. It's covering the floor. It's covering me. I just see it covering everything around me. And a pure, shining green eye, a sadistic pleasure radiating from it. I feel a deep rooted terror, and revulsion crawling up my skin, an unholy, disgusting rage boiling deep inside my gut, shame and agony feeding it. I throw up, puking up bile, my body racked, clutched in the throes of my sickness, the burning acid of my bile ripping up my throat and pushing me to my knees, then onto my side, the burning pain of my shoulder adding to it, as I choke on the yellow acids still in my throat as I try to scream out.

"I'm so sorry. You're going through an experience that should've been blunted with the ignorance of youth and the adrenaline of fear, not a clear headed, rational adult inside an inexperienced, injured kid."

"!" a white noise fills my head, overwhelming me. Eventually, I come back, shuddering, crying as I feel a warmth around my shoulders.

"It's Okay. It's Okay. You're safe." Iruka is rubbing my back gently, ignoring the obvious noxious sludge covering his back.

"No…I'm not, but I can be." I rasp, my throat raw from my episode.

"…all right." He sits back and lays me against the wall. I can feel the protectiveness radiating off of him. I manage to slip off into a light sleep. Deciding that tomorrow, i'll review my history and get anymore…episodes, out of the way. For now, I'll just rest. And it goes Black.

I wake up in the cart again, but now I feel the stiff binds of bandages around my upper body and the crusty feel of dried vomit isn't present. "Thanks Iruka, sorry about that." I think, croaking, my throat even worse now, mouth dry.

"Figured you'd wake up soon, here's some water. You'll want to sip it." He says kindly, giving me a canteen as I hissed a little with pain, finally remembering to use my other arm, seeing the gates approaching.

"Konoha?!" I gasp, recognizing the gigantic red gates instantly, only a few seconds later cursing my idiotic mistake.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Iruka says, casting a suspicious eye at me

"My dad was teaching me the symbols before he died." My stomach twinges a bit at that comment. Iruka looks away, obviously satisfied and embarrassed to bring up a bad topic.

"So…What's going to happen now?" I ask.

"You're going to come meet the Hokage." Iruka says.