The world was dark. My world was dark. It was cold. Out of the void, I heard the essence of words. I couldn't understand them. I thought for a moment. Am I dying?

No, I concluded. If I was dead I wouldn't be cold. The words grew clarity. Their meaning still eluded my muddled mind.

Hands reached toward me from within the darkness drawing me back towards life...

"Are you okay?" asked a nervous almost panicky disembodied voice as something grabbed my shoulder. It was only then I remembered I had a body.

My eyes opened. The world was overwhelming. It was full of colors and sounds. Wetness splattered my chilled flesh. I looked toward the sky. It was raining. The heavens were grey. The clouds consuming its grandeur.

"Are they alive?" questioned a much younger voice.

I looked back towards the earth. I was surrounded by what appeared to be a group of commoners. I tried to speak.

It didn't work.

There was relief in the next voice that sounded, "They're alive."

The relief must not have been long-lived for my world soon returned to darkness.

The next time color returned to my world it was very limited. I was in a hospital bed. My head ached. My flesh did not desire to move. I was about to return to my rest when a person walked in.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." the person said in a jovial manner.

I tried to reply with a 'barely', but again no sound escaped.

"You must've been out in that downpour for quite a while. What were you doing out there" they questioned.

I then remembered that I couldn't remember. The idea hit me like a wall. I tried to think.

I tried to recall.

.

.

.

.

.

I found nothing.

"Don't worry too much. Memory loss often accompanies hypothermia. We'll wait with the questions until a later time" they replied after my pause.

I tried to manage an apologetic expression. I don't think it worked.

"You'll be back to full health soon enough. Just focus on getting better" they said as they exited the room.

I looked around the barren room. Everything was a sickening institutional white. There wasn't even so much as a window. From afar I heard the pittering of rain hitting the roof. I looked behind me. There was a clock ticking away the day. It was 1:13. As to whether it was day or night the simple feature did not tell me.

White is such a deceiving color I thought as my world returned to darkness.

I must have been weaker than I imagined.

I awoke to voices outside the door. I looked around the room before looking back to the clock. It was 8:20. I was able to move much better now.

I tested my voice, "Greetings, world." it came out as a whisper.

Great! Progress. Not much, but progress nonetheless.

The door opened.

In came two of the individual that I saw when I first regained consciousness along with an old guy in a red and white pyramid hat and the medical guy from before.

The younger kid was eyes bulged a bit when he saw me. I take it that hypothermia wasn't the whole list.

The other individual from out in the rain was an older woman. I noticed her looking above my eyes and to the clock before settling a bit above my forehead. She had turned slightly pale.

"This is Lord Third, the Third Hokage in the land of fire." expressed the medical guy as he gestured to the person in the pyramid hat.

His attempt at a dumbed-down explanation didn't help my case, unfortunately. I had no idea what any of those things meant. I tried to keep that to myself. I tried mind, you. My confusion was most likely very blatantly expressed as I attempted to simply nod.

A clipboard was brought up from the medical guy's side along with a simple pen.

"We have a few questions for you to answer.." the medical guy trailed off as he looked to the clipboard, "Can you tell us your name?" he asked and then looked up expectantly towards me.

I thought. But I just hit a blank wall.

" I cannot recall," I said perplexed. Of all the things not to remember.. The simplest thing.

"Ok.." the medical guy trailed off again as he read off the clipboard, "Parents, clan? Do you remember either of those?"

I thought again… the wall seemed to be ever-expanding. It hurt my brain trying to think past it. I shook my head, "No, I can't remember anything..." I said, exasperated with my inability.

The medical guy pushed a professional smile past his frustration and said, "For now we'll send you with these two to the orphanage. You can answer the questions when you remember. Correct, Lord-Third?" questioned the medical guy as he checked if Hokage agreed with the action.

The Hokage nodded and said with a smile, "Welcome to the Hidden Leaf Village" then he left the room.

Next thing I knew I was en route to the Orphanage.