Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters, or Naruto and its respective characters, all rights go to the owners. This is a work of fiction, if historical people, places, and events are mentioned and/or occur it is for the benefit of the story or is entirely coincidental. I own no characters but the plot belongs to me, please do not copy, reupload, or steal my work for if found, there is a penalty.

A/N: Now that we have all that out of the way, please carry on~ I sounded so dreary and scary didn't I? I frighten myself sometimes.

P.S. I edited this so it doesn't sound too weird anymore.

She flew across the muddy ground and tried to aim for its neck, but it was hard doing so with her eyes closed. She wasn't advanced enough to make such a pinpointed attack, it took years of practice to attain that kind of sensitivity, but what else could she do? The hollow before her forced her to such means, means she had no hope of completing properly.

Her jab was deflected with such shocking strength, she knew the bones in her hand were most likely shattered. Pain exploded through the dull aches of others and she knew she was right; the use of her right hand was now diminished to a feeble dangling limb.

How could she have been that stupid? When did she think she was strong enough to go on high-level missions like this? Orihime remembered the feeling of pride as she assured her friends that this was nothing and she could do it solo, and now, she would die for that arrogance. She had almost always been timid, constantly being protected by her friends caused them to not expect much from her. She knew they didn't mean it maliciously but it still stung, that was why she was eager to prove herself.

At the moment she was only proving how easy it was to get herself killed.

She jumped up in a backwards motion into a tree. Fighting the thing was no longer an option, escape was the only choice now. She would recoup and group up with the others, who she knew didn't need any help in the completion of their own tasks; they probably were even waiting for her.

"GRAAAAAAHHH!"

It was searching for her, the swishing of air underneath the low limb she sheltered on told her as much. Like her, the hollow was rendered blind. A con that would have been fatal for the hollow if the pros weren't stacked so much in its favor. The moment she had stepped into the dog-like hollow's line of sight, it instantly released an ability that almost completely neutralized her Shun Shun Rikka. All she could do was protect herself with Lily, Hinagiku, and Baigon, but even they were limited.

If she managed to live, Tsubaki would have her ear for being so weak, again.

Orihime took a moment to take a breath, up here at least, she was safe. The moment she took to relax however, was the moment the hollow was waiting for. A blur of white was all she saw before she felt every bone in her body break as she was ripped from the limb and slammed into the ground. She screamed, terror making her shrieks louder as its clawed paw tore into the soft flesh of her stomach, bathing the sharp extensions in red.

There was no going back now, no friends to save her. No redemption for her one lapse in judgment, her one act of courage. All that was waiting for her was death, and it was coming for her.

Whatever the hollow had unleashed earlier vanished, she knew because she felt the connection with Tsubaki come back, but she was far too weak to make use of him. At least she could see again.

In those seconds, she saw things, and other things she knew must have been imagined. From the corner of her eye she could have sworn she caught sight of a flash of bright orange, the color of Ichigo's hair. Ichigo. She wouldn't be able to tell him she loved him now. Not ever. However, the swinging paw that was aimed for her heart drew her attention back to her attacker and she quickly shut her eyes, hoping for a fast if not painless death.

God, please don't let it eat me.

It didn't. Orihime waited for the crushing blow but that didn't come either. It was a full minute before it dawned on her that even the weight of its body pushing hers into the ground was also missing. She cracked a tentative eye open. It was gone.

Where did it go?

It was a struggle but Orihime managed to lift her head just enough to scan the area around her, the surroundings were glaringly empty of a hollow. Relief hit her like a ton of bricks and tearfully, she realized that she had lived. She didn't know how or even why but the horrendous thing was gone and she was intact...relatively speaking of course.

She cried. She cried because she hadn't been killed or worse, eaten alive. She cried because she could see all her friends again and go back to school. She cried even harder because she had again the chance to tell Ichigo how she really felt about him, and this time she would actually tell him when he wasn't sleeping.

"Oh Ichigo...'sniff'...I made it!" She sobbed.

After several minutes, she calmed down enough to set about healing herself, but as she settled down to summon the healing portion of her Shun Shun Rikka she noticed something that had escaped her earlier, something alarming, the hollow was not the only thing missing in the scenery. In fact, the scenery had changed entirely.

Instead of a dark and looming forest like the one she had been in, it was spacious, no, there was no forest at all. Just very long grass that hid her from view when she lied down, nothing but sweeping grass and ultra blue sky, and booms and screams that were coming closer by the second.

It sounded..like a battle? Orihime wet her lip nervously as she tried to figure out what was going on. Maybe the hollow wasn't gone after all, she probably passed out but before she was delivered the final blow had been rescued, brought here, and whoever saved her was fighting the thing. Maybe, but she doubted it instantly. There were too many human voices, and not one hollow-like roar could be heard. It was clearly a battle between her kind.

She didn't dare summon her Shun Shun Rikka, the risk of being exposed was too great, no matter how painful her wounds were. It was for the best though, the more painful her injuries, the more likely she would manage to stay awake, she needed to in case of discovery. Not that she could anything about it if she was discovered; her bones being shattered to smithereens tends to kicked ideas like that out the window.

Something whizzed by her face. It came so close that if she hadn't managed to spot it in time it would have imbedded itself in her face, but she was quick and turned her head just so in a manner that only allowed the sharp edge to skim a red line in the skin underneath her eye. Just another cut to add to gashes and seeping gore adorning her body.

Instead of impaling her, the thing impaled the floor next to her. Orihime frowned at it. Was...was that a shuriken? She had seen the item sometimes when she went online to buy some things, but if so, who did it belong to? No one she knew used ninja-ish weapons. The thought further proved to her that something was very wrong, very very wrong in fact, and she might not even be anywhere near where she was before.

Her body was too weak to jolt as a log crashed near her feet and she stared at it completely dumbfounded, it had a peculiar piece of paper attached to it and was smoking profusely. Okay, she definitely needed to know what was going on, but how? She couldn't stand much less do more than lift her head, and if she tried to heal herself, all she would do was put herself in danger. No, better to wait for them to leave, but a battle isn't something that finishes just like that, so how would she have to wait?

Forever was the answer. The battle carried on for hours, a literal meaning to the phrase since the sun was sinking in the sky and it was almost dark. Her eyes were closing as the last sounds of struggle was cut off. Everything was silent. At the moment, Orihime was so tired and physically exhausted from her wounds that she didn't notice this, nor did she note the crunching of boots as they approached her hiding spot in the grass. When she finally did notice, it was far too late, for when she did notice, it was when she staring up into the most lifeless eyes she had ever seen.

A/N: So, this is set in the time when Orihime is very strong, like where she is at the moment but in contrast, I set this before Gaara had his tails removed. I decided to make it so because it would add some drama later on.