Damn, this chapter just wasn't coming to me. It was supposed to be a bit longer too but it kinda just came to an end.

As always thanks to RedKing96

Now for the first time since waking in this strange place, Hinata had time to think. She wasn't being chased by lizard-dogs, monster bears, human-shaped lizards, or squirrels. She was lying, injured, in a stranger's bed with plenty of time to think.

She didn't know which was worse.

These people were seemingly kind and she desperately wanted to believe it to be true… but it's too convenient, isn't it? She was dying. Well, dying faster than she is currently. Swept up unconscious in a river after arriving in an unknown place, with poison everything, in a forest of animals that were all out to get her and she just so happened to get 'saved' by a fisherman who just so happened to be a doctor?

There's no way she's that lucky.

But for now, she'll take the reprieve to organize her thoughts and get herself together, and until then, she'll act. She'll pretend to be friendly, to let her guard down, and that she won't take everything they say with a grain of salt. However… obviously there has to be some truth to what they're saying right?

Hopefully, she figures this out before she throws up again. She kept down the soup Miya-san gave her, admirably, for around twenty seconds before she started vomiting… it was terrible. At least they got her a bucket in time, right?

Hinata let out a groan as her face heated up.

She can't think about that stuff. Her embarrassment is trivial compared to everything else on the list of disasters right now. Even if she can still smell and taste stomach acid because she turned down the glass of water.

'Oh no that was rude, wasn't it? Now they'll think she's impolite. They're probably all talking about right- Stop it Hinata. Focus.'

She took a deep breath, and painful acidic feeling or not, it helped her calm down.

Priorities.

Where is she? No. That's not an immediate concern. Survival comes first, plus there's no way she could get that information right now with her not being able to move. These people are probably crazy if they think they're telling the truth, kind or not, so they aren't reliable.

It isn't their fault, the poison in the air likely has hallucinogenic properties too.

Hanabi? A pang of worry crept down her spine. No… no. That's a hole she can't go down right now. There's no way of knowing if her little sister came with her, and even if she did, she's in no state to find her.

Granted that wouldn't stop her from trying but priorities.

She's remarkably injured and at the mercy of strangers? That's pretty immediate but there's not anything she can do about it. It's… scary. Really scary. She's blind and can't move, but again, there's nothing she can do. She'd likely be bedridden for weeks, and that's without the poison.

The poison… a good start. She didn't get a chance to think when she was in the forest for obvious reasons. All she'd gotten before her Byakugan went out was that it's everywhere. The air, trees, water, animals, people too, probably. There's nothing she can do about it.

Her chakra has a weird effect on it, even now, the buffer is still up. The layer around her skin is doing its job and keeping most, but not all of, the particles away from her skin. It doesn't work as well when she breathes it in, and it doesn't work at all when she drinks or eats food.

So what does that mean?

That's a good place to start.

Hinata wished her Byakugan wasn't out of commission right now, then she'd be able to study it properly but as it is right now, she'd just go by feeling alone. Something she isn't particularly talented at...

Wait. Her byakugan went out way too early, right? Even with pushing it as hard as she did as fast as she did, she should have gotten more use out of it.

She focused inward, it took a few minutes for her to get into the trance-like state that came with pseudo meditation but that just came with her mind being so ill-at-ease, also the pain. Pain is a pretty large factor. Once she was in it though, it became much easier to notice the smaller happenings inside her body, most notably with her chakra.

First, she just let her chakra flow naturally to check if there were any discrepancies.

There… were. Instead of flowing smoothly like a creek, her chakra was rather violent. Concerning, but it could just be a product of her mental state and various injuries.

This needs testing.

Jutsu are clearly off the table so something else then.

Making sure to keep her chakra layer up, she shot out a line of chakra from a tenketsu point near her navel. It was supposed to be a thin, weak strand of chakra to test the waters a bit. What actually happened was a ray of chakra strong enough to displace the blankets thrown over her. She quickly quit the exercise before it drained her already diminished reserves.

This… isn't good. Shoot.

It also doesn't make any sense. If her control was that bad then how did she successfully tree-walk? How is she keeping up her chakra buffer? What changed? Yes, she consumed poisoned food and water, she also actually slept… but her layer stayed up for some reason.

The only change has been her exposure to this place, and the time she's spent here. So the particles are messing with her control? It's… plausible. Maybe. Hopefully not.

Theories aside, there's no definite answer right now so she'll just keep a close eye on it for now with an emphasis on her chakra layer for now.

The poison itself is a different matter. What is it? And why does her chakra interact with it in such a way? She knows something's happening, otherwise, she wouldn't be able to flush it out of her body or keep most of it from her skin through the use of the layer.

However, by far one of the most immediate concerns is this "Magic" her host used. From the way they talked about it so casually, it seems that it's common here. Her hosts certainly don't seem like nobles or members of higher class. Not that that's a bad thing- unless they're from enemy countries trying to make her love them like she'd heard some kidnappees sometimes love their kidnappers after being kidnapped for a while.

She's thinking of the word kidnapped too much.

This… is a problem though. Miya-san cut those bandages too cleanly. If she can do that at range as well… well, skin is much easier to slice through than cloth. She rebound Hinata's bandages with a circle too, so obviously there are more applications for it than slicing. She could be able to strangle or suffocate her with ease. Those techniques would be perfect for assassination. Any village would be sure to take the woman in with open arms, if someone with her abilities is living as a medic in a rundown shack she can't imagine what their actual soldiers are like. No, it's definitely a cover for something.

N-not that there's anything wrong with the shack, it's lovely really. It has a very unique… charm. Yeah, it's charming.

Anyways, Hinata decided she'd be more conscious of Miya-san, Zachery-san, and the boy too.

Hinata almost jumped when she heard a knocking from the door, being blind is really inconvenient…

"Hinata, may I come in? I have more water for you." She heard Miya-san from behind the door

Suspicious or not, these people have nursed her to the best of their abilities -and they haven't ripped out her eyes- she'd be a terrible guest if she turned away just because this is probably a sham.

"Yes, you may," Hinata called out the best she could. Which was much weaker sounding than she would have liked.

As the woman came in, she noticed that the sound of the door closing never came. Not surprisingly, injured or not, she could be dangerous for all they knew. Granted it's not like she was planning to do anything at the moment, but still, a bit of caution is always wise.

"Here, drink up." She put the glass of water in Hinata's hands, and with a quiet "thank you" Hinata drank.

Poison or not, it hydrates her.

The woman didn't leave, however, and instead sat down heavily, making Hinata's nerves stand on edge.

Miya-san tittered, "How a girl as skittish as you survived that forest I'll never know.".

Hinata didn't know what to say so she just went with her default, "O-oh, um, I apologize." She couldn't see any of her facial expressions so this already difficult task of conversing with a stranger is just so much worse than normal.

Miya-san chuckled, "Why on earth are you apologizing?" she sighed again, "Anyways, I know it's sudden but I need to question you about the forest. My husband would, he's better at this than me, but he's too busy trying to get our fool of a chief to see sense."

"O-okay," Honestly Hinata's surprised she wasn't questioned sooner. Yeah, initially they asked questions but they couldn't have gotten a lot out of her, she was panicking pretty badly.

"Alright, let's g- Um, e-excuse me," Hinata interrupted, letting out a mortified squeal at the rudeness of it, "Before we begin, may I say something?"

"Sure."

Hinata nodded once, thankful her slight was being overlooked, "I-I w-will," she took a breath, "I will answer everything I can to the best of my abilities. E-extreme measures will not be necessary," she forced herself not to stumble over her words.

Obviously, she won't be divulging any village or clan secrets, but hopefully, this will appease her interrogator enough that harsher methods will be deemed superfluous.

Her body can't take much more abuse.

Again, she couldn't see so the long pause was absolutely nerve-wracking, she flinched when her hand was gently taken, "Hinata," Miya-san softly soothed, "Relax. You're safe, remember? If we wanted to harm you, we wouldn't have spent so much time and resources trying to stabilize you." She squeezed her hand just as Hinata opened her mouth, "Not that they were wasted, mind you. We're doctors. It's what we do. Now I need to ask about the forest. Normally I wouldn't be so insistent but this is important okay?"

Hinata nodded, embarrassed. She's not used to being talked to like this.

"Okay," Hinata heard Miya-san take a breath, "Now let's begin. Earlier you said that the animals were targeting you, can you go into more detail? What kind of animals? Were you doing anything to them? In what way were they targeting you?"

Hinata nodded, she thought it was strange herself but because this world was already so strange and deadly to her, she just went with it. Guess that it was strange by these people's standards too. That's reassuring at least.

"T-there were a lot…" It just occurred to her that she doesn't know what these people's names for the animals are, "F-forgive me but I-I might have d-different n-names for m-many of those animals so I might lack a c-certain amount of d-detail on that front. I-I can just say that every a-animal I came across w-was hostile and actively tracking me." Hopefully, that's good enough.

"I see…" Mrs. Mina trialed off, "Does that include literally every animal? Or just the ones that seemed territorial."

Hinata took another sip of water, coughing slightly from the burn of it going down her throat. "Y-yes. Every animal was trying to kill me. Even t-the ones that seemed like they s-should have been passive…"

"Would you say that you spanned a large distance when running from them?"

"Hinata tilted her head, "I g-guess? I-I was never the b-best at physical activities, b-but I was r-running from t-them for a w-while without a break."

"Hmm, carry on."

"Y-yes, they were not behaving in any way I've seen animals behave in an amount and variety to t-that scale. T-they were relentless. I-I tried my best not to b-bother them but they just k-kept coming. I killed so many…" Hinata trailed off. She hadn't thought about all of the death she caused, even if it was in self-defense. It was hard to think about.

She felt Miya-san's hand squeeze her own, "You did well to survive such an ordeal, be proud."

How could she possibly be proud? She was sloppy, she let herself get injured, and she almost died. She's still closer to death than she'd like… The only reason she's alive is because of the apparent kindness of strangers and even then there could be something foul at play.

It's not impressive that she's blind, half-dead, and at the mercy of strangers. There's nothing to be proud of.

"S-survive is a bit much don't you think? I am only alive b-because of your kindness." Hinata managed to stutter out, red-faced and all.

Mrs. Mira chuckled, "Heh, you're too modest. You'll need to work on that," she stood, "I'd like to ask more questions but it seems I'm out of time. I hope you don't mind but I promised my son he'd be allowed to speak with you after you rested a bit."

Hinata felt her stomach drop in anticipation, "W-what do you mean?"

"James, you can come in now," Miya-san called.

"Cool!" Hinata heard a child's voice yell, along with rushed steps along a wooden floor, "Hey! Are you doing okay? Why do you have those weapons? What's your magic like?" His rapid-fire questions caught Hinata off-guard.

"Make sure you don't overwhelm her too much, James. If she asks you to leave, then leave," Miya-san told her son.

"Yes, Mom," James said dismissively.

Wow, if she ever spoke to her parents like that… even her mother, as kind as she is, would not have let it slide.

"Alright, I'll be back in around half an hour. James, I'm serious when I say don't bother her too much," Hinata heard her walk away, the sound of her steps fading away until she couldn't hear them anymore.

Leaving her with an excited boy. Alone.

Oh, dear.

Hinata took a breath, maybe this can be turned into a learning experience? Maybe she can use this opportunity to answer some questions about magic. James is probably less likely to ask questions that matter after all…

Yes. Maybe this is a good thing.

Twenty-three minutes later

It turns out hyper-activeness is only cute if it's from blond-haired boys named Naruto, otherwise, it's just exhausting and not charming at all.

"Have you ever killed anyone? I bet you have, you definitely give off that vibe."

"W-what-"

"Yeah! You know. With the whole showing up covered in blood with weapons and stuff."

"I've n-never-"

"Ohhh, okay yeah you probably can't talk about it. Makes sense."

Seriously, Hinata has only been able to get out maybe two answers fully. This is already hard for her, why does he keep interrupting? Is this a cultural thing?

…Is this a child thing?

Oh, dear.

She'd always wondered how other children acted… now she's regretting not putting that time wondering into something productive. Like food. She's gained a new appreciation for food that doesn't feel like acid in her stomach.

"Hey, are you listening?" James got her attention again.

Oh, she must have let her thoughts drift off.

"N-no, I apologize," she bowed her head as much as she could, "C-could you repeat that?" Just because he was rude doesn't mean Hinata had to be. Besides, her father told her that civilians aren't taught proper manners so it isn't even his fault.

He actually took a moment to respond, "I-it's fine," he stuttered. "I asked if you could tell me anything about your magic," He seems a bit more reserved for some reason.

"O-oh," Hinata cleared her throat, now is probably the best time to get her story straight. She's pretty sure her improvisation skills aren't that good when it pertains to social situations… "Well, uh..." she remembered she'd said something about her eyes earlier? It's hard to remember, "…As you know, m-my magic is s-stressful to m-my eyes. E-extremely so actually.

James groaned, "Yeah, but does it do?" he whined.

"It… it can…" Hinata thought of the only time she'd used the gentle fist since coming here, about how she accidentally killed that sword-bear, "I-it's really good at… immobilizing enemies?" She guessed. Death is immobilization, technically.

"Is that it? There must be more than that," He seemed disappointed.

Hinata shook her head, "N-nope it's p-pretty boring." Hopefully, this would get him to stop asking about it, and if he's fishing for answers about the byakugan maybe he'll get the hint that such soft interrogation methods won't work.

Hinata heard him huff, "Well, it's cool that you have magic in the first place, I still haven't awakened mine yet but it's only a matter of time. Both my parents are mages."

So magic has to be awakened? Interesting. Maybe it's not as common as she assumed, it could be that James has gotten so used to it that he sees it as normal. Hopefully, this is the case. It'd lower the danger of this land by a large margin.

"I-I see," Hinata gulped, this is where she has to clinch it. She can't screw up or be too obvious in her digging for information, "I-If you d-don't mind me asking, c-could you t-tell me m-more about your parent's m-magic?"

Nailed it.

She can't ask about magic outright, that'd be suspicious. So asking about his parent's abilities is the next best thing if he goes for it. She'd never give information out about any of her family's abilities to strangers so this might not be the best idea. Actually, he might just get suspicious and he could outright give her false information. Yeah, this was definitely a horrendous lapse in judgem- Yeah, their magic's really cool!"

Hinata jumped, her spiraling thoughts having been interrupted as James continued, "Mom uses textile magic, she explained it like can cut or bind cloth or clothing, anything she considers material for clothes really, she uses it to tie bandages really fast! It sounds kind of lame now that I think about it… It's still pretty neat though," During his less-than-informative explanation Hinata's jaw dropped. Lame? No, that's horrifying. That means the initial assumption of her abilities was at least partially correct. People wear clothes. Well, hopefully they do. Miya-san would be able to bind and strangle literally anyone she wants at any given moment. Worse than that, skin is a material. So really she might not even need clothing.

Miya-san just went up on the threat scale.

"-And Dad uses phase magic," James kept talking. "I think his is a lot cooler than moms. He can phase through anything he wants. I'm pretty sure he can also make anything he touches phase with him too. It's really useful for doctor stuff. It's how he pumped your heart when it stopped, he said that was really hard to do though. Something about how precise he had to be."

That… Hinata can't think of a single way to beat these people without the element of surprise. If he's speaking about these abilities, his father's ability, so casually and he truly is a civilian… just what kind of magic do these people find impressive?

"So pretty cool right?" Hinata couldn't see him but he sounded like Kiba does when he's talking about his clan in any capacity.

She gulped, "Yes, t-they b-both sound incredible," she needs time to think and reassess her situation. If what he's saying is true then even if mages aren't that common, this land just got a whole lot more dangerous.

"I-I'm sorry, but I feel a bit tired. May I have s-some time alone please?" Technically not a lie. She's not used to socializing with anyone but her sister.

"Uhh, yeah. Sure. One more question?"

He phrased it like a question soo, "Yes?"

"Are you actually blind right now? When can you take the bandages off?

That was two, but she'll answer anyways.

"Y-yes, I strained m-my eyes quite a bit over the last few d-days, I'll b-be okay soon though." She hoped at least, she's never pushed her eyes this far before so it's more of a guess than anything. Hopefully she'd be able to move on from here in a week or so.

She's aware that that's a very optimistic goal, but she needs to move.

Hinata thought of her plan so far, well, plan B. So far it's rest, get better (or at least good enough to move), figure out what happened, wait no, not that one. She needs to get back home to Hanabi, how she got here doesn't matter as much.

Plan A is not dying. It's still a work in progress.

Miya POV

Hinata is an interesting character. Strange, but interesting.

She's obviously a child. Physically, at least. Personally, she would have pegged her for a year or two older but it's fine, some kids are early bloomers. It happens. She'll be a true beauty in a few years.

Not to say she's not already beautiful now. It's something James has failed to hide his appreciation for. She knows the beginnings of a crush when she sees it, not that it's surprising. She's one of the only girls his age he's seen and by far the prettiest. She's also interesting and "cool".

However, she has a maturity to her. It's strange, she reads as a very insecure young lady with a broad range of issues, and emphasis on the lady. Miya hasn't met a child as worried about manners in her life.

Every so often, though, a peak of someone dangerous would shine through. It's so seamless that you'd almost miss it if it weren't so casual. And that's the scariest part. It's casual. As if she thinks it's of nothing to note. Zack thinks she's a child soldier, or from a country of war. He knows she's trained.

Then there are those strange mannerisms of hers -san- Miya had never heard that before. It gives credence to the second theory. Maybe Fiore just has another name for this 'Land of Fire'.

That leaves the issue of how she woke in the Forest of Deddith.

And she's not going to even touch on the girl's pain tolerance and constitution. She's more injury than girl right now, and she's still trying to downplay them. And the hole, yes hole in her stomach… Her skills can only do so much, she doesn't know how the girl is alive.

Regardless, a ridiculous and concerning amount of mental fortitude aside, personality aside, her story's glaring holes in it aside, the danger she represents aside. She's a child who has been horribly injured and Miya doesn't want to think about what her past was like right now, that can come later. All they can do is ensure she's cared for and healed.

She'll think more about the mysteries surrounding the girl when she knows her family isn't in danger.

"Zack," she met him in the middle of the village square, "How did it go?"

Her husband took the groceries she'd bought from her, "About as well as we expected, the chief disregarded the news. Said there hasn't ever been any problems with the forest, that it's too vast a territory for any beast to rise in power and claim it even with the evidence pointing to the contrary."

They both started walking home, people parted for them, and Miya tried to think of something they could do, "What about the guilds? Could we put out a quest to investigate?" she asked while smiling at an older couple that she sees once a month at the clinic.

Zack shook his head, "Nope. I asked but he said that if there was even a hint of Deddith becoming a Territory, people would stop coming to trade and live here. The village would lose out on a lot of money and Conza would stop expanding.

"Fuck," Miya cursed, that ambitious old man had a point and while yes, she understands why he's thinking that way -Miya and Zack only moved here for its apparent safety and to get a head start in a village quickly booming into a town themselves- it's shortsighted.

"Fuck indeed," Zack parroted, "I get it, he's worked for a long time to get Conza where it's at today and doesn't want there to be any issues now that he's almost there."

They were almost home now, she hopes James hasn't bothered Hinata too much. The girl needs rest.

"Yes, but it's better to wait a bit longer and regain reputation than lose everything because you're getting impatient."

"Yeah…" Zack trailed off, looking at him now, with that thoughtful, intense look in his eyes. She could almost swoon. He's so damn handsome.

"How's the girl?" he speaks after a moment.

"I left her with James," before he could speak she added, "And before you get any ideas, I questioned her again. She's… fine. Sweet even. I tried digging a bit deeper about the forest and the likelihood of a Territory being formed is even more likely."

He sighed, "Damn. Well, it's good that she's talking at least. Any issues? How was her pain?"

They both stopped at the door, "Oh, it's definitely still a ten, she was covering up her wincing and irregular breathing throughout our conversation but only time can fix that. All of our usual pain relievers haven't worked, hell, they've done the opposite." It's concerning, but as big a deal as someone allergic to some of the most common medicinal herbs in Fiore is, they have bigger matters to deal with.

"We can ask James how talking to her went, maybe get a better jist of her character."

Before she could open the door, she felt two, burly arms filled with bags of food wrap around her waist and pull her into a muscular chest, "We'll be okay, Miya," he whispered in her ear, "We can finish packing, I'll keep an eye on the forest, maybe do a few sweeps to see how it's behaving myself. I won't let anything happen to you or James."

She leaned back, appreciating the way his size dwarfed hers, it made her feel safe.

She took a shuttering breath, "I-I know," the feeling in her stomach. The primal sense that something bad was coming edged away only slightly.

"And don't think I didn't notice you wore that apron you know I like," he growled in her ear.

And like that, the moment was ruined.

Laughing she ground her ass against him, "I only have one apron honey, I wear it every day," she blushed when she felt his dick actually harden a bit and yelped when he picked her up and spun around.

"Yeah, and it gets me fucking RANDY!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Oh god, quiet down!" she knew she was blushing like she was a teenage girl.

"BUT THE LOUDNESS EXPRESSES HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU!" he stopped spinning and held her body flush against his, looking at her expectantly.

She puffed her cheeks, trying and failing to look stern, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath to yell, "I LOVE YOU SO FUCKING LOUD TOO!" before ferociously kissing him with an excessive amount of tongue and exaggerated noises.

Only this man could get her acting like a love-struck kid all over again and she loved it.

Soon the goofy kiss ended, but he didn't let her go, still holding her close, "Better?"

She sighed happily. Gods her husband is so damn handsome, with dreamy brown eyes, rugged good looks, and a jawline that could cut stone. He's also a massive dork.

She got lucky.

"Better." He let her down.

"Let's finish getting packed, if I see anything off in the forest we'll tell others too. Chief be damned." Zack smiled at her, "I'll help you and James after I look over Hinata. You try to relax okay?"

Miya smiled as she opened the door, her worries still there but pushed back by her hunky goof of a man.

"Sounds like a plan."

Hinata's POV

She just woke up, she'd fallen asleep after Zachary-san came in to check up on her. He told her that she seems to be okay for now, and that they still need to wait for the initial inflammation to go down to know if there are any signs of infection. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue but none of their usual methods seem to be working. Shocker.

So she'll have to spend a few days with a hole in her stomach, well, not exactly her stomach somewhere in the general vicinity. The point is she won't be able to move at all. She'll have to consciously concentrate chakra around that particular wound so the poison doesn't hamper her body's natural recovery time any further than it already is.

Which means she'll be getting the minimal amount of sleep. Which is probably none. She still doesn't know how her chakra layer stays up when she's asleep. She shouldn't have been able to develop such a degree of intuition for it in so little time, but on the very likely chance that her chakra won't unconsciously circulate the way she needs it to for keeping the particles that make it past her layer away from her wound, she can't rely on it.

She needs to heal as quickly as possible.

At least in keeping most of the poison away from her wound she'll be able to study how her chakra interacts with the particles more. It'll probably be the only thing she's able to do for a few days.

She's never been lazy before, it will be a novel experience to not do anything. To be useless. Well, to not try to be anything but useless. She is well aware that she isn't the most productive child around but she likes to think she tries her best, even if it comes off as lacking one hundred percent of the time.

Unbidden, a memory of Hinata having leaves, weeds, and twigs being carefully placed on her face came to surface. Her little sister laughing as one by one the various objects covered her skin, all the while Hinata made ridiculous faces by crossing her eyes, puffing out her cheeks…

Hanabi's smile…

Okay, maybe only ninety-nine percent of the time.

She wants that one percent back.

Hinata grit her teeth. She wants to move, and search, and train but all she can do is sit around because she was stupid enough to get a hole stabbed through her stomach!

She was never ambitious, never allowed herself to be, all she wanted to do was be a splendid ninja, and an excellent leader of her Clan when her time came. To make her father proud. She wanted to be the best sister she could possibly be, and give Hanabi the life she deserves.

She wants those so much, she spent years dedicated to those few goals. Training, studying, learning, with the time in between spending time with Hanabi or -when she was alive- her mother. That time in between made the broken fingers or knuckles, chakra exhaustion, and stress more than worth it.

She still wants all of it.

But she'd give all of her wants, all of the work and time she's given for her goals, and all the time she has left for that one percent.

She'd give it all up to see her little sister's smile again.

She wants it.

AN (Again): Trouble with this chapter aside -I only had trouble due to my excitement for whats coming up- I'm digging this story so far.

Also third person is hard. I like first a lot better but this is good exercise for me. So if anyone has some advice to give or you see something that could be better, let me know pls.