Hey there everyone! It's July and I promised a chapter! Gosh, I hope you remember what happened previously. Sorry it's been long, anyways hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. It belongs to Kishimoto-sensei

Italics - thoughts

Bold - sounds

Chirp chirp chirp

Hinata squinted her eyes. It was definitely morning from the sounds of the birds but it was still dark in her eyes. She figured that Naruto had carried her back into the tent due to the soft blanket on her lap.

Her hands desperately searched for her knapsack. She was looking for her container of medicine. She found it near her pillow. Opening it, Hinata touched something hard. She opened the container and shook a tablet out. She closed her eyes and waited a few minutes for the effects to take place.

"G-good morning." Opening the tent, Hinata got out and stretched her arms.

Naruto looked up from his sitting position. He was busy cooking something over the still-lit fire. "Well good morning, Hime. I thought that you would've slept in more considering the time we came back last night." He flipped over an egg. "How do you like your eggs?"

"Um…anyway is fine with me." She intended to walk over to see what else he was cooking but stumbled when she felt a twinge of pain coming from her legs.

"Oh, don't move around too much. There were some cuts on your legs so I disinfected and bandaged them up while you were sleeping."

Hinata raised her kimono to see what he meant. There, wrapped in white cloths, were her legs. Aside from the cuts, there were also small bruises here and there but nothing too serious,

Oh gee, he carried me and treated my wounds.

"I couldn't find actual bandages so I had to make do with some rags. The ointment I put on should be working and should be almost finished healing the cuts so you could take the rags off now."

Bowing down, she apologized. "I'm sorry. I keep on causing you trouble." She didn't raise her head until Naruto laughed it off and said that it was alright.

After a few minutes of silence between the two, Naruto finally spoke again. "Do you want to bathe? There's a small lake nearby. I put a protection spell there so it's just me and you that could enter. I already bathed so you don't need to worry about a peeping tom."

She nodded her head. She went back inside the tent to gather her belongings.

Once she was at the lake, Hinata looked for any suspicious characters. Although Naruto said he put a barrier, it didn't mean that someone outside the barrier couldn't see her. The barrier only stopped people or animals from coming in.

There was a large boulder to shade herself as she stripped. Along with the clothes, Hinata tore off the rages. The water was surprisingly clear considering the location it was in. The forest was filled with different creatures so she assumed that they bathed, took a dump and urinated in this lake. However, she could clearly see the ground underneath and the small fish that swam around her. The water reached just enough to cover her privates. It was cold but it'll have to do.

Hinata swam around, washed her hair with the shampoo she brought along, and cleaned her body all while thinking about the memories of last night. What was Orochimaru talking about last night? Arcadia? She had to ask Naruto about that later. And how did Orochimaru know that she was the Ena? She hadn't met him before or seen him. Although she wanted her questions answered, honestly she didn't want to see the man. The sound of his gravelly voice was a turn off; it just told her that the man was a creep and wasn't one to be messed with.

Hinata guessed that ten minutes passed since the beginning of her bath. If she took any longer Naruto would be worried and would most definitely walk in on her while she was naked.

Hinata swam back to the boulder to change.

The kimono she wore yesterday was in ruins just as she anticipated it to be. There were tears near the bottom and mud stains crowding the whole garment. She went back to lake to wash it but no matter how hard she scrubbed, they wouldn't come off. She couldn't possibly wear it anymore due to the condition it was in. Sighing, she tossed it in her bag for later disposal.

The Princess dug into her bag and found another kimono. It was plainer than the one she wore yesterday but fancier than what you would usually find in the village. It was light pink with a green lining and flower prints. She arranged the garment perfectly on her body. But once she raised her head from picking up the obi, the princess noticed a face looking directly at her.

That's when she screamed. The person was inside the barrier; an old man stared at her with lingering brown eyes. The strangest thing about him was that his face was attached to a tree trunk.

"Ohohoho, I was found out." He giggled.

Following that, Naruto came rushing in, worried about Hinata. "Wha-what's wrong?" He asked alarmed.

Hinata hid behind the stone and peeked her head out to talk. She pointed to the tree. "There's a pervert…"

Naruto was dumbstruck as he stared at the snickering man.

"My-my, it's been awhile since I've seen young children in this part of the forest." It looked from Naruto to Hinata and winked. It sent chills down her spin, making her hide behind the rock further.

"Whaa? Wh-what are you? How did you break the barrier?" Naruto asked all too sudden.

The tree man laughed at the knight's bewilderedness. "Correction: the barrier isn't broken, I just got through it. I do say, the magician that made it is pretty strong. I'm a Leshy – the Guardian of this forest. Welcome to my home, the name's Oakley."

"Ehhh?! A Leshy? I thought those were only in myths."

Hinata took this opportunity to fully dress.

The Leshy smiled at Naruto's words. "Of course we're real; myths aren't lies, they're just clouded by realism. We Leshy are just hard to find because we don't want to be found." Oakley's head grew out of the tree as he tried to get out. Out came a wrinkly old man with a beard hanging down till it reached his leaf-covered crotch. A flower crown sat on his bald head. He was much shorter than Naruto, most likely due to the hunch on his back. "Your name?"

"Na- Kitsune." He was about to spill his actual name.

Oakley arched an eyebrow up. "Nakitsune?"

Naruto corrected the Leshy. "No – just Kitsune."

Oakley grinned, showing that one of his front teeth was missing. "And the lady?"

"Hime." Naruto answered. Just after he answered, Hinata walked up from behind him.

"Ohohoho, I can feel that you're lying, rude 'cause I told you mine. However, I won't pry any further." Although he said this, his face showed no hint of being hurt.

Hinata frowned at the Leshy. She held her bag up to her chest. Noticing the presence of Hinata hiding behind his back, Naruto remembered what called him over.

"You peeked on her didn't ya?"

Oakley laughed awkwardly. He tried to deny it but it came out as a poorly made bluff.

"Guardian or not, you're just a perverted old tree!" With his fist, he punched the old man's head. The old man yelled and stumbled backwards.

Naruto began walking away from the hurt Leshy with Hinata following behind. "Let's go back to camp. We have to pack and head out."

"Wait! I can help you get out. I know a shortcut to get to Proessa and it'll only take less than a day rather than two."

The wanderer looked back to the old man. "The myth also said that you would only get us lost."

"That's just a myth!"

"'Myths are real' is what I heard."

The old Leshy scowled.

Naruto waved his hand as he turned back around. "Thanks but honestly, we'll be fine on our own."

The Leshy frowned. "We'll see about that."

OoOoO

It was far past noon. The two travelers continued to walk. They had departed in the morning, right after they finished their breakfast.

Naruto was growing frustrated. At first, he thought that everything was fine but now he wasn't too sure; he was mad at Oakley. The Shapeshifter had done something to the forest. He had trapped the travelers in a constant loop.

Naruto thought that they were walking straight to Proessa and that the reason why it took so long was because it was a big forest and the distance between the two countries were two to three days apart. Hinata had noticed that every few hours they would pass a large tree that looked like an oddly shaped fork. They were standing in front of that tree now. That's when Naruto gave up.

"That stupid old man, I knew I shouldn't have talked to him. He probably did this on purpose." He patted the grass beside him for Hinata to sit on. "Come out here Oakley! I know you're watching us."

No answer.

"Stop hiding and get us out of here!" Naruto's voice echoed through the forest. He wiped away the sweat on his forehead. It was another sunny day and walking around endlessly tired them up tremendously.

Still no answer.

Hinata exhaled. She decided to lean against the tree behind her. She just needed to rest. Her feet were throbbing every few seconds and her sandals weren't making it any better. Her eyesight was also getting wobbly and she strained to get it focused. That meant that about four hours passed since they began their hike.

Tossing in a pill, the princess rested her eyes. In a few minutes, she was once again able to see in black and white. She watched as the cloaked man stood tall. He was scanning the area for the old guardian. That's when she felt something brush against her thigh. She turned to look but there was only the tree's root there so she brushed it off as nothing.

It happened again. It felt like something was stroking her thigh this time. Feeling irked, Hinata shifted over. Once again she felt it. This time she quickly looked over only to see a hand stretching out of the tree. She screamed making Naruto turn around.

"There you fucking are." He stared unamused at the grinning Leshy. His head was sticking out of the fork-like tree.

Hinata scrambled off the ground and walked behind Naruto. This perverted old man was once again molesting her.

"Get us out of this loop."

He pouted, trying to look innocent. "Oh, but I just wanted to play."

A tick mark appeared on Naruto's head. He restrained himself from punching the tree.

Seeing that none of his visitors were amused, Oakley coughed out the truth. "I'm sorry, I was bored; not many travel through these parts of the forest. It was just a trick to make you see that you're not fine alone. I promise no more jokes if you let me lead you out of the forest."

Naruto raised a brow. He was curious as to why the guardian of the forest wanted to help them so badly. "Why?"

The Leshy stepped out of the tree, returning back to his human form. "I saw you guys last night and I would just like to give a helping hand. You were very brave, Kitsune-kun. I've never seen anything like that."

"Y-you won't do anything to me?" Hinata's soft voice said.

"Well you're a fine lady, but I definitely won't touch you! And to make sure," He crossed his bony hands in front of his chest. In an instant they molded into his body and they were gone. "There, no hands." He smiled, showing his missing front teeth.

"I still don't trust you." Naruto proclaimed.

"You can never one hundred percent trust a person, but how can I increase your trust?"

"There's more to your reason and I want to know."

For once, the Leshy looked sincere. He stared up at Naruto with somber eyes. "I'm just lonely. I just want some company for a while. There's no one to talk to; the creatures of this forest are all too busy finding food and shelter to play with me. And when I show my appearance to other travelers, they would either be scared –,"

Well who wouldn't be scared of an unknown old man wearing a loin cloth coming at them with open arms. Naruto thought but didn't say.

"or pray to me. I can't even leave this forest if I wanted to. Well actually the farthest that I could go is the edge of the next town." That's when his grey eyes lit up. "But I found you guys! I thought you were interesting and so, I followed you around since yesterday night." Seeing that Naruto was still hesitant, he added, "I'll keep you in this loop forever if you don't spend time with this old man."

After a moment of thinking, the blond agreed. Oakley took off the illusion spell and instead of the scenery they saw before, they saw a cave.

"How are we..?" Hinata looked baffled. It looked like they were teleported to a different area of the woods.

Oakley explained that instead of a looping spell, it was an illusion. The scenery that they were walking through before was set as an illusion, but in reality, they were walking through real parts of the forest.

A looping spell is when they are trapped in the same place and would have to find a way out by finding the spell caster to release the loop or finding a change in the loop (ex: first time in the loop = loop is perfect. Seventh time = Loop is becoming less effective, a part of it looks odd and usually it is at the place where you can escape to a different path).

Illusion spells are dangerous as they 'hypnotize' a person to think something is there but in reality there isn't anything. Their brain could be thinking that the person is having a stroll at the beach but in reality they are walking off a cliff. An illusion spell can only be lifted if the user releases it, if the person stuck in the illusion can break free by finding the odd thing in the picture (basically it's like playing "spot the difference") or if someone that isn't affected by the illusion to 'wake' them up . By 'odd thing', it could be a detail on a person's body (if the illusion was of a person they knew) that wasn't there before.

"Welcome to my home!" He looked like a duck due to his lack of hands and his hunched back. He waddled to the cave and walked inside.

Feeling something fishy, Naruto stopped walking. "Why are we heading to your house?"

"It's in here, the secret path. The cave will lead you directly to Proessa." Feeling that the blond man still didn't trust him he added, "If you're thinking that I'm going to kidnap you or eat you, I'm just saying that I absolutely don't do that. I'm a vegetarian!" Oakley cackled.

They followed cautiously behind. The Leshy smiled throughout the whole time. The cave was lighted by crystals. They would glow green every few seconds then fade back to black.

"There sure are many life crystals here."

"Ohohoho, well they all represent the life in this forest. It includes the animals and the creatures."

Life crystals - crystals that represent the life of a living thing. When pumped with a person's life energy (a.k.a Chakra), the crystal will glow the same color as the chakra. It glows and dimishes to the beat of the person's heart. If the glow fades until the crystal breaks, it means that the person has died. It's a great tool to know the health of someone, that's why it's quite pricy to obtain. They only grow in dark caves or other dark hard to reach places.

"Are we almost there yet?" Naruto asked.

"Just a little longer."

They passed by other pathways but they kept to their original route. The air was musky and thick, just what you'd expect in a cave. Even though Hinata had already taken her medicine, she was still having a difficult time seeing. It was much too dark in her eyes. She could only see the glow from the crystal. It was gray and dim in her perspective. She could only make the faint outline of Naruto who was in front of her. This was why she wasn't too fond of the dark.

As if he read her mind, Naruto stopped, making the princess thud into him.

"S-sorry." Hinata apologized.

"Are you alright? You're lagging behind."

"It's just that it's a bit dark."

Hearing this, Naruto took her hand into his. "Just in case you don't wander off into another pathway." He winked although she probably couldn't see. They sped up their walking to catch up with the Leshy. Although he was waddling, the man was pretty quick.

The beating of her heart sped up and her cheeks were flushed red. It was the second time in her life that she held a man's hand. The first time was also by her knight. It was a new experience that she had to get used to. She just hoped that her hands wouldn't get sweaty later on.

To try to subside the unregularly beating heart, Hinata started a conversation. It was the question that she wanted to ask ever since earlier that day. "Ano? What's Arcadia?"

He was a bit startled at her question. He knew that he had to answer the question one day but he didn't expect it to be this soon. And plus, she rarely started a conversation all on her own.

"Uh, it's a bit difficult to tell you in full detail but," Naruto glanced at Oakley. He didn't want to disclose a large amount of information about his group to a stranger. "it's like an organization that helps people in different countries."

"Arcadia – a wanted guild that focuses on overthrowing the government. It's quite the opposite of what you're explaining, Kitsune-kun. No one knows where it's located or who's in it. The only clue they have is the guild's insignia. Like any other guild, they have an insignia, if caught with it then you'd be arrested, most likely they'd hang you. Well, those are just rumors that I heard about them." Oakley explained. "Now, what brought this up, young lady? Did you see one of them perhaps?"

Hinata shook her head. "J-just curious."

It took her a moment to register the new information. That meant that her knight was a criminal. She did remember that he killed an ogre without much effort. What if he had enough with her and decided to kill her off? He could just report her death to her father as an accident during a raid or something.

She felt his hand tighten more. The warmth of his hand and how comfortable it was reminded her of what he had done for her. She waved off the idea of him doing anything bad to her. He protected me last night, came to my rescue when I screamed this morning and never left me when he had the chance. He had many chances to betray me but he didn't. The Hyuga girl concluded that it was fine being in his company. Even if the law says he's a criminal, I don't believe it.

The group chatted about many things. It was Naruto and Oakley that were doing most of the talking but they made sure to include Hinata in it. She would only respond with small answers though. Their conversations went from their likes and dislikes to how annoying it was to wipe their asses with leaves.

"And you know the feeling when there are leftover pieces? It's prickly and hard to walk with." Naruto said.

Hinata tried to stay out of the conversation. She did not want to hear about their pooping problems in the forest. She did her best to focus on the sounds of the cave but well, it was a cave; their loud voices echoed throughout the stone structure for all to hear.

"Kid, be glad that you don't have to deal with it every day for the rest of your life. Being the guardian of a forest, you'd also have to make sure the leaf has absolutely no insects on it. Do you know how hard it is finding a clean leaf while you poo?!"

"I just take and wipe; I'm more focused on the insides of my ass than those small critters. Ugh, but you know what's even worse? When you get shit on your– " Naruto turned his attention to the light that was shining through the cave. Hinata was glad that they had finally changed the subject. "Oh hey, it's the sun. We're out!"

It took a moment for their eyes to readjust to the bright area. When they did though, the place they were brought to was still the forest. It wasn't Proessa like the Leshy promised it to be.

"Hey, you lied! This is still the forest." Kitsune yelled.

The old man chuckled. "It's a cave; you can't expect a whole town to be standing in front of it."

They walked a couple miles forward until they reached a clearing. Now that they could see everything, they noticed that the forest stood on top of a hill. There were crops growing around the grassy area and farms down the road. A dirt pathway was trailing down and reached to a small town.

"So, we're out of the Sun Empire?" Asked the blond hair man.

"I told you that I'd bring you to Proessa without problems." His croaky voice said. "And this is as far as I go. The end of the forest is here, I can't walk any further." His voice held sadness but Oakley hid it with a smile. "It's been fun talking with you guys."

"Thanks for everything, Oakley. You really saved us two days of walking. We'll make sure to visit again." They shook hands. "Just a tip if you want to make more friends: wear clothes. I guaranty you that people won't run away."

The Leshy chuckled. "Possibly. Will you guys tell me your real name next time?"

In the same way, Naruto copied his words. "Possibly."

Turning from the boy, the forest guardian talked to Hinata. They too said goodbye. As a parting gift, the Leshy gave two unused life crystals. He said that it was for his first friends since forever. The life crystals were gray and tied around ropes to be used as necklaces. Naruto and Hinata thanked the old man for his kindness and once again began their journey as a pair.

OoOoO

The bed squeaked as Hinata hopped on. The two travelers were staying at an inn. For safety reasons, Naruto had to stay in the same room as her. Plus, the inn they were staying at was a small one that only had a few rooms available. At the moment, Naruto was changing inside the small bathroom they had.

Hinata sat there pondering the thoughts of the town. The small town they arrived at was called "Meadowfort". It was strange; it was as if the town was a ghost town. Not a soul breathed out on the streets. The buildings looked rundown and empty. It was hard to find an open shop and it took them nearly an hour to find the inn. The landlord was an elderly woman. She greeted them with a soulless expression and brought them to the top floor where their room was. It was eerily silent in the inn. What happened to the people? There was no other worker in the building except the old woman.

Naruto cleared his throat. "Could I ask you something, Hinata-hime?"

His presence made her squeak. She didn't notice him come out the bathroom. "S-Sure."

Naruto was now wearing black shorts and an orange shirt with a swirl in the middle. His cloak was hung on the coat hangers on the door. He went to sit on the bed across Hinata's.

"Did you find anything about my past?"

Many things happened that she nearly forgot. "Nothing. I couldn't get through." She could feel that the man was disappointed. She was his hope and she failed to be of use. "I-I think there really is a blockage. In everybody there's a door that leads me to a library of their memories. However, your door was strange. There were chains and this passcode lock. I couldn't figure out the numbers. There's a limit to how many combinations I could put in. Ten seems to be the limit then a force field appears."

The man was deep in thought. This was why he couldn't remember anything. "There's a seal on me. Who could've..?" He thought long and hard but nothing popped up. He flopped on his back and stared at the ceiling. "I don't know!" He ruffled his hair in frustration.

"Maybe if we find the person who did this, they'll unlock it….or the Oracle can help. She is the strongest magician." Hinata suggested.

"Alright! After your eyes, it'll be my memories!" He fisted the air.

It was quiet after that. Naruto rested his eyes and stretched his body.

"Ano, is it true? What the Leshy said about Arcadia?" Hinata questioned. The shapeshifter did say that it was just a rumor. She wanted to know the truth.

"Hmm…well, part of it is true. We were once a regular guild that did odd jobs. But something happened; one of the teams went to a country. The people were treated poorly due to the selfish government. The team tore down their monarch so that a better ruler would take the throne. After that, Arcadia tore down three other governments. It was all for the good of the people."

Naruto chuckled. "Other countries thought we were a threat. Then we were branded as criminals and hunted. To keep ourselves safe, we hide behind masks and have nicknames. Our guild also ended up moving underground. Oakley said that our goal is to overthrow the government. Nope, our goal is just to help those who need it."

Knowing the truth eased Hinata's mind. So, they didn't just kill for the heck of it.

"I'm taking you to Arcadia. That's our first stop then we're going to start our search for the Oracle. A person I know in Arcadia was a student of hers. She may know where the Oracle is."

That did explain why Naruto wasn't asking around for the magician. Hinata held in her excitement. She was going to see an underground place. The maids told her stories of secret organizations working underground. Of course, the princess didn't believe it. Who could build a whole building below the surface? It was unheard of until now.

A low growl came from Naruto's stomach. "Ehehe, we only ate breakfast didn't we? I'll go find us some dinner. You could bathe while I'm gone." He sprung off the bed headed to the door. There, he wrapped his body with the cloak and put on his mask.

After Naruto shut the door, Hinata decided that he was right. She grabbed her clothes from her bag and headed to the tub. The cold water enveloped her as she scrubbed the dirt and sweat away. She leaned back and stretched her feet. It was another long day of walking and her feet were throbbing. Guess I got to get used to this pain too.

Thunk!

What was that sound?

Hinata got out of the tub and walked to the wooden door. She leaned in and heard the same thunking sound. Naruto couldn't have come back so quickly.

The princess hesitantly opened the door. Her eyes scanned the room until it hit a person crouching in the corner. The room lights were closed but Hinata definitely saw a person. Those were where their bags were. Hinata shut the door quietly. Her heart raced as she stood there naked. There was a stranger in the room. A thief!

She was questioning on what to do. Stay in the bathroom and wait till the person was gone? No, their stuff would be gone then and there was a hefty amount of money in her bag. Maybe Naruto would come back? But who knows when that would be. She had to do this herself.

After putting on her night silky kimono on, she opened the door all the way. She held a wooden stick that she found sitting beside the door for protection. The perpetrator hadn't heard her so far.

"W-Who a-are you?" Hinata demanded as she stood behind the person. Her voice quivered from being scared. Her almond-shaped eyes widened as the thief turned around. An old woman looked at Hinata with a death threatening glare.

Why is the landlord here?

Ohohoho, lots of explaining in this chapter. Now you know what Arcadia is, another mythical creature is introduced, and a new arc is starting. I'm excited to write this arc as I've basically planned everything already.

I hope ya liked it! Fav/Follow/Review!

If you're curious on the progress of the next chapter, check my bio! I update it every time I write!

~Fred

P.S I really need an icon for this story. If you could recommend me some pics or better yet, draw me a picture, I'd be extremely indebted to you. I'd be very happy! If anyone would like to do that, send me a link to the image through my tumblr (sakura-hime) - Fanmail