Sumire's POV

I departed the Land of Rice with no particular destination in mind.

To be honest, I don't even have an idea where I am at the moment since I've found myself spacing out a lot lately. I've been running nonstop across different terrains, atop tree branches, and through dirt roads of an unknown territory during the past two days I've been on the move. However, I stopped as soon as I found myself in a clearing with a breathtaking view and finally figured out where I was at the moment.

Two gigantic statues faced each other like they were in some sort of stand-off and a waterfall separated the imposing figures. This place is called the Valley of the End so it meant that I was inside the territory of my home country, the Land of Fire.

It's been years since I last stepped foot in Hi no Kuni, I barely even remember my time here since I was so young back then and have forgotten most of my childhood. I didn't even intentionally plan to go here since I just abruptly left the Land of Rice without thinking about where I wanted to go in the first place.

Now that I think about it, maybe I was meant to be back here.

I've been conflicted in deciding where to go anyway so this is probably a sign from the universe that's telling me I should stop running away and return to my roots and place of origin.

Being back here doesn't necessarily mean I have to head straight to Konoha though. I'm still very reluctant to go back there no matter how much I long for home and find the people I've been longing to see from my past.

Fear crept onto me at the thought of returning back to the leaf village.

I realized that going back to my old life before isn't as easy as it sounds, and I'd probably find myself in the middle of plots and dangers again as soon as I head back there. I may have the means to return to Konoha at any moment, but I know that I wasn't ready yet. So for now, I must prioritize making small changes in my life such as figuring out what to do now that I've arrived here.

Without wasting any more time, I resumed my travels and headed in the southeast direction. I have no idea where my feet would take me from here, but I wasn't worried about that and just focused on running deeper within the territory of the Land of Fire.

Upon spotting a town ahead, I made a quick decision to make a few changes to my appearance using the transformation technique before I encountered anyone from this place. It's something I became accustomed to while traveling across different territories to make sure I'm not easily recognizable as it's my precautionary measure in case I cross paths with people who were part of groups that have been targeting me.

I only prefer to make subtle changes on how I look since I need to maintain my transformation over the whole duration of my stay in the area. Mostly, I just adjust the length of my hair or turn it to a different shade, sometimes I would add a birthmark or mole on my face, or change the color of my eyes.

For now, I decided to turn my hair to black and leave the rest of my appearance as it is. I knew this shade suited me well since it accentuated my amethyst eyes well. It may be a very small change, but I'm well aware of the significant impact it has on my overall appearance compared to my original look, so the effectiveness of this subtle change is undeniable.

I'm not sure where exactly I am at the moment so I probably need to get a map so I could familiarize myself with the places here in Hi no Kuni. I walked around the small village to find a store where I could buy one until I noticed a wagon in the middle of the street.

I knew something bad happened here recently since a wagon was overturned, resulting in some of the crates being scattered around the area. I noticed that the boxes were undamaged though, there were several markings written onto it but I wasn't really interested in it so I shifted my attention to the injured person lying unconscious on the ground. There were bruises on his face, gashes on his forearms, and a shallow stab wound on his right shoulder.

Despite the presence of onlookers within the vicinity, not a single person assisted the injured individual, they're probably avoiding getting involved out of fear of being attacked as well.

"What happened here?" I asked the woman closest to where I was standing at the moment.

The woman replied as she pointed at the person on the ground, "Three individuals attacked this guy out of nowhere and tried to steal items from the wagon. He was able to fight back so his attackers left empty handed looking all beat up and in a worse condition than him."

I commented, "So he's able to thwart off his attackers even with the numbers against his favor. Somehow, he ended up unconscious afterwards."

"Yeah, he looked fine a while ago. He's able to arrange some of the crates on the side but he suddenly collapsed just before you approached me", replied the woman.

I asked loudly for everyone to hear, "Why is no one helping him even though he clearly needs medical attention?" My words definitely made the onlookers uncomfortable since they started walking away from the scene with guilty expressions on their faces. The woman I've been talking with averted her gaze from me and muttered, "I'm busy so I need to go right now", before she hurried away like the rest of the people.

After being left alone in the area, my eyes landed back at the unconscious figure on the ground. I decided to help him since nobody else would really do it, so I approached him and checked his condition. He's still alive but his pulse rate is slower than normal, there's also a slight discoloration on his limbs, specifically on areas where he was stabbed on the shoulder and on the gashes on his arms.

I whispered to no one in particular, "Looks like an effect of poisoning."

Without wasting more time, I unsealed my medical kit and started administering first aid to his wounds but I noticed he had a broken arm as well so I'll probably need to create a make-shift splint to support his arm and wrap it up with bandages to keep it in place. He'd still need to have it checked in a hospital once he awakens since I'm not really a trained medic so there's only so much I could do to help him at the moment.

The weapon he was attacked with was probably coated with poison that's why he suddenly collapsed, he is lucky that the toxin only made him unconscious and weak. Mostly, these types of poison aren't deadly but it's annoying to deal with it since the victim would be incapacitated for an indefinite amount of time. Some would only last for hours but it could extend for several days depending on the concentration of the toxin used.

I made a promise to myself that I would extend kindness to anyone in need, and this person certainly needed it at the moment, especially since none of the townsfolk were willing to help him.

It's already been three days since I've looked after the unconscious person I've found on the road.

Bringing him to a hospital was not an option since this small village didn't have one in the first place. The only thing I could do for him was take him along with me to the camp I had set up and wait until he recovers enough to take care of himself.

It was challenging to move him off the road and into the spare tent at my temporary camp. I wasn't really strong so I couldn't carry him all the way there as he is physically larger and heavier than me so I had to ask my summons for help.

Dokubi used an earth technique that elevated the rocky pavement beneath the guy's unconscious figure, enabling us to move him while avoiding any form of contact between him and my summoning animal. The precaution was necessary since exposure to my salamander's toxins would likely result in his death.

I made myself busy during the day by filling my research book with drawings of the local flora I found around this area and collected samples which I would use for my herbal concoctions and experiments when I have the time and means to do so in the future.

I'm already painting my sketches to make it more realistic as I can when a sudden movement caught my attention. The guy crawled out of the tent while groaning, it really looked like he was in a lot of pain as he struggled to stand up.

"Careful, your right arm was broken so don't put pressure on it." He glanced my way as soon as he heard my voice. He looked utterly confused at the moment, he's probably wondering who I was and how did he get here in the first place. I waited for him to gather his thoughts as he struggled to comfortably sit down against a tree before I engaged in a conversation with him.

I briefly explained, "I found you unconscious on the village road three days ago." Then I went back to what I was doing a while ago, dipped my brush into the vibrant paint, and skillfully applied it to the illustration I was working on.

He asked with disbelief in his voice, "I was passed out for three days?"

I was still busy painting so I replied to him without looking in his direction, "Yes. You looked like you were poisoned when you got stabbed and you've been out cold since then. I couldn't leave you there since you're injured so I patched you up before bringing you over here at my camp."

He remained silent for a while, offering no reply or sound, but I sensed his gaze fixed upon me. When I turned to look at him, his mouth was slightly agape and his eyes held a soft expression – a mixture of surprise and gratitude.

As I glanced at him, I was finally able to notice his appearance since I didn't really pay attention to what he looked like when he was still unconscious.

He is wearing a yukata kimono in black, it looks very simple but I know it's probably expensive judging from the high-quality fabric and the embroidery designs on it. He looked to be around my age, perhaps one or two years older if my assumptions were correct. His green eyes looked very expressive and he had multiple piercings on his left ear. His medium-length dark brown hair was pulled back in a messy bun, with some strands loosely cascading freely around his face and at his nape. He had this laid-back and very casual vibe coming off from him, and his easy-going style also added a rugged charm to his persona, making him look appealing to those who interact with him.

I just gave him a kind smile before focusing my attention back to the illustration I'm painting at the moment.

After a couple more minutes of silence, I heard his stomach growling from hunger. I chuckled at that while putting away my research book and coloring materials aside. "Let's get you something to eat, you've been unfed for three days so you're probably starving."

I saw a hint of pink in his cheeks but he still smiled at me and replied, "Thanks, I'd appreciate that."

"Don't worry about it, I'm not expecting anything in return. I've been told before that kindness is free so we should give it as much as we can." He just looked at me with the same soft expression in his eyes like he did earlier and gave me a genuine smile.

I handed him a few apples and some strawberries to ease his hunger. "Thank you for this", said the brown-haired guy before munching on the fruits I've given him.

It's almost noon so I need to cook the food for lunch today. Luckily, I still have money to spend thanks to the last two missing nins I defeated a few days ago so I was able to buy some local produce from the village market when I went over there earlier this morning. I was able to get some potatoes, carrots and chicken meat, and I thought that it's probably a good idea to make soup since it's easy to cook over the campfire.

Having readied my cooking equipment and gathered the ingredients earlier in the morning, I only needed to put the pot over the fire and wait for the food to cook since everything else was prepared beforehand.

"My name is Eiji by the way. Thank you for helping me out these past few days." The green-eyed man started a conversation as we both sat comfortably near the campfire. It's a bit cold since it's already winter so the warmth from the fire felt really nice as we waited for the soup to simmer.

"I'm happy to help. I am Sumi..." I suddenly stopped mid-sentence while I was introducing myself. I remembered it's probably not a good idea to tell people my identity so I was glad I'm able to stop myself from revealing my name.

"Your name is Sumi?" Eiji-san repeated to confirm if he heard it correctly.

"Uhhm yes, that's my name." I replied, trying to appear confident with my response. Sumi is probably a good name to go by, it's close to Sumire so I won't really have a hard time adjusting to people calling me by that name.

"Have you seen the crates I have with me? The last thing I remember is gathering some of them up and putting them aside before I passed out", the green-eyed guy asked while looking my way. "The items on it are really important and my father would kill me if anything happened to it since it's for our business."

I replied, "Yeah, everything's still there on the road where I found you. I tried bringing the crates over here so I could keep an eye on it while you were unconscious but I couldn't lift any of it. I even asked for help from some of the people in the village, but they couldn't carry it either so I just left it there since nobody could move it anyway."

"Oh. I forgot that I placed some seals on it before I traveled this morning. It's why nobody was able to move it unless the seals were deactivated first", he replied while scratching the back of his neck and chuckling lightly. "It's a good thing I remembered to put that since thieves and bandits usually target our goods, it prevents our items from being stolen."

He mentioned seals so he's probably a shinobi or had some sort of training with it. I suddenly became wary of him. A ninja or any person trained like a shinobi is dangerous no matter how friendly they seem.

"So you're a shinobi since you know how to write seals?" I asked casually while trying to hide the uneasiness I felt at the moment.

He briefly answered, "No, I am not. I'm simply a civilian."

But I was curious how he's knowledgeable on it despite not being a shinobi so I further asked about it. "How come you know how to create seals? I heard it's not an easy field to get into even among the shinobi population."

"My mother came from a clan whose expertise was creating seals. She wasn't a shinobi either since her village got destroyed years ago along with her clan so she trained me all she knew about it, it's like an heirloom that she wanted to pass on to me." He looked sad as he shared it with me, now I kind of felt bad about asking since it seemed kind of personal. He probably noticed my guilty expression so he gave me a smile and said, "Don't worry, I don't mind sharing this information with you. I know you're trustworthy since you helped me even though you have no reason to do so."

"She's probably from the Uzumaki clan." I've known about its tragic fate from the shinobi books I've read about before.

"Yeah, you're right." A proud grin was on his face as he said that. Although the clan was annihilated, he should definitely be proud of his roots since they were one of the most formidable clans across the nations before their demise.

"But why don't you have the famous red hair of the Uzumakis?" I know it definitely had something to do with genetics, his father is probably not an Uzumaki that's why he had dark-brown locks instead of deep red, but I still asked anyway to continue our conversation.

"I got all my looks from my father, and the only thing I inherited from my mother was her talent in Fuinjutsu." My assumptions were proven correct, I already expected this answer but it's nice to be able to talk about something while we wait for our lunch to cook.

I asked, "So you only learned Fuinjutsu from her?"

He replied nonchalantly, "She wasn't really trained well enough in other fields other than Fuinjutsu so even though she tried teaching me the simple things she remembered, I still suck at it."

I tried to encourage him by saying, "Well, you were able to survive an attack three days ago so I guess her training had done you good."

"The fistfights and brawls I had when I was younger were probably the reason why I could throw a punch and a kick to defeat normal bandits or thieves." He watched me with mirth in his eyes as I laughed at him since he was doing some punching movements while making a funny face as he talked a while ago.

"So how come you know about shinobi stuff? Are you a ninja?" Eiji-san asked me in return since I've been firing questions at him while avoiding talking about myself.

"No, but I was adopted by a retired shinobi and read a lot of books about it so I have a bit of knowledge about that stuff." I answered vaguely and intentionally avoided saying Kaito-sensei was a missing-nin, the term had a negative connotation so using the word retired might be a better word to describe his previous occupation.

"You were raised by a shinobi, that's why you're cool enough to camp out here. Most civilian girls are not comfortable to be out here in the wilderness but I guess you're kind of special, aren't you Sumi-chan?" I raised my eyebrows at the suffix he added to my name since we just officially met and exchanged names today, but he already addressed me in such a way.

"Why did you call me Sumi-chan? We just met today." I asked while furrowing my brows to show my confusion.

He gave me a genuine smile as he answered, "You literally saved my ass from being left on the streets while I was unconscious, it's something friends would do for each other so I just felt comfortable enough to address you like that."

I replied, "Just don't expect me to do the same. And to answer your statement earlier, I am not special."

He grinned widely and then gave me a wink, "But you are to me."

So he's that kind of guy. Very casual, easy-going and likes to charm people around him.

I ignored his comment and went over to stir the pot, "Soup's almost done, maybe five more minutes."

Eiji-san said gleefully, "I'm very hungry so I can't wait to taste what you've cooked, Sumi-chan."

We continued our conversation as we enjoyed our lunch.

Apparently, he was tasked to deliver the crates to their clients across the Land of Fire when he suddenly got attacked after dropping one delivery in this village. He also talked a lot about the capital city since that's where he lives and where their family business is located.

The guy even offered me to come along with him while he delivers his goods so I could check out the towns and cities along the way since I told him I just arrived at Hi no Kuni and was still figuring out where to settle down. He was very excited at the thought and tried to convince me as best as he could.

It's probably a good idea since I could see the places and get familiarized with them. Once I explore the places in this country, it will make it easier for me to decide which one I like the most and settle down there. However, I don't think it's necessary for me to go with him since I could easily travel by myself without any difficulty.

So I told him my thoughts about it, "But I could travel around the country without tagging along with you. I've been doing it for the past months already anyway."

He looked dejected at my response. "Come on, Sumi-chan. I'm practically half half-useless at the moment with this injury, and I can barely even feed myself with my broken arm. All the food on the trip is on me and I'd ask my dad to compensate you for your time since you're helping me deliver all the remaining goods."

Now that's a nice offer. I would have agreed to go with him if he just said please, but the free food and getting paid was even better so I'm not complaining.

"Fine, I guess I'll come with you." I tried to act like I was only doing it out of consideration from his current injury, but I know the smile on my face and the tone of my voice shows that I'm excited about it too. "Not like I have much of a choice since you're still injured, so I suppose I'll help out."

Eiji-san replied while beaming at me, "I knew you can't say no to me, Sumi-chan."

"It's the free food that convinced me, Eiji-san." I deadpanned at the green-eyed guy.

"Just drop the san when you call my name. I consider you as my friend already so I hope you see me as yours too, we're stuck with each other until all the crates are delivered so you better get used to it." Well, he got a point so I just gave him a nod in response.

My sensing ability enables me to have a good feel about a person's character whenever I meet someone new. This ability helps me determine whether an individual gives off a negative vibe or has a bad aura, allowing me to steer clear away from such people.

I'm glad that I do not sense such negativity from Eiji so I'm pretty sure he's genuine with the way he acts around me and has no evil intentions towards me. Besides, we wouldn't be acquainted in the first place if I didn't decide to help him out of my own free will so our meeting was entirely by chance.

This does not mean I fully trust him since I know how dangerous and unpredictable people can be. I know I have to be wary of letting people into my life because my situation was not really ideal to form friendships or acquaintances.

But I'd be lying if I say that I'm not thrilled to welcome a new found friend into my life. I currently have zero in my social circle at the moment, so he is definitely a welcome change in my quiet existence.