50Orihime
Inoue wondered if Kurosaki-kun would like it if she brought him some red bean paste with onions and onigiri in a bento box.
Maybe he is out fighting hollows or catching up with Rukia. She was not jealous; she didn't want to be...
It was getting late though and however much Kurosaki-kun might enjoy her cooking, she did not want to walk home in the dark.
A man in a dark cloak with red cloud patterns rounded the corner and stopped directly in the path she intended to walk. He faced her to reveal an orange mask with a swirl pattern circling his right eye. He did not speak, only slowly walking up to her. He wasn't normal, this much she knew.
She summoned her shield and took a step back prepared to shunpo should he get too close.
Chains fell from his cloak and he charged forward with impressive speed.
To her utter surprise, instead of bouncing off her explosive shield, he went through it as if her shield had not been there in the first place.
Shock and fear coursed through her as she backpedaled away from her silent attacker. He reached and took hold of her arm. The last thing she saw was a swirling red eye that burned hotly against the orange mask.
Inoue was in a new place now. Dark and surrounding the area was a seemingly endless square shaped pattern on the floor that was spaced by dark crevices.
The air shifted and she glanced behind herself. He had not given her much time to rest. She turned to face him.
He did not charge at her this time.
He griped his right arm before, in an impressive display of both strength and discipline, he ripped his arm off.
She stared at him pale and wide-eyed. He had not even so much as cried out.
He finally spoke "heal my arm now."
"Why would you tear it off if you were going to ask me that?" Inoue spoke as evenly as she could but her voice cracked near the end.
He did not reply, only gesturing to his arm once more.
"I will only heal your arm if you promise not to attack me again." She grew more confident now that she could negotiate with him.
"I will not attack you again." He was now speaking without a hint of emotions leaking out.
She summoned her shun shun rika and proceeded to heal his arm. Within minutes the new limb was in place and he tested his new arm. He grunted as he swung his newly regenerated limb in a mock punch.
Seemingly satisfied with her work she asked "will you let me go?"
She could hear the smile in his voice "yes, I will indeed."
She awoke in a forest of extremely tall trees. She might have thought herself to be under Hueco Mundo if there hadn't been a distinct lack of sand.
One thing was for certain, the cloaked man had not specified where he would put her.
It was several hours of wandering the forest before Inoue reached the edge of a town. Many people who looked similar to police were walking in different directions and doing various tasks. She waved one done before saying "Hi, I'm a little lost, can you tell me where I am?"
The black haired man paused before saying "You're at the edge of the Uchiha district...if you go straight that way" he gestured "past the police station and out the front gate and keep going forward you will reach the center of Konohagakure."
Village hidden in the leaves? What kind of name was that?
"I can have my son escort you to your home if you wish." The officer looked at her with concern.
"No, no I couldn't ask that of you." She waved her arms back and forth to postulate her words.
"Nonsense, my son is a capable shinobi, he will escort you." His face hard and unreadable. "Itachi!" He yelled within so much as glancing away from Orihime. As fast as a Shinigami he seemingly blinked into existence.
He was as tall as Ichigo and he had black hair and eyes. Stress lines ran from the corner of his eyes, he was also dressed funny as if he was ready for combat.
Itachi
He turned towards her and silently observed Inoue. He retained an expressionless mask while judging if she was a threat. Nothing was said until his father ordered him to be her escort; he only nodded and motioned her forward.
"Where do you live?" he asked, his voice quite.
"I live in a town called Karakura." She stated, equally quite.
A place he had never heard of then. "I meant what village."
"Ano…. It isn't a village but I live in the country, Japan." He could detect no lie from her voice and yet she claimed to be from another country, perhaps she could tell him something of the world beyond the land of fire.
"You're a long way from home then as I have never head of either place"
She sighed and frowned before asking, "Where are we going?"
"To the Hokage Tower" he kept his tone neutral
"Fire…Shadow?" she asked appearing confused.
How could she not know the shadows? "The Lord Sandiame is the leader of my village as he is the strongest and wisest shinobi."
"Shinobi? Like a ninja?" she blurted as if the concept of ninja were real was unbelievable to her.
"Hn." Was his only reply. Itachi Uchiha did not speak again for the rest of their trip.
Hiruzen
Danzo was giving him more trouble than usual. It had only been 5 years since the Kyubi had escaped and Danzo solely blamed the Uchiha for it and the death of his wife and Minato. Now the Uchiha have become restless and angry, blatant insubordination was becoming more and more common as the Uchiha Elders strong armed Fugaku into submission.
His Anbu reported disturbing stories of Danzo's inhumane methods to ridding them of their personality. He sighed and wished for his pipe; retirement had been so close…
His secretary came in and placed even more paperwork on his desk and said "Most of these are complaints from citizens and clients." She separated them into three piles "also Uchiha Itachi requests an audience with you over a civilian woman."
"Send him in on your way out." He asked
"Yes sir."
She opened the door and motioned for the two to proceed.
A young woman with orange hair and a strange dress walked silently behind Itachi who bowed and said "Hokage-sama, thank you for seeing us."
Hiruzen
"Although I know young Itachi I believe I am at a disadvantage as I do not know yours."
She bowed at the waist and replied "Inoue Orihime, Sir"
"And where are you from young lady?"
She did not answer immediately; Itachi stepped up and spoke in her stead "she claims to be from a continent far from here, likely beyond the land of fire."
Hiruzen had never once heard anyone come from across the ocean. He sighed and set his papers to the side. "Itachi, you may go now."
"Grab a seat Inoue-san and start from the beginning."
Her story was ridiculous and full of impossible things and places. However he would give the lady the benefit of doubt as she had offered to heal someone at the hospital to show him her abilities. A Yamanaka would scan her mind later to find discrepancies and discover any hidden objectives.
"…And lastly when I was going home from school; this strange man with an orange mask attacked me."
"Can you try to describe him to me?" his interest was piqued as she was at the end of her tale.
"He had a black cloak with red cloud pattern on it and he had a red eye and a light pasty colored left arm."
Hiruzen's eyes narrowed as he recognized the same description as the person who attacked and killed his wife, Biwako, during the nine tails incident.
"And then what happened?" keeping his voice even was perhaps one of the hardest thing he had ever done.
"I used my shield to stop him from getting to close but he just ran though it like it wasn't even there… And after that he touched me on the shoulder and then I was in a really weird place."
"I asked him why he was doing this and instead he just ripped off his own arm!"
"Do you know why?" he didn't sound particularly sane.
"He just told me to heal his arm and then he let me go…"
AN and Disclaimer aka I own nothing
My first story and something I wanted to try as there is a distinct lack of Orihime fanfiction. Please let me know if you want me to continue or if there is something missing by reviewing or PMing me