I woke up tasting dirt.
Not the "fell asleep on the couch" kind of disorientation—the actual, literal taste of soil in my mouth. My face was pressed against grass that was way too green, and something sharp was poking me in the ribs.
"What the hell..." I groaned, pushing myself up. Spit. Definitely dirt. "Okay, that's disgusting."
I blinked at my surroundings. Trees. Massive, ancient-looking trees that belonged in a fantasy movie, not anywhere near my apartment. The sky was too blue, the air too clean, and everything had that weird oversaturated quality like someone had cranked reality's contrast settings to maximum.
My brain slowly caught up with the situation.
I'm in a forest. I don't remember going to a forest. I don't remember going anywhere.
I patted myself down. Jeans, black t-shirt, sneakers—all there. No injuries. No blood. Just dirt on my face, grass stains on my shirt, and absolutely zero context for how I got here.
"Okay," I said to no one in particular. "Either I'm dead, dreaming, or Truck-kun finally got me and I just don't remember it. Because this is definitely not my apartment."
I stood up, brushing off what dirt I could. The forest stretched in every direction—no paths, no signs of civilization, just endless trees and the kind of oppressive quiet that makes you very aware you're alone.
"Status screen?" I tried, feeling like an idiot. "Inventory? Skill menu? Helpful tutorial NPC?"
Nothing happened.
"Great. No gamer interface. Love that for me."
A scream cut through the trees.
High-pitched, terrified, and way too close.
"And of course we're starting with a crisis," I muttered, already moving toward the sound. "Can't even get five minutes to figure out what's happening. Just straight into—"
A girl crashed through the bushes.
She couldn't have been more than my age—late teens, maybe. Dark hair in a ponytail, some kind of school uniform that looked vaguely Japanese, and eyes wide with absolute terror. She saw me and her expression shifted from panic to desperate hope.
"HELP!" she screamed, stumbling over roots. "PLEASE—THERE'S A—"
The bushes behind her exploded.
What emerged made every survival instinct I didn't know I had start screaming.
It was massive. Easily ten feet tall, vaguely humanoid but wrong in every way that mattered. Muscles bulged in places muscles shouldn't exist, its skin was a sickly gray-green that looked diseased, and its face seemed like someone had tried to sculpt a human from memory after a few drinks. Too many teeth. Too many joints in its arms. Eyes that didn't quite focus properly but still tracked movement with predatory precision.
"What the fuck is that?!" I yelled.
The girl tripped over a root, hit the ground hard. The creature lunged for her, claws extended—claws that were definitely designed for ripping things apart.
My body moved before my brain caught up.
I grabbed the nearest heavy object—a rock the size of my head—and hurled it as hard as I could.
CRACK.
It hit the monster square in the face.
The creature roared, stumbling backward, one massive hand coming up to its nose. The girl scrambled away on hands and knees, and I put myself between them without thinking about how incredibly stupid that was.
"RUN!" I shouted at her.
"But you don't have—"
"I SAID RUN!"
She hesitated for exactly one second, looked at me like I was insane (fair), then bolted into the trees.
The monster refocused on me.
Its too-many eyes locked onto mine, and I had the sudden, horrifying realization that I had no plan whatsoever. No weapons. No powers. No idea what this thing even was.
Just me, a forest, and a creature that looked like it had crawled out of a nightmare.
"Okay," I muttered, backing up slowly. "Think, Asher. Think. If this is an isekai situation, you should have powers, right? Status screen? Inventory? Magic?"
I tried focusing. Tried willing something—anything—to appear.
Nothing happened.
"Of course not. That would be helpful."
The monster charged.
I dove sideways on pure instinct. Its massive fist cratered the ground where I'd been standing half a second ago. Dirt and rocks exploded outward like a grenade went off, and I felt the shockwave in my chest.
"Holy shit!" I rolled, grabbed another rock, threw it. Hit its shoulder. Might as well have been throwing cotton balls for all the good it did.
The creature was fast. Way too fast for something that big. It swung again—a backhand that I barely ducked under. The wind from the near-miss made my hair whip around.
I tried to get distance, scrambling backward, but there was nowhere to go. Trees blocked potential escape routes, and this thing had reach I couldn't match.
It swung low. I jumped. Its arm passed underneath me by inches.
Landed badly. Ankle rolled. Pain shot up my leg like lightning.
Great. Just great.
The monster advanced slowly now, like it knew I couldn't escape. Like it was enjoying this. Its jaw opened impossibly wide, revealing rows of jagged teeth that definitely weren't designed for a vegetarian diet.
"Okay," I gasped, limping backward. "New plan. Not dying. That's the plan. Very simple. Very achievable. Just need to not—"
It lunged.
I threw myself sideways—too slow. One massive hand caught my shoulder and launched me like I weighed nothing.
I hit a tree. Hard.
Everything went white for a second. Pain exploded through my back, my shoulder, my ribs. The air left my lungs in a rush and I couldn't breathe, couldn't think, could only feel the agony radiating through my entire body.
I slid down the trunk, gasping, vision swimming with black spots.
This is a stupid way to die. I don't even know where I am.
The monster stalked closer, each footstep shaking the ground slightly. It took its time. Why rush when your prey was already broken?
My hand scrabbled in the dirt, looking for anything—another rock, a branch, something.
Then I heard it.
A sharp, clean whistling sound. Like metal cutting through air at high speed.
A kunai—an actual goddamn throwing knife—buried itself in the monster's neck.
The creature roared, clawing at the blade. Three more kunai followed in rapid succession, each one hitting with surgical precision. Throat. Shoulder joint. Behind the knee.
The monster staggered, suddenly off-balance.
A figure dropped from the trees between me and the creature.
Soft landing. No sound. Impossibly graceful.
Dark blue hair—almost purple in the sunlight. A jacket with a white and red fan symbol on the back. Combat stance that screamed professional.
She moved.
I couldn't even track it properly. One second she was standing still, the next she was inside the monster's guard, palm striking its chest with a sound like thunder.
The creature flew backward. It crashed through two trees before hitting the ground and not getting up.
Silence.
The girl turned to face me, and my brain finally processed what I was seeing.
Pale lavender eyes. No pupils—just pale, almost white irises with delicate veins spreading from them like spider webs.
Byakugan.
The word surfaced from deep memory. Late nights binge-watching anime. A blonde kid in orange. A shy girl who could see everything.
No way. No fucking way.
"Are you hurt?" Her voice was soft, gentle, with genuine concern underneath.
I stared at her. At those eyes. At the kunai pouch on her thigh. At the actual ninja standing in front of me.
"I..." My mouth worked but nothing coherent came out. "You're... those are Byakugan. You have actual Byakugan."
She blinked, surprised. "You know about—how do you know my clan's dojutsu?"
"Because I've seen Naruto," I said before my brain could stop my mouth. "And you're either Hinata or Hanabi, and considering the age and the whole gentle energy thing, I'm guessing Hinata."
Her eyes went wide. She took a half-step back. "How do you know my name? Who are you?"
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION]
The words exploded across my vision in glowing gold letters.
"Oh, now you show up," I muttered.
[CHAOTIC RESONANCE DATING SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[ANALYZING EMOTIONAL RESONANCE...]
[TARGET ACQUIRED: HYUGA HINATA]
[COMPATIBILITY: 91%]
[TRAIT DISCOVERED: FAST-STARTER TYPE]
[GENERATING RESPONSE OPTIONS...]
A dating system. My cheat ability in a world with actual ninja is a DATING SYSTEM.
Hinata stepped closer, those pale eyes scanning me—actually scanning me with those X-ray vision eyes. "You're bleeding. Your shoulder is dislocated, and you have three cracked ribs—"
"That's terrifying," I interrupted. "You can just see that?"
"The Byakugan allows me to see your tenketsu and internal structure," she explained, still looking worried. "But you're not answering my questions. How do you know about my clan? How do you know my name?"
[FIRST ENCOUNTER INITIALIZED]
[SELECT YOUR RESPONSE:]
[A) GRAB HER HAND DRAMATICALLY: "You saved my life. Does that make us bonded for life? Because I'm very okay with that arrangement."]
[B) BLOOD-LOSS HONESTY: "Okay, so you're definitely real, which means I'm either in an anime or having the most elaborate hallucination ever. Either way—hi, I'm Asher, you're beautiful, and I think I'm in shock."]
[C) LEAN AGAINST TREE CASUALLY (DESPITE PAIN): "So... do you come to this forest often? Save random guys from monsters? Is this like a regular Tuesday for you?"]
I stared at the options.
Every single one is completely unhinged.
Hinata was waiting, looking increasingly worried. Blood was dripping down my arm.
Screw it. Blood loss makes people honest, right?
I selected B.
I met those pale eyes and said, with complete sincerity: "Okay, so you're definitely real, which means I'm either in an anime or having the most elaborate hallucination ever. Either way—hi, I'm Asher, you're beautiful, and I think I'm in shock."
Hinata.exe stopped functioning.
Her face went nuclear red in 0.3 seconds. "I—you—what—" She stammered, hands flying up to cover her face. "B-beautiful? I'm not—you shouldn't—that's not—"
[CHOICE ACCEPTED]
[HINATA HYUGA - EMOTIONAL RESONANCE: 0% → 12%]
[CRITICAL FLUSTERED STATE ACHIEVED]
Behind us, voices approached—the girl I'd saved, plus others.
"Hinata-sama! We heard the corrupted beast—" A male voice cut off. "Who is that?"
Two more people appeared. One wore a Leaf Village headband and traditional ninja gear. The other wore modern tactical armor.
Both stared at me with immediate suspicion.
"Identify yourself," the tactical one ordered.
"He saved a civilian from the beast," Hinata said quickly, still blushing. "He's injured."
"He also knows classified information," she added quietly. "He called my dojutsu by name. He knows my name."
Both guards' expressions hardened.
"That's classified Domain 1 information," the Leaf ninja said. "How does an outsider—"
"I can explain," I said, raising my hands. "But can we do it somewhere I'm not bleeding out? I fought that thing with rocks."
The girl I'd saved pushed forward. "He's telling the truth! That thing would have killed me—"
"It's fine," the tactical guard said. "We'll take him in. Medical will check him. Hinata-sama, you'll need to file a report."
Hinata nodded, but her eyes kept darting to me.
The guards moved to either side of me.
"Can you walk?" Hinata asked.
I tested my ankle. Pain shot up. "Define 'walk.'"
Before the guards could grab me, Hinata moved forward. "I'll help. He got hurt on my patrol route. It's my responsibility."
She ducked under my uninjured arm to support me. She was shorter than me, and when her arm went around my waist, I became very aware that a pretty girl was basically hugging me.
"Is this okay?" she asked quietly. "I'm not hurting you?"
This close, I could see her eyes in detail. The fractal patterns in the veins.
She's really pretty. How is an anime character this pretty in real life?
"It's fine," I managed. "Better than face-planting."
She smiled slightly. "Try not to do that."
[HINATA HYUGA - EMOTIONAL RESONANCE: 12% → 15%]
As we started walking, I got my first look at where we were going.
Massive walls appeared through the trees. Fifty feet high, covered in glowing seals. Beyond them, a city that made my brain hurt—traditional Japanese architecture mixed with glass skyscrapers. Ninja running on rooftops while people in hero costumes flew overhead.
"What the hell is this place?" I muttered.
"Shinobi-Hero Nexus, New Konoha sector," the tactical guard answered. "Domain 1. Where are you from?"
Domain 1. New Konoha. Holy shit, I'm actually in a crossover.
"I don't know," I said honestly. "I woke up in the forest. Face-down in dirt. No memory of how I got there."
"Convenient," the Leaf ninja muttered.
Hinata's grip tightened slightly—supportive, not painful.
We walked in silence for a moment, then Hinata spoke quietly. "Does your shoulder hurt badly?"
"On a scale of one to ten? Probably a solid eight."
"I'm sorry. If I'd arrived sooner—"
"You saved my life. Pretty sure that cancels out any timing issues."
[SYSTEM TRIGGER DETECTED]
[HINATA EXPRESSING GUILT - RESPONSE OPPORTUNITY]
[SELECT YOUR RESPONSE:]
[A) SQUEEZE HER HAND: "Stop apologizing for being a hero. That's my job as the idiot who fights monsters with rocks."]
[B) LEAN CLOSER AND WHISPER: "You know what would make me feel better? You smiling instead of looking so worried."]
[C) DEADPAN: "If you're feeling guilty, you could always carry me the rest of the way. I promise I'm not that heavy."]
She's already flustered. Let's not overwhelm her. Go with humor.
I selected C.
I said, completely deadpan: "If you're feeling guilty, you could always carry me the rest of the way. I promise I'm not that heavy."
She looked up at me, startled, then saw my expression. A small laugh escaped her—surprised and genuine.
"I could," she said, and there was a hint of mischief in her voice that I hadn't expected. "The Hyuga clan has chakra-enhanced strength techniques. But I don't think your ego could handle being princess-carried through the village."
"My ego is very secure, thank you."
"Is it?" She was almost smiling now.
"Absolutely. I fight monsters with rocks. That requires tremendous ego."
She actually giggled—soft, but real.
[CHOICE ACCEPTED]
[HINATA HYUGA - EMOTIONAL RESONANCE: 15% → 18%]
The guards ahead exchanged glances but said nothing.
We continued walking, the massive walls getting closer. The seals on them pulsed with blue light.
"So," I said after a moment. "Domain 1. Shinobi-Hero Nexus. That implies there are other Domains?"
"Six total," Hinata explained. "Each one formed from merged worlds after the Omniversal Collapse fifty years ago."
"Fifty years. So you weren't alive for it."
"No one our age was. But everyone lost someone. The Collapse..." She paused. "It killed millions. Entire worlds destroyed or absorbed. Reality itself broke apart and reformed."
Her voice had gone quiet, sad.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"It's okay. It was before my time." She looked up at me. "Do you really not remember anything? Not even which Domain you're from?"
If I tell her I'm from a world where she's fictional, she'll think I'm insane.
"I remember waking up tasting dirt. I remember thinking this was a dream. I remember fighting that monster. And I remember you showing up and making it look easy."
She blushed again. "It wasn't—any chunin could have—"
"You killed it in three moves."
"It was just a corrupted beast—"
"You're doing it again."
She paused. "Doing what?"
"Downplaying everything you do."
[SYSTEM TRIGGER DETECTED]
[HINATA SELF-DEPRECATION MOMENT - RESPONSE OPPORTUNITY]
[SELECT YOUR RESPONSE:]
[A) STOP WALKING AND FACE HER: "Listen. You saved my life. Own it. You're amazing and you need to accept that."]
[B) CASUAL BUT SINCERE: "You know, where I'm from, heroes don't apologize for being heroic. They just accept the compliment and move on."]
[C) PLAYFUL CHALLENGE: "Okay, new rule. Every time you downplay yourself, I'm going to compliment you twice as hard. Your move."]
She clearly has self-esteem issues. Option A is too intense. B is reasonable. C is playful and establishes a dynamic.
I selected C.
"Okay, new rule," I said. "Every time you downplay yourself, I'm going to compliment you twice as hard. Your move."
She looked up at me, surprised. "That's not—you don't have to—"
"Too late. You already did it. So now I have to tell you that you're not only beautiful, but also incredibly skilled, genuinely kind, and probably the only reason I'm alive right now."
Her face went red again. "You can't just—that's not fair—"
"Should I keep going? Because I've got more."
"No! I mean—please don't—" She was stammering again, looking anywhere but at me.
[CHOICE ACCEPTED]
[HINATA HYUGA - EMOTIONAL RESONANCE: 18% → 20%]
[MILESTONE: ENTERING "FAMILIAR" STAGE]
The guards were definitely trying not to smile now.
We reached the massive gates. Guards there straightened when they saw Hinata, gave me suspicious looks, but let us through.
The city beyond was impossible. Traditional buildings next to skyscrapers. Ninja in headbands walking past people in hero costumes. Signs advertised "Chakra Classes" and "Quirk Assessment."
"This is insane," I breathed.
"First time in the Nexus?" Hinata asked.
"First time seeing anything like this."
She smiled softly. "It can be overwhelming. When the Collapse happened, everything merged. Different power systems, different cultures, different realities. We're still adapting."
"Seems like you're doing pretty well."
"We try." She paused. "The integration office is just ahead. They'll ask you questions, check your injuries. Standard procedure for anyone who appears without documentation."
"Happens often?"
"More than you'd think."
We walked through crowded streets. I tried to take it all in—the impossible mix of worlds, the casual acceptance of the bizarre.
And through it all, Hinata stayed close.
Supporting me. Helping me walk.
Not because she had to.
Because she wanted to.
[HINATA HYUGA - EMOTIONAL RESONANCE: 20% → 22%]
[COMFORTABLE PRESENCE ESTABLISHED]
We turned a corner, and a building appeared ahead—traditional architecture mixed with modern design.
"Central District Security & Integration Office," Hinata said. "We're here."
I looked at the building, then at her.
"Thanks," I said. "For, you know, everything. Saving my life, helping me walk, not letting them drag me through the streets."
She smiled—small, but genuine. "You're welcome. And... thank you too."
"For what?"
"For protecting that girl. Even when you didn't have to. Even when you had no powers." She looked up at me, those pale eyes meeting mine. "That was brave."
[HINATA HYUGA - EMOTIONAL RESONANCE: 22% → 23%]
The guards opened the door, and we stepped inside.
My adventure in an anime crossover world was just beginning.