Hello FanFiction! This is moltake226 posting the first chapter of a Naruto and Bleach Xover! This story is called "Seitoshi", or Life and Death.
Please note: moltake226 doesn't own anything and the story was adopted from pain17ification
"Speech"
"Zanpakuto"
'Thoughts'
"Hollowfied/Techniques"
[Scene Shift]
Chapter 1: Newest Recruit
"And finally on our list of graduates, we have Uzumaki Naruto," stated Genryusai Yamamoto, the Head Captain of the Seireitei. In his hands were the profiles of the graduates of the academy for potential Shinigami. All of the students who graduated were already placed into divisions that would best suit them; save for one.
The Captain of the 13th Division, Ukitake Jushiro, looked over his copy of the graduate's profile and hummed in thought. "His skills in Zanjutsu and Hoho are phenomenal; well above average. His Hakudo is above average as well, but not as notable as the other two."
"On the other hand," began the 5th Division's Captain, Sosuke Aizen, "his Kido is far below satisfactory. It says here that he was unable to perform a single one and that most just blew up in his face; quite tremendously, I might add."
"True, but that is more than likely due to his spiritual level," defended Kyoraku Shunsui, Captain of Division 8. "It says here that they were already at that of a 4th Seat when he started and that they rose to almost that of a Captain when he graduated. It should be clear as to what the issue was."
Zaraki Kenpachi, Captain of Division 11 stepped up with a grin. "Ah, why the hell are we even bothering with his Kido? His skills with the sword easily make him perfect for my Division."
"Or mine," interjected Sui-Feng, Captain of the 2nd Division. "His lifestyle when he was alive makes him more than worthy for my Division. How often is it that we get a soul from his part of the world as a Shinigami? Not to mention that he still has all of his memories, so that means he still retains all of his experience. Why not let me take him?"
Yamamoto cleared his throat to get their attention. "The answer to your question, Sui-Feng Taicho, is at the bottom of his profile."
All eyes scanned the paper and saw the last notes that the teachers put for Naruto's profile. There at the bottom in bold were the words:
"Has requested to be placed in Division 4…"
Most of the Captains turned their gazes to said Division's leader, Unohana Retsu. She was a woman with an incredibly kind face and an almost motherly smile. Her light blue eyes shone with wisdom and care to all. Black hair flowed from her head and was styled in a large braid in front of her.
"Ara, he chose my Division?" she asked in slight surprise.
Yamamoto nodded and elaborated, "Most students were asked which Division they would prefer to be in and the teachers were incredibly surprised at young Uzumaki's choice. When asked, he was quoted saying: All my life, I've lived as a protector, a shield. But during the war, I saw many of my comrades and friends wounded and I was unable to do a thing about it. I want to change that in this life. I want to be able to protect them from death and save them from it."
Unohana gave a soft smile at that. It was obvious that the war that Naruto had gone through had definitely driven something home. It was also clear that he was a natural fighter, but he wished to change that in order to help prevent more death.
"Well, seeing as Uzumaki-kun has already requested my Division, and is driven to learn the ways of healing, I see no reason why I cannot take him."
Kurotsuchi Mayuri of Division 12 stepped up at her declaration. "And how exactly do you plan to teach him if he has no sense of control over his own reiatsu? He'll kill the first person he attempts to heal."
"Ara, are you saying that I am incapable of helping him learn control when I know of many different ways for him to try, Kurotsuchi Taicho?" questioned Unohana with a smile while many of the other Captains felt a sense of dread in the air.
"Are you capable?" retorted Mayuri, seemingly unaffected by the dreadful atmosphere.
"I believe that I am and I will prove it by taking Uzumaki-kun under my wing," declared the woman with a smile as the feeling of dread subsided.
"Very well then," Yamamoto stated before he was interrupted by Sui-Feng.
"Sotaicho-sama, I request to be able to teach Uzumaki some advanced Hakudo and Hoho. It seems to be unwise to let such potential go to waste," declared the petite Captain.
"Ara, are you saying that having him in my Division is a waste, Sui-Feng Taicho?"
"Not at all, Unohana Taicho. However, I believe that we shouldn't forget that he is skilled in those two areas already and could learn more advanced techniques while learning about healing from you."
"Let's not forget about his Zanjutsu," Kenpachi interjected. "The kid is a fighter, and a damned good one by the look of his profile. I'm not gonna let him put that aside and let his skills in it dwindle."
"Enough!" declared Yamamoto with a bang of his staff. "Seeing as Unohana Taicho has already accepted Uzumaki into her Division, it is up to her to let others mentor her recruits."
Both the 2nd and 11th Division Captains turned to the 4th and awaited her decision on the matter. Unohana meanwhile mentally sighed in annoyance at the two. It seemed as if they were unable to let this go and wanted to teach young Uzumaki in some way; even if it wasn't as a full teacher.
"Ara, I suppose you both can teach Uzumaki-kun; however, his studies under me come first. Anything else will wait until I believe he is ready."
Sui-Feng and Kenpachi nodded in agreement while the Head Captain adjourned the meeting.
[Academy Training Grounds]
Seated in a meditative position, a young man with spiked golden blonde hair took deep and even breaths as his sword rested on top of his crossed legs. His face had whisker markings on both cheeks while his hair had a small tail in the back that reached his shoulder blades. He had some peach fuzz on his chin, but it would soon be shaved away due to his disinterest in facial hair. If one were to look at his opened eyes, they would see twin orbs of the deepest blue to ever be witnessed.
This was Uzumaki Naruto; graduate of the academy and ex-Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, Kurama. During the 4th Great War, Naruto had lost many friends and loved ones to the madness of Uchiha Obito's ambition for a "perfect" world. He and Uchiha Sasuke, who had switched sides after finding out the truth from the reanimated Hokage of the Leaf, went against the ambitious Uchiha. In the end, Naruto gave his life to take down Obito by using a collaborated attack that consisted of Sasuke's Amaterasu and Naruto's Senpo: RasenShuriken.
Due to the potency of the mixed techniques, Naruto was unable to simply throw the attack and, after telling Sasuke that he left the rest to him, he rammed the mixed jutsu into Obito and engulfed the two of them in an inferno of shredding wind and black flames.
The next thing Naruto knew was seeing himself standing on the battlefield with no wounds at all on his person. However, there was a chain protruding from his chest and attached to a charred and brittle corpse. From his stomach, where his seal was, he saw an ethereal visage of Kurama step out, but as the size of a large dog. The fox, once fully out, merely gave the Uzumaki a nod of respect and a vulpine grin before it disappeared in a burst of red mist.
As soon as the fox was gone, the now useless seal burned the blonde and he screamed in pure anguish while the chain disconnected from the corpse and the kanji for "Pass" appeared on his forehead. His ghostly body was sucked inward toward the glowing kanji before Uzumaki Naruto's soul was fully out of the Elemental Nations.
The years that followed consisted of him living in the Rukongai along with many other souls. It came as a terrible shock that the Uzumaki was unable to find any of his loved ones, and the memories of the war prevented him from getting much sleep. It wasn't until his third week in the Rukongai that he was found by the Shinigami and taken to the academy.
From then on, he moved on in his new life while promising to never forget those he cherished. Six years were spent in the academy and the Uzumaki spent much time in thought over the actions of his life when he was alive before he realized something; he couldn't save everyone he saw as precious to him.
It was a tough pill to swallow, but he accepted that fact. However, that didn't stop him from finding a way to save as many as he could. So, when the students were given basic rundowns of the many different Divisions, he knew exactly which one he wanted to join; the 4th Division.
It seemed like the perfect choice for him, especially with his drive to find new ways to keep his comrades safe. If he couldn't stop them from getting hurt, then he'd be there to make sure they stayed alive.
Unfortunately, there was the issue with his control.
It seemed like that was always the case for the Uzumaki. His spiritual levels were high, just as his chakra levels were in life. However, that meant that it was much more difficult to control, which was proven every time he tried to perform Kido. No matter which one he tried, it always blew up in his face, and some were bad enough to bring down the average soul for a few days. However, his resilience to pain, and his healing factor which had somehow stayed with him in death, made the injuries feel like annoying aches at worse.
Naruto tried to gain some semblance of control during his free time and used the exercises from his life to help him. Tree walking and water walking were implemented with his reiatsu, but they didn't seem to make any kind of difference and he didn't know of any other exercises.
The worse part of it in his opinion was that he couldn't use any of his techniques from when he was alive. Clones and the Rasengan were lost to him due to his inability to properly use his own spiritual energy and it hurt his pride. His two signature moves were now out of his reach.
He sighed as he mentally shook himself out of those depressing thoughts. It wouldn't do any good to dwell on them anyway. Instead, he used this time to try and speak to his Zanpakuto in hopes of learning its name.
The sword was unique in its design, especially since it wasn't even a realized Zanpakuto. The handle was a dark green with light blue wrappings surrounding it. The guard looked to be nine curved edges that curved away from the blade. The blade itself was an unusual dark blue with a light green edge while the sheath was a simple black color.
Many of the instructors were intrigued by this, but they were unable to come up with any kind of explanation. By pure visual speculation alone, it looked like the sword could be in its Shikai state. However, that was shot down when the Uzumaki stated that he couldn't hear the sword's name. In the end, they decided to just leave it be and let things work themselves out.
Naruto took in a deep breath of air and slowly exhaled to calm down while his mind called out to his Zanpakuto. 'If you're in there, I would really appreciate you trying to tell me your name. Please, I need to know if I can rely on you to help me protect those who are important to me.'
Silence was his answer and he was about to leave his meditative state at another failed attempt. However, a voice was soon heard; a mere whisper that caressed his ear like chimes being hit against the wind.
"I'm here, Naruto-kun," stated the voice and Naruto could easily imagine it smiling at him. "I've been waiting to speak to you for a long time, but I would like to talk to you face to face."
The next thing he knew was that he was opening his eyes to the sight of a forest clearing with a beautiful lake of pure silver in the center. A mountain was seen in the distance, but it was shaped strangely in his opinion; like it was in the shape of a person. However, he put that thought in the back of his mind as a figure was seen seated in a tree growing out of the center of the lake. The tree was strangely green in color while its leaves were a light blue with silver looking veins running through them.
As for the figure, it was a woman with shoulder length silver hair and bright green eyes that had dark blue sclera. She was dressed in a sleeveless top made entirely of blue leaves like the one in the tree while her toned stomach was left uncovered and he saw an exact replica of his old seal resting there. She wore black shorts that stopped just above her knees while a white furred skirt rested over it. Her forearms and shins were also covered in white furred clothing while her feet were left bare, allowing her to feel the world beneath her. To finish of her visage, she had a ring with an Uzumaki swirl on it, but it was colored silver with a blue outline.
She smiled to him and stated, "I've been waiting for you to show up, Naruto-kun."
The blonde was left unable to speak due to her natural beauty and almost angelic smile. He was able to pull himself together while she stepped across the lake and approached him. "So, you finally decided to tell me your name?"
"Not yet," she replied regretfully. "We're still waiting for him," she pointed to the distant mountain, "to wake up. We are both representatives of your soul, so we both need to be awake for you to hear our name."
"Wait, are you saying I have two swords, or that you both represent one sword?"
"The latter, Naruto-kun. Both of our spirits rest inside the sword you carry and you cannot call upon its power until we are both awake. I don't know when he'll wake up, but I'm still pleased that I was able to speak to you first," she informed him with a smile.
He returned the smile and replied, "I'm glad I could speak to you as well. I was beginning to think that you didn't want to talk to me."
She shook her head at that. "We would never choose to ignore you, Naruto-kun. We just couldn't wake up to respond to your calls."
The Uzumaki nodded and queried, "So, until he wakes up I can't call upon your power?" A nod was his answer. "Alright then, I'll wait. I've waited for a while already, so I can wait a little longer."
"Glad to hear it, Naruto-kun. Now, you better wake up since there is someone heading your way. We'll talk again later."
He smiled and replied, "Definitely," before he brought his focus back to outside of his mind. In front of him was a very tall woman – easily over six feet – with spiked silver hair that had a single braid and brown eyes. She wore the standard Shinigami uniform while the badge that signified her status as a Lieutenant was wrapped around her left arm.
"Uzumaki Naruto?" she asked which he nodded to. She smiled and gave a polite nod. "My name is Kotetsu Isane and I've been asked to take you to your new Division."
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise before he grinned and jumped to his feet. Isane couldn't help but chuckle at his enthusiasm as he replied, "Lead the way, Kotetsu Fukutaicho."
She kept her smile as she motioned for him to follow her. The blonde was led through the streets of the Seireitei before the two came upon the barracks of the very Division he had requested; the 4th.
She turned to face him and gestured behind her with her arm, "Welcome to the 4th Division, Uzumaki-san."
His blue eyes looked around and saw many people going about their business, but a few gave him polite nods and a few waves while a couple of the female members had small blushes on their faces at his looks; not that he noticed.
He turned back to Isane and nodded with a smile. "Glad to be here, Kotetsu-sempai."
She returned the smile before she led him through the hallways of the barracks and stopped outside a door with the name "Unohana Retsu" on it. She knocked once and was granted entry before she led the blonde inside. There behind a simple desk was Unohana going over some medical files and other various papers.
She looked up and noticed her Lieutenant with her newest recruit and placed the paper she was looking at back down on her desk. "Welcome, Uzumaki-kun," she greeted as she stood up and walked around her desk before she stood in front of him. "I'm looking forward to seeing just how well you will perform under me."
He bowed to her with a smile and replied, "I'm honored that you accepted my request, Taicho. I just hope that I don't end up letting you down due to my shitty control."
That earned him a flick to his forehead which made him rub it to soothe the growing ache. "Uzumaki-kun, I will not tolerate such crude language around me; am I clear?" she asked with a smile while Naruto felt like he was in Death's grip.
He shakily nodded and answered, "H-Hai, Unohana Taicho."
"Glad to hear it," she stated as the feeling of death receded. "Now, follow me please," she said as she led him through the barracks. "We have a lot of work to do if we're going to bring your control to the level needed of a healer."
The Uzumaki couldn't help but grin foxily as he followed her. 'Finally! Maybe I can actually learn to control my reiatsu and learn how to heal from Unohana Taicho. I just hope I don't have to experience that 'Smile of Death' again. I'd rather deal with baa-chan's super strength than THAT!'
The Uzumaki was in for the long haul, but he was 100% positive that it'd be worth it in the end.
(End Chapter)