Sasuke steels himself as he steps through the gate.
Abruptly, he feels the lack of abundant spirit particles. He absentmindedly likens the sensation to breathing air at a higher elevation. The prickling discomfort is a minor distraction from his mission, but a stark reminder of how alone he suddenly feels.
This is his first assignment in the mortal realm, and he needs produce perfect results. He refuses to make any mistakes when he has worked so hard to convince his captain to give him this assignment alone.
Yes, Sasuke is going to return from his first solo mission with impeccable results just like Itachi had.
Shaking his head to clear away thoughts of his brother, the clan, the disappointment on his father's face when he admitted he was unseated, Sasuke springs forward to land softly on the ground. The click of his sandal echoes despite his efforts, and he immediately feels a spike of irritation.
An unnerving howl shatters the silence of the night, and Sasuke startles at its proximity. How could he have not noticed the presence of a hollow so close?
Berating himself angrily, he rushes to the rooftop of the nearest house and flash steps until his surroundings begin to blur. Sasuke feels the dull ache of activating Sharingan slowly fade as the world sharpens back into focus.
The Hollow is some lower-class specimen, so Sasuke doesn't bother to analyze it carefully. He spots a spirit grasped in its right hand and steps forward to rush into action. Drawing his Zanpakuto from its sheath, he moves to intercept the Hollow when–
A shock of yellow cuts a sharp contrast with the rest of the night and Sasuke stares, transfixed for a second, as a boy rushes out of the nearby house. He shouts to psych himself up and proceeds to pathetically fling a metal folding chair at the Hollow.
As Sasuke expected, the Hollow only becomes more irate and now he has one more problem to deal with. Instead of launching the standard attack at the back of the head, Sasuke must secure this human's safety first.
The boy is clearly mortal, and more importantly, not a spirit. This goes against everything Sasuke was taught at the Academy, and in his confusion, he decides to treat him as a spirit. If he introduces himself as a Shinigami, he should be able to calm him down and move away from the Hollow.
"Step aside," Sasuke says as he lands neatly next to the boy who had switched to waving a golf club in another attempt to fend off the Hollow. "I am an official of Soul Society, a Shinigami experienced in handling extermination of Hollows. I need you to move away from the Hollow so I can help the spirit…" Sasuke trails off as he realizes the boy's mouth is hanging open and doesn't appear to be listening.
He wracks his brain for something better to say but is saved from more interaction as the Hollow lunges for the blond with its other hand.
Sasuke swiftly shoves the teen back and ducks under the right arm to land a long upwards strike on the Hollow, forcing it to release the spirit.
The girl is sobbing uncontrollably, and Sasuke absently observes that she's slightly transparent, unlike the spirits of Rukongai he's familiar with.
Bending his knees slightly as he lands, Sasuke rushes back at the Hollow as it wails in pain. As he forces his Zanpakuto down, wind whistling as the blade keens, the Hollow retreats into a cloud of black mist.
Sasuke lands, disappointed. He turns back intending to perform Konso on the spirit to send her to Soul Society.
He doesn't know when the Hollow will be back; it shouldn't be too soon since he managed to injure it. Sasuke decides to sheath his Zanpakuto for now and deactivates his Sharingan. He can't afford to scare the spirit after all.
The teen is comforting the girl and Sasuke is secretly grateful to him for making this part of his job easier.
"Hey, it's alright! This guy just fought off that monster for us. We're going to be okay. What's your name?" He pats her gently on the back.
She hiccups a few times and slowly calms down. "Momiji."
The blond smiles, "Nice to meet you, Momiji!"
Sasuke decides the girl has been sufficiently soothed and rushes over quickly to introduce himself so he can move on to the rest of his duties.
"Momiji, I'm going to help you get to where you need to be. I just need you to hold still and I'll send you to Soul Society so you can pass over." Sasuke declares, straining to exude the same amicable vibe as the boy beside him. He's always had difficulty with convincing spirits to peacefully pass on.
The spirit looks hesitant and Sasuke hopes he doesn't look as anxious and stressed as he currently feels.
"But, I'm scared. I don't want to leave. I want to go home," The girl whispers, clinging to the blond boy's shirt.
Sasuke opens his mouth to spew out another line he memorized from the textbook, when the teen pats her gently on the head.
"I'm sure this guy knows what he's doing! He's only trying to help, and Soul Society must be like heaven or something right? I'm sure you'll love it there!" He smiles and it must be contagious because Sasuke feels his lips twitch awkwardly as the girl nods a little.
Sasuke draws his Zanpakuto and the boy looks alarmed, but Sasuke's tired of explaining using lines from the textbook, and he sort of doesn't really remember this part that well, so he hurries to flip the hilt and taps the spirit on her forehead.
The usual blue glow of light illuminates the street and the girl fades with a small smile on her face. Sasuke doesn't know if she's really going to a better place. He's seen Rukongai's outer districts and the cruelty of their supposed afterlife. It's part of why he hates performing Konso and why he always has a hard to time sending spirits away.
Sasuke turns back to the irregularity standing before him and tries to decide what to do next. But once again, he's saved from making proper conversation by the Hollow's reappearance.
Sasuke turns to face the Hollow with his Zanpakuto grasped loosely in front of him. His Sharingan whirls to life and he decides he won't need to release his blade for this fight.
The boy mimics his position with the golf club and Sasuke suppresses a snort at his antics. "I don't require your assistance. Stand back as I handle this." Sasuke bounds forward without waiting on his reply and makes quick work of the Hollow.
Only, suddenly, the boy shouts, "Look out, behind you!"
He pushes Sasuke to the side to cover for him as a second Hollow Sasuke hadn't noticed launches toward them.
Sasuke clenches his jaw and before he knows it, he's in front of the boy and the Hollow has raked a jagged line down his shoulder. Everything is a blur and he doesn't have time to think anymore. Black spots appear in his vision and he falls to his knees. The Hollow is approaching and he's in danger, the boy is in danger– he needs to do something–
Sasuke grits his teeth and strikes a corner of the mask off the Hollow by switching his Zanpakuto to the other hand. Having used all his remaining strength, he falls flat on his back indignantly.
The Hollow screams and appears to be disoriented. Sasuke knows it's only a matter of time before it turns back to them.
The boy rushes to his side and he's shouting something, but Sasuke can't tell what he's saying. Blood is rushing in his ears and all he can hear is his own heart beating and the breath that leaves his lungs. Some droplets of liquid hit his face and Sasuke's first thought is spit, but it turns out the boy is crying.
Sasuke tries to wave his hand and coughs. "Run! Leave me here. If you stay, we'll both die!"
The teen shakes his head vigorously. Sasuke realizes he's truly very young. Sasuke is probably ten times older than him. He hasn't lived nearly enough. Yes, Sasuke might die, but maybe he can still save this boy.
Sasuke counts his breaths and slowly compartmentalizes the pain as he comes up with a terrible idea. He had heard from Sakura about it once. A way to transfer the powers of a Shinigami to a spirit temporarily. It had been done before, but Sasuke can't remember any of the details. This boy is a mortal, he's not a spirit and it could kill him. But he trusts Sakura's knowledge, and the boy can see him and other spirits for some reason. He can't think of what else to do. He can't fight anymore and he's going to die here, he can't– he'll be a disgrace. But if he can save this boy, maybe–
If it fails, they'll both die, but wouldn't they die here anyway since this idiot has no self-preservation instincts?
Sasuke takes a deep breath and checks that the Hollow is still unsettled.
Sasuke's stupid Academy textbook lines can't help him anymore, so he just forgoes any brain-to-mouth filtering. "I can give you my powers and you can fight the Hollow. Run the point of my Zanpakuto through the center of your body and you'll be a Shinigami. I don't know if this will work, but if we fail, we both die!" he shouts. The Hollow could attack any minute and they're so incredibly lucky that it hasn't yet.
The blond nods, and suddenly everything is quiet for a moment. He grins, "Give it here then, Shinigami!"
Sasuke smirks back deliriously. "My name is not Shinigami, it's Uchiha Sasuke."
The boy takes his Zanpakuto and Sasuke is blinded by the light. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"
The light fades and the first thing Sasuke sees is the signature black of the shihakusho all Shinigami wear.
Sasuke laughs as he realizes his gamble worked. There must be something special about this boy, for he has never heard of a spiritually aware human and he has definitely never seen any Shinigami manifest a Zanpakuto of such size.
The teen rushes head on at the Hollow like a fool and by some luck, the Hollow stands still waiting for him.
Then again, Sasuke considers that his spiritual pressure is off the charts and perhaps the Hollow feels just as stunned as Sasuke does at the moment.
It's over in a flash and Sasuke slumps to the ground exhaustively as the Hollow's mask shatters.
The teen spins around, eyes wide. "What just happened?" He jerks his head in the direction the crumbling monster. "Why's it disappearing? Are you gonna be alright? When did my clothes change? WHOA, I've got this huge sword! This is–"
"Shut up." Sasuke groans, clutching his shoulder as he makes a futile effort to stand. Huffing in frustration, he sinks back gracelessly to lean against the wall.
He is currently attempting to wrap his head around just what had occurred in the past few minutes. Sasuke had only intended to transfer a portion, perhaps half at most, of his power to this human, yet this halfwit has somehow managed to wrestle away nearly all of it!
No, Sasuke thinks. He needs to stay calm and avoid wasting energy thinking about things he can't handle right now. Sasuke pushes past the fog clouding his mind to dredge up the protocols taught in the Academy. Following extermination of a Hollow, locate any nearby spirits and perform Konso. Secure any mortal witnesses and deal with damage to the premises appropriately.
He would need to alter the memories of any nearby civilians and perhaps this human– what did he say his name was again? In the spur of the moment, all Sasuke had managed to remember was some ramen topping. Surely he'd misheard over the clamor from the Hollow's rampage.
Sasuke swallows dryly as he reorganizes his thoughts. Now that he is unable to access his power, he can't complete his mission. Furthermore, giving a human the powers of a Shinigami was certain to get him into trouble, so he needed to process this matter carefully. Messing with this boy's memories could prove to be a hasty move before he's planned out what to do next.
He turns his head, intending to peer at the newly minted Shinigami, when his whole body shudders, forcing him to gasp for breath.
The boy shoves his face too close for Sasuke's comfort, obnoxious and loud. "Hey uh, Sasuke? Hey are you going to be alright? Hang in there, I'll fix you up, okay?"
This moron was getting on his last nerve and Sasuke is about to snap at him when he notices what the blond is holding in his hands. "Do you even know what you're doing?" Sasuke scoffed, attempting to hide his relief as the youth deftly produces a roll of bandages and other medical supplies.
"My dad runs a clinic, and I like to help out sometimes! So, don't stress, you couldn't be in better hands." He smiles sunnily, and Sasuke nods limply, grimacing as the disinfectant burned. "Anyway, thanks for helping Momiji! I really owe you. And before, I didn't mean to rush in and get in your way. I just– I don't know, I couldn't stand back you know?"
Sasuke blinks vacantly. His head pounds as he numbly realizes the loss of his power combined with minor blood loss is making him nauseous and dizzy. The boy's hands stop and Sasuke looks up to see his smile droop with the lack of response.
"Hn," he mutters noncommittally.
The blond's smile restores itself merrily and he resumes chattering Sasuke's ear off. "So, how come the moment I stabbed myself I suddenly had a sword? And–"
"Zanpakuto…" Sasuke corrects miserably.
"Yeah, Zanpakuto! And, and my clothes changed like a magical girl anime, and I–" The teen continues on, but all Sasuke can do is groan internally at what a mess he's gotten himself into.
"There! You should be alright now! Do you have a place to stay for the night? Want to sleepover? We have plenty of space in the clinic." He pats Sasuke gently on his uninjured shoulder to get his attention back.
"I mean, you totally saved my life back there, and I want to do anything I can to repay you, Sasuke. I, Uzumaki Naruto, will be forever be in your debt!" He grins and raises his hand in a dramatic thumbs-up pose.
Sasuke's last thought before blacking out is: oh, so, his name really is a ramen topping.
Notes:
Hi,
I'd first like to thank everyone for reading this. This was just a little idea of mine, and I probably won't be following the Bleach plot line exactly. Also, no characters from Bleach will show up. If things go well, this will have many chapters, but I don't exactly have anything solid planned out yet. I'm attempting to write in a way that if you haven't read or watched Bleach, you should still be able to understand. If there are things that are confusing or if I've made any mistakes, please feel free to let me know. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this. :D
- DreadnoughtAqF
