Story: No Hollow Heart
Author: life is short so am I
Rating: T
Genre: Adventure, angst, humor, hurt/comfort, family, romance and friendship
Chapter: Death
Warning: Fem!Naruto
Pairings: Naruto/Jūshirō, Ichigo/Rukia, others
Author's Note: Eh, I know it's a little weird. But, hey, this is fanfiction. It's made up of weird stuff.
Summary: The Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto, was the first go die. She is also the first to Hollowfy, and after a mere two weeks, she is gone from their massacred village. A million years later, she sits back, chills, and sometimes lends a helping hand to her ridiculous little godson, Ichigo.
Disclaimer: Neither Naruto or Bleach is mine.
Her last words, before the whole village is massacred by invisible beings, were, "There's something here."
1,500,000 years ago
Naruto studied her reflection. She didn't look all that different from before she died. Her hair was still long, spiky, and vibrantly red. She still had whisker marks across both of her cheeks, and she still looked her 24 years of age. It was the differences that made her upset though. There was a white mask on her face, and it had been there ever since she had appeared in this world. In death. In Hueco Mundo.
The mask covered her left eye, and it reminded her of Kurama because of the ear that travelled past her head. Behind behind the mask, the only thing that was visible of Naruto's eye was a blood red orb. While her right eye was still the same shade of blue that it had been in life, both of her pupils were now slit, like they had been when she tapped into Kurama's power. When she was alive. Before her village had been destroyed, just a few weeks ago. Before her family had been killed by those… by those Hollows. By those monsters that had only turned visible after she had died, and had stayed visible as they massacred her village, leaving her watching, helpless.
By the monster that she had now become, after her death.
A Hollow, the only option for afterlife that anybody got. She was a Hollow, a monster. A demon like everybody had accused her of being when she was a child. She was like that monster that tore through her village, destroying everything that she had worked so hard for. The Hokage monument, the buildings, the forests. Her family. Her husband, Hinata. Her children, Boruto and Himawari. Her best friends, Sasuke and Sakura. Her comrades and her friends, her whole village. All the people she had fought so hard to protect. All gone. Dead.
Her Reiatsu reacted to her emotions, and the mirror shattered.
Grief broke through her self-hatred, and tears started streaming down from her right eye.
After a moment, they slid out from underneath her mask as well.
2500 years ago
Uzumaki Naruto hated Hueco Mundo. It was always so dull, gray, sandy, and the sun never showed itself. Even fighting the Hollows had lost its appeal after a while, because they were so weak that it was pathetic. The only good thing about Hueco Mundo was that it was where her fellow Jinchūriki resided most of their time, so she always knew she could find them there if she wanted a real fight.
No, Naruto liked the Soul Society much more than Hueco Mundo, even with all it's faults. Though her view might be slightly biased, as she was the one to help the Soul King create the existence of Shinigami, along with the Soul Society.
She was pretty proud of her brain child. Soul Society had been around for over 2000 years now, longer than many other civilizations that Naruto had known of. And the best part about the Seireitei was that the people here reacted perfectly to her pranks!
Naruto tucked her hands behind her head as she walked along a rather deserted street of the Seireitei. She was using a Henge to hide her Hollow mask as to make sure there wasn't a mass panic on the streets.
Naruto grinned when she spotted a family of three. A little boy with white hair who didn't look any more than three years old (it was hard to tell. People aged differently in death; just look at Naruto. She didn't look a day older than 24, the age that she died) was sitting on a bench in between his mother and his father. Her grin faded when she realized that there was something wrong; the boy with the white hair seemed to be trying to comfort his parents, but tears were falling from his eyes as well.
The boy suddenly burst into a fit of harsh coughs, and he raised his hands to cover his mouth weakly. Both of his parents jumped to help him, his mother running her hands through his hair, and his father rubbing his back. When the boy stopped coughing and pulled his hands away from his mouth, they were covered in blood.
Naruto bit her lip, then made a decision. She walked up to the family, and stood in front of the boy. He took immediate notice of her presence, and he looked up at her with hazel eyes shining with tears. He quickly turned to his dad, and tapped him on his knee. The father looked up sharply at Naruto and stood up.
"I see you're upset. Is there anything that I could do to help?" Naruto asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Oh," the mother said, finally noticing Naruto. She wiped away her tears, and rose off the bench to stand beside her husband. The little boy remained seated, "How kind of you to ask, but I doubt there is anything that you could do."
"Our boy here is sick," the father said, disregarding his wife's words, "And all the doctors have turned us away, saying that there was nothing that they could do."
The mother's eyes flashed, and she turned to glare at her husband. He simply shook his head, and quietly told her, "You never know, honey. This woman could be a brilliant healer."
The little boy, who had been quiet through the whole conversation blinked up at Naruto, "I am Ukitake Jūshirō. What's your name?"
Naruto simply grinned again, "Aren't you a cutie, Jūshirō-kun. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, prankster extraordinaire! And, I do happen to know a sufficient amount about healing, if you would let me have a look."
The kid's - Jūshirō's, Naruto reminded herself - eyes lit up with something akin to hope, but the mother warned, "Don't get your hopes up too high, the best doctors in the Seireitei couldn't even cure you, sweetie. Now, do not give me that look," she scolded her husband and her child in response to their stares, "I am just trying to be realistic."
"You are giving up," Jūshirō said, with a slight frown, and a disheartened look in his eyes, "It is ok mommy, it won't hurt anyone if she just took a look."
His mother softened, and a small smile grew on her face, "No, of course not sweetie. And I have not given up at all, we have one more option if this does not work," she and her husband traded looks, and he quirked a smile at her.
"You're decided then?" Naruto asked, interrupting their moment.
The mother cast a hesitant look at her child, but the father cast away all of her doubts, and gave her a kind smile, "Yes, that would be very helpful, thank you."
Naruto gave them a full blown smile, showing off her sharp looking canines, "Perfect," to Jūshirō, she said, "If you could lie down please."
"Now wait a moment," the mother objected, and Naruto inwardly rolled her eyes. The woman, though she seemed kind, was starting to get on her nerves. She blew out a breath, and tried to understand that the mother was just looking out for her child, "You want him to just lie down on the streets? Do you know how many people-"
"Honey," the husband said, exasperated, "She is trying to help. Stop your nitpicking and let her."
"This will only take a moment," Naruto assured, "You can lie down on the bench, if you'd like."
The kid did just that, and Naruto knelt on the ground beside him. It had been many, many years since her death, and Naruto had gained more control over her immense Reiatsu than she ever had over her Chakra.
She placed her hands a few inches above the boy's torso, and closed her eyes. Her hands started to glow a soft green. Naruto wasn't trying to heal him, she wasn't good enough at any of that medical shit to heal any fatal diseases. Diagnosing the problem, though, she could do easily. The green glow faded after a moment, and Naruto sat back on her heels and frowned. The boy sat up from his lying position, fiddling with his pants nervously.
"You have lung cancer," Naruto said, a displeased frown on her face.
"Lung cancer?" Jūshirō tilted his small head to the side in question.
"What is lung cancer?" the father questioned, placing a protective hand on the boy's head.
"Lung cancer is a very deadly disease," Naruto said, her brows furrowing, "I haven't really took the time to memorize all of it's symptoms, but I know they include coughing, loss of weight, and pain in the chest. If you're really unlucky, it can spread to the other parts of your body."
The mother let out a wail and picked up her son, cradling him close to her chest, "My baby boy," she cried. The father stood there, frozen in shock. Jūshirō's eyes were wide with fear, and he looked helplessly at Naruto.
"Now hold on a moment, don't you start grieving, he's not dead yet," Naruto said, annoyance seeping in. She caught Jūshirō's eye and gave him a reassuring smile, "I didn't say that the cancer spread, and I didn't say that I couldn't heal it."
"You mean it?" Jūshirō asked, his voice disbelieving, "You can heal me?"
A fond smile grew over Naruto's face, and she jumped up to give them her good guy pose, "You bet it, 'ttebayo!"
The mother set Jūshirō down and then pulled Naruto into a tight hug, "Thank you," she sobbed. Surprised by her actions, Naruto let out a shocked squeak. Her shock grew tenfold when the father wrapped his arms around both of them, and when Jūshirō joined in, hugging Naruto's legs.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" the small boy chanted.
"Okay, okay," Naruto laughed, "You can let me go now, it's no problem!"
"You just told us that you're going to save my boy's life," the father said, looking her in the eyes, "There is nothing I can do to repay this debt."
"Oh, no, no!" Naruto said, rubbing the back of her neck, "You don't have to owe me anything!"
"Really?" the mother questioned, "As much as I appreciate this, you're just going to do this out of the good of your own heart?"
Naruto smiled awkwardly, "Sure. There's nothing that you could give me that I would want anyways."
Jūshirō smiled happily, and held out his arms to her. Naruto's eyes softened. She loved children, but it had been so long since she had seen her own. They had died with the village when the Hollows massacred it, and she had never seen them again.
She picked the boy up, and smiled at him. He wrapped his small, frail, arms around her her neck in a hug, "Thank you," he whispered, his small voice sincere.
"Yeah, yeah," Naruto grinned, "Now, let's get this healing process on the road," she set Jūshirō down on the bench, "Now, this won't take long at all, I use special techniques that will take most of his sickness away."
"Most of it?" the Mother asked, her brow furrowing in worry.
"Yes, most of it," Naruto nodded, "It will stop the disease from being fatal, but you will still have some leftover symptoms. Don't worry though," she assured to their worried looks, "They won't be as severe as they are now. It is likely that you will only retain the coughs, but to a lesser degree."
Jūshirō chewed the inside of his cheek but nodded along with what she was saying.
"Now, I need you to lift up your shirt so that I can reach your lungs," Naruto said as she pulled an inkwell and and ink brush out of nowhere.
The young boy pulled up his shirt to his chin, "This will tickle a little, but I want you to stay perfectly still, okay?" Naruto asked.
"Kay," Jūshirō said, determination filling his eyes.
Naruto quickly drew a sequence of detailed out on his chest. Jūshirō tensed up, and bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Once she was finished, Naruto calmly placed her brush and the inkwell on the ground beside her.
"Once I activate this, it will hurt," she warned.
Jūshirō reached for his parents, and each of them grabbed his hands, "M'scared," he mumbled.
"Hey, hey," Naruto said, "It's alright, this will take away all of the pain that you feel, and you'll be better. It doesn't even hurt that much. It hurts a lot less than breaking a bone would."
Jūshirō looked at her with wide eyes, "Promise?"
"I swear it," Naruto grinned, "And Uzumaki Naruto never breaks her promise!"
Jūshirō nodded, his resolve thickening, "Okay! Do it!"
Naruto activated the seal, and Jūshirō squeezed his eyes shut to block out the pain. His grip on his parents hands tightened.
After a minute the pain faded, the the boy opened his eyes, "I felt," his words faltered as he let go of his parents hands and pressed both hands to the spot where the seal had been, "Where did it go?"
The paper of the seal was gone, leaving only the mark, the black of the ink contrasting against the boy's pale skin.
"There," Naruto said proudly, "It's all over."
Jūshirō blinked weakly up at her. His mother knelt before him and cupped his face, "You are all better," she laughed.
The father stood up, and addressing Naruto, he bowed deeply, "Thank you for saving my son, Naruto-san. The Ukitake Clan is in your debt."
Naruto waved her hands in denial, "No, no no! No debts! You can pay off your debt by not have a debt to me!"
"Just the same," the mother said, giving her a small bow, much to Naruto's dismay, "We will always remember this."
"It was no problem," Naruto said sheepishly. Honestly, if everybody was going to keep make such a big fuss whenever she did something nice for free, she would stop going around saving people's lives, "You don't have to thank me, honest."
"You saved my life," Jūshirō declared, "Of course I have to thank you."
Naruto sent him a betrayed look, "Not you too, Jūshirō-kun!"
Jūshirō just grinned at her.
2000 years ago
Ukitake Jūshirō decided that Kyōraku Shunsui was possibly the most annoying person he had ever met. He also happened to be the bestest friend that he had ever had. While Jūshirō was wildly popular at the academy, nobody was as close to him as Shunsui. Nobody pushed his limits quite like him either.
Take now for example. Shunsui was dragging Jūshirō behind him as they ran away from old man Yamamoto, the Shinigami who created the academy. They had both successfully pulled off a prank on him, something that had been rumored impossible by their fellow students at the academy. Shunsui had wanted to prove them wrong, so here they were.
Shunsui let out a laugh, wild and exuberant, and Jūshirō felt the corners of his lips twitching up, despite his fears of the old man catching them.
"This way," Shunsui urged, rounding around corner sharply, then herding him into an alcove right beyond the corner. They had both used a Kidō spell to hide their Reiatsu, so the old man ran straight past them, as they were hidden from sight. As the old man rushed past them, the bright pink wig they had glued to his head waved behind him.
A snicker came from behind them, and both Shunsui and Jūshirō jumped and spun around, because the snicker was decidedly female, which neither Shunsui or Jūshirō were thank you very much.
"Were you the ones that glued that wig on his head?" the girl - woman, really, she looked to be in her twenties, but then again, looks could be deceptive in the Seireitei - giggled.
She had the academy's female uniform, but Jūshirō had never seen her before, and he knew most of the students at the school. But even if he didn't know her, than Shunsui undoubtedly did, because he knew all the female students at the school.
Before Shunsui even had time to open his mouth, Jūshirō knew that he was going to flirt with the woman, beautiful as she was. She reminded him of someone, though he couldn't quite remember who. The name was on the tip of his tongue…
"So, I haven't seen you around," Shunsui said, smiling flirtatiously, "I'm Shunsui, Kyōraku Shunsui, and this is my friend Ukitake Jūshirō. Are you new here? I would be glad to show you the ropes."
The woman stared at him like she had never been flirted with before, which Jūshirō thought unlikely. She blinked, and cocked her head to the side in confusion, "I am not a student at this school," she said slowly, "I'm just wearing the uniform so I can prank the old guy."
"You are not a student here?" Jūshirō asked, "But why would you go through all the trouble to steal a uniform just to prank old man Yamamoto?"
"It's something of a game we have," she explained patiently, her blue eyes sparkling mischievously, "I drive him to the brink of insanity, he attempts to kill me, then the cycle restarts."
Jūshirō and Shunsui traded looks, then stared at her in abject horror. Yamamoto Genrūsai was one of the strongest Shinigami that the Seireitei had to offer, and this woman said that she had him trying to kill her like it was nothing.
"...what?" Shunsui wondered.
"His reactions are always so funny," the woman giggled, like him trying to kill her was nothing but a funny reaction, "He always gets so mad when I sneak into the Seireitei - oops. I wasn't supposed to say that."
"Sneak into the Seireitei?" Jūshirō frowned, "Are you not a Shinigami?"
Jūshirō and Shunsui's eyes sharpened on her, their hands moving to their Zanpakuto. If she didn't belong in the Seireitei, then she was obviously an enemy of it.
The woman noticed their movements and frowned, "Please, it's not like I'm hurting anybody. And not even the shitty old geezer can take me down. What makes you think that you, academy students can?"
"We can try," Shunsui growled, all traces of his good humor gone. Neither of the boys had unlocked their Zanpakuto, but they would fight with all that they had.
"There you are!" the old man shouted, having had finally found them, and he was trembling with fury. The two boys started, but their eyes did not leave the enemy, "Do you think that - you," he hissed, noticing the woman. She grinned and gave him a two fingered wave.
She allowed her henge to drop, revealing her Hollow mask. Shunsui and Jūshirō's jaws dropped in shock.
"Hiya, Jiji!" she chirped.
"I am not your grandfather!" he snarled, "How dare you address me in such an informal manner, Hollow!"
"Hm, true, I am older than you," the woman mused, "I guess I'll just have to find a better nickname for you then," she turned her gaze onto Jūshirō, "Ukitake Jūshirō, is your name, correct?"
"What interest do you have with my student?" Yamamoto spat.
"I hope your lungs are feeling better," she grinned, ignoring Yamamoto, which angered him even more, "I hadn't used that seal many times before, so it was a bit of a prototype. I'm glad to see that you haven't died."
Jūshirō furrowed his brows in confusion, and Shunsui whispered, "Jūshirō, what is she talking about?"
"How would you know about my lungs?" he demanded. His eyes widened as realization struck him, "Unless… it can't be. You're the woman who healed me?"
She gave him a smile so wide that she had to close her eyes to accommodate it, "Uzumaki Naruto, in the flesh!"
"But - but you can't be her," Jūshirō cried in disbelief, "You're a Hollow! She was so kind that day, she saved my life and didn't expect any payment! That is not what Hollows do!"
"Yeah, well," Naruto shrugged, carelessly folding her hands behind her head, "I've never really been what people call 'normal'. Stuff like that is way too boring."
"Enough talking, Hollow," Yamamoto snarled, "You are a menace to society, and I can no longer allow you to live. Today is the day I exterminate you."
"Ooh, we're going to the big words now, are we?" Naruto taunted, "Are you going to take off your shirt to battle me again?" her voice became annoyingly high pitched, and she fluttered her eyelashes at him.
One second they were there, and the next, they had disappeared. Jūshirō and Shunsui traded looks, then sprinted off towards the highest spiritual energy they could sense. It was the old man's, but he was undoubtedly battling with the hollow from the way that his spiritual energy was fluxing.
The two Shinigami in training arrived on the scene to see Naruto dancing around the old man. Or, at least, he appeared to be the old man. He had blindingly orange skin, his beard was dyed bright neon green and his clothes had been substituted for a frilly blue dress. The man was a beacon. Shunsui had to struggle to keep from laughing, and even Jūshirō felt his lips fighting away a smile.
The hollow glanced at them. "Oh hey! What took you so long?" She complained. "You really need to relearn the shunpo if that's the fasted that you could get here."
"If you're a hollow then why did you heal me?" Jūshirō demanded.
Naruto turned her full attention on to him, smiling. "Why would I need a reason to heal anybody? You were a little boy and you were dying. I saved you. Is that not what anybody else would have done?"
"Yes, but you're a hollow," Jūshirō stressed.
Naruto shrugged. "If one get's to be a high level hollow, they get their personalities back. I'm not a mindless soul eating machine like the hollow's that you've encountered."
Jūshirō's hardened expression wavered. He knew all about hollow evolution, but he had never heard what she was telling him about regaining personalities.
Beside him, Shunsui tilted his head to the side. "Just for the sake of argument, why should we believe you over the Shinigami?"
Naruto grinned at them. "Has your Shinigami ever had a conversation with high leveled hollows before? No, they try to kill us and we defend ourselves or become very unimpressed and leave." Right before disappearing, she winked and said, "Think about it."
Just as Naruto disappeared, Yamamoto's zanpakuto cut through the air she was just occupating.
Jūshirō could swear that he heard the faint sounds of impish laughter carried by the wind.