Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach or Naruto. If I do, Snape and Itachi wouldn't have died.
A/N: My grammar might be bad especially the ones in Japanese, I won't be able to judge it correctly so please give me review on it. If anyone want to be my beta, you can PM me. As for the story, there might be some inconsistencies because I wrote this bit by bit when I'm in the mood, so please tell me if you can spot it. And last but not least, please give me better ideas for the title of this story.
Summary: This is HPxBleachxNaruto crossover fanfiction. Naruto was sent to Soul Society after he died because he utilized a Shinigami-related jutsu – not the Shiki Fujin – to kill Madara. Decades after his arrival, he became a shinigami and rose through the rank until he became Captain of the 2nd Division. He left Soul Society centuries after he became a captain because he could no longer ignore the Central 46 corrupted ruling. Around a century after he that, he arrived in Britain and met Severus Snape whom he adopted.
Chapter One: Memories asA Death God
"Hello, my name is Ukitake Juushiro. What is your name?" A white-haired man greeted him with a smile.
He had just step out of the restaurant in the 4th District when the man accosted him. He directed cold blue eyes at the figure in front of him. His eyes observed the man from head to toe and decided to be wary of the deceptively frail figure. He could hear the excited whispers around him and the many pairs of eyes watching him.
"What is a taicho doing here?"
"That is Ukitake-sama, he is so handsome."
"Who is he? That blond?"
His eyes narrowed slightly and his mouth formed a thin line. So, this is a taicho. A quick scan showed a high level of reiatsu, much stronger than any other shinigami he had met before.
"Namikaze Naruto. Is there something you need?"
"Ah, I felt your reiatsu when I passed by the 3rd District. What do you think about enrolling in Shinigami Academy, Namikaze-san?"
His eyes took on a calculating look as he thought about the offer. He could learn the shinigami's skills and integrate it into his past shinobi skills, or the other way around. The downside will be the rules and constrain of being a shinigami. In the end, he deemed the benefit outweigh the loss.
"I will join."
"Good. Just tell the administration that Captain Ukitake recomended you."
"Congratulations on graduating from this institution! Look at the notice board for your division. Each division has different meeting time so be prepared for further notice the day after tomorrow. Dismiss!"
He wait in his seat as other students rushed to the front of the room to search for their name in the long list. He leant his chair back and propped his feet on the desk in front him. His hand rested on the hilt of his zanpakuto – Owatatsumi – and he closed his eyes. The illusion type kido he had cast before he entered the room hiding his presence from others. He had engineered that whole branch of kido by himself as a result of combining reiatsu and genjutsu theory. He used it to avoid the general populace.
It took nearly half an hour for the crowd to recede and only a few stragglers stayed behind to do who-knows-what. He rose from his seat gracefully and went to look for his division assignment. It only took a moment to find his name in the alphabetically ordered list. Beside his name is the kanji of 13th Division. Sigh. And here he was hoping for the 2nd Division, particularly the Onmitsukido.
He went to his favourite clearing at the outskirts of Rukongai. No need to waste training time when he had nothing to do. After all, he wouldn't have much opportunity after officially joining the Gotei 13. Newbie shinigamis tend to be sent on patrol duty.
In the next several hours, the secluded clearing was filled with sound of explosions, soft swishing of metal, and something hitting the woods and ground. At sundown, he stopped what he was doing – experimenting on reiatsu manipulation – and shunpo'ed to the restaurant in the 12th District for something to eat before coming back to his room in the Academy's dormitory.
The next morning, he stayed in his room and slipped into his inner world. Forest of ice greeted him when he opened his eyes. The trees emanated soft blue light that made the whole forest glowed. He strode confidently through the forest until he reached a lake. The water of the lake was dark blue in color with pinpricks of light from the reflection of the sky above.
"Welcome back, Naruto-kun."
He didn't give any reaction if he heard the greeting. A tinkling laugh echoed in the calm breeze and another voice greeted him cheerfully.
"It has been too long since you came here last. Play with me, Naruto-kun."
A third voice chided coldly, "Stop hounding him. He had just arrived."
A rare smile formed on his lips at the familiar bantering. They always do this when he visited but he will never be bored of it. After all, they are a part of his soul – his zanpakuto, Owatatsumi.
At last, he turned around to face the three newcomers. "I'm sorry for not visiting in the past month."
"It's alright. We know you had been busy with the final examination."The owner of the first voice – a beautiful young woman with navy blue, long, wavy hair and eyes of the same shade of blue as her hair – replied in a gentle voice.
"Oh, yes! Congratulations on passing the exams! You are now a shinigami, right?" The childish voice exclaimed happily as the owner – a girl of 5'1 height with light blue bob-cut hair and teal green eyes – enveloped him in a bear hug.
He put an arm around her shoulder and bent down to kiss the top of her head. "Thank you, Uwatsu. Yes, I'm a shinigami now so you can come out and play more often."
The third woman huffed lightly and crossed her arms over her chest. Between the three siblings, this woman looked to be the oldest. Her name was Sokotsu. She had dark blue – nearly black – long straight hair tied in a high ponytail. Her eyes were black as the deepest pit. Her personality was the most complex compared to her sisters. She was cold but caring, sarcastic but honest, merciless but forgiving.
"It means you need more training or you will be dead."
"And for that I need your help. I wish to master bankai within 5 years at most." He stared determinedly into Sokotsu's eyes.
"I'm sure you can do it, Naruto-kun," Nakatsu smiled serenely, "After all, you mastered shikai in our first contact."
"Unlike other shinigamis, your past is unique because you came from different world. What they learn in Soul Society, you have learnt in your human life. Your moral – although not the normally accepted – is unshakable because it had been tested again and again. You understand your reasons in everything you do. That's why you can immediately learn our name." Sokotsu paused for a moment before she said, "I also think you can do it, Namikaze."
His eyebrows raised and he said teasingly, "My, is that a compliment? How kind of you, Sokotsu-san."
Sokotsu's eyes narrowed dangerously and she purred, "That is if you train really, really hard."
The next second, she disappeared from her spot and reappeared behind him with her sword aiming for his neck. The next few hours were spent with blurred movements and screeching of metal against metal. The water of the lake formed all kind of shapes and crashed violently against the shore. The ice covering the surrounding forest join the fray by forming spikes of all sizes that fly in all directions. At a part of the shore not touched by the chaos, one excited girl and one calm young woman sat on a big rock watching the entertainment. The hyperactive one cheered both combatants loudly, adding to the already-loud noise.
Twelve hours training in his inner world only equal to two hours in reality. By the time he returned from his meditation, it was just a little past ten. He spent the rest of the day in the secluded training ground near the academy. He had been trying for years to make fuinjutsu work with reiatsu. He had researched the writings used in several kido spells – usually bakudo. After years of trial and error, he had made several types of tag seals – either time activation or trigger activation. The most recent is stasis seal which can put a body – either animals or humans or shinigami – in stasis state for more or less six hours; it will be really useful when someone need emergency healing with no medic around. His current project is boiling seal which will heat all liquid in the body and cause internal burn, in theory.
Around mid-afternoon, a Hell butterfly informed him of the time and place for tomorrow morning assembly. He only took long enough time to hear the message before returning to his work.
The next day, he woke up with the sun and spent around an hour of meditation – five hours in his inner world – before going to the 13th Division. He arrived half an hour early and decided to doze off while waiting until the others arrive. He chose a tree at the edge of the training ground and sat on one of the thick branches.
"You are early. Namikaze-san, isn't it?" A gentle voice said from below.
He bit back a sigh at the interruption and look at the source warily. He had just closed his eyes and someone disturbed him; it was either an unlucky coincidence or a planned annoyance.
"Is there something you want, Ukitake-taicho?" His tone is dry as the desert in mid-afternoon.
The white-haired captain chuckled and replied, "I only want to greet you, Namikaze-san. It has been a long time since I last saw you."
The last sentence was phrased as a question but he ignored it. "You have greeted me. Are you going to go now?"
If he had look down, he would have seen the rather taken aback look on the captain's face. A slight frown marred the fair face as he look up to where the blond shinigami sat on the tree.
"Do you hate me, Namikaze-san?" The sadness he heard in the usually calm or cheerful voice made him rather curious. After all, they have only met once.
"No. Hate is too strong a word. I just like my peace and quiet." And you disturb it, was implied.
"Ah, I'm sorry."
The next fifteen minutes was spent in blessed silence. Ukitake had taken a seat at the base of the tree. More and more people filtered into the ground; most of them came in group of three or four.
"Namikaze-san?"
"Yes, Ukitake-taicho?"
"Why don't you greet anyone?"
He looked over at the people scattered around the training ground and replied plainly, "No interest."
"Don't you..."
He cut off the question; it was rude but he is quite tired of the question-answer session. "All the new recruits have arrived; are you going to start the meeting?"
"They have? How did you know how much recruits we have?" Hazel eyes looked at him curiously.
His eyes met hazel for a second. "I memorize the list back at the academy. I might not know people personally but I can pair names to faces. You should go now, you might be missed."
Ukitake stood up slowly and looked up at his conversation partner. "Alright. Will we meet again, Namikaze-san?"
He blinked at the shy and hopeful tone and stared blankly at the white-haired captain. "I have been assigned to this division; you are my captain. If you ordered me to come, I will come."
"Oh... I see," he looked to be disappointed at the answer but tried to sound cheerful, "I better go now. See you later, Namikaze-san."
He stared after the captain contemplatively. This is the longest conversation he had had with someone since his death – barring his zanpakuto spirits. Maybe he will seek out his captain in the near future. It might be nice to have someone to talk to that has more brain capacity than a monkey.
He joined the last row of shinigami when the lieutenant called for attention. Ukitake step forward to address the recruits with his usual serene smile.
"Welcome to the 13th Division. This will be your home until you are transferred to another division. From now on, we will be your new family and friends so don't hesitate to ask for help from the senior members."
His hand halted in his writing as he looked up from the papers he had been signing. The knock sounded on his door once again and he called whoever was outside to come in. A young shinigami with shaggy dark brown hair – his mind provided a name to the face, Kitano Akira – shuffled into the room.
"Good evening, Namikaze-fukutaicho," the young man bowed as he uttered his greeting.
He glared at the annoying little bugger and took some satisfaction at the flinch it produced. He had been buried in paperwork since the start of the week – which is four days ago – and it hadn't decreased – if anything, it had increased. Now this boy didn't has the decency to spit out what he had to say and instead waste precious time with pleasantries. The nerve.
"Why are you here, boy?" The tone he used could freeze the Sahara desert.
Kitano stuttered his reply, "Th-The taicho asked for you, N-Namikaze-san."
"Alright. Now go." He turned his attention back to his paperwork.
"Eh? B-but..."
His glare intensified from before and the effect was immediate. Kitano literally ran out of the room. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose after the door had been closed and he was alone again. His eyes were tired from all the dry words he had to read; might as well see what his captain wanted with him.
The next second, the room was empty.
It only took a minute to reach Ugendo where he sensed Ukitake's reiatsu. People bowed as he passed through the silent halls. He knocked lightly on the door of Ukitake's personal chamber. The door opened to reveal the very person he was searching – whom should be resting in bed.
A scowl marred his feature. "Where are your servants? You should be resting which is the reason I took over your works."
"Are you worried about me, Namikaze-kun?" There was a definite teasing quality to his voice. "I have been sleeping for the past week and this morning I felt more energized."
"Your healer ordered you to rest for a full week and this is only the fifth day. Now, get back inside and lie down."
He ushered the older shinigami into the futon and pulled the thick blanket over him. He spent the next fifteen minutes making some tea in the kitchenette.
"This is too warm, Namikaze-kun. Can I just forgo the blanket?"
"Like you will listen if I forbid you."
"Of course I will listen. I just won't follow it."
He sighed inaudibly at the expected response. They had repeated this so many times. He brought the tea set to the low table beside the futon and sat down cross-legged facing his – currently sitting – captain. He offered a teacup at the frail looking man while sipping delicately from the other.
"Why did you call me here? You know I have been busy with the paperwork, especially after the fiasco with 11th Division."
Ukitake lowered his teacup and stared into his cerulean eyes. "You know about the 2nd Division captain's retirement, right?"
"Ah, that old Shihoin Yoruaki. Yes, I have heard from the gossip mill," he answered wryly.
"Well, you see..." The words trailed of as Ukitake looked away from him guiltily.
His eyes narrowed marginally at that reaction. "What did you do taicho?" The tone he used is deceptively calm.
"Eh, um...," Ukitake took a fortifying breath. He was pretty sure his fukutaicho was going to kill him for this. "I recommended you to the Shotaicho."
Saphire blue eyes glinted dangerously in the dim lighting of the room as he replied softly, "I see. When do I meet the Shotaicho?"
Ukitake flinched at the silent anger emanating from the man in front of him. This is the first time he was in the receiving end of that look. He could sympathize with his division members who usually received that look on a regular basis. No wonder many of them end up in tears.
"I'm sorry, Namikaze-kun," Ukitake looked at him pleadingly, "You are my best choice."
"When will I be tested, taicho?" He deliberately ignored the apology.
Ukitake sighed sadly but answered the question, "Three days from now at 10 in the morning. Genryusai-sensei wanted to fill in the position as soon as possible. You are to meet him in his office."
"Thank you for the information, taicho."
Ukitake looked down at his blanket-covered lap and closed his eyes when Naruto got up and brought back the tea set to the kitchenette. However, he is unprepared when a warm, calloused hand tilted his chin gently and soft lips brushed a kiss on his forehead. His eyes clashed with twin pools of cerulean.
"That expression doesn't suit you, taicho. You did your duty as captain of the Gotei13. I'm just a little angry but I don't hate you. Give me a day and I will be back to normal."
The soft, soothing voice calmed his distraught mind. His lips formed a smile and he was sure his eyes were glowing with hope. His blond lieutenant had always been able to reassure him when he was upset. The quiet presence and smooth voice always pacified him.
"If you become captain of the 2nd Division, will you still come to see me?"
Naruto gave him a look that clearly stated 'You are an idiot' and scoffed lightly, but he answered nonetheless. "Of course I will. Don't tell me you are stressing over that until you become ill."
The slight wince confirmed that statement. He patted the white head one last time and rose from his bent over position. He uttered a short goodbye before leaving the room.
The training ground is empty barring the four figures at the center. Three of them were wearing the white haori of the captain of Gotei13, and the last one was wearing the standard shinigami garb with a wooden badge – painted with a black snowdrop – tied around his left arm. The captains are the Shotaicho himself, Ginrei Kuchiki, Captain of the 6th Division, and Kyoraku Shunsui, Captain of the 8th Division.
"You have passed the other tests satisfactorily, Namikaze-fukutaicho. Now, please show us your bankai." The Shotaicho commanded, his – usually closed – eyes opening slightly.
"Yes, Shotaicho." His hand touched the hilt of his sword. "Bankai: Owatatsumi no Sanjin. Kesshō-ka shita ekitai no keimusho (Prison of Crystallize Liquid)."
In a split second, the whole training ground is covered in ice; the ground where they stood to the corps of trees surrounding it. The temperature dropped sharply causing all three captains to shiver slightly even with their reiatsu protecting them. A dark shape – only a shade darker than the ice surrounding it – moved fluidly inside the ice. Part of it broke free from the icy surface and wound loosely around its partner. The ice dragon stared at the two captains with its light blue eyes.
"Is this enough?" The cool voice broke through the silent clearing.
Ginrei gave a curt nod.
Kyoraku looked at him with serious, calculating eyes before he smiled in his usual laid back way. "Well, that is definitely enough. Right, sensei? Juushiro chose wisely."
Shotaicho hummed in agreement and announced, "Congratulations, Namikaze Naruto, Captain of the 2nd Division and Soshireikan of the Onmitsukido!"
Naruto nodded in acknowledgement. "Thank you, Yamamoto-shotaicho and Kyoraku-taicho."
"Call me Shunsui. You are a fellow captain now so we are equals," Kyoraku slapped him on the back, "Now we should celebrate! We can invite Juushiro and the other captains to Rukongai with us, I know a good place for a drink."
"Ukitake-taicho is forbidden from taking any kind of alcohol," he replied automatically.
Kyoraku stared at him with wide eyes as realization dawned in him. "You are the overprotective, stubborn blond," he exclaimed.
At Naruto's frosty, inquisitive stare Kyoraku stammered slightly, "Ehh... Those are his words, not mine!"
"Are we finished here?" Naruto directed the question at the Shotaicho.
After a short instruction to attend the captain meeting tomorrow morning at 10, Naruto took his leave and shunpo to his soon-to-be-vacant office.
"Have you heard? The quincy have been wiped out. The Central 46 ordered the massacre because they were destroying the balance."
"Finally. They are menace."
As he walked through Seireitei to reach the 1st Division, shinigamis whispered the same topic. He locked away his disgust and regret to the deep corner of his mind. If his expression was colder and his eyes were darker than usual, no one noticed it.
He requested to meet the Shotaicho and the Lieutenant immediately ushered him into the office. Inside, Juushiro and Shunsui were arguing with the Shotaicho but they immediately ceased when he enters. He acknowledged their greetings with a curt nod.
"What bring you here, Captain Namikaze?" Yamamoto sighed heavily. He could guess the blond taicho's reason for coming which is most probably the same as his former students'.
"I wish to retire from my position," Naruto replied calmly.
Three pairs of shocked eyes were directed at him but he brushed it off easily. He stared unwaveringly at his superior.
"Is this because of the Quincy massacre, Naruto-kun?" Juushiro asked him sadly.
He gave no respond to that obvious question and his silence is confirmation enough. Juushiro pleaded with him not to leave his position but he refused. After a few minutes, the Shotaicho finally asked for his reasons.
Naruto was silent for a moment before he recited wistfully the words Nagato had said to him a long time ago, "We are both but men, driven to seek vengeance under the banner of justice. However, if there is justice in vengeance, then justice will breed only more vengeance... thus forging more links in a chain of hatred" His eyes and his tone sharpen as he continued, "Someone told me that long ago and I have to agree with him. This massacre... the survivors will seek revenge on us. Of that I have no doubt. For this, I don't agree with the Central 46. Actually, I didn't agree with a lot of their decision, but this is the limit. They are just a bunch of arrogant snobs who have never lift a finger to fight, and they ordered us to fight, kill, and die like we are their puppets."
His voice was a deadly hiss when he reached the end of his tirade, and the office was silent as a grave as the other occupants processed his words. Juushiro grimaced at the truth in his statements, Kyoraku had a contemplative gleam in his eyes, and Genryusai stared at him with a solemn expression.
A heavy sigh escaped Genryusai's lips as his shoulders drooped and he looked like his years had catched up to him. "I accept your resignation, Namikaze-taicho. I will prepare the paperwork for your discharge."