"Nya" Normal speech.

"Nya" Kido, spells, etc.

Nya Thoughts and Jinchuuriki talking to host.

Nya Kyubi talking.

Nya Kyubi thinking.

Revised chapter.


Paths to my Soul

Chapter 1. Living Death

"Live as you would have wished to live when you are dying."


Last time:

"We are aware of how things go in the Elemental Nations, so of course I do know what you're talking about." The kid said. "We are shinigami after all."

Naruto blinked. Shinigami? But she thought the shinigami was that monster-looking thingy. Very creepy and all that crap. She shrugged and sighed. There went her blissful and peaceful afterlife.

"Meet you on the other side." She only smiled as he tapped the end of his sword's hilt to her forehead.


Naruto blinked.

Huh?

One moment she was in the middle of a godforsaken forest near Ame and next she was in a street with plenty of people in it. Had she gone nuts? Probably.

She also noticed that she no longer wore an ANBU armor, nor the dirty white cloak that marked her as a taichou. Sadly her kitsune mask had disappeared too. She was wearing a plain white yukata. Her knee-length hair pulled in a tight bun, like it had been before. The Shodaime's necklace still hanging from her neck. She wondered how the hell did it stick to her even trough death.

Naruto blinked.

Did I change my clothes somewhere?

"Oi, Namikaze!" the whiskered girl turned around to face… "Shiro-chan!"

Hitsugaya's left eye started to twitch. "It's Hitsugaya-taichou!"

He started walking and the blonde followed him. Really, the boy had some issues, but oh well. Shinobi were pretty messed up too, so who cared?

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say." She rolled her eyes. "So, where am I?" The blonde looked around, this place wasn't that nice, but she had seen worse in war. People looked sad, some wandered aimlessly.

"This is the Rukongai, where souls with no reiatsu live."

Naruto blinked.

"Rei-what?"

"Reiatsu. Spiritual energy, it ables you to become a shinigami." He explained.

I think reiatsu is the particle-thing we saw earlier, from what I know they use it like we use chakra. I don't think that would be difficult to you, oh high-and-mighty ANBU Commander of Konohagakure.

Kyu?

Yes?

Shut up.

"Ooh. I get it." A disbelieving snort came from the deeps of her mind. She ignored it.

"So, do I get to become a shinigami?" she asked him.

"Well, yes." He answered. "But you have to go through the Shinigami Academy." He answered and stopped walking noticing that the whiskered girl wasn't following.

"The Academy you say…?" she was wide-eyed. "Why me? I've already gone through an Academy, I don't want another!" she started mumbling incoherent things about a pink-haired bookworm, a brooding emo, a Mizuki-sensei and a…

"Dolphin?" the white haired taichou asked.

"Huh?" she turned towards him. "Oh yeah! You mean Iruka-sensei, he was my teacher back in the Academy, kinda like the mother-hennish big bro I never had."

Hitsugaya sweatdropped. He really didn't want to know.

That Dolphin of yours was scary; I remember when you put glue on Mizuki-teme's chair, hohoho that was fun. But the punishment later wasn't that pleasurable.

The big demon shuddered at the tought of cleaning the Academy's toilets.

Scary.

Naruto grimaced at the memory. The Academy's toilets were pretty messy. Ugh. Bad memories. Bad, bad Naruto.

"Huh, well first of all Yamamoto-sotaichou wants to see you." Toushiro said sighing. He didn't understand why the sotaichou himself wanted to see the girl, but orders were orders. He knew the blonde had been powerful in life, but what if that wasn't so in death? She was like every other new shinigami recruit.

"And who is that?" she asked, tilting her head.

"He's the oldest among us and the most powerful shinigami of Seiterei, you should be respectful towards him."

Naruto snorted inwardly. She had never been respectful before, no need to be now. After all she called the Sandaime, known as The Professor, Jiji, the Godaime, one of the Sannin, Baba and Jiraiya was ero-sennin. The blonde rolled her eyes.

When they entered in the Seireitei Hitsugaya explained to her that there were thirteen divisions. Some where specialized and some others not.

"For example the Fourth division is specialized in healing. The Eleventh is focused on fighting, the Second is for stealth and special missions, and so on."

"You said you were a taichou right?" Hitsugaya nodded.

"Each division has a taichou and a fukutaichou, then there are the seated officers and the plain shinigami." The white-haired taichou explained.

Naruto nodded.

So if I enter a division, where would I go…?

The Eleventh, definitely.

I'm not that of a berserk, Kyu…

Liar. When you go berserk it's almost as scarier as me. The demon chuckled in amusement.

The girl puffed her cheeks in denial. It was true that sometimes she lost it, but well, most shinobi did at some point. Fine, hers were quite frequent, but it wasn't that bad.

You went four tails because of Orochimaru, kit.

Because he was talking about Sasuke as if he was a possession!

You went one tail because of Sasuke.

I had to bring him back.

Dead? You could've beaten him, and you know it.

I promised Sakura-chan.

You could've been so much more.

You wanted me to be so much more, I was happy.

You went eight tails with Pain.

I regained control, Kyu.

Pity.

They stopped before a big, white double door. The building was gigantic, but boring. Why white? It was the colour of death but it was quite redundant, really.

The white-haired shinigami turned to look at her. Now that he had time he examined her. She was short, for a girl; even so her legs were long. When he had found her she didn't have that much… chest. He twitched. She must've had it squished in bandages or something like that. Overall she looked flexible and fast. He wasn't so sure about physical strength.

"When you pass this door you are going to meet all the taichou and their respective fukutaichou, so be respectful—"

"Yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever chibigami."

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Hitsugaya bristled looking like an angry cat.

She arched an elegant eyebrow. "Are you going to open the door or what?"

The boy's eye twitched but he opened the doors. He stepped forwards indicating to the jinchuuriki to follow him. She looked around, making mental notes about the people surrounding her.

All the taichou wore a white haori, like the chibigami, but some had long sleeves and other styles. The fukutaichou, she assumed, were behind his respective taichou, wearing some sort of bandana on their arms indicating their division.

A deep, old voice broke the silence.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, you were expected earlier."

Naruto focused on the direction of the voice. A very, very, very old man was sitting in front of her; he had a long, long, long beard.

Naruto blinked.

And the old man is the most powerful shinigami in Soul Society?

He's strong kit, not as strong as me of course, that's impossible. And I'm handsomer and—

Kyu.

Yes?

Shut up.

The most fearsome demon lord in the world pouted.

Meanie!

She ignored him. It did well to her sanity and overall mental stability.

"I am sorry Yamamoto-sotaichou. A Menos Grande appeared when I was going to perform the konso."

Whispers expanded into the room.

Is it that strange? Not like I know a lot about this, but they seem quite surprised.

Well, the Menos Grande was quite big, and radiated a lot of reiatsu, too. I guess it was above average.

Hm.

"Silence." The voices ceased. The old shinigami looked at Naruto. "Your name, girl?"

The jinchuuriki's eye twitched.

Girl? GIRL! I'm not a girl! I'm a woman dammnit!

There, there, kit. No need to be angry. Slip on ANBU-san mask and all will go well.

"Namikaze Naruto." She replied with a voice that could belong to an iceberg. The old man just raised an eyebrow.

"How long were you dead?"

"Since Shiro-chan arrived? About five minutes or so." In his place among the taichou Hitsugaya Toushiro twitched. Damn girl.

"You are interesting little girl—" but Yamamoto-sotaichou was interrupted with the now renewed cold voice of the blonde. Which was quite scary, to be truthful.

"I'm not a little girl." The taichou of the goteijūsantai murmured among them. "Shinobi are considered adults since they reach genin, we are trained to kill, we are trained to die for our Hokage, they train us to be murderers." She breathed deeply. "I have been trough war, I have killed, I have murdered without second thought, we are merciless, we do not have feelings, we torture, and we poison. We are tools of war, old man." She glared. "I hope you understand."

Yamamoto remained still.

"Since I offer respect it would be fair to receive too, Yama-ji." Some of the presents in the room looked disapprovingly at her. "Besides, it's not polite to demand one's name without offering yours first."

To most of the taichou's surprise Yamamoto answered.

"Very well, Namikaze-san. Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai First division taichou." The girl just stared unblinkingly at him. "You are an interesting one." The blonde just raised and eyebrow.

"To be able to attract a Menos Grande in that period of time is unheard of."

"So?" the girl questioned.

"I thought of sending you to the Academy, but first tell me what you can do in combat."

How much to say?

Tell them about taijutsu, kenjutsu, and so. Do not mention fuuinjutsu, just in case.

Thanks, Kyu.

Anything for ya', kit.

The demon gave a mental thumbs up to her. Which looked quite silly on an overgrown red rabbit.

"Well?" Yamamoto was getting impatient.

"I am well trained in taijutsu—" she started but was interrupted by a calm and sugary voice.

"Taijutsu? Care to explain what that is?" she turned her gaze on him. The man was tall, wore glasses and had brown hair and eyes. It looked quite suspicious. Too kind, too sugary, too thoughtful, too polite. She narrowed her eyes.

"It's hand to hand combat…" She didn't know the man's name.

"Sosuke Aizen." He replied.

Such a fake smile.

I don't like him.

Neither do I.

"…Aizen-taichou." She returned her gaze to the sotaichou. "Kenjutsu, which is swordsmanship, and a few things more."

Yamamoto seemed to ponder her answers, knowing that she hadn't said all she knew. Overall she would be a big asset to the shinigami forces, that, he knew.

"Then you shall be trained by one of the fukutaichou for two and a half years, instead of the six years of the Academy."

A shadow moved towards the chair of the sotaichou. Naruto being the decent and capable kunoichi that she was detected the move and adverted her gaze towards it.

"Yamamoto-taichou." The girl's eyes widened at the voice. It…couldn't be…

From the shadows an old man appeared. In front of the jinchuuriki was… the Sandaime Hokage.

"No…" her voice an inaudible whisper.

No, no, no, no, no. Not possible. No, no-

Kit, breathe.

"I wish to teach her in that period of time, if that's possible." The former Hokage requested.

"Why should you be the one that trained her, Sarutobi?" Yamamoto asked.

Naruto's hands were clenching and unclenching at her sides. She couldn't do this, she just couldn't. Her stomach lurched. How could a dead woman's stomach lurch? Did she even have one? Would she need to eat? Her thoughts were random and her emotions swirled around. The ANBU-san mask was falling. That was bad. Very, very bad. It was a disaster. It kept her alive. She needed it.

It… can't be…

Kit, are you all right?

Yes… I think so…

You sure? I'm worried about you, little one.

I'm all right, yes, yes, I'm fine…

The great kitsune, seeing the great distress of his vessel, started to purr. A low, deep purr. The jinchuuriki relaxed a bit. Kyubi's purr had helped her sleep through some hard missions.

"Because I knew her when I was alive." He turned towards her and smiled.

That kind smile that always warmed the whiskered girl's heart. That smile the first day she remembered being in his arms. That smile when he bought her orange jumpsuit. That smile when she was told to hold Konohamaru-kun. That smile when he had enlisted her into the Academy. That smile when she had returned alive with the Forbidden Scroll. That smile when she graduated. That smile when they had had lunch in his office. That smile when she returned alive from that C-rank mission that turned out to be an A-rank one. That smile that he had always had for her.

"Oji-san."


Yes, I do love cliffies 3