HEY EVERYONE, I'm back!
Top of Hokage Monument, Hidden Leaf Village:
"Geez, when is this guy supposed to get here?"
"It's ok Naruto, we still have a few minutes until they are supposed to get here,"
In Naruto's defense, they had been there for almost an hour waiting for this Shonen representative. Gathered atop the Hokage Monument was Team 7, Shikamaru Nara, Hinata Hyuga, Tsunade and Shizune, and several heavily armed Anbu Black-ops agents. With the leaf ninja was the Kazekage and his sister, Gaara and Temari.
Naruto was currently sitting atop an old tree stump next to his fiance Hinata. His outfit had evolved a lot since the days of his orange jumpsuit. He still had the orange pants with his kunai holstered to the thigh, his top however had changed to a black, gray cuffed jacket zipped up with an orange zipper. Wrapped around his neck was a red scarf that Hinata had knit for him. Around his head was a thick hidden leaf headband with his spiky blonde hair growing out of it. It was going to keep it short, but Hinata had said she liked his longer hair.
"I know Hinata," he said smiling, putting his hand into hers, causing her to blush a little at the contact. She still wasn't used to the fact that they were engaged. "But if we know exactly when this guy's gonna come, then why did we show up an hour early?!" He shouted directing his anger at the gray haired man who was leaning against a tree reading his infamous book.
"Now now, Naruto," The man said not even looking up from his book, "Haven't you learned anything from my many lessons of punctuality? You should try to be more like your friends over there," he finished gesturing over to Shikamaru who was attempting to take a nap next to Temari, who seemed to be making it difficult by yelling at him about something. Gaara was meditating under a tree with sand shifting slightly underneath him.
Naruto's teammates and best friends, Sasuke and Sakura, were talking to each other over a lunch that Sakura had made for them both. Sasuke had been back in the Hidden Leaf for two weeks in preparation for the summit, and Sakura hadn't left his side since he arrived, though for once, it didn't seem like the last Uchiha minded.
"How are you even here Kakashi?" Naruto cried indignantly, "Aren't you supposed to be Hokage already? Why are you coming when Tsunade has to stay and work?" Naruto's questions were justified, it had been almost two months since they had received the invitation from Shonen, and one year since the end of the. And in those two months Tsunade had stepped down and appointed Kakashi as the Sixth Hokage. Shortly after Kakashi had officially stated the Naruto will be named the Seventh Hokage when it was the right time.
Kakashi just sighed and before looking up from his book. "Naruto, since this is a peace summit, I need to attend as the leader of the Hidden Leaf. While I'm gone, Lady Tsunade will be acting as Hokage in my absence. I'm sure Gaara-dono is doing the something similar," he said looking towards the red haired ninja. Who simply ignored him and continued to meditate. "And since the other villages are too weakened from the we're going to have to be careful as we'll be two villages representing many, " He reminded the jinchuuriki, before closing his book and looking up. "It's time,"
Just as he spoke a large golden circle appeared in the clearing where they had gathered. From the circle rose a closed set of large red doors with golden trim. The door gave off a bright golden glow before dissipating, leaving just the door.
Silence filled the clearing in anticipation, everyone had stopped what they were doing, standing up and gathering near Kakashi, waiting with baited breath. For a few seconds nothing happened, but soon the doors began to open, a golden light coming from crack.
"Anbu!" Tsunade called out "At the ready!" Naruto noticed that not only the 10 Anbu agents around them had their hands on their weapons, but there were also several other Anbu hidden in the trees around them. His teammates were also on edge. Shikamaru had placed himself under a tree giving him a shadow to work with. Sasuke had his sharingan activated, and even Gaara's gourd had it's cork off. Hinata looked somewhat nervous, and while Temari and Sakura hadn't drawn any weapons, they were both clearly tense. Kakashi seemed to be the only one at ease, giving the door his usual bored look.
Finally the doors opened. Inside, all that could be seen was the same golden light, and from that light a person emerged into the clearing. The first thing Naruto noticed about the person was that they were clearly a female, as well as a warrior.
She was a young woman, maybe a little bit older than Naruto himself, with fair skin and green eyes. Her hair was a sparkling shade of gold, being braided in the back, wrapping around the back of her head. In the front, golden bangs fell over her forehead with two strands framing her face on either side. She wore a long blue and white dress, with shining metal armor plated over her torso and on the side of her legs. She also wore a silver metal gauntlet on each hand.
She stepped out from the doors, her walk was confident, the sound of her metal boots and armor echoed throughout the mountain. Her observant eyes were roamed around the clearing, and Naruto saw her eyes meet every hidden Anbu agent before resting on his. She stared at him for a few seconds before turning towards the rest of the group and bowing.
"Greetings," she said giving a regal bow, "My name is Saber, it is a pleasure to meet you," She spoke with an accent that Naruto didn't recognize, but she spoke very elegantly. "It will be my job to escort you to Shonen, and show you where you'll be staying," She held out an empty hand and a small poof a clipboard and pen appeared in hand. "Before we embark I must record who will be coming,"
Everyone looked towards Kakashi, as he was the mission leader. Kakashi stepped forward and extended his hand towards the woman. "I am Kakashi Hatake, the Sixth Hokage, leader of the Hidden Leaf Village, I will be leading this mission," Saber took his hand in hers and simply nodded before recording his name and rank on the clipboard. Kakashi turned to Naruto, and waved him over. "Now now, everyone, don't be hostile. Come introduce yourselves,"
"Ah," Naruto said before jogging over, dragging Hinata by the hand with him. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, Jounin of the Hidden Leaf, and appointed Seventh Hokage" He said giving a bow to Saber, then gesturing to Hinata, "And this is my fiance,"
Hinata gave a regal bow, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Saber. I am Hinata Hyuuga, heir to Hyuuga clan, ninja of the Hidden Leaf," Saber gave Hinata a soft smile, the first change in her expression since arriving, before going through introductions with the rest of the group.
"While it has been a pleasure meeting all of you," Saber stated before gesturing to the door. "We must leave soon to stay on schedule," She motioned for everyone to walk inside, causing everyone to hesitate a bit, which Saber noticed. "I understand you hesitancy, but we really must get going, or you will miss the first meeting of representatives, which will begin shortly,"
Kakashi nodded before giving some parting words to Tsunade, then made his way through the doors, disappearing, then reappearing a few seconds later sticking his head out of the light. "Come on everybody, it's safe," he said before disappearing back into the door.
Everyone looked between each other before tentatively entering the doors into a brand new world.
"Wowwww, this place is amazing!"
"Deku! Shut the fuck up or I'll kill you!"
"Bakugo! Please watch your language when we're in public,"
"Shut it, foureyes!"
"Midoriya-shounen, please stay close,"
A very loud group was currently making their way through a very large city, drawing odd looks from those nearby. An inflated All Might and a baggy eyed Aizawa walked through the new world of Shonen with eight of their top students trailing behind them. Izuku Midoriya, Bakugou Katsuki, Shouto Todoroki, Momo Yaoyorozu, Uraraka Ochako, Tenya Iida, Tsuyu Asui and Eijirou Kirishima all walked behind their teachers in awe and amazement at the world of Shonen.
They were currently walking down a wide cobblestone road taking in the sites. All around them people of all different shapes and sizes were bustling around them, shopping in the various storefronts around them which sold a wide variety of things from armor and weapons to crepes and parfaits. The store fronts were all very modern looking, with automatic doors and large glass windows outlined by brick. The people wandering around them were all kinds of different races, ranging from people with elven ears, to people with red skin and horns, to people who were three feet tall and purple. And those were just the most common ones that Izuku saw, there were a wide variety of different kinds of people there, children and adult alike. They all had one thing in common though, they all parted ways and bowed for the person leading them to their destination.
Archer. As soon as Izuku saw him, he knew he was a man of great power. His skin was a deep brown which contrasted his short and spiky white hair and gray eyes. He wore a skintight black body armor under a red midriff coat the covered his arms but not his chest. Upon further inspection it seemed to be two seperate sleeves held together by a small metal plate on his back. This paired with the long open red skirt he wore over his black pants gave the illusion that he was wearing a long red cloak. He walked with an air of respect around him, and seemed to have a rather serious personality.
"Ummm, Archer-san?" Ochako nervously asked as she walked directly behind the man in question.
"Just Archer is fine," The warrior responded without turning around.
"Ah, yes. So, Archer," Ochako corrected herself , "Who are all of these people? Do they all live here? How big is this planet exactly?"
Archer finally decided to spare her a look, glancing back at her with a small smile on his face. "You got a lot of questions, don't you?" To which Ochako sputtered out a quick apology.
"That's ok though," he continued turning back, "Questions are good. Gathering information is important, and I suppose it's only natural to have questions at this point," He said before gesturing to the grandiose town around them.
"Shonen is first and foremost the world where those who keep the multiverse in balance can work and live, but it also functions as a safe haven to those whose entire universes have fallen to great calamities, though that happens very rarely due to our efforts," He then motioned his hand towards the scores of people around him, his small smirk returning. "Everyone here who does not directly work for the Shonen Kingdom, most likely is, or is a descendant of refugees from other universes,"
Indeed as the group looked around at the plethora of people around them, you could easily see the signs of difficult times on their faces and bodies. Even some of the younger ones were riddled with scars that everyone there could recognize as battle wounds.
"Kingdom?" Todoroki interjected, "Does that mean it's ruled by a king?"
Archer chuckled to himself a little bit as he shook the hands of some people passing them. "Something like that, I suppose,"
"So, are you like a knight or something?" Kirishima asked excitedly.
Archer paused and held his chin, as if he had never considered it before. "Hmmm, I suppose so," He then laughed as if he found something ironic. "I wonder what Saber would say if I told her I was a knight,"
The white haired man then turned back to Ochako. "As for the size of the planet," he said using air quotes, "Shonen is not exactly a planet. Think of it more of a plain of existence, like a purgatory of sorts. But it is technically a kingdom, and this is it's capital," he stated pointing downward. "It's as big as it needs to be, and resources are limitless due to our access to the multiverse. Though we try not to take from other universes unless we have to. It is our job to maintain balance, not take as we please,"
As they continued to walk towards their destination it was clear that they were making their way towards the edge of the very large city. Ochako, Momo, and Todoroki continued to ask Archer questions while Midoriya jotted down notes on all the things he saw around him while quietly muttering to himself. Bakugo was being uncharacteristically quiet with Kirishima trying to talk to him. All Might was struggling to stay in his inflated form, but nonetheless was having a conversation with Iida and Tsuyu. Aizawa was clearly on edge, ready to fight should the need arise. This continued for a while until they reached their destination.
"Whoaaa!" Kirishima cried out in awe "Look at this place!"
What was in front of them could only be described as a grandiose fantasy castle. It was a massive white stone victorian style building with golden trims and lush green and pink trees scattered throughout the foreground. The structure had several different levels with various golden spires. It was difficult to see just how big the castle was. The castle itself was at the edge of the city right next on the water leading out into what Midoriya could only assume was an ocean or sea from the seabirds flying above and the smell of saltwater.
As everyone stared in awe at the massive building, Archer stopped for the first time since they entered this new world and turned to the group.
"This is where you and all of our other tournament participants will be staying," he said holding his hand out toward the castle. "Tonight we will also have a meeting of leaders. Some have already arrived, and some will arrive shortly. You will be placed in your quarters where you will meet your temporary roommates,"
"Meet our roommates?" Todoroki questioned, "So we won't room with the people we came with?"
Archer nodded. "Yes, we wanted to begin the integration between the worlds as soon as possible,"
"Hold on," Aizawa stated stepping out in front of everyone, "I'm not sure if I'm comfortable having the kids room with complete strangers," his deadpan expression and monotone betrayed just how on edge he really was.
"Of course we understand your concern," Archer stated, before a small magic circle appeared in his hand, before the same clipboard and pen he had used to earlier appeared in his hand with a small poof of smoke. "To prepare for this, we've roomed some of our younger competitors on the same floors as their older chaperones," He then flipped through the papers on the clipboard before finding what he was looking for. "Ah, here we go. Aizawa will be on the same floor and wing as Todoroki, Ochako, and Midoriya, and Tsuyu Asui. The rest will be on the same wing as All Might, one floor up. Will that suffice?"
Aizawa thought for a second before shrugging, "I suppose that's ok,"
"Fantastic." Archer smiled before turning towards the massive golden gates in front of them. A golden magic circle appeared in his hand before the gates swung open.
Sometime later:
"Ummm, hello?" muttered Momo as she stepped into her temporary room, labeled the "Seaside Suite."
The room was very large, with purple carpeting and purple wallpaper with golden seashells patterned on it. There were two queen sized beds with purple linens and golden canopies. In the corner of the room was a small sectioned off kitchen right next to a glass door which opened up to a balcony view of the ocean. The sound of the ocean and water echoed throughout the room. All in all it was closer to a small apartment than a bedroom.
Momo looked around the room, appreciating the accommodations, before placing her bags down and gracefully sitting down on the bed with a sigh of relief. Today and the days leading up it had been very stressful. So much world shattering information to take in, and walking through town with all of her luggage was taxing on her body.
"I guess my roommate isn't here yet," Yaoyorozu said to herself, not seeing anyone else's stuff around the room. "I guess I should-" Momo was interrupted by the sound of a faucet being turned off from the bathroom on the opposite end of the room, surprising her as the sound of the running water had blended in with the sounds of the ocean. Soon the bathroom door opened to reveal to Yaoyorozu a stunningly beautiful and confident woman. Her scarlet red hair was long and strikingly sleek, flowing down her tall, voluptuous figure which was barely covered by the towel wrapped around her body.
"Ahhh," The woman sighed out in relief as she stepped out through the bathroom door, "I really needed that," The woman turned towards bed, presumably to change before noticing that there was already a person sitting on it causing her to stop, something which Momo quickly noticed.
"Oh! Sorry!" Momo flustered, quickly moving to stand from the bed, "I didn't realize there was already somebody here. If you want privacy I can-"
"No, it's quite alright," the red haired beauty said with a smile, before being surrounded by a flash of light. When the light faded the woman was no longer naked, instead she wore a silver body armor that covered her torso, along with matching metal gauntlets, a blue skirt, and black boots. "My name is Erza Scarlet, S-Class Mage of the Fairy Tail Guild. It is a pleasure to meet you,"
Momo stared at her with stars of admiration in her eyes. "I'm Yaoyorozu Momo!" she exclaimed excitedly, "It's very nice to meet you! If you don't mind me asking, how did you change your clothes like that?"
Erza slightly giggled at how excited Momo had gotten, "This is my magic: Requip," Erza held out her hand before the same light flashed again, revealing a short sword. "It allows me to store, and call upon any weapon, armor, or clothing in a pocket dimension," she finished before the sword disappeared from her hand.
If Momo was excited before, she was ecstatic now. By the end of Erza's explanation she had fully stood up from the bed and was quite literally bouncing up and down from one foot to the other. "THAT'S AMAZING!" She loudly exclaimed, "You can really use magic?! What's a guild? How many different armors do you have?"
Erza was taken aback by the many questions but quickly smiled at Momo's bubbly nature. The red haired mage took a seat on the bed and motioned for Yaoyorozu to come sit next to her. Which she excitedly did.
"Fairy Tail is my home and guild," Erza started, "A guild is place where wizards-"
"Wendy! Can we go back inside now?"
"No, I told you Carla," The young dragon slayer replied, "I wanted to explore the castle grounds before everyone else gets here," To be fair to Carla, the two had been walking around the castle grounds for over an hour, and even then they had barely seen half of the castle. The castle for the most part was void of people aside from the servants and a few strange looking people who Wendy had been too scared to try and talk with. At the moment they were walking through the castle's garden, looking at the exotic flowers, gazing out at the ocean and generally trying to enjoy themselves, until they came to a large clearing in the form a meadow. At the centre was a very large sakura tree, at least 8 stories tall with branches easily thick enough to carry people, with vibrant pink and white petals.
"Wahhhh," The sky maiden exclaimed as she saw the beautiful tree, "Carla do you see this? It's so pretty!" Wendy's amazement was short lived however as some movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Quickly moving closer, she could see that there were two kids around her age fighting on the branches of the tree.
The two kids were currently engaged in a heated hand to hand battle. The first child was sickly pale with bright blue eyes. His hair was a spiky white mess, some of it being matted down due to the sweat from his fight. He was wearing a loose white tank top and purple shorts which failed to cover the bruises and scratches on is body. The other child was dressed similarly with a black tank top with green shorts along with green, shin high boots. Like his opponent he was lean and well built, but the similarities ended there. The second fighter had long spiky black hair with green tips and hazel brown eyes, and fought very differently from his opponent.
"C'mon, Gon!" the white haired boy shouted as he back flipped away to dodge a strong kick that the newly named Gon had thrown out. Landing on a higher branch, the boy put his hands together before sparks of electricity began to form on the tips of his fingers before pointing at Gon.
"Narukami!" The boy shouted before a bright blue lightning bolt shot towards the black haired boy, who easily yet narrowly dodged it by moving to the right and jumped towards the white haired boy, chasing him from branch to branch before resuming their quick and furious hand to hand combat.
Wend stood at the base of the tree dumbfounded at the two kids fighting, mouth agape at the sure speed, power and technique that the two were showing. The strikes being exchanged were strong enough that the impact shook Wendy's hair, their techniques were tight and easily executed that it obviously showed their combat experience, and they moved so fast that Wendy was barely able to follow what was happening. Wendy had seen and participated in plenty of astounding fights, but never between other people her age. The only people Wendy could think of that even came close were her and Chelia, and even then, she didn't think they would be able to take these two in a fight.
"Carla," Wendy spoke not looking away from the fight, "aren't they amazing?"
Carla looked up at the two fighting boys with an analytical gaze before curtly turning her head. "I've seen stronger back at the guild. Now, come on Wendy. Wendy?" But the sky dragon slayer wasn't listening, she was looking directly at the fight with stars in her eyes, something that Carla could only give an exasperated sigh.
The two boys continued their battle until the white haired boy was struck with a particularly hard blow to the stomach sending him skirting towards the edge of a branch, catching himself right before recovering and wiping a scratch off his face.
"You gotta do better than that Gon," he boy said jumping up and down in place on the branch.
Gon just looked at killua with a semi-pout. "It's no fair Killua!" he yelled at the white haired boy. "I just got my Nen back! I'm not used to using it again yet!"
Killua just laughed at his friend as he continued to jump on the branch.
'CRACK'
"Eh?" Killua muttered before the branch cracked under him before breaking completely, causing Killua to go falling down several stories towards the ground. The other branches were to far away to grab onto and he was falling from a height that could risk something like hurting his ankles or knees if he landed wrong. It wouldn't kill him but it would certainly hurt.
'Shit,' Killua thought before covering his body in Nen to protect himself from the fall.
"O swift wind that dashes through the heavens!...VERNIER!"
A mere 15 feet before hitting the ground, Killua stopped. Surprised Killua looked at his his body to find that there was a bright green aura glowing around him. "What is this?" Killua looked around before seeing a girl around his age and height with long blue pigtails and a running over.
"Are you alright?" The girl said between breaths, a little winded from casing her magic and then running over.
"Oi," Killua said sending a glare at Wendy with some killing intent behind, stopping her dead in her tracks. "What did you do to me?"
Wendy, to her credit, didn't cry or wet herself like people usually did under Killua's gaze. She did however start shivering in fear and took a instinctual step back.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry," She managed to sputter out, before forcing herself to meet Killua's gaze, "I-I was watching y-you two fight and saw you f-fall! So I casted my enchantment magic on you so you could fly and not g-get hurt."
Killua gazed at her for a while before turning away and dropping his killing intent causing Wendy to breath out a sigh of release. By this time, Gon had hopped down from the tree and went up to his friend.
"Wow Killua!" Gon cried out in amazement, looking at his friend from various angles. "You're flying!"
Killua took this chance to try moving around, finding it very to easy to control his flight and within a few seconds he was flying around the meadow at a fairly decent speed before the magic wore off causing him to gently float to the ground.
"Killua that was amazing!" Gon cried out before turning towards Wendy and putting his face right up to hers, the close proximity causing Wendy to blush in embarrassment. "Can you do that to me?"
Wendy simply nodded before casting the same enchantment on Gon, and within a few minutes he was flying back and forth on the courtyard while laughing with joy. Wendy simply sat and watched the boy fly before Killua walked over to her.
"Oi," The boy said causing her to turn her head towards him, "I really didn't need you to save me," he said turning his head away and putting his hands in his pockets, "I woulda been fine," Killua continued to look away before releases a small sigh, and turning back towards the girl with a genuine smile on his face. "But thanks"
Wendy was taken aback not only at the boy's vocal appreciation, but his smile as well, a smile that brought a slight shade of pink to her cheeks. The boy then walked over before offering his hand to help her up. "I'm Killua Zoldyck by the way, sorry for scaring you earlier,"
Wendy smiled and took his hand and pulled herself up with his help. "I'm Wendy Marvell, and it's ok,"
"I'm Gon!" The black haired boy interjected landing next to he two, the enchantment fading. "Nice to meet you! You're powers are amazing!"
Wendy blushed slightly at the praise. "Thanks I-"
"Geez, Wendy!" The sound of a female's voice interrupted Wendy. All three kids turned to see a white cat with wings wearing a frilly dress flying towards them. The exceed landed next to them before crossing her arms and looking away, "I told you not to get involved. Who knows what kind of barbaric or inappropriate things these boys coulda done to you!?"
"Carla!" Wendy cried out blushing, "Don't be rude!"
"What is this thing?" Killua deadpanned dismissively at the exceed.
"Hmph" Carla huffed turning away.
"This is my friend Carla," Wendy said rubbing the back off her head at Carla's attitude, "She just protective of me is all,"
"Hey Wendy!?" Gon said turning towards the girl, his eyes sparkling, "Can you make us fly again?"
"Ehhh?" Killua questioned next to him, "Why would she do that Gon?"
"It'll be fun Killua!" Gon said throwing his hands in the air. "We could play tag while flying!"
Killua just smiled at Gon's antics. "Ok, ok, I guess we did enough light training today,"
'That was LIGHT training?' Wendy and Carla thought to themselves, 'How strong are these two?'
Killua turned towards Wendy, his hands in his pockets. "So can you make us fly again?"
Wendy nodded, "Yeah," Wendy raised her hands summoning a bright blue magic circle under her before the same circle appeared under Gon and Killua before the two glowed light green before they hovered above the ground. "I can keep two people enhanced for about an hour or so before getting tired," she finished with a smile, only to be met with confused looks from the two boys in front of her.
"What?" Wendy asked at their expectant looks.
"Can you not cast it on yourself?" Gon asked with a confused head tilt.
"No, I can,"
"Then hurry up and cast your spell or whatever so we can play," Killua said growing impatient.
"You want me to play too?" Wendy asked looking up at the two.
"Obviously," Killua scoffed
"Yeah Wendy!" Gon cheered, "It'll be fun!"
Wendy looked at the two and smiled before casting the enchantment on herself, allowing her to float off the ground.
"Ok, Killua's it!" Gon shouted before flying off towards the tree, with a laughing Wendy quickly following behind.
"Hey!" Killua shouted before taking off after the two, "That's not fair!" Wendy and Gon just laughed as the three played around the huge tree. Carla just sat at the base of the tree watching the three children fly around laughing and tagging each other.
"Honestly," Carla huffed out exasperatedly, but with a small smile on her face "that girl will be the death of me someday."
"Excuse me? Kurosaki-san?" Tier said poking her head into Ichigo's room, which had seafoam green linens and wallpaper with blue carpeting. Ichigo himself was sitting on his bed talking with the person that Tier assumed to be his new roommate. It appeared to be a young boy with golden blonde hair that was braided down to the mid of his back. He wore a black tank top revealing his lean arms one of which was made completely of metal. The two were comparing looking at some notes and drawings scattered over the bed.
"That's amazing!" The young boy exclaimed to Ichigo, "Your knowledge about souls and how they work will be revolutionary to my research!"
"Honestly, I'm impressed with how far you got considering the limitations of human knowledge," Ichigo responded before noticing Tier. "Ah, Harribel-san. I didn't see you come in. This is my roommate, Edward Elric, he's an alchemist" He said gesturing to the blonde haired boy next to him.
The boy stood up from his bed and bowed, "It's nice to meet you Harribel-san, Ichigo has told me a little bit about,"
Tier nodded before sending a side glance at Ichigo, "Only good things I hope," to which Ichigo simply sweated and nodded. "Anyways, as much as I would like to speak more with you Elric-san, I actually came to fetch Kurosaki-san for the meeting of representatives,"
Ichigo pleasant smile was quickly replaced by his signature scowl. "Damn, this is the one part I was not looking forward to," He said scratching the back of his head. "Hisagi!"
"Yes?" Said Hisagi who flash stepped into the room on one knee.
"Whoa!?" Edward said, jumping backwards slightly. "Where'd you come from?"
"It's a flash step," Tier explained, "It's technique used by soul reapers to move around quickly,"
"I'll tell you more about it later," Ichigo said before turning towards Hisagi.
Ichigo simply looked at his lieutenant for a little bit, it was certainly helpful having him around, he just wished he would loosen up a little. "We're going to the representative's meeting, I would like you to accompany us in case something comes up," to which Hisagi simply stood up and nodded.
Ichigo walked towards the window and sent out a Hell's Butterfly. "There," Ichigo said, "Now Rukia will know to meet us there,"
Ichigo then turned back to Edward, "Are you one of your universe's representatives Edward?" Of which the person in question just crossed his arms with an annoyed look on his face and shook his head.
"I was offered the position, but I turned it down," he said with a sneer, "I can't stand the guy they chose instead. It's the new Fuhrer"
"Oh really?" Ichigo asked with a raised eyebrow, "Why do you dislike him so much?"
Edward just shrugged, "You'll see when you meet him. Good luck," Edward said with a wave before going back to reading his book.
The young soul reaper turned following Halibel out the door with Hisagi in tow. As they were walking, they could see various other groups of people walking the same direction. Ichigo assumed these would be the other world leaders. He tried to take note of all the spiritual energies of those around him, and was pleasantly surprised to find that his was the highest there. There were a lot around or even higher than a standard Captain, which was somewhat concerning, but overall it seemed as though-
THUD
Ichigo, lost in thought, had not been watching where he was going, bumped into a man, sending them both backwards a step.
"Ah sorry about that, I wasn't paying attention." Came the voice of the man Ichigo just bumped into.
"It's ok, neither was I-" Ichigo's body tensed as his eyes finally met eyes the person. He was tall like Ichigo, definitely still shorter though. He had on a zipped up black jacket with orange bottoms. He had black sandals and a red scarf. His bright golden hair, while short, was still a defining feature. Around his forehead was a headband with a symbol of a leaf on it. His right hand was wrapped in bandages. Overall he looked around Ichigo's age.
The reason Ichigo had tensed however was not the man's appearence, but the power he exuded. Not only was his spiritual pressure easily on par with a Royal Guards, which was something that among the Captains could only be boasted by Ichigo himself. But there seemed to be a second, even deeper power that laid within him. An ancient and dark spiritual pressure.
"Is that..?" Ichigo muttered to himself
"Hm? What'd you say?" The man questioned putting his hand up to his ear.
"Nothing," Ichigo waved it off, "Sorry again, for bumping into you,"
The blonde man smiled and threw his hand behind his head in a laid back manor. "Don't sweat it, I wasn't paying attention." The man then stuck his hand out towards Ichigo, "My name's Naruto Uzumaki, shinobi of the Hidden Leaf,"
'Shinobi?' Ichigo thought to himself, 'Like ninjas? It seems even in alternate realities there's some cultural overlap.' Ichigo clasped his hand with Naruto's, "I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, Captain of the 7th Division, a shinigami.
A inquisitive look showed up on Naruto's face, "Shinigami?" he said with a slight tilt of his head. "Like a grim reaper?"
Ichigo laughed nervously, "Yeah, something like that,"
"Naruto," came a voice of behind Naruto. The man was pale with black hair hanging to his chin. He wore a large brown poncho which concealed most of his body. Under it he wore gray pants with a long katana strapped low on his back. His eyes were the most distinct thing about him. One was purple with black rings in it. The other was black with a red pattern in it that looked similar to an atom. Ichigo could've sworn it spun once. "We have to go now." He said calmly.
Naruto nodded, "Oh yeah, sorry about that," Naruto turned back towards Ichigo, "I'll catch you in there Kurosaki-dono,"
Ichigo shook his head, "Please, call me Ichigo,"
Naruto smiled at him, before turning around and heading back towards the meeting room.
Tier walked up behind Ichigo and placed her hand on his shoulder. "You gave him your real name and position. Are you sure that was wise?" She said giving Ichigo a sideways glance.
Ichigo continued to gaze at Naruto as he laughed with the guy with the weird eyes and a pink haired girl. Mulling to himself about how to approach the question. Especially considering that Tier had been betrayed by her former leader Aizen, it made sense she would have some trust issues.
"You sensed his spiritual pressure right?" Ichigo asked Tier, still observing Naruto.
"Of course. It was easily higher than that of an Espada. It may even be close to yours Kurosaki-san," Tier started with a bit of trepidation in her voice. "And his friend is just as, if not more powerful than he is,"
"You're right," Ichigo said before meeting Tier's eyes, "They're incredibly powerful. If we use based on the spiritual pressure of their friends, we can assume they are outliers in terms of strength, but even so, we must assume that they are the norm. If they are the norm in terms of strength, then we need to make them our allies. And part of being someone's ally is being transparent with them, that's how you build trust and bonds between allies. I know that's not how the Soul Society or Hueco Mundo does it, but we humans go about it a little differently."
Tier looked at Ichigo as if assessing him, seeing if he was showing any waiver in his beliefs, before closing her eyes and chuckling herself. "You're an interesting guy Kurosaki-san,"
Ichigo smiled back, "You're not so bad yourself, Tier-san,"
Hisagi, who was watching the conversation with interest swore he saw Tier blush a little before turning around and walking towards the meeting room, with Ichigo soon following behind. Soon they reached the entrance of the room. Which was on a small island just off the coast of the castle, connected by a stone bridge. The building itself was a 2 story, circular building made of white marble. The door was gold with the same red logo from the envelope on the door, which people were beginning to enter.
"Kurosaki-taichou," Hisagi sounded from the back of the group, "I see Kuchiki-taichou waiting by the entrance," Ichigo looked over and sure enough Rukia was leaning against wall right outside the door with Renji next to her. As she looked up, you could see her face light up as she saw Ichigo before quickly going back to her standard Kuchiki deadpan.
"Oi, Ichigo," she began as the group reached her and Renji, "They're only letting in a maximum of three representatives from each world. So I told Uryu and the others to stay back for this one, and Chad and Orihime agreed they were comfortable letting you represent the human's.
"Hmmm, I see." Ichigo thought audibly to himself, "In that case, Rukia and I will go in with Tier-san, since we're both captains and Hueco Mundo needs their representative. Hisagi, Renji, stay close in case something goes wrong, ok?"
"Hai, Kurosaki-taicho" Hisagi said with a slight bow of his head.
"Tch," Renji said with a challenging smile, "Holding my rank against me huh? Just wait, I'll catch you too soon enough,"
Ichigo smiled and looked at Rukia and Tier before turning towards the door.
"Alright, let's go,"
Next Chapter: The Meeting of Heroes! Let the Training Begin!
Holy shit that took forever. Yes I'm back, this story is not dead. I'm sorry this took so long to write lol, I just got really caught up in school, work, and track. Luckily Winter break comes up in a month, so hopefully I'll be done with the next chapter and will have it up before Christmas.
Next chapter we will learn about
Some notes for this one:
All of the anime that will be in the first arch of this story will be introduced in the beginning of the next chapter. I took a poll last time and I have a good idea about who's going to be in it.
This is most likely going to be the average length of these chapters, between 6-8k words is pretty digestible in my opinion.
From now on I will be using honorifics, because honestly it's just way easier to explain and flesh out the relationship between characters. It really is just more convenient.
I'm starting to lay the groundwork for relationships if you can catch them, we'll see how things develop ;)
I'm still looking for a co-author or an beta reader to help with this story just cause there is a lot that goes into it.
Not everyone will receive the spotlight every chapter, but I'll try to give everybody their due. That being said, Ichigo and other main protagonists will definitely get more spotlight than some side characters. But if your favorite anime wasn't featured in this chapter, they will probably be featured in the next chapter or the one after that. And I promise this won't be an issue once everyone is mixed together.
Please leave some suggestions at the bottom for cool ideas.
Thank you so much for reading and being patient
