Sealed Deal
By
LigerJager
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Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto
Bleach © Kubo Tite
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Chapter 2: Awakening
"It always puzzled me when I thought about something I once heard, 'A scattered dream that's like a far off memory. A far off memory that's like a scattered dream…' (Sora), it makes sense now. Here in this black nothingness. Whatever may come, I will face them and I will win. That is my Nindo. My way of the Ninja. "-Naruto
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Soul Society
Seireitei
Shinigami Academy
Morning
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It was official.
They were getting their bokutō today and Hanatarō could not wait!
What filled him was not the ordinary few butterflies in the stomach anticipatory adrenalin. No. This was the full-on running around insanely for no reason, jumping off the bed while trying to do ridiculously hard aerials, and practically bouncing off the walls, all with an insanely happy grin plastered on his face.
Of course all of which happened within the privacy of his dorm room. It wouldn't do for him to ruin his hard earned image of a timid nobody. People wouldn't expect too much from him. And that was just the way he liked it. Hanatarō wasn't a slacker by any means. He just didn't like attention and was fine with being passed over for a job.
Still…
He was so excited. No, ecstatic would be a better way to describe his current mood…in the most general, broadly ambiguous sense, of course.
The raven haired, teenaged shinigami couldn't let his emotions get too out of hand. Practically speaking, they hadn't even gotten the wooden weapons yet.
The boy couldn't stop the corners of his lips from twitching almost spastically causing him to mentally sigh. Even after all these years, he still hadn't completely gotten rid of his hyperactive streak, the very trait that had gotten him into so much trouble in Rukongai and made him stand out. Sure he did a pretty good job (in his humble opinion) at keeping a low profile.
But…
It seemed like his true nature was still around to loudly protest being shelved behind a meek, almost cowardly facade. He had learned, while living in the outer district that standing out wasn't necessarily a good thing, in fact he had more than a few scars to show for his recklessness.
So he determined to keep his head down and graduate without much ado. If anything he also had something in the back of his mind telling him that hiding himself would be for the best…for now.
Besides, he would have an advantage because of his reputed lack of drive. Or was that aggressiveness?
It didn't matter. Today was the day that signified their first real steps towards being full-fledged shinigami.
With a last grin, the young Yamada calmly stepped out of his dorm room and made his way towards the first of his classes. Their practice weapons would be given to them at the end of the day.
That way it would give the shinigami hopefuls an entire evening to become acquainted with the feel of the sword. Since, up until now, they had been weaponless, the students would have to get used to the feel of having a weapon by their sides anyways.
It was just, after all the time he had spent at the place; Hanatarō was just itching to get started. And a little patience never hurt. He just wished that they didn't have to wait until the end of the day.
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Hanatarō swiftly shut the door before eagerly tearing into the package. As he pulled away the butcher paper and string that protected the training sword, the grin found its way onto his lips.
Finally.
It was finally here. The teen didn't care if it was only a stand-in for the real thing. He finally was taking a real step forward into the world of the shinigami.
Gently the youth pulled out the weapon and took it in. This would be his weapon for the rest of his afterlife.
They were to take their practice swords back and try channeling reiatsu through them. A drill that was designed to help sharpen their control and prepare the students for the actually zanpakutō when they received at the end of their final year.
That went without saying that if one student were to show some extraordinary abilities, accommodations would be made for them.
A prime example was cadet who just recently graduated, Gin-something. The teen shrugged mentally having never met the guy. He wasn't that important.
Hanatarō shook his head. He needed to focus on channeling his reiatsu.
Taking the traditional seiza position on his matted floor, the young shinigami held his newly acquired tool and began manipulating his energy. He had to get this right. So once he had most of his reiatsu gathered, the youth poured the energy into the wood and spoke the release spell that would be crucial for the bonding with their live steel later on.
Their theory teacher had once told them that there was a slight chance that they could contact their swords soul even with the bokutō. How ever he had emphasized that it was only a theory and that to their knowledge, no one has ever done it.
That however didn't stop many hopefuls from trying.
"Zanpakutō: Kai!"
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The blond hadn't thought much really about his situation. Only that he was very drowsy and suspended in a black void of nothingness.
Then he felt it. A small tug.
It brought his lethargic mind back to sharp awareness. Something was going to happen and if his gut feeling was anything to go by, it was something important…something big.
Naruto felt as though he was being pulled somewhere gently at first and then overtaken a falling sensation. He instinctively closed his eyes as the velocity of his fall increased, before snapping them open.
He twisted his body into an upright position so that he could land feet first and properly. Even if he was dead, to his knowledge, he still didn't fancy the idea of landing on his head.
So he fell, waiting for either the sensation to end or himself to land. Or he did before being jerked sideways and sent flying in a completely different direction.
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Hanatarō knew the chances of anything happening were slim at best. So he expected that maybe there would be slight fluctuation in the reiatsu sensitive wood or the draining of his spiritual energy.
What he hadn't expected was to be bowled over by a loud voice that left his eardrums ringing. Especially, since it knocked him out of his kneeling position, literally.
'WHAT THE HELL!!'
:Tsuzuku:
A/N: I changed the format of this story and modeled it after one of my favorite crossovers: The Leaf that Found its Way by indogirl7
I all credit for this change goes to her, not me. Enjoy.
I'd love to read your speculations and whatever crazy ideas you might want to add to this fict. Creativity and Naruto-ness are always appreciated. I'm just trying to work through writers block for my other ficts, so I apologize if this story seems rough and dry in parts.
Notes:
-Bokutō (木刀, "wood sword"): or more commonly known as a Bokken in the west, is a wooden sword used for training is several martial arts.
-Shinigami (死神?, "death kami"): Death Gods, Soul Reapers, are souls that protect the human world from Hollows and that lead people to Soul Society, a place reigned by souls in another dimension.
-Zanpakutō (斬魄刀?, literally "soul-cutting sword"): a weapon which reflects aspects of their soul and personality. (A/N: Mwahaha…)
LJ 8/30/09
