It had been a week since the Kurosakis had found the two girls.
Ichigo sighed. It was his turn to watch over the two mystery girls. The Kurosaki family had decided to take turns in watching over them, since they didn't want the girls to wake up without anyone there. Isshin was usually working, Yuzu was cooking, cleaning, or doing school work, and Karin was doing god knows what. Ichigo had some suspicions in what she was doing, though.
Ichigo got the short end of the stick. He was the one that watched over them the most since he wasn't really doing anything. He didn't have his Shinigami powers so he wasn't off chasing and killing hollows. And he got his school work done pretty quickly so he had a lot of free time.
"I went from killing man-eating, soul sucking monsters, to a babysitter. Just my luck," Ichigo thought to himself. He looked over at the two girls. They weren't wearing their weird looking uniforms anymore. Karin and Yuzu had changed them into white hospital gowns. He was still wondering why those girls were in his dream and then suddenly appeared in Karakura Town out of nowhere. Hopefully, he would get his answers soon.
Ichigo sighed again and pulled out his phone and started playing a game. He was so bored. It was mid day on a Saturday, but he was stuck here. Doing nothing. His ears perked when he heard someone moving. He turned his head to see the pink haired girl sitting up. She had both of her eyes closed and her hand was grasping her head, like she was in pain.
Ichigo stood up from his chair and put his phone back in his pocket. He walked over to her. "Hey, are you ok? What are you feeling?" he asked worriedly.
Sakura's eyes snapped open and she looked up at the teen in front of her. She then looked around the room. She didn't recognize where she was. The architecture looked a lot different than anything she's seen.
She then spotted the cot next to her. Ino was still laying there, fast asleep. She let out a sigh of relief. At least there was someone here that she knew. She then looked up at Ichigo again, a scowl plastered on her face.
"Where am I?" She asked harshly.
Ichigo was taken back by her harsh voice. "You know, when two people first meet they usually introduce themselves," he stated sarcastically.
Sakura grit her teeth. "I don't have time for this! What happened to me and Ino?! Where are we?! Where's Madara and the Nine-tails?!" She yelled. She got up from the cot and grabbed Ichigo's shirt collar.
He scowled deeply. He didn't like being man handled like this but he let it slide. She was confused and scared. Hell, he was just as confused as she was. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about. My old man found you near a river. You and your friend over there were beat up pretty badly. He brought you here and my sisters and I patched you up. They aren't here right now though," he explained.
Sakura looked down at the ground and slowly let go of his collar. "I'm…I'm sorry…thank you for helping us," she whispered. "My name is Sakura Haruno."
"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki," He said. "And It's fine. You're confused, I know. But I know someone who can help you out. At least I think he can help," Ichigo pulled out his cell phone and started dialing a number. He brought the phone up to his ear.
"Hello Kurosaki-san~" the voice said in a sing song voice.
"Yo Hat-N-Clogs. One of the girls is awake," Ichigo said.
"Ah! Really? That's good news!" Urahara said excitedly.
"Yeah. Do you think you could come over? Goat-chin and my sisters aren't home right now. I figured you could help us out and clear up some things," Ichigo asked.
"Of course Kurosaki-san! I'll be there soon." Urahara hung up the phone.
Ichigo closed his phone and sighed. "He'll be here soon," he looked down at Sakura's hospital gown. "I don't think we have any clothes that will fit you, so you'll just have to stay in that until we get you something new."
Sakura looked down at herself. She didn't even realize that she wasn't wearing her Shinobi uniform. "It's fine…so can you tell me where I am?" she asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.
Ichigo ran a hand through his hair. "Let's go inside first," he started walking to the door that lead to the inside of his house, "I wanna get something to drink." Ichigo opened the door and walked into the living room, Sakura following him. Her eyes widened when she saw the architecture of the house.
It was different than any of the houses she's seen in Konoha. "W-what village are we in? I've never seen any village with this kind of architecture," she stated. Ichigo turned around and gave her a confused look.
"Village? What? We're in Karakura Town." Ichigo answered. Now it was Sakura's turn to look confused.
"Karakura Town? What Elemental Country is that in?" The pinkette asked.
The orange haired teen's mouth hung open. "Elemental Country?" Sakura nodded. "I have no clue what the hell that is. Just wait until Urahara gets here." As soon as he said that, there was a knock at the front door. "That's probably him," Ichigo said as he walked towards the front door. He opened it to see Urahara standing there, waving his fan infront of his face.
"Hello, Kurosaki-san~," Urahara sung.
Ichigo just rolled his eyes. "You got here pretty quick, Hat-n-Clogs."
Urahara frowned. "Aww I don't get a "Welcome amazing sensei!"?"
"Hurry up and get in here, will you?! The girl is waiting for you!" Ichigo yelled, grabbing Urahara by his sleeve and started dragging him inside the house. He brought Kisuke into the living room, where Sakura was waiting.
She eyed the strange man. He looked really sketchy to her. Well, so did Ichigo. She couldn't really trust anyone since she had no clue where she was or who these people were.
Urahara smiled at her, "Well you must be the mystery girl! Hello! Kisuke Urahara, at your service," Kisuke bowed at her.
The pink haired teen just stood there awkwardly. "H-hello Urahara-san…my name is Sakura Haruno," Sakura said.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Haruno-san. Why don't you sit down with me so we can discuss a few things." Sakura nodded her head and headed for the couch, with Ichigo and Urahara following in tow.
"Kurosaki-san, why don't you make us some tea while Haruno-san and I chit chat for a bit," Kisuke said, smiling at Ichigo. Ichigo growled at him. "Awww c'mon Kurosaki-san! Don't be so harsh. We are your guests, anyway." Kisuke started waving his fan in front of his face again.
He rolled his eyes, but proceeded to the kitchen to make his "guests" some tea. Sakura and Urahara sat down on the couch. Kisuke took his bucket hat off. "So, Haruno-san. Where exactly are you from."
Sakura looked at Kisuke in the eyes. "I'm from Konoha, in the Land of Fire." Kisuke's face was emotionless.
"Konoha huh…I've never heard of this place before." Kisuke said, getting a surprised look from Sakura.
"Really…? But it's the strongest village out of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Surely you have heard of it…" Sakura said with a little hope. Kisuke just shook his head at her.
"Villages aren't common in this world anymore…and this "Konoha" place, along with the "Five Great Shinobi Countries"…these things don't exist here," Kisuke stated in all seriousness.
"T-there's no way…that's not possible because I'm from there! And so is my friend that's in the other room! This place has to be in an Elemental Country!" Sakura yelled. She was so confused. No Konoha? No Shinobi Countries? That's impossible…
Ichigo came back with two tea cups in his hands. "Oi, stop yelling," he said calmly, placing a tea cup in front of her and one in front of Kisuke. He then sat down in a chair across from them. "Do you think she's just a crazy Plus?" Ichigo asked.
The pinkette glared at him. "I am not crazy." She hissed at him. She didn't understand the "plus" part, but she didn't care. No one calls Sakura Haruno crazy. The orange haired teen was lucky she didn't beat the crap out of him.
Kisuke waved a hand at the both of them. "Now now you two. Don't be so hostile towards one another. We are just trying the help you Haruno-san." Sakura released her glare on Ichigo. "And to answer your question, no. She's not a plus. Now Haruno-san, you won't understand this, but I think you're from another dimension." Sakura and Ichigo's eyes widened.
"W-what?!" Sakura asked. "That's not possible…"
Kisuke smiled at her. "Ah, but it is! You see, it's very rare, but some souls from other dimensions are able to go to the Soul Society."
"Soul Society? What is that?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It's where people go after they die," Ichigo answered. Her eyes widened. He looked at Kisuke. "But that doesn't make sense. She's not in the Soul Society. She's obviously not dead since Yuzu could see her. How did she end up in Karakura Town?"
Kisuke nodded his head. "Now that I cannot explain. It doesn't make sense to me either…Haruno-san, do you remember what happened before you woke up here?"
Her eye's widened and tears started forming at the corners of her eyes. "Y-yes…I do. My world was at war…" Kisuke and Ichigo looked at each other with narrowed eyes. "Everyone was dead…all of my friends…besides Ino…I was holding Naruto's corpse in my hands, with Ino sitting besides me…" the tears started falling down her cheeks.
"So my dream…dad was right. There is no way this is a coincidence," Ichigo thought to himself, his scowl deepening. He continued listening to Sakura.
"Out of nowhere the enemy, Madara, appeared and was controlling the Kyuubi. I tried fighting him…I tried my hardest…" she started sobbing. "But I couldn't even scratch him. He jumped back on the Kyuubi and then the Kyuubi fired something at me and Ino…and then I woke up here." Sakura wiped the tears from here face.
Ichigo and Kisuke frowned. "I'm sorry to hear that, Haruno-san," Kisuke said. He wanted to know more about this "Madara" and the "Kyuubi" but those questions could be answered another time.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Hat-n-Clogs," Ichigo said, standing up. "I need to talk to you for a second."
Kisuke nodded his head and followed Ichigo. "We'll be back Haruno-san." Kisuke said to the pinkette. She nodded. Kisuke followed Ichigo upstairs. The two of them stood in the hallway. "What is it, Ichigo?"
Ichigo crossed his arms and thought for a second. "A day before Goat-chin found those two…I had a dream," he said, looking down at the ground. "That girl…Sakura…and her friend Ino were in it," Kisuke's eyes widened in surprise. "And Sakura explained everything that happened in my dream just now. Dad told me this wasn't a coincidence…and he's right," he finished, looking at Kisuke.
"I see…" Kisuke started, "this honestly sounds like the doing of the Soul King," now it was Ichigo's turn to be surprised.
"What? The Soul King? Why would he have anything to do with this?" Ichigo asked.
"I don't know if it was actually his doing…but there's no way that this could be a coincidence. Like I said, it is possible that souls from other dimensions appear in the Soul Society, but not the Human world. She isn't a Soul. She's human. A strong human at that. Her spiritual pressure is at a high 4th seat, or even a low 3rd seat."
Ichigo's eyes widened once again. This day was full of surprises. "Woah…really?" Kisuke nodded his head. "Do you think the Shinigami will come and find her because of her spiritual energy?"
"It's a possibility…but if the Soul King does have something to do with this, there's a chance they might ignore it." Kisuke stated. "Thank you for telling me about this dream, Kurosaki-san." Ichigo nodded his head. "Let's get back downstairs to Haruno-san." He said as the two of them headed down the stairs, and went back into the living room. They saw Sakura still sitting on the couch, looking lost in thought. "Haruno-san," Kisuke said, breaking her out of her train of thought. "Would be please explain what these "Shinobi Countries" are like?"
"Yes, Urahara-san," Sakura then explained the Elemental Countries and the duties of Shinobi. She explained the Five Great Shinobi Countries, and the war that took place before she woke up in the Kurosaki clinic. And lastly, she explained Obito and Madara, and how they wanted to control these "tailed beasts". Ichigo was really interested in these tailed beast for some reason, but he didn't know why.
"Wow, Haruno-san. Your world sure seems amazing." Kisuke said, fanning himself. "These Shinobi sound really strong. You're one of them, correct?" Sakura nodded her head.
"Is…is there anyway to get back to my world…?" She asked, looking at the two with a little bit of hope in her eyes.
Kisuke stood there for a couple seconds before answering. "I'm not going to lie to you, Haruno-san. It's highly unlikely that we can get you back there." Tears started falling down her cheeks again. "We don't even know how you arrived here in the first place. We've never had cases of humans traveling dimensions like this. We've only had cases of souls from other dimensions. It doesn't make sense to me, but hopefully, we can find more answers for you. Me and Kurosaki-san over here will help as much as possible." He put a hand on her shoulder.
She nodded her head and wiped her face, "Thank you…Urahara-san…Kurosaki-san. I am very grateful." she said. Kisuke smiled at her and brought his hand down. "If I'm going to be here for awhile…could you explain this world to me, please?" Kisuke nodded his head. It was his turn for an explanation. He explained the Soul Society and shinigami. She was a little frightened about the term "Shinigami", which made Kisuke laugh. He also talked about Hollows and Hueco Mundo. He then explained spiritual pressure. It was a lot like chakra to her. He told her how normal humans can't see shinigami, souls, and hollows. Ichigo took over and explained how he was a Substitute Shinigami. He didn't go into detail about how he infiltrated the Soul Society, and the Winter War. But he did tell her that he didn't have his powers anymore, but he didn't explain why. He told her that that story wasn't all that relevant at the moment. Ichigo then talked more about the Human world. Her world had some of the same stuff, so it was pretty easy understanding the stuff she already knew. She realized that the human world was a lot like the shinobi world, when it came to technology. She quickly realized that people in this world don't dress the same as the civilians in the shinobi world when she saw Ichigo's clothing. This new world was a lot more advanced with their technology.
In the end, it was still a lot to take in for the girl. One minute she was in her own world, fighting in a war, and then the next she was in another dimension that was totally alien to her. She was really sad and depressed that she would probably never be able to get back there, but maybe that was for the better. Madara had destroyed pretty much everything. He killed everyone. Besides her and Ino obviously. Her thoughts went to Naruto. She missed him so much. He was a brother to her. She could feel tears coming. She quickly shook any bad thoughts away. She was done with crying. She had to come to terms with the fact that the world she knew was no more. She would have to live in this new world. A least she had Ino here with her…Ino…
"She's going to take this a lot harder than I did…" Sakura thought to herself. She looked up at Ichigo and Kisuke. "Thank you again. For everything."
"It's my pleasure, Haruno-san." He turned to Ichigo. "Kurosaki-san, make sure Haruno-san is safe." Ichigo nodded his head.
Sakura frowned at that. "No, it's ok. I can protect myself from here on. When Ino wakes up, we'll be on our way."
Ichigo scoffed at that. "Oh really? And where will the two of you go? Besides what we explained to you, you don't know anything about this world. You don't have jobs, money, a car, a place to stay. Hell, you don't even have clothes! You're staying here. Whether you like it or not. You and your friend are aliens to this world. You'll be staying here, and that's final." Ichigo finished, his signature scowl on his face.
Kisuke chuckled at him. "Well said, Kurosaki-san," He turned to Sakura, "He's right. There is still so much to learn besides what we told you. Both the Soul Society and the Human world have histories. You can't go into either of these worlds blindly. You won't survive," He said the last part bitterly. "Just stay with Kurosaki-san and his family until we find out what happened to you and your world, and how you got here in the first place."
Sakura sighed. Why did this have to happen. "Fine…" she said.
"Good," Kisuke smiled at her. "Why don't you sleep, Haruno-san? This is a lot to take in. I'm surprised you're as calm as you are."
Sakura looked down at the ground. Her hands balled up into fists. "I am too…but with what I've gone through…I can't be sad. Whatever god is out there gave me and Ino a second chance. Even if it means not being in my own world, its still a second chance. Ino and I could build new lives. We can learn about this world…" Ichigo lightly smiled at her. She was a strong person. He liked that. If he was in her situation, he probably would've gone bat shit crazy.
Kisuke nodded at her. "I'm glad you're thinking positively. You're a very strong girl…Well," he said, putting his bucket hat on. "I have to go. I'm sure Kurosaki-san can take over from here. It was nice to meet you, Haruno-san. I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon." He said, bowing at her.
Sakura returned the bow, "It was nice meeting you, too. Thank you again. You and Kurosaki-san really helped me today." Kisuke smiled and nodded his head. He then left the Kurosaki household. Ichigo and Sakura stood there in awkward silence for a bit. Sakura was the one to break the silence. "Kurosaki-san, I-"
"Ok stop being so formal. Just call me Ichigo," he interrupted her rudely.
Sakura grew a tick mark on her head. She didn't like his rudeness, but let it slide. "R-right…Ichigo. I wanted to personally thank you. You let me, a complete stranger, stay with you."
"Eh? Why wouldn't I? Even if it does sound crazy, you're not from this dimension. Hell, I didn't know other dimensions besides Soul Society and Hueco Mundo existed before today." he said, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah…it really does sound crazy now that I think about it…" she chuckled lightly.
Ichigo looked down at the girl. Her eyes looked really heavy. "How are you feeling? I can't even imagine what you're going through right now." he was genuinely worried about her. He may have not known her for long, but with her current situation, he was really surprised that she wasn't freaking out.
"I'm…ok I guess…it's going to take me awhile to get used to this…but I have to let my old life go…everything was destroyed…my friends…my family…they're gone…Ino is my only family left," Sakura held her arm. "This is all so confusing…" she finished, staring at the ground.
He gave her a sympathetic. "Listen…he may not look like it, but Urahara is the smartest man I know. He'll find out what happened to you," he gave her one of his rare smiles.
She smiled back at him. "Thank you, Ichigo," She then got a better look at him. She took in all his features. He seemed to always had a scowl on his face, he had brown eyes, and orange hair. It reminded her of Pain…she shivered. "Um…Ichigo I have a question…"
"What is it?" he asked.
"Um…do you dye your hair?" she asked, pointing to his head. Ichigo's eyebrow twitched. "There's no way its real…"
"Of course its real!" Ichigo yelled. Sakura was taken back a bit from his tone of voice. "And what about you?!" he screamed, pointing at her hair, "You have pink hair!"
Sakura grew several tick marks on her head. "So what?! It's all natural! Pink is way more common than orange!" she yelled, glaring at Ichigo.
Ichigo scoffed. "No way, idiot! No one has pink hair!"
"Idiot?!" Sakura mentally screamed. "I'm not an idiot, idiot!" Sakura and Ichigo glared daggers at one another, lightning sparkling out both of their eyes.
A couple seconds later, they both had a "hmph" noise and looked away from each other. "Of course my hair is real. Why wouldn't it be?" Ichigo mumbled to himself. He sighed and looked over at Sakura. She was still wearing the hospital gown. "Oi, let's go get you some new clothes. You can't walk around Karakura with a hospital gown."
Sakura looked down at herself. "Fine," she mumbled, "but I wanna pick it out. With that ugly shirt of yours, I can easily tell you have no fashion sense," she smirked at Ichigo. She giggled when she saw his face.
"Ugly shirt?! The hell do you mean?! This is my favorite shirt!" Ichigo pulled on his shirt. It was a grey shirt that had a kanji for "good vibes" on it. He growled at her.
That just made her laugh. "It's ugly!" tears were starting to fall down her face from the laughter.
Ichigo growled even harder. "Whatever," he grumbled. "Let's head into town. We can get you some clothes. For now, I'll see if Karin or Yuzu have any clothes that could fit you." He started walking up the stairs, heading for Karin and Yuzu's room.
Sakura suppressed her laughter and wiped the tears from her face. "Thanks…strawberry-san." Her laughter came back when Ichigo glared at her.
"That's not what my name means!" Sakura laughed even harder. "I liked you better when you were asleep," he mumbled to himself as he continued walking up the stairs.
Sakura stopped laughing when Ichigo was out of the room. "Maybe it won't be so bad here…" She smiled to herself.
X-X
The Soul King is going to be a little different in this story. All will be explained later.
I hoped you all liked this chapter! Sorry for any spelling or grammar errors. And Don't forget to review! Peace