Author's Ramblings:

You will probably notice a lot of references to his past life in Konoha. Naruto hasn't forgotten his old home, nor the people he cared for there. While there won't be segments dedicated to them, many will be mentioned in Naruto's moments of remembrance.

For all those interested, while Naruto is ridiculously powerful, compared to his home world, his skills and abilities don't stack the same way against his foes here. And while characters like Ichigo and Kenpachi (not to mention the seriously old geezers such as Yamamoto) may have far more raw power than him, he knows how to control his own near-perfectly and in a large enough variety of ways to make planning against him difficult at best, while he on the other hand is a master planner and strategist.

Also, I won't describe every single detail. I would suggest that you have at least a basic familiarity with both Bleach and Naruto before you read this stuff, it will make your life considerably easier :P

Now, thanks for the attention, and enjoy the new chapter

Chapter 2 : A Killer With a Heart of Gold

".. and then he fell over, dragging the entire pile of food on him!" Keigo finished retelling one of the more entertaining events of recent times to a laughing audience. Even Naruto was laughing heartily at the jokes and stories the group was retelling, even if they occasionally brought a pang of pain to his heart. He clicked right in, and was considered one of the gang in a matter of minutes. After school, since they had school tomorrow, they only walked a short time together before breaking up.

Naruto had come to a very interesting realization that day. Till a little while ago, he was thinking as Naruto, Sixth Hokage of Konoha, a man bound by duty and promises, but that man no longer existed. For better or for worse, he was liberated from all of his bonds by Madara's actions. He had begun anew.

Content with how his first day passed, Naruto took one long and careful look around, just to make sure no one could see him, before running up the wall and landing on his open balcony. Certain that he had attracted no attention, he quietly slinks into the room, pulling off the annoying jacket and shirt, along with the school bag, right before going into the bathroom for a long overdue shower.

With the rest of his clothes on the bed, Naruto took a long look over his body in the mirror. There were more scars than he'd care to count, but what worried him was that the Reaper Death Seal... was no longer a seal. Kyuubi was gone, and gone for good it seemed. He had sensed it last night, when he decided to separate the two components of his chakra to try out the Twin Mirror Lotus. It worked without a hitch, apart for the fact that he recognized his Ki and Reiki as no longer human, but demonic in origin. Had he become a full demon now? It wasn't that he really cared anymore, he knew himself well, otherwise he would have long ago collapsed and died, but the curiosity was gnawing on him

A cursory inventory run revealed that all of the objects sealed within the seal arrays on his body were still there, his most prized possessions among them. Taking a moment to bite his thumb, he focused a bit of his chakra into one of the triad of seals covering the area over his heart, and within moments, two small pieces of jewelry materialized in the palm of his hand. The first piece was a necklace, a silver snowflake suspended on a thin chain, a memento of his first friend Haku, while the other, a thin band of silver was a gift from his beloved. When she died he sealed them, he felt himself no longer worthy of the two objects they used instead of wedding rings. It only made sense to him and Anko, to along with their wedding vows exchange the two objects they held so close to their hearts. He quietly put the ring on the chain, before putting it on his neck.

Taking one last look at his reflection, and wondering since when were his eyes purple, he walked to the shower, letting the stream of warm water rush his worries away, faintly aware of a number of strong signatures that were entering the town around him.

(02:37, Kurosaki Home)

Nightmares were never a pleasant thing, Ichigo knew that much from personal experience. He had woken up in the middle of the night, covered by a cold sweat, trembling from a dream he couldn't remember. It was an irritating experience, one he remembered from the time his mother died. When he had finally recovered from the initial shock and guilt, he had nightmares for weeks. If it weren't for the loving care of his family, he would have snapped.

The day had been a strange one, to say the least. Once he parted from his group on his way home from school, he one more deviated from his normal path, escorting Tatsuki and Orihime a part of the way, and finally turning to go and pick up a new music CD he had been waiting for weeks. That's when things got weird.

What happened next was more like something out of a bad horror flick than reality, but he had no basis to doubt. The girl he had been visiting every day next to the light post was running, horrified by a large presence behind her. He could see it, a gargantuan black monstrosity with a white, snarling mask covering it's face. For some reason, it seemed like the mask was the face. And just as fast as it appeared, another figure appeared on the top of a lamp post in the middle of the street. A midget of a girl with a sword in her hands, dressed in what seemed to be a black kimono befitting of a time long past. In a moment, she jumped towards the creature, slicing at it's mask, and before he had the time to react properly, the thing was gone, but so where the little girl and the girl with the sword. However, the damage dealt to the city around him, the claw marks along the building walls and other damage were designated as 'gas leaks'.

"Since when do gas leaks leave claw marks, huh?" he quietly muttered as he looked at his blood shot eyes in the mirror, and downed a glass of water before returning to bed. When he entered his room, he was in for the shock of his life.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he managed to stop himself from shouting, but his voice was still pretty loud. It was the 'girl with the sword' from earlier.

"It's close" she said in a voice barely louder than a whisper.

"'It's close'!? What kind of a stupid burglar says something like that?" he ranted on, positively ignored by the girl, who jumped from her perch on the window, and moved over his bed to the floor, blatantly unaware that she was about to get smacked.

"I am talking to you woman!" Ichigo yelled as he slammed a palm on her back, making her eyes comically widen as she fell on the floor.

"You..you can see me?" She barely managed to mutter

"Yes I can see you" Ichigo returned in a pissed-off voice " Who the hell are you? And what did you do with that... thing earlier today? I know I wasn't seeing things" he kept on ranting.

"Wait, you were the guy from earlier today?" the girl asked. But before they could continue their conversation, a series of loud screams broke the night's silence.

"Damn it! Yuzu! Karin!" Ichigo shouted as he ran outside without a moment's thought, leaving a stunned Shinigami right behind him.

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Across town, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze was pissed. He was staring at some crazy monstrosity that towered over him, eying him hungrily.

"Oi, shitface, do I look like dinner or something?" He angrily muttered. No one, absolutely no one interrupts his relaxing time and gets away with it. Especially if they're trying to eat people at the same time.

"A delicious morsel" the creature whispered in a deep baritone. It was vaguely humanoid, a towering giant of pure blackness with six arms and a weird white mask. "Come here so I can eat you alive"

"Really?" Naruto muttered as he started pumping chakra into the various seals over his body. He was royally pissed now. Just as four of the six hands slammed into the ground where he was, he vanished. The creature looked around in surprise, only to come face to face with a form that had sown nightmares across the Elemental Countries. Standing on his shoulder with a katana in hand, was Naruto, dressed in a long white coat, buttoned up from waist up, an almost peerless white mask covering his face, the only imperfection being two eye slits. A pair of black gloves and black boots covered the last remaining parts of his skin. Then the creature realized that the drawn blade of the katana was bloody.

"No foe has ever stood alive against the blade of the White Wraith fool" he spoke in a cold, distorted voice that forced the being to shiver against it's will

"Another Arrancar? But how?" it muttered in fear.

"I care little for your names for me creature. You will die now" Naruto answered, and sheathed the blade, before simply hopping off. It watched him fall down, until it noticed something. None of it's body parts were bleeding, which meant... "Aaarrghhh!" the creature screamed into the night even as it's body disintegrated at the breaking of it's mask. A few moments later, nothing remained of the fierce creature, a detail Naruto dully noted.

"I'm seriously talking to Urahara in the morning..." Naruto muttered as he jumped of to privacy of his home to reseal the clothes. His skill with his field of Radiance told him that no one was around to see him, and that was enough.

It was only when he had resealed his clothes that he realized that the creature's scream wasn't the only one. And neither was it's presence a lone one.

"Oh shit" he barely muttered as he jumped through the window, dressed only in his pants and the long blade of the Song of the Wind to keep him company.

"Well, at least this world isn't as boring as I originally thought" he muttered as he kept jumping from rooftop to rooftop, eerily reminiscent of what he did home in Konoha.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Thrust this sword into your heart, and I will give you my power" Rukia explained, her voice slowly going deathly calm "I don't know if this will work, but there is no other way"

"Give me the sword Shinigami" Ichigo asked "Let's give your idea a try"

"It's not Shinigami" Rukia responded with a smirk "It's Kuchiki Rukia"

Ichigo smirked back

"I see... I'm Kurosaki Ichigo" he calmly answered, right before he pulled the tip of the sword into his chest and straight through his heart. A blinding flash of light hid the events that followed.

Moments later, the large hollow that tried to kill them was missing an arm, and more importantly, had a massive cut through it's head before fading into nothing. Ichigo Kurosaki had become a Shinigami.

And then the others came.

Kuchiki Rukia wasn't a happy person. Scratch that, she was scared stiff. Everything had went to hell in a hand basket right after they had defeated the first hollow. Some idiot had though it wise to use a hollow bait on this of all nights, when the gates of Soul Society were closed and locked, so no reinforcements were coming.

She had sacrificed herself to protect this human, this Kurosaki Ichigo from a Hollow he had challenged to protect his family. Badly wounded as she was, she was useless against it, and Ichigo stood no chance, so she did the one thing left to her. It was a great crime, but it was still better than both of them dying. She pushed all of her Reiryoku into the boy, giving him her Shinigami powers... or more accurately, activating his own dormant ones if what she had seen in the last hour was correct. He had effortlessly killed the Hollow that had a mere few moments ago kicked both of them around. Sure, he lacked style and skill, but what else do you expect from a man who just took the sword into his hands for the first time in his life?

But not even that was enough, as after the first one, another came, and then another two, then three. No more then five minutes had passed, and they were surrounded by over two dozen hollows. Not her idea of a good time, certainly. Ichigo defeated the first dozen, but the second two that came were simply too much

"What now?" came Ichigo's tired voice. If anything, she had to admit, the boy had stamina. The first time she drew her Zanpakuto she nearly dropped unconscious. He fought for ten fucking minutes against a superior foe and was just now getting tired? If it wasn't happening before her eyes, she'd call it ridiculous.

"No idea" she answered in a shaken voice. It was true, she had no idea what to do. Whilst she planned to give him half her power, he had subconsciously pulled it all in, and she was left as weak as a kitten compared to the Hollows.

"So we just stand here and die?" Ichigo was pissed off. Death was certainly not a part of his plans for this night. None of this was, come to think of it. These 'Hollows' that the girl lying next to him, wait, Rukia described were little friendlier than ravenous monsters. And their character was just as pleasant. So far, the only thing they discussed was who was getting the first feeding right on the two Shinigami, thankfully avoiding the unconscious bodies of Karin and Yuzu. Ichigo was thankful that at least his father was away and safe.

"Hey Ichigo" came a bored voice, causing a complete silence to drop on the area. Right in front of them, was of all people Naruto Uzumaki, the crazy new student as school. Even the hollows were intrigued for the lack of a better word.

"Naruto? What the hell are you doing here?And what's with the...sword?" he started, as the blond took an annoyed yawn, and one of the Hollows behind him disintegrated.

"So, you and your girlfriend need a hand?" he offered in a perfectly calm tone... the reaction was instantaneous

"SHE'S/HE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND!" came the combined shout from the two, nearly knocking Naruto off his feet. A light chuckle escaped the blond's mouth at their slightly blushed faces

"Geez, chill a little." Naruto responded, using his pinky to clear out his ear. "Or better yet, chill a little more while I take care of business"

For the first time since meeting General Yamamoto and her older adoptive brother, Kuchiki Rukia was positively awed, as the figure in front of her flickered for just a split-second, instantly annihilating the entire group of hollows. Another lazy yawn was the only action he took, apart from sheathing his katana, and making it disappear. He hadn't moved, he simply stopped being in one position and appeared in the other.

"Naruto Uzumaki, pleased to meet you" he offered in a kind voice as he gave Rukia a hand to rise from the ground

"Kuchiki Rukia... likewise" she answered, a bit of awe and fear mixed in her voice. He merely smiled that disarming smile of his, as he helped her to her feet.

"You two okay?" he asked

"You don't really seem surprised by all of this...?" Ichigo asked in a confused tone

"Not really. I already had to kick the ass of a few of these things... what's a few dozen more?" he nonchalantly answered "Ehm Ichigo, tell me something,does your home have one story, and a clinic right to the left of it?"

"Yeah...why?"

"Because I think you're likely going to be bunking somewhere for at least a few days" Naruto bluntly stated as he stared to the damage dealt to the Kurosaki home. There was a gaping hole that covered most of the first floor, while thankfully leaving the second floor unscathed. Many of the kitchen accessories were strewn about along with the few surviving pieces of what was once the kitchen table.

Ichigo tiredly grasped his head, right before he lost consciousness with a mutter of 'Oh that's just great'. With an annoyed sigh, Naruto picked him up and started dragging him off into the house, coming later for his two younger sisters. Rukia watched, curious but still frozen in shock as the young man applied something that suspiciously seemed like medical Kido on them, healing their wounds just a little bit before carrying them back in. She waited for him to come out before trying to ask him

"Are you... are you a Shinigami?" she cautiously tried.

"Me? Naah, just a cool guy with a sword" Naruto retorted. "But I guess you're one, and so is Ichigo apparently." Naruto commented, gently shaking his head" Damn, I need a good night's sleep. Were are you staying?" he quietly asked.

"Ehh... nowhere?" she weakly tried

"Fine. Come on" he stated and walked off.

"What do you mean 'come on'?" Rukia asked, some of her old fire returning. Naruto stopped and groaned to the heavens in annoyance. And things were just getting a bit more fun.

"You're sleeping over at my place tonight. You get the bed, I get the couch. Tomorrow, do what you want, but for tonight, Ichigo can look after himself, and if not, his family will, and you are too badly injured to do so. Now come" he said in a stern voice, for a moment reminding her of her brother. She found herself following him like a lost puppy before she could even think about it, but after a few steps, she stumbled an fell... never reaching the floor.

"Sheesh, they sure pulled a number on you, didn't they?" he rhetorically asked, lifting her bridal style, and jumping off to the rooftops. He was ready to kill for a few hours of sleep.

The girl had tensed in his arms, but he paid it no heed, ignoring the fact that she was obviously not used to being carried like this. He would have to get home as soon as possible to treat her wounds. The regenerative agent he injected Ichigo with should have him up by morning without a scratch, it was time to take care of her.

As soon as he got home, he quickly pressed a few points on Rukia's neck, knocking her out before she could even protest, and proceeding to take off a part of her clothing, not being overly mindful of her modesty, but still playing things safely in bandaging up her wounds. He had next to no idea just how different Shinigami were from humans, but he assumed (and correctly) that a well placed medical jutsu would both stop the bleeding and help her regeneration. Still, a cursory diagnostic jutsu was the protocol in such situations, and he was very much pleased to find out that Shinigami were indeed physically identical to humans, apart from several very, very interesting factors. First, they were completely unable to create Ki, using Reiki in it's stead, or Reiryoku, as they called it here. Second, unlike a normal human, it seemed that the body hadn't had any internal damaging effects of age, apart from the damage from a several minor illnesses. A few scars were present as well, showing that this 'spiritual body', wasn't immune to damage, or capable of perfect regeneration naturally. It was enough for him now, so he stopped the diagnostic jutsu, and flashed quickly through a few handseals. Even with his excellent control, built over years of practice, he always used handseals in medical jutsu, for fear of damaging his patients. A faint green light surrounded Naruto's arm as he activated one of the most used medical jutsu, the Mystic Palm, opting to heal the few wounds that weren't already healing

After finishing the minor healing effects, he gently placed her into the large bed, and covered her, taking a few moments to fix up her clothes and arrange them next to the bed, before walking off to the sofa.

"Now if I can only get some sleep before dawn." he sighed before diving headfirst into the couch and pillow he set up, but not before sending a team of clones to place security barriers around the area. Security before resting. The second team was long since in place around Ichigo's home.

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Kisuke Urahara liked to sleep. That much was easy to figure out, as the man tended to sleep on the porch of his shop during warm summer days, or inside the shop on colder ones. Still, sleep was the last thing on his mind last night and this morning, as he spent his time doing damage control. A job that wasn't his, or at least not anymore. He had to admit though, Naruto had apparently done one helluva job on healing the kids, namely Ichigo, Yuzu and Karin Kurosaki.

Right now, he was rubbing his temples, trying to chase away an oncoming headache from all the nonsense he had to deal with. The total number of hollows that appeared last night was around a hundred, and three dozen of them attacked one specific place while all the others spread out like wildfire. The place was the Kurosaki residence, or more accurately, Ichigo Kurosaki, meaning that his dormant spiritual powers were awakening. At least that's what he'd managed to gather so far. Around twenty of the other hollows were wiped out by another person, most likely the new kid on the block, Uzumaki Naruto. Since he met him, he had a growing number of reasons to believe that he was more than just an average kid... and the description Isshin gave of him from before he was up was frightening. No less than the efficiency one of his surveillance devices noted. Not to mention that there seemed to be multiple copies of him. At first he considered the boy to be some form of evolved Hollow or Reiatsu affected human, but his skills and abilities were different from anything he had seen before.

The line of thoughts was soon interrupted by a knock on his window, and Kisuke turned to notice Naruto Uzumaki hanging upside down, waving with a small smile on his face. Shaking his head, and giving up on understanding the blond enigma, he walked over and opened the window, letting him in.

"Well... looks like I"m not the only one who didn't get much sleep." Naruto dryly commented as he flipped himself into the room "Mind telling me what the hell were those things I had to kill? I overheard that Rukia girl calling them Hollows." he added as he seated himself down. Urahara let out another deep sigh, before his normal humor returned.

(AN: To all those who've read the manga/watched the anime, ignore the following part as it's honestly a bit boring. You have been warned. A second note has been placed at the end for those interested)

"Why not? You see, there are two sorts of spirits. The first are called Pluses, they are mostly the should of the newly deceased, or of those who were not given a proper Soul Burial for various reasons. The second sort are Hollows, who come about in a number of ways. The most common ones are from Pluses who have remained in this world for too long, or those who have lost their hearts to despair. A Shinigami's job is to perform a Soul Burial on Pluses, sending them to Soul Society and to hunt down and kill Hollows, purifying their souls and sending them to the afterlife. With me so far? Good" he stopped, taking a short sip of tea.

"Physically, a Hollow comprises of nothing more than Spirit particles, condensed into usually a vaguely humanoid or animal-like form, though there are more than a few exceptions. The Hollow's mask and hole bear special significance, as they are a symbol of their descent. A hollow's hole can be anywhere on their bodies, while the Mask covered the area that is supposed to be the face, and serves to protect the naked instinct that remains after the heart is lost. It is also it's greatest weakness"

"The Hollows you have met are creatures of instinct, living solely to feed on the souls of others and survive, no better than animals, but still dangerous as they usually possess a plethora of unusual powers. As time passes, Hollows, since they are no longer bound by the mortality they once held evolve. During great battles in their home world of Hueco Mundo, when a large number of Hollows gather at the same place they merge, forming a Menos Grande, or more specifically a Gillian, which, while a mindless colossus, is far more powerful than the individual hollows that comprise it. Over time, a single soul in the mass that is a Gillian regains it's sense of self, overtaking command of the entire body and proceeding to feed on other Hollows until it gathers enough power for the next stage in it's evolution, an Adjuchas, greatly compressing their previously gained power into a relatively human-sized or slightly larger body. The final step in evolution is called a Vasto Lorde, though very little is known about them apart from the fact that they are powerful, since all of those who encounter them fail to return. Keep in mind that each stage of evolution is exponentially more powerful than the previous, and that while ordinary Hollows are mostly harmless compared to their more powerful brethren, they are not to be underestimated, as there are some among those who have survived for centuries. It is also believed that the more a hollow evolves, the closer it becomes to it's old human self in appearance an their instincts in reign as they regain a more human way of thinking compared to their raw instincts of before, but don't let that fool you... Not all Hollows are evil, just as not all humans or Shinigami are good, but a vast majority of them are dangerous, so be careful when dealing with them."

(AN: End of theoretical part)

Urahara finished his speech, very much surprised at how much Naruto was paying attention. If he didn't keep his eyes locked to his the entire time, he would have been sure that he was taking notes.

"Anything else?" he cheerfully asked.

"There was one more thing. The first hollow I fought said something strange"

"Oh?"

"It asked 'Another Arrancar?' when it looked at me" Naruto explained, a look of mild surprise when Urahara choked on his tea.

"Are you certain that the word was Arrancar?" he asked, implications running wild through his head

"Well? What does it mean?" Naruto somewhat impatiently asked, taking a sip of his own tea, and taking the time to enjoy the taste for a few seconds

"To remove." Urahara stated, dropping his head on his hands, and rubbing his temples yet again" Or more precisely in this case, to remove a mask from a Hollow's face. A by no means simple process. You see, Hollows and Shinigami are basically two sides of the same coin. When a Hollow removes it's mask, it becomes closer to a Shinigami, and a part of it's power is sealed into a weapon reminiscent of the Shinigami's Zanpakuto, while the change removes the blocks that previously held it's growth in place, also allowing it to develop Shinigami powers. Arrancar are exceedingly rare Naruto, the fact that the Hollow saw one means nothing but trouble"

Naruto remained silent. While this was not really his problem, he had an unpleasant feeling it would soon become so. He had analyzed all the information Urahara had given him, breaking it down and storing it for later use. He was also blissfully unaware of the descriptive horror that he had been saved from... Ichigo was hardly as fortunate with Rukia.

Still, the situation brought another question, why did the Hollow mistake him for an Arrancar? Why was an entire army of Hollows attacking Karakura? Better yet, where the flying fuck were the Shinigami who were supposed to clean the crap up? So many questions, so few answers.

"I see you are asking yourself the same questions. I'm afraid I lack the answers... for now at least. However, I have a few questions of my own, as one professional to another."

"Shoot"

Urahara smirked, and Naruto decided that he didn't like the smirk, though he didn't have enough time to react, before he was hit straight in the forehead by the tip of his cane and... nothing happened

"Well, that's hardly surprising." Kisuke drily commented "Though I am running out of ideas... exactly what are you?"

Naruto chuckled in response, letting out a hard, hollow sound

"As of a few days ago, a demon" he shortly stated, stoically waiting for the reaction.

"That's a new one" Kisuke responded, scratching his head under the hat while smiling somewhat confusedly "I suppose I really should keep quiet about it, eh?"

Naruto smiled in return, pleased by how the situation turned out. Kisuke Urahara had more than just pleasantly surprised him, this seemingly small act had earned his friendship in proper.

"It would be preferable. Now, what do we do about Kuchiki Rukia?"

'We, eh?' "She is healing, correct? I'll come by later to check up on her, but that's about all we can do for now. Now tell me, what do you think of Ichigo?"

"The carrot-head kid? A bit too driven by emotions for my liking, but he's okay. Someone I wouldn't trust with my secrets yet, but would with my life. He's royally screwed unless he gets help though." Naruto stated

"Oh? And why is that?" Kisuke asked, already aware of the answer, but curious of his side of reasoning nonetheless

"He's a beacon for the hollow, and it's only a matter of time before something bigger and uglier shows it's face. And somehow, I doubt the Shinigami are just going to sit around quietly. Given proper training though... he will become powerful. The passion that serves as a weakness is a double-edged sword. While it can be used against him.... it will drive him forward. I've watched the fight from a distance, not planning to interfere unless it was necessary. Sadly enough, Rukia was too weakened to fight, while Ichigo was overwhelmed, due to a lack of training I'd guess, so I might have shown a bit of my skills."

"Oh, you mean the part where two dozen Hollows went dead in a moment?" Kisuke bluntly asked

"Eh... yeah" Naruto answered, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck, while a rather goofy smile covered his face, giving the distinct appearance of a child with it's hand caught in the cookie jar. The sight left Urahara wondering how a trained veteran killer (by his own admission even) could look so innocent. He made a mental note to add another item to the growing list of phenomenons related to Naruto.

"I give up." he sighed in defeat "Let's pay a visit to miss Kuchiki, shall we? I don't open shop for a few more hours anyway"

Naruto shortly nodded, before walking over to Urahara, who merely quirked an eyebrow beneath his bucket hat as the blond put a hand over his shoulder, and they both disappeared in a swirl of leaves... even though there were none in the room before.

Rukia awoke to the company of two men, both of which she knew only for a short time. Kisuke Urahara was recommended to her as a solid contact and go-to person in the Living World by her captain, Joushiro Ukitake. The second was merely known to her as Naruto Uzumaki, and the little she could discern of him were the facts that he liked to joke, that he was Ichigo's friend or acquaintance, and that he was downright deadly. A sharp intellect burned behind the calm amethyst eyes, the likes of which she had only seen in a few individuals in her life, but that fact was eclipsed by the warmth the teen radiated.

"How are you feeling Kuchiki-san?" came the friendly voice of the old merchant

"Better" she shortly responded, then noticed her clothes neatly folded on a nearby chair "Did you...?" she asked with a growing tone of anger, her face flushing red.

"Relax girl, you haven't got anything I haven't seen before. I'm a trained medic, the only reason I took off your clothes was to heal the damage to your torso"he smoothly explained. Technically, it was a half-truth, as he was curious about the inner workings of Shinigami's body, but there was no need to tell her that. She still seemed a bit peeved at the fact that he had a chance to ogle her body... something she decided to express.

"So what? You shouldn't have done that! It's-it's...indecent" she tried, bringing forth a chuckle from the blond teen as he raised his arms defensively.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry for taking off your clothes." he stopped for a second "I could take off my own if that would make you feel better?" he offered, bringing forth a another blush from the girl, before she started sputtering, obviously remembering his shirtless appearance last night, bringing another hearty laugh from him.

Kisuke watched both of them studiously. Rukia was an exemplary specimen of a Soul Society raised Shinigami with no Living World experience. And to make things even funnier, she had a rather limited social range, due to her upbringing among the Kuchiki noble clan, along with just a part of their pride, or more likely arrogance. Also, her comparatively backward mentality and severe prudishness were an ideal target for messing around, especially for the apparent expert.

Naruto on the other hand behaved naturally. He hadn't expected it, but he seemed to have lowered his guard, at least partially, as if he felt he was around people worth his trust. The statement of trusting someone with his life but not his secrets made a strange amount of sense, all things considered. Naruto claimed that he was once a leader of men, and he knew from personal experience what his words meant. Step by step, Naruto proved to be a character of growing interest, though he wondered much which piece on the chessboard he would come to represent, and more importantly, which color.

"Urahara-san, I need to ask a favor of you" she started, just as the first rays of sun were coming into the room.

"Uhm?" the hat and clogged man asked/commented

"I will need to remain in the living world for a while to recover my strength. Can you provide me with a gigai and a cover identity?" she asked in a completely serious voice, as befitting of a member of her family. Urahara smiled in turn, hiding his giggle behind his fan

"After Naruto-kun here visited this morning, I took the liberty of having one prepared" he answered in a jovial voice. Rukia never noticed a detail that Naruto did, making the blonde wonder at what the former Shinigami captain had in store.

(08:00, Kurosaki Home)

"Good morning Ichigo!!" came the loud, and to Ichigo, obnoxious morning voice of his father. Normal families had morning traditions that consisted of normal morning rituals, such as pushing in a line for the bathroom, arguing over who gets the last drop of coffee, and so on. The Kurosaki family, or more accurately, Ichigo and Isshin had something infinitely weirder, which only by a tread failed to qualify for child abuse, and mostly because the constant retaliations of said child. It's not that Ichigo hated his father or something, it was just the fact that the man was annoying as hell when he wanted to be.

The flying figure of Isshin Kurosaki son found himself slammed into the ground, face-up a palm covering most of his face, as the owner of said palm stood above him with a scowl

"Trying to kill your son early in the morning you freak?" Ichigo shouted at him, continuing their usual morning banter. It was utterly predictable for a while now. His father jumps at him with what could best be described as a fancy surprise kung-fu move, while he, unless he was heavily distracted, retaliate, preferably painfully.

"Not bad Ichigo, I have nothing left to teach you." Isshin responded, mock tears in his eyes.

"Crazy-ass bas... wait, Yuzu and Karin, how are they? How are their wounds?" he asked in rapid succession, growing increasingly frustrated by his father's surprised look.

"Wounds? What are you talking about Ichigo?" Isshin smoothly lied. As much as he wanted to say it, he couldn't do it yet.

"That mess last night.." Ichigo started, completely confused

"Oh, you mean the truck that hit." his father answered, getting up and leading him outside, where a perfectly unharmed Karin and Yuzu were waiting for him, one mumbling curses under her breath, while the other held her usual smile

"When I get my hands on that son of a.." Ichigo tuned the rest of Karin's curses out,opting to instead stare surprised at the boarded up hole that lead to the kitchen an living room of his house.

"Can you believe it? Some truck driver crashed into our house last night and drove off!" Yuzu stated in her best 'I'm angry, feel my wrath!' tone, failing miserably to sound anything but cute as she 'threateningly' waved a large ladle in her arm, right before sighing, and following Karin back into the house, cheerfully ignoring the long string of various curses coming from the black-haired girl

"Hurry up Ichi-nii, or your breakfast will get cold and you'll miss school" she added as she walked off, leaving a completely confused Ichigo to stand.

'How did this happen? I know that we were attacked by those things last night, I even remember the marks they left in the road. The damage to the house is still there,but the marks in the road are gone. And why do Yuzu and Karin fail to remember everything? Was it that Shinigami woman? Some sort of Soul Society damage control? And what about that Naruto guy, with the sword? It's not like they're on the news... at this rate, I'll spend all morning standing here thinking.'

Giving up on finding the answers to the long list of questions that had gathered, he resigned himself to an already cooled breakfast before school, unaware of a single pair of eyes that were watching him until a few moments ago before disappearing. He ate his cold breakfast blissfully unaware of just how complicated his life had gotten in a single night.

Author's notes: End of the second chapter, though it's not much of a cliffhanger for anyone who's read the manga or watched the anime. As you've likely noticed, I've been using other characters to describe his many facets.

The bit about teasing Rukia actually comes from his late wife, after all no one in their right mind would live along Anko Mitarashi without picking up on some of her habits, and he's a trickster and prankster by heart :D

For those curious, I will likely reveal the White and Black Lotus in the next chapter, while the Twin Mirror Lotus will be mentioned,but not used for a while

Also, keep in mind that I have taken a few liberties when it comes to the educational system, since my knowledge of Japan's is... horrible at best. I can point out Literature, Mathematics and Crafts along with Gym as school subjects, but that's about it. Oh, and there are the facts that they have school on Saturdays, and the fact that school lasts most of the day

Also, I've taken the liberty of setting the starting time to be nine in the morning, mostly because it gives people plenty of time to wake up in the morning and without any other logical arguments. Write it off to creative liberties...

Just to avoid confusion. Narutos' aliases are the White Wraith (for one of his crazier combat strategies and looks) and Flying Thunder God (go figure). The names of his two swords are Quicksilver (the zanbatou) and Song of the Wind ( the katana). The katana has no power whatsoever, apart from it's perfect forging, to the point that it doesn't dull, rust and it's essentially unbreakable, requiring the power equivalent to that of an angry god to break, but it still can't cut everything (being reasonable here). Quicksilver has it's name from it's mercurial blade, which can switch from solid to liquid state at a moment's notice, essentially bypassing almost any attempts to block it, unless the chakra field around it's surface is disrupted. In that case it remains solid. Here are short descriptions

-Quicksilver
Remember how Zabuza's sword looked? It has the same handle, but the blade is no longer one edged, it has a sharp edge on both sides, four holes the size of the original one are spread evenly along a line on the length of the blade, and the top is shaped like a crescent, the pointed ends going towards the handle. (okay, this is the best I can do for this. I stink at descriptions, sadly. You can get the original sword Zabuza used on the wiki page. Also it's likely that there will be artwork of both blades up soon, so I'll paste a link somewhere around here)

-Song of the Wind
The elegant sheath of the blade was colored in sapphire blue, with a simple metallic silver lining representing winds on it's surface. The handle was equally simple, slightly longer than a normal katana and covered in a bluish cloth, allowing better grip.
Also, the blade is simple, and unadorned by any decorations, and the guard is similarly done.