Submindy: I know I'm starting to write again can you believe it??

Naruto: No way!! This is too cool you haven't sat down to write a fanfic in like a year!

Submindy: You got to thank my good friend KenthostheKitsune.

Kenthos: Yuppers!!

Submindy: Naruto be a good boy and do the warning and Asch do the disclaimer! Oh yeah got to thank my betareader Aishiteru Sabaku no Gaara.

Naruto: *groans* Okay this story contains a lot of yaoi and relations between a 12-16 year old to an older guy so if you do not like do not read and I mean it! Flames will be completely ignored and you will get a pretty bad response from Mindy and Kenthos!

Asch: Mindy does not own Bleach or Naruto so do not try anything and anyways if she owned either one she would have Naruto as an uke to Sasuke or Itachi and in Bleach she would put Ichigo as uke to Byakuya or Grimmjow.

Chapter 3:

Meeting Up with Old and New Friends

Minato, Renji, and Naruto made it to Soul Society in ten minutes flat with the former hokage leading the group. As they walked, the kitsune attracted all kinds of attention, both good and bad. Naruto looked around curiously, not too sure about the stares. He remembered how he was treated by the villagers in Konoha, and instantly reattached himself to Minato's haori. Minato peered down at the boy with a sigh. "Don't worry, Naruto, they won't hurt you. They're just curious is all." Naruto looked up to him curiously about the news. "But...why are they curious about me??"

"Because you're new. That and your reiatsu feels different from their own..... It's probably because of Kyuubi that it's different," The kage responded to the obviously scared boy. At the answer, Naruto ducked his head down and blushed. "Okay....so what all is going to happen to me after you talk to this Yamamoto??"

"Well if he agrees to you staying here, you can become a soul reaper or as what they call it back home: a shinigami. Your duty will be to slay Hollows and help lost souls find peace through console. It's pretty easy. I'm sure you'll get the hang of it." Naruto tilted his head curiously before nodding. and then looked around inquisitively as most new spirits were dressed in white yukata, nothing as fancy as his. "Wh-why did I appear dressed differently though...Minato-san??"

Minato tilted his head, "I'm not really sure, Naruto. You're the first person who's shown up here dressed differently." Naruto stared at him, obviously scared and confused. He blinked as they appeared before a wall and gate. The blond was obviously apprehensive about the giant guarding the gate, but Minato just smiled and yelled up to the guard. "Hey, open the gates! It's Minato." Naruto looked up in shock before hiding behind the captain as he had obviously been scared with being thrust in a new and strange world.

"You got it. Who's the blond?" The giant's voice boomed, as he moved to open the gates. "He's a possible new soul reaper....We need to talk to Yamamoto-sama about his situation." Minato explained as he and the other two ducked under the gates and stepped inside. Naruto looked around, confused at all of the white buildings that made up Seireitei. "Wow....so...is this where shinigami live, Minato-san??" The small blond stuck real close to the man. Even though he was assured countless times that he would not be harmed here, but the small kitsune still didn't trust their words.

"Hai, each squad division has their own buildings and the hospital is over there." Minato pointed over to the huge white building nearby. Renji grunted, "I'm going to report to captain Yamamoto about this. You can show him around." With that, the red head disappeared in a flash, heading to the first division to hand in the report on finding the small soul.

Sapphire eyes looked around curiously before looking to the hospital with a sad glance. He was obviously missing his Baa-chan and Ero-sannin even if he never said a word to the older blond beside him. Minato frowned, "I know you miss her...but you'll see her again Naruto. As for how I know this kind of thing, we went on patrols around the Hidden Leaf Village on the look out for lost souls and Hollows and I used to see you running around the village all the time." Naruto looked up slowly and nodded, beginning to believe the captain. "Wait....if you're here, does that mean Sarutobi-oji-san is here, too?"

"Yeah, although he isn't a soul reaper, he is an important asset to the Soul Society. He helps Yamamoto-sama take care of things around here." Naruto looked up to the blond captain. "Can I go see him before I have to meet this Yamamoto-sama??" Minato scratched his head, obviously not sure. "Well, chances are, he's probably with Yamamoto right now. So I'm not sure." Naruto began to pout and tears formed in the corners of his eyes. "B-but I-I haven't seen Jiji-san si-since thr-three we-weeks before h-h-he died...."

Minato sighed, "Okay Naruto, I'll try to help you see him before you see Yamamoto, which is a difficult task within itself. Come on." Naruto's tears disappeared and a smile appeared as he looked up to him. "Arigato, Minato-san!" Minato shook his head wistfully as he started walking, the teen following closely behind.

Naruto giggled some as he kept walking beside the former hokage. They finally made it to the main hall, after about thirty minutes of walking, where the captains usually met in times of crisis. They walked down the hall toward a closed wooden door. Minato knocked on the door before a familiar voice called a 'come in'. Naruto peaked in and spotted Sarutobi before he dashed in and hugged his grandfather figure. "Jiji-san!"

Sarutobi was knocked back by surprise, but smiled when he saw a familiar face. "Naruto, my boy, how have you been!" His face suddenly broke into a somber expression, finally realizing the teen had to have died to come here. "Oh, Naruto...." Naruto looked up to him with a sad expression before looking up to the older hokage. "I-I'm fine, Jiji-san. I-I died today....I think?"

"Hai...." Minato replied sadly. Sarutobi sighed sadly before hugging the teen, a few tears falling down his face. "What happened, Naruto? I wanted you to live so much longer than twelve years....."

Naruto looked down then. "Sa-Sasuke....h-he killed me" The blond really did break down in tears then Sarutobi held onto Naruto, trying to comfort him. Minato stood by, leaning against the wall. The blond was crying softly into the old man's robes obviously devastated. "Sa-Sasuke tried to desert Leaf Village....i-it was my mission to bring him back home."

"Naruto, it wasn't your fault he tried to leave, always remember that. And Sasuke...he'll probably end up going to hell for his actions when he dies." Naruto looked up to him astonishment as he shook his head some. "N-No, h-he didn't mean to kill me...h-he doesn't deserve to go to hell for killing me"

"It's not only that, Naruto...but his actions since his family was killed have been adding to the punishment as well. He refused help, sneering down on those who tried to help him saying he didn't need help from a weakling. He took life for granted, killed a comrade and friend and tried to abandon his home village all in the name of one of the greatest sins, revenge. If the council gets their way, he will not be punished. He'll probably be rewarded for killing you, as a matter of fact.....But if Tsunade and Jiraiya have their way, you'll meet him sooner than you think," Sarutobi said somberly. Naruto nodded slowly and sighed. "Minato-san...said I needed to see Yamamoto....to figure out what to do with me...I suppose"

"Hai, you do, and it seems Renji is trying to find you since I can hear him out in the hall." Naruto looked at him in surprise and nodded as he went up to Minato, holding onto the man's cloak. "I guess we should go, Minato-san?" Minato replied, walking out the door. "Hai, you can see Sarutobi-jiji later. Now, let's go. The sooner we get this done, the better." Naruto nodded silently as he wondered what was going to happen to him now.

The twelfth division captain led Naruto down the halls to another set of doors and knocked before flashing a comforting smile to the small preteen. Minato entered a huge office, an old man with a long white beard and bald head sitting behind the oak desk in front of them. He was wearing white and black robes and had a pipe tucked in his mouth. He looked older than Sarutobi. "Hello, Yamamoto-sama, I've brought Naruto as you requested." Minato reported, bowing on one knee before the old man. Naruto went into the room and tilted his head at the spiritual pressure he felt before approaching the old man curiously. "I take it you are the Yamamoto-sama Minato-san talks about, oji-san?"

Minato nearly choked as he heard Naruto refer to Yamamoto in such a way, but before he could reprimand the blond, Yamamoto's laughter echoed in the room. "Hai, little one, I am Yamamoto, although you are the first person to call me oji-san." He chuckled a little, "Minato-kun, stand up, You know I'm not one for formalities. You've been hanging around with Captain Byakuya too much." Naruto was standing in front of the old man without a problem with the pressure. "Why wouldn't anyone call you oji-san though? You look older than Sarutobi-jiji and he has a grandson, after all." The blond tilted his head some obviously confused as his rude nicknames were terms of endearment for almost all of his friends.

"Well, Naruto, usually calling someone old is a sign of disrespect, but in your case, I can tell it's one of respect. Although the terms you use for friends are good to you, they are rude to most people. No one calls me old since I am their boss, but I can say most would agree with you that I am indeed old." Naruto began to blush and his control on hiding his tails and ears failed after his slip on the control. So the kitsune features appear for the first division captain.

Yamamoto's eyebrows quirked, "Well I can see you are more unique than I first thought, Naruto-kun." Minato nodded in agreement. Naruto was far from normal. Said preteen began to back up as he knew that unique usually wasn't good in his case. Yamamoto chuckled, "Don't worry, Naruto, no one's going to judge or hurt you here. In fact, there's a fox soul reaper captain here as well. His name is Komamura. Naruto began to relax as he regained his spot. "I see....Minato-san said you would be the one to figure out what all will happen to me?"

"Hai and he requested that you stay here and become a soul reaper. From your abilities, I can see that you would make quite the powerful ally. " Yamamoto smiled, "Minato here is the captain of the 12th squad. I'll put you under his tutoring until you can take the test to become a soul reaper. Either that, or you can go to the academy." Naruto looked at the captain obviously wondering if the man was crazy. "No offense, but why the hell would I go to an academy when I just got out of shinobi academy just eight months ago?" Yamamoto sighed as he looked to the small blond."You see, Naruto, soul reapers are trained differently than ninja are. We specialize in kenjutsu and kido, not kunai and jutsu. While jutsu use chakra, kido use reiatsu. And because you can't control your reiatsu yet, you have to have someone to teach you." Naruto sighed some and nodded then. "Okay....if it's okay with Minato-san, can he tutor me to be a shinigami then?" Obviously the blond wasn't giving up the terms he grew up with. "Hai, if he wishes. I'm afraid you'll also have to stay with him since we don't have the room as of now." Naruto looked to the older and taller blond with puppy eyes going. Minato sighed, "Naruto, you can turn off the eyes. I was going to say yes anyway."

Naruto smiled then as he hugged the older man. "Thank you, Minato-san." The blond let go quickly though. Minato chuckled, "We'll start lessons tomorrow, Naruto. By your leave, Yamamoto-sama." Minato bowed shortly, before turning to walk out the door. Naruto blinked before bowing to the captain and turned to follow his new teacher out of the room. Minato walked out into the hallway, paused to wait for Naruto. "So, Naruto, what do you want to do now? Go see Sarutobi again or allow me to introduce you to a few people here."

Naruto looked up to the man for a minute before smiling. "Um...can I meet a few new people?" Minato then led the blond toward another door before entering. "Of course, let's go to the lounge. I'm sure we'll find a few people there." Naruto nodded, but not before latching onto the older's haori once more. Minato opened the door and walked inside. Captain Soi Fong, a young woman who was captain of the 2nd seat, sat at a nearby table next to Komamura Sajin, the fox creature captain who Naruto had been told about. Nearby, standing near the wall was Kuchiki Byakuya who merely stared at the duo as they entered. Also, Captain Toushiro and vice captain Rangiku sat near a window. "Yo," Minato greeted.

Naruto twitched his ears and tails as he peaked around the older blond curiously. "H-hi..." The blond looked around curiously and showed his apprehension about being around new people, including that his reiatsu was fluctuating every few seconds. Everyone greeted Naruto in their own way, except Byakuya, who simply ignored everyone. Rangiku squealed and was at Naruto's side in an instant. "You are so cute! Are those real?" It took every ounce of her self control not to pet those ears. Minato chuckled at her reaction. Rangiku always did love cute, fluffy things.

Naruto looked up in shock and then tilted his head at being confronted about his tails and ears. He apparently looked out of his element. "H-hai....th-they appeared when I got he-here....wh-why?" Rangiku smiled at the small shinigami in training. "They are so adorable! But..."She blinked in confusion. "How is it possible to grow fox ears?" Minato shrugged in an 'I-have-no-idea' gesture. Rangiku smiled, petting them lightly before pulling away. "I'm Vice Captain Rangiku of Ssquad 10. Nice to meet you cutie!"

Naruto blinked as he scurried back some. "Uh, nice to meet you, too....I'm Naruto...Yamamoto-sama....assigned me as Minato-san's student until I pass the shinigami test." Minato chuckled at the teen's shyness. "Hai, Naruto recently died so he's been put under my tutelage until he can pass the test." Toshiro frowned, "Sorry that you died. You seem a little too young. Were you killed or what?" Minato gave his co-worker a look that said not to talk about it. Naruto looked to the wall some, "My best friend killed me, because it was my job to take him back home." The blond then sniffed the air and looked over at the giant of a captain before approaching him. "A-ano are you Komamura-san that Yamamoto-oji-san told me about?"

Komamura tilted his encased head. "Hai, I am." Naruto smiled softly then and nodded. "Do you think maybe sometime later on....we can sit and talk a little?" Naruto blinked when he heard the door open again and saw a man with silver hair, another wearing glasses, and finally a blind man, but his instincts told him to get near Minato again where it was safe. "Of course, Naruto-san." Minato looked over at the two new arrivals, Captain Gin of Squad 3, Captain Aizen of Squad 5 and finally Captain Kaname of squad 9. "Hello, gentlemen." Minato greeted emotionlessly.

TBC.....

Submindy: That's it for this installment hope you like it.

Naruto: If you like it drop a line and let us know!