Hey there! Glad you guys like it so far, I hope I can continue entertaining! I didn't specify in chapter 1, which I'm sorry for, but Ichigo died earlier on, around the same time Rukia, Renji, and everyone else did. Here's chapter 3! J P.S: This is time skipped. If you guys wanted more little Ichigo, Rukia, and gang, I'm sorry. I couldn't think of anything to put for in between. If you guys want some little people, say so in the reviews, and I'll see what I can think up for a flashback chapter.


"Wow!" All Maru, Chibi, and Sukini shouted in unison. "You three should join the shinigami!

"Nah. Ichigo and I…." Rukia said, "…We'll be here forever!" Ichigo nodded in agreement, then turned to Renji.

"Right, Renji?" He asked.

"R-Right!" Renji said. After the other three let out cheers of joy, the six of them began running off to go play some random game. After Ichigo tagged Renji in the back and began running away, they all knew what game it was.


Nine years later

Chapter 3: Trouble Finds You

"Man, it's hot." Ichigo muttered. Currently, Ichigo, Renji, and Rukia were resting under the tree. It had been nine long years. Though, for souls like them, it wasn't long, it seemed long because of what they had to go through in Inuzuri. Ichigo looked around the field that they were currently in the middle of. It was a large field, with brownish colored, overgrown grass. In the past, they couldn't see over it, but now Ichigo and Renji had no trouble. The years had been good for them both, they had both grown tall, and their bodies evened out into a nice build. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said to Rukia. The poor girl, she had only grown a few feet, though her body did fill out a little. It was a hot summer day, and many would wonder why they were out in the open like they were. But for each of the three, they knew exactly why they were out there.


*Flash-back*

Earlier that day

Ichigo and Rukia were walking around part of the damaged section of Inuzuri. The district had come under attack by a massive amount of Hollow. Fortunately, the shinigami arrived before too many got hurt, but over half the district was ruined. It would take a long time to fix the damage, especially for a district as poor as the 78th. Rukia had decided that they should go see if they could find any survivors, and if they could, they should go and help recover. That's why they were there. Renji was off gathering up the other three. Removing a piece of rubble, Ichigo noticed a small child huddled up in a ball in a corner. He motioned to Rukia, before picking up the boy and laying him on a flat surface. He looked fine, and his heart was still beating. It seemed like he had merely put himself to sleep while under the rubble. As a couple volunteers took the boy away, Ichigo wiped the sweat off of his brow. He then heard Rukia shout, "Oi, Ichigo! Here comes Renji!" As Ichigo looked, sure enough, he could see the crimson red hair of their friend. However, as he got close, both Ichigo and Rukia could tell that something was wrong. The sweat on his face and the nervousness in his eyes attested to that.

"Guys, we need to head out. Marumaru and the rest are gone!" He shouted.

"What? Are you sure? Did you check the food stand?" Rukia asked. She was referring to a stand that they often met at for lunch every week.

"Yeah, the owner said he hasn't seen them. I checked around the district as well, and nobody has seen them all day!" He said, a little calmer now. "We need to go look for them!"

"Hold on." Ichigo said, halting his friend before he could get worked up again. "We don't even know where they could be yet. There's no point searching unless we have an idea as to where they might be."

"I was thinking about that." Renji said, with his hand touching the bottom of his chin. "We could each check the various areas that we hung out at. They could be at any of those."

Nodding, Rukia gave her agreement. "Alright, we'll divide the places in between us. Ichigo, you check the lake side, the alley, and the hut. Renji, you check the market, the field, and give the food stand another try. I'll ask around and see if anybody has seen anything. Whether or not you find anything, meet back here. Understood?"

"Hai!" both Ichigo and Renji shouted. After that they ran off in different directions.

*End-flashback*


Present

The searching hadn't been good. Ichigo and Rukia couldn't find anything. But it was different for Renji. The market and the food stand were negative, but the field was different. Renji found three sets of tracks, and after meeting back up with Rukia and Ichigo and showing it to them, they all agreed it belonged to their friends. They had decided to follow them, and see where they led. That's how they got under the tree. After following the tracks for a couple hours, they took a well deserved break.

"Man, how could they have gone so far?" Renji wondered aloud.

"I don't know. I didn't think Marmaru could even walk that far without fainting!" Rukia exclaimed.

"You know, we don't even know if it is their tracks." Ichigo pointed out. "It could belong to any number of people. There's no way of determining who they really belong too."

"That's true. But when all three of the footprints match them, it's hard to say it doesn't belong to them." Renji said, trying to keep his hopes up. After waiting for awhile longer, they finally took off again. The tracks winded back and forth through the field, zigzagging, going one direction, then stopping and retracing back, then heading off in a different direction entirely.

"They were chasing something." Ichigo noted, after seeing another set of smaller footprints, belonging to an animal. "Those idiots. If they went this far chasing some random animal…"

"I see a hut up ahead!" Renji shouted. And as Ichigo looked up, he didn't see a hut. He saw an old, worn-down shack that looked like it would collapse at any minute. After following the tracks further, they led into the "hut" as Renji put it. It was dark inside, as there weren't any windows, but what they could see was enough to freeze each of them in their tracks. Inside the shack, they found a pool of blood. But that wasn't what made them freeze. Laying inside the pool, lay Maru, Chibi, and Sukini, each with a gash digging deep into their backs.

"N-No way… What- What happened here?" Rukia said, with a touch of shock, sadness, and fear all mixed in her voice.

"I-I don't know. What kind of animal would've done this?" Renji wondered, also with a touch of sadness in his voice.

"I think I have an idea." Ichigo muttered, also quite sad that his friends were murdered.

"What? What kind of monster would do such a thing?" Rukia shouted. It was then that her eyes widened, as realization kicked in. Monster. The gashes in their backs looked like they belonged to massive hands, with massive claws.

"What? What is it?" Renji wondered, completely clueless as to what his remaining friends were referring to.

"The attack earlier today. Sure, the shinigami did a great job. But it's always possible that one or two got away. Judging from the marks, I'd say a Hollow got them." Ichigo said, finishing with pure anger in his voice. Just then, the shack began to shake, and they barely had enough time to get out. Right as they exited the shack, it collapsed, and above it stood a massive Hollow. The monster wasn't as large as others. It's body was skinny, it's legs, arms, and neck were all below average. It had a hole right in its stomach. It didn't have a tail, but it had huge hands, with claws equal in size.

"A-A Hollow?" Renji shouted, both shocked and afraid that he was staring one of the monsters in the face.

"Yeah." Ichigo muttered, "Probably the one that killed them." He finished. Rukia just stared at the beast. It was massive. The biggest thing she had ever seen. It was way bigger then the other Hollows that attacked the district. Suddenly, the Hollow lunged at them, easily able to crush them all with one swing. They all thought it was over. Rukia closed her eyes, preparing for the death that would come.

But it never came. She opened her eyes, which widened at what she saw. Before them, the Hollow, while still standing, had a massive slash down the center of it. In front of the Hollow, there was one lone shinigami. As the Hollow collapsed and disappeared, being cleansed by the shinigami's zanpakuto[1], and the shinigami sheathed his sword and turned towards the souls. All three of them were quite shocked at what they saw. Not only had the shinigami suddenly appeared, but he took down a beast that was easily five times his size without even trying.. As Ichigo looked at the mans appearance, his eyes widened. 'That's…'

Standing in front of them, was the same man who they had saw nine years ago. That same kind man, who had given them his meal, now stood before them, smiling as though nothing had happened. "Are you three alright?" he asked.

Nodding, Ichigo, who seemed to be the only one who could generate a proper sentence, heck, he was the only one who could generate proper thought currently, spoke "Y-Yeah, we're fine. Thanks for saving us." He finished this last line looking away. He hated having to accept help. He hated feeling as though he was useless. The fact that three of his friends were dead and buried beneath the collapsed shack and the fact that he couldn't stand up to the Hollow didn't help him much.

Smiling in understanding at how Ichigo was feeling, the man responded, "You mustn't let yourself feel useless. You were able to track down your friends, and you were able to deduce that it was a Hollow that killed them when you had little evidence. That is something to be proud of." Turning away slightly, the shinigami finished, sadly saying, "I only regret I wasn't in time to save them. We, the shinigami, knew of the Hollow, and I was sent to track it down. I arrived just as the Hollow attacked you, though I was able to hear most of your discovery of those three."

Renji, who had finally snapped out of his state of shock, muttered, "That-That was incredible…."

Rukia, however, had a different reaction. She broke down crying. To Renji, he would've expected this being as they just went through one of the most intense experiences of their lives. But Ichigo, Ichigo knew Rukia. He knew how tough she was. And to see his closest friend, someone who he had been with for a LONG time, crying like she was broke his heart. He immediately walked over to her, and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. The shinigami, who had watched on, spoke quietly, "If you'd like, I could help you retrieve your friends for a burial?"

"Thank you. We'd appreciate that." Ichigo said calmly.


Later that evening

Later, the three of them stood looking off the cliff towards seireitei[2]. After the burial, the shinigami gave his farewell and headed off to make his report. They had stood looking off towards the sunset for awhile now, remembering the time they had with Maru, Chibi, and Sukini. Finally, Rukia broke the silence. "Let's become shinigami. Let's become shinigami, and make sure something like this never happens again." To this, Renji and Ichigo both nodded in agreement. They would become shinigami, and they would pledge themselves to the protection of Soul Society. That was the pledge they made on that hilltop. That was the pledge that all three of them would risk staring death in the face in order to keep.


Alrighty, there's chapter 3! I decided to switch up the story a little more. As far as I could tell, in the anime and manga they never described how those three died. Renji merely said that he and Rukia had lost them during those years. So, I decided to change it, and change the reason for them becoming shinigami, as I also believe that Rukia said they became shinigami so they could live in Seireitei. Anyways, read, review, and remember to tell me if you want a "back when they were kids" arc! J

Definitions:

Zanpakuto[1]: Seriously, I doubt you need my help on this one. But for those of you who are completely lost, Zanpakuto literally means: "Soul-Cutter Sword" and it's a shinigami's primary weapon.

Seireitei[2]: I always got confused with this one. I thought Seireitei was Japanese for Soul Society. It's actually just the name of the capital.