Deep Within The Maggots Nest
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.
Chapter 5: Not Naruto and Sasuke
"Why am I here?" Sakura asked not looking at the two figures behind her. Both of them pouted.
"Aww, come on Sakura-chan don't be like that!" The older one exclaimed. The younger one came to stand next to Sakura and grabbed her hand.
"Your not mad at me are you Sakura-chan?!" The little one shouted. Sakura sighed sadly before finally looking down at the little boy.
His pitch black eyes stared up at her hopefully as the wind ruffled the little boys black hair. She smiled at the familiar shape of his hair before she looked up at the other man. His hair shined like the sun while his eyes were bluer than the ocean and the lines on his cheeks were defined. He was dressed in the hokage robes and he smiled at her. The Sasuke look-a-like saw Sakura looking at the Naruto look-a-like and scowled, glaring at the older man and tugged at her hand.
"Sakura-chan" he whined and Sakura finally looked back down at him.
"Riko you shouldn't be so needy." The Naruto look-a-like said seriously.
"Shut up baka-Yume! We haven't seen Sakura-chan in a thousand years!" Yume shook his head but said no more. Just watching the two made Sakura sad. When she had first discovered the identity of her zanpakutos she thought Naruto and Sasuke were with her but that wasn't the case. Yume saw her sad look and glared slightly at Riko.
"Your making Sakura-chan sad, Riko." The little boys eyes widened as he looked up at Sakura. Her eyes were misty but she seemed fine to the oblivious little boy.
"Sakura-chan's not sad! She just happy to see me baka!" He yelled and Sakura was reminded why she hated coming here. He zanpakutos were not Naruto and Sasuke but the impressions that they had made on her very soul. They were the representations of Naruto and Sasuke at their happiest, Naruto in his twenties and hokage, Sasuke as a child before the massacre. They were a cruel tease but they were part of her and she had to learn to accept them.
"Yume, Riko how have you been?" She asked the pair. Tears welled up in Riko's eyes and he hugged Sakura.
"I was so lonely Sakura-chan! The only person there was to talk to was that baka!" He wailed. Yume rolled his eyes but agreed.
"It has been a long time Sakura-chan." Yume commented walking toward her. He stood right next to her as they looked out on the vacant Konoha. "Your troubled Sakura-chan." Yume stated and Sakura looked down to the floor.
"It's been so long..." She trailed off "are you guys mad at me?" She questioned and Riko's eyes widened further.
"NO! Sakura-chan I could never be mad at you!" He cried. Yume agreed and put an arm around her shoulder.
"You know we could never be mad at you Sakura-chan." He told her smiling down at her. Sakura sighed sadly but smiled at them.
"Well we're together again." She started "will you two still allow me to use you?" She asked seriously and Riko nodded furiously while Yume simply smiled down at her.
"Of course Sakura-chan!" Riko said before glaring over at Yume. "But only as long as you only use me and me alone not that baka!" He told her seriously.
"Riko why do you have to be so jealous? Why can't Sakura-chan just use us at the same time?" Yume said exasperated.
"Because Sakura-chan is mine! You shouldn't even be here baka!" Riko yelled and ended up in a one sided argument with Yume. Sakura massaged her temples and scrunched her eyes together.
"Shut up!" She yelled at the two, annoyed, before she apologized "sorry guys, but Yume you didn't answer." Yume looked down at her with Naruto's eyes and for a moment she thought she saw the real Naruto standing next to her but that image disappeared in a second. Yume smiled, carefree.
"You can always count on me, dattebayo!" He said smiling a fox like smile. Sakura nodded quietly and took a deep breath in before smiling.
"I'm so glad to see you again!" She said hugging them both. Yume accepted the hug without protest while Riko tried to push him out of the embrace. Soon though he gave up and just hugged Sakura back tightly. Two tears fell from Sakura's eyes and in her head she kept chanting 'Their not Naruto and Sasuke. Their not Naruto and Sasuke.' Sakura pulled back and wiped her face before she smiled at her zanpakutos. "It's great to see you guys but can I get some real sleep?" She asked jokingly but Yume saw through it. Yume grabbed her hand and teleported the three of them to what used to be Sakura's apartment. "Thanks Yume." She said before heading to the bedroom with Riko following her. Sakura laid down and settled herself under her covers while Riko crawled in the bed with her, holding her hand. Sakura looked at the innocent child before shutting her eyes tightly not wanting to see him anymore. Sakura then relaxed letting herself drift asleep again.
Sakura woke up refreshed physically while emotionally she was drained. She loved her zanpakutos, really, but seeing them brought up so many memories and 'what ifs'. Sakura stood up and stretched, tensing when she remembered the chakra burns. It was no problem though as Sakura willed healing chakra to all the burns on her body and healed them. Then she quickly got dressed and left her room intending on helping with the construction of the lab.
It's amazing how fast time passes; before she knew it four months had passed. The labs construction was almost complete and Sakura had been training everyday to get back in shape. Sakura could say she was happy with he progress. Her chakra control, while not at the level it was twelve hundred years ago, was already to the point where channeling it came naturally. Her muscles were steadily strengthening though they still had a long way to go before she could crush boulders without chakra. Since their first spar she and Yoruichi had become great friends, sparing every week or so. Sakura also maintained a healthy relationship with quite a few of the other captains and their lieutenants. It was wonderful and the friendships helped chase away the loneliness and the guilt.
Today had been a long one. Though Sakura was happy with the way the medical research sector was coming along there were a lot of things she had to deal with. Today was mostly transfer papers. She was surprised how many members of the fourth squad had put in a transfer request. All of them were unseated but the number was still impressive. Paperwork was tedious but Sakura had been Tsunade's apprentice for years and doing her paperwork came with the title.
Sakura sighed and placed the last piece of paper in the large pile on her desk in the medical workroom of the lab. She was finally done with all the paperwork and was she glad about that. Now she had time to head over to the second division to see Yoruichi. Sakura stepped lightly out of the lab not wanting to disturb Urahara and Kurotsuchi who were each working on their own projects. Once out of the twelfth division Sakura sped up, walking quickly. She headed straight to the second division not wanting a repeat of the last time when she got lost. It wasn't bad it was just weird.
Aizen must have specifically sought her out because the fifth division was pretty far away from the twelfth. That and he was very careful, it took a lifetime of shinobi training to know how to tell the difference between casual inquiry and integration. He wanted to know about genjutsu and she couldn't figure out why he was so insistent on knowing everything about it, you can't cast genjutsu with reiatsu. She told him what he wanted to know but vaguely, only giving the bare minimum of information. She didn't know what made her so suspicious of him but every bit of her instinct told her to be wary. And even after that she kept seeing him almost every time she left her division, he just kept showing up at the most random times.
Sakura shook her head as she walked through the second division; she decided she no longer wanted to think about Aizen and his unusual tendencies. She took off heading towards Yoruichi's crest room. Once she got there she pouted seeing that no one was there. Sakura sighed before heading back out of the second division. She didn't want to go back to the twelfth division just yet so she decided to wander around seireitei.
Walking around Sakura found herself lost but shrugged it off thinking she could ask for directions if needed. But that was unneeded when someone called her name.
"Sakura" Yoruichi yelled using shunpo to appear right in front of her. Sakura was unable to say anything before a teen that looked a little younger than she looked appeared striking downwards with a katana at Yoruichi. Yoruichi dodged, laughing while Sakura watched puzzled.
"Stay still you damned cat!" The boy yelled and swung the katana again. Yoruichi danced out of the way moving to hide behind Sakura. The boy's eye twitched but he looked unsure of what to do now.
"Hahahaha, what are you going to do now little Byakuya?!" Yoruichi laughed and Byakuya tensed before speaking.
"I suggest you move you demon cat." He spoke irritated. "And give me it back!" He finished yelling. She just laughed while Sakura didn't really know what to do, so she spoke.
"Yoruichi-taichou what are you doing?" She asked as Yoruichi used her as a shield when Byakuya tried to go around.
"Ah Byakuya, let me introduce you to my friend Haruno Sakura." Yoruichi said smiling deviously. Byakuya grunted and she pouted. "Now, now little Byakuya that's no way for the next Kuchiki clan head to act." She mocked and he scowled. Then he finally looked at Sakura. At first Sakura was shocked at the resemblance the boy had to anyone of the Uchiha clan but she shook this off and smiled. Sakura stuck her hand out.
"Haruno Sakura." She stated and he nodded hesitantly taking her hand.
"Kuchiki Byakuya." He said curtly before taking a chance and jumping at Yoruichi. Sakura rolled out of the way while Yoruichi just sidestepped the blow. Yoruichi laughed and used shunpo to get away yelling a goodbye to Sakura. Byakuya twitched again.
"She's heading back towards the second division, you know?" She told him smiling at the brash young man. He looked at her again and nodded.
"Thank you" he called before leaving with shunpo too. Sakura shook her head at the odd situation but then she went on her way. Sakura walked on through seireitei stopping occasionally to look at something when her name was called again.
"Sakura-san" Aizen called walking towards her, he smiled at her warmly and inwardly she cursed.
"Is there something you need Aizen-fukutaichou?" She asked politely while inside she groaned, what did he want now?
"No I just saw you walking and thought I'd say hello. How are you doing?" He asked smiling sweetly. Sakura scolded herself for being so suspicious and answered.
"I'm good, construction is almost complete so the real work will be starting soon." Aizen listened to her intently. "How about you?" She asked.
"I've been well, Sakura-san. It was nice seeing you but I should go." He said. "But we should get together sometime." He smiled at her one more time before he walked off in the direction of the fifth division. Sakura sighed glad he was gone and decided to head back to the twelfth division. Luckily she wasn't stopped again and made it back to the division. She headed back to her room stopping only briefly to greet Hiyori who she hadn't seen in a few days before she continued to her room.
Sakura sat down on her futon and thought. She didn't understand what Aizen was trying to do. It was almost like he was trying to integrate himself into her life. Sakura slapped her forehead reminding herself that she was no longer in a world with separate nations seireitei was a singular power. She had no reason to be suspicious of another member of the gotei thirteen.
Ok, I know this chapter sucks but I just needed a filler chapter where Sakura met Byakuya. And yes I know their meeting was lame but I made it that way so that the second time they meet will be more interesting. Either the next chapter or the chapter after that will have a major time skip so be prepared for that. Oh, and please tell me what you think of Sakura's zanpakutos and how they interact with Sakura and each other. But anyways thanks for reading and please, please review!