Minato: Life After the Sealing
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto (Masasi Kisimoto) or BLEACH (Tite Kubo); I am merely borrowing the characters and plot elements for entertainment purposes. Also be aware that there may be some spoilers for those who have not read up to the point where Sinji has been introduced in BLEACH canon.
I still do not have enough votes to decide on a pairing for Itigo, so do remember there is a poll on my profile page. If you do not see someone in the poll that you want (barring Rukia), please do not hesitate to PM. As far as Minato is concerned, expect Uzumaki Kushina to appear at some point in the Invasion of Seireitei arc, and no, she won't be a sinigami. Please remember that Romanizations, excluding names, will be italicized and will be in a direct format (Itigo as opposed to Ichigo) in this version.
Chapter IX- Designation: Ryoka
—August 20XX, Karakura, Urahara Syōten—
"So, how's the kid doing since he accidentally became a vaizaado?" Minato asked. "I'm surprised you didn't drag him to some underground lab to experiment on him."
"He's fine," said the geta-wearing shopkeeper. "Besides, I know a few vaizaado already. Ōte."
"Is Itigo aware of his inner?"
"Īe."
"You'll have to tell him sometime. Tsumi."
"Mm. Good game." Minato stood up.
"Alright, I'll be back tonight to head to Soul Society. You'll be ready by tonight, yes?"
"Hai."
It had been ten days since Rukia had disappeared, and Urahara's makeshift Senkaimon was nearing completion. Tonight, the invasion began.
—Kurosaki Family Clinic, 0100—
"Mr. Hat-and-Clogs told me to leave my window open around now. Said something about a message. Wonder why he wouldn't use the phone." Itigo thought as he opened is window. There was a gust of wind, then a loud splat as a ball flew through his window and collided with his closet door. It turned out to be filled with red paint the color of blood.
"What the hell? I really hope that comes off!" the paint began to coalesce into kanji.
'Please meet at Urahara Syōten immediately.'
"It looks like the last words of a someone about to die! Wait there's more."
'P.S. Those who think this looks like the message of someone about to die… you have no sense of humor!' Itigo's pillow met the wall after this.
Itigo snuck out of the house and was about to lock up when a shadow fell over him.
"Goooood Mooorning Itigoooooo!" came his father's cry right before Itigo sidestepped and Issin hit the ground, hard. "You escaped my attack right now, no wonder you are my son!"
"What the hell are you doing!"
"Before you go, I wanted to give you this. It belonged to your mother." Issin said, holding out an old good luck charm.
"If you're sure, then thanks. I'll take good care of it." Itigo said before he took off.
"I'm guessing that was for Kon, then?" Minato said from behind Issin as they watched Itigo make his way to Urahara Syōten.
"You know me well. Take care of the kid will ya?"
"I'll make sure he lives, no guarantees that he'll have the same number of limbs though. I won't get involved in his fights unless the opponent is above fukutaityō."
"That's really all I can ask. Thanks."
"See you within the next 25 days." and with that, Minato was gone, leaving nothing behind but a flash of golden light.
—Urahara Syōten, 0130 hours—
Minato watched the interactions of the gathered teens for a moment before making his presence known.
"If you two are done displaying your unresolved sexual tensions." he said, interrupting what was sure to be a witty retort from Itigo. "We have a sinigami to save. Urahara, if you would."
"Right. I'm going to explain this once. Please listen carefully, otherwise, you will die before ever reaching soul society. Follow me."
The group followed Kisuke to the basement training area, where he stopped before a seemingly empty space in between two small cliffs.
"Please look over here." snap
At this action, four pillars, two horizontal and two vertical, appeared, forming a rectangle. Each pillar was covered completely with paper seals.
"I will teach you how to safely use this device. It is called senkaimon, and it is the door to soul society. But first…"
Itigo was suddenly struck in the head by Urahara's cane, sending his soul tumbling out of his body. After interested reactions from his peers, excluding Uryuu, who had already seen it happen, they focused back on Urahara.
"Now that I have your undivided attention, I will explain how this works. Minato, why haven't you changed clothes?"
"Hold on." there was a flash of light, and Minato was standing beside his now uninhabited body. "There."
"Anyway, in order for your three," Urahara said, pointing to Uryuu, Sado and Orihime, "to enter soul society, you need to be in spirit form, which is why this gate is covered in reisihenkankon, or seals that convert living beings to reisi, or spirit particles.
"This next bit is imperative, so listen closely. You have exactly four minutes to get to the other side, so do not stop moving for anything. You do and you are dead. As soon as Tessai and I open this gate, get in and get moving. Yoruiti will be your guide to soul society so don't get separated."
Urahara knelt by the senkaimon and started channeling energy. The gate began to glow in the center, and wind began to blow.
"Go!"
The six began running and were consumed in a bright light as the gate opened.
—Dangai—
"I told you not to remain still!" Yoruiti yelled as the ragtag invasion group ran down the tunnel to soul society, the kōryuu closing in on them.
"It's caught me!" cried Uryuu. Suddenly Minato, who had just appeared next to him, freed him. Minato then picked him up fireman style and sprinted to catch up, closing the distance in a matter of seconds.
"The kōryuu has changed. Its spiritual pattern has shifted."
"Kuso! It's the seimityo! It only appears once every seven days, why did it have to be now? Don't stop, don't look back. Seimityo is made of the same stuff as the kōryuu, and it is very, very fast."
As they sprinted for the exit, Minato caught up with Orihime who was about to invoke the Santenyuitate. He grabbed her, disrupting the incant.
"Bad idea." He then put on a burst of speed, using his increased momentum to slam into Sado and Itigo, sending them flying out of the exit, closely followed by himself and Yoruiti.
Itigo and Sado hit the ground hard, though their bodies were able to weather the impact. Minato landed with considerably more grace, having flipped around in midair and using his tyakura to slow his descent, landing softly despite having Uryuu and Orihime in his arms.
"We seem to have landed on the border between rukongai and Seireitei. We had better be careful. Those in rukongai are wary of ryoka like us, and the fact that two of us look like sinigami won't help." Yoruiti warned.
"Hey, those buildings over there look different." Itigo said. "I take it that's Seireitei?"
"Yes, but we can't just go—" but what they couldn't just do was lost to Itigo as he charged towards the border. Just before reaching it, he was stopped by a large barrier crashing down in front of him, impeding further progress.
"Damn it Itigo! Don't go charging in half-cocked like that, you'll get killed. Wait, where's Minato?"
(From now on, the story will follow Minato. Assume all of Itigo, Uryuu, Sado, Orihime and Yoruiti's interactions are canon)
—Other side of the seki-seki barrier—
"Oh my. This just won't do. Jidanbo's not supposed to let anyone through." said a silver-haired man with squinting eyes and a grin in a taityo's haori. "Might I enquire who as to I have the pleasure of killing?"
"Sorry, I'm not in the habit of giving my enemies information. You are welcome to try and stop me, though I doubt you have the ability to keep up. Even Sihoin Yoruiti has difficulty tracking my movements." Minato stated, turning away from the man.
"I wouldn't doubt my abilities." said the man, now directly behind Minato, the point of his tantou to Minato's back.
"And I wouldn't underestimate mine." came Minato's calm voice from behind the other man. "Go ahead and skewer my clone there, it won't make any difference." He was gone in the next second, a small disturbance of dust the only indication of his presence.
"Hoh, he's fast. And without syunpo either, seeing as there was no reiatu burst. I'll have to watch out if I ever fight him. Now, about those other ryoka."
—Rooftop, 11th division barracks—
"So, a taityo that early, I hope they are okay without my help."
"I'd be more worried about yourself, seeing as you had the misfortune to run in to me."
Minato turned and looked up into a vey heavily scarred face. One with an eye patch and a very sadistic grin.
"Kuso."
Notes
Well, Minato runs into the craziest character of the series. I wonder how he fares against Zaraki. Sorry about the long wait, college is a bitch and so is writer's sphere. (thanks to Dan Shive for that concept)
Translations-
Ryoka- wanderer, given to souls that enter soul society illegally
Vaizaado- Vizard/Visored, a sinigami that has gained hollow powers by donning a hollow's mask.
Ōte- check, a courtesy in syogi, or Japanese chess, not a requirement. Used when other players king is in jeopardy.
Tsumi- checkmate, end of a syogi game.
Īe- no
Hai- yes
Senkaimon- gate to soul society
Reisihenkankon- seals used to convert physical particles to reisi
Reisi- spirit particles
Dangai- world between the physical and spiritual plane
Kōryuu- catching current, prevents illegal spirits from crossing the divide between life and afterlife, anything caught cannot be retrieved.
Kuso- expletive: damn, shit, fuck, etc.
Seimityo- the cleaner, a bullet train like creature composed of the Kōryuu, very fast and appears once every seven days.
Santenyuitate- the triangular shield summoned by Orihime capable of deflecting any attack, no matter how powerful. Uses three of the six syun syun rikka possessed by Orihime.
Tyakura- chakra, the energy used by characters of the Naruto Universe. Kana are チャクラ (tya-ku-ra)
Rukongai- the outer area of soul society where most souls live. Composed of 80 districts, the lowest numbered being closest to Seireitei.
Taityo- captain, the highest-ranking officials of Seireitei
Seki-seki- stone only found in soul society. Invulnerable to spiritual attacks and projects a 360-degree barrier around it that diffuses spirit particles.
Tantou- short sword.
Syunpo- flash step, high-speed movements performed using short bursts of reiatu, or spirit energy.
Still carrying on.
—Kyuubi799
