Author Time:
Guess who went to Anime Expo for the fourth year in a row? Kaiku did! I had fun too. I went to this fan fiction writing panel and workshop and got some good ideas from it too. They were saying to leave and look for other sites to post on but I don't really want to. I'll do that some other time or something. I'll just keep posting here regardless of review numbers and stuff. Well, here's the new chapter, enjoy.
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Chapter Nine: Sadness and Sorrow
"The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keep out the joy."
(Naruto Third PoV)
The day seemed to start as if everything was normal again. The morning ritual that Naruto used to perform every day after he got into Squad Six seemed to have risen again. Waking up, rolling out of bed, committing to the play of good hygiene, getting dressed, placing Zanpakutou is place, then leaving the room. Naruto then walked down the outside hallway toward the kitchen where he made a quick breakfast of toast two eggs and a glass of orange juice. The blonde boy ate without any haste, he was rarely late for his shift on top of the fact that he never really got in trouble with his captain as it was.
As Naruto chewed through his second piece of toast with an egg sitting on the tanned bread, the kitchen door opened and a very tired looking Sai walked in. For a moment Naruto thought about leaving but decided to stay still. Sai lived here too and Naruto knew that he would eventually have to talk to Sai. One way or another…
The ebony haired male did not seem to notice Naruto was there and walked right past the Namikaze and to the fridge where he opened the white door and pulled out the bottle of milk. After shuffling over to the cabinet he extracted a tall clear glass before pouring it full of milk then putting the bottle away. "I'm not used to night shifts." The taller boy muttered before he turned around and began to drink his beverage. As he tilted the glass up his vision rose until he was looking at Naruto eye to eye. Blue to black…
For a moment he did not move he just stood still without so much as taking in any of his drink. Naruto on the other hand was still chewing his egg-toast as he looked at Sai. The blonde was a little confused with himself right now. Before when he first saw Sai and a few other times he sat the black haired artist he felt his heart drop but not now. He felt fine, and because of this Naruto thought he might be ready to talk to Sai.
After he crammed the rest of his breakfast into his mouth he chewed it quickly before downing his glass of juice. Sai lowered his milk to look at Naruto hoping that the speed of his finishing meant he wanted to talk. After the blonde put the glass down he took a deep breath to recover from chugging juice then looked at Sai. He made a difficult face as he tried to think of what to start with.
"This is a lame way to start a conversation, but…you look tired, did Toushiro just put you on night shift last night?" Naruto questioned trying to start somewhere.
"If you mean Hitsugaya-Taicho, yes." Sai answered with a confused tone.
"Oh yeah, if I'm talking to someone other then dad and Ichigo I'm supposed to use Hitsugaya…oh well, so…how have you been?" Naruto continued.
"Pretty alright, I suppose." Sai spoke in a low tone.
"That's…awesome…er…" Naruto stuttered a little, he was starting to feel like an idiot. He tried to think of something else to say but all that came to mind was to apologize. In defeat Naruto bowed his head and opened his mouth. "I'm sorry." Sai's eyebrows perked at this wondering where it was really coming from. "I…I wanted to talk to you but, some things happened just before I saw you that morning and I felt like I couldn't face you. I was really confused and even now I kind of am. Sasuke, he asked me to watch him, to wait for him to make up for what he did, but I don't think I can." As Naruto spoke Sai wanted to say something but the black haired male kept himself from talking. He wanted to hear all of what Naruto had to tell him.
"I know you wouldn't think this or maybe you would, but I don't think I deserve someone like you Sai. You were there for me when Sasuke was gone and you probably tried your hardest to get me back after Akatsuki got me. Me on the other hand, I slept with Toushiro because I was drunk, which I don't think I'll drink for a while now, but I kind of feel something there now. I…I'm lost about what to do about anything to do with love so for now I'm just going to do my job and live the best way I know how to right now." Naruto told Sai with a bit more confidence with each sentence. "So, I'm sorry Sai, I don't think things can be like they were in life. As much as I still love you I can't like I used to."
There was a quiet between the two for a bit before Sai smiled which threw Naruto for a loop. After the smile formed fully Sai began to chuckle a little before he put down his glass and whipped tears from his eyes. "Thank god." He said before looking at Naruto looking happier then the blonde had ever seen him. "I thought that you hated me." Sai explained. "I can understand everything you're telling me, and I'm happy just being near you. I don't need any more then that. Being able to actually hear you makes me happier then you'll ever know." Sai told Naruto. "Please talk to me even if you feel like it would be a bad thing; I love just hearing you. Okay?"
Naruto stared at Sai's tired black eyes before he slowly smiled. "Thank you, Sai. I promise to talk to you no matter what, but you better be ready for the consequences of that promise."
"Right." Sai smiled before the two began to just chat like nothing bad had happened; like they were once again friends.
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"Oi! Naruto! Come on already!" Ichigo called from the doorway.
"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto hollered back before waving good-bye to Sai then trotting to the door. He pulled on his waraji before tying them on and pulling the door open so he and Ichigo could leave.
"You talked to that Sai guy?" Ichigo questioned looking at Sai before he followed Naruto outside.
"Yep, and man do I feel a lot better now!" the blonde smiled like crazy as Ichigo shut the door and the two lighter haired teens began to walk. "I was worried about a lot of stuff for nothing so I feel better now."
"That's good." Ichigo smirked. "Now we can go back to the same old song and dance right?"
"I don't want to drink for a while…unless I start feeling horny." Naruto grinned as he heard Ichigo groan.
"I didn't need to hear that." Ichigo complained as he and Naruto rounded a corner.
"You know, I wonder what Kuchiki-Taicho is like when he's drunk." Naruto wondered aloud. "I bet he sings bad karaoke." The blonde snickered.
"I hope he hears you and puts you on cleaning." Ichigo said before he thought about it. "Oh god I can see it now, Byakuya drunk singing Sakura Drops by Utada Hikaru as he's got Senbonzakura flying all over the place for effects." Ichigo began to chuckle. Naruto simply stared at Ichigo until a loud crack was heard and Ichigo screamed out in pain. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?"
"Good morning Taicho!" Naruto smiled.
"That is not appropriate conversation for this early in the morning, keep that in mind." Byakuya spoke as he put his kendo sword back in place and swept past the two with an aura of anger brimming from him.
"That one sounded like it hurt." Naruto said as he looked down at Ichigo who was clutching the back of his head as he moaned in pain. "Yep. It hurt." Naruto laughed before Ichigo grabbed his hakama.
"This is your fault, I'll kill you!" Ichigo growled. Naruto felt impending doom and quickly pulled his foot away before running very quickly in the direction that his captain had just taken. "Get back here Naruto!" Ichigo screamed as he got up and started to give chase. He did not care that Byakuya was going to be near when he caught up to Naruto, Ichigo was going to inflict pain.
"Hah! You wouldn't do…" Naruto turned to laugh after he caught up to Byakuya but noticed that Ichigo was coming at him full steam. "OH SHIT!" he shouted before he ran past Byakuya and toward the Division Quarters. "He's gonna kill me!"
"Naruto you little bastard I'm going to show you how much that actually hurt, come here!" Ichigo shouted as he jetted past Byakuya wind blowing as he followed the blonde.
Byakuya meanwhile stopped walking and stared as his two subordinates ran past him screaming loudly back and fourth. "What did I do to deserve this?" he asked himself before shaking his head and calmly walking inside. After he opened the door he had expected to see the two still running around or Naruto in pain in the corner but neither appeared. He looked to the right to see Megumi disciplining the two boys. With a shake of his head Byakuya turned and walked to his office hoping that Megumi would insure some peace as long as she was on duty.
Megumi was, in short, the squad secretary and the mother figure that kept the two light haired teens in line from day to day. She had ridiculously long brunette hair and bright brown eyes hidden behind small square glasses.
"You two need to stop acting like children!" Megumi spoke as she waved her figure at them. "Kurosaki-san you are Fukutaicho! Try to act like it and Namikaze-san you're Third Seat try to act with more restraint!"
"Sorry." Naruto apologized bowing his head.
"Good, Kurosaki-san?" Megumi questioned with raise eye brows. Ichigo was about to speak when a knock issued form the door. "Coming!"
"Wait let me apologize!" Ichigo shouted but it was too late. Megumi was walking away from them and to the door. "She's going to invoke the wrath of the gods on me."
Naruto snickered before the door opened and his attention went there. "Ero-Sennin!" Naruto chimed as he stood up quickly and jogged over to the Tenth Seat of Ninth Division.
"Stop calling me that…" Jiraiya growled in a low tone as he walked in shutting the door behind him. "I'm not a Sennin much less a ninja anymore so you're completely inaccurate."
"Hmm," Naruto hummed as he placed his chin between his thumb and index fingers. "You have a point…I guess I should change it to Ero-Taicho…"
"Just stop with the "ero" crap already!" Jiraiya snapped before Byakuya opened the door to his office and looked out. "Ah Kuchiki-Taicho, I was just chatting with Naruto a little, I'll get to my business now." The old frog hermit said as he patted Naruto hard on the back before leaving.
"Tch, I call it like I see it, Ero-Taicho!" Naruto muttered folding his arms. He looked back at Ichigo who looked utterly lost at this point. "That's the first time you've see him huh?" When Naruto received a nod in reply he turned around to face Ichigo. "Ero-Taicho, Jiraiya, was my teacher, well one of them, when I was alive. Funny thing it he thought my dad too. He's a major perv and he actually writes that kind of crap. When I was training with him for a few years he made me read some of his stuff. Seeing as it was either girl on girl or girl on guy stuff I got easily bored with it. Besides…I don't get off on reading that kind of stuff period." With the ending of the last sentence Naruto flicked his hand out with a rejecting motion with his eyes shut. The blonde then opened his eyes to look at Ichigo to see what kind of expression he had on his face.
"Why…are you telling me this?" Ichigo shuddered as his head twitched before he looked away from Naruto.
"I dunno. I'm done talking about it now so don't worry." Naruto said with a stupid grin. "Anyway, we should go to Rukongai today."
"What for?" Ichigo questioned in annoyance.
"More people I know might be there, and so far everyone that's come from my place has been Shinigami. That I know of anyway; on top of the fact that people from where I'm from get through school faster too. Seven years for normal souls, but a ninja's soul takes at max four minimum is two. Sasuke and I got out in three years, my dad told me he took four and Sai told me he took two." Naruto started. Ichigo was quickly losing interest in what the Namikaze was telling him because he already knew half of it. "You're not listening to me, asshole!"
"You just noticed?" Ichigo yawned before he went and sat down on a couch. "I don't want to go to Rukongai, so go on your own."
"I will…" Naruto said before walking toward the door. "Jerk." He muttered before walking out and down the open hall way. Once he reached the end of the straight path he turned to look back at the door before proceeding to use shunpo to arrive at the gate leading out to Rukongai. "I wonder if I will find anyone."
"Naruto?" Sasuke's voice caught the blonde's attention.
"Naru-chan!" two other females called in unison before the Namikaze was hugged very tightly.
"Hikari-chan, Akari-chan, I can't breathe!" Naruto gasped as the hug turned into a form of suffocation.
"Sorry." The two chimed with smiled on their faces as they let go of the teenaged looking Naruto.
"What are you doing? Going to Rukongai?" Sasuke asked as he put a hand on his hip.
"Yeah, actually, I found Neji yesterday and I was hoping to find more people today. It would be really awesome." Naruto grinned like an idiot before scratching the back of his head. "Like what if we found Shikamaru, Kiba, or Gaara?"
"I hope that stays as an 'or.'" Sasuke sighed making a difficult face. "If that many of our comrades died that means something really bad in happening back in that world, but it also means that more souls from that world are coming to this one."
Naruto fell quiet as the mention that a lot of their comrades were dying if they found that many in the same place. "Even if we find a lot of people we know, we can't exactly do anything about it can we; about what's going on in our world? We're dead, remember?"
"I understand that. To think you'd be the one wanting to forget." Sasuke hummed. "Well, Hikari, Akari, and I are going to Rukongai to stop by the Academy and escort some new Shinigami to Seireitei, I suppose we can help you a little. If anything these two can take care of the Shinigami and I'll help you. I do know what they look like."
"Alright! Then this is operation, locate ninja!" Naruto shouted punching the air.
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"If I were a shinobi in Rukongai where would I go?" Naruto questioned allowed as he looked from place to place hoping for a glace at a familiar face.
"You never had to live in Rukongai before did you?" Sasuke asked as Naruto looked up a tree. The blonde Namikaze looked at Sasuke before shaking his head.
"My dad caught my soul coming through before I even broke through to this place. I woke up in Seireitei and before I knew it he was in the room spouting that he was my dad." Naruto explained scratching the back of his head. "I don't know much about Rukongai because of that."
"I see." Sasuke sounded as he pushed a curled finger to his bottom lip. "Well it's not that hard to figure out. The areas are huge, sure, but it's pretty straight forward. The different districts represent the area the soul came from in the world, and then they spread out depending on their personality. The rougher soul's warder into the more dangerous parts and kinder souls try to get to the safer areas." Sasuke said as he watched Naruto trek through some tall grass. "It doesn't always work out like that though."
"If you're not tough it's hard to move around huh?" Naruto questioned as he pulled out of the grass and stood next to Sasuke again. "You were out here then I take it?"
"With my family." Sasuke nodded his head and waited for a surprised response.
"Your…family? Their here?" Naruto questioned with a confused face before he smiled and nodded his head. "I guess "fate" can't screw you over every time huh? I'm happy for you, I guess the both of us made out pretty good with family in this place didn't we?"
"Yeah."
"What do you mean I gotta pay!? How the hell do you even get money in this place!?" a loud sickeningly familiar voice screamed at a vendor on the streets. "I just want a piece of food you can't be even a little nice and give a guy a break?"
"Either pay up or clear off!" the vendor shouted back as a crowd began to form.
"What's going on here?" Sasuke's voice rang clear through the crowd. The people slowly split down the middle to give the two Shinigami a clear view of the vendor and the angry customer.
"This kid comes up asking for food without paying." The vendor spoke pointing at a tall teen with brunette spiky hair.
Sasuke and Naruto carefully look at the mentioned "kid" with raised eyebrows before Sasuke smirked. "Kiba."
"Holy shit…" Kiba said slowly before Naruto walked up to the shop.
"Here, this is for two loafs of bread." Naruto said handing the vendor and good amount of cash before he took two packs of bread then Kiba's hand and lead the three once shinobi out of the crowd. No words were exchanged until the small group reached a stream and Naruto gave Kiba the bread. "I take it you're hungry, right?"
"Naruto…Sasuke…" Kiba said each name as he looked to the owner. "I'm dead aren't I?"
"Yeah, and this place isn't heaven or hell. A place between you could say." Sasuke nodded his head before crossing his arms. "It's…good to see you again."
"I figured that you'd be a lot older looking the next time I saw you." Naruto smiled before patting Kiba on the back.
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Kiba snapped.
"We didn't expect to see you dead for a lot longer; any of our comrades actually." Sasuke explained.
"Neji's here." Naruto muttered before he smiled at Kiba. "He's already training to be a Shinigami like Sasuke and me."
"Shinigami?" Kiba asked confused. "Wait…Neji's here? Where? Never mind, then…maybe…"
"What?" Naruto questioned with a clearly confused expression. "Gaara…and Ita—" Kiba stopped himself short before looking at Sasuke. "I think you should know something really important right here and now, your brother didn't kill you."
"What…?" Sasuke asked slowly in shock as his arms fell to his side.
"Marada, Uchiha Marada killed you. I don't have the right to tell you way your brother really did everything he did to you and your family but if he's here you should hear him out before you try to kill him or whatever you might do." Kiba spoke with confidence.
Sasuke was quiet for a long time before he looked away with a sigh. "I was going to ask him questions first anyway."
"Alright." Kiba smiled.
"If he is here though…" Sasuke trailed off. The dark black eyes of the youngest Uchiha locked on the floor before he looked up. "I have to go."
"Sasuke?" Naruto questioned. "Where are you going?"
"Home."
"Home? Seireitei…no…He said his family was here. He might think Itachi will show up there! Come on we're gonna follow him. Hold on." Naruto's voice began to get panicky before he grabbed a hold of Kiba's hand and used Shunpo to follow Sasuke who had vanished while Naruto had been talking. The Inuzuka began to get scared as everything around him blurred together before becoming single and blurring again. After a while of doing the same motions a number of times the two found Sasuke speedily walking toward a large housing complex. Naruto stared for a minute before he heard loud angry voices coming from the houses. Naruto looked to Kiba before he sprinted after Sasuke quickly. Kiba followed the best he could without tripping over veins sticking up from the ground.
"What do you think you're doing here?" a strong male voice called over the hum of many angry voices.
"Kill him! Banish him!" a few people shouted in angry.
"I don't know why I came here." Itachi's voice said over the rumble of the other Uchiha.
"We should kill you here and now you understand that don't you?" Uchiha Fugaku spoke sternly.
"I accept any punishment I have earned." Itachi said as he bowed his head.
"Father!" Sasuke called as he ran into the middle of the grounds standing a few feet behind Itachi. "Allow me to give Itachi his punishment!"
"Sasuke, how'd you know he was even here?" Fugaku asked with slight confusion.
"Another shinobi from Konoha said that Itachi might be in Rukongai, I was just making a guess." Sasuke explained. Naruto and Kiba stood far back by the entrance watching the events unfold before them.
"I see. What punishment do you have in mind for him?" Fugaku asked his youngest son.
"First; that he is not allowed to come within one hundred yards of this home, second; that he spend the rest of his life here working in Seireitei as a Shinigami so that he only be allowed to come near here if under orders of his Taicho or the Soutaichou." Sasuke spoke kneeling so that the back of his neck was exposed to his father. "A slave to the Shinigami with no place to truly call home, that should be his punishment."
"Sasuke…" Itachi said lowly staring at his little brother with eyes far past surprised.
A buzz began to spread throughout the Uchiha with confusion and anger mixed into the side talks. Kiba and Naruto looked around concerned for what was going to happen next. Sasuke stayed as he was in an unmoving stance while Itachi stared. Before long Fugaku demanded silence before he spoke.
"This is a kinder punishment you have named for this traitor then what we would have expected you to give him. Why?" Fugaku questioned.
"Itachi did not kill me."
"Then who did?"
"Uchiha Marada."
At the mention of this name it sounded as if a riot would brake out at any moment. Fugaku calmed his clam before he spoke again. "That does indeed weaken his punishment, but we would like to add one more thing to which you have given him." Fugaku spoke before stepping down and walking to his sons. "You may stand Sasuke." The youngest Uchiha rose to his feet before looking down at Itachi. "Itachi, you will no longer be considered part of this family, your right to the Uchiha name is no longer yours to have. From now on as you move it will no longer be as Uchiha. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Itachi muttered.
"Good. Now leave here. I hope you never return." Fugaku said before he turned his back on Itachi. "Take him from here Sasuke."
"Understood, father." Sasuke spoke before he pulled Itachi to his feet and escorted the older Uchiha out of the home. Naruto and Kiba followed quietly as the group walked along. It seemed as if no one would ever talk until Sasuke let out a breath he seemed to have been holding. "I didn't think that would have actually worked."
"Dude, a lot of those people looked seriously pissed." Naruto commented.
"I thought that they were gonna kill you and him." Kiba nodded between Sasuke and Itachi.
"Sasuke….I…" Itachi started but Sasuke stopped him.
"I don't want to hear anything from you. For the time being you just need to go to Shinigami School and get into a squad, do well enough and a family will take you in so you'll have a name to go by once more. We are not brothers; I am your superior right now. I'll talk to you again when you are part of a Squad." Sasuke spoke in a harsh tone.
"Understood."
After the final exchange of words Sasuke walked a bit away before he turned to look at Naruto. "Sorry but could you take them to the school, I need to go back and report to Namikaze-Taicho…He told me he wanted to know if any more shinobi were found."
"Yeah sure, no biggie." Naruto nodded a bit. "Tell him I might be late coming home." Naruto added in quickly before Sasuke nodded and left.
"Namikaze-Taicho?" Itachi asked in a questioning tone. "Does he mean Namikaze Minato. Yondaime Hokage?"
"My dad, yeah." Naruto said looking to the former Uchiha. "We've got all the time in the world to talk late about stuff but for now let's get you guys in school, so you can talk to Sasuke and so you can eat without yelling at the guy on the street."
"I gotta go back to school!?" Kiba shouted loudly.
"Well, it's not always accurate but when you get hungry here it's because you've got potential to be a Shinigami. What about you Itachi-san any hunger going on?"
"A bit…I guess, I can't say I have an appetite after what just happened." Itachi muttered.
"I wouldn't either, but that's over now, come on." Naruto smiled before he led the way.
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(Sasuke PoV)
What did I just do? I don't understand what I just did. I saved him, saved Itachi, from another death. I still don't really believe what Kiba told me. Who could at this point? I'd need to hear everything, and I mean everything from Itachi first. Maybe that's why I had the family spare him, so that I can talk to him and get the full story about everything.
"Death here is a second chance to having a life." I said as I looked up at the sky. It had long since darkened with a glitter of white stars covering the darkness. "I hope I don't regret letting him live later on."
I told myself before I shrugged and kept walking. In the past few days so much as happened. I have a bad feeling that something very bad is going to happen very soon. How could anyone not with the Arrancar breaking into Seireitei, and then all of these ninja appearing here? Is the gate leading to this world of death lodged open or something else? I don't know what's going on anymore.
Not that I knew everything to begin with.
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(Chapter End)
I try to make a point that you guys should review and what happens? I only get one review for the last chapter. I know at this point I'm just writing this still to amuse myself and not a bunch of snot nosed little pin heads that can't review worth a damn. I happen to like reviews; even flames amuse me because I can just laugh at them. Oh well, I guess there's no point to saying any of this. You guys probably never read these notes anyway.
Yoi Ichinichi o.
(Not)
Akari Kaiku