Not much done here minor tweaking and such at best.

Beta: IchiFell

The Leaf's very own Soul Reaper

Chapter 11

Ichigo and Anko walked along the dirt road. They had left the Konoha two days ago and were now just crossing into the Land of Waves. Although they could have got here a lot sooner, they had simply taken their time, not in any real rush. Anko was smiling happily as she walked next to Ichigo, just enjoying being out of the village, not having to worry about what the villagers around her were thinking. Ichigo had his hands in his pockets as he looked up to the sky, a small frown on his face.

"Hey Ichigo..." Anko started, making Ichigo turn his attention to the younger girl walking beside him, a backpack on her back. She glanced up at him before looking back to where the road trailed off up head. "When we first met back in the dango shop, you said you had been in the village for five years. It's been bugging me for a while now, but where did you come from? What village?" She questioned. Ichigo stayed quiet for some time.

"My home is a long way away from here Anko. You've probably never heard of it before." Ichigo told her, making her look up at him to see a sad look on his face. "When I came to this village, it wasn't my wish. I was brought here by the Yondaime Hokage." Anko's eyes widened in surprise as Ichigo continued. "When he passed, he asked me to look after Kushina and Naruto for him. At first, I was angry, incredibly angry." Ichigo admitted to her. "I still don't know if I'll ever forgive completely." He sighed.

"If you were angry..." Anko hesitated. "Why did you do what Yondaime-sama wanted?" She questioned.

"When I awoke after the attack of the Kyuubi, I saw Kushina with Naruto, running from enraged villagers. At the start I didn't know who they were. I simply didn't care." He shrugged. "I just knew they needed help. I saw that Kushina was weak. Minato had given me a message to give to them. I was going to simply give it and walk away, turn my back on Kushina and Naruto. But I saw something in Naruto. I don't know, I can't explain it." Ichigo chuckled. "So I stayed."

"Don't you miss your home?" She questioned and saw that he stopped walking. She turned back to him to see him with a downcast expression.

"I do sometimes. I don't even see the village as my home, just somewhere that I am." He admitted making her eyes go wide. "But I can't go home, at least that was what I was told." He said truthfully. "And to be honest, I wouldn't even know how to get back." He looked up at her. "For now, all I can do is keep my home in my thoughts and hope that one day I'll get to see my friends and family again some day." Anko watched as Ichigo started to walk again, his face now holding his usual scowl. "Come on, we're burning daylight." Anko nodded and once again fell in step beside Ichigo. 'If what the Shinigami of this world said was true, then Aizen took control of everything and nothing remains." With that thought, his scowl increased.

X-X

"Man, it's so boring without Ichigo here." Kushina pouted as she watched Mikoto move around the house, putting dishes away from their breakfast earlier. Kushina had just gotten back from taking Naruto and Sasuke to the academy. When she had returned, Jiraiya wasn't there and Mikoto had been doing the dishes.

"It's only been a day, Kushina. You sound like a wife missing her husband." Mikoto smirked, looking over her shoulder. Kushina blushed and turned her attention elsewhere. "You know, Ichigo doesn't really speak about himself all that much. Actually, he doesn't speak that much at all." She commented, remembering yesterday's rare moment when he spoke with her concerning Itachi. That was one of the rare few moments he ever truly spoke about things that concerned him.

"Ichigo..." Kushina tried to find the right words to describe Ichigo before furrowing her eyebrows. "Ichigo is Ichigo." She sighed. "It takes a while to figure him out and even longer for him to come around." Mikoto sat down across from Kushina and both women sighed.

"He needs a girlfriend." Mikoto drawled out.

"Agreed." Both looked at each other before giggling. "The girl that finally nabs him up is going to be one lucky lady." Kushina breathed out.

"You know, I was surprised when you brought him to the Uchiha compound for the first time. With that scowl of his, I thought he was going to be the usual stuck up annoying ass that you usually find in a bar looking for a good time. But he really surprised me." Mikoto continued. "He's truly a great man.''

"Man? Indeed he is." Kushina told her. "Sure, he may look like a teenager, but he's only a couple of years younger then we are Mikoto. Plus, he's very mature if with a bit of those adorable moments he has."

"Yeah, like when he had that piece of sausage sticking out of his mouth that one time. I swear, I almost glomped him for that. Sometimes I have remind myself his appearance deceives how old he really is, but he can be quite the deep person when he's serious." Kushina raised an eyebrow at that. When had she seen Ichigo serious? "Anyway, I've been thinking." Mikoto told her.

"Oh? What about?" Kushina questioned.

"I think it's about time I rejoin the Kunoichi corps." Kushina's eyes widened at that. "I can't keep living off you Kushina, and I don't want to go back to the Uchiha compound, at least not yet. Sasuke is growing up and is going to need his own space. He can't keep sharing a room with me. I've already taken Ichigo's room from him for far too long. So, I will rejoin the Kunoichi corps. Then, I can make some decent money off a few B-rank missions and get a small apartment somewhere."

"Mikoto, I told you, you can stay as long as you like." Kushina told her. "I was thinking about doing some renovations anyway, maybe an extra guest room for when Jiraiya comes. I've worked up enough money of the last couples of years. What's a few extra missions to do a few more renovations?" She asked with a smile. "You're not moving out. You still need time..."

"Thank you Kushina, I mean it, but..."

"No buts. You're staying and that's final. I won't throw my best friend out onto the street like that. If Ichigo hadn't been here, Naruto would have been on his own a lot of the time. If you're off doing missions, what will happen to Sasuke?" Mikoto frowned slightly and looked down at the table. "I can see it in his eyes Mikoto, he's taken what Itachi did hard. Itachi was Sasuke's hero, you said it more then once yourself. He needs his mother now more then ever. You can't be off doing missions while he's grieving like he is, like you are."

"Thank you Kushina, you're a great friend." Mikoto smiled as Kushina placed a hand on hers.

"The very best!" Kushina grinned. "And if it comes to it..." She trailed off with hesitation. "We... we always have the Namikaze estate."

X-X

"Hey look a snow rabbit." Anko said crouching down and looking at the white rabbit that was sitting in the middle of the road, simply sniffing the air, wondering if they were dangerous or not. "Hey there little guy." She cooed, holding her arms out gesturing for the rabbit to come forward. Ichigo rose an eyebrow at her.

"Anko, what season are we in now?" Ichigo questioned.

"Ah..."

"When was the last time it snowed?" He questioned once more.

"Well..." She trailed off.

"If it's not winter, and it's not snowing, why would there be a snow rabbit around?" He questioned again, making her sweat drop slightly before the two saw a young child running down the road with a smile, a backpack on their back.

"Snuffles!" The young boy called out a grin on his face at seeing the rabbit. "There you are! I found you!"

"There is your answer." Anko grinned up at Ichigo but saw he was frowning slightly as the boy ran up and grabbed the bunny, pulling it to his chest. "Something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine." He shrugged, the scowl coming back to his face as he saw a figure in the distance walking towards them. "You shouldn't stray to far from your guardian, kid." The young boy looked up at Ichigo, as if seeing the two for the first time. He bowed to them.

"Sorry, I'll go back straight away." Ichigo watched as the young boy ran back to the silhouette down the track. Anko rose back to her feet and looked along with Ichigo at the two far off in the distance.

"Anko."

"Yeah?" She questioned looking up at him to see him grasp the hilt of his Zanpakuto. "Get ready for a fight."

X-X

"It's not fair!" Naruto shouted, his mouth full of ramen, making his mother frown at him. They were currently at Ichiraku's Ramen stand. Ayame and Teuchi frowned as they saw the usually happy vibrant blonde upset.

"Naruto, I don't care how angry you are, Ichigo and I have taught you better manners then that." Kushina scolded him, making him lower his gaze before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and letting out a quiet 'sorry'. "Now tell me again what happened." She told him.

"I couldn't do it!" He shouted angrily. "It came out funny looking and sick and was an instant fail!" He whined.

"The clone?" Naruto nodded sadly. "I did everything I needed to; your chakra exercises that you taught me, the teachers instructions, Sasuke even helped with my hand sign! Just why can't I make a clone?" He asked her. Kushina frowned as she stared into his blue eyes before turning to Teuchi.

"How much?" She asked.

"It's on the house today Kushina." Teuchi told her making her smile at him.

"Thank you." She bowed her head slightly. "Come on Naruto, we're going to go train for a bit."

"What's the point if I can't even make a clone." He mumbled before his mother grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him out of the ramen stand, making Ayame and Teuchi laugh as he struggled to get out of his mother's grasp. When the two entered an empty training ground, Kushina surveyed the area, making sure no one was around before sitting down cross legged and gesturing for Naruto to do the same. He did so but with his arms crossed and looking away from her.

"Naruto." Kushina said in a tone that made him look at her instantly, ready to hear what she had to say. He had disobeyed that tone once before. He couldn't sit down without pain for a few days afterwards. "Unlike other people your age, or even my age, you have a massive reserve of chakra." She moved her hands forward before drawing two people in the dirt. "This is you and me." She said pointing to one figure, then to the next. "And this is everyone else." She tapped her finger on the second.

"Now normally, the general person only has a limited supply of chakra." Within the drawing of the second person she drew a small ball which she pointed out was chakra. "However, within you and me." She drew a circle around the person. "Our reserves are much bigger."

"Ok, but why?" He questioned making her smile at him.

"Because we're Uzumaki's." She grinned at him making him grin back at her with a big toothy smile. "Us Uzumaki's are born with enormous chakra stores, and sometimes, like in my case," she winked at him, "bigger then the old man's."

"What? no way!" Naruto said in awe. "You have bigger chakra reserves then the Hokage?" Kushina nodded her head with a grin.

"Yep, I sure do, Naruto." She laughed. "One day, yours might even outgrow my own. At the moment, your chakra coils are producing as much as your body can handle. As you grow, you will gain more chakra coils, meaning your reserves will grow bigger. That means you will have to undergo more chakra control exercisers to control the larger amounts. Even I still go about my chakra control every once in a while." Naruto deflated at that with a pout. He had a hard time with what she had him doing now.

"So why can't I make a clone?" Naruto questioned.

"That's because we have so much chakra that we can't focus it properly. I originally thought that when you started the academy, you would have sufficient control over your chakra by the time that you would be able to make a clone but I guess I misjudged it." She smiled. "Sorry about that, Naruto." Naruto just smiled back at her. "So, I'm going to teach you a clone jutsu that you can do but you have to promise me something Naruto."

"Anything." He said with a nod.

"You are not to teach this jutsu to anyone." She told him sternly. "Understand?" He quickly nodded his head. "This clone jutsu has risks, very high ones, for those with not enough chakra. It could cause them to die from chakra exhaustion." Naruto's eyes widened at that. "It's very serious, Naruto. I need to know you understand that."

"I won't even teach it too Sasuke." Naruto promised to her, making Kushina smile at him.

"That's good Naruto. Please, keep that promise. When you use it in class, the teachers may get upset, or angry with you and may call the Hokage down to ask you where you learned the jutsu, but I'll be sure to explain to Sarutobi that everything is fine. Okay?" Naruto nodded his head as Kushina placed her hands together in a cross seal. "Put your hands like this." Naruto did as he was asked and Kushina steadied his arms before moving a finger or two. "Now flood as much chakra as you can focus." She watched as Naruto nodded and closed his eyes, sweat starting to form on his brow as his hands started to glow blue. She frowned slightly as she saw a dash of red before it disappeared. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." She instructed him once more.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He called out before a puff of smoke on either side of him revealed two exact replica's of Naruto sitting in the same position. Naruto was breathing heavy as he opened his eyes, when the clones opened there eyes she saw that the color was missing from them.

"Almost Naruto, but you didn't get the entire detailing down. We'll try again tomorrow." Kushina explained to him as the clones disappeared in puffs of smoke.

"No, I can do it again." He told her but Kushina shook her head.

"Two clones is all you can manage to make right now without running your chakra reserves empty. We'll try again tomorrow. Next time, we'll aim for one perfect clone, okay?" Naruto nodded his head as his eye's dropped a little. "Come on, let's get you home and into bed." As Kushina was walking with Naruto on her back towards their shared home, Naruto asked her something she couldn't answer.

"If our chakra levels are so high, what's Ichigo's like?" Kushina stopped at that as she thought about it. To be honest she didn't know because Ichigo didn't use chakra from what she's seen. In their spars, he only used his natural speed, strength and skill in both Taijutsu and Kenjutsu and even then she knew he was holding back tremendously. He never used his spells since she would never be able to break out of them, even with her skill in Fuinjutsu, since chakra couldn't disrupt or break Ichigo's Kido arts. However, she knew Ichigo had tremendous power because it practically poured off every part of his body in waves of sheer density that, at times, left her breathless at his power.

''To be honest sochi, I'm not sure he even use chakra like we do, but I can tell he holds tremendous power. So much power that he keeps most of it restrained. For what reason, I am not entirely sure, but its within reason. He has a cause for why he does. Perhaps when you get stronger. you can make him bring out more of his power, hm?'' She said to the awed Naruto who took a determined stance.

''You bet! I'll get so strong he will have use everything, dattebayo!'' he said making Kushina chuckle at her son's antics.

He was definitely her son.

Sochi: Son