Shi no Seikatsu: Kaminari Kitsune no Bōken
(Life in Death: The Adventures of the Thunder Fox)
(死の生活：雷狐の冒険)
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach. Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto and all things related to it, and Tite Kubo owns all that is Bleach. This story is simply a product of envy and admiration towards those with the proper ownership to the two series.
Chapter 13: Chaos in Seireitei Part I
"So we got separated huh? Well I guess we'll meet up with the rest on the way." Naruko said, standing atop a building hiding from the shinigami who were running around, with Tatsuki kneeling next to her.
"I hope the others are fine." Tatsuki said worriedly. Naruko glanced at her. "They'll be okay, as long as they don't run into a taicho. C'mon we need to move." She sensed around for a bit before dropping down. Tatsuki nodded and followed. They ran for a while before Naruko stopped Tatsuki by a turn. "Hold up." She said and peeked around a corner, seeing a group of shinigami run past.
Once the group was a good distance away they started moving again. "Where are we going?" Tatsuki questioned after a few minutes. Naruko paused before pointing towards a big building in the distance. "Over there, to the Senzaikyū. That's where they are keeping Rukia."
"There they are!" A voice yelled. Turning around they saw a squad of shinigami running towards them with their swords drawn. "Well it would seem we've been discovered. Atleast they're all unranked. It'll be good practice for you." Naruko told Tatsuki, who nodded and prepared for a fight.
The first shinigami who reached them attacked Tatsuki with a horizontal slash, Tatsuki ducked under it and hit the man with a flaming fist right in the chest, sending him flying back into several of his friends with a burn mark on his chest. The rest of her attackers were dealt with in a similar fashion, augmenting her martial arts with her fiery reiryoku.
While Tatsuki handled her attackers Naruko was dealing with the rest without drawing her sword, simply using her speed and unarmed skills to dispatch her opponents.
"Mendōkusei, I was trying to take a nap but all this noise is making it impossible." A lazy voice said as the last shinigami was beaten by Tatsuki causing Naruko to freeze in shock. Turning she saw him, Nara Shikamaru, wearing the standard shinigami outfit he looked slightly different from last time she'd seen him. He had grown a goatee and had a long scar on the left side of his face; he had also grown older, looking much like his father.
"Somehow I should've known you were involved in this, troublesome blond." He sighed, looking at Naruko. She snapped out of her stupor before giving a small sad smile. "So you did arrive." Shikamaru gave a questioning noise, while Tatsuki looked between them confused.
"I searched for you and anyone else for so long before I left and now I've met two people from my life in a few days." She explained and gave an ironic laugh. "And now we're on different sides."
Shikamaru sighed before crossing his arms and putting his hands in the opposite arm's sleeve. "I know you Naruko, or at least I did. Which is why I believe you're doing this for a good reason, however as much as I'd like to help you my duty is to Seireitei."
Hearing that Tatsuki assumed he was hostile and charged him. "Tatsuki don't!" Naruko warned but Tatsuki didn't listen. With a curse Naruko moved. The next few seconds happened quickly, yet to Tatsuki it seemed like the world was moving in slow motion. As she approached Shikamaru he separated his arms, swinging with his right arm, which was now holding a drawn tantō. Her eyes widened, at this distance she couldn't do anything, only watch as it drew closer ready to slice her neck open. Then Naruko was next to her, pulling her back while her sword blocked the tantō.
"Stay back Tatsuki, he's far too powerful for you to fight." Naruko told Tatsuki who nodded shakily, knowing how lucky she was to still be alive and got some distance from the two.
"Well, this is nostalgic." Naruko sighed as she watched Shikamaru get into a ready stance, with his tantō in a reversed grip. "It's like when we used to spar back when we were alive."
"Except this is much more troublesome than a spar." Shikamaru responded, getting a chuckle from Naruko. Then they flashed towards each other before clashing in a show of skill, Naruko using her agility to flip around and bounce between the walls to keep Shikamaru on his toes and attack from different angles. Shikamaru with his much smaller blade stayed somewhat on the defensive, mainly dodging and blocking while he tried to find a pattern to her attacks. Eventually they locked blades, Naruko acting quickly held her right hand out, creating a swirling yellow sphere of reiryoku in her hand, smirking at Shikamaru's shocked look. She thrust the sphere at Shikamaru, but he caught her hand by the wrist and pushed it down to the ground, causing an explosion and getting Naruko and Shikamaru to jump back from each other.
"Mendōkusei, you recreated that thing?" Shikamaru bemoaned, causing Naruko's smirk to turn into a grin. "Of course I did, it's a devastating technique after all." Naruko said before noticing something…she couldn't move, looking down at the ground she saw a shadow connecting her to Shikamaru. Then she noticed Shikamaru's tantō had changed, it had turned into a pair of trench-knifes, worn like brass knuckles, but each one has a sharpened zigzag "tooth" over each knuckle, and a blade coming out of one end.
"A voiceless release and those are…" She muttered, a mass of memories from her life washing over her from seeing those trench-knifes.
"Yeah…this is Taidana Kage, my Zanpakutō."
"So you decided to take me seriously huh?" Naruko asked before trying to recollect what she knew of Shikamaru's Kagemane. Shikamaru made a gesture with his hand and muttering "Kage Nui", causing the shadow to turn into a mass of sharp needles that attempted to pierce her arms and legs; however the needles weren't able to pierce her skin, simply bouncing off, causing Naruko to grin.
"Well, that's upsetting." Shikamaru commented as Naruko's reiatsu spiked briefly, dispelling the shadows holding her. Pointing her hand towards Shikamaru she exclaimed "Haien!" and fired an oblong blast of purple reiryoku from her hand towards Shikamaru, who stood still as the shadow underneath him rose and created a shield. The Kidō hit the shield, causing an explosion which created a cloud of smoke. As the cloud dispersed Shikamaru spun around, feeling something approaching from behind him. Seeing Naruko rushing him he slashed with his blades in an 'X' motion a trail of shadows following his blades before launching and tearing through Naruko, who shimmered before disappearing. 'After image?!' He thought in panic and tried to turn before feeling a hand on his back and agonizing pain as lightning coursed through his body. Then his body melted into shadows before disappearing.
Naruko ducked, barely avoiding getting her head chopped off. However the shadow trailing Shikamaru's trench-knifes managed to cut off some of her hair. Naruko kicked Shikamaru back, who recovered in the air and landed on top of a wall. "Mou, you cut my beautiful hair!" Naruko pouted at him as she checked her ponytail. "Now it's uneven!"
Shikamaru chuckled at her expression, giving a non-apologetic "Sorry" while Tatsuki who was watching felt confusion; they were fighting as if to kill each other but acting like they were simply sparring. Then they were fighting again, trading blows while progressively going faster, testing each other. Shikamaru jumped back on top of a wall, before lifting his arms in front of him, he muttered "Kageyose" forming tendrils from the shadows that started grabbing and throwing large chunks of concrete that had been created by Naruko's Rasengan.
Naruko dodged several before one hit her and sent her into a wall, seemingly crushing her between them. Tatsuki's eyes widened and she cried out her name. A disembodied laughter echoed out around them before Naruko's voice could be heard. "Hehe, got ya! You thought I got hit by that didn't you?!"
She shimmered into existence behind Shikamaru, aiming to impale him on her blade forcing him to move and break his technique. Spinning in the air he slashed with his blades exclaiming "Kage Saku!" sending two blades of shadow tearing through the air towards her. Naruko countered with a cry of "Ōkasen!" fired a horizontal blast of yellow energy. The two techniques collided and exploded creating a mass of smoke.
"Rikujōkōrō!" Naruko's voice was heard before six thin, wide beams of light slammed into Shikamaru, immobilizing him. "Tenran!" Naruko exclaimed and a tornado ripped through the smoke, clearing it, and sending him flying into a wall before she appeared in front of him and held her palm up to his face as it lit up with white light. "Tanma Otoshi" She muttered as he fell unconscious.
Naruko sighed and kneeled down next to Shikamaru and giving him a kiss to the cheek. "I'm sorry." She whispered before she stood back up and walked to Tatsuki.
"Are you okay? That was intense!" Tatsuki asked her, amazed at the fight, they were so fast! And that guy wasn't even a captain, if this was what they were up against, she didn't know if they could succeed. As if reading her mind Naruko put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we won't run into many others as strong as Shikamaru, he's definitely high captain level from what I could tell, he's just too lazy to take up a higher position." She calmed her with a chuckle at the end.
Tatsuki nodded, feeling slightly better at that thought. "Now we should probably keep going, there's no way someone didn't notice that little fight." Naruko continued before grabbing Tatsuki and they both vanished from view just as a Shinigami squad turned around a corner.
Once they re-appeared Naruko let go of Tatsuki, who promptly dropped on all four and vomited, and looked around. "Well that's interesting; I subconsciously went to my old squad." She mused to herself.
"What the hell was that?!" Tatsuki yelled once she composed herself. Naruko glanced at her uninterested. "Hmm what? Oh that was Shunpo, sorry for not giving a warning, it takes some getting used to." Naruko apologized. Tatsuki grumbled a bit before calming down. She was about to start walking towards the Senzaikyū when Naruko stopped her, before a big group of people appeared and surrounded them.
"Oh? Onmitsukidō, keigun division. What a pleasant surprise." Naruko said sarcastically.
"Ryoka, for intruding in Soul Society, you are under arrest!" A voice said as Suì-Fēng and a large man walked past the Onmitsukidō. The man had black hair and wore the standard Shinigami robes with a large purple collar. On his arm was a Fuku-taicho badge, his name is Ōmaeda Marechiyo.
"So, I assume you're the taicho and fuku-taicho of the Nibantai?" Naruko questioned before smirking. "I expected a successor of mine to be taller."
"Successor? You're Uzumaki Naruko?" Suì-Fēng asked with narrowed eyes. Naruko didn't answer, instead doing a quick head count. "It seems you have us out numbered here Suì-Fēng-san. I'll have to correct that." She stated before disappearing for a second before reappearing on the same spot, then all the Onmitsukidō members seemingly got hit by an invisible force and were sent flying back, knocked out. Suì-Fēng's eyes widened in shock before narrowing while her fuku-taicho gaped. 'I could barely follow her movements; she's faster than…her.'
"Well now that's better, don't you think?" Naruko said with a smile before turning serious. "Tatsuki, I'll leave the fuku-taicho to you while I take care of Suì-Fēng-san. You should be able to handle him. He's not that strong."
Then she jumped back as Suì-Fēng came at her with a flurry of kicks and punches while Tatsuki charged Ōmaeda. Once Naruko felt she and Suì-Fēng had created enough distance from the other fight she sped up, putting Suì-Fēng on the defensive. She appeared behind her with a high kick, kicking her through a wall.
She paused, knowing that was not going to take Suì-Fēng down. A black blur shot through the opening towards her. Naruko moved her head to the right, barely dodging the blade trying to pierce through her skull. She slapped the arm holding the wakizashi away and hit Suì-Fēng's chest with an open palm causing her to stumble back. She tried to sweep the feet from under her, but Suì-Fēng jumped over it and twisting thrust her sword down towards Naruko. Rolling away and getting to her feet she exclaimed "Hainawa!" and sent an orange hued tendril with spiraling yellow patterns from her hand that wrapped around Suì-Fēng, immobilizing her and slamming her into a wall before pointing at her with her index finger of her other hand and muttering "Byakurai" shoot a white lightning bolt towards her.
Suì-Fēng flared her reiryoku, breaking through the bakudo and blurred away, right before the lightning bolt shot through the wall behind her. She appeared a small distance away from Naruko. Neither made a move as they stared each other down while Naruko took the opportunity to see how Tatsuki was doing.
Tatsuki dodged under Ōmaeda's Shikai, rushing up to him with her fist blazing with her reiryoku. She tried to hit him with an uppercut, only for Ōmaeda to catch her fist in his own hand. "Heh, such a weak punch wouldn't even scratch me, weakling." He said before pulling back his big Shikai, aiming to hit Tatsuki in the back with it as he pushed her back and pumped over her. Tatsuki stumbled back and noticed the giant spiked ball heading towards her, she jumped and flipped over it, dodging it but left herself open to an attack from above. Ōmaeda dropped down on top of her, driving his foot into her stomach. Blood flew from Tatsuki's mouth as she was smashed into the ground, then Ōmaeda picked her up and threw her into a wall, caving it in before she dropped to the ground.
Tatsuki tried to pick herself up but was pushed down again by Ōmaeda who stepped on her back. "What did you think you could accomplish with this level of power? You're weak and you and your friends are going to be killed for invading Soul Society. Now stay down."
"F-fuck you, you fucking fat ass get off me!" Tatsuki tried to push him off, but failed when he put more weight on his foot, causing her to cry out in pain. 'Is this it? Is this all I can do? Pathetic! Get up Tatsuki! You're better than this! I WILL NOT LOSE!' She thought angrily to herself. Ōmaeda had resealed his Zanpakutō and was about to start eating his favorite snack when the girl underneath him gave a cry of effort and lit up with fiery reiryoku. He jumped away from her and drew his sword again as a pillar of fire rose from Tatsuki.
Tatsuki stood in the middle of the pillar with her eyes closed feeling better than she had ever before. She felt so powerful! Her eyes snapped open as the pillar dissipated leaving her in a cloak of fire before she disappeared from view and appeared next to Ōmaeda and with a straight punch sent him through a wall.
"Heh, your fuku-taicho is going to lose." Naruko told Suì-Fēng with a smirk. Suì-Fēng simply held her Zanpakutō before her before responding. "If he does I'll be sure to punish him. Jinteki Shakusetsu, Suzumebachi!" Her sword glowed bright white and shrunk in size before the glow died out, revealing the form of a black and gold gauntlet, with a small chain linking it to a stinger-like blade on Suì-Fēng's middle finger. The "stinger" is about twice as long as the normal length of Suì-Fēng's fingers.
She disappeared from view with new speed, appearing at Naruko's side and hit her arm with her stinger before Naruko kicked her back as a mark appeared on her arm. "Huh, so this is Suzumebachi? I've heard a lot about it, a two hit kill ability, but I was under the impression you had to pierce the skin to leave a mark, but a mark appeared even though you didn't. How interesting." Naruko mused aloud as she looked at the mark. "Well, I guess I simply can't let you hit me again."
She blurred towards Suì-Fēng, drawing her sword and slashing at her. Suì-Fēng blocked with her gauntlet, redirecting her sword to the side and kicking towards her head. Naruko blocked with her right arm and grabbed the leg before spinning and throwing Suì-Fēng to the ground. She thrust her sword to impale her but Suì-Fēng rolled to the side before blurring away and creating some distance. She pushed off the ground with shunpo and then there were fifteen of her, rushing towards Naruko.
"Jisoku Bunshin, huh? Did you know? I created that technique." Naruko smirked before using her own speed and created her own clones, however she created double the amount that Suì-Fēng made. They clashed and clones all went through each other. Suì-Fēng stabbed at a Naruko, only to go straight through, before being kicked in the back. "Using a technique against its creator is not a very smart thing to do, Suì-Fēng-san."
Naruko aimed her hand at Suì-Fēng, as an orb of crimson energy gathered in her hand. "Shakkahō!" She fired the orb at Suì-Fēng, who had recovered on from the kick and dodged to the side. However Naruko was waiting for her, again with her palm aimed at her. "Hyōga Seiran!" She exclaimed, sending a massive wave of ice at her from her hand.
Suì-Fēng's eyes widened as she again dodged by jumping in the air, but this time she was grazed by the attack, getting a part of her leg frozen. "Raikōhō!" A blast of yellow energy rushed at her from the side hitting her dead on, being slowed down by her frozen leg and sending her down to the ground again, crashing through a wall.
"Raigeki!" Cursing she dragged herself up, spotting Naruko swinging her sword, sending a crescent wave of concentrated lightning towards her. She decided to finally use her own Kidō, sending a Sōkatsui that clashed with the wave of lightning. However Naruko's attack prevailed, barely being slowed down on its path towards Suì-Fēng, but the Sokatsui had done its job, letting Suì-Fēng barely get out of the way.
"Your speed is quite impressive Suì-Fēng-san, to still be able to dodge my attacks even with a frozen leg. However…" Naruko commended her before fading away from Suì-Fēng's view and appearing behind her. "…I'm faster." Pain erupted in Suì-Fēng's abdomen as Naruko's sword pierced through her. Her eyes widened as she fell to the ground and Naruko appeared in her field of view.
"Don't worry I didn't hit any vitals. Yoruichi wouldn't be very happy if I did too much damage to you." She said as she crouched before her. Suì-Fēng's eyes widened even further at the mention of her former mentor and she tried to get up but Naruko put her palm in front of her face and murmured, "Inemuri" dropping her unconscious.
Naruko sighed before standing up. "Damn, we really destroyed this district." She chuckled, looking around. Almost everything around her was destroyed, a big part having been frozen or wrecked from her Kidō. "Oh well." She shrugged before leaving a message for whoever decided to show up and investigate the fight and going to Tatsuki.
She got there just in time to see Tatsuki fly towards Ōmaeda with her fiery cloak forming into a spear-head shape and destroying Ōmaeda's flail-like Shikai before head-butting him, burning him and sending him flying through several walls, tearing a gorge in the ground before finally stopping.
Naruko whistled as she approached Tatsuki, who was swaying and breathing heavily. She would have fallen to the ground if Naruko hadn't been there to catch her. "Easy there, I think you have a few ribs broken. You did good though, you did real good." Naruko said giving Tatsuki a grin, which she returned before falling unconscious, the fight having been extremely taxing on her. "Well, I best get you to the healing springs, the others will have to wait." She said before wincing slightly. "I think I might take a dip too, I may be a powerhouse but all those Kidō in such a short amount of time takes its toll."
AN: Wohoo! Finally got this out, 'lots of fighting in this chapter, hopefully it's good, I ended up re-writing it several times. As a result of the fighting you got to see some more of Naruko's fighting skills, as you can tell she's very proficient at Kidō, being able to use low to mid level ones silently, using it and her sword skill as her main fighting style. There was also a technique she used that wasn't a Kidō but a Zanpakutō ability, can you figure out which one?
Also got to see some Tatsuki, not quite as much though, I'm still working extending her powers more. And oh my god Shikamaru finally appeared! I've been waiting to finally put him in. For those wondering Naruko and Tatsuki landed around the tenth division and then after fighting Shikamaru, Naruko took them to the second division. Yes...in one Shunpo. Oh and the speed clones don't actually have a japanese name as far as I know, so I gave them one.
I put a poll up for the next story I'm doing, be sure to check that if you want a say in it.
Translations:
Mendōkusei - Troublesome
Taidana Kage - Lazy Shadow
Kage Nui - Shadow Sewing
Haien - Abolishing Flames
Kageyose - Shadow Gathering
Kage Saku - Shadow Tear
Ōkasen - Yellow Fire Flash
Rikujōkōrō - Six Rods Prison of Light
Tenran - Orchid Sky
Tanma Otoshi - Time-Out Drop
Senzaikyū - Palace of Remorseful Sin
Keigun - Executive Militia
Hainawa - Crawling Rope
Byakurai - Pale Lightning
Jinteki Shakusetsu, Suzumebachi - Sting all Enemies to Death, Hornet
Jisoku Bunshin - Speed Clones
Shakkahō - Red Fire Cannon
Hyōga Seiran - Glacier Vapor Storm
Raikōhō - Thunder Roar Sear
Raigeki - Lightning Stroke
Inemuri - Forced Sleep
Till next time, Cuius of Caelum