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Chapter 6 - The Quiet Before:
Two dark silhouettes ran through the streets of Karakura, scaling fences and buildings with a single bound. One cat and one humanoid. Unseen, the gods of death traversed the land of the living.
Yoruichi and Soifon flew towards their destination. They emitted no detectable energy as they ran, moving at a higher speed than should be possible while suppressing their reiatsu. The void spell opened up a whole new method of high-speed stealth, and as one of its first users, Yoruichi and Soifon were testing its limits.
A larger problem with the technique was that Shunpo became impossible while under its effects. Their soul had only the barest tether to the physical world, only connected through the body. They could channel as much energy as they wanted, and every bit of the leakage would disappear into the void between worlds, but that also meant they couldn't channel energy outside of themselves. Which meant most kido were unusable, and Shunpo impossible. That was no small price to pay, but the benefits were huge.
As they ran, they began to hear the faint echos of a song. It reached them just as they crossed the edge of the old train station. The music reverberated through the air, notes flowing like water.
"Cover me." Said Yoruichi as she rounded a corner. Four feet becoming two in the middle of her jump. Black fur flowed into purple hair just before her human body reasserted itself. Throughout it all, the goddess of flash never stopped running.
A dozen meters before her was a man and a woman. The entrancing music came from the latter. The song seemed to have hypnotized the human, who sleepily walked closer and closer to his doom. In a fraction of a second, Yoruichi appeared behind the mortal. Letting her energy re-enter the mortal world, she pushed part of her reiatsu at him, shaping it into a silent command of sleep.
Catching him before he fell, the ex-captain carefully jumped back at a speed that wouldn't snap his neck. Soifon soundlessly appeared behind her, never once removing her attention from the woman before them.
The woman had brown hair and a somewhat colorful apparel. With green, red and light brown being prominent. She quickly overcame her surprise and sniffed in disdain. "So the Shinigami are here. I should have expected as much. You never could keep your noses out of other people's business."
"Who are you?" Yoruichi demanded, completely ignoring her own nudity.
The stranger didn't answer, only clicking her tongue in irritation and jumping back, easily scaling the train behind her.
"Stop!" Soi Fon commanded, preparing to pursue.
Yoruichi's outstretched hand stopped her. "Let her go. Our mission is already fulfilled."
High above the city, an invisible figure hung in the air. The light bent around him as Naruto observed the entirety of Karukara below. He had been sifting through the entire city with a fine comb, looking for anything out of the ordinary. That was until Yoruichi had flared her reiatsu and the blond's attention had immediately shifted to Karakura's old train station.
Naruto frowned. Urahara's computer was apparently better at sensing the Bounts' energy than he was. The shopkeeper had even been able to send Yoruichi before he noticed.
"Oh, wow. She does have a lovely figure." Ino commented appreciatively.
Trying (and failing) to ignore Yoruichi's naked body, Naruto eventually gave up and created another internal shadow of his thoughts. The clone mentally glared at him, but did what it had been created for.
"Another one? Damn it Naruto, it's getting crowded in here." Ino complained. Kurama snorted irritably, silently echoing the sentiment. Naruto ignored them, he had more pressing matters to attend to.
A perverted grin stretched across his mouth as Naruto took in the naked beauty below him. Wait. Did she just blow a kiss at him?
"Bahahahaha!" Kurama laughed, enjoying his host's discomfort.
"Shut up." Naruto grunted, blushing slightly. He hadn't expect to be caught peeping when he was literally kilometers away.
"So now what, Goldie-kun? Are you gonna let her outplay you?" Ino practically purred.
A shiver went up Naruto's back, but his eyes narrowed at the implied challenge. Oh no. Yoruichi would not get the last say in this. With such a motivation behind him, the world had little choice but to bend to his will. The natural energy beside Yoruichi became slightly corporal and gave the fallow beauty a pat on the back.
Naruto smirked as she jumped. Watching her graceful twirl, he couldn't help but be captivated by the way her long hair cascaded around her. Naruto's inner world became soaked in a pink hue.
Ino cackled. Actually cackled.
Meanwhile, the part of Naruto that didn't get to flirt with a gorgeous goddess grumbled at his task. His purpose was very focused. He was to follow the Bount through natural energy wherever she went. He was to hear what she said and watch what she did. He would keep watch over her for as long as deemed necessary. Hopefully she would lead them back to the others.
It wasn't long until he recognized the Bount's energy as Yoshino Soma. The same woman that had killed Kenshi. He had never personally felt her signature before, but the world whispered of her presence. She hadn't been the only culprit though, and so his purpose was clear. He would not act until he found the others. Not unless she tried to kill again.
The clone mentally sighed. The Bounts... So some were still alive even after all these centuries?
"You're still here?" Orihime asked, surprised.
Ichigo shrugged. He and Uryuu had hung back outside the school when Chad and Inoue went to get her phone. Having been without it for the duration of the day, the girl had wanted to pick it up before going training.
"We thought it would be nice to walk together. We've always done so before." The orange-haired teen answered.
Orihime lit up. "Yes! I totally agree! Let's go!" Then she took the lead, skipping ahead of the boys with an enthusiasm hard to match. Before anyone could begin a conversation, Inoue opened with a never-ending stream of consciousness."This is really cool, you know! The Hollow stuff can be scary sometimes, but it's really exciting to see ghosts and stuff. I met one yesterday by the way. He seemed really lonely, so I took him home. He seemed to enjoy the smell of my ketchup noodles, so I cooked some for him, but he couldn't touch it, so I had to eat everything. It was…" She continued talking, never once breaking rhythm or slowing down. It was actually quite impressive as long as you could ignore the subject matter.
The boys listened with morbid fascination as Orihime talked about her dietary habits. How she hadn't died of food poisoning was a mystery to Ichigo. Some of those combinations had to be toxic. Or not meant for human consumption, at the very least.
"Ah! We're here!" Orihime exclaimed, interrupting her own ranting. She pointed excitedly at the building in front of them.
Ichigo blinked in mild surprise. Huh. That went fast.
Entering the gym, the teens shuffled through the reception. They were waved in by a bored secretary who didn't even a check for identification.
There were a lot of humans here, Ichigo seemed to be no end to the people picking up training recently. It was a bit weird seeing thugs and jocks lifting heavy weights right beside old ladies using treadmills for exercise.
The group ambled through the crowded room, thankful that everyone seemed to be ignoring them. They went down the stairs until they found the 'employee' door that lead to another world. Ichigo left his human body in a prepared room nearby. Getting back to his friends, he let his reiatsu seep into the door handle. The teen felt it clearly as the seal recognized him. Not wasting time, he walked straight in.
"Geta-Boshi? What are you doing here?" He exclaimed. It wasn't just Urahara either. Yoruichi and Naruto was also there, as well as three people the substitute Shinigami had never seen before. Naruto was hovering a few meters above Yoruichi for some reason. The ex-captain was pouting up at the blond. Ichigo quickly decided that he didn't want to know what was going on there.
Smacking his fan closed, Urahara beamed at them. "There you are! Took you long enough." He complained, pointing accusingly at them.
Ichigo tried to explain, but Urahara rolled straight over him.
"Let me introduce you." He said, gesturing to the trio behind him. "Ichigo, Uryuu, Orihime, Sado meet Ririn, Kurodo and Noba. Ririn, Kurodo, Noba, this is Ichigo Kurosaki, Uryuu Ishida, Sado Yasutora and Inoue Orihime. Be nice everybody!" He chirped, far too cheerfully in Ichigo's opinion.
Nodding politely, Ichigo studied the trio more closely. They were a bit… strange, to say the least. An older man with a top hat and grey clothes, a younger girl with a strange cape and pink dress, and… a ninja? At least he seemed to be embodying the stereotype much better than Naruto did.
They were an odd bunch. It was also quite obvious that they weren't normal mortals. Not that he expected them to be. Although their reiatsu seemed a bit weak.
"Ririn, Kurodo, and Noba are all Mod Souls I made to act as sensors for… the current situation, which I'll get to in a moment." Urahara explained.
Ichigo blinked. Mod Souls? Like Kon?
Out of the corner of his eye, Ichigo could see Naruto shaking his head and muttering to himself. "You guys are so backwards. You have barely any psychic expertise, yet you have the ability to casually create sapient life? Where is the logic in that?"
Ririn scowled at the shinobi before Urahara waved her off. The girl huffed and looked away.
"You might as well sit down, this will probably take some time." Urahara continued. Looking over at the newcomers.
The teens shared a few looks before eventually acquiescing.
"So what is this situation you're referring to Urahara-san?" Ishida asked, adjusting his glasses in the process.
Hat shadowing his face, the scientist went straight to the point. "Have any of you heard about the Bounts?"
Getting only blank stares in return, Urahara elaborated. "They are quite often referred to as vampires."
Ichigo palmed his face. "I hate Twilight"
"Oy take that back! Carlisle is awesome!" Naruto protested.
"Are you kidding me!? It's sparkling vampires. SPARKLING! VAMPIRES!"
"What!? Do you have a problem-"
"Eh…" Kisuke tried. The bewildered shopkeeper looked between Ichigo and Naruto who had begun a rather intricate discussion about the pros and cons of sparkling vampires.
"Can you-" Kisuke tried.
"And may I ask how you know so much about this if you don't like it Kurosaki? Last time I checked, that series was primarily aimed at teenage girls." Uryuu commented. Somehow keeping his cool despite the smile tugging at his lips.
"Now, we-" Urahara tried again.
Ichigo blushed. "Shut up Ishida! Yuzu is all over that series, and dad isn't much better!" Thankfully, Karin was on his side... mostly.
"Ahem." Kisuke finally managed to gather the attention on him again. He seemed a bit annoyed, if the murderous intent seeping off him was any indication.
"Anyway…" He started, voice slightly strained. "Bounts do not sparkle in the sunlight, nor do they have have any other obvious tells that differentiate them from normal humans. Even their energy is virtually indistinguishable unless they are using large amounts of it. Because of this, they are extremely hard to detect by normal means." Gesturing behind him, Urahara smiled proudly. "That is where the Mod Souls come in."
He almost sounded like a father showing off his children… Which was exactly the case, Ichigo realized. Man… his life was weird.
"These three were made to detect the Bounts and help defeat them. Unfortunately, even they can't detect the Bounts unless they let out at least some of their reiatsu." The scientist explained.
"So… How does that help us?" Ichigo asked.
Stamping her foot in the ground Ririn glared at him. "We're going to go with you, of course."
"... And where will you sleep?" The orange haired teen continued, dreading the answer.
"In your room, of course! Where else?"
Shifting his attention over to Urahara he glared at the man. "You might remember that my room is not actually that large. It is only meant for one person."
Kisuke hummed. "I don't remember that being a problem with Rukia-chan." The blond said. Blinking innocently.
Ichigo sputtered.
"Wait. Rukia-chan slept in Kurosaki-kun's room?" Orihime asked, face slowly turning red.
"Gah! It's not like you think! She slept in the closet ok! The closet!"
Silence reigned after Ichigo's exclamation.
Yoruichi laughed.
"I had thought better of you, Kurosaki." Ishida stated, voice flat.
Chad grunted in agreement. His gaze thick with disapproval.
Ichigo looked over at Naruto, hoping his teacher would be kind enough to make the ground swallow him. Naruto smirked knowingly. No such luck apparently.
"So, about these Bounts?" Ichigo asked quickly.
"Right." Urahara said, doing little to hide his amused smile. "The Bounts are a race of spiritually aware physical beings with the ability to consume another's soul, turning their victim's body to dust in the process. They will eventually grow old and die if they don't consume one, but by using this power, they can retain their youth forever."
It said a lot about the gathered people that none of them thought this was the slightest bit abnormal.
"Unfortunately, our data on them seem to have been tampered with, so it will be some time before we manage to gather more from written records. What we have so far is mostly from memory." Urahara said, frowning down at the ground as if the dirt had just personally offended him.
"I can probably help you there." Naruto interjected.
Urahara perked up. Naruto hadn't said anything before. The shopkeeper had assumed he either didn't know, or didn't want to tell them.
"What do you mean Naruto? You know about the Bounts?" Yoruichi asked, tilting her head back to look at him.
"I know them, yes." The shinobi confirmed. "I'll tell you all a story, if you're willing to listen?" The blond's gaze was oddly loaded, as if there was more to the question than was first apparent.
Ichigo frowned. What was this about? It felt like the time in the hot springs, except this had an even greater weight to it somehow.
Once everyone had agreed to the request, Naruto clapped his hands once.
Nothing happened for a little while until suddenly the entire world shook. Naruto's eyes lit up, and reality shifted. The place that before had been nothing but a desolate landscape was replaced by the visage of a familiar blue planet far below them. The group were sitting on an invisible platform in empty space. They had no trouble breathing though, so either this was an illusion, or Naruto was providing them with air. Ichigo liked the former best, as the latter was a bit scary to contemplate.
Urahara's eyes sharpened the moment their surroundings changed. The ex-assassin clenched his cane until his knuckles whitened. His body tenser than steel wire.
If Naruto noticed, he didn't acknowledge it. He simply started telling the story with the same kind of tone and reverence he'd used for the last one.
"The year 337 C.E., 1679 years ago, something happened to the lifestream of the planet. It was a subtle change, thankfully. Only those who kept a careful watch over it noticed. Thousands of new souls had been added in an instant."
A green glow appeared around the planet. As Naruto talked, part of the light surged, inflating itself until the bubble burst, sanding ripples cascading all over the sphere.
"People are born all the time, but normally their souls are recycled from the reincarnation cycle." The Sage explained. "The chance of being born with a new soul is about one in a hundred thousand for mortal humans. This influx of new souls is proportional to the amount of people currently alive. It is a steady stream with few fluctuations. So to suddenly have thousands of new souls pop up out of nowhere was a bit… strange." Naruto wobbled his hand. As if unsure how to describe the phenomenon.
"It was a relatively small change. The lifestream has experienced far worse without adverse effects. Nonetheless, it was an anomaly that no one knew the source of. What effect it would have on the world was also uncertain."
Their surroundings changed again. This time they were in a small cottage. Three other people were there with them. Including a woman in the middle of labor. Neither the future mother, the husband clutching his wife's hand or the midwife seemed to notice the people intruding on this very private moment.
A baby's cry pierced the air.
"A few years later, the first of these souls were brought into the world. The first Bount had been born."
The next minute was snapshots of the baby's life. A girl growing up on a farm somewhere in western Europe. She played with her friends, cried when she was sad and grew up to marry a boy couple years her junior. The boy grew older. She did not.
The girl, now a woman, became the source of many rumors. Not once did she carry a child. She did not age beyond her wedding day. The neighbors became restless. Her husband became nervous. The previously kind man became increasingly aggressive, hitting the woman whenever she didn't do as he said. But underneath the aggression was his nervousness. Nervousness born from fear.
The woman fled with a mob at her heels.
"By this time, a dozen other children had been born with the same power. The same curse." Naruto said, flashes of other people with similar fates appeared before them.
"All of them were clear-sighted. They could see things others couldn't. This made them interesting to a lot of different groups. Hollows included."
The world shifted again and a giant Hollow appeared before them. Ichigo reflexively reached for his Zanpakuto. But it was still just an illusion. The monster ignored him and ran straight for the young man wandering through a forest path. Thankfully, the scene shifted before the Hollow reached him. The sheer terror in the man's eyes had been enough.
Other scenes showed both men and women locked in prison, stripped down on examination tables, tied bleeding and screaming to a burning bonfire, some were even buried alive. It was a lot more intense than in a movie. The details and sheer immersion of the scene made it hard to comprehend that this wasn't actually happening.
"More and more Bounts kept being born into the world. Cursed and hunted, they gathered together for some measure of protection."
They were now standing in the middle of a cave filled with people. In their midst was a brown-haired woman with a patient and kind expression. She wore the familiar black and white shihakusho of the standard Shinigami garb. "Here they were found by their creator. A woman named Ran'Tao. She never intended for the Bounts to be created, but now that they were, she was determined to see them live a comfortable life. She told them about themselves. Where they came from and what they were." Naruto said, looking intently between the different members of his audience. "The Bounts are artificial Souls created by the scientists of Soul Society." He explained, his tone offered up no opinion on this. He was simply stating it as fact.
"After this, Ran'Tao soon returned to Soul Society, her goal was to give the Bounts safe passage into the afterlife. There they could live away from a world that shunned them. Unfortunately, the government had other plans."
Screams erupted from the other side of the cave. Soon black clad figures were amongst the Bounts, cutting down everyone they encountered. Shinigami.
A sob echoed from behind him. Turning to look, Ichigo saw Orihime hiding her face in her hands. Small droplets of salty water fell towards the ground. Ichigo was about to reach out when Ishida put a hand on her shoulder. The girl's shaking quieted a little and Ichigo relaxed.
"Few survived." Naruto pressed on, thankfully skipping the majority of the bloody display. "After that tragedy, they moved on as best they could. Shifting through the world as undying shadows. Never settling in one place for long."
The next couple of scenes was showing more and more desperate people as they traversed the world, losing more and more members as time went on.
"The Bounts were not entirely defenseless however. Ran'Tao had taught them how to access a power similar to a Shinigami's Zanpakuto. They called them Dolls. Physical manifestations of the power in their souls. It requires a complex ritual and lots of training to master, and its use and activation could be fatal." A few examples were shown. Creatures so bizarre Ichigo wondered if he'd stepped into a rendition of Alice in Wonderland.
"This was a trying time for them. As more and more people began to take notice. Immortal humans with special abilities is an attractive target for more than just Hollows."
The world changed again. The group was now situated in spacious meeting room. On one side of an oblong table was the Shinigami from the cave. She looked rough and tired, older than before, as if she hadn't slept in weeks. Or perhaps years. On the other side sat Naruto. This version of Naruto looked much the same as the one they knew. There were a few exceptions however. The younger blond had shorter hair, as only a few short tufts stuck up on his head. He also wore a white and blue coat. A similarly coloured hat was situated on the table to his right. The kanji of 'Fire' blazed back at them.
"About 400 years after the Bounts had been created. The Elementals received a mission." Naruto smiled. "The client was an increasingly desperate Ran'Tao. She had been exiled from Soul Society and her powers sealed. For the past few centuries she had been traversing the living world, searching for someone to help her children. Of course we said yes."
Naruto the Illusion smiled widely and reached out to shake Ran'Tao's hand.
"Unfortunately, the Bounts were a lot more wary of outsiders by now. Few had offered them any sort of help, and amongst those that did, most betrayed them. They did accept some things though, and we gave them everything they would take." Naruto said, showing them a multitude of shinobi talking with ragged people with cold eyes.
"We gave them training. We thought them how to fight, how to survive, how to thrive." Lectures of both academic and practical natures passed before them. One scene showed Naruto himself tutoring a class in meditation and energy manipulation. Sitting at the front was white-haired man with intense red eyes following every word with rapt attention.
"A few accepted our offer to live among us, but as the Elementals don't become ghosts, and we would not allow them to consume our souls, the price of agreement was their immortality." Naruto's smile turned a little sour at that, although Ichigo could only begin to guess what he was thinking.
"Thankfully, we were not the only ones helping. The world may be harsh, but it is not without mercy. As more and more Bounts were born, their numbers picked up again. Things were looking up." The scene's now consisted of several underground communities all over the globe. Secret meetings beneath a bar in London, a large cottage deep in the Himalayas, a castle in the middle of a desert.
"They grew, they learned, they lived. However, this world would never truly come to accept them. And they never accepted it." Naruto's eyes had a melancholic look in them.
"Despite their relative success. It was only a question of time before their species went extinct. They don't reproduce after all. And there were a finite number of souls that had first been created. The souls of Bounts also loses whatever makes them special after death. New reincarnations are thus like any other human." The blond explained.
"I am not sure why they wished to leave this world. Perhaps they longed for a place to call home. Nevertheless, they wanted to return to Soul Society. Their birthplace. A home they had never known." Naruto explained, showing multiple meetings of people shouting at each other. It was clear that the decision hadn't been a uniform consensus.
"The Bounts had long since mastered a technique to create a portal to Soul Society, they are quite gifted in that regard actually. What they lacked was the ability to turn their physical bodies into reshi."
"There was someone who did know though." The blond blinked at Ishida. "The Quincy." Uryuu stiffened.
"1519, 497 years ago." Naruto continued. "The Bounts gave up on negotiations and captured a Quincy, trying to force him into revealing the secret."
Now the group found themselves on a battlefield. Dolls were swarming the area as blue arrows cut them down. A dozen white clad warriors defending and attacking in the ancient game called war.
"The Quincies didn't like that. The Bounts who didn't die were later killed by the Soul Reapers sent to clean up their thousand year old mess. After all was said and done, the Bounts were all but extinct. Only a few remained under the protection of other unrelated powers. These also died sooner or later. Accidents, battles or assassins sent by the Soul Society. I had thought them all dead by now. Seems like I was mistaken." Sighing heavily, Naruto seemed to become centuries younger as he allowed the world to return to it's natural form.
Ichigo blinked, his eyes adjusting to the perpetual sunset that seemed to be a staple of this place.
"Any questions?" Naruto asked. Smiling softly at them.
"Hmm… Why did you allow the Bounts to live if they survive by consuming souls? Won't that be… immoral?" Kisuke asked. An intent glint in his eyes.
Yoruichi looked over at her friend. A frown marring her features.
If the shinobi was bothered by the question, he didn't show it. "In one way it is. But as long as they only consume souls of those already departed, the victims simply get a prolonged reprieve from Samsara. They will eventually return, as no Bount can survive for eternity. Although, were they to attack the living, that is nothing short of murder." Naruto answered, fully prepared to defend his philosophy. He and Urahara had done this quite a few times during the month he had been working at Kisuke's shop.
"Then won't that be the same with Hollows?" Kisuke asked again. Tilting his hat up to stare intently at Naruto.
The shinobi frowned. "Hollows are different from Bounts. Noh-Men are twisted spirits. Hollows are those who died and lost their heart. This corruption does not disappear simply because the spirit dies. It will linger as a tortured soul until it is destroyed or purified by something else. If it by some horrifying mistake is reborn, the result will be little more than a Hollow in human skin." The blond shuddered, and Ichigo wondered if Naruto talked from experience.
"Then that means…" Orihime trailed of, looking utterly horrified by something. Ichigo's eyes widened as his brain caught up with what his friend must no doubt be thinking.
"No need to worry, Hime-chan." Naruto smiled at her. "I've been sending every soul that died in Karukara to Soul Society. Zanpakuto does not actually purify the Hollow, you see. It just sends it to Soul Society. It is the world itself that repairs the broken spirit."
Ichigo blinked, looking over to Kisuke for confirmation. The shopkeeper nodded, although his eyes were fixed on the blond mercenary. "That's true. But how do you know that, Uzumaki-san? That is not a well known fact." Urahara asked.
Naruto shrugged. "It is not all that hard to see, once you realize that Konso does the exact same thing."
"So it was simple inductive reasoning?" Urahara asked. Doubt clear in his tone. Yoruichi elbowed her friend in the side.
Naruto scratched the back of his head embarrassingly. "Weeeeeeell…" The blond dragged out. Kisuke lifted an eyebrow. Sighing in defeat, Naruto slumped in place. "I might have broken into the Shinigami's archives a few times."
Yoruichi smirked, but tried to look stern as she admonished him. "To read what, exactly?"
At this, Naruto seemed even more uncomfortable. "You have to know that most of it was perfectly legal! Open for the public even!" Naruto waved his hands, almost desperate for a way out.
No one offered him one.
Naruto mumbled his answer.
"What was that, Uzumaki-san. I couldn't hear you?" Kisuke sing-songed.
"Everything! Okay! I read everything!" Naruto admitted. Flushing bright red.
Kisuke stared for a few seconds. That was not what he had been expecting. He had been planning to tease Naruto about his bookworm tendencies. Maybe some insinuations about recommended literature. The blond's own books provided plenty of material in themselves, but he knew Naruto wasn't the kind to be flustered about something like that. No. He knew that Naruto was far more embarrassed over his more non-fictional pursuits. As if he was afraid people would shun him if he admitted to being interested in academia.
"Everything?" Ishida asked incredulously. "You mean you read every book in the Seireitei?"
Naruto huffed. He looked away as he pouted like a child. "I'm sure there were a few I missed." The blond insisted. "Some were probably too well hidden, or too well defended to bother with."
"That's not…" The Quincy protested.
Ichigo laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. Shaking his head with a sympathetic look in his eyes. "He does stuff like this all the time. Better get used to it."
"Now! Training time!" The blond shouted.
Subtlety, thy name is not Naruto.
Clapping his hands together. The shinobi stopped levitating and began some basic stretching exercises as soon as his feet hit the ground.
Ichigo blinked before looking around the assembled people. "Where's Renji? Shouldn't he have been here for the explanation?"
"Ah, don't worry. I'll fill him in later." Naruto said. "He is already working with one of my clones. Why don't you go meet up with them Chad? A sparring session should help you both." The Half-Mexican came halfway through a nod, before suddenly disappearing as he was teleported to god knows where.
Ichigo sighed. He was never going to get used to that.
"Ichigo, you'll be training with Yoruichi today. I'm betting she has a thing or two to say about your Shunpo." Naruto beamed. Then Ichigo felt the gut wrenching feeling of all his atoms being suddenly misplaced and found himself in the middle of a forest with giant trees.
"Dammit Naruto! Some warning would be nice!" Yoruichi shook her fist at the sky. Ichigo was too busy trying not to throw up. Why couldn't they just run like normal people?
"So, Hime-chan. Ready for your next lesson?" Naruto asked, beaming at her.
Orihime smiled back, nodding resolutely. All the others had left, willingly or forcefully. Only she and Naruto were left by the entrance.
"Right. To repeat what you learned yesterday." The blond shinobi said, willing four shadow clones into existence. The copies arranged themselves in a two by two square, a few meters away from Inoue. A dark red barrier erupted around them, creating a cube that disappeared into the sky. "Ninpo: Four Crimson Ray Formation!" They shouted in harmony.
Orihime gulped at the imposing sight of the seemingly endless forcefield.
"Come on woman! What are you waiting for? An invitation?" Tsubaki barked, janking at his master's hair for good measure.
"Owowowow-" Orihime complained, pouting up at the fairy.
"Leave her alone, Tsubaki. You know this only wastes time." Shun'o chided. Hovering over Orihime's left shoulder.
"Right." Orihime said, clapping her chin between her hands. Her face scrounged up in concentration. "Tsubaki! I choose you- wait, that's not right…" The girl trailed off, sticking her tongue out and twisting her knuckles on her head.
Tsubaki growled.
"Ah! Wait! Wait! I've got it! Tsubaki, Koten Zanshun, I reject!" Orihime cried out, pouring her energy and intent into the black and red fairy.
"That's more like it!" Tsubaki cried as he shot towards the red barrier. The golden field around him increased until it covered the entire length of Naruto's technique. It cut through the barrier like a hot knife through butter. The fairy returned to Orihime's side, a smug smile playing at his lips.
Naruto stared at the broken barrier for a few seconds. It hadn't completely collapsed, but that was mostly due to the nature of Shisekiyjōin itself. It didn't break. At most it wobbled and reestablished itself after its chakra had been replenished. It didn't get sliced either. This was a barrier capable of tanking multiple Bijuudama from the fucking Juubi! From the inside! Baring a full out nuclear assault, he doubted the entire UN's military could put a dent in it. Even if they had a week to study and approach the problem.
It was currently the strongest barrier he could summon on short notice. And even if he did go through the trouble of acquiring stronger barriers, he doubted even its big brother, the Musekiyōjin, would make much difference. Naruto shook his head in disbelief. She had done the same yesterday, but now he knew she could replicate the feat should she need to.
"Good job. If you can cut through that, then any physical barrier should be child's play." Naruto said.
Orihime beamed at the compliment.
Naruto walked closer to the reality bender. "Next, you'll be cutting off my arm." He said, gaze intent on the young girl.
Orihime's eyes went wide. "Wha- I- I can't do that!"
Tilting his head to the side, Naruto studied her reactions. Her body was tense, her hands clenched, shoulders bunched together. Naruto sighed.
"Why not? You know both you and I can put it back on again." Heck, neither of them even needed the original appendage.
"I- I can't cut off your arm, Uzumaki-kun." The girl insisted.
"Call me Naruto." Naruto mumbled for the upteenth time.
"How do you expect to fight if you can't attack your opponent?" Naruto asked. "I know you have killed Hollows before, but that's not enough. Hollows are monsters. Or at least, they look that way to you. It is not hard to dehumanize them. That's not the case for our future enemies though. Arrancar look like humans. They mostly act like humans as well. Their thought process is remarkably similar." Naruto continued. "Shinigami are just human souls with extra power. How do you expect to fight such opponents without harming them?"
Orihime looked down, avoiding his gaze. "I don't- Can't I just heal the others?" She began, voice almost desperate. "I have a shield. I can protect them as well. Why do I have to..." She trailed off. Staring at the ground. Her fairies were all looking at their master with various emotions. Tsubaki looked like he wanted to clobber her, but Shun'o and Lily held him back.
"Harm people?" Naruto finished her sentence.
Orihime nodded silently.
"You don't have to." The shinobi admitted.
The girl's head snapped up. She began to smile.
"But then you can't join the fighting."
Her smile fell.
"I gave all of you the same choice after we came back from Soul Society. The same choice Yoruichi gave you when she first showed you this world. You don't need to fight. You don't have to become a part of this world. You can stay a normal human for as long as you wish. That is your right." Naruto said.
"But if you truly want to become a part of the supernatural, if you truly want to help, then you have to know how to defend yourself. I am not sending children into war without a means of defending themselves."
The blond's gaze softened as he took in Orihime's disheartened appearance. "Look. I'm not saying you should fight on the front lines. Far from it. I would prefer it if you didn't have to fight a single battle in the upcoming conflict."
Sighing regretfully, he continued. "That is not for me to decide, however. Healers are an attractive target for any tactician, and your powers, should they ever be discovered, would most likely make you a priority for the enemy. I can't let you enter a war without being able to fight." He was silent for a while, waiting for the girl's response.
"I- I'd like to help." Orihime whispered, looking up at him hesitantly.
Naruto smiled. "That's good Hime-chan. Look, I'll numb the area. So I won't even feel any pain. And if an arm is too much, we can start with some fingers if you want."
Orihime went white. Possibly a little green.
Naruto winced. Damn. Normally he was good with other people, but he could have a bit of a… skewed perspective from time to time.
"N-no. I-" She stammered. Taking a shuddering breath, the girl straightened. A determined glint in her eyes. "Hold out your arm."
Naruto smiled and did as asked, shoving up his sleeve just as Orihime expression hardened. No sense in ruining a perfectly good shirt in the process.
"T-tsubaki, Koten Z-zanshun, I reject." She managed. Staring straight at Naruto's limb. Tsubaki flew forward. He moved only a fraction of his previous speed, and his glow was much less intense. Still, he didn't have to fly far, and he reached his goal in just a few seconds. The fairy passed straight through the blond's arm before returning to his master. He didn't look at all satisfied.
Naruto watched with interest as his limb fell to the ground, a wave of blood trailing from the stump.
"Naruto!" Orihime shouted. She looked absolutely horrified.
The teenager was about to call upon the healing aspects of her power, but Naruto waved her off. Bending down to retrieve his arm, Naruto channeled a bit of wind chakra to his throat before blowing on it, cleaning it of most of the stones and dirt that had stuck to the bloodsoaked limb.
Once Naruto let his chakra flow, red and blue threads snaked their way towards the limb, reinvigorating and reattaching it to his main body. The blond clenched his fist, noting his body's satisfaction with mild interest. It was not pleasant to be missing an arm, no matter how much he pretended it didn't faze him.
"There. See? Good as new." Except for the copious amount of blood now staining the right side of his body. He could have stopped it, but few others could have. Orihime didn't have the time to take things slow. If she wanted to fight, she needed to be desensitized sooner rather than later. Feeling a headache incoming, Naruto forced his cells to divide faster. The effect was much like that of a blood replenishing pill.
Orihime still looked a little green, but also like she was trying to compose herself again. She didn't quite manage. The trepidation showing on her face told him she fully expected him to make her repeat the exercise. And while that might be helpful in the short term, they weren't that short on time.
Naruto hummed in contemplation. "Right… so next we'll be working on deflecting other attacks with your Koten Zanshun. An unbreakable shield is all well and good, but it is still only one shield." Orihime looked very relieved at this news.
Naruto smiled a bit too widely, creating a Rasenshuriken above his bloody hand. "Shall we begin then?"
The crack of bone against bone echoed down the street as Ichigo stretched his neck. "Man… These sessions don't become any easier, do they?"
Lifting an eyebrow in question, Uryuu made a point to walk with the most grace he could manage. Which wasn't all that impressive, considering he could barely feel his legs. "What did you expect? We aren't here for leisurely exercise."
Naruto scowled weekly at him. Uryuu had become a lot more tolerable after they came back from Soul Society, but he was still an arrogant know-it-all from time to time. "It's not-"
"Ichigo!" The shout came straight into his ear, causing his head to tilt dangerously to the side in order to get away from the sound. Something that did nothing, as the source had climbed up on his shoulder.
"Holy -! Quiet down Ririn. That's way too loud!" The teen looked around nervously, hopefully no one had seen the very lively bird doll that would not fit into any normal understanding of the universe. To his great consternation, a woman was standing before them, looking intently at the talking toy.
"Ehh… It's a new model?" Ichigo tried carefully.
The brown-haired woman smiled at him, not seeming the least bit surprised. "Hmm… I'd say. I do have some experience with dolls."
Ichigo blinked. Her voice sounded weird. Both deep and light at the same time. It was a very comfortable and melodious sound.
"Ichigo! Snap out of it! She's using a spell on you! She's a Bount! A Bount! That's what I was trying to tell you!" Ririn whispered furiously.
Ichigo blinked. He thought he understood what the Mod Soul was telling him, but it was very hard to focus. All he could really think about was how much he wanted to sleep. That's right. He was tired. He wanted to sleep. What's wrong with that?
The orange-haired teen blinked again, slower this time. Then, with an act of will, forced himself to focus. The world slowly came back into contrast. Uryuu stood beside him, looking as if he was about to keel over. The woman was before them, smiling a secretive smile as she tilted her head to the side.
Forcing reiatsu through his human body, Ichigo felt his mind return to its normal state. Beside him, Ishida shook his head almost desperately.
Scowling at the Bount before them, Ichigo looked around to make sure there were no onlookers. Thankfully, there weren't. Funny how that always seemed to be the case. "What do you want?" He asked angrily. He did not appreciate having his mind messed with.
The woman smiled. "Before that, let me introduce myself. My name is Yoshino Soma. And as your friend has so rudely informed you, I am a Bount."
Beside him, Uryuu tensed. Ichigo could feel the reiatsu he was emitting. Not much yet, but it was enough for the Quincy to cross the distance between himself and the woman within a fraction of a second.
"So why are you here? Why did you attack us?" Ishida asked, taking a step in front of Ichigo. The orange-haired teen shifted his scowl towards Ishida. Was he trying to protect him? It was true that he was at a disadvantage in his physical body, but it wouldn't take much to switch. He was already fiddling the Shinigami badge within his pocket.
The woman lifted an eyebrow. "Attack you? I have done no such thing. The sleeping spell was merely a test. If you couldn't withstand that, then there'd be no point in warning you."
Ishida was silent for a few seconds, analyzing the response. Ichigo rolled his eyes. Uryuu was far to careful for his tastes, but then again, he seemed to be doing ok, so he decided to let his friend take the lead for now.
"A mental attack is still an attack. Still an act of aggression." Uryuu stated, although he seemed to be more relaxed than before.
Yoshino waved away the comment. "More important than that, you have a problem. A major problem."
Both teens stayed silent.
"A few days from now, Kariya will-"
"Yoshino!" A voice shouted from the rooftops. All three of them immediately locked on to the source of the sound. The source - it turned out - was a man standing atop a nearby building. His clothes were of very high quality. He wore a dress more suited to a wedding than climbing buildings. Or battle.
The female Bount flinched at the sound of her name. A drop of sweat trailed down her neck. "Utagawa? What are you doing here!? How did you…?" She trailed off, having crouched into a defensive stance as Utagawa held out a pocket watch in front of himself.
"Yoshino, Kariya demands you return to us. You are a traitor to our kind, and will be judged as such. Come with me freely, or I will take you back by force." Utagawa declared. He didn't sound at all displeased by this possibility.
Yoshino said nothing. She simply turned and ran.
Utagawa made a 'tsk, tsk' sound. His pocket watch turned into a long, very deadly looking snake. The snake tore through the air after Yoshino. It wasn't hard to see that the reptile would overtake the woman in just a few seconds. But before it could make it very far, it was forced to twist away from a blue arrow heading straight for it. It hissed and grabbed ahold of the side of a building to dodge the next couple dozen projectiles aimed towards it. Yoshino didn't spare a second to look behind herself, and quickly disappeared into a nearby alley.
The second Bount's attention turned to the two teenagers below him. The man sighed and jumped down to street level, not having any apparent difficulties with the long fall.
"Now why did you have to do that, boy? This is a matter between grown-ups. Brats like you should know enough to mind their own business." Despite his words, his eyes shone with intense curiosity. But also other things... Hatred? Fixation?
Uryuu pushed up his glasses as he took two steps forward. The form of his bow wavered from exhaustion, and the Quincy took a deep breath to steady himself. Ichigo could see his feet shaking ever so slightly. Training to an inch of your life wasn't exactly the best move you could make before a real battle. Ichigo prepared himself to exit his physical body, although he wasn't in much better shape than Uryuu.
"You attacked a woman. That makes it my business." Ishida said, forming another holy arrow. This time aiming at the man himself.
Utagawa laughed. "Oh, another Quincy pretending to chivalry. How disgustingly noble of you. Your kind knows hypocrisy like no other."
As Ishida opened his mouth to respond, the snake from before snapped towards him. The teen was faster though, firing his arrow, Ishida vanished from sight.
The arrow should have pierced the Bount, but another snake leapt up to protect him. It instantly disintegrated on impact, but so did the arrow.
Wasting no time, Ichigo almost punched his soul out of his back. He caught his now inanimate body and Flash Stepped up to the nearest building. The same one Ishida had disappeared to.
Uryuu spared a fraction of his attention on Ichigo as he appeared, but his sight soon focused back on the place below them. Ichigo could see why. The entire street was filled with snakes.
"Wha- Where did they come from?" Ichigo asked, his grip on Zangetsu tightening. He wasn't very fond of snakes.
The Bount below them narrowed his eyes at the sight of Ichigo's shihakusho. His attention quickly shifted between Ichigo and Uryuu. His lips turned downwards in a snarl. "So the Shinigami sends their dog to help the last Quincy. How fitting. The genocidal bastards responsible for both our races fall stands right beside you. Why won't you help me take him down, Quincy? I promise we will reward you handsomely if you agree."
Ishida hummed, almost as if he was considering the suggestion. Ichigo's eyebrow twitched in irritation. "As tempting as that offer is, I would have to decline. As you said, as a hypocritical Quincy, I am more inclined to act on my sense of disgusting chivalry than any monetary reward."
Utagawa said nothing in return, but the snakes hissed as they scaled the building, coming at them in massive numbers. In response, Ishida fired hundreds of arrows into the air, letting the projectiles rain down on the area with wild abandon. It wasn't completely random though. The middle of the roof where Ichigo and Ishida were standing went untouched. The rest of the building became more and more similar to a glowing blue pincushion.
After witnessing the carnage, Ichigo decided Uryuu had the situation well in hand. His body would be safer there than anywhere else in the closest vicinity. And so his attention shifted to the Bount below them. The middle aged man, (or at least the middle aged looking man) had one of the snakes twisted around his arm. This one constantly wiggled back and forth, it's eyes glowing blue. Ichigo was about to engage when even more snakes began rising out of the ground.
Now that he looked, he could see where the reptiles were coming from. They were constantly forming from the geometry around them. Pipes, sticks, long pieces of concrete, and even the cracks in the concrete created from the snakes themselves and Uryuu's arrows. How was that even possible? The cracks weren't even a thing, they were just a lack of a thing! The increasing number of snakes forming closer and closer forced Ishida to constrict the circle of safety around them, thereby opening more cracks for the snakes to spawn from.
Having realized this, Ishida quickly looked over at Ichigo, he nodded once and bent down to pick up his friend's unresponsive physical body.
Ichigo nodded back, and disappeared at the same time Ishida did.
Uryuu appeared on another rooftop, crashing into the building with all the grace of a drunkard at a ballet performance. He was panting hard as he tried to get up, hefting Ichigo's physical body over his back.
At the same time, Ichigo raced towards Utagawa. The Bount didn't react as Ichigo appeared behind him, holding Zangetsu against his neck. "You're coming with us." The teen ordered, trying to sound appropriately dramatic, and not as completely out of breath as he was.
Utagawa turned around and smiled.
Ichigo tensed the moment he saw that smile. That was not a human smile.
A moment later, Utagawa had thrown himself at Ichigo, extending his hands impossibly far as he grabbed for the substitute Shinigami's neck. Ichigo swung on pure instinct. Watching in horrible fascination as the Bount's separated arm hit the ground between them. Despite the debilitating injury, Utagawa didn't cry out. In fact, he didn't react much at all. As Ichigo looked back at their opponent, he could see why. The 'man' was no man at all. Only a collection of snakes having bonded together and somehow creating the illusion of a man. The swarm of reptiles snapped towards him. Ichigo yelped as the hours of Shunpo practice sent him safely out of harm's way.
Ichigo scanned his surroundings for any hints of their foe, he couldn't see anything but the army of reptiles dominating the street. But as he watched, those too disappeared. Some slithered away into the shadowy alleyways, some went down into the sewer. But most simply reverted to their original form. Leaving steel pipes and wooden sticks in places they had no business being.
The substitute Shinigami relaxed as he realized the man was truly gone. Somehow he had escaped during the first moments of confusion. Or… maybe he'd never really been here to begin with? Just because he hadn't seen the snake clone talk didn't mean it couldn't.
As Utagawa ran, he couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched. Turning his head towards every street and alley, he made sure that neither the Shinigami or the Quincy were following him. And sure enough, there were no sign of them. And how could they? Utagawa's reiatsu signature was practically nonexistent at this point. Unless they had some sort of tracker on him, it would be impossible for them to find him again. And he was sure they hadn't tagged him with anything during the short skirmish. Just to be sure, he fed Fried the tiniest amount of energy she needed for activation. "Check for any potential markers would you, my dear?" He whispered to the doll.
"Will do, Ryo." Fried voice echoed in his mind.
Utagawa stopped beside an abandoned bus stop. The most private place he had passed in a while. Fried slithered around his body, tongue flickering out to taste the air. This went on for over a minute, and despite no alarm being raised, Utagawa felt even more nervous. He would have been more relaxed if Fried had found something. At least that would have validated his feelings, but now?
Utagawa gnashed his teeth. Kariya had given him strict instructions of what to do in case of a failed retrieval. As much as he loathed to listen to that arrogant asshole, he wasn't in a position to disobey. Not yet.
A clone of Naruto looked up from his mountain of paperwork. Running a training center by yourself was no easy job. Having hundreds of copies of yourself helped with volume, but the work didn't become any easier because of it. Ultimately, he still had to do everything. That's why he eagerly awaited any sort of distraction from his daily routine.
Sure enough, the footsteps in the corridor stopped outside the door. There were a few seconds of hesitant silence before the visitor decided to knock. Naruto smiled to himself, he had been waiting for this meeting for a while now. "Come in." He called. His smile got even wider as Arisawa Tatsuki opened the door. It was always interesting to see how 'normal' people first reacted to the supernatural world.
Tatsuki squared her shoulders as she heard the cheerful voice on the other side invite her in. This was it. No point in waiting any longer. Today was the day she would get her answers. One way or another.
"Ah, Tatsuki-chan. What can I help you with?" Uzumaki Naruto asked as she stepped into his office. Tatsuki frowned at the suffix, but tried to not let it distract her.
Looking around the room, the karate champion was struck by how spartan it looked. There was only a single window at her left side, and the only other ornaments were an abstract painting on the other side, and a desk with the minimum amounts of appliances.
Focusing on the person in front of her, Tatsuki tried to make up her first impression. It was strange. She had seen the guy around the gym from time to time, and even on a couple of advertisement posters around the city, but this was their first real meeting face to face. He was… shorter than she imagined. Sure, he was taller than her, but he was still a fully grown adult whilst she was not. He only looked a few centimeters taller than her. Although he was sitting down, so it was hard to tell.
Taking a deep breath Tatsuki looked the man dead in the eye. "I want to know what's going on."
"And why did you come to me with this?" The gym manager asked patiently.
Tatsuki opened her mouth. Then closed it again. This wasn't how she imagined the conversation to go. "Eh… Well. I kind of… Who else should I be asking?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow at her. "Your best friend, Orihime. She might be a good start. Ichigo would also be a good choice, although both Uryuu and Sado could answer your question."
Tatsuki's eyes widened. She had suspected, but… Having her suspicions confirmed felt surprisingly good. "I've tried. Orihime won't tell me a thing."
"But you still haven't forced her hand have you? If you'd ask her more directly, she might have had to give you an answer." Naruto said.
Tatsuki fist turned white in her clenched grip. "Of course I haven't! I don't want to push her like that."
"But despite that, you go behind her back, coming to me for answers?"
Tatsuki's breath hitched.
"Have you considered that there might be a reason that your friends doesn't want you to know?" Naruto's voice had taken on a warning tilt to it, and the previously normal office gained an ominous atmosphere.
The teenage girl swallowed. Then her eyes hardened. She refused to look away.
"I don't know why they are hiding things, but I need to know. I have a feeling they are putting themselves in danger. And if that's so, then I can't let them continue without even knowing what they're doing." She explained, fighting down shivers.
"Their choices are not your responsibility, you know." Naruto said.
Tatsuki frowned. This was getting nowhere. "Are you going to tell me or not?"
Naruto sighed before pushing his chair away. Standing up, the blond passed around the desk before reaching the door on the other side of the room. He turned around with one hand on the handle. "Personally, I believe you have a right to know, but so do many others. Having the right to a thing does not mean that thing is good for you. If you follow me, I will explain any questions you have to the best of my ability. If not, then I'll pretend this conversation never happened."
He let the last word hang in the air for a few seconds before disappearing through the doorway.
Tatsuki hesitated only a moment before she followed.
Jin Kariya lounged back in his velvet chair as he surveyed his guests. There were about thirty Bounts gathered around this table. Probably the largest gathering of their kind since the war against the Quincy several centuries ago. There were a few he hadn't managed to contact, and about half a dozen that had denied his summons. But other than that, this was all that was left of their race. Their once mighty people had been reduced to one dinner table worth of individuals.
A soft beeping sound could be heard from his right, and Kariya turned to Ugaki with a raised eyebrow. Leaving your phone on during dinner was bad manners.
The nicely clothed Bount didn't react to Kariya's unspoken reprimand, simply reading the message anyways. He soon looked up at his leader with a simple message. "The retrieval was a failure. Utagawa came in contact with the local group."
Jin sighed. Oh well, they weren't quite out of options yet.
Getting to his feet, the conversations around the room ended as everyone looked towards him. Kariya smiled at them, projecting an air of confidence. "It seems our victory will be a little more difficult to gain than we thought."
A couple of chuckles came from further down the table. Kariya smiled back at them, the gesture more genuine than before.
"We need to step up our game if we wish to succeed in this. Cain. You will take Mabashi and Leia to go after the target tomorrow. This mission is of utmost importance. Understood?"
The youngest amongst them smiled and nodded. It was a smile full of teeth. The other two shuffled uncomfortably, but didn't protest. Kariya made a mental note to talk with them later. This mission was crucial. There could be no hesitation on their part.
Shifting his focus, Kariya managed to locate the twins. They were seated almost at the end of the table. Their youthful appearance being a rare sight among their people, they had attracted a fair bit of attention at this gathering, and that wasn't even mentioning their fraternal status. "Ho, Ban. You go assist Utagawa tomorrow. Clear?"
"Clear-" "-as glass boss!" The two echoed back at him.
Inwardly Kariya sighed. Sometimes he missed the orderly no-nonsense attitude from the military.
"As for the rest of you, the time to move is drawing closer. Enjoy the rest of your meal. I have some things to take care of."
With that, he left the room.
Ichigo scowled. His father was once again overreacting to something or another, waving animatedly with his hands even though he was talking through the phone. Nothing unusual about that.
"How old are you again?" Ichigo asked the second Isshin finished his conversation.
Goat-face pouted at him. "That's not fair Ichigo! Your father is in the prime of his youth!"
"You're 42." Ichigo deadpanned. Then he reconsidered. This was as good an opening as any. Yuzu and Karin were visiting a friend of theirs, and he and Goat-face were alone for the moment. If he didn't take this chance, he might as well forget about the whole thing.
"Or are you really?" The teen asked again, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
Isshin stopped 'crying', looking at him with bafflement. "What do you mean, Ichigo? Don't you know the age of your own father?" He asked playfully.
"I don't think I do." Ichigo answered. Clenching his Shinigami badge in his pocket. "After all, Shinigami age differently than humans. Don't they dad?"
The man froze.
"I- What are you-" The elder began.
"Don't lie to me." Ichigo said. His voice was quiet, barely audible.
Isshin shut up.
After over a minute of complete silence, Isshin sighed, ruffling his hair in resignation. "How long have you known?"
"Since the day you went out to kill a Hollow. I felt your reiatsu." The teen answered.
"When did you get so good at reading reiatsu signatures? I thought your own energy disrupted your reikaku?" Isshin asked.
"Don't change the subject."
Isshin sighed again. "Yes, I am a Shinigami. Or I was, once." His normal bravado was nowhere to be found.
"Why did you hide it?" Ichigo asked, frowning down at his fists. They were white from clenching them too hard. "Why did you never say anything?"
His father didn't answer at first, only looking distractedly up at the roof above them. Isshin took a deep breath. A drop of sweat ran down his brow. He looked over at the watch on the wall before focusing back at Ichigo. "I'm supposed to get the girls in half an hour. I'll use the remaining time to tell you everything you want to know. You deserve that much."
Ichigo nodded, waiting for his father to continue.
"I- I was born 416 years ago as Shiba Isshin, belonging to a branch of the Shiba family in Soul Society."
Ichigo held up a hand. "Wait, the Shiba family? Shiba? As in Shiba Kukaku and Ganju? That Shiba?" He asked incredulously.
Isshin blinked. Then he laughed. "So you met Kukaku and Ganju, did you? Yes. They're your cousins. Third cousins actually. You have the same great grandparents."
Ichigo stared disbelievingly at his father. He had to be kidding, he couldn't be related to Ganju! He refused to believe it!
Then Isshin's words caught up to him. 416. His father was over 400 years old! It wasn't that he hadn't suspected, but… Ichigo pressed both hands to his eyelids, trying in vain to stave off a headache. He could ask more about the family later, first he wanted to hear the rest of the story.
"You ok?" His old, old, OLD man asked him.
Taking a steady deep breath, Ichigo nodded. "Yes. Just… It's a bit hard to digest. Continue."
Isshin frowned, but he didn't bring it up again.
"Right, I was born to the Shiba clan, where I grew up as the next in line to one of the largest branch families. Which I eventually succeeded in my second century." Isshin explained.
Ichigo, frowned. Branch families? As far as he could tell, there was only two people in the Shiba family right now, plus two retainers. So there were a lot more of them in the past? He wondered what had happened.
"I became a Shinigami before that though. I was a lieutenant for most of the time before I was promoted to captain... sometime around 90 years ago, I think." Isshin looked up to his son, gauging his reaction.
Ichigo looked back. He didn't seem overly surprised. Isshin pouted in disappointment. "Come on! Can't you be at least a little surprised? Your father was a captain!"
Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "It is bit surprising, but I told you I felt your reiatsu, didn't I? It wasn't exactly hard to guess."
Isshin sulked a bit more. He was honestly impressed. He hadn't thought Ichigo's sensing capabilities were anything special. By most accounts, it shouldn't have been. The more spiritual energy you emitted, the harder it was to sense others.
"Anyways, That was how I lived for most of my life. Until about 20 years ago, that is."
"And what happened then?" Ichigo asked when Isshin had been silent a bit too long for his liking.
His father beamed back at him. "I met your mother, of course!" He was practically sparkling. "It was love at first sight! I was on a mission to the living world, and once I saw her, I couldn't think of anything but her!" Isshin tossed himself over to Masaki's shrine and the giant portrait of her that hung in the living room.
"So… that was that? You just abandoned all your duties and fled to the living world to be with mom?" Ichigo asked incredulously. Sure, Isshin could be irresponsible at times, but not that irresponsible.
"Well, almost. It was a bit more complicated than that." He admitted.
"Complicated? How so?"
"Your mother… she's… she was... well…" Isshin trailed off, looking over at the portrait of his late wife again.
"She's what? Spit it out old man." Ichigo demanded. He didn't appreciate Isshin dragging this out.
"Masakiwasaquincy." He said it almost too fast to comprehend, but it wasn't a very complicated sentence. Ichigo had heard him well. Or at least he thought he had. It was just…
"What?" The teen deadpanned.
Isshin took a deep breath. "Your mother was a Quincy, Ichigo."
Ichigo opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His mind was blank for a few seconds, at a loss for what to think.
"A Quincy? My mother was a Quincy!?"
Isshin nodded. "I met her on a mission to the living world. I was investigating the disappearance of a few subordinates my mine. That is a story for another time, but in summary, it was a particularly strange and powerful Hollow. Your mother saved me during the fight but got wounded in the process."
Ichigo blinked quickly. He was still trying to process the information he had just been given.
"It turned out Masaki had been poisoned by the Hollow's reiatsu, and to stop her soul from self-destructing, it had to be stabilized. Mainly through the use of a Shinigami's spiritual energy. Urahara set up the procedure, and we bound my power to Masaki." Isshin nodded to himself as he finished the explanation. That sounded about right, not too complicated while taking the most important things into account. At least all those sleepless hours thinking about this conversation had done some good.
Wait, Kisuke knew? 'Well, duh… of course he knew.' A voice in the back of Ichigo's mind answered him. It wasn't either of his inner spirits though. That was purely his own brain scolding him for thinking anything else. What else hadn't the mysterious scientist told him? "And then?" Ichigo asked, almost afraid to ask.
Isshin shrugged. "Masaki finished her education. The process of binding our souls together required that we couldn't be too far apart, so I set up this clinic. 400 years of education as a Shinigami helped a lot, although human medicine had advanced much since I last heard anything about it." The bearded man looked over at the clock again. He still had ten minutes. "As I constantly had to keep close to Masaki, it wasn't all that strange that we got to know each other better. And well… you know how she is."
Ichigo nodded. Yes. A personality as radiant as the sun. It wasn't that strange that he had fallen for her.
Isshin smiled again. A relaxed and serene smile. It was rare to see such an expression on his usually boisterous father. "For some reason, she seemed to like me too, and so we became married. You were born, and the twins not too soon after that. The rest you should know yourself."
Ichigo nodded. "So mom knew then? She knew you was a Shinigami."
Isshin looked surprised. "Of course. She knew me better than anyone."
Ichigo nodded. That was good. His beating of a lifetime could be toned down a notch or two. Still, his father was 400 years old! That… Ichigo shuddered. No. Best not to think about it. He was going to listen to the rest of the story, then kick his ass. Then do his utmost to forget it.
"So… why didn't you tell us? I told you I could see ghosts didn't I? Both you and mom knew. Karin can as well, Yuzu is the only one amongst us that can't. Why didn't you tell us?" Ichigo scowled down at his lap. There were those clenched hands again. He purposely loosened them, wincing a bit at the small pops his bones gave off.
Isshin looked uncomfortable. "We were going to tell you. Sometime when you were older. We thought it best to tell all three of you at once. Decided it was best to wait until Karin and Yuzu were old enough." At seeing Ichigo's sceptical face, Isshin sighed.
"This isn't a particularly comfortable world. Hollows, Shinigami, the land of the dead. We knew that if Soul Society ever discovered your existence, you would be in trouble. Mortals generally aren't allowed to know about the afterlife. It would have been too heavy a burden to put on children. Also, we couldn't risk any of you telling all your friends." Isshin shrugged. "You know how children are."
Ichigo's scowl got even more pronounced. "Still…"
"Why didn't you tell us then, Ichigo?" Isshin countered.
Ichigo blinked.
"The day you met Rukia. The day you became a substitute Shinigami. Why didn't you tell us? Was it only because Rukia told you not to, or did you have your own reasons?" The ex-captain's stare was piercing. Nothing like the goofy klutz Ichigo had known all his life.
"I… I wanted to protect you." Ichigo answered. "I didn't want…"
Isshin raised an eyebrow.
Ichigo sighed. "Fine. I get it." And he really did. His parents had wanted to shield them. And it worked too, until Rukia came phasing through his wall and a Hollow attacked their home.
"So what about the day when mom died?" Ichigo asked, his eyes bored into his father. The man may have been a four hundred year old spirit warrior, but Ichigo had a bit of experience under his belt as well. He was confident his stare was one of the best.
Isshin's body slumped, and for a moment Ichigo regretted asking. But when his father looked up, there was no sign of his previous hurt.
"The day your mother died. Yes. That is the day I regret the most in my life."
Ichigo stayed silent. So he knew about that as well then? He wasn't surprised. That was the one question that had kept him up for most of yesterday. If Isshin was a Shinigami at the level of a captain, how could Grand Fisher have killed his mom? Now, after having heard the story, he was quite certain he knew how.
"As I told you, My powers were used to seal away the corrupted part of Masaki's soul. It is only in the last couple of months that I have begun to regain them. Six years ago, I truly couldn't see ghosts, much less sense spiritual pressures kilometers away. I couldn't have fought Grand Fisher even if I had been there, but even so… even so…" Isshin looked down at the floor, and Ichigo was surprised to see a tear fall from his father's eye. It wasn't exactly rare for Isshin to cry. Hell, he cried every time he heard 'my heart will go on' on the radio, but this seemed a lot sadder somehow. "I wish I could have been there. Even if I couldn't have done anything. I wished I at least had had the chance to try and save her, or die trying. It might be selfish of me, but that is how I feel."
"But even if I had known it was happening, it is doubtful I would have gone to help. The truth is that, even if I had known, I wouldn't have thought she needed help."
Ichigo blinked. What?
"Masaki was Quincy. A powerful one. Her skills should have been more than enough for an enemy like Grand Fisher."
The teens eyes widened. "Then… I… I truly did kill her."
Isshin looked up quickly, an alarmed expression on his face. "What?"
"I… She jumped in front of me. Shielding me from the Hollow. That's about all I can remember, but if she truly was an experienced Quincy… then without me…"
"NO!" Isshin shook his head violently.
Ichigo focused on a spot to the side of the giant portrait, trying his hardest to ignore the stinging in his eyes.
"No! You weren't responsible Ichigo. Masaki would never blame you, and neither do I. You weren't-"
"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!" Ichigo exploded, smashing his fist into the table so hard the wood cracked. "I know none of you blame me! I'm not an idiot! If you did, how could you stand to have me under the same roof!? And I knew mom well enough to guess at what she would say. Even if I didn't know her as well as I thought, I know this at least. But if I hadn't been there, then mom…"
"No Ichigo. It wouldn't have made a difference. Masaki should have been more than strong enough to to defeat Grand Fisher and protect you at the same time. Her Blut Vene was stronger than anything I have ever seen. The monster shouldn't even have been able to scratch her. But it did, and that is not your fault!" The man seemed almost desperate to get his point across.
Ichigo blinked. He brought a hand up to his eyes, only now noticing he had been crying. Damn. He scrubbed the tears away, blushing slightly for the misstep and looked away. He had been blaming himself for six years. He had stopped crying after the first one. In fact, that was the last time he had cried for anything. Until now.
"Blut Vene?" He asked instead. Trying to focus on his father's words.
"A defensive technique used by the Quincy. It fills their blood vessels with reiatsu and hardens their skin. Masaki was a master. Even if she had to take a hit for you, she shouldn't have been wounded."
Ichigo held his breath.
"At the same time that Masaki was killed, Uryuu's mother fell into a coma. She died three months later." Isshin said.
"What?" Ichigo looked up. Uryuu's mother? What did she have to do with all of this?
"Ah, that's true. You don't know, Ryuuken and your mother were distant cousins, so you and the Ishida boy are too." Ishin explained. He looked over at the clock. He should have been on his way five minutes ago. He focused back at Ichigo.
"And that means… what... exactly?" Ichigo asked, frowning as his worldview adjusted itself ever-so-slightly.
"There is an old song from the Quincy tradition. It's about their ancient king, their progenitor. He's said to have been sealed away for a thousand years." Isshin began. "It says that the sealed king would regain his pulse after 900 years of imprisonment. After 90 more he would regain his intelligence, and 9 years after that, he would regain his powers."
Ichigo lifted one eyebrow. "And what does this have to do with the incident 6 years ago."
Isshin sighed. "It's the way he is said to regain those powers. 'By absorbing the strength of all those he considers unworthy.'"
Ichigo's eyes widened as he understood the implications. "And… and this song is real? You mean this is what happened to mom? The king stole her powers at the worst possible time and she was killed by a Hollow?"
Isshin looked down at the table and nodded.
A shallow laugh escaped the teen. "Heh. I appreciate the effort, but doesn't that sound too implausible? An old song from an extinct people tells of a prophecy about a guy you don't even know exists?"
Isshin furrowed his brow as he looked up at his son. "We know he exists. Yhwach exists. The Captain Commander fought him one thousand years ago. This is quite well known amongst students and scholars in Soul Society. Most believe he died that day, but well, you know."
Shaking his head in denial, Ichigo looked up at his father. "That doesn't prove anything. The fact that he happened to take her powers at that exact moment is too unlikely. Too bizarre."
Isshin shrugged. "The world is unlikely. But you don't have to take my word for it. As I said, the same thing happened to Uryuu's mother at the same time. Although there were no Hollows in the vicinity. She fell into a coma and never woke up. This is more than just a folk story Ichigo."
"So what!? I'm just going to believe some ancient monarch from a fairytale killed my mother? What the hell does that even mean!" The teen shouted.
"It means you weren't responsible for her death." Isshin said calmly. His eyes focusing solely on his son.
Ichigo coughed, trying to hide the convulsions his body were going through.
Standing up slowly, Isshin's hand hovered uncertainly above his son's shaking shoulders.
"I'll go get the girls. I think we'll take a detour by the supermarket." The elder eventually said. He patted his son awkwardly on the back before leaving through the front door.
Inside Ichigo's inner world, the rain fell without end.
"What do you want to know?" Naruto asked her, sipping at the tea a redheaded woman had gotten them.
Tatsuki looked around the room as she mulled over her questions. It was certainly a lot more cozy and homely than she had expected. In fact, she was pretty sure this was the residential part of the building, which meant this was probably Naruto's house. So did that mean…? "Was that your wife?" She asked, looking over at the door the redhead had just closed.
Naruto spluttered. "Wha- No! No… That's my mother. Uzumaki Kushina. I can introduce you later." He looked awkwardly to the side as Tatsuki tried her best not to burn up from sheer embarrassment. God… Why did she ask that?
As the silence stretched on, the raven haired girl took a deep breath. "Right… So, tell me. Does magic exist?"
"That depends on what you want to call magic."
Tatsuki frowned in irritation. She thought he agreed to tell her everything. "You know. Turning invisible, fly, shoot fire from your hands. That sort of thing." She had to fight back another blush from these questions. They just sounded so stupid to her own ears.
Naruto didn't laugh though. In fact, he seemed to give the question far more weight than it deserved. "Still. What do you mean by that? Invisibility technology has existed for years, although the really good stuff only works on microscopic scales. Humans have been able to fly since the first air balloons and the wright brother's invention of the airplane. Flamethrowers exists." Naruto wobbled his hand uncertainly. "All of that would seem like magic to almost everyone 400 years ago."
"You know what I mean." She snapped, throwing her hands up in frustration. "Do all of that without tools to help you."
The blond sighed. He crossed his legs in a lotus positions, and suddenly he was levitating in the air. "Like this you mean?"
Tatsuki was silent, only staring at the flying man before her. Without saying another word, she nodded.
Falling back into his chair, Naruto leant forward to take another sip of his tea, gesturing for Tatsuki to do the same. She did so, the gesture almost automatic. Just as the warm liquid flowed down her throat she could feel her muscles relax. Her eyes focused better and the world became clearer.
She looked down at her cup and frowned up at Naruto. "What's in this tea?"
Naruto shrugged. "A herbal mixture from my homeland. Made to increase concentration and decrease tension and fatigue."
"You drugged me?" Tatsuki asked incredulously.
Naruto huffed a laugh. "Drugged? As much as coffee is a drug. It's kind of the same thing with 'magic' as you called it. Technology is a way of abusing the laws of the universe to make the world do what you want. There's really no distinctive difference between that and what I do. I just know more, and have access to more techniques and resources than the general population does."
Tatsuki frowned again. "I wouldn't really call them techniques though. I have no idea how to build an airplane."
Naruto smiled. "And most that can summon creatures from distant worlds have no idea how that process works either, yet they still do it."
"What?"
Naruto waved her question away. "We're getting ahead of ourselves. To answer your question. No. Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as magic. There is no such thing as the supernatural, although we often call it that for the benefit of 'normal' humans. Everything in the universe is completely natural. There is nothing but natural. It's just that nature is so much stranger than most people ever realize."
Tatsuki sucked in a deep breath. "And how strange is that?"
Naruto's smile came back full force. His eyes were practically dancing with delight. "So you want to know how the universe works, do you? That's not a small question."
"Eh… perhaps just an overview?" She said hesitantly, wondering what she had just gotten into.
"Ok, then. How much do you know about physics?"
Tatsuki blinked. "Eh… A little. I got B in class…"
Naruto hummed thoughtfully. "That's in your first semester of high school, yes?" He waited for confirmation. "Right. So you know about electromagnetism, gravity and the strong and weak nuclear force that govern the world?"
Tatsuki frowned. She hadn't expect to get tested on her academic knowledge at this talk. "Well... The first two I know pretty well, at least gravity. Everyone knows about that one. The other two… I've heard about them I guess?"
Naruto wobbled his hand in a 'good enough' gesture. "Those are the four forces that generally dictate how the world works. There are more that scientists haven't found yet, but these four are the most important ones. These four forces are in charge as long as nothing opposes them."
Tatsuki lifted an eyebrow, encouraging the blond to get on with it.
"Living beings have souls. And these souls can produce energy. This energy can be used to shape the world around you into what you wish to make it. The larger the change, the more energy it requires. At least that's the general trend." Naruto explained.
"How is this not magic?" Tatsuki asked. It sounded very unnatural to her.
"That's because these four 'fundamental' forces aren't as fundamental as most mortals think. They're strong, and have a constant effect on the world around us. Which is why most 'magic', as you call it, prefer to work with them rather than against. It is easier to bend the rules than to break them. Technology and 'magic' do pretty much the same, except the latter have been around longer, and has access to a more fundamental part of the world."
"Then what are the fundamental forces?" She was curious now, despite herself.
Naruto chuckled at her question. "I have seen many distinct laws exerting themselves, but I've only seen a few that I haven't also seen broken. And even if there are some, there are no guarantees they are truly unbreakable."
"So… you don't know?" Tatsuki asked. Huh. That's disappointing. Although it wasn't like she went into this expecting to get answers to all the mysteries of the universe.
Naruto grimaced. "I'm not certain, no. But I don't think it's possible to be completely certain in this. There a couple I'm as certain in as I'm ever going to get."
"And those are?"
"Spacetime. Causality. The Absolute Soul. Non-existing Nothingness." Naruto listed them all on his right hand. "There's a lot to go into here, but unless you want to go through years of education right here and now, we can't really go very in-depth. Essentially, these four are aspects of the universe I have never seen broken. Not once. Although illusions and trickery may make it seem that way."
Tatsuki sighed. This was getting too complicated for her. "Right… So… Magic does, yet does not, exist. Got it. Completely understandable."
Naruto laughed. "Yeah, that's pretty much it. But that's just your first question though, am I wrong?"
The young girl shook her head. "No. I've been suspicious for a while now. It's… It's just the things I've been seeing lately." She studied the blond before her. He didn't seem particularly surprised. "So… What have Orihime and Ichigo been doing?"
Naruto was silent for a while, contemplating his answer. "They've been fighting."
He then began from the beginning, explaining everything that had transpired since Rukia first met Ichigo. He told her about Hollows and Shinigami. He told her about the invasion of Soul Society, and the betrayal of three of its captains. He told her about the 2000 year old military organization and the world of demons hanging around just besides their own.
As he talked, Tatsuki's eyes had gotten wider and wider. This… This was beyond anything she could have imagined. When Naruto eventually finished, the karate champion had to forcefully loosen her fists again. She took another sip of her tea.
She believed him, she realized. She believed everything he'd said. Why? It sounded so completely insane. Perhaps that's why, a part of her suggested. Maybe it was because it sounded insane that she believed him. Why would he lie about this? There was nothing in it for him, and it fit everything she had seen lately. It explained Ichigo in the weird uniform and the giant sword on his back. It explained the horrifying monsters she had only caught glimpses of so far, although their roars gave her nightmares.
"Can you prove any of this?" She eventually asked. It wasn't that she doubted him, but she kind of had to ask. This was just too bizarre not to question.
Naruto nodded. "What do you want me to show you?"
"Can you take me to this Soul Society place? Where the others went. Just so I can see it, I mean."
The blond didn't seem surprised at the question, but he didn't immediately agree. "That would be… difficult at the current time. Living people aren't allowed in the afterlife. Me, Sado, Uryuu and Orihime have been given special exceptions, but I can't just take someone the Shinigami don't know into their world without notifying them first."
Tatsuki frowned. "That makes sense… What about Ichigo?"
Naruto snorted out a half-formed laugh. "He's technically dead. His body is just being possessed by his spirit."
Tatsuki's eyes widened. "Wha-"
"I'll see what I can do though. I'll talk with some friends of mine over there, see if I can't get you cleared. It should be doable within a week or less." Naruto continued, unaware of Tatsuki's reaction.
"Right…" She trailed off. That should be fine. She needed some days to digest this anyways.
"So what about you? Who are you?" She asked. "I mean, you haven't talked much about yourself, only that you were hired to help some guy around here. And I just know those advertisements were directed at me. You wanted me to come here. And this gym is freakishly effective. People over 90 suddenly regaining their youth? Elders walking several kilometers on the treadmill? Everyone has noticed! Isn't this a bit of a problem?"
Naruto laughed. "Me? I'm Uzumaki Naruto. The leader of a secret society of magical ninjas aiding the world from the shadows."
"..." Tatsuki's stare couldn't have been more deadpan. "... Seriously?"
Naruto nodded, lips twitching. "And don't worry about the gym. There are few that find a good training area to be particularly suspicious. Other than paranoid teenagers being on the lookout for hidden magical societies. And even if they do, research will only reveal high quality equipment and good air quality."
Tatsuki quietly mulled over this new information. Drinking the rest of her tea in one large gulp. The liquid was cold enough that it wasn't all that uncomfortable, and she needed the calm.
"So… what now?" She asked eventually. Looking up at the self-proclaimed secret ninja master.
Deep blue eyes twinkled in amusement as Naruto leant forward, a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Now you have three main choices, and what you choose will affect the rest of your life forever."
Butterflies began dancing in Tatsuki's stomach. She didn't doubt that he spoke the truth now as well. "And those are…?"
Holding up one finger, the blond looked her right in the eyes. "You go back to your old life. Continue living as if nothing has happened. I erase your memories of this conversation and any other moment that has seemed out of place in the last months. I seal away your burgeoning spirit energy, so you can't see anything special that other people can't."
Tatsuki swallowed. "You can do that?"
Naruto nodded. "If you choose this, the supernatural world won't bother you. You will continue to be uninteresting and unthreatening. Go through college. Get a job. Live a good life. This is the safest and easiest option."
Holding out a second finger, Naruto continued. "Or I can withhold from messing with your mind or your spiritual energy, and simply let you go back as you are, for you to act on this information as you see fit."
Tatsuki relaxed. She felt much better with that as an opti- "However!" Naruto interrupted. "This the most dangerous path. Knowing what you know now, and with your growing energy, you will be a prime target for Hollows and other malevolent beings. Those in-the-know also have much less protection in international treaties. They have some, but much less than the general public. Of course, Hollows don't care much about those anyway, but most sapients do, if only for fear of the repercussions. This option is very dangerous for you."
Raising the third finger, Naruto smiled. "The final option is that I train you. I'll give you the ability to protect yourself and others in case of an attack. At least to such a degree that you can hold on until help arrives. Depending on your talent and dedication… well… who knows where you'll go. The Shinobi Corps are always scouting for new talent."
Minato sucked in deep breath the moment he saw the moon. It was beautiful. The sky was almost completely dark, with only a few clouds scattered across it. Few stars were noticeable, so the white crescent was especially dominating in it's uniqueness.
"It's not that bad here." He mused quietly to Itachi. The Uchiha didn't respond verbally, but he did look up at the heavens. Without any further reaction, he soon continued forward. Minato smiled as he followed. He didn't stop admiring the moon though.
Looking over his companions, he felt a glow of pride for Lilynette. She had taken charge the moment Ashido had shown them the way. Since then, she had insisted on leading them. Even taking care of a few lesser Hollows that attacked them. She really didn't like being ignored.
"Right. Good job bringing us here. Now which way to the palace?" Minato asked. Trying to get a better feel for the place, he let his chakra seep through the sand.
Ashido didn't answer at first, only looking up at the sky with an indescribable expression. Finally he pointed east, not saying a word. Minato rolled his eyes. Great. He was surrounded by mutes.
The blond shrugged, and quickly followed Lilynette's lead like the rest of them. Thankfully she did choose a reasonable pace. This would be a long trek, and they wanted to stay moving for as long as possible. None of them really needed much rest, but they had taken a break a few hours ago nonetheless. This was supposed to be the last leg of their journey, even if they had to run for the next few weeks.
The dessert was absolutely massive. It stretched from horizon to horizon without end. Much like the mineral forest below them. It was a world of uniform monotone.
They ran for hours, keeping a fast but steady pace. From time to time Minato felt some beings at the edge of his sensory bubble, but the desert was so sparsely populated that it didn't happen often. He guessed it was simply too unsafe for most Hollows to stay on the surface. There was little cover, and few ways of escape. Here you had little choice but meet force with force were you to be attacked.
Minato channeled some chakra to his eyes so he could get a better look at a small mountain in the distance. No, mountain was overselling it. A large boulder perhaps. Even so, that had been the first thing besides the sand and the tops of mineral trees he had seen since ascending to the surface.
Suddenly, Minato picked up four signatures moving towards them. Or rather, moving towards a point along their future path. He looked over at the others to make sure they noticed it. Lilynette was the last to be made aware, and by then, they had slowed to a fraction of their previous speed.
"Are they here yet?" The little Arrancar asked tensely, stretching to see over the closest sand dune. Minato readily accepted the calm that always settled over him before combat. He wasn't sure what would meet them, but whatever it was, he was ready.
A few seconds later, the sand dune to their right exploded in a shower of sand. Their group tensed for an attack. Strangely, none came. Instead, they saw a young girl running through the dust cloud, screaming and crying for all she was worth as her tiny legs pushed off the unstable land.
A second later, three Hollows came chasing after her. Without wasting another instant to contemplate this bizarre sight, Minato appeared between the girl and her pursuers. Holding out a hand, the ex-Hokage sent a silent command to the wind.
A wall of pressure sent the three Hollows crashing backwards. The massive worm-like creature naturally flew the shortest and recovered first. It shook itself and towered above Minato, letting out a cry of protest that sounded more like a bizarre laugh than a roar. Minato let a tri-pronged kunai fall into his hand.
"No!" A voice called out behind him. The protest had come from the little girl. She had thrown herself at Minato. Now she clung to his leg. "No! Don't hurt Bawabawa!" The girl cried, tears overflowing from her eyes.
Minato blinked down at her, now noticing the broken mask fragment on her skull for the first time. It had been hidden by her hoodie before, but now it was as clear as day. She was an Arrancar. The blond frowned. Even if she looked like an Arrancar, her energy was completely different from anything he had ever felt. Stark and Lilynette were quite unique themselves, but this girl's signature was simply unrecognizable.
He noted that the worm before him didn't actually seem all that aggressive. In fact, the emotion he sensed was distress and worry. Worry for the girl, he realized.
"Ah… Sorry about that. I thought you were in danger." Minato soothed, squatting down as he lifted the green-haired Arrancar up to his level. The girl had massive tear streaks down her face and a runny nose, but she seemed to be unhurt.
The girl sniffled, a giant glob of snot falling out of her nose. Minato carefully held her at arm's reach, making sure none of it touched him.
"Nel! Are you ok?" The two Hollows came running back to them. It was the smaller of the two that had spoken. Probably because the largest one was too busy crying his (rather bizarre looking) eyes out.
"Uwaaa! Nel! You-" The largest one began.
"Enough." Itachi said, voice cold as ice.
All three shut up.
"We know you wanted to meet us. Who are you? Why are you here?" His Sharingan was active, and he was scanning each member of the small troupe with intense scrutiny.
The Hollows shivered.
"That- That's some freaky eyes you have there mister." 'Nel' said. The little girl somehow seemed the least affected by the pressure Itachi was emitting.
The ancient Uchiha shifted his focus to her, and Minato frowned. "Take it easy Itachi. They haven't done anything to us yet. There's no reason to be so hostile."
The three Hollows relaxed as Itachi backed off, but they remained wary. The Uchiha hadn't moved, and he didn't seem much less threatening now than before.
The girl sniffled again, and ran over to her friends, eyeing their group carefully.
Minato smiled reassuringly at them. "I'm sorry about my friend. He can be a bit intense at times. But do you mind answering his questions? This really isn't the place you usually run into new people." Unless you counted hostile Hollows, but they were never really interested in talking.
"W-we're desert bandits!" The little girl shouted proudly. Minato blinked.
"My name is Nel Tu. Call me Nel! These are my brothers, Pesche and Dondochakka." Nel said, pointing to the two Hollows behind her. "And that's our pet, Bawabawa." She stated proudly, pointing to the giant worm behind them. Minato's eyebrow crept farther and farther upwards the more she talked.
A chuckle escaped him. Well, if that was how they wanted to introduce themselves, that was fine by him.
Nel frowned up at him, her lip jutting out in an unbelievably cute frown. "But who are you mister? You don't look like a Hollow."
Minato's lips twitched, the horrible attempt at misdirection was kind of funny. Either way, he couldn't feel any hostile intent from either of them, only nervousness and a vague anticipation. "My name is Minato, and I'm not a Hollow. I'm a human."
Nel froze. Staring wide eyed at him as she looked from one person to the next. Her focus quickly shifted to Lilynette. And once she saw her, a delighted look came over the tiny girl. "What about her! She's an Arrancar, right!? I can see the mask. She's totally an Arrancar! That means you have to be too!"
Minato opened his mouth to answer, but before he got the chance, Lilynette had stamped on his foot and quickly taken his place in front of Nel. She leaned in towards the younger girl with narrowed eyes, causing Nel to bend backwards to accommodate for the missing personal space. She began looking more and more nervous as the seconds passed by.
The green-clad Arrancar began emitting a strange whining noise from the back of her throat. Lilynette paid it little mind as her eyes roved over every part of the smaller girl. When she was finished, she scanned the two brothers and their pet, but quickly dismissed them, focusing back on Nel.
"You should be dead." Lilynette stated matter-of-factly.
"Wha-?" Nel stuttered. Tears beginning to form in the crevices of her eyes.
"Your mask. That injury should have killed you. Even if you somehow managed to survive the initial blow, an injury like that is fatal."
The green-clad toddler cradled her mask protectively as she took a step back, eyeing Lilynette suspiciously. "Nel has always been this way. I don't know what you're talking about."
"That's right! We found her that way. Nel is perfectly fine!" Pesche called out, striking an accusatory pose with finger pointing squarely at the foreign Arrancar.
Lilynette opened her mouth to argue, but Stark stopped her with a pat on the head. He shook his head when she looked up at him, causing her to pout petulantly.
"I'm sorry for my partner's rudeness. I'm sure it's perfectly fine. My name is Coyote Stark, this Lilynette Gingerbuck. We are both Hollows, and Arrancar. But don't let that scare you. We won't attack."
Nel blinked up at him, then she broke into a wide smile. "OSU!" Came the response.
Further introductions and conversations later, the two groups had somewhat adjusted themselves to the newcomers. A major freakout occurred as the 'Bandit brothers' realized Ashido was a real Shinigami. And yes, that was what they insisted to be called, despite the fact that Nel was clearly female. Ashido did nothing to assuage their fears though, so Minato had to talk them down from attacking the 'bad guy'. The meeting dragged on, and Minato decided to put a stop to it.
"Look guys. Despite how strange and nice this meeting has been, we really need to get going. We have a mission, and we can't afford to stay here and talk." The blond explained patiently.
Nel's eyes widened in a now familiar gesture, eyes beginning to water. "B-but what about eternal tag?"
"Eh… what?" Minato frowned.
"You have to play eternal tag with us! Come on Lily! It will be fun." She shouted excitedly, waving her arms with enthusiasm. Lilynette lifted an eyebrow, looking at Minato with something approaching hopefulness.
The squad captain suppressed a sigh. Perhaps it wasn't that strange, Lilynette had never really had friends at her age. Or rather, 'functional' age. And despite how young Nel seemed, she was intelligent enough. They were even of the same species. The potential was undeniable. Unfortunately they didn't have that kind of time.
"Do you like it here in Hueco Mundo?" He asked, looking pointedly at the barren desert around them.
Nel frowned, imitating the blond's gesture. She shrugged. "Eh… It's ok. Eternal tag is fun." She beamed.
Minato nodded understandably. Then he squatted down to eye level with the small Arrancar. "Do you want to come with us?"
Nel's eyes widened again. This time to ridiculous proportions, they looked like plates stuck in her head. "Come with you?"
Minato nodded again. "Yeah. To the living world. Visit other places, play other games. Meet other people. Do you think you'd want that?"
The world seemed to freeze as he said it. Tears began falling from Nel's eyes, but Minato tactfully ignored them.
Nel wiped away another drop of snot and began bobbing her head up and down so fast Minato was afraid it might fall off.
"That's decided then." Minato declared, clapping the small girl on the shoulder in a friendly gesture, subtly trying to stop the desperate head bobbing. A microscopic hiraishin seal snaked its way through the hardy fabric of her rags. One final look over at the flabbergasted Hollow brothers, Minato beamed at them.
Before anyone could protest too much, Minato stood up. "We'll be going quite fast, so I hope you can keep up. Lilynette can carry Nel." The older girl squawked in surprise. The two other sapient Hollows behind Nel looked warily at each other, but no one protested. Not that they had the time to protest. As soon as he finished speaking, Minato set off, forcing the others to begin running or be left behind.
Dawn was creeping across the planet, slowly engulfing Japan in the sun's eternal light. Eventually, the photons reached the rooftops of Karakura. Lighting up the atmosphere and city around her. Aika couldn't help but admire the beauty of it.
She liked cities, always had. Some were better than others, but population centers like this one had always held a special place in her heart. It was something about the unending ceaseless activity permeating the area.
It was strange. She wasn't particularly fond of individual humans, but she liked the larger collectives that towns and cities represented. She saw them more like distinct entities than thousands of lesser beings, and in that way, they were much more impressive and worthy of her interest.
A city could move mountains and build buildings hundreds of meters high. They could form rivers and remake the landscape. A city could tunnel beneath the ground and create interconnected lines between other cities, thereby increasing their influence and power. A city was a player, however minor, in the global game of power that permeated the world. Perhaps that was why she liked them.
The main reason she didn't care much for individual humans was because they were all so damned helpless. They were the pawns that larger corporations and entities played with. At best, a single human was a resource for someone or something else. Sometimes they were trophies for the greedy to play with. But most of the time, they were simply inconsequential. They were merely a part of the scenery. No more important than an a rock or a tree, and holding about as much influence. Yet despite that, they continued deluding themselves into thinking their life had some sort of value.
Aika shook her head. She was tired of such depressing thoughts. The raven-haired girl took a deep breath and focused on the energies of the city. She blinked as several high level energies lit up in her mind. Apparently this place was some kind of hotspot for the supernatural world. Despite that, it wasn't very difficult to locate her father amidst all the noise. He had quite the distinctive energy signature. It seemed more concentrated than normal, and she could almost feel it sharpening and changing as she observed it.
Aika took a sip of her water bottle. She was of two minds if she should contact him immediately or just observe for a while. This place seemed to have some really interesting characters, and she would only have one chance for an objective reaction before she revealed her identity. Decision made, Aika made off towards a trio of some of the stronger signatures she could feel.
The Primera was silent as he observed the assemblage around him. Gathered in this room were seven Arrancars with various levels of power, and one Shinigami captain. Of course, the Death God was the one in control here, and everyone knew it. This assemblage of natural enemies proved that one law stood above all else. No matter what happened, the strong would always rule.
A knock on the door preceded an announcement from the outside. Gaara looked up as Ulquiorra entered the room, Yammy following on his right.
That made nine of them. Only Barragan was missing, and it wasn't likely he was going to show up either. This wasn't an obligatory meeting, but Aizen had made it clear he wanted them to show up.
"Ah, Ulquiorra. I was just finishing up." Aizen's voice flowed out across the chamber, completely at ease surrounded by the most powerful Hollows in existence.
Ulquiorra bowed lightly. It's was more like a deferential nod than anything, but it still conveyed an acknowledgment of the reprimand. He didn't excuse himself, simply finding a spot at the opposite side of the room from Gaara.
In the center stood Aizen, the dark Hogyoku glimmered lightly in his hand. He was observing the two sealed creatures before him. One human sized, the other about three times larger than anyone in the room with the exception of Yammy. Both were clad in white fabric, covering them from head to toe.
Aizen smiled, trailing his hand across the transparent barrier separating him and the future Arrancar. "The Hogyoku is restless. It is about halfway to awakening, but even during this time, it has magnificent power." Their leader said, letting the gem in question hover between himself and his subjects.
"Even while asleep and sealed away, the Hogyoku can awaken for a short time. Were it to be given sufficient amounts of reiatsu, the gem will take its true form and answer the heart's deepest desires." Aizen looked at them all in turn, making sure they were following his words. "During this period, the limits of power fall away and reality becomes mine to control." Slowly stretching out his hand, Aizen touched the mystic object. As he did so, Gaara could feel the immense amount energy he was feeding it. It wasn't obviously noticeable, as the gem sucked it up so quickly only remnants were left to escape into the room, but those remnants told of an ocean of energy so vast it seemed to eclipse the desert of Hueco Mundo.
As it was hungrily sucking up Aizen's power, the Hogyoku turned completely black. No. Not just black, it seemed to consume the light around it, eating it away to feed the never ending darkness in its heart. A moment later, it burst into light.
The barrier enclosing the two sealed Hollows shattered. Ripping away the white fabric at the same time. Within that fraction of time, the larger Hollow had decreased in size to equal its partner. Or her partner. The newly born Arrancar was clearly a girl. One boy and one girl.
Aizen studied them with a satisfied look in his eyes. "Tell me, young Arrancar… What are your names?"
There were a few seconds of silence and then the male spoke. "Wonderweiss… Margela…" The voice was low and halting, almost uncertain. But mostly it spoke of a significant lack in intelligence. That was expected, of course. These two were the first hyper specialized Arrancar, sacrificing almost everything else in order to fulfill a very specific task.
The girl looked over at Wonderweiss, frowning in what was obviously confusion. She looked back at Aizen. A familiar dead look in her eyes. "Summerfree Marielle." Her voice was more certain, but she still looked confused. Studying the various Hollows surrounding her. Her gaze lingered on Garra, but it soon passed on, seemingly uninterested.
Aizen smiled. "Excellent." He looked back at Ulquiorra. "You know your orders. Bring Marielle and anyone else of your choosing. Await my command to leave, but be ready."
Ulquiorra bowed.
As the assemblage dispersed, Gaara remained standing. He watched the newly formed Arrancar with interest. Their Hollow holes were small compared to their bodies, as was the norm among the espada.
"Something troubling you, Gaara?" Aizen asked smoothly, gliding up beside him.
The redhead stayed silent for a moment, gaining a glimpse of the eternal desert outside one of the towers many slits. Something was holding him back. He couldn't describe what it was, but his instincts screamed at him to stay quiet. Gaara forced his eyes closed. Why? Why shouldn't he tell Aizen?
…
He didn't trust him.
Gaara frowned. That was ridiculous. There was no one in the world he trusted more. Aizen had his complete loyalty. Without him he would still be buried deep within the depths of this world. He was willing to give his life for Aizen. He had already decided that within the first week of his servitude.
"A group of invaders is headed towards the castle." He finally said, meeting the eyes of his superior.
Aizen's eyebrow rose. "Are they now? How many?"
"They started with five, but met four Hollows on the way, and are currently travelling with them. The original group consist of one human, one Shinigami, two Hollows and something I can't identify. Their power are too well concealed for me to get anything useful out of it.
Aizen's smile grew slightly. "Six Hollows? My... isn't that interesting?"
His expression became slightly more dangerous and Gaara felt the air around him shiver. "And why did you wait so long to tell me this?"
The Primera said nothing. He had no idea how Aizen knew he had been putting it off, consciously or otherwise, but that fact was irrelevant now.
"I have no excuse."
Aizen's smile grew even sharper. The seconds ticked by and the Hollow lord wondered idly if he was going to die. But when he spoke, it seemed like the entire incident had been forgotten. "It seems like we have some trash to take care of. Wouldn't you say so?"
"Yes, Aizen-sama." Gaara bowed as his instincts screamed at him.
Author's note:
Another long wait. Things happen. This keeps getting prioritized down. Hopefully you remember what happened last time. If not… well… Neither did I! So I had to reread everything again. And then I decided to fix some writing mistakes as I did so, and so this became an even longer wait. I seem to be doing that every time I release a new chapter, go through my back catalogue to make sure everything is up to snuff. It becomes a longer and longer task every time, but I can't get myself to stop. I want this story to have the same overall quality, and then I can't let my earlier chapter be worse than my later ones. Nonetheless, this is unsustainable. It's not as bad as it sounds though, there's less to fix every time, and I'm more and more satisfied with my story. Hopefully, this will be the last time. Of course, if anyone finds any faults, I will always correct them.
I have pretty much finished the story in my head now. Did so quite a while back. The only thing left is to write it all down. With this chapter I would estimate I'm about ⅓ to ¼ of the way there. Perhaps longer, depending on where I want to end it.
Also, a large thank you to my beta, PseudoPhysics for their help with this chapter! Good to have you back buddy.
And so life continues. Anime's end. Politicians keep being politicians. Fanfictions get updated. Global hunger is down by half. Humans are well on their way to Mars. All in all, nothing means anything, and we are all going to die. Our impact on the universe is nil. The same as always.
Thanks for reading.
Jacob ;)
