Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Naruto. Only the OC is my idea, her backstory, abilities, appearance, etc. I do not make any money from this story. Some characters may be a bit out of character.
With the meal concluded Neji moved to clear the dishes when he felt a hand on his wrist, and her voice drifted to him, "I'll take care of those."
"But-"
"You cooked, let me clean up," Chiaki insisted as she took the dishes from him. He blinked as he watched her gathering the dishes from the counter island, his hands were at his sides and he was uncertain of how to respond to this. He always cleaned his own plates, did his own laundry. He'd been self sufficient since he was ten, and frankly he wasn't used to someone else taking care of anything.
"That's really not necessary," he objected.
"You got me the supplies I needed, bought me some clothes, bought me some sandals, cooked dinner-" She threw her hands up before concluding, "I feel like a free loader here!"
Neji's expression remained stoic as he observed her. He could sense the frenzied energy that seemed to swirl within her at that moment. She let out an exasperated sigh and decided on a method of bartering. "Look I won't clean your clothes okay? But let me do a little up keeping to help out," she reasoned. He contemplated making up the couch for himself, then thought about having a bath before deciding to sit back down at the counter island so he could guide her on where the dishes went and nodded in agreement.
Wordlessly she gathered the dishes from dinner and adding some soap to the dish brush began to clean the dishes. From where he sat Neji could tell she was being extrodinarily meticulous about how she cleaned every inch of every item. He continued to observe her as she worked. She seemed to pay him no mind as she scoured the two pots, the knives and the rest of the sink's contents. When she finished washing the dishes and hand drying them with the towel, she accepted his guidance in returning them to their rightful place in the kitchen. Afterwards she scrubbed down the kitchen counter and the counter top of the island, followed by the sink its self.
"You don't like when people do things for you," he offered his observation.
"I'm not used to it," She agreed.
"Neither am I," Neji admitted.
She glanced to him, her brow furrowed in curiosity. He offered a smile and elaborated, "my mother died when I was very young, and my father passed when I was four. Until I was twelve I lived with my Uncle, Aunt and cousins, but as soon as I became a Genin I was out of that house."
"Didn't get along with them or something?"
"You could say that," he agreed.
Chiaki sighed heavily before revealing, "my mother died giving me life. My father—isn't someone worth speaking of. He did some terrible things. Neither of them had any family so when my mom died, it was Captain Unohana that took care of me when I was born. Without her, I wouldn't have survived the first few nights. Then one of the elder sons in a noble family decided to adopt me."
"So you never knew your parents?"
"My father is the man that raised me. The biological link that I'm cursed with, I know enough of him. I'd rather leave it at that if it's all the same," Chiaki replied.
"I get the impression that what you do here is kind of like what I do back home. Can we talk about that?"
The corners of Neji's mouth tugged ever so slightly upward as he probed, "what would you like to know?"
"Hmm I guess the basics. I mean, do you have a ranking system? How long do you study to become a shinobi? Just things that'll help me seem less like I'm from another world," Chiaki requested with a slight giggle.
"There is a ranking system, the standard curriculum is four years. Upon graduation you're given the rank of 'Genin', which means you basically get the low paying jobs. D rank and sometimes C rank. Then there's Chunin which gives you more C rank and B rank missions which pay out better. The strongest become Jonin, which offers the highest pay outs but also the more dangerous assignments. A rank and S rank missions. The strongest Shinobi in each village is called the Kage. For us, in the Hidden Leaf which serves the Land of fire, our Kage is called the Hokage. The current Hokage is Lady Tsunade," Neji explained.
Chiaki was standing across from him listening intently and nodded a bit, "Hmm.. I see so it's a bit more simplified than our ranking system."
"Oh? You mean you're not all just called 'Shinigami'?"
"Oh no, we are. Don't get me wrong but we are a military force after all so there are ranks. Most Shinigami do attend the Academy, the curriculum is longer than yours, most take about six years to graduate although some have done it in less time. I think the record was Toshiro Hitsugaya, he completed the academy in a single year," She began. She stopped, and went wide eyed, realizing if Toshiro had heard her address him in such a manner he'd remind her to call him Captain.
"Also, we're called the gotei 13 for a reason, there's 13 squads each with their own barracks. Each squad has about two hundred unseated officers, then there's the 20th seat rank through to 3rd seat rank. Some of those ranks are shared by multiple members of the same squad. From third seat it goes to vice Captain, and then the Captain is the strongest of each squad. Some Squads even have two Vice Captains," she explained.
Neji sat wide eyed at the idea of sharing a living space with over two hundred other people he wasn't related to. Catching this Chiaki couldn't help but laugh a little at his expression and shook her head while assuring him, "It's not as bad as it sounds. The lower ranks often have shared living quarters-sure but they typically try to match you with someone whose personality compliments yours. Anyways, not everyone starts off as an unseated officer. Some graduate and already have a ranked position linked up. Captain Hitsugaya graduated the academy and was automatically a third seat in the 10th squad. He quickly rose to his current rank as well."
She bit her lip before adding, "and that's not all. There's also the Onmitsukido which has their own specialized internal ranking system, and the Kido Corps, which specialize in spiritual law and kido combat. The top rank in Kido corps is the Kido Corps Chief Commander who is also called the Grand Kido Chief, and the second highest is the Vice Kido Chief. It more or less denotes them as being the two strongest kido practitioners."
"I would not wish to introduce myself as the kido corps top officer," Neji revealed with a slight chuckle, "it's quite a mouthful."
"It is, but I suppose with time you'd get used to it," Chiakai offered with what was rapidly becoming her trade mark grin, however Neji was realizing something about the smile that slightly irked him. Even though she wore a smile on her face, her eyes weren't reflecting it. There was no brightness to them. Her eyes held darkness, pain. So dense he could almost feel it himself by looking at her face. Then her face brightened a bit, "but the strongest of all of us is the first squad Captain, who also holds the title of Captain Commander."
"Interesting, so not only does that one person take responsibility for all of those within their barracks, it sounds like they'd be similar to our Hokage. Responsible for the entire village."
"Not just that. The entirety of soul society in essence. All of the Seireitei, and all of the Rukongai districts. If Soul Society falls, it would mean the apocalypse for all worlds in existence."
At this Neji's eyes widened once more, and turned his focus to the position of the moon outside of his window. "I should fix up the couch and take my bath," Neji stated as he stood from his seat. Chiaki stretched a bit as she informed him she'd be going to bed soon as well. With a smile, Neji bid her goodnight as he headed to the living room, and she made her way to his room. Guilt swept over her when she realized she'd be sleeping in a comfortable bed while he'd be on a couch.
