Yo, a new chapter.
Still stuck on if I should merge Boruto and Naruto into one for the tech and villains. If you got an opinion on this, say so in a pm or review.
Enjoy.
"Shouldn't you be at the academy?"
Ichigo looked up at the chief who prepared his meal, the miso ramen steaming hot as it was placed in front of him. "What for?"
"It's January nineteenth, the genin test," The ramen chief told him, the name tag informing him that the man's name was Teuchi. "It's a significant day to all academy students since it determines if you can become a genin or not. Does it ring any bells?"
"I'll pass on that," Ichigo said as he ate the ramen, surprised how well it tasted. "I plan on leaving after this meal anyway, so it'll do me no good going to take this genin test."
"What?" Teuchi said, causing Ichigo to look up at him. His brown eyes locked with Teuchi closed eyes. Ichigo noted the surprise written on the man's face. "You're leaving the village? Does the Hokage know of this?"
Ichigo almost asked Kaguya if she knew what Teuchi was talking about before stopping himself, knowing that she was busy looking at clothes. Saying something about wanting to see what this age had in fashion. Zangetsu was pestering him to tell her to get some skimpy outfits to wear. His partner's suggestion was ignored when she asked for his opinion about what to look for.
"No, I don't see why this person should know about me wanting to leave this place. I can leave this place, right?" Ichigo answered before throwing his question at Teuchi as he placed down the chopsticks he was using. "Anyone I got to get going, thanks for the meal."
"Wait, Kurosaki, don't you want seconds before you leave? It's going to be hard leaving on a half-full stomach. Why don't you allow my daughter to serve you while I go check on the supplies?"
'He's trying to keep you here,' Zangetsu said, whispering into Ichigo's ear, wondering if he could mess with Ichigo. 'I doubt he has any way to keep you here other than to offer you food.'
'True,' Ichigo responded as he stared at the empty ramen bowl in thought. Teuchi waited for his answer as he crossed his arms. 'Do you think the daughter is cute?'
Zangetsu laughed in their inner world as Ichigo's one-tracked mind worked. The teen was weighing the pros and cons of staying along with the chance of seeing this man's daughter or not.
"I'm good, Teuchi, maybe another time."
"Teuchi, miso ramen for the both of us, please."
Ichigo stared at the owner of the voice, who included him in eating the miso ramen that the man ordered. A click of his tongue signaling his annoyance as a blonde-haired man with jaw-length bangs on either side of his face wearing a white haori with flames around the edges along and a green flak jacket under it walked in. The man sat down next to him like they were old friends reuniting after a long trip.
"Ichigo-chan, join me for lunch?" The man asked him, two bowls of miso ramen placed in front of them to enjoy, a smile on the blonde's face, real or fake, he couldn't tell. "Nervous about the test? Naruto was also nervous about it, so Kushina promised him some homemade ramen if he passed."
"Well, I planned on leaving this place after finishing my food," Ichigo said, placing one elbow on the counter and turning to face the blonde, his blue eyes staring into his brown as he slurped down some of the ramen that was in front of him.
"Why would you want to leave Konohagakure? It's the greatest ninja village ever," The blonde childe him like a child talking about their favorite toy, Ichigo almost face-palming himself from the way he pouted at the mention of leaving Konohagakure.
"Want to see the world," Ichigo lied, watching the man place down the empty bowl. Before pointing at his untouched bowl of ramen. The message was clear as he slid it over to the blonde. "Can't do it from the village, can I?"
"Well, if you become a genin, you can see the world on missions and earn money at the same time," The blonde replied to his question. Folding his hands together as the look sent to him was different from the one from before. "Hey, Ichigo-chan, what's my name?"
Ichigo rubbed the back of his head at the question, wondering who the blonde truly was. His guts told him that the man next to him was dangerous if he wasn't careful and would ruin his plans for finding the Reiryoku he was looking for. "I hit my head last night after I got out of the shower and can't seem to remember anything other than my name. Why do you think I never said Konohagakure by name."
The blonde sighed before grabbing his shoulders as he shook Ichigo roughly. The teen was surprised as his eyes widened from the suddenness of his actions. "It's me, your favorite adult, your older stepbrother Kurosaki-chan! How could you forget me! It's Minato! Hitting your head isn't an excuse to forget about your favorite stepbrother!"
Ichigo tried getting Minato off of him, the blonde refusing to let go of his shoulders. "Come on, and we're going to see a doctor right away to make sure everything's okay, and don't worry about the genin test. I'll pull some strings for you and make you a genin along with getting you your own forehead protector."
"What?" Ichigo said as Minato grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the ramen shop. Ichigo strumbled along as he tried figuring out what was happening. The world around him turned into an array of colors as he felt everything shift around him. "What was that?"
"Oh that," Minato replied, putting a finger against his lips. His blue eyes danced with mischief. "I'll tell you when you become a genin. How about that?"
Ichigo shook his head in response as he placed his hands on his knees to get a hold of himself, knowing that wasn't Shunpo or Sonído. It was something entirely different to him. Everything around him changed like a teleportation technique instead of high-speed movement techniques that he was used to.
"I'll go get the doctors. Wait here, okay?" Minato asked him as he sat down on a chair nearby. The hyperactive blonde ran off to find the people he was looking for.
'I was wondering what happened to you.'
'I think I just got abducted by a crazy person,' Ichigo responded, seeing Kaguya walk towards him in the hallway before sitting down next to him. 'What do you think of the fashion of this era?'
'Oh, it's lovely.'
Ichigo, for some reason, couldn't help but feel fear when she said that. Even Zangetsu agreed with him as he felt a shiver go up his spine.
"Here are the reports you asked for, Lady Tsunade."
"Thank you, Yamanaka-san," Tsunade said, reading over the medical reports that she requested and knowing that a shinobi's mental state was as important as their physical state. Happy that the Yamanaka clan agreed to help her on the project.
The door to her office opening and the person walked in without permission. Only a few were that brave or stupid enough to do that. The person's signature blonde hair gave them away. "What do you want, Minato?"
"I need you and Inoichi to do a check-up on Ichigo Kurosaki," Minato said as he walked into the office, Inoichi the first to shake the Hokage's hand as he entered.
"Shouldn't he be at the academy right now taking the genin exam?" Tsunade asked, looking at the clock on the wall and seeing that the genin exam would almost be over by now if he were there.
"Well, apparently, he hit his head getting out of the shower last night and doesn't remember anything other than his name," Minato answered as Inoichi rubbed his chin, wondering why Minato would need him for this check-up. "Inoichi, you'll I need you to poke around in his head to make sure he's telling the truth or lying."
"If he told the truth, what do you plan on doing with him?" Tsunade asked as she crossed her arms. Knowing its effect on weaker men, but not the two in front of her. "And why would you think he's lying in the first place?"
"Well, if he's telling the truth, that means you get to try and connect with Masaki's only child," Minato said, knowing that he was right. Tsunade wouldn't waste a moment to jump at her surrogate daughter's son to make sure he was healthy or form a kinship with him. "You know how he was before, and he's talking to me. You can turn him into a drinking buddy or someone to go gambling with if you want."
"Hokage-sama, if you don't mind me asking what was Kurosaki-san like before losing his memories? My daughter never really mentioned him to me when she got out of the academy, only about the other classmates of hers."
"Well, he was antisocial and kept to himself," Minato answered, going down a list of Ichigo's characteristics that seemed to vanish overnight. "We tried getting to know him for his parent's sake, but he brushed us off."
"That doesn't answer my second question. Why do you think he's lying," Tsunade asked again.
"He tried leaving the village this morning. I caught him at Ramen Ichiraku eating before he could leave due to the ANBU alerting me that he was acting suspiciously."
"And you plan on doing what after finding the truth?"
"Make him a genin," Minato answered, knowing that regardless of what was the truth, he would help Isshin and Masaki's only living child. "He said he wanted to see the world, and I told him that if he became a genin, he could."
"That's strange. You don't seek to leave the place you're in after losing your memories," Inoichi integrated, thinking about the strangeness surrounding the teen. "I'll gladly look into his mind to help you, Hokage-sama."
Tsunade sighed at Inoichi, who agreed to look into Masaki's son's head before also deciding to help, knowing that it would be best for all of them here to make sure he was hundred percent alright. "Fine, bring him in now. I have paperwork that needs to be finished after this."
"Kurosaki-chan come here," Minato yelled as soon as he got to the door after getting the okay from Tsunade. The orange hair teen walked over as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Pleasure to meet you, Kurosaki-san. I am Inoichi Yamanaka. Minato told me about your condition, and I'm going to look inside your mind to make sure nothing is wrong and to see if there's a chance of getting your memories back," Inoichi explained as the teen entered her office, his brown eyes trying to look everywhere but at her.
"Okay," Ichigo responded, trying not to look at the woman that rivaled Rangiku. His decision to leave had already been forgotten about, wanting to now stay in this village.
'A rival,' Kaguya said to herself, walking up to the woman in front of Ichigo, their bodies almost touching. 'Maybe the same size too.'
'What?' Ichigo asked, wondering what Kaguya was talking about. 'You know what she's talking about, king.'
'Shut up.'
"Have a seat right here, Kurosaki-san," Inoichi said, motioning for Ichigo to take a seat in the chair next to him for the check-up.
"Sure," Ichigo replied, sitting down in the chair and leaning back in it. "How long will this take?"
"Depends on how severe the injury is," Inoichi answered as he placed both of his hands on Ichigo's head. Chakra flowing through his hands and into the teen's head with ease. "Now relax."
Ichigo did as he was told, relaxing in the chair as the man poked and prodded his way into his mind. Zangetsu already hid everything he knew about his life and Kaguya. The zanpakuto made sure it seemed like he genuinely did forget everything but his name. The blonde man hummed to himself as he took his hands off of his head.
"Hokage-sama, he truly doesn't remember anything but his name," Inoichi stated, surprised at the realization. Minato and Tsunade were both shocked that he couldn't remember anything at all.
"Told you so," Ichigo said to Minato who looked sheepishly back at him, muttering an apology.
"Well, I have to look after the village, and even if I believed what you said, I still had to take some precautions in the situation," Minato explained as he placed a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. "Hope this doesn't change anything between us?"
"No problem. You had your reasons for it," Ichigo responded, knowing that as the leader of this place, he likely had some responsibilities that he couldn't overlook.
Minato's eyes caught the time on the clock on the wall before they widened in panic. "Oh crap! Lady Tsunade, can you handle the rest of this? I need to go congratulate Naruto on passing the genin exam!"
"Min-" Tsunade didn't get a chance to finish as the blonde teleported away.
"My wife is going to kill me if I don't show up to congratulate Ino for passing the exam," Inoichi said, fear in his tone, as he also vanished, leaving Ichigo and Tsunade in her office by themselves. The woman's eye twitched at the both of them, leaving Masaki's son in her office.
"So, who are you?" Ichigo asked, curious about the woman in front of him. A groan left her lips as her eyes softened as they looked at him.
"Tsunade and we have a lot to talk about."