Yo. Sorry it took so long for an update but I made it happen. Just a quick heads up this chapter is some exposition and sets up the soul society arc. Next chapter will be the start of that, and there will be changes to how that goes down due to Naruto's involvement. Anyways, as always feel free to pull up to the server if you wanna talk fics, or just bullshit with some cool people.
Lastly some people have expressed desire for a harem and I've decided on Kukaku, Yoruichi, Rangiku, and one other that I haven't decided on yet.
Link. JSFZZkX8
The sound of loud 'thuds' resonated through the room as one by one, training dummies hit the ground. Some were charred, with not a single visible spot that wasn't black. Light smoke could be seen still rising off of the material. Other dummies in the room had large dents in different parts of them, clearly done by blunt force. Some had their 'ribs' completely caved in, others had the heads removed, and some were almost flattened. Had any normal person taken hits like this, they would have died on the spot.
Naruto wiped the sweat off his face and took in the sight before him. The underground training room that Urahara had installed in the house was one of the things he was most thankful for. He and Kukaku could train down here and all of their residual energy wouldn't be leaked out in case there were any Shinigami nearby.
Lifting his right hand up, he snapped his fingers and in a flash, five glowing orbs manifested an inch above each appendage. With but a mental command the five orbs shot out and expanded as they moved away from him until they came in contact with the ruined training dummies. He closed his eyes as the explosion let off a bright light, and when he opened them again, he was pleased to see there was nothing left of them.
'I'll have to ask Kisuke to get me a few more of those'. An image of the bucket hat wearing man flashed through Naruto's mind and his thoughts began to change. A lot had changed in the past hundred years or so. Kisuke and Yoruichi, the two best friends he and Kukaku had when they were in the Soul Society had made their way down to the world of the living.
It was quite a shock to see them out of the blue one day as they were making their way home. Kisuke invited the two of them to his place to catch up and fill them in on what had happened. Aizen Sosuke, the lieutenant of the fifth division under Shinji Hirako had been conducting experiments on souls and had managed to frame Kisuke for it.
Naruto had never met Aizen. He'd heard of him here and there sure, but never got the chance to formally meet him. He was sure that he'd have worked under him had he stayed in the Soul Society as his clan always went to the fifth. Now that he'd heard of the man's nefarious side, he was more glad that he did what he did and fled.
The first thing the two new refugees had done upon arrival was look for the two of them at their home and only luckily stumbled upon them after realizing they weren't home. He'd led them back to their 'base' which was essentially a candy shop in town, a pretty good front in his opinion. While there the man continued doing research while Yoruichi gathered information on any Shinigami around by going out in her cat form.
The blond wasn't sure how Yoruichi was able to transform. As far as he knew, only his clan had that ability to do so, even though it was said no one had done so in the past few years. Perhaps there was some very distant connection between their clans? He wasn't sure but he didn't question it too much.
They also told him how the Seireitei had indeed been on the lookout for him ever since he escaped. It didn't take long for them to put the pieces together and realize that he was, in fact, the dragon that attacked. He'd vanished without a trace and considering he was the only one left unaccounted for it was easy to deduce.
Not only that, Kukaku had also been marked a criminal. The Shiba household had been questioned soon after the event and with her missing it was only natural to assume she'd fled with him.
Another major event revolved around the Captain of the tenth division. Isshin Shiba, who now went by Kurosaki, lived near them. They'd been shocked when they ran into the man a few years ago on their street. Isshin invited the two to his home where they met his wife Masaki and were told of the circumstances that led him to Karakura.
Isshin had left the Soul Society after an incident that led him to lose his Shinigami powers. Naruto did make note that the man said it was a temporary measure but didn't know how long exactly it would be. Isshin himself didn't look too upset over the loss of his power, in fact, Kukaku said she'd never seen the man look happier than he did now. He even went on to have three kids, one boy and two girls who were fraternal twins.
Unfortunately, the older man's happiness came to an abrupt halt not too long after. While Naruto and Kukaku were away one day, Masaki was killed by a hollow, leaving Isshin a widower of three. Naruto did suspect that Isshin knew more than he was led on but didn't say anything as the man was grieving. He knew Masaki was a Quincy, unless it was a Vasto Lorde Naruto didn't see how she would be killed by a hollow.
It seemed to be a trend for misfortune to occur as they had gotten news that Kaien had passed as well. Similar to Masaki, it had been a hollow from what they'd been told. Kukaku was a mess for a while. She didn't want to eat or create any new fireworks, she'd lay in bed for most of the day with a dead look on her face. Most times he'd have to force her to eat by bringing food to her in bed and feeding her.
The fact that she wasn't allowed to see any of her family back in Soul Society only made it that much worse. Seeing her in that state was the only time he ever questioned if them meeting was probably a bad thing. Without him, she'd still be in Soul Society, and the death of her brother may have been averted.
Luckily for him, even in her depressed state, she reassured him that she didn't regret coming with him. It took a few months for her to get back on her feet and back to normal but she'd done it. Yoruichi had gotten word that Ganju had stepped up and taken the reins of the Shiba clan. Hearing that her youngest brother had stopped goofing around and took control of the family had a big part in Kukaku's mental state returning to normal.
Still, between all the misfortune that occurred to everyone around them, there was some good news. The biggest change that'd happened to them in the past one hundred or so years had only occurred a few months ago.
"Naruto!" He heard Kukaku call out from upstairs. He made his way out of their training ground and his eyes widened when he saw Kukaku. In a split second he was in front of her and took the large box she was carrying out of her hands much to the woman's anger.
"Will you stop that?!" She yelled, clearly aggravated.
Naruto looked at her with a confused look. "Stop what?"
"Treating me like I'll break or something will happen to me by doing the simplest things. I'm pregnant, not crippled." She responded.
That was possibly the biggest change in Naruto's life so far. The two had married officially in the world of the living years ago and now, Kukaku sported a rather large bump. Naruto had noticed that soon after Masaki had been pregnant with Isshin's first child, Kukaku had become much more affectionate with him. She was always brash and outspoken, unafraid to tell him when he was being stupid, but after seeing how Masaki and Isshin looked, there was a change in her.
Whenever they'd go out she'd latch onto his arm all night, kisses on the mouth and cheek, and slow lovemaking in bed. Usually she liked it rough until she couldn't walk right so he knew something was amiss. That went on for a while and when word got out that Masaki was pregnant once more, Kukaku finally came out and admitted that she wanted to try for a baby.
She looked nervous, which was a strong contrast to her usual brash demeanor, and admitted that she was afraid of how he'd react so she never outright said it. This time though she laid it out on the table and to her immense delight, Naruto was on the same page. Multiple times over the years he'd thought of what it would be like to have a family of his own. Sometimes he'd picture what his future kids would look like and also wanted to approach the subject.
When she finally said she wanted one, he didn't hesitate and agreed. The two began trying immediately without any form of anti pregnancy precautions. Fortunately for them, they had no issues on that front and Kukaku soon found herself pregnant with their first child. To Naruto's utter delight, they found out it was going to be a boy. Now they were only a month or so away from Kukaku's due date.
The blond really wished Masaki was alive to see the birth of their child but that would never come to pass.
"You're almost due. What happens if this causes something?" He responded worriedly.
"I'm still a month off and the box is light." She said in a softer voice. "I know you're worried, and I appreciate it but I'll be fine."
Naruto sighed "Ok what do you need?"
"I just needed you to move some of your stuff off the ground." She said, pointing to a few objects on the ground. A pair of his shoes were sprawled out a few feet apart, as was his zanpakuto. To this day, Naruto still had the hilt and sheathed sealed so that it couldn't be unsheathed. He still hadn't come across anyone worth unsheathing it for.
"Why are you training right now anyway?" Kukaku asked. "Don't you have papers to grade?" She added as she sat down on the couch and subconsciously rubbed her stomach.
Shit. He'd forgotten about that. Urahara had told him in order to blend better, he needed to get a job. Something normal, Isshin worked part time as a doctor, running a clinic in his home. Urahara himself was a salesman, a candy salesman but still had money coming in and had a legit job. At least to the general public.
He'd hopped around from odd job to odd job until he landed on being a teacher at Kukaku's insistence. He retained information quickly and absorbed it like a sponge. He was able to teach her high level Kido spells easily and was patient. If he could make it through her tantrums all those years and never lose his cool, he could easily teach a bunch of school children. It only took him a few days of reading some history books before he knew all he needed.
Coincidentally, he ended up being Ichigo's homeroom teacher. Isshin's son was a little rough around the edges but he was a good kid. Naruto didn't understand why Isshin didn't tell the boy about the Shinigami or Quincy but it wasn't his place to say anything. On the subject of quincies, he had one of those in his class too. He wasn't sure at first but he'd caught a glimpse of the cross the boy carried and instantly knew.
While Isshin didn't tell Ichigo about the gods of death, Naruto was certain Isshin knew Ichigo was a Shinigami already. He and Kukaku had seen the boy around the city in the black garbs all the Shinigami wore. What really threw the two for a loop was the company that Ichigo was keeping. Byakuya's younger sister was often seen running around with him fighting hollows.
Naruto knew Kisuke must have been involved with them as well since shortly after her appearance, she ended up transferring into his class. He was sure the shopkeeper had a blast placing her in his class specifically.
What was baffling to the blond was that he couldn't think of a reason for her to stay this long. There weren't so many hollows in the area that she needed to be here for an extended amount of time.
He'd made his concerns be known to his wife but she told him to just sit back and watch things unfold. 'If that blond doofus is involved he most likely has it under some control' she'd said to him. Naruto had his doubts, Kisuke was smart, resourceful, and generally had a good head on his shoulders. However, his curiosity as a scientist had put him in plenty of unfavorable situations in the past.
Ichigo was part Shinigami and Quincy, which meant the man was probably taking notes every time the young man fought to study him further.
Naruto sighed and picked up the small mess he'd made before making his way over to a small desk he had set up next to the tv in the living room. He pulled out a black book bag from one of the drawers and took out a good number of sheets. Naruto stared at the stack in front of him and turned around.
"Kukaku…" He trailed off, a pleading tone could be heard in his voice.
The woman didn't even look at him, her eyes were focused on the tv as she flipped through the channels. "No."
"You don't even know what I was going to say?" He whined.
She rolled her eyes. "You're going to ask me to help you grade your students' papers...again." She replied. "Do it yourself, our son and I are watching tv." She added with her hands on her stomach.
Seeing that he wouldn't be getting help from her, he resigned himself to his fate and pulled out the red pen. He made his marks page after page, sometimes wondering how some of these students managed to dress themselves in the morning with some of the answers they provided.
The next morning Naruto found himself in the teachers lounge making himself a cup of coffee before classes started. He found it funny how even when he was no longer a student, he was still attending a school. Granted the school only taught regular courses as opposed to Zanjutsu, Hakuda, Hohou, and Kidou but the point still remained.
"Good morning Namikaze-sensei." Naruto's still half lidded eyes turned to the woman who was talking to him.
Ochi Misato stood in front of him looking ready for the day. She wore a red long sleeve button up with black pants and shoes and looked like she'd been up for hours already. The volume of her voice told him that she was very much a morning person.
"Good morning Ochi-sensei. How are you today?" He asked, trying to be cordial.
The woman beamed at him. "Wonderful. I finished grading early yesterday and managed to get my grocery shopping done and get a little workout in." She informed him.
Naruto looked at her biceps. For a regular human they weren't bad he supposed.
"Anyway, how's your class treating you? Are you adjusting well?" She asked.
He nodded. "Yeah, they're not that bad. They pay attention, and follow directions, so it's not too bad." He replied, taking a sip of his coffee.
Ochi nodded in agreement. "You got lucky to have a good class for your first year teaching." She commented before taking a look at the clock on the small microwave. Naruto noticed her gaze and saw that there was only five minutes left before classes started.
The two teachers began making their way out into the hall that was now full of students heading to their homerooms. Naruto noticed an orange haired teen walking a few steps ahead of them and debated saying something about his after school activities but refrained.
"Well, I'll see you during lunch. Remember if you need anything feel free to ask." She offered kindly.
Naruto smiled, "I'll be sure to let you know if anything comes up, thank you."
Ochi smiled back and entered her classroom which was two doors away from his.
"Kurosaki." He called out. While they were acquainted he never called the young man by name in school.
Ichigo turned around, his trademark scowl present on his face. "Yes?"
"Any reason your assignment from yesterday was incomplete?" He asked, already knowing the reason.
To his credit, Ichigo didn't look nervous at all. "Sorry Sensei, I did most of it in class and thought I had finished. Won't happen again." He replied casually. It was a good lie, the boy often did finish work quickly in class so it would be easy to let something like that happen once or twice.
Naruto stared at him as they walked but nodded. "Be sure it doesn't. Your old man might be onto something when he says you're a delinquent slacker." He mumbled to himself just loud enough for Ichigo to hear.
His words had the intended effect as the boy's scowl deepend, much to his amusement. Ichigo must have seen this was what he wanted as the scowl quickly disappeared, replaced with a smirk.
"That's fine. Next time I see Kukaku I just might mention how Ochi-sensei always seems to be around you when she gets the chance." He mumbled back.
Naruto's eyes narrowed. That wouldn't be good. The last time Kukaku caught a woman trying to come onto him it had nearly resulted in him sleeping on the couch. They had been walking through the mall shopping for maternity clothes a few months into her pregnancy. She went to the bathroom and while she was gone a young woman in her early thirties had come up to him asking him for his name and what he was doing alone before asking for his number.
Kukaku had quickly shut her down by wrapping her arm around his and making sure her wedding ring was on display. The woman quickly realized what was happening and apologized before leaving. His wife hadn't been upset that he'd been hit on, but rather that he hadn't put a stop to it once she started.
Normally she wasn't the jealous type and even played along in teasing him with Yoruichi whenever they could, but her hormones were all out of whack due to her pregnancy.
"Ok how about we don't do that." He relented.
The school day was simple enough, a little lecture for a few minutes followed by a short documentary that took care of the rest for the remainder of the class. Once the school day ended and the kids were allowed to leave or head to their clubs, Naruto stayed behind to get ahead on some work.
As he continued drawing up plans for the next few days he couldn't help but feel a little off. He couldn't put his finger on it but something was telling him that something was going to happen. Five minutes later and the feeling got stronger. Just as he was putting his pen to the paper, he felt it. Multiple sources of reiryoku began appearing one after another not too far from the school.
As quickly as they appeared however, they'd disappear before being replaced by another.
'Hollow bait' Naruto realized. Getting up from his chair he quickly made his way to the teachers lounge and pulled out a small orb from his pocket after entering the restroom.
Taking the pill, his soul was ejected from his physical body and in his place was something Kisuke called a 'mod soul'. The artificial soul inhibiting his body gave him a thumbs up and made his way out of the bathroom, cheerfully greeting the lone teacher that had made his way to the lounge.
Now, he was back in his untraditional shinigami clothes. He jumped out the nearest window and began making his way towards where he felt all the hollows. As he got closer he could easily guess who was responsible for killing them.
He stopped a good distance away from the action and sat down in the air, genuinely curious to see how well Ichigo fought. The boy was decent and his zanjutsu needed quite a bit of work, as there was no technique to his attacks, just brute strength. Next to him was another one of his students, Ishida, who was destroying them just as quickly using a bow he'd created out of reishi.
'Are they having some kind of competition?' The blond wondered to himself as he watched the two continue to destroy hollows. Naruto sensed a hollow coming up behind him but paid him no mind. As Ishida shot down a hollow, the one creeping up on him decided to make its move and turn him into a meal.
At least, that's how it would've gone if he was normal. The closer the hollow got, Naruto slowly began enhancing his body with a very low partial transformation. His skin was now as hard as the scales that his dragon form granted him.
The hollow bit down, only for its teeth to be destroyed upon contact with him. Naruto finally turned his head and stared unimpressed at the vile creature.
"Even with me suppressing most of my power you should've known that wouldn't work." Naruto commented, not that the hollow could understand him. Shaking his head at himself he reached forward and easily punched through the mask, making the hollow disintegrate into small particles.
Turning his attention back to the action he couldn't help but notice that a large tear in the sky had manifested and he knew exactly what was coming. A large hollow, with what seemed to be a black flowing cloak began slowly making its way out of the tear in space.
"A menos grande?" Naruto actually said out loud. "Let's see how you deal with this, boys." If he had been drinking something, he'd spit it out when he saw what the two students were doing. Uryu had Ichigo's zanpakuto tied to his head, it reminded him of a unicorn's horn. While it looked ridiculous he could see what the intent was.
Ichigo's reiatsu was like a flowing faucet, constantly leaking and uncontrolled. Ishida was using that large amount of reiatsu to power a large arrow and hopefully destroy the menos in one shot. Unfortunately for him, it seemed Ichigo wasn't having it as he ran forward, sword in hand, despite the menos charging up a cero.
Naruto stayed in his sitting position, not because he wasn't worried, but rather because Kisuke was down there with Byakuya's sister watching the action unfold. The blond was very impressed that the orange haired teen managed to hold off the blast and even counter.
It wasn't enough to destroy it but it was enough for it to seemingly retreat back into the void.
He stood up. "Well, that was interesting." He looked down and saw Kisuke smirk in his direction just before he dashed back to school. "Maybe in the future he might be a good challenge. First he needs some experience fighting actual shinigami though."
Ichigo's chance came a lot faster than Naruto anticipated. A few weeks later as he was out buying some food for Kukaku, who had just had another craving, he sensed two powerful individuals. He was going to ignore them but two familiar reiatsu signatures also began moving in the direction of the newcomers. One of them had massive amounts leaking, so it wasn't difficult to tell who that was, and the other could be no one other than Kisuke.
He hoped Kukaku wouldn't be too upset that he was late and made his way over as well. He made it just in time to see Ichigo let off a large amount of energy as he stood against a red haired shinigami. Naruto's eyes looked behind the man and he couldn't help but pity Ichigo slightly.
'If Byakuya decides to get involved it's over.' He thought. He was sure Kisuke would prevent him from dying but Naruto didn't want him to explain to Isshin what had happened.
He smiled proudly when Ichigo fought through the pain in his shoulder after being hit by the red heads shikai and managed to get a clean hit and apply pressure. Too bad his good fortune came to an abrupt halt as Byakuya finally acted. Just as Ichigo was going to get another hit in, his zanpakuto broke courtesy of the nobleman.
In the blink of an eye it was over. Byakuya struck with deadly precision which left the young shinigami in shock. The nobleman didn't stop there as he pierced the boy once more before turning away. Ichigo probably had no idea what happened to him as he fell face first on the concrete.
Naruto took a step forward to intervene, ready to show himself to someone who would undoubtedly recognize him but stopped. Ichigo gripped the captain's ankle, refusing to back down but was kicked away by the man's sister. He couldn't make out what they were saying but Ichigo looked shocked and hurt.
The blond watched as the red headed man opened up a senkaimon and led them through. What little strength Ichigo had finally ran out and his head hit the concrete.
Naruto and Kisuke both appeared before the downed boy at the same time.
"You know he's going to want to go after her." Kisuke said from behind his fan.
"Yeah?" Naruto asked.
Kisuke chuckled. "I've talked to Rukia since she got here and have kept up with what they've been up to. Byakuya sealed his saketsu and hakusui, he'll soon lose the power that Rukia lent him."
Naruto thought Kisuke sounded too joyful saying that. "I assume you're going to do something about it."
"Perhaps. If I get him his power back, I know for certain he'll want to go. He'll need a guide." Kisuke added at the end.
Naruto glanced at the bucket hat wearing man and sighed. "Keep me updated. I gotta get these to Kukaku."
His fellow blond waved him off happily and picked Ichigo up. Naruto made his way home, the entire time thinking about Kisuke's words. It looked like he might be heading home in the near future.
