I do not own Naruto or Bleach, nor do I get any monetary gain for any work I publish. Long AN at the bottom. This could be considered a summary chapter with a lot of time-skips.
Thought: Kyuubi
Speaking: Kyuubi
Radio/Phone Etc: Kyuubi
Jutsu/Deity: Kyuubi
Scene Change: xxXXxx
xxXXxx
The next morning came fairly quickly for the members of the Kurosaki family. As Ichigo came downstairs dressed for school he was quick to notice the rest of his family were already awake and doing their own things.
"Good morning." Said Ichigo.
"Morning." Was the collective reply from everyone. Ichigo then proceeded to walk into the kitchen where Yuzu was working on some breakfast. As he sat down a plate was immediately placed before him.
He nodded his thanks to his little sister, who sent him a beaming smile in return. "So what's the plan for today?" Isshin asked his children. Once more Ichigo was surprised about not being attacked by his father, but he was still grateful also.
"Well I'm going to talk to Inoue before school, see if she's really up to the task of taking care of someone." Replied Ichigo. Isshin nodded at this. While he had no problem with his sons plans, he also knew the decision was Orihime's to make.
"Alright, but just remember that this is her choice, and you have no right to try and force anything on her." Said Isshin in his serious voice, which showed that this was one of his 'adult' moments.
"Of course I know that, I just want to make sure that she know what she's doing. If she believes she can, then I see no reason not to let her." Replied Ichigo. He knew that Orihime was a bit air headed and too nice for her own good at times.
He obviously had nothing against this Naruto guy, he hadn't even met him yet after all, he just wanted to make sure that his friend wasn't making a dumb choice. "I'll be heading over to her house once I'm finished with breakfast." Finished Ichigo.
Isshin just nodded as he got up from where he was. Having already eaten breakfast Isshin was about to head out to work. He did have a patient to deal with, who still needed to get a few tests done so that he could be discharged.
"Well, I'll see you guys later." He said as he began heading towards the door to leave. He was immediately stopped by a shout from his youngest child.
"Aren't you forgetting something important?" Asked Yuzu with an annoyed tone, which was a bit surprising. Isshin, for his part, was totally confused at what he could've possibly been forgetting.
Luckily it took him only a few seconds to notice the large bowl of food on the table. He then remembered the fact that his daughter had taken up the role of his patients personal chef of sorts, to make sure he got complete meals through the day.
"Sorry I almost forgot. Wouldn't want the kid to go hungry after the night he had." Said Isshin, getting confused looks from his kids.
"What happened to him last night?" Asked Karin in confusion. Naruto was fine when they left as far as she knew.
"Oh don't worry, it's nothing. He just had a hard time accepting a few things, but I managed to talk to him and help him make a decision." Said Isshin with a smile on his face. In truth he really was rooting for Naruto, and hoped that there was something that could be done to help the boy.
With a smile and a wave Isshin finally left the house, after grabbing the food for his patient of course. Everyone was quick to notice when he began speaking to someone, which prompted Ichigo to try and see who it was.
He was quite surprised to see both Orihime and Tatsuki outside. This would save him a lot of time from having to go to the girl's house to talk to her, and that was if she hadn't already left for school yet.
He really didn't want to have a conversation about Orihime letting some strange guy stay at her house in school. He could only imagine the chaos that would cause, along with the problems it might bring for the poor girl.
So this new turn of events was exactly what he needed. Seeing as he now had the perfect opportunity he left the house and headed towards the two girls so that he could have a very thorough conversation with one of them.
xxXXxx
Orihime woke up early the next morning. She hadn't really slept well, having some strange nightmares, but she wouldn't let that spoil her mood. She had someplace she had to be this morning, so she had no time to waste.
She quickly got up out of bed so that she could start getting ready for school. She was actually sad that today was Monday, as that meant that she couldn't hang around the clinic today.
She wanted to do this for two reasons, one being that Naruto was alone in the clinic, and the second being to try and see if Ichigo was there so she could spend time with him also. She was kind of sad that she hadn't gotten to see him the previous day, but at least she had Tatsuki there with her.
As she finished getting ready for school she left her apartment after giving a quick prayer to her brother. She quickly made it onto the streets and began humming a random song that had popped into her head.
As she walked she soon came upon the road that her and Tatsuki were supposed to meet at, though the karate enthusiast was nowhere to be seen. "I wonder if she forgot or changed her mind?" Wondered Orihime silently to herself.
The orange haired girl decided to wait a few minutes since she was still really early and had more than enough time for her visit and to make it to school without being late. Luckily her wait proved worthwhile as she soon noticed the form of Tatsuki running down the street.
As she stopped before her, not even appearing winded in the slightest, Orihime gave her a smile. "Good morning, Tatsuki, I'm glad you came." She said with her smile still present, which Tatsuki was quick to return with one of her own.
"Of course I came. I told you that I'll help you as long as this is what you want to do, and I meant that." She said. With that the two highschoolers began their trek to the Kurosaki clinic.
The two walked in a comfortable silence for a while before Orihime spoke. "Do you think he was okay last night, I mean he was in that clinic all by himself." Tatsuki could immediately hear the sadness in her friends voice.
"Of course he is." Started Tatsuki as she pulled Orihime into a hug. "Don't worry, for some reason I have this feeling that Naruto is a lot tougher than he looks." She said still smiling, which thankfully got Orihime to begin smiling once more also.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. I guess you think that it's stupid for me to worry so much about someone I just met, huh?" She asked a bit solemnly. Tatsuki was quick to stop and turn Orihime towards her.
"No it's not stupid, Orihime. You're literally the nicest and most thoughtful person I know, so it's no surprise that you care for someone even though you don't really know them. That is one of you best features in my opinion."
Orihime's eyes became a bit teary when Tatsuki had finished speaking, and she thought that the girl might cry. Luckily Orihime just smiled at her even more as she spoke.
"Thanks, Tatsuki. I can always count on you to be there for me, even though I cause you trouble from time to time." She said, which was true. There was many times that Tatsuki had to fight for her, mainly boys trying to bother her, and a specific girl.
"Of course I'll always be there for you, that's what friends are for right. And you don't cause me any problems, you just help me get more training dummies." Said Tatsuki with an almost evil grin on her face.
She actually enjoyed beating all of those idiots up, and she got some training out of it. What more could a girl like her ask for. Orihime just gained a sweat drop as she had a good idea what her friend was thinking.
The two continued their walk after that with some small conversation. It wasn't long before they found themselves in front of the Kurosaki Clinic, though it was still apparently closed.
While they knew Naruto was in there, they still couldn't just go barging in. Luckily the door to the home was open, and it wasn't long before the familiar form of Isshin Kurosaki walked out with a bowl of food in his hands.
"Oh, good morning you two. I wasn't really expecting you two to be here this early. I figured that you would've maybe come around after school." The two girls immediately greeted the man with their morning greetings before Orihime took that chance to speak.
"We just came to check up on Naruto and see how he's doing before we head off to school." She said, getting a smile from the man. She was actually putting in effort to keep up with Naruto's status, which was a good sign.
"I was just heading in to give him his breakfast and get started on a few more tests. You two are free to join me." Said Isshin, to which the two girls nodded in acceptance. Isshin then went ahead and opened the main door to the clinic to allow entrance.
Before the two girls could enter the clinic they were stopped by the voice of Ichigo. "Inoue, Tatsuki, I'm glad you guys are here. I was planning on heading over to your place to talk to you Inoue, but luckily you came here instead."
It was at this point that Tatsuki went inside the clinic to give the two some privacy, already having an idea what their talk might be about. She was a little worried though since Ichigo might be the one person who could make Orihime change her mind, but she would support her friend no matter what her decision was.
While Tatsuki was leaving Orihime was thinking about what Ichigo had said, which immediately caused the poor girl to start blushing at the thought of her crush coming over to her house early in the morning. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?" She asked.
"Well, I wanted to talk about that guy you brought here yesterday, along with the plan you had." Said Ichigo in a serious voice, which caused Orihime to frown a bit. She had a strong feeling she knew what Ichigo was going to say, but she wouldn't let even him change her mind.
"Are you going to say that I'm making a stupid decision, or that I didn't think this through, or maybe that this isn't a good idea since I barely know him, because if that's what you're going to say then save it. I'm done having this conversation with everyone."
While her tone wasn't cold or anything, Ichigo could tell she was quite serious, but he still had to try. "Look, Inoue, I just think that you might be rushing into this. From what my dad told me that guy needs a lot of medical attention, and I'm not really sure that you'd be able to provide that."
It was at this point that Orihime actually glared at Ichigo, an action that surprised them both. "And how would you know what I'm capable of? I've practically been taking care of myself for years, so what makes you think that I can't take care of someone else?" She asked hotly.
Ichigo actually paused at this since he knew that Orihime was living on her own since her brother died, while only getting money from a relative. She made all of the decisions in her life without anyone's opinion.
"Look I'm not trying to be the bad guy here, but you really don't even know that guy. For all you know he can be dangerous." Spoke the orange haired teen, which got him a disapproving look from Orihime.
"You haven't even seen him yet, have you?" She asked as clearly Ichigo hadn't seen the state that Naruto was in if he thought that he could be dangerous. Sure he might've heard about it, but you had to see it to fully understand Naruto's situation.
"If you're going to judge someone, then the least you can do is get to know them first." Stated Orihime as she turned and walked towards the entrance of the clinic. She then turned around and addressed Ichigo again. "You're welcome to join us and see if Naruto is a threat with your own eyes."
With that she turned and entered the clinic. Ichigo let out a sigh as he had hoped that this conversation would go better, or at least he'd be able to make his case heard. He had never seen Orihime shut down anyone the way she had done to him, and that made him curious.
With that he followed everyone else into the clinic to finally meet this Naruto guy and get a read on him for himself. He easily found where everyone was and finally got a glimpse of Naruto, which showed him why Orihime didn't see him as a threat.
The guy literally looked like he could drop dead at any moment. He was so weak that he was having trouble even eating, to which Orihime grabbed the food and tried to feed him. Naruto just looked at her like she couldn't be serious.
Ichigo was glad that the guy appeared to have some fight in him, but he found the scene of Orihime forcefully trying to feed Naruto to be quite amusing. "What the hell are you doing?" Asked Naruto in an annoyed tone.
"Well I'm trying to feed you since you don't seem able to do it yourself at the moment. If you're going to be staying with me, then I might have to do things like this in the future to help you, so we both might as well try and get used to it." She said with a smile on her face.
Naruto just looked towards Isshin for help to get out of this situation, but the man just threw him under the bus. "Hey don't look at me. If you didn't decide to go for your little morning walk by yourself this morning, then you would've been able to do it yourself." He replied while shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.
"You went for a walk all by yourself? That's great to hear. At least it shows that your body can get stronger with some rest." Said Orihime happily as she knew that he had problems moving in general, so she thought that this showed he was getting a bit better.
"Yeah, I went for a walk. I had some time to think because of that as well." Replied the blond as he tried to get comfortable with the idea of a girl feeding him.
"Well I wouldn't say he went for a walk, more like an escape attempt." Replied Isshin, which got him a glare from the blond and confused and saddened looks from the others.
"Escape attempt, but why would you want to do that?" Asked Orihime sadly. "Do you also believe that I won't be able to take care of you?" She asked. Naruto just sighed as he looked at the saddened look on the girls face.
"No, I actually think that you'll try your best, but that'll mean that you'd have to waste time with me. I refuse to be a burden to anyone." Finished the blond. He wasn't expecting Orihime to start giggling though.
"You're not a burden, and I volunteered to help you because I knew I could do it. Plus even if things do get a bit too hectic for me I still have my friends who are willing to help me." She said as Tatsuki nodded behind her, followed by Ichigo giving a slight nod a moment later.
Naruto just sighed as he looked at the assembled group before him, all of whom were just a few years younger than himself. "Fine, can I get some food please." He grumbled out, which caused Orihime's smile to grow as she began feeding him.
Ichigo just watched the scene as it unfolded before him. He wasn't fully on board, but he'd support Orihime. He could tell that for some reason Orihime wanted to take care of this guy, so who was he to try and stop her.
With that the group got into some light conversation, with Ichigo trying to learn a bit more about Naruto, before he noticed what time it was. "Guys it's time that we headed out. We don't wanna be late for school, right."
With that all of the students began saying their goodbyes and heading out, soon leaving just Isshin and Naruto in the clinic. "That was a real dick move, Isshin." Said Naruto after everyone had left.
"Yeah, I know, but I wanted you to see that Orihime was completely committed to this, and how much she wanted to help you. Like I told you earlier, these are some good kids." He said with a smile.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. You know I can't help but wonder what the future might hold for me."
"Well I guess we'll all have to wait and see." Replied Isshin as the two men had small smiles on their faces. He then proceeded to continue his checkups on Naruto so he could hurry up and discharge him.
xxXXxx
It was almost a month later when Naruto was finally allowed to leave the clinic. Isshin had wanted to make sure that everything was fine, and had to wait for results on certain tests from the hospital since he didn't have the equipment for them.
He had been visited throughout his stay almost everyday by Orihime, and Tatsuki came when she could since she had practices to attend and other stuff. He now stood out front of the clinic with Orihime, Tatsuki, who was holding his bag of clothes that Orihime had provided, and the entire Kurosaki family who he had gotten quite close to, mainly Yuzu, Karin, and Isshin.
The family were saying their goodbyes to the boy as he would finally be moving in with Orihime. As Naruto continued to listen to Yuzu babbling on about him making sure he ate right and took care of himself he couldn't help the smile on his face.
"Of course I'll make sure and do everything you told me to." Said Naruto to Yuzu. She was such a mother hen type, and it was no surprise that she was the one who took care of everyone else in her family.
As Naruto finished saying goodbye to them all he finally turned towards Orihime and Tatsuki. "All right guys, let's go." He said as they began slowly walking away, Naruto using his cane he had received from Isshin for support.
"So we're really doing this?" Asked the blond as the trio began walking in the direction of Orihime's apartment, with both girls ready to support him if he needed it. He was glad to see that his body was getting a bit better, though his chakra network was still shot.
"Yep, I've been waiting for this day for a while." Said Orihime as she walked with a smile on her face and her hands behind her back.
"Yeah, Orihime has been trying to think on how to prepare for this really hard. She put a lot of effort into everything." Said Tatsuki as she walked alongside them. Naruto just chuckled at this.
"You guys know that you didn't have to go through all the effort, right. All I really need is a place to rest, and a bit of food to survive. You're already doing more than enough by just providing me with those things."
Orihime faced him with her smile on her face before she replied. "It was no trouble, I actually had fun doing it." Naruto just sighed at the two. He really wished that they hadn't wasted their time doing anything extra, but that was just how Orihime was.
As the trio continued walking while making small talk, Naruto took notice of a woman walking in the street. He was quick to notice the woman's bloodied appearance, but he did nothing to show that he had seen her.
This was one of the things that Naruto had noticed his second day in the clinic. For some reason he could see ghosts, though he had no idea why. He wasn't sure if it was because of what happened to him, or just had something to do with this world in general since other people could see them also, but not everyone..
He had also learned from one of his talks with Yuzu when she had brought him his food that Ichigo could see ghosts, and Karin could see the outlines of them, though she had said that her and Isshin couldn't.
Also nobody else he had met appeared to be able to see them either since nobody on the street, nor Orihime and Tatsuki, were even reacting to the woman's presence which let him know that they probably couldn't see her.
Naruto would've liked to try and see if he could talk to these ghosts, maybe even see if they knew why certain people could see them, but the ghost were too fast for him to chase down in his state and almost every time he saw one there were other people around.
He wasn't going to try and talk to something what others couldn't see in public, he didn't want anyone thinking he was crazy after all. It was then that Naruto zoned back into the conversation to hear that the two girls accompanying him were now talking about school.
Naruto could only smile at the two as they were still walking a bit behind him, in order to be able to react if Naruto needed help. The two clearly didn't notice his distraction, which was good.
It wasn't long before the trio was once more in front of Orihime's apartment, and Naruto was once more faced with those dreaded stairs. "Do you need any help?" Asked Orihime in concern.
"Nah, I'll need to get used to doing this myself for in case I want to go for a walk and you're not available." Replied Naruto as he got a nod from the girl.
"Alright, but we'll be right behind you just in case." Was Tatsuki's response. Naruto nodded at the two before he began walking up the steps with both girls following behind him once more for in case something happened.
. Luckily it didn't take him too long to walk up the stairs, just a few minutes in fact, and there wasn't really any pain which once more proved his bodies improvement. As they reached the door Orihime quickly walked forward to open it.
She and Tatsuki entered first with Naruto following. He was a bit shocked when he heard a shout of "SURPRISE!" from the two girls, and was even more shocked when he saw the balloons and the banner hanging that read 'Welcome Naruto'.
"He couldn't help the smile that popped up on his face when he saw how much the girls were actually trying to make him feel welcomed. "You guy's didn't have to do all of this." Said the boy as the door was closed behind him.
"And I already told you that I wanted to." Was the reply he received from Orihime. "Come on, let's eat." She finished as she lead him over to a table where Naruto quickly caught a familiar smell.
"Is that ramen?" Asked the blond happily. It had been almost a month since he had had any ramen, and he couldn't wait to dig in. He had told Orihime during one of their conversations how much he liked the stuff.
"Yep, freshly ordered. There's also something else." Said Orihime as she brought out a cake box from the kitchen. When she opened it Naruto couldn't help but laugh. On the cake was cartoon like design of the ramen topping he was named after in icing with a cartoon version of his face, whiskers included.
He had remembered how funny Orihime seemed to find his name when she had first heard it, and could see that she had used that amusement when she had ordered the cake. "Wow, that's amazing." He said between chuckles.
"I know, right. I'm glad that they got the design just how I imagined it." Orihime said as she rested the cake on the table as well.
"Thank you, both of you, for all of this." Said the former blond as he looked at the two girls. Orihime gave him a large smile, while Tatsuki gave him a small smirk since she still had to keep her reputation as a tough girl.
"Now, let's dig in." Said Tatsuki as Orihime cheered and Naruto nodded. With that the three enjoyed the party that they had thrown. They went through until late in the evening when it was finally time for Tatsuki to go home.
"See you tomorrow, Orihime, and you too Naruto if I can make it." Said the girl as she walked out of the door.
"See you tomorrow." Repeated Orihime as she waved back at the girl.
"Come by whenever you can." Said Naruto as he also waved goodbye. Orihime then got up a and helped Naruto to his feet since they had been sitting on the floor.
"Well now that the party is over, why don't you go and take a shower. I'll bring you some clothes to wear." Said the girl as she went to get him some new clothes to change in to. Naruto quietly made his way towards the bathroom.
As he reached the door Orihime had returned with another set of clothes in hand. "Here you go, and let me know if you need anything else." She said as she turned to head back into the room.
Naruto smiled as he entered the bathroom to get cleaned up for bed. He was glad that Orihime was so nice. As he finished he exited the bathroom and went towards the room. He made sure to knock on the door instead of just barging in.
"You can come in." Said the voice of Orihime, which allowed Naruto entrance. The girl was smiling at him as he walked in. "I'm glad to see that you managed okay." Said Orihime as, even though she was willing to help Naruto, she wasn't ready to help him with things like bathing.
"Yeah, you can go in now if you want." Replied Naruto to which Orihime nodded. She then gathered up her own necessities and began heading towards the bathroom.
"You can use the same futon as you did when you were here first. If you're tired then you don't have to wait up." She replied as she left the room. Naruto just nodded as he laid upon the futon.
He couldn't help but once more think about what his life had become. He also found himself wondering what everyone back home was doing, and if they were working on a way to get him back.
Hell he wondered if they had even found out that he was just in a new dimension and not dead. He knew that Sasuke wouldn't be able to sense him since he had practically no chakra, but he hoped that they hadn't given up on him yet.
Before he could dive too deep into his thoughts Orihime reentered the room. She smiled at him when she saw that he was still awake. She smiled at him as she turned off the light and entered her own futon.
"Good night, Naruto." She whispered into the darkness.
"Good night, Orihime." Was the reply from Naruto. It was quiet for a few minutes before Naruto decided to ask the question that had been bothering him for a while now. "Hey, Orihime, why exactly were you willing to take me in?" He asked.
"I already told you why. It's because I wanted to." Replied the girl. Naruto could tell that she was being honest, but he could also tell that there was another reason.
"I know that, but there's something else to it also, isn't there?" The silent gasp he heard just confirmed it for him. "Don't worry, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He took the silence to mean that she didn't want to answer, so he closed his eyes and prepared to go to sleep.
"I didn't want to be alone anymore, and I could see that you were alone as well." This was not the answer that Naruto was expecting.
"You have so many friends, though, so how can you feel alone?" He asked curiously. Orihime sat up in her futon and looked over at him.
"They're only there when I'm out or at school, but when I'm home there's nobody there. Sometimes Tatsuki comes by, but she has to leave as well. I just wanted to get away from all of that."
Naruto could hear the sadness in the girls voice as she talked, and he could sympathize. He knew about loneliness and wanting to get away from it. "Well you won't have to worry about being alone anymore for a very long time, it's not like I can go anywhere anyway." He said.
He could practically feel the warmth radiating from the smile that Orihime was no doubt giving him. "Yeah, I guess you're right." She said as, while she really wished Naruto could get better, she also didn't want to be left alone again.
"I'll see you in the morning." Said Naruto as he gave her a smile and closed his eyes to try and go to sleep.
"Yeah." Was Orihime's response as she laid back down to go to sleep as well. The prospect of not being alone when she woke up was exciting. It would be just like back when her brother was alive, to have someone else there with her.
With these thoughts Naruto and Orihime finally drifted off to sleep with both having pleasant dreams. At the moment none of their worries were important, they were just happy they had someone they could relate somewhat to.
xxXXxx
It was two weeks later that Naruto was walking around town. He had walked Orihime to school. Tatsuki had came up with the excuse that Naruto was a relative of Orihime that was staying with her so she could take care of him.
That was because it was impossible for her friends not to find out about him, especially when Orihime accompanied him regularly on his walks that he liked to do to try and strengthen his body. They had bought the excuse easily, especially since they could see the condition he was in.
He had said his goodbyes to her and Tatsuki at the school, and had decided to do a bit more exploring. For some reason the previous night he had felt like something was off somewhere in town, but he didn't know what.
As he walked he found himself on a familiar street. Seeing as he was already in the area he decided to drop in on the clinic to see how Isshin was doing, since the Kurosaki children were most likely already in school.
As he came upon the clinic his eyes widened at what he saw. There was a large hole in the building, and both Isshin and Ichigo were standing out front, though Ichigo looked like he was getting ready to head off to school.
"What the hell happened here?" Asked Naruto in surprise, gaining the attention of the two Kurosakis.
"Oh, Naruto. I wasn't expecting to see you here today. We had a bit of an accident with a driver crashing into the house while we were sleeping without anyone noticing. Luckily nobody was hurt." As Isshin said that Naruto was quick to notice the look that crossed over Ichigo's face.
"Really, so someone crashed into your home, and none of you noticed that?" Asked Naruto, incredulously. He might've just been getting used to the vehicles of this world, but he was sure a crash that did the damage he was seeing would be extremely loud.
There was no way in hell that none of them noticed this, unless they were drugged or something. There was also the uncomfortable look on Ichigo's face and the way he was acting. Naruto could tell that something was going on, he just didn't know what.
"I see. Well, as long as everyone's okay, then I guess that's the best we can all hope for." Said Naruto with a smile on his face.
"I'll be going to school now, I'll come back home as fast as I can to help with the cleanup." Said Ichigo as he left quickly. Naruto just watched him leave before he turned back to Isshin.
"Alright, Ichigo, I'll see you later." Said Isshin as he and Naruto waved at Ichigo as he left. "It's good to see that you appear to be doing better." He finished as he addressed Naruto.
"Yeah, I've been keeping up my walking to regain some strength. It's not much, but I'm in a lot better shape than I was a month ago."
"Oh, that's good to hear. How is it living with Orihime?"
"It's actually been good. She makes sure I have everything I might need throughout the day while she's at school, and she's actually really good company. I've also been learning a bit of things I didn't know thanks to her."
He had been using Orihime's schoolbooks and other things to learn more about this world. He had only been here for around a month, so there were still a lot of things he didn't know.
Luckily he used his condition as an excuse for why he didn't know much, stating that he never really left home or went to school, which is why he wasn't privy to basic knowledge.
"Do you want to stay for a while? You can just sit and rest while I clean up a bit and we can have a talk. Naruto just nodded as he walked inside the house. Instead of sitting he moved to try and help with the cleanup.
"I want to try and push myself a bit. Don't worry I'll make sure to rest if I begin to feel too tired." Said Naruto. Isshin nodded in acceptance. He would allow it, but if he saw that Naruto looked like he was getting tired he would make him stop.
It was about three hours later that the two decided to call it quits and wait for the contractors to handle the rest,. They had talked about different subjects from how their lives were and family or friends were doing, and a few other things.
"I guess I'll be heading out now." Said Naruto as his body was finally rested enough.
"Yeah, but come swing by the clinic sometime. I'd like to run a checkup on to make sure that everything's still fine." Naruto nodded as he left. He slowly began to make his way back home, having lost the interest to explore for now.
As Naruto reentered the apartment using the spare key he had been given, he wondered what he should do. He contemplated watching TV or something, but he didn't feel like doing any of those things.
Having no better option Naruto decided to do one of the best things he did since coming to this world. He quickly sat down in his meditative pose and closed his eyes. This was one of the best things to pass the time, as when he was meditating he went into a trance.
The fact that he kept his body completely still also meant that it wouldn't cause him any pain. As he meditated Naruto could feel the Natural Energy in the air, but he could do nothing with it.
He needed to have chakra to mix it with in order to use Sage Mode, something that he was lacking at the moment. So instead he used his meditation as just a form of relaxation and something to pass the time.
As he hoped, Naruto wasn't brought out of his trance until he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see Orihime was the one shaking him. "Welcome back, Orihime." He said with a smile.
"Thanks. You've got to teach me how you do that whole meditation thing." Said the girl as Naruto had already explained what he was doing to her before when she had came upon him meditating.
He had actually scared her then as she thought that he was dead, since his body didn't look like it was moving. Naruto had had to do a lot of apologizing after that, and showed her that he was just meditating and it wasn't dangerous.
He smiled as he remembered that day, and was glad that she wasn't reacting like she had the first time anymore. "Is school already out?" Asked Naruto, to which Orihime nodded.
"Yeah, and a lot of things happened today." She said as she moved into the kitchen with a grocery bag in hand, clearly ingredients for dinner.
"Oh yeah, like what?" Asked Naruto as he didn't really have anything better to do.
"Well, this morning someone crashed into the Kurosaki's home, and we also got a new student in class today. She seems to know Kurosaki." Naruto just nodded as he had picked up that Orihime liked Ichigo, though he never brought it up.
"I knew about the accident since I went by the clinic this morning on my walk, but this new student sounds interesting." Said Naruto as he got up off the floor and entered the kitchen.
"Her name's Rukia, and she seems really nice." Said Orihime as Naruto stepped up next to her.
"That's good, and maybe you can get a next friend out of this." Orihime gave him a pensive look before she smiled.
"I was thinking the same thing." Naruto nodded as he began helping Orihime unload the grocery.
"So what's your masterpiece for tonight?" He asked as he had come to learn that Orihime liked to mix weird foods together. She did make him normal food, but Naruto had begun to try her weird style of cooking.
He actually found himself liking the weird combinations quite a bit, and had come to even enjoy them. He still preferred Ramen, but he wasn't going to force Orihime to always buy it for him when she was already doing so much for him.
I have a new combination that I wanted to try, so it'll be a surprise. I just hope you like it." Said Orihime. Naruto chuckled as he patted the girl on the head.
"Don't worry, I'll eat whatever you cook. Do you want some help or are you good?" He asked.
"Since I want it to be a surprise I'll do it on my own. You can go back to meditating or watch TV until I'm done." Naruto nodded as he walked out of the kitchen and back towards where he was.
He laid down on the floor to wait for dinner to be done since there was nothing else for him to do. He actually found himself quite happy with his life since he had no way of returning home, he might as well make the best of his situation.
xxXXxx
A few days later Naruto had begun to notice that Orihime was coming home with bruises on her body. "Jeez, Orihime, what the hell is happening to you. Everyday you come home with some new type of bruise. Is someone hurting you?" Asked Naruto as he treated a new bruise on the girls body.
"No, I'm just really clumsy." Was her reply as she refused to look at him. She was mad that her clumsiness was causing Naruto to have to worry about her. Naruto just looked at Orihime and could tell she was being honest.
"Well would you please try and be a little more careful." Said Naruto in a calm manner. He didn't want Orihime to think that he was mad or annoyed at her for something she couldn't control.
"Sure, I'll try my best." She said while giving him a determined look, which got Naruto to smile. Her personality and quirks were her best features, but he didn't want those quirks to cause her to get hurt.
"Fine, I guess that's the best that I can hope for." He said as he put the medicinal cream away that he was applying to her newest bruise. "How about something to drink?" He asked as he got up and headed towards the kitchen.
"I'd like a soda please." Said the girl, to which Naruto nodded. He walked to the fridge and opened it, but there were no sodas.
"It looks like there's no more sodas left." He said, to which Orihime released a whine.
"I guess I'll go to the store and get some." She said, which caused Naruto to look at her with a frown.
"Are you sure that's necessary, it's pretty late already." He asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, I'll be back in a few minutes. The stores not that far."
"Fine, but do you want me to come with you?" He asked as she began heading out the door.
"No, I'll be fine. I'll bring you back something too." She said as she walked out the door. For some reason Naruto felt like he should of stopped her, or at the very least went with her, but he couldn't figure out why.
It was almost twenty minutes later when Orihime came back, and the sight of her immediately caused Naruto to panic. Her left arm was bleeding, and she seemed to be favoring her right leg.
"WHAT THE HEL HAPPENED TO YOU!" He shouted the moment he saw her condition. Apparently someone had hit her with their car, and had drove off. Naruto was seriously beginning to question the drivers in this town.
He had spent the next ten minutes helping her to treat her arm and bandage it, but when he tried to see her leg she hid it. "My leg's fine, just a slight bruise." She said embarrassingly, which caused Naruto to back off.
He knew Orihime was a pure girl, so she obviously wouldn't want a guy touching certain places on her body, which he would respect. "All right, but make sure that you take care of it." Said Naruto. He wouldn't push her to do anything.
"Of course." She replied as she gave him a smile, though Naruto couldn't help but wonder what this ominous feeling was that he was getting. He had been feeling that something was wrong since the day of the accident at the clinic, and it had been getting worse.
"And try to be more careful and observant of your surroundings." He finished as he began heading to the room. It's late, and I should probably go to bed so you can go and wash up and handle your leg." He finished as he entered the room.
Orihime kept her smile up until the room door closed, then she let a grimace of pain replace it. She raised her skirt to look at her left leg and could see a massive bruise covering from below her knee to almost by her ankles.
She knew that she couldn't let Naruto see it and show him what her clumsiness had caused, so instead she had hid it. She knew that Naruto would worry too much about her, and she didn't want him to.
With that she headed to the bathroom to try and do something about the bruise and the pain. She would also have to make sure to keep her leg hidden from Naruto until the bruise healed.
Once she was done in the bathroom she went into the bedroom, and was happy to see that Naruto appeared to have fallen to sleep already. She slowly made her way over to her futon and laid down, though she couldn't help but let out a few winces.
As she finally laid down she closed her eyes to try and get to sleep, but it was a bit difficult due to the pain. Sadly she had no more pain medication, having used them the previous times she had been injured, so she would have to tough it out.
What she didn't realize was that Naruto was actually awake, and could hear all of her pained sounds. He knew that her injuries were worse than she let on, but since she wouldn't let him see it he didn't know how much.
This was one of the few times that he cursed not having his powers anymore. If he still had them then he could've healed Orihime's injuries in seconds and saved her from this pain. Now he could do nothing.
He stayed up until he finally heard Orihime's breathing evening out, showing that she was asleep. He sat up then and looked at her. "I know that you're probably trying to not worry me, but hiding you injuries is just going to make me worry more." He thought to himself.
He then looked over at her injured leg. He knew that they were out of pain meds and needed to get some, so he made up his mind to do so the next day so that Orihime wouldn't have to walk around. Luckily there was no school.
xxXXxx
The next morning Naruto awoke some time around ten in the morning. Luckily Orihime was still asleep. He quietly got up and ready before he wrote a note explaining to Orihime that he went to get medical supplies, and that she should take it easy.
He quietly left the apartment and headed off to the pharmacy to get what he needed. As he walked he began to notice that something was wrong, and he had the distinct feeling that he was being watched.
He might've lost his sensing abilities, but he still had his honed instincts. He carefully peered around to see if he could find the culprit, but he had no such luck. He continued on his journey until he finally reached the pharmacy.
He was quick to go inside to get the items he needed. After he was done with his purchases he left the pharmacy, but remained on high alert. Whatever had been watching him hadn't followed him into the pharmacy, but he could tell it was still there when he stepped out.
He contemplated what he should do at this point. While he wanted to get the meds to Orihime, he didn't want to take the chance of putting her at risk. With that thought Naruto took off in a random direction.
He probably should've done this first instead of going to the pharmacy, but he had hoped he was just being paranoid or whatever was following him would've left. He continued walking around randomly until he found a rather interesting sight before him.
There were two kids, one girl and one boy, with brooms in their hands. He figured that they were supposed to be sweeping, but only the girl seemed to be doing so. The boy, however, was doing some sort of baseball impersonation with his broom.
The girl was a little thing with purple eyes, and black hair that she wore in a pigtail fashion with her bangs hanging down the middle of her face. She wore a white t-shirt with 'Urahara Shop' written on it in pink, and a pink skirt with white dots and sandals. She also seemed to be blushing.
The boy was even smaller than the girl while having red hair. He wore the same type of shirt as the girl and blue three-quarter length trousers. "Jinta, we were told to sweep the front of the store." Said the girl, meekly.
"Yeah, and that's what you're doing." Replied the boy, Jinta.
"We were both supposed to be sweeping." Was the girls reply, which got her an annoyed look from the boy as he approached her. He then began hitting her on the head causing the girl to cry out a bit before he spoke.
"I don't feel like cleaning, so you'll do it." He said. It was at this point that Naruto decided to intervene. He walked up behind the boy and picked him up by his shirt, while secretly being glad that he could even lift the boy.
"Don't you think it's a bit pathetic for you to be picking on such a sweet girl?" He asked while Jinta began to struggle in his grasp.
"Oh yeah, and who the hell are you?" Asked the boy defiantly. He hadn't been expecting for someone to just grab him.
"Who I am is not important, but what I can do to you is. If I ever find out that you're picking on the poor girl, or making her do the work that you're both supposed to be doing then I'll…" It was at this point that Naruto whispered something into Jinta's ear.
The pure fear that appeared on the boy's face was surprising, but he still had to try and keep face. "O-h yeah, d-do you think t-that I'm scared of you?" Stuttered the boy.
"No, but I'm sure you're smart enough to know that I'm not bluffing." Said Naruto with a serious look. Jinta couldn't help the nervous gulp that he released.
"O-okay, I'll do my work and not bother her." He said as Naruto finally put him down.
"Good, I hope you both can get along better now." He then walked up to the girl and looked down at her. "What's your name?" He asked her with one of his cheerful smiles on his face.
"My name's Ururu Tsumugiya." She said.
"Well, Ururu, my name's Naruto. If Jinta here bothers you again or tries to slack off on work then come and find me so I can keep my promise to him." He said to her with a smile as he patted her head and walked off.
"Okay." Whispered Ururu to herself as she turned around and was surprised to see Junta actually doing his share of the work. It was at this point that a man exited the building that they were sweeping the front of.
He was a tall, muscular, lightly tanned man with cornrowed hair and a handlebar mustache and a pair of glasses covering his eyes. He wore a white muscle shirt, brown jeans and a blue apron.
"Who was that, Ururu?" He asked as he had seen the encounter from the inside of the shop.
"His name's Naruto, but that's all I really know." Said the girl softly.
"What about you, Jinta. You two seemed to have a bit of a conversation just now." He asked the young boy this time.
"I don't' know anything about that guy. I just wanna hurry up and finish my work." Replied Jinta a bit nervously. The man just shrugged since there didn't seem to be a problem then headed back inside.
xxXXxx
Back with Naruto whatever had been following him had finally left once he reached the area of that store with the two kids. Luckily nothing had happened since he doubted that he would've been able to protect them, though he would've damn sure tried.
He continued walking until he noticed a familiar figure in the distance. "Is that Orihime?" He thought to himself. Sure enough upon further inspection it was shown to be her. "What is she doing out?" He wondered.
He quickly approached her when he noticed that she wasn't alone. He could make out the form of Ichigo, along with the new girl, Rukia. He wondered if they were all out on some type of group thing.
He was about to go in another direction since he didn't really want to bother them, but it appeared that he had been noticed. "Naruto, is that you?" He heard the voice of Ichigo. He looked back to see that all of their attention was now on him.
Seeing as he couldn't just sneak away anymore, Naruto approached the trio. "Hey, guys, what's up?" He asked as he gave them all a wave in greeting.
"Nothing much, just dealing with a few things." Replied Ichigo. Naruto nodded as he looked over at Orihime who was also carrying a bag. Seeing as she was already there Naruto reached into his own bag and pulled something out.
"These are pain pills, take a few for your injuries." He said as he handed her the bottle of pills.
"Thanks, I really need this. I would've bought some when I went to the store to get dinner, but your letter said that you had already headed out to get them." She replied as she took two of the pills.
Naruto nodded at this as he looked over towards the third member of the group. "Rukia, right. It's been a while." He said to the girl. In truth the only set of Orihime's friends he was close to was Tatsuki and Ichigo, though for different reasons.
Those two were the only ones he really cared about, as he didn't even really remember the name's of the other set he had been introduced to at one point or another. "Yes, it has." Was Rukia's reply, which got Naruto to smirk.
For some reason the girl seemed a little tense, though he didn't know why. Was it because of him, or Orihime? Or was it because of Ichigo himself. Orihime had talked to him about this girl a lot, about how she and Ichigo seemed so close.
He wondered if Orihime had accidentally intruded on their date or something, though his attention was immediately caught by something else. It was thanks to a strong breeze moving Orihime's skirt a bit that he noticed the large bruise on her leg.
"What the hell, I thought you said it was a small bruise." He said in worry, to which Orihime's eyes widened. She hadn't been expecting to run into Naruto, having only planned on going out to get the ingredients for dinner.
Then she had gotten distracted when she had run into Ichigo and Rukia, so distracted that she had forgotten she was trying to hide her injury from Naruto. She blamed Ichigo being around for distracting her.
"It's not as bad as it looks, really." She tried to assuage him, but he was having none of that.
"Not as bad as it looks? No wonder you could hardly get to sleep last night." He said back, which caused Orihime to look at him in shock.
"You were awake?"
"Of course I was awake. I knew that you were lying to me about the extent of you injuries, but I didn't want to push you about it. Now I wish that I had." Orihime could only frown at this.
Of course she couldn't fool Naruto. He always seemed to be able to read her like a book, though she didn't know how he did it. "I'm sorry." She said, barely holding back tears. She just didn't want to worry him, but obviously she failed.
Naruto just sighed as he looked at her. "You don't have anything to be sorry for, nor do you have to be strong or anything like that for me. Just promise that if you're hurting then you'll let me know so I can help you like you do me." He said which caused her to smile.
"Okay, I promise." She said, which caused Naruto to smile at her.
"Good, now let's get you home so you can get off that leg." He said as the two began to leave. "We'll see you guys later." He said to Ichigo and Rukia, to which the duo agreed as they left as well.
As the reached back home Naruto quickly went about treating the bruise on Orihime's leg, which she allowed him to do. Once he was done the two of them made some small talk about how their days went and stuff.
xxXXxx
Later that evening Naruto was given a pleasant surprise as Tatsuki had come over with food to hang out for the evening. He hadn't seen the karate-loving girl in a few days due to her clubs, so he was glad that she had managed to find the time to visit.
The three of them quickly sat down and began catching up where they had to. Naruto was enjoying himself quite a bit before he began getting that ominous feeling that he had been getting.
Soon a stuffed animal dropped off of the table in the room, with Orihime moving to pick it up and complaining about it being ripped. "What's this… Looks like… Blood." It came as a surprise to Naruto when a hand burst out of the stuffed animal and pierced Orihime's body after she spoke, causing it to fall to the floor..
"ORIHIME!" Was the shout of Naruto and Tatsuki as they saw the body hit the floor, though Naruto was quick to notice when another Orihime appeared in the room with a chain connected to her chest leading to her body.
He watched as Tatsuki began fretting over Orihime, having no idea about the attacker now in their midst. Her not being able to see this thing was sure to make things harder, but there was nothing he could do about that.
"You all took her from me." Spoke a sinister voice as the full body of whatever had attacked Orihime appeared. It had the upper body of a man, and the lower part was snakelike while it was wearing a bone looking mask and had black hair and a hole in its chest.
"What the hell is that thing?" Asked Naruto in a worried voice, though the worry wasn't for him. He knew that Orihime was dead, having seen other spirits with the chain sticking out of their chest.
He noticed that the chain was connected to both the body and the spirits, so he hoped that that meant he could still save her somehow. Before he could think on doing anything the creature lunged at Tatsuki, ready to rip into her with its claws.
Naruto pushed his body to the limit as he tackled the creature before it's attack could land, sending it crashing into the wall and denting it, but he had hurt himself in the process as well. "Get out of here, Tatsuki" He said, but the girl didn't move.
"What's going on? How the hell did you do that to the wall?" She asked as she couldn't understand what was going on. That was obviously going to be a problem.
"Don't worry, I'll protect both of you." Said Naruto as he looked at Tatsuki, then at Orihime while making sure she knew he was talking to her as well. She nodded at him, to which he returned it.
Before anything more could be said the creature rushed back at Naruto. The former Shinobi tried to dodge, but he just wasn't fast enough. The creature easily caught him and began pummeling and scratching his body, but Naruto didn't mind.
As long as this thing was focused on him, it wouldn't be targeting any of the girls. He tried to fight back, but he just wasn't strong enough anymore. "What's happening!" Pleaded Tatsuki for information.
She rushed towards Naruto, but that was a mistake. With her in reach the creature attacked, slashing at her body and sending her flying into the wall. "Why am I bleeding? What is going…" Were the thoughts of Tatsuki before she fell over.
It was then that the creature tried to move towards her prone form, but a hand gripped its tail tightly. "Leave her alone, ugly. If you want a fight then come at me." Said Naruto as he forced himself to his feet while being covered in blood.
"Yes, you are the main one. The one she chose to replace me in her life." Said the creature to the confusion of Naruto. He had no idea what this thing was talking about, but he had to do something to stop it.
As the creature tried to rush him it was tackled by the spirit form of Orihime. "Naruto, are you okay?" She asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I am. Help Tatsuki, she can't see what's going on. I'll continue to distract this thing." Said Naruto, but Orihime denied his request.
"No, you're too injured. If you take any more damage then you'll die." She said as she could see the shape his body was in.
"And you're already dead, but there might be a chance to save you." Was his reply. Before any of them could speak again the creature did.
"It's over, Orihime. That boy is already as good as dead, and the girl can neither see or hear us."
"How do you know my name?" Asked Orihime a bit frightfully.
"How sad that you've even forgotten my voice." Said the creature before he lunged at her. Naruto was about to move to protect her, but someone beat him to it. He was quite surprised to see Ichigo with a huge ass sword and wearing weird clothes.
"Kurosaki!" Was the surprised whisper from Orihime as she saw him. It was at this moment that Naruto felt the darkness creeping in, but he wouldn't let it take hold of him. He knew he was finished, and could only hope that Ichigo could handle the rest.
He had managed to stay awake to watch the fight and hear the conversations that followed, like the creature being Orihime's brother, and how he thought Naruto and the others were taking her away from him.
He also learned how the creature had run away from home with Orihime when he was eighteen due to how their parents were. The most surprising thing to happen was when Orihime hugged her brother when he had attacked her and had a heartfelt conversation with him.
She explained that she wanted him to know that she was happy and he didn't have to worry about her. She then proceeded to faint after that, but then to Naruto's surprise Rukia showed up.
She explained how Orihime could still be saved, which made Naruto happy. He then watched and listened as Ichigo had a talk with the creature. This seemed to have the effect of bringing him back to his senses as he asked Ichigo to kill him as he broke off his mask.
His focus was then caught by Rukia who seemed to be healing Orihime. He watched as the creature, that he guessed was named a Hollow based on the conversation, approached Rukia and Orihime.
"Then… Goodbye, Orihime." Said the Hollow in a now more human voice. Naruto could see the smile that formed on Orihime's face from his position on the floor, and heard her reply as the Hollow started to disintegrate.
"Goodbye,,, Brother." And with that the Hollow disappeared with a smile on his face as well. The last surprise of the night came when Orihime mentioned that she wanted to ask Ichigo a few things, but then Rukia released a strange gas in her face.
He heard how Rukia had used something that would alter Orihime's memories, which he was kind of glad for, but he hoped they didn't try and use it on him. His fears soon came true as Rukia had decided to use the device on him and Tatsuki as well.
xxXXxx
The next morning Naruto found himself waking up in his futon and he was alone in the room, with all of the injuries he had sustained last night missing. "Wait, I remember, but how?" Thought the blond as he was sure that Rukia had gassed him, which had finally made him pass out.
He got up and walked into the front room to make sure that his memories were real, and sure enough the hole was still in the wall from where Ichigo had been thrown through it. "So obviously their memory device didn't work, but was it just for me or all of us?" He wondered.
It wasn't long before he heard the voice of Orihime behind him. "Good morning, Naruto." He turned around to see that she was already dressed for school, and wasn't even reacting to the hole in the wall.
"What happened yesterday?" He asked casually while gesturing to the wall. He wanted to see if their device had effected Orihime. He watched as her eyes widened in surprise.
"Don't you remember the sumo wrestler that came here and shot a bazooka at the wall?" She asked in surprise.
"So that's what happened, huh?" Asked Naruto to which Orihime nodded. He could immediately tell that she was lying and trying to hide the truth from him. She knew that wasn't the truth, which meant that she wasn't effected either.
That made him wonder about the last member of their trio from last night. If none of them had their memories changed, then it only stood to reason that the same could be said for Tatsuki.
"Alright then, but tell Tatsuki that I'd like to see her as soon as she's available. And also make sure she's okay since she was here too." He aid to which Orihime nodded as she left for school.
"What was all of that stuff last night, and what the hell are Ichigo and Rukia?" He whispered to himself. He was especially wondering about Rukia and if she might be able to repair his chakra networks.
xxXXxx
Over the next few weeks Naruto continued to try and observe and figure things out, but it was hard due to his condition. He had noticed a lot of things now that he was more aware. He had also began to notice when Orihime began acting weirder and weirder.
One of the things they did was went to a live show which was being held at an abandoned hospital. Once more one of those Hollows had appeared after the star of the show had broken the spirit that was trapped there's chain.
He had once more seen Ichigo take on his weird form, though this time he was helped by some guy in a hat that was with the two kids Naruto had talked to a few weeks ago, Jinta and Ururu.
Ichigo and the star of the show had quickly dealt with the Hollow, while everyone else around seemed to think it was part of the show. He had also noticed that both Tatsuki and Orihime were both able to see what happened to different degrees.
Also one of the main things that had happened was the town somehow being overrun by those hollow things, with a massive one showing up at the end. Now that had been a bad day for Naruto.
Most especially because he couldn't even do anything to help during the situation. He had been forced to stay in the hotel room that he and Orihime had moved into since they got kicked out of her old apartment.
Orihime wasn't home that night, which had caused even more worry for him. Luckily she had returned home safely, but that was when she had began acting even stranger and he knew she was hiding something.
Soon Orihime began coming home late and tired, as if she had been training or something. He had questioned her about what was going on, but she always refused to tell him. Then came the surprising conversation that they had a few hours ago, with summer vacation having started.
Apparently Orihime was going to be out of town for a while, but she wouldn't tell him why. She had asked Tatsuki to check up on him while she was gone since apparently she didn't know how long she'd be gone for.
She had also asked him if he wanted to go to some fireworks ceremony, but he didn't really feel like it. He was still going to go though, since he wanted to try and figure out what was going on.
He had found that he actually enjoyed the festival, and had even ran into the rest of the Kurosaki family there. They had all ended the night by watching the fireworks display, which he found to be amazing.
A few more days passed by and he could tell that Orihime was appearing more and more worried by the day, but sadly she was still not willing to talk about what was going on. Today Naruto had pretended to go to bed early, as he didn't want to deal with her right now.
Almost three hour later he heard the room door open up. "Naruto, are you awake?" He heard Orihime ask, but he didn't answer. He heard as she entered the room fully and walked up to his bed.
"I know that you're worried about me, but I promise I'll be fine. When I come back we'll be able to go back to how things were, and I wont have to hide things from you anymore." She whispered.
Naruto knew she was only saying this stuff because she thought he was asleep, but for now he'd just listen. "I'll be leaving in a few hour, but there's something I want to try and do before I go, and I can only do it while you're not aware." She said.
Naruto was silently wondering what it was that Orihime wanted to try and do, and why he had to be unaware of her doing it. He then heard as she began to speak again. "Twin God Reflection Shield, I reject." Before Naruto could question what was going on he noticed a bright light.
Instantly Naruto felt something changing inside his body. He didn't know why, but he was beginning to feel better than he had in a long while. Just as quickly as the light had appeared it disappeared.
He waited with baited breath to see what would happen next, but all he heard was Orihime's disappointed grumble. "It didn't work." He could hear the sadness in her voice and wanted to comfort her, but she quickly left the room.
As she did Naruto sat up in his bed. His eyes widened in shock and amazement as he began to feel something he hadn't felt in months, his chakra supply growing. He didn't know how, but Orihime had just repaired his chakra network, though his body was still in bad shape.
He wasn't worried about it though since he knew his body would return to what it once was when his chakra refilled. It was here that he noticed another sensation, something that he thought he had lost.
With a giddy and hopeful smile on his face Naruto began to concentrate, and soon found himself in a familiar set of sewer tunnels. "Yes, he's still here." Said the boy in excitement as he ran down the halls towards a familiar destination.
It didn't take him long before he reached a familiar set of bars, though he had to wonder why they were closed. He quickly ran up to the bars and looked inside, and to his great relief he saw the form of Kurama.
The giant fox was asleep, and was sealed up the same way Naruto had done after he first fought him for his chakra. "Don't worry, buddy, I'm here now." Said Naruto as he raised his shirt.
Instantly the key for the seal appeared on his arm, which he quickly used to open the seal. He watched as the gate opened and the ones holding Kurama down disappeared. It wasn't long before Naruto saw movement from the fox, before a large slitted red eye opened.
"Welcome back, partner." He said as the giant fox seemed to come to his senses.
"What the hell happened, brat?" Asked the fox, to which Naruto gave him a confused look.
"You don't remember?" He asked.
"Remember what?" Naruto sighed at this while he held out his fist. Kurama wasted no time and bumped fist with him. After a few seconds Kurama had the full story. "So we're in a different dimension, but none of us remembers how we got here, or how I got resealed?"
"It seems so."
"Well then I guess we have no choice now but to get you back to full power and find a way back home." Said the fox, which immediately caused the two of them to grin. Kurama instantly pumped some chakra into Naruto and filled his reserves.
They both watched as Naruto's body quickly reverted back to what it used to be, white hair returning to blond, deteriorated muscles regaining mass, and all of the scars he had somehow received instantly disappearing.
Naruto was ecstatic to have his power and his body back to what it was. "Ah, it's good to be back, and good to have you back as well." Said Naruto while addressing Kurama.
"Yep, it's good to be awake again. I really don't know how you survived so long without me, brat, especially with those Hollows running around." Naruto just smiled at the fox's teasing tone.
He had really missed all of this, and was glad to have it back. He wasn't going to be taking his abilities for granted anymore, that was for sure. "Hey, brat, you've got company." As Kurama said this Naruto could already sense who it was.
"Yeah, I guess I'll see you later."
"Sure, I'll be here." With that Naruto left his mindscape. As soon as he opened his eyes he saw the shocked look that Orihime was giving him, as well as all of the items floating around the room.
Apparently in his excitement to have his chakra and friend back, he had allowed his power to run wild. Thus his chakra had began lifting things off the ground and shaking the room a bit, which had scared Orihime and made her run back into the room.
Imagine her surprise when she saw Naruto and his new, read as old, look. She couldn't stop the blush that appeared on her face as now Naruto looked completely different, and his shirt had somehow gotten blown off to reveal the chiseled body beneath.
"Hey, Orihime, I think it's time we had a talk." Said the blond as he gave her one of his signature grins. All the poor girl could do was nod as she stepped into the room, knowing that this was going to be a long conversation.
xxXXxx
I'm finally finished. This chapter just covered a few basic incidents since I doubted that you guys wanted to see a bunch of chapters with a powerless Naruto getting taken care of and not being able to do anything.
I was glad when some of my readers saw what I was planning to do with Orihime, as I literally stated that all he needed was someone to heal his chakra network for him to get his power back and she's the only one that could do it.
The whole situation with him being powerless was just to get him closer to Orihime, since I could never understand the stories where Naruto pulls up and Orihime immediately forgets her crush on Issei.
Also the reason that Naruto didn't just instantly heal was because he had no real physical damage, but chakra exhaustion. That's why his body was still in its deteriorated state before he got his chakra refilled.
Naruto will now be heading off with the others to the Soul Society next chapter, so that's going to be interesting. I was also thinking about making Tatsuki one of the girls in the harem, but I'd like to know what you guys think.
This isn't a vote thing, I'm just asking the opinion of my readers since I feel that she deserves some love. Anyway as always please read, review, and enjoy.