Don't be my friend
There was a waterfall and a nice island in a middle of a lake. It looked as the perfect place to meditate and find his center.
Instead of that, Ichigo was dodging the blades of a water clone. The last swing of the clone almost cut out Ichigo head, he had no idea what would happened if something killed the gigai. It would just be poetic justice that a death God was killed by a plain regular sword.
Killer B laughed from time to time, his voice ringing in the place like an insufrable echo. Chad at his side was sharpening a kunai and was definitely not looking at Ichigo struggle.
He had no sword but somehow he was supposed to win against an armed opponent. In his human body he could do it, even without any riatsu to help him his reflexes and strength was top notch, and with riatsu he could even let the sword hit his neck and let the Quincy blood do it's magic.
Ichigo ducked again and felt his breathing ragged. Instead of thinking about his body he was better out trying to figure out the clone weakness. One that didn't require Ichigo exposing himself to the blades. He took distance and looked at the fake Killer B form: a sword in each hand, firm steps that made a watery sound and he always struck first with the right.
As he couldn't attack the upper body without risking being pierced, he ran to the clone and before the sword could hit his face, he made a dash to its feet and kicked with all his force and zero restraint. The clone collapsed after the hit.
The water felt heavy on his hair and it damped his new Ninja attire.
"Oh! Well done, Ichi!" B jumped to the lake and walked over the water. Ichigo knew that shinigami and high riatsu beings practically could fly but ninjas walking over the water was somehow cooler. Ghosts don't touching the floor was to be expected, humans don't sinking in the water, that was amazing.
"When do I learn to do that?" He said as he pointed with his head at Killer B feet, that were still over the water.
"Ya really don't have Ninja training, do ya?" Killer B gave him a white grin before making a jump towards Ichigo side, failing over his two feet without raising any dust "Do ya know what chakra is?"
Ichigo just blinked in confusion.
Kon woke up with all his muscles aching and his head in disarray. Something wasn't right... He listened to his heart and then he opened his eyes.
He raised a hand in front of the eyes. It was almost like Ichigo's, but Kon had been enough times in the substitute shinigami body to recognize the feeling, and something was really wrong with the body apart from the ache.
He would have screamed but a hand was fast over his mouth and a familiar face loomed over him, in the darkness of the night he could only make out the features of spiky hair and a permanent scowl.
"Listen, Kon...don't make any sound. Don't even nod or anything... Can you sense it? There is someone else in the room" the mod Soul blinked and stretched his senses just to feel an unknown riatsu "I just need to walk, you just sleep, understood?"
Ichigo tone was serious and Kon nodded even if he didn't had any idea of where he was or what was wrong with the body. As everything ached, so he went to sleep again.
And that was his normal rutine during two days, until Ichigo decided to use his pill on the afternoon.
"OK, I'm going out. Remember, pretend to be sick until I return...Ninjas gets sick? Don't they?" the shinigami asked his friend Chad, that was behind Ichigo and in front of Kon, so the body of Ichigo was facing his friend and they looked as if they were talking.
Chad raised a thumb up and Ichigo answered with the same sign.
"Ninjas?" Kon muttered and tried to grab Ichigo sleeve but the boy was away in a fast succession of shumpos. "What the..."
...
Even if riashi was different, Ichigo still found soaring in the sky being the same. He was free and above everything on the ground, like if those things and him were in complete different places.
Ghosts, hollows and shinigami, fights to the death and enemies lurking in the shadow, even before changing dimension, his life was like a manga character, unreal and belonging to another plane of existence than the rest.
It was something he didn't like to think about, but when the alternative was thinking about Bach destroying the world he had very little to pass the time on his travel towards Konoha.
He focused more energy on his steps and tried to quiet his thoughts a little, focusing in the trees below and the small figures that jumped on them. More than once he saw small skirmishes but he found no reason to stop them.
Finally, after two hours of shumpo, he was back at Konoha gates. The two men on the inside post looked pretty bored, unable to see Ichigo they were just waiting for someone visible to cross the gates.
"Have you heard, another body was stolen from the graveyard" one the ninjas said to the other, more to make small talk than any need to share information.
"Yes, I'm surprised no one has been captured. Do you think it was Oro..."
Ichigo didn't bother to listen their small chatter. Instead he headed towards the riatsus of Uryu and Orihime.
He stopped outside a small house with a very nice front yard. It didn't look to fit with Aizen's bland tastes. It lacked enough white and minimalist touches so Ichigo hesitated to get inside.
Ichigo was wondering what to do, when the wooden door opened and there was Uryu, the Quincy just waved Ichigo to get inside and the shinigami walked in.
The place was pretty empty and only had an oven, a small freezer and a cupboard. On the floor there were a lot of books and scroolls in boxes.
Orihime ran to him, she was almost bouncing and giving Ichigo a shinning smile, one of her hands was waving to him too. "Hello, Ichigo! How have you been?"
"Hi!" Ichigo answered, relief flowing over him to see after seeing her fine. Uryu leaned against the door watching the scene, completely safe and sound too. At least Aizen hadn't done anything to his friends "I'm fine, are you fine, Orihime?"
"Yes! Aizen has not been as I expected.. Grimmjow has behaved...and Uryu and me normally share three shifts on the hospital, so I'm almost always with him" Orihime had a thing for always jumping from one point to another, and Ichigo was grateful for that. She covered all the bases lousy but fast.
"Do you want something to eat?" Uryu passed Ichigo and turned to the fridge.
"Yes. And some water"
Aizen arrived half an hour later and Ichigo had to do almost a double take. The man looked half dead, his skin was pale and his lips were white, the eyes were reddish and his steps were almost uncoordinated.
"So, you have arrived, Ichigo Kurosaki?" His voice was still as smooth as ever "Next time bring the gigai with you, I would like to analyse it. Come!"
Ichigo wanted to ask his friends what happened to him, but knew it wasn't the right time.
The ex-Captain lead him to the basement and whispered a kiddo that made the ground part away, showing stairs to a secret laboratory. Urahara underground lair had been much more bigger. Aizen's was so small and..
"I had been busy, pretty few time to expand the facility" Aizen said before Ichigo could made any remark and then the man began to talk again in a pretty arrogant voice "I, alone have to cast the kiddos, design the layout, the ingenery and the building, adding to the fact I have to make more sustainable gigais for three beings with high riatsu using as base bodies that are different than the ones in our world. And lastly I have to work as a doctor, I believe you can understand the deficiencies at the moment"
Ichigo nodded. Feeling sorry for Aizen again. Even if the man had sounded arrogant and smug, and there was a small cooky smile on his face, overworking himself made Aizen lose his edge in acting.
Poor lonely Aizen, working alone Aizen. Feeling undepreaciated Aizen.
Ichigo had to divert his gaze to stop any sign of pity crossing his face, his eyes found a body in a vertical tub, it looked almost faceless and without any distinctive signal on its skin.
"That would be your gigai" Aizen opened the tub and the water flowed to the ground, wetting Aizen sandals. The man hands catched the body before it dropped and carried it to a table, Ichigo observed there were other tubes, two had marks with Grimmjow name on it, another one Ichigo's and on the end of the room the last two tubes lacked label "This time the synchronization would take time, Grimmjow was unconscious eigth hours and five minutes. It's for the better, your last gigagi was more likely poisoning you, but after research in Grimmjow's and my own gigai I have been able to make something more fitting for the spiritual body"
Ichigo looked at Aizen sick form again. He couldn't clash swords, so the man Soul was out of reach, but he suspected the man was in pain. Aizen riatsu was probably bigger than Ichigo's, and from his memory he could remember the older man tainted energy, even before the Hogyaku.
"I'm fine, Ichigo Kurosaki. I too will change gigai in a while so what I have done to this body doesn't matter"
The teen just smiled and Aizen eyebrows raised at that.
The older shinigami called out for Orihime and once the girl and Uryu were downstairs Ichigo went inside the gigai, feeling drowsy and his eyelids heavy. Aizen watched everything from the other end of the room, in another table, he had his gigai ready and Orihime had put a shield between her group and him.
He had to do the shift fast.
Ichigo woke up in a soft bed, he could see the wall of the neighbor's house outside the window and he felt pretty calm. He raised a hand in front of his eyes and looked at a perfect imitation of his real one.
"Good morning! Ichigo!" Orihime entered the room carrying a plate of food "Did you sleep well?"
"Uhmm" Ichigo mumbled, and the girl just nooded, leaving on the night table the plate "It's Saturday, so I have to work from seven to four, Uryu is with me...haha, the hospital schedule is a chaos"
Orihime bid him farewell and Ichigo just stared at the celling.
Ichigo breathed hard and finally raised out of the bed, at the other side of the room there was a bed with girly sheets and the one he was in had a Quincy cross. Ichigo almost dropped to the ground when he noticed it.
He had to rationalize that it was quite obvious that Ishida and Orihime shared room, after all they could be killed by Aizen or Grimmjow if they were alone... Yes that was it.
He still felt rage towards it. Darn, it was all Aizen fault.
Ichigo decided to eat and after that he went searching for the man, he felt more aggravated that he had to borrow Ishida's clothes.
He walked about half an hour before finding the overlord eating on a food stand, all the traces of tiriness gone and fresh as spring water.
"Good morning, Ichigo Kurosaki"
In the big list of reasons to hate Aizen, the man feigning modals was pretty high. He wanted to punch that mocking face but when it was on his 'kind mode' it was almost impossible.
He sighted in defeat.
Naruto was walking on the street, his small wallet almost empy and yet another exam at the corner of the month. He would make it somehow and be Hokage!
He halted in his steeps when he saw the strange man of a few days ago on a food stall. His wavy brown hair was different to the normal straight hair of Konoha, enough to make it noticeable for Naruto even at the distance. The man was talking with a younger person. A teen with orange hair and a frown on his face.
Naruto got nearer to listen to them. His Ninja skills were good enough to not be noticed by civilians like them. But before he could get close the young man cocked his head a little and his eyes pierced at Naruto form. He said something and the old man turned to look at Naruto.
At first, the stranger had a poker face, but once he saw Naruto his features became warmer (at least on Naruto eyes). The friend of the old man whispered something and went away.
The boy observed the welcoming face of the man, from the tender smile to the softness in his eyes. He resembled the Old Hokage when the grandpa wanted to talk with Naruto. It was an invitation to approach.
Naruto walked confidently to the old man once he couldn't see the carrot head. He didn't have any idea of what he was going to do once he approached the man, but Naruto was never stopped by that before.
"Hello, old man!" He said as he sat on the chair next to the foreigner, the waiter gave Naruto one of those looks and ignored him. He wasn't bothered by that at all, he told himself. Even then he smiled with more force than necessary.
"I'm Sosuke Aizen, that's how I prefer to be called" the stranger introduced himself without losing his warm voice.
Naruto blinked before nodding. The man was bookish or something, so he expected being corrected in his manners sooner or later, but the soft kindness was surprising.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm going to be the next Hokage! Believe it!" He introduced himself loudly and some of the people in the other end of the stall began to whisper beteween them.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto Uzumaki" Aizen said with a smile, his brown eyes having a ligth in them, and Naruto felt a torrent of pride swelling in his chest. He had been recognized! His dream have yet to be seen as a clown dream at that moment. The man had said nothing about that, but in Naruto head the lack of mocking or condescending smile was enough proof that his dream was taken seriously "Hokage? As the leader of this place?"
"Yep, I'm going to be one of them! And everyone will recognize me! Believe it!" He nodded proudly at his own idea and waited the man response.
"I take you are going to study to be a ninja, am I right?"
"Already am!" Naruto gave himself a fist in the chest as he said those words. From the corner of his eyes he catched Aizen smile fadding and he felt lost at the change of demeanor.
"How old are you, Naruto?" Aizen asked with a serious voice.
"Twelve.. Why ol..I mean, why Mr. Aizen?" Naruto had been asked that same question before. He felt a small chill on the pit of his stomach. being born the same year (and day) of the kyube attack was apparently bad, because once people knew that they gave him dirty looks. As if he was tainted.
"You are quite young" the man shacked his head and his smile returned "You become Ninja until being sixteen or eighteen..no?"
"No. In two months more I will become a true ninja" Naruto felt at ease talking about something he knew but others didn't "At thirteen everyone should be out of the academy and become a genin"
"I see. Do you want anything to eat?"
Naruto answered with a fast "yes" and Aizen asked the waiter to bring the boy the dish he wanted. The woman was almost unable to hide her disgust at Naruto and for a brief moment he feared that Aizen would notice and put distance between them.
Instead, the man made ignored the women and did more questions about the ninja curriculum and about what was expected of Naruto outside the Academy, listening to Naruto with interest and making him feel more recognized than ever.
At the night, in a empty place, Ichigo was inside his gigai and near him Orihime stod, watching her friend with a little of melancholy.
"Give my regards to Chad!" Orihime said as she waved Ichigo, the evening wind made her long hair fluter and the smile on her face was as honest as always so he mirrored her expression and nooded.
"Tch!" Grimmjow growled from his spot a few meters away from Ichigo, his white Espada uniform and the sword almost gave Ichigo a bitter taste on his mouth. They were allies and Orihime could defend herself, but there were still bitter memories of Grimmjow piercing Rukia gut with glee. The Arrancar was looking away as he said "The coast is clear, no Soul around us, so get out of the fake body and let's fight"
Ichigo wanted to laugh at that. Aizen orders were getting out of the city unnoticed and for that he needed to use shumpo and carry the gigai over all the way from the clear they were to Kumo. Fighting wasn't in the plan, and Ichigo was glad of that.
Aizen had odd ways to amuse himself, and he could pretty well planned a fight in the middle of the city, but this time the crazy man just delivered the orders and went to his lab.
Ichigo used his badge and catched the gigai before storming out of the village.
The guards at the gate only felt a small break of the wind, but no chakra was perceived on their radars.
To be continued.