It's probably the worst fic on the fandom. Well, not quite. But still. I would delete it, but idk, perhaps someone likes it? O mean, I have liked to read fics that are... really, really bad. So, who knows?

Before the start

Ichigo came back to find Kon trying to keep tears at bay, Chad was looking at everything in his normal quiet way and Killer-B was laughing loudly. The reason was that another ninja was controlling Ichigo's gigai with a kind of straw doll. How it happened? Ichigo had no idea but he wanted to punch someone already.

"Help!" Kon screamed as he was forced to walk like a duck. It would be funny if the person being controlled didn't have Ichigo's face. The ninja with the Vudu doll just grinned and made it jump.

She was a strange woman, lacked two teeth and had one that was beyond saving. Her hair looked as it had been bleached too many times and her skin was slightly lighter that what was the norm in Kumo. But her headband was proudly set in the place it should and Killer-B and Chad didn't see her as a problem.

So Ichigo shouldn't.

"Help me!" Kon tried again, his eyes watching Ichigo as if he was his only hope. Ichigo wanted to roll his eyes. Instead, he jumped at the side of the woman and did what any invisible person would do. He touched her left shoulder and as she turned her face to her left, he whispered "Bu".

"Kya!" the woman let go of the doll and searched the invisible person right in front of her. The ninja's scared eyes didn't find anything, but she looked as if she had been touched by a ghost to everyone that didn't knew better.

"What's the problem?" Killer-B asked, his hand on a kunai ready for the attack.

"Something touched me! A bad spirit! Oh, no! I must go!" the woman stood up and began to play with her hands "I must clean my chakras! It was a pleasure to meet you. Little Ichi and Big Chad!"

The woman bolted as fast as her legs allowed her and Kon looked at her retreating form as if she was her number one enemy.

"That chick is crazy!" he said as he walked towards the doll, moving slightly to avoid to touch Ichigo as he reached for the doll "Why did you made me give her my hair? She could have killed me"

"Where would had been the fun there" Killer-B said as he raised two thumbs ups. Ichigo and Kon wore the exact same face of judgment and raised eyebrow. The man ignored them and watched the retreating back of the woman jumping the stairs "Shame she is kinda crazy. Believing in ghosts and that crazy stuff"

There was a weaver on his voice, a hint that wasn't lost to any of the other guys, but only Kon had the means and the spirit to push the man's buttons.

"Ghost are real" Kon sung. Killer-B crossed his arms and waited for what he believed would be Ichigo's story with ghosts. Kon grinned and smiled, then his voice became a whisper as if he was telling the dark secrets of the afterlife "They are everywhere even if you can't see them. They watch you even in the brightest day or darkest night. They follow you at every hour, on your shadows or on your clothes. There is no scape from them, and once they get hungry, they would kill you to devour your soul"

"That sounds more like a demon" Killer-B said, a small hint of fear on his voice. Ichigo couldn't blame him, there was an strange quality on Kon's voice that was eery, probably because he was an artificial soul.

"That's because they were humans once" Kon shrugged as if didn't matter, then, with heavy tone followed "So, don't be surprised if one kills you in your sleep"

"Ha! You don't believe in that, right Chad?"

"It's true" Chad said evenly and began to walk away from the practice ground. Kon following behind. Ichigo looked at the doll, now on Kon's hand, the reminder of the prank of Killer-B. So Ichigo did what he had to do.

He tapped Killer-B shoulder, dodged a Kunai and went to the other side of his face to say what he had to say.

Killer-B scream was high pitched and Ichigo laughed at that.

"What did Aizen Say?" Chad asked. Ichigo was back on his gigai and was playing with the small green ball that had Kon's soul. Both were walking to their quarters and everything looked pretty safe.

"Not that much. Advances were made but it could take years unless we find a way to get the codes of the secrets scrolls of the ninjas. He said there are rules in this worlds he hasn't figured yet but ninjas have"

"How are Uryu and Orihime?"

"As well as they could be" Ichigo answered, thinking back at Orihime saying all was right. Aizen was an odd person, worst, a cunning son of a...Ichigo closed his eyes and forced himself to relax. He trusted Uryu and Orihime was smart too. If anyone was forced to spend time with Aizen those two were the ones that could do it and still remain sane.

"What do you think we should do?"

"When I was back there" Ichigo didn't say Konoha, the only spiritual presence near by wasn't near enough, it was better to be cautious in some aspects ",there were talks about the next chunin exam"

Chad nodded and took Kon's from Ichigo hand. It was safer that way. The same reason that let Ichigo do neat ninja tricks caused his gigai to fall into gengutsu. And as the air around them got heavier, Ichigo could felt the spiritual energy of a ninja wanting to cast a jutsu over them.

Ichigo rested his hand on the handle of his sword, took some air and said something about the dry weather to Chad. They would look as just two other soldiers making their walk to home without knowing any better. Or so Ichigo hoped. Just because he didn't want to fight so near the village and cause any damage.

The person vanished in a twirl and Ichigo watched turned to the point where the spiritual precense had been, noticing the enemy had gone away without leaving a trace. It was strange, sadly, not the strangest thing.

He frowned and continued walking. He had a lot of thinking to do.

That night, they reported the strange encounter, but it was labeled as a paranoia incident, far more common that what Ichigo knew, sighting of enemies that were never there was something that even seasoned veterans did.

Killer-B didn't explain that, instead preferred to recount his own experience with a ghost.

"But that meant nothing, ghosts ain't real after all" Killer-B said with a laugh "Ichihime, boy, what the long face"

"When we were out of town, I heard about a ninja test" Ichigo said without mincing his words.

"The chunin exam? This year is in Konoha and we didn't plan to send anyone, but if you wanna go, I can make it work!"

Ichigo was really surprised how easy that was. Really easy, but if there was something brewing under the layers, he was sure that Uryu or Aiden would figure it sooner than later. So Ichigo nodded.

Killer-B did his signature thumbs up and went to talk with his brother. A week later, Ichigo, Chad and a ninja named Kiro were walking to Konoha along other four teams. Killer-B had instructed them all to win.

Ichigo planned to do just that.

"So that's how you duplicate yourself" Mr. Aizen said in awe, a bright smile on his face as he looked at Naruto and two of his shadow clones "As expected of someone that would be Hokage"

"Haha!" Naruto rubbed his neck embarrassed. It felt good to know that someone had faith on him. Naruto thought that the feeling was akin of what a son feels when their parent cheered on them. He loved that feeling "I know"

"Again, thanks for bringing me those rocks. I needed them to do toxicity research's. I hope my research would help a lot of people" Mr. Aizen smile was grateful as he spoke and Naruto wanted to bask on it. He had never been so wanted on his entire life that he just wanted that moment to last forever.

For him, Mr. Aizen was his most important person. That thought brought back a memory of a child dieing in a bridge. Haku, kind and nice, had just seen himself as a weapon even if he loved as any other person in the world. Perhaps more.

"Mr. Aizen?"

"Yes?"

"They say that us, ninja, are only tools. But we are human" he said out loud, without being sure of what he wanted to say, his memory going back to the stares full of hatred for what Naruto had inside, and the words of the academy instructors about what a ninja should be "I'm human too"

"I understand" Mr. Aizen put a fatherly hand over Naruto's head, ruffled his hair and then, he walked two steps ahead of Naruto, and turned his head to look at Naruto over his shoulder "Just be you, Naruto. And don't let anyone, even me, get in your way"

Naruto blinked and watched as Mr. Aizen walked away, his hand waving him farewell. Naruto wasn't sure what the man had wanted to say.

He didn't quite understand why, but still, as the warmness of the touch faded, Naruto began to get a sense of relief. All his life, people had denied him, hated him, saw him as less than a thing. But now he was recognized. Had Haku felt the same way when he met Zabuza?

Was that how every child felt towards his parent?

He was musing about that when he saw Sakura running after a very red Konohamaru.

"I'm sorry for ruining your dress!" Konohamaru wailed "Don't hurt me!"

Naruto touched his nose and smiled. He was going to do what a Hokage was supposed to do, save the kids, smile to the girl and just solve every problem. Then from Konohamaru to Sakura, love would come unbinding.

He was about to jump between the two, when Konohamaru collided against a teen dressed in black, at his side a pretty blond girl that had a scary smirk that made Naruto shiver. It was like if they were enemies.

"What's your problem, brat" the teen asked as he grabbed Konohamaru by the shirt.

"Let go, don't you know who I am?" Konohamaru said as he dug his nails in the teen's hand, but he didn't seem about to let go just yet.

"A brat"

Naruto had enough. He put himself on front of Sakura and demanded the teen to let Konohamaru go. It was a failure and he needed to be helped by Sasuke. Days later, team 7 joined the chunin exam.

Uryu felt Sado's riatsu kilometers before their arrival. It was, likes Orihime's and his, not hidden behind a gigai.

Orihime was sitting near the window, waiting the person that without a doubt would show that day. She was reading a book of history, making notes as Aizen had requested, so Uryu knew trying to ask her to go to sleep was useless.

He felt tired too. Shifts at the hospital weren't easy, and lately there had been a lot of sick people due the new season. Adding to his problems, he was still unable to solve the Uchiha problem.

"You will wrinkle if you frown like that" Orihime commented after laying the book to rest.

"It's bound to happen" Uryu said without much care "You know he will not come until later, don't you?"

"If Mr. Grimmjow tries to fight Ichigo they would cause a ruckus and I want to 'reject' anything that happens"

Uryu conceded that "Lately, Grimmjow has been more rude and more volatile. If they fight, then I would better help too"

"Ichigo won't appreciate that"

"I will not care"

Orihime smiled at Uryu, the same kind smile as always. It was kind of nice, they two, spending time without fighting to the death, it would be better if they were back at their world. If only Ywach hadn't attacked, then everyone would be in Karakura eating bread and talking about the new movie.

Aizen broke up the atmosphere when he opened the door entrance and invited himself in.

"Children, I see you are resting" Aizen said with a big smirk that somehow managed to shade his glasses. Uryu had to wonder if they weren't already under Kyoka Suigetsu attack only because how light seemed to bend around the madman.

"Ichigo and Sado are coming" Orihime said without being asked, a tight smile on her beautiful face.

"Fake smiles don't suit you, Miss Orihime"

Uryu touched the Quincy cross with the tip of his fingers and glared at Aizen, but the man ignored him and went to the small kitchen.

"The chunins exams are about to start. It's quite the festival for what I have heard. Even if some people die" the man said with a smile "It would be enlightening"

Neither teen smiled back.

Outside, the chunin exams were about to start.