Kids, don't be like me. Get a Beta. Anyway, Idk why am I still trying to write in English...people reviewed last chapter, so I made this one as the draft was erased by time...thanks for reading.
The first two trials
Ichigo blinked once. Then twice, and just to be safe, a third time.
Nothing, the exam sheet was as confusing as the first time he lied eyes on it. It was maddening, crazy, the play of a maniac that would put Aizen to shame. After all, how was he supposed to calculate the speed required to hit a target that jumped from a six meter tree, and just because they wanted to annoy him more, there was something about requiring to calculate the size of the kunai.
He didn't knew they came in more than one size!
Chad, sat two rows ahead, was as serious as ever, probably thinking about dogs or cats once he realized passing the test was impossible. He was smart enough to make with time useful things instead of stressing about an impossible test. Ichigo looked around him, trying to see other people giving up in what was obviously a trap.
His eyes went to the blond child, sat almost on the front row. His riatsu was unsettling, like when he met Shibata.
Shibata had been a deceased boy whose soul was put inside a parrot by an evil spirit, with that creating a quimera with two souls clearly different between them. He couldn't see if there were two souls inside the boy's body because whenever he tried to read more clearly the riatsu he felt a strong anger and malice that was sickening.
Ichigo closed his eyes and tried to not watch the red head boy just two seats away that had the same strange riatsu problem that the blond boy, just that instead of anger it was more like despair. Ichigo had enough with his own problems to busy with ninja emotions.
Still, he couldn't help to observe the boy making a jutsu and closing one of his eyes, like if he was watching something behind his eyelid. Ichigo blinked as realization came by. After noticing the red head boy attempt on cheating, he could feel various riatsus peaking as the people casted jutsus.
It was like if it was a contest in cheating. Something that Ichigo had never been good at.
Ichigo still smirked, for a great plan had formed in his head. He asked to go to the bathroom and, once safe from wandering eyes, he took Kon's pill outside his bag, ready to do what he had to do for becoming chunin and getting access to valuable information.
After a few seconds, Kon was on Ichigo's gigai, walking towards the classroom where only he and Chad would be able to see and hear the orange haired Shinigami. For the modified soul it sounded as the best idea in ages, perhaps just second to Ichigo scaring Killer-B.
A few hours later, when a lot of people passed after the peep talk of an annoying kid, Kon didn't find everything so funny. He had really wrote the answers and his wrist ached. He hoped that next round was fighting because he was ready to kick him for ruining the cheating game.
Grimmjow was bored. He missed fighting and punching, and the good life that was just being in Hueco Mundo being hailed as the important person he was. He wondered if the hollows had finally got ridden of the Quincys or were waiting to be saved by the powerful espadas.
He was wandering in one of the woods that serves as ninja training grounds when he felt it, a twisting riatsu that was more snaky that Gin's. It was slippery, trailing in the skin as if it was blood and Grimmjow bared his teeth as he waited.
Nothing came, of course, even if there was someone lurking in the woods, Grimmjow wouldn't be his victim, with the whole being invisible to everyone but the white eyed people. But, the tingle of danger was still there, a reminder that there was something in the shadows.
He was still searching in the ground when he felt a familiar riatsu coming towards him. He didn't want to turn around, but being disrespectful to Aizen wasn't ever a good idea. He was powerful and chaotic in his actions, not the kind of people one wants to annoy.
"What an interesting riatsu that is" Aizen commented with an amused smile "It's the sort of riatsu that one should be wary about"
Grimmjow had to raise an eyebrow at that. Aizen had always have that white haired, smirking always, good at being a snake, Gin. But then, if something was clear with Aizen was that he liked to play mind games.
"Can't find the snake" Grimmjow admitted bitterly, annoyed that he couldn't find the enemy.
"It looks like there are a lot of people inside the woods now" Aizen changed the conversation, still smirking as if he had won the war "This would be an interesting evening"
An hour later, Grimmjow watched two teens fight over, and that he couldn't believe it, a scroll. They were really eager to win that paper as if their lives depended on it, for much fun he had with kids beating each other, that only made him desire to fight.
But for that, he had to get away from Aizen, that observed everything from a safe distance (for the kids, as Aizen riatsu could still harm people). He began walking away, thankful Aizen just glanced once and was back at watching the teens launch jutsu after jutsu. Grimmjow couldn't wait for their alliance to finish.
Naruto couldn't help to think about the orange hair man again, he was Aizen's friend in a sort of way, but it was strange that he had the headband he had. It was like if by having friends in other villages Mr. Aizen himself was commiting treason. No, Naruto scolded himself. The more friends one got the better.
Just because some ninjas from others villages might fight to death for their scroll, it didn't mean having a bunch from friends on other places wasn't brilliant, meeting all those people and talking with them like he did back when he meet Haku was the right thing to do.
"We need a password" Sasuke said as they set up a camp "We might get split if an enemy attacks and the enemy would try to use a henge to fool us"
"You are so smart, Sasuke!" Sakura squealed, her cute smile lightening her face. Naruto crossed his arms, he could have come up with the idea too. "What should it be? A tap on our headbands? A code?"
"No, it should be a phrase" Sasuke said as he glanced at Naruto "I propose this 'The small kid sleeps through the night, unaware that the calmness is just an illusion of the tender soul'"
"Right!" Sakura nodded. Naruto too, followed her lead, even if he had already forgotten the riddle. Bah, he would just have to kick Sasuke if he got mad about the password.
Just an hour later, Naruto felt the tingle that signaled he needed to go to the bathroom and he informed his teammates as he rushed towards the bushes, not waiting for their approval. Sasuke and Sakura just sighed at that.
The three of them, unaware that someone was watching them hidden by the leaves, didn't do anything more to protect themselves.
It was, Ichigo thought, a bad sign that the team that attacked them had the same heaven scroll that them. A useless fight that just accomplished losing four kunais. Those things weren't cheap and now they were forever lost in the darkness of the gloom forest.
The two niwa teams were working together and were scouting the place in two man cells, as always, Ichigo pick was Chad. It was kind of unfair towards the other ninjas, as they couldn't sense riatsu and so couldn't pick up the hidden ninjas over the place.
"I believe Aizen and Grimmjow are gone" Chad said as he jumped to the adjacent tree branch "I don't sense their riatsu anymore"
"Seem like it" Ichigo searched the riatsus of Uryu and Orihime, so far away but the familiar touch was easy to find when it was strong. And talking about strong riatsus "I believe Aizen learned a ninja trick"
"We still need him" Chad said, he neither liked that Aizen had as much freedom as he did "Now we are stronger too, so we have to believe we would be able to deal with Aizen when time comes"
"Yes, you are right Chad" Ichigo said, trying to relax "This is stressing me. Not only him. This place, I can't see pluses but people have died here, tortured perhaps. Feels like one of those places where executions were done, right?"
Chad shrugged, and Ichigo, briefly, desired that Uryu was there too. He would understand, because he too, since being a child, had to walk in memorials. Which reminded him about the strange place with Ash flavor that lurked in Konoha. The body-less graveyard full of anguish and betrayal. The mark where a massacre had been committed by one they trusted, by family member no less.
Ichigo couldn't forgive such person. Next time he would have to do what was right for those souls and bring them justice. It was something he did since he noticed the little girl flowers being kicked out towards her transparent form, the dead couldn't defend themselves so Ichigo had to.
Far away, he felt a riatsu wavering and he sighted. Stopping the carnage was practically impossible, like trying to stop vehicular accidents, so he would only try to jump when children where the victims.
A rush of two mingled riatsus signaled there was going to be a battle near them. But behind him, he felt the riatsu of someone young blinking with his latest forces to the death. A boy perhaps?
"I'm going to the battle and you take care of the girl?" Ichigo asked and Chad nodded "Right then. You catch me later"
"Giant snakes!" Naruto screamed as he dodged the tail of a GIANT snake "Why there aren't giant toads, toads are nicer!"
He tried to think on the bright side, he could always defeat the snake and eat in a soup, he didn't knew how but it was something he was sure Sakura would know how. But first, he had to skin the snake.
He jumped above to a branch and noticed that the snake's eyes glowed as they followed his movement, it creeped him out, but he was a ninja that one day would be the most amazing Hokage in the world. So, he pulled a explosive kunai out of his pouch and throw it towards the beast mouth.
The explosion did nothing to stop the monster and Naruto could see perfectly it's tongue when he was almost eaten alive. It was the worst way to die, eaten by a snake, like a rat.
He blinked in surprise when he heard a loud clash and noticed that he was perfectly alive and not inside a snake. Instead, he was observing a man with brown skin punching the snake with his bare fists.
It was cool. Perhaps, more cool that any stunt that Kakashi-sensei ever did, and Kakashi-sensei had summoned a water dragon. Then again, the giant snake was bigger that the water dragon so that made the dark man super cool.
There were some moments where Naruto could swear the man wasn't even touching the snake and still, his punches landed and cracked the wind with their force.
"Big bro! That was amazing!" Naruto said when the man finished, his eyes stars and just to awed to notice the man wasn't from his own village "You should tell me your secret"
The man saw Naruto, remained quiet and then gave him a thumb up. Naruto beamed as he mimicked the gesture. He could already feel they were going to be friends.
There was a young black haired teen, his face ringed a bell in Ichigo's mind but as sometimes happened, he couldn't place from where. Ichigo hid behind the tree, hearing the boy talking with an older man with the kind of voice that should have belonged to a granny.
The man's riatsu was off, like if the spirit and body were in dissonance and it projected a blood lust that was different from anyone Ichigo had battled before. Not even regular ninjas had so much power or edge. Wasn't the exam supposed to be aimed at Rockies?
"I will surrender the scroll if you let Sakura and me go" the boy said between greeted teeth "If not, I will burn it"
"No, Sasuke!" a girl screamed from some point outside Ichigo's view "What are you doing!? Are you a coward!?"
Ichigo scoffed. Kids believing that a ridiculous scroll and passing the exam was more important that their own lives. He supposed that was something ninjas did but Ichigo still found it dumb. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the strange man was pretty powerful and the teens were outmatched.
"Who says I want the scroll?" The man asked as he walked towards the boy, moving like a snake seizing his prize. The man lounged after the boy in a swift motion.
And somehow managed to dodge Ichigo's sword.
Ichigo grimaced when he noticed his well craft attack was for naught and he had given up his cover for nothing. The boy was safe for whatever the strange man had planned, but Ichigo wasn't sure he could win in his gigai.
He gripped his sword and looked to the man yellow eyes, ready to parry the next attack, and do the wise thing of waiting Chad's help.
"Why are you helping the Konoha ninjas, aren't they your enemies" the man asked after, like a creep, licking his lips.
"I don't have to explain myself to you" Ichigo retorted, noticing that the boy behind him was regaining his combat stance and the girl was drawing a kunai from her bag. He hoped the ninja didn't notice that and keep his attention focused in Ichigo.
Chad was getting nearer, Ichigo could sense him jumping fastly, the odd riatsu of the kid following behind. He still remained as he was, waiting the strike.
The man glanced towards the direction of Chad's and grimaced. After, with a hand gesture, he was surrounded by leaves and was gone. Ichigo waited a few seconds, to make sure he wasn't near.
After noticing there wasn't any riatsu signature hiding, Ichigo dropped his guard.
"Who are you?" the black haired teen asked when the calm was set, his black eyes observing Ichigo as if he hadn't saved him just a few minutes ago. Ichigo supposed he should be used to that kind of attitude but he couldn't help himself to glare back "What do you want?"
"I'm Ichigo and I wanted to save your lives. You are welcome"
The boy dark eyes hardened and Ichigo finally felt himself recognizing the face. The little Uchiha boy that was with Uryu on the haunted place. The place where the Uchiha had committed a massacre against his own family.
Ichigo expression softened and he did nothing to make the boy more moody. Soon, Chad, and the boy with stranger riatsu at his side.
"Sakura! Sasuke! Are you fine? —the boy ran towards his friends before stopping mid step, and with a hand in his hair, he laughed "I'm sorry, I forgot the password"