Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
"God-fucking-damn it!" Naruto ranted, still tenaciously tussling in vain to break free of his binds, spirit chain nothing more but a metal lid with a loose handle as it continued to dissolve bit by bit before his despairing but still very much determined gaze, "I won't die here, you hear me, asshole!"
"We're so screwed, Uzumaki," Kuwabara whined, practically in tears, "Shizuru, I'm so sorry in advance for eating you, big sis!"
"Stop being a bitch and c'mon!" Naruto commanded in a fierce tone, taking painful shots at his rival in an near desperate effort to keep him rallied, succeeding as the tears in Kuwabara's eyes dried from his heated annoyance.
"Oh, suck a dick, Uzumaki!" He demanded in return, putting a smirk on Naruto's face.
"There we go, see? Don't let that fire go out buddy! Quitting is for pussies, and that's one thing we ain't and won't ever will be!" Naruto declared.
Despite the likely prep talks Kuwabara himself was known to give the pompadour-headed honourable delinquent did not look moved by Naruto's vulgar speech of manly tenacity. Instead, his eyes were wide in the most profound deadpan expression known to man, "And I'm the one who speeches too much," Naruto sulked, "Cool story, bro, but how are we gonna get outta here?"
"Oh, you did NOT just gimme the 'Nice prep talk but I don't care' line'!"
"Whatever!" Kuwabara dismissed impatiently, further increasing Naruto's pout. "Got an idea to get us out of this mess or what!?"
Naruto ceased his admittedly petty brooding to hum thoughtfully to himself, and, despite struggling moments before just to crawl over to the edge of the near bottomless pit the two resided in, sat up in a leg-crossed stance, "Ummmmm," He was open for suggestions at this point, "Let's go over what we know so far."
"Uh-huh."
Flashback.
Well, they had to look at the positives. At least that was Naruto's mentality. He had always been an optimistic guy at heart and that wasn't changing, even now.
Regardless of whether Naruto was just grasping at straws, they were some silver-linings, minuscule as they were. For instance, their 'escort' within the mad spiritual comedian's pit of doom was generous enough to help them into a comfortable sitting position, and Kuwabara's legs weren't broken after all. Small potatoes, but worth patting themselves on the backs.
"Man, fuck that guy!" Naruto ranted, thrashing in place.
"Yeah, he's a dick," Kuwabara agreed.
Tessai let out a much-needed sigh he hadn't realized he needed to let out until that moment, "Please excuse the master's more… immature tendencies."
Having someone associated to their tormentor actually acknowledge his douchebaggery had the pleasing effect of making the two badboys feel justified in their contempt of him, though on the flipside having someone close to their antagonist apologize for his behaviour after they had just bad mouthed him made them feel rotten and petty. Both hotshot delinquents shifted awkwardly in their places.
"Uh, it's fine, man," Naruto accepted, guilty conscious making him wave Kisuke's ridicule of him aside, "But seriously, though!? What the fuck's wrong with that guy?"
"Yeah, I'd like to know too!"
"He's like the sick love child of Bugs Bunny and the Joker!"
"I know, right!"
Tessai sighed, once more at Kisuke's sadistic nature of pranking those around him, "The master has a brilliant mind, a genius-level intellect but instead of using his intelligence to mostly help people he prefers to utilize this to mock and ridicule them."
"So, he really is a troll," Naruto deadpanned, outright stating rather than asking.
Tessai sighed, "Essentially."
"Why did I come here again?" Kuwabara questioned miserably, more to himself with a good mental kick in his rear.
"Why did I listen to old man Isshin?" Naruto said, also berating himself for his misjudgement, "I mean, nobody listens to Isshin! He's an idiot! I mean, don't get me wrong, I love the old guy as much as the next potential son-in-law loves his old man in law. He's soooo cool, when it comes to me dating his girls, so long as I treat 'em right, which I DO! He's just an idiot," He rambled on, finally nodding full of content in his assessment of Isshin as he imagined he was crossing his arms. Wide, blank blues eyes opened not a moment later, "Wait. What were we talking about again?"
"Idiot."
"This is coming from the guy who scored a 7, hm?"
"'Least I don't-!"
"Fiftyyyyyyyyyyyy-one, Kuwabara!~"
"Ugh!"
One would've assumed Tessai to feel awkward, even just a little bit, from seeing what basically amounted to his people's worshipped legend acting in very unconventional manner unlike that of an ascended being granted rebirth by the king of all, but he was seasoned. He understood despite someone's overwhelming strength, even being godlike, they were still people at the very core of their beings. He had witnessed this through the many decades he had existed. It was nothing new. Quite the contrary of shocking him of seeing a naturally flawed godlike individual, it gave him a better appreciation of the delicate balance of life. It was true no one was born equally. There would always be someone better than another at a particular activity or sport. This was why celebrities existed because they were naturally more gifted at what they did while others just weren't.
That was as true as the grass being green in whichever world it grew in limitlessly.
Even still, though, the personalities of everyone, godlike beings and talented beings, was one thing Tessai was certain would remain relatively on equal footing, because nobody was perfect. They could be born with sheer godly excellence, but not with total perfection.
"Would you like me to explain the process of advancing in your evolution, young master?"
"Oh, god yes!" Naruto emphasized, "Please! Do! That could, surprise-surprise, actually help us a bit!"
"Asshole troll coulda told us that much, at least," Kuwabara mumbled his agreement sourly.
Tessai admirably maintained his cool, calm wise elder-like composure in despite of the increasing hostility directed to his master and dear friend, "To specify on the master's admittedly unnecessarily cryptic solution, to free oneself from the encroachment process, you must succeed in locating your Zanpakato companion spirit that resides deep within the core of your being."
Perhaps it was due to Naruto's severely limited pool of friends his own age, but his mind instantly focused on the implication of a spirit living within him, "Zanpakuto buddy?" There were two understanding nods, surprisingly, prompting Naruto to turn to his fellow trapped escapee, "Wait. YOU know this thing?"
"Sorta," Kuwabara groused, not liking the emphasized tone of astounded disbelief that his rival used on the word you, as if saying someone so low on the food chain shouldn't know anything in regards to important information, "Remember when I brought up those… 'Quincy-dorks'?" In Naruto's unique words, positively choked out in Kuwabara's gruff voice, as if just mentioning them was enough to make him sick to his stomach.
"Yeah." Still needed to find out what they were. There was obviously a story to be told. Kuwabara's contempt for the likely spiritual combatants was as evident as the air around them.
"My family's always been attuned with the spiritual side of things," Naruto made absolutely certain to pay explicit attention to that statement, using his willpower to fight against his short attention span to hone precisely on what wasn't said, for that said a whole lot more.
Kuwabara was a Quincy, but either felt ashamed or resented his Quincy heritage. That much was as clear as the azure sky without any of the myriad of gloomy clouds spawned about by a particularly rainy day.
The reasons pertaining to the tall Junior High Schooler subtly keeping his lineage to himself, however, was rooted deep, not something Naruto fancied his chances of delving into. It may have been the general consensus that Naruto was the greatest of the worst kind of douchebag to ever saunter across Karakura Town, but even he wasn't THAT insensitive to anyone's personal problems, unless they were self-pitying in their own problems.
God help them if they were.
"I see." Which was all he could really say on the matter.
"My Mom was even a Shinigami."
"Shinigami?" Azure sky-clear eyes lit-up with exciting interest, "You mean like death god? God's escort and all that jazz?" Kuwabara nodded, "Why didn't ya tell me you were the off spring of a legit god! That's totally wicked, man!~"
Kuwabara's face was reflection of scepticism, "And have YOU brag that you're tougher than a son of a Shinigami? Hell no!"
"Whatttttt?" Naruto drawled out in an amused tone, clearly appalled with the – in his mind – single-minded conclusion of his reaction to Kuwabara's lineage, "No. I'm already awesome. I know that. My baby girls know that. YOU know that," He waved in finality, "Shoving it down your throat anymore than that would just be overkill."
"Fuck off."
Naruto chuckled, "So what is this Zanpakuto-spirit?"
"Not sure exactly," There was a reluctant sadness to his eyes, "I know it's a weapon of some kind, but beyond that," He glided his head from side to side, bottom lip plucking out in a face, "Nothing. Mom passed before I could really learn anything from her."
"Shit. Sorry to hear that, pal."
"Cool. Thanks." He accepted, just not to appear as ungrateful and turned, piercing gaze penetrating Tessai's guarded one impassively, effectively deflecting the conversation. He had mourned enough over his deceased mother days and weeks after she'd passed, which happened as early as his elementary school days. He was well over her passing now and focused on what he had to do to set her spirit at ease.
Tessai caught Kuwabara's subtle eluding to him of the voice of the dictionary on all things spiritual related, "Yes, you are correct in believing that the Zanpakuto spirit will manifest as a weapon reflection of the wielder's true self."
"Ah, so the spirit and the weapon are one in the same," Naruto nodded to himself in self-satisfaction.
"Indeed," Tessai clarified, "And one must locate their Zanpakuto spirit if they wish to ascend to their natural Shinigami forms."
"Alright, I'm with ya," Naruto grinned widely, fascination giving way to excitement at the prospect of reaching out to a reflection of himself just waiting to bestow him abilities that were perfectly suited to his style and terrifyingly amazing to anyone who faced him. He was awesome; the bodies left in the wake of his countless usurps of the many gang territories in Karakura Town backing up his talk, so naturally any powers birthed from his awesome might of brilliance had to have been tremendously overpowered.
And wow! Was he really THAT arrogant? Damn, no wonder people thought he was an asshole.
Naruto chuckled sheepishly at his own sudden self-reflection, paying no heed to Kuwabara's suspicious look, "So how do we reach our… uh, inner spirits?"
Tessai folded his hands together in the sign of a buddha's pray as though he were mentally preparing himself, "Three methods," The ruffians held their breath, gazes following a single finger lofted in the air, "First method, make peace with oneself and rely solely on one's Zanpakuto. To simplify, one must trust their Zanpakuto to come to their aid, content to perish if any phenomenon out of the Zanpakuto spirit's control forces its hand."
He steeled himself, as if already knowing their reactions, and met their gazes, and lo and behold, it was as he predicted. Both boys looking far less than enthused with the most bizarre of dry expressions plastered on their faces, pupils momentarily vanishing.
"Uh, what're the other options?" Naruto asked, almost hesitatingly.
Tessai sighed within the realm of his mind, fully expectant of such an answer from a young bullheaded teenager. He couldn't ever see any teen opting to use method A. It wasn't easy and was pretty complicated, demanding the participant be both trusting and forgiving, harbouring no ill will of consequences that could potentially befall them as a result of their Zanpakuto's lack of action. Even if the slightest doubt slipped into their hearts, they could count themselves out of luck.
Their Zanpakuto spirits wouldn't emerge.
Method A was also severely lacking any 'cool' values to really tickle a young Shinigami-trainee's intrigue, sounded cheesy and just came off as pretentious.
"Second method, force your Zanpakuto spirit to submit through sheer force of will."
That rearranged their frowns like the flip of a light switch, "Oh hell yeah! Now you're talking my language!" Naruto smirked, "This is straight up my alley."
"Fuck yeah." Kuwabara agreed, "This is exactly my cup of tea. No one has more determination than I do!"
Naruto took that as a challenge, "Oh really?"
Kuwabara scoffed, dismissing Naruto's sensitive ego, "Please! We both know I'm the most determined!" He faltered when offering his reasoning of his indisputable tenacity, "I mean, I keep coming back for more no matter how times you hand me my ass!"
Naruto hid a dried, sly smile with a blatant swift of his head, "Yeah, I guess that takes real determination," If that was any consolation, which it wasn't; Kuwabara's grumbling proving that much, "But I'm still gonna be the first one to make his Zanpakuto pal bow before his excellence!"
Kuwabara's eyes shone, emitting that all too familiar competitive light signalling a showdown was on between them, "Wanna bet?"
Naruto smirked.
"Name your price."
"How about loser buys the winner lunch?"
"Cool," Naruto smirked savagely, "Guess that means you're buying me Ramen today, bitch!"
"Pssh, as if, dickhead! You're buying ME a double decker cheeseburger!"
"Fat chance! The day you beat me is the day monkeys actually take over the world."
"We'll just see about that, Uzumaki!"
"Yeah, we will."
Before either boy could hunker down in the first layer of their minds to make headway of accomplishing their agreed-upon wager of beating the other to their Zanpakuto first, the obnoxious, loud buzzing sound of detonating metal caught their ears.
"What's that?" Blue eyes held curiosity, blond spiky head roaming the small area around its proximity to locate the source of the disturbance. Due to the echo of the pit the sound was extended to seemingly all around them.
Kuwabara traced the falling remnants of shredded metal falling into his lap to his chain-of-fate, eyes widening in panicked alarm, "Oh, no," Curious azure eyes shifted his way, giving way to concern at the horrified visage that awaited their view, "L-Look at our chains."
There would've been no better time for a handy placed time-machine to go back in time and punch himself before he could look down, all so he wouldn't feel so ghostly pale and terrified to the vomiting sight of his chain literally being chewed to bits and pieces by what looked like the equivalent of termites at a frequent pace, "W-What the hell is this shit?!"
"Oh, you noticed the Encroachment Process! Splendid!"
Naruto jerked his head to him, startled, "The 'What' process?"
"Encroachment: The transition in which a spirit loses its Chain of Fate and becomes a hollow."
"What the fuck's a hollow?!"
"…Oh, god," Kuwabara's shuddering breaths reinforced the gravity of their situation, "…I know what they are. T-They're like demons, man! 'Cept they're just human spirits who lose their chains."
Naruto's eyes widened in alarm, "What?"
"Oh!" The following echo did not come from within the pit, but right above their heads, and it was the all too familiar voice both memorized as their tormentor. Bloods boiling rapidly to a seething, bubbly degree, their apprehensively heated gazes met the shadowed gleeful glance of one Kisuke Urahara, "That's right, Mr Kuwabara! And both of you will indefinitely be joining the hollow's wonderful, I assure you, society if you don't find your 'true selves' in roughly about three days!~"
"So that's what you meant about that three day shit! Son of bitch!" Naruto realized.
A grin stretched wide across Kisuke's lips, but not of the approving kind of a senior possibly complimenting his young upcoming protégée on his quick-thinking, but of the shit-eating, all-knowing variety of him loving Naruto's frustration, "Better hurry! You wouldn't wanna become a hollow. We would be forced to," Voice dramatically lowering for spooky effect, Kisuke ended, "Kill you." Then it brightened, "I'm certain you would approve, unless you want to devour your love ones."
"What?"
"Oh! Did I forget to mention that little tidbit of information? Hollows, upon emerging in their glorious new demonic masked forms, will not only have their hearts removed but also conscious minds. As I'm sure you can imagine this has the most unfortunate side effect of filling the hollow with the truly irresistible sensation to consume its loved ones, all to fill the void. Tragic, right?!"
"Very!" Naruto roared back in similar sarcasm, widening Kisuke's sardonic grin. Naruto growled belligerently, renewing his thrashing, wiggling his trapped arms in a desperate bid to power his way free of Kisuke's voodoo-like spell, "Ugh, Whatever! I'm still not gonna die here! I won't become a hollow-thing!" A blue glow shrouded Naruto's form, much to the shock of Kuwabara and Tessai, "I won't hurt Yuzu or Karin! Not after I swore to protect 'em!"
The strange, mysterious azure outline coating the blond's body intensified, brightening to the extent it even overshadowed the eerily green hue of the pit and began to lighten the blond's whole body in its entirety.
"Go, Uzumaki!" Kuwabara urged, not caring about the bet they had agreed upon all of a few moments ago.
Naruto yelled the kind of war-like cry one would expect from a Super Saiyan or just a Z-warrior in general powering-up, and he could feel it; feel himself tenaciously pulling himself along to a source of a power he instinctively knew could help him out of this jam. A white light so blinding it was as if he was staring in the ass of the sun itself, awaited him at the end of a vertical tunnel, but just before he could reach it he hit a wall of sorts. He didn't know how to explain it. One moment he was flying along, practically soaring like a rocket to stop before his Zanpakuto spirit, and the next he felt his essence slamming into something as if a wall had suddenly dropped from above.
He plummeted, dejected eyes opening to the outside world and the otherworldly glow fading from his frame.
"Damn it."
XxX
End of Flashback
"Fuck! I was so close then, too!" He had very right to still feel a hard sore spot from his one failed attempt of forcing his way through to his Zanpakuto spirit. "One" being "only" try in this case. He hadn't managed to replicate his DBZ-like flare of power since spontaneously doing it. Even when questioned by Kuwabara and further prodded by Tessai to recall his steps to its activation he didn't have an answer.
It just… happened.
There was no prompt that could even hint to Naruto's attempt of an emergence. One moment he was seething in fury to Kisuke's goading, wishing with all his being for heat vision to incinerate the bucket-shaped hat wearing store owner and his sardonic grin, and the next he was erupting with power the likes of which were supremely familiar to him like his life in general.
"Was it the anger?" Naruto theorized, eyes squinted in his usual eccentric take of a contemplative expression. It was the only thing that added up; the one detail that stuck out and could've been the trigger for his attempt at ascendancy. Beside his failures to recreate his power-up, he also couldn't reproduce the initial rage he felt during the attempt of levelling up.
That was reason enough to assume being angry had a hand in forcing his Zanpakuto spirit to submit, and not just the mild irritation one felt from hearing a painfully bad joke but the kind of immense rage that would make one want to murder the object of his fury to prompt such animosity so terribly.
That kind of pure, unadulterated fury could not be replicated so easily, especially not from any of Kuwabara's insults. Not when they just ended up tickling his funny bone for the most part. Interestingly enough, though, Kuwabara hadn't exploded from any kind of inner fury from Naruto's jabs. Considering he had been Naruto's whipping boy for the better half of a decade since the two boys encountered each other one eventful evening, Kuwabara's lack of natural irritation to Naruto was definitely something to take note of.
Maybe they were closer than he thought?
Meh.
"Hey, what do you thin-?" He turned to get his frenemy's input on his one-time try for transcendence, words falling from his gaping mouth and breath officially no longer in his lungs, "What?" Whiskered-cheeked countenance highlighted by a bright, medium green hue, the blond gawked in silent awe, "Whoa…"
Although as incredible as it was seeing a charge of power from the viewer's perspective instead of being the one doing it Naruto still had to wonder why Kuwabara's display varied wildly from his, almost like he was looking at the mirror opposite of his demonstration.
"Uh, why's he not screaming like he's constipated?" Come to think of it too, his shroud was different. Unlike Naruto's ragged and spiky azure blue outline, Kuwabara's emerald-green hue was smooth, circulating around his entire body like a calm ocean.
Weird.
"So, he's figured it out, has he?" Kisuke said in the comfort of his lazy boy chair on the main floor of his store, a soft smile etched on his face as he gently fanned himself, "Just in time to," He looked up to the ceiling, but not AT the ceiling, "He has the perfect opponent too!" Though that task was probably way out of his league given the creature's power being comparable to a few of Soul Society's noticeable warriors, but meh, what didn't kill him would only make him stronger in the long run.
All for character building in Kisuke's sadistic mind.
"Ah!~ Looks like Mr Hollow has himself another punc-. I mean opponent to face off with first!~" He mock-cringed sensing the clear vast difference in strength decidedly in the hollow's favour, "Man, I wouldn't wanna be in that guy's shoes. He's in for a thorough ass-whooping."
xXx
Jesus Never Dies
C
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FOUR
xXx
Next Level Hollow
(Elsewhere – Location Unknown)
Colour the petite, currently nigh-powerless shinigami impressed, even moved by Ichigo's from-the-heart speech. Of all the reactions she expected – which was limited to the rational acceptance of his duties – she didn't expect the sheer defiance of good natured intent to do what one thought was right.
When she rendezvoused with Ichigo on the rooftop of his school to hash out the terms of their "agreement" for him to take up her duties in her stride he was understandably adamant about absolutely avoiding stepping into her world, even only temporarily until she regained her strength.
The only reason they were even in the park encountering a hollow was because Rukia forced his Shinigami form from his living body and dragged him off campus to the source of the disturbance, literally kicking and screaming. That was where they found a small deceased child being chased by a hollow very reminiscent of a spider.
Ichigo reacted on his natural instincts, rushing forward to save the boy, and when Rukia tried to lecture him on the importance of defending all souls and not just the ones he just happens to conveniently come across, he ended up giving her a lecture in return, using her rescue of him and his family as a basis.
She had to admit, he made a pretty good argument. She didn't plunge forward, risking her neck to save him out of duty, but because she knew it was the right thing to do; that just leaving him to be devoured when she had the power to prevent it would be low and cowardly.
A small smile graced her delicate features, covered by the bangs of her hair, 'This boy.' He preferred to react rather than think. He would clearly grow up to be a man of deliberate action. The footsteps of her companion drew her from her musings of his reactionary character, her head raising to meet his calmed scowl, "Ichigo-."
She never got to finish. The very environment itself decided to interrupt the duo's potential moment of understanding, warping the very air around them as though they were looking at a TV with terrible reception. The ground beneath their feet shook, vibrating rapidly like all of the solid surface they stood upon was the world's biggest electric chair going out of control.
"What the-?" Rukia shifted trembling gazes around them, trying to ascertain the source of the panicking disturbance, 'Is it them? Has Soul Society found out I lost my power so soon?' No, that couldn't be right. The artificial body which now housed her spirit was untraceable, so who could cause such an influx with their mere presence-.
Beep. Beep.
Rukia's heart dropped at the alert of her pager.
"What the hell?!" Mind scrambling, digging, for answers nowhere in sight, Ichigo felt his shoulders weighed down as if a force was pressed onto them, forcing him into a hunched over position all the while feeling like a hand had a firm but not too tight grasp around his throat, "W-What's going on?"
"A hollow?!" Rukia's exclamation had him widening his eyes.
"Seriously!?" Ichigo all but demanded in return, trying to will his palm to cease shaking uncontrollably, 'This is nuts!' All his primal warrior instincts inherited from ancestors he never knew weren't just telling him, they were screaming at him extremely loudly to run; to not even meet the gaze of the predator subjecting them to such sheer pressure.
This was a hollow, of the same kind of the first two he one-shotted with ease? The wide, gaping, gap in power was Incomprehensible; the equivalent of playing a match of a fighting game on easy then immediately jumping on over to ultra-hard.
Ichigo felt completely out of his depth, 'I'm screwed,' He could feel a silver of his cold sweat rolling agonizingly down his cheek, to and across his chin.
Rukia met his panicked gaze with a solemn one of her own, "We have to move Ichigo," Not waiting a response, she grabbed hold of Ichigo's wrist and pulled him along, trying to reach the other side of the park as fast as their legs would carry them, "There's no way you can beat this holl-."
Their path was swiftly barred by an imposing wall of substantial mass and height shadowing them in a huge intimidating shadow. The only indication that the mammoth of a beast had even triggered movement instead of being there the whole time was an audible "boom" like that of a stereo set going full blast.
'Oh no,' Rukia mused, eyes full of dread, 'It's worse than I thought.' Not only did the hollow possess spirit energy reserves comparable to her at full power, but he also had a speed technique comparable to the Shinigami's, as if they wasn't royally screwed already. She was powerless and Ichigo was still entirely inexperience.
When the towering animalistic hollow of palpable power turned its head to them, revealing its decidedly bear-shaped milky white mask it hollered nuances that shone its previous human form through, but was still incredibly threatening all the same.
"Hell yeah! Hit the jackpot with this one!"
xXx
(Somewhere else – Location Unspecified)
Standing awestruck among the myriad of lush greenery and healthy trees was Kuwabara, now freed of the bounds that had imprisoned him within Kisuke's quickening encroachment pit of absolute doom.
"W-What?" He uttered, left breathless both from the serene calm and beauty of the environment he now found himself in that acted as an stark contest to the gloom of the pit and the fact that he had actually escaped it before succumbing to his hollow urges, "Did… did I do it?"
"Indeed you did, Honourable Warrior," Kuwabara nearly flinched, tracing the sound of a mature voice to a tree to his far left. From it emerged a tall, stocky white-haired elder, with a five o'clock shadow, wearing a snow-white kimono robe opened to display his massive chest, loose-fitting hakama and wooden sandals fitted neatly upon his feet. Essentially, the perfect replica of a warrior Kuwabara had moulded himself after to assure he stayed on the morally white road, which most likely meant the elder was one thing all things he had learnt considered.
"Are you?" He lifted a finger, pointing shakily to the hulking elder, "My?"
The old man offered him a serene smile, a tad bit sheepish, "Well, yes. One of them that is."
That was all Kuwabara needed to hear, "Yesssssssss!" He erupted, dropping to his knees, throwing his head back and swinging his arms upward in his joy, "Finally!"
His Zanpakuto spirit chuckled lightly, "Yes, Honourable Warrior. You performed admirably, overcoming the Encroachment process before operation Hollowifcation could begin there afterward."
"No, you don't understand!" Kuwabara denied, eliciting a blink of the eyes from his Zanpakuto. He raised his head, meeting his Zanpakuto's patient glance with a teary-eyed look of overjoyed happiness, "I finally beat Uzumaki at something!"
"Oh?" The elder wiped the imaginary sweat from his cheek. As he was a part of Kuwabara he was well aware of his wielder's track record against his rival.
"Jeez Kazu-chan!~ S'not that big of a deal," A cheerful, feminine voice stated, actually doing something no one other than his aunt had done before and referred to him by his abbreviated first name rather than his surname. Atop a branch dropped a young petite, slender girl, landing on the towering elder's shoulder, raspberry-coloured hair styled in a wild pony tail. She wore a sleeveless light pink dress stopping at her knees over a short-sleeved white t shirt tied tightly to her surprisingly curvy frame by a black sash. Tucked upon her feet were pink-striped sneakers.
"It IS a big deal!" Kuwabara argued, "Uzumaki always beats me in everything! Fighting, sports, schoolwork, tig-and-tag, even hide-and-seek when we were little kids!" He didn't know how Naruto did, but to suffice to say he did. Kuwabara could understand losing to Naruto in a game of tag given the speed difference in Naruto's favour, as much as that hurt his pride to admit, but how did he always know where he was hiding in hide-and-seek?
Was he a bloodhound?
"Finally, I have the bragging rights now," Kuwabara insisted, clenching his fist tightly with a smirk etching across his lips, "Lemme have this, will ya?"
She eyed the lumbering giant of a schoolboy with mirth dancing in her leaf-green eyes, "Woooow," She drawled out mockingly, "So, you're a loser."
Kuwabara twitched, "W-Wha-? N-No…! Shut up!"
She made the sound of a gunshot as she shaped her finger and thumb to resemble a pistol, "Triggered!~"
"I'm not triggered!"
"Alright, alright. Settle down the pair of you," Being the adult it naturally fell on him to be the voice of reason between the three of them. Kuwabara huffed, looking away in exasperation much to the little girl's amusement as she snickered, "Now, now," A word seemingly left his moving lips, but zero sound came out, "You should not aggravate the Honourable Warrior. We have been anticipating his arrival for too long to leave an inadequate impression on him now."
"Aw, c'mon…" Once again, a word left the petite girl's lips that Kuwabara was seemingly deafened to before the sound resumed seamlessly, "-It's so fun messing with him! When he gets flustered like that!" She hugged herself, "Adorable!~"
"What?" Kuwabara uttered, entirely puzzled.
The bubblegum-haired spirit looked over to him curiously, "Whaddya mean Kazu-chan?"
Kuwabara made several wild arm gestures as if trying to illustrate a point, "When you say each other's names," He mentioned, "It's like you mute each other or something, just so I can't get 'em." He crossed his arms, not liking his theory in the least.
She made an "O" with her mouth, "Oh!~ I see. Yep. You're not ready to hear our names, Kazu-chan." The fun-loving girl giggled when the lumbering would-be Shinigami tilted his head to one side, looking positively adorable.
"Huh?"
"Learning our names in their entirety is quintessential for achieving the first stage of our evolution, the Shikai," The elder explained.
"Blah! Blah! Blah!" The pinkette pantomimed, decidedly establishing herself as the impatient one of the two, making the mouthy motion with her flapping left palm, "Do you always gotta explain stuff in such a roundabout way?" Ignoring the elder's comedic expression of shame she turned to Kuwabara with a comforting smile, "But yeah, to summarize the old goat's winded explanation; learn our names, level up." She beamed, "Easy, right?"
"Oh, I see!" Kuwabara nodded along, slamming a fist into an open palm. Eyes abruptly widened in recognition moment later, turning to the bubblegum-haired spirit in hesitation to which she blinked at him in return, "Wait, you can't be my other Zanpakuto?"
"How rude!" She made a show of balling her fists up, "I'm totally your Zanpakuto!"
"B-But, b-but, that can't be right!"
"Why?"
"Well, I mean," He fumbled, awkwardly pushing his fingers together, "Ain't Zanpakutos meant to be a reflection of the shinigami's true self, or something?" What did that say about him if one of his Zanpakuto spirits was the embodiment of a little girl?
A sly grin crept across her lips, briefly tucking her arms underneath her chin atop the elder's shoulder, "Oh, I get it! Mr Tough guy doesn't want to admit he's girly," At Kuwabara's flinch, she outstretched her arms, intertwined at the fingers in content, "Yep, I say I hit the nail right on the head."
"Fuck off! I'm not girly!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too times infinitely!"
"Am not times infinitely!"
"Are not!"
"Are too!" Kuwabara rambled on instinctively, until he realized he had been played by the girl's emerald eyes curving mischievously to resemble cat's slits, "Wait…! I mean-! UGH!" He threw his head back in frustration, pulling at his ginger locks, eliciting a chortle from his childish Zanpakuto.
"You're too easy!"
Kuwabara glared at her, "How do I get outta here already?"
"Aw, leaving already, Kazu-chan? We were just starting to get along too."
"Ugh!"
"Of course, Honourable Warrior," The elder offered him a sympathetic smile. Extending his arm forward, a bright cloud-white light materialized in his palm, vaguely forming the shape of a long pole-like object, "Come. Accept us as your partners in battle and we will do you no wrong." The little girl abruptly materialized a similar lengthy condense light over her palm.
Kuwabara nodded, sobered gaze now lacking the comedic frustration and hysterical joy in them moments before as he strode forward, stopping before the hulking figure of his mature Zanpakuto spirit. He lifted his head, meeting the similar steady stare of the elder and the euphoric one of the little girl, "Well, then," He steeled himself, enveloping his hands in the twin lights with determined grasps, "Looking forward to working with ya, I guess."
XxX
"Holy fuck!"
The intensity of the literal white-hot light near blinded the soon-to-be last-man trapped, forcing him to shut the eye nearest to the birthplace of solar radiation, lest he run the risk of potentially losing his sight. Pain, pure, natural agony like he had never experienced before, assaulted his mental barriers, ploughing them down like a tsunami flooding a major city, burning his retina as though he was flashed by a solar flare.
"Gah! It burns!" Naruto screamed. The sad part was, his hands were tied behind his back so he couldn't even shield his eyes. The most he could do to prevent permanent eye damage was forcibly jerk his head away from the retina-damaging light blast of absolute annihilation, "Turn off the light already, damn it!"
As though god was answering his prey, the ferocity of the white-hot light dimmed, pain slowly leaking out of his senses and the brightness off his eyelids fading to its usual shadowy darkness he stared at whenever he closed his eyes.
"Man, that strung!" Naruto breathed aloud, blinking rapidly in an effort to clear the spots out of his vision, "Hey, you coulda warned me you were about to turn into the human flare, ass-!"
His temporarily impaired vision took an immediate backseat when he rotated his head to bitch out his frenemy for the fatal light show he may or may not intentionally put on, bitchy complaint slipping from his tongue at the complete contrasting form of the taller boy that emerged from his blinding white light shell.
Kuwabara stood tall, even taller in the metaphorical sense in the way he carried himself, brimming with composed silent pride. Gone was the milky-white spirit kimono he previously wore and in its place was a slick, edgy black shihakusho held closed by a white sash, the only semblance of his former attire in spiritual form. Naturally, the additions on his person that instantly caught the blond's sky-blue eyes were his weapons, materialized from thin air.
Strapped to both of his hips were two near identical long pole-sized scabbards, distinguished by their colours and their kanjis representing the elements of wind and fire. The blades themselves were long curved clear-view hued samurai swords, having one side of each blade covered in black kanji of their element and that side faintly shadowed in a grey hue, and the handle of each blade was straight, though the wind blade's handle was green while the other was red.
"Whoa…" Naruto murmured, "Awesome."
Kuwabara heard Naruto's quiet admiration for his dual Zanpakuto and smirked, meeting the blond's awestruck stare, "Guess who owns me a double decker cheeseburger, punk?"
Naruto pouted, turning away from Kuwabara's victorious grin, "Show off."
"Look who's talking."
After a moment passed in which Kuwabara gleefully revelled in his rare superiority over his rival and said rival sulking, the two boys sobered, the latest emerged Shinigami positioning his green-hilted sword atop his shoulder and the Shinigami-still-in-training shuffling in place.
"Hey," Kuwabara's sombre voice warranted his attention, "You think you can still get out?" He beamed a nonchalant glance to the last remaining fragment of Naruto's chain of fate.
Even giving his pot lid-like chain a prolong stare confirming how little remaining time he had left before transforming into a hollow the shiny hardened glow of steely resolve never once left Naruto's eyes, "Heh." He grinned confidently, "Who d'you think I am? OF COURSE I'll make it out and back be to kicking your butt as usual, got it?"
A wave of nostalgia blasted Kuwabara full of force when he caught the fiery hue of natural determination in his eyes, reminding him of the neutral times they had shared swaggering through their neighbourhood together and how both of them felt capable of taking on the world and all it threw at them.
"Humph." He turned from him impassively, "You better. Don't wanna have to tell your girls how their 'bae' bit the dust."
"And you won't."
"Who else am I gonna beat up?"
"You mean who else IS gonna beat you up?"
For once, Kuwabara laughed at the hard realization of his win/loss ratio against Naruto, "Just get out soon, man. I mean it."
Naruto sobered, looking up at the artificial sky, "Like I said, count on it."