Well, there have been some complaints by a person called 'Peter Kim'. Since this is the only way I can reach him, here u go! Just because Ukitake is sick, doesn't mean that he can't not move around (double negative, I kno) also, this is set during the period in the manga in bleach when the shinigami come over to ichigo's world, after all the arrancar fight. BUT, let's just pretend the shinigami going to high school didn't happen, but the fights did. I have the power. Because it's my fic ) (and no, zaraki doesn't have shikai. Sorry)

I don't own bleach. I wish I did.

Shikamaru sighed. The clouds were nice today. He would love to just sit there and stare at them all day, but it was just his luck to be called to the Hokage. She had mentioned that he was to show a bunch of politically important figures around Konoha. Like a tour guide, so troublesome, he thought. He scratched the back of his head, never disturbing his pony tail. If I'm lucky, they won't be that interested… then I can go home and sleep.

As he walked along the wall of a hotel, his ears picked up a sound. Shit… Shikamaru dodged just in time to avoid getting hit head on by a jumbling mess of limbs. He perched on the roof edge, peering down at the thing that had almost run him over. There was a silence as the ball of chaos hit the wall across the street and ceased to roll. The dust cleared to show three people: one tall red head, an orange-haired person, and a petite black haired girl. They all lay there in the alley, dazed and tangled. The first to stand up from this group was the red head. He stood up, almost as if drunk. He shook his head, getting the dirt off his shihakusho in the process.

"Rukia… don't try that again."

---------

Shikamaru's jaw dropped. The people who he was supposed to tour, were THEM! The red head recognized the chuunin from the event earlier. "Yo. You're the guy from before. Pineapple… something… right?"

Shikamaru frowned. "No… It's Shikamaru." The red head shrugged, clearly showing that he did not really care. Tsunade glared Renji's interruption down to a miniscule speck. She then continued with Shikamaru.

"As I was saying… This is Nara Shikamaru, a chuunin from our village. He will be showing all of you around Konoha, getting you familiar with the setting. Shikamaru, these are the shinigami from Soul Society." Shikamaru flinched. Death gods? Since when had they started hosting death gods? However, Tsunade was not done. She gave him a long 'you better remember this' look before introducing each of the shinigami.

"Now, from my left: Ukitake Jyuushiro, captain of the 13th squad; Kyaouraku Shunsui, captain of the 8th squad; Ise Nanao, lieutenant of the 8th squad; Hitsugaya Toushirou, captain of the 10th squad; Matsumoto Rangiku, lieutenant of the 10th squad; Zaraki Kenpachi, captain of the 11th squad; Kusajika Yachiru, lieutenant of the 11th squad; Abarai Renji, lieutenant of the 6th squad; Kuchiki Rukia, member of the 13th squad; and finally, Kurosaki Ichigo, a shinigami representative."

The Konoha genius nodded his head; he had already memorized all the names. But what he couldn't get over was how different they all were. For example, the ruthless looking captain of the 11th squad and the pink-haired lieutenant of the 11th squad. How could they POSSIBLY work together? Or the flamboyant captain of the 8th squad and the strict looking woman with glasses who was his lieutenant. Could they even cooperate?

He just shook his head. He would never know. With the information he had so far, Soul Society could be a ramshackle government run by five year olds. He yawned. He was tired.

"So… Tsunade-sama, do you have specific places, or just everywhere?"

Tsunade thought for a moment. "Start off with the local landmarks, then go through all levels of shinobi." Shikamaru nodded. He would have to begin with the landmark that everyone knew, the rock face that contained all the faces of the Hokages (AN: does this place have a name? I'm too lazy to search for it now).

He turned to all the expectant (and some uninterested) shinigami. "Okay, well, let's start the tour. This way…"

---------

"Renji! That one looks like you!"

"It does not! He doesn't look anything like me! That is a he right? He has long hair… so I can't tell."

This was not the tour Shikamaru had in mind. His eye twitched a bit. He had tried to explain the significance of some well known sights, but he had been ignored all too easily. He blamed the attention span of the three shinigami he had met before (Renji, Rukia, and Ichigo). The 'sharp observational skill' of the girl shinigami amazed him. She was currently pointing at Tsunade's likeness, claiming it looked like the orange-haired death god.

"So I assume it goes in the order from the very first to the current Hokage."

Shikamaru turned around, surprised someone had actually been LOOKING at the faces. A white haired boy glanced at the lazy shinobi. "Correct?" Shikamaru just nodded. The snowy white head just bobbed up and down in acknowledge. Shikamaru tapped into this memory bank to remember this shinigami's name. Hitsugaya Toushirou… captain of the 10th squad. Shikamaru decided that he was quite sensible. Staring up at the clouds for a few more minutes, he decided more landmarks would just encourage more silliness. He moved on to the academy.

-----------

"Good good. Very nice. Next!"

Iruka was testing the academy students' ability with the shuriken.

"Iruka-sensei." (AN: would he say that? Or is it senpai? I don't know)

Iruka turned around to see Shikamaru. "Ah! Shikamaru! Long time no see! Finally get a break?" Shikamaru sighed and shook his head. Then, Iruka finally noticed the group of odd looking people following him. He observed them, all wearing shihakusho, some with a white haori. All of them had swords. "Who are they?" he whispered.

"Well, we're shinigami that are here to help with some problems."

The one who had spoken was a captain with long white hair. He looked meaningfully at Iruka. Iruka understood what problem it was. Those creatures. But the captain immediately broke into a smile. "Is this where they teach all the future shinobi?"

Iruka broke into a happy mood too. "Yes, this is it. They learn the basics of shinobi skills and such." Ukitake nodded. Then he went to discuss a few things with the other captains. He immediately came back. He cleared his throat first, rather painfully, but recovered just as quickly as he returned.

"We would, if you do not mind, like a demonstration."

Iruka was only so happy. "Of course!"

----------

"Alright! All set? Go!"

The first student quickly performed hand seals. "Transform!" In an instant, he was an exact copy of Iruka. Iruka ticked off the name on his clipboard; he was marking them at the same time. "Next! This time, make a bunshin." The next student, a girl, performed hand seals. "Kage bunshin!" The clone however, was satisfactory. Meaning, it did look like her, but it could only stand for three seconds. After that, it collapsed into a heap. The little girl gasped. Iruka shook his head. She wouldn't pass.

The shinigami, meanwhile, had shut up. Well, the ones who had been chatting loudly anyways. They were watching the skills carefully, some of the more responsible ones taking notes. The captains, excluding Zaraki, were nodding and grunting, sometimes whispering to each other. Zaraki just stood there, bored. He didn't need to see this. He could beat anyone, no matter what technique the opponent used. I can kick anyone's ass, anytime. Yachiru would be smiling at him. I'm sure you can Ken-chan! Because Ken-chan can beat anyone! Zaraki paused. What the hell is she doing in my head? Zaraki just sighed. Over exposure to Yachiru.

Ukitake clapped after a few more students. "If I may, could I get one of the shinigami from our group present a simple kidou?" There were some mumbling and whispering. Iruka frowned slightly. Demon arts? (AN: for those of you who don't know, kidou is supposed to translate into demon arts). "Go ahead." Ukitake gestured to Rukia.

Rukia stepped up to a target board (AN: I failed to mention that they are outside). "Ye Lord, mask of blood and flesh! All creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man, inferno and pandemonium! The sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hadou 31: Shakkahou!" The red ball of reiatsu hit the board squarely, burning it to a crisp. The students stood, silent for a moment. Then, broke into full applause.

"Wow! That was awesome!"

"Iruka-sensei! Can we learn how to do that?"

"Yeah can we? Then we can blast a lot of things! It's way better than bunshins!"

Rukia looked sufficiently pleased with herself. The academy students were already asking her to repeat her incantation.

Iruka stood stock still, amazed. He hadn't seen that kind of destructive power in a long time. And the person had called it simple! If that was a simple spell, what were complex ones like? He just shook his head, for the sake of his students and for his own incredulity.

"AH! WHO IS THIS YOUNG LADY WHO IS OVERFILLING WITH THE FIRE OF YOUTH?" (AN: guess who…)

Rukia was immediately caught by the hand by the oddest looking shinobi alive. Maito Gai. His bowl cut hair was dangerously close to her and threatened to eat her own swallow tail hair alive. His eyes were burning with over enthusiasm. Overall, Rukia was scared. Since the Aizen incident, Rukia was truly terrified. An involuntary shudder ran through her body. The other shinigami just stared, some with sweat drops on their head.

"Gai! This is…" Iruka stopped, realizing that he did not know her name. "This is… a… guest…. To Konoha." There, that sounded right. Shikamaru decided to take over before Iruka could humiliate himself further. "This is a shinigami from Soul Society. Her name is Kuchiki Rukia."

"AH! I SEE! SUCH A BEAUTIFUL NAME FOR SUCH A LADY WHO BURNS WITH THE SPRING OF YOUTH!" Gai was nearly killing himself with the excitement. Hitsugaya just hoped he didn't wet himself. Meanwhile, Renji stood eyes bulging. He guessed that this shinobi had never heard of Kuchiki Byakuya. Luckily, Rukia was rescued by Ukitake.

Gracefully taking Rukia's arm, he pulled (more like pried) her out of Gai's grip, so that Gai barely noticed. "Nice to meet you. I assume that you are a shinobi of Konoha as with all the others that we have met." Gai turned his eyes to the captain. Immediately he did his nice guy pose, blinding half the group with his teeth.

"Nice to meet you! I am Maito Gai! And who could you be?"

Ukitake, not wanting to offend Gai, he did the nice pose as well, believing this to be a customary polite way to greet people. "I am Ukitake Jyoushirou. I hope to get along well with you." There was a moment of awkwardness as all of them stared at the two figures doing a nice guy pose.

"Ano… Ukitake-taichou… what are you doing?" Rukia asked. Ukitake turned his head to Rukia, still doing the nice guy pose. "I am greeting a shinobi. It is important to make good relations here." Rukia had an even bigger sweat drop on her head. "Ah… I see…"

Hitsugaya shook his head and covered his face with his hand, defeated. "Someone get him out of that pose before he embarrasses himself more." He mumbled. No one did. They didn't want to get caught between the cross fire of glistening teeth and glistening white hair.

----------

After getting rid of the recently met shinobi, they entered a large training area.

"This is where… the chuunins train." Yes… that sounds right, thought Shikamaru. He was still dazed from the nice guy poses. (AN: do chuunins train in a large place? I just came up with this for convenience) "Chuunins?" Kyaouraku asked. Shikamaru sighed. Here he goes.

"The shinobi are arranged into rank by their skills. The first is a genin, the lowest level. The next are chuunins. Genins achieve this stage by successfully passing the chuunin exams. The next one is a jounin. They have to be exceptionally talented. Jounins also get groups of genins assigned to them, to train until the chuunin exams. Missions are given according to the ranks also."

The captain nodded satisfied. "So which rank are you?" the orange haired shinigami asked. Shikamaru looked. Kurosaki Ichigo, shinigami representative. "I am a chuunin." He said. Shikamaru didn't bother to look at his reaction. He just looked down at the sparring below. Unfortunately, it ended a minute after he looked. Well that wasn't very cool…

"Hey! Shikamaru!"

"Shikamaru! What are you doing here?"

He turned around to familiar voices. There stood a slim blonde kuinochi next to a chubby round faced shinobi. "Oh. It's you guys. Ah… so troublesome." The blonde bopped him on the head for not acknowledging her properly. The 'big boned' shinobi continued eating his chips, spilling an awful lot onto his armor. After Ino had put Shikamaru into a headlock, her attention fell on the shinigami.

"Who are these people?" She looked at all of them. Some how… they didn't quite fit. Her eyes fell on a certain orange-haired shinigami. Oh… date material. (AN: LOLOL) Ino smiled and winked at him. The shinigami blinked before turning a bit pink. She giggled. It was so adorable that he was shy. Shikamaru coughed. "Ino…" She flicked her hair. "Fine fine. Tell me."

"They are shinigami; we're supposed to host them. They are currently political guests of Konoha." He yawned. This day was way too long. So troublesome. And he was still in the headlock. "Oh?" the blonde said as she finally released him. She looked at the shortest members, the pink haired kid and the white haired one. They don't look very politically capable. The white haired boy glared at her. Hm… attitude. She turned away, not very interested. "So you got stuck touring them huh? I thought you were capable then this Shika! You should train right now with me!" Ignoring the already complaining chuunin, she pulled him down to the empty training area.

"Ready? GO!"

She performed hand seals, and then positioned her hands at an awkward circle. Shikamaru's eyes widened. Ah… so troublesome. She's serious. Shikamaru immediately began moving, making it harder for Ino to catch her target. The shinigami watched. "What's she doing with her hands?" Ichigo asked. Renji shrugged. "Beats me." Nevertheless, their eyes didn't move from the fight. Meanwhile, Zaraki was taking mild interest, but not much. Too weak… Yachiru sat on the railing with her face in her hands. "They aren't really fun for Ken-chan, are they?" Zaraki shook his head. "Nope. Too easy."

Giving up her main attack, Ino began to chase after Shikamaru instead. However, the only progress made was succeeding making this into a tag game. She landed silently and frowned, bringing wrinkles to her prized skin. I'm not much of a strategist like Shikamaru, but at least I can try. She hid behind a tree (AN: also forgot to mention that it's like the chuunin exam area, with all the plants and stuff). Kage Bunshin!

The two Inos nodded and went separate ways.

Shikamaru lay on the grass, concealed by a bush. Why did I get stuck with this? I rather stare up at the clouds here. Ah… I wish I was a cloud… So troublesome…He yawned. Maybe Ino would never find him. Then he could sleep. He was beginning to drift off anyways…

"Found you!"

He heard a rustling of bushes, signaling him that she had jumped. Shikamaru watched as Ino came down for him, the sun against her form and a kunai pointed at his head. It glinted dangerously. Ino! Leave it to the girl to get serious… He dodged the vicious attack, resulting in a buried kunai an inch away from the intended target. Ino grunted in frustration and began attacking again. Shikamaru did some back flips, avoiding shurikens as well. He landed sideways on a tree. Well time to start… He began to gather shadows around him, stretching and pulling them. Ino wisely back flipped away.

"Are those shadows… moving taichou?"

Hitsugaya squinted. Even though they were quite a ways away (two storey) he could see that the shadows were forming shapes other than the ones that they were supposed to make. His eyes widened. People who could do such things were dangerous. He wondered why they had trouble with Hollows.

Shikamaru concentrated. A bit further… He could just reach her… almost. Ino was just out of his shadow's reach on the field. A kunai rested coldly against Shikamaru's throat. Shikamaru didn't move. "Caught you Shika." The blonde let her bunshin disappear with a poof. "You lose to me this time." Ino smiled, pleased. She had finally beaten him. She moved slightly from behind the tree. Shikamaru smiled. "Not quite."

Ino's eyes widened. She was frozen in place! She couldn't move! He had caught her. AGAIN. Shikamaru stepped off the tree trunk. Ino did a similar motion, looking awkward and stupid. "Now…" he said. He reached into his shuriken pouch. Ino did likewise. "Shika… I think it's over now." He was about to speak when he heard something. Ino did too. He pulled his shadow back.

Deep under the ground, something beeped.

"What-"

----------

The explosion resonated inside Konoha. Tsunade looked up from her documents. What was that?

---------

Aizen dropped the remote onto the ground, smashing it into a million pieces.

"It's begun."

----------

"Kazekage-sama, a message for you."

"Place it on the desk."

The assistant gently put the letter on the Kazekage's desk before scurrying out. Gaara hated when they did that. It made him want to kill them. He reached over the desk and grabbed the letter. He sighed as his robes bunched up again. Next time, he was leaving them in his room. He quickly unsealed it, noticing that it was from the Leaf, most likely Tsunade.

He spread the scroll onto his desk. His normally expressionless face showed a hint of surprise.

"Temari. Kankurou."

The siblings slid out of the shadows, each leaning against a pillar inside the office. "Yes, Kazekage?" Gaara glared. After all the lecturing he had done, they STILL used his title. They were probably teasing. He stood up, hoisting his gourd onto his back.

"Prepare to go to the Leaf."

Yes! Finished! Anyways, just to tell you, even though it'll spoil it, the next chapter will have some shinigami vs shinobi! Yay! Cheer everyone! So, if you have specific fights you want to see in this fic, please tell me. But they have to be people who are likely to be at the chuunin training center. Also, I know that my fight sequences are considerably weak. If you have any tips for me (notice I said tips, not burns) feel free to tell me! Thank you!