The Mistake of a Lifetime

by rightforlife

One hundred years ago, Yoruichi and Kisuke made a mistake. And that one mistake will shake the worlds foundation. Kisuke/Yoruichi, Ichi/Ruki, Naru? Hiatus

4. Training with a Sadistic Bastard

Fourth Chapter in this fic...Sorry it took so long to update! I hope you enjoyed the story so far. Now this is yet another time skip. But rest assured, only a couple more time skips left till he reaches Soul Society. Please continue to review the story! Oh, and Kokuhi...forgive me:) I realize that you meant Kurosaki Karin now...oh and thanks to JKArcanus and Corrotto, Soi-Fong and Harribel are also added. But no more suggestions please:) Just vote for who you want So this chapter might make Kisuke and Yoruichi reflect on their decisions in the past. I'm not bashing them, just telling them off. Be warned, this is a very fast paced chapter in terms of the content in it.

I've also changed the Konoha Shinobi ages a bit. Kakashi and Gai are about seven years old here, and this chapter is set eight years before the Kyuubi attack. So they are a couple years older than canon, this goes for almost all of the Naruto characters.

So pairing wise:

Naru/Rangiku-8

Naru/Nel-3

Naru/Senna-4

Naru-Momo-2

Naru/Nemu-2

Naru/Karin-4

Naru/Soi-Fong 1

Naru/Harribel-1

Oh and Jinta/Ururu will also be a pair.

---

One year later...

Naruto had grown significantly in that year, just one short year. He had become slightly more outgoing, and actually showed his emotions. His eightieth birthday was celebrated with a lot of shabang, or as much shabang as three people could muster. Ururu had baked an eight layer cake, signifying the eight decades that he had been alive for. Jinta still commented on how he was a little chibi compared to their own 'majestic' ages. Naruto had opted not to answer him, and retaliated by binding his brother with a Kido spell through the entire cake eating process. Naruto had taken the bites of his cake slowly, pausing to moan after each bite, and saying how he was in heaven while eating it. Jinta had a huge sweet tooth, and that cake was the reason he was so nice to Naruto during the week of his birthday. But Naruto, though he had some sadism running through his veins was not that cruel a person who would not give a poor, dying man his cake. In the end, he unbound Jinta and gave him a large piece. Jinta was very satisfied.

When Naruto had woken up after his fight with the adjuchas, he had been thoroughly disoriented. He immediately told Jinta and Ururu about his Zanpakuto, and they said that it was normal that Naruto didn't hear the name of the sword yet. It just meant that he wasn't ready for him. He had also asked the two who the orange haired man was that had saved him. Jinta had said that he was an old acquaintance from soul society and that Naruto would know him as 'Ichigo-Aniki'. Naruto was quite taken by the orange haired man because "he had looked really cool with his black robes and that kick ass sword." Those were Naruto's exact words. For eighty years old, he wasn't all that mature yet. But that was to be expected when Urahara Kisuke was your father.

Speaking of Kisuke, he was in a shit load of trouble with Isshin when he had learned about Kisuke's son. I mean, think about it. How would you feel if your closest guy friend for 500 years hadn't told you about your self proclaimed godson? I think that I would be pretty pissed. Isshin had thoroughly chewed both him and Yoruichi out.

Flashback: One year ago...Shihoin Complex-Kisuke's Quarters

"Cut the crap, Kisuke. Now tell me why you haven't named me Naruto's godfather yet..." Isshin's chocolate eyes blazed. He took much pleasure in seeing the faces of his childhood friends' turn ashen. "Oh yes, I know. You see, Ichigo here met the boy today, along with Ururu and Jinta. So now, you will tell us the full story on how all of this," Isshin waved his hands wildly about, "came to be. Do you understand?" His voice had a hard edge to it.

Kisuke grudgingly opened the door all the way to let the four Kurosakis into the room. Yoruichi was stunned at the coldness in Isshin and Ichigo's eyes. They all sat around the table, waiting for someone to speak.

"Well Kisuke, Yoruichi, I think it's only prudent that you lot start first." Isshin growled at them. He was pissed. Eighty years, for eighty years he had been deceived by his friends, from conception to now.

The pair in question glanced at each other before Yoruichi spoke up. "It was one night, just one night eighty years ago. It wasn't an accident...I might have...never mind." She coughed slightly and inwardly grinned at the crimson visage of Ichigo. "But I became pregnant after that. The only ones who knew were Shiba Kukaku and Unohana Retsu, oh and apparently Yamamoto knew as well, but he never told anyone. I really don't know why he di..." She was cut off by Yuzu. "Wait, you mean that the sou-taicho knew about Naruto-chan and never said a word? Not even to you?" The girl's voice was incredulous.

"Well yes, truth be told, we only found out today that the old man knew about Naruto. He said that he wanted someone to spoil..." Kisuke added nonchalantly.

The four Kurosakis looked like their eyes would have popped out. "You can't be serious! I mean why would the man say that?" Karin inputted her own two cents.

"We're not really sure..." Yoruichi said hesitantly. She still didn't completely trust the commander, no matter what he said.

"Anyway...you were saying Yoruichi-baa-chan, the only ones who knew about the pregnancy were Shiba-san and Unohana-taicho." Ichigo said with annoyance laced in with curiosity.

"Oi! Matte! If they were the only ones, plus the commander, does that mean that Kisuke didn't know either?" Isshin shouted.

Yoruichi looked down. Her golden eyes stared at the floor with regret. Kisuke just sighed and gave Isshin a rather light glare. "Yes, my lovely lady here decided to tell me that I had a son on his fiftieth birthday which was nearly thirty years ago. Was I pissed, hell yes. Did I stay pissed...not really. I've known about my son for twenty nine years."

Surprise was evident in all of their eyes. "Are...are you serious?" Isshin asked. He couldn't believe that Yoruichi wouldn't have told Kisuke about his own son.

"Of course it's the truth." Kisuke said shortly. Though he had forgiven Yoruichi eventually, he was still quite sore about noe knowing about Naruto for more than half of the boy's life. It wasn't fair to him.

"But...but why? Why keep it from jii-san for so long?" Ichigo asked, turning to Yoruichi to hear her answer.

She looked up. This was the third or fourth time she would have to repeat this story. "Settle down, because it's a long story..."

Some time later...

Isshin clenched his fists in anger. "Yoruichi...would your clan really do that?"

Yoruichi wearily looked into the man's eyes. "Yes...yes they would."

Karin looked disgusted while Yuzu gasped in shock.

Ichigo gave both of his surrogate aunt and uncle a calculating look. "I can see why you did it, but you do realize that Naruto has no idea who his parents are. I'm sure Ururu and Jinta have told him about you two, but he doesn't know your names yet. How will he feel when he returns? Is he going to accept you two, is he going to be mad, will he even respect the both of you? So you say you've gone to the human world and seen him from afar. But has he ever seen you? He's a kid...no matter his age. His mother left him when he was five months old. His father didn't know that he existed till recently. How in anyway is that fair to him? I saw Naruto in action. He beat a low level hollow and went up against an adjuchas with just Kido spells. Those are his strong point. He used two kido spells in the 60-70 range simultaneously. The only thing he lacks right not besides his Zanpakuto is battle training. Who's training him? Ururu and Jinta. Not his mom and dad. You know where he is, you know who he is...and yet you do nothing. You sit here in soul society waiting for your child to return instead of going to him. He has no way of reaching you guys, yet you can open the Senkaimon and reach him. The more you wait to tell him who you are...the more he will resent you. I know, that when I get the chance, I'm going to go visit Naruto myself. Why? Because as of today, I'm his aniki. The both of you...if you expect Naruto to forgive you in a heartbeat, forget it. If you two were my parents, It would take a hell of a long time for me to reconcile with you." Ichigo finished his speech with a deep breath. "I'm sorry if I sounded harsh, but it's better if it comes from me rather than from Naruto."

The people in the room were astounded by the passion in Ichigo's voice. His eyes flashed dangerously, as if daring Yoruichi and Kisuke to refute his statements. But they didn't. No one could deny the truth in the man's speech. If Naruto was anything like his parents, then he would be one to hold a grudge for quite sometime before letting go. If it was one Yoruichi was bad at, it was forgiving and forgetting. Kisuke was better at it, yet he too had a problem.

"No Ichigo, you're absolutely right." Kisuke rose and placed a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Thanks for telling us this. There is one thing about your little speech that concerns me however. Did you say that Naruto fought and adjuchas?"

Yoruichi stood up so fast that her chair clattered to the floor. She had completely missed that part. "What!"

Ichigo braced himself for the blow that he might receive from Yoruichi. "Hai, Naruto did fight an adjuchas."

"And you didn't help him?" Yoruichi's voice dropped an octave. Ichigo gulped instinctively.

"No. No I didn't. I needed to see what he could do. He was an enigma, a shinigami on earth. I wasn't going to let him die, but I was gauging his skill level." Ichigo's voice wavered when he saw her eyes glint dangerously. However to his immense surprise, she nodded in understanding. Kisuke too seemed to accept the man's explanation.

"You said that what he lacked was battle experience. I'm not going to lie and say that it was good that you didn't help him, but now we know what he needs to work on. Ichigo...we know that we have done our son wrong. We know that we don't deserve to be his parents. We know that we haven't shown him anything that a parent would...but we can't help but hope. Yoruichi left him a medallion around his neck, the Shihoin emblem. I know that he wears it, I'm sure you saw it too. He doesn't know who we are, yet he holds parts of us close to his heart. When he returns, we will accept whatever he decides to do, whether he acknowledges us or not." Kisuke told the Kurosaki family.

Ichigo looked perplexed. "Explain to me why you can't just go down to the human world the next time we have a mission and tell Naruto who you are to him? Postponing this will only delay the inevitable."

Yoruichi let out a small chuckle. "You know, Retsu told me the same thing when I decided to tell Kisuke about Naruto. Why is it that everyone else gives us such good advice and we never take it?" The question was meant to be rhetorical but Karin answered it anyway.

"It's because the two of you always think you know exactly what you are doing...and then something goes wrong." She deadpanned.

Kisuke pouted. "Karin chan...that's so mean! You wound me!"

Karin scoffed. "Kisuke-jii, you're a liar. But, I'm curious, tell us more about Naruto, and Jinta and Ururu."

Yoruichi thought for a moment before responding. "Hm, well he's seventy nine years old, born on October 10th, he weighed six pounds and six ounces when he was born. He was twenty one inches long, and oh! He has these adorable whisker marks on his cheeks!"

"Whisker marks?" Yuzu asked incredulously.

"Yep, you know how I can turn into a cat yes?" She asked. Everyone nodded. "Well, I think it's because of that...I mean what else could it be?"

"Does that mean that the kid acts like a cat too?" Isshin questioned.

"No, not from what we know...otherwise...it would have been most interesting..." Kisuke mused.

"You guys still haven't answered my question." Ichigo put in rather impatiently.

The pair sighed. "I don't know...we're scared? I know that it's lame...but it's true. I mean take everything that you said about Naruto and reverse it. Will he except us? Will he love us? Will he forgive us? The two of us might have this facade of sheer confidence, but we're both cowards. Me more so than Kisuke. I mean, I didn't even tell him that I was pregnant for Kami's sake! I'm a coward, and I'll admit that."

"Then what do you plan on doing about it?" Isshin asked them. Although these two were his best friends, he couldn't help but be angry at them for not having the balls to claim Naruto.

Stormy eyes met chocolate ones. "We'll trust our son, that's what we'll do. We'll give him all the guidance that we can from the sidelines, and then he'll make his choice."

Isshin looked at Kisuke for a moment before shaking his head. "Listen to yourself Kisuke. This isn't the Urahara Kisuke that I know. This is taking the coward's way out. You're talking about a child here, a child that the both of you have never held a proper conversation with. A child who's been raised by two Shinigamis who are not his parents. A child who doesn't know his parents names yet. And why? Because Yoruichi here was too stubborn to let the kid know. His own mother abandoned him, and refused to tell the kid her name. Now that's cruel...that's too cruel for any child to deal with."

Kisuke's breath caught in his throat. Yoruichi grabbed his hand and looked him full in the face. He could see so many emotions in her golden eyes. Fear, embarrassment, sadness, guilt, and so on.

Isshin placed a hand on both of their shoulders. "I'm sorry that I said this, but based off of what Ichigo told us before about the kid, he's like you Kisuke: he bottles up his emotions. I don't know how he'll react to you guys. Just tell Naruto for Kami's sake. It'll make things so much easier."

They nodded slowly. Ichigo's mind was whirling at all the potential that Naruto carried. He had made his choice. He would train Naruto so that the kid would be able to master his Zanpakuto. In twenty one years, the kid was going to return home. He needed to be prepared. Ichigo didn't give a flying fart on what Kisuke and Yoruichi said. He knew his aunt and uncle too well. They weren't going to tell Naruto whose child he was. No, Ichigo would tell his self proclaimed otouto himself. The only problem was going into the real world...

---

Present Time: Konohagakure...With Naruto

It was that time of month again. The time that Jinta and Naruto hated. It was shopping time. Naruto didn't understand why Jinta disliked it so much. He never went with Naruto anyway. Naruto thought that it was maybe because his brother would have to spend so much time with his sister. Every time Naruto would return from his trips into the village, Jinta always sported a slight limp and claimed he was very sore. It had only been going on for a couple months, but Naruto was concerned for his brother's well being. Ururu had a positively predatory look in her eyes whenever Naruto would go out. He wondered what kind of training they were doing for Jinta to be so exhausted.

These were some of Naruto's thoughts as he walked around the village. Konoha was enjoyable to him. He particularly was intrigued by their taijutsu. Over the years, Naruto had watched a boy in an extremely disturbing green spandex suit practice a style that the green clad boy called goken. The style was pure genius, Naruto thought. He loved hiding in the trees and watching the boy train whenever he went into the village. Though the boy was eccentric, he was damn good at taijutsu. But now he wasn't a boy anymore. Naruto learned that when the shinobi received their headbands, they became adults in the ninja world. That meant that the kid had been an adult since he was seven, which he had just turned four months ago. The kid also had a rivalry with a strange and stoic masked boy with silver hair that stuck up in all directions. The boy declared the scarecrow like boy his 'eternal rival'. The scarecrow avoided the green blob as much as he could. Naruto couldn't help but feel sorry for the scarecrow. He wouldn't want to be the green shinobi's eternal rival either.

The scarecrow was someone Naruto took a particular interest in, because of who his sensei was. Naruto remembered it like it was yesterday when he had met the energetic fellow blonde known as Namikaze Minato.

Flashback: nineteen years ago Konohagakure

Naruto was nervous...very nervous. You see, it would be the boy's first time entering the village. Ururu and Jinta had fallen ill, and Naruto was the only one who was healthy to go into the village. He only looked to be about seven or eight, so the guards wouldn't question him too much. Naruto gulped as he took in the massive gates to the village. Naruto completely hid his reiatsu to make him invisible to the humans. This was one of the first shinigami abilities that he had learned, and he didn't know that he was a shinigami then. Luckily for Naruto, the gates were open, and he slipped right into the village without arousing suspicion.

Naruto gaped at the size of the village. It was huge! There was a big dome shaped building smack dab in the center of the village. It was green. Hmm, it looked like an important place. Naruto dropped the invisibility in an alley and mingled with the crowd. He fit right in. He looked ordinary, and that was fine with him. It wasn't like he wanted to get noticed anyway. Naruto hated crowds, he liked isolation. So he wasn't particularly enjoying his experience in the village so far. Sighing, the shinigami took a deep breath and went to the first stall he could find that held medicine.

"Excuse me madam," He began in his most polite voice. The lady at the counter took one look at him and squealed. "Oh my kami! You must be the cutest thing in the world! What can i do for you, pet?" Her voice made him shudder. It was so high pitched. Naruto cringed as the woman flashed him a grin. He looked up and was taken aback at her appearance. She was a civilian, but she had startling green eyes and pink hair. Pink. How could ones hair turn that color?

It took Naruto a couple seconds to regain his voice. "Oh, I'm looking for some medicine. You see, my brother and sister are very ill. And I need something to cure them."

The woman jumped off of the stool she was on and guided him to the area that was filled with various types of medicine. "Okay pet, what symptoms do your brother and sister exhibit?" The pink haired woman asked the blonde.

He cringed when she had called him 'pet'. It was so...grandmotherly.

Now she didn't expect him to know what 'symptoms' or 'exhibit' meant, and was very surprised by his answer. "Well, both my siblings have a very high fever and are constantly coughing and sneezing. This leads me to believe that they either have a virus of some sort, or a bacteria has invaded their bodies and their bodies are fighting it off right now. The color of their phlegm is green, not clear, so they clearly are very sick right now. Their senses are out of whack. Both of them can't really taste or smell anything. But then again, I've heard that it's common when one gets a virus or something."

The pink haired lady was shocked at the boy's extremely intelligent response. In fact, another person was listening intently to their conversation as well. The person leaned against a counter and eyed the blonde with an appraising eye.

"You ever think of being a doctor kid? Konoha needs med-nins anyway."

Naruto and the pink lady turned to look at the person who asked the question. A blonde lady with very big assets had an amused look on her face as she awaited Naruto's response. The lady had blonde hair, maybe a shade darker than Naruto's own. She wore a green vest over a black long-sleeved shirt and matching pants. A headband was wrapped around her forehead. Her chocolate eyes stared into Naruto's stormy ones. To his horror, Naruto found that he was blushing.

"Um..n..no ma'am. I'm just a civilian you see. I could never be a shinobi." Naruto stammered. Even if the woman was younger than him, he was physically and mentally an eight year old.

The pink haired lady took in the woman's appearance with an almost jealous eye. But then she seemed to realize who the woman was and hastily bowed to her before turning back to Naruto. "Hey kid, I don't really think you need me with her around. She can tell you anything about medicine." And with that, the lady sauntered back to the counter.

Naruto just shrugged and turned back to the lady who seemed to be in her late teens or early twenties. "So, do you have a recommendation for any good remedies?" Naruto asked tentatively.

The blonde woman chuckled and pointed out to a bottle. "Here, it's peppermint oil. Rub it on your brother and sister and their fever will come down." She plucked another bottle and put it in Naruto's hands. "This is lemongrass extract. It's soothing for the throat and nose. Make tea, and put a drop of it in their cups. Within a day, their cough and cold will be gone."

Naruto was entranced. When he got sick, which was rare, his siblings forced foul tasting liquid down his throat that made him gag. This was so much better. "Wow! Thanks baa-chan!"

The woman's eye twitched. She had to remind herself that the kid in front of her was a civilian and not a ninja. He was also younger than her by ten years or so. "Gaki...I'm only twenty one, don't call me baa-chan! It's Tsunade, my name is Tsunade!"

"Hai hai, Tsunade...baa-chan." Naruto added slyly as he dodged her enraged figure and quickly bought the items that the woman had suggested. Hmmm. His vision of the village had changed. He was kind of enjoying it here.

After some time, Naruto had many bags in his arms that consisted of things ranging from cough drops to Ururu's feminine products. He wasn't happy when he had bought those. He even had to endure the odd gazes of the women in that store. What...was it every day that a child bought those products for his sister? No?...oh well...in his defense, Naruto wasn't a child per say. But he doubted that the ladies would believe him.

Naruto grunted as he shifted the weight of the bags, They were heavy. He needed to sit down and rest for a few minutes. The blonde looked around and found the perfect place. It was a stall that looked very cozy. The sign on top read Ichiraku Ramen. Ramen eh? He had had it a couple times, but it was ridiculously bad for you. Naruto supposed he could splurge today. He walked into the stall and put his bags next to him. It was a quaint little place, something cozy that felt very appealing.

A man came out from the back. He was wearing a white apron over a chef's outfit. "Hello! My name is Ichiraku Teuchi. Welcome to my ramen stall! What would you like?"

Well, at least he's enthusiastic. Naruto thought. He scanned the menu. "I'll have a chicken ramen please."

"Coming right up!" Teuchi prepared the ramen right in front of him. Within a few moments, a steaming bowl of ramen was placed before him. Naruto, to his surprise, felt his mouth watering. The aroma was delicious. Teuchi smiled as he saw the content on the boy's face.

Naruto eagerly broke apart his chopsticks and dipped it into the steaming noodles and broth. "Itadekimasu." Grabbing some noodles and chicken, he popped it into his mouth. A moan erupted from him. Oh God. This was too good. Once he started, he couldn't stop. It was just heavenly.

It only took moments for him to devour his bowl. Before he could even ask for more, a larger bowl of miso ramen was in front of him. Naruto simply dipped his chopsticks in it once more and eat at a nearly sickening pace, not even pausing to say thank you.

Teuchi watched the blonde kid eat his ramen ferociously. He smirked slyly. Once someone ate his ramen, they would never eat anywhere else.

Seven bowls later, Naruto was satisfied. He let out a childlike belch and gave Teuchi a very large grin. Naruto's eyes shown in delight. That was the best food that he had eaten in a very long time. It was terrible for you, but it just tasted sooooo good. He was sad to go away from the stall, but his family did need him badly. He put the right amount of cash on the counter and made to leave. But he stopped and reached into one of his bags to pull something else out. It was a flower.

Saying his goodbyes and thank you's, he exited the stall.

Teuchi grinned as he saw how much money he had. He hoped the boy would come back and eat like this all the time. He never would go out of business if the kid came. He saw the flower lying of the counter. "Ayame eh? That's a real nice flower right there." (Ayame means Iris). "Thanks kid. Hmph, I never got his name..."

---

Naruto had every intention of leaving Konoha right away, believe me he did. But he just couldn't. It seemed like Kami-sama hated him or something. Right after he had left Ichiraku's a blonde boy had tackled him to the ground. It appeared as if the blonde was being chased by a fiery red-head.

All of his bags split open, and the contents were splayed everywhere. The red head and the blonde had paused in their romp and stopped to see what had happened. The red head, whose name was Kushina, had quickly blamed the mess on the blonde, and then left to get more bags for Naruto. The blonde, named Minato, had apologized over and over again and helped Naruto pick up his things. Kushina had come over quickly with the bags, and helped put the contents back into the bag and left, but not before giving Minato the finger and running off.

Now Naruto was stuck with a blonde kid of about five years old trailing behind him, making sure that the older blonde wouldn't be too mad at him.

"Are you sure you're not mad?" Minato asked in a tearful tone.

Naruto clenched his teeth. If the kid kept asking him, he might get a little angry. "I'm sure kid. Go home now."

"I can't. I have to make sure you're not mad." Minato shook his head adamantly.

By now, the two had arrived at a deserted training ground that no shinobi frequented. Naruto whirled around and his eyes flashed golden for a second. Minato cowered under the older boy's frightening glare.

"Listen kid, I forgave you the first ten times you asked me. So please, just leave me alone!" Naruto was generally a very composed person, but the little kid was pushing his buttons a bit too far. But Naruto instantly regretted it when he saw the kid was nearly in tears.

Minato wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall. I won't cry...I won't cry...I won't cry. He repeated it over and over again in his head.

Naruto felt guilt bubble up through him. Gently, he set down his bags and went over to Minato. Minato recoiled when Naruto touched his shoulder, like he was afraid to get hit. Naruto bent down till he was eye level with the five year old.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so harsh with you." Naruto said in a reassuring tone. Minato sniffled a few times and looked at Naruto with his big blue eyes. Naruto noted the similarities between his face and Minato's. Naruto could have been mistaken as Minato's older brother or something.

"It's okay. I shouldn't have been so annoying." Minato said, blowing his nose on his sleeve.

Naruto grimaced and gave the boy a tissue that he accepted graciously. He knew that he would be stuck with the boy for some more time. It was best to make good of this situation. Naruto sat down on the grass and motioned for Minato to do the same.

"So, where are your parents?" Naruto asked.

Minato's eyes became shadowed by his bangs."They died when I was two in a shinobi fight. I live in the orphanage now." The boy sadly told the other blonde.

Naruto sighed and patted the boy on the head. "I'm sorry. I don't know my parents either."

Minato looked at Naruto with wide eyes. "Really? So do you live in an orphanage too?"

Naruto laughed at Minato's expression. "Nope, I live outside of Konoha with my brother and sister. My parents are alive...they just...it's kind of complicated."

Minato nodded sagely. "I see. That's how I would describe my relationship with Kushina. It's complicated."

"I'm guessing this Kushina is the girl that was chasing you around?"

"Uh huh. She only came to the village a couple months ago and she lives in the Senju compound." Naruto had no idea what that meant but didn't interrupt the boy. "Apparently she's related to them. Kushina, I think she hates me. But when I see her, I feel lightheaded. I think it's because she punches me so much, it affects my mind or something."

Naruto could barely keep his laughter in check. Oh god, that was rich. The five year old was in love and he didn't even know it!

"Oh yeah, that's probably it." Naruto agreed with the younger blonde. Minato couldn't catch the amusement in Naruto's voice.

"What's your name?" Naruto asked Minato all of a sudden.

Minato scrambled to his feet quickly and gave Naruto a traditional bow. "Namikaze Minato!"

In the same fashion, Naruto rose to his feet and bowed back. "Naruto. My name's Naruto."

"I like your name. It means maelstrom." Minato said wisely.

Naruto was really starting to like the kid. Usually when people heard his name, they thought it meant fishcake. It figures that children would understand the true meaning of it.

"I like your name too Minato. Namikaze eh, that's like wave and wind together. It makes me think of an ocean on a windy day. And Minato means port. Your name has everything to do with the sea."

Minato's electric blue eyes lit up. "Did you know that Kushina's last name is Uzumaki? That means whirlpool! We're connected or something!" Minato exclaimed.

Naruto sweatdropped. Did the kid realize that everything he said related back to this Kushina. A match made in heaven, as one might call it. "Really? So do you like this girl or something?"

Minato just gaped at Naruto. "Do I like her? She's so scary." His voice dropped an octave. "I think she wants to kill me." Minato confessed. "But you know something? For some reason I really like it when she hits me."

Naruto stifled the laughter that was threatening to spill out. "Oh?" He choked out. "Good luck with her!"

For some more time, Minato and Naruto talked about random things like the sky, clouds, and ramen. The two blondes had bonded over the fact that they loved Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto promised Minato that the next time he was in the village, he would treat Minato to all the ramen he wanted. Needless to say, Minato was eagerly awaiting Naruto's next trip.

It was around 5:07 that Minato remembered he needed to be in the orphanage before 5:10 otherwise the owners would make the kids go without dinner. There was no way that he could run all the way back to the place in three minutes.

"Naruto! What am I going to do?" Minato wailed.

Naruto pondered it for a moment before picking Minato up. Naruto may have looked to be around nine, but he was strong enough to pick the small boy up. "Grab on to me and close your eyes. Don't worry, I'll get you there on time. I promise."

Minato nodded and closed his eyes, latching onto Naruto's shirt. Taking a deep breath, Naruto vanished in a great burst of speed. He had seen where the orphanage was while he had entered the village and knew exactly where to go.

"Open your eyes, Minato." Naruto gently said. Minato did so and stared at Naruto in wonder. He was at the orphanage! And it wasn't time to go in yet.

"Naruto! How did you do that?" Minato asked him in an awe filled voice.

Naruto chuckled at the kid's admiration for him. "Do you promise not to tell anyone?" He asked in a serious voice.

Minato stood up straight and saluted Naruto. "I promise."

"Alright then. I got you here so quick like this." Faster than Minato could see, Naruto was behind him, and then in front of him again. "It's called shunpo" Naruto explained.

"Woah! That was so cool!" Minato squealed. (It's not odd for a five year old to squeal)

"But you can't tell anyone, okay?"

"Of course not!" Minato yelled. It was 5:09. He had one minute to walk through that door. "I've decided something Naruto! I'm going to be an amazing shinobi and come up with a technique that's even faster than the shunpo!" Minato declared, pumping his fist in the air.

Naruto grinned and ruffled the kid's hair. "I'm sure you will Minato, and I'll be watching you. Remember that." Before Minato could even respond, Naruto had vanished.

---

Naruto chuckled at the memories that he was reliving. He knew Minato had accomplished that. Minato had invented his famous Hiraishin no Jutsu, and it was on par with shunpo, if not faster. From what Naruto had heard, the third Shinobi War had finished, and Minato was the hero of the war. He had also heard how Minato's jutsu had saved Konoha. Kushina had also made quite a big impact as well. She was nicknamed "The Red-Hot Habanero." She was always the angry one. Naruto was proud that he had helped shape such an amazing shinobi.

As he passed Ichiraku Ramen, he saw Teuchi holding a small baby. He had been to Ichiraku's a couple times when he was in Konoha, each time spending a very good amount of money.

Naruto decided to go over to ramen stall and ask him who the baby was. Hopefully, Teuchi wouldn't recognize him.

"Yo, I was just passing by and saw the baby. May I ask what her name is?" Naruto inquired politely.

Teuchi gave Naruto a quizzical look. "Do I know you?"

"No, but perhaps you would no my uncle. He said that he used to come here quite often whenever he entered the village." Naruto lied smoothly.

Teuchi's face lit up in recognition. "Ah yes, that blonde boy you used to come here and eat nearly ten bowls each time. Where is he now?"

Naruto kept a straight face throughout his little fib. "My uncle died some years ago in an accident involving some Iwa ninjas."

Teuchi gasped slightly and looked at the boy in sympathy. He held the baby out in his arms for Naruto to see. "Her name is Ayame. Actually, I believe I named her because your uncle gave me a flower the first time he ate here. It was an iris. And ever since then, the name Ayame just stuck. So I promised myself, if I have a daughter, her name would be Ayame,."

Naruto remembered giving the iris to Teuchi and was struck on how one act of kindness would resonate so much in a person's mind. He stroked the gurgling baby's hair and watched as she leaned into his touch.

"What's your name, by the way. I never learned your uncle's name, so I might start with yours." Teuchi asked him suddenly.

"Naruto, my name's Naruto sir."

"Well Naruto, I think I may have just the thing for you. Sit down and hold Ayame. I'll be right back." Teuchi gently placed the baby into Naruto's arms and went to go get something from the storage room.

Naruto let Ayame play with his fingers. She sucked on them with her gums. Naruto tickled Ayame's tummy making an odd sound to come out of her. It wasn't laughter, but it was more like a pleasured gurgle.

Teuchi came back to see his daughter pulling on the blonde's hair very hard. But the blonde didn't seem to mind. He just encouraged the girl to keep going. Teuchi leaned against his counter and smiled at the familial sight he saw.

"Hm, the way I see things you might just take Ayame away from me." Teuchi chortled.

Naruto looked up with an amused smile on his face. "I might just do that. So, what is it that you wanted to give me?"

Teuchi raised a bag in his hand. "Here, Narutos for Naruto." Naruto looked into the bag and saw a heap of tiny white fishcakes. He saw the grin on Teuchi's face and sweatdropped. Why did everyone have to make fun of his name?

Sighing, he accepted the bag and gave Ayame back to Teuchi. "Yes yes, I know I have a funny name. I curse my mother every time someone insinuates that it means fishcake." He spit out the last word in amusing distaste.

The elder Ichiraku guffawed at the young man's dislike of his name. "I'm sure your mother named you maelstrom and not fishcake."

"Let's hope." Naruto mumbled. "Anyway, I should be going. My brother and sister want me to shop for supplies. Thanks Teuchi-san. I'll come back soon to try some of your delicious ramen."

"Come back soon." Teuchi waved to the blonde boy. As soon as Naruto was out of the stall, he dropped his hand and frowned slightly. Naruto, I know that you're the same boy who came into my store for the first time nineteen years ago. It's impossible for you to have that big of a resemblance to this 'uncle' of yours. I didn't even tell you my name and you knew it. Whoever you are, whatever you are, I thank you. My daughter's name comes from you. I just wished you would tell me the secret to your eternal youth...I'm only 38 and I already have wrinkles...

---

Naruto whistled a nameless tune as he walked down the road with his bag of fishcakes. Some people looked at him a little oddly, but continued on their way.

Naruto made his way to the market. He took out a list from his pocket. He looked over everything that he needed.

Ururu and Jinta's list of supplies:

Fish-salmon and trout

2 pounds of broccoli, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, cabbage and carrots

Herbs and spices-you know which ones

Rice-ten pounds

Oolong tea-the kind we like

Beef-get the less expensive stuff

Do NOT get chicken

Peppermint oil and Lemongrass extract (two bottles of each)

Green tea leaves

Anything else you want (not ramen)

Stay as long as you need to, just come home for dinner

Jeez, his siblings were such nags sometimes. He walked over to the nearest vender and showed her the list. He rubbed his head in embarrassment when she gave his an odd look. "I'm sorry. Could you just tell me where I can find all of this?"

She directed him to all places he needed to go. Naruto was always a very efficient shopper. He didn't dawdle like Jinta and Ururu. All of his supplies were bought in less than half an hour. He was quite happy at the moment. He had some time to leisurely enjoy the surroundings of Konoha without anyone to bother him. He would just drop off the supplies at home and roam around.

Naruto screwed his eyes in concentration, and let his reiatsu out. His shinigami form was much less of a hassle than his human one. To the civilians walking along the street, they did doubletakes, trying to find the blonde who had seemingly vanished in thin air. In the end, they thought that he was a very young shinobi shopping on his days off.

Naruto snickered when he saw the confused looks on people's faces. Oh the joys of being invisible to normal humans was great. A couple people did look his way...but they just ignored him and went on with their business.

Naruto compressed his reiatsu and let it out in a great burst of speed, taking off in the direction of his house. He loved shunpo. He loved feeling the great rush of adrenaline that coursed through his body as he raced onwards, feeling the wind through his hair, and the ground under his feet.

He saw his cottage come in sight. Not even bothering to go inside, he simply left the bags of groceries at the front step and shunpoed to his favorite place, the pond that was about 100 meters from his house.

Whenever he had spare time, he would come to this pond. The crystal clear water was beautiful, and made Naruto marvel at the beauty of his surroundings. He had been coming here more often because it also reminded him of his mind-scape, which he had discovered the year prior. His Zanpakuto's name was still unknown to him, however slowly, he felt that he was getting close to unraveling it. Jinta had told him that he had learned his Zanpakuto's name through meditation.

Naruto didn't have to do that. According to his Zanpakuto, the name would come to Naruto when he was ready. To make sure that they were thoroughly acquainted, the man with the reddish-blonde hair and the slitted golden eyes made it a point to influence Naruto's dreams every so often. They weren't so bad all the time. His zanpakuto usually put him in situations where he had to think to get out of. Like: Slowly sinking in a pit of quicksand...how can he possibly get out? Or...being trapped in the jaws of a man eating shark...or being chased by seven million fan girls. He didn't know what fan girls were...but he shuddered thinking about the girls who chased after him in those kinds of dreams. His zanpakuto had a very twisted sense of humor. But they were decent dreams. In each dream, he had to come up with a strategy to get out of his situation. For example, in the fan girl dream, he would use a bakudo strong enough to bind them all. Or he would use a hado to obliterate them...either one worked well.

Naruto liked his zanpakuto very much. It was like him in a way-lazy unless provoked. Ururu had said that some zanpakuto and their wielders didn't get along, but Naruto wasn't concerned about that. His Zanpakuto was him...and if he couldn't get along with himself...then there was a serious problem. Because their thoughts seemed to coincide to well, Naruto and the sword got along swimmingly.

In addition to his zanpakuto, he adored his mind-scape as well. It had evolved slightly. The normally stormy sky had taken on a lighter shade...somewhat. The sky was dependent on his emotions. The more angry or annoyed he was feeling, the darker it got. The happier he was, the more the storm clouds seem to vanish, however he had never seen even a ray of sunshine. When he asked his sword about this, his sword had replied that this was his true self. The sky would never become sunny because of who he was.

Naruto was snapped out of his musings by a small squirrel landing on his head and scampering off. Seriously? Did the animals not realize that he was right there? Shaking his head, he stared into the rich blue water, watching some Koi fish jump in and out of it. A grin appeared on his face. Nature fascinated Naruto to no extent. If there was a God, he or she truly was a genius for creating such a beautiful landscape. He was extremely happy that Ururu and Jinta had decided to settle here.

Slowly, he drifted off to sleep under the Sakura tree that he adored. Although the petals did remind him of those pink haired banshees that he did see walking around Konoha fawning all over Minato, the Sakura tree was his symbol of peace. And he enjoyed that peace. His eyelids drooped and he entered the blissful island that was his mind.

Hello Naruto, welcome back. It's been quite sometime since you last entered here. His conscience gently drifted down towards him. His conscience wasn't a person, it didn't have a gender, yet Naruto could feel it, sense it. It was like a companion.

"It's been three days you know. That's not all that long." Naruto told it.

Ah yes. But in three days so much could have happened. A tsunami could have torn this place apart.

Naruto surveyed the area. Same stormy sky, same isolated island, and same golden water. Nothing seemed out of place. "And did it?"

No.

"Then everything's alright."

Are you sure about that? His conscience suddenly asked in a serious tone.

"What do you mean?" Naruto questioned back, slightly concerned.

Take a closer look. Is everything truly alright?

Puzzled, the blonde looked into the water only to see his own reflection. Blinking a couple times, he tried to find where his spirit had went. Never had he seen his own image in the water. It was always the sword that was there. Naruto tried to take a closer look when he saw something. A glint of golden/red caught his eye above him. Was that...hair? No...Naruto looked closer. It wasn't hair. It looked like...a piece of clothing-a cape or something. Looking up, he saw the amused face of his zanpakuto staring down on him while sitting on one of the storm clouds high above him.

Naruto gaped at the figure in shock. Never once had the sentient sword ever come out of the water...what had changed?

You changed Naruto...and that's why this place changed...

"Y...y...y..you...I mean...we can talk face to face now?" The blonde asked incredulously.

The zanpakuto hopped off the cloud and landed gracefully in front of Naruto. "Well we talked 'face to face' in the water didn't we? The only thing you could see of me was my face after all."

Naruto frowned at the man in front of him. "So...does this mean anything?"

The man's deep voice turned slightly annoyed as he put on his 'lecture tone' as Naruto liked to call it. "Everything happens for a reason here. So yes. This means that you're evolving. You've grown as a person in the last year that we've met. Those dreams that you've been having, well they've been like pre-training for the real thing. If it's one thing you lack, it's battle experience. You have the basic skills down, but you have no way of utilizing it."

Naruto grinned in understanding. "So you're going to train me in my mind eh?"

"Exactly." The sword concurred. "Your growth has proved to us that you are ready to develop your sword and finally learn my name. Though these two things must be done on your own, I will be here to give you guidance as well."

Naruto accepted this. He was glad that finally the time would come for him to become a true shinigami. "So how will this training proceed?"

"Little by little, in your mind, I will begin to train you in the way of the sword. You are decent in hand to hand combat, so you and I will spar. Mind you, this training is not easy, and actually somewhat reminiscent of bankai training. Yet once this is over, I promise you, that the results will be better than you could have hoped for." The zanpakuto smirked slightly sadistically, revealing his pointy canines.

Naruto gulped at the man's tone. He was quite an intimidating figure. Now that he was out of the water, Naruto could see that his zanpakuto was garbed in royal looking red and gold robes. His hair, which was the same color, was cropped short, much like Naruto's own hair. The man's bangs fell out over his eyes. He wore black boots with a black belt wrapped around his waist. If Naruto didn't know who he was, he would swear that he was royalty or something.

"When do we start?" Naruto asked apprehensively.

"Tonight. Be ready for some intense training my wielder, for I am going to make mincemeat out of your pathetic blonde body." With that said, the man dissolved into nothingness. Naruto looked around, trying to find his blade, but to no avail. It seemed as though the man had become one with the sky, judging by the reddish hue it had taken on. Great, he was going to start training with a sadistic bastard. Hell was going to shit on itself when his blade started training him.

Now now Naruto, it's not nice to call people names you know. Came the ever present voice of his conscience.

Naruto scowled at the invisible presence. "Aw shut up."

You're telling yourself to shut up. I believe that you are in need of a psychological examination.

Naruto sweatdropped at the irony of that statement. "I'm just going to wake up now."

Do what you want. We'll see you tonight.

Naruto frowned and slowly came back to his senses. Opening his eyes, he found that the sky in the real world had turned nearly the same color as the sky in his mind. Had he been talking to himself for that long? Sighing, he stood up and took the short walk back to his house. As he neared it, he smelled the delicious aroma of beef stew coming towards him. His stomach grumbled loudly. It was then that he was reminded that he had not eaten lunch.

In a great burst of speed, he flew into the house and stopped right near the kitchen. "Tadaima!" He yelled, sprinting into the room. The first thing he saw was Ururu giving him an exasperated look. Jinta was leaning against the wall, watching the woman cook. His eyes snapped to Naruto and an amused grin filled his face. "Where have you been kiddo?" The red haired man asked, ruffling the blonde's hair.

Naruto scowled and ducked before his brother could mess up his hair any further. "I was conversing with my elusive sword spirit."

This tweaked the two elder shinigami's interests. "Oh really...and?" Ururu asked, turning around from the sword.

"He's going to start training me from tonight onwards-when I'm sleeping." Naruto replied, setting the table.

"Naruto...set one more plate down. We have a guest coming tonight." Jinta said.

The blonde looked up from whatever he was doing, quite surprised. "Seriously? We've never had a guest over...and you invite this person over now?"

"What's wrong Naruto, aren't you happy to see me?" A voice behind Naruto said. It was a very familiar voice, one that he hadn't heard for a long time.

Naruto stared wide eyed at his brother and sister, waiting for confirmation that their guest was who he thought it was. They simply nodded, grinning at Naruto's starstruck expression.

The blonde boy slowly turned around to see a man he hadn't seen in a year. It was the same man who had saved him from death. The orange haired shinigami with the kick-ass sword who Naruto knew as 'Ichigo-Aniki' had his arms crossed over his chest, looking down at Naruto with a twinkle in his eye. A smile adorned his face.

"Ichigo-aniki?" Naruto asked tentatively. Ichigo simply came up to Naruto and ruffled his hair affectionately. "It's been a while hasn't it, Naruto?"

Naruto didn't speak, he simply stared at him. "B...bu...but, you're here? With us?" He stammered.

Ichigo sat down in a vacant chair. Ururu ladled some stew into his bowl and he thanked her graciously. "Yeah. It turns out that the Sou-taichou, Yamamoto jiji has taken a liking to you Naruto...and he wants me to come here every so often to make sure that you're okay and that you're training is going well." The orange haired man said conversationally. "Itadekimasu." He muttered before taking a bite of his steaming hot stew.

By now, everyone had sat down and was eating. However Ururu and Jinta gaped at the younger man. "Are you serious?" Jinta asked incredulously. "The sou-taichou knows about Naruto? But that means that he knows about us too..."

Ichigo took another bite of his stew and set his spoon down. "He does. He told me the entire story. Truth be told, the man's not as bad as he portrays himself to be. He offered to train Naruto when you guys come back, which will be in twenty years."

"Why the hell didn't anyone bother to mention that fact to us?" Jinta roared.

"That's kind of why I'm here right? The old man said that I should inform the three of you of his decision. " Ichigo deadpanned. "Naruto...I'm assuming you know who Yamamoto is?"

Naruto, who was confused up until now nodded. "Yeah, he's the captain of the first division, and supreme commander of the Gotei 13. He's also the creator of it, and the oldest shinigami."

"Correct." Ichigo affirmed in a pleased voice. "Do you know anything about the other captains?"

Naruto shook his head. "Besides the man named Zaraki Kenpachi, not really. I mean I know some of them. Like, Unohana Retsu is captain of the fourth division, which is in charge of medicine. And there's another blonde guy named Hirako Shinji who's the captain of the fifth division. At first I thought that he was my dad...because of the blonde hair and all, but then when nee-chan and nii-chan told me about his personality, it was impossible. That man couldn't possibly be my father. Oh, and of course there's the fact that my parents are captains themselves." He added the last part rather bitterly.

Ichigo gave the boy a sympathetic look. "Look Naruto, I know both of your parents very well. And let me tell you, they're acting like complete idiots when it comes to you. It's been eighty years and you don't know your own parents names. I mean, they know everything about you, yet all you know is that the two of them are captains. It's not fair to you. My dad, Kurosaki Isshin, is the captain of the third division and also a distant relative of your dad's. He's a close friend of your mom and your dad. I say...to hell with that. What's so wrong in knowing your parents names? It's not like your going to go blurting it out to every shinigami you see!"

Naruto remained silent throughout Ichigo's short rant/speech. Ururu and Jinta looked slightly ashamed of themselves that they hadn't thought of it in that way. All those years, they had thought that they were protecting Naruto, but in reality, they were probably making the boy hate his unknown parents even more.

"So...can you tell me?" Naruto asked so low that Ichigo had to strain to hear him. The orange haired man smirked. "Well I'm not going to tell you because you're going to figure it out all by yourself."

Naruto looked puzzled. "How am I supposed to do that?" He asked quizzically.

Ichigo's smirk widened. "Simple. I'm going to describe all of the captains, and then you tell me who you think your parents are. it's more fun than me simply telling you."

Naruto simply gaped at the odd man, as did the other two in the room. "You can't be serious?" Naruto half asked half exclaimed. Inwardly he hoped it was true though.

The orange haired man reclined in his chair in a relaxed position. "I'm dead serious. I don't give a shit about what the others say. It's your right to know who your parents are...so that you can give them a thorough chewing out later."

Naruto clasped his hands together in a folded position and looked at the older man in excitement. "I agree. So, do we want to do this now...or after desert?"

"Hm, I rather like Ururu-san's Ichigo Daifuku, so let's have us some cake!" He pumped his fist in the air, acting very childish for someone about 320 years old.

-0-0-0-0-

Twenty minutes later, the four of them were situated in the tiny living room. Ichigo patted his stomach in content. "Oh boy Ururu-san, that was good. I'll have to ask Yuzu to make it again soon. Now then Naruto. I'm going to describe each of the captains, excluding the ones you know can't be your parents. So that would be Kenpachi, Yamamoto, Shinji, and my dad. The captain of the 10th division is no longer with us as well. Ever since then, the 10th division is captain-less. That leaves eight possible candidates. So, are you ready?"

The boy's face was calm and collected. When Naruto was faced with a problem, he never panicked. He thought about everything with a clear head, something that he had inherited from Kisuke.

"The first person I'm going to talk to you about is the captain of the thirteenth division, Ukitake Juushiro. Ukitake-taichou is probably one of the nicest people you can meet in Seireitei. Though he comes from a lesser noble family, like me, he is very humble and extremely respectful of everyone. He is one of the only people in Seireitei to wield a double sword, which means that he has two zanpakutos. This is very rare, and it means the person is very strong. He also has tuberculosis which turned his hair stark white. He loves little children...not in a weird way though. Other than that, I can tell you that he was trained by the sou-taichou himself along with the captain of the eighth division, Kyoraku Shinsui. Those two are some of the oldest taichous in the Gotei 13. Do you have all that?"

Naruto nodded and interlaced his fingers together, resting his chin on top of them. The man, Ukitake Juushiro did seem like the fatherly type, but it didn't seem likely that he was his father. If the man loved children so much then he would have come running down to get them ASAP. Actually scratch that, he couldn't be his father. His father was supposed to be related to Ichigo's dad which meant that they were pretty close. Ichigo's tone towards someone Juushiro was that of respect, it wasn't the way you would describe someone who was like an uncle to you.

"Good then. On to the next captain. His name is Kyoraku Shinsui, best friend to Ukitake Juushiro. He's the head of the eighth division and has been a captain for a very long time. He also has a double zanpakuto. He also comes from a lesser noble clan. The man is kind of girlish in a manly way." Everyone sweatdropped at his explanation. Ichigo sighed and continued. "What I mean is that he wears this ridiculous pink flowery thing over his shinigami robes and haori. It creeps me out sometimes. The man's pretty lazy, and loves to drink. Even though he seems kind of...I dunno...unreliable...he's a damn good captain. You never want to cross his bad side...ever."

Naruto immediately crossed him off the list. There was no way in hell that this person was his dad. Even if he actually seemed like a nice guy, their personalities didn't match.

"Then there's Unohana Retsu, captain of the fourth division. That's the division that deals with medical things. She usually has a very neutral face, with a perpetual smile plastered on, but when she's provoked...well it's like a volcano and an earthquake had a baby. It's fifteen million times worst than when Kyoraku gets mad. She's generally a sweet and caring person, and is excellent friends with the captain of the second division."

Naruto pondered on the woman for some time. She seemed like a viable candidate, but he wasn't so sure.

"Next we have captain of the twelfth division...Urahara Kisuke." Naruto stiffened at that name. It seemed so familiar, so nostalgic...perhaps he was the one...

Ichigo, Ururu, and Jinta watched the boy's reaction subtly. They saw as he stiffened at the name. Interesting. Ichigo tried to keep his tone as casual as possible as he talked. "Right, so he's the head and founder of the Research and Development department in Seireitei."

A light bulb went off in the kid's head. Thirty years ago, when Ururu and Jinta had told him somewhat about his parents, Jinta had started to say that his dad was the head of something. This was it!

"He's also of noble blood, but again, it's a lesser clan. The man's considered the smartest person in Seireitei, a genius if you will. His hobby is creating stuff, like right now, he's developing something called a 'gigai' which is a faux body. Urahara Kisuke is possibly the laziest captain in the Gotei 13 as well. He has this lazy, overly friendly personality that is kind of creepy to tell you the truth." Ichigo finished, carefully examining the boy. He nearly smiled when he saw the gears churning in the mini-Kisuke's head. Naruto knew all right.

Naruto fought to keep his same calm face on. He wanted to burst out into hysterical laughter right then and there. Eighty years...eighty years he had been denied his parents' names and now a near stranger was telling them. He could have jumped up and hugged Ichigo. So his dad's name was Urahara Kisuke eh? Head of the Research and Development division. That was pretty awesome! He seriously wanted these twenty years to go by fast.

"Go on." Naruto managed to say in a straight voice.

Ichigo merely chuckled and continued. "Right, so after Urahara Kisuke, we have the captain of the sixth division, Kuchiki Byakuya. He's a stickler for the rules, that he is. You see, the Kuchiki is one of the four noble families. The sixth division has always had a Kuchiki as a captain...rather strange really. Kuchiki...well, I'm not his biggest fan. But that's alright. He's strong, just a bit too cocky."

Naruto listened to the man's explanation without much thought. He already knew who his father was. He didn't need to know any needless information.

"Right, so next we have captain of the Second Division, Shihoin Yoruichi."

Naruto's heart sped up. This was the other name that felt familiar to him. The Shihoin medal around his neck heated up slightly as his reiatsu flared. "Shihoin Yoruichi, in addition to being the captain of the second division is also the leader of the Onmitsukido. I'm assuming you know what they are."

Naruto nodded. "One of the three branches in the military. The Shihoin clan always run them."

Ichigo smiled his confirmation and went on. "Exactly. She is known as the 'Goddess of Flash,' known for her immense beauty and amazing flash-step. Her hand to hand combat is something else. She prefers to fight, not with her zanpakuto, but with her bare hands. She's damn strong...too strong maybe." Ichigo shivered slightly. "Anyway, she's part of the Shihoin clan, which is another one of the four noble clans of Seireitei. Currently, she's the 22nd head of her clan, and the first female to do so."

Naruto nearly gasped out in shock. That wasn't possible! This woman...his mother without a doubt, was the head of a noble clan. Which meant that he was actually the heir to the Shihoin clan! So...he was nobility of the highest pedigree as well? Now he kind of understood why his mom couldn't claim him. For the head of a clan to have a son without being married first...it was unheard of and disgraceful. How would his parents claim him now?

"Yoruichi-taichou is best friends with Kisuke-taichou. In fact, Kisuke-taichou was adopted into the Shihoin clan when his father died. His father and her father were something akin to brothers. The Shihoin clan elders decided that they couldn't have the son of one of their closest allies fall into the wrong hands, so they took him in as their own. From that day on, those two have been inseparable. Kisuke-taichou was actually Yoruichi-taichou's subordinate for some time before becoming a taichou himself 80 years ago. They then- "

"Stop...just stop..." Naruto commanded. Ichigo looked at him with an odd expression.

"Are you trying to make is obvious to me? I thought this was supposed to be a game?" Naruto's stormy eyes looked into Ichigo's chocolate ones. The amusement and excitement were present in both of their eyes. Ururu and Jinta looked at the two of them before bursting into wide grins.

"What ever did I do?" Ichigo asked innocently while not attempting to hide his beaming face.

Naruto burst into hysterical laughter. "You are the best aniki in the world! Oh kami! I think I could hug you right now!"

Jinta put on a fake hurt expression. "Naruto! You don't even know Ichigo, you've met him all of two times. What about me...the person who changed you dirty, stinky diapers for so many years. The person who fed you, and bathed you, and burped you? The person who told you about Soul Society! How could you forget about me...your brother!" The red headed man sniveled pathetically.

Ururu bopped him over the head in exasperation. "Oh shut up. In the thirty years that Naruto has known about Seireitei, it never occurred to us that we could have bypassed Yoruichi-taichou's orders and told him about his parents this way. I think Ichigo is the better aniki here."

Said man grinned widely. "So Naruto...does this mean that you know who your parents are?"

The blonde boy took out the medal from around his neck and examined it carefully. "So this is the Shihoin emblem?" He answered Ichigo's question with one of his own.

The man's grin was threatening to split his face apart. "What do you think?"

"I think that my parents are Urahara Kisuke, and Shihoin Yoruichi." Naruto replied while still examining the medallion.

"I believe that you are correct my boy."

"Please don't call me 'my boy', you sound like an old grandpa or something" The blonde deadpanned. He looked up at all of them. His bangs didn't cover his eyes anymore. Everyone could see the pure joy he was radiating. A soft smile of satisfaction completed his content visage. It was the first time that Ururu and Jinta truly saw Naruto so happy.

"So, do you want to know some more about them?" Ichigo asked.

"Do you even have to ask that question? I want to know everything about them. And some extra stuff too...for blackmail." Naruto nearly cackled.

Ichigo stared at the boy for a moment before thoughtfully saying, "You know, I think you may have inherited some Kurosaki genes from your dad's side or something. For a minute there, you sounded exactly like my dad..." The man shook his head. "Alright. Where to begin with those two...how about we start with how you were conceived eh?"

Naruto paled, all the joy was gone from his face. "Do we have to?"

A twisted expression came upon the man's face. "Well you wanted to know everything didn't you. What better way to start than by detailing how you were born."

"I'd rather not...thanks." Naruto looked slightly green.

"Too late kid. So did you know that you were the result of a semi-drunken night between your parents..."

-0-0-0-0-

Half an hour later...Naruto felt that he was scarred for life. True he now knew about his parents, but the way Ichigo had described some things...it made him question his parents' sanity. Like his mother for example. He learned that she could take a cat like appearance at will. Ichigo told him the story of how when he had been training for bankai, Yoruichi had been the one to oversee his training. To increase his focus, she had randomly switched out of her cat form and into her human (shinigami) one. Now imagine seeing you aunt like figure going from a cat to voluptuous woman in less than two seconds...there was only so much a young man's body could withstand. And to Ichigo's horror, Kisuke was beside her as well, looking on in amusement at his pseudo-nephew's terrible predicament.

Next he had learned that his father wanted to test out his new invention, so he used it on Isshin. This was when Kisuke wasn't a captain yet, and Masaki and Isshin had just gotten engaged. It turns out that the invention was something that would increase male...ahem performance significantly. Two weeks afterwards, Masaki had announced that she was pregnant. Needless to say, the wedding, which was planned for the following August was bumped up. And nine months later, Ichigo was born.

Naruto wondered why Ichigo was telling him these stories. It was bad enough finding out that he was the result of a 'semi-drunken' night as Ichigo called it, but all these other things? He didn't really want to know about them. Though, not everything was weird. He learned that his dad was actually really shy around people, and hated large crowds, much like Naruto himself. His mother, though unintentionally, always drew the crowd to her with her unnatural good looks. She had violet hair, tanned skin, and golden eyes. His dad, he wasn't plain looking, yet he hid his body under his over sized robes so he looked very unassuming. Naruto had inherited his blonde hair and stormy eyes from his father. From his mother, he had gotten his playful attitude, and those whisker marks. In the back of his mind, the blonde wondered if he too would be able to turn into a cat on whim.

Ichigo stood up and stretched. It was past eight o'clock. "Well then Naruto, Ururu-san, Jinta-san. I should get going. The sou-taichou said to be back before nine. He's going to open the Senkaimon for me as soon as I give him the signal."

"I'm still amazed that the sou-taichou actually is the person who set all of this up." Ururu commented.

"I couldn't believe it either, but the man who portrays himself to be the bad guy is actually looking out for all of you. Did you know that he's been stopping hollow attacks in this area so that you wouldn't be affected?"

The two elder shinigamis gasped. "Seriously? When we return, we've got to thank him!" Jinta said, in his mind thanking the wizened shinigami profusely.

"Right, so I'm going to leave now. Naruto...if I don't see you again, we'll meet in twenty years. And if I do, then you owe me a couple of spars. Now I know that you're doing some Zanpakuto training of your own. Remember, trusting your zanpakuto means that you trust yourself. The best thing you can do it listen to him or her. These are the words that Zangetsu told me. I was a bit of a hothead back in the day, and thought I could do everything on my own."

"You still are." Jinta muttered. Ichigo shot the older man a glare. "What I'm trying to say is, keep a cool levelheaded mind. It's the best thing you can do for yourself. Though, with parents like yours, I don't think that'll be a problem."

Naruto glowed when Ichigo compared him to his parents. It felt right. "I promise Ichigo-aniki. I won't lose my temper."

The man smiled and gave one last hair-ruffle to Naruto. With a quick hug to his elders, he vanished using shunpo. They all felt a flare of reiatsu momentarily, then it disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Naruto sighed and plopped back down onto the couch. "Today's been a very eventful day, don't you think?"

His two companions nodded and sat down beside him. Ururu stroked Naruto's soft golden locks in a lulling motion. "Are you okay, Naruto?" She finally inquired.

The boy looked his sister in the eye. "To tell you the truth, I'm a little better than okay. I'm inwardly jumping for joy. After so long, I know who my parents are. I can't really forgive them for leaving me, but I guess I can kind of understand why mom did it. I understand what would have been subjected of me if I stayed. I...I just wish she would come and visit you know? And dad too. It's weird calling people I don't even know mom and dad...but I really want my parents." Naruto simply put his head on Ururu's lap. Jinta tickled the boy's feet causing him to squirm.

"Well, I suppose we can tell you now...the truth is, you're mom and dad have visited you, your mom more so than your dad. On your birthdays, she would come into your room when you were fast asleep and talk to you, just talk. We would here it coming from our rooms. She would tell you about her life, how much she misses you, how much she loves you, and so on. Your dad's seen you once or twice. He practically cried when he did. Naruto, though you might not be able to forgive them, know this: they love you, more then their own lives." The red head told the boy softly.

Naruto was quiet. He took in his brother's explanation with a pang in his heart. His dad had cried?

Ururu felt her pants begin to moisten. She looked down to see her blonde brother's bangs covering his face again. His cheeks glistened in the dim light and she understood. The boy who never let anyone see what he was truly thinking was letting it out silently. Ururu bent down and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Don't be afraid Naruto. We're all here for you." She whispered in his ear. He nodded, almost imperceptibly. She felt his head relax even more on her lap. He was falling asleep.

When the boy's breathing evened out, Ururu nodded to Jinta and the man picked the boy up. He was surprisingly light for his size. Jinta walked over to Naruto's bedroom and carefully placed him on the bed. A blissful look and replaced his previously anguished one. "Sweet dreams kid." With one last look, Jinta closed the door to Naruto's bedroom, leaving the blonde alone.

---

Naruto's Inner World

As soon as his eyelids had closed, the blonde was pulled into his mindscape. He stood up and walked to the edge of the water. Naruto noticed that the water, though it splashed on the sand, never left behind any water. Tentatively, he scooped some of the golden liquid into his hand and drank. To his shock, it tasted exactly like honey! How was that possible?

This is your mind dumbass, you can change the liquid to whatever you want it to taste like. The bored and annoyed voice of his conscience came from nowhere. Naruto felt like snarling at the voice.

Sorry, but if you snarl at me, you're snarling at yourself...so deal with it.

"Damn you." He growled.

Damning yourself won't do you any good, Naruto."

Naruto wished that he could block off his thoughts from...himself. Ah jeez! The more he thought about it the more his head hurt. Couple that with all the things he had learned today, well, it was like a massive migrane.

"Well it's about time you came here." A voice from above called down to him.

Naruto's head tilted upwards. "I just fell asleep!" He shouted at his zanpakuto.

"How do you feel?" The royally garbed man asked the blonde.

Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's...overwhelming. I mean, for eighty years I didn't know who they were...and now I do. It's kind of surreal actually."

"Yeah yeah...well speaking of surreal, you're here now. So, ready for some training? It'll get rid of all the unwanted emotions that are running through you. You're going to be completely focused here and now."

Naruto was slightly curious. "And how am I going to train exactly?"

The spirit simply waved his hand. All of a sudden, the water turned to ice. Imbedded in the ice were thousands of what looked like sword hilts. "This is your first test. Learning my name is the easy part. All you have to do is pull the real me out, and cry my name. That will be your true initiation as a shinigami. Even a human with a decent amount of reiatsu can produce kido spells. But a shinigami needs a sword. I expect you to pull me out before this night is over. Do you understand?"

Naruto gulped at his sword's tone. "Hai!"

"Now, while you try to find me, I'm going to be throwing random objects at you, to test exactly how much you have trained till now."

"What kind of objects?"

The zanpakuto smirked. "It's a secret."

The blonde shinigami in training didn't like that one bit. However he stepped onto to the ice, testing if it was solid. Thankfully it was.

"What are you waiting for! Come and get me!" The zanpakuto yelled. A bolt of lightning formed in his hand. Naruto paled as it came hurtling towards his. Using his shunpo, he quickly dodged it and began his task. More lightning bolts came at him. Naruto was in a pickle. His concentration was split between dodging the bolts, and finding his zanpakuto. Whenever he tried to grab a hilt, lightning would strike his arm.

It wasn't a fun time for Naruto.

Meanwhile, for his zanpakuto, well, he was a completely different story. The spirit lazily was seated atop a cloud, shooting lightning bolts out of his hands, eyes, feet, really whatever body part he could think of. He watched as his future wielder failed to grab more and more hilts. This wasn't going very well. The spirit sighed. Perhaps this wasn't the best training method. All he really wanted to do was teach Naruto how to focus on two different things at once. But Naruto, though he did have great physique and stamina, was more of an intellectual person rather than one who learned from his body. He curled his hand into a fist, causing all of the lightning bolts to stop.

Naruto froze mid shunpo, wondering why his sadistic zanpakuto had stopped. Said spirit appeared right in front of the blonde and sat down on the ice. "The initial approach that I had in mind for you clearly isn't working. You aren't exactly the kind of person who will learn from experience, but rather the type who learns from a textbook and applies it flawlessly. Now I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but sometimes there will be a situation in which you would adapt to a situation on the fly. So let's take a different approach. How would you find my blade?"

Naruto had been listening intently to his zanpakuto lecture him. He pondered the question that had been asked. "I believe that meditation would work well here. The reason being we are connected. You are my soul incarnate. A part of me is you. Which means that if I meditate deeply enough, I will be drawn to your reiatsu because we are inseparable."

The spirit had to admire the child's intelligence. What he said was true. They were connected, and should Naruto focus deeply enough, he would be able to find his reiatsu. This was adapting on the fly another way. "Why don't you try it then?" He suggested to the blonde.

Naruto gave the man a funny look. "You're not going to shoot lightning at me are you?"

The man chuckled. His slitted golden eyes glinted slightly. "No, not at all. I want you to focus on me, on you, and only those two things. Do you understand?"

"Hai, Sensei!" Naruto replied, enjoying the slight stumble of his zanpakuto at the word sensei.

Naruto sat down cross-legged and placed his hands over his knees, cupping them. He allowed the tendrils on his conscience to push out in every direction, trying to sense his zanpakuto. Hm, that was odd...he sensed no reiatsu coming from any of the hilts. The only other thing that had reiatsu in his mindscape was the being in front of him. Opening his eyes in confusion, Naruto stared at the man. "You...this was a trick wasn't it?"

His spirit grinned. "You really are a genius aren't you? Exactly. It was a trick. None of those blades are me. So where am I? Use that mind of yours to think about the answer."

The blonde's eyebrows scrunched together in concentration. Where was he? The answer to that wasn't concrete. The answer couldn't be that he was right in front of him, it would be too obvious. Naruto glanced around his mindscape. Even though it was his, did he really have control over it? It couldn't be true that the water had tasted like honey because he had willed it to. Honey was the farthest thing in his mind when he drank. No, this was his mind, but not his domain. This was his zanpakuto's domain. The stormy sky, the golden water, the solitary island. Everything...everything was the zanpakuto's. Naruto had merely been a visitor here, he wasn't the ruler. So where was his zanpakuto?

"You are this place. This is your realm. Which means that you are everywhere. Is that correct?" Naruto asked him, confident in the spirit's reply.

The man beamed. "Absolutely! I am everywhere. The sky, the water, even the island. So tell me oh wielder of mine, how will you access me? When will you cry out my name?"

Naruto smirked a very Yoruichi like smirk. "Why don't we spar?"

The spirit did a little double take. "What?"

"I said, why don't we spar." Naruto repeated, standing up and brushing the ice fragments off of him. Instantly, the ice vanished to be replaced by the golden water. However to Naruto's surprise, he didn't fall in, he simply stood on top of it. "What I mean is, even though I've known you for a year, do I really know you? No. So why don't we get to know each other, through our fists?" The blonde suggested to the spirit. He then entered a fighting stance, somewhat based off the goken.

"You're not even going to let me have a choice eh? Very well then, let's go!" He yelled, taking the same stance.

In a blur, wielder and sword clashed fists. The impact-a resounding boom. And the two were off, punching and dodging alternatively. The two were doing the exact same things, just in different positions. When one attacked, the other dodged. Naruto thrust his fist upwards, trying to land a blow on the man's face. His spirit easily dodged it and almost punched the boy in the gut. However Naruto recoiled, stumbling slightly. Naruto had to admit, that his spirit was better at him, even by a slight margin. Though neither of them could place a punch or a kick, the zanpakuto was much closer to doing so than Naruto. They were creating waves in the water every time their fists collided.

Why do you hesitate Naruto? His conscience called out to him.

"Huh?" Naruto thought. This was the first time that his conscience had asked him this type of question.

You aren't attacking him fully. You're pulling your punches. Are you afraid?

"What! No! Why would I be afraid?" He yelled in his mind, while throwing a punch.

Are you afraid of hurting him?

"No! He's stronger than me! Of course not!"

Then stop pulling punches. Increase your speed. You will learn his name only when you land a hit.

Naruto mentally sighed but nodded. Out loud he yelled, "Alright my friend! I've been holding back on you all this time! It's time to get serious!"

His zanpakuto halted in the middle of a kick. Naruto saw an opportunity when his zanpakuto stopped. In a great burst of speed, faster than before, he started his barrage of attack anew.

"Hmph, it seems as though you finally decided to get serious!" The man grunted when Naruto forced him to dodge a particularly vicious jab.

"So you knew?"

"Of course I knew! I could feel it!"

Naruto increased his speed to the maximum most level it could reach. Lifting his palm forward, he flew towards the man. "Oh yeah? Well then feel this!" The zanpakuto couldn't dodge, Naruto was too fast. The blonde's open palm connected with his spirit's forehead. To both of their surprise, the spirit was not shunted forward, instead Naruto's palm stuck to the flat surface. It was actually quite a funny scene. The man with the reddish-blonde hair was standing stock still on the water. The blonde was frozen in midair, his legs splayed backwards, with his palm attached to the man's forehead.

A golden glow was emitting from Naruto's hand. Naruto realized it was reiatsu. But how could reiatsu be golden? It was usually blue. The golden spiritual energy engulfed both of their figures, creating a halo of light. All of a sudden the spiritual energy compressed and became a beam of golden light that reached up to the sky and beyond. The sky immediately parted, revealing a second blue sky with white clouds. As soon as the reiatsu vanished, so did the clear sky. It remained stormy.

Naruto descended to the water gracefully, his mind blissfully clear. A grin adorned his face and he looked his spirit in the eye. His spirit sported an identical grin, and he looked more relaxed than ever.

"So...does this mean that you know my name?" His zanpakuto asked hopefully.

"I think I've known your name for a long time now. My ears were simply too clouded for me to hear it." Naruto replied, casually stretching out. "Isn't that right, Rakurai Senpu?" (Lightning whirlwind)

The spirit didn't say anything, he simply disappeared, part by part, creating a sword as he went. In a minute, the sword was formed. Naruto stared in awe at the blade that was now his completely. It's hilt was golden, with an emblem of a whirlpool on it. The name Uzumaki came to mind immediately. Red strings were wrapped around the the golden handle. Tiny ornate lightning bolts were engraved into the handle as well. Naruto's gaze went up to the blade. It was beautiful, yet ordinary. The blade was a typical katana to the naked eye, yet Naruto could see the power radiating off of his zanpakuto in golden waves. Naruto's reiatsu was blue, while his blade's was golden. This meant that Naruto himself possessed two sets of reiatsu within him, not just his own.

"So your name is Rakurai Senpu eh? No one would think that lightning and whirlwinds would go together. Damn, I'm one messed up person." Naruto softly said aloud.

Don't insult me Naruto. I'm right here you know. Came the voice of Rakurai in his head.

"So, are you stuck with me or something?" Naruto asked his blade?

Kind of, I mean I've been with you since you were born after all. But remember your sister's form and how she drew her sword out? Only in your shinigami form will I be visible. Otherwise I'll be there, but normal people won't see me. You'll still here me though.

"I see now. Alright then. So...should I open my eyes now?"

His blade paused for a second before responding. Probably. Your brother and sister are shaking you awake.

"Seriously? Wow, we must have been in there for a long time. So, when I wake up, you'll be there?"

Obviously. Now just open your eyes!

Naruto did as his blade commanded. He blinked a couple times before adjusting to his surroundings. He was back in his bed which meant that someone had moved him there. He stared into the worried faces of Ururu and Jinta.

"What happened?" He croaked out. His voice felt like he hadn't used it in ages.

"We came in here when we felt your reiatsu bursting around you in great spurts. What the hell happened?" Jinta demanded.

Naruto grinned and jolted out of the bed. His brother and sister looked at him in surprise when he motioned for them to follow him.

It looked to be the crack of dawn, judging by the color of the sky. "Naruto, what's going on?" Ururu asked gently.

"Just watch." He told them.

You're still there right, Rakurai?

Of course I am.

So, let's do this. How do I draw you out?

Say the command, and I am yours to wield.

The command? Oh right...this is another of those things that should come naturally to me...

Exactly, now stop dawdling and do it damn it!

"Okiro, Rakurai Senpu" A flash of golden light erupted around Naruto's body as a sword formed in his hand. Ururu and Jinta watched transfixed. The golden light drew them in, like moths to a flame. A couple seconds later, a royal looking katana rested in Naruto's hand. One thing Naruto noticed was that the blade wasn't in its neutral form anymore. The hilt had become black, and the blade had turned golden. It almost looked like a lighting bolt.

"No...no...way! Naruto, you did it!" Jinta yelled, jumping up and down. "Now we can train you in the way of the sword! This is amazing!"

Ururu was still in awe. She couldn't believe it! What kind of training did he do to get to know his zanpakuto so quickly! "Naruto...you...you finally did it didn't you?"

Naruto smiled slightly, but his expression fell. "I'm pathetic really. I've known about Rakurai for a year now and it took me so long to figure out his name. Imagine how long it'll take me to train with shikai, let alone bankai!" He moaned.

Jinta clapped him on the shoulder causing him to lose his footing. "Um, Naruto. You do know that the command you said, Okiro, well that's your shikai command. Anyway, bankai is a bit far for you. But before you train with either, first you need to learn how to fight with the sword at least."

"Well, the last twenty-four hours have been the most memorable ones of my life. I mean, I learn who my parents are, then I get my zanpakuto. What are the odds?" He asked cheerfully.

"It must be fate or something." Jinta replied dreamily. The two of them spent a long time staring at the now reddish-orange sky. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. It was a good omen. Two good things happening in less than a day was rather unheard of.

"C'mon guys, I'll make a celebratory breakfast to commemorate this historical event!" Ururu sang as she waltzed back into the house with Jinta and Naruto in tow.

Happy days were coming ahead. Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end. In the next ten years, the lines between good and evil were going to blur so much, that the distinction was going to be hard to make.

Neither of the three noticed a person watching their little family time. A shadow fell across the lawn as a boy, who looked to be around 17 or 18 descended down from a tree high above. Ichimaru Gin shook his silver bangs out of his face and stared at the small cottage. Now he knew why Aizen wanted him to keep an eye out for this place. Two supposedly dead shinigami and another budding one all resided in this house. Who exactly was this 'Naruto' kid anyway?

Aizen-sama was going to be pleasantly surprised at this new development. Needless to say, life just got a whole lot more interesting.

---

So how was it? Please review the story! It's actually the longest chapter that I've written...no flames...just constructive critisicm... oh! and don't forget to vote! The polls will after chapter 5. Chapter 6 will anounce the winner. Next chapter will be an eight year timeskip to the Kyuubi attack. Sorry if it seems really fast paced, I kind of want to have a couple more chapters with time skips, and then to the good stuff...in soul society.