OooOoOooO
"Meeting the Spiritual Boy"
Chapter 6
"Geez, this is so exhausting."
Naruto found himself grumbling as he sat on a random building in Karakura. He had been here for barely two days and so far, he had disposed off many hollows than he would have liked. But he couldn't help but feel a little antsy since the Hollow activities were becoming slightly erratic and he had yet to find the source of it.
At least back in the Shinobi Realm, the number of hollows wasn't this high.
The blonde wished that he was sent there instead but with the time rift so skewed and messed up, he might have been stuck there more than the one month requirement. If he was, it would be an excuse! But for some reason, his captain was adamant on shortening the time. He wondered what was really up with the council, even he wasn't blind to Ukitake-taicho's distress.
He sighed, suddenly feeling tired.
If he would be honest, even if this mission was getting hectic, he'd rather stay here and away from Soul Society for a while. Since he got back, his time had been nothing but a headache. Sure, seeing his friends made up for most of it, but the anxiety hadn't escaped anyone's notice. His friends might be happy and smiling at his return (not that it was fake) yet the tension was palpable that Naruto had a hard time talking to anyone.
It was as if he might be persecuted any time.
He hated it when others worry for him – they should be worrying for themselves instead. If the council discovered their involvement, then they would be dragged down together with him. And Naruto will never want that.
The blonde would rather be it himself alone than many people being condemned through him. He's not that worth it, and all of those people have other friends they could lean on, so Naruto wouldn't have any regrets if he went through with it by himself.
'This is just so messed up.' He thought to himself exhaustedly.
It would have been like this for a while (blaming himself and creating a headache from it) if not for the commotion that caught Naruto's attention two blocks away from him and had his Denreishinki (which awfully looked like those human phones) beeping loudly. To be honest, this would be his third time in the Human World. The first had been during his graduation (which he always tried to forget, it wasn't pretty) and the second was before his mission to the Shinobi Realm but before then, people were still dressed in kimonos and yukatas, no cars or jeans but horses and hakamas, no polices but samurais.
And now, it was just too different from before that Naruto had a hard time adjusting.
He arrived just in time to see a hollow chasing after a Plus. Naruto grimaced and instantly flash-stepped to stop it from devouring the dead girl's soul. Unsheathing his zanpakutō, the blonde jumped between the plus and the beast then proceeded to cut a limb first to stop its mobility. He didn't even notice the dumbfounded orange-haired teen behind him who helped the girl up.
As the hollow shrieked in agony, Naruto didn't give it a chance to even recover before purifying it by slashing down its mask. Orochimaru's hollow coming up to mind, maybe if he'd been a little faster…
"Great, everything always had to be problem-related." He groaned as he sheathed his zanpakutō.
Turning back to perform a Konso on the Plus soul, he was met with blank space. He blinked stupidly for a while, not even acknowledging the teen staring at him in disbelief.
"Damn, where did that soul get off to now?" The blonde cursed to himself, she might be targeted by another hollow again.
He then heard someone clearing his throat but Naruto didn't take notice of it.
"Isn't it illegal for kids to carry swords around?"
That made the blonde boy freeze as his eyes flickered to the orange haired teen standing a few feet to his left for a moment then dismissed the thought. It must have been his imagination – as Naruto fiddled with the device on his hand.
"Oi!"
Naruto sighed with relief as the contraption in his hands wasn't able to detect another hollow's presence, it means that the girl would be safe for a while.
"You deaf or something, kid?"
A blonde eyebrow twitched as Naruto rounded on the teen.
"What?" He snapped as he looked up to meet a pair of annoyed brown eyes then his jaw dropped. "–wait, you can see me?" He asked bewilderedly as he pointed to himself.
"If you're saying you are too small to be noticed, I think I would still be able to tell when a runt is in front of me." The teen remarked dryly as his lips twisted into a small scowl.
Cerulean blue eyes narrowed angrily and before the teen could react, Naruto had flash-stepped to his side and kicked him on the shin with enough force to bruise it.
"Damn it!" The orange haired teenager cursed as he hopped on his foot, cradling his injured limb while glaring back at the blonde.
"Teme…" Naruto growled as he glowered at the tall teen.
"Brat." The teen retorted as his scowl deepened, lowering his foot.
Forcing himself to calm down, the blonde took a deep breath. But it didn't mean that his glare had lessened.
"How the hell can you see me?"
The teen blinked at him.
"You were actually serious?" He questioned back with disbelief.
"No, I just thought playing invisible was nice." Naruto barked sarcastically. "Of course I was!" He yelled irately.
"You don't have a chain on your chest so you can't be a spirit. And what's up with the outfit? On your way to a cosplay convention or something?" The orange haired guy inquired wryly before shaking his head with a frown as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"This is a uniform! And I'm not a Plus so I obviously don't." Naruto replied heatedly as his eyes narrowed at the teen. "Though how you were able to see me, I'm still not sure."
"Kid, you must be imagining things. Where are your parents anyway? They shouldn't let brats like you to play with giant knives." The teen grumbled as he ran a hand through his spiky orange mane. "Thank Kami that Karin's not into kendo."
Naruto's patience was wearing extremely thin with the guy. He had just saved that carrot-top's life for goodness' sake! Then his eyes caught the silhouette of two people walking their way and he grinned. He didn't even need to ask.
"Are you alright, young man?" The woman of the two asked as they neared, eyeing Ichigo with uncertainty (her eyes mainly flickering to his hair).
"What?" The teen asked as he appeared to be caught off guard.
"You look like you were arguing with someone here." A kid beside the woman pointed out bluntly with a suspicious frown.
"Haru!" The woman reprimanded indignantly at her son's directness.
The boy named Haru rolled his eyes before pulling his mother away from the orange haired teen as the woman apologized.
"Mom, when will you allow me to bleach my hair? That guy's color is cool." Naruto vaguely heard the boy whine as the two disappeared down another block.
When the blonde looked at the twitching form of the teen, he couldn't help it when he broke into laughter. Alright, he had just needed to show the guy that not everybody sees him but that came out more amusing than he anticipated.
"You can stop laughing now." The teen gritted out.
Naruto calmed his laughter but a fit of giggles still escaped his mouth.
"I can't help it though, that kid was just too funny!" He grinned up toothily to the orange haired teen.
"Alright, so I can see you. We've already established that." The teen clenched out as his eyebrow twitched. "So mind explaining already?"
"Sure," Naruto shrugged with a grin. Then it occurred to him that this guy had just managed to make him laugh and forget about his problems for a while there. As soon as that sunk in, he blinked twice before sighing softly to himself. "Though it might take a while, normal humans aren't supposed to see me. But you're not normal, are you?"
"Che, I guess not." The teen looked away with a grunt. But as his eyes settled on the darkened sky, he grimaced. "But could we please take this to my house? My dad will probably whine about it and my sisters will be worried."
The blonde contemplated it for some time. This human was just so interesting. Aside from Shikamaru and some shinobis (though it was different since they utilised chakra back there), this orange haired teen was able to see him. And the sole reason he wasn't able to say anything to the Nara was because the Shinigamis were very wary of the people in the Shinobi Realm. His father created a technique that could summon a Shinigami while Orochimaru had 'violated' some. They had every right in not disclosing any information to people there.
But the Human World was just too different. The people there hardly believe in 'supernatural' things and relies heavily on theories and science whatnot. And the Goteijusantai felt much comfortable patrolling here because it was rare (almost never) when a human could see them. People with a high amount of reiatsu are not even common here.
So this teen really caught his attention. And maybe he could help Naruto around this town and its people so he could know where the Hollows' presences mainly gravitated at lately.
"Alright…" Naruto conceded reluctantly.
"This better be good." The orange haired teen grumbled as he started walking away. "And, do you have a name? I can't keep calling you brat or kid, you know."
"As if I would let you." Naruto replied darkly as he glared. "It's Uzumaki Naruto, teme."
The teen scowled and looked down at him.
"It's not teme. It's Kurosaki Ichigo, you brat."
That earned him another kick to the shin.
When they arrived at Ichigo's house, Naruto was awed at the warmth in the house.
Though he was perturbed at the teen's dad – he just attacked the orange haired teen after all. It eerily reminded him of Maito Gai back in the Shinobi Realm and the blonde wished hopefully that the two would never meet. And true to his word, even the man couldn't see him. And he couldn't help but snicker a little when Isshin had reprimanded Ichigo about coming home past curfew. He'd never thought that he'll see the day that a fifteen year old would be scolded due to that.
But Ichigo had still acted as if anybody would see him since he had instantly pushed Naruto to the stairway as if to hide – the plusses that were in the house immediately flocked to him like bees to honey and Naruto had to perform Konso several times.
"I'm not eating dinner." Naruto idly heard Ichigo say to someone in the kitchen.
"B-But Onii-chan…" A voice called pleadingly.
"It's alright Yuzu, I'm not hungry anyways." Ichigo said firmly before stalking to the stairs where he saw the blonde boy waiting. They idly heard the three arguing. But without a word, he put his hands on the small boy's shoulders and pushed him to the direction of his room, ignoring the blonde's complaints.
A loud beeping sound was heard and Naruto brought out the Denreishinki from one of the pockets of his hakama.
'Huh? What the hell is with this thing?' He wondered to himself with incredulity. 'There's not even a hollow detected by this device, or is there? What's wrong with it? Unless something's messing with its signal…'
His gaze landed to the orange haired teen.
The blonde had been so preoccupied about the enigma that was Kurosaki Ichigo for a while that he didn't notice it before. That's why his senses had seemed dulled and he hadn't even sensed that hollow a while ago (if it wasn't for the damn device). His eyes widened when he realized just how large Ichigo's presence was at this moment that it might have practically obscured the hollow's own reiatsu before.
'W-What the hell? How can a human contain this much reiatsu? And the hollow activities happening in this town lately, could it be because of…him?'
Naruto felt numb when they entered Ichigo's room. For a teenager, the room was well-kept and clean.
The blonde just simply opted to sit on the floor while Ichigo settled on his bed.
"Alright, even dad can't see you. What's the deal?" The orange haired teen instantly fired away his question as he narrowed his eyes at the boy.
"Huh?" Naruto asked dumbly as he blinked at the teen.
Ichigo exhaled sharply and stared intently at the boy before him.
"Just what are you to begin with?"
"I'm a Shinigami."
The orange haired teen rubbed the back of his neck.
"Alright…" His tone was disbelieving. "Then what?"
"Do you have any papers and crayons? Or maybe markers?" Naruto asked with a curious and almost childish glee.
Ichigo frowned at him, not getting what it had to do with this.
"I do," He answered slowly. "Just a sec." With that he went to his desk and dug out fresh bond papers from his drawers and brought out a marker from his bag. Grumbling, the orange haired teen dumped the materials in front of the grinning blonde.
"Alright!" The blonde cheered. "I'll show you what I mean. I'll draw them for you." He stated excitedly, not even noticing Ichigo's look of muted horror.
Then to further Ichigo's terror, the blonde proceeded to draw on the papers what looked like random funny blobs with sticks as arms and legs–supposed to be depicting Shinigamis, hollows, and Plusses.
So Naruto spent majority of his time with the teen in explaining about the existence and duties of Shinigamis, that the creature that they'd faced a while ago was called a hollow and that the spirits he could see were called 'Plus'. He then discussed the importance of him being here to perform Konso for souls so that they could move on to the afterlife or place named Soul Society. He even told the teen that it was his mission or more like "patrol duty" for him to monitor the movements involving spiritual entities in Karakura Town – and about the increase of Hollow Activity.
Though he purposely failed to mention that they had been lurking around for something and that it might be for this teen.
"Wait." Ichigo interrupted.
"What?" Naruto blinked at him.
"Are you seriously telling me that those…blobs are supposed to be souls?" He asked incredulously. "Maybe you should take an art class for a while." He deadpanned to the boy.
Naruto gave him a cold glare.
"You teme… If Rukia-chan was here, then you would be seeing bunny-lookalikes as Shinigami, hollows and plusses." He retorted with a twitch of his eyebrow.
"A bunny themed spiritual fantasy sounds better." Ichigo replied dryly.
Naruto threw the marker on Ichigo and it hit the teen on the forehead like a bull's eye. Ichigo glowered at him as he massaged his abused forehead, all the while cursing under his breath. The blonde had just told Ichigo the basics and he decided to show the Denreishinki to the teen.
"This is what signals us to hollows' spiritual signatures. Though I think something's wrong with it…" Naruto said as he held the phone-like device gingerly in his small hands. He then turned serious cerulean eyes to Ichigo.
"Now, let me ask you something. How long have you been able to see ghosts?"
Ichigo frowned, a bit uncomfortable about the inquiry. Not to mention he was still skeptical about this Shinigami business, he was talking to a kid for crying out loud. And it was mentioned that brats always had active and wild imaginations–those drawings proving his point.
"Since I can remember." He simply answered. "So you're not human, though, you're actually telling the truth? Soul Reapers? Soul Society?"
Naruto nodded with a grin.
"Yeah! Hard to swallow, ne?" The blonde tried to joke.
"Of course not." Ichigo said calmly. "If the pigs were flying and tooth fairies exist!" The teen spoke sarcastically as he jumped to his feet.
"W-What?" Naruto stammered in surprise.
"And I'm supposed to believe a short brat like you? You might have defeated that monster a while ago but Shinigamis…just seemed–farfetched." The orange teen explained as he scowled at the younger looking boy.
Naruto was instantly on his feet, his index finger poking the teen on the chest. Though he was annoyed that the carrot top just had to be so tall, easily dwarfing his small figure by a foot and so.
"Look, I can understand if you don't instantly believe me. But don't use my appearance to make excuses!" He snarled as he glared up at the teen. "I'm older than you seven or eight times so don't patronize me. And for the love of– you can see spirits but you don't believe in Shinigami!"
"I've never heard of Shinigamis until today." Ichigo retorted heatedly.
The blonde seethed for a while before he turned his attention to the cowering soul by the teen's door. He blinked as he didn't notice it before, and he thought that he had already performed the soul burials for the plusses here. It seemed that one had been left behind.
Determinedly, he stalked away from the teen and brought out his zanpakutō.
"P-Please… I don't want to go to hell." The soul stuttered pleadingly who looked to be a middle aged man, tears welling up behind his glasses.
At this, Naruto calmed down more and he grinned. It seemed to calm the soul as well as he looked at Naruto with hopeful eyes. Tapping the hilt of his sword to the man's head as a small glowing kanji appeared, his grin softened into smile.
"Don't worry, Soul Society is a much better place than Hell. It's supposed to be Heaven so I hope you could rest there peacefully." He muttered softly as the soul nodded, assured, and gave the blonde boy a wide smile before disappearing into dust.
A swallow-tail butterfly appeared in his place and left the room through the open window.
Naruto then turned to the teen with a slightly smug smile.
"Konso, like I explained earlier."
"That was…"
Ichigo might have said more but the distinct sound of howling reached his ears.
"Did you hear that?"
"What?" Naruto questioned to him curiously, confusion evident in his cerulean eyes that flickered into a pair of stormy gray orbs for a second that Ichigo thought he was just imagining it.
There was that howl again.
"That!" Ichigo shouted as he gestured to the direction of his door but as if just outside his house.
This time, Naruto frowned as he looked down at the device in his hands. Instead of beeping for another hollow's reiatsu, the screen's light was just flicking on and off. He frowned, while Ichigo's reiatsu was still large and overwhelming, it was fluctuating far enough from the device for it to at least detect something.
'This was given to me by Ukitake-taicho and it comes from the Twelfth Division.' He observed to himself then scowled darkly. 'He wouldn't…'
"Oi, if it is what I think it is then I'm going to dispose of that hollow. Stay here." Naruto stated seriously as he walked to the door.
"You're going to face that thing alone? I'm going to help." The teen replied as he went to follow, he couldn't leave a kid to fight alone on his conscience – especially ones that looked younger than his sisters.
"No, you stay here. This is my job, teme."
Ichigo scowled at the boy.
"I don't care, I'm helping."
Naruto sighed tiredly. Holding his hand in front of the teen, he felt the shift of his reiryōku.
"Bakudō #1: Sai." The spell was spoken softly under the blonde's breath.
It was a simple low-level bakudō spell enough to halt the older looking boy.
Before Ichigo knew what was going on, he felt his arms lock behind his back by some invisible force. He grunted as he fell on his knees, looking at the blonde with wide eyes. Ichigo tried to escape but the binds just tightened the more he tried to squirm.
But a loud crash was heard and they both felt the sinister reiatsu of a hollow – more on Naruto's part but still dulled. Before the blonde boy could speak, they heard screaming.
The orange haired teen stilled.
"Yuzu! Karin! Dad!" He yelled as he glared at the blonde haired boy. "Remove this…this – whatever the hell this is! My family's in danger!" He exclaimed with a bit of panic in his voice.
"I can't," Naruto stated calmly, far from the loud and frustrated boy Ichigo had talked to a while ago. "You're going to rush in recklessly to that hollow. So just stay there, I'll take care of it. And I promise that I won't let anything happen to them." He assured but the teen wouldn't listen.
Ichigo was now trying much harder to get out of the bind and Naruto's eyes had gone wide when he saw the blue wisps of the teenager's reiatsu. A human shouldn't even be able to contain that much! Then before said eyes, even though the bind wasn't visible, the blonde heard the distinct snap and saw Ichigo panting on the ground…with his arms free.
'T-This human…'
Closing his eyes and deciding to ignore it for now, Naruto went out of the room and flash-stepped to the nearest person he could reach. It was a black haired girl, lying on the ground with blood dripping down from her temple, and seemed to be slowly falling unconscious.
"Karin!"
The orange haired teen came barrelling to the other girl's side, a baseball bat in his hands.
Naruto released a relieved sigh.
"It's okay, she's going unconscious and for the most part not really hurt." He felt the need to inform the nearly hysterical teen as his glowing green hands hovered over her chest, being a friend of a medic did help.
"Ichi-nii…" Karin slurred hazily. "I…don't know what really happened… something hit dad and there's so much blood… and Yuzu – Ichi-nii, run… please…" She mouthed before she collapsed.
Ichigo then proceeded to carry Karin on his arms and leaned her comfortably on the nearest wall. He turned his eyes to Naruto who was still fiddling that phone in his hands with a concerned look on his face. Stomping to the boy in frustration, he plucked out the device from his hands and threw it over his shoulder.
"What are you doing?" He spoke frostily to the boy who looked up at him with wide eyes. "My family is in danger! I thought this was supposed to be your job?"
Naruto pursed his lips at the teen before flash-stepping away to where he could now feel the hollow's reiatsu. He was inwardly shocked and flabbergasted on how he wasn't able to sense it sooner with this huge amount of reiatsu. That damn device was going haywire and it worried him that this hollow might be more than it appeared.
The teen didn't need any prompting and went down to the kitchen and saw a hole on the wall. With the baseball bat in his hands, he turned to it just in time to see a large hollow with Yuzu in its clutches. He knew that Naruto had already described that hollows looked like some kind of beast but he wasn't ready for this…monster.
A fish-like mask adorned its head while greyish skin with what looked like slimy scales gleamed a little to his eyes. The sharp teeth and yellow eyes were what terrified him. Turning his eyes away from it, it shifted to the prone figure of his father sprawled on the floor – blood pooling under him.
He saw Naruto jump up and unsheathe that sword of his and proceeded to cut the arm that was holding his sister. Without thinking, Ichigo instantly ran up and managed to catch his unconscious sister.
His head snapped to Naruto who went soaring to the wall adjacent to where he stood with Yuzu in his arms. He winced at the loud, awfully cracking noise that was heard when the blonde hit it who was cursing out loud.
Then he turned his gaze at his sister who was still out cold.
"Yuzu! Yuzu!" He shook his sister feverishly but she didn't respond. "Yuzu!"
"She's still alive!" Naruto shouted to him as he shakily stood up. "All of your family is still alive, their souls are still intact you idiot! We need to take care of this first then I could heal them…"
Laying his sister on the ground away from the hollow, he gripped his makeshift weapon tightly. Ichigo ran up to the hollow and swung the baseball bat in his hands wildly at the creature. He didn't even manage to hit it and the monster had managed to smack him away and his baseball bat beyond repair.
'Shit…' Ichigo cursed to himself.
Naruto appeared suddenly to his side and slashed at the hollow before glowering at him.
"You idiot! I would have caught your sister! You can't just jump in there! If I haven't distracted it then not only you would have been harmed, you'll be taking that girl with you!" The blonde berated as he glared at the teen who flinched but glared back defiantly at him. He could have dodged with the girl easily using shunpo – but…
The blonde had seriously panicked when the hollow almost manage to touch the two siblings–so instead of blocking or simply attacking, he took the hit meant for them that sent him flying to that wall which hurt like hell. So he was mad at the teen. There was no doubt about it.
He swung his zanpakutō towards the hollow who evaded his attack. Naruto grimaced, he couldn't release his Shikai and it might do more damage than he had already allowed the hollow to do.
But if he's going to fight this hollow, he didn't need his attention divided.
'So I need to be blunt then.' He thought with a displeased frown.
Bringing up his hand, he took a deep breath and pointed it to the hollow's direction. "Bakudō #4: Hainawa." He panted out, his back aching horribly from making friends with the wall.
Not to mention his supposed to be healed side was pulsing in slight pain that felt like was continuing to grow.
A rope of pure reishi shot out of his hand and engulfed the hollow's torso, entangling its arms and temporarily immobilizing it but the hollow just thrashed around. Judging from the small sounds of snapping, it wouldn't hold the hollow for long. He limped towards the teen since his side was now flaring in much pain.
While the hollow was distracted, he punched the teen hard on the gut, ignoring the gasp of pain as Ichigo fell on all fours and his shoulder that made a crunching sound. His left arm now uselessly hanging limply on his side.
'Crap, the hit to the wall might have dislocated my shoulder…'
Naruto suddenly regretted coming here with the teen.
"You need to focus, teme. You're not helping." Naruto told him coldly. "You're the first human that I could recall who has the ability to see a Shinigami." Again, not counting Shikamaru since he hardly seemed human compared to Ichigo.
"What does–?"
"And you could also see hollows, even hear their cries. You even managed to break out and shatter a bakudō spell through your own power and sheer will." Ichigo was now looking at him with puzzled brown eyes as Naruto scratched his head uncomfortably. He usually didn't speak down to anyone, but this boy was just too stubborn.
Hardening his resolve, he stared down at the boy once again.
"I wasn't able to say this earlier but Hollows are drawn to those containing large amount of reiatsu or spiritual energy, souls specifically…" Naruto paused, feeling that uncertainty once again. "…whether dead or living. So don't interfere already, I think this hollow is attracted to your reiatsu." Seeing the horror in the teen's face made the blonde stop, he didn't bother mentioning that it might not be the only hollow. That's enough.
The blonde winced when he saw Ichigo suddenly shaking all over.
"T-That means… it's because of me that dad, Yuzu and Karin… are in danger…" Ichigo mumbled out dazedly, ignoring the pain sizzling in his gut.
"That's not really what I wanted to say–"
Naruto was cut off when a very loud snap was heard and before they knew it, the blonde was skidding out of the street through the hole and away from Ichigo. The hollow cackled loudly as it followed the Shinigami out on the streets, intent on devouring him.
"Naruto!" The teen yelled, scrambling to his feet as he went outside. His brown eyes then shifted to the hollow.
Picking up a random stone from the ground, he threw it at the hollow's head to get its attention. At first, the beast just seemed to freeze. Then its head sharply swivelled to his direction, its cackle gaining volume.
"It's me that you want, right? Come and get me, you fucking monster!" He shouted angrily, effectively stirring its attention away from the kid.
The hollow instantly grabbed the chance to pounce on him, its white teeth gleaming as it jumped to his direction. Ichigo's eyes widened, he knew that he wanted to sacrifice himself so this hollow would leave his family alone. But anxiety still entered him and made him go stiff. So he closed his eyes and waited for the pain to come.
Instead, he heard a distinct squelching sound.
Brown eyes snapped open and Ichigo paled. Naruto had taken the attack for him–the hollow's teeth sinking into the blonde's shoulder and torso, blood splattering to the orange haired teen's bare feet. The teen heard the boy growl before Naruto proceeded to stab the hollow through its mouth.
It screeched in agony as it backed away from them.
But Ichigo didn't take notice of it, his attention was on the blonde who fell on his knees as his blood stained the pavement. The sword clattering on the ground as it fell from Naruto's grasp.
Without even asking for permission, Ichigo snatched the sword from the ground and ran to the hollow with a battle cry. Naruto's eyes fluttered, half-lidded in pain. The orange haired teen managed to slice a portion of the hollow's shoulder but it wasn't deep enough to be fatal at all. So he continued to wildly swing the katana, hacking as much as he could of the hollow. But either the monster evaded or blocked – and sometimes, not even caring of the cuts and simply retaliated.
One of the hands managed to get inside Ichigo's guard and smacked the boy away into a wall.
"Ichigo!" Naruto shouted in alarm as his eyes shot open. Not even realizing that it was the first time he had called the teen by his name.
He tried to get up but he just wobbled and fell on all fours, panting as he did so. With this so much blood, he could have used Ryūketsu Arashi but he couldn't, he might lose it with his mind at its weak state, he wouldn't be able to handle it.
But Ichigo just stood up, wiping the blood dripping at the side of his mouth. He just charged again, his furious cry echoing in the night air.
Naruto could only watch helplessly. Cerulean blue eyes widened as the blonde suddenly froze, eyeing the crack starting to form at the middle of his beloved zanpakutō. Ichigo seemed oblivious as he continued his relentless attack. With a final swing, Ichigo managed to slice the hollow's slide.
Crack.
'No…'
The simple fracture spread slowly, like a web slowly expanding down to the tip.
Backing away from the shrieking hollow, Ichigo finally stilled as he noticed what was happening to the blade.
As if just waiting for the teen's attention, half of the blade shattered before their very eyes. It dissolved into spirit particles before it even reached the ground.
Naruto's heart was beating fast but it fell into a slow rhythm to his ears.
"A-Arashi…" He stated with horror.
Ichigo turned to the terrified blonde boy with guilt-stricken eyes. But before an apology could make it past his lips, something unexpected happened. Red particles started to form around the teen, and then it encircled him for a full moment before slowly starting to merge…
…and formed a red scarf around his neck.
The hollow continued to shriek at them, thrashing as one of its hands covered its bleeding side.
'T-That baka… He took some of Arashi's powers… Wait, he could absorb my zanpakutō's powers. What are you Kurosaki Ichigo?'
Ichigo then ran up to Naruto's collapsed form. His confusion was then replaced by anger, momentarily forgetting what he had done, as soon he saw the large amount of blood pooling at the kid's feet.
"Why? You said that hollow was after me so why?" He all but snarled furiously to the boy who was eyeing him with exhausted eyes.
"You're not only a teme…" The boy said hoarsely. "You're also an idiot… you think that it won't go after… your family after it devoured you? Hollows consume souls whether powerful or not. I just… told you that they are drawn to powerful ones. And my zanpakutō…" He panted as he coughed out blood.
Blue eyes shimmered as he eyed the half of his sword in the teen's grasp.
Ichigo was now alarmed. They're going to die and it's his fault. This boy, who might be his only chance to defeat that thing, was now injured because of him and he had just broken his sword. Now, they're all going to die and he couldn't do anything about it. Just like before…
"Isn't there anything I can do? To save my family? To save us?" The teen questioned desperately as he supported the boy by the shoulders.
Cerulean blue eyes stared at him in surprise, they had just met today. He could understand if Ichigo was concerned for his family but how did it shift to being "us"?
Suddenly, events of his graduation flashed before his eyes.
"Hana…! Wake up! Get up, damnit!"
There was so much blood.
"Help, anyone! Where the hell are they?"
That feeling of panic was so vivid and he could now make it out in Ichigo's eyes.
"N-Naruto…"
"Yagura-sempai!"
Hanatarou and Karin never spoke of it in his presence but the blonde could feel their fragile hold on things. That helplessness… He didn't want to see it anymore, especially in anyone's eyes.
His eyes then shifted to the crimson scarf around Ichigo's neck and an idea came to mind.
'Transferring of powers ain't just theory after all…' Naruto realized with a bit of irony.
"There's something… you can do." He mumbled as he lowered his head, his eyes shadowed by his bangs.
"What is it?" Ichigo asked almost frantically.
Naruto's eyes snapped up to the teen.
"Become a Shinigami." When he saw the confusion clouding those eyes, he explained. "I'm going to transfer some of my powers to you so you could defeat that hollow. I only heard it from one of my sempai, but I have to stab my zanpakutō through your heart." When he saw the half-blade, he winced. "Or at least, what was left of it."
"Then do it." The teen answered without hesitation.
"Are you sure? Being a Shinigami is a big responsibility." The blonde stated seriously.
Ichigo just stared at him with determination.
"I'm sure."
Gingerly prying his damaged sword from the teen's grasp, Naruto positioned the rectangular end of his blade through the teen's chest and gave the teen a bloody grin.
"Let's reintroduce ourselves. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Shinigami."
Ichigo smirked.
"Kurosaki Ichigo, human."
Naruto knew once he did this, Ukitake-taicho wouldn't be able to save him anymore. Toushiro couldn't ask him anymore favors. Renji couldn't conspire with Rukia and Yachiru to save his ass anymore. No matter what others do, he had just walked to his death. And from this moment on, it wasn't about his father, the Kuchiki Clan, and being Namikaze Naruto anymore because–
He plunged the blade deep into the teen's chest and everything glowed.
–he had sealed his own fate.
He looked at the teen with shock.
Then his eyes gazed down at the white yukata adorning his body. He had only meant to give the teen a portion of his powers but the idiot took all of it. Somehow, Ichigo was subconsciously absorbing his reiatsu through his zanpakutō so Naruto shouldn't have been surprised but he still was. Not to mention the size of Ichigo's zanpakutō… Naruto wondered if it had anything to do with Arashi's influence. He shook his head as he cradled the teen's head on his lap, frowning.
Ichigo was now in the traditional Shinigami garb – black Shihakushō, a thick brown belt to hold his sword. But the crimson scarf remained wrapped around his neck. The boy fingered the material and was surprised at how soft and warm it was. But his nose caught the scent.
Blood.
"Arashi." Naruto called silently but there was no answer within his mind.
He had only been in Karakura for two days.
Naruto lightly slapped the orange haired guy's cheek. He realized with a jolt through his system that he didn't regret what he did today as he remembered the triumph and grateful expression on the teen's face when he had sliced through that hollow. Almost all his life, he had been restricted about his actions.
When he had been alive, the villagers always watched his every move. Even in Soul Society, the rules always held him back and Naruto was even forced to do nothing when in the face of those laws… no matter how unfair they were.
But now, he did something that was his decision for once. For him, it felt like the right thing to do. He couldn't let this guy's family die. It felt like he had just freed himself from chains binding him down, as if a burden was removed. But it wouldn't change what he had done today.
Naruto gave a human his powers freely.
And he knew, Soul Society wasn't going to be pleased at all.
'Since when had it been us?' He asked himself as he remembered Ichigo's words. The guy barely knew him.
The blonde grimaced, he just gave the council the reason to really go after his head with no way out.
"I'm sorry, taicho…" He murmured faintly under his breath.
"Maa, maa." A voice drawled cheerfully. "It seems that I was too late then."
Naruto looked up and met the shadowed gray eyes of a stranger dressed in all green. He frowned as he hovered protectively above Ichigo, eyeing the man warily. The man could not only see him but Ichigo as well judging from the direction those eyes moved to.
Urahara Kisuke just smiled pleasantly at him.
AN: I don't know but I seem to have fallen in love with this. So I'm going to post new chapters. This one will be the longest I think, I know that I made it too long but I need to express how it came to be really well.