IMPORTANT NOTE: Yes, I have decided that Ichigo's vasto lorde form would be due to influence of the curse mark as well as absorption of some of Ogichi's powers. In this story, the war against Aizen was long done and Ichigo never fought against Ulquiorra, so he never really reached that form yet. Hope this clarifies any confusion. This is in a slightly alternate universe, you could say.
Well guys, I must apologize once again about the huge hiatus on this story. I must assure you though that I have gotten all the research and inspiration that I need to finally complete this story. I must be honest with you though; this story is not my favourite. For one thing, I wrote this because I figured it could probably be a good idea, but I just didn't get enough inspiration for it, hence the annual updates. I guess Naruto is just not a good story-writing idea since I don't follow it as much as I follow Bleach.
Anyway, this is the final chapter. So, for those of you who liked this story, thank you for your positive reviews. They really mean a lot.
Without further ado, here's chapter 4 of Torn in the Darkness. Hope you enjoy.
Chapter 4: Ichigo's Revelation
The rain continued to pelt Ichigo's shelter, splashing against the rocky surfaces and flowing off the roofed ledge in waterfalls. It was cold, but the shinigami lieutenant did not seem to mind as he was snoring lightly against the back wall. Zangetsu rested beside him, propped up against the walls of the shelter.
He drifted off into a dream.
He found himself standing in Ukitake's office of the Thirteenth Division Headquarters, facing his captain who was kneeling on the floor facing him, a blanket draped over his shoulders.
Rukia Kuchiki was standing next to him – a scowl planted on her face as she stared at Ichigo. Her hands were balled into fists as she tried not to run over to where he was and punch him in the jaw with all her strength.
Ichigo tried to comprehend why he was here. Was his failure to assassinate Orochimaru that bad? After all, his defeat at the hands of Kabuto and the evil Sannin was humiliating enough. Why were they much stronger than he was, especially Kabuto? Wasn't he, as a shinigami, supposed to be stronger than a mere shinobi? Ichigo shuddered at the memory. Maybe he will hear it from Ukitake and Rukia and be done with it.
"Ukitake-Taichou," Ichigo greeted as if there was nothing else to say.
Rukia narrowed her eyes. "That's all you can say? Jeez, you've got some nerve after you've failed to assassinate Orochimaru!"
Ichigo glared at her. "I don't need your nagging, midget."
"We've warned you," Rukia pressed on, ignoring him. "You were reckless. How could you lose against shinobi such as them?"
Ukitake held up a hand to stop Rukia from talking. "Enough, Rukia." He lowered his hand when Rukia fell silent. "Do you still want to do this, Ichigo?" Before Ichigo could answer, Ukitake continued to speak. "This mission should not be taken lightly. You know what he's capable of. If you don't succeed, the world will be in great peril. He doesn't just want to destroy Konoha Village. He will destroy any village in his and his army's path, except the Sound Village of course. Then he will make his way to other places, even Karakura. You understand this, don't you?"
Ichigo froze a bit when his hometown was mentioned, and then he sighed and looked down. "Why me though?"
"Because you're capable of doing this," Rukia replied. "We all believed you would do it."
"Until I got this curse mark, huh?" Ichigo held a hand up to touch the sealed mark behind his neck.
"You can still manage to defeat Orochimaru," Ukitake said.
Ichigo lowered his hand and averted his eyes back to his captain. "How?"
"That's up to you to decide," Ukitake replied.
Ichigo said nothing.
Suddenly, the scene shifted. Ichigo found himself on the cliff overlooking Karakura. This scene, however, was different from that in real life, as Karakura was in ruins. Giant snakes slithered among the flames and rubble, crushing whatever that was in their path.
A feeling of discomfort rose within him and a burning pain seared the back of his neck. He looked down, only to see black markings running everywhere on his skin. Ichigo gulped. What was happening?
Using shunpo, he got closer to Karakura – the streets were littered with dead bodies, blood, rubble, and flames. It was hard to say anything as Ichigo stepped through the wreckage that was once his home.
Something else was peculiar. Why was he void of emotion? This was his hometown! Shouldn't he be shocked? Depressed even?
Ichigo passed by a broken-down building, whose window was still intact. His reflection in this window made his blood run cold. He found himself looking into the eyes of Orochimaru, who was smiling back at him.
Ichigo stared at his arms again and was even more horrified when he saw them white as Orochimaru's skin.
His eyes flew open and he gasped in fright at the nightmare. Trying to catch his breath, he looked at his arms and was relieved that they were his skin colour. He lightly ran his fingers over the curse mark, but he could not feel any pain – yet.
This was so strange, but Ichigo had a feeling that his nightmare was a warning. After all, Tsunade had told him of Orochimaru's plans to take over his body. There was one thing he had to do to prevent such a thing from happening – destroy Orochimaru once and for all to rid himself of this curse before it was too late. Ichigo finally understood his mission and what he must do.
Grabbing Zangetsu and attaching it to his back, Ichigo crawled out of his shelter and stared into the sky. Clouds rolled up ahead while waves rocked back and forth against the shore. A gentle breeze blew through Ichigo's hair. "I will not fail this time," he whispered to himself. "Not anyone, not even Rukia or Ukitake-Taichou. Thank you..."
He sprung on his heels and took off from the beach to search for Orochimaru's hideout.
Orochimaru panted as he clutched the sheets of his bed. Where was that shinigami? He knew it was only a matter of time before he showed up.
Kabuto entered the room to check on his master. His jagged breathing was hard enough for the young shinobi to take. "Orochimaru-sama, please hang in there," he tried to assure. He placed a mug on Orochimaru's bedside table. "Here's some medicine for you."
"Where the fuck is that shinigami?" Orochimaru demanded through his teeth.
"He's on his way," Kabuto replied. "I feel his presence not too far from here."
Orochimaru grinned maliciously. "If that's so, then let him in when he arrives. It's about time for the transfer."
"Are you sure, Orochimaru-sama? That soon?"
The villainous sannin grimaced impatiently. "Are you fucking retarded, Kabuto? Of course, it's that soon! Let him in and direct him to me by any means necessary."
Without saying another word, Kabuto bowed and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He did not really understand his master's motives sometimes. After all, there were other victims Orochimaru could inhabit. So why does it have to be a shinigami? What if he was too strong for Orochimaru to handle? This might kill him. Kabuto sighed. He knew he had no say when it came to Orochimaru's decisions. He walked down the hallway to the entrance of the hideout, where he was sure Ichigo was going to appear.
When he arrived at the hideout, Ichigo was certain that they would be waiting for him at the entrance. With this in mind, he decided to do a surprise attack. He knelt on the roof of the hideout and narrowed his eyes at Kabuto, who had just stepped outside. As he reached for Zangetsu, the black markings from the curse mark started to slowly spread all over his body.
"You're such an idiot, King," Ogichi's voice echoed through his mind.
"So I've been told," Ichigo trailed off icily.
"You do know that letting the curse mark take over will affect me as well." Ogichi smirked.
"Keep in mind that I have control over you," Ichigo reminded.
"But you don't have control over the curse mark!" Ogichi argued, almost triumphantly.
"Either way, I'm using it against him. If he controls me, or at least tries to control me, I'm using your power as well as my own to counteract it. This curse mark's influence over me may change who I am, though, but it's the best way to defeat him."
"So you're letting me take over?" Ogichi asked, a tinge of hope laced in his voice.
Ichigo smirked. "We'll see, but that's only if you cooperate and focus on the mission at hand."
"..." Ogichi fell silent. He knew that Ichigo's instinct was growing stronger with every battle he had been in. He had no choice but to follow with this strategy. After all, this mission may involve no help from anyone else, but there was nothing about it that forbade Ichigo from using his hollowfication.
Ichigo waited until Kabuto's back was turned and jumped down from the roof – Zangetsu drawn.
Sensing this, Kabuto turned around sharply but before he could defend himself, Ichigo sliced through his neck, unleashing a vast amount of blood. An insane grimace spread across Ichigo's face as Kabuto's blood splashed on his face. He flicked Zangetsu to the side, releasing the blood that stained its silver and black surface. Then he entered the hideout, stepping over Kabuto's decapitated corpse.
He walked through the dimly lit hallway, searching for Orochimaru's chamber. He was also prepared just in case anyone would attack him.
Not too far behind him, a shadowy figure lurked in the shadows. A hand was holding on to a partially sheathed katana on his back while his red eyes stood out from his shadowy body.
Ichigo continued to walk down the hallway when he suddenly heard a rustle behind him. He swung Zangetsu to block his assailant's attack and stared into red eyes with black, tear-like markings. Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows as he managed to push the intruder back. The figure slid backwards, crouching on all fours.
"Who are you?" Ichigo demanded.
The figure stepped into the light, revealing himself to be Uchiha Sasuke. He got into a fighting stance. "Uchiha Sasuke," he answered bluntly. "I heard that you were going to be Orochimaru's next host. It's too bad, really, seeing as how I had trained for years to be as strong as I am now, then finding out some guy is stronger than I am." He looked at Ichigo up and down. "However, I doubt you're as strong as they say you are."
Ichigo smirked. "Well, how about we test that theory? You must have found out my name then."
"Shut the fuck up!" Sasuke snapped. "Let's go!" He flung towards Ichigo, katana raised. Ichigo blocked and twisted his zampakutou. Then he slashed it through Sasuke's defences. Immediately, Sasuke dodged and tried to attack again. Ichigo blocked again and the two men stalled as energy flowed between them.
"Just so you know, you can't beat a Sharingan user!" Sasuke boasted with a smirk. Ichigo smirked wider as he bent his hand so the palm faced outward. Sasuke frowned. "It's useless! I know what you're going to do!"
"Then defend against it. Hadou 33 – Sokatsui!" A blue fireball shot out of Ichigo's hand and Sasuke was barely able to dodge it. The impact from the attack slightly burned him but left him stunned.
"Don't know what to make of it, huh?" Ichigo taunted. "I don't know about the Sharingan, but I do know that you don't know how to defend against kidou. Here, have another! Hadou 73 – Soren Sokatsui!" Two blue fireballs shot out of his hand and Sasuke dodged them again, running along walls.
"Damn this guy!" Sasuke cursed as Ichigo shot another Soren Sokatsui at him. "He's starting to tick me off!" He turned to face Ichigo and did a few hand signs. "Fireball Jutsu!"
"Bakudou 34 – Enkosen!" Ichigo shouted as a transparent wall sprung up in front of him, shielding him from the large fireball.
"DAMN IT!" Sasuke cursed again. "What the fuck is this guy?" He grabbed a handful of kunai, senbon needles, and kunai bombs. "Eat this, motherfucker!" He screeched as he threw his projectiles rapid fire.
Ichigo blocked and parried each projectile with ease to Sasuke dismay. "Now that you've made your moves, it's my turn. GETSUGA TENSHOU!" A white crescent-shaped energy wave burst out of Zangetsu and sped toward Sasuke.
Even with the Sharingan, Sasuke had no idea how to defend himself from such a technique. He covered his face as he waited for the energy wave to come. An explosion followed, blowing Sasuke's hair back. The black markings from his curse mark appeared all over his body, as well as bloody gashes from the attack. Sasuke lowered his arms and glared at Ichigo. You've pissed me off for the last time, Kurosaki! I'm going to make sure that Orochimaru had never chosen you to be his next host!"
The area shook as Sasuke started to glow. The markings spread even further throughout his skin as his hair started to grow longer. The markings made his skin turn scaly and gray, and scaly wings grew from his back.
Ichigo frowned as he watched this transformation take place. He had a feeling that this must be his opponent's full power. If this was the case, then he too must go to his full transformation. He pointed Zangetsu in front of him and the linen wrappings wrapped around him. "BANKAI!" Reiatsu exploded outward and Ichigo stood with his trench coat flowing behind him and light off his black blade. "Tensa Zangetsu."
"Hate to break it to you, Kurosaki," Sasuke said with a wide grin, "But you still don't impress me."
Ichigo sneered. "Don't make me laugh, Uchiha. I gave you a lot of trouble before. Actions speak louder than words, you know."
"Whatever," Sasuke growled. He pointed one of his hands to the ground, and electrical energy started to glow and crackle in his palm.
After the electric bolts were fully charged, Sasuke burst into a run towards his opponent. "CHIDORI!"
Ichigo stood still as he waited for the attack to come to him. He put a hand next to his face and summoned his hollow mask.
As soon as Sasuke approached him, Ichigo grabbed his hand wielding the technique and unleashed a vast amount of reiatsu. Sasuke gritted his teeth as he tried to continue unleashing his attack, but Ichigo's reiatsu cancelled the attack out. Then he tossed the shocked Uchiha to the side.
"I can tell that technique uses up a lot of energy," Ichigo noted in his synthesized hollow voice. "If you don't have anything else to show me, then I'd like to end this."
"YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Sasuke screamed. "I REFUSE TO BE BEATEN BY THE LIKES OF YOU!" He charged another Chidori.
"When will you realize that it's over?" Ichigo stated. He slashed Zangetsu in front of him. "GETSUGA TENSHOU!" A wave of black energy shot towards Sasuke, who ran towards Ichigo with his fully formed Chidori in his hand.
An explosive amount of reiatsu was released as the Getsuga Tenshou and the Chidori collided with one another. Eventually everything went quiet once again, and Sasuke was lying at Ichigo's feet. A deep, bloody gash formed across his chest.
"You won, I guess," Sasuke grunted as he coughed up a lot of blood.
Ichigo made his mask disappear from his face as he looked down at his fallen opponent. "I told you not to underestimate me."
"Then I should tell you not to underestimate Orochimaru," Sasuke warned, "Even if you should use the curse mark against him."
"We'll see about that," Ichigo said as he stabbed Zangetsu straight through Sasuke's throat.
Orochimaru continued to struggle and pant in his bed. An insane grin was planted on his face as he sensed the fight between Sasuke and Ichigo.
At first, he was fixed on having Sasuke as his next vessel until he found out about Ichigo. He figured that a shinigami with so many special abilities, as well as a hollow spirit, would be better than a Sharingan-user. When Sasuke was beaten in his fight with Ichigo, Orochimaru was more confident that Ichigo would be the perfect vessel. "It's only a matter of time now," he whispered with an evil chuckle.
Outside his door, Ichigo stood with his back to the wall, waiting for his opportunity to strike. Ogichi was starting to get impatient. "Come on! Let's get it done already!"
"In a moment," Ichigo whispered as he slowly inched closer to the door.
"Why?" Ogichi demanded. "He's in a weak state and unguarded! This is our chance! Burst in there and finish him while he's down! Or I might have to…"
Ichigo hushed his counterpart. "Not yet. Even if he's in that state, he might still try to take over at any given time. When he does, however, that will be your moment to take him down at all costs, with me of course."
"You've got this planned out, huh, King? Why don't you realize that you're going back to your strategizing bullshit? I can't stand that! Don't forget about your killer instincts!"
"I haven't forgotten," Ichigo trailed off, hand brushing against the knob. "I still can't be reckless." He gripped the knob and twisted it. "Let's do this." He opened the door and slipped through, Zangetsu raised.
"Welcome, Kurosaki," Orochimaru greeted, almost in a hissing whisper. "Whatever you came here to do, do it now." His evil grin never left his face as he was speaking.
"Do it, King," Ogichi urged.
Ichigo narrowed his eyes as he gripped Zangetsu tighter. This was what he was sent here to do, and even though the man before him was in a weak state, there was no telling what he would do. Either way, he still deserved to die for all the crimes he had committed. Without any more hesitation, he stabbed Zangetsu straight through Orochimaru's heart.
Silence ensued for a moment as Ichigo waited, staring at the blood that dripped from Orochimaru's lips. When he thought that it was over, Orochimaru pulsed and Ichigo felt an uneasy feeling sweep over his body.
"What's happening?" Ichigo slightly panicked as he pulled Zangetsu out of Orochimaru's chest. He instantly became dizzy, and he tried to stand while holding onto his zampakautou.
The curse mark started to burn intensely as Ichigo shook with discomfort. Then, all of a sudden, everything went black for a moment.
He found himself standing in his inner world with its skyscrapers turned on their sides. His eyes moved left and right as he watched for any kind of movement.
All of a sudden, a giant snake exploded out of the ground, catching him off guard. Ichigo tried to jump out of the snake's way and struggled to fight its open jaws as it tried to devour him.
Before he could blink, the snake was cut into pieces, which fell onto one of the skyscrapers, damaging the surface. Ogichi stood with his white Zangetsu held tightly in his hand—his white trench coat flowing behind him. "No one takes over your body but me," He stated.
"I don't think it's over yet," Ichigo said. Ogichi sneered at the news. "We have to team up in order to defeat him."
Ogichi rolled his eyes. He really hated to ally with his counterpart, but he had no other choice if he wanted to take Ichigo's powers for himself in the future.
"Well?" Ichigo asked impatiently.
"What do you th-" Ogichi was cut off when the inner world started to shift from its normal appearance to a very dark atmosphere. The buildings rotted away, consuming the pieces of the snake.
"What the fuck is going on?" Ichigo muttered as he looked around his surroundings.
Suddenly, a blob rose out of the slimy substance covering every surface. The blob opened up, revealing Orochimaru with his evil grin.
Ichigo's eyes furrowed as he slashed Zangetsu forward, releasing dark reiatsu. "GETSUGA TENSHOU!"
Orochimaru sunk bank into the slime before the energy wave could reach him. "It's no use," his voice echoed. Ichigo and Ogichi turned around sharply, trying to find their adversary. "This is MY world now; you can't defeat me for I am IMMORTAL here!" His shrill laughter echoed throughout the dark place that was once Ichigo's inner world.
Suddenly, the slime started to cover Ichigo, gradually climbing up his legs and making its way to his hips. Ichigo tried to struggle his way out of…whatever it was, but it kept growing, holding him in place.
Orochimaru rose up once more, several feet in front of Ichigo. "Now, you're mine!" The slime bubbled as he made his way to Ichigo – the slime was now at the base of his neck.
Ogichi's hands shook as he watched this atrocity. He lifted his Zangetsu over his head. "GET AWAY, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" He slashed his white katana forward. "GETSUGA TENSHOU!"
However, more slime rose up to block the white energy wave before it could connect. Ogichi growled in frustration. He charged towards Orochimaru, but another wave of slime rose up and knocked him to the ground, disarming him in the process and knocking him unconscious.
A wide grin spread across Ichigo's face as black markings spread across his body.
"Whatever you're doing won't be enough to stop me!" Orochimaru shouted with a loud cackle.
Suddenly, Ichigo started to change form. "Thank you for your power, Ogichi," he muttered as he averted his eyes towards his unconscious counterpart. His hair grew longer and horns appeared on his head. A hollow mask appeared on his face. Ichigo let out a tremendous amount of reiatsu, causing the slime to explode off of him. He stood with white claws on his hands and feet and a hole in his chest.
Orochimaru gasped in shock as he tried to envelop his next host with more of the slimy substance, but Ichigo dodged it using sonido. The sannin then sent snakes towards Ichigo, who caught them and ripped them apart with brute force.
Ichigo held out his hand and his black katana flung itself into his palm. Then he charged once again towards the evil Sannin.
Orochimaru tried everything he could think of to defend himself, but Ichigo easily broke down all defences. He raised Zangetsu and slashed through Orochimaru. The slime covering him evaporated from the sheer force. Orochimaru landed on the ground on his back, staring up in horror at the Vasto Lorde staring right back at him.
A half grimace-half smile spread across his face as he laughed. "You were counting on this, weren't you?" Ichigo's eyes glowed in lust as reiatsu formed between his horns. "You're good," Orochimaru said, "too good."
Before he could say anything more, Ichigo unleashed his cero, destroying Orochimaru. Soon afterwards, the dark, slimy world shifted back to the sideways skyscrapers, and Ichigo's hollow exterior shattered, revealing his true, shinigami form.
In exhaustion, Ichigo fell to his knees and smiled in triumph. At that moment, Ogichi woke up and walked towards Ichigo – an evil grin on his face.
Sensing his counterpart's presence and intentions, Ichigo frowned and managed to stand up. "You've got some nerve, Ogichi."
Ogichi chuckled. "You're exhausted and this is my chance! Might as well take it now and be done with it."
"Is that so?" Ichigo asked. He stretched his hand out in front of him. "Hadou 73 – Soren Sokatsui!" Two blue fireballs knocked Ogichi into a nearby building, taking him by surprise. A purple rod formed in Ichigo's hands. "Bakudou 62 – Hyapporankan!" He threw the rod at Ogichi, who was trying to collect himself, and it slit into smaller pieces, which held him in place.
Ogichi cursed as he tried to struggle. "This may or may not hold you for long," Ichigo said, "but it should teach you to try to take over. Heed this warning, Ogichi. I am and always will be in control. Don't you ever forget that."
Ichigo opened his eyes and noticed he was still in Orochimaru's chamber. He looked at the corpse of Orochimaru, bent in a sitting position in his bed. Ichigo grasped Zangetsu's hilt and pulled the sword out, releasing what was left of Orochimaru's blood.
Satisfied with his victory, Ichigo reverted back to his shikai state. He reached behind his neck to touch the curse mark, but he noticed that it had disappeared.
Attaching Zangetsu to his back, Ichigo stepped out of the room and walked down the partially caved-in hallway – the damage caused from the fight he had with Sasuke.
It did not take much longer for him to make it to the exit, and he noticed someone was waiting for him. As he moved closer, he realized that it was Kuchiki Rukia. He smiled brightly as he ran towards her. She too was smiling.
Ichigo wrapped his arms around his girlfriend tightly and swung her around once before setting her on her feet.
"You're excited to see me," Rukia said.
Ichigo placed a hand on her cheek. "I missed you, so of course I would be happy to see you."
"Well, I'm here to pick you up," Rukia said.
"Did I pass?" Ichigo asked hopefully.
Rukia raised an eyebrow. "Is the curse mark gone?"
The lieutenant knew that he was being monitored during his mission, so there was no surprise that Rukia knew about the curse mark. "It's gone," he replied with a nod.
Rukia checked his neck just to be sure and nodded in approval. "Even though you acted unlike yourself and more like a serial killer, I would say that you passed."
Ichigo shrugged. "They were on Orochimaru's side anyway. They were no match for my abilities."
Rukia sighed. "I guess you've got a point." She grabbed Ichigo's hand. "Let's go back to the Soul Society. Everyone's waiting."
Ichigo pulled Rukia towards him and pressed his lips against hers, taking her by surprise. He wrapped his arms tightly around her waist as he deepened the kiss. Rukia wrapped her arms around her lover's neck, returning the kiss that they had longed to give one another. After all, this was the first mission that Ichigo had done without her, so she had a feeling that it must have been hard for him to be away from her. He's such an idiot, she thought to herself as she smiled into the kiss, a loveable, handsome idiot. My loveable idiot.
They parted and looked deep in each other's eyes, cherishing their reunion. It seemed like a moment of silence until Ichigo put his hand in Rukia's and spoke. "Let's go, my dear."
Rukia smirked as she tightened her grip. With her other hand, she drew Sode no Shiroyuki and opened the Senkaimon.
When they were stepping through the gate, Ichigo thought of how Konoha would be rejoicing after learning of Orochimaru's defeat. He was guilty for attacking several of the shinobi there, but he knew that some probably understood the fact that he was not himself, especially how they had wanted to help before he left the village. They will be all right though, as long as one of their biggest threats is gone for good.
And that is that! Sorry it took way too long to get the final chapter out there. I hope you enjoyed it anyway. It was so hard to write, especially the fight scenes, but I kind of like how it had turned out. Did you? Please review if you did. That would be mean a lot. Once again, thank you all for your support on this one. I will be starting Condemned Time next, so hopefully that should be done soon. I'm very busy with school and other parts of my personal life at the moment, but I'm going to try my very best to update.
Take care, everyone!