"Hey, wake up!"

Naruto stirred in his sleep, his slumber interrupted by the constant shaking and yelling. Why can't the person just take the message and leave him alone? He had been lifting up his hand to gesture a shoo-ing motion. Wasn't that enough?

Apparently not, if anything, the shaking only became harder. Suddenly it stopped-

-the shaking was gone!

Finally! Some well deserved sleep. His eyes were still shut tight, slowly drifting into his rest again despite the chill that surrounded his body. It was cold, but who cares- it was naptime!

Naruto felt something on his face, a furry object. What was it…well he didn't really care; it was comfortable. It left his cheek for a moment-

-WHAM!

He shot upright, eyes wide open, with his hand rubbing his now throbbing cheek. He couldn't focus his sight to find his assaulter. It must have been a long time since he had felt so tired. Naruto heard the sound of giggling, a girl's giggle.

As the blonde regained his sight, his gaze was met with a teenage girl, most probably around his age if he were to guess correct. She was trying miserably to contain her laughter. Naruto opened his mouth to speak but his throat was dry and his voice cracked. He couldn't seem to form any audible sound, much less produce the energy to say something.

"Looks like you're awake," the blue haired girl said through her dying laughter.

She turned to look towards the left side of the blonde boy. "That was great!" she announced with a small thumbs up.

Naruto followed her line of sight and spotted a little grinning fox- or at least he thought it was grinning…

Blood red fur, maybe a slight tint of orange…A little twinkle in its mischievous eyes…and…one…two…three…four…five…-

Rewind! WHAT THE HELL… Naruto rubbed his eyes again, taking in every detail…--

-Blood red fur; check. Small twinkle in eyes; yeah it's still there. And… seven, eight, nine tails! Oh Kami-sama. No freaking way!

All nine tails were gloriously swishing in the air, all in unison. The fox hopped onto the blonde's lap and licked his cheek, after that pulling away to keep a satisfied grin on its muzzle.

"That little fox has been here ever since I found you. I think it likes you a lot." The girl pointed out to the stunned blonde. "Here this might help." She bent down to hand him a canteen filled with water.

Naruto took it from her, hoping his appreciation showed. He gulped the water greedily, drinking every last drop. That felt so much better now.

"Thank you… er…" Naruto trailed off, noticing he didn't know her name.

"It's Hikari," she informed him.

"…Hikari-san."

"And don't call me that, it sounds old. Come on, we better get out of here, it's about to rain."

"Hai," Naruto said before opening his arms for the fox to jump in. Miniature Kyuubi- never would've believed it if he didn't see it.

"You know, you still haven't given me your name…" Hikari mentioned.

"It's Naruto."

"Naruto…Hmm I think it has a nice ring to it."

For once the blue-eyed boy had nothing to say. It was a compliment that was rarely given.

He just followed the retreating girl, walking through the columns of enormous trees with the fox in his arms.

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"Kyu… is that you?" Naruto whispered to the fox. There was no response for a while, until the fox gave a small yip. Should have known… despite the nine tails, it was too good to be true.

He hung his head down, a little sad that it wasn't the demon fox. In the past couple of years, before the attack again Akatsuki, they had worked together, side by side. Both had come to an agreement, once Akatsuki was gone, the fox's freedom was ensured. What Naruto didn't expect was attachments. Without anymore friends, or Konoha for that matter, his only companion had been the fox sealed inside of him. Despite the growing insults, Naruto always felt that their relationship might have been somewhat different from the beginning.

Too bad he would never find out-

A soft tap on his cheek pulled him back from his daydream. "Hey, Naruto, are you okay? You stopped walking for a while…"

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks Hikari-chan!" Naruto answered back joyfully, a little bit too quick, hiding his previous thoughts. He gave her a weak smile, trying to lift the mood up again.

Hikari just looked at him and tapped his cheek again, "Baka, you know, it's obvious you're not fine. Next time, just let it out."

She didn't give him any chance to respond and continued, "You know… we are nearly at my place, we'll sort everything out when we get there. Look, the rain's starting."

Hikari held out an open palm letting droplets of water splash onto her flesh. "Let's go Naruto, it's starting."

After a while, they walked out of the forest and Naruto was greeted to the sight of buildings, stretching as far as the eye can see. The most spectacular feature about the scenery was the massive structure that seemed to be somewhere in the distance.

"Hikari, what's that thing there?" Naruto pointed out towards the tall structure out in the horizon.

"That's Seireitei; I'll give you the full details once we are inside the house," Hikari answered and increased her pace.

Naruto felt eyes upon them. Using his honed senses, he scanned the surrounding area noticing that there were a lot of people who were staring at Hikari- not in a nice way.

He understood why she increased her pace and thought to himself. I won't resort to violence. Those days are over; I'll just start a new life…

Soon, the blonde noticed the changes in building conditions and eventually, they came to a small hut.

"Here we are Naruto," Hikari declared.

"So this is where you live Hikari?"

"Yep, welcome, make yourself at home!"

The inside was cozy, unlike the outer exterior; it seems as if everything was laid out neatly and there seemed to be so much more room. Naruto put the fox down onto the chair beside him and examined the place.

"Hey, Kyu, hope you don't mind me calling you that, you remind me of someone I know," Naruto said as he talked to the fox. Hikari had gone to the kitchen to get some water and food for the both of them. The fox seemed to shake its head acknowledging what Naruto said.

The blonde continued, "You know…this is all very weird to me. Is this death? I guess it was lucky that I met Hikari-chan, she seems very nice…"

He let his head rest against the back of the couch and closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, Hikari was in front of him, holding out a cup of ramen and two glasses of water was placed on the table.

"Thanks Hikari." He heard his stomach growl slightly. He was hungry.

He slurped the noodles very slowly into his mouth, cherishing the taste it gave. It had been too long since he had last eaten ramen. It had been a long time since he had met Ichiraku. The past was the past though. Naruto spoke whilst eating, "So, ish th-

He was cut off by Hikari, "Don't talk with your mouth full, eat first."

Naruto nodded apologetically. When he was nearly finished with the contents in the cup, he stopped and passed it on to the little fox. Somehow, Naruto knew the fox was hungry as well, much more than himself.

Hikari ate her ramen slowly, watching the two carefully. The fox was indeed interesting, ever since she had seen it in the forest beside the boy. The nine tails behind it only proved that the fox was one-of-a-kind. Only the legends spoke of it. Also, there was the blonde…

He was an enigma she had yet to solve, from his first impression; he was a child- at least to her. Only god knows how long it has been since she has been alive in Soul Society. She lost count after the first few centuries.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Naruto.

"Say, Hikari, I have a few questions… Is it okay if you help me out a little…?" he asked.

"Sure!" Hikari said encouragingly.

"First thing, is this where the dead go?"

"Yeah, it's where all souls arrive when they are dead, however, some become hollows."

"Hollows, what are they?" Naruto asked inquisitively.

"Oh right! Wait here." From nowhere she pulled out a whiteboard and started to draw.

Naruto twitched slightly. What was she trying to do?

The fox stared at the board with a questioning look on its features.

Hikari produced a stick and started pointing to the 'pictures', "This is when a person is alive. When they die, they become pluses or souls…

"…after that they come here! Hollows however are formed…"

"…that is what hollows are!" Hikari finished with pride in her explanation. "Are there any questions?"

Naruto looked blankly at her and raised his hand slowly.

"It's hard to understand. Why are your drawings so bad?"

She whacked him on top of his head with the stick and said, "It's a common practice that we make it as simple as possible for others. The plus sign here represents the pluses. It isn't that hard to understand."

"Yeah, it would have been easier to understand if that plus actually looked like a plus," Naruto stated sarcastically. He felt another whack on top of his head, the same spot she had hit earlier. "Ow! Why did you do that?"

"That's for being a baka," Hikari stated. "I'll let you stay here, on one condition. Do not enter my room. Oh wait, I think I got another condition! You have to be my personal slave."

"WHAT?" Naruto shouted.

"Obviously you don't know how to take jokes," Hikari said.

"Phew…"

"Don't celebrate yet, I will make you work. Now, first thing you have to do. Get out there and buy me my groceries!" She handed him a slip of paper containing a long list of items and food along with a bag full of money, or what he presumed was money.

When he was out the door, she sighed and thought to herself, "It was a fun day… It's been a while since I last laughed or had any fun…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was night by the time Naruto returned. It had been a busy day indeed. The damn groceries probably weighed a ton, now he knew why women were so strong. It just wasn't right!

"Hikari! I'm back."

No response. The little red fox hopped down from its resting place and followed Naruto into the kitchen.

"Hey, Kyu, looks like she went out, yeah?" Naruto asked.

The fox nodded its head up and down signaling yes.

"Here, I bought you some food." Naruto opened up one of the grocery bags and brought out some bread and meat. "You know, you're pretty smart."

The miniature Kyuubi just dived into the food, ripping apart the chunks of meat and devouring the bread.

"Seriously you must be hungry," Naruto said.

For the first time since he awoke, Naruto felt different. It wasn't as noticeable as before due to the various things going on in his mind and tasks given. Now, he was free and somehow he knew something was changed about himself.

"You know Kyu, I feel a little different, as if I'm stronger than before. I mean… before I died."

The fox gave a small bark as if saying 'Yeah right…'

"Anyways, my old life is gone; maybe the rest of my friends will be here. I mean, they only passed away a few years before me…" he voiced out his thoughts.

Naruto took a look at himself for the first time, noticing the lack of orange on his outfit. What the heck happened to my jumpsuit? He wore a obsidian black T-shirt and he noticed that there was a white portion down the sides of his shirt. The only orange he could see was the strange symmetrical line across the black sleeve of his T-shirt and intergrated within the middle of the white lines down the sides of his shirt. Then there was the pants, a three-quarter lenght pants that just barely passed over his knees. Differing slightly from the design of his shirt, it was white with black stripes. However, the orange this time dominated a huge portion of the black giving his outfit a striking effect leaving the black visible on either sides of the orange as well as in some cases in between the orange.

Essentially it was the type of clothing that would attact a lot of people to stare at him. Good or bad it didn't matter. He thought it made him look extremely cool and found himself enjoying the confort the fabric gave him. It was feathery soft and seemed to give off just the right amount of coolness to keep his body comfortable.

He touched the fabric and noticed it was nothing like cotton or as a matter-of-fact anything he had come across for the mean time. He traced his finger against the orange. It was odd. At a very close look, he could just make out seals. What it does, he couldn't tell. From one or two words he could make out the words "Hidden Equilibrium". Truly it was complex and not to mention extremely tiny.

It was strangely familiar to him yet nothing seemed to make sense, it was probably better if he did some research over his knowledge of seals and find out what it meant.

Forget it, let's try out my chakra.

It was gone. He felt nothing, could pull nothing. Despite this, he knew there was still something. He felt so useless now, but then again, maybe it was for the best- to live a new peaceful life.

Naruto saw the red fox looking at him in amusement the whole time. He felt tired and sat down on the couch. The blue-eyed boy shut his eyelids in need for some well deserved rest, feeling the weight of the fox settling on top of his lap.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hikari looked at the blonde walking out the door, going out to get more goods for the both of them. It had been little over two weeks since she had found him lying in the forest just outside South Rukongai accompanied by the fox. In those two weeks, she felt herself enjoying what life had to offer. In the centuries she had been here in Soul Society, he was probably the only one to cause her so many problems.

Much like that incident last week, now that had been pretty embarrassing.

Flashback

---

"NARUTO, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING IN HERE!?" a shrill scream sounded throughout the entire district.

---

It was very early in the morning, perhaps 7 in the morning.

With sleepy eyes, Naruto had woken up and groggily made his way to the bathroom, not knowing that it was occupied. Normally, he would wake later. The only reason he woke up was because of his bladder that felt like it was about to explode. "I probably shouldn't have drunk so much water last night…"

The sound of running water didn't even register into his mind as he walked up sleepily towards the shut bathroom door. His hand rested on the knob and gripped it gently, twisting it at the same time. The warm steam exited the bathroom through the opened door and Naruto, still ever so tired, walked in, disregarding the change in temperature.

He shut the door gently before sitting down on the toilet seat and released the pressure…

"That feels sooooo much better… Ha…" he thought to himself.

The blonde pulled up his pants and reached for the flush. With a press, he flushed the bowl and the sound of a loud scream filled the enclosed room.

The shower curtains opened and Hikari looked at Naruto, holding on to her towel that covered most of her body parts. Now, Naruto became wide awake as he stared at the half-naked girl with shock, knowing one thing: He was in deep SHIT!

"What have I done to deserve this…?"

Flashback End

Hikari walked into her room before looking out of the window towards the outer districts. "Looks like that's where I have to go."

She moved towards her closet before opening it and taking out an object and a cloak.

It was time for her to meet up with the rest and confront them. After months of searching she had a definite location.

The girl had a mask of seriousness and grim etched on her beautiful features, resolving to go. Hikari left a note on the table outside her room before looking towards the fox that stared at her actions, following her every movement.

"Kyu, would you mind telling Naruto not to worry? If I don't return, take care of him okay?" she told the fox, her voice tinged with melancholy. On that note, she left the house, the sun slowly setting as it approached night.

Her figure disappeared amongst the rooftops with her cloak fluttering behind her- a kanji for 'zero' engraved on the back.

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Naruto returned after everything was bought, another tiring day of searching and haggling for him. Damn, he was getting good at haggling for prices. Now he managed to get things off for a 50 per cent discount!

"I'm home!!" he yelled triumphantly, again met by nothing. Seriously, where does that girl disappear off to, every night? Bah, everyone has their secrets.

He set the groceries on the kitchen table, sorting them out, placing them into the refrigerator and cupboards. This time, he had bought extra ramen! They were super special as well, apparently.

Naruto greeted the small fox that appeared beside him. "Yo Kyu, I'm back. She went out again, huh?"

The fox nodded and barked out loud.

"What's wrong Kyu?" Naruto asked.

Its tails swished faster from side to side signaling for him to follow it. They walked out of the kitchen and it jumped on top of a table in the previous room.

"A note…? Kyu, you know what? Come to think of it, she never leaves notes, haha…" he laughed a little. The fox gave out another small bark indicating for him to 'hurry the hell up'.

"God, you're becoming as bossy as another fox I know," Naruto grumbled as he unfolded the paper and looked at its contents. It had small stains, probably from water. He would only find out later that it was tear marks.

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Naruto,

I'll be gone for a while. Perhaps a very long time… but I'll see you again soon, kay?

Don't worry about me; if I don't come back, you know where the keys are to the house.

Just make another spare incase you lock yourself out again…

Don't be too much of a baka. Take care, blondie!

Hikari

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"Kyu! It sounds as if she is in trouble!" Naruto panicked, throwing away the piece of paper to one side and shouting again, "What are we going to do!?"

"Which way did she go? No, wait, how am I going to help? I don't even know where she is. No!"

"Baka, after all these years of disappearance, you'd think you would have learnt some restraint…" a voice sounded from behind the blonde.

Naruto turned around to stare at the fox, only thought running through his mind, "Kyuubi?"

The fox just smirked and said, "What's the matter, fox got your tongue?"

Sorry for the delay... Didn't manage to find enough time to squeeze in a couple of chapters...

I kinda lost the plot sheet. Wahahaha, I'm just gonna wing it now. I apologize once again. Enjoy.