Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Naruto. Only the OC, Chiaki, and her nephew, Tetsuya are my ideas, their backstory, abilities, appearance, etc. I do not make any money from this story.

This story is a sequel to "in your eyes". If you haven't read that one, please do so first otherwise this one isn't going to make as much sense. A bridge story in between them is "the best present". One character owned by Tite Kubo is deaf and doesn't speak. As such when this character speaks with someone, the text is in italics to symbolize sign language.

Finishing her fourth bowl of herring soba the woman gave a content sigh, but then a hand gently fell onto her abdomen as she quietly wondered how long her secret would be kept just that.

Across from her was a man with dark shaggy hair and a mole under his right eye. He wore a modified shirt to the shinigami uniform which was sleeveless, but wore a light green turtle neck underneath it with sleeves that came to his wrists. He smiled as he signed to her: your appetite is back. You had me worried for a bit.

She gave a small laugh as she signed back: I kept telling you it would pass, didn't I?

He nodded and replied: you did, but now you're eating mushrooms. What's with that? You've hated them as long as I've known you, Chiaki.

She tensed at this as she glanced at the empty bowls and realized he was right. She had eaten everything, including the mushrooms. She gave a heavy sigh as she replied back: I can only eat them in herring soba. It's a long story but—someone I miss loved herring soba. It was their favourite meal.

He gave a knowing smile as he replied: that human boy—I get it.

She nodded her head again and signed to him: thank you again for watching Tetsuya on short notice.

He shook his head and replied: you don't need to thank me. I've watched that boy grow from an infant into a pretty cool kid. He's got you to thank for that.

Chiaki heaved a heavy sigh after a while as her thoughts drifted to the future, uncertain of what would come next. She felt him tapping her hand and glanced over to him.

He then added: we did agree to remain friends after all.

Chiaki smiled and nodded her head in agreement again and signed back: yes, we did. I'm glad we could make it work.

His broad smile told her all she needed to know, he felt the same way. Chiaki almost laughed at the irony, he was hearing impaired and didn't speak, yet Atau Rindo could hear her more clearly than anyone in the Seireitei. The only one who could rival him was a human whom she knew had since passed. Indeed, she had been the one to perform his konso but she was also aware that likely meant his memories of her were completely erased.

Atau indicated her Yin necklace, and she gently held it in her hand momentarily before admitting to him: my most prized possession. It has his name engraved on the back. He has the Yang half with my name—but I doubt he'll remember what it means.

He shrugged his shoulders in reply, which she knew was his way of saying 'you never know', he then reached into his robes putting down enough kan to pay for their meal.

Chiaki looked to him in disbelief but he signed to her: you got it last time. This time it's my treat. Going by your appetite though the next one's on you.

She gave a hearty laugh as she replied: that's fair.

He stood up from his seat and she did the same, although he waited for her until she was moving towards the exit. He followed her, his lieutenant badge affixed to his left arm, although she wasn't wearing her kido corps commander cloak. He knew why. The kido corps commander cloak was very distinctive, and when she was socializing with friends she did her best to maintain an air of normalcy.

She left Kamenoya and glanced to Atau signing: I'll catch you later.

He replied with: if I'm not at my barracks I'm probably patrolling.

She smiled in response and flash stepped off towards the first division, and she knew he was heading off in his own direction. After a few flash steps she arrived at her destination and entered. Almost instantly she was greeted by a child who looked to be roughly eight years old with shaggy black hair and flame red eyes. He wore the standard shinigami uniform with a white turtle neck underneath the kimono. At his side was a katana with a black sheath and an oval tsuba, the hilt wrapping was violet.

She smiled as she saw him and thought to herself, 'he looks so much like my grandfather.'

The boy ran over to Chiaki excitedly, throwing his arms around her waist and hugging her. She returned his hug and asked him, "how's your day going, Tetsuya?"

"It's going good. Grandpa's got me doing a lot of the chores though," he replied, wrinkling his nose at the last bit. Chiaki giggled at his reaction to the idea of chores and leaned into his ear, "here's a secret: we don't like chores either. But they have to be done. Nobody ever said work was always fun or it'd be called 'play', right?"

Tetsuya nodded his head a little before his eyes brightened and he inquired, "did you find him yet?"

Chiaki sighed as she admitted, "No. Not yet. I need to speak with Grandpa about something, okay?"

Tetsuya nodded as he grabbed the bucket and mop before flash stepping off to continue mopping the barracks floors.

Chiaki pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger with a slight sigh. She took a steady breath and headed towards the Captain-Commander's office. Coming to the door she knocked and waited for Shunsui to grant her access before entering. She closed the door behind her and greeted him, "Captain-Comander."

The brunette haired man wore a lady's pink floral kimono over his haori and uniform. His long wavy brown hair was tied back into a ponytail and he had a black patch over his right eye. His left eye was visible, and of a grey hue.

"Dad," she added.

Shunsui looked up from his paperwork and set his pen down. He rested his elbows on his desk, and rested his chin on his folded hands as he remarked, "are we speaking as superior and subordinate or as parent and child?"

Chiaki wet her lips before confidently replying, "both because this does impact both situations."