Summary: "A new world, huh? All right, I use this opportunity to enjoy the peace." Naruto Uzumaki knew he would be drawn into conflict sooner or later, but he would do his best to remain on the sidelines of the conflicts of the world he was reborn into. But being one of the last living Quincy would bring problems sooner or later.

"Speech."

'Think.'

Technique

Flashback/Past Events.

Warning: English isn't my native language.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach.

Naruto sighed as he punched the hollow with his fist and destroyed the mask in the process. He was standing in the air, and on his hand were blue lines before they vanished. He looked behind him and saw three more hollows that appeared in the night sky over Karakura Town. 'It's been a while since Ichigo Kurosaki lost his powers. I wonder if he will ever be able to get his powers back. If now Shinigami/Hollow powers or his other powers which are still sleeping inside his body.'

He held one hand up, and five blue Reishi kunai appeared between his fingers. He threw them with a flick of his wrist at the three hollows who attacked him. The 5 Reishi Kunai killed all three Hollows. He created the five Kunai with his own Reiryoku and Reishi. He closed his eyes briefly and opened them when he felt no other Hollow.

He used his Reishi manipulation to move at high speed toward a roof and appeared on it in a blink of an eye. This technique, where the user used Reishi Manipulation to move at high speed, was called Hirenkyaku (Flying Screen Step).

Every Quincy used this technique to move at high speed from one place to another. Depending on the skill and training, the user could use this technique for longer periods of time. Naruto was a Hirenkyaku master, the highest mastery stage one could achieve. There were also Hirenkyaku practitioners and experts. Naruto was one of the rare Hirenkyaku masters who ever existed. Well… he was already a few decades old and had enough time to train and learn everything about the technique.

Naruto Uzumaki was a handsome young man in his twenties with spiky golden blond hair and blue eyes like the sky. He had six whisker marks on his face and wore a long-sleeved white shirt with grey pants and brown shoes. Under his white shirt, hidden was a necklace with a green crystal. Even when he looked like 25-27, he was, in reality, over 80 years old.

'It's been a while since I was reborn after I died in the fight against Isshiki when I protected Kawaki and Sasuke from the strongest opponent I ever faced.' It may be ironic, but he was an orphan even in this world. That didn't matter to Naruto since he could clearly remember everything from his old world and had the mind of his true self, not a baby's.

He used the opportunity to live peacefully in this new world where chakra wasn't present. No Shinobi, no giant demons with the ability to create massive nuclear bombs with a simple opening of their mouths, no Uchiha, and no curse of hatred.

There was, of course, hatred even in this world. Humans wouldn't change, no matter which world Naruto was in. But here, the entire world wasn't at war. There was a conflict here or there on the planet, but in general, it was a peace that he savored and enjoyed to its fullest.

He learned about pluses, hollows, shinigami, and Quincy when he turned 5. He noticed it from the day he turned three years old. He had more strength than a normal kid should have. Since he was a simple human in this world, at least he thought so at the time; he shouldn't have special powers.

But even as a three-year-old kid, he could lift heavy things only older kids should be able to lift. It was weird, but at the age of 5, he saw his first hollow and Shinigami. The hollow was hunting a plus, and a Shinigami appeared out of nowhere and killed the Hollow with his zanpakutō. This was when Naruto realized this world wasn't as normal as he thought. There was an entirely different reality to the normal world of living. He saw more Shinigami and Hollow over the next few years, and he also discovered, with some experimentation, his new powers as a Quincy. He already learned a bit when he first heard the term, Quincy.

After some research, he realized he was one of those Quincy, and from there on, he learned everything he could about Quincy: their history, powers, and other stuff. He also learned of Reiryoku, the new energy he felt inside himself since he was five.

Over the last decades, he trained secretly to protect himself against hollows and other potential enemies like the Shinigami. Quincy and Shinigami were natural enemies in this world, and even when he had a method of completely erasing his Reiatsu, he would be discovered sooner or later by a Shinigami, and who knows how this Shinigami would react to a living Quincy?

He learned that at a point in history, the Quincy were hunted and almost completely wiped out. The Shinigami and Quincy could have been on better terms regarding the management of hollows.

Naruto's shadow widened, and Naruto sank into it before he vanished from the roof and appeared in the shadow of a room of his home. Using their own Shadow as a transport technique was pretty awesome when someone would ask Naruto.

This technique of manipulating the own shadow as a means of transport or teleporting around was a thing only Quincy could do. It was called the Quincy Shadow. He could even travel to another dimension if he wanted to since he could travel everywhere where shadow existed, and even in the Soul Society, shadow was around.

He could have used Hirenkyaku to get home, but using the Shadow was faster and simpler. Naruto sat down on a pile of cushions and touched the ground beside him, where a seal became visible, and shortly after, an empty bowl with a pipe on the edge and a tobacco sack appeared in a golden light.

That was the only thing he could still do from his old world. He had to change some seals, but with Reiryoku as energy, he could power up seals and use them as if he would use seals with chakra. He had to change some kanji and some designs, but he was a master when it came to seals when he died. Finding the right design for the seals wasn't the big problem.

He looked out into his large yard and smiled while he took the pipe and filled it with tobacco before he created a small blue Reishi flame over his index finger. Using Reishi manipulation, he could even create blue flames, which were very effective against almost every opponent. Those flames were condensed Reishi.

He was happy to be reborn as a Quincy since he could use many things he was used to in his old world, like Kunai or Shuriken. He could form Reishi Weapons from his own Reiryoku and Reishi. He mostly created Kunai since he was more used to using them either in close combat or even as throwing weapons. Reishi Kunai were more powerful than normal Kunai from the elemental nations. Those Reishi Kunai could pierce most things they came in contact with. He could also form other weapons. His strongest close combat weapon was a broadsword covered completely in blue Reishi flames. (A/N The sword old man Zangetsu created shortly before he vanished inside Ichigo's world, where he gave Ichigo access to all his abilities.) This sword, covered in blue Reishi flames, could cut and burn enemies simultaneously. But he has never needed to use that sword since he has never fought against someone really strong. He always fought Hollow, and those creatures weren't worth mentioning after he had gained a certain level of strength.

He ignited the tobacco and puffed on it before blowing the smoke into the sitting room. His house was a traditional-style manor house reminiscent of one he'd seen during his time in the elemental nation he took a liking to. It was a single floor surrounded by high walls with a large yard for training and a large cherry blossom tree on the side, two ponds with fish in it, and the main building was a good fifty meters long and 20 meters wide, containing several bedrooms with a small kitchen with a large sitting room dominating most of the interior. The sitting room opened into the yard, with a long deck framing that entire side of the house beneath the roof awning.

He was a writer like his master in the elemental nations. Since he wanted to travel around the world in the past, he tried to write a book about his own life in the elemental nations. He never thought it would be a hit and would be known worldwide in a few months. He quickly became very wealthy with all his sales with his first book. His first book covered his early childhood and ended at the end of the mission to wave country.

He had already written multiple books in this world, all about his life in the elemental nations or other persons in the elemental nations. Since he knew the entire truth about Itachi and many fans of his books wanted the entire story of the hero in the shadows, he was in the making of writing the book about Itachi's life.

Even when he was known in the entire world for his books, he used a cover name like many other authors who wanted to remain incognito even when they were pretty famous. Naruto enjoyed his peace and admired the cherry blossom tree in his yard. Since no one could overcome the high walls around his house, he could relax and didn't need to worry. Seals on the walls made it impossible for others to enter his home.

Naruto sat at a river and held a fishing pole in his hand with a basket beside him with three fish inside. He developed a few hobbies in the last decades besides training and writing his books. Fishing was one of them. He puffed on his long pipe and exhaled the smoke into the air. He looked into the air and watched the clouds.

He liked to do the simple things in life that gave him joy, like relaxing while he fished or smoked. He looked over his shoulder when he heard footsteps. 'Well, look at that. What a coincidence that he appears at the river I fish.' He chuckled a bit and looked at the clouds again while puffing on his pipe. He said nothing while someone sat down beside him on the other rock, which was perfect for sitting.

"A lovely day, isn't it?" Naruto said this while he took the fishing rod into his hand and pulled on it. He pulled a giant fish out of the water without any trouble before he let go of the fishing rot and caught the fish before slapping it once, killing it in the process. He laid the giant fish into the basket, took his fishing rod again, and lazily threw the fishing hook back into the water.

The young man beside him looked at Naruto with an unsure look. He didn't know what he just saw. A human just pulled a giant fish out of the water like it was nothing. Normally, such a fish would need more strength than one arm to be pulled out of the water the way it did.

"Who are you?" asked the young man beside Naruto.

"Isn't the better question, who you are?" Naruto looked at the young man beside him from the corner of his eye.

"You seem lost, young man." He puffed on his pipe once and looked up into the sky. "I don't know what could bring a strong young man so down, but it's certainly not good."

The young man beside him remained silent. "You remind me of someone I once knew." The young man looked at Naruto. "There once was a teenager who had many problems and thought everything would be too much for him. He trained and trained but never seemed to be strong enough. He got beaten and scolded, but he never stopped working on himself. He used his time productively and knew it would bring him nothing to cry about something that already happened and couldn't be changed anymore. He changed what he didn't like and achieved everything with a will to never give up."

That he told a little story about himself wasn't so important. The only important thing was that the young man beside him could understand what Naruto was trying to say with his little story. Naruto looked sideways into the brown eyes of Ichigo Kurosaki.

Ichigo's most distinguishing feature was his spiky orange hair, a trait he had been ridiculed for years. He was a fairly tall, lean-built young man with peach skin and brown eyes. He liked to wear slim-fitting clothes. He had a tendency to wear shirts patterned with the number 15 because his name is a homonym for the number. He became pretty muscular since he was a Shinigami.

"The most important thing is to know who you are." Naruto looked at the river and puffed on his pipe again. He sighed, satisfied, and with this silence remained in the area. The only sounds someone could hear were the water, Naruto's pipe, and the animals in nature in the near surroundings. The river was just outside of Karakura, and around Naruto and Ichigo was a forest.

"I don't know what to do anymore." Naruto said nothing while Ichigo began to talk. "I lost something important to me, and no matter what I do, I accomplish nothing because others shut me out of the things happening around me."

"A friend got injured, and I can't help because I am powerless." Ichigo was at the bottom of his existence right now. He lost his power after defeating Aizen and knew he couldn't help others when it came to Hollow stuff, but he didn't think the others would hide everything from him.

Everyone thought he needed to be protected, but he could look after himself! He hated this feeling of helplessness.

"Why are you powerless?"

Ichigo looked up from the ground and at Naruto. Naruto was still looking at the river and waited for another fish to come to him.

"You have a muscular build and can protect yourself against any enemy you may have in your surroundings." Naruto looked sideways and said, "You must explain how you are powerless." He looked forward again and puffed on his pipe.

"There are things I can't fight. Not with my current abilities."

Naruto hummed to himself a bit and pulled another fish out of the water without any effort at all. It was a normal fish this time, but it was still a sight to behold. After the fishing hook was back inside the river, Naruto said, "If your current abilities aren't enough for your situation, why don't you do something against it?"

Ichigo looked like such a simple statement slapped him. He knew he couldn't get his powers back and would never be able to, but hearing such a simple but truthful statement made him think about one thing or another.

"Are you sure you can't do something about your situation?" Naruto placed his hand on the shoulder of Ichigo, and unknown to Ichigo, blue veins could be seen on Naruto's hand, which traveled over to Ichigo's body and vanished shortly after.

Ichigo looked into Naruto's blue eyes when he felt something weird inside his body. "Someone wise I knew used to say: When you are not content with how things are, change something in your life. Even if it's just a morning walk instead of lying in bed, something can always be changed, even when it's just how we ate our breakfast or dinner." Naruto took his hand off Ichigo's shoulder and looked at the river again.

"You can't see something in the distance?" Naruto looked up into the sky and said, "Don't worry, as long as you can see the next step you must take to move forward. As long as you can take one step at a time, the thing you couldn't see would appear sooner or later in front of you."

Ichigo remained silent the entire time and took every word to heart, this stranger said. He had never met him and didn't know why he had begun telling Naruto about his problems. He didn't even know his name.

Naruto smiled when he looked at the river. "Life can be tough sometimes, but it's never unfair. There is always a way out of your situation, even when it's not clear at the moment."

He looked at Ichigo. "Are you really sure you can't go the next step?"

Ichigo saw those blue eyes, which were like the endless sky. It was like before… he didn't know Naruto, and yet when he saw him walking through the forest just outside of Karakura to get a clear head, he felt he needed to go to the stranger he had never seen before.

Naruto didn't pity him. He asked him generous and logical questions with a good reason. Ichigo had a muscular physique and had no problems dealing with thugs or adults. Naruto had a good reason to question if Ichigo was powerless with his physique.

And the explanation about how someone could do something about their situation. Every word Naruto said made him think about his current situation more and more. Was there nothing he could do? Even when his friends were hiding things from him. Was he powerless? After Naruto held his speech, he wondered about a few things.

Couldn't he make a single step forward?

"I guess…"

Ichigo was interrupted by Naruto. "Not guessing. Do you know if you can take the next step or not?"

Ichigo was taken aback by Naruto's sudden voice change. His voice, to this point, was carefree and full of joy and some wisdom, but now, he was like a big brother talking to a younger brother.

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "I don't know, ok?" He frowned when he realized his little outburst. Why did he even care what a stranger told him? He could be a murderer for all he knew.

"You sure?" Naruto pointed at Ichigo with one finger. "You have ever looked deep into yourself and watched what hides deep inside your soul?"

Before Ichigo could answer, his eyes widened when he felt something familiar inside his body. He couldn't believe it… he felt the presence of old man Zangetsu just a second ago! What was going on?

"I see. You have made the first step already." Naruto looked toward the river again and puffed on his smoke before saying, "You should know what to do when you took the first step already."

Ichigo looked at Naruto and said nothing. He stood up and walked away before stopping and looking over his shoulder. He didn't know what to make of this encounter, but he had a feeling that old man Zangetsu had guided him to that stranger. He had a feeling this stranger made it possible for Ichigo to at least have hope to see old man Zangetsu again. He was sure he felt him a minute ago, and there was also this weird change inside his body from the middle of the meeting with this stranger. After Naruto touched his shoulder once, he felt something changing inside his body.

Naruto smiled and touched the fishing rod before it vanished in a golden light. He took the basket of fish and sank into his own shadow. 'Today was certainly interesting. Let's see how Ichigo Kurosaki will evolve. Will he go the route of a Quincy, will he be able to get his Shinigami powers back or will he become a person with all powers combined?'

Naruto thought about helping Ichigo Kurosaki since he dealt with a great threat, and Naruto could stay on the sidelines because of Ichigo's sacrifice. He knew of the fight between Aizen and the Gotei 13 and that Ichigo was the single reason Aizen could be defeated.

Naruto didn't have to reveal himself because Ichigo took care of Aizen at the last minute. Naruto had a debt to pay… or something like that. When he touched his shoulder, he did something to awaken his hidden Quincy powers, which should still sleep deep inside his soul. He gave them a little push to wake them up with his own Quincy powers. After all, Masaki Kurosaki was a Quincy, and Ichigo should have his own Quincy powers even when he lost all of his Shinigami and Hollow powers.

Naruto vanished and left the scene when he completely sank into his shadow.