Chapter 8
DisclaimerNaruto & Bleach is not mine.
Chapter 8 is done.
The cover picture, not mine.
Thanks for reading.
Author notes Yay, I have reached 10,000 words. I will cross-post with AO3.
Chap 8
Kushina
Her feet skidded to a stop as she reached the crest of the hill. Her breath caught in her throat as her eyes fell on the scene below. There, lying motionless on the ground, was Naruto.
Something was wrong. She could feel it in the air—the dark, oppressive energy of the Nine-Tails was leaking out, faint but unmistakable. The last time she felt it this strong was the night she and Minato had sacrificed themselves to seal the beast inside Naruto.
His body lay sprawled on the grass, his clothes tattered and burned from the immense chakra that had been coursing through him. The seal on his stomach—her seal, the one Minato had carefully placed to contain the Nine-Tails—was glowing with a fieryblack light.
It was changing. The intricate patterns of elemental language were shifting, twisting into something unfamiliar, something unique.
Wisps of the Nine-Tails' chakra were leaking from it, swirling in the air around Naruto's body like tendrils of malevolent energy.
"Naruto!" shescreamed, her voice raw with panic.
Kushina dropped to her knees beside her son, her hands hovering over him as tears welled up in her eyes. She hadn't seen him, don't know how long, and now, here he was—so much older, so different from the baby she had left behind.
His face was more mature, his features sharper, but he still had that same unmistakable blonde hair and the whisker-like marks on his cheeks.
But this wasn't how she wanted to see him.
The sight of the shifting seal made her stomach twist in knots. She reached out tentatively, her fingers brushing against the glowing mark on his abdomen.
*Dawn it, I wish I could still use chakra.*
The chakra that radiated from it wasvolatile and unstable, and it sent a shiver down her spine. It wasn't the Nine-Tails trying to break free; there was something else happening here, something she didn't fully understand.
"Kushina!"
A voice called out from behind her, and Kushina turned sharply, her eyes locking on Sui-Feng, her Captain.
"What's happening?" Kushina demanded, her voice laced with desperation as she clutched Naruto's limp body.
"Does he fight Hollow ? Is his Souls captured?"
"Do you purify that Hollow? Captain"
Sui-Feng brow furrowed, her sharp eyes scanning Naruto's form, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
"No! I did not defeat her! It happened so fast,and I think Vasto Lorde is in the seal of your son."
"WHAT! WHAT HAPPEN?"
"WE GOT NO TIME, KUSHINA. CAN YOU UNSEAL IT?"
Kushina's mind raced as she looked back down at Naruto. She had been the one who had helped craft the original seal, and she knew how powerful it was. But now, thepatterns were foreignto her, twisted in ways she couldn't comprehend. She could feel the chakra fluctuating wildly, as though the Nine-Tails were fighting for control.
"He's older now," Kushina muttered to herself, her hands shaking as she ran her fingers over Naruto's forehead, brushing aside his sweat-drenched hair. "So much older… I've missed so much…"
Her eyes filled with tears as the realization hit her all at once. She doesn't know how many years have passed since she held him in her arms since she had sacrificed everything to protect him. And now, after all this time, she was finally seeing him again—but he was in danger, and she had no idea how to help him.
"I need time to understand this," Kushina muttered, her mind racing as she tried to assess the damage to the seal. But Naruto's chakra was so unstable, and the Nine-Tails were pushing harder than ever before. "I need to stop this before it gets worse."
But there was no time.
"Naruto," Kushina whispered, her voice breaking as she knelt beside him, her hands glowing with a faint yellow light as she tried to stabilize his health. "Please hold on. I'm here now. I won't let anything happen to you."
Naruto stirred slightly, a groan escaping his lips as his body twitched.
Suddenly, his nose bled profusely.
"Kushina! I'm sorry," Sui-Feng called out, her voice sharp as she drew her Zanpakuto.
"No!" Kushina shouted, her voice desperate. "Don't! Please If you kill him, you could make things worse!"
"IT TIME KUSHINA"
"WHAT!"
"Naruto!" she screamed, but her voice was swallowed by the roar of energy surrounding them.
*WOOOSH*
"NOOOOOOOOO! MY SON!"
Hope I do the right thing* is the thought of the slender woman when she and her lieutenant disappear.
In the next instant, the world shifted violently, and before she could comprehend what was happening, Kushina felt herself being pulled into a different plane of existence, ripped away from her son.
The place is packed, with a lot of wandering souls passing by, their faces carefree and normal. Kushina's heart sank as she realized where they were.
*Rukongai.*
Kushina clenched her fists, her knuckles white as she fought the rising panic.
"I have to get back! I need to make sure he's okay!"
"Kushina," Sui-Feng began, her voice sharp and authoritative.
"I understand your concern for your son, but you need torest. We're not in the living world anymore. Here in the Soul Society, there are rules—rules you've already disobeyed."
"The dead can stay in the living world too long."
Kushina clenched her teeth, anger bubbling up inside her. She had always been fiercely independent, and taking orders from someone else, especially when her son's life was at risk, was the last thing she wanted to do.
She had never been one to sit idly by while others dictated her actions. Not when her heart told her to act.
"I'm not going to stand by while my son is in danger," Kushina shot back, her voice trembling with both fear and defiance.
"I know you have your rules, Captain, but my son is my responsibility. You can't expect me to sit here and let you control everything!"
Sui-Feng's expression hardened, her dark eyes narrowing as she turned to face Kushina. "You forget where you are, Lieutenant. This is not the living world, and your actions have consequences. I've been lenient because of your situation, but you've already overstepped."
Kushina opened her mouth to argue, but before she could say anything, a group of black-clad Shinigami appeared in the distance, moving swiftly toward them. Their appearance only heightened the tension.
Two of the guards moved forward, their expressions stern as they reached out to restrain her. Kushina didn't have time to resist as they bound her hands behind her back; the pain in her chest was overwhelming.
"Please," Kushina begged, her voice breaking. "Just let me back. He needs me. I can't leave him like this."
Kushina clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white as she fought back tears. She wouldn't give up. She has to find a way.
Naruto Uzumaki
Deep within the recesses of Naruto's subconscious, something stirred. A few symbols, foreign and malevolent, began to swirl within the depths of his being, just beneath the surface.
It was cold, suffocating, and filled with an overwhelming sense of dread.
The seal on his stomach, the very thing that had kept the Nine-Tails at bay for so many years, pulsed faintly, reacting to the presence of something new—something dangerous.
*Where am I?*
He muttered, his voice echoingin the emptiness.
*I need to... I need..to do what?*
*So comfort*
A frown creased his brow as a strange sensation crawled over him. It was asif his body was fighting something, but he was unaware of what. His peaceful slumber was slowly being disrupted by an unfamiliar force, one that his body instinctively resisted, even as his mind remained unaware.
Suddenly, his hand flew to his stomach. The seal—the intricate pattern that had been burned into his skin since birth—was glowing. Faint chains of energy began to form around it, slowly extending outward as if reaching for something.
His eyes widened in horror as the chains shot out from the seal, glowing with a faint, ghostly light. They snaked through the air, coiling and twisting as they moved deeper into the darkness, toward the unseen threat lurking nearby.
"AHH, ARHHH, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
His body felt heavy, and sluggish, like something was dragging him down. Gritting his teeth as a wave of energy coursed through him. The chains were pulling something from the darkness—something powerful and terrifying. His heart raced as a shadowy figure began to emerge from the void, its form shifting and writhing like smoke.
In the depths of his mind, Naruto could hear the massive roaring, rumbling demand of the Nine-Tails.
"Destroy… destroy it don't let one of these monsters live, Uzumaki!" Kyubi's voice echoed, filled with fear. "This is why you're such a troublesome host."
Naruto blinked the vision clearer and turned his head around, trying to process the scene. The giant, fearsome Nine-Tails—one of the most powerful beings in existence—was acting like he had just spotted a spider in the shower.
As the figure became clearer, he became very confused. It wasn't the tails beast.
*It's just two ball things flowing, one black and one white.*
The beast growled again, his massive, fiery eyes darting nervously between the two orbs as his tails twitched and coiled behind him like a restless cat. "Those… those orbs shouldn't be here! Get rid of them, NOW!"
*Orbs?*
Naruto's confusion deepened as he cautiously approached the orbs. They were about the size of a crystal ball that the old man used to look at those women's places.
Hovering in the air, one black and one white, they radiated an unsettling energy. Something about them felt off like they didn't belong here. But what was stranger still was the faint tug of recognition he felt when he looked at them.
"Oi, calm down, Furball," Naruto said, waving a hand at the beast.
"You're supposed to be all big and bad, but you're freaking out like a kitten!" He snickered, but his smile faded as he examined the orbs more closely.
"What are these things?"
Kyubi claws, scraping the ground inside his cage. "You dumb human, I will do it myself!"
With a powerful swing of his tail, Kyubi unleashed another wave of chakra. This time, the energy took form, creating massive claws made entirely of his red chakra. The claws slashed through the air, heading straight to those orbs. They moved with terrifying speed, crackling with destructive power.
Naruto's feet pounded against the ground, his sandals kicking up to reach to those orbs to save it.
His fingers brushed the edge of the white orb, and for a brief moment, it felt solid—warm, even—before slipping through his grasp and floating gently into the middle of the clearing.
*Nothing happening, where is the fox?*
A strange sensation washed over him, like a gentle breeze, and a soft, familiar voice whispered in his mind.
"N-Naruto…"
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait… that voice… Haku?"
The glowing form of Haku stood before him, with large brown eyes.
Long, silky black hair that fell gently to her shoulders and framed her face was translucent and ethereal, but unmistakably real.
Naruto's heart slammed in his chest.
"Naruto, thank you… for everything." Haku said softly, her eyes locking with his.
Haku was naked.
Completely, utterly naked.
"You are a GIRL?"
And with those words, Naruto's mind went blank, his face turning a deep shade of red as the world around him seemed to melt away.
And his nose bled profusely.
To be continued