Summary: Ichigo Kurosaki would have died if not for the Bartender who runs a little pub. He was well known in a little circle of people who enjoyed their evenings in his little pub. More and more comes to light about the mysterious bartender who obviously had Shinigami abilities. With time, Naruto Uzumaki would be remembered by those he had come into contact with in his life.
"Speech."
'Think.'
Technique
Past Events
Warning: English isn't my native language.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach.
A man who looked like he was in his thirties with short spiky blond hair, blue eyes, and six whisker marks on his cheeks closed the door of his pub before locking it. He wore a long-sleeved white shirt, over it a black sleeveless vest, grey pants, and brown shoes. (A/N Look at the cover image to see how Naruto looks.) His right arm was completely covered in bandages. This was Naruto Uzumaki, the owner of the little pub he just closed for the night. It was already late, and since it was in the middle of the week, not many came at such an hour.
He looked at the night sky and smiled. 'The night is as beautiful as always,' thought Naruto. He always enjoyed walking home after a long day behind the bar under the night sky. The town he lived in was called Karakura.
Karakura Town was the hometown of Naruto Uzumaki. It was a small city with an average-sized population, most of which was unaware of the ghosts and other spiritual beings that existed there. Naruto himself knew of the existence of souls, hollows, shinigami, and other supernatural forces. He was one of those supernatural beings as well. He was once known as Naruto Uzumaki, the seventh Hokage, Jinchūriki of Kurama, and the strongest Shinobi in the Elemental Nations. He was the third to get the title of God of Shinobi.
He could still remember when he died in his old life in a fight to protect the planet he loved.
It was a pretty unusual sight when he opened his eyes again in a little wooden house in some strange place. He still had the trained and muscular body of a 30-year-old man, but his clothes were different. When he sat up and looked down at himself, he could see old, worn-out garments like those of a beggar. It was an old kimono with a grey sash tied around the waist and old pants with shredded ends. He stood up and looked around the room.
He looked at the open entrance of his wooden house and saw a man who, if Naruto had to guess, should be around 40-50 years old. Naruto saw the man's severe look and narrowed eyes. He narrowed his eyes when he felt pressure from the man. He didn't know what this pressure was, but it was pretty intense. It wasn't killing intent or potent chakra. He couldn't feel any chakra inside himself or the man in front of him.
"You have a strong Reiryoku. Come with me, and I will show you how to wield your powers."
Naruto could still remember his teacher, who taught him everything there was to know about the energy known as Reiryoku. His teacher was a former Shinigami who lived in seclusion because he had enough of his former life as a Shinigami.
Naruto chuckled a little and turned a corner to get to his home. He owned a house large enough for a normal family. But before he could really walk further, he stopped when a strong Reiatsu streamed through the entire city.
'Who idiot let his Reiatsu stream through the entire city? This will only attract more Hollows, and I don't have the nerve to deal with them today,' thought Naruto. He looked around and sighed, closing his eyes.
So far, he hasn't really had to do much because the Shinigami who were stationed here from the Seireitei usually deal with Hollows. But recently, there was a certain incident that changed a few things. The last Shinigami who was stationed in Karakura lost her powers in an incident where she transferred her powers to the son of Isshin Kurosaki, formerly known as Isshin Shiba, Ichigo Kurosaki.
Everything Ichigo Kurosaki related was unusual to begin with. First of all, he had an Asauchi from the moment he got his Shinigami powers from the Shinigami who was stationed in Karakura. Normally, an Asauchi was something a Shinigami had to get from the Seireitei, but Ichigo Kurosaki had an Asauchi from the moment he got his Shinigami powers. Naruto had a few theories, but all were just theories.
He opened his eyes and looked up at the full moon. 'I guess I should make sure that idiot doesn't let his Reiatsu stream out more. Otherwise, he will be felt outside of Karakura, too,' thought Naruto. This would only attract Hollows from outside the City.
He looked forth before taking a step forward, vanishing from the spot. He appeared a short while later in the air over the spot where the Reiatsu came from. Naruto was standing a good 50 meters in the air, watching the entire spectacle unfold below him.
Ichigo's most distinguishing feature was his spiky orange hair, a trait he had been ridiculed for years on end. He was a fairly tall, lean-built young man with peach skin and brown eyes. He wore the standard Shihakushō of a Shinigami in his current form with a thick brown belt across his upper body to hold his massive zanpakutō. Ichigo currently held his massive zanpakutō in his right hand.
Ichigo was currently fighting a guy with eyes and long crimson hair, which was usually kept in a high ponytail. His upper body, back, extremities, and forehead were covered in tribal tattoos. He wore a standard Shinigami shihakushō, with some type of glasses as headgear. He also held his zanpakutō in his right hand. His sword was a long, 6-part segmented blade; each segment was wider than the one preceding it from the hilt, with two pick-like protrusions on the front and back of each segment, with the ones on the front much longer than the ones on the back.
Naruto looked a little to the right of the two fighting guys, seeing two other people. The one was the Shinigami who transferred her abilities to Ichigo, awakening his powers. If Naruto remembered correctly, then the name of the woman would have been Rukia Kuchiki. He had seen her and Ichigo together in the town over the last couple of months, dealing with the hollows.
Short and petite, Rukia had light skin and purple eyes. Her hair was black, reaching her shoulders, with several strands of hair always hanging between her eyes. As a Shinigami of the Gotei 13, Rukia usually wore a standard shihakushō, but currently, in her Gigai, she was wearing a light-blue short-sleeved shirt with a white skirt, high white socks, white shoes, and a backpack on her back.
Naruto always wondered why Rukia didn't help Ichigo in their fights against the Hollows. Even if she had lost all her powers during the transfer to Ichigo, she should have recovered all of her powers after 4 months in a gigai. But he still almost felt nothing from her. 'Something is wrong with her. It is like she doesn't recover her Reiryoku inside that Gigai,' thought Naruto.
Behind Rukia stood the last person who watched the fight between Ichigo and the other Shinigami. Naruto could tell that the person behind Rukia was a captain-level Shinigami just from his Reiatsu alone.
The Shinigami had the appearance of a youthful and eye-catching adult man. He was tall, lean, fair-skinned, and clean-shaven. He had slate gray eyes as well as long black hair, which he kept up in intricate white headpieces called kenseikan. He wore three of them on top of his head and two others on the right side. In addition to the standard Shinigami shihakushō, he donned a white scarf. On his left side, sheathed in a white scabbard, was his zanpakutō. The zanpakutō took the form of a regular katana. It had a cross guard, with an open frame much like a four-pane window. The guard was bronze-colored, with lavender hilt-wrapping.
Naruto looked back at the two fighting Shinigami and could see that Ichigo was somehow dominating his opponent. Naruto could only think that the guy Ichigo fought had to be a lieutenant when the guy behind Rukia was a captain, even when they didn't wear their trademark captain's haori or lieutenant's badge on their arms.
Sure, their powers were reduced by 80% by the limiter that every captain and lieutenant were marked with during their visit to the human realm. Still, Ichigo should technically not have enough strength to even deal with a limited lieutenant.
'Well… he is Isshin's son and therefore has royal blood within him and with it more Reiryoku than a normal Shinigami, even when he had gotten his powers from Rukia,' thought Naruto. He sighed, seeing how the guy behind Rukia was slowly but surely shifting his body a little.
'I should intervene before little Ichigo dies because of his actions,' thought Naruto. If the captain-level Shinigami made just one move, then Ichigo would be dead. Naruto looked at the two fighting Shinigami again and made himself ready to intervene.
Ichigo was currently running toward his kneeling opponent and jumped up with his giant zanpakutō over his head, ready to win the fight. But before he could bring his weapon down, he was suddenly thrown to the side by someone and crashed into a wall.
"Argh!" Ichigo grunted in pain from the sheer force with which he was thrown into the wall. He slowly looked up to see Naruto standing before Renji with his arm outstretched toward Ichigo.
"That is enough," said Naruto, getting everyone's attention. The captain-level Shinigami who had placed his hand on the grip of his zanpakutō took it from there and only continued to observe.
"Who are you?" asked the kneeling Shinigami before Naruto. Naruto looked down at the injured Shinigami and said, "That isn't one of your concerns. Stand up."
The Shinigami before him grunted a little from the wounds he got from his fight against Ichigo, but stood up in relative ease. He looked at Ichigo, who was still struggling to come out of the wall he had been thrown into. He glanced at Naruto, who still stood there with his arm outstretched. 'This guy… he was so fast that even I couldn't see him move.'
"Take what you came for and return. I don't have the nerve to deal with a captain-level Shinigami today," said Naruto, stepping aside so the lieutenant could walk back to his captain.
"No! Rukia!" yelled Ichigo, coming out of the wall. He took the hilt of his zanpakutō, which he had lost while he flew into the wall, and made himself ready to protect her. "Don't dare to run from this fight, Renji!"
Renji turned to Ichigo and answered, "You are an idiot if you think I run from you." He continued to walk toward his captain since the situation had changed. He knew he would have no chance against Naruto, who had just appeared.
Naruto looked at Ichigo and said, "That is enough, Ichigo."
"As if! I don't know who you are, but don't get in my way! I will protect Rukia!" said Ichigo, charging toward him, readying his zanpakutō. Naruto sighed, feeling how the Reiatsu from Naruto spiked again. 'This boy really has no control over his Reiatsu,' thought Naruto.
"ICHIGO, NO!" yelled Rukia.
Ichigo slashed at Naruto from the side, letting his massive zanpakutō slice through the air. Naruto didn't move and only moved his hand toward the coming zanpakutō. Ichigo's eyes widened when Naruto simply caught his giant zanpakutō with his bare hand, holding it in place.
"What?" asked Ichigo, bewildered at such a sight.
"You are truly out of your league, and you still try to fight me?" asked Naruto, getting ice-cold eyes. Ichigo was suddenly crushed by an unknown force that brought him to his knees. "Nrgh!" Ichigo couldn't look up. It was like the gravity had doubled or even tripled. He couldn't even breathe properly.
Naruto let go of the blade he held in place and bowed forth a little to give Ichigo a chop to his neck, knocking Ichigo out cold. He turned to the three observers, suppressing his Reiatsu again. "Don't cause more trouble and go back. Otherwise, more hollows will come."
The captain only looked at Naruto before turning around. "Let's go, Renji."
"Yes, captain!" said Renji.
Rukia looked at Naruto before bowing to him. "Thank you for protecting him," said Rukia. Naruto didn't say anything and only watched as the three left through a door that appeared out of nowhere. When the three were gone, he looked to the side and said, "How long do you intend to remain as observers?"
Nothing happened at first, but after a few seconds, Naruto could hear the sound of wooden sandals. He looked over his shoulder and said nothing when Kisuke Urahara, with a black cat on his shoulders, walked up to Naruto.
"My, my… that was quite the spectacle," said Kisuke Urahara, while looking at Naruto. Kisuke was a tall, lean man with light skin and gray eyes. His hair is messy and light-blond (almost pale), with strands framing the sides of the face and hanging between his eyes, and he has chin stubble. He wore a dark green samue. Over this, he wore a black haori, which sports a white diamond pattern along its bottom half, reminiscent of an inverted captain's haori. Urahara carried a fan, which he occasionally used to hide his face. He usually wore traditional Japanese wooden sandals (geta) and a striped dark green and white bucket hat (which usually shadows his eyes), which had earned him the nickname "sandal-hat."
"Cut the crap. You watched from the very beginning," said Naruto. "I don't know why you didn't help the boy, but I would suggest you take better care of him. You almost let him get killed."
He began to walk away from Kisuke, the cat, and Ichigo. "Don't you want to make sure Ichigo is okay?" asked Kisuke.
"Don't need to. He is just sleeping. Unlike you, I intervened and stopped the worst outcome," said Naruto before he vanished after a few steps into thin air, leaving Kisuke, Ichigo, and the cat behind.
"My, my… this is quite a revelation, huh?" asked Kisuke with a chuckle while he walked up to Ichigo, crouching down to look at him.
"Indeed," said the cat on his shoulder. "I have never seen him before, and it's obvious that he must be a former captain."
"I wonder," said Kisuke. "I couldn't remember ever seeing a captain with his appearance or even in the records of the Seireitei. It could also be that he learned his abilities outside of Seireitei."
The black cat looked at Kisuke and said, "Do you want to suggest that he never was a Shinigami?"
"That is all speculation, but I once read about a former captain who went into seclusion and was never seen again. The chances are very slim, but he could have taught this guy a few things if he met him."
The cat looked back at Ichigo and said nothing more. "Let's get Ichigo to our shop, shall we?" asked Kisuke before picking up Ichigo.
"I will go and gather some information on this mysterious guy," said the black cat before jumping from his shoulder.
"That would be appreciated," said Kisuke. "I will have my hands full with our favorite troublemaker when he wakes up."
The cat only nodded before both parted ways to go after their goals.