Ichigo was angry. But more than that, he was afraid. He was running. He had to escape the dark shadow chasing him. It was a monster he could not fight.
Old Goat-Face had a key, the key to a door that would open one way and lock behind them, except he wasn't Goat-Face right now. Now he was Dad, Father, Kurosaki Isshin, Doctor, Shiba Isshin, Captain of Tenth Division, and more serious than Ichigo had seen since Aizen. Don't think about him trapped in the bowels of First. That will never be your fate.
Yuzu and Karin were pressed tight against each other and against him. Any other time and the effect would be suffocating, now he could only try to draw them closer.
A door opened. The Wrong Door. The way back. A way he could never go again.
Warriors poured out of the door and onto the hill in a never-ending tide. How appropriate that they were in a cemetery, but all these graves were taken already. He itched to draw Zangetsu, to add his blood to the fray.
A flash of violet. "Run, you fool!" Then so much red. Too much, from such a tiny body.
Wordless rage. Soul-rending agony roared into the night sky. Swallowed. Consumed. Lost in a stormy vortex.
Ichigo saw Darkness. Then Light. Then Nothing.
When the Nothing receded, Ichigo was lying on a hard, flat surface. He could feel nothing for miles. Not a hint of a soul. Not a trace of spiritual pressure. Even Zangetsu's power, familiar and welcome as his own heartbeat, had disappeared. But Ichigo was still alive, and he had suffered this pain before. He would survive.
Ichigo opened his eyes. And screamed.
A clown-like face was hovering just above his own, mumbling statistics and figures, and grinning with pleasure. Ichigo found the strength to turn his face away.
To his right, there was dark hair and blood and silence. He jerked his head in the opposite direction.
A light brown eye stared back accusingly. Just an eye.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ichigo woke with a gasp in an unfamiliar room. He sat up quickly looking for something to orient himself by, something that would indicate where he was. The door creaked open. Ichigo whipped his head around then down. There was Kon peering in from the hall. His soft cotton face twisted with worry.
It all came rushing back then. Ichigo was in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. In the new apartment he shared with his sisters and Kon. And they were all well away from Soul Society and Kurotsuchi Mayuri's torture chambers.
"Ichigo?" asked Kon softly.
"Did I scream?" asked Ichigo and he meant, did I wake my sisters with this nightmare?
Except it wasn't all a nightmare. The panicked flight had been real. The door and cemetery had been real. Rukia had been real. She had told him go, when he would have stayed to fight and lost. And then she had fallen in a spray of blood, and the seal to transport Ichigo and his sisters had activated before he could see her rise again. She had to be alive. She couldn't have died for his sake. He would believe she had survived. It was the only way he could move forward.
"You never scream," said Kon.
But Ichigo had screamed. Night after night following Aizen's defeat he had woken his family with his cries. Terrified his sisters to death. Witnessed the sorrow and shame in his father's eyes. The memories of the short and bloody conflict played in his mind over and over again until eventually he had trained himself not to cry out in his sleep. Kon had simply missed those weeks stuck as he was in Soul Society. And when the conflict with ancient Quincy haunted his dreams, Ichigo had quickly regained his skill at sleeping soundlessly.
He would not be sleeping any more tonight. He was certain of that much. After a moment's hesitation, Ichigo got out of bed and picked his way over to his closet to change into street clothes. He finally had the floor of his room back after Naruto showed Yuzu and Karin how to seal objects into a storage scroll. He had cautioned Ichigo against trying for the time being because while Naruto had never heard of someone overloading a storage scroll, that did not mean it was impossible. Ichigo hadn't been offended, whatever Naruto had feared would happen, the former substitute had had kidou blow up in face before, sometimes literally. Ichigo didn't need to learn how to use his chakra anyway. He was a civilian now.
"What are you doing, Ichigo?" asked Kon nervously.
"I'm going out," said Ichigo.
"But it's three o'clock in the morning," protested Kon.
Ichigo didn't care. The terror of the nightmare was fading, but his adrenaline was still soaring. He could not wait out the rest of the night in that unfamiliar room. He brushed past Kon and shot down the hall, barely noticing the extra weight as the mod-soul jumped to his shoulder.
"Those guys watching the apartment won't like it," warned Kon.
"There are two of them. One can follow me and the other can stay here," said Ichigo carelessly.
"You know that's not what I meant!" grumbled Kon.
Ichigo paused briefly at the door to the apartment so he could grab his bokken. The tattered remains of the protective ward still hung gamely to the door. When active, the spiritual pressure of any unlawful invader would rebound against the trespasser, effectively taking them out with their own power. In this case, an unlawful invader was someone without an appropriate counter-ward. Most shinobi had enough reiatsu to receive a bad shock. Naruto might have survived the rebound from the fox's spiritual pressure, but Ichigo was happy to avoid finding out. He had never been so grateful for thin walls in his life. Hearing Naruto complain about door had reminded Ichigo to take down the ward just in time. He had only recently learned how to make them from Kukaku.
Since the end of the Quincy affair, Kukaku had taken it upon herself to teach Ichigo how to make wards, protective amulets, kidou, fireworks, and just about everything else a scion of House Shiba needed to know. Old Goat-Face's protests had been overridden in a flurry of swearing and explosions, so Ichigo spent a month each summer and every other weekend in Soul Society. Most of them time, he was studying with Kukaku, but sometimes he visited—was dragged to—one division or another to learn from the captains and vice-captains. Apparently, someone had decided that Ichigo needed to learn all the tools and trick and details of being a shinigami that he had never had time for before. But that time was over now.
Ichigo secured his bokken at his side and walked into the early morning air. Konoha at night was not quite as busy as Karakura thanks to a slightly smaller population, but all of the people out-and-about at this hour were much more dangerous than the ones back home. Ichigo couldn't bear to be around anyone else, not yet, and headed away from the busier city-center toward the wall.
After a sizeable amount of time wandering through nearly-empty streets, Ichigo found an open, grassy area surrounded by trees. It was one of the many training grounds scattered throughout Konoha. He cautiously poked around the area looking for still-loaded traps but failed to find any. Deciding he was safe enough, he set Kon carefully at the base of a tree—they were still pretending the doll was just a doll for the sake of their watcher—then moved to assume the first stance of a by now familiar kata.
The weight and shape of the bokken were completely wrong, but the handle of the wooden sword had been carefully shaped into an exact replica of Zangetsu's sealed form, which he had finally learned how to do after the mocking from everyone he knew became too much. Urahara had made weapon specifically for Ichigo to use as focusing tool. When Ichigo reinforced the bokken with his spiritual energy, it became nigh unbreakable. Isshin had used the opportunity to drag Ichigo to Urahara's underground lair and finally teach him kenjutsu. They had also worked together to craft a kata for Ichigo's sealed zanpaktou, which was virtually identical to Zangetsu's original shikai. It had been a rare opportunity for the Kurosaki men to bond and had turned out reasonably well with only minimal tears on Isshin's part and embarrassment for Ichigo. Of course, Isshin had been no help at all with Ichigo's double-bladed shikai. He had to go to Soul Society and study with Shunsui and Ukitake for that.
Ichigo lost himself in the swings and blocks. Just barely remembering to avoid jumping too high or moving too fast. When he was practicing, he didn't need to think. Right now, he had a lot he refused to think about. He didn't stop until he felt someone else move into the clearing, someone other than his hidden guard. He looked at the newcomer and then looked again. The shinobi was wearing a skin-tight green something. He had other remarkably unusual features like a bowl-cut hairstyle, caterpillar eyebrows, and perfectly round eyes, but it was hard to notice those details with all that green drawing the eye.
The shinobi flashed him a thumbs-up. "Greetings, friend. There is no need to stop on my account. I am most surprised and inspired by your commitment to train. It is most youthful. I am Rock Lee. And you are?"
"Kurosaki Ichigo," he replied in a daze.
Lee nodding sagely. "Ah, Naruto's cousin. He has been most enthusiastic about your arrival. He did not say you were from the Land of Iron."
Ichigo scowled and rolled his eyes. It wasn't like samurai were the only people that used swords in the Elemental Countries. "I'm not. I can go somewhere else if you were going to train here."
"Ah, my team will be meeting here but not for another two hours," said Lee. He gave Ichigo a hopeful smile. "If you are not busy, would you like to spar? It is always good to practice against new people."
Ichigo rallied his thoughts and considered the invitation. He had only fought a group of bandits since entering this world. While he had no illusions about being a ninja, he would hate to lose his hard-earned skills to disuse. A friendly spar might be helpful, and Ichigo still had energy to burn.
"I can't do any of that ninjutsu stuff," said Ichigo cautiously.
Lee brightened visibly. "That is most excellent. I myself am a taijutsu specialist."
Ichigo and Lee squared off across the field. Ichigo waited for Lee to produce a weapon but realized quickly that, considering the revealing nature of Lee's outfit, there was no place for the other man to carry one. Lee didn't seem to be bothered at all and with a shout launched himself at Ichigo.
Ichigo dodged the first blow and parried the follow up. His own swing at Lee's chest was blocked by a kick so strong it jarred Ichigo's shoulder. He automatically channeled his reiastu into the bokken to compensate. He easily dodged around another kick and swung at Lee's side. A bone-breaking hit, if he connected. Ichigo hesitated, dropping his reiatsu out of the bokken and unconsciously loosening his grip. Lee's block knocked the weapon out of his hands. They both stopped.
"Is there a problem, Kurosaki-san?" asked Lee.
Ichigo flushed with embarrassment. "I'm not used to fighting unarmed opponents." Hollows didn't count. They might not carry swords, but they still had plenty of weapons.
"That is kind of you, Kurosaki-san, but do not worry," proclaimed Lee. "I am a chunin of Konoha and most proficient at defense. My teammate, Tenten, works almost exclusively with edged weapons, and I have yet to gain a serious wound from our bouts."
Ichigo bowed slightly. "Of course. I didn't mean to offend you."
"I am not offended," Lee hastened to reassure him. "Do you wish to continue?"
Ichigo did. He retrieved his bokken and returned to his starting stance. Lee beamed and readied himself for another bout. This time Ichigo wouldn't worry about hitting Lee, but he would also be careful to keep tight rein on his spiritual power.
Punch. Punch. Kick. The first few steps were the same, but this time Ichigo pushed back into Lee's kick, knocking him off balance and opening the shinobi to a frontal assault. He scored a hit on Lee's flank, but the shinobi blocked the follow-up strike, and dodged under the swing. Ichigo immediately shifted down his angle of attack, but Lee was faster than he anticipated. The shinobi got inside his reach and aimed a solid jab at Ichigo's chest. Ichigo flung himself back as quickly as he could and still caught the edge of the blow. Lee's face was comical in its surprise. Clearly, he hadn't expected Ichigo to be able to move so fast. Ichigo quickly took advantage, instantaneously reversing direction and thrusting with the bokken until the tip rested at the edge of Lee's throat, a killing strike, if Ichigo had followed through.
Lee was unperturbed. In fact, he looked delighted. "Most excellent. I see you are most skilled. Shall we try again?"
"Sounds good," said Ichigo.
They squared off again, and as before, Lee attacked first. This time the shinobi was much, much faster. The blows came quick and hard. Ichigo barely had time to block, much less time to attack. His break came when Lee delivered a powerful jumping kick and both his feet left the ground. Ichigo absorbed the blow as best he was able and pushed back before Lee could disconnect from the bokken. Lee went flying across the clearing and had to take a second to recover his stance. Ichigo rushed to take a strike, but this time Lee was faster than he expected. The shinobi disappeared from sight, but Ichigo felt the rush of air as Lee reappeared at his back. Quickly sliding his hand along the bokken's hilt, Ichigo pivoted on one foot brought the butt of the weapon to bear at Lee's head. Lee dodged back and away, but that hardly discouraged Ichigo. The bokken's hilt was a perfect replica of Zangetsu's down to the cloth wrapping. He let the tail slide through his fingers and giving the bokken an extra spin for momentum flung it at Lee.
Lee jumped straight into the air, easily clearing the oncoming weapon, and letting it soar into the tree line. Ichigo could have held on to cloth wrapping were he actually using Zangetsu and called his zanpaktou back, but this worked just as well for his current purposes. Lee had to come back down, and this time Ichigo was waiting with a fist of his own. Lee blocked the hit, of course, but seemed happy to play along.
"So you are also a student of unarmed combat," said Lee as they exchanged blows.
"Sometimes," admitted Ichigo. He missed the feel of Chad at his back taking out bullies and gang-bangers, who were just begging to pay hospital fees. This was more like sparring with Tatsuki or, more realistically, like fight Yoruichi or Soi Fon. Yoruichi was more than happy to beat Ichigo into improving his flash-step. Soi Fon mostly just wanted to fight him because Yoruichi did. But both women were the best hand-to-hand specialists he had ever seen. He lost to them every time, but each failure took a little a longer and taught him a little more.
Ichigo was on the ground before he realized it. Lee had flipped him in a moment of distraction.
"Are you alright?" asked Lee.
"I'm fine," said Ichigo rising to his feet. "Do you want to go again?"
Lee gave him a considering look, trying to gauge if Ichigo was really okay. Ichigo wasn't Chad, who at fifteen could take an I-beam to the back and walk away mostly fine, but a little tumble wouldn't slow him down.
Lee apparently agreed. "Do you wish to retrieve your weapon?"
"I'm okay like this, if that's alright," said Ichigo. "I need to practice my hand-to-hand anyway."
Lee was good, really good. If Ichigo used the bokken again, he didn't think he could avoid using his reiatsu. This was much better for his conscience, even if it meant he'd be getting his butt handed to him on a silver platter.
"Yosh," said Lee. "Working to improve one's weaknesses is most youthful. Let us continue."
This bout was going a little better. Ichigo had hiked his speed to match Lee's and was using some of Yoruichi's more devious tricks. Lee, of course, was better and slowly moving faster forcing Ichigo to work harder. But he seemed to be enjoying himself all the same, and they had both managed several solid hits. Ichigo was going to lose soon, but it was going to be the good kind of loss.
"Lee, what are you doing?" asked an unfamiliar voice.
Ichigo and his opponent both fell out of rhythm. Three more people had entered the clearing unnoticed by Ichigo. The one who had spoken was a girl wearing a distinctly Chinese-looking white shirt and an excess of weapons. She was standing with both hands on her hips and looked faintly exasperated. The other two were both men. One was significantly older and looked a lot like Lee down to the unusual uniform. The third was familiar, even though Ichigo had never seen his face before. He was the watcher who had followed him this morning. He also had pure white eyes like the woman who had directed him through the market yesterday. Ichigo assumed he was a relation.
"Gai-sensei, Tenten, Neji," exclaimed Lee. "Is it six already?"
Ichigo glanced up and checked the position of the stars. His watch was too different for him to carry in public, but he would guess 06:00h or maybe a little later.
"Who is this?" asked Tenten.
"This is Kurosaki Ichigo. I found him here when I arrived for my morning training. He graciously agreed to spar with me," explained Lee.
"Naruto's cousin, right?" asked Tenten. "He's been a bundle of nerves all week."
Ichigo felt bad about that. He really did. If Naruto had been nervous before they met, he had to be freaking out now with everything Ichigo and his sisters had dumped on him. It did explain the odd hair comment at dinner though.
"That's right," said Ichigo when he realized they were expecting some response. He glanced at Lee. "I guess I had better get going."
"You are most welcome to join us for our morning training, should you so desire," said Gai. "Your spar with Lee was full of the vigor of youth."
A feeling of horrified awe blossomed in Ichigo's chest. There were two of them. Who knew how many more there were? He glanced at the other shinobi. Tenten was hiding a smile. Neji looked resigned.
"Thank you, but I should probably get back before my sisters start to worry," said Ichigo quickly.
"Another time, perhaps," said Gai brightly.
"Sure," agreed Ichigo as he slowly edged away.
Kon wasn't too far away. Ichigo scooped up the lion-doll and looked around.
"Have you seen…?"
He trailed off. Neji's head was tilted ever so slightly. Ichigo followed his gaze. There was the bokken a full third of the blade buried in nearby tree. Ichigo had thought it was further away than that. He must have gotten turned around in the fight.
"Thanks, Neji-san," said Ichigo.
A swift tug freed the bokken. Ichigo gave it a quick once-over. There didn't seem to be any damage, but he would have to clean it once he got back to the apartment. When he turned back around, Lee and Tenten were staring at the tree in awe; Gai looked thoughtful; and Neji was unsurprisingly blank-faced.
"Thanks for the spar, Lee-san," said Ichigo trying not to draw anymore unnecessary attention as he started to walk away.
Lee gave him another thumbs-up and a grin. "We should test our skills again sometime."
"Sure," said Ichigo. "I guess I know where to find you. You can get my address for Neji-san or Naruto."
After a few more excited exchanges from Lee, Ichigo finally got away. He had enjoyed their fight and would definitely want to try again, later. He was still tired from the late night with Naruto and the nightmare this morning. Not to mention, he hadn't trained his human body near as much as his spiritual one, and above average endurance could only take a person so far. And he wasn't kidding about his sisters being worried. They would definitely have noticed he was missing by now. At least, he could distract them with the crazy shinobi in green.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Naruto was at the Hokage Tower at first light. He had tossed and turned all night thinking about he had learned. He needed to talk someone about it, but he couldn't invade Tsunade's home in the middle of night for something like this. Once he got to the tower, he still had to wait for her to show up. It was agony. When she finally arrived, she took one look at his face and went straight for the sake.
"Why didn't you tell me?" wailed Naruto.
Tsunade poured out two saucers. Normally Naruto would object to drinking this early in the day, but even if he couldn't get drunk, he could understand why Tsunade would want it. She sat in her chair and pushed his saucer across the desk. Naruto balanced the delicate porcelain on his fingertips but didn't drink, not yet.
"I wanted to get your honest reaction," said Tsunade.
Naruto felt glum. "That's what they said too. But you're hokage, why wait for me to decide."
Tsunade gave him a look. "I'm hokage now. But we both know you'll be the one wearing the hat in a year or two, brat. If you think we can risk having them here, then I'm willing to along with it. But's your decision, Naruto."
Naruto frowned. Applying a touch of chakra to his sake, he gently shaped into a familiar spiral pattern as he worked through the implications. "I don't think there's much of a risk. Ichigo said they used an Uzumaki transportation seal to make the jump and that no one there knows about chakra. No one should come after them."
"But will they be able to fit in here?" asked Tsunade. "They're from a completely different world with powers and abilities we don't understand."
"They're not that different," said Naruto firmly. "They're people just like us. Being a Quincy is basically like having a kekkei genkai. And Karin, she's super interested in medical jutsu. She picked Sakura's brain last night. Kakashi-sensei said Yuzu could probably find a place in T&I, even though I think he was just joking. And Ichigo, well, he's not doing so great right now, but he just needs people he can believe in again. Konoha's the perfect place for that."
Tsunade leaned back in her chair. "It sounds like you've already made up your mind."
Naruto blinked furiously. "Huh, I guess you're right." He downed his sake in a single gulp and set the saucer down with a click. "But can you believe that? What happened to Ichigo, I mean?"
"Oh?" Tsunade sounded interested. "How much did they tell you?"
"A lot," said Naruto. "Not everything, obviously. But still a lot. Why?"
"I have a document prepared by Uzumaki Mamoru that describes the abilities of the Quincy and the situation between his wife's family and the shinigami of that world," said Tsunade. "Karin implied that Soul Society was pursuing them because of the potential abilities found in a combination of the two lines, and they fled to escape forcible recruitment or death."
"That's it?" asked Naruto. "That's all they said?"
Tsunade nodded more to herself than Naruto. "I assumed there was more to the story, but I thought I could leave it to you to push for more."
Naruto held his head in his hands. "Oh, it's so much worse than that. They said Ichigo bailed out Soul Society more than once, and that all three of them were practically promised to their world's version of Orochimaru and that's after they die."
"Oh," said Tsunade faintly. Even now, years after his final death, Orochimaru's name filled her with conflicting feelings. Everyone in the village thought of the monster, she was the only one now who remembered the promising genin. It was thoughts like these that told her it was time to retire, but Naruto, for all his enthusiasm, wasn't quite ready. With his new family in the mix, she could wait a little while to pass on the position.
She managed to put those thoughts aside and focused on the implications. It made her groan and reached for the sake. "They really did deliberately antagonize a powerful ally? No wonder they needed a teenager to help them out. It's one of the worst tactical decisions I've ever heard."
"I know, right?" said Naruto emphatically. "It's just so…stupid."
Naruto sighed his thoughts turning back to his own childhood. He certainly hadn't been an ally of Konoha back then, even if he had been a citizen. The only person he would have claimed as family was Sandaime Hokage. He could have turned out so much worse. He could have been like Gaara at their first meeting, killing anyone who stepped in his way to justify his right to exist.
Naruto wasn't sure how powerful Ichigo really was. Vague stories and a single burst of chakra weren't much to go on, but he had saved the world. Twice. So in all likelihood, he was pretty strong. If Ichigo hadn't been able to leave his world and come to the Elemental Countries, would he have fought against Soul Society? Would he have taken the power he gained to protect and used it to destroy? What would Naruto do, if Konoha turned on him? As a child, he would have fought and killed and driven himself mad in the effort. Now, he just didn't know. It was impossible to imagine.
A soft knock on the door preceded Shizune's entrance into the office. At the sight of the two morose blondes, she started to worry. At the sight of the bottle of sake, the worry turned to outrage.
"What are you doing drinking this early in the morning?" she demanded stalking over to the hokage's desk and snatching up the bottle.
The sudden killing intent snapped Naruto and Tsunade out of their respective funks.
"She started it," said Naruto pointing a finger.
"Of that I have no doubt," snarled Shizune. "But you're not supposed to encourage her."
Tsunade stiffened indignantly in her chair. "I am the hokage you know. I am more than capable of deciding when I can and cannot drink." She ignored the scoffs from her successor and her apprentice out of pride. "What are you doing in here anyway?"
"Team Gai is waiting outside," said Shizune as tucked the bottle back in its drawer. "You said you wanted reports of any significant interaction with the Kurosakis. So they're here, reporting."
"Baa-chan!" protested Naruto.
Tsunade waved a hand dismissively. "It's not official, and I trust your instincts, Naruto. But I'm not likely to run into them any time soon, and I need to get a feel for them somehow. Send them in, Shizune."
Team Gai wasn't a permanent team any more than Team Kakashi, but Gai, Lee, Tenten, and Neji continued to train together almost daily even as the former genin were promoted and joined different divisions. Everyone in the village thought of them as Team Gai and probably would do so long after Gai retired from active service. Fortunately none of them, not even Neji, seemed to mind.
When Team Gai appeared, it was obvious they had just come from their early morning practice. All of them were bright-eyed with adrenaline and more than a little gross with sweat and dirt. There wasn't any blood though, so Tsunade wasn't back to send them back out. She acknowledge their salutes and ignored Naruto's cheerful wave.
"So, what can you tell me?" asked Tsunade.
Lee stepped forward. "This morning, I arrived at the training grounds at the usual hour to find them already occupied by Kurosaki Ichigo. He was by himself practicing katas with his bokken. He stopped when I approached and I introduced myself and offered to spar. Kurosaki agreed to a bout."
"You did?" asked Naruto in disbelief. "He did? Oh man."
"Shush, brat," said Tsunade. "Keep going Lee."
"I won our initial spar quite handily, and Kurosaki professed a lack of experience fighting unarmed opponents. After assuring him of my skill, we reengaged with renewed vigor, and Ichigo succeed in striking a winning blow. In the following bout, Ichigo showed increased interest in fighting but abandoned his weapon half-way through in favor of hand-to-hand combat after which I achieved victory. Our final bout was also hand-to-hand. The results were inconclusive as we were interrupted before we could finish, but it is likely that I would have won again," summarized Lee with only a hint of his usual flamboyance.
Tsunade glanced at Naruto, who had turned pale and despairing in his seat. Introduction to shinobi life via Lee was probably not the best way to convince anyone to live in Konoha. Still, there were worse people Ichigo could have met. Anko, for one. Kakashi, without the threat of death-by-Sakura-punch if he cracked open his porn at the table. Sasuke's merry band of maniacs. Lee was practically tame in comparison.
"And your assessment of his skills?" asked Tsunade.
"I would rank Kurosaki at mid-to-high chunin level for his skill in unarmed combat. He used a style that mixed formal instruction with street brawling to achieve optimum efficacy. In our final bout, he demonstrated a handful of extremely advanced holds and throws. Kurosaki expressed unfamiliarity with chakra at the start of our match, but he demonstrated speed and stamina that surpassed normal limits, leading me to believe he may use chakra unconsciously to augment his natural abilities.
"Unfortunately, I was unable to properly assess his abilities with a sword as he was extremely uncomfortable using it against me when I was unarmed. I did notice that the weight of the weapon did not appear to hinder his movements in the least. And, he was surprisingly accurate when throwing the bokken, which, as I understand it, is not a typical move in kenjutsu," concluded Lee.
"He threw his bokken at you? On purpose?" asked Naruto.
"Yes, it was a most unusual move," said Lee. "I was fortunate to move rather than attempt try to block, otherwise I may have been skewered."
Tsunade blinked. "What?"
"Kurosaki's weapon impaled one of the larger trees surrounding the training grounds," explained Neji. "It certainly would have been a fatal blow if it had landed."
Naruto let out a garbled sound of dismay, but Tsunade frowned furiously. "Was it deliberate?"
Gai cleared his throat. "After observing the end of the fight, I suspect that Kurosaki was able evaluate Lee's abilities and adjust accordingly. He used a lethal attack in an otherwise simple bout because he knew Lee could handle it. It is a common enough practice among shinobi but not behavior normally seen in civilians. I did invite Kurosaki to join our morning practices in order to avoid such occurrences in the future. He said he would consider it."
Tenten exchanged a significant glance with Neji behind their sensei's back.
"I think he might have said yes just so you would let him leave, Gai-sensei," said Tenten cautiously.
Gai and Lee both looked dismayed. A heavy gloom settled over the jounin while tears poured down Lee's face.
"But it was a most youthful test of skill and technique against an unfamiliar opponent," said Lee. "I will be most disappointed if we cannot have a rematch."
"I'll let him know you want to spar again sometime," said Naruto quickly. The only thing more horrifying than Lee empowered by the flames of youth was a despondent Lee, and Gai would only make things worse.
"Thank you, Naruto," said Lee recovering instantly.
Neji cut-in before Lee could begin reciting Naruto's praises. "That was another thing, hokage-sama. Kurosaki knew that I knew where he lived."
Neji was one of several ANBU assigned to run surveillance on the Kurosakis. Tsunade had assigned as many of Naruto's friends as she could to the job because she knew they would be extra attentive at an otherwise mundane task. Tsunade couldn't imagine how Ichigo had recognized Neji. It took a considerable amount of talent to even find an ANBU operative when they wanted to remain unseen. He would then have to connect the appropriate mask to the appropriate person, which was difficult for most of the regular forces, much less a newcomer who knew absolutely no one. How was it even possible?
"Oh! He probably sensed your reiatsu," said Naruto.
Neji hesitated. "He sensed…what?"
"Reiatsu," said Naruto. "It's a bit like chakra. I think. That part was sort of confusing. But they said they could feel Kurama all the way on the other side of the wall. So maybe they can do the same for people? But, uh-oh, that would mean, if they noticed Neji, they've probably noticed all the ANBU watching them."
Everyone in the office rolled their eyes at that outburst. It wasn't as if Team Gai didn't know Neji was part of ANBU, but they weren't supposed to draw attention to it. Naruto noticed that much, at least, gave them a sheepish grin, and mouthed 'sorry' at Tsunade.
"You can ask him about it if you want, brat, but we're not dropping the surveillance anytime soon," said Tsunade. She turned to Team Gai. "Did you have anything else to report?"
A series of silent exchanges passed among the group of taijutsu specialists. Surely they had observed a hundred more details about Kurosaki Ichigo, but only a handful would be worth mentioning.
"Kurosaki had a toy with him," said Tenten. "A little lion doll. I thought that was strange."
Naruto's expression was a dead give-away that something was important about the doll. He had forgotten about it in the anxiety filled days leading up to dinner with his cousins. He hadn't seen it in the apartment that night. And it certainly hadn't come up during the conversation afterwards. But a doll with a soul inside of it made so much more sense with context.
"Did it move?" asked Tsunade.
"No," said Tenten. "Not that I noticed."
Neji, Lee, and Gai all shook their heads. No, the doll had just been a doll.
"Hmm, too bad," said Tsunade. "Anything else? No? Then you are dismissed."
Team Gai bowed and filed out of the office, and Tsunade returned her attention to Naruto. He was staring at the door, a thousand thoughts flickering through his mind and across his face. It was a lot of new information, and it was information they knew was true. The ability to fight Lee in hand-to-hand combat was no small thing. Neither was the ability to pick Neji blind out of a line-up. Tsunade had already promised to go along with whatever Naruto decided, and she certainly couldn't take it back now. She hoped he wouldn't be disappointed.
"Unless you're going to help with the paperwork, get out of my office," said Tsunade. "Go work on a seal or pester your cousins or something."
Naruto shook his head. "No. We all agreed we need time to think. I'm going to head over to the Academy."
"It's in session right now," said Tsunade. "Umino will yell at you if you rile-up the students before lunch."
Naruto grinned. "That's okay. I want to see where they are in the curriculum. If Karin and Yuzu decide they really do want to join the ranks, then somebody will need to teach them, and Iruka-sensei is the best."
"You want to put them in a class with twelve-year-olds?" asked Tsunade. "Isn't that a little cruel?"
"Well, maybe," said Naruto. He loved playing with kids. They thought being a shinobi was the best thing in the world. "But Iruka-sensei may have some other ideas. I'll let you know how it goes. Later, baa-chan!"
"Don't call me that!" roared Tsunade.
Laughing, Naruto jumped out of the window. The day was looking up already