Of Reapers and Ninja
A/N: This is the first of Rocker1600's chapters; my first chapter is Chapter 18 if you wish to start there. I will be collaborating with Rocker on this story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or Bleach.
Prologue
[Valley of the End, Shinobi World]
Three Years Before The Current Time….
This valley, on the border of the Lands of Fire and Sound, was once the sight of a legendary battle between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju more than a century ago; the valley became a scar on the earth itself, the two shinobi that fought here forever etched into the valley by the two statues that lined the waterfall that ran through this place. It is here, in the shadow of these famed warriors, that two other shinobi were fighting in a desperate battle of their own.
These two shinobi were Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha; the manipulations going on around them had poisoned Sasuke's mind as he tried to kill his best friend in order gain the fabled Mangekyō Sharingan. Naruto, meanwhile, was desperately trying to stop Sasuke from leaving Konoha to join the vile shinobi Orochimaru, who wanted to take Sasuke's body for his own. Despite his efforts, however, Naruto was unable to convince his best friend to see error of his ways and had to use more force as their battle reached its ultimate climax; Sasuke prepared to use his Curse Mark-enhanced Chidori while Naruto prepared his Kyubi-enhanced Rasengan. With their jutsus fully charged Naruto and Sasuke at each other, their jutsus colliding before exploding, which caused severe damage to the statues of the famed founders of Konoha.
Sasuke was knocked back by the explosion, smaking into the statue of Madara before falling to the ground, still alive but unconcious and critically injured. Fate was, tragically, not so kind to Naruto who was pierced though his heart by Sasuke's Chidori and was launched into the lake below, his body further paralyzed by the electricity generated by the lighting-style jutsu; as Naruto fell further down into the depths of the lake he could barely hear the Kyubi's voice as he appeared before the Beast's cage.
"Wake up, you fool; we're dying!" the Tailed Beast yelled; the Kyubi's attempt to rally his Jinchuriki was a useless gesture, however, as Naruto's were too grave for even him to heal.
"You know as well as I do that we're already dead, Kyubi," Naruto replied; before the Kyubi could say anything, however, Naruto said something that shock the Tailed Beast.
"I was hoping to do something about your hatred someday as well; I guess that's now going to be impossible, however. I'm sorry, Kyubi, for letting you down," the dying ninja said; the Kyubi was, naturally, stunned by this. The Kyubi wouldn't have believed what his Jinchuriki just said except for the fact that the look in Naruto's eyes had a serious a look as they've ever been.
"Normally I would have accused someone who said that of lying to me; for some reason, however, I can tell that you're being honest with me. (sighs) Maybe if we had lived that might've succeeded," the Kyubi said as the darkness began to consume him and Naruto.
"I wanted to ask you something, Kyubi, and since we're dying I might as well ask it now; do you have a real name?" Naruto asked. This shocked the Kyubi; no one since the time of the Sage of the Six Paths had ever thought to ask for his name.
"Since you're not as bad as I thought I guess I can tell you; my name... is Kurama," he said as the last vestiges of life within him and Naruto vanished, but not before Naruto commented on the Tailed Beast's name.
"So you're name is Kurama, huh? I think it suits you. (sighs) Farewell, Kurama," Naruto said as he awaited the afterlife, unaware that he and Kurama would not be so easily separated...
[Konoha Hospital]
Meanwhile...
Kakashi had just brought Sasuke back from the Valley of End, having found his unconcious body; he had not found any sign of Naruto and had assumed that he would be healed by the Kyubi and would return to Konoha within a couple of hours.
As a team of medics, lead by the Tsunade, were treating Sasuke for his wounds, which bordered on the mortal level, Kakashi was trying to calm down Sakura, who had arrived at the hospital upon receiving and who surprised her sensei with her reaction. She was angry... but not at Naruto.
"How could you leave Naruto alone like that, Kakashi-sensei?! You saw what he had to do just to stop Sasuke from leaving; he's probably badly hurt now as well!" Sakura yelled.
"Sasuke was the only one I found, Sakura; I wouldn't worry him, though. His wounds have always healed quickly so he probably won't be gone for no more than a couple of hours," Kakashi reassured his squad member; what he didn't was that it actually going to take a few years before Naruto returned and, even then, it would not last...
Shortly after dying Naruto arrived in the Soul Society where he was greeted by his Minato and Kushina, his parents, who had sensed their son's presence when they felt the power of Kurama. Naruto was surprised, though strangely relieved, to find out that Kurama was still inside him; the Tailed Beast was still bound to Naruto's soul. It didn't take Naruto long to made good on his promise to Kurama, earning his trust and shortly thereafter, as an unintended benefit, full access to his powers.
After reuniting with the Third Hokage and meeting several other shinobi, all of whom had become shinigami, (A/N: The full list of shinobi in the Gotei 13, with their respective ranks, can be seen at the end of this chapter) Naruto decided to become a shinigami himself and entered the Shino Academy. Naruto was surprised to fact out that he was considered a prodigy there, and apparently the best one the Gotei 13 have had to date; he was also surprised by, though was happy with, the fact that no one cared about his status as a Jinchuriki and, as such, did not suffer from the prejudices that he had to deal with back in Konoha. This allowed to befriend people more easily and allowed him to reach his full potential as a shinigami.
Naruto's skills and power allowed him to graduate from the Academy in one year; Naruto joined the 13th division after he graduated and his captain, Jūshirō Ukitake, decided to make the blonde his lieutenant, making Naruto the first lieutenant of that division since the death of Kaien Shiba.
This was where Naruto found himself, 18 months later, when "they" arrived...
Next Time - The Ryoka
A/N: I hope you enjoy this. Anyways, here's the standing of the shinobi in the Gotei 13 (Bleach Shinigamis who had their ranks changed will appear, with their new rank, underlined):
2nd Division (Captain Sui-Feng):
Haku Yuki[the name of his clan], Lieutenant.
Marechiyo Ōmaeda, 3rd Seat
5th Division (Captain Sosuke Aizen):
Minato Namikaze, Lieutenant
Kushina Uzumaki, 3rd Seat
Momo Hinamori, 4th Seat
8th Division (Captain Shunsui Kyōraku):
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Lieutenant
Nanao Ise, 3rd Seat
9th Division (Captain Kaname Tosen):
Fugaku Uchiha, Lieutenant
Shisui Uchiha, 3rd Seat
Mikoto Uchiha, 4th Seat
Shuhei Hisagi, 5th Seat
11th (Captain Kenpachi Zaraki):
Zabuza Momochi, 4th Seat
13th Division (Captain Jūshirō Ukitake):
Naruto Uzumaki, Lieutenant
Some ranks will change as the story progresses.