"Hello" - Human Talk

"Hello" - Bijuu/Summon Talk

'Hello' - Human Thought

'Hello' - Bijuu/Summon Thought

"Hello"- Zanpakuto speak

'Hello'- Zanpakuto thought

Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto or Bleach. Kishimoto owns Naruto while Tite Kubo owns Bleach

Konoha, Naruto's Apartment

Naruto sleepily opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. The same apartment, the same bed and a life same as before was not something he was looking forward to. He groggily stood up from the bed and made his way to the bathroom. Naruto hated his life, after all who wouldn't if they had to deal with the crap he had to deal with everyday. His first four years in life were not pleasant at all. At the Orphanage, he was treated like an animal, something inhuman. He slept in a rickety bed, both eaten blankets and filthy clothes, his food was barely fit for human consumption and he was never allowed near the fire when he felt cold. Still, that was not the worst part.

Social isolation at a young age could have variety of effects on the psyche of the child. As a child, Naruto was starved of attention, which caused him to look for approval, even though he doubted he would receive any. At the age of four, he was kicked out of the Orphanage and he had to live four months on the streets before the Hokage found him and gave him his apartment. Even the apartment was dull, without any color or life, which further depressed him. His obsession with bright colors stemmed from his dull, lifeless abode.

Just a week ago, the Hokage had enrolled him in the Ninja Academy. He was overjoyed at first. He had a chance to make friends with children his own age, but a single week in the Academy had changed his perspective. There were several problems at the Academy, the biggest one being social isolation, again. The adults, who he believed had a deep hatred of him, had poisoned the minds of their children against him. As a result, he had been unable to even talk to another child; either they ignored him, or were mean to him. To stave off the boredom, he began to play pranks, but it only got him scolding from the teachers. The second problem was that the teachers of the Academy hated him. They punished him for things he did not do, humiliated and insulted him at every chance they got, and taught him absolutely nothing. The final problem was education itself. He had no parents that could teach him the basics, which made self-study impossible. Even the most basic books seemed complicated to him. Whenever he tried to focus, it felt as if he was seeing the world though blurry glasses. His mind could not hold information and it made his confidence drop.

Slowly dragging himself to the bathroom, his shoulders weighted by the burden of his life, he made his way to the tap near the basin. Opening it, he felt the cold water that made him shiver.

He thought,' I wonder why the water in my apartment is always so cold.'

Splashing the cold water on his face, he looked in the mirror, and immediately stumbled back in shock. In the mirror, the face of a stranger was staring back at him. The sandy blonde hair contrasted well with the striking amethyst colored eyes. There were no whisker marks and the skin was slightly paler than before. Yesterday, Naruto's reaction would have been a loud scream that would have alerted the whole village, but now, Naruto simply touched his face feeling his cheeks and hair while the stranger did the same.

Naruto wondered aloud," I wonder what happened to my face. I could swear that it was different before." Naruto looked around his apartment and found the clock. He looked at the clock with shock," 4 A.M.! I have never woken up so early. What the hell is happening to me?"

He walked around and noticed something different. The aches and pains that had haunted him for such a long time were gone, and he felt full of life and energy. Taking off his shirt, he decided to take a shower and get ready for the day.

Konoha Streets

Naruto walked on the street to the Ninja Academy. He was contemplating on the changes in his appearance as he walked quickly. He knew that he did not look like this yesterday. Something had changed about him, though he could not figure out what. He felt a clarity he had searched for a long time. For the first time in his life, he felt no excess energy, no stress in thinking and his attention span seemed to have improved.

Previously, it had felt as if his mind was walking through mud but know, he felt as if air was propelling him in the sky. It felt terrific but he had to remain cautious. No such change could make one feel this different without any consequences. Naruto looked up and found that he had reached the Ninja Academy.

He wondered,' Just what does this day have in store for me.'

Classroom

Naruto stared as the teacher droned continuously on a particularly boring account of the Third Shinobi War. Looking at the boring man made him drowsy. He struggled to keep his eyes open as he listened to the boring voice of the instructor. Slowly he started to fall asleep.

'GET UP IMMEDIATELY UZUMAKI NARUTO.'

Naruto suddenly jerked hitting his head on the desk in the process. Wincing at the sharp pain, he rubbed his forehead while looking for the voice that had interrupted his impromptu nap time. Seeing no one around, he was ready to dismiss the voice as mere imagination if the same voice was not heard inside his head.

'I am not a mere imagination.'

This time Naruto was on the verge of freaking out. He nervously looked around. He may have been smarter, but he was still scared of ghosts. Before his line of thought could continue, the same voice spoke in a soothing tone,' Don't worry Naruto, I am no ghost. I am your new friend and companion. We will talk later, but for now, concentrate on the lesson. While you may find history boring, history is important. Not for passing tests, but for looking at the experiences of others so that you may not have to experience them yourselves. Battlefields of the past make the strategies of the future.'

Naruto calmed a bit at that. On the inside, he was very happy of getting a companion and a friend. It was a little creepy that she could talk to him through his mind, but it still felt nice. In his excitement at having a friend and actually learning and understanding the matter taught at the academy, the school ended.

Naruto's Apartment

An excited Naruto pushed the doors to his apartment, eager to meet his new companion. Speaking quickly he asked," What should I do now?"

Shinso said," Lie down on the bed and close your eyes. Don't think to much as it will distract you. Just listen to my voice and follow it."

Naruto nodded before complying with his new friend's instruction. Lying down on his bed, Naruto closed his eyes and tried to follow the voice in his head. He felt a pull in his head and when he opened his eyes, he found himself in a sewer. Following the pull Naruto walked into a hall with a huge golden cage on one side. Peering through the cage, Naruto was startled when he saw two huge, red eyes filled with malice looking at him. Falling back he yelled," WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

As the light in the chamber increased, Naruto saw a huge fox with nine red tails staring at him. Standing proudly the fox said," I am Kyuubi no Yoko, the Nine- Tailed Fox."

From the other side of the chamber, another voice called out," And I am the one who called you here. My name is Shinso."

Naruto looked at the two figures in awe and fear at the first and surprise at the second. Swallowing slightly, Naruto faced Shinso and said," I know who the fox is but I don't who or what you are. Now I know who you are but exactly what are you Shinso-chan.

Shinso looked surprised but the surprise gave way to a pleased expression. Naruto had heard her name on the first try. In this regard, he was just like Gin.

Shinso explained to Naruto," I am a Zanpakuto Naruto-kun, a soul blade."

Naruto adopted a confused look as he asked," What is a Zanpakuto? You lost me there, and how did you come here?"

Shinso replied," From where I come, people could not use chakra but they could use the spiritual aspect of chakra. When a person dies, his soul would be transported to the Soul Society, or as you call it Heaven. Among the souls, those who have a large amount of spiritual energy can use it in the form of reiatsu or spiritual pressure. Zanpakuto are beings that originate in the soul of every such person. Those people who can call out to them can meet them while the others cannot. Such people are called Shinigami or Soul Reapers. Zanpakuto are the soul based weapons that assist the Shinigami in battle."

Naruto's faced scrunched in thought before he said," So, you are the sword of a ghost who aids him in battle. I don't know if you know it but I am scared of ghosts."

Shinso sighed before replying," Shinigami are not ghosts. They are the people that help the ghosts pass on to heaven."

Naruto nodded in understanding before asking," If you are the sword of someone else, how did you get here?"

Shinso's face became hard as her eyes grew cold. She answered in a clipped tone," My friend was killed for fighting against a Shinigami who wanted to rule the Heaven. The Shinigami are the part of military unit under the ruler of Heaven. They are divided into thirteen Squads. My friend was the Captain of Squad 3. The Squad 5 Captain Aizen Souske wanted to rule over the Soul Society by assassinating the Soul King. To do so, he needed to create a key that would help him gain entrance in Soul King's Palace. To do so, he had to gather the reiatsu of a whole city which was a center of power for reiatsu. My friend Ichimaru Gin wanted to save the city and his friends. He tried to kill Aizen by getting close enough to attack him and he would have succeeded if not for the Hogyoku."

Naruto tilted his head and asked in confusion," What is Hogyoku?"

Shinso answered," Among the Shinigami was a genius inventor known as Urahara Kisuke. He developed a purple marble-like orb that had the power to make dreams come true, literally. Aizen was able to get that orb before he betrayed the Soul Society. He planned to fuse the orb with himself and was able to successfully fuse it. As a result, when Gin tried to kill him, the Hogyoku saved his life. Gin knew that Aizen would kill him. He used the Hogyoku's power to send me to someone who would treat me just like Gin. While Gin had a reputation of being cold, cruel, unforgiving person, it was an act. Gin was in fact a very nice person who would do everything for his friends. At a young age, Gin was planning to kill Aizen after he hurt his friend Matsumoto Rangiku. All his life, he lived for his friends and sacrificed himself to protect Rangiku and me in his death."

Naruto was mesmerized by the tale. Ichimaru Gin seemed like a really nice person. With an impressed expression Naruto said," I wish I could have met him."

Shinso nodded beforesaying," Before his death, Gin sent his knowledge of Shinigami arts withme so that he my new wielder could use reiatsu properly. As my new wielder, I will teach you the way of the Shinigami and the use of reiatsu. Yesterday, Hogyoku used its power to balance your Yin and Yang chakra while splitting them to facilitate the use of both individually and combined. You must have felt that your chakra has a heavy part and a light part."

Naruto concentrated a little before feeling the two different energies within him. Feeling th lighter energy more easily, he tried to draw the energy towards him. Shinso was observing him when a heavy reiatsu settled on her and Kyuubi. Looking at Naruto, she was surprised to see Naruto covered in a pale, violet colored energy covering his form. All around Konoha, people could feel a slight pressure but they dismissed it as nothing harmless.

As Naruto opened his eyes, Shinso beamed and said," You were able to access your reiatsu far faster than most. You would do well with Kido. Your training would begin soon, however, you have to focus that reiatsu correctly. Try to make ribbons of the reiatsu and let them surround you. You would be able to create spirit ribbons. If its done correctly, you would be surrounded by a mass of red ribbons."

As Naruto tried to do the exercise, Kyuubi and Shinso observed the phenomenon. Since Shinso had explained to Kyuubi the concept of Spirit Ribbons, Kyuubi was expecting the kid to be covered in red ribbons. However, Naruto surprised them again as he was covered in black, white and red ribbons. As Naruto opened his eyes, he pouted at the different colors and asked," What did I do wrong. The ribbons were supposed to be red, not black, white and red."

Shinso looked calculative as she said," You must be hungry Naruto, go get some food. I would explain about the ribbons later."

Naruto brightened at the sound of food before leaving the mindscape after a quick instruction and headed off to Ichiraku Ramen Stand. Shinso turned to Kyuubi before asking," Do you knw about this?"

Kyuubi thought for a second before asking," If I remember it correctly, Quincy have white ribbons. Based on your explanation of Quincy power, they can absorb reishi from the environment. In this world, Shinobi use something called Senjutsu to absorb chakra from the environment. Maybe Hogyoku saw the potential for Senjutsu as weak Quincy powers and enhanced them. As for the black ribbons, you told me that Hollows have these kind of black ribbons. Maybe the kid has a dark side that is the center to all his negative feelings. Hogyoku must have thought that the dark side was an inner Hollow and made it into a proper Hollow like the Vizards as you call them."

Shinso said,"I can only train him in the Shinigami arts. What should we do about the other powers?"

Kyuubi said,"We will cross the bridge when we get there."

Meanwhile

Naruto was running happily towards his favourite ramen stand when a sake bottle smashed him on his face. Holding his head in pain, Naruto saw three drunk civilians standing around him.

One of the drunks slurred," Look here boys, I found a little demon."

The other drunks nodded in agreement before they threw their own sake bottles at him. Naruto would have tried to dodge it but the pain was messing with his senses. As the drunks approached Naruto he panicked and alled out to Shinso.

Naruto yelled in his mind,' Shinso-chan help me.'

This wascatch Shinso's attention as she observed the situation. Seeing the drunks approaching, she said," Calm down Naruto, they would not hurt you. Just do what I say."

As the drunks started to attack, Naruto stopped panicking and began to dodge. Shinso began to tell him how to dodge and where to move. Soon enough, Naruto was dodging all the hits and he felt that he had a chance to cme out unscathed, as a Chuunin came down from the roof, standing in between the drunks and Naruto.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief as he said," Shinobi-san, these three men attacked me."

However the Chunnin turned to Naruto and said," Since you do not seem hurt at all, I can only conclude that you attacked them. As a punishment, you will die."

Both Naruto and Shinso was shocked when the Chuunin took out a kunai and began walking towards Naruto. The three drunks began smiling in an evil way as they saw the Chunnin turn on Naruto. Naruto could not do anything as there was no escape.

Seeing her wielder in danger like many years ago, Shinso called out to Naruto," Naruto-kun, if you try to fight a ninja, you would die. There is no way that you can dodge a sober ninja at your present level. Do you want to live Naruto-kun."

Naruto calmed down and answered,' Yes Shinso-chan, I want to live. I want to live to follow my dreams. But most of all, I want to live so that you many not be alone anymore. I have dealt with loneliness for mot of my life, so I don't want that for my only friend.'

Shinso smiled a little and said," Then call my name and bring forth my power. We are not sheep who lead miserable,insignificant lives of being the prey. We are the predators who live for the hunt and survival. As such, never aim for not causing harm. Their is only one rule of life, kill or be killed. Never die and always.."

Real world

A light purple reiatsu began to cover Naruto's form as the Chunnin grew alarmed and charged at Naruto. The reiatsu solidified in his hand and took form of a wakizashi with an S-shaped guard. Bowing his head and pointing the wakizashiat the Chunnin, Naruto called out," Shoot to Kill, Shinso."

The blade of the wakizashi lengthened and pierced the surprised Chunnins heart and the chest of one of the drunks. Twisting the blade, Naruto looked up with a fox like grin. However, this grin with slit like eyes did not seem cute like Naruto's previous grins but deadly and dangerous like the Kyuubi. Shinso looked at Naruto's face which held the same expression as Gin with sadness and pride. She was proud that Naruto understood the meaning of killing and survival. However she was sad for the loss of Naruto's innocence. Maybe her wielders were cursed for having their innocence lost at a young age. Calling out to Naruto, she asked," Are you all right Naruto?"

Naruto did not lose his grin and simply replied,' Just fine Shinso-chan."

AN- Sorry for the late updates. Please Review.

AN2- The other updates would follow soon enough. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Next Chapter - Gennin Exams