A disgustingly bright pink sky clashed with neon lime grass. There were a handful of stick-like trees, one lone cloud, and a long brown line that might have been a road.
Ichigo searched for an escape. Up was the nauseating sky, down was the horrid grass, and that way the road ran into a very flat and definite horizon line. He turned around. There was another direction. Out. The world was normal that way.
Except, there was Riruka glaring at him. She whipped out her glasses, and her eyes turned to hearts.
"There you are Ichigo. Do you like the world we made for you?"
"What?" he demanded. "No, what is this place?"
The normal world spun dizzyingly. He could see the tips of Riruka's fingers in the corners of his vision like a photograph taken by a child. When the spinning stopped, he faced Kukaku and Rukia sitting at his kitchen table.
"I commissioned it for Isshin," said Kukaku around her pipe. "I thought he could hang it next to that poster of your mother."
"Yes," said Rukia nodding and holding a crayon. "Kukaku-dono is paying me 1000 yen!"
"It's not even worth that!" yelled Ichigo.
Rukia frowned. "But I even put Chappy in it. Shh. Don't tell anyone though. He's copyrighted."
"I don't care about your stupid rabbit," said Ichigo. "Let me out!"
"No, no. It's much safer for the three of you there," said Kukaku.
"Yuzu and Karin are here too? Where?" demanded Ichigo.
"Behind you, Ichi-nii!" chorused the girls.
Ichigo turned. It was Yuzu and Karin as drawn by Rukia. They didn't look human, but they were holding hands and skipping down the road.
"We're going to Konohagakure!" they said. Their heads turned around to look at him. Even in blob form, it was terrifying to see his sisters' necks twist one-hundred eighty degrees. "Come with us, Ichi-nii!"
"I'm coming," he called racing after them. The brown road had turned to mud beneath his feet complete covering his sneakers. "Wait for me!"
The window to the real world had disappeared. Instead, the path led to a walled city.
"That's not Konoha. It's Seireitei," said Ichigo. "You can't go that way. It's not allowed!"
"Ichi-nii's too slow!" singsonged the twins.
Ichigo pulled his feet out of his shoes and raced after the girls. They passed through the gate, and it slammed shut behind them barring his way forward. Ichigo beat furiously at the door, but it refused to open and the gatekeeper neglected to appear.
Ichigo turned around and flew back down the path. At the other end was a different walled city. Two bears in Konoha uniforms stopped him.
"What do you want?" they asked.
"I need to rescue my sisters!" he shouted. "They're trapped in Seireitei."
The bears rolled their eyes. "Oh, those guys, who do they think they are? Arrogant bastards. Well, we'll send our best team."
A double line of Chappy the Rabbit marched out of Konoha. Each poorly drawn figure wore a flak vest and forehead protector. Some held pointy blobs that might have been kunai. The rest held round blobs that might have been shuriken.
"These are your best troops?" he asked.
The rabbits froze. They turned narrowed eyes in his direction and circled around him.
"You doubt our skillz?" demanded the one rabbit. "We'll show you!"
Each rabbit raised its weapon. Ichigo gaped. They were in a circle. What did they think was about to happen?
Ichigo jumped into the sky to avoid the bloodbath but plummeted back to the earth. His body was too heavy. He couldn't stay in the air. The rabbits threw their weapons. Ichigo dropped to his stomach and covered his head.
Blood sprayed into the air staining the sky an even more vivid pink. A dozen poorly-drawn Chappy heads crashed to the ground. Everyone last rabbit had Rukia's violet eyes.
Ichigo screamed.
-0-0-0-0-0-
There was a short shriek and a dull thud from Ichigo's bedroom. Karin winced and tried to think of the bright side. Ichigo hadn't punched a hole through the wall. That had happened once in Karakura when Ichigo activated his Hollow powers while dreaming. None of the shinigami who visited that week could stop themselves from laughing. Then again, none of them had heard the agonized cry Ichigo had made in his sleep.
"Is that normal?" asked Naruto as a shower rattled to life in the background.
The blond was eating breakfast with them and had been for the past two weeks. Normally, Karin and Yuzu tried to eat breakfast with Ichigo before he started training with Team Gai. While he was away, they had been eating later and invited Naruto to join them. Adding a new person to family meals was hard but pleasant at the same time.
Karin also felt more comfortable giving him some of Uzumaki Mamoru's belongings including almost two dozen books on sealing theory. Ichigo had always intended to give them to Naruto. But his schedule was surprisingly busy these days, and he had never found the time.
Of course, Karin regretted handing over the books almost instantly. Naruto had spent the next two days babbling about high level sealing jutsu, written by Mamoru himself, which neither she nor Karin could understand. Ichigo could have followed the conversation.
If she had waited, maybe Karin could have been listening to that conversation and avoided this one. She ducked her head and concentrated on her rice. Ichigo didn't like to talk about it, so Karin didn't either.
"No," said Yuzu. "Fighting doesn't usually given Ichi-nii nightmares, but he gets upset if he doesn't have something to do."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "So three days of mandatory downtime…"
"Not a good idea," muttered Karin into her bowl.
"But Ichigo needed it," Yuzu told her sharply. She turned a firm gaze on Naruto. "He slept through that whole first day back and only got up to eat dinner. He had to rest."
"He wasn't here yesterday morning," said Naruto carefully.
Karin set down her chopsticks and reached for her tea. "Ichigo woke up in time for taijutsu practice yesterday. He needs his routine too. And he likes Lee's spirit."
Naruto eyes brightened with suppressed laughter. Karin hadn't actually met any of the people her brother practiced with in the mornings, but according to Ichigo they were all very passionate about their work. He needed to be around people like that until he found his own purpose again.
"But after practice, he came home and slept until lunch," added Kon.
The modsoul wasn't eating with them. Instead, he was sitting on the back of Karin's chair presumably watching the apartment's newest resident.
"He added that after lunch," said Karin gesturing over her shoulder.
"That" was a multi-tiered water fountain with a broad, shallow pool at the base. Ichigo had installed it in the corner of the living room where the blue Quincy-themed wall met the mostly-green Shiba wall. Yuzu and Isobu had worked together to select best fountain design and the most appropriate aquatic plants to complement the color scheme and match Naruto's gifted bonsai.
Not that Isobu went by that name around guests. Somehow, Naruto hadn't recognized the Three-Tails' diminished form, so he and the other Tailed-Beasts were playing a prank on the blond jinchuuriki. Karin and the bijuu had spent hours picking out a nickname.
"How is Sandy?" asked Naruto with a grin.
No one had flicked an eye at the English. (Somehow, the ninja occasionally used phrases of it themselves even though there was no version of England in the Elemental Countries.) Naruto had thought Sandy was a perfect fit for a turtle. At the hospital, Sakura-sensei even mentioned how close "sandy" was to "sanbi" phonetically.
Karin didn't understand shinobi. They didn't seem to realize a demon was a demon no matter what its size. Look at Toshiro, he had barely looked older than her when they met, and he was one of strongest captains in Soul Society.
"He's settling in okay," said Karin.
He was settling in even better after Karin had taken the time to show him how reign in his spiritual pressure along with his chakra. She had to hand it to the turtle; he was a quick study.
"I know Ichigo picked him up for you," said Naruto. "But did you actually want a turtle?"
"No," admitted Karin. "But I think he's pretty cool."
Isobu had offered to teach her advanced water jutsu in exchange for teaching him about ghosts. Karin had jumped on the chance. She just needed a free afternoon and a trip to closest lake. The training ground where they played soccer would probably work.
"And he's the same size as Bostov!" said Yuzu brightly. "They can play together."
Karin choked on her tea, there was a surprised-sounding splash from the fountain, and Kon stammered out a denial. Naruto threw back his head and laughed.
"Do you play a lot, Kon?" he asked once he calmed down.
"Poker, maybe," said the modsoul with a huff. Kon brightened. "Do you think Sandy plays poker?"
Karin rolled her eyes. They weren't supposed to be bringing attention to the fact that Sandy wasn't a normal turtle. Did no one understand the pranking process? Naruto looked thoughtful.
"If he's a nin-animal, he might be able to play," said Naruto.
"A what?" asked Karin.
"Lots of animals learn to use chakra and train as ninja," said Naruto. "You've met Tsunade-baa-chan and Sakura's slugs, right? And I have a contract with the toads. And Sasuke-teme has a contract with the snakes. Those are special clans of animals. But individual animals can learn too. Kakashi-sensei has a whole pack of dogs that he's contracted."
"Kakashi-san has dogs?" asked Yuzu.
Naruto nodded. "You should meet them sometime. They're all really friendly and smart. Pakkun's about your size too, Kon. I bet he can play poker."
Ichigo wandered into the kitchen. He was wearing his training uniform, but he hadn't bothered to tape his sleeves shut like usual and his hair was still damp from the shower. He settled into the remaining chair and looked at the table.
"Morning," he said. "Traditional breakfast today, Yuzu?"
"I've been switching back and forth," she said brightly. "Are you okay, Ichi-nii? We heard a noise earlier. Did you fall out of bed?"
Karin exchanged a look with Naruto. They had heard more than that, but Yuzu was the interrogation expert these days. If she wasn't going to mention the scream, then neither were they.
"Just a weird dream," said Ichigo reaching for the tea. He must have noticed their concerned stares because he added, "I was attacked by badly drawn rabbits."
Karin wasn't entirely relieved. Rukia's drawings were honestly bad enough to elicit tears, but that meant Ichigo had been dreaming of Rukia, which was not good. She had only caught a glimpse before they were transported away, but there had been a lot of blood.
Yuzu was trying to explain Chappy to Naruto, and why exactly a rabbit could be so horrifying without directly mentioning Rukia. It was a lost cause. Karin could tell already.
"What are you doing today, Ichigo?" she asked. "It's your last day of leave."
Ichigo shrugged. "Sakura-sensei told me I had a physical this morning, and she didn't want me sparring with Team Gai before I got there. This afternoon, the Hokage wants Team Three to report for a debriefing."
"Didn't you already do that when you got back?" asked Karin.
"Tsunade-baa-chan just has some follow-up questions now that she's read everyone's reports," said Naruto. "It's standard when things go wrong like this. Usually, the team leader's the only one that gets called back, but since Kurenai was out, Ichigo's the one who has to explain."
"But why summon the rest of Team Three?" asked Yuzu.
Naruto shrugged. "Solidarity? Maybe issuing new orders? We'll find out this afternoon."
"You're going to be there too?" asked Ichigo.
Naruto beamed. "You bet! I'm learning how to take over as Hokage, so I have to know how this stuff goes."
Karin thought Naruto would be the best prepared kage in the history of the Elemental Countries. According to Sakura, Tsunade-sama had been ready to retire from the position years ago and take over as head of the hospital full-time, but Naruto wasn't settled enough to take the mantle then, and Kakashi—the only other choice—didn't actually want the job. Tsunade had named Naruto Hokage-in-Training and used him as a glorified intern ever since.
"Is that right," said Ichigo smiling with his eyes at Karin. He had heard Sakura-sensei's description of Naruto too.
"Oh, Ichi-nii, guess what we're doing today at the Academy," said Yuzu excitedly.
Ichigo raised a brow. "Studying."
Yuzu pouted. "That's no fun. Guess. Guess."
Ichigo pretended to think for a moment. "Studying jutsu."
"That's just as bad," said Yuzu. "We get to learn nature transformation jutsu."
Ichigo was clearly underwhelmed by the announcement. On the other hand, Naruto choked, flailed, and generally made a fool of himself before draining a cup of tea and shouting, "Elemental jutsu! Since when have those been a part of the Academy curriculum? Does Tsunade know about this?
"Sakura-sensei and Anko-san asked Iruka-sensei to give us special lessons since they try to focus on job-relate skills more than general techniques," explained Karin.
Naruto sighed. "Whew. That's a relief. I was worried there for a minute."
"We couldn't tell at all," said Karin drily. Naruto gave her sheepish smile.
"Oh, so did you learn your affinity too, Yuzu?" asked Ichigo. "Was it fire like everyone thought?"
Yuzu shook her head. "It's earth. But earth is more useful anyway when you're making prisons and stuff. And Ino-san, Sakura-sensei's roommate, told me that lots of T&I people learn basic medical jutsu too, so earth is extra helpful."
Karin tried not to think too hard about why Yuzu would be learning medical jutsu for her job in Torture and Interrogation. Ichigo and Naruto were casting about desperately for another topic. In the corner of her eye, she could see Kon's golden fur turn pale.
"Hey, isn't it time to get going?" said Naruto lightly.
Karin looked at the clock. Naruto was right. They were running a little late.
"I'll get the dishes," said Ichigo. "Don't worry about it."
"Thanks, Ichigo," said Karin. She was lucky. It was her turn to wash.
Karin grabbed her bento and the scrolls Sakura had wanted her to review for today. Since they were having a practical at the Academy, she could leave her textbooks behind. Waving good-bye to Ichigo and Kon, who was staying Ichigo today, and Sandy, who splashed a good-bye of his own, Karin and Yuzu rushed out the door.
On their way to the Academy, Naruto cheerfully described the many and various water and earth jutsu he had seen performed, up to and including trapping someone in a bubble of water. Then he described his own wind-nature modifications to one of his father's jutsu.
Karin tried to play it cool, but she was excited to be learning stuff that real shinobi could do other than the baby jutsu the Academy teachers usually taught. Not that she hadn't learned anything from Sakura-sensei. She could decimate a training ground in one hit nine times out of ten these days, but she had seen Ichigo, Chad, and even Goat-Face manage something similar.
At the Academy, Karin gathered her focus enough to listen to Iruka-sensei explain the nature transformation jutsu worked. Yuzu was learning Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears. The execution was simple with only one hand sign (bird) and formed one or more spikes of rock when performed correctly. Karin's Water Release jutsu was a little more complicated.
"Water Trumpet involves converting your chakra into water, which you spray from your mouth," explained Iruka. "You place one hand in front of your mouth to guide the spray. Sakura wants you to learn this one because it gives you a practical, visible lesson in chakra control. The amount of chakra you use effects how much water comes out, and if you waste chakra you won't be able to keep using it. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sensei," said Karin trying not to growl her impatience.
Iruka smiled. "Alright, I'm going to show you. How it's done. The signs are dragon, tiger, and hare."
Iruka formed the signs and brought his fist to him mouth. It did look a lot like he was playing a trumpet. Water shot out across the training ground into a small pool at the edge. As she watched the flow narrowed to a stream then widened to a geyser before stopping altogether.
There was a cheer from across the yard. The younger students were clapping and howling at the display. They were still doing normal taijutsu practice. According to Iruka, mostly Academy-level students didn't have enough chakra to perform element-based jutsu, so they had to wait until they joined a genin team and gained some experience.
The clapping kept going along with cries for more. Iruka sighed and turned around.
"Get back to practice!" he yelled as his head grew ten times its normal size.
The students shrieked and laughed and turned back to their taijutsu. Karin hid a smile.
"Any questions?" asked Iruka.
"No, sensei," said Karin trying to be at least a little more patient than her twelve-year-old classmates.
"Don't be discouraged if it doesn't work the first few times," said Iruka. "And try to aim for the pool. Maybe from a little bit closer. And, if you start to feel tired, you need to stop. I don't want you suffering from chakra exhaustion."
Karin nodded and set herself to practicing.
Karin's first try failed completely. The next few attempts barely produced dribbles. Karin stamped down on her frustration and kept going. Slowly she worked her way up to more sizeable and steady streams. After she achieved a spout twice the size of her head—and managed to do it more than once—she started working her way down again.
Karin was molding the necessary chakra to produce the correct amount of water, but she realized she hadn't been able to change the speed of the stream following that first dribble. After some internal debate, she decided the problem had something to do with water pressure.
On her next attempt, Karin tried filling her mouth with chakra before converting it to water. She promptly spat it all out in a glob when she simultaneously choked and snorted water up her nose. She ultimately crowned this mistake by falling on her butt while coughing.
"Are you okay, Karin?" called Yuzu.
Her twin was standing at the end of a row of pillars that gradually became pointer and taller as one looked down the line. Yuzu was a little dirtier than she usually preferred, but her face glowed with accomplishment; though at the moment, it was tempered with concern.
"I'm fine," said Karin a little hoarsely.
Karin didn't want to try that again anytime soon. She considered the different ways she could speed up her jet if using more water was out. On their walk, Naruto had mentioned that it was possible to use two elements at the same time. If she added wind chakra, maybe she could make the stream faster.
Karin formed the seals again. This time as she formed the trumpet, she focused on breathing out wind and water.
Her lips burned with cold. Karin canceled the jutsu almost immediately, but she still shot a three meter lance of ice across the practice grounds.
Karin jogged over to it and frowned. That wasn't what she wanted or what she expected to happen.
"That so cool, Karin," said Yuzu joining her. "How did you do that?"
"I added wind chakra to the water jutsu," said Karin. "I was trying to make the water go faster, but it made ice instead."
Yuzu looked thoughtful. "Do you think I could add fire chakra to my earth jutsu?"
"What and make lava?" asked Karin. "I guess so, but is that a good idea?"
Yuzu smiled. "You can put it out with your Water Trumpet if it goes wrong. Ready?"
Karin yelped as Yuzu put her hands to the ground and called up a pillar of lava. Unlike the earth spike, the lava just kept rising.
Both girls jumped away from the spluttering tower, and Karin formed the seals for her newest jutsu. She concentrated on adding wind again, but this time made sure to widen the spray, which formed an icy mist. The tower of lava froze solid.
"Awesome," said Yuzu.
Karin held a hand up to her sister. "Do we rock or what?"
Yuzu smiled and completed the high-five. "We do! I might need to practice more though."
"What's going on here?" demanded Iruka.
Karin and Yuzu turned to him in surprise.
"I made some ice," said Karin.
"And I made lava," added Yuzu. "And then Karin put it out."
Iruka gaped. "How?"
Karin shrugged carelessly. "I added wind chakra to my jutsu. And Yuzu added fire to hers."
Iruka stared at them some more then looked at the misshapen tower of cooled lava and ice. Finally he put his head in his hands. "It doesn't work like that."
Karin looked Yuzu. Yuzu bit her lip and peered at Iruka. "Iruka-sensei, I really think it does."
Iruka just moaned. Karin smirked. She and Yuzu really were awesome. They'd master this elemental ninjutsu stuff in no time at all.
-0-0-0-0-0-
"Well, doc, am I going to live?"
Sakura looked up from her notes in time to see Ichigo slipping his shirt back over his head. He had submitted to the physical as a necessary evil. Honestly, they shouldn't have waited this long to get a baseline in the first place. Only, Tsunade-shishou had checked Ichigo for injuries almost every time he visited her office, so there had been no need for him to go to the hospital.
"You're in perfect health, Ichigo-san," said Sakura. "The only anomaly is your metabolism. It's a little fast for someone your age, but you said that was normal after using your Hollow abilities extensively?"
Ichigo nodded. "I usually need a few big meals after doing a lot of Hollow stuff. I was too busy sleeping this time, I guess."
Sakura made a note. Karin, Yuzu, and Ichigo had all regained the weight they lost on the road, but Ichigo was still thinner than his sisters even if one accounted for age, gender, and activity level. Sakura suspected having Hollow powers might have seriously affected Ichigo's overall health not just his ability to repair sustained damage. Unfortunately, none of the siblings had kept track of that sort of information despite living in a clinic. The girls because they didn't know to look when it started, and Ichigo for personal reasons.
"Next, I need you to review your history of injuries," she said clicking her pen.
Ichigo frowned. "Well, I got into lots of fights when I was younger, but I never broke anything or had to go the hospital. So bruises and small cuts mostly. Then there was this," he pointed at his arm where he had been stabbed on the mission, "and that time Ginjo sliced my eyes open, but Orihime healed that. And that's about it."
Sakura stared. "That's it? Those are the only times anyone has ever injured you? A few schoolyard bullies, a water clone, and some guy who sliced open your eyes?"
There went Sakura's professional tone, but Ichigo didn't seem to notice or care.
"No! All sorts of people kicked the crap out of me," said Ichigo. "But those are the only major injuries I sustained in my body. Usually, I'm in shinigami form when I fight."
"Oh," said Sakura. She didn't know how to heal a soul. That was what Naruto was for—in a metaphorical sense. "Well, can you think of anything else?"
Ichigo frowned. "That time Rukia stabbed me to give me her powers, I guess. And when Hat'n'Clogs cut my chain of fate too. But that's it."
Sakura sighed. "I don't know what that means."
"I died. Both times," said Ichigo with a shrug. "But I got better."
Sakura very carefully set her pen down before she could crush it. Then she counted slowly backwards from one hundred. Yelling at her teammates about being reckless with their health was one thing. Yelling at her patients was entirely another. In this case, she didn't think it would have much effect anyway.
"You've died. Twice," said Sakura eventually.
Ichigo was eyeing her carefully. She must not look as calm as she had hoped. "Probably three times. But I wasn't in my body that last time, and I—
"Got better. I can see that," said Sakura. She tried not to sigh, and here she had thought Naruto was a difficult patient. "Well, keep up the good work. Now, about your eyes. Was your vision effected in any way? Your eye exam placed you in the 90th percentile."
"No, Orihime healed them," said Ichigo. "Her power can reject damage so that it never happened. She healed most of my wounds when I was fighting."
Sakura itched to know how, but she suspected the method would be beyond her. Tsunade-shishou's Creation Rebirth technique could perfectly heal a damaged body, but it couldn't reverse damage done to cells, only make new ones. The technique Ichigo described sounded impossible, but then again, his very existence sounded impossible.
"In that case, I have a few questions about your Quincy abilities and how they affect your body," she said.
"I'm not sure how all the Quincy stuff works," said Ichigo. "But I'll do my best."
Sakura smiled reassuringly. "That's all we ask. Now, do you manifest a dojutsu?"
"That's the eye-thing, right?" Sakura nodded, and Ichigo rolled his eyes. "No, that's another expression of my Hollow power. Just an indicator that I'm using it. Or close to using it."
"Your ability enhances your strength and speed?" asked Sakura.
"The Quincy power is the ability to absorb and manipulate spirit particles, reishi. I can use it to increase my defensive or offensive power but those are just techniques," said Ichigo. "Enhanced speed is a different technique."
"That sounds…broad," said Sakura making a note. She glanced up at Ichigo. He looked amused but also sad.
"It is," said Ichigo.
"Do the Quincy have any healing techniques?" asked Sakura.
Ichigo paled. "Nothing I'd like to try."
"Okay," said Sakura. "Are they difficult? Or dangerous?"
Ichigo looked at her. "Yes."
Sakura realized he wouldn't be telling her anymore. She throttled her irritation. He didn't want to talk about it, which meant the technique was probably dangerous for other people. He had just told her that Quincy-powers involved moving energy from one object to another. If he could take energy from anything to heal someone… but no, that wouldn't cause that sort of reaction.
Unless to heal, he had to use healing energy, and if Quincy didn't generate that energy then…
"You'd have to take someone else's life energy," concluded Sakura. She saw Ichigo wince. "You can do that?"
Ichigo shook his head. "I've never tried, and I'm not going to. Karin and Yuzu won't be able to do it either."
"Are you sure?" asked Sakura.
"The only person I've seen use that technique was really strong," explained Ichigo.
Sakura bit her lip. "How strong are we talking? Kage-level? Bijuu-level?"
"Mistaken-for-and-worshipped-as-a-god-level," said Ichigo flatly.
Sakura relaxed. Ichigo was right. Karin was strong, but she wasn't even close to that level and neither was Yuzu. Naruto and Sasuke at their best might reach something close to it, but those sorts of fighters didn't just turn up out of nowhere.
She looked at Ichigo. He said his sisters couldn't do it, but that he had never tried. Ichigo met her gaze openly. Sakura resolved to talk to Naruto about it later.
"Does your kekkei genkai effect your body directly in any other way?" asked Sakura moving into safer territory.
"I can stop myself from bleeding," he said latching on to the topic. "It's one of the side-effects of blut vene, the defensive technique."
Sakura was impressed. That would be an extremely useful technique to have in the middle of battle.
"And I don't scar," added Ichigo. "Karin and Yuzu don't either. I don't know if that's a Quincy thing or not."
"Naruto doesn't scar, but the other Karin does," said Sakura. "I'll have to ask Tsunade-shishou. It might be part of your Uzumaki inheritance. Or maybe a combination."
Ichigo nodded. Sakura glanced down at her clipboard.
"Those are all the health-related questions I have," she said. "But do you have some time to talk about kaido?"
"Sure," said Ichigo.
"Karin gave me a list of the kidou she had adapted for use on living humans, but I wanted to know what other kinds there were," said Sakura. "If there was anything else that she would want to try and adapt later."
Ichigo frowned. "Karin managed to adapt six, right?"
"That sounds right," agreed Sakura.
"I remember the ones she picked were all field treatments," he said. "The rawest, simplest form of healing kaido. They're guaranteed to do something no matter the size of the wound, but that means they're also power drains. Kaido has dozens of variations, depending on the type of injury, which are more precise."
"What about healing illnesses?" asked Sakura.
Ichigo shook his head. "Almost all kaido are designed for treating combat injuries. There are kaido for cleansing wounds and lowering fever. But they don't have anything to address disease. Rukia's sister, she died from an illness they couldn't cure, which I think was probably some form of cancer. And Ukitake-taichou has had tuberculosis for decades, maybe even centuries."
Sakura blanched. "You're joking."
"Unohana, the Captain of the Fourth, is the best healer in Soul Society, and everything she learned, she learned a thousand years ago, at least the basics anyway," explained Ichigo.
"And they haven't updated their techniques in a millennium?" repeated Sakura faintly.
Ichigo shrugged. "Like I said, lots of variations of the same basic kaido. I think Rukia was the first person outside of Twelfth Division, that's their R&D, to even hear of antibiotics, and that's only because she lived with us in the clinic."
"I see," said Sakura disappointment creeping into her tone.
"I can show Karin some more elaborate variations," offered Ichigo. "But, I think whatever you're teaching her will be a lot more useful."
Sakura hesitated for a brief moment but her natural curiosity overcame her. "Ichigo-san, why did Captain Unohana teach you healing techniques? I'm under the impression you don't have much aptitude for it."
Ichigo sighed heavily and crossed his arms. "This is going to sound weird."
Sakura raised a brow and waved a hand in his direction. Everything about Ichigo sounded weird. What was one more thing?
"Unohana's one of the last of the original captains, which means she is a violent, bloodthirsty maniac. At some point, someone thought it was a good idea to teach her how to heal so that anytime she enjoyed a fight she could revive her opponent to fight them again," explained Ichigo. "And for some reason, she decided that I needed to learn how to do that too."
Sakura stared. Ichigo scowled. They both waited in silence.
"I don't know how, but things get worse every time you talk," said Sakura eventually.
Ichigo snorted. "So I've heard. But you can ask Kon. He was there too."
Sakura looked at the extra seat in the exam room. The lion doll had barely said a word other than hello and done its best not to move. That was fairly normal in her experience, but according to Naruto and Kakashi the toy was usually more animated.
Kon whimpered faintly under her gaze and looked away.
"It was a painful experience for everyone involved, so Kon tends to tone his personality down around healers," said Ichigo.
"Tsunade-shishou is a medic-nin," said Sakura. "And Karin will be too, eventually."
"Karin is fine," blurted Kon. "The rest of you are terrifying. No matter how big your boobs."
Sakura felt her entire face twitch. She reigned in the urge to smack the toy into the next century. She looked at Ichigo.
"He's made out of fabric and stuffing," he said. "He'll be fine if you squash him."
"Don't tell her that!" protested Kon.
"You can go back to being quiet anytime you like," said Sakura sweetly.
The toy shut its mouth and stopped moving. Sakura smirked and started organizing her notes.
"That's everything I needed," she said. She glanced at Ichigo. "Do you have any questions for me?"
Ichigo was frowning at her hands. "Could I look at my file?"
Sakura handed it over wordlessly. The only information in there was what she had learned today. Ichigo stared at for half a second and sighed.
"Can I borrow a pen? That's not how my name is written," he said.
Sakura's eyes rose to his hair as she held out her pen. "It's not?"
"Oddly enough, my parents did not know what color hair I'd be born with," he said marking out the name and writing in the correct spelling.
Sakura laughed aloud and ran a hand through her own pink locks. "I know the feeling."
Ichigo gave her back the folder and the pen. "I think that's all, Sakura-sensei."
Sakura took it with a smile. "You'd better get going then. I know you're meeting with shishou after lunch."
"Thanks," said Ichigo. "Let's go, Kon."
The lion doll jumped to Ichigo's shoulder and the pair left the exam room. Sakura looked at the file in her hand. She had written Ichigo as "Strawberry" because that seemed the most straightforward. She checked the proper spelling.
"Number one guardian," she read and grinned. "That looks even better."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Hanabi tried to keep a straight face as she left the hospital. The news wasn't bad. It just wasn't great either. A warm arm draped over her shoulders.
"It's not the end of the world, Hanabi," said Hinata with a gentle look. "You just need to wait a few weeks before you use your byakugan again."
"But the Chunin Exams will be half-way over by then," said Hanabi. The tiniest bit of whine snuck into her voice.
Hinata wasn't impressed. Her meek, stuttering older sister was gone forever. In her place was a quiet, gentle kunoichi with a spine made of steel and the Will of Fire shining in her pale eyes. Hanabi always enjoyed watching the Elders crash-and-burn against her sister's strength, but a little sympathy would have been nice.
"Most chunin-candidates don't have the advantage of a kekkei genkai at all and rarely one as useful as our dojutsu," said Hinata. "Think of it as evening the playing field. The Exams shouldn't be too easy."
Hanabi scowled. She would have appreciated an easy Chunin Exam for a change. "Maybe someone else hired those missing-nin to even the playing field."
Hinata took a sharp, quick breath making Hanabi instantly regret her words. Hinata's attempted kidnapping at such a young age had scarred her deeply. It had hurt Neji too in a very different way.
Hanabi scrambled to think of a distraction. She saw a flash of orange in the corner of her eye. Naruto cheered up Hinata just by existing. Hanabi turned her head to look for the boisterous blond. She blinked in surprise. She had seen Ichigo's hair, not Naruto's jacket. Well, he would probably work too.
She nudged her sister in the side. "Look, it's Ichigo. Hey, Ichigo!"
Her mysterious teammate turned around at the sound of his name and raised a hand in greeting. The toy lion on his shoulder waved too. "Hey, Hanabi, Hyuuga-san. What are you doing here?"
"I had a follow-up appointment on my eyes," said Hanabi. "And you?"
"Standard physical. Hadn't had one yet," said Ichigo. He gestured to his face. "What's the verdict?"
Hanabi's shoulders drooped. "I can see normally, but I'm not supposed to activate my byakugan for a month."
"What's the problem, then?" asked Ichigo.
Hanabi stared in disbelief. "The Chunin Exam is in two weeks. We'll have to leave Konoha in seven days to arrive on time."
"So?" asked Ichigo. "That's two weeks of training. Unless we can't train on the road?"
"Two weeks is not enough time to completely adjust to missing an ability I've had since birth," said Hanabi hotly. "I don't care if you can do it that fast. Not all of us are geniuses."
Ichigo had the audacity to roll his eyes at her. "You don't need to adjust completely. Just as much as you can. Konohamaru and I will cover the rest. That's what teammates are for."
Hanabi felt her spirits lift almost against her will. Ichigo had already rescued her once, and Konohamaru knew what he was doing most of the time. If they passed the first two tests, her eyes would recover completely in time for the third part of the exam.
To Hanabi's eternal mortification, Hinata chose that moment to burst into tears. She threw her arms around Ichigo's neck and pulled him into a hug. Kon jumped from Ichigo's shoulder to Hanabi's to avoid being crushed.
"I'm so grateful you rescued Hanabi!" she wailed. "When Neji told us what had happened, I was so worried!"
Ichigo blushed. "You're welcome?" he said tentatively.
Hinata just tightened her grip and started to cry harder. It was too late for Hanabi to move away. People had seen them together. She would just have to wait it out. She ignored the small tinge of pleasure she felt at knowing Hinata cared enough to cry about her in public. The whole thing was undignified.
Ichigo patted Hinata lightly on the back. His face was almost the color of a strawberry at this point. He looked flustered but not embarrassed like Hanabi.
She smirked. This could be amusing.
"Little sisters take a lot of looking after," said Ichigo sympathetically. "But Hanabi is fine. She's standing right there. Staring at us. Grinning evilly."
Hinata dropped Ichigo like a hot coal and turned a suspicious gaze on Hanabi, who schooled her face into well-practiced blankness. It didn't help that Kon chose that moment to snicker into her ear.
A moment later, Hinata recovered her equilibrium. Her face drained of color and her hands flew to cover her mouth. She turned back to Ichigo.
"I didn't mean to cry on you, Kurosaki-san. I apologize," said Hinata.
"It's fine," said Ichigo quickly. "I mean, you didn't really need to cry, but it wasn't bad that you…never mind."
Hanabi watched as her sister and Ichigo slowly grew redder and redder in the face. She had learned more about Ichigo in the last four days than she had in the last four weeks. It was fascinating. More significantly, it was hilarious.
Hinata's long-held crush on Naruto meant she had almost zero dating experience. Ichigo appeared to be in the same straits. Hanabi kept her face still with herculean effort.
"Hinata-nee-sama and I were on our way to lunch. Would you like to join us, Ichigo?"
Both of them shot glares her way that read "why are you doing this to me?" but neither voiced any objections aloud. As the silence stretched, Hinata's face melted into uncertainty, and Ichigo's will crumbled.
"If I won't get in your way," he said at last.
"You won't," said Hinata.
Ichigo, typical of someone who associated with Naruto and Anko, had only eaten at Ichiraku and the dango shop. Yakiniku Q was reserved for team celebrations among Hinata's generation. Instead they went to a tearoom that Hanabi and her sister favored. The fare was light and the atmosphere was delicate, but Ichigo had two little sisters, he had probably been dragged to similar places before.
They ordered a handful of appetizers and desserts to sample. Hanabi and Hinata split a pot of Jasmine. Ichigo requested two cups of red tea. Hanabi stared when Ichigo put the second cup in front of Kon. He held his hand over the steaming mug and for the briefest of seconds the air was indescribably heavy. When Ichigo took his hand away, Kon reached for the tea and managed to drink it.
"How?" asked Hinata wonderingly.
Kon wasn't a puppet with a poison reservoir, so it was a legitimate question. But Hanabi was more concerned with why. The doll was just a toy. Even if it talked and moved, it didn't need to eat or drink.
Ichigo frowned contemplatively at the cup. "I killed the tea."
"You… killed… the tea," said Hinata slowly.
Ichigo nodded but didn't elaborate. Hanabi had a vision of how this conversation would go. She imagined it ending in tears and decided she didn't need that sort of stress before a meeting with the hokage. She nudged her sister in the side and signaled "DO NOT QUESTION" as emphatically as possible.
"Do you like it?" asked Hanabi instead.
"I prefer Earl Grey," said Kon. "But this is good too."
"I haven't heard of that one," said Hinata.
Ichigo launched into a surprisingly detailed description of the tea-trade back in his homeland, which Hanabi honestly found as boring as an Elder's speech about the honor of the Clan. Hinata-nee-sama was paying attention though. As heir and future-head, Hinata had to care about the business interests of the clan, and admittedly Ichigo's voice wasn't bad to listen to if one ignored the content.
Hanabi resorted to staring at Kon and trying not to imagine what "killing the tea" actually meant. It only took her a few seconds, to realize Kon was trying to get her attention. His paws weren't exactly shaped for it, but he was signing "team," "return," and "hospital" and nodding significantly at Ichigo and Hinata.
Hanabi had some experience at covert operations. It didn't take long for her to figure out what he meant.
"I left something at the hospital," she said abruptly pushing herself out of her chair. "I need to go and get it before our meeting."
"And I want to ask Karin something," said Kon. "Do you mind if I go with her, Ichigo? Hanabi can bring me back to the Tower after."
"If it's okay with Hanabi," said Ichigo.
"Oh, it's fine," she said. "Do you mind, nee-sama?"
Hinata's face was deliberately clear of worry when she answered, "I guess you can make it to the hospital on your own."
Out of respect for her sister's feelings, Hanabi refrained from rolling her eyes. She swiped a few of the desserts into a napkin and gestured for Kon to follow. The doll jumped to her shoulder and they left the restaurant. Hanabi circled the block once then searched for a place to spy on her sister and Ichigo.
The tearoom was a civilian establishment, which meant there weren't good sight-lines from the interior to the exterior, but it was still run by people who expected shinobi patronage, which also meant there weren't any handy corners for eavesdropping.
"If I could use my byakugan, I could see them from the hospital," grumbled Hanabi as she settled into position. Ichigo and Hinata couldn't see her, but anyone walking by the restaurant would notice her and using a genjutsu would draw unwanted attention in a situation like this.
"Really?" asked Kon. "That's pretty far away from here."
"Well, maybe not all the way at the hospital," admitted Hanabi. Using her byakugan for too long at that distant would cause eyestrain even if her eyes were completely healthy. "But definitely from some place less suspicious."
"Too bad," agreed Kon. Perched on her shoulder, he could stretch just enough peer over her head. "What are they doing?"
"Talking," said Hanabi. "I can only see Hinata-nee-sama's back from here, but I think Ichigo almost smiled."
Kon let out a low whistle. "Impressive."
Hanabi glanced at the golden-furred toy. "How did you drink that tea?"
"You could say, Ichigo used a concentrated burst of power to destroy the physical aspect of the tea and left the spiritual part behind. That's what I drank," explained Kon.
"You don't need to eat, do you?" asked Hanabi curiously.
Kon shook his head. "I don't need it, but it's nice sometimes to taste stuff and try new things. When it's food like Yuzu's, it's really good because she wants people to enjoy it, and that feeling transfers to the spirit of the meal. The tea was good too. The staff must really like you guys."
"This is nee-sama's favorite restaurant," said Hanabi peering into the window. Still talking, that was a good sign. "So Ichigo killed tea just so you could try it."
"Ichigo's a nice guy underneath the scowling," said Kon. "And I guess he trusts you guys. That's the first time he's used that power outside the house."
Hanabi felt the rush of victory. Neji had been working on gaining Ichigo's trust for months, and she had managed in one mission. One mission where she had been captured and unconscious for the important parts, but still…success!
"You haven't eaten out very much," said Hanabi pragmatically.
"No," said Kon. "I mean, even before we came here."
Hanabi was stunned speechless. That was a big deal.
Everyone with eyes knew that out of the three Kurosaki siblings Ichigo was the one having the hardest time adjusting to life in Konoha. He trained with Team Gai, he trained with Team Three, and then they completed a D-Rank. Rinse and repeat. Day after day with only slight variation on the weekends. Ichigo had never been mean. In fact, he was always perfectly polite, but he was also distant and uninterested in Konohamaru and Hanabi personally.
Hanabi hadn't cared and knew Konohamaru hadn't either. They had formed temporary teams with all sorts of people, some of them much less pleasant than a stand-offish Ichigo. Now, she was starting to realize that Ichigo wasn't really like that all.
"Hanabi-chan? What are you doing?"
Hanabi snapped her head around. All three members of the Konohamaru Corps were staring at her in confusion. They also happened to be in-line with the window.
"Get down," she hissed.
Obediently, all three dropped to the ground.
"Seriously, Hanabi-chan, what's going on?" asked Moegi.
Hanabi studied her rival carefully. Moegi specialized in genjutsu and taijutsu. She hid from her opponents until they were in range and then pummeled them into ground. She also knew all the tricky, perception-distorting techniques that were useful in combat. She and Hanabi had competed for the position of Kunoichi of the Year the entire time they were in the Academy. As a woman, Moegi would understand the significance of the event in question.
"Hinata-nee-sama is having lunch with Ichigo," Hanabi informed them solemnly.
"No way!" gasped Moegi.
"Seriously?" asked Konohamaru.
"Wait, that's Karin's brother?" asked Udon.
Udon had originally wanted to be a ninjutsu-specialist like Uchiha Sasuke. But after Team Ebisu's second attempt at the Exams, he had switched his focus to becoming a medic-nin after Konohamaru had protected his team through the second test but been too injured to compete in the third part. Moegi and Udon had both passed that year while Konohamaru was stuck as a genin. Udon would have seen Karin following Sakura around the hospital.
The three friends jockeyed for a peek through the window. Hanabi bore their presence with patience. Konohamaru won and let out a quiet cry of victory.
"Why aren't you using your byakugan?" asked Udon as he waited for his turn.
Hanabi sighed. "I'm not supposed to use my dojutsu for a month."
"But the Chunin Exams start in two weeks," protested Moegi.
"That's what I said," muttered Hanabi.
Konohamaru dropped away from the window. Moegi and Udon renewed their competition, but Konohamaru bumped his shoulder against Hanabi's.
"You'll be fine for the third part of the exam, right?" said Konohamaru. "Me and Ichigo can watch your back 'til then."
Hanabi smiled. "That's what he said."
"Of course," said Konohamaru. "Ichigo's a shinobi of Konoha and the boss's cousin. He's just a little stiff."
"Maybe he's not," said Hanabi. "I saw him almost smile earlier."
Konohamaru stared at her. "Now you're definitely joking."
Hanabi gave him her most serious glare. Konohamaru's expression slowly shifted into awe. Hanabi nodded. That was the appropriate reaction.
"Why are the four of you peeping in a tearoom? If you've got to stare, at least pick some place decent, like a bathhouse."
All four of them froze, five if you included Kon, and slowly looked up to see Anko leaning over them. Standing a little ways behind her was Yuzu and farther down the street were Ino, Sakura, and Karin.
The five of them must have been having lunch together today. It wasn't impossible. Ino was friends with Sakura and a colleague of Anko's after all. But what were the odds that they would all pass this street now?
Konohamaru was the first to cave. "Ichigo and Hinata are on a date!"
All five women perked up at the announcement. Hanabi had no idea Anko was interested in that sort of thing. As far as she knew, the jounin was the queen of one-night stands.
"Did you just say Ichigo was on a date?" Karin sounded surprised confirming that, yes, Ichigo was just as bad at dating as Hinata.
But more important than confirming Hanabi's theories and more frightening than the curiosity of three of the village's most famous kunoichi was the look on Yuzu's face. She looked like a cat who had a mouse in her sights and intended to play.
Hanabi felt a faint tugging on her hair. Kon was futilely trying to move her out of the way. Hanabi took the hint and dragged Konohamaru with her. Yuzu stalked forward and Moegi and Udon silently melted out of the way. This close Hanabi could see burns in Yuzu's outfit and smell the sharp sting of hot ash. Hanabi silently thanked her lucky stars that she wasn't the focus of that attention. Ichigo might be gruff, and Karin might be tough, but Yuzu was downright scary.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ichigo and Hinata stared at each other across the table. Hanabi and Kon's abrupt departure had startled them out of their conversation, or Ichigo's one-sided rant as it were.
"I think I might have run your sister off," he said apologetically.
"Hanabi's not very interested in commerce," said Hinata. "I was under the impression your family owned a medical clinic before you came to Konoha. But were you intending to go into trade?"
Embarrassed, Ichigo shuffled a hand through his hair. "No, I was studying law before. I just…after my mother died, I sort of obsessed over everything she liked, and she really enjoyed all these foreign teas. I think because some of her ancestors came from those places. So learning about tea was a way to keep her close. I might have gone a little overboard at the time. I guess it sounds weird now."
Hinata shook her head. "No, not at all. This is my mother's favorite tearoom. We came here together before she passed away. I started bringing Hanabi with me after I became a genin, but I don't think she remembers coming with mother. Hanabi was just a baby when she died."
"I'm sorry for your loss," offered Ichigo.
"And I'm sorry for yours," said Hinata. "But my mother wouldn't want us to have such a sad conversation at her favorite shop. So, you were studying law, you said?"
Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, I thought about maybe joining the police, but I had some authority issues. So, I decided to become a defense lawyer instead. That way I could…er…"
"That way you could keep protecting people without anyone ordering you around?" suggested Hinata.
Ichigo ducked his head. "Is it that obvious?"
Hinata held her thumb and forefinger together. "Just a little."
Ichigo squashed a grin into his usual scowl. "You seem pretty knowledgeable about trade yourself, Hyuuga-san. Is that part of your duties as heir?"
Hinata sighed. "One of many. I almost got out of it too. Unfortunately, Hanabi decided she'd rather focus her efforts on improving her skills than on herding elders."
"She does seem pretty committed to joining ANBU," said Ichigo.
"Hanabi told you that?" asked Hinata in surprise.
Ichigo faltered. Hanabi hadn't used words, but he had felt her desire for a something different in her strikes during practice. Gentle Fist wasn't what she wanted to be learning.
"Not exactly," he said. "You could say, I guessed from her fighting style. Speaking of which, I hope I didn't make too much trouble for you when I used that modified Gentle Fist on Hanabi."
Hinata shook her head. "Neji-nii-san helped me talk most of them down, and rescuing Hanabi turned opinion in your favor, Kurosaki-san. Naruto had a much harder time than I."
"I would have gone after Hanabi either way," Ichigo hastened to assure her. "But Naruto had trouble? Why?"
"Our elders complained to the elders from other clans, and by the morning you left half of them were convinced you were sent here to steal all of Konoha's kekkei genkai," explained Hinata.
Ichigo was mystified. "What? How?"
Hinata nodded her head toward the window. "You might find this hard to believe. But Konoha, and all of the Elemental Countries, are transitioning into an unprecedented era of peace. The elders have never seen anything like it. I think the change frightens them. If you were a spy, then that's something they can understand and do something about."
"Paranoid old men," said Ichigo. "Got it."
"Let's be fair, Kurosaki-san," said Hinata. "Some of them are paranoid old women, too."
Ichigo's mouth twitched involuntarily into a grin. It faded though as he thought about what Hinata was saying. It sounded a lot like the situation with the Central Chambers all over again.
"Is something wrong?" asked Hinata.
Ichigo shook his head. "Just thinking about politics, I guess."
Hinata wrinkled her nose. "A necessary evil." She hesitated and Ichigo gestured for her to continue. "Kurosaki-san, was there any reason in particular that you didn't officially join the ranks of the Court Guard? Other than the conflict over your mother's heritage? You said you had issues with authority, but you didn't object strenuously to becoming a genin according to Naruto-kun."
Ichigo grimaced. "I don't mind taking orders when they aren't stupid ones."
"What's an example of a stupid order?" asked Hinata.
Ichigo thought back to all of his interactions with Soul Society over the years. His hands unconsciously clenched into fists. "Leave your friends to die."
Hinata reached across the table to pat him on the hand. "You don't have to worry about that here. No one will give that kind of order in Konoha."
Ichigo's tension leeched away with her encouragement. Ichigo wasn't a fool. He knew what the world was like. Sometimes you had to leave people behind to complete your mission. Ichigo couldn't count the times he had left one of his friends to face one enemy while he went on to fight another. But that was a different kind of sacrifice, one that was unasked for, not demanded.
"Thanks," he said gently. Then he shivered. He glanced up but didn't see anyone nearby. "Do you get the feeling we're being watched?"
Hinata frowned and raised her free hand to form a seal. "Byakugan."
The veins around Hinata's eyes bulged. Her face shifted from concerned to alarmed. "It's Hanabi and Kon."
Ichigo snorted. "Figures. I must have bored them to death."
"And Konohamaru, and his friends, Moegi and Udon," continued Hinata.
"Oh?" asked Ichigo. He couldn't imagine why they were there.
"And Anko-san, Sakura-chan, Ino-chan, and your sisters," added Hinata in a rush.
Ichigo's eyes widened slightly. "You mean, everyone who knows both of us and might have reason to think of this as a date?"
"Well, cousin Neji and his team aren't there, and Naruto-kun must be at the Tower," offered Hinata gamely.
Simultaneously, Ichigo and Hinata dropped their gazes to the table. They weren't holding hands, but Hinata's was still resting on top of his relaxed fist.
Ichigo's felt his face flame. He couldn't bring his eyes back up to meet Hinata's, and he couldn't seem to move his hand either.
"Speaking of the Tower," he said eventually.
"Oh, yes, you don't want to be late," said Hinata.
They both jumped up at the same time. Ichigo reached for his wallet. "How much do I…?"
"I'll pay," said Hinata. "I mean, I have to pay for Hanabi's too, and we invited you."
"Then I'll pay next time," said Ichigo firmly.
Hinata squeaked. "Next time?"
Ichigo blushed even harder. "Next time we eat together. If that's okay?"
"That's okay," repeated Hinata.
"Okay," said Ichigo.
Hinata raised to her hands to her mouth and started tapping her fingers together completely derailing Ichigo's train of thought.
"The Hokage?" she said quietly.
"Right, thanks, bye!" Ichigo took off for the Hokage's Tower in an attempt to outrun anymore awkward conversation.
The next thing he knew, Ichigo was standing outside Tsunade's office next to Kurenai. She and Shizune, who had risen from her desk, were both holding half-drawn kunai.
He stared at the weapon in his sensei's hand. "Is something wrong?"
"Ichigo?" asked Kurenai holstering her kunai. "Where did you come from? And what was that noise?"
Ichigo's face hadn't even had time to cool from his earlier bout of blushing before flooding with heat. He must have used sonido by accident, and every person between the tearoom and the tower must have noticed. How embarrassing.
"Sorry, I thought I was late," he said.
"No, we still have a few minutes," said Kurenai. "You didn't happen to see Hanabi and Konohamaru on your way over, did you?"
Ichigo cleared his throat. "They were behind me."
Kurenai hummed noncommittally. The door to the Hokage's office slammed open.
"What in the world was that noise?" demanded Tsunade.
Shizune and Kurenai both pointed at Ichigo, who squawked a vain protest at the betrayal. Tsunade looked unimpressed.
"It's noisy. Knock it off," she said. "Where's the rest of your team?"
"They're on their way," said Kurenai.
"They still have two more minutes, hokage-sama," added Shizune helpfully.
Tsunade huffed and slammed the doors shut. Less than a minute later, Konohamaru and Hanabi came racing up the stairs. Kon clung gamely to Hanabi's back. When they stopped, he jumped to Ichigo's shoulder.
"Sonido?" whispered the modsoul. "Really, Ichigo?"
"I didn't want to be late," said Ichigo stiffly. That was his story, and he was sticking to it.
"Mm-hmm," said Kon. "Yuzu and Karin are going to ask you about everything when we get home. And you know, Yuzu's trained how to do that now."
Ichigo grimaced. "Maybe I can ask them about their ninjutsu training instead."
"Karin said it went well," said Kon. "But you know that won't stop them for long."
Ichigo side-eyed him. "Oh? When did she tell you that? At the hospital like you said? Or when you all were spying on us?"
Konohamaru and Hanabi didn't twitch a muscle. Kon squeaked and faced-forward.
Kurenai stared at all of them. "What's going on?"
The doors to the office crashed open a second time. "Alright, come on in," called Tsunade.
The hokage sat behind her desk, and Naruto was presumably at his. But he appeared to be buried beneath a pile of ancient scrolls. There was the occasional rustle of paper or pathetic wheeze, but it didn't seem Naruto would be joining in the mission review.
Tsunade leveled her gaze at the team. "Team Three technically completed the C-rank mission as assigned though obviously not as desired. Due to the interference of missing-nin, your mission was reclassified as an A-rank. However, since Kurosaki was the only participant in the rescue and retrieval, he will be the only one receiving A-rank pay. The rest of you will receive the normal compensation for a C-rank. Is that understood?"
Ichigo and the rest of the team nodded.
"Kurosaki, you also get this," said Tsunade.
She tossed a scroll at his head. Ichigo snatched it out of the air and raised a questioning brow.
"You eliminated two jounin and two chuin. All four were missing-nin from Kumo and wanted for war crimes. All of them had bounties in the Bingo Book. Take that scroll to the bank, and they will exchange it for the appropriate amount of money," said Tsunade.
"Yes, ma'am," said Ichigo. He tucked the scroll away gingerly. He might take a while before he cashed in. He had never been paid to kill someone before. Until recently, Soul Society had thought his continued existence was compensation enough.
Tsunade was frowning at him. "Normally, we do not encourage genin to track down dangerous shinobi of unknown skill level without the aid of their jounin instructors. You should have waited for Kurenai to recover. But, given the reputation of shinobi you killed, it's just as well that you didn't for Hanabi and Konohamaru's sakes."
Ichigo's teammates paled considerably. Ichigo grimaced. The female kunoichi who wanted revenge for her brother had had the purest motivation of the entire group, but even she had been twisted inside. Ichigo never enjoyed killing, not when he was himself, but in this case, he didn't regret the deaths at all.
"Now, we need to discuss how you were ambushed in the first place," said Tsunade. "Did you see any of the shinobi when you made the drop? Or did you have any suspicion that you were being followed?"
"No, ma'am," said Kurenai. "The mission proceeded as normal until the ambush."
Tsunade frowned. "Hyuuga, when was the last time you used your byakugan before the ambush?"
"Ma'am, my byakugan was active at the time of the ambush," said Hanabi. "I didn't observe anything unusual about the ground before the explosion. I also didn't see any shinobi within two kilometers."
"And you didn't notice anything either, Kurosaki?" asked Tsunade.
"No, ma'am," said Ichigo. "Two kilometers is outside my range unless the energy source is extremely strong or extremely active." He hesitated then added, "There was also some natural interference at near the site of the ambush."
"Natural interference?" asked Tsunade sharply.
"There was another large source of spiritual pressure nearby," said Ichigo. "It appeared natural and wasn't moving, so I didn't mention it."
"Next time, inform your team leader if something interferes with your ability to sense potential enemy shinobi," said Tsunade.
"Yes, ma'am," said Ichigo suitably chastened. Between Karin's coaching of Isobu and acclimation on the part of Ichigo, he had managed to filter out the sanbi's reiastu much the way he had learned to ignore Naruto and the kyuubi's, but he would remember in the future.
"There are a handful of techniques that have been developed to counter the byakugan though they are not widely known. Given the background of the shinobi that attacked you, it is likely that they knew at least some of those techniques," Tsunade told them.
Hanabi stiffened. Ichigo wondered how exactly that was possible. The byakugan could see through everything according to Neji. Maybe they had layered the ground with explosive powder so that it blended in? But what was the trigger? And how had they known the team would go in that direction? Maybe Ichigo should have kept one of them alive to interrogate.
"Kurosaki, I need you to explain some of the terms you used in your report," said Tsunade.
"Ma'am?" prompted Ichigo.
"We analyzed the residue of the sleeping powder left and determined it part of an experimental blend from Suna either smuggled and sold or stolen," said Tsunade. "There's no counter-agent as of yet, and it's extremely fast-acting once inhaled. How did you remain unaffected?"
Ichigo frowned. "I wasn't completely unaffected, but my regenerative powers metabolized before I could go under."
Tsunade made a note on the report in front of her. "You also mentioned using a technique, God Step, to transport Kurenai and when tracking down your teammates, but used a different one, Sound Ceremony, when transporting Hanabi and Konohamaru. What are those exactly?"
"God Step, hirenkyaku, is an enhanced movement technique, the Quincy-equivalent of Body Flicker, except more versatile. Sound Ceremony, sonido, is the enhanced movement technique used by Hollow. I'm faster with sonido, but you heard me use it earlier," said Ichigo.
Tsunade's expression cleared. "Yes, I see. Not useful in covert situations." She scribbled a few more notes and frowned again, "You also said you used fireworks to distract the enemy. Where did you get them?"
"I didn't have any powder to make real fireworks," said Ichigo. "But there's a kidou that mimics the effects: colored lights and noise. Kukaku used it to block the larger displays, even though it can't make intricate shapes."
Tsunade stared at him. A familiar look of disbelief crept onto her face. "You can make fireworks."
"Yeah, Kukaku insisted I learn. The Shiba are famous for them," said Ichigo.
Tsunade sighed. "Explosive-tags and smoke-bombs are part of a shinobi's basic kit, and you never thought to tell anyone you could make fireworks?"
"No," said Ichigo thoughtfully.
Ichigo had always imagined Kukaku's fireworks shows as another vibrant facet of her personality. He had never considered they could be used as weapons. The Shibas, before their exile, must have been partially responsible for the defense of Seireitei. He'd mention the idea to Karin and Yuzu and learn what they thought about it.
He didn't mention that to the Hokage though. Instead he offered, "I've never had to fight anyone who used actual artillery."
The pile of papers on Naruto's desk shifted. The blond jinchuuriki surfaced with an excited grin. "Did you just say you could make fireworks with kidou? Could you make some now?"
"No," snapped Tsunade. "We're in the middle of a debriefing. You can pick his brain later. Now get back to work."
Naruto grumbled but disappeared back into the assortment of scrolls. Tsunade returned her attention to Ichigo.
"You also reported using two more techniques: Hollow Flash and Hollow Bullet. Those are obviously Hollow techniques, but what do they do?" asked Tsunade.
"Cero, Hollow Flash, is concentrated blast of energy. The more time you have to build up energy, the stronger it becomes. I made it strong enough to be an instant kill shot. The second technique, Hollow Bullet, bala, is a quick-release version of the same ability. It doesn't have the same destructive force, but it does have more concussive force. The kunoichi was a jounin, so she had enough spiritual pressure to survive the blast from the bala, but it knocked her away from Hanabi," explained Ichigo.
"Why didn't use charge three ceros and snipe all of the kidnappers?" asked Tsunade.
"It's red light, and it moves in a straight line," said Ichigo. "After the first one, they knew where to find me. And I didn't want to move too far away in case they decided to cut their losses and run."
Tsunade nodded. "In that case, well done. Do any of you have anything to add that wasn't in the written report?"
Ichigo and the rest of Team Three remained silent. Tsunade nodded.
"Then our mission review is concluded," she said. "Before you are dismissed, Kurenai have you tested Ichigo for an Elemental affinity yet?"
Kurenai shook her head. "No, ma'am. I was going to tomorrow when we resumed training."
"Do you have any chakra paper on you?" asked Tsunade.
Kurenai reached into her vest and drew out a square piece of paper.
"Explain it to Ichigo," ordered Tsunade.
Ichigo arched a brow but obediently turned to Kurenai.
"Every shinobi has a natural affinity for one of the five elements: Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, or Water,"
said Kurenai. "As they advance in rank, shinobi identify their affinity and use it to master nature transformation to enhance their jutsu.
"Shinobi can use all five basic elements, but only elite shinobi can master more than one element. It is a significant achievement to master all five elements. The third hokage managed to do so, and that is Konohamaru's goal also," she concluded.
"My affinity's for Fire, but I can use Wind Release jutsu too," said Konohamaru.
"My natural affinity is also Fire. But I focused on learning Yin Release to enhance my genjutsu," said Kurenai. "Yin Release focuses on mental or spiritual energies while Yang Release emphasizes physical power."
"My affinity is for Water like the rest of my clan," said Hanabi. "But I've been working on Lightning Release, too."
"Karin and Yuzu mentionhed something like that," said Ichigo. "Karin is Water and Yuzu is Earth. I guess the paper's for the test?"
"Chakra paper is grown specifically to help determine your elemental affinity," confirmed Kurenai. "You add your chakra to the paper and…"
The square in Kurenai's hand ignited and turned to ash. She dusted off her hands and pulled out another piece. She gave to Ichigo.
"Your turn," said Kurenai. "Affinity runs in bloodlines, so you'll probably have the same as one of your sisters. Or you might have wind like Naruto."
Ichigo focused on the paper. He gradually channeled chakra into his hand. Nothing. He added a bit more. Still nothing.
"What are you waiting for?" asked Konohamaru.
"It didn't work," said Ichigo.
"Try more chakra?" suggested Hanabi.
Ichigo surged chakra into his hand the way same he had when Sakura tested him more than a month ago. It was enough chakra to bruise an ordinary person's chakra coils, but there was no reaction.
"Still didn't work," said Ichigo.
Kurenai frowned and took the paper back. Ichigo felt a brief surge in her reiatsu. She blinked in surprise. "It's already been activated."
Tsunade slammed a fist against her desk. There was a sharp crack, and the wooden monstrosity split in two. Ichigo took a cautious step back. Kon was prudently trying to hide behind Ichigo's head.
"Naruto! He's your cousin! You deal with it!" barked Tsunade.
"He's your cousin too!" yelped Naruto. "And how am I supposed to look for not having an affinity? It's not like the other two."
"That's not ominous at all," muttered Konohamaru.
Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "Did something happen with Karin and Yuzu when they were practicing?"
"They're fine, Ichigo. We saw them at lunch," said Hanabi.
"You're not wrong though," said Tsunade settling back down. The loss of her desk didn't seem to faze her at all. "Karin managed to use Ice Release and Yuzu used Lava Release during their morning training."
"Oh," said Konohamaru. "That's…weird."
Ichigo took a deep breath. Why couldn't shinobi ever explain anything properly? "And that means exactly?"
"Lava Release and Ice Release combine two nature transformations. Earth and Fire for one. Water and Wind for the other," said Kurenai. "But they can't be used by just any shinobi. They're a form of kekkei genkai and have to be inherited."
"Oh," said Ichigo. "So Naruto is…"
"Looking through records of joint mission with Uzu-nin trying to see if there are any examples of Lava or Ice Release in our bloodline," said Naruto. "Except there aren't any because Whirlpool was famous for fuinjutsu."
Ichigo frowned. "If these combined releases have to be inherited, how did ninja develop them in the first place?"
Tsunade looked at Naruto, who shrugged expressively. She looked back to Ichigo. "We don't know certain why people developed combined releases or why some people inherit them and some don't."
"Do you have an idea, Ichigo?" asked Naruto.
Ichigo hadn't quite hammered out the relation between chakra and spiritual power. Chakra was formed with physical and mental energy while the other naturally required spiritual energy. He did know that one was generally indicative of the other in shinobi and that even though they didn't seem to notice reiatsu, shinobi were still effected by it.
"I think I might know why Yuzu has Lava Release," said Ichigo calling to mind the molten pool at the bottom level of hell. "But I don't know how Karin could have spent that much time around ice. Rukia didn't have any power while she lived with us…"
Realization struck Ichigo like a lightning bolt and his face grew into a thunderous cloud to match.
"Did you think of something?" asked Naruto, the only person brave enough to dare.
"Hitsugaya Toshiro."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Toshiro sneezed violently, knocking a stack of paperwork onto the floor in the process. These days the piles of forms seemed to spawn on his desk. Every time he turned around there was something more to sign and something else to review.
"Oh, taicho, do you have a cold?" asked Rangiku. "I can go get some soup from the canteen."
"I don't get colds," said Hitsugaya. It was one of the many advantages of having the strongest ice zanpaktou in Soul Society. The paperwork was one of the few disadvantages. "Sit down, Matsumoto."
He sneezed again. There was probably a colony of dust mites in his office. He couldn't get anyone to clean until he cleared all the classified documents and more just kept appearing.
"Maybe you're working too hard, taicho," said Rangiku. "Orihime-chan told me that stress lowers the immune system. Let's take a break. We can go to a bar! The ones around Eleventh are open this time of day."
Toshiro rolled his eyes and tried to shake off the feeling of doom hanging over his head. "Matsumoto, if you really want to cut down on my stress, then do your own paperwork!"
"Aw, taicho!"