Naruto Fan Fiction / Bleach Fan Fiction ❯ Never Too Late ❯ June 17th, Day of Mourning and Reunions ( Chapter 1 )

Hey! This is Urban Phoenix! Hopefully all who reviewed enjoyed the little prologue of what happened to Konoha. A few things you should know that will be explained later:

 

-Naruto is the last surviving Ninja of KONOHA. *hint hint*

-The Time that has past since Konoha and the explanation of how it transitions to the present will be explained in detail in the next chapter.

-Karin, Yuzu, and Ichigo will pretty much accept Naruto into the family without much hassle one because they are his descendants and two, Naruto has that certain air about him.

 

Now please enjoy this chapters!

 

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Karin and Yuzu stopped walking and stared at the blonde haired man in front of their mother's grave. He was holding a white blazer over his shoulder as he stood there casually. They watched as he bent down setting an unusual plant down on the grave. As he stood up they noticed the unusual bandana around his neck with a metal plate on it.

 

“Who's that?” Yuzu asked looking at her sister.

 

“I don't know…” Karin replied staring at the man. There was something about the way he moved that screamed dangerous, but the energy around him told her he was friendly. Isshin, their crazy dad, put his hands on their shoulders and smiled. “Dad?” He forced them forward until they were next to the man.

 

“It has been a long time,” Isshin said causing the blonde to look up. “How have you been Naruto?”

 

The two young girls watched as the blonde man grinned and did some signs with his free hand. They blinked when their father nodded and replied back.

 

“I see, well then since you know Karin and Yuzu already let me introduce them to you.” Isshin said looking at his children. “Karin, Yuzu this is Naruto Uzumaki…he was a relative of your mother's.”

 

“Mom's?” Yuzu questioned looking at Naruto, whose grin widened and nodded. “How come we haven't seen you before?”

 

Naruto again did some hand signs with his free hand, not taking his blue eyes off Yuzu. Karin's eyebrow rose at this.

 

“He said it is because usually on this day he spends his time visiting the graves of his lover and friends.” Their father said. “You see guys, Naruto wasn't what you say close to your mother's side of the family.”

 

“Oh….” The youngest said. “I know it's sudden but can I call you Naru-nii-chan?” Yuzu asked blushing. The blonde man in front of her smiled and gave her the thumbs up.

 

Karin crossed her arm glaring at Naruto. “Why are you using sign language instead of speaking?” She asked bluntly.

 

“Karin!” Isshin looked down at his dark haired daughter in disapproval. His expression faded as Naruto waved him off. The bearded man frowned as he watched Naruto reach up and loosen the head band from around his neck. As he pulled it off, Isshin heard both of his daughters gasp. He looked down to see Naruto kneeling before the two girls allowing them to run their fingers over his scarred throat.

 

Yuzu began to cry as the older man stood up retying his head bandana around his neck. She flung herself at the blonde and wrapped her arms around his waist crying into his stomach. Naruto put his hand on Yuzu's head smiling softly. He knew his past was not for the weak hearted, but even so the young girl who just met him wept tears for his lost. He looked at Karin who looked guilty of something. Signing something to Isshin he pointed to Yuzu afterwards.

 

“Naruto says you shouldn't feel guilty, it's in the past.” Isshin said. Karin looked at Naruto who was watching Yuzu arrange the flowers he left. “Naruto has gone through a lot Karin, please don't hold anything against him now.” The young girl nodded and joined Yuzu and Naruto in paying respects to her mom.

 

Isshin watched as Naruto interacted with his daughters. It has been a very long time since he has seen the blonde. Though his son blamed himself for Masaki's death, Naruto's was much worse. Isshin knew about Naruto and Kyuubi and what happened in his village of Konoha so many years ago. Masaki told him about it.

 

Apparently Naruto took it upon himself to watch over his descendants. As generations wore on, Naruto would appear before his kinsman and tell them who he was. A few rejected him because of the demon and a few, like Masaki, accepted him.

 

On this day, all those years ago when Masaki died, Naruto wasn't watching over her like he promised himself. Instead he was residing in his home mourning the death of his village for one whole week as he had for centuries, but on the last night of the one week Masaki saved Ichigo resulting in her death. Naruto had just gotten to the river bank in time to pull Masaki and Ichigo back onto the grass. Isshin remembered when Naruto appeared before him later that night after he sent the kids to their friends. The young blonde had Masaki's blood on him still, drenching what were a white jacket, green shirt, and white pants. His hands were stiff with dried blood and his face was cold from the weather and the tears he shed. All in all Naruto was a mess.

 

The father of three had taken in the blonde and cleaned him up. The young boy was catatonic until Isshin had tried to go for the bandana around his neck. He had lashed out at first struggling against Isshin in a haze of memories that were pushing to the foreground of his mind. When good doctor was able to subdue Naruto, the young boy broke down. His sobs filled the thankfully empty house as he tried to scream the names of his former lover and his friends, despite his damaged voice box, mourning their death in a way that he never could.

 

“Naruto!” Isshin called causing his two daughters and Naruto to look up. “Can you take care of Karin and Yuzu? I need to go have a talk to the priest.” The blonde looked at the two girls, before turning to the man and nodding. The widower smiled and walked away leaving the three at his wife's grave.

 

---

 

Ichigo leaned on his hands after he fell to his knees. The thoughts and memories of his mother overwhelmed him. Her death replayed over and over in his mind causing the guilt to rise. How his mother died evaded him, he had blacked out after the cape he was trying to catch disappeared. All Ichigo knew is that when he woke up, is that they were back on land and his mother was dead. Since then Ichigo has been blaming himself for his mother's death knowing that if he never raced down the embankment to save that girl that his mother would never have followed him and never died. The center of his sisters, his father, and his world would never have disappeared.

 

Sitting up Ichigo, sighed. He closed his eyes and ran through everything in his head. Just then he felt a weight fall on his shoulder. Standing up, his eyebrow twitching Ichigo snatched Kon from his shoulders. “TEME!” He glared at Kon, but stopped as soon as he saw the mod soul's tears. “What's wrong?”

 

“Nee-san!” Kon said. “She's in trouble! Some weird guy showed up and…”

 

Ichigo throw Kon to the ground and took off. June 17th was the day he lost his mother because of his stupidity as a child, but it won't be the day he loses his friend because of his mourning of something that happened a long time ago.

 

“NEE-SAN!” Kon called out as they entered the area where Rukia was.

 

“Rukia!” Ichigo said as he stopped a few feet away from the scene. He glanced at the man and raised an eyebrow. He was a shinigami, but why was he here? “Bastard, who the hell are you?”

 

The shinigami waved. “Hey spikey-head! You can see me, can't you?”

 

“Of course I can!” Ichigo looked at Kon. “Who the hell is this joker?”

 

“How the hell should I know?” The stuffed animal looked at Ichigo. The young man growled and snatched the small thing shaking it.

 

The shinigami watched with amusement. “Tell me, just who are you?”

 

“Ichigo, don't!” Rukia shouted.

 

“I'm a substitute shinigami!” Ichigo glared as the other man began to laugh. He became confused when the man said that it was a felony. “What the hell are you talking about?” The older man charged at Ichigo raising his zanpakatou and slashing away. Ichigo dodged out of the way and immediately reached into Kon for the mod soul pill. As the shinigami came at him again Ichigo swallowed the pill.

 

“Where are you looking?” The man exclaimed as he came down on Ichigo's body. Kon and Ichigo separated allowing Ichigo to use his own sword to deflect the shinigami's. “Impressive,” he said as he landed. “You really switched, even though you're just a human. How did you get that power?”

 

“Like I'm really going to tell a guy who comes and slashes at me like he is trying to kill me.” Ichigo replied.

 

Rukia raced in front of the orange haired boy. “Ichigo back down! This is my fight…”

 

“Like you can do anything unarmed,” Ichigo said gently pushing Rukia out of the way. “Outta the way, Kon!” The soul inhabiting his body jumped up allowing Ichigo to charge straight at the shinigami.

 

The other man smirked and met Ichigo head on allowing them to clash swords.

 

---

 

Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly as he felt a shift in the air. He looked down at Karin as she gasped and stepped back from Masaki's grave. Yuzu glanced at Naruto before looking at her sister.

 

“What's wrong?” Yuzu asked. “Karin-chan?” Her sister gasped causing Yuzu to stand up. Karin reached out her arm and pushed Yuzu behind her. “Come on. What's wrong?”

 

“Where's pop?” Karin asked not explaining what was going on.

 

“He went to talk with the priest.” Yuzu replied watching as her sister's bared her teeth in fear.

 

`So the older kit can sense them better than the younger one.' Kyuubi said in Naruto's head. The blonde turned to see the ripple of the monster advancing toward the girls. `He is like the ones that destroyed our home.' Naruto's fist clenched at his side while the other stayed in his pocket. I couldn't save Masaki back then but I'm not letting her children die, Naruto thought. His attention was snapped back to reality when he heard the eerie voice.

 

“You're going to come with me for a while. The more bait the better.” A large chicken foot print embedded itself in the stone walk.

 

“Karin-chan?” Yuzu put a hand on Karin's shoulder as the girl stared at the blur of the monster. As the monster laughed, it began to loom over the two girls.

 

“Yuzu, run away!” The dark haired girl shouted in fear. She was picked up and thrown away.

 

“Karin-chan!” Yuzu shouted and started to run toward her sister even as she was told to stay away, luckily Naruto grabbed her around the waist. He watched with pained eyes as the monster, that he could see clear, step on his descendant's back. “Yuzu! Tell me what's wrong!” A tentacle reached out to grab Yuzu's neck, but Naruto jumped back away from it. “Karin!” She struggled in Naruto's grip to get to her sister. She then bit Naruto to get free.

 

The blonde's eyes widened as the tentacle wrapped around her neck and raised her up. `Yuzu!' He screamed in his mind.

 

“You're noisy.” The monster said, opening its mouth. “I guess one hostage is enough.”

 

Karin winced at the foot tightened around her. “No! Yuzu!”

 

`Go kit! Do it now!' Kyuubi roared in Naruto's mind.

 

Naruto flicked his wrist causing a kunai to shoot out of his sleeve into his hand, a long practice move that held grace. He glanced out of the corner of his eyes to see an orange haired boy in a black kimono race forward also. Naruto flipped up toward the tentacle, slicing it through with the kunai as it was under his head while he went over it.

 

Ichigo jumped over the strange blonde haired man and used his back as a springboard to shoot off of. He grabbed Yuzu in mid-air and landed safely on the ground, turning to glare at the Hollow. The Hollow pulled Karin up with his arm and smirked at Ichigo.

 

“I still have a hostage.” It said. “I've been waiting for you shinigami…”

 

Rukia gasped as a blonde haired man landed beside Ichigo as he set Yuzu against a grave stone. It couldn't be…he couldn't be here right now.

 

“Karin!” Ichigo shouted as he looked at his other sister.

 

“Ichi…” Karin murmured before falling unconscious.

 

Shaking off her shock at the blonde haired man, Saidou, the shinigami Ichigo was fighting landed beside her. “That guy…”

 

The hollow began to laugh as Ichigo's eyes looked at the young boy standing in front of it now. “What's….going on…” He asked as the hollow continued to laugh. The substitute shinigami's eyes narrowed. “You bastard, you were on the bank that day weren't you? Six years ago! Why are you here?”

 

Naruto stood beside Ichigo listening as he explained to Rukia what happened on that day. He felt his stomach clench. He knew that leaving before Ichigo awoke was a bad idea. The guilt Naruto had tripled as he listened to the young boy began to hesitate to say that his mother died. His eyes narrowed as he looked up at the Hollow that began to speak. His grip on the kunai tightened. Damn the Ground Fisher! Naruto knew he should have killed it when he had the chance. But things needed to go in a different direction. He glanced at Ichigo, to get stronger the boy will need to be able to fight on his own. That means no interfering and killing the damn thing himself.

 

`We will have our chance another time.' Kyuubi said agreeing with Naruto not getting in the way. `He will need to be stronger if he will be a shinigami.'

 

An enraged yell allowed Naruto back to the present and see Ichigo charge at the Hollow. `FOOL!' He thought as he watched his descendant get caught by the hair. Rukia sprang into action and began a Kido. The Ground Fisher turned and knocked her down though, fortunately it gave Naruto an opening to get Karin. He quickly formed some familiar seals with his hands. In his head a familiar call echoed. `Kage Bunshin no jutsu!' A clone appeared next to Naruto, catching the kunai that was flipped toward it. `Go!' Naruto commanded. The clone dashed off, climb up the hollow's back.

 

“Hey! What are you doing?” Ichigo yelled as the clone flipped over the Ground Fisher. The clone threw the kunai at the arm holding Karin, slicing clean through it. “Karin!” The arm dropped to the ground with Karin landing safely on it. Ichigo broke free from the hair and landed on the concrete. The Hollow shot hair out toward Karin attempting to kill her. “No!”

 

Naruto's clone dispersed as the real Naruto jumped in front of Karin, a single kunai his only weapon. He diverted the hair away from any vital organs with the kunai allowing them to hit him in his arms, legs, and stomach. The blonde stared at the Hollow as Masaki's image flickered before it. His eyes widened as he stepped forward a bit. `Masaki…'

 

`Naruto…' Kyuubi spoke softly as Ichigo came and cut the hair from his body. Blood dripped from his body onto the concrete ground. `I've started to heal already, but only just so they won't suspect…'

 

“Hey! Why did you do that?” Ichigo asked looking back at the strange blonde.

 

Rukia stood and ran to the blonde. “Are you alright….eh…sir?” She asked as the blonde gave her a hard stare. She supposed he didn't want her to say anything about know him with Ichigo and some strange shinigami there.

 

Ichigo watched as the blonde signed to them. He blinked and scratches his head. “What did he say?” He turned back to the Hollow to see it race off. “Aw hell…” He chased after it.

 

Naruto pushed Rukia toward the direction Ichigo went in. “Kon should be here soon. He knows sign language…explain it to him. Saidou,” Rukia looked at the other shinigami. “Make sure the girls are okay.” The blonde rolled his eyes as he looked at Saidou. Rukia bit her lip before running off.

 

“So I guess it's you and me Blondie.” Saidou said turning to look at the injured man to see him standing up straight and brushing off his shoulders. “Eh…what? But you were…”

 

Blue eyes glanced at Saidou before turning to the girls and sighing. He knelt down his hands flaring with blue chakra as he scanned them both to make sure they were not harmed internally. When he made sure all was well, Naruto stood and looked up at the body of his descendant as he jogged over to them.

 

The mod soul-operated body stopped when it saw Naruto and paused. The energy around this guy was dangerous. Kon cautiously stepped forward not knowing if this guy was friend or foe.

 

Naruto looked at Kon and smiled before signing to him. `Kon…it has been a while.'

 

He watched as his descendant's eyes widened in realization. “It can't be…you disappeared ages ago!”

 

`So I did. It seems you have crossed paths with my descendant.' Naruto tilted his head toward Ichigo's body and his grand-cousins. `I need you to make sure you take care of the girls.'

 

“What about Ichigo?” Kon said as he knelt by the girls.

 

`I'll see to him personally, but I think he can take care of himself.' Naruto signed as he glanced at Saidou. `Also…watch out for the nimwad.'

 

Kon chuckled and nodded. Naruto flashed the mod soul a small smile before racing away to watch the fight between Ichigo and the Ground Fisher.

 

---

 

Ichigo frowned as he stared at his mother grave after his father left. It was still his fault. He still let his mother die even if it was technically the Hollow's doing. His face was set in a grim frown. He though back to the fight. If that strange blonde haired guy wasn't there…he didn't know what would have happened to his sisters. Tears raced down Ichigo's cheeks as he thought of how things could have been if he didn't screw up so bad.

 

He was suddenly jerked off balance, Ichigo fell back into a warm embrace. Turning his head up slightly, Ichigo saw a flash of blonde. Though he didn't know this man, he strangely felt safe. The embrace felt familiar and the scent of the man was something that Ichigo had smelt before.

 

Naruto turned Ichigo around and let the young boy bury his face into his shoulder. He hugged Ichigo tightly as the young boy let his tears go. He knelt down as Ichigo's body sagged against his own. He slowly ran his hand through the orange mop of hair. The soothing gesture seemed to help Ichigo as he let go of his emotions more and began to beat on Naruto's chest.

 

“WHY! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS! I'M A MURDERER!” Ichigo screamed in anguish. The young boy beat against the blonde's chest trying to make Naruto hate him. For what seemed like hours, which was only minutes, Ichigo wailed his sorrows in the man who saved his sisters. “Why…” He hiccupped as his fist landed on Naruto's shoulder.

 

The once great ninja smiled sadly and reached up to grab Ichigo hand. His other hand was still in the young boy's hair as he brought them both up. Once standing, Naruto's arm went around Ichigo's waist keeping the young boy on his feet. He looked over the boy's head to see his father heading toward them.

 

“Ichigo…” Isshin called softly. The orange haired boy stood, shakily on his feet as he turned to his father while wiping his tears. “I see Naruto has been watching over you.”

 

“Naruto?” Ichigo questioned turning to look at the man who comforted him. His eyes widened as he looked at one of the most beautiful men he's seen. The blonde just smiled at him and raised his hand in a small wave. “Who…”

 

Isshin put his hand on Ichigo's shoulder. “He is a distant cousin on your mother's side.”

 

“Mom's distant…”

 

“Yep!” His father said with a smile. “He's a little older than you.”

 

The blue eyed man chuckled as Ichigo stared at him. He was just waiting for the young boy's mouth to drop or something. `You can't help it if you are sexy.' Kyuubi murmured in Naruto's head. Naruto chuckled and turned to Isshin before signing to him quickly.

 

“What?” Ichigo blinked as the sexy man moved his hands rapidly. “What the hell?”

 

“Oh…” Isshin looked at Ichigo as Naruto pulled out his cell phone. He smiled as the blonde rapidly typed something on his blackberry curve before turning it and showing Ichigo.

 

/I can't speak, so I use sign language./ It read. The orange haired boy looked at the blonde haired man and nodded. Naruto grinned and typed something else on the phone and showed Ichigo. /By the way, I asked your dad if I could have a place to stay. If that is alright with you…/

 

Isshin smiled as Naruto asked his eldest for permission. The blonde knew that Isshin would say yes, but to Naruto it was important that everyone accepted him.

 

Ichigo looked from the phone into blue eyes. He then turned to his dad then back to Naruto. “How long will you be staying for?” He asked.

 

Naruto smiled at Ichigo and shrugged. `Hey kit, maybe we should tell him who we are. I mean…it is Masaki's son.' Kyuubi said in Naruto's mind as he watched Ichigo and Isshin talk about putting Naruto in the guest room. The blonde quickly vetoed the fox's idea.

 

`Now is not the time...' Naruto replied to the fox. The resident inside of him merely snorted before becoming silent as Ichigo walked up to Naruto.

 

“Come on, it's time to go home.” The orange haired boy said, grabbing Naruto's hand and pulling him away from his mother's grave.

 

The blonde looked back at the grave and smiled slightly. `I won't fail this time.' He thought as he was dragged away by Ichigo. `I promise I will keep your family safe Masaki.' Naruto vowed as he turned away from the grave stone looking at Isshin who was walking beside them. The older man put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

 

No one noticed the gentle breeze carry the Konohan Flowers up and away from the grave. Nor did they see the smiling spirit of a beautiful woman grin after them.

 

Our family, Naruto-kun. You have as much right to call it that as anyone.