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Chapter IV
Hokage’s Mansion
A ray of light shone brightly the next day, illuminating the room. Rubbing his eyes, Ichigo woke up, and got out of bed. His muscles felt full of energy and life, like he could do anything. Renji was sitting up in his bed, flicking through the T.V., which was on a loud volume.
“So,” Renji said. “You’re finally awake?” He finally found a decent channel, so he placed the remote in front of him.
Walking to the bathroom, Ichigo replied, “Yeah. You’ve been up for a while?”
Renji nodded. “We’re all waiting for you.”
“Waiting?” Ichigo glanced at the clock. It said 11:56 am. “Crap! We overslept!”
“We?” Renji said. “Everyone else has been up since seven! It’s your fault!”
“Well, why didn’t you wake me up?” Ichigo exclaimed as he turned on the water to brush his teeth.
“I did,” argued Renji, turning his head to reveal a dark bruise on his cheek. “Then you hit me in your sleep, you amateur!”
Ichigo spit out the water in his mouth, and threw away the disposable toothbrush. He walked out of the bathroom, slipping on his Shihakushô. “Where is everyone?” he asked, tying his white cloth belt.
“I don’t know,” Renji replied. “In the lobby, I guess.” He opened the door, flicking off the T.V. “That’s where I’m going now. I’ll meet you there.”
“All right,” Ichigo replied, as Renji closed the door behind him. Ichigo quickly finished getting ready and left the room.
He arrived in the lobby to find Renji, Chad, Orihime, and Uryû waiting for him. They all had their packs and were ready to leave. The sun shone brightly in the room, causing a beautiful yellow glow to illuminate the room. Ichigo walked over to Chad, smiling. “So how are you feeling?” he asked.
“I’m fine now, thanks,” Chad replied, holding his supply bag in his hands. He had a small bandage above his eyebrow where he hit the ground. “Orihime fixed me up pretty good. Thanks to her I didn’t lose a lot of blood.”
Blushing, Orihime replied, “It was nothing. I did what anyone would have done.” She paused. “Besides, even if I didn’t heal you, you probably would have lived anyway.”
“No,” Ichigo remarked. “You saved his life, Orihime.” This just caused her to blush brighter as she turned away to hide her face.
“I’m personally glad that you’re better,” Renji retorted. “Now we don’t have to carry your heavy ass.”
“I’m sorry I was such a burden,” Chad apologized, with no emotion in his voice.
“Relax, Chad,” Ichigo said. “He was only kidding.” He looked around the room. Only a few people were around the hotel. “Wait, where’s Rukia?”
No one answered. After a short pause, Uryû said, “She’s still in her room.”
“Still?” Ichigo wondered.
“Well,” Uryû chuckled nervously. “She wasn’t feeling quite herself last night.”
Interested, Ichigo asked, “What does that mean?”
“She went into a store to get something to eat. She asked me to join her last night before you met up with her later that night. So I said I’d go, just to keep her company. Orihime was with you.” Uryû sighed. “But at the store she ordered some weird drink. I forget what’s it was called, but when I asked the waiter why Rukia started acting so weird, he asked me ‘how much did she drink?’ He told me there was sake in it.”
“Ichigo gulped. “So she was kind of tipsy last night?”
Orihime shook her head. “No,” she disagreed. “She was actually pretty drunk.”
Ichigo sighed. “That explains a lot. But to be honest, I really couldn’t imagine Rukia wasted.”
“She didn’t know it had alcohol in it,” Orihime replied in Rukia’s defense.
Ichigo began to walk up the stairs. “I’ll go get her then. We’re running late as it is.” He ascended the stairs and knocked on Rukia’s room door. He waited, but there was no answer. “At this rate we won’t make it to Silent Hill today.”
A longer pause drifted by. Ichigo started to get impatient. “Rukia,” he called out. Still no answer. He turned the knob and was shocked to find it open. Ichigo pushed open the door and stepped inside. He saw that one bed was very neat, and the other was pretty messy, with one pillow on the floor, and the covers were strewn across the bed.
Ichigo walked to the center of the room. “Damn, where is she?”
The bed moved. Ichigo, startled, glanced at the bed to find Rukia sleeping, holding a pillow over her head. “Uh, Rukia?” He moved to her side and nudged at her.
She sat up in a flash and yelled angrily, “What do you want? Can’t you see I’m trying to get rid of this damn pounding in my head?”
Taken aback, Ichigo replied, “Yeah, well, we’re ready to go. What are you doing? Nursing a hangover?”
Staring blankly, Rukia asked, “What’s a hangover?”
Smirking, Ichigo replied, “Never mind. But seriously, let’s go. We’re all waiting in the lobby for you.”
After some effort, Rukia slipped out of bed. She was wearing nothing but panties and a bra. She glared at her nearly naked body in shock, as Ichigo covered his eyes in haste. “What the hell happened last night?” She exclaimed, quickly covering herself up. “I always sleep in pajamas!”
Ichigo hustled out of the room, saying, “I don’t know, and I didn’t see anything! But hurry up!” He opened his eyes only after he shut the door behind him.
Ichigo began to think as he walked down the stairs. “I guess I should avoid these long trips with Rukia. Or at least I should monitor what she eats.”
The group waited a few minutes before Rukia descended the stairs as well, joining the rest of the group in the lobby.
While waiting for Uryû to finish the check out process, Ichigo glanced around the room, noticing many strange pictures posted on the walls. Most wore the same type of uniform as Iruka. Each painting depicted a ninja like character, all had a stern face, with a lot of pride. Under each picture was a caption explaining who the man or woman was and what they did special for the village. One painting stood out from the rest. Instead of a stern faced warrior, it was a painting of a cheerful, blonde haired individual. He wore a large grin on his face, and he seemed to have a powerful aura around him. One of those that made you feel safe. Under his picture, the caption said:
The Fourth Hokage
May he live on in our spirits as the strongest Shinobi ever. His good deeds will never be forgotten as the one who saved the village from the Nine Tailed Demon Fox
Ichigo forgot about the painting once the group left the lobby. Once outside, Ichigo felt refreshed. The sun shone brightly on the houses below. Many people hustled about, eager to get to their destinations. The sky was blue with a promising shine to it.
As they walked, they conversed about their adventures the night before. Rukia had little to offer for talk, and she began to wonder why she couldn’t remember what had happened the night before.
They quickly reached the gates of the village. Orihime then asked, “Shouldn’t we say goodbye to Iruka and Asuma?”
Uryû thought for a moment. “I guess you’re right, Orihime.”
I guard at the gates perked his head up in interest. He began to walk towards the group. “Oh, so you’re the group that Iruka brought back yesterday?”
They stared back. Ichigo spoke up, “Yeah.”
The guard smiled. “Excellent. We were ordered to find you, and we figured that you’d stop by the gates eventually.”
“Why is that?” Chad asked.
“Our Hokage would like to have a word with you,” he replied.
Ichigo asked, “Hokage? I’ve heard that before. Recently. What is that?”
“The Hokage,” the guard replied. “Is the leader of our village. They make all the decisions of our village.”
Curious, Uryû asked, “What does the leader, what did you call it, Hokage? What does the Hokage want with us?”
“We should just go,” Ichigo said.
“We can lead you,” said the guard.
“Okay,” replied Ichigo.
The guard led the group throughout the village. They passed many shops and building along the way. One in particular caught Orihime’s attention. “Oh I wish I would have noticed that shop so we could have gone there last night, Ichigo.”
It was a quaint little store, with a headboard above it that held the title, ‘Yaminaka Flower Shop’.
“Yeah, well,” Ichigo replied. “Flowers aren’t exactly my thing, Orihime.” He shrugged off the idea of walking into a flower shop.
As they passed, they noticed a wide variety of flowers located in the front of the shop. Pink, blue, red, and many other colored flowers were on display. A heavenly aroma filled the air. They walked passed it however.
After a few minutes walking, the group arrived at a very large building. It wasn’t very wide, but it was extremely tall.
“Here it is,” said the guard. You already have permission to step in. Just say your name is Rukia Kuchiki.”
Rukia looked up. “Why me?”
Smirking, the guard replied, “Well, we know you the best. Most people would know that you’re part of this group.”
Confused, Rukia asked, “But why?”
Chuckling, the guard replied, “Well, let’s just say you made a name for yourself.”
Still confused, Rukia just walked past him and stepped inside, along with the rest of the group.
The ascended the stairs which were quite obvious. A sign in the entrance said the Hokage’s room was on the top level. So that’s where they went. The stairs were exhausting, with many, many floors before they reached the top. After much effort, the eventually did get to the top level.
They met two more guards protecting the door. “Can we help you?” They asked.
Blushing, Rukia averted their gaze and replied, “My name is,” she paused. The guards leaned closer, barely interested. She continued after a deep breath. “My name is Rukia Kuchiki.”
The one guard opened his eyes wide. “Oh yeah! It is you!”
The other guard asked, “Who’s that? I never heard of her.”
Laughing, the first guard replied, “She’s this traveler who got pretty drunk last night and started acting really funny.”
“Oh, did she take of her shirt or something?”
“No, she was just drunk.”
“That’s not funny.”
Rukia was blushing in pure embarrassment. Ichigo and the others were trying to hold back laughing in her face.
“Anyway,” the guard began. “The Hokage did say that she wanted to see you, so I suppose I should let you in.” Before he opened the doors he said, “But I must ask that you call her Lady Tsunade. It’s just a respect thing.”
The group agreed, as the guard opened the door. The Hokage’s room was a small round room, with only a single desk in the center. The whole outside half of the circle was three giant windows, revealing an amazing view of the village. A young looking blonde haired woman sat at the desk. Piles of papers and books were stacked it, nearly covering the woman. Her hair was tied into two pig tails, which were tied down, instead of the traditional up.
A black haired woman was standing next to the Hokage. She was watching the group as it entered. The Hokage sat up and folded her arms. “I didn’t send for any food. What are you doing here?”
Rukia spoke up. “We’re the group of travelers that was brought in by Iruka and Asuma.”
Immediately changing her tone of voice, the Hokage said, “Oh I see. Welcome to the Leaf Village. I am the fifth Hokage, Tsunade.” She looked over her right shoulder. “This is my assistant, Shizune.”
“It’s good to meet you,” Uryû began, but what exactly did you summon us for? Surely the Hokage doesn’t meet with every group of travelers that comes by?”
“Try to watch what you say,” growled Shizune.
“It’s fine,” Tsunade replied. “Well, no I don’t, to answer your question. But I got a very interesting report from Asuma. About some very strange powers that were used by some of you.” She glanced at Orihime, then to Chad. Then she spoke, “So I’m just curious, where are you traveling to?”
Rukia explained their mission to Silent Hill. Tsunade listened intently. Once Rukia had finished her explanation, Tsunade replied, “I see. Unfortunately, I never heard of that place. But you say there’s been a weird energy emitting from this town?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Rukia replied.
“And is there any inhabitants?”
Solemnly, Rukia answered, “Actually, our sensors can’t pick anything up at all. Like the town doesn’t exist. But it’s just a hole in the world. And that can’t be, obviously.”
“I have an idea as to what might be happening,” Tsunade began, looking more serious now.
“Any information would help,” Renji said.
“Well, our village in preparing for an attack from an unfathomable enemy. His name is Orochimaru,” Tsunade explained. “He’s been known to exploit entire towns, leaving absolutely nothing behind. Not even one survivor.”
“Why?” Ichigo asked. “What’s the point in that?”
“He experiments on the villagers.”
The group all tried to soak in this disturbing information. “How does he do that?” Chad asked.
“We’re not entirely sure,” Tsunade replied. “By the way, I realized the only one I know here is Rukia Kuchiki. What are the names of the rest of you?”
The group introduced themselves individually. After the proper introductions, Tsunade considered these names. Then she spoke, “Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado? So a princess and a tiger, huh? Those are some pretty impressive names.”
The two of them simply stared at Tsunade, not sure what else to do. Then the Hokage spoke again. “So I’ve made up my mind. The Leaf Village is going to help you.”
The group stared at Tsunade in disbelief. Ichigo asked, “But why, Tsunade? Why do you have any reason to help us?”
Sighing, Tsunade explained, “I’ve already said it. The reason is quite simple. These patterns have been seen with Orochimaru. He’s a major enemy of the Leaf Village, so we would have sent ninja there anyway. You just saved us the trouble of finding the town ourselves.”
“I suppose we can’t say no to your offer,” Uryû said. “Thank you very much, Lady Tsunade.” He bowed in respect.
“Unfortunately,” Tsunade said. “We don’t have many Shinobi to spare, so we’ll send who we can. Since we don’t know if this is Orochimaru’s behind this, we don’t actually know the level of danger. So we won’t send any Jonin. I suppose a few Genin should be all right.”
Confused, Ichigo asked, “What’s Genin and Jonin?”
Tsunade explained, slightly irritated. “Those are the levels of ninja. I heard you weren’t from around here, but still. Have you been living under a rock?”
“No, ma’am,” Orihime replied. “Karakura town.”
“Don’t bother,” Ichigo said.
“Anyway,” Tsunade continued. “Jonin is an elite ninja. Genin are those who recently graduated from the academy. So they’re inexperienced. Chunin are in between. Slightly more experienced, and much more powerful than Genin. Then there’s the Anbu Black Ops. They reside above Jonin. The only level above Anbu is the Hokage. Of course, there are three ninja who are above the Hokage. They are called the Sannin.”
“Only three?” Ichigo asked.
“Yes,” Tsunade answered. “The Legendary Sannin consist of three Shinobi. I am one of the three.”
Shocked, Ichigo replied, “But now you’re Hokage. Is that a demotion?”
“Not necessarily. I am still a Sannin, but I am also the Hokage. So I have both titles.”
“Impressive,” Uryû replied.
“The other Sannin is a man named Jiraiya, who is currently away, training a particular Genin. The last Sannin is none other than Orochimaru.”
“I see,” Uryû said. “So I guess Orochimaru is somebody to be wary of.”
“Absolutely,” Tsunade replied. “Anyway, I have a team set up for you. It consists of three Chunin and two Genin.” She paused. Although, I sent a request to Jiraiya to have his pupil return. He isn’t due to come back, but if Orochimaru is behind this, which it seems at this point, then this kid will never let me live it down that I didn’t send him along as well.”
Tsunade handed Rukia a piece of paper. It had all the names of their new teammates, and their rank:
Kiba Inuzuka – Genin
Choji Akamichi – Genin
Neji Hyuga – Chunin
Sakura Haruno – Genin
Shikimaru Nara – Chunin
Tsunade let them read the paper. Then she said, “And the other Genin that might be joining you is named Naruto Uzumaki.” She handed Rukia a picture of a blonde haired kid with spiky hair. He was grinning widely with a goofy smile. He was wearing an orange baggy shirt and pants with a blue stripe that went down the center, and then stretched from his chest to either shoulder. “Unfortunately, he’s been training for the past year and a half, so we don’t have a recent picture of him.”
“This is fine,” Uryû said. “Where will we meet with these other members?”
“They’ll be waiting for you at the Leaf Village gates,” Tsunade answered. “Although, Naruto might meet you later down the road. It depends whether or not he even got the message. A Legendary Sannin is not easy to make contact with.”
“Naruto is a Sannin?” Orihime asked.
“No,” Ichigo replied. “But he’s with a Sannin. I forget his name.”
“Jiraiya,” Chad said.
“Right,” Tsunade said. “In any case, we’ll consider this a C rank mission for now. We don’t have many ninja to spare right now, so like I said; we can’t afford to send along any Jonin. And the group I sent with you has the best chance of survival, due to their previous interactions.”
A knock came on the door behind them. Ichigo and his group turned to face the person entering through the doorway. I black haired kid came in. His hair was in the same style as Renji’s, but with less hair. His eyes were lazy, and his hands were in his pockets.
“Huh?” Tsunade glanced at the boy.
“You sent for me, Lady Tsunade?” The boy said. He was probably a year or two younger than Ichigo.
“Excellent,” Tsunade said. “Let me introduce you to one of the best leaders in the Hidden Leaf Village. This is Shikimaru Nara.”
Smiling confidently, Ichigo outstretched his hand. “Good to meet you, Shikimaru.”
After a sigh, Shikimaru returned Ichigo’s handshake. “Man,” he said lazily. “This is such a pain. You become a Chunin and everyone expects you to jump at every mission. What a drag.”
“Excuse his attitude,” Tsunade began. “He’s actually one of the most intellectual ninja in our ranks. At the Chunin exams nearly three years ago, he was the only Genin to become Chunin out of nearly two hundred Shinobi.”
“Impressive,” Uryû said.
They noticed that Shikimaru’s headband was tied to his arm rather than his forehead. He grabbed his shoulder, right above his headband and sighed again. “Man, I didn’t even want to go out today.”
Uryû turned to Tsunade. “Ma’am,” he began. “I was just wondering, why send men you can’t spare? Wouldn’t it do better to keep them in the village to protect it?”
“The Leaf Village will protect everyone,” Tsunade answered matter of factly. “It’s as simple as that.”
“What were the ranks of those men who ambushed us in the forest?” Rukia asked. “I’d like to get a feel for what a Chunin’s abilities are.”
“Iruka was Chunin,” Tsunade answered. “And Asuma was Jonin.” She paused. “We normally don’t mix the two classes, but most of the Jonin are on other missions. The ones that remain in the village will be sent out on regular patrols. That kind of level is beneath them, but right now the amount of Chunin heavily outweighs the Jonin, so I have no choice but to send some Jonin. Our military is a little disorganized at the moment.”
“I feel that I have to say,” Uryû said. “That although this is truly generous of you, it seems that you really cannot afford it. Besides, it’s best to operate in smaller teams. If our group gets too big, then we won’t be able to function at full capacity. Not only that, but we have a whole other group joining us up ahead.”
“That is well thought out,” Tsunade agreed. “However, you aren’t exploring a cave or a building. This is an entire town. Although the journey there might have too many people, once you get to Silent Hill, then the more people you have, the better.”
Shrugging, Uryû replied, “That makes sense, Lady Tsunade.”
“So,” Shikimaru began. “These are the guys we’re supposed to protect?”
“No,” Tsunade announced. “These will be your new teammates, yes, but your mission is not to protect them. It’s to scout out this Silent Hill. You have been informed that Orochimaru could be behind this. That’s why I trusted mostly Chunin to this mission.”
“Is that all?” Ichigo asked. “We can go now, right?”
“Impatient,” Tsunade said. “You remind me of Naruto.”
Shikimaru’s ears perked up. “That’s right! I heard he’s coming with us! Is that true?”
Sighing, Tsunade replied, “I sent a message to Jiraiya. It depends on them. They could be close and will come anyway, or they could be really far away and won’t bother. I have no idea.”
“I see,” Shikimaru said. “In that case, I suppose we should get going. The others will have gathered at the gates by now. Knowing some of them, they’re probably getting impatient, like this guy.” He pointed to Ichigo, who wasn’t paying attention.
“Yes,” Tsunade agreed. “You should be off now. Good luck.”
“Thanks again, Tsunade,” Ichigo said. They walked out of the Hokage’s room and regrouped in the hallway. Then they proceeded down the large flight of stairs.
Uryû spoke to Ichigo, “By the way, I noticed you kept calling her Tsunade. Didn’t the guards ask us to address her formally? They asked us to call her Lady Tsunade.”
Ichigo simply shrugged. “She didn’t seem too bothered by it.
They left the mansion, the sun now high in the sky. The heat began to shimmer down to the Earth. Shikimaru began to lead the group throughout the city. The whole time he kept his hands in his pockets as he walked with a swagger and lazy way. He occasionally stared into the sky as he walked, apparently staring at the clouds. In no time at all, Shikimaru successfully led them to the gates, where a small group of kids waited for them. They all seemed Shikimaru’s age, with the exception of one or two who looked a year older.
The first to introduce themselves was a boy with elongated canine teeth and finger nails. He wore a grey fur jacket and had a dog beside him. It had silver fur, and did not seem fully grown, yet had long since outgrown his puppy phases. His eyes were narrow and he had red markings on either side of his face. He grinned as he stepped forward, saying, “Hey. My name is Kiba Inuzuka.” Ichigo shook his hand. “And this,” he continued, nodding to his dog. “is Akimaru.”
After Kiba shook hands with the rest of the group, a pink haired girl began to introduce herself. She had hazel eyes and, despite her cute face, seemed quite experienced in battle. “I’m Sakura Haruno.”
Gasping, Orihime exclaimed, “Oh, I remember you! I saw you down by the river last night.”
After a pause, Sakura replied, “That’s right. You fell in.” She smiled at the thought.
Sakura was wearing a red dress that split at the bottom, with a white outline. She had dark green, tight shorts and a white circle was painted on her dress.
A crunching sound came from the back of the group. A rather round boy with a chubby face appeared from the back. He had his headband in his hair, parting it in two directions. He had red spirals painted on either side of his cheeks. He was snacking on some potato chips. “I’m,” he began, pausing to wolf down a few more chips. “Choji Akamichi.”
Renji made a face. “Akamunchi is more like it.”
Choji’s face twisted in anger. “What was that?”
“I’m just saying, you’re a little fat to be a ninja don’t you think?”
Growling, Choji remarked, “I’m not fat! I’m just a little chubby! There’s a difference!”
Smirking, Renji replied, “Sure there is.”
“Enough of this foolishness,” said a voice. The voice belonged to one of the older ninja. This ninja had no pupil in his light purple eyes. His long brown hair was tied at the bottom. He wore a light grey jacket with dark brown shorts. “Let us continue the introductions. I am Neji Hyuga. I am one of the more experienced Chunin here.”
“So,” Ichigo began. “Which one is Chunin again?”
“Is this guy for real?” Sakura asked.
“Chunin,” Rukia answered. “Is after Genin.”
“Anyway,” Shikimaru began. “You know me. I’m Shikimaru Nara.” He explained anyway, as Ichigo stared off into the distance, and Renji was picking at his fingernails. Shikimaru suppressed his anger with a sigh. “As I was saying, we need to know who you are, and your abilities so we can coordinate appropriate strategies.”
“Well,” Rukia began. “I’m Rukia Kuchiki, and I’m a Soul Reaper.” She paused to take out a sketch pad with chibi like drawings of rabbits. “Which means I use my Zanpaku-tô to cleanse evil spirits, and to send the good spirits to the Soul Society.”
“Wow,” Kiba said. “You just said a lot of things I don’t understand. You mind explaining a bit?”
“Well,” Rukia flipped the page in her sketchbook, revealing more drawings. “a Soul Reaper is basically the Grim Reaper in your world. And the Soul Society is Heaven.”
Staring blankly, Sakura replied, “Wait, so you’re ghosts?”
“We’ve been called that before,” Rukia said, smiling.
The rest of Ichigo’s group introduced themselves, explaining their powers and abilities. Once it became Uryû’s turn, he began by saying his name. “I’m Uryû Ishida. I am a Quincy.”
“What the hell is that?” Neji asked.
“I can use powers like a Soul Reaper, but I’m not a Soul Reaper. Also, they use spirit energy from within; a Quincy uses them from without.”
“But,” Ichigo butted in. “He hasn’t regained his powers, so he’s pretty much useless.”
Uryû’s face twisted in frustration. “Shut up, Ichigo! At least I’m smarter! I can make the strategies. And besides, no one said I couldn’t fight!”
“Well, this is all well and good,” Kiba remarked. “But what kind of jutsu do you use?”
“What the hell is jutsu?” Ichigo asked. “I’ve heard that term before.”
“What do you mean, what’s jutsu?” Neji asked. “Are you an idiot?”
“Watch yourself, you weird eyed freak!”
“A jutsu,” Sakura explained. “Is the release of Chakra through hand signs. Why don’t you know that?”
“What’s catra?” Ichigo asked.
“Chakra,” Sakura corrected. “Is energy. It flows through all our bodies.”
“It seems that there’s a lot about each other that we don’t know,” Neji said. “We can learn along the way. We know the basics, and that’s all we need to start. We’re late as it is.”
“He’s right,” Shikimaru agreed. “Let’s get going. But first you should probably tell us the mission that you are on so we know how to work together on our missions.”
Rukia explained their reasons for going to Silent Hill, accompanied with her sketch pad. Once she was finished, she asked, “Are there any questions?”
“Here’s one,” Kiba began. “Why do you use that crummy little sketch pad to explain everything? They suck.”
Ichigo turned away, knowing exactly what will happen next, from personal experience. Ichigo had his eyes closed for nearly ten seconds before he dared to look back. He saw that Kiba had his hood pulled over his head, and his dog, Akimaru was attempting to pull it back to its original position with his teeth.
“Crazy, little,” Kiba began, his voice muffled by his hood. Once his hood was back over the back of his head, he took a deep breath of fresh air.
Once Kiba had repositioned his hood, he noticed that a small group had gathered by the gates. There was a girl wearing purple with a long, beautiful blonde ponytail, a boy with a black bowl cut hairstyle with very large eyebrows, dressed in green with yellow leg weights, a young girl with brown hair tied into two bobs, and a girl with eyes like Neji, and an awkward smile on her face.
Surprised, Shikimaru said, “Hey guys. What are you doing here?”
The boy with the bushy eyebrows stepped forward. “I am here because the Hokage has let me accompany you on your valiant mission!” He had an unnecessary loudness to his voice, with a strong amount of heroicness to go along with it. He walked up to Ichigo, standing perfectly straight. “I am Rock Lee, the handsome devil of the Leaf Village!”
Ichigo stared back with a weird face. “Okay. What the hell is the handsome devil?”
Smiling, Rock Lee’s teeth glistened in the sun, shining brightly. With many extravagant motions, he replied, “I am the embodiment of youth! I let the power of the Leaf Village flow through my body! I fight for the protection of everyone! No one can resist the handsomeness within this body!”
Ichigo stared back, speechless. The girl with the bobs in her hair shrieked, “Oh, no! You got him started!”
“I know how to get him to stop,” Ichigo said, punching Rock Lee across the face.
Rock Lee fell to the floor. As he got up, small amounts of blood dripped from his nose. “Wh-what was that for?” He stuttered, holding his nose.
“You were pissing me off, dancing around like an idiot,” Ichigo replied.
Rock Lee got up, taking a slip of paper out of his pouch. He handed it to Ichigo. “This is my information card. The Hokage instructed me to give this to you.”
Ichigo examined the card. It said:
Rock Lee-Chunin
“So,” Ichigo began. “You’re a Chunin? I thought that the Hokage couldn’t afford any more ninja.”
“Well,” Rock Lee explained. “She sent me because I requested it. I asked her to send me. But I am curious, why are you and those other two dressed in robes? You look like part of the Akatsuki.”
“Wait a minute,” Ichigo began. “So you can all see us? Me, Rukia, and Renji, I mean.”
Confused, Neji asked, “Of course we can. Why wouldn’t we be able to?”
“Well,” Rukia explained. “Like we mentioned before, we are spiritual beings, so most people can’t see us. Only those with abnormal spiritual powers would be able to.”
“But,” Renji interrupted. “All the ninja in this village seem to have those abilities. I’m not sure why, but they have developed their powers to usable levels. We’re obviously not random shapes, but fully visible objects.”
“This is all so confusing,” Sakura replied. “I say we stop the introductions. We can learn about each other along the way. But we’re already running late.”
“Yeah,” Ichigo agreed. “Let’s get going all ready. Are all of you coming with us?”
“No,” said the girl with the ponytail. “We actually came to see you off.” She was holding a flower. She walked up to Ichigo and put the flower in his hands. “I saw you last night, walking. I want you to have this flower. Come back alive, and maybe I’ll let you take me out on a date.” She giggled as she took a step backwards. Rukia glared at the girl with an intense fire in her eyes.
Ichigo accepted the flower, but was stunned. “Uh, thanks. Although, I don’t even know who you are.”
“It’s polite to introduce yourself first,” Neji informed.
“I’m Ichigo Kurosaki.”
Smiling, the girl replied, “And I’m Ino Yaminaka. Nice to meet you.” She returned to her group.
Ichigo leaned over to Shikimaru. “A little straight forward, isn’t she?”
Shikimaru simply sighed. “Yeah, she’s always been like that. Count yourself lucky, though. She was obsessed with another guy before. So you must be pretty hot to get Ino to forget about the other guy.”
“So am I lucky, or unlucky?” Ichigo asked. “By the way, you called me hot. You’re not,” he paused, trying to phrase his words correctly. “You know what I mean.”
Shikimaru just stared at Ichigo. “Of course not, you idiot. I said that Ino must think that way.”
“Anyway,” said the brown haired girl. “My name is Tenten. I’m on the same team as Neji and Rock Lee.”
“We’ll make the teams later,” Uryû explained.
“No,” Tenten replied. “I’m not going with you. I mean we share the same sensei.”
“Oh,” Uryû replied. He looked at the other girl. “And who are you?”
When she spoke, she had a very girly voice, and she hid behind Kiba. “I’m Hinata Hyuga.”
“Hyuga?” Chad said. He glanced at Neji. “Are you two related?”
“Yes,” Neji replied, folding his arms. “She is my cousin.” He let his arms drop to his sides. “But this is enough. We must leave now.”
“Oh,” Hinata replied glumly. “I really wanted to go along, because I heard that Naruto-kun might be coming with you.”
“Why do you care if Naruto is going?” Kiba asked, but Hinata blushed and retreated behind Kiba.
Ichigo just observed the scenery. Man, he thought. All these ninja are so freaking weird. There’s a dog, a bushy browed freak, and this chick is hiding like someone’s going to kill her any minute or something.
“But,” Uryû said. “Neji is right. We’re getting distracted. Let’s get going.”
As they began to walk away, Ichigo could see Ino waving behind him. He let his shoulders hang and walked away. Rukia walked close to him, occasionally glaring at Ino. Ichigo didn’t notice any of that.
The new, larger group began their walk down the dirt road, into the deep forest. They walked in a broken line. It wasn’t a perfect single file line, but there was a certain formation to it. Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, and Kiba walked towards the front, while Choji, Sakura, and Orihime were in the back. Everyone else was right in the middle. They took step after step, towards their destination of Silent Hill, unknowing what lies before them...
