Chapter V
Arrival

The group walked together, getting to know one another. The sun was high in the sky, blazing down immense heat on the world below. Luckily, the vast amount of trees blocked most of the heat in the shade. They traveled for many miles, until the Leaf Village was completely out of sight. Ichigo and his group felt full of energy, despite their long journey the day before. Their pace never slowed.
“Here’s an idea,” Neji said. If we’re already running late, why don’t we go by the treetops? If we travel like that, we’ll triple or speed at least.”
Stunned, Orihime asked, “Walk on treetops? How do we do that? Most of these trees don’t even have branches to climb on.”
“It’s easy,” Neji replied. “Just use your chakra to climb them. Focus all of it into your feet, and then concentrate it.”
“Easier said than done,” Ichigo remarked.
“Exactly,” Neji agreed. “If you’ve never done it before, then learning to do it now will slow us down dramatically. So we’re better off not teaching you, and continuing traveling by foot.”
“So why’d you even bring it up?” Renji asked, irritated.
“Because,” Neji replied. “I thought that you’d be able to something as simple as controlling your chakra. I didn’t know you were so incompetent.”
“Why you,” Renji balled his hand into a fist. “You better watch it, you jerk, or I’ll show you how incompetent you are compared to a soul reaper!”
“I’m sure,” Neji replied.
“Besides,” Ichigo butted in. “Me and the other two soul reapers should have no problem doing that. But it’s Orihime, Chad, and Uryû that might have a problem.”
“Nonsense!” Rock Lee announced. “It’s all a state of mind! Let the power of youth explode!” He ran towards a tree. Once he ran into it, he began to climb it, using only his feet. He quickly reached the top. “Now you try, Orihime!”
Smiling, Orihime replied, “Okay! It’s my turn!” She began to run, but Ichigo caught her around the waist before she could reach the tree.
“Don’t try, Orihime. It’s not a state of mind. Besides, this guy is really pissing me off.”
“Well,” Rock Lee retorted. “It is better to get pissed off, than pissed on!”
Shocked, Ichigo yelled, “Would you shut up? Get down here, before I come up there and kick your ass!”
Rock Lee jumped from the tree, landing safely on his feet. “You are a very rude person.”
“Keep acting like an idiot and you’ll find out how rude I can really be!”
“Squabbling amongst yourselves?” Neji said. “How childish.”
“I’m sorry,” Orihime said as Ichigo let her go.
“For what?” Ichigo asked.
“Well, if I was stronger, maybe I could climb the tree. I’m sorry for being such a burden.”
Ichigo stared at her. “Orihime, you’re not a burden. You probably saved Chad’s life yesterday.”
Renji chuckled. “Don’t feel bad, Orihime. Ichigo still can’t even control his spiritual pressure yet.”
“Be quiet!” Ichigo snapped.
Shikamaru said, “Would everyone be quiet? You’re ruining the peace of the forest.” He paused. “Uryû, you said that there was another group joining us up ahead?”
“That’s what we were told by Rukia.”
Shikamaru glanced over at Rukia, who said, “Well, I don’t know much about that. Actually, Renji is from that group.”
“Yeah,” Renji said. “But I don’t know where they are now. Actually, we already passed the point where I split up from them. It has been over day, so knowing the people in that group, they probably got impatient and went on ahead.”
“I had a question,” Ichigo said. “How did you guys get such powers? You’re like, what, twelve years old?”
“Actually,” Shikamaru replied. “We’re fourteen, except for Neji, Rock Lee, and Sakura. Neji and Rock Lee are fifteen, and Sakura is thirteen.”
“But,” Sakura said. “My birthday is only a week away, so I’ll be fourteen soon enough.”
“We’re trained from a very early age,” Kiba said. “So we had time to practice.”
“All this talking is making me hungry,” Choji announced. “Does anyone have any food on them?”
“Just don’t ask Uryû,” Ichigo remarked. “He wouldn’t give me any when I asked him.”
“That’s because you’re a spirit being, Ichigo! You don’t need food!” Uryû replied. “Stop playing the victim!”
“That’s fair,” Neji said.
“Who asked you?” Ichigo snapped.
“But,” Choji began. “He’s got food on him then?”
“Yes,” Uryû replied. He reached into the back pack and pulled out a sandwich, handing it to Choji.
“All right!” Choji yelled. “There’s beef in here!” In a matter of seconds, he wolfed down the sandwich. Not too long later, he began to rub his stomach and complain. “Is there any more?”
“What happened to your food?” Shikamaru asked. “I thought you brought your own.”
Choji pulled out an empty bag of potato chips. “I already ate them.” He let the bag drop to the floor as they walked on.
“I have some chips,” Orihime replied. “I bought them at the market before we left. I was saving them, but if you’re that hungry, you can”
Before she could finish her sentence, Choji yelled, “You have chips? Give them to me!” He snatched them from Orihime’s hands as she stared in surprise.
As Choji stuffed his face, multiple chips at a time, Orihime walked up to Sakura. She spoke with a friendly tone. “Did you dye your hair?”
Sakura looked back, a little surprised. “What?”
“It looks really pretty.”
“Well, thanks, but I didn’t dye it. This is my hair’s natural color. Why do you ask?”
“Well,” Orihime smiled. “It’s pink.”
“So?”
“You just don’t see pink hair that often,” Orihime replied.
“Yeah, well, look at him,” Sakura replied, pointing to Ichigo. “Orange isn’t exactly common either.”
Towards the front of the line, Kiba was conversing with Renji. “So,” Kiba said. “Why all the tattoos?”
“Well,” Renji replied. “It’s hard to explain. It’s like a status thing. Like honor.”
“I don’t get it.”
“I didn’t expect you to,” Renji replied. “But what’s with the dog? You seem to be very friendly with dogs. I also mean that you seem to resemble one.”
“It runs in my family, the Inuzuka clan,” Kiba said. “I have the nose and ears of a dog.” Once Renji stared to examine Kiba’s nose and ears, Kiba snapped, “I meant I have the hearing and smelling capacity of a dog! I don’t actually have a dog’s nose and ears!”
Stunned, Renji replied, “Oh.”
Kiba took Akamaru from his head. “Okay, boy. You’re getting a bit too big to be on my head all day. Why don’t you walk for a while?”
Akamaru barked in agreement as he was put down.
“So what was your training like?” Renji asked.
“Well, we started from an early age. It was like an academy to start. Then you eventually graduate that. Then you become Genin. I was put on a squad with Hinata and Shino Aburame. You met Hinata, but Shino wasn’t there.”
“Why not?”
“He isn’t the most social, we’ll say. Anyway, after a year, we took the Chunin exams.”
“What?” Renji asked. “Exams? I thought you just get promoted.”
“You have to take the exams first. Not everyone can become Chunin. Well, I passed the first and second tests.”
“How many are there?”
“Three,” replied Kiba. “I failed the third. It was a preliminary round. All I had to do was beat my opponent, but I lost.”
“That sucks,” Renji acknowledged. “Who was your opponent?”
“Naruto Uzumaki.”
After a pause, Kiba asked, “By the way, who’s that chick?”
Looking at the girl that Kiba was pointing to, Renji asked, “Who? Orihime?”
“That’s her name? I didn’t pay attention during the introductions.”
“Yeah, her name is Orihime Inoue. But why do you want to know so much?” Renji asked.
Staring back at Renji, Kiba replied, “That’s a stupid question. Because she’s hot that’s why!”
From the back of the group, Choji complained, “Come on, guys! Can’t we take a break? I need food!”
“Hey,” Ichigo replied. “No one else has eaten anything since this morning. You’ve had a lot of food already. We need to save some for later; this is all we have until we get back from Silent Hill.”
“But I need to eat now!” Choji responded.
“You’ll have to wait!” Rukia snapped.
“Give me food!”
Rukia stopped moving and turned to face Choji. “Listen, you annoying piece of flesh!” Choji stayed quiet. “You’ve done nothing but complain since we left the village! You can’t eat all of our food. If you’ve already eaten your own food, then shut the hell up and let your body feed off of your girth!”
The whole group remained quiet. Choji simply stared at Rukia, as she turned away, satisfied.
Shikamaru could only say, “Holy crap.”
They walked for a long time, talking and laughing. Each person quickly learned about one another, more than just abilities and names. As they drifted farther and farther away from the Leaf Village, the clouds in the sky slowly drew together. Fewer travelers were seen along the road now. There was close to none at this point. The sun became covered up in a blanket of clouds.
“Man,” Renji said, putting his hands on his waist as he walked. “It’s getting pretty cold out.”
A slight mist began to cover the ground. Soon, it became hard to even see all the way down the road. Kiba stopped and sniffed the air. “Something’s not right,” he said.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ichigo asked. “Are you a blood hound?”
“Close enough,” Kiba replied. Akamaru tried to slip into Kiba’s jacket, but Kiba grabbed him. “Sorry, boy, but you’re too big to do that now.” He set Akamaru back onto the ground.
As they walked, they noticed a traveler down the road, but he wasn’t walking. He wore dark clothing, but it was too thick to really see any specifics.
They approached the man, but as they drew closer, the Leaf Shinobi seemed to grow more and more fear into their eyes. The group from Karakura town simply looked on with interest.
Once the man was fully visible, he could be seen wearing a black robe with red clouds painted on them. His black hair fell into his face with many bangs. He had a long ponytail tied in the back. His collar was so large, that it covered up his mouth.
“Who is this?” Ichigo asked.
“That,” Sakura answered with extreme hate in her voice. “Is Itachi Uchiha. He’s a member of the Akatsuki. They’re a group of outlaw ninja whose danger levels exceed any other organization at the moment.”
Ichigo noticed his headband had the Leaf Village symbol, with a slash through it. “So he’s an enemy?”
“Definitely,” Neji replied.
Ichigo drew his sword. The others were in awe of its size. “Then I’m going to rip this guy apart!” Ichigo smiled confidently.
“You think you can?” Itachi replied.
“Why are you even here?” Sakura screamed.
“Because,” Itachi said. When he spoke, he had a very nonchalant tone to his voice. “I knew you would be coming this way. I thought I would amuse myself a bit.”
“Is this amusing?” Ichigo yelled as he lifted his sword high into the air. As he brought it down, he yelled, “Getsuga Tenshô!” A blue burst of light exploded from Ichigo’s sword. It ripped through the ground as it went straight for Itachi.
Itachi lifted his hand slowly. Once the attack hit him, Itachi brushed it away with the slightest effort.
Ichigo charged, yelling. Itachi closed his eyes. “You remind me of someone,” he said. Once he reopened his eyes, they turned red, with a black pupil and three dots around the pupil.
Suddenly, Ichigo found himself on a highway. It was cold and raining. He could see a little boy in a yellow raincoat holding his mother’s hand. A car drove by, splashing the boy with water. He coughed and spluttered.
“Oh, that mean car,” the mother said. “Let me walk on this side.”
Ichigo’s eyes opened wide. “No,” he said with fear filling his voice.
“No, mommy,” the boy replied. “I’m supposed to protect you from stuff like that.” But the mother laughed and switched sides with the boy anyway.
The boy walked for a moment, until he glanced over by the river. He noticed a young girl looking into it. “Is she going to jump?” wondered the boy. “I have to save her!” He jumped over the railing, running towards the girl. The mother screamed, “No, Ichigo! Come back!”
“Wait here, mommy!”
“This can’t be,” Ichigo said, watching the boy charge towards the river. The mother chased after her son. “No!” Ichigo screamed for along time into the air, closing his eyes.
When he reopened his eyes, Ichigo found himself lying on the ground. Except it wasn’t him, now he was the boy. His mother’s bleeding corpse was lying on top of him. “M-mother?” Ichigo stuttered, gazing in fear at the body. The girl was nowhere to be seen. “This can’t be. Not again.” He screamed into the air again. Once he was done, he saw a figure in the distance. It walked up to Ichigo. It was Itachi, glaring at Ichigo.
Ichigo growled as he got up. “How dare you defile my mother’s memory like this?” He gritted his teeth.
“It’s your fault,” Itachi replied coolly. “You failed to avenge her.”
Ichigo’s eyes went wide as everything turned black. When shapes returned to his vision, he saw that he was in a clearing in a forest. A huge hollow was in front of him. It had glaring red eyes, and a fury, fat body. It walked on all fours. Ichigo had a large sword in his hand. It was an oversized katana. It was dug deep into the hollow. Blood poured everywhere, staining the grass a dark red.
The hollow ripped the sword out of his shoulder. “I’ll get you for this one day, you soul reaper bastard!” It jumped high into the air, and fled.
“Dammit it all!” Ichigo yelled. “Why are you doing this?”
Itachi appeared once again beside Ichigo. “Have you had enough?” Everything turned black again. Once Ichigo regained consciousness, he was lying on the ground, right before he charged at Itachi.
Rukia ran up to him. “Ichigo! What happened? You were running at him, and then you just fell over! Are you okay?”
Ichigo gasped for breath as he got up. “Damn, what was that?”
“It was Sharingan,” Neji explained. “It’s a visual Jutsu that allows you to copy an enemy’s attack, and see what they’re going to do next. But,” he paused. “I believe that Itachi Uchiha’s Sharingan has developed to higher levels. I think he can cause illusions and serious mental damage.”
Ichigo glared at Itachi, huffing, completely out of breath. He smirked confidently. “Then all I have to do is avoid his eyes, right?”
“Basically,” Neji answered.
Ichigo charged again, this time looking at Itachi’s torso. “Come on!” he yelled, leaping into the air. He brought his blade down hard, but Itachi nimbly dodged.
Itachi swung his hand backwards, landing a hard hit on Ichigo’s face. Ichigo was thrown backwards, landing on his back. “You don’t have enough strength,” Itachi taunted. He knelt down beside Ichigo and whispered in his ear, “And you know what? You never will.”
Ichigo’s face twisted in rage. “Shut up!” Ichigo thrust his sword horizontally, but Itachi dodged again by jumping into the air, landing a few feet from Ichigo. Ichigo brought his sword out to his side, and then pointed it straight at Itachi, holding it with both hands. A powerful blue aura began to glow around him.
Rukia took a step forward. She screamed, “Ichigo! You can’t release your Bankai here! It’s too dangerous!”
Ichigo ignored her as he continued to glare at Itachi. “Get ready,” he said. “Because this is the last fight you’ll ever be in!” He paused, summoning all his strength. “Ban”
But before he could finish, a large explosion erupted from behind Ichigo, causing him to lose concentration. His aura faded, and he stared at the smoke filled area. He let his sword hang by his side as he tried to make out what was behind the smoke.
Everyone just stared at the area as the smoke slowly dissipated. A shaded figure slowly emerged from the smoke. Once it came through, it was visible as a boy. This boy had spiky blonde hair going in all directions, and he wore a goofy smile as he stood, his arms folded. His blue eyes sparkled brightly. “This is my kind of mission!” he said, excitedly. “I just got here and there’s already a huge fight!” He had three scars on each side of his cheeks, resembling whiskers. He wore an orange jumpsuit with black sleeves, and a black line in the middle. He had a Leaf headband, except the laces were extra long. He had the same red spirals that Iruka had on his shoulders.
Sakura’s face lit up. “Naruto!” she exclaimed.
Ichigo stared at the boy. He looked a lot older than in the picture that Tsunade had given him. So this is Naruto Uzumaki, he thought, impressed.
The smoke had fully dissipated now. “Now,” Naruto began. “I’m going to kick this guy’s butt!”
“Be careful,” Ichigo warned. He uses this weird power.”
“The Sharingan,” Naruto finished Ichigo’s sentence. “I know. But that’s not going to take me down!” He pointed to Itachi. “Get ready to get the snot beaten out of you! Itachi Uchiha!” He charged, yelling a war cry.
Itachi simply stared at Naruto. Itachi disappeared once Naruto got close enough.
“Where’d he go?” Orihime asked, frantically looking around for Itachi.
“Behind you!” Rock Lee exclaimed to Naruto.
Naruto looked behind him to see Itachi. “You haven’t changed,” Itachi said. “But I’m not interested in you at the moment.”
“Get interested!” Naruto roundhouse kicked at Itachi, who easily grabbed his leg with one hand. Naruto glared at Itachi, helplessly.
Ichigo lifted his sword, preparing to attack, but stopped once Itachi began to talk.
“I know you are going to Silent Hill,” he said matter of factly. “I wanted to offer some advice.”
Staring with complete disbelief, Naruto asked, “Advice? What are you talking about? You’re part of the Akatsuki, aren’t you? I thought you were after the Kyuubi!”
“That’s true,” Itachi agreed. “But we must collect the other tailed beasts before you.”
“Then what the heck are you doing here?”
“That’s odd,” Itachi said. “I thought I already told you. I’m only here to offer advice.” Naruto and the others remained quiet. “I’ve been to Silent Hill. I suggest that you be ready for anything.”
“Why were you at Silent Hill?” Neji asked.
“There are certain things about it,” Itachi explained. “That peak my interest. As well as the interest of the other Akatsuki members. It’s as simple as that.” After examining the group’s confused faces, he said, “It seems that you are confused. Don’t worry, it will all become clear soon enough. For now, let’s just say that I’m interested to see how my brother has developed.”
Naruto and Sakura’s eyes lit up and opened wide. “What do you mean?” Sakura yelled. “What does Sasuke have to do with Silent Hill?”
With that, Itachi disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving nothing but questions behind. Naruto and Sakura stared at one another.
Ichigo sheathed his sword, and walked up to Naruto. “So you’re Naruto Uzumaki?”
Smiling, Naruto replied, “You’ve heard of me?”
“From Tsunade,” Ichigo answered.
Sakura joined Naruto, and asked, “What does Sasuke have to do with this?”
“I don’t know,” Naruto replied. “But that motivates me to get to this town even faster!”
“Who’s Sasuke?” Uryû asked.
“Sasuke Uchiha,” Sakura explained, her face immediately turning depressed and hopeless. “Is,” she paused. “Was a ninja from the Leaf Village. But he was persuaded by an evil person named Orochimaru. He left the village, and is now a known criminal.” A tear began to form.
“Uchiha?” Ichigo said. “That sounds familiar.”
“Are you that dense?” Kiba asked. “Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha? Ring any bells, you dope?”
“Shut the hell up,” Ichigo replied.
“This easily just became an A rank mission if the Akatsuki are involved,” Shikamaru said.
Sakura began to look around. “Wait, Naruto? Where’s Jiraiya? I thought he was training you.”
“We split up,” Naruto explained. “Only about an hour ago. He said that a nice relaxing mission should be a good break from my training. He says it’s really weird that Tsunade had given a special invitation to let me join you guys, but he mentioned that the Akatsuki might be involved, so he said I could go. It might bring us closer to Sasuke, and I guess I was right.”
“So,” Ichigo asked. “Who exactly is Orochimaru?”
Naruto explained, hate in his voice, “Orochimaru is a rouge ninja that betrayed the Leaf Village years ago.”
“Man,” Ichigo said. “A lot of people seem to hate this village.”
“Shut up,” Naruto yelled. “Anyway, he’s the one who took Sasuke away. He also killed the Third Hokage.”
“But I thought the Hokages were the strongest ninja,” Rukia said.
“Don’t forget,” Uryû replied. “The Legendary Sannin can be above the Hokage.”
“Anyway,” Neji said. “You seem to have grown a little, Naruto.”
“You think so?” Naruto asked, observing his body. “I just got these new clothes a few weeks ago, because my old ones got so ratty.”
“It’s good to see you,” Shikamaru greeted Naruto. “Are you here to stay?”
“No,” Naruto replied. “After this, I have to get back to my training. The only reason I’m here now is because Sasuke seems to have something to do with this.”
“That’s too bad,” Rock Lee said. “I would have liked to have a sparring match with you, Naruto.”
“Yeah, well,” Naruto replied. “I don’t exactly have many new techniques. But don’t worry, I’ll show you what I can do later, if we have to fight Itachi again.”
Ichigo suddenly collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. Rukia rushed to his aid. “Ichigo!”
“What happened?” Naruto asked.
“He was hit with Itachi’s Sharingan,” Neji said. “It’s a wonder he could still stand for that long. He must have an incredible amount of stamina.”
“I can help,” Sakura proclaimed as she slipped on two dark brown gloves. “I’ve dealt with mental damage before. I still haven’t learned all of Lady Tsunade’s healing techniques, but I’ll do what I can.”
“Maybe I should help,” Orihime suggested.
“No,” Sakura refused. “I’ve read a report on your abilities, Orihime. This is mental damage. Your techniques are incredible, but they can’t help here.”
Orihime sighed, feeling helpless.
Sakura began her work to heal Ichigo, working steady and hard. A green glow illuminated his body and he was slowly brought back to consciousness. Orihime oversaw the progress with watchful eyes.
“So tell me,” Renji said. “Who exactly is Itachi Uchiha, and the Akatsuki?”
“The Akatsuki,” Naruto explained. “Are a group of ninja who want to take control of all the tailed beasts.”
Staring blankly, Renji replied, “Okay, you lost me. Tailed beasts? What are those?”
“You’ve never heard of the tailed beasts?” Sakura asked, astonished. “Where did you say you were from again?”
“Rukia and I are from the Soul Society,” Renji replied. “Think of it as heaven.”
“Wait,” Naruto began. “You’re ghosts?”
Sighing, Renji replied, “Yes, you can call us that. But we’ve already been over this before.”
“How can we see you then?”
“It must be because you all seem to have high spiritual energy,” Rukia answered. “It’s rare, but all the ninja in your village have gained dominance over their energy, and can successfully control it. Most humans cannot do that.”
“But what about him?” Kiba asked. “I thought Ichigo was a soul reaper too.”
“He is,” Rukia said. “But he was born a human. You see, I met him while searching for a Hollow.”
Confused, Naruto asked, “Hollow? What’s that?”
“It’s a good spirit,” Kiba replied.
“Actually,” Rukia answered. “The Wholes are the good ones. Hollows are the evil ones.”
“I get it,” Naruto said.
“Anyway, I met Ichigo because the Hollow attacked his family, but he already had high spiritual pressure, so he could see me, even though I’m a soul reaper. Then I had an accident while fighting the Hollow. I was badly wounded, so I transferred my powers to Ichigo. Then that awoke the soul reaper powers that lay dormant within him. That’s pretty much Ichigo’s back story.”
“A soul reaper huh?” Naruto wondered. “Can I be one too? They sound so cool! I want to carry a huge sword like that!”
“Actually,” Renji said. “Ichigo’s sword is in its Shikai state. That’s why it’s so big. Besides, you can be a soul reaper. Ichigo wasn’t even supposed to get his powers from Rukia.”
Naruto frowned. Neji asked, “Shikai? What is that?”
“Each Zanpaku-tô can change shapes. A Zanpaku-tô is a soul reaper’s weapon,” Rukia explained. “Ichigo’s normal sword was a very large katana. The size of the blade is equivalent to the wielder’s own energy. Or in terms you can understand, the more chakra, the bigger the blade.”
The Leaf Ninja stared at Ichigo’s overwhelmingly large sword, and gulped.
“But,” Rukia continued. “Shikai is the first released form of the Zanpaku-tô. You must first learn the name of your blade. The name of my sword is Sodenoshirayuki.”
“Oh yeah, I can remember that,” Naruto remarked. “Are all the names that long?”
“No,” Renji replied. “Mine is Zabimaru.”
“What’s his?” Choji asked, referring to Ichigo’s blade.
“That’s Zangetsu,” Rukia explained.
The clouds had now fully taken over the sky. The sun was nowhere to be found, so it was hard to tell whether it was day, or close to night. Nevertheless, the group stayed with Ichigo as Sakura treated him. It took a long time, but she worked tirelessly. Orihime stayed by his side the entire time. The rest of the group exchanged questions and took the break as an opportunity to get to know one another. Finally, after a couple hours, the treatment was nearly complete. Ichigo began to show signs of life, as he twitched or grunted in his sleep.
Choji held his stomach. “I’m so hungry,” he complained. Rukia shot him an angry look and he immediately closed his mouth.
Naruto watched in shock. “How did you get Choji to stop talking about food?”
Rukia replied, “I have my ways.”
Naruto leaned over to Renji, whispering in his ear, “Scary chick.”
Renji burst out laughing, holding his sides. Rukia glared at him.
“What did he say about me?”
“Who says it was about you?” Naruto replied.
“I know it was, and if I can’t get you to tell me, I’ll force Renji to.” Renji stopped laughing and backed up. Rukia leaned in closer. “Tell me or I’ll rip off those tattoos of yours that you’re so proud of.”
“Tattoos?” Naruto said. “I thought those were your eyebrows. Besides, how would you rip off tattoos?”
“She’ll find a way,” Renji gulped.
Rukia reached for Renji’s face, but he backed away. “Get away,” he ordered, laughing.
“He’s up!” Orihime exclaimed, as everyone stopped what they were doing, and gathered around Ichigo.
Ichigo slowly opened his eyes to feel a warm sensation on his face. “What the hell is that?” When he fully opened his eyes, he saw Akamaru licking his face. The dog barked as Ichigo sat up, then he ran to Kiba.
Ichigo saw everyone around him. “Why are you all so close to me? Get away.”
“He’s so charming,” Sakura replied sarcastically. “Anyway, he’s healed. I’m surprised it didn’t take longer, to be honest.”
“I’m so glad,” Orihime said. “That you’re okay, Ichigo.” She smiled as Ichigo nodded.
“So,” Renji asked. “What did you see? It must have been pretty scary to make you faint.”
Ichigo didn’t answer. He simply stared at the ground. Rukia said, “Ichigo, we’re your friends. You can tell us.”
“Not me,” Naruto replied. “I just met the guy, then he collapses!”
“Nice, jackass,” Ichigo replied. “I saw,” he paused. “My mother. And,” pausing again, he drew a deep breath. “The day that I let that bastard, the Grand Fisher escape.”
“Who’s that?” Rock Lee asked.
“A dangerous Hollow that has evaded soul reapers for over fifty years,” Rukia explained. “Ichigo fought him once, because it killed,” But her sentence was cut off by Ichigo’s angry glare. Rukia knew immediately to not say anymore. She gazed at the ground.
“Let’s just get to that freaking town,” Ichigo said. “It’s been long enough.” They began to walk again, soon after they gathered their belongings. The path quickly darkened at an alarming rate. They pressed on as the trees gradually got darker as well. The fog quickly became so thick that it was hard to see more than a few feet down the path. The group talked less and less as they got nearer and nearer.
“Do we have any idea where we’re actually going?” Kiba asked.
Rukia pulled out her cell phone. “Of course. This is a map from the soul society. It tells us how to get to Silent Hill, but it has no map of the town. I’ll fill that in myself.”
They came to a fork in the road. “Which way?” Neji asked Rukia.
“To the left,” Naruto answered.
“How would you know?” Ichigo replied.
“Because,” Naruto said. “I came down the right path with the pervy sage. We didn’t come from Silent Hill, so the only other way is the left one.”
“Pervy sage?”
“Yeah,” Sakura replied. “That’s Jiraiya.”
“You’re calling one of the Legendary Sannin such a vulgar name?” Uryû asked, eyes wide.
“Trust me,” Naruto replied. “The pervy sage isn’t all that great. All he does is peek on girls, and when he gets caught he says he’s doing research for his stupid book.”
“A book?” Uryû asked.
“Yeah, it’s some stupid book for older people. I think it’s really boring, but Kakashi sensei really likes it. The pervy sage is writing a new one now too. The first one in a few years. I’m thinking I’ll give it to Kakashi sensei as a present once I’ve finished my training.”
“Who’s Kakashi?” Ichigo asked.
“My teacher,” Naruto replied. “Sakura’s in my group too. Sasuke used to be our third and final member.”
Before any more questions could be asked, the group stopped short. They saw a sign in front of them. White snow had begun to fall from the sky. Kiba held out his hand and grabbed a flake. Rubbing on his fingers, he said, “This isn’t snow.” It turned black on his fingers. “It’s ash!”
Staring at the sign, it read:

Silent Hill