Naruto

Bleach

In the End

Arc 01

Enter the Soul Society

Prologue

Music:

Sadness and Sorrow, Naruto OST; Grief and Sorrow, Naruto OST

Where was he?

The gentle breeze brushing against his skin, the fresh smell of grass, the babbling noises of a calm stream not ten feet away, slowly opening his ocean blue eyes the boy looked at his surroundings.

He was lying against a tree, an ancient oak which could have been over a hundred years old, its great branches reaching out over him, shading him from the suns midmorning rays. He was surrounded by blades of healthy green grass. A small stream lay in front of him, its clear water allowing him to view the forms of trout or salmon fighting against the current.

Bewildered he rose to his feet, surveying the area around him. He did not remember this place. Confused he fell back against the tree, arms folded, eyes closed. Trying to remember where he was before.

The smells of smoke and charred flesh

The flickering of flames, whose reddish hue made the clouds themselves look like they were overflowing with blood.

A young woman's cries, whose voice seemed so familiar,

Naruto!!!

With a gasp he opened his eyes, seeing the blood red sky replaced by a beautiful blue, white clouds lazily following their current. He shook his head, slapped his face with both hands, and rose once again. He walked over to the stream, kneeled on the banks surrounding the river, cupped up a handful of water and splashed it across his face. The cool feeling did nothing to perturb his raging memories.

A young woman, her hair the colour of sakura blossoms, her eyes a brilliant green, loomed over him. Her hands grabbing his shoulders, trying desperately to shake him awake.

She was crying, tears running freely down her face.

Her mouth was moving, yet the words felt like they were being spoken by someone far away.

Naruto!!! Wake up! Please, don't die! Not like this!!!

His eyes opened again, a gentle breeze blew over him, the surrounding blades of grass moving with the current.

Naruto

His name was Naruto

He cupped the water in his hands again and raised them to his lips, taking a drink.

He was on his knees, holding the dying form a young woman in his arms. Her lavender eyes looking up at him, long dark blue hair spread out like a halo across her pale face, spatters of red across her pale cheeks.

"I…I love you…ever since I first met you" she whispered, before coughing weakly, blood dribbling from the right corner of her mouth "I don't know if you…feel the same…for me…but-"

He opened his eyes, feeling warm water flow down his cheeks. He reached up with his right hand. He was crying.

He was starring down a man roughly his age, looking into Sharingan eyes, the pupils similar in form to a shuriken, the tips reaching up to the edges of his crimson irises.

"Sassukkee!!" he growled, his voice filled with anger.

"Finally" Uchiha murmured.

He balled his hands up into fists, so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Standing up and shaking his head, allowing droplets of water to fly in every direction, he decided to look around for any signs of civilization. He began walking, his head swarming with memories.

Incoherent, crazy, overlapping, endless memories

The village was burning

Every structure of his home was in flames, some so overtaken that they began to crumble. Bodies lay all around him, many remaining where they had fallen. In a daze he walked through the carnage, and came across a body

Blonde hair, unkempt and spiky, whisker like markings decorated his cheeks, reminding him of those of a fox, sapphire blue eyes, once vibrant, now deadened and hollow.

There was just something in those eyes which stopped him from turning away, a determination in that gaze which transcended life and death. He had never given up, even when the blade stabbed through his chest. He kept fighting until his last breath.

That same girl with cherry blossom colored hair lay a few feet away, her right hand pressing against a wound in her abdomen, eyes closed, face still and peaceful, even with the spatters of blood above her left eye and at the corners of her mouth.

He pressed a hand against his chest, feeling a pain greater than any wound. He felt something which was not supposed to be there. He looked down to see that he was holding onto a chain, a link of steel ringlets attached to his chest.

"Another one, huh?"

He looked around to see a single being approach him, dressed in a black Shihakusho, a type of kimono dress which he had seen in Samurai, and like a samurai he wore a katana, sheathed to a belt at his side. This man had blonde hair, light blonde, which like his was unkempt and spiky, and his dark eyes had calmness to them as he walked across the massacre.

"This is a disaster" he went on "So much death, Hollows will be drawn to this place like moths to a flame"

In a smooth motion he drew his katana, the blade flickering in the fire light. Naruto jumped away, reaching for a kunai or shuriken in his knee pouch.

"Relax" the man said "This will only take a moment"

"What…" Naruto began, before feeling a great weight fall upon his shoulders, forced to his knees, panting for breath like he had run a marathon.

"I'm surprised you were able to move like you did" the man spoke, standing in front of him now, sword held idly "Usually a newly severed soul like yourself can barely lift a finger, especially after being forced from your body"

"What…what are you taking…about" Naruto asked between gasps for air.

"You didn't know" the Samurai asked, eyebrows raised "I hate to tell you this, but…you're dead"

Shock covered his face, he shook his head "No, that can't be"

"I'm sorry" the man replied "But its true, the only reason you can see me is if you are dead, or close to it"

But" he panicked "They're all counting on me, I can't die yet, I have to save my friends, I have to save the village. I'm the Hokage, it's my duty!"

"It's too late" the samurai cut him off mildly "You're chain of fate has been severed, you cannot return to your body" he raised his katana, the butt pointed at Naruto's head.

"Who are you?"

He smiled faintly at the question, and decided to answer the dead Ninja "Urahara Kisuke, Shinigami" he pressed the butt of his sword against the young man's forehead.

Naruto was covered by a blinding white light, then all of his pain was gone.

I've wanted to do a Bleach/Naruto crossover for a while now, but could never get the beginning just right. The idea has been blasting through my skull for a while know, and just refused to budge. So I've decided to start it up.

Updates may be limited at first, because I have a few other stories I need to get done.