Chapter Text
Ichigo falls like a rock through the familiar thick treetops of the Land of Fire. The gigantic branches slap and scratch against his skin as Ichigo tries in vain to grab a branch; anything to slow his brutal dissent. He grits his teeth, and desperately pulls at his spiritual energy.
That’s when he feels the steady flow of chakra pulsing in his feet.
Ichigo breathes heavily as his descent suddenly stops. He hangs upside down from a branch, leaves tangled in his hair. Ichigo watches as the contraption that led him to the garganta-like portal clatters to the ground like an old toy.
“Fucking Urahara!”
He pulls himself upright on the branch before his messenger bag can spill its contents into the ground. Ichigo can already feel the binder slipping out. He looks out on the horizon. This is Konoha. If the trees weren’t enough of a sign, then the Hokage mountain certainly is. They certainly don’t have that in Karakura Town.
Oddly enough, Ichigo can only see four faces carved into the mountain: Hashirama, Tobriama, Hiruzen, and Minato. No Danzo. It looks unblemished as if there was never a fifth face there at all.
Ichigo tugs at his collar. It feels unseasonably warm, too humid all of a sudden. It feels like the stale air is clogging his throat. He takes another deep breath. The air smells fresh, earthy, but there’s a hint of rot attempting to overpower it all. Ichigo wrinkles his nose in distaste.
“What is that?” he murmurs.
He looks around but he can’t sense any shinobi in the area. Right now, it looks like Ichigo is on the outskirts of the village but he’ll need to investigate more to be sure. Ichigo hops to the ground and scans his surroundings. There aren’t any visible corpses or dead animals that would explain that rancid smell. There's only thick oaks and birch trees all around.
Zangetsu’s voice screams in his head, “Ichigo!”
That’s when he hears it.
At first, it sounds like a massive insect swarm. Ichigo strains his ears to hear. Usually, he can’t make out anything from the noise but not this time.
Ichigo hastily covers his ears as he’s assaulted by ear piercing shrieks of terror. Crying, loud, horrible, crying that doesn’t stop. It rings like a painful echo through his head and Ichigo falls to his knees. It’s too much. His heart races, getting ready for a fight.
He activates his sharingan as he forces himself to stand. Ichigo almost wishes he hadn't when he sees something charging through the bushes.
It's a horrible creature. It feels a bit like a Hollow, but not quite. Ichigo doesn’t know what the hell that thing is. It skitters across the ground like a clumsy spider, not unlike the mechanical organic invention of Urahara’s that led him here. Ichigo wishes it were as cute as that thing.
This spirit, if it is one, looks like a mass of arms, all different from one another. Some of the limbs press their palms to run across the ground in a pantomime of walking while others wield simple katanas in their hands. When he looks closer, Ichigo notices the swords aren't steel, but bone. The thin blades slash out erratically at unseen enemies.
Ichigo can't look away, no matter how much he wants to. His mouth feels dry but swallowing does nothing to help. The amalgamation of limbs moves so grotesquely. Ichigo instinctively reaches for his swords, but they aren't there.
If he leaves his gigai, he can use Zangetsu but the swords he crafted with Mikoto are gone now.
Damn it.
Ichigo has heard the whispers, seen the hints of shadows, but he’s never seen anything like this. In the tunnels when they found Orochimaru, Ichigo was hit with a barrage of emotions. A primal terror sunk into his bones and Ichigo feels it now: the pain, the hurt, the rage. It radiates off the creature like a hot furnace.
This is not an incomplete after-images, chained to the world of the living.
Is it a Hollow?
Zangetsu has no answer, so Ichigo steps forward. A branch snaps beneath his foot.
The creature charges in his direction. There’s not a moment to dig in his bag for a soul candy dispenser. Ichigo just does the first thing that comes to mind. He runs. His messenger bag slaps heavily against his leg as he sprints away. The creature of arms isn’t far behind, leaves crunching behind Ichigo as he runs. Not knowing where else to go, Ichigo heads in the direction of the Uchiha district. He’s wandered Konoha enough to recognize the surrounding forests and it helps that Kakashi’s friend, Gai, would have them run laps around the village perimeter.
What was it that Zangetsu said?
The barriers between the spiritual world and the physical world are thicker, harsher, and yet here you are…pressing on them like a child testing out a button when he knows little about what it could do.
Zangetsu warned him not to call upon something that he doesn't want to hear.
Maybe….his new eyes? Is that why he can see it now?
That thing doesn’t feel right. Looking at it made his stomach turn. It felt like looking at a corpse. Every fiber of Ichigo’s body screamed out at the unnaturalness of it all.
Ichigo reaches out his spiritual pressure. Someone is nearby. Ichigo can’t help but smile even with the monster chasing him. He knows his family’s spiritual pressure well. Ichigo’s sandals slide through the mud as he stops. He knows that spiky head of hair.
He yells, “Hey, you gotta go! There’s this monster?”
Ichigo doesn’t know a better word to describe what he saw. He turns to see where the creature is, but there’s nothing there. It was right behind him. It was right there! Ichigo scratches his head in confusion. That smell of death still feels like it’s lingering in the air. It leaves a bad taste in his mouth.
“I…guess it’s gone.”
He turns his attention back to the little boy walking through the woods. He must’ve been heading for his favorite training ground. Ichigo smiles at him but as his heart rate slows he notices there’s something different about his little brother.
Uchiha Sasuke, looks older than eight years old.
He’s taller, there’s a thinness to his cheeks that wasn’t there before. Ichigo doesn’t know what to think. He couldn’t have been gone that long. Could he?
“Your eyes,” Sasuke says.
“Fuck, sorry.”
Ichigo knows that he has to work on controlling his sharingan. Not all Uchiha have the sharingan eyes, but he knows what people say. Control of the sharingan is important. The eyes can be reactive to emotions and chakra control and by some clan members it’s considered childish to not be able to manage one’s sharingan.
Ichigo chuckles, “I just got them so I’m not an expert on it yet.”
Sasuke doesn’t reply. He just stares at Ichigo. His breathing is fast and strained. Sasuke almost looks afraid. Ichigo takes a step forward and Sasuke moves back. Ichigo is confused. He doesn’t like the feeling. Sasuke looks at him like a stranger. There isn’t even a hint of recognition in his eyes.
Okay, that's…not what he expected.
“Sasuke?” Ichigo asks.
Sasuke isn’t soothed by his name. Instead, he backs away further.
“It’s just me…I’m not gonna hurt you.”
Sasuke just shakes his head, then he turns and runs away. Ichigo considers going after him before deciding against it. As far as Sasuke knows, Ichigo died. He has no way of knowing if Ichigo is real or some sort of imposter. He’s probably scared and confused. It makes sense so Ichigo tries not to let it get to him. It will be an ordeal explaining everything, but it will be worth it to see his family again. They…all must be taking his death pretty hard. Ichigo doesn’t like thinking about it. He knows his dad must be beside himself but once he gets home he can explain everything.
Ichigo takes a moment to gather himself. He can’t sense that monstrous spirit but Ichigo feels nauseous again when he touches the ground. Something doesn’t feel right. It’s an itch in the back of his brain. Something feels very wrong here. Maybe that’s the anomaly that Urahara was talking about.
He feels the pull of his spiritual pressure. Ichigo readies himself to search out the familiar signatures of the Uchiha clan when Zangetsu stops him.
He roars, “STOP OR THEY’LL NOTICE YOU!”
Ichigo freezes. He doesn’t know what Zangestu means by that but he thought he heard something in the trees. The leaves shake and tremble above him.
Someone else has found him.
Hatake Kakashi, with a kunai in his hand, stands above Ichigo on a thick branch. He doesn’t look that much different. He’s in his jonin uniform with his signature mask covering the lower half of his face.
“Now, who are you?”
Ichigo doesn’t like the look in Kakashi’s eye but he raises his hand in a wave anyway.
“Hey, Kakashi! How’s it going?”
Kakashi tilts his head as he studies Ichigo.
“I presume that you’ve read about me but I can’t say that I know anything about you. What village are you from?”
“Come on Kakashi, quit playing around. It’s me! This isn’t a trick or anything.”
“I should hope there’s no trick. You’re trespassing in Konoha’s village borders.”
What the hell is he talking about? None of this makes any sense.
Ichigo says, “Kakashi, it’s me! Uchiha Ichigo!”
Kakashi points at Ichigo’s hair, “You really expect me to believe that? I can’t say I know you, but I know that’s not true.”
Rather than respond, Ichigo activates his sharingan and Kakashi’s visible eye noticeably widens in shock.
“My name is Uchiha Ichigo. My parents are Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto. That’s the truth.”