Meeting

Author Note: For future reference how do you guys think a battle between a Vasto Lorde and a Tailed Beast would go down and would you read it? Not asking who would win or anything just something that may or may not be in a very far future chapter.

Stretching its arm out as if it was made of rubber, the monstrous masked creature attacked Kushina. Jumping into the air, she performed a backflip using her chains to give her an extra boost into the air. The monster's hand embedded itself into the grown as Kushina landed on the ground away from the attack.

"I've never seen anything like it. How did a single person turn into something like that?" Kushina tried to figure it out, but she couldn't. She didn't know nearly enough to draw any conclusions. "Don't belong…" The monster hypnotically spoke in a distorted voice as it retracted its arm, making a cracking sound as it did so

Opening its mouth slowly, there looked like there were more rows of teeth inside of its mouth. Getting down on all four of its limbs, the monster charged up its strength before releasing it in the form of a leap. Its body ripped through the air as it flew towards Kushina with its mouth wide open, obviously trying to eat her.

Narrowing her eyes, Kushina took a step back as two of the chains behind her began to move. Flying past her, they intercepted the monster-catching it by its top and bottom jaw. Raising her fist into the air, his knuckles cracked as she closed her fist. With one swift punch, her fist crashed into the top of the monster's head as it was caught.

"Hya!" The strange mask covering its face cracked as it slammed into the stone tiled floor. The yellow eyes hidden behind the monster's mask seemed to fade out for a moment as it stayed motionless. "Well, it's not very bright if it's attacking head-on like that." Having punched it with enough strength to shatter the ground, Kushina thought it was dead or at least unconscious.

However, a sudden twitch of its arm immediately put her back on alert. Its eyes flashed back to their original neon yellow as its mouth opened again, and it tried to bite Kushina. "Would you give it rest!" Before the monster could even touch her, a chain acted as a whip slamming into the underside of the monster.

The spikes running along the chain links ripped into the monster's body as it was sent into the air. Normally the sealing chains of the Uzumaki would be used for sealing. However, if used correctly, they can also be used for the attack. And depending on their user's intentions, they can be extremely deadly.

Holding her hands in front of her, dozens of chains fired from Kushina's body like rockets in a sheer volley, the monster's body was penetrated more times then physically countable. By the end, the chains were more visible than the monster's physical body as Kushina pulled her hands away from one another.

In response to that move, the chains in front of her all split apart, ripping the monster to shreds in one move. Chunks of the monster flew in every direction as its mask and head fell to Kushina's feat. Slowly, the monster's body parts began to fade into Reishi, disappearing back into the natural atmosphere.

Catching her breath, Kushina called off the 'Adamantine Chains' as they faded, returning back to her body. "That was awesome!" Kushina heard a girl's voice from above her, causing her to look up at the rooftops above her. Standing there looking back at Kushina, both Fuyumi and Seiki waved at her before hopping down.

"Who are you two?" Kushina took a few steps back as she stared at Seiki and Fuyumi. As she did, her memory of Rei's speech began matching things up. Slowly her eyes widened as she realized something. "You two were there when he gave the speech…" Recognizing them, Kushina felt as if she had just put herself in a bad spot.

She had checked beforehand, but she didn't know that the two of them were watching her. They must've seen her use her Jutsu, and that meant them clueing together she had her memory was a given. "Well, she definitely dealt with whatever that thing was. It's weird someone as strong as she was overlooked and put in a division yet."

"Luckily, she was here, though. That thing was getting stronger by the second. If we had left it alone for days or lost track of it for too long on end, we might have actually had a problem on our hands excluding the death toll." They seemed to have forgotten Kushina was there for a moment as she looked at the two of them strangely.

She didn't know why, but instead of trying to escape, she asked them a question. "So you two aren't going to capture me my rank or anything?" Suddenly both Seiki and Fuyumi looked at Kushina strangely. "Why would we do that?" Kushina looked at the two of them while thinking to herself. 'I understand that their kids but there is no there that clueless.'

"I mean…" Kushina didn't know what to say as Seiki shrugged his shoulders. "We're not going to kill you just because you have your memories. Besides, Rei said we weren't allowed to use our Zanpakuto without permission due to their… Effects on souls." The two of them seemed to remember something as they shook their heads.

"Right now, everything under the Soul Society is under Rei's watch. There is a reason why no major incidents have happened in over five months. But that…" Referring to the monster Kushina had just killed, it clearly was a problem. "We are definitely going to need to tell Rei about this… It's worrying that something like that was able to stay here.."

"But ignoring that for now, we only saw the end part of things, so you mind telling us what happened?" Kushina pondered it for a moment before opening her mouth, planning to speak. "Well, I suppose at this point I don't have a choice. But there are some things I can't even explain." The two of them scratched their heads, hearing that.

They couldn't do anything unless they understand the full scope of the situation, and it's then that Seiki realized something and turned to Fuyumi. "Actually, how about we take her back with us and meet up with the others. With Rei searching for the breach and Ren researching the change based on what she says, we should be able to figure this out."

Fuyumi thought about it for a moment and seemed on edge. "I'm not sure bringing her with us could be dangerous. But you are right both Rei and Ren could figure this out better than us." After a bit of discussion, the two of them decided to take Kushina with them. They didn't really ask for her opinion, and with her cover, blonde Kushina only had two options.

One was to try and escape and possibly fight her way out of this situation and then go into hiding. Or let them take her to the place she wanted to gain access to in the first place. Reviewing it in her mind, the answer was obvious, but it also left many unknown factors. 'I'll have to be careful with what I say and do.'

"Alright, if it's decided, then let's go." Turning back to Kushina, Fuyumi grabbed her by the hand and pulled her as she jumped into the air on top of a nearby building roof. "Hold on-" Before Kushina could even balance herself out, the two of them began moving at high speed. They were basically skipping across the Soul Society with Kushina hanging on by a thread.

Of course, considering how close they were in the first place, it barely took a couple of minutes for them to arrive. Arriving at the bottom of a large stairway, Kushina almost fell to the ground as Fuyumi turned to her. "Oh right, sorry about that. I guess you wouldn't be used to moving like that. Do you want to wait a second before we go in?"

Kushina waved Fuyumi off, saying she was fine as she recovered herself.

Seeing the large castle-like building up the stairs, Kushina seemed slightly nervous as she was taken up the stairs to the main gate. Standing guard, two Shinigami, part of the First Division, spotted both Fuyumi and Seiki and gave a respectful bow shortly after. "If I may ask, who is this?" The two guards started a Kushina suspiciously as Seiki told them to relax.

"No one that you two need to worry about, besides we'll be watching her, so nothing will happen." The two of them looked at one another before nodding. Seiki and Fuyumi were higher ranks than them, so they wouldn't question their decision. 'At least if something goes wrong, we won't be blamed for it.' Soon they opened the gate letting all three of them enter a courtyard-like area.

Looking around, Seiki said something to Fuyumi. "If I were to bet, I would say he's still stuck with Shisui signing stuff off. Meaning he would be in his office as usual." Fuyumi nodded in agreement. "I'll take you up on that, actually." A voice interrupted the two of them as Kushina spotted someone ahead of them. "Well, you'd both be right."

Walking out of the central building, Haku greeted the three of them. "Haku? I thought you were off patrolling with Zabuza." Hearing Fuyumi, Haku shook his head. "I just had to report something to Rei. And like you guessed, he's working. In any case, I should get it." Haku spotted Kushina and read her, tilting his head slightly.

Kushina froze for a moment seeing him stare at her before he smiled. "A pleasure meeting you as well." With that, Haku was off, and Kushina let out a breath of relief. "I still can't believe he's not a girl." Shaking his head, Fuyumi looked over at Seiki. "I know, believe it or not his skin is softer than mine."

They all made their way inside as Seiki looked at Fuyumi suspiciously. "You are so weird around him. You treat him like a girl. And who checks to see if someone's skin is soft." Fuyumi flinched slightly as she looked at Seiki embarrassingly. "I do not! I was just- You know what, nevermind. You wouldn't get it anyway."

Kushina watched the two of them mess around with one another as they made their way inside and through the building halls until they arrived on the second to the top floor. Seeing the inside, Kushina was surprised by the architecture and only refocused as she saw Fuyumi and Seiki stop.

At the end of one of the halls was a set of doors leading to Rei's space to manage things. Kushina prepared herself as Seiki knocked on the door. "Well, look who learned how to knock. I'm impressed." Rei's voice came from the other side as the two of them took that as the sign to come in.

Not looking up from his desk immediately, Rei glanced at Fuyumi and Seiki. "You two would normally goof off before coming back after teaching. So what's the problem?" The two of them gestured towards Kushian as Rei moved his gaze to her. "And you are?" Compared to how he spoke to those two, Kushina didn't hear an ounce of playfulness in his voice, and it was simply cold.

Not wanting to seem too suspicious, she introduced herself. "My name is Kushina… Kushina Uzumaki." Rei's eyes twitched slightly as he stopped what he was doing. He had a glare in his eyes as he turned to both Fuyumi and Seiki. "You two wait outside." Surprisingly enough, seeing how serious Rei was, both Seiki and Fuyumi didn't argue and left the room.

"Well, it looks like there are people who retain their memories. And the wife of the Fourth Hokage no less." Rei spoke in an authoritative tone applying just the right amount of spiritual pressure onto her directly. Her words got caught in her throat slightly as she took a deep breath. 'This feeling is suffocating…'

She had to deal with many powerful individuals in her meetings with certain noble clans or powerful family-based factions due to being Hokage's wife. However, this felt differently entirely. It was like a knife was pressed to her throat and killed her if she made a slight mistake. Even with her training, it took her a moment to gather any words, and in that time, Rei spoke to her instead.

"As much as I try to get them to grow up, they still act like kids. Bringing someone like you straight here to me shows they really lack a lot of discipline. Of course, at the same time, it's strange you actually let them bring you here. You even told me your full name." Rei put on a fake smile as Kushina explained herself as calmly as she could.

Kushina took a deep breath and began explaining herself. "Well… I would rather not make enemies out of the entirety of the afterlife. Even with my... Temper, I'm not stupid, and you seem to know who I am already." Rei nodded as he stood up from his chair. "Of course, I spent a lot of time learning about the five nations. Yours, in particular, had a lot of history both good… And bad."

"If I had to guess you're here for more than you admitted to those two." Kushina slowly nodded her head. "I'm not going to bother keeping it a secret. Over the past five months, I've seen this place grow and how it operates. You've made leaving this place impossible. Well, almost since there are a certain few that are allowed to pass through the barriers and the wall."

Clearly speaking about the ranks of Captain and their Lieutenants, Rei could see what she was hitting at. "Well, you've got my attention in both regards. Speaking of which, I haven't been very fair in letting you speak, have I?" Kushina felt the pressure pulling her down suddenly disappear as Rei waved his hand towards her.

"So why don't you tell me why such a sinister presence was inside of my Soul Society."