Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Naruto nor do I make any profit from this work.

All My Ghosts are at Rest

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The first time Ichigo changes Naruto's life, Naruto is seven years old.

He's a little over two years into the Academy but has lots practice dodging all sorts of things and knows that between the rocks and the bottles the drunks are hurling at him the rocks will hurt less. That doesn't mean the rocks don't hurt though, and when one sharp edge bites into his arm, he can't quite stifle his yelp of pain. Naruto thinks some of the angry words he hears adults use and hunkers down covering his head with his arms.

Whenever the villagers make him cry, they start to throw even more stuff and sometimes they try kicking, especially this close to October 10th. He tries not to go out too much in early October—everyone is extra mad at him and it's the one time of the year his masked shadows aren't quite as quick to stop trouble—but Naruto is going to run out of ramen by tomorrow, and he wants to have something to eat on his birthday. He dropped his shopping bag earlier, and he can see crushed noodles beneath the men's feet. He'll have to go back to the store when this is over.

An unfamiliar voice yells out, "What the hell do you think you're doing? Leave the kid alone!"

It's a surprise to Naruto and the drunks both. They stop throwing stuff, but Naruto doesn't look, not yet. The masked shadows don't talk to or around Naruto, but he can't think of anyone else in the village who would stand up for him. No one's done it before that he can remember.

"It's the demon-brat, what do you care?" asks one of the meaner drunks.

There's more shouting and the sounds of a scuffle. When Naruto dares to lift his head, he sees the last of the drunks running away with a kick to the behind. His rescuer is a tall, almost scrawny man with bright orange hair. Orange is Naruto's favorite color. It's a good omen.

The man turns around and his face softens. He crouches down so he's closer to Naruto's height and gives him an encouraging smile.

"I'm Ichigo," he says. "What's your name?"

"Naruto," he says warily. Most of the adults in Konoha know who he is even if they never use his name.

"It's nice to meet you, Naruto-kun," says Ichigo. He glances over his shoulder at the crushed shopping bag. "Did your parents send you to the store?"

Naruto lowers his eyes and shakes his head. "Don't got none."

"Ah," says Ichigo. "You're doing your own grocery shopping? You're very grown up."

Naruto lifts his head in surprise. Most people call him a brat. Even Teuchi and Ayame, who are his second and third favorite people after Sandaime, call him a cute little kid. No one's ever called him grown up before.

"Since you're so grown up, do you think you can help me?" asks Ichigo. "My cousin and I just moved to Konoha, and I got lost on my way to the grocery store. Can you show me where it is?"

Naruto uncurls from his crouch and stands up all the way. If this guy just moved to Konoha, no wonder he doesn't know Naruto's name! And he needs Naruto's help!

"I can do that!" says Naruto. "I have to go back anyway."

Ichigo stands up too. "Lead the way."

Naruto immediately sticks out an arm. "Hold my hand so you won't get lost."

He knows it's dumb, but he's never had anyone hold his hand and walk with him before, not even the Hokage. Naruto wants to know what it feels like just once, and Ichigo saved him from the guys beating him up, so this seems like the best chance he's going to get.

Ichigo very solemnly takes his hand and holds it in a firm warm grip. "I'll try not to get lost."

Naruto tells the story to Iruka three days later, when his teacher takes him out for his birthday. It's the first time anyone has ever bothered to celebrate Naruto's birthday, and he thinks this will be his best year ever.

The second time Ichigo changes Naruto's life is two weeks after their first meeting. Naruto answers a summons to the Hokage's office where there are two other people waiting. One of them is very familiar. The other is pale with dark hair and looks a lot like an Uchiha despite his glasses. But Naruto has never seen him before, so if he is an Uchiha, then he's not part of the village police.

"Ichigo-san!" crows Naruto, almost more excited to see him than Sandaime. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Naruto," says Ichigo.

"Naruto," interrupts the Hokage. "This is Kurosaki Ichigo and Ishida Uryu. They moved to Konoha a month ago looking for other members of the Uzumaki Clan."

Naruto's mouth drops open. Does that mean he and Ichigo are family? "I'm an Uzumaki! Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Naruto is the last living Uzumaki in Konoha," explains the Hokage. "He is attending the Academy to become a shinobi, a defender of the village."

"Yeah! I'm going to be Hokage one day! Believe it!" cheers Naruto.

Ichigo and Uryu exchange amused glances with each other, but they don't laugh or say it's a stupid dream like his classmates do, and Naruto decides Ichigo is pretty much the nicest person ever and his cousin is probably the same. (Later he decides Ichigo is the grumpiest nicest person ever, while Uryu is the nicest grumpiest person ever, and Naruto's opinion goes unchallenged for the rest of their natural lives.)

"That's an admirable dream," says Uryu.

"What does admirable mean?" asks Naruto.

"If something is admirable, then it's worthy of respect," explains Uryu. "It's a good thing."

Naruto grins broadly and immediately decides Uryu is okay in his book. "Yeah! That's right! It's a good dream!"

"Naruto, Kurosaki and Ishida have been granted Konoha citizenship and will be staying in the village. Since you are family, you can live with them if you want," says the Hokage smiling kindly.

"I can?" asks a shocked Naruto. Sandaime has picked his last three apartments because mean people kept finding them, so the idea that Naruto gets to choose is a huge surprise. "Really?"

"Really," says the Hokage.

"There's enough room?" asks Naruto anxiously. "That's why I had to leave the orphanage. They ran out of room for me and other kids needed my bed."

Ichigo and Uryu look at each other again. A very different kind of look this time. A look that makes Naruto a little nervous. Uryu turns away to stare at the Hokage, who remains unruffled, but Ichigo squats down so he's eye-level with Naruto. His face is as solemn and serious as it was when he took Naruto's hand the other day, and that makes Naruto feel a little better.

"Ishida and I bought a big house in the civilian district. There's a lot of room. More than the two of us need by ourselves," says Ichigo. "We'd be very happy for you to live with us as long as you want, Naruto-kun."

"Yeah! I'll do it!" says Naruto. He's so excited that he might start crying. "I've never lived in the civilian district before. Why did you buy a house there?"

"I needed space for a workshop separate from the house, and the only place available was in the civilian district," says Ichigo.

"What do you work on?" asks Naruto.

"My family is famous for our fireworks," says Ichigo. "When you get a little older, I might teach you how to make your own."

Naruto's mouth drops open in surprise, and he's too wound up to talk. He throws himself at Ichigo, who doesn't flinch or shake him off but sweeps him into a big hug. Naruto might even be crying but that doesn't matter. He's knows this will be the best year ever.

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END.

I want Naruto to have a childhood where he can learn to his full potential!

Background head-canon for this story is that Ichigo and Uryu were both strong enough that once they hit twenty-five they stopped aging, which was more inconvenient for Uryu the surgeon than Ichigo the police officer. After a few decades and despite a hard-earned mastery of stage makeup, they gave up on living the human world and moved to Soul Society, where Ichigo learned to make fireworks from Kukaku and Uryu ran a clinic in Rukongai.

But after a century or so, Central Chambers started getting twitchy about these two Captain-level non-shinigami living in Rukongai, so Kukaku offered up this map/scroll that one of the Shiba ancestors created to travel from Soul Society to her original dimension (the Elemental Countries). Ichigo can use chakra thanks to his ancestor but Uryu doesn't even have chakra coils, and the Hyuuga are all convinced he's some super elaborate puppet-genjutsu creation no matter what the medic-nin say.

Thanks for reading. Please review!