Chapter 6: The Shop's Newest Employee

Transcending Bonds

Summary: What does Sasuke see beyond his blade? That is the question he struggles to answer as he slowly remembers his forgotten past. When the question does really matter and he realizes the answer, to whom will he point his blade to: his new bonds or his old ones? Originally written by Imperialpatty

Flames.

Deadly, unholy black flames.

The same crimson-eyed man gazing at him. "And now it begins..."

"No. Now you end."

Sasuke's eyes opened, waking from the same dream that haunted him. He laid the back of his hand on his brow before he heard the sound of laughter fill the void of silence. Instinctively, he turned his head to the source of the noise: a television show depicting a man in flamboyant clothing and hair-style, arms crossed and hands poised as if they were grabbing his own chest. He laughed maniacally again and then the picture suddenly switched to another program and, despite the drowsy disorientation he was suffering, the raven-haired youth silently thanked Jinta for ridiculing the previous show and changing the channel. He sat up, bringing his knee up and felt something tug with it. He realized that his body was covered up in a futon then.

"What the..." he muttered. Sasuke pulled the covers off and stood up. As he took a step forward, he felt a strange sensation, one he couldn't quite explain. He felt heavier than before. He rubbed his hands and arms and inspected his state of dress. He no longer wore his usual attire. His sword was nowhere to be seen and for the first time since awakening in the realm of the living, Sasuke felt naked.

And strange. Out of place.

Memories of earlier flashed in his mind; he remembered coming to a shop and then speaking to Urahara, and then Tessai pointed his finger at him and chanted something before he had been washed in a sleepy state...

He took another step. "What is going on?" Sasuke uttered loudly.

The redheaded boy turned his head away from the television and looked up at Sasuke. He redoubled the efforts of his scowl. "You're wearing a faux-body," he answered as if it was the most natural response to give.

"Faux... body?" Sasuke drawled. Even his enunciation was delayed. What had that insufferable man's assistant done to him? Was it a mistake to trust Isshin's words? Was it a mistake to come here in the first place? "Where is..."

"He's outside. Now quit bothering me. I'm trying to watch my shows." Jinta said. Sasuke realized he would get nothing else from the belligerent boy so he trudged away, following the path that led outside the shop.

He found Urahara Kisuke sitting on a swinging bench, fanning himself with a folding fan against the heat.

"This weather is so fickle, hmm Sasuke-kun?" The shopkeeper said, lifting his right eye to view the Uchiha. The latter was barely standing still. "You don't look so good yourself there."

"No thanks to you," He felt fatigued lacing his words with acute venom. "What did you do to me, geta-boushi?"

"It's not what I did, but what you did," Kisuke said. He smiled eerily, putting the amnesiac on edge. "You woke up too early."

"Wha-" Sasuke started yet he once again felt a faintness come over him. Not again. He wanted to curse at the shopkeeper, but instead, he fell forward and his vision went dark, his mind claimed by the abyss once more.

When Sasuke had awoken next, rather than being met with the annoying laughter from television, he was stirred by a gentle poking of a finger to his cheek. He opened his eyes to find a dark blue-haired woman staring at him with worried eyes. "Are you alright?" she asked.

Though he kept a stoic look, Sasuke was inwardly startled. His eyes sized her up from head to toe; she wasn't wearing a soul chain like the spirits he interacted with on occasion, nor was she wearing the attire of a Soul Reaper, which meant...

She was human... and she had talked to him.

She was talking to him.

"Hello? Are you ok? Should I call an ambulance or something?" The woman looked around, panicked. She went into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. Sasuke was still in shock. Perhaps she was another human who could see the supernatural.

"There's no need for that, ma'am."

Sasuke recognized the annoying jovial voice of the enigmatic shopkeeper. Turning his head upward, Sasuke saw Kisuke Urahara taking two steps forward before coming to a stop and stood over him. "He's just a little under the weather. The heat these days..." Kisuke stepped out with a charming grin, a hand steadying his black and white striped hat. He then shifted his attention to Sasuke. "Right, Sasuke-kun?"

Confusion from the situation stirred his mind awake completely. Sasuke gave a quick glance to the woman. "Y-Yeah..." He finally muttered, quickly adapting to the abnormal situation he was put in. Even for someone like him, who was adaptable to change, even this one was something that Sasuke couldn't completely comprehend.

The woman looked unsure but accepted Kisuke's answer. "Okay then," she said, shifting her attention back to the shopkeeper. "Well then, back to my reason for being here. I got a call earlier about my order. Is it ready now?"

"Yep, it sure is," Uraraha answered. He slipped his hand into his sleeve and whipped out a folding fan as he turned his head. "Ururu, could you look for order number 1173 and bring it to me, please?"

"H-Hai!"

Attention drawn away from him, Sasuke continued to lay on the smooth wood flooring, silent and still. He meticulously arranged all the questions that had been born from his thoughts into order and made a mental note to barrage Urahara Kisuke with them after the woman left. With that done, the amnesiac next became more aware of his surroundings and realized he was laying at the entrance of the shop. His eyes darted back to the human woman standing a few feet away from him, who turned her eyes away from him, pretending to be looking at another item on the wall.

Despite the multiple questions now in his mind, Sasuke now knew it was a certainty that the woman was really an ordinary person, and could visibly see him. This meant that whatever the geta-boushi and that Tessai character had done, it made Sasuke physically manifest into the human world and become visible to the human eye.

"Here it is." The little girl, Ururu, said as she carried a white box labeled with the ID number in large font up to Urahara.

"Oh, what an adorable little girl!" The woman exclaimed, making googly eyes at Ururu. "Helping your father out at such a young age. You must be so proud of her, Urahara-san."

Sasuke could see the amusement in Urahara's eyes, as well as the laugh he was holding back. He was having a field day with this. The geta-boushi patted Ururu's head gently before taking the package.

"So, will this really ward evil spirits away?" The woman asked.

"Most definitely," Urahara replied, handing the box over to her. "Just remember to place at least one seal in each room and have the doll sit-in at the main entrance at night."

She smiled, visibly reassured by his words. "Thank you so much," she said with a grateful bow of her head. "I knew moving into that really cheap priced house seemed too good to be true but I don't want to give it up. If this doesn't work like I hope it does then-"

"It won't." the shopkeeper said, losing all the usual mirth behind his speech. "As long as you do as I have instructed for the next four days, everything will work out fine."

The blue-haired lady was a bit taken aback by the sudden change in attitude but she retained her smile. "Oh, okay then. I'll place my trust in you then, Urahara-san. Thank you once again."

"Take care, ma'am, and please spread the word about us."

Sasuke wouldn't lie and say that he wasn't intrigued by the woman's dilemma was facing, but as she walked out and slid the door closed behind her, his interest was put aside for more pressing concerns.

He sat up. "She was human, right?" Sasuke asked. "An ordinary human?"

Urahara shut his fan and put it back into the concealed pocket in his clothing. "That's right, Sasuke-kun. She was just an ordinary human being with no spiritual sensitivity at all."

"Then… what did you do to me? How was she able to see and interact with me?"

Kisuke gave him an amused smirk. "You look like a bright individual so I thought you would've already understood from what I explained yesterday. But I guess in your case, seeing is believing." He glanced at Ururu. "Care to get my cane to please?"

"Of course." The black-haired girl said as she retreated into the house. Sasuke stood up and crossed his arms, waiting patiently for an explanation. Once Ururu came back with the cane, Kisuke picked it from her hands and twirled it.

"Sasuke, think fast!"

Sasuke's eyes caught the skull on the end of the cane that came to his head. The raven-haired amnesiac was pushed back, taking two steps to readjust his balance. "What is wrong with you?!" He snapped, his impatience, confusion, and annoyance towards the shopkeeper now giving way to anger.

Having enough of his antics, Sasuke's hand was reached behind his back and took hold of the hilt of his sword, about to draw…

And stop when a sudden realization dawned on him.

How had his sword reappeared on his person in the first place?

Sasuke's looked down and took notice that he was once again wearing his normal attire before everything stopped making sense. He let go of the hilt of his blade and looked at his hands, and then past them to...

"What in the…" Sasuke's eyes widened in shock as he saw a body with the same face as his lying on the ground wearing the clothing he has awoken to earlier: a white buttoned shirt with black jeans equipped with a silver-rimmed belt. Instead of sandals for footwear, white sneakers adorned his feet. What was missing was his sword.

Yet here he was, wearing his traditional set of clothing, his straight blade included. "What is going on? What is that?!" He demanded, pointing at the body on the floor.

"This, my understandably confused friend," Kisuke began, poking the body on the ground with his cane, " is a faux-body."

"Faux-body?" Sasuke repeated. He remembered back to when Jinta had told him the same thing earlier, but instead of closure, he found himself with even more questions.

"Its an artificial body created to be worn by Soul Reapers when they are in the Realm of the Living for a variety of reasons. In times of emergency, if a Soul Reaper loses their powers, they'll wear one to blend in with the humans. If they don't, in their weakened state they'll be easy prey for Hollows to feast upon so it helps them blend in and avoid detection."

Sasuke gazed down at his faux-body. "But how did it come to wear my face?"

"Well when a faux-body is designed, it will have a generic appearance," Urahara continued. "But when it becomes host to a Soul Reaper or soul like you, it will assume the appearance of the one it's hosting and in turn allows you to interact with regular humans." He went into his sleeve and pulled out a particular yellow candy ball. He tossed it over to Sasuke, who caught and inspected it in his hand. "That is a Soul Pill. Swallowing that will allow you to leave your faux-body whenever you find yourself in trouble. It houses an artificially created soul which will protect your faux-body until you're ready to return to it. They can also be pretty handy companions and can hold their own in a fight against some low-level Hollows."

Sasuke listened intently, taking in all the information that the geta-boushi provided him with little or no doubt. After all, it wasn't hard to be convinced when the concrete proof was lying motionless a few steps away on the ground. "I see..." He tossed the Soul Pill back to Kisuke as he finished and took a careful look at his faux-body. Then, with a little help, he "wore" it once more.

"How do you feel?" Kisuke asked with a grin that Sasuke found himself wanting to slice away. They had stepped outside and Sasuke found himself staring up at the clouds.

"All right, I guess..." Sasuke muttered, though what he really felt was as if a constant, non-suffocating weight was being placed upon him. He sized up Urahara once more before truly believing that none should judge books by their cover. "But how does this help?"

"It's only a theory, but it is possible that you'll be able to overcome certain aspects of your amnesia by experiencing things from a human's point of view. Miserable souls tend to criticize God for being an eternally uncaring observer to humanity's sins and plight. Perhaps its time you stopped doing the same thing and start walking on that road of life, eh? Maybe you'll learn something about yourself you probably wouldn't have otherwise."

Despite his misgivings about the shopkeeper, Sasuke found that Kisuke's suggestion was logical enough to spark interest from him. For humans, time lost was something that nobody could get back. It was their enemy. But perhaps for him, it was his ally. He had nothing to lose and it was better than continue to wonder and sleeping on rooftops. However, he had no idea where to start.

"Ya know... that lady who came by is not the only one who's having spiritual problems. I have many other clients who are pretty far away from the shop and are inconvenienced by the distance to travel here. I can't send Ururu or Jinta because adults don't take kids seriously and I need Tessai by my side to help me manage the shop." The geta-boushi put a hand over his brow, making it look like he was looking for someone. "Ah, I wonder if there's anyone who would like to help me out with this. I'd really prefer someone young and energetic really. It'd be even more awesome if that person had something like, I don't know, amnesia or something else, heh heh."

Sasuke could see where this was going. As to whether or not he would regret it... that was something he would decide on at a later date. "Let's go back to the shop before someone misunderstands you."

Kisuke gave him a patented wicked smile. "I guess I'll take that as a yes then."

"Hn."

As he stepped inside once more, Sasuke mentally thanked the irritably enigmatic shopkeeper.

Now to see if he'd regret this decision.

Author's Note: In case you are all wondering what it means, "geta-boushi" is literally translated as "Sandal-Hat" from Japanese. It can also mean "Hat-and-Clogs". Its Urahara Kisuke's nickname in the anime/manga.

Also, I wanted to take the time to answer a few reviews that I'm unable to answer due to them being Guest Reviewers.

Glabberflexing: Not to be rude but Sasuke seems a little out of character in this fic... Then again considering he has amnesia and doesn't remember all the trauma he's endured I guess that makes sense. Though I'm wondering if his personality will become more stoic, i.e. like his "canon" self, once he starts to regain some of his lost memories. Meh, either way, I'm intrigued about the rewrite and I'm looking forward to the next chapter mate.

Thanks for dropping a review, I truly appreciate it. Also, trust me when I say that I know Sasuke Uchiha's character, and the amnesia he has plays into his current character in this story.

Julyz111: Was it really necessary for Urahara to explain absolutely nothing? Hes really not a favorite right now, and I really like Urahara. Its not funny when someone out of the blue manhandles a person into a situation with which they did not agree, in the manga (or anime) it usually serves as a comic relief but in a fanfic the moral angle is much more pronounced, at least for me. Please bear that in mind.

I completely bore that in mind when writing Urahara. The thing to remember is that Urahara Kisuke did very immoral things to the main cast of Bleach. Manhandling aside, I wanted to make the moral angle more pronounced. I wanted you to see Urahara Kisuke as the person he is from another perspective. While he is fun to write, he is also a morally ambiguous character and I intend to write that in this story.

Ar-Pharazon - King of Numenor: Ethically-dubious shopkeeper aside, this was a good chapter, as it does move us forward and wastes little time dwelling, and does well to move the story forward by the end. Good work.

I intend to waste very little time with this story. You should certainly check out the anime or manga (both). Bleach is a fun read and show to watch and you'll grow to love them. But do skip over the fillers. Trust me.

Demons Anarchy of Pride: ...Well, that was kind of anti-climatic.

Well I do hope this chapter helps with that. Sorry you felt that way about the last one, but trust me. The next one is going to be VERY fun for you to read ;)

Anyways, the next chapter will be out by next week. I hope you all enjoyed the read. Please do me a favor and leave me your thoughts on the chapter for I like to see what my readers think of each chapter that is posted. In other words...

Review. Favorite. Follow.

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Wolf's Honour