"Can't you stop being lazy and do your paperwork for once?!"

"But Nanao-chan, how can I do paperwork on a day like today?"

"It's your responsibility as a taicho!"

Okyou let out a sigh as she listened to the one-sided argument coming from the Eighth Division barracks. She was currently outside in the garden enjoying the flowers, but because Shunsui had done something to aggravate Nanao, all peace had been shattered. It also didn't help that her other half, Katen, tended to ignore their antics instead of stopping them. The shy little spirit wanted to leave and get some peace and quiet, but how?

"Ero-taicho! Are you giving Nanao-neechan a hard time again?!"

Okyou's eye lit up at the sound of the voice and happily made her way back inside the barracks. Once she entered the room, she found a familiar orange-clad blond giving Shunsui a pouty glare.

"Now Naruto-kun, I thought we discussed about that nickname," replied Shunsui with a slight pout of his own.

"Nanao-neechan said it was okay since it suits you."

Shunsui glanced over to his fukutaicho to see her giving off a smirk. Seeing as how he was outnumbered he turned back to Naruto. "So what brings you here, Naruto-kun?"

"I just got done visiting Rangiku-obachan and decided to come visit here next!" chirped the fox child with a grin.

"You came at the right time then, Naruto-kun. As you can see, Shunsui and Nanao-chan are having their usual conversation," stated Katen, hiding her smirk.

"Ne, Neechan! You want me to get Ero-taicho to get his work done? I could do the same thing I do to get Ero-sennin to train me!"

This of course earned Naruto a bop on the head from Nanao's book.

"Were you not told before to stop using that "technique" of yours? It is both degrading and filthy!" exclaimed Nanao as she gave the child a stern look.

Another pout came from Naruto. He was about to say something in defense, but he then noticed Okyou. "Hi, Okyou-chan!"

The purple-haired girl nodded in greeting and then walked over to stand next to the fox boy. She was glad she was wearing a mask as it hid the slight blush she had when Naruto gave her a smile.

"Ah, there's my little Okyou-chan! I was wondering where you had wandered off to," said Shunsui with a smirk. This surprisingly earned him a pout from the girl.

Katen rolled her eye at Shunsui. "You know just as well as I do that she was in the garden, Shunsui."

"So she was!"

Ignoring the two, Nanao turned back to Naruto. "As much as we enjoy your company, Naruto, I must insist that you leave for now. Otherwise, Kyoraku-taicho will never get his work done. You may return later though."

The blond frowned at first, but relented. "Okay then, Neechan! Ero-taicho, you better have your work done by time I return!"

With that, Naruto ran out of the room to find someone else to hang out with. Unbeknownst to him though, Okyou followed after him much to Nanao's surprise.

"Where is she going?" questioned the young woman.

Shunsui let out a chuckle. "Looks like our little Okyou-chan likes Naruto-kun. What do you think, Ohana?"

"It does seem that way, Shunsui."

"Wait, what do you mean by "like"?" asked Nanao. She had an inkling as to what it was, but hoped that she was wrong.

"Was it not obvious, Nanao-chan? Okyou-chan is technically at that age where girls start getting interested in boys," replied Shunsui with another smirk. His smirk widened slightly when he saw Nanao tense up. "I wouldn't be surprised if those two start dating soon."

"Wait, what?!"

Without waiting for an explanation, Nanao quickly went after the two preteens in hopes that they don't do anything foolish.

Once they were alone, Katen turned to Shunsui with a deadpan look. "Was it necessary to put that idea in her head, Shunsui?"

"It got her out of this stuffy office, didn't it? And now that we're alone, Ohana, how about we have a little fun of our own?"

Shunsui got no further when he received a jag to his ribs.

-:-

"Let's see, who can I hang out with today?" asked Naruto to himself as he walked down the path. He soon stopped when he felt a tug on his sleeve. Turning around, he was surprised to see who it was. "Okyou-chan? What are you doing here?"

The silent girl merely pointed to herself before pointing at Naruto.

"…You want to hang out with me?"

Okyou nodded in confirmation.

Upon seeing this, Naruto gave off a fox-like grin. "Alright! Then let's go have some fun!"

The boy grabbed hold of Okyou's hand, making her blush in the process, and the two walked off together to find something to do.

-:-

"How could I have lost them? I left just after they did!" hissed out Nanao as she searched for the two children.

"Nanao-san?" said a voice in a confused tone.

Turning to where the voice came from, she found it to be Ichigo and with him was Orihime. Both of them were looking at her in confusion.

Composing herself, Nanao adjusted her glasses before responding to the substitute and the healer. "Ichigo-san, Orihime-san."

Orihime gave the other girl a smile. "Hi, Nanao-chan! It's good to see you again!"

"…Something troubling you, Nanao-san?" asked Ichigo, getting right to the point.

The fukutaicho grimaced as she remembered what she was doing. "I was actually looking for Naruto…"

Ichigo let out a sigh. "What did he do this time?"

"Naruto-kun isn't that bad, Ichigo-kun," replied Orihime with a frown.

"He can get out of hand at times, Orihime."

Nanao decided to speak up. "Fortunately, Naruto is not the problem at hand. It's my taicho's Zanpakutou."

The strawberry raised an eyebrow at that. "What are you talking about? What does Kyoraku-san's Zanpakutou have to do with Naruto?"

Another grimace came from Nanao, as she had to explain it. "Apparently the younger half has gained romantic feelings for Naruto."

It was silent as Ichigo and Orihime took in that knowledge. Surprisingly, Orihime was the one to speak up. "Is that even possible?"

"I don't know!" exclaimed Nanao, her frustration boiling over. "All I know is, is that Okyou followed after Naruto because she likes him and I need to find them to make sure nothing happens!"

The two from the Land of the Living looked at Nanao with wide eyes as the woman was more or less having a breakdown. Orihime took the initiative and grabbed Nanao by the shoulders. "Don't worry, Nanao-chan! Ichigo-kun and I can help you look for them!"

"You/We will?" questioned Nanao and Ichigo at the same time.

"Of course!" chirped the bubbly girl with a smile. "We can tell how worried about Okyou-chan you are. It's almost like how Ichigo-kun gets so worried over his own little sisters!"

"…I don't think it's exactly the same, Orihime-san."

"We're still going to help! Right, Ichigo-kun?"

"Might as well. Naruto can be a handful at times," replied Ichigo with a sigh.

"…Arigatou, Ichigo-san. Orihime-san."

The three then went on to find Naruto and Okyou.

-:-

Back with the two children, they were still trying to figure out what to do for the day.

"Man, there's surprisingly not a whole lot to do around here," stated Naruto with a frown.

Okyou was looking around to try and find something when she noticed where they had ended up. She tugged on Naruto's sleeve to gain his attention.

"What's wrong, Okyou-chan?"

The shy little spirit led Naruto down the path until they were in front of a building that surprised Naruto.

"The Sixth Division? Why would we want to hang out with Byakuya-teme?"

When the girl looked at him, Naruto noticed a certain look in her eye. A look that he recognized as one he usually got sometimes.

"Oh…you want to prank him, don't you?" questioned the boy with a mischievous grin.

Okyou nodded in confirmation, giving the boy an eye smile.

"Well then let's plan on how we prank the teme!"

The two preteens walked away from the division so they wouldn't get caught while they planned their attack. It didn't take long for the two to come up with ideas and thanks to Naruto's Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, they were able to gather the supplies they needed. As to setting up their pranks, since Naruto and Okyou were ninjas they were able to sneak in despite the fact that they were wearing orange and purple respectively.

"This is going to be awesome!" whispered Naruto as he added the finishing touches.

Nodding in confirmation, Okyou followed after Naruto once he was done and the two hid out of sight, waiting for their target to arrive. They didn't have long as Byakuya and Senbonzakura were making their way to the former's office. Once both men entered the room, something had exploded and when the two exited they did not look happy. The reason for their sudden mood change might have been because they were now covered in pink paint and glitter.

"Senbonzakura, find whoever did this and deal with them."

"Of course, Byakuya-sama."

Had they been paying a bit more attention they would have noticed the two children run off.

-:-

"Hehehe! Did you see the looks on their faces?" asked Naruto with a laugh.

A small giggle came from Okyou, which garnered Naruto's attention.

"You laughed? I always figured you were always silent, Okyou-chan. You should talk and laugh more often. It sounds cute."

Okyou blushed at Naruto's words. The only other person who had ever called her cute was Shunsui, but the way Naruto called her that felt so much differently. It felt nice. She was going to say something for Naruto, but…

"I should have known you were the culprit, Uzumaki."

Naruto and Okyou looked up to see Senbonzakura, still covered in glitter and paint.

"Oi, now you really do look like a cherry blossom now, Senbon-teme!"

The samurai-like Zanpakutou let out a growl as he withdrew his blade. "You will pay for this insult, boy!"

Senbonzakura charged forward ready to thrust his blade into the fox child, but both Naruto and Okyou were able to jump out of the way in time.

"Oi! Learn to take a joke!" exclaimed Naruto as he made a hand sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Multiple Naruto soon appeared and surrounded Senbonzakura. This caused the samurai to give off a scoff.

"Foolish child. Whether it's against one or many, I will not fall! Scatter!" exclaimed Senbonzakura. Glowing with a faint pink light, Senbonzakura's blade scattered into petal-like blades that he then used to engulf all of Naruto's Kage Bunshin. Once they were all destroyed, there was no Naruto in sight. "Where did that brat go?!"

"Look up, teme!"

In doing so, Senbonzakura got a face full of foot as Naruto decided to use the Zanpakutou spirit as a springboard and send him crashing to the ground.

Off to the side, Okyou let out a sigh of relief knowing that Naruto was okay. She was actually surprised that Naruto was able to hold his own against Senbonzakura since the samurai was one of the stronger Zanpakutou spirits in the Soul Society. Looking back at the fight, her eye widened when she saw Senbonzakura getting up and if his spirit energy was anything to go by he was not happy.

"You little brat! You dare make me look like a fool?! I'm going to kill you!"

A wave of pink came towards Naruto, much faster than it previously did, this time Naruto didn't have a chance of escaping. At least that's what he had thought before a blur of purple grabbed him and jumped out of the way as the pink mass crashed into the ground.

Looking to see what saved him, Naruto came face to face with Okyou. "Thanks for the save, Okyou-chan. Man, you'd think for being Byakuya-teme's Zanpakutou, Senbon-teme would be more calm. How the hell can I beat him now?!"

"To even think you could defeat me is laughable," stated Senbonzakura as he was making his way over to the two preteens. "I will teach you where you stand, brat, and that you should never insult the Kuchiki name!"

Naruto glared at the samurai, but soon gained a look of confusion when he felt something in his hand. Looking down, he found it to be Okyou's hand. "Okyou-chan?"

What happened next surprised both Naruto and Senbonzakura as in a flash of light, Okyou was gone and in her place, in Naruto's hand, was the wakizashi half of Katen Kyoukotsu.

"What?!" exclaimed Senbonzakura in shock. "But how?!"

Naruto gave the blade a test swing. "Okyou-chan turned into a sword?"

The blade suddenly vibrated in the boy's hand.

"…You want to help me fight this teme, Okyou-chan?" asked Naruto as he looked at the sword.

Another vibration.

A foxlike grin came to Naruto's face. "Alright! Let's do this!"

Senbonzakura was still in shock and confusion as he watched Naruto communicate with the sword. 'What is going on?! How is this brat not only able to use someone else's Zanpakutou, but is able to communicate with it?! This brat might become a threat to the Kuchiki Clan and the Soul Society. I need to end this now!'

The samurai was about to attack once more with his sakura petals, but stopped when he felt an immense build up of energy. Looking over towards Naruto, he could see an aura surround him and going into Okyou's blade form.

"Let's settle this with one last attack, teme!" exclaimed Naruto as he grabbed hold the hilt of the blade with both hands.

If Senbonzakura had been thinking more clearly, he might have used his Bankai. Unfortunately both anger and pride got the best of him and he did not want to admit that someone like Naruto would make him use what was essentially his trump card.

"I will not lose to you!" shouted Senbonzakura as he sent out one last wave of pink petals.

Seeing the attack coming his way, Naruto raised Okyou over his head before bringing it down in one mighty swing just as the wave of pink was about to connect. "Kazegiri!"

With the combination of both Naruto and Okyou's wind affinity, a massive blade of wind cut right through Senbonzakura's attack and sped right for the Zanpakutou spirit. From beneath his mask, Senbonzakura's eye widened in fear at both the fact that his attack failed and that there was no time to escape. The wind attack soon connected with Senbonzakura and he was overcome with multiple cuts that not even his armor could protect him from. Once the maelstrom died down, Senbonzakura fell to the ground face first, his breaths shallow signifying that he was still alive.

With Naruto, he too was about to fall back, but was able to stay on his feet when Okyou resumed her human form and held him up.

The fox child looked at Okyou with a tired grin. "Heh, we make a pretty awesome team, huh, Okyou-chan?"

The shy little spirit gave him an eye smile, a slight blush hiding under her mask, but the happiness was short-lived when the voice of Byakuya reached their ears.

"I am not sure how you were able to defeat Senbonzakura, but I will not allow you to leave without punishment for your earlier insult," said a still pink Byakuya as he drew his Zanpakutou.

"…Okyou-chan, I don't think we can win this one. We barely beat Senbon-teme," muttered Naruto. "I want you to run. You're faster than me, so you'll be able to get away while I do what I can to hold him off."

Okyou looked at Naruto with a wide eye. There was no way she was going to leave him behind to die by Byakuya's hand! There had to be a way for both of them to make it out of this alive! Luckily it came in the form of a substitute strawberry.

Before Byakuya could attack, Ichigo appeared and locked Zanpakutou with the noble. While Ichigo was busy with Byakuya, Nanao and Orihime made their way over to Naruto and Okyou.

"You know, Byakuya, I know you can be a bastard at time, but to attack kids is low even for you," growled out Ichigo as he glared at his opponent.

"In case you haven't noticed, Kurosaki, they have insulted me with their little prank," replied Byakuya, narrowing his eyes at Ichigo.

Before the noble could anything else though, the temperature seemed to rise.

"What is the meaning of this?!" demanded a gruff voice.

Everyone turned to see Yamamoto, as well as the other taicho and fukutaicho. Upon seeing Byakuya, Rukia spoke up in aghast.

"Niisama! What happened?!"

All Byakuya had to do was send a glare towards Naruto, who was currently being healed by Orihime.

The next one to speak was Soifon, who surprisingly let out a slight laugh. Considering how much she hated the Kuchiki, since he hated Yoruichi, she was enjoying this. "You actually got pranked by a kid? I would have figured someone like you would have prevented something like that."

"I think a better question would be what happened to Senbonzakura?" questioned Jushiro as he was looking at the fallen samurai.

"Okyou-chan and I kicked his ass!" exclaimed Naruto with a grin.

"Language, Naruto," replied Nanao in a stern tone as she was checking over Okyou for injuries. This earned her a pout from the boy.

Rukia let out a scoff as she glared at the blond. "Knock off the lying, Naruto. How could someone like you beat Niisama's Zanpakutou?"

"It's true though! Okyou-chan transformed into a sword and let me wield her and then we did this really cool wind attack that cut right through Senbon-teme's attack and cut him up real bad!" explained Naruto as he glared back at Rukia.

All was silent as everyone took in what Naruto said. They had originally come to investigate the increase of spiritual pressure that had appeared. They had felt the spiritual energy of Byakuya, but couldn't determine who exactly he, or in this case Senbonzakura, was fighting and had figured it was an intruder.

Shunsui and Katen were the ones to step forward and stood before the two children. "Is this true, Okyou-chan?"

Okyou looked up at Shunsui and gave him a nod in confirmation.

Katen narrowed her eye at her child. "How exactly was Naruto-kun able to use your power to begin with?"

The girl looked away from both of her parents as well as Naruto, refusing to answer, but Katen knew what the answer was.

"Shunsui, you better explain this!" demanded Yamamoto as he gave his former student a narrowed look.

"…I'd love to, Yama-jiji, but I'm sort of confused myself."

Katen then turned to Yamamoto with a serious look. "I can assure you, Soutaicho, that whatever happened here will not happen again."

The old man could tell that the Zanpakutou spirit was referring more to Naruto using Okyou's power rather than the actual battle. While he wanted to know what happened, he could also tell that the woman did not want everyone else to know. "Very well, but I will still require a report of this incident. Is that understood?"

"Hai," replied both Shunsui and Katen with a nod.

"Then dismissed!"

Katen turned back to the two children and grabbed hold of their hand, leading them back towards the Eighth Division. As she passed Senbonzakura, who was trying to get off of the ground, she stopped and hit him with a wave of killing intent, making him freeze in fear. "I will only say this once, Senbonzakura, if you ever try to attack my child or any child for that matter for any reason, I will kill you. Understood?"

"H-Hai!"

"Good," replied the woman as she continued on her way. Shunsui, Nanao, Ichigo, and Orihime followed a few feet behind, leaving the rest of the taicho and fukutaicho to deal with the aftermath of Naruto and Senbonzakura's battle.

-:-

Once back at the Eighth Division, Naruto and Okyou were seated in front of Katen, who was giving them a narrowed look. "You two are not allowed to do what you did again."

"I don't see what the big deal is! So we pranked Byakuya-teme and Senbon-teme. They are always asking for it for acting like they're above everyone!" exclaimed Naruto with a pout.

"I was talking about Okyou becoming a blade for you to use," replied Katen in a deadpan tone.

"…How come? Like I told Okyou-chan, we make an awesome team!"

Katen glanced over at Okyou to find a small smile forming under her mask. The woman had to do something before this got out of hand. At least Naruto didn't seem to realize what exactly was going on and she hoped to keep it that way.

Off to the side, Nanao, Ichigo, and Orihime were watching on, not wanting to interrupt or else face Katen's wrath.

"Nanao-chan? Is it really such a bad thing that Naruto-kun and Okyou-chan worked together?" asked Orihime in a quiet tone.

"It's not so much that they worked together, but how they went about it," replied Nanao. "Naruto essentially used someone else's Zanpakutou when Okyou lent him her power and that is highly frowned upon."

Orihime's eyes widened at hearing this. "Naruto-kun isn't in too much trouble, is he?"

"…I'm not exactly sure. Considering how Okyou purposely allowed Naruto to wield her and Naruto doesn't completely understand how things work around here, I don't know what will happen," answered Nanao with a sigh.

"I don't think there will be anything to worry about," muttered Ichigo, garnering the two women's attention.

"What makes you say that, Ichigo-san?" questioned Nanao.

"Like you said, Naruto doesn't completely understand how things work around here. While Yamamoto-san might be a stickler for the rules he also doesn't like the idea of harming children, so the most Naruto will probably get in the end is a lecture from the old man. Plus Kyoraku-san has taken a liking to Naruto as if the kid was a part of the family, so he'd do whatever he could to keep Naruto safe."

Thinking over Ichigo's words, Nanao concluded that he might be right. Although, knowing that Kyoraku-taicho had taken a liking to Naruto meant that Naruto would be able to get away with more than he should…and that thought was very disconcerting.

"Ne, Ero-taicho! Do you think you could teach me how to use a sword?" asked the fox child with a hint of hopefulness.

Nanao felt a shiver of dread run through her body.

Shunsui was about to answer, but hesitated when he could feel the cold glare coming from Katen. "…Ask Tsunade for permission first and then we'll see."

Nanao let out a sigh of relief while Naruto pouted. By bringing Tsunade into the equation it would prevent Naruto from doing something that could potentially make things worse.

"But Baachan will just say no!" said Naruto with a groan. "Why does Baachan have to be so mean sometimes?"

"Don't be like that, Naruto-kun. You know Tsunade-san loves you and is just looking out for you!" chirped Orihime with a smile.

"I guess. I should actually be getting home. Baachan is probably wondering where I am right now," said Naruto. The boy then stood up to leave, but was stopped when Okyou grabbed hold of his hand. "Okyou-chan?"

In a move that surprised everyone, Okyou pulled down her mask and kissed Naruto on the cheek and much like when Chrome kissed him, Naruto blushed up a storm. The shy little spirit then pulled her mask back up and gave the fox child a quick hug.

Once released from the hug, Naruto turned away in bashfulness and started to stutter. "Y-You should show y-your face more often, Okyou-chan. You're actually really cute."

Without another word, Naruto ran out of the room, leaving behind a blushing Okyou.

"Aw, my little Okyou-chan has a boyfriend!" exclaimed Shunsui with a smile, breaking the silence.

Katen could only frown as she looked at her fidgeting daughter. 'This will not end well.'

FIN

-:-

We're halfway through the Date Saga and another shy girl got her date with the outgoing fox, but wait…there's still someone left. Who is it? Well let's just say that she's the original Naruto lover and she'll be upset that two other girls kissed her Naruto-kun.