Y'know, there are some pain in the ass bugs going about right now. I've had the flu for nearly four weeks now, it just won't go away. The hell is that about? Like seriously, I've been laid up in bed so much I missed out on the bar tending course I've been wanting on it for a while now, and I was one of only eight to get on it out of over three hundred people. And I missed it because of this damn flu, my doctor even said there wasn't much that could be done till it passes itself, it's just stubbornly clinging on to the last vestiges.

Bad time to be me man. This is even the first time I've worked on anything story related, writing-wise in that entire four weeks. Well, whatever enough of my ranting and raving, I won't hold you guys up any further so on you go and enjoy..hopefully.

Naruto was honestly a bit stumped on how to proceed.

Slitted blue eyes peered up at the hauntingly beautiful moon above, casting a faint light over the desolate dark world he inhabited. One long golden tail idly swished from side to side, the razor sharp bone that covered the tip scraping slightly across the tall stone pillar he rested upon with each swing.

He was ready to evolve. Had been for quite a while now really, he'd long since passed the threshold needed to become a Gillian. The problem was, he didn't really want to take the risk right now. Gillian, while it would give him a massive power boost to his already substantial power – was a huge risk.

His success as a hollow so far had come from two facts. His experience manipulating energy and his sheer agility. He could kiss his mobility goodbye when he became a Gillian, and no doubt he'd be swarmed by Adjuchas when he evolved. He was stronger than any Gillian he'd come across, maybe even on par with a low level Adjuchas.

But that power wouldn't be worth anything if he couldn't even hit his opponents, and it would attract many seeking his power and an easy meal. It was this predicament that made it oh so tempting to go after that Quincy and the orange haired Shinigami that popped up in the world of the living not too long ago.

They were weak. The Quincy wasn't very powerful, little more than a bug compared to that other crazy girl Quincy he met, but he'd be enough to trigger his evolution without problem since any old soul would do at this point. The only reason he hadn't evolved so far was because of the fact that when he felt his power surge to trigger the evolution he compressed his energy to stop it.

The Shinigami on the other hand, had an abundance of power. Hell, even more than he did. But he would be easy pickings, he was new to the game, had little combat experience and had no idea how to use his massive stores of energy.

It would be oh so easy to soundly defeat them both, drag them off to some secluded place and eat them both. Quincy to Gillian and then the Shinigami to Adjuchas, simple as that.

Naruto sighed, laying his head down on his paws, "Sometimes I hate my bleeding heart," he grumbled to himself.

Despite becoming a hollow, or sort of one atleast...he refused to fall to the instincts. He would not devour human souls, he only went after other hollows.

And thus his predicament was born. He needed to get as close to Adjuchas as possible so that when he became a Gillian he could evolve quickly without the risk of staying a Gillian too long. He was sure he was near enough on par with a low level Adjuchas power wise, the problem though was that the threshold for evolution was different for everyone. While his power now could have been enough for some hollows to evolve from Gillian to Adjuchas, that didn't mean it would be enough for him to.

Which left him with the option of continuing as he was. Suppressing his evolution while he raised his power further by hunting hollows. It was getting harder and harder to suppress it though, he'd been pacing himself with hunting normal hollows, but it was getting to the point where it took dozens of them for even the smallest of gains. He'd have to start going for Gillian themselves soon. Something he'd been putting off because the large influx of power he'd gain from devouring them might be too difficult to suppress and then all his plans would go to shit.

Plus, he had a little theory going on. He was hoping that the more power he had, the more substantial the gain he'd get when he finally did evolve. If he was right, it was in his best interest to hold off his evolution as long as possible.

...How long had he even been in this dimension? About a year or so he assumed from the regular visits he had to the human world. He tended to clean up as much hollows in the world of the living as he could on his visits so they didn't devour any poor humans.

He sighed again, "Fuckin' Sasuke," he grunted. This was all that bastards fault, all because some pedophile snake man gave him a damn hickey and some promises of power. The prick was lucky he died in their final clash, otherwise Naruto wasn't sure he could stop himself from eating him when he eventually managed to find a way home.

He was such a dickhead.

Well, whatever then. Tired of his ever circling thoughts, Naruto relaxed into his paws and closed his eyes. He'd catch up on some rest, then resume his hunt for hollows to satiate his hunger.

A minute passed. His nose twitched and blue eyes blinked open, glazing over with total bewilderment, "The hell?" He muttered to himself, "Why the hell can I smell ramen in Hueco Mundo?"

Raising his snout into the air he took a few deep whiffs, "Where's it coming from?" he mused, unable to find a direction the scent was coming from.

"Well, this is odd," he said after another minute of failing at finding where the scent was coming from. Standing up on all fours, he reached out with his senses to see if there was anyone nearby – not that he assumed there would be.

Most hollows avoided this area like the plague since this was Runaganga's territory. Key word being was, since Naruto had eaten him not long ago. That guy was a wimp, all size and no substance. He had nothing on Gaara. It served his purposes though, most being too scared to come near the area and risk the sand hollows wrath when it was so hard to do any real damage to him.

A moment later he pinpointed where the smell was coming from, "The human world!?" It wasn't really a smell then, more like something that fake a scent made from reiatsu in order to lure hollows to somewhere he guessed.

Naruto licked his lips as he actually felt himself begin to salivate a bit, his stomach rumbling with an ever growing hunger and a ravenous haze beginning to fall over his vision. He shook his head roughly, bringing himself back to his senses, "Man, that almost got me," he said with a refuel chuckle, "And if it almost got me, no doubt it got tons of weaker hollows to follow it." he continued. A grin splitting across his vulpine face.

He could go a pre bed snack, definitely. And while he was there he could check up on his stash.

Swiping a claw in front of him, Naruto opened up a Garganta and swiftly leapt through. A path formed beneath him as he landed in the dark void that was the space between worlds and he took off running, speeding through the void faster than the naked eye could follow.

It took merely a minute for him to reach his destination and he burst out of the Garganta, floating mid-air in the sky a bit above the Karakura Town bridge.

He was met with an odd sight to say the least.

Atop one of the red pillars, at the very top of the bridge lay a small black cat. From it, Naruto could sense quite the large swell of reiatsu, more even than that Uryuu Quincy guy. And circling around it were easily a dozen if not more hollows.

"Naruto to the rescue, I guess," he laughed to himself. An orb of pitch black darkness formed in his maw, sparkling with crimson electricity. He charged for a mere few seconds, compressing power into the orb.

Then he fired.

(….)