Psycho Demon-Witch: I am sooo sorry!!! The connection bloody died again. It wasn't back up for long! Well, anyway, thank you to all those who have reviewed (mock-glares at those who didn't). I am a little depressed right now. I have been trying to get into contact with my college. I have called twice and been told that I will be called later. Guess what.

You guessed it. I never did get those phone calls. Once on the 22nd August, the other on the 24th August. I gave up and emailed them on the 26th August. Not the nicest thing I've ever written. Apparently I am very good at cold anger. Well, enough of my ranting, I'm sure you aren't interested in my problems (cries). On with the story.

Chapter Four

Apparently there wasn't much difference between the Shinigami and the Shinobi, as both parties had found out when they trained together. The Shinigami were faster, had a greater endurance and were generally stronger that was true, but some of their techniques were fairly similar, like their hand to hand combat and their speed techniques. Their only major differences were that the Shinigami used incantations, while the Shinobi used hand signs to use there other techniques, and that the Shinigami were just souls. A disadvantage to a Shinigami was that they took longer to heal, as they didn't have a physical body to take damage for them.

Another similarity between them was that they found Kisuke's training methods rather… unusual. The only ones that weren't at all surprised were Jyuushiro and Shunsui, who had both known Kisuke for hundreds if years. He had brought along his modified souls, and with the help of Tsunade, managed to make some bodies for them, similar to the ones they had before. Ichigo had sweat dropped when they were all instructed to fight Ururu, whose new form was only just bigger than before. He remembered his fight with her. It had not been pleasant. He warned the others about her, but the annoying blond, Naruto had only laughed at her. Before she punched him straight in the face and sent him flying anyway. He had been lucky. If he had been a normal person, he would have died. Everyone had taken her seriously then. Except her companion, Jinta, who had been picking on her as usual.

The most amusing part of their training was when Kisuke put Naruto against Ichigo. Both of them were confident, as for talent, it was obvious which one was better. It seemed like Ichigo had a talent for annoying Naruto, who rose up to every bit of bait Ichigo threw at him. Ichigo started getting a bit more serious when a kunai narrowly missed his head. He lifted Zangetsu and did the Zangetsu Tenshou technique, which left a bigger hole than it normally did. It had left the Shinobi worried, as they had never seen power such as this. It made them really wonder about their enemy Shinigami. It had even left Naruto quiet… and on his ass.

It was now the morning of their mission to the Hidden Sand village. They had already eaten breakfast, and were now heading to meet the two Shinobi teams that were taking them to the village to get the Kazekage's cooperation. Rangiku was tired. Being as irresponsible as she was she didn't go to bed until the early hours of the morning. When Toushiro woke her up four hours later, she was not happy. They'd had an argument, which of course, Toushiro won. She had refused to speak to him since.

They soon caught sight of both Gai and Kakashi's teams near the village gate. It looked as though Sakura and Naruto had also been arguing, because the pink haired girl was glaring in the blonds' direction, while he looked totally clueless as to what he had done wrong. "Good morning" Jyuushiro said.

"Just Kakashi sensei to wait for now. Knowing him he will show up in abo…" Sakura began.

"I will show up when, Sakura?" Kakashi said, popping up behind her. Sakura sweat dropped.

"No… nothing Kakashi sensei" she said.

"She means you would have shown up around dinner time" Naruto said bluntly. Sakura whacked him over the head.

"Shut up" she hissed at him.

"Those two are almost as bad as Kiyone and Sentaro" Toushiro commented idly, not caring that the two said Shinigami were stood just four feet away. They were both shooting venomous looks in his direction. Both were thinking he was an arrogant little kid. Which he was, but it wasn't as if they could do anything about it.

Kakashi ignored the comment Naruto had made, and that of Toushiro. "Shall we get going then, or are we going to stay here all day?" he asked.

"It was you we were waiting for" Sakura said irritably. Again, it seemed like Kakashi had selective hearing. They set off at a quick pace towards the Hidden Sand village. They got some unusual stares from passing travellers, as it wasn't often that more than one Shinobi team was sent on one mission.

Naruto was the only one who complained about the length of time it was taking to get to Hidden Sand. He was bored, and there hadn't been any action so far. No other ninjas who wanted to either kill them or take a certain kyuubi out of a certain loud mouths abdomen. Sakura honestly didn't see why he was complaining, as most of these encounters ended up with Naruto in the hospital, where he wouldn't be allowed to do anything and be bored anyway. She couldn't even blame it on being a male thing either, seeing as how everyone else was behaving. With the exception of Sentaro and Kiyone's arguments that is. The Shinobi agreed with the other Shinigami on this: they had a severe captain complex.

(Okay, I'm gonna skip the journey because it is going to bore both me and you)

Once they arrived, they were greeted by Gaara, the Kazekage and his older siblings Temari and Kankuro. There were also a couple of other important looking people whom the Konoha Shinobi had never met. Gaara looked past to the Shinigami. He wasn't surprised to see them; everything had been explained in the letter the Hokage had sent prior to their departure. "I welcome you to Sunagakure" he said in a low voice.

"Hey Gaara, how you been?" Naruto said loudly. Gaara shot Naruto a withering glare at the volume of his voice. He hadn't changed a bit in three years. Naruto, being himself didn't notice this glare.

"Come this way please" Gaara said, and led them all to his home.

When they got there, they were led to a large room, presumably for when the young Kazekage (and any Kazekage before him) had guests. For Gaara, that wasn't often as he was a very solitary person, preferring to keep only Temari and Kankuro around him. "I have informed the Sunagakure Shinobi of the Shinigami's presence, so you won't receive any trouble from them" he said as he sat down. He motioned for the others to do so as well.

"What do you know about the goings on of Orochimaru and Aizen?" Toushiro asked, getting straight to the point.

"Not much. Only a couple of people who have been sent to get information on their doings have come back alive. Those two being Kankuro and myself" Temari said. "We weren't able to get much before they found us. We just know they are helping each other obtain power. One of those ways is getting rid of Akatsuki" she said. A smirk came on her face. "Hopefully they will wipe each other out".

"Don't put your hopes on it, Aizen is very powerful. He has reached the limit of a Shinigami, and he is hoping to extend his powers beyond that. I don't think these Akatsuki will be able to stand up to him" Jyuushiro said.

"We have also seen some very unusual creatures there as well…" Kankuro started.

"The Arrancar. They are Hollows that have obtained the powers of a Shinigami. They are very dangerous, particularly the ones known as the Espada" Jyuushiro explained at the confused looks he was getting.

"What are the Espada? Why are they so dangerous?" Sakura asked.

"They are the most powerful of the Arrancar, picked by Aizen himself. They have been numbered one to ten according to their power" Rukia said. Gaara nodded.

"It is these creatures that have killed the Shinobi here. I am aware of how dangerous they can be, they have managed to kill a team of three jounin" he said. "We will take you to their hideout in the morning, after you have rested. You must be tired from your long journey here" he finished before leaving the room. Temari and Kankuro sweat dropped. That was so like Gaara, to leave them to deal with them.

"Well… we'll show you to the rooms you'll be staying in" Temari said. They were led to their rooms. There were two of them, rather large with mattresses laid on the floor. "You can argue over who'll be having which room later, dinner will be served in an hour. Until then, why don't we see how good you've gotten" Temari said with a sadistic smile.

Back in Konoha

"Ahh, Jyuu-kun must be having all the fun, going off to Aizen's hideout and all" Shunsui complained idly. Nanao sent him an irritated glare.

"You should be focusing on your duty here Kyouraku Taichou" she said. They were currently on a roof, just on the edge of the village. Shunsui was laid down, staring at the sky again, while his unlucky fukutaichou tried to get him to move and finish his duty. It was then that she spotted two men in black and red cloaks. 'Akatsuki' she thought. "Kyouraku Taichou" she yelled at him. Shunsui looked at her in slight alarm. "There are two Akatsuki heading towards the village gate" she said. That moved him. He stood up and used shunpo to get to the gate, followed closely by Nanao.

Byakuya and Renji were already there to greet their 'guests'. "Hey, Byakuya, you seen 'em too eh?" Shunsui stated more than asked. Way to point out the obvious; was running through all their heads. The Shinobi guards at the gate were afraid. They knew the people in front of them, slowly and calmly making their way towards them. Well… they knew one of them at least. Byakuya stepped forward.

"Get into the village, they are beyond your power" he said to them. Both guards ran into the village to inform Tsunade. As the men grew closer, Byakuya spoke again, taking on his iciest tone and expression. "What business do you have here?" he asked them. The younger, but obviously more powerful one lifted his head and gave Byakuya a look which matched his own for sub zero temperatures.

"Our business is none of yours, I ask that you keep out of it" he said. Byakuya narrowed his eyes, while Renji tensed. Being rude to Byakuya was one of the worst things a person could do.

"We have been assigned to protect this village. We understand that you are S class criminals. That means you are a danger. It is our job to eliminate danger, therefore, anything you do is our business" Shunsui interrupted the glaring contest. It was the strangers turn to narrow his eyes. 'Ouch, this one could give Byakuya a run for his money' Shunsui thought.

"I have already said, it does not concern you, please do not make me repeat myself again" Itachi said. These 'guards' were wearing such strange uniforms. No Shinobi had ever worn anything such as that unless they were a Kage. When the guards didn't move, he nodded to Kisame, who readied his weapon. Itachi also readied himself with several kunai hidden by his cloak.

The Shinigami noticed the offensive stance, and withdrew their Zanpaktou. "You are not our primary concern. Tell us your business and withdraw, and we may let you live" Byakuya said. The tall fish faced man, Kisame, laughed.

"Hear that, Itachi? This kid thinks he could take us on" he said. Big mistake.

"'Kid'? I have lived more than 50 times your life span. Do not make that mistake again" Byakuya said coolly.

"He's crazy too. Oh well, let's at least hope they can provide us with some entertainment" Kisame laughed before charging at the Shinigami. Before he even knew they had moved, Shunsui and Nanao had already removed his Samehada and pinned him to the floor with a kido spell. "W… what the fuck just happened? What have you done?" he yelled at them. He struggled for a moment.

"I wouldn't try breaking the kido spell if I were you, you'll damage your soul" Nanao said curtly. Kisame moved his head slightly to see where Itachi had gone. Itachi was still, his eyes wider than they had been. It wasn't usually noticeable to people who didn't know him, but Kisame noticed, and that meant big trouble for them. He wondered what the strangely dressed guards were talking about. What was a kido spell?

"What are you?" Itachi asked.

"We're Shinigami, from Soul Society, where people's souls go once they die" Shunsui said. "We're here to take care of a problem that has spilled over into this world. Now, how about you state your business" Shunsui asked calmly.

So they aren't human, Itachi thought. Interesting. The leader would be interested to hear of this. These people moved faster than anything he had ever seen. Even his Sharingan wasn't able to keep up with them. And their techniques were foreign. There had been no hand symbols that he had seen. There seemed to be nothing to have activated that… kido they had called it. "If I am right in saying this, I believe our problem is the same as yours. A former colleague of ours, Orochimaru, has picked up some… fascinating new friends. They use techniques much like your own" Itachi said to them, finally relenting.

"Hmm… I guess here's where the human saying 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' pops up" Shunsui said. The other Shinigami gave him a look which said 'shut up and get on with it'. Shunsui sighed at the looks. "Those new friends of your former colleague were once our colleagues… well at least the human looking ones were. The ones with the partial masks were once Hollows, which have been given Shinigami powers" he explained. "Well then, we'll escort you to Tsunade, and then see what she says. You better not be put out if she tells you to get lost" he said. With that said, he released Kisame from the kido spell, who then picked up Samehada. Then Shunsui and his three Shinigami companions surrounded Itachi and Kisame, and escorted them into Konoha.

Psycho Demon-Witch: I know, sucky place to end it, but it's quite long for me… Anyway, please leave a review!!