Disclaimer: I don't own either Bleach, or Naruto or anything else that may appear in this story.

Beta-read: Kryokon


Chapter 4 - Unforeseen Events


(Sorry for the short chapter. The next one shall be longer)

Within a dimly-lit room, a young, white-haired boy laid in his bed. His skin was of the most pale color, and he wore a long white robe, decorated with a greenish-pale cloak. This boy seemed to be in a state of slumber, when suddenly, he lifted his torso up from the bed, apparently surprised over something. Even though he had awakened, his eyes had yet to open.

The young boy slowly got up from his bed and walked over to his desk, where he kept a small, pearl-like object. Grabbing the object carefully, the young boy stuffed it in his clothes before exiting the room. Even though he couldn't see, he quickly moved through the corridors of what seemed to be a large building, before arriving on a certain room.

The room was bleak, and had a desolate-air to it, as if no one had ever entered the room for hundreds of years. Not only that, the room was devoid of any objects, with the exception of a large, wide array right in the middle of the room, which extended all over to it's borders.

Quickly, the white-haired boy walked over to the middle of the array, and with trained efficiency, took out the small, pearl-like object from his cloak, placing it right in the middle of the array. The young boy then took a step back and sat down on the ground, directly opposite of the round object.

"...I didn't plan to head there so soon, but...," murmured the boy as he channeled his chakra through his hands and into the ground beneath him, powering up the seal, which in turn, made the round object shine brighter. "This moments seems rather fitting... Not only that, it would be for the best to get my hands on them as soon as possible..."

In the next moment, the pearl-like object in the center of the array suddenly started to emit a strange yet peaceful chakra, which seemed to contain some deep and esoteric meaning. Soon, the entire room was enveloped by this strange chakra, which seemed to encompass all thing in its surroundings. The room, which was previously of a pure white color, was now shining with a faint green light.

"This is the moment," said the boy decisively as he waved his hands, producing a wave-like green-colored chakra, which flew in the direction of the pear-like object, that, by now, was starting to emanate a low, humming sound. "...Today, I shall attain the Tenseigan!"

The moment the green, wave-like chakra collided against the pearl-like object, the muffled-sound of an explosion resounded through the entire building, as the small room the boy had been in was enveloped in a bright, green light. When the light faded away, the boy was no longer there.

"Sensei, are you sure about this...?" said Naruto as he looked at the tall, red-haired man in front of me, who was looking back at him with a small smile. "I mean, I haven't been to the village in two years, and I was hoping to keep it like that."

It had already been two years since Naruto had begun his training under the tutelage of Ichigo, and during this period of time, the golden-haired boy was subjected to many transformations. First and foremost, he was no longer a skinny, frail child, who dearly lacked nutrition. The current him, after two years of plentiful meals, had managed to grow into a healthy youth.

Naruto's hair, which was ragged and dirty, was now clean, and more than anything, long, tied into a small male-ponytail, with bangs framing his sides. His complexion also suffered many changes; his eye, which was bleak and desolate, had become sharp and somewhat full of energy, with his azure-blue iris seemingly enveloped in electricity.

He had also grown taller, and his previous height, that was small even for his age, had already become suitable, if not tall, for children his age. Not only that, he now donned something akin to an eye-patch, which covered his right-eye in a dark cloth. The whisker-like marks by his cheeks had also turned more prominent, and his overall appearance was more than pleasing to the eye.

However, compared to the changes in his abilities, the changes in his appearance had been minimal. From a young boy with no technique at all, Naruto had already reached a high degree of attainment on the arts of Zanjutsu, which almost rivaled his Sensei himself, if not for the fact that the latter had a much more profound experience when it came to fighting.

The current Naruto, although miles away from being able to cause Ichigo any trouble, in a battle of pure sword fighting could already give the red-haired man a run for his money. Although it had been hard at first, after Naruto had managed to master his nodachi Zanpakutō, his prowess with a sword rivaled many experts Shinigami that Ichigo had met in his life.

It's as they say; although the nodachi is the most difficult of all swords to wield, once mastered, it can also be considered the deadliest one, with a wider range of attacks and much higher destructive power. Couple with Naruto's inherent strength, the blonde boy could already be considered an expert when it came to Zanjutsu, even though it had barely been two years since he had started his training.

This heaven-defying progress, of course, didn't come without a price. During this two years, the golden-haired boy worked himself to exhaustion every single day, and would only rest to eat and sleep. He would spend entire nights thinking about sword styles, only for in the following day to test them out. If not for Naruto's mind-blowing effort, he would have never achieved his current level of power.

In the end, however, this still wasn't enough to cause Naruto's Zanpakutō Spirit to make it's appearance. From what Naruto could see, when she had mentioned that he was required to master Zanjutsu, she had probably meant it... the literal way.

As such, even though Naruto could already be considered a Zanjutsu expert, he didn't dare to grow lenient, and continued training with the same intensity as he had always had, never daring to give up or rest. Because of that, Naruto had assumed that this day would have been like any other, but it seemed like that wouldn't be the case.

While Naruto had been in the middle of training, Ichigo had noticed, with his enhanced spiritual awareness, the presence of four or six intruders in the village, given their unfamiliar energy signatures. Immediately, Ichigo realized that this would the perfect change for Naruto to try out his skills. After all, all this time, the only sparring partner he had ever had was Ichigo, and it would do well to try out his ability with other, unknown people.

With that in mind, he had immediately informed his disciple about it, but not surprisingly, Naruto had been rather reluctant of leaving the Forest of Death, which had been his home for the past two years. Even though most shinobi feared the deadly forest, to Naruto, it was the place in which he had lived his most treasured experiences, and he was rather attached to it.

"Naruto, listen to me," said Ichigo sternly to the young boy who was unwilling to meet his gaze. "This will be the best opportunity to see how much you've grown these past two years!"

"..." Naruto didn't say anything. He hated Konoha with all his heart, and had always thought that he would never have to set foot on it again. Now, he had to think of some excuse, "...But, what if those intruders are more powerful than me? Wouldn't I be walking onto my own death?"

"Don't worry," Ichigo smiled as he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, giving him a thumbs-up. "I'll watch your back! I don't want my first disciple to have an early grave, do I?"

"But-"

"Come on, it will be fine," sighed Ichigo, closing his eyes briefly in order to check the position of the intruders. He then pointed in that direction and said, "Come on, it's that way."

Naruto still looked unwilling, but in the end, he sighed, and along with Ichigo hopped onto the trees. This time, however, he no longer used his spiritual body, but instead, his real body. A few months ago, it seemed like the Hōgyoku had heard his prayers, and had given Naruto the power to manifest his Shinigami powers without having to leave his physical body.

While rushing towards the direction of the intruders, using the tree-tops and branches as support, Ichigo and Naruto quickly left the area of the forest, officially entering the residential area of Konoha. Although it didn't seem like it, Ichigo was also using of this opportunity to vanquish Naruto's hesitation towards stepping foot inside the village.

Soon after entering the residential area of the village, Naruto and Ichigo blended in with the night, and followed after the intruding Shinobis, who had been found by Ichigo. After a couple of minutes of hopping through rooftops, the master and disciple duo caught sight of four cloaked Shinobi, which were staring at what seemed to be the entrance of a clan.

"Isn't that...," murmured Naruto, quickly recognizing which clan's entrance it was. "The Hyūga clan?"

As someone that used to constantly run across the village, trying to not get caught by his pursuers, Naruto clearly knew the village like the back of his hand, even though it had been a long time since he had last stepped on it. As such, he could clearly tell which clan was in front of him.

"Hyūga?" murmured Ichigo, not really finding that name familiar, which was a given, since Naruto had never told him anything about the village, and he hadn't actually asked either. However, it was clear that these foreign Shinobi had something to do with this clan, so he looked back at his disciple and whispered, "Is there anything important about the Hyūga clan?"

"Anything important?" asked Naruto quietly, while he and Ichigo moved to a darker area in order to wait for any action on the intruding Shinobis part. "Well, if I remember correctly, they had some kind of special eye. Byakugan, I think."

"A special kind of eye...," Ichigo adopted a thoughtful expression before nodding. He then briefly glanced at Naruto, who was by his side, and said, "We'll see how it goes. If we find the opportunity, then I want you to fight with one of them. If anything happens, then I'll jump in and save you. How's that?"

"Alright," Naruto nodded, and kept his single eye fixated onto the foreign Shinobi, who had already been staring into the Hyūga compound for a long time already. After a few minutes, however, one of the man suddenly whispered something to his fellow partners, and following that, they jumped over the entrance, entering the clan.

Upon seeing that, Naruto and Ichigo exchanged glances, and without a single word, rushed after the foreign Shinobi, also entering the Hyūga clan's area. Thankfully, Ichigo had recently begun teaching Naruto about Hohō, the movement technique of the Shinigami, and because of that, not only was Naruto fast, his steps were barely audible.

While being followed by Naruto and Ichigo, the foreign Shinobi quickly moved through the large area belonging to the Hyūga clan, clearly having an objective in mind. Since it was night, most people were asleep, and even the experts of the clan failed to notice the intruding shinobi's presence.

After a couple of minutes of constant running, Naruto and Ichigo found themselves in what they assumed to be the core area of the clan, where the main family resided in. It was also at that this moment that the six shinobi stopped moving, moving towards one of the trees near the biggest house in the region. However, at that moment, another Shinobi, also cloaked, approached those fix shinobi, who immediately bowed.

"So it's like that...," murmured Ichigo, since although he and Naruto were hiding quite far away, he could hear some of the words spoken. Apparently, they were from some hidden village called Kumogakure, and that newcomer was an ambassador from that same village, who planned to kidnap a member from the Hyūga clan Main Family

Suddenly, one of the Kumo shinobi left the ground, and swiftly entered into the main house. A couple of minutes later, he came out with a young girl on his arms, quickly bringing her towards his fellow Kumo shinobi.

"Sir, I was unable to find Hinata Hyūga, but her sister, Hanabi Hyūga, was present," said the man as he presented the brown-haired girl in his arms towards the ambassador, who looked at her briefly before nodding. Although his aim was the eldest daughter, it wouldn't change his plans much.

"Great work, man. Let's head back now, or else it may be too-"

Before he could even continue, from the house near them, a long-haired man wearing a kimono walked out. His face was one of rage, and he was staring directly towards the six hidden Kumo shinobi. "Come out right now!"

"...Crap," murmured the ambassador Shinobi, whose eyes widened in surprise. As of this moment, he knew that escaping was no longer possible, for that man, Hiashi Hyūga, would easily be able to wake everyone from the clan up. As such, his only option now was to silence the man.

However, the ambassador knew that he would be unable to defeat Hiashi along, so he quickly looked at his men and ordered, "Four of you, come with me. As for you...," he then glared at the man who had Hanabi in his arms. "You head back to the village."

"Hai!" all of the shinobi nodded, and immediately, the ambassador, along with four of them, left their hide-out, while the last one escaped with Hanabi on his arms. At the same time, Ichigo and Naruto glanced at each other before following that man, intending on intercepting him on the way. After all, this would be the best occasion for Naruto to battle one of them alone, and Ichigo also felt like helping out the Hyūga clan, since, after all, no matter how you looked at it, it was a kidnapping.

While Hiashi and the four Kumo shinobi fought, Ichigo and Naruto followed the other Kumo Shinobi back into the Forest of Death. After they distanced themselves from the village slightly, Ichigo was about to order Naruto take action, but before he was able to, right in front of the Kumo shinobi, a young boy with a pearl in his hands materialized out of thin hair.

The boy wore strange clothing, his eyes were closed and his hair was of a pure-white color, which was completely unusual. Initially, the Kumo shinobi thought that he was seeing a ghost, but upon noticing that it was only a teenager, he smiled darkly.

"Brat, get the hell outta my way," ordered the Kumo shinobi, who was already preparing to continue his running, since he needed to get back to the village as soon as possible. However, he was unable to, as the young boy with closed eyes merely waved his sleeves, a small kunai appearing on his hands.

"You want to fight me?!" the Kumo shinobi's eyes widened, and just as he was about to put the girl in his arms down, his eyes suddenly widened, as a kunai suddenly pierced through his neck. Before the man could even register what was happening, his last breath left his body, and his life was taken.

At the same time, the young white-haired boy, who had suddenly appeared behind the Kumo shinobi, pulled his kunai back from the man's neck, and before the Kumo shinobi's body could fall to the ground, he picked up the young sleeping girl on his arms.

"...Sensei, this...," murmured Naruto in shock as he watched what happened from afar. He couldn't even see the boy move, and that was considering that he was already used to Ichigo! Just what kind of speed was this?! Not only that, the boy was not much older than him!

Ichigo, however, kept quiet, looking at the boy deeply, a profound expression on his face, observing him quietly. Upon seeing his Sensei like that, Naruto also shut his mouth and began to observe the boy with attention, wondering who he was and what he planned.

As for the white-haired boy, upon taking the young girl from the man's hands, he ceremoniously laid her down on the ground, before placing his left hand over her two eyes. In the next moment, they glowed with a faint green light, and from the girl's eyes, two streams of energy flew out, landing in the boy's hands.

"Finally... I'll be able to awaken my eyes...," murmured the boy hoarsely, trembling with unusual excitement. He then brought the two streams of light to his own eyes, that clearly penetrated onto them. The young boy's hands then clenched into fists, as overwhelming pain took over him. However, it soon passed, and before long, he opened his eyes.

From the distance, Naruto was able to see that the young boy's eyes, although completely white, were slowly beginning to shine with a faint light. Within it, the faint pattern of a lotus flower was beginning to appear.

The white-haired boy then eyed his surroundings, and he was overwhelmed by a pleasurable sensation. For someone that had been blind for his entire life, being able to suddenly see was simply a marvelous, euphoric feeling. After a few minutes, however, the boy suddenly stopped and murmured, "I must go back now... Soon, I'll be struck by pain again..."

He then looked towards the girl on the ground and sighed, "Although cruel, in order to get rid of evidence, I must..." he then right hand forward, a kunai appearing on it. "Dispose of you."

However, just as his blade was about to clash against the girl's neck, a shadow flew out from the nearby trees, and in the next moment, a blade appeared in his path, making his kunai unable to pierce into the girl's neck.

With widened eyes, the young white-haired boy looked up, only to see another boy, not much younger than himself, wearing a pitch-black cloak. The boy's right eye was covered by a piece of cloth, while his hair was pulled back into a short pony-tail, golden bangs framing his sides.

"I'm sorry, but I can't really let you do that," said Naruto plainly as he easily used his Zanpakutō to block the young boy's kunai. Although Naruto wasn't exactly a rightful and kind person, he just couldn't let this girl die just like that.

"You... who are you?" asked the white-haired boy as he took a few steps back. Naruto immediately took that opportunity to move his body, now standing directly in front of the young, black-haired girl.

"I'm Naruto, a Shinigami," Naruto introduced himself as he held his sword up, entering his Zanjutsu position which had been drilled into his mind by Ichigo. "And you are?"

"Toneri, member of the Ōtsutsuki clan," said the white-haired boy plainly, eying the golden-haired youth in front of him carefully. After all, the aura around the boy wasn't that of a shinobi, and his robes were certainly unusual. Not only that, he even called himself a Shinigami, which translated to Death God. As such, Toneri couldn't help but to put his guards up. "I must ask you, Shinigami, why are you interfering with my actions?"

"No reason in specific," Naruto shrugged his shoulders, his cerulean-blue eyes staring deeply into Toneri's pupil-less eyes. "However, if I had to give you a reason, it would be that... I'm here to fight you."

"Fight me...?" asked Toneri strangely, however, upon remembering the fact that he would soon be overwhelmed by pain again, he immediately stopped talking, entering his own battle stance. Since the young boy in front of him, who claimed to be a Shinigami, planned on fighting him, then he would simply have to grant his wish!

Toneri then raised his hands up and flashed did a summoning gesture. Following that, right in front of him, a large puppet appeared. It wore dark-black robes, and was as tall as grown man. Immediately after it appeared, Toneri waved his hands, and the puppet instantly flew towards Naruto at strikingly fast speeds.

"Puppet...?" Naruto's eyes widened, but as someone who trained himself in the art of the sword, his surprise didn't last long, as he immediately moved to the side, dodging the puppet's punch. While dodged, Naruto spun his sword around, targeting the puppet's back.

However, before it could reach, the puppet suddenly jumped backwards, moving back to Toneri's side, who looked at Naruto with surprise. "...Not bad..."

Toneri then did another summoning sign, and once more, a puppet appeared in front of him, now totaling two of them. Waving his hand forward, Toneri sent the two puppets towards Naruto, whose eyes had narrowed upon seeing Toneri's actions.

"Two of them...?"

Naruto then took in a deep breath, and a look of deep concentration appeared on his eyes. This was the moment to show the results of his two years of training... this was the time to see if it had all for naught or not!

Everything around Naruto suddenly vanished. The sky, the earth and even the air was completely ignored. In Naruto's eyes, only those two puppets existed, and all of his concentration was locked onto them. Seeing the puppets approach, Naruto firmly stood his ground and raised his blade, making it parallel to his body.

At that moment, one of the puppets attacked, causing Naruto to move his sword to the side, blocking the punch. At the same time, his feet kicked against the ground, raising him high-up in the air. Instantly, Naruto pulled back his left leg, only to kick it towards the other puppet's head, jumping above the other puppet at the same time.

Soon after, Naruto fell to the ground on the other side, directly behind the first puppet. The blonde boy then sent his blade forth, swiftly piercing through the puppet's torso, and then used his sword as support, lifting up his body and kicking towards the other puppet once more, who had already been kicked once.

Alas, Naruto had underestimated Toneri's expertise in handling puppets, as just as his leg was about to clash against the puppet's torso, its body suddenly twisted, directly dodging Naruto's attack. At the same time, the puppet which had been pierced by Naruto suddenly turned its body around, and one of it's arms grabbed towards Naruto.

With narrowed eyes, the blonde boy pulled his sword back, avoiding the first puppet's attack. He then glared at the two puppets coldly, already having an idea of their level of combat. Although they weren't that powerful, Naruto still had to find a way to shut them down for good, or else he wouldn't be able to defeat them.

However, at that moment, Naruto caught sight of something. From the hole he made in the first puppet with his Zanpakutō, there was a faint green light, which seemed to be originating from the central chest-area.

"Found it," murmured Naruto, pushing his feet against the ground and dashing towards the first puppet. Before Toneri could even order it to move out of the way, Naruto slashed down with his Zanpakutō, cleanly cutting the puppet's left arm. Slashing side-ways, the blonde boy bisected the puppet's body, revealing a small symbol on the middle of it. An excited light shone in Naruto's eyes, and while dodging the second puppet's attack, he slashed down with his Zanpakutō towards that strange, glowing symbol.

Upon being pierced, the symbol suddenly crumbled, and so did the puppet's body, which dissolved into dust. Seeing that his theory was correct, Naruto dashed towards the first puppet and with great precision, pierced its chest, directly breaking the symbol within it. Just like the first one, it immediately crumbled into dust.

Now that he had dealt with the two puppets, Naruto turned around to face Toneri, only to find the white-haired boy smiling at him strangely. A senses of deadly crisis filled Naruto's mind, and he immediately rushed towards Toneri's position, his sword pulled back, ready to slash towards him. Although Naruto was sure that with Toneri's speed, the attack wouldn't be enough to take his life, it would most likely be able to harm him.

Much to Naruto's surprise, however, the moment he brought his blade down, Toneri's eyes suddenly widened as he was overwhelmed by a feeling of pain coming from his eyes, immediately falling down to the ground. At the same time, Naruto, who had already begun his attack, could no longer stop the momentum, and slashed through Toneri's body.

Slash!

Blood flew to the air, and Toneri's young boy was cleaved into half. The strength behind Naruto's attack wasn't a weak one, and it had been more than enough to slash through his clothing and cut him in half. However, that was far from Naruto's intentions.

Upon seeing the bisected boy in front of him, Naruto's mind reeled, as he realized that for the first time in his life, he had actually killed someone. Even though in his dreams he had killed the villagers many times before, doing it with his own hands was a completely different feeling. From the very start, his only plan was to battle Toneri, and not to kill him. He never would have expected that the white-haired boy would dodge that attack!

However, just as he was about to despair, within Naruto, a faint, purple light shone. This purple light filled his body, and in the next moment, all feeling of remorse or hesitation disappeared from his body like leaves in the wind. When he looked at Toneri's body again, although Naruto still felt saddened, he was still able to cope with the thought of having taken his first life.

"...What was that?" murmured Naruto in shock, clearly aware that something had changed his way of thinking in the split-second. At the same time, however, no matter how much he thought, he couldn't figure out where that feeling had come from. In the end, he looked down at Toneri's corpse blankly.

Just as he was about to call Ichigo, Naruto suddenly stopped, as an idea appeared on his mind. He then looked at Toneri's eyes, and upon seeing that the faint outlines of the lotus pattern were becoming clearer, he understood what should be done. Even though it was indeed his fault, Naruto knew that it would be a waste to leave these eyes behind, for they seemed to be clearly special. As such, there was only one thing that could be done.

Naruto took out the cloth that covered his right eye, revealing a closed eye beneath. However, behind the eye-lids, there was only a vacant, hollow area, where his eye had once been. Naruto then glanced at Toneri again, and after a bit of hesitation, he sighed, took in a deep breath, and pried out his right eye, along with his left one.

Looking at the two orbs in his hands, Naruto wondered if he was doing the right thing, but in the end, he could only sigh. Although he didn't know what exactly those eyes were, it was clear to him that they were powerful, and he had also been missing a right eye. Toneri was already dead, so he would have no use for his eyes. As such, in theory, there would be no problem in taking them for himself.

At the same time, however, he couldn't help but to feel that what he was doing was wrong. After all, he had just killed the boy, and not only did he not feel much guilt, he still felt that his reaction was incorrect. In the end, there was no way to turn back time, and Naruto was aware that what done was done.

Sighing, Naruto, upon hesitating a little, begun to bring over one of the orbs to the vacant space in his right eye, knowing all full well that given his regenerative powers, it wouldn't be impossible for they to heal up all of the nervous system in the eye region, adapting itself to the new eye. Even though this would require a delicate medical procedure in normal occasions, Naruto had a feeling that it would happen naturally to him.

However, just as he was about to bring the small orb up his eye-level, right in front of him, a purple light shone slightly, and out of thin-air, the Hōgyoku appeared. It wasn't the first time that it had made its appearance, so Naruto wasn't really surprised. Instead, he stopped his actions, and looked at it curiously.

The Hōgyoku then hovered in the air in front of him for a while before flying towards the unconscious girl. Naruto followed after it, and upon reaching the girl, he couldn't help but to wonder what had been those two streaks of light that had flown from her eyes. As such, while illuminated by the Hōgyoku's light, Naruto carefully pushed her eye-lids back, only to see that beneath it, there were pale eyes.

Those eyes, however, were different from the Byakugan, which Naruto had already seen before. They were of a much paler color, and didn't have the mystic feel of the Byakugan. It was clear... that she was blind. Or, at the very least, had turned blind.

"This... could it be that those streaks of light were actually...?" Naruto's sole eye widened, as he finally realized what had happened. The things that Toneri had absorbed were actually the girl's vision. Upon revealing that, Naruto glanced at his hands, where he held onto the two orbs. "Then... should I...?"

After a little of hesitation, Naruto begun to bring over Toneri's eyes towards the girl's blind eyes, for he knew that this would actually be the correct thing to do. However, before he could so, the Hōgyoku, that seemed to have observed his actions and figured out what he thought, suddenly trembled slightly.

From the Hōgyoku, three streams of light flashed. Two of them fell on each of the girl's eyes, while the other one landed in one of Toneri's eyes. On the following moment, the girl's two eye suddenly began to developed a brighter color, and the mystic feel of the Byakugan returned to it. At the same time, one of Toneri's eyes, the one which had been struck by the Hōgyoku's light, suddenly flashed lightly, and turned into small particles, that flew into Toneri's other eye, covering it in.

From the remaining eye in Naruto's hand, a dim golden eye flashed, and after it dispersed, what was in Naruto's hand was no longer a pure white orb with the fate signs of a lotus. Instead, there was clearly a lotus-shaped symbol in the middle of the eye, surrounded by countless smallest petals. Not only that, it was now of a light golden color, with the center being a pure blue color.

Immediately after the transformation was done, the Hōgyoku, upon realizing that it's job was done, turned into a streak of light that flew back into Naruto's body, where it had been for the best two years. As for Naruto himself, he only eyed the eye on his hand for a few minutes before steeling his nerves. He then brought his hand up, and directly placed that eye in the hollow area of his head, which was the place where his other eye should have been.

Immediately after that, a dense and ruthless sense of pain flooded his body, originating from his new eye, and he passed out, entering a state of slumber.

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