Chapter 7 – Coming Home

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. They are respectively owned by Masashi Kishimoto and Tite Kubo

A/N: If you're wondering how I was able to get this chapter up when my Beta was away, then allow me to explain: Rocker1600 was able to get Internet Access in the place hew as staying. Thus, he was able to Beta my chapter.


[Senkaimon Gate, Seireitei, Soul Society]

Two Days Later…

Two days after initially being assigned the mission, Naruto and his three-man team stood in front of the Senkaimon Gate, waiting for the Kidō Corps memebers to open it up. After recruiting Ichigo, Naruto had successfully recruited Renji, who said that he was looking for some excitement (apparently Renji had adopted the love of a good fight from his days in the 11th Division).

Naruto had then attempted to recruit Captain Kyoraku, but he had declined and made the excuse that he was busy with his division. However, Naruto suspected him of lying, as Kyoraku spent most of his time napping, drinking sake, and chasing after women. He then tried to convince Toshiro, but he also declined, as he also was busy with his duties as a Captain. Naruto also knew he was concerned about Momo, who was put into a coma after Aizen had wounded her. After that, Byakuya had approached them and offered to join them on their mission. However, he kept his reasons for wanting to go on this mission to himself. Naruto, although shocked and confused by this, accepted Byakuya's offer.

Several members of the Gotei 13 had shown up to see them off. They included all of the Captains and their lieutenants (with the exception of Mayuri and Nemu), along with Naruto's squad members and the shinobi. Naruto had just finished saying goodbye with his parents, and was now saying goodbye to his subordinates. He had shake Kira's and Aoshi's hands while Sakuma had given him a bone-crushing hug, despite her small frame. After being released from said hug, both Fugaku and Mikoto approached the Third Division captain. The former head of the Uchiha clan spoke up.

"Captain Uzumaki."

"Oh, hello Fugaku-san. Or should I call you Captain Uchiha?"

"I prefer to be addressed by the former. Anyway, my wife and I have a request for you. When you get to Konohagakure, please, check up on Sasuke."

"Alright, I will," the blonde captain said before turning to face the Senkaimon gate.

Rukia then approached Byakuya, who looked down at his sister-in-law/adopted sister.

"Nii-sama, please be careful and stay safe."

"I will, Imouto."

What her adopted older brother just said shocked Rukia. Byakuya had never been this warm to her, and he had usually been cold and distant. The four Shinigami going into the shinobi world then lined up.

Suddenly, the Senkaimon gate opened up, and the three shinigami and the substitute rushed off with their hell butterflies leading the way.


[A few miles outside of Konohagakure, Land of Fire, Shinobi World]

A few minutes later…

In a quiet forest in the Land of Fire, a gate suddenly appeared out of thin air, and it opened, revealing a circular entryway. Suddenly, Naruto and his Shinigami team exit out of it. The Hell Butterflies turned around and left as the Senkaimon Gate closed.

The team took a look at their surroundings before Naruto made his assumption.

"I say from our surroundings, we are about ten to twelve miles from Konoha."

"Captain Uzumaki, I have a suggestion, if you are willing to listen to it," Byakuya said.

"Go on."

"I suggest we use our shunpo for most of the journey until we reach the halfway point. We then walk from there."

"For once, I agree with you on something, Byakuya." Naruto commented snidely as he flashstepped off before anyone else could say a word. Byakuya and Renji followed suit, and then Ichigo left as soon as he was done catching his breath.

A half hour later…

The team quickly reached a spot that Naruto recognized as the place where Team 7 fought the Demon Brothers of Kiri on their first C-rank mission. The team carried on in silence as they listen to the sounds of nature. The wind rustled through the trees, birds happily chirped, and a squirrel occasionally chattered. However, this relaxing atmosphere was ruined five minutes later.

"SO DAMN ANNOYING!" Ichigo yelled out in a comedic fashion. His sudden outburst caused his fellow teammates to stumble and fall face first. Naruto was the first to get up as he brushed the dirt off of his haori.

"You just had to go and ruin the nice, quit, an peaceful sounds of nature, didn't you Ichigo?" Naruto sarcastically commented as he cleaned out his ear to make sure his hearing wasn't ruined.

"Well, the silence is driving me insane! I'm used to my dad or Keigo blabbing nonstop!"

"This Keigo person sounds incredibly annoying, whoever he is." Byakuya commented silently to himself.

"Fine! Then lets talk!" Naruto said as he walked forward with his team in tow. Renji then walked up next to him to ask him a question.

"So Naruto, how do you think everyone will react to you returning from the dead?"

Naruto tried to surpress a snicker as he gave his answer.

"The civilian populace will probably be scared shitless that the 'kyuubi brat' has returned and is now a shinigami. They may even beg for forgiveness."

"They couldn't think of a better nickname for you, could they?" Ichigo asked.

"Nope."

"What about your friends? How do you think they would react?" Byakuya asked.

Naruto turned serious at this question.

"They've probably already found out about Kurama… so I can only hope that they don't judge me in that light like everyone else had done."

Naruto was broken out of his musings when what looked like the head and arms of a stuffed lion plushie popped out of a sack that Ichigo was carrying. The plushie had black beads for eyes and it had an awful stench to it, which reminded Naruto of a sewer.

"HEY ICHIGO, DO YOU KNOW HOW DARK AND HOT IT IS IN HERE?!" the plushie yelled out, which took Naruto by surprise.

"Shut up, Kon!" Ichigo yelled as he shoved the stuff animal back into the sack. He turned to the Third Division Captain, who had a confused look on his face.

"What the hell was that?"

"Oh, that's just Kon. He's the mod soul that Rukia gave me shortly after I first got my powers."

"Why the Hell would you bring a mod soul with you when we aren't even using Gigais?" Naruto asked as Ichigo began his explanation.

"It's because he's been causing trouble at home while I was in the Soul Society trying to save Rukia and he has singlehandedly annihilated the image I have carefully crafted for myself. I had to ask Urahara-san to erase the memories of what he did from the minds of everyone back home and that took us three days to do."

"What did he do that was so bad?"

"Well, let's see: he's peeked into the women's changing room at the swimming pool-"

"That's not so bad."

"… Peeked up women's skirts, and has attempted to grope several of teenage girls, including Tatsuki."

"Good Kami, he's worst than Ero-sannin." Naruto thought to himself as he continued to listen to Ichigo's rant before asking a question.

"So why did you bring him along, anyways?"

"I gave him a simple choice: either he tags along with me or he would be stuck with my sister Yuzu, who likes to dress stuff animals up."

"It doesn't sound like you gave him much of an option. Anyway, I don't understand how you can tolerate him, Ichigo. Kon's loud and annoying."

"From what I have heard, you were loud and annoying when you were alive, Captain Uzumaki." Byakuya commented nonchalantly. A vein popped up in Naruto's forehead as he turned to face his fellow Captain.

"SHUT UP, BYAKUYA!"

"Thank you for proving my point, Captain Uzumaki." Byakuya calmly said as Naruto gripped his zanpakuto.

He was about to pull unsheathe it when he suddenly stopped upon sensing a disturbance nearby. Naruto then ran off into the forest, motioning for the other members of his team to follow him. When they got to where Naruto was, they were a bit surprised at what they saw.

It was Team 7 (or what was left of the original version, anyway) fighting what appeared to be an Imperfect Arrancar. The Arrancar had beefy arms and legs, and its entire body was covered in dark purple fur. It had goat-like horns on the top of its head, and webbed fingers and toes. Its hollow mask was skull shaped, and where the skull's mouth opened up was where its two beady eyes were. Strapped to its back was a gigantic katana with a rectangular tsuba and a red hilt.

Naruto also took notice of person he assumed to be his replacement on Team 7. It was a teenage boy with sickly pale skin and black hair. He was wearing very effeminate clothing, which showed off his midriff, and carried scrolls and painting equipment in addition to a tantō that he carred on his back. Naruto also noted that the boy also had on a horribly fake smile that put all of Aizen's fake smiles to shame in comparison.

"You guys should stay here; I want to help them myself," Naruto said as he was about to leap out and help. However, Ichigo grabbed him by his haori collar and pulled him back.

"What the hell was that for, Ichigo?" Naruto said, as he regained his footing.

"How the hell are we suppose to help them when they can't even see us?"

Naruto let out a heavy sigh before he answered the Substitute Shinigami.

"If you must know right now, Ichigo, everybody in the Shinobi World, and I mean everybody, has a high enough level of spiritual awareness to see us unlike the people in your world."

Naruto then noticed that Sasuke was now on the ground and the Arrancar was about to deliver the finishing blow. Naruto quickly flashstepped between the Arrancar and Sasuke, blocking its fist with his Zanpakuto.

"What-?!" Kakashi, the leader of Team 7, stuttered out.

"Hey Arrancar, how about you go pick on somebody your own size like a Gillian?" Naruto taunted as he twirled his blade a bit.

He then aimed his left palm at the giant Arrancar.

"Hadō #33: Sōkatsui (Blue Fire, Crash Down)" Naruto said before a torrent of blue reiryoku was generated from his open palm and hit the Arrancar squarely in the chest, causing the brute to drop to the ground.

"Now that he's down for the moment maybe I can talk to them for a few minutes," Naruto thought to himself before he turned to face the stunned members of his former team.

"N-Naruto...?" Sakura stuttered out in shock.

Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head while giving a small grin. After about a minute or so he finally ended the awkward silence.

"Hey guys... ummm... long time, no see?"

Sasuke, who was already up on his feet, got over enough of his shock to walk up to Naruto... and grabbed him by his shihakusho.

"Is that all you have to say to us?! Do you know how long you've been gone?! Where have you been, Naruto?! What was that thing we just fought?! What is going on?! And how the hell were able to even stop that thing?!" Sasuke asked angrily.

To Sasuke's shock, as well as that of Sakura and Kakashi, Naruto simply took a deep breath and calmly responded to the Uchiha's questions.

"To answer your questions in order: I have more things to say but they'll have to wait, it's been three years, that's a long story that'll I tell you and the others soon enough, what you fought is something known as an Arrancar, that's another long story I'll have to explain later, and I actually only slowed that Arrancar down. Now if you'll excuse me..." Naruto said before he spun around, freeing himself from Sasuke's grip in the process.

"... I need to finish the job," Naruto continued as he blocked another of the Arrancar's punches; he then slashed the Arrancar's fist, causing said fist to bleed a bit.

"What? Nobody has ever been able to land a blow on me! Just who the hell are you?" the Arrancar bellowed out.

"I'm sorry, I must've forgotten to introduce myself" Naruto said as he pointed his left thumb at his headband.

"I am Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki, Captain of the Gotei 13's Third Division."

The Arrancar seemed to be amused by this, as he let out a loud laugh that echoed through the air.

"Ha! Today must be my lucky day! I've not just encountered a shinigami, but a shinigami captain! You'll make an excellent dessert, after I have feasted upon those poor souls I was fighting!

Naruto tensed at this, gripping Kaze no Moi in a two-handed grip as he let out a large amount of killing intent towards the Arrancar.

"You must be desperate if you're going after living humans, Arrancar. I'm not letting you harm these people. In fact, I'm going to kill you right where you stand."

"Ha! You don't stand a chance at defeating me, Shinigami," the Arrancar scoffed as he pulled out his own zanpakuto. "I am an Arrancar, a hollow that has removed its mask in order to gain the powers of a Shinigami. Do you know what the size of my zanpakuto means?"

"Shinigami? What is going on here?" Kakashi thought to himself as Naruto answered the Arrancar's question.

"Let me guess... it means that you're probably compensating for something?" Naruto joked as the Arrancar glared at him.

"No! The size of my zanpakuto equivalent to the amount of reiatsu that I possess! So there is no chance you can defeat me with that measly toothpick of a zanpakuto!"

A ridiculously giant poked out of Kaze no Moi's forehead when he heard that taunt.

"What did that asshole just call me?" he asked in a clearly irritated tone as he tried not to explode in rage inside of Naruto's mind. Kurama just laughed out loud at the Arrancar's insult, which irked Kaze even more.

"You talk big, Arrancar, You want to test out that theory of yours?" Naruto ask he settled into a zanjutsu stance.

"With pleasure," the Arrancar sneered as he charged forward with Naruto following suit. In the blink of an eye, Naruto landed on the other side, getting up and sheathing his zanpakuto.

The Arrancar, however, was not so lucky. It collapsed on the ground, having been bisected by the jawline. Blood seeped out of its wounds and it slowly blinked. Its breathing was now labored.

"But... how? It's impossible, my zanpakuto was much bigger!" the Arrancar ranted as Naruto approached it.

"Allow me to explain: Shinigami who are at the level of a Captain have learned how to consciously keep their zanpakutos in a manageable size. Otherwise, we'd all be using swords that are the size of buildings just like your blade. You shouldn't judge a shinigami by the size of their zanpakuto, but on how they wield it. Don't talk about a Shinigami's strength until you've understood that, Arrancar."

With a loud groan, he Arrancar died, and it subsequently dissipated into millions of tiny fragments.

Naruto then turned and faced Team 7. Sakura, Sauske, and Kakashi who had shocked expressions on their faces once again while his replacement was somehow able to keep a neutral expression on his face. His former teammates were not only shocked by the fact that Naruto had returned but also by the fact that he was no longer the goofy, hyperactive blonde that they once knew. This Naruto was much more calm and mature, and he had singlehandedly taken out this "Arrancar" creature, as he called it, without breaking a sweat while they had struggled landing a single scratch on it.

Naruto turned his attention back to the members of his former team.

"Now that I've taken out the garbage I guess I should now explain myself..." Naruto said...

Next Time - The Reunion