Bleach ©Tite Kubo

Naruto ©Masashi Kishimoto

The concept of Jiryokou ©Dahlia Derbyshire

xXx

( ? no Sato )

Wolf summons, or any wolves in general, were extremely hard to come by, and very rare to see. The wolf pack, merely following up on their summoner's recon mission, never expected to get into a brawl like this one.

They had minding their own business when they ran into the two figures that, instinctively, they knew their master would want Intel on. Thus, they stalked the two. The first thing that had caught their animalistic eyes was the abnormal hair colors. Orange and pink…what kind of people had such bright, attention-getting hair. In their minds the animals snickered, secretly laughing at the stupidity of shinobi. These wolves, like so many others, doubted that those hair colors were real.

Of course, it had not only been the hair color that reeled them in, hook, line, and sinker. There was more to it than just that. The male of the two was dressed like no shinobi they had ever seen before. The intelligent mammals were perplexed, to say the least, and for many moments they observed closely. They thought, up until that point, they could get away with anything.

When the humans finally noticed their presence, all wolves knew they couldn't continue to gather Intel, pretending that everything was all right. With the intention of acting very friendly, the creatures emerged from the vast foliage. Only their sudden appearance was taken very poorly, and before they knew it one of the strongest in the pack was ardently taken out by the female.

Beaten and frayed, the pack retreated to the best of their abilities. Their travels took a day or two, but eventually they came to a small secluded cabin. It was rickety, and moss crawled up and over every wall visible. Nobody would ever suspect this place being the base of one evil shinobi and his affiliates. It looked far too innocent in the middle of this large forest, far away from any main shinobi villages. To tell that there was a labyrinth of passages and rooms underground was impossible with the naked eye.

The wolves whimpered as they crawled inside, escaping into the labyrinth and awaiting their master. They knew he would sense their presence and come. There was so much to tell them, that wait seemed like it lasted forever! Even though the little 'fight' had caused their health and general well-being to deteriorate, they had gained a lot more data through that then they could have observation. Every wolf had come to the same conclusion: the orange haired shinobi was definitely not a shinobi. He had to be something else entirely.

So soon they saw a figure exit one of the rooms and stride towards them. In the darkness of the halls his face could not be seen, but judging by the way his bright lab coat stood out in the darkness they knew exactly who he was.

"Kyomu…" The leader breathed a big brown wolf with a pair of piercing dark eyes. They watched hesitantly as the man approached. The first thing they noted was the dried blood on his hand, which he was eagerly trying to scratch off or wipe on his lab coat when the time allotted for it. There was no doubt in their mind that he had just finished with an experiment.

The darkness, although very concealing, allowed them to get a good glimpse at the mischievous smile he had on his face as he boasted in a sing-song voice, "Positively great news, my friends! I'm so erratic, I can hardly sit still!" They looked at him blankly, and he understood very quickly. Dejectedly, he continued, "Ah, never mind that, the news can wait till we regroup with Kabuto later."

It seemed Kyomu failed to notice the battered condition of the wolves. Though they didn't mind, he'd find out soon enough with all the news they had for him.

"We have an urgent announcement ourselves, Kyomu." The leader spoke, limping slightly as he pawed a step forward. "We've run into some crucial information that we think you might be interested."

Instantly, the scientist shook his head. "Oh no! Last time you brought back such information, my experiment went haywire. You remember what happened, don't you?" They nodded, slighted by his words. "We can't have that again. Any info you have give to Kabuto directly, not me. When he approves, then you can come to me! It probably has nothing to capture my interest, anyways!" He spun on his heels to walk away.

The alpha sighed and trailed after the doctor. In his raspy, deep voice he replied. "But that's the thing. It does have something to 'capture your interest'."

Kyomu let his intrigue get the better of him. He stopped.

"Ah, that's what I thought." The wolf responded, grinning his sharp fangs. "We ran into something so peculiar…so unexpected. At first we thought they were just two lowly shinobi, but that was far from the truth, we soon came to realize."

"What was the truth?" He eagerly interjected with a quizzical brow.

"There was a male, who looked nothing like a shinobi. He dressed in something so foreign, and his identity as a shinobi was shattered when he claimed to know nothing of the elemental nations to his traveling partner." The wolf informed, his grin only widening when he saw Kyomu's expression of desire to know more. "If he was not a shinobi, then what was he…?"

Kyomu, his interest piqued to a new high, threw his hands up and paced the halls. "Dear god! This is amazing! Never since my Orochimaru days have I encountered something like this! This is so new! I must drop everything immediately and start research as soon as I can. Quickly, my friend, tell your wolfy friends to follow me to my office. I will need a full description of the stranger's looks and the full conversation of the two strangers before I let you go back to your realm. Hurry now!"

The man strutted away, muttering on and on about the abnormality of his new obsession, the fact that Kabuto will be angry at being left out of the new information and research. The wolf summons, however, did not share the same enthusiasm as Kyomu. They knew that if they were ever to come across those two people again…

…they would surely get their vengeance.

xXx

( Konohagakure no Sato )

At one of the worst times in his life, Ichigo got one of the itchiest feelings in his entire life. In spite of the seriousness of the conversation, he could not, and refused to hold it back. Forward the shinigami knelt, his finger resting below his nostrils. They often said smelling your own scent helped counter a sneeze. Unfortunately enough, it wasn't working. The more he tried to inhale his own scent, the more his nose wanted to cry out in pain. Those around him noticed, Rukia being the first to interact.

"AH-!"

"Ichigo, what's wron-"

"CHOO!"

He had not expected that, no, not at all. It was completely uncalled for, and it put everyone on edge. He was so abnormally loud when he sneezed, causing the poor teen to feel slightly embarrassed for his predicament.

It was then that Sakura took a moment to glance in the direction of Rukia, who had intended to help the obviously pained Ichigo out, but had gotten much more than she bargained for. The ill-fated shinigami's face shined with wet, disgusting mucus. Her words took Ichigo's attention away from the ground, where he'd intended to aim it, and to her face. Biting her lip, the roseate tried to hold back her laughter. She didn't want to be the first one to laugh at Rukia's expense.

Kon had not the trouble of laughing. In fact, as soon as he saw her unhappy expression, coated with a fine layer of Ichigo's mucus and spit, the doppelganger doubled over in deep, booming laughter. He clutched his stomach in pain, rolling about the dirt as he said, "Ooooh! Onee-san! HA HA HA! You look so … oomph!"

Not able to take it, Rukia stopped any laughter by violently crushing Kon's face with her foot.

"Hey, watch it!" Ichigo countered, immediately standing up from the tree stump he had been sitting on. He could only imagine how sore he will feel when it comes time to get back into his body…

The female shot him a deadly glare, her eyes burning. She took the liberty to wipe her face with her sleeve, all the while keeping her foot on Kon's head and her attention on Ichigo. "You. Are. So. DISGUSTING!"

Sakura watched Rukia immediately attack Ichigo, flinging him around like a ragdoll. As her rants and his pleading continued, the roseate couldn't help but feel Rukia was using this golden opportunity to avoid what they had been talking about. Only moments ago there had been a very serious and slightly destitute air about the three of them. Rukia, Ichigo, and even Kon seemed to sense the severity of the events. Even now, Sakura wondered about the question that plagued her mind.

"What about Rukia?"

That was such a disturbing question for many different reasons. They had been so focused on Ichigo and how to get him through the differences, that until that moment they had failed to offer even a miniscule thought towards Rukia. What would Rukia do? It was like she said; here in this world she was weaker than she should be. The difference between Chakra and Reiatsu was so strong that Rukia especially was feeling the effects.

The kunoichi glanced towards Kon, who was now getting up from the ground while rubbing his red cheek angrily. Kon was, perhaps, the only reason why this plan was working. Rukia did not have a body they could use, at least that's what Sakura supposed. If Rukia did have a body to work with, wouldn't she have mentioned it earlier to save them all the trouble? Wouldn't she have said something, anything, to suggest that Ichigo wasn't the only one this could work for?

Eventually the two shinigami quieted down and took their seats again, Sakura still lost to her thoughts. The two females exchanged glances that made Rukia feel uneasy. Sakura knew something…that observant girl had figured something out that Rukia had been meaning to hide!

"Rukia…" Sakura addressed, "Seriously, what about you?"

Her lip twitched, Sakura was too smart for her own good. The worried looks she got from both Sakura and Ichigo compelled the shinigami to speak further about her situation. Defensively, she raised her hands, saying, "I know, I know. It's not like I can follow you guys around, I'm weaker than you at this stage. I'd be putting myself in danger if I was to follow you on missions, and so would Ichigo if it weren't for his special condition…" She shot a glance at his way.

Ichigo understood what he meant, nodding. Sakura merely looked on, dumbfounded. Did Rukia mean Kon's body? Whatever it was, the girl did not have a chance to ask questions.

"I'm sort of stuck here for now, I guess." She loosened her grip, her white-knuckled fists regaining their color. "I suppose I can stick around and help Kon with his training. That's about all I'm strong enough to do. I don't have any powers that could possibly allow me to win in a fight against a trained shinobi. The best level I could surely outmatch would be a genin, or a thoughtless chuunin… If I was to go out there and fight, like I suspect Ichigo will have to do, I'd…" She broke away from the others, gulping.

Of course, they understood. Ichigo especially, giving an apologetic look. "You'd die…"

Rukia nodded. "Hey, who knows? Maybe I might be able to learn a thing or two without setting my body's natural balance off."

That's an optimistic way to look at it, Sakura thought. Things did not look bright for Rukia, but for whatever reason, they could not give up any hope. In order to steer the thoughts back in the right direction, Sakura was quick to speak. "Good thinking, Rukia. I'm sure Ebisu might know what to do."

"Ebisu?" The others repeated.

Standing up, the roseate sighed. "I don't expect you to know him. He's a special ninja trainer here in the village. I think I know where he is right now, so we should be able to ask him. I'm sure he'd do it anyways, he owes it to Naruto to help out a little." She smirked at that, the history with Ebisu and Naruto was classic. After all those years of disapproving of Naruto and how he influenced Konohamaru, it was reasonable to think that he should do the "hero of the village" a favor in order to make up for all the years of mean spirit.

Without wasting a second, Sakura led them all off towards where she believed Ebisu currently was. Even in the village's current state, the girl firmly believed that he had not halted any of Konohamaru's training. Therefore it was likely the two were at one of Konoha's empty clearings meant as training grounds.

It was a lucky guess, but in time Sakura located them. She could easily hear their voices in the distance. Konohamaru and his friends, Udon and Moegi, were currently complaining about how hungry they were, and how they did not want to wait to eat their bentos. Even from such a distance, Sakura could clearly hear Ebisu, with all his might, try to calm them down.

Soon their figures appeared over the hill, and Sakura was delighted to see that the three students had obeyed, continuing the string of hand signs they were being ordered to perfect. That, however, was all thrown out the window when they noticed Sakura and the others. The three strangers behind Sakura didn't seem to through Konohamaru's cheerful personality off at all.

"Sakura!" Moegi cried, followed by Udon and Konohamaru all rushing towards the others. Ebisu tried to protest, but found it was futile. It was quite alright to let the kids have some fun once in a while.

Instantly, Konohamaru chattered, "Where's Naruto-niichan? We still need to finish that interview for the Konoha Hero Newspaper!" With that in mind, Moegi seemed to nod furiously.

The kunoichi sighed. "He left the village a while ago. Besides, didn't you see him before he left?"

"Yeah, I did, but…"

Sakura sighed, shaking her head. It was likely that instead of requesting that "interview" like he so craved, Konohamaru had enlightened Naruto in some contest with their silly sexy jutsu. Rather than waiting to see what he had to say, she quickly changed the subject. "Sorry Konohamaru, but I'm actually here to see Ebisu." She quickly strode through the genin, waving for Kon, Rukia, and Ichigo to follow. (Which, of course, they did willingly and eager to get away from the kids' prying eyes.)

Ebisu had no idea what he was getting to. Upon first glance, he was first confounded by the two different Ichigos, which made it all the more obvious he would need an explanation. Of course, Sakura was hesitant to give him one. Did they really want the whole village knowing of shinigami? Was that really something they wanted to make obvious? No…no that was not…but it seemed the only way for Ebisu to understand properly. Thus, there was no time to waste. The three genin were sent away for the time-being while all explanations were given.

First Sakura introduced her companions, and Ebisu noted that the two look-alikes both had different names. It was then that they broke right into business, and it was revealed that they were shinigami. Like Sakura, he couldn't believe it. Ebisu thought it to be a cruel joke and he scoffed at the three, calling them 'hooligans' for trying to get 'such an idea into his head'. Unfortunately enough, the more they tried to convince him, the more he believed it.

His reaction was similar to Sakura's in many ways. Other than being in a state of disbelief, he soon transitioned into immediate fear and confusion. That was where things strayed off path. Ebisu claimed to be in some nightmare, took a few steps back, tripped, and hit his head on the ground. Hard. He was out for half-an-hour, the others waiting and formulating a better way to get this through to him. Rukia offered to draw a few diagrams for him to see, but that idea was quickly shot down. They didn't want poor Ebisu to laugh to death, something that would surely happen if he took one look at Rukia's "art".

Saving them from immense effort, Ebisu seemed to remember everything when he woke back up. He was in a much more rational mindset then, and allowed the trio to explain everything before he questioned them again. He nodded and commented where it was appropriate, still unsure of why they were telling him all of this. He'd learned so much about life in those five minutes of talking already that he had no idea what else there was he could cram inside his memory.

It was then they explained Chakra, Reiatsu, and a strange creature called a 'Hollow'. Poor Ebisu shuddered when he thought of a Hollow, picturing it to be a large, slimy, grotesque beast with a bloody hole straight through its chest. The man had a better imagination than his pupils gave him credit for…

All in all, he was able to reconcile with the idea of the monsters and listened on. It was then everything became clear. These kids needed him to be a trainer for the Ichigo-doppelganger, that way the shinigami wouldn't be so weak in comparison to shinobi. (Though Ebisu had to admit, being stronger than a Death God sounded pretty damn nice.) Nonetheless, Sakura made an effort to explain to him how much he owed them, especially Naruto. And seeing how Ichigo was considered Naruto's "friend"…

"Fine, I will do it." Ebisu stated, crossing his arms. It was hard to tell how he looked; there could have been a pleased gleam to his eyes, or a piercing, fiery dislike behind those black shades. Whatever he thought of it, they could not tell.

xXx

( Soul Society: Seireitei: Captains' Assembly Hall )

With the Absence of Kaname Tousen, Sousuke Aizen, and Ichimaru Gin, the hall seemed oddly absent. Three Captains, all gone…it was a big disgrace to all of Soul Society. Not because those three men had died, or "retired". Oh, no, there was much more behind that. After the minor invasion of Soul Society by Ichigo and his friends, everyone began to understand just how pitiful they had been. They had failed to realize that those three men were complete traitors. When they had finally seen the light, it was all too late. Aizen had abandoned Soul Society and the other two for evil.

As much as the Captains wanted to discuss more about this, they couldn't. Today's issue was not of Aizen, which had to be postponed. Instead there was a much bigger problem at hand, one that had been reoccurring for years now. And in order to solve this problem, every Captain was gathered in the Assembly Hall, standing in two clean lines on either side of Captain-Commander Yamamoto. The old man looked down the lines, only sighing at the sight of the three open spaces, where the traitors had once stood only months ago…

Around him was nothing but noise. People here and there, arguing about the fate of the dastardly hollow they had come to know as 'Jiryokou'. Some people wanted to finally finish off the hollow, where as others (namely Mayuri) wanted to keep it alive for experiments. After all, how often do you meet a hollow that can manipulate time in its simplest form? Despite all the disagreement, there was one thing they had all come to agree on: Jiryokou must be a very old hollow.

Not able to handle the constant pressure the noise had on his temples, the old man raised one hand and instantly boomed an order nobody could ignore. "SILENCE." He called. Right then and there the noise stopped, coming to clean halt. All the nine captains that were there turned their attention at Yamamoto, nervous and unsure. Although they were accustomed to his vocal force, that didn't make it any less unnerving.

"Before we come to a complete census on how to deal with Jiryokou, lets discuss what we know about him." He advised, receiving nods from a fair amount of captains. A little relieved that there was no resistance, he rubbed his palms together, saying, "Well…lets see…we know quite a bit about him already, don't we?"

"Exactly the more reason to exterminate him, once and for all!" Komamura spoke out, raising his anthropomorphic paws in the air, curling them into fists. He was very determined on the subject. From afar could be heard a chuckle, which immediately caught Komamura's attention. It was from none other than Toshiro Hitsugaya. What a wonderful kid.

Toshiro shook his head, looked shockingly amused. "Do you honestly think that would work? That killing everything is the answer to all problems?" He didn't wait for an answer to continue. "As much as we would all like to take a swing at Jiryokou, we can't. Let's not forget that he's fooled and captured three shinigami altogether, who are likely still stuck in whatever time he dumped them in."

Yamamoto was quick to interject. "Ah, but does that really matter, Toshiro? What if, in the end, we can't save those three shinigami. What if they're stuck there forever, and there's nothing we can do about it?"

The prodigy's upper lip twitched madly. He wanted to hold his tongue at Yamamoto, but he found that to be increasingly hard. "If Jiryokou can send them off, then he can surely bring them back." Many did not agree with Toshiro, nearly all but one…

"I concur. Toshiro is right."

As if to amaze all the captains, Byakuya Kuchiki spoke out. He hardly spoke during these Assemblies; did he really intend to speak out now? An induced coma on Captain-Commander Yamamoto would have been more expected than Byakuya talking out. It was, to put it simply, amazing.

"Jiryokou was able to defeat and transport three shinigami total, all three of them being very big assets to Soul Society. First, we had Kurosaki Ichigo, substitute shinigami for the human realm. Second there was Kuchiki Rukia, a member of the noble Kuchiki family. And thirdly, there was Abarai Renji, Lieutenant to the 6th Division. Those are all very important people, and I believe without them we are at a great loss."

"Preposterous!" Suì-Fēng rang out, angrily taking a step forwards with her fist outstretched. "You're just trying to save those three because one is your sister, one is your sister's friend, and the other is your own lieutenant! For the lives of three you'd rather have the whole Gotei 13 risk theirs!" Murmurs of agreement could be heard throughout the hall. "Admit it, Kuchiki, you're partial to them!"

Even in all of her assaults, Byakuya could not be swayed. His face portrayed no emotion as he crossed his arms over his torso. "Watch yourself, Suì-Fēng. You don't know what you're talking about. Have you forgotten what happened only weeks ago?" That was when things became heated.

Byakuya stepped up, standing between the two lines to face Yamamoto. He wasn't in the mood to argue. "Kurosaki Ichigo has proved to be a valuable resource for us. He's shown much potential, and can be of great use in Karakura Town. However, now that he is … gone … Karakura Town, a town that possesses more spiritual power than we have seen ever before, is completely defenseless." The other captains didn't like to admit it, but they knew Byakuya was right. Thus, without another second to loose, his continued, "Kuchiki Rukia was wrongly imprisoned, something that would have never happened had it not been for Aizen and his plan. We still owe her quite a lot, considering the turmoil she and many others went through. And finally, Abarai Ren-"

"Enough."

Captain-Commander Yamamoto's loud voice was strong enough to silence Byakuya, who obediently stepped back into formation. The old man slowly sauntered down the middle of the hall, looking over each of the Captains. He stopped short of Byakuya and Suì-Fēng. "You do prove a point, Captain Kuchiki. Unfortunately, you are outnumbered. I, too, agree with Suì-Fēng. You are letting your relations to the victims get in the way. Think about it, you'll see." He began his walk again, his hands clasped behind his back. "Jiryokou has been left alive for far too long. By killing him we may loose three people, but we will gain many years of peace before another hollow like him appears." He clenched his jaw, very aware of the hateful glare Byakuya shot at the back of his head.

"I'm issuing a 'kill on sight' authorization. You are all dismissed."

xXx

Author's Note::

I believe I've gotten my inspiration back, ever since I plotted out four to five more chapters of this fanfiction. Yaaaay~

Anyways, I started this chapter only six days after updating the story last. I'm so happy to start working on the good stuff. Up until now we've had to sit and drone through all the little unimportant stuff. Drama, action, and shocking plot twists (one experimental idea I have in mind involving the ever-so mysterious Zetsu) await! Just sit still. I can't really let the shinigami play any real involvement until the 4th Shinobi War.

On a side note, I promise to try and skip any unimportant conversations that nobody wants to hear about. Only stuff involving the main point of this story (the mixture of shinigami into the plot, and soon the amazing plot twist) will be written down. I've been working far too slow, and if I want to catch up with my goal (which was to be at the end of the Kage Summit by now) I will have to work harder. I have such big goals for this fanfiction. Be assured that this project will NOT end anytime soon. I have at least another year of working on this before I end it. I've spent far too much on the plotline to leave it any less.

Be prepared for some pretty awesome installments to come~ Oh, and please review, it warms my heart.

For now, anyways, Adieu.