Trip to Hueco Mundo

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Bleach or anything else.

Individualistic responses to reviews promised far too much wastage of time, so I hope you overlook not receiving a reply of gratitude. I would like to say that I am grateful to all of you kind readers for providing me with the motivation to continue and hope that you proceed with this support till the end. Oh and flamers, get a job, will ya?

Answers to reviews,

Adislt: Actually, they didn't have any children which I pointed out in the previous chap.

The Phenomenal Flair: Thanks for the compliment, pal. As for your comment regarding my story, believe me when I say I don't find my stories even the slightest bit amusing or entertaining. That's why there are some mistakes in the chapters.

Sparecore94: No, that will be explained in the next chapter, hopefully.

Answer of the Previous Question (His middle name is 'The')

Question of the Day (An old lady in the United States has a heart attack and dials 911. No one came and she died. How could this have happened?)

Winners (Sparecore94, Necronlord1987, The AnimeLover1)

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Uzumaki Mansion

A worn-out and slightly battered Rangiku leaned against a tree in the training ground near the Uzumaki Mansion, lowering her sword to the ground with a sigh as she tried to gather her breathe.

Tsunade stood in front of her with a book in her hand as she continued to read without a care in the world. She was dressed in a long provocative crimson robe, halfway undone to show an unhealthy amount of cleavage, the slits on the side occasionally gave a tempting peak of her long legs and wide matronly hips tightly hugged by the robe.

Her eyebrows would've twitched if she had the energy to do so as she witnessed her self-proclaimed big sister read in front of her without even looking at her. With Naruto sudden disappearance off the face of the earth, Tsunade had taken the responsibility of training her.

The calm blonde had been oddly curt about pointing out Naruto's whereabouts and she had taken the clue that Tsunade was not going to reveal where he was anytime soon. With nothing to do around the mansion and with no one to annoy, Rangiku had dragged a calmly reading Tsunade from her couch to the training grounds in order to train.

Training with the calm and composed blonde was as different from Naruto's as the earth and the sky. While Naruto mostly preferred to be unsympathetic and sadistic during his training, Tsunade preferred a warmer and considerate training session.

She had not forced her to accomplish something in a limited amount of time or suffer the consequence, more like she had assisted her to move beyond her limits with words of encouragement.

That being said, her training was by no means easy to endure. She had been reading throughout the training while dodging her physical, Kido and Shikai attacks without even taking her eyes off the book. Her body seemed to move without her even knowing anything about it.

Well, at least she was not as sadistic as that old man. That old geezer didn't even know the meaning of restraint when it came to training. If it had been Naruto training her right now, he would've at least killed her three time before understanding that he needed to hold back a little!

"Thinking about Naruto?"

Her head snapped towards the calmly reading Tsunade when he heard the question. Her face must have been far too expressive to be called on it even when the blonde woman was reading a book.

Though instead of denying the validity of that question, she chuckled softly and leaned her head against the trunk of the tree with a sigh "Yes…"

Letting a fond smile grace her features, Tsunade lowered the book from her face and closed it with a soft thud before gracefully sitting down next to the melancholic Rangiku who seemed to be staring off into space with a faraway look on her face.

"When he is here, I have this unnatural urge to argue with him on every front so that I can see his expression when he realizes that he cannot get his way. His childish antics are just so adorable" she started with a fond smile on her face "when I see that wide grin of his, unnaturally filled to the brim with genuine curiosity and happiness … I can't help but smile with him"

Tsunade placed her hand covered in green chakra on Rangiku's shoulder and healed her wounds before leaning against the trunk of the tree, a large smile full of fondness and love graced her features

"Believe me that infuriatingly adorable grin of his was what adored him to me in the first place. We used to argue over the most simple of things and then privately laugh when thinking about them"

Thinking about those times, she couldn't keep the wide grin of mischief from appearing on her visage. Naruto and she had laughed so many times simply remembering their past arguments and fights, amused over their stubbornness to admit defeat.

"Even in the middle of an argument, we used to smile. Everyone in the village knew about our bond, every single man, woman and child knew about our affection … yet we remained oblivious to everything"

"Can I ask you something?" the strawberry haired Shinigami started unsurely.

"Of course"

"How did you two meet anyway?" Rangiku asked curiously. While she knew many things about the couple, there were still some things that she had no knowledge of.

Her eyes widened in surprise when Tsunade erupted in genuine laughter, eyes filled to the brim with actual emotions of nostalgia and love.

"Our meeting wasn't what one would call a charming one" she replied with a chuckle as she recalled the meeting between her and Naruto back in their days.

Rangiku blinked in confusion "What do you mean?"

"Since I am going to be telling you something which would no doubt take some time, we would need something to drink" the blonde woman smiled widely and slammed both of her hands together, one encased in red flames and the other in blue which Rangiku recognized as the technique Naruto had used to create the necklace she was wearing.

Despite seeing it once before, she still couldn't keep her eyes from widening when she saw a comfortable white blanket suddenly appear beneath them over the squished blades of grass. A dim light announced the presence of a tray along with two cups and a teapot as it appeared in front of the duo and settled down on the blanket.

Tsunade took a hold of the tray and poured herself and Rangiku a cup of tea before handing it over to her with a smile. The strawberry haired woman smiled gratefully and took the cup before taking a calm sip.

"Now, as I was saying, our first meeting was actually quite interesting. As I am sure you know, I was outside the Village when my former teammate attacked said village, destroying half of it and killed my Sensei, the leader of the village. My other teammate, Jiraiya…"

"You mean the Super Pervert?" Rangiku asked with a deadpan.

Tsunade grinned "Yup the very same. Anyway, Jiraiya declined the offer of becoming the Hokage and so the Council ordered him to retrieve me so that I would take the position. Naruto accompanied the old pervert in that mission. They found me in a restaurant far away from the village along with my apprentice, Shizune"

"And?" the eager Shinigami asked with a grin.

"I am sure Naruto must have told you about my … tendencies before my resurrection?"

"Yeah, he said you were a drunk old hag with nothing else to do but drink and sleep on the job to avoid paperwork" she retorted with a thoughtful hum and placed her finger under her chin in a thinking gesture, unaware of Tsunade's twitching eyebrows "he also said that you used to drool on your paperwork and get scolded by your apprentice"

"Why that blond silver-tongued good for nothing…! I am gonna clobber him when I see that moron again!" Tsunade started with a twitching eyebrow "He says he loves me when I am around him and say THAT behind my back?"

Hearing curses and strange muttering near her, Rangiku couldn't help but sweatdrop when she saw Tsunade muttering something along the lines of 'a silver tongued blond' and 'kicking his ass to kingdom come'.

On one side, she was tempted to just let things slide and watch in sick glee as Tsunade kick Naruto's ass. But on the other hand, she wanted to mend things before Naruto heard anything because he would bug her to death when he hears that she had told Tsunade in the first place.

"Umm … hey sis, not that I want to interrupt you or anything but I thought you were in the middle of telling me about your first meeting" she started hesitantly and fearfully took a rather large gulp from her tea to calm her nerves.

Well, there goes the idea of mending things back together! There was no way in hell she was going to fight for Naruto's sake when Tsunade was in this mood.

Getting her curses in control, Tsunade sighed and took a sip from her tea "As I was saying, I used to be pretty ill-tempered … but no way as bad as that blond bastard had described! Why I ought to just teleport over there and grind his ass to dust!"

"Sis, the story!" she announced with a deadpan as Tsunade once again started muttering curses.

The former Hokage coughed into her hand as she tried to get her twitching eyebrows under control "Anyway, when they and by they … I mean when the pervert and that silver-tongued blond asshole, found me in that damn restaurant, they instantly started spewing out shit about duties and being the damned Hokage!"

Rangiku sweatdropped at the difference in narration style. Was it just her or did her sentences seemed to have a lot of curse words mixed in than before? She couldn't believe the calm and composed Tsunade would say these things in front of her!

"When I refused the offer, the blond bastard … I can't believe he would say something like that about me! The nerve of that idiot! Me, a drunk old hag?! I will show him who is an old hag when I am done with him!"

The strawberry haired girl groaned in frustration when the busty woman started cursing Naruto, again!

"Sis, are you going to tell me the damn story or not!?" she muttered in annoyance.

Despite keeping outward appearance of indignation and annoyance, Tsunade was quite amused on the inside. If she was to get so annoyed simply because he described her so vulgarly to others, she never would've let her soul be tied to his own in the first place.

Her love and devotion to him was limitless and eternal. He loved her as much as she loved him, it was as simple as that.

She said she was going to show him who was an old hag and she was going to, just not the way Rangiku imagined. She was going to show him a lot of things and most of the show will involve a lot of sweltering and steamy moments.

Mockingly steeling her features, Tsunade sighed and ran a hand through her blonde hair "Admittedly I was a little harsh about my refusal but Naruto took it personally and challenged me to a fight"

"So you two argued and fought on your first meeting and now you are inseparable?" she asked in disbelief.

Tsunade grinned mischievously, taking sick satisfaction from her deadpan look "Yup!"

"I can't believe it" Rangiku muttered under her breathe.

"Well, believe it because that is what happened"

Muttering something under breath which Tsunade blissfully ignored, Rangiku turned towards her with a confused look on her face "Another thing, why do you call each other Soul mates. Its kinda of lame if you ask me"

"That's why we are not asking you, you little brat!" the blonde woman snapped in indignation before coughing into her hand "Anyway, it's because my soul is tied to his own. I am actually not immortal, Naruto is. However since my soul is tied to his, I will never die as long as he is alive, even if my body is reduced to ashes"

"I see"

"See what?"

"It was just an expression!"

"Well, that so called expression was lame!"

"Your soul mate thing is lame!"

"Is not!"

"Is to!"

"Is not!"

"Is to!"

Both huffed and turned away simultaneously, unintentionally giving their heaving busts a teasing jiggle, cheeks puffed up and reddened in anger. A few moments of intense silence later, both suddenly busted out laughing as tears of mirth trailed down their faces.

A few moments later, Tsunade composed herself and turned serious, knowing it was time to ask something which had been on her mind ever since she met Rangiku again in the Soul Society "Tell me Rangiku, how do you truly feel about Naruto?"

Rangiku tensed unexpectedly and tried to convert the subject before Tsunade raised her hand to stop her "And before you try to avoid the topic, don't bother. I am not a child Rangiku, I have more experience than even Naruto, so please tell me honestly what you feel"

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Karakura Town, Orihime's Apartment

"W-what?"

He couldn't believe that the Head Captain would forbid him from going to rescue Orihime simply because she had visited him during his sleep before her abduction. What was worse was the fact that the old man seemed to believe that Orihime had betrayed them! He knew her more than anyone in their age group, aside from Tatsuki.

He couldn't even picture that innocent girl betraying them to the Arrancars!

Renji and Rukia had tried to side with him but they had been outsmarted and outnumbered by the appearance of Captain Zaraki and Kuchiki in the apartment. Even though they had wanted to help him, they couldn't since the Captain had been ordered to use force if necessary should the two Shinigami refuse to comply.

Toshiro and Rangiku simply stood to the side with impassive expressions on their faces.

The young Captain, while saddened and a little annoyed by both the unexpected news and similarly unexpected order of restriction; knew it was for the best. Despite not knowing the kind girl, he knew this much that she would never ever betray the trust of a friend.

They had set up the large screen in her apartment … in HER room without her permission yet the girl hadn't said anything besides 'cool'. In his opinion, that alone said much about her nature and character.

All those matters aside, he couldn't help but wonder why his Lieutenant seemed so quiet and withdrawn all of a sudden.

In fact, she had been distant since that Arrancar attack and her near death experience by Yammy's hands. He had to admit, even he would've been shaken up pretty badly if he had to experience what she had been through, but he knew his Lieutenant far too much.

He had never ever seen her like this and that was saying something since he had known her back when he was a simple citizen of the Rukon District. He knew her as the annoyingly flirty, heavily drunk and frustratingly lazy Lieutenant, not as the impassive, distant and melancholic Rangiku.

There was something definitely wrong with her and if he had to guess, it had something to do with that insanely powerful blond. It always did!

He still couldn't believe that the blond he had been arguing with every second of the day was actually capable of killing two Espada without even blinking! Sure, he had heard that the blond had attacked Aizen before said person could jump through the Garganta and knew he was strong, but he hadn't realize he was THAT strong!

"Rangiku, are you alright?" he asked softly.

The aforementioned strawberry haired woman smiled weakly "I am fine"

Now, something was definitely wrong with her! Rangiku simply did not smile softly especially after meeting that crazy blond! It was either a wide smug grin, a flirty giggle or an outright mocking laughter, not a soft smile!

Rangiku couldn't help but wince when she thought back to the question Tsunade had asked. Sure, Naruto had mentioned that the blonde loved to be blunt and straightforward with her answers and questions, but she hadn't exactly been expecting her to ask something like that out of the blue!

Fortunately, the silver haired Captain called her before she could come up with something. She had never been happier for an interruption!

The problem was not the sudden and unexpected nature of the question but rather the fact that she had no answers for it. How could she give an answer when she didn't know the answer to that question? Everything was just so confusing when it came to that annoying but incredibly adorable blond!

She just hoped something would come up soon and keep her occupied in order to avoid answering that question.

Each and every occupant of the room snapped out of their thoughts when the screen flickered for a second and _ much to their surprise and shock _ revealed the image of a grinning Naruto sitting on a chair and drinking what appeared to be Sake.

Rangiku _ despite her troubled state of mind _ couldn't help the large smile of genuine joy and happiness that appeared on her face when she saw him again.

"Hey there Strawberry, Kiddo and last but certainly not the least, my sweet little Giku-chan!" Naruto chirped with a wide grin.

Toshiro restrained himself from snapping at the man as he remembered the way he had dealt with the Espada, knowing it wouldn't bode well for him should the man get angry. He did wonder how the man was able to find the communication center and call to this particular device. Nevertheless, the comment still irritated him.

He was not a kid dammit!

Ichigo was too deep in his own thoughts to mind the insult or rather the nickname the man had chosen for him.

Rangiku steeled her features and raised her hand in greeting with a large grin on her face "Hey old man!"

Naruto pouted cutely "Come on Giku-chan, don't call me that"

"Sorry old man, force of habit" she replied sheepishly, forcefully squishing her thoughts of hugging the life out of the blond due to his sheer cuteness.

"You did it again!"

"Did what again?"

The blond shook his head and sipped from his sake before staring at the screen with a wide grin on his face "I will let the name slide since I am in a very good mood. Guess what?"

Rangiku placed her hand under her chin in thought "Finally ready to admit that you are old?"

His eyebrows twitched in irritation "No you old hag, I am finally a Movie Star!"

Toshiro blinked "A Movie Star?"

"Who is the kid and what is he doing here?" Naruto asked in confusion as he scratched the back of his head.

The silver haired Captain didn't know whether to bang his head against the wall or the screen "I have been here the whole time!"

"You were? Seriously?" the blond asked in confusion, causing the silver haired Captain to sigh in resignation "Anyway, as I was saying before some snotty little brat interrupted me…"

"I didn't interrupt you!"

"… I have become a super movie star as you can clearly see! I wasn't satisfied with the way the old man seemed to be rubbing it in my face that he was a movie star so I went ahead and made myself a movie star!" Naruto explained passionately and sprawled on his chair before carelessly tossing away the sake container with a sigh.

The sound of a bottle shattering and a cat screech of fright echoed in the background. How a cat entered the Research and Development Center, they didn't want to know!

Rangiku palmed her face in embarrassment "Old man, I hate to burst your bubble but this isn't a movie and you are not a movie star"

Naruto suddenly jumped out of his chair and comically pressed his face against the screen with a tic mark on his forehead "What do you mean 'not a movie star'?"

"This is simply a communicating device"

The blond huffed in irritation and sat on the chair again "I will not tolerate insolence at the moment, now bring me the crown!"

"The crown?!"

"Yes, the crown!"

"Old man, are you a movie star or a king?" she asked with a deadpan.

"I am a movie star and thus by extension a King, so there!" he retorted with a smirk.

Ichigo shook his head and proceeded towards the door of the room, his head bowed in anger and despair.

Rangiku couldn't help the large blush and a heated sensation that traveled down her body when Naruto lost all his playfulness and smiled softly. Well, who could blame her for falling for him when he smiled like that?

"Ichigo, do you mind waiting for a moment?"

Ichigo turned around with an impassive look on his face, not letting the fact that the strange blond was speaking normal for a change "Ah … sure, what do you want?"

Naruto nodded gratefully "I know what you feel and I sympathize with you"

"Umm… thanks" he replied unsurely.

"Therefore, I know what you are going to do but I highly recommend you don't" Naruto stated calmly and waited for the outburst that was sure to come.

"WHAT!? What do you mean 'don't'?! My friend is being accused of being a traitor when in actuality she is being held captive by that bastard Aizen and you want me to not go there!?" Ichigo shouted in outrage, pouring all his frustration and anger into his words while Naruto simply looked on with a calm look on his face.

After a few moments of angry words and curse, Ichigo finally calmed down enough to notice that Naruto was smiling "That is what I was looking for. That resolve, that determination and that conviction to save your friends is what gives you the strength you need to win a battle. I didn't forbid you from going to Hueco Mundo because I doubt your abilities"

"Then why?"

Naruto smiled softly "Because I will be going there to rescue her"

"WHAT!" This time, much to the surprise of the people present, the shout came from Rangiku "Are you insane, old man!?"

Trying to lighten the mood, Naruto fakes an indignant look "What the hell is wrong with you, old hag! You can't just call your old man insane!"

Rangiku released a growl of frustration and unexpectedly bombarded the room with her dense and suffocating Spiritual Pressure. Ichigo and Toshiro gasped in surprise when the pressure proved far denser and overbearing than they had thought.

The silver haired Captain was specifically surprised, more like stunned actually, to see that the pressure rivaled that of a Captain.

He knew his Lieutenant had gotten strong since she had started training with the insane blond, but he had no idea she had gotten this strong!

"I am not the mood, old man!"

Naruto sighed and rubbed the edges of his temple "What seems to be the problem, Rangiku?"

Toshiro chose that moment to slowly slip away from the room and grabbed Ichigo with him, knowing the current situation didn't need them. This seemed to be a family matter and he was not in the mood to witness what two super powered beings could do when in an argument.

Granted, his subordinate wasn't exactly super powered but he knew she had gotten much stronger if her Spiritual Pressure a few second ago was any indication.

Ichigo, though full of questions, admitted it was a wise course of action considering the high level of tension in the room. He would wait outside and then get some answers.

Though he hated to admit it, he knew the blond haired man was probably the strongest man he knew except maybe Aizen and Yamamoto and thus had the more chance of rescuing Orihime from the aforementioned traitorous Captain's clutches.

"Why are you doing this, Naruto?" she asked with a frown "Do you enjoy making me suffer?"

"What!" Naruto muttered in shock when he witnessed a slight sheen in her eyes. Was she crying?

Rangiku lowered her head to hide the tears that were slowly accumulating in her eyes "I know you are strong but that doesn't lessen my worries when you recklessly jump into dangerous situations without even THINKING ABOUT HOW I WOULD FEEL!"

She dropped to the floor and sobbed "Do you think I enjoy watching you taking attacks head on? I know you and big sister are strong, probably the strongest, but have you ever taken into account how I would feel when I see you engulfed in flames or Ceros from those Hollow scum!?"

Uh oh! This was serious! Super serious! Super super and super serious! He had no idea she would be affected by his actions that much! He thought he had made it clear that he was not someone who could be killed, but it seems she was still worrying.

It saddened him to see that during all these fights of his she had been worrying about his health!

Rangiku widened her eyes in shock and surprise when a pair of familiarly muscular arms wrapped around her kneeling form and neared her to a broad chest. She honestly could care less how he had just phased out of the screen when he had been all the way in Soul Society, the only thing she cared about was letting out her frustration.

"Honestly I had no idea you were worried about my actions. I thought you knew that I could not be killed no matter what" Naruto explained softly and rubbed the back of her head comfortingly as she let out soft sobs "I am sorry"

A few minutes later, After Rangiku calmed down a little and stopped her sobbing, Naruto raised her chin, wiping away the tears streaming down her face with his hand and softly pecked her on her cheek, causing the previously frustrated Shinigami to develop an entirely new shade of red from sheer embarrassment.

"You sure know how to appease a frustrated woman" she muttered fondly and rested her head on his chest with a smile on her tear-stricken face.

Naruto placed his head atop her head and hugged her closer to his body with a soft smile on his face "I have had practice, you know when Tsunade gets into one of her moods. Though I use an entirely different way to appease her … not that she minds it though"

Rangiku lightly slapped his chest with a blush on her face at the implication "Perv"

"But you love me anyway, right?" he asked with a cute pout.

He was just glad he had appeased her, otherwise Tsunade would have chewed out his hide. The woman may not show it but she was obsessively overprotective of Rangiku, to the point where she had almost clobbered a scarred Shinigami by the name of Shuhei Hisagi when he flirted with Rangiku, not that he hadn't left his own fair share of threats and warning.

He was pretty sure the boy wouldn't even walk on the same road as Rangiku from the fear of him and Tsunade seeing him!

Rangiku giggled lightly and nuzzled his neck "That I most certainly do"

She would have answered the question regardless of his intention, there was no question about that. She was sure of that fact now … well she was sure before but she was not quite comfortable discussing something like that with Tsunade.

A few moments of silence later, Naruto suddenly pumped his fist in the air "Okay! I have decided!"

Rangiku raised her head from his shoulder and look at him with a confused look on her face "Decided?"

"Yes decided!" Naruto deadpanned, knowing it would rile up the volatile strawberry haired woman.

"Decided what!?" she asked in an irritated tone. The old coot ruined the mood with his shout!

Naruto grinned widely and hugged her closely, earning a squeaky yelp from the busty blonde "I have decided that I will take you with me to Hueco Mundo to indulge ourselves in some good old-fashioned Hollow ass kicking!"

She blinked in confusion "You sure? I mean I am not really that strong to take on so many Arrancars which I am sure Hueco Mundo is full of"

The blond Juubi pouted childishly "Come on, Giku-chan, I was the one who trained you. Do you really think some gender-confused mask-wearing freak will be able to beat you? That's a ramen-gous blow to my fragile ego"

"Ramen-gous? Seriously" she deadpanned.

"I ran out of analogies for 'huge' when it came to the severity of the situation" he explained sagely "As you know, when I mention something as divine as ramen in my sentences, you can tell that its serious business"

Rangiku couldn't help but sweatdrop at his response.

"Anyway as I was saying, no gender confused freak is gonna beat you when you have survived my tortur… I mean training"

"So you admit it was a torture session instead of a training session?" she asked with a dangerous glare.

Naruto whistled innocently "I am pretty sure I have no idea what you are talking about"

Seeing as he was not about to admit his mistake, she sighed in resignation "Fine, I will go with you"

She yelped rather loudly when he suddenly increased the force of his strong hug and repeatedly pecked her on her cheeks one after the other while she remained frozen in his grasp. Naruto stopped his mantra of 'thank you' and pecking her cheeks when he noticed her rigid form

"Oh no! I killed her! Somebody help me!"

"Shut the hell up, you moron!" she shouted in irritation and bonked him on the head "Are you trying to make me deaf?"

Naruto recovered from the fist to his head and hugged her once again before repeating his former action once again, repeatedly pecking her on the cheeks while her blush kept getting larger and larger until her whole body resembled a tomato.

The blond Juubi eventually stopped his ministrations and witnessed her red face as he grinned widely "You sneaky little perv, you are enjoying this, aren't you?"

"N-no, I am not!" she replied defensively and tried to control her large blush.

"You are!"

"Am not"

"Fine, I get it, denial, what a wonderful thing" he said in a sly tone "But since I am such a generous guy, I will keep on kissing you even though you deny liking them"

"Yeah … kiss me like that a few more times and I may jump your bones on the spot" she muttered under her breath slow enough that he wouldn't hear her words as she tried to get her blush under control.

It was already hard enough restraining herself from jumping his bones when he was moving around shirtless in the mansion, but should he do what he did a few moment earlier, she might not even consider Tsunade feelings on the matter and simply let her body do what it wanted.

Naruto blinked "What?"

"N-nothing"

"Okaaaaay" he started unsurely "Go back to the mansion and train as hard as you can so you may be ready for the wonderful trip ahead, we will be going to Hueco Mundo in three days"

She reluctantly untangled herself from his distractingly warm embrace and stood up as she straightened her Shihakusho, not letting the disappointment show on her face "Okay"

Before she could walk away from the room, she found herself spun around and felt a wonderful pair of lips connected with her own in a soul-searing smooch!

Her eyes widened to impossible proportions _ she was sure her jaws would have dropped if they weren't currently occupied in something more pleasant _ her heart thumped frantically in her chest as if wanting to burst out! Her knees buckled her weight as she tried to properly comprehend the situation.

She had been contemplating on how to make the first move _ admittedly she had make her interest loud and clear on her first day of meeting him in that street in the Seireitei _ but she hadn't exactly expected him to make a move considering his dense and oblivious nature.

But THIS was better than she had ever imagined it to be!

These feelings! These sensations! It was addicting! It was like molten lava was coursing through her veins, heating up her insides to impossible degree, stirring up emotions she didn't even existed! His lips felt as though they were the only things that could cool off the heat in her body!

Just as she was about to get over her shock and suck the life out of him through his lips, Naruto pulled back and phased back into the large screen with a wide teasing grin on his red-whiskered face as the screen flickered shut "Just something to help you with your motivation"

Her already wide eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and her previously occupied mouth dropped to the floor in shock! Her wide eyes blinked repeatedly, desperately trying to comprehend what just happened!

Did he just steal her first real kiss and left her before she could respond!?

Did he just leave her all hot and bothered, not to mention shut off the screen so that she couldn't talk to him?!

Finally her mind caught up with the situation and when it did, her dropped jaws stretched into a thin line, her beautiful blue wide eyes narrowed dangerously, her eyebrows twitched madly and an impossibly large amount of tic marks pulsed on her forehead

"DAMN YOU OLD MAN! YOU CAN'T JUST KISS THE LIFE OUT OF ME, LEAVE ME ALL HOT AND BOTHERED AND DISAPPEAR LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED! I WILL KILL YOU THE NEXT TIME I SEE YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME?"

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First Division Barracks, Captains Meeting

Yamamoto and the rest of the Captains looked sideways when a messenger Shinigami appeared in the meeting room and kneeled near the door "Sir!"

"What is it?" the Head Captain asked firmly.

"Naruto Uzumaki appeared in the First Division Barracks and is currently making his way here. What should we do?"

The old Captain frowned in confusion. What could that man want here? Nevertheless, he knew that should anyone in his Squad or any other attack the blond, he would retaliate in an embarrassing way which would not bode well for his men's pride and ego

"Tell the men to let him pass"

"Yes sir!"

Judging from the soft smile on Unohana's face and a somewhat annoyed but pleased grin on Soifon's face, he had a feeling the blond powerhouse had been in the Seireitei prior to coming here. It still irked him that the insanely powerful man could just appear in the Soul Society without a Senkaimon and vanish without a trace of his presence.

Sajin had no problems with the friendly but powerful blond considering he had healed him after Aizen had defected. Anyone who could help others without even knowing them beforehand was a good guy in his books.

Byakuya, while annoyed that the meeting was going to be interrupted by someone who obviously lacked basic manners, couldn't help but be interested in meeting the man who had even forced Aizen to jump into the Garganta to avoid getting injured.

Kenpachi was grinning from ear to ear when he heard the name.

He couldn't wait for this guy to get here so that he could cut him to pieces and prove that he was the strongest! He had heard that the blond had battled the Head Captain and actually survived to tell about it! Judging from the way the old Captain tensed when he heard his name, it seems that rumor was true.

If someone was strong enough to battle the old man and still live, he knew that someone would prove a worthy opponent to fight!

Shunsui and Jushiro simply smiled widely, oddly anticipating the presence of the blond. The lazy Captain with a penchant for pink kimonos was particularly eager to once again meet the guy, since the meeting had started incredibly boring.

Just because Byakuya had let Rukia and Renji go to the World of the Living didn't warrant a Captains Meeting!

Soifon grinned in anticipation and a little bit of nervousness as she eyed her new wrist bands and necklace which practically radiated an aura of power and resilience. They were surprisingly light for something made up of metal, but she wasn't about to complain.

She had tested her black bracelets and, much to her surprise, found out that they were strong enough to withstand an attack from Sajin's Bankai!

She wasn't nervous because he was coming here but nervous because she had a feeling he knew about the kiss she had given him during his sleep. Though she had instantly regretted it after that moment, she had later realized that it was a lesser reward compared to what he had gifted her with after she had seen the necklace and metal wrist bands.

The more she knew about him, the more interesting and endearing he become! The meal he had prepared for her that night had been one of the most perfect and delicious meals she had ever tasted in her long life. As if that hadn't been enough, he had left her room in the middle of the night with two gifts innocently placed on her nightstand.

As it was now, she was willing to tune down her cold attitude towards him _ even if a little _ just to see what his reaction would be like.

Retsu Unohana simply smiled that motherly and kind smile of hers and closed her eyes in peace. There was nothing to say about how she felt about Naruto's coming here since he had left her place this morning. She had been introduced to his divine cooking in the morning after she had woken up next to his broad body after a rather peaceful slumber.

The Captain of the 12th Division couldn't help the maniacal grin from appearing on his clownish face when he heard the name. If he was right _ which he was always _ then that name was of someone who had faced the Head Captain and survived!

A magnificent specimen for his experiments! He couldn't wait to dissect the man and see what made him capable of surviving a battle with the old Head Captain!

A few shouts of indignation followed by loud curses snapped the Captains out of their collective thoughts as they turned towards the door.

"Alright, when I open this door, I expect all you Captains, except my little Bee and Retsu-chan, to bow before my awesomeness!" a loud voice sounded outside the door followed by an incredibly strong kick to the door which ripped it out of its hinges and left it stuck to the walls.

The Captains _ except Soifon, Unohana, Shunsui and Jushiro _ frowned at the demand as well as the way he made his entrance. The aforementioned Captains smiled when Naruto walked inside the room in all his muscular glory and stood before the Captains with his hands crossed over his broad chest and a wide grin on his face.

Yamamoto cleared his throat and stared at the slightly annoyed blond who seemed to be irritated due to something he didn't care about "What brings you to the Soul Socie…"

Naruto raised his hand in protest "Why isn't anyone kneeling!? I thought I made it clear to you!"

Byakuya stepped forward with a frown on his stoic face "Captains such as us do not kneel before anyone, let alone a commoner like you"

Naruto didn't let the comment bother him "Are you sure you don't want to kneel because you can't … due to that huge stick up your ass"

Jushiro elbowed a snickering Shunsui in the ribs as he tried to control his own twitching of lips. Nobody had insulted the stoic Captain and noble like that except Yoruichi when he had been a young boy!

The black haired noble felt his frown deepen at his insulting words "I suggest you watch your tone lest I cut off your tongue"

Naruto walked up to the Head Captain and pulled the chair from behind him before sitting down. Imposingly eyeing the gathered Captains, Naruto crossed his feet over one another and grinned widely.

The Head Captain ignored his twitching eyebrows and tried to get his irritation under control as he witnessed the insulting action. That chair was meant for him to sit on, he regretted not sitting on it as soon as the meeting had begun.

"And I suggest you remove the stick before you threaten someone, otherwise it will get in the way!" Naruto retorted in a fake concerned tone "I seriously think it's going to hurt you someday. By the way, how long is it?"

Shunsui couldn't keep his snickers in control and busted out laughing while Jushiro tried to keep his shaking shoulders under control. Soifon smirked widely, inwardly cheering on for Naruto to insult the stoic Captain even more considering he had the audacity to insult Lady Yoruichi in the past.

Retsu Unohana simply smiled a close-eyed smile, expertly hiding the giggles that were threatening to come out as she witnessed the amusing scene.

Sajin and Mayuri remained impassive to the scene and simply looked on, the former had no sense of humor and the latter was too busy coming up with ways to dissect the blond haired man.

Kenpachi had a wide grin on his face as he eyed the bold man who had pulled the chair away from the Head Captain and insulted Byakuya like it was a normal thing to do. So the man was bold, had a dark sense of humor and was insanely strong? He was lucky to be alive!

Byakuya reached for his sword and pulled it out with a scowl on his face while Naruto looked on with a wide grin on his face, discreetly sending a playful wink at a smiling Unohana. Before the black haired Captain could attack, Yamamoto loudly slammed his cane against the wooden floor "Enough! Captain Kuchiki, put away your sword"

"Yeah, you heard the old man, but do remember that by 'putting it away' … he didn't mean for you to put the sword where you have already placed a certain wooden stick … 'cause seriously that would be painful, especially without the sheath" Naruto commented sagely, inwardly snickering at the constipated look on Byakuya's face.

Yamamoto rubbed the edges of his temple and turned to an irritated black haired Captain ready to release his Bankai "Captain Kuchiki, you are dismissed for now, we will discuss your reasons for letting Rukia Kuchiki and Renji Abarai leave towards the Living World at a later date"

Byakuya sheathed his Zanpakuto and walked out of the room after directing a dangerous glare at a grinning Naruto who waved at him. He would deal with the insolent man later, consequences be damned! His shattered pride would want nothing less than the blond man's head on a platter!

"Now with that stick in the mud out of the way, let us properly start the introduction" Naruto exclaimed in a cheerful tone as he stood up "But before that, I need to do something that simply cannot wait!"

Before Soifon could blink, Naruto was in front of her with a wide grin on his face and arms stretched in a welcoming hug. Much to the surprise of the present Captains, the stoic Captain didn't attack him as soon as he wrapped his hands around her but simply let him hug her without saying or doing anything.

"Little Bee! How I have missed you!" Naruto sobbed comically, anime tears streamed down his red-whiskered face. Soifon simply looked ahead and ignored the question nagging at her mind as to how her uniform was not getting wet when Naruto was crying so much on her shoulder.

She was also desperately trying to remind herself that he was simply faking all the tears and that she had to hold on to her resolve to not react in a feminine manner, meaning giving him a bone crushing hug.

"You are not happy to see me?" Soifon felt her resolve shatter when she witnessed his tear-stricken face, wide innocent red eyes filled with fresh tears and an adorable pout on his face. She didn't even know before she was hugging the life out of him.

That kind of cuteness must be declared illegal!

Unohana finally realized why the strange relationship between Naruto and the stoical Squad 2 Captain worked so well and why Naruto had chosen her as his would-be adopted daughter.

Yamamoto cleared his throat and interrupted the strange scene that was going on before him. He knew better than to interrupt the man who had beaten him but the scene was getting on his nerves "Sorry to interrupt you, but we need to the matter at hand"

Soifon finally got ahold of her emotions and pushed Naruto off of her with a scowl, though everyone could tell that there was no real malice behind the scowl.

Seeing himself being rejected, Naruto released his hold on the petite Captain and turned towards the old man with a twitching eyebrow "Old man, you do know you interrupted a very private moment between me and my Little Bee, don't you?"

Yamamoto sighed "Regrettably, yes"

Naruto sighed in resignation and walked back to his chair … well the Head Captain's but who cared? "I feel like I am surrounded by freaks who knows nothing about personal matters"

"Naruto-kun, I hope these so called … freaks do not involve me" Unohana asked in a calm but smiling tone, an aura of death and malice surrounded her body, making her smile more demonic than comfortable.

Naruto paled completely white and raised his hands in surrender "O-of course not, Retsu-chan"

She smiled pleasantly "Good"

Naruto sighed in relief.

Kenpachi couldn't take it any longer and stepped forward with a wide grin on his face "Hey kid, why don't you and I have a little fun?"

Naruto blinked several times before backing away in horror "Sorry pal, but I am not into that sort of thing!"

Kenpachi scratched the back of his head in confusion before his mind caught on to what the man was saying "What the hell? That's not what I meant!"

Naruto kept backing away with wide eyes "Stay away man! I know stuff … dangerous stuff and am not afraid to use it!"

Kenpachi actually stepped back with an annoyed expression on his face "Tsk"

Seeing as the barbarian's offer of a battle was rejected Mayuri stepped forward with a maniacal grin on his face "How about we skip this meaningless chatter and proceed to my lab? I will give you the honor of being my guinea pig to a new experiment I have been trying to conduct"

The temperature of the room was suddenly dropped down a few degrees, a dark aura engulfed the entirety of the room as Naruto stood up from the chair and stared at the sadistic Captain _ who remained oblivious to the course of his mood _ while the rest of the Captains stiffened.

"So you think a man should consider himself honored to be used as a test subject for your experiments?" Naruto asked in a calm smiling tone, causing the other Captains along with the Head Captain to step away from the maniacal man.

Why did his smiling face actually seemed more terrifying than his impassive visage?

"Why yes of course" Mayuri answered with a wide grin, showing his yellow teeth in a disgusting manner "Normally, I don't let my guinea pig have any say in the experiment but since you are such a fascinating specimen, I will make an exception and limit the time of your dissection to thrice a day, not a bad offer, don't you think?"

The rest of the Captains except Unohana and Yamamoto hurried out of the room _ even the bloodthirsty Kenpachi _ as they witnessed Naruto's terrifyingly calm smile

"Is that so? Well then, I suppose you wouldn't mind if I use you as a guinea pig for a technique I have been dying to test"

Mayuri's eyes widened in shock when an invisible force froze him in place and watched in horror as Naruto gathered a ball of dark lightening in his hand and shot it straight at his unprotected chest, instantly obliterating his body.

His eyes would've widened in surprise if his current form had any eyes as the pain continued to course through his liquid body!

He would think about the strange attack later, for now he had to go back to his lab and recover his form. That was the plan at least! A dark shield surrounded his liquefied body and raised him above the ground before floating him towards Naruto's sitting form "Why so eager to escape? I thought it you would be honored for being my test subject"

"Release me this instant, you fiend!" a disembodied voice sounded from the green liquid.

A sudden torrent of red lightening followed by black flames inside the shield replaced Mayuri's disembodied voice with screams of pain. Unohana and Yamamoto tried not to let the screams of pain and agony disturb them as they stood there without saying anything.

After a few minutes of constant screaming, Naruto carelessly tossed the orb at Yamamoto's feet and stood up with a wide cheerful grin on his face, all traces of sadism vanished

"The clown is unconscious, tell him to not ask me something like that otherwise … my hands may slip and he might … die"

Yamamoto caught the large orb in his hands and raised his Spiritual Pressure to alert his Lieutenant. The silver haired subordinate appeared in a kneeling posture inside the room. The old man tossed the large orb at his kneeling subordinate and sighed "Take Captain Kurotsuchi to his lab"

"Yes sir!"

Unohana stepped forward with a calm smile on her face "Naruto-kun, do you mind me asking for your real reason for coming here?"

Naruto nodded with a soft smile, which Yamamoto didn't miss. So the beast could actually smile like a normal person? That was certainly new and unexpected!

"Of course not, I am here to inform you that I and my dear wife are going to Hueco Mundo to deal with a certain problem" Naruto raised a hand when the old Captain opened his mouth "Let me finish, prepare your troops … train your subordinates and take every precaution to secure the future of your people. The moment Aizen figures out that we are far too stuck in our problems in Hueco Mundo, he will attack the Living World with his Espada"

"Don't you think that's a risky gamble?" the black haired motherly Captain asked calmly.

Naruto simply smiled widely "Taking on risks is what make things all the more interesting"

Walking towards Unohana, Naruto gave her a quick hug and kissed her cheek before disappearing without a trace, giving the motherly Captain no time to think about his actions "See you later, Retsu-chan!"

Yamamoto raised an eyebrow of surprise when he witnessed this new and frankly shocking development. He was about to open his mouth and ask what was going on when the room was flooded with vile Spiritual Pressure, causing his eyebrows to raise higher up his empty hairline.

"Not a word to anyone about this, are we clear?" the kind and motherly Captain asked in a deceptively sweet tone while malic and evil oozed off of her in waves.

Yamamoto nodded calmly, though a keen observer would've been able to see the slight beads of sweat dropping down his brow as he watched the female Captain walk out of the room with no trace of the concealed power lingering behind her calm demeanor.

He may be the Head Captain and the strongest Shinigami in the Soul Society, but even he was not immune to the effects of righteous female fury.

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