Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. I found a way to get my soul out of my body… for like thirty seconds, but then I had to get resuscitated. It turns out I can't do it without dying.
That's kind of a problem for me.
Chapter 29: Optimistic View of a Pessimistic World
"Did anyone here not get into a fight last night?" Naruto asked, wearing the slowly dissipating signs of battle on his face while Orihime healed his minor injuries from the run-in with Gin and Wonderweiss, "I mean it."
Sitting in temporary war-room of the Mother Base cafeteria, not only was there Naruto and Orihime, there was also Ichigo, Chad, Gaara, Hidan, Uryuu, Tatsuki, and a recently returned Yoruichi who was sitting at a table with her cheek in her hand, "I leave for one day to grab your present and all hell breaks loose. Can anyone tell me just what happened? Why launch an attack like that?"
"Other than trying to obtain Nel I don't know." Gaara said from his position leaning against the wall by the door. Either way, it wasn't heavy enough to be a real assault, "That was not a full-scale attack. It was meant to serve a particular purpose."
A snort came from Hidan who was busying himself with eating a meal while he listened, "You're telling me. They didn't send out the big guns to occupy us, they sent some pussy that called himself the Octava Espada. He didn't even push me to use my true power." The silver-haired sadist boasted.
Thinking of the fights from the previous night put thoughts of his own conflict in Ichigo's head, "They sent a really powerful guy to the Soul Society. He took on both me and Soi-Fon at the same time." That still didn't explain what the point of it all was, "All they did… all they did was kill people, a group of Shinigami, and destroy two towns. They couldn't have just done all of that for the hell of it. Aizen's a wicked bastard, but he can't be that depraved to let his people do something like that!"
"Don't bet against it." Naruto assured him, "Armies are always full of bloodthirsty, cruel fuckers." Yoruichi let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like '11th Division' that Naruto ignored, "And it just so happens that Aizen doesn't care, because in the end as long as he gets his Ouken thing to get to the Spirit King that's all that matters to him. He's going to kill 100,000 people to get it, do you think he cares if his goons go through a few hundred people just for kicks?"
Still there had to be a point behind it; a diversion of sorts to at least keep the Seireitei from reacting to what was happening in Karakura Town. But a diversion for what? That was the real problem. Going after Nel was one thing, but that seemed to be an approach of opportunity, not the main point of the attack.
"Someone say something smart already." Chad urged in his usual monotone voice from where he was sitting just randomly strumming notes out on his guitar, "How is everyone that got attacked here doing by the way?" The concerned Mexican teen asked.
Being the resident 'doctor' of the group, Orihime had seen to them first and foremost after she had woken up, "They were kind of beaten up, but mostly fine. They're fully healed now." She said cheerfully, "I need my windows fixed though."
Now that brought up something Naruto needed to take up with two people that worked for him, "About that sweetheart… I want you and Chad to start living here at the base." Chad plucked several wrong notes and Orihime stared at him with wide eyes, "…What? Is it really that weird of a request?"
"Yes." Everyone under the age of eighteen years old said simultaneously in response.
Okay, now that really got Naruto's goat. Damn kids, "Why?" He asked in an irritated fashion.
"Because you're kind of shady." Ichigo said, thinking of most of the interactions he had personally had with Naruto since day one. Who knew what strange things would happen to his two friends should they be left alone in his watch for extended periods of time, "You're really shady."
"I'm not nearly half as shady as Urahara and you let him do weird stuff to your soul after knowing him for like six hours Wonderboy!"
"Because you're a sadistic taskmaster jerk." Tatsuki chimed in second. After the outrageously dangerous things that he made her do to get stronger there was no way she was trusting him with someone as impressionable as Orihime… especially if Hidan was going to be there too.
"Duh, I'm training you." Naruto defended with a cynical look on his face, "I haven't even shoved you off of a cliff yet so I don't even want to hear that out of you. And I never put Orihime and Chad in any kind of danger so you're just making up excuses now."
Not to be left out in the cold, Uryuu wanted to get his observational shot in at their boss the way everyone else seemed to be doing, "You're basically a bounty hunter dispatch. You'd have to admit that after realizing such a thing it would be hard to fully trust you."
"But you all do anyway." Naruto replied, "And you all take my money when I give it to you, so I don't really see what your problem is you bunch of brats." Being a part-time protector of the living souls of the world didn't traditionally pay, "But last night I got into a fight with Ichimaru Gin and some creepy kid Arrancar right outside of Orihime's apartment. That's a problem."
A very valid point. If Orihime had been targeted, who would have been able to do anything to help her? Ichigo and Tatsuki lived at home, but Ichigo could take care of his damn self, and if not Isshin (who still hadn't let his son know he was a Shinigami) could do something about it. Uryuu had his father for a similar purpose just in case.
Chad and Orihime not only lived alone, they lived spread out quite a distance away. It wouldn't be a stretch at all to consider one of them being targeted in the near future. It was a doubt that Aizen saw them as any kind of threat, but if he ever did could anyone haul ass across town fast enough to get to one of them?
"If anyone can give me one good reason not to move them in I'm going ahead and doing it." Naruto said stubbornly with his arms crossed over his chest even as he sat down, "And if anyone has a problem with that there's an open battlefield in the basement and we've got a working medic right here that can fix anything, so bring it."
Hidan let out a barking laugh as the room was dead silent and no one raised a hand to dispute Naruto, either because they couldn't think of a reason or because they really didn't want to go downstairs and fight over something so trivial… since most of the teens were sure they'd have no chance in hell of winning, save for perhaps maybe Ichigo.
With that settled, Naruto stood up and held out a hand for Yoruichi to take as she got up as well, "You see? That's how you handle dissention in the ranks; you challenge everyone that works for you to a deathmatch." He said as he placed an arm around her waist and walked out with her.
"Yeah." Yoruichi said sarcastically as they left the cafeteria in tandem, "That's a great way to promote company synergy. Can we deal with the whole Nel thing now?"
XxX
(Hueco Mundo – Las Noches)
With his usual permanently etched grin on his face, Gin stood amongst Grimmjow and Harribel; the Espada that all had been dispatched on their missions to the human world and to the Soul Society the previous evening. The only ones absent were Yammy and Luppi. Yammy was busy getting his severed arm healed, and Luppi of course wasn't there because he was dead.
You can't really show up for meetings when you're dead. In theory you could, but you would be more of a distraction and a hindrance than anything else. Him being dead was all the report that he needed to give anyway.
Either way, they stood in front of Aizen who was sitting casually on a throne with Tousen standing near him vigilantly. Gin stepped forward first, fitting for his position as one of Aizen's top men, "The mission failed as I'm sure you know. I wasn't able to get an iota of the power he used to flatten Szayel Apporo out of him. I gave him openings and excuses to go further but he never did."
"I understand that you did all that you could." Aizen said in regards to his second-in-command, "The only thing that could have done so if that were the case would have been your Bankai, and Karakura Town would have been damaged heavily in the course of that battle."
The mission hadn't been solely to get to Nelliel and return her to the ranks of the Espada. That had merely been an objective of opportunity that couldn't be missed out on. The mission was meant for the purpose of determining just what the power that lay inside of Uzumaki Naruto was. It had only been felt for an instant when he killed the previous Octava Espada, but from what Tousen's powerful senses felt, it was something that couldn't be overlooked or ignored.
Aizen was aware of the powers of every single captain of the Seireitei, and he had planned accordingly for them all. But this strange man had thrown something of a monkey wrench into things. He had coordinated a separate group intent on protecting Karakura Town, and had brought in two wild cards of extra mystery. While the majority of his little ragtag group were people that Aizen had prepared for already and people that served no real consequence to his plans, he had Kurosaki Ichigo amongst them and apparently had a rapport with the outcast Visored group.
These problems were all something that he could adjust for, but not the man himself. He made the smashing of an Espada and his entire Fracción look easy. Easier than it should have been. Szayel Aporro Grantz wasn't much for direct combat outside of Las Noches, but his abilities and intellect were problematic enough to give any Shinigami or Arrancar fits. And he had no qualms about retreating either, which meant that Naruto defeated him so quickly in such a quick flash of power that it hadn't been an option that went through his head before the end came.
"That man is a catalyst of anarchy…" Tousen commented, holding his hand on the hilt of his Zanpakutou to alleviate some of the dislike that he held for the blonde man. He was throwing everything off, "A curse that appears through the ages of modern human history."
"Well I kind of liked him." Gin remarked with a hand stroking his chin, "He seemed like a good kind of guy to have a conversation with… if I wasn't trying to poke around with his powers and find out what makes him tick and everything. You know how it is."
"Quite." Aizen responded in turn, "Well be that as it may, I need a plan of action to take in order to neutralize our newest friend so that things can go off as planned. Until then though; Grimmjow, what of your mission?"
Grimmjow just scoffed once it was deemed his turn to speak, "The Shinigami response time was what you expected it to be after they knew about us as a threat, but they only sent the small-fry out first… pathetic. Then you know what happened when the big-timers showed up. I fought the chick while my Fracción got cut to pieces by the substitute and the human. Yammy fought the chick's subordinate until the substitute stepped in and lopped his arm off."
He seemed to not care about the meeting, and truthfully he didn't, but he had been interested in the power he sensed from Ichigo after Ichigo blocked his final attack. He felt the presence of a Hollow within a Shinigami, a strong one. And that interested him greatly, because Ichigo hadn't been overwhelmed or critically injured at all. Something about that didn't sit well with him at all.
It didn't really matter about anything else to Grimmjow. He fired that blast at Soi-Fon and Ichigo as a show that he was to be considered the king, the strongest, that he could maim or kill a captain without releasing his Zanpakutou, but then that orange-haired kid blocked it.
And that pissed him off.
"What of Nelliel?" Harribel asked, remembering her own portion of the mission that she had been sent to Karakura Town for. A full-scale battle would have been the only way to procure her, and such a thing would have gotten out of hand far too quickly for it to be an effective method of obtaining someone so strong.
"Yes, it's a shame that she refused to return." Tousen said. He had actually liked Nelliel and her philosophy on fighting and battle in general. It was refreshing for him to know of a creature derived from a Hollow that felt that way.
Aizen just let out a sigh that sounded more bored than anything else, "Well, I can't let deserters from the Arrancar Army roam free to do as they please. If she refuses to return, make a note that she is marked for extermination. Even though her information on our ambition is outdated, it is still something that can be used by our enemy. She is to be killed at the soonest opportunity."
"I can't understand what made her think that way." Harribel said. She had held much respect for her predecessor as the Tres Espada, and she still did. But she had been an ardent supporter of Aizen's forces until her disappearance. It couldn't simply be the treachery of that brute Nnoitra and the sexist fool Szayel Aporro, she seemed to be a bigger person than that.
Perhaps it was the injury to her head that was evident from her scar and the crack in her mask. Perhaps it was the time that she spent amongst the Equilibrium group… notably Uzumaki Naruto, who seemed to be the strangest person she had ever met.
Who really knew?
Maybe she really was sick of fighting and saw her current position as the best way to avoid doing it. She was surrounded by people of varying levels of strength, so it wasn't as if it was necessary for her to fight. And fight for what exactly?
"That may be." Aizen said, still with his usual calm air about him no matter what the circumstance, "But whatever her reasoning is, it is inconsequential. If she is no longer with us she is against us, because we cannot risk considering her insignificant."
So Nelliel was marked for eradication at the nearest opportunity. Nnoitra would love that bit of news more than likely.
XxX
(Human World – Karakura Town – Mother Base)
Little Nel sat on a high stool, surrounded by Naruto, Yoruichi, Urahara, and even Orihime who was standing off to the side away from the other three a bit. She seemed a touch confused at what was going on, "Can Nel go now? Nel wants to go see Dondochakka and Pesche."
"Does she even remember it?" Naruto asked first, breaking the awkward silence amongst them, "She doesn't seem like she even knows what we think is supposed to be weird about what she did."
"Eloquent." Yoruichi jibed, getting Naruto to stick his tongue out at her, "And I wouldn't know, I wasn't here remember? The only one that even felt the Reiatsu and saw grown-up Nel was Gaara." And why wasn't he here for this? It only stood to reason that as the sole witness he needed to be there. But Gaara was asleep… which seemed to be his favorite thing to do other than landscaping, "So we'll just have to take his word for it that he wasn't hallucinating."
Urahara stroked his shaggy chin in thought, "Well it makes sense with what I've found." He said, touching Nel on the head at the crack on her mask, "You see that? I scanned her body and an absurd amount of energy is leaking out of that crack. Enough to shrink her body apparently, but she seems to produce so much that it doesn't do anything else detrimental to her health. So in theory if you fix the crack you should fix her."
Fix the crack? How long had that damn thing been there? At that point it was a permanent injury wasn't it? So the reasoning wasn't sound, "You can fix that? It's such an old wound though. It's probably just a scar or something by now, right?"
Seemingly pleased at Naruto's skepticism, Urahara launched into gratuitous explanation mode, complete with Tessai producing a board that showed crude pictures of what he was talking about, "Ah, but that's the thing. The use of medical Kidou can't repair such a thing. While that particular use of Reiryoku can do many things such as repair limbs that are completely lost in battle or restore organs it cannot do things when the body has been conditioned to its current circumstances."
Both Naruto and Orihime just stared at Urahara blankly throughout the entirety of the monologue, "What?"
Talk about chakra and Naruto would understand. He could give (and had given Tatsuki on several different occasions) four hour long lectures on exactly how to mould chakra in different ways and the applications that it could be used for. But this was different. He didn't use the same energy that the Shinigami did, and all he knew about it was what he had to learn because it was being hurled at him in fights against various folks of spiritual descent.
Orihime on the other hand… well, there wasn't really much that could be said for her. She just didn't have a need to know the intricacies of these things since her own powers were pretty straightforward.
Urahara rapped Naruto on the top of the head chidingly with his fan and Orihime as well as if they were bad students. Naruto wanted to choke him to death by shoving his hat down his throat. He was a grown-ass man, not some kid, "Pay attention now because Urahara Kisuke does not repeat himself."
"What?"
"I said Urahara Kisuke does not-." He stopped talking when he saw the huge grin on Naruto's face. Both had said it, but only Orihime had really meant it, "Whatever… anyway, moving on now. While medical Kidou is not an option for this, we don't use medical Kidou. Or should I say, Orihime doesn't use medical Kidou. Her powers merely reject the reality within the barrier she enacts." Tessai flipped the board to the other side that had diagrams of Orihime's powers.
Orihime's shield rejected negative events; things that could deal injury and harm to others and to herself.
Orihime's offensive attack rejected the fusion of matter and split it by touching it.
Orihime's healing technique rejected and reversed things to the way they had been before being damaged or destroyed. Theoretically she could do this with anything. Not just wounds.
By now Naruto was seated on the floor with Orihime sitting next to him and soaking the whole lesson up as if she were in school and he was back in the Ninja Academy… only he was really paying attention because it was vital to a little girl(?) for him to know. And also because it was the most gimme power he had ever seen anyone have.
A kunai was spinning by its ring on Naruto's finger as he sat and listened with cat-Yoruichi in his lap, her clothes folded neatly right next to him, "So basically you're telling me, that instead of replacing stuff that's gone from fresh injuries with Reiryoku, something that chakra can't do and something that can't be done if the wound heals naturally, she can just take that and go back in time and make it so that it never happened at all."
Urahara's fan snapped open, conveying that he was satisfied with his crash course on Orihime's abilities being understood fully, "Exactly. You said it in the most ass way possible but you've got it. Thoughts?"
Naruto just turned his head toward Orihime robotically with an unreadable expression on his face, "You do realize that for someone that doesn't want to fight, you've got the best powers out of everybody else, right?" If she had the intent to fight and kill her enemies her offensive attack would be able to cut through anything, and if she trained it hard enough her shield would be able to stop a captain's best Bankai attack directly. It had that kind of potential.
The black cat version of Yoruichi hopped out of Naruto's lap and faced Orihime, "So you can heal the wound to Nel's mask where even the best medics in the Seireitei cannot. The fact that you managed to heal the damage done to Uryuu after the use of his technique in the Seireitei proves this much. How about it?"
"Of course I'll help!" Orihime quickly exclaimed. She got up off of the floor and she placed a hand on the top of Nel's head, giving the little Arrancar a reassuring smile, "I'm going to go ahead and fix the crack in your mask okay? Is that alright with you?"
Nel put her hands on top of her head where Orihime's hand had just been and she looked up as if she could see her cracked skull mask, which she couldn't, "…Uh huh. That's okay with Nel."
Clapping her hands once happily, Orihime immediately endeavored to get to work and fix her as quickly as she could, "Souten Kisshun (Twin Sacred Returning Seal), I reject!" A barrier surrounded Nel's body as the scar on her face slowly started to vanish, much to Orihime's delight. Unlike with what she had done for Uryuu, she could actually see the progress she was making, "I don't know how long this is going to take though."
"Not long." Yoruichi said, entranced by how quickly the scar was healing until it no longer existed, "…Orihime how are you doing this so quickly?" This was in theory a very serious and very old injury.
Orihime didn't know how to answer that question. Though in all honesty she'd been noticing just how fast her healing technique was getting when she'd fix up Tatsuki during the more rather brutal training exercises she would undergo. And also when she repaired Hidan's body. She noticed that she could regenerate his limbs faster than she could when she had gone to the Soul Society and healed Jidanbou's arm. Where that had taken hours from afternoon until nightfall, fixing Hidan took an hour.
That had to mean she was getting stronger with her ability to heal.
It took a minute or so longer, but the crack in Nel's mask started vanishing before everyone's eyes.
XxX
(Meanwhile – Ichigo's House)
After spending more than enough time at Mother Base for the afternoon, Ichigo decided to head home. He still had a life as a teenager to live and a family.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK
After the knocks came on the door of his house, Ichigo was of course the first person downstairs to open it. Much to his surprise, Tatsuki walked right in, kicking her shoes off at the door, "Uh, okay. Come on in then." He said as Tatsuki seemed to ignore him altogether, "Do you want something?"
She vanished behind a corner before motioning back for him to follow her. With a sigh heaved, Ichigo simply lumbered along and followed Tatsuki to the clinic portion of the Kurosaki home, "Where are Yuzu and Karin?"
"Yuzu's upstairs and Karin is still out playing soccer with her friends." Ichigo said confusedly, "Why?"
Tatsuki didn't say anything, but this answer seemed to satisfy her enough to reach into her schoolbag and pull out a fingerless red glove with a flaming skull insignia on it. Ichigo flinched in phantom pain of remembering having that damn thing slammed off of his face again and again by Rukia back when he had first started out as a Shinigami.
Before he could comment on it, they came across Ichigo's father Isshin who was seemingly doing inventory on his current medical supplies. Of course when he saw Tatsuki he put the clipboard down and addressed her with a smile, "Ah, Tatsuki. You haven't been over here in a while. Did Ichigo piss you off or something?"
"Or something." Tatsuki said with a smile on her face that promised nothing good as she held her hands behind her back. With absurd speed, she dashed forward and struck Isshin right in the stomach with a punch from her gloved hand that made his body go limp as it no longer had a soul in it.
To Ichigo's complete surprise, the soul that flew out of his father's body didn't have a chain attached to his chest. In fact, his soul was wearing garb that was quite familiar to Ichigo, "Dad? Wh-What? A Shinigami?"
Isshin cursed to himself. He should have known better. Even though he was a fast human, Tatsuki was ridiculously fast, freakily so. From their conversation the previous night it was clear that Uzumaki Naruto was the man to thank for that, "Any reason you decided to do that?"
"Because last night when I yelled at you, you said you'd tell Ichigo." Tatsuki said, pulling off the borrowed glove and placing it back amongst her things to return to the Urahara Shop later, "I know how you old people are with things like this. You'll just let it sit until it's really inconvenient and you don't have any other choice. Well now you can't."
She was pissed off that her friend's dad was a supernatural warrior for years and she didn't know about any of it. Tatsuki could only imagine how Ichigo felt about it, because it was his father they were talking about.
And she didn't have to imagine for much longer, because with his Substitute Shinigami badge in hand, Ichigo pressed it to his chest and allowed his Shinigami form to come out, and he looked none too pleased at being more or less hoodwinked by his father for his entire life, "We need to have a talk old man." Ichigo said with barely veiled annoyance.
He knew that his father had his reasons, and he didn't want an explanation for why he kept it from him when he knew even when he was a kid that Ichigo could see ghosts. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't try and kick him around to vent… because while Isshin had his reasons to hide it and Ichigo understood that, he had his own reasons to be upset and he was going to exhibit that in return.
"Okay." Isshin said, knowing that Ichigo's idea of talk involved him trying to beat eight different shades of shit out of him, "Outside?"
Ichigo opened the door outside and Isshin put the clinic phone in Tatsuki's hand in case someone called something in while he was dealing with his son.
XxX
On her way home from playing soccer with her friends, Karin stopped where she was walking on the sidewalk because in midair she could see both her brother and her father wearing those strange black robes and slamming swords against each other, shouting loudly all the while.
'Just keep on walking girl.' Karin said to herself as she did just that, trying her best to shut it out of her mind, 'You don't see ghosts, your brother doesn't kill evil ghosts with a giant sword, and you're just having a waking hallucination. It's alright. Just an overactive imagination.'
It was hard to keep trying to act like you didn't see anything when the things that you saw kept getting stranger and stranger all the time.
XxX
(Mother Base – Security/Communications Room)
"You plan on heading back into Hueco Mundo again on another reconnaissance mission?" On a screen in the communications room of the base was leader of the Seireitei's Gotei 13, Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni, "This is ill-advised."
In the room as well stood Naruto who had asked for the link to be made with the Soul Society, and Urahara who had been showing Naruto how the whole thing worked since he had been the one to install all of the high-tech things in the base to begin with.
"Understood." Naruto said, wearing casual clothes with the silver clan symbol pendant Orihime had gifted him with yesterday on a thick brown cord around his neck prominently, "But you've got to understand that… well, you aren't anyone's commander here." He didn't know how to say it in a way that wouldn't sound offensive, but it was true, "You hired us for some things and we did those things, but we're not a part of the Seireitei."
The 1st Division's Lieutenant, the refined-looking white-haired man Sasakibe Choujirou seemed to take offense to this and visibly bristled as a result of Naruto's words, "How can you show such disrespect to the captain commander?"
At this point Urahara interjected before Naruto chose to mouth off to Yamamoto's second-in-command as he seemed to be gearing up to do, "It's not a matter of disrespect. You exiled Tessai, Yoruichi, and myself. As long as what we do doesn't harm the Seireitei you really don't have any business with our business. Our business isn't your business, so it's none of your business if we decide to go to Hueco Mundo to do business."
Naruto nodded in firm agreement before turning to Urahara and giving him a dry look, "What the hell did you just say?"
Urahara just ignored Naruto and pulled out his fan that he held in front of his face, "And by 'we' I mean Uzumaki-san and whomever he can rope into going with him, because I will not be going to that deserty mess of a place. I'm a man of science, not a battle-hungry brute. No offense." He added in the end for Naruto's benefit.
"Offense taken." Naruto returned with an affronted look on his face, "Offense very much taken Urahara. I'm telling Yoruichi that you called me a battle-hungry brute." That wasn't him, that was Hidan, "I let you beta-read my new novels and this is how it is? I thought we were cool."
A clearing of Yamamoto's stern voice returned attention back to him. He still had seniority over Naruto in regards to years of life, and by virtue of such Naruto put his thing with Urahara off to the wayside for the time being. There was still a quite serious matter at hand, "I cannot commit any Shinigami toward a large-scale offensive endeavor. Two districts were completely destroyed, thousands of Rukongai denizens were lost, and fifty of our people that were sent out prior to Soi-Fon-taichou and Marechiyo-fukutaichou were killed."
Both Naruto and Urahara looked at each other before Naruto decided to make his point, "Well I'm not going to just sit here and wait. Aizen's got his Arrancar Army taking shots at us whenever they want. It's a matter of time before they pull something bigger than that." He conveniently left out the part where they tried to kidnap his little Arrancar dependant Nel, but that probably wouldn't have gone over well at all.
"So you would venture into the wasteland of the Hollows of your own free will? You would be better advised to wait in Karakura Town where in a way you have the advantage of the battlefield. A large-scale battle will never happen there as Aizen needs the souls of the city for the Ouken. He cannot risk sacrificing too many human lives beforehand."
Sitting back and waiting for someone to come and do as they will never sat well with Naruto. Whatever happened next in Karakura Town they would just have to react to it the way they always did. That was no position to take. If nothing else, going back into Hueco Mundo might dig up some way to bring the battle to the enemy appropriately.
And what if the next time the Espada and their Fracción approached was the time that Aizen would finally decide to take them out and form his key to reach the Spirit King? Would the Seireitei be able to dispatch help quickly enough for them to help take on a whole army, or would it just be Equilibrium?
No, that wasn't a chance that he was willing to take. He'd scope out an opportunity to attack, because when he and his sat and waited for the more aggressive enemy terrible things always happened when they finally came forward.
The loss of life in the Human World might have only been as important to the Sereitei as more work generated by an influx of souls, but Naruto wasn't going to let it happen in a manner like this, "No. The enemy is there, and I'm going to attack him there."
He'd been hit twice already at his own base, and he'd already shown Aizen that the fact that he had taken refuge in Hueco Mundo meant absolutely nothing to him. He could move between the realms just like any Hollow or Arrancar because he had two of them in his direct employ and he had the Gedou, though he didn't want to end up back in the Menos Forest.
"…We just have to figure out how to do it first."
Hence the second scouting mission into Hueco Mundo. If Aizen could do it whenever he felt like it in Karakura Town why couldn't they?
"Hmm…" Yamamoto seemed to be scrutinizing the human man carefully. It wasn't an advised practice sending Shinigami of the Gotei 13 into Hueco Mundo; one would have to be powerful to go into that mess and be ensured to survive, and only high-ranking seated officers if not outright lieutenants and captains could be trusted to do so. At a time like this that couldn't be a resource that could be spent, "I trust that whatever findings you unveil you will take to us."
"Sure thing Yamamoto-sotaichou." Urahara said seriously.
Naruto then cut in, "-For an exorbitantly large amount of money." He said, getting glared at by Lieutenant Sasakibe over the screen again, "What? You just said that you aren't putting in on this with any kind of sanctioned manpower, so why would I just give you a service like this for free?" It was his ass and the asses of his people on the line here, "Maybe one day UNICEF will get into the business of spirits, but until then we're the people to see if you're not doing it yourself."
Yamamoto let out something of an old man snort, but then again that was what you could count on when you dealt with mercenaries, "You don't seem to care about the justice side of the situation."
"I care about justice just fine." Naruto said, crossing his arms and drumming his fingers on his biceps a bit impatiently, "It's just that your justice isn't my justice."
At that point, Urahara just turned and stared at Naruto blankly, "…What?" He felt a small measure of revenge when Naruto palmed his forehead at not being understood by the former Shinigami captain.
"If that is the way that things are to be-." Yamamoto started to say, his hands perched on top of his great cane as he sat in front of the camera broadcasting their discussion, "-Then I request your presence in the Seireitei once more to discuss the terms of payment."
A nod came from Naruto as that sounded good enough for him, "I'll start the trip there within two hours."
"We'll be anticipating your arrival." With that, the transmission ended and the large communication screen went blank.
Naruto frowned at the screen before he and Urahara started walking out of the room, "I get the feeling that the old man doesn't like me that much." He couldn't really blame him that much. For all intents and purposes, Yamamoto was the most prominent figure in the Soul Society, which automatically put him above any figurehead in the Human World by virtue of the scope of his responsibilities.
"Most people don't seem to do they?" Urahara pointed out after considering Naruto's interactions with others, "Did you ever think of maybe developing a more personable demeanor? You might make more friends in high places that way."
'Like you come off as any better than me.' Naruto thought with a roll of his eyes, "I'm a nice guy. I'm just old enough that I stopped caring what most people that aren't my friends think of me. Who cares? They're gonna die before me anyway."
"That might be okay for humans, but it doesn't work like that with Shinigami you know."
"I'll keep that in mind. How old is Yamamoto anyway?"
"Who knows? I'm scared to ask honestly."
XxX
(Soul Society – Seireitei – 1st Division HQ)
As the feed between the Seireitei and Naruto cut off, Yamamoto moved back to his desk to continue overseeing his day-to-day duties as the head of the Gotei 13. As he did this, Sasakibe remained where he stood, keeping his appearance as poised as possible, "Yamamoto-sotaichou, if I may speak freely."
"Of course you may." The grizzled and ancient Shinigami said as he nonchalantly began reading through reports sent his way from captains in other divisions, "Go ahead."
"Why do we tolerate that man operating of his own accord in the Human World?" Sasakibe asked, bringing up his displeasure with Naruto. He was aware as was Yamamoto that there were many high-ranking Shinigami that rather liked him, but he didn't count himself as one of them, "A Substitute Shinigami is one thing, but do we really need him?"
Yamamoto's eyes slowly peered up at his lieutenant and he took his time before speaking, "Need him? No. But keep in mind this; Aizen Sousuke is not just a former captain of our Gotei 13, he also has two fellow former captains conspiring against us with him. Not only does he have an intimate knowledge of the Seireitei, he has incredible knowledge of the specialties and the released forms of all of our seated officers' Zanpakutou."
And he didn't know anything about Naruto in return. He knew a bit about Ichigo, Uryuu, and basically all of the Ryoka that had attacked the Seireitei to free Rukia, but not nearly to the extent that he knew the Gotei 13. Therein lay the chance element to obtain an advantage over Aizen.
"We do not know much about our 'allies.'" Yamamoto said calmly, "But in return Aizen does not either. While they may present themselves as a problem later, for now they are fine… and the enemy of my enemy of course… is possibly my ally." Especially when the true enemy had the ability to possibly destroy and change all.
XxX
(Hours Later – Seireitei)
The gate guard that Naruto was on the best terms with; Jidanbou waved once to him as the massive Shinigami let the gate fall behind him once more. It was late in the afternoon with the beginning to set, and Naruto was intending to adhere to business, get a quick rest, and head into Hueco Mundo the next morning to meet up with the team that intended to go with him on the exploration of the wasteland.
"Alright." Naruto said, looking over the very beautiful and traditional looking streets and walls of the Soul Society capital, "Your first time here. What do you think?"
At his side, Tatsuki just shivered slightly, still a bit freaked out from their trip, "I don't want to take the way back that you used. Not through Hueco Mundo again."
Naruto had used the Gedou and dropped them in the Menos Forest before waiting to relocate his intended destination prior to doing it again and linking them to the Soul Society. Tatsuki of course almost wound up traumatized when they were surrounded by Menos. He needed to remember to reset his default entry point into that realm to the comparatively safer desert portion of the Hollow world. It was already set in the Soul Society to the Rukongai district closest to Jidanbou's gate.
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad was it?" Naruto asked her, getting a glare back from his student, "Well too bad. You're still going back with me. I can't let you go back on your own. My cute little apprentice is too valuable to be left wandering the Senkaimon by herself. Who knows what'll happen?"
Tatsuki let out a huff but kept quiet as they walked through the Seireitei. It wasn't like she wouldn't have a Shingami escort to show her the way through. What she wasn't paying attention to though was the fact that if that were the case she would be better off watching over herself. She was stronger than an unseated Shinigami.
That usually didn't become obvious when her sparring came again her absurdly strong partners in Ichigo, Naruto, Hidan, Yoruichi… basically anyone she got to work with her. But to those that knew what to look for it was.
She could fight on par with Chad if she could avoid his strength, and all she needed to go up against Uryuu was more speed.
Naruto repeatedly referenced her scary growth rate. There had to be something in the water, or maybe in the Reiatsu she was constantly surrounded with. That was a contributing factor in the development of her strong chakra to begin with, so logic would dictate that being closer to a much more varied amount of strong power would only boost it further.
There had to be something behind that. Her capacity for growth was just too large. Maybe making humanity go cold turkey on the chakra portion of the ninja arts for more than a millennia gave her improvement a boost? Sort of like planting a crop in new soil or something.
When he said that she was valuable, Tatsuki had no idea how much truth there was in that statement from Naruto's perspective.
'The day I let you cut loose…' Naruto thought to himself before shaking his head in amusement, 'You are going to be terrifying.' But not right now, because first and foremost she didn't know how good she actually was, and that was by design. Second of all while she was strong she wasn't strong enough to deal with an Espada. Not even close. And that was the real concern, "Just be cool. You'll be with me, and I won't let anything happen to you."
"Don't tell me to be cool sensei." Tatsuki grumbled before shooting a glance over at Naruto and smiling a bit when she saw that he was wearing the pendant she and Orihime had gotten for him for his birthday, "So you're going to have a boring meeting with the guy in charge of the Shinigami?"
"Nope." Naruto quickly answered, "We don't like each other, so he made it so that I have to go to another one of the captains to hash out the details." Someone impartial, someone that would probably do their best to keep a level head in Naruto's presence, and someone that he probably wouldn't get along with exceedingly well also.
That left out Soi-Fon due to the fact that he'd keep playing with her until she tried to kill him because he liked that, Unohana because he liked her and she seemed to be pleasant enough to enjoy his company and he wouldn't feel the strain to be professional, Shunsui because they'd just drink for the whole meeting, Ukitake because they'd be too calm and casual to work an actual meeting, Kenpachi because you didn't use the 11th Division for anything more complicated than 'go there and fight that' (he'd just try to kill him… again), Kurotsuchi because he wasn't one for meetings and he'd keep trying to get Naruto to allow him to experiment live on him,
That really only left two captains that would possibly be able to meet with him. It was a good thing Naruto already knew which division headquarters he had been directed to.
XxX
(Hueco Mundo – Las Noches)
In a room with a series of large screens, the blind Tousen sat there as different angles of his earlier battle with Yoruichi played on the screen. It was the last thing that Szayel Apporo contributed to the Espada Army before his untimely demise.
As he sat there, Gin walked in with his normal grin present on his face. He stood behind his fellow Gotei 13 defector and watched the fight going on on-screen. He of course had already seen it multiple times for fun.
"Y'know, I don't know why you're playing this." Gin commented, "It's not like you can watch it and learn something from it. Unless you want me to tell you what happens? Because if you do it's at the part where she blew apart a whole building to try and kill you."
And right on cue the part where Yoruichi fired Tousen into the side of an old factory with a Kidou that she followed up with another even stronger attack that blew it to pieces. Gin wondered how Tousen was able to avoid the brunt of that damage, but it didn't matter at that point.
"Do you have a reason for being here Gin?" Tousen asked, turning around in his chair to look in Gin's direction with his blindfolded eyes, "Something that you need perhaps? Or maybe you want to watch your own battle with Uzumaki in order to learn how to force him to draw upon his power to complete your mission to learn about it for Aizen-sama's benefit."
"Nah." Gin said with a casual shrug as if it didn't matter to him, "A guy like that… I'll have plenty of chances to check out whatever weird stuff he's got going for him. It's too bad though." A click of a few buttons and the screen shifted to Naruto's battle with Szayel Aporro. All that was seen was the pink-haired Arrancar terrorizing Nel in a child form and then Naruto kicking him off of the roof.
They faced off from adjacent positions before black flame-like energy began emanating from Naruto's body. From there the feed of whatever Szayel Aporro had cooked up to observe the coming battle flickered out and left nothing. A rather auspicious debut for his final invention used in the field, but too bad it couldn't last just a bit longer when it would have been most important.
What kind of human was he? While his presence was inconsequential in the culmination of Aizen's plot, that didn't mean that it was something that could be put to the wayside. That much was already obvious. From his actions and the refuge taken in the most hostile of environments for a Shinigami, Aizen had placed the Gotei 13 in a neutralized position, so at this point the most important action he could take until the time was right for the final move on Karakura Town was to fortify what they already had.
Until Aizen gained satisfactory mastery over the Hougyoku he wasn't going to wage an attack. But once he obtained it there wasn't going to be anything that could keep him away from pushing the issue.
"I can see why studying such a thing is necessary." Tousen said figuratively. Any set of powers and/or natural abilities that would enable a human, no matter how skilled of a warrior they were, to fight on par against or beyond Hollows and Shinigami had a right to be examined. Just like the entire contingent of Ryoka that invaded the Soul Society, "But in a case such as this I believe it would be best to simply destroy him and leave it at that."
Gin made a sharp inhalation noise through his teeth, "So brutal, especially coming from you, but yeah I see your point. Still, I've got my orders and I've got to get the low-down on that black power of his. I guess I could kill him, but we don't have a scientist anymore to study his corpse if I did, so seeing it will have to do."
Tousen Kaname was not one for killing trivially, but he had a terrible feeling about Uzumaki Naruto. It was a different kind of ill feeling than one that more than a few held for Kurosaki Ichigo, and different than the threat he felt was directly posed by the most powerful of the Gotei 13, "That man is hiding something catastrophic. Whether it be for Aizen-sama's plans alone or for more than that I'm not sure. But it would serve you well to look at this with a wider scope."
"Funny." Remarked Gin before his grin dropped a bit, "Oh, you weren't making a joke. Sorry." Figuring that he had better leave before he somehow offended Tousen for being blind even more, Gin left the room and decided to let Tousen get back to his previous activity, "Well you don't have to worry about me not keeping the grander scheme in mind. Trust me, I'm definitely anticipating as far ahead as possible."
Accepting that as the equivalent of Gin acknowledging his warning and being prepared for it, Tousen turned back toward the screen and started the footage of his battle with Yoruichi back up. And while he could hear it he still couldn't see it.
It always came back to that point, 'Perhaps… perhaps the time has finally come for Aizen-sama to gift me with the power that he offered me? The power that will grant me my sight.'
XxX
(Soul Society – Seireitei – 10th Division HQ)
A moment of quiet and tranquility left an opening for Tatsuki to get in a touch of training while the moment was available. Nothing physical of course. She was there with her sensei on something of business and couldn't really just go around and request spars with the copious amounts of Shinigami that lived and worked there.
It was a bit of a waste really. It seemed like the only Shinigami that she knew close enough to know their names were the really strong ones, but when they had been going around the premises on the way to the captain's office she saw more than a few of them sparring with their swords. From what she saw she could beat them. They weren't that fast since they barely had the concept of Shunpo down, and if she was brave enough to face down Ichigo swinging his freakishly large butcher knife of a sword she could deal with a regular katana.
"Do you mind?" Tatsuki asked as she sat on a couch in a rather cluttered portion of the captain's office. Forms and various papers were all over the place in that section, "I'm trying to train a bit here." Her hands were working through hand-seals trying to lower the time it took her to activate her ninjutsu, especially her current strongest one that took more than twenty seals to do.
Sitting next to her on the couch, observing her almost disturbingly close was Rangiku, staring at her rapidly moving hands curiously, "…So you moved up from popping balloons and now you're training for… finger puppetry? I don't know what you're doing now." Instead of getting flustered at the bubbly lieutenant's remark, Tatsuki pulled out one of her trench knives and channeled her fire chakra into it for Hien which caught the weapon's blades and the toothy point of it on fire, "Oh! Hey that's pretty good."
It really was. For Rangiku it was strange to think of that girl that had only been able to battle with those trench knives and superhuman physical abilities a month ago. Now she could control fire and who knew what else? It wasn't like Naruto had to control the strength of the techniques that she was learning. Tatsuki was a disciplined martial artist long before Naruto ever got his hooks into her.
A satisfied Tatsuki smirked and nodded at Rangiku's acknowledgment of her growth and went back to working on her hand-seals, "Why's this office so messy?" She asked offhandedly.
"I haven't gotten around to doing my work yet." Rangiku said as she lazily sprawled out on her back on the chair, showing no shame as much of her sizeable chest hung out, "Don't worry though. If I wait long enough I can find a way to get Hitsugaya-taichou to do it for me."
Apparently forgetting temporarily that they shared the same office space as captain and lieutenant in the 10th Division, she neglected to pay attention to the fact that on the other side of the room, the snow-haired diminutively-sized captain sat at his desk with a tick mark on his head at his underling's brazen statement, "Rangiku just because we have guests to meet with doesn't mean you can slack off. I'm not going to do your work for you this time."
A whine from Rangiku emitted from her place on the couch and Hitsugaya let out a sigh before turning his attention to the man sitting in front of him across his desk, "So Uzumaki-san, you're looking to work out your payment for bringing the Seireitei information on whatever you can find in Hueco Mundo?" He said in a very serious manner.
It was kind of weird to see someone so young-looking be so stern, but Hitsugaya seemed to have a stone cold business-like demeanor. They obviously knew who they were selecting when they picked him. If they had sent him to Byakuya who was the only other obvious choice for this meeting the two of them would have just had a subtle back and forth of hurling veiled insults at each other until they eventually got the job done.
Pity, because it might have been fun. And then Tatsuki could have had a bit of a spar with Byakuya's lieutenant Renji. He seemed like the kind of guy that would have welcomed a sparring bout against her. Rangiku was ridiculously hot, but she also seemed a touch lazy.
"I know the only reason Yamamoto is actually going along with this is because you guys can't open a portal to Hueco Mundo." Naruto said, "At least not safely I think." He understood the name of the game. Until they had the resource they needed they would use him because he was in possession of it himself.
Though he was a bit irritated at the lack of a title on the end of the lead captain's name, Hitsugaya figured that a guy that ran roughshod over the Seireitei in its time of havoc didn't care too much about that, "It is a major issue. It's the reason why Aizen's escape to Hueco Mundo was so vexing. We have the 12th Division studying Hollows to learn how they can jump realms so freely, but a Senkaimon is impossible for us to establish to that realm."
Only a Garganta could be used, because instead of stabilizing the connection between dimensions the way a Senkaimon could for the parallel worlds of the Human World and the Soul Society, a Garganta had to tear into the dimensional fabric separating worlds.
How did he even manage to get there to begin with? Aizen had his evacuation plan all set and ready and it went off without a hitch, so when in the world did he ever make a trip to Hueco Mundo to begin with and how?
Just another question, the answer of which would elude them for the near future.
Speaking of questions that eluded them, the 12th Division was also studying Naruto for various reasons… but that was a more undercover kind of thing. No one outside of Captain Kurotsuchi, Nemu, and Yamamoto were aware of that though. It probably wouldn't have gone over so well amongst many of the higher ranking Shinigami had that been the case because it wasn't like he was brokering for the Seireitei's destruction, nor was he some catalyst of anarchy. He didn't even put himself into their dealings of his own volition.
To be quite frank he was just some guy that more or less got forced into the world of spirits and instead of ignoring it or flat out turning his back on it he simply chose to try and take control of the situation presented to him.
Naruto leaned back in his chair with a thoughtful look on his face, "I'm sure I don't want the Gotei 13 to come up with a method of getting to Hueco Mundo whenever you all want." He said, much to the surprise of everyone in the room, even his apprentice, "The whole name of our organization isn't just some cute title. If there was a way for the Shinigami to get into Hueco Mundo whenever they wanted it would be a genocide in there. It would be the equivalent of a powerful kingdom hunting down a bunch of weak tribes."
It was times like that when Naruto's age could be seen in his eyes. It didn't escape Hitsugaya's notice either. He wasn't deemed a prodigy and a genius for nothing if something like that could slip his glance.
"But this thing with Aizen is different." Naruto followed up with serious intent, "He's got an army and a blade ready to rip apart the fabric of the entire Soul Society, and he's going to kill more than 100,000 people to pull it off."
"Declaring war on the Spirit King is serious business." Hitsugaya stated with what seemed to be a perpetual bored scowl that must have been his general demeanor, "One could say that the Spirit King is the lynchpin to… everything."
"Ever seen him?" Naruto asked bluntly. If he was going in on this entire afterlife thing he might as well go all the way.
To his displeasure though, Hitsugaya simply shook his head in the negative, "Uzumaki-san I'm not even certain if the Spirit King is a person, a thing, or simply an abstract idea. No one that has seen him or it has come back. The Royal Guard live in the dimension of his palace for the remainder of their lives and they are the only ones that might see him. Not even Yamamoto-sotaichou or any of the Central 46 have ever seen him. He has left the Soul Society to them and has no interest in it."
Over where she was sitting and couldn't help but overhear, Tatsuki stopped working on her hand-seals and slumped back in her seat on the sofa that Rangiku was lying down on. She didn't know what the hell she was even doing there. Even for someone like Naruto, her sensei, probably the strongest person she knew, all of this was so far over his head.
Stopping a man from winning an interdimensional war that would tear existence itself asunder? A figure that apparently had enough power to stand above the leader of the gods of death themselves? She just wanted to learn how to fight in order to keep pace with her friends that had seemed to be moving away from her into this world of things.
She didn't know if she was up for this.
"It's pretty heavy isn't it?"
"Huh?" Her musing came to an end when Rangiku's voice reached her. While the 10th Division captain and the over two millennia old shinobi kept hashing things out on their end, the seemingly carefree lieutenant of the same division was looking at Tatsuki from her same relaxed position on the couch as she continued laying down.
Still, Tatsuki could see that Rangiku knew exactly what she was feeling at that moment. Was it that clear to someone that didn't know her that well that she was starting to freak out about her circumstances? She thought that she was doing a great job so far in refraining from hyperventilating.
How embarrassing.
Rangiku didn't back down from her point though, "This whole thing. It makes you feel pretty insignificant." She lifted her hands as if they were weighted balances and started moving them up and down as if comparing things, "Humans believe that they're at the top in their existence but they're not. Pluses think that their existence is more important than humans over in the Living World, while Hollows see both as just prey in the long run. Shinigami think that they're superior to regular pluses and Hollows in the same vein, but then you learn about things like the Spirit King and everything else. It makes you feel insignificant no matter where you are on the ladder. It seems like there's always something else."
"So how do you deal with it?" Tatsuki asked, a bit miserly, "I feel like something low. I don't feel like I'm supposed to be here at all."
Rangiku sat up and graced her with a smile in return, "Now what kind of attitude is that? Of course you're supposed to be here. Where else would you be?"
Home? In a normal dojo where she had been before her curiosity got her deeper into all of this past just seeing ghosts? Take your pick.
Rangiku flicked her on the forehead, getting a glare out of the dark-haired high school student, "You can do what you want, but I'm going to just ask you if anyone else thinks you should just cop out and quit, or if you belong just like the rest of your human friends."
Tatsuki's shoulder's stopped being so tense, but she still felt extremely skeptical at her place in all of this. Then again, what qualified someone like Ichigo, or Orihime, or Chad. Uryuu was born into it, but the rest of them had only been at it since the start of spring.
'Maybe she's right.' Rangiku just went back to relaxing again with a large yawn and left Tatsuki alone with her thoughts again once she had spoken her peace. Who knew she had that in her? Tatsuki wouldn't have guessed as much, 'I'm different from Orihime and Chad, and even Ichigo and Uryuu, but that doesn't mean that I'm that far out of place does it?'
"Okay." Hitsugaya said back over at his desk, scribbling down his signature more than likely on an official set of forms before stamping them multiple times in different places, "This is the contract worked out for your payment in exchange for the information you can bring us from Hueco Mundo." He handed it over for Naruto to read, "The figure on the page is what I feel is acceptable for the services requested. Do you disagree?"
Having known full-well exactly what money was worth in the Soul Society and having signed a litany of contracts throughout the years for various reasons, Naruto counted the zeroes at the end of the figure and quickly perused through the fifteen page contract. Ugh, paperwork.
Seeing nothing out of place that he hadn't already expected, and seeing nothing that was a deal-breaker, Naruto signed his own name and handed it back to Hitsugaya who nodded and filed it away to make a copy of later for Naruto in posterity, if he desired one of course.
Thank goodness that was done. The business portion of his job was the part Naruto hated more than anything else, "Hey Hitsugaya."
"Hitsugaya-taichou."
"I'm not calling you that."
A low grunt came from Hitsugaya at Naruto's refusal to refer to him by title, "What do you need?"
A smile came to Naruto's face as he sounded a bit embarrassed at what he was about to say, "Well I've only ever fought two Shingami for real and I just wanted to say… that I want to fight you sometime. Just a friendly little battle, nothing big." He'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious about how strong the rest of the Gotei 13 captains were after taking on his fair share of them.
"Perhaps when times aren't so tumultuous." Hitsugaya would also be lying if he said that he wasn't curious about Naruto's combat skills. Someone that could go up against Yamamoto and not be decimated had to be impressive, "What are you going to do when you get to Hueco Mundo? An attack on Aizen probably won't be possible."
"I know that." Naruto said, agreeing with Hitsugaya's point. Even if he knew where to go for the attack he'd have to go through a veritable murderer's row to even get to the man, "We need to find where he is first. Otherwise we're just going to have to wait for him to finally attack Karakura Town at full strength and try to destroy his army then."
Nobody liked the sound of that. Who wanted to fight an army?
The turquoise eyes of Hitsugaya narrowed on Naruto at the precarious-sounding plan of action, "What if you find an opening to finish things then and there? You said it wasn't your ambition to fight anyone's war."
Well that was an easy enough question to answer. There wasn't going to be any opening to end anything found, but the question was purely hypothetical. A 'what if' scenario that was being presented, "If I find an opening to put an end to this crap then I'll do it." Naruto told him, "Fighting someone else's battle and keeping all of endiness from being ripped apart are completely different things."
"So you'll kill Aizen if you get the chance?" It was a question from Hitsugaya because he personally wanted to end the man's life himself, "To save the world?"
Naruto just smirked momentarily before it faded just as quickly as it formed and he stood up from his seat, motioning for Tatsuki to come with him as it was time to go, "A guy like that… he'll have every angle covered. We're not gonna get close."
Something about that didn't sound right. Though she would never call herself a tactician, Rangiku was well aware of when something didn't seem advantageous, "Then why go?"
"Someone has to. You can't be afraid." Naruto said as he reached the door and left with Tatsuki in tow. His voice carried back down the hall to the room as they walked further away, "Besides, even if every time you drop a stone it falls to the floor you never know what'll happen the next time. It'll probably fall to the floor again but what if that if one time out of an infinity, instead of falling to the floor the stone floats up to the ceiling?"
As the footsteps of their guests left the premises of the office, Rangiku looked confusedly at her young captain Hitsugaya, "What in the world was he talking about just now?" That sounded like a bunch of gibberish to her, but then again that guy was weird.
"It's not that complicated really." Hitsugaya said as he got back to work with a small smile on his face as he kept going through his paperwork. He knew exactly what Naruto was implying, "Past experience never proves the future, and basic logic about things means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme." Someone took the time to read a few books in his day. Surprising.
"Because?" The strawberry blonde lieutenant asked as she started gathering her cluttered forms together to begin her own work.
"-Because we deal in the strange and supernatural for a living. Things that humans think are unfeasible we as Shinigami take for granted every single day Rangiku." Hitsugaya concluded, "…Nothing is impossible, and in the end you just never know."
Rangiku had a feeling that were it not for an expressed order for all seated officers to remain at the ready to be dispatched any time to deal with the Arrancar threat Hitsugaya would have preferred going with the Equilibrium group into the fray of Hueco Mundo.
XxX
(Sometime Later – Outside of the Seireitei – West Rukongai District 3)
The massive gates had long since left the view of both Naruto and Tatsuki as they left the borders of the Seireitei and felt the strain that being within the capital city put on their chakra taken off of them. It was a pain to be in there where they could feel their power lessened due to the nature of the barrier around the city. Being in the Rukongai felt way better.
As they walked through the third town of plus souls away from the capital, Tatsuki was taking quite well to the things that she had been seeing for the first time, but that could have been because all of her friends told her to expect anything when she informed them earlier that day that she would be accompanying Naruto on this mission. It was just to gain experience. She was the only one that had never seen the Soul Society before.
"You ready to go to Hueco Mundo?" Naruto asked Tatsuki as he started channeling chakra to his eyes and revealed to her the Rinnegan that still freaked her out a bit looking at it, "Don't worry. I'll protect you, I just want you to have the experience of going."
Yes, because every good sensei endeavored to put their students into the most treacherous of situations just to see what they were made of. It just so happened that this one was way beyond anything any other teacher would have their student do.
A sigh came from Tatsuki before life sprang to her face and she gave Naruto a confident grin, "Yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. It's not like we're going to be alone in there. We've got a team coming right?"
That was right. Not a chance that Naruto would go into Hueco Mundo with just him and Tatsuki. That would be completely moronic. There was to be a team awaiting their arrival once they arrived.
"Wait!"
Before Naruto could begin the hand-seals to summon the Gedou, a shout got their attention. Turning around, they both saw a petite Shinigami girl with purple hair in a bun held by a cloth. Over her Shinigami garb she had a lieutenant's armband and looked a bit distraught.
"What do you need?" Naruto asked with a small smile on his face. She looked a bit tired, but he figured she had run all the way from somewhere inside of the Seireitei to catch up with them, "I'm sorry I don't know your name."
"Hinamori Momo. Lieutenant of the 5th Division." She said as she caught her breath. The reason she looked tired was because she had used a Kidou to mask her presence until she was able to slip outside of the Seireitei with Naruto and Tatsuki, "I want to come with you. I know where you're going."
Word had spread through the Seireitei amongst the Shinigami from the last time that Naruto had ventured into Hueco Mundo because he had a Shinigami envoy with him to bring the tale back. When word of his presence in the Seireitei in preparation for another trip came forward Momo knew that she had to meet this man.
So she hid herself with her mastery in Kidou and eavesdropped on his meeting with her childhood friend Hitsugaya just outside of his office. She needed to go with him to Hueco Mundo.
A bit thrown off at first, Naruto thought to all of the divisions and remembered the ones without captains. At that point he frowned as he looked at Momo, "No." He stated flatly, "I can't take you with us."
"But I'm capable, I promise!" Momo assured him, "I won't get in your way! I was taught well! I just need to see Aizen-taichou again… please." She finished a bit desperately, "Maybe… maybe if I can convince him to stop, or maybe I can discover who or what is controlling him and put an end to it."
Poor girl. Was that man really her entire world to that extent? This was kind of scary. She looked as if she were on the verge of tears. Tatsuki felt pity for her. A human feeling pity for a Shinigami; that simply didn't seem right.
That made it all the worse when Naruto had to turn her down again, "I'm not taking you." He asserted stronger than previously, "This doesn't go any further than Aizen. He's the top. He's the reason this is happening. This isn't going to end until he's taken down, and you're not going to help me pull that off. So no."
"You're going to fight him just like that?" Momo asked, seemingly bewildered at it, "I can't draw a weapon against Aizen-taichou! I'm sure he had a reason for doing what he did. Just give him a chance."
At that point Naruto turned his back and started walking away. He didn't want to reveal the Gedou to this girl. Who knew what she would do? Maybe something crazy like diving into it once she realized it was the portal, "I know a bit of what you're feeling, trust me. And sometimes there's nothing you can do to make things right. Not at times like this. Go home. All you're going to do is get someone killed. Maybe even you."
He knew that for sure. He'd made the same mistake as Momo in the past and he had to live with them every day, literally. Thinking that he could make everything right, save everyone including his 'best friend' that clearly didn't want to be saved and liked being in the darkness.
Naruto wasn't going to be an enabler in that kind of endeavor. He'd walked that far in the snow before and knew where that trail ended. There was a time for talking, and that time was long over.
But her eyes didn't seem like she was going to just take a no at face value.
Momo was a liability that much was for sure. The girl wasn't well. But Tatsuki hadn't seen Naruto turn so cold before for anything. There wasn't any warmth in the way he was speaking.
"I can't do that. You're the only person that can take me to Hueco Mundo." Momo said quietly, her head down and shadowing her face as she slowly drew her Zanpakutou, "You're my only chance… my only hope of seeing him again before something terrible happens. You can't say no!" She shouted as she rushed at Naruto with her weapon set to do him harm.
Was he really going to have to knock that girl out and leave her in the street to put an end to this?
Actually he didn't have to do a thing.
Because as Momo's sword descended, an angry Tatsuki stood in her way and blocked the strike with her trench knives, "Okay. Then I'll say it for him." She broke Momo's posture with a hard shove and kicked her in the stomach to knock her away swiftly, "No!" Attack her sensei on her watch? Even if he was fully capable of defending himself that wasn't the point.
At first Naruto was offended that Tatsuki thought that he needed anyone to protect himself, but that quickly dissipated when he realized that it was more of an act of loyalty than fear that he would be harmed. He appreciated the thought.
It didn't take much for Momo to recover from the strike and she moved to head back in to attack again until Naruto's voice stopped her, "Wait." For some reason she actually listened and held off of attacking when he held his arm up. He planted a hand on Tatsuki's shoulder to convey 'good job' to her, but now wasn't the time to say it, "Are you really that serious about going to Hueco Mundo?"
"Of course." Momo sounded resolute about going if nothing else, "I don't care if it's against Seireitei orders. Someone has to go." Not someone. Her in particular.
They didn't have time for this. There had to be a fast solution that would nip this in the bud, "Okay. Beat Tatsuki and I'll let you come with us."
That was a response that Momo hadn't been expecting, "What?"
"What?" Nor Tatsuki apparently.
But Naruto stuck to his guns on that one and jumped from the dirt road onto the top of a nearby building where he sat down on the roof, "You heard me. If you can beat Tatsuki-chan, my apprentice, I'll let you come to Hueco Mundo with us. Lose and you won't even have the option of chasing after us because you won't be in the condition to." 'Don't be afraid Tatsuki-chan. You're stronger than you think.'
Had she been in her normal state of mind, Momo might have had a problem with a condition such as that, but as she was she simply held up her Zanpakutou ready to fight. The path seemed to be as clear as day to her even though it was about to be night in that part of the Soul Society.
Well Tatsuki had seemingly been ready to fight before the ultimatum was given, so it didn't really change much of anything. All she could do was try her best, and if she was going to lose it wasn't going to be an easy victory for her opponent.
But as she scrutinized Momo she noticed things that she wouldn't have before she started training. Momo was holding her sword too tightly to be comfortable for combat. Her posture didn't show much confidence in her swordsmanship, however she seemed to plan on using it anyway as a melee weapon. Her eyes had bags underneath them. If she looked harder she probably could have found more but she had already seen enough.
Naruto stayed silent and waited for this to play itself out. Hopefully his loyal scouting party could wait just a bit longer for he and Tatsuki to arrive.
XxX
(Hueco Mundo)
Sitting down in the middle of the desert felt a bit like home to Gaara, but even he had limitations on his patience. His dark-ringed eyes opened up and a frown crossed his normally impassive face as he held his tanuki claw halberd and planted the pole end into the sand to stand up, "He's late."
"I'm not surprised…" With him for some reason was the silver-haired brawler of the Visoreds; Muguruma Kensei, "I look at Uzumaki Naruto and the first thing that jumps to mind isn't really 'punctuality' to be honest."
Instead of a normal member of Equilibrium, another person from a different group had volunteered to go into the realm of the Hollows as well, otherwise it would have just been Gaara and one other accompanying Naruto and Tatsuki through the sand dunes. He figured that they owed Naruto something and this was his way of paying it forward. Also, if he managed to get a shot at one of those Seireitei backstabbers that screwed him and his friends over he was definitely going to take it.
"Having Tatsuki with him should have made him better about that." Gaara said before grumbling under his breath, "Unless he got caught up trying to show her as much of the Soul Society that he thought would be fun to show her…" That was entirely possible. But no, not really. He knew when it was time to work and time to play.
Kensei was sick of having to blink grains of sand out of his eyes though, even if he understood that the professional atmosphere of Equilibrium was rather lax as long as the job got done, "Well if he doesn't hurry up I might have to kick the crap out of him. I'm feeling kind of exposed out here all things considered."
As he said that he shot a glance in the direction of the third member of the makeshift team who seemed to be standing off on her own, staring into the distance somewhere.
She had long light blue-green hair that blew in the wind from where she was standing and a light green bodysuit with her Zanpakutou buckled around her waist and at her side. The thing that gave Kensei a bit of pause was the skull mask on top of her head.
"I am an Arrancar as well." Gaara pointed out, realizing why Kensei was wary of their temporary teammate, "Does that give you pause?"
"You're different." Talking subtly wasn't Kensei's strong point and he was never one for sugarcoating it, but even so he still knew that Gaara had definitely never done anything wrong. As far as he knew Gaara had never even devoured a human in his entire existence, even as a Hollow, "You know what I'm talking about."
Gaara nodded in understanding, but still held to his own point, "I can assure you that everything is fine. While she isn't with us, she has agreed to assist us just for this."
It wasn't as if their female companion couldn't hear them, "I've already said that I hold no allegiance to Aizen Sousuke any longer. I'm not fighting unless it's necessary, even for you all." She then turned around with a composed and level-headed expression on her face, "I hope that isn't a problem."
"It isn't." With Naruto not around, Gaara felt the need to take some semblance of command over the situation and he would keep it until his friend arrived to relinquish it to, "Nelliel-san we promised you that you wouldn't have to raise your hand in battle and we will adhere to that."
With a nod, Nel turned back to her own observation of the Hueco Mundo desert, in the same direction she had been facing before, "And in return, out of gratitude for protecting me in my vulnerable state and my Fracción I will guide you to Las Noches. The fortress of the Arrancar Army."
You know, I know why I write this stuff for fun. I didn't know at first when I started, but I'm realizing why after having done this for over two years in one form or another. Because regular life for the vast majority of people is very underwhelming. Take mine for example.
It ain't bad, but there are just too many things I wish I could fix. Nothing that a good world-travelling adventure to save the world with strange superpowers couldn't fix either. Right now I'm just some guy.
You know what, actually you can forget about the superpowers. I already have the fighting skill, not bad but it's good enough for some decent scenes. Just give me some guns, a grievance against my enemy, a rich benefactor, and some hero plot armor and send me out there to fight the currently existing terrorists of the world.
…I think I just thought of a plot for a new manga. Note to self: write this crap down in a notebook while you can get on a roll with this idea. Time to spin me a moneymaking yarn.
Ah, whatever, it doesn't matter.
I hope you enjoyed everybody. Kenchi out.
