Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!

30 hollows.

It was a nest of hollows that were attracted by a concentrated hollow bait, far away from the Soul Society and the Rukongai itself. Rukia had a hang of her Shikai now, enough that she had been asked by Kaien to learn from Naruto as he went out for a monthly extermination. She couldn't help but feel afraid.

Naruto looked hungry.

His eyes showed a hunger for battle, and a bloodlust that she had never before seen from him. The second she activated the Hollow Bait, the look in his eyes changed. Apparently, during the full moon, Naruto would always spend the entire night destroying any hollows who were attracted by the bait, either by himself or with Kaien.

"Watch him CLOSELY... and I can tell you'll learn Squad 13s secret."

Kaien's words to her.

-The Next Morning-

200 hollows.

By the end of the night, more than 200 hollows fell in combat, and Rukia felt that she had learned more than she would from school. They came in waves, and they were killed even faster than they came to the fight. By the time a hollow was finished being purified, another hollow would arrive. She herself killed 6 hollows of the countless that had fallen in battle. Naruto killed so many of them that she just rarely even got the chance to swing her sword.

She frowned.

She had watched his footwork, his sword work, and she tried to see whatever this secret was suppose to be.

'The more he fought, the angrier he seemed to get... his hatred of hollows runs deep.' Rukia thought to herself as she walked behind Naruto. Since she had been with him, he had been unable to use his shikai like she could. His shikai was one that could not be used around allies in a life or death battle like that, so by being at the fight, Rukia had been a liability on him, forcing him to not fight to the best of his ability. '... his Zanpakuto is lonely... fighting by himself to defend his allies, taking on everything by himself. His Zanpakuto forces him to shoulder the world by himself... that is the secret!'

-Later-

"Huh?"

"His Zanpakuto, it represents him-"

"I heard you... but that isn't what you were suppose to take away from that." Kaien palmed his forehead as he looked at Rukia with a shocked expression. Rukia was the first member of their squad to ever go out on a full moon with Naruto, and NOT figure out their squads secret. She had been so focused on learning combat abilities, that she didn't pay attention to the fact that Naruto had been put into an aggressive state thanks to the Hollow Bait, or how the longer he fought, the more like a Hollow he fought.

"Honestly, I think he would have been able to kill even more if he were by himself... I see! This is how Naruto got so strong! He used THIS method to get as strong as our Captain!" Rukia realized the secret was the training method. She palmed her fist with a look of recognition.

Squad 13 was weird.

They were the warmest, most welcoming squad their was. Every single member of the over 300 squad members had unlocked their Shikai thanks to the trick that their Lieutenant developed to open their hearts, and if they all joined Naruto and trained with him, they could grow to the strength of seated officers in no time at all. The way they got stronger was suppose to be a secret from the other squads.

"What, no... he's been as strong as a Captain since he joined the squad, before he even got his Zanpakuto."

"Oh..."

"You didn't notice anything off about him... at all?" Kaien asked Rukia as he leaned forward. Hinting for her to try and remember what Naruto had been like the entire night that she had fought by his side. He wanted her to figure out his secret by herself, while he nudged her in the correct direction.

She blinked, and she frowned.

She put her head to it.

"... No? He was the same as ever, reliable, strong, and he made sure to watch my back when I got in trouble." Rukia had noticed he seemed more bloodthirsty, but that wasn't that weird when you were fighting against hollows. Naruto did not hide how much he hated their enemy, so that was just a normal reaction.

Her Lieutenant had always been reliable and helpful, so even if he were bloodthristy, it wasn't like he stopped being the same man that she had come to know.

"Oh... this is hilarious... You haven't figured it out." Kaien laughed a little when he realized that Rukia had no clue what he was talking about. She was the first member of their squad that was so naive, that she didn't notice the thing all of the rest of them had found out so quickly.

-With Naruto-

"BAN-"

Naruto continued his training.

He materialized his Zanpakuto spirit in front of him so that he could train to attain his Bankai. He did so away from the Soul Society so that the massive increase in his spirit energy would not damage any of the buildings. Across from Naruto stood a large, bipedal fox wearing golden energy as armor.

"That's it..."

Naruto's spirit pressure wrapped around him, and then burst out in a pillar of energy that pierced the clouds. He felt his raw spirit pressure multiply by over 10 times what it was before.

"_KAI!" Naruto finished as he dragged his hand along the side of his glowing sword. The golden energy turned jet black, and his sword wielding arm was covered by a white bone armor, while the handle of the sword turned golden. There was an explosion of spirit energy, but he reigned it in the best that he could.

A small bankai.

"Ninshuu Shitsuren."

"... I've been training for years to attain... this?" Naruto looked at his bankai with a raised eyebrow. The once golden sword had turned black, his shikai seeming to have reversed itself. He had trained to materialize his zanpakuto spirit for this very purpose, and instead of a large combat boost, only his spirit pressure seemed to get boosted. "A Bankai will boost the abilities of the Shikai even further. Ninshuu Shitsuren." Naruto spoke the name of his bankai on his tongue.

He frowned.

His zanpakuto spirit, Ninshuu, watched him passively.

"My Bankai is enhances the bond forged by your shikai... it allows you to read the hearts of those who have seen it's blade. Not their minds, but their hearts... their intentions will become known to you." Ninshuu spoke as he started to fade away, and Naruto sheathed his sword once more. Returning it to it's sealed form. "... and be warned... this bankai has a second ability... one that can only be used under one condition."

Naruto listened.

Nishuu told him the technique.

Naruto frowned.

Ninshuu explained how to use the technique just as he faded away back into Naruto's sword, and it left Naruto with a huge frown on his face.

Chapter End!
Please Leave Me Lots of Nice Long Reviews, But No Flames Please!