Disclaimer: Guess.

Information: Yes, I made the time-skip seven months. I have no idea how long the Bount Arc was, but I'm making it so that it was around seven months. This arc ends during the Arrancar Invasion Arc.

Also, I'm sort of stuck on something regarding Naruto and Sasuke's Zanpakuto. It's basically this:

- Naruto: Kyuubi-based, wind-based, or Rasenshuriken-based. (For Shikai and Bankai).

- Sasuke: Dragon-based (Kirin), Amaterasu-based, or just any lightning-based. (For Bankai).

Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions?

Also, sorry for the short chapter again. The next one might be this short as well.

Chapter 10: Darkness Approaches – Truth Rising

You're not the monster fox anymore. You're one of my team-mates from Konoha… Kurama.

- Uzumaki Naruto

"There's something I want to ask you."

Sasuke looked up at Naruto quietly, not saying a word as he studied the former Shinigami's face. "Sit," he said finally. He jerked his head towards the chair that sat in front of him. "What is it?"

Naruto sat in the seat and leaned forward, resting his chin on his folded hands. "You're an Uchiha, correct?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yea, I am."

"So it's true after all…" Naruto narrowed his eyes as he continued to stare hard at Sasuke. "So what's an Uchiha doing in a place like this? Even if you were kidnapped, Seireitei would have sent a search party out for a member of one of the Four Noble Families."

Sasuke looked down at the ground, an angry expression appearing on his face. "My family-, the Uchiha Family, was murdered off by the heir Uchiha Itachi."

Naruto's eyes widened at this, obviously having had no prior knowledge of this information. "What…? When was this?"

"Around fifty years ago according to the soutaichou," replied Sasuke quietly.

"I see…" The blonde gladiator kept a blank and emotionless look on his face as he stared blankly at the wall in front of him. "Fifty years ago, huh…?"

Sasuke gave Naruto a curious glance as he studied him closely. "You couldn't be more than eighty years old at the most… How long have you been here?"

"Fifteen years," replied Naruto blankly. "Fifteen long years…"

Sasuke looked surprised by this. "Fifteen years? Then how could you not have known about the-… Oh, that's right… You were only around thirty years old when it happened…"

"That's correct." Naruto seemed mildly surprised that Sasuke's guess was so close to home, but he barely showed any form of emotion on his face. "I'm guessing that you're around the same age as I am, huh?"

Sasuke nodded. "I suppose so… I have a question for you."

Naruto gestured to him. "Go."

"Juugo told me that you used to be part of the Gotei 13."

The blonde teen sighed as he sat back into his chair. "The Gotei 13, huh? Well, that was over fifteen to twenty years ago… Let's see here…" He sighed again as he stared down at his sheathed Zanpakuto. It was a plain katana with a dark red hilt that had orange diamond patterns on it. The tsuba itself shaped like a whirlpool.

"I entered the Spiritual Arts Academy at the age of twenty-five," Naruto began, "and I graduated after five years. I joined the Gotei 13's 9th Division under Kaname Tosen as the 17th Seat. After ten years, I rose up to become the 3rd Seat with Hisagi Shuhei becoming the vice-captain." Pausing, he looked up at the ceiling and then back at Sasuke. "That's about it."

Sasuke chose his next words carefully as he figured out what to ask Naruto next. "Naruto, I entered the Global Divisional Tournament a while back… At the tournament, I met someone called Uzumaki Menma… Is he a close family or relative by any chance?"

Naruto's eyes widened at the mention of Menma, and he suddenly seemed to grow rigid and still for the first time since Sasuke saw him. "M-Menma…? Are you sure…?"

"Yea." Sasuke leaned forward in his seat as he stared down at the floor. "I fought against him in the final rounds of the tournament."

"And you survived?" asked Naruto calmly, a hint of surprise and slight disbelief in his voice. "You're pretty strong then I'm guessing."

Sasuke chuckled quietly at this. "I guess you could say that."

"Be careful of him, Uchiha Sasuke," said Naruto in a warning tone. "My brother… is not someone that you want to cross paths with. Fifteen years ago, he began his Bankai training… Who knows where he is now? It's almost very likely that he's achieved Bankai. Did he… did he reveal it during the tournament by any chance?"

"No." Sasuke shook his head slowly. "No he didn't." Bankai…? He narrowed his eyes as he recalled what that word was. Bankai… The second release stage of a Zanpakuto, and the ultimate weapon of a Shinigami… Upon achieving it, one's power could increase from five to ten times… Shaking himself from his thoughts, Sasuke looked up at Naruto. "If I recall correctly, achieving Bankai takes from ten to twenty years, am I right?"

Naruto nodded in affirmative. "Ten years for the specially talented, and fifteen to twenty years for everyone else."

"So, have you mastered Bankai yet?" asked Sasuke in a mildly curious tone.

A small smile appeared on Naruto's face as he looked down at the floor. "I'm getting there. Being cooped up in this place has its benefits. I've being working on it for over eleven years now, and I'm close to achieving it finally."

"I see…" Sasuke nodded knowingly. "So you trained all these years in order to achieve Bankai so that you can escape from here, huh? Just having your Shikai wouldn't have been enough to fight against whoever is in charge here."

"Exactly."

|Unknown Room, Gladiator Coliseum|

Meanwhile…

It was a large and fancy marble room that completely stood out from the old-fashioned stone hallway that stood outside of the room. Red velvet curtains were draped over the large rectangular windows that were placed at the opposite side of the room, showing off the view of the magnificent coliseum below.

There was a large oval glass table that sat in the middle of the room, and there were nine people dressed in fancy clothes standing around it. The tenth figure, who seemed to be the head of the group, was the red-haired male that Sasuke had seen at the gladiator arena earlier that day.

Looking around at the nine others, the figure nodded. "Now that we're all here, would everyone please take a seat?" When he spoke, his voice was smooth and soft, but there was a lack a lack of emotion except for a tiny hint of annoyance. "It took a few of you long enough, so we're behind schedule."

A short and fairly chubby figure with a spoiled aura surrounding him looked annoyed as well, except it was by the head figure's comment. "It wasn't our fault, Sasori-san. There was a problem with putting down some of the gladiators from group one, so we had to go and-."

Sasori raised a hand, silencing the figure. "That's the guard's job. You all are executives. It's not your job to put down any signs of uprising- it's the prison guard's. Now, continuing with the meeting. I believe that you gentlemen had a question for me?"

"Yes." A serious-looking blonde woman looked up at Sasori as she and the others sat down in their seats. "We had received word of one of the new gladiators being identified as Uchiha Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke." She raised her hands in question. "Are you crazy, Sasori? One of the Four Noble Family's members? Do you realize how much trouble we'll get from Seireitei for this? They're probably on their way right now to-!"

"Let me just clear any misunderstandings up right now," said Sasori in an abrupt and annoyed tone. "Uchiha Sasuke was just recently 'discovered' by the Gotei 13. They kept tabs on him while he was residing in North Rukongai, and once he entered West Rukongai, they took action by having the jubantai-fukutaichou Matsumoto Rangiku tag along with him."

The woman cocked her head to the left curiously. "And how do you know all of this?"

"Don't underestimate my organization," said Sasori as he laughed quietly. "Now, Uchiha Sasuke is none of your business. Don't worry about something so trivial. When the time comes, I'll take care of him."

"I still don't like it!" growled the short male executive. "Our gladiator battle trade is a 10,000,000,000 yen business! We have over thirty branches of gladiator arenas all around Soul Society. So, let me ask you this, Sasori-san. Why would you need to include someone of such a high status in our thriving business?! We promised the Akatsuki a 30% tax fee for person kidnapped and match held in the gladiator arenas. You promised us that you'd do everything in your power to keep any trouble away from us."

Sasori laughed quietly to himself as he stared down at the floor, shaking his head in amusement. "Please, allow me to explain. Uchiha Sasuke is here on orders from my superior. If you want to complain, then I suggest that you take it up with him."

…

"As I thought," said Sasori in amusement. "Now, if you all have no other questions, then let's get on with this meeting. There are some things that I would like to discuss with you all…"

…

Seven months later…

"Sasuke! Sasuke! Sasuke! Sasuke! Sasuke!"

The audience's cheers rang throughout the coliseum as Sasuke took down the last Hollow. Turning around, Sasuke sheathed his sword as he walked back into the building. Hearing someone running up to him from behind, he turned around to see Juugo.

"Nice kill, Sasuke."

Sasuke simply nodded in response, turning back around to face the front. "How's everything coming along?"

"We have over fifty gladiators gathered up for the rebellion," explained Juugo as they continued walking down the hallway. "They're ready to go at any time. They're just waiting for the signal to go."

The sounds of their footsteps echoed in the long and narrow hallway for a long still minute as the two continued on silently. "It's been seven months of careful planning and going behind the organization's back," said Juugo quietly as to not draw any attention from the guards. "One of the guys suspect the guards being a little suspicious of us. I think they're getting onto us. Shouldn't we-?"

"Ok, I get it." Sasuke simply glanced at Juugo out of the corner of his eyes before turning his eyes back around to face the front. "We'll get on with this right away. Tell everyone that the rebellion will take place in exactly twenty-four hours."

Juugo nodded in understanding. "Ok. I'll get on it right away." Turning around, he began walking towards another group of gladiators that were heading back towards their locker room.

…

As Sasuke reached the lounge, he saw Naruto honing his Zanpakuto's blade with a sharp rock from his seat. "The rebellion is in twenty-four hours," said Sasuke as he stood across from him. "It's been seven months now… Have you reached Bankai yet…?"

Naruto scowled in frustration as he glared at his Zanpakuto. "No, not yet… I'm so close, but I'm not there yet. I just need a little bit more time…!"

"Well, you have twenty-four hours," said Sasuke bluntly as he stared down at him. "If you can't get it down by then, then we'll just have to go without you." Having said that, he turned around and began walking away, leaving Naruto all to himself.

|1st Division Barracks, Seireitei, Soul Society|

Yamamoto Genryusai sat behind him desk as he stared hard at the group in front of him. The group, consisting of Hitsugaya Toshiro, Matsumoto Rangiku, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Kuchiki Rukia, and Abarai Renji, stood straight in front of the presence of the soutaichou as they silently awaited their orders.

"Now," began Yamamoto, "your mission is to stay in and protect Karakura Town until the invasion. Be wary of the appearance of any Arrancar, and you are to report of any attacks or any strange incidents to me straight away. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" chorused the six.

Yamamoto nodded as he stared hard at the group. "Very well then… You are all dismissed!"

|Training Grounds, Gladiator Coliseum|

Bankai…

Sasuke breathed in deeply as he remained in his Jinzen stance, his eyes closed as his unsheathed Zanpakuto sat across his lap. Bankai… It's been around a year since I've achieved Shikai, but I've never known how to start the Bankai training until now… Breathing in again, Sasuke thought back to when Naruto had told him about it seven months earlier.

…

"Bankai… To begin your Bankai training, you have to go deeper into your mental consciousness in order to reach your Zanpakuto's full potential," explained Naruto from his seat across from Sasuke. "After that, you reach the final step of your training… materialization."

Sasuke frowned. "Materialization?"

Naruto nodded. "Materialization. That's when you physically go head-to-head against your Zanpakuto to subdue it. Once you do, you reach Bankai. It's as simple as that."

"Simple?" Sasuke seemed amused by this. "You make it sound so easy."

Naruto shook his head in equal amusement despite the consistent dark hue on his face. "Bankai is no easy thing. There are only a handful of people in all of Soul Society that has achieved Bankai. From my count, there were only around fourteen or fifteen people alive that could use Bankai. It won't be so easy to achieve, Sasuke. It's been over fifteen years for me."

"Heh…" Sasuke chuckled quietly to himself as he stared down at the floor in front of him. "Well then, I better get started."

…

"Raiden-ryū…" Sasuke sighed inwardly as he reached his inner consciousness. "Are you there…?"

"Sasuke." Sasuke heard an eerie light chuckle as he felt Raiden-ryū appear in his consciousness. "Welcome back..." The Zanpakuto sighed deeply as if he was exhausted. "Your visits have become more frequent lately… I'm assuming that you're trying to reach materialization in order to begin your Bankai training?"

"Yea…"

Raiden-ryū laughed out loud as if Sasuke's reply was ridiculous, but then to Sasuke's surprise, Raiden-ryū gave him an answer that he wasn't expecting.

"Very well then," said Raiden-ryū quietly. "I suppose that you've earned the right… You're strong."

…

As Sasuke opened his eyes, he saw a ghostly figure start to materialize in front of him. Raiden-ryū was a thin and sickly pale male figure with sickly blue pale skin and long white hair that reached all the way down to his feet. The tips of his bangs hung directly past his eyes, shielding them from Sasuke's view, and he was clothed in a white Shihakushō, the opposite color to that of a Shinigami's. He carried his sheathed Zanpakuto, which had a long piece of rope tied around the front base of the hilt, in his hand.

"Well, you look much more imposing right now than you do in my consciousness," said Sasuke as he stared at Raiden-ryū through narrowed eyes. "Are you ready?"

Slowly unsheathing his Zanpakuto, Raiden-ryū remained silent as he pointed the tip of his blade at Sasuke. His head tilting up, Sasuke was able to catch a glimpse of his dead yet piercing electric blue eyes.

"Sasuke… get ready. Don't lower your guard for even a moment… or you could die."

…

The two stood still as they watched each other carefully for even the slightest movement. After a long minute of silence had passed, Sasuke noticed Raiden-ryū's foot shifting back slightly and narrowed his eyes.

Now! His grip on the hilt tightening, Sasuke leaned over and sped forward towards Raiden-ryū, his weapon drawn back. Raiden-ryū didn't seem to be affected by this at all, and he lazily leaned backwards as Sasuke swung at him, the sharp blade whistling as it passed over his head.

Straightening back up, Raiden-ryū spun around as he leapt into the air and lashed out at Sasuke with the flat of his blade. As Sasuke quickly blocked the attack, Raiden-ryū seemed to disappear in a wisp of smoke as he suddenly flash stepped behind Sasuke, his blade held at his owner's throat.

"Set… and match," whispered Raiden-ryū in a sickly voice.

A drop of sweat rolled down the side of Sasuke's face as he stared blankly ahead of him with wide eyes. H-He's fast… faster than I am… His eyes narrowing, Sasuke glanced behind him out of the corner of his eyes as he let out a light scoff. "It seems that I underestimated you…"

"You bet you did," hissed Raiden-ryū menacingly. "I'll let up only this once… Use your Sharingan, Sasuke… You won't be able to keep up with me if you don't. Without your Sharingan, your skills would just barely match those of a captain. Use whatever resources you have. If you can't gauge your enemy's strength, then go all out from the beginning." Having said that, he withdrew the blade from Sasuke's throat and stepped back. "Now, let's start this again, shall we?"

Letting out the breath that he had been holding, Sasuke's eyes turned crimson red as he activated his Sharingan. "Yea… Let's." And with that, he spun around right as he flickered over to Raiden-ryū's side, whipping his sword out at him.

Raiden-ryū easily deflected the attack by matching the attack head on, and he swiftly leapt back as he murmured something quietly under his breath. Right as his feet touched the ground, he pointed two finger directly at Sasuke's chest, grinning and showing off his white teeth.

"Hadō #33. Sōkatsui."

A torrent of blue flames narrowly condensed shot out from his two fingers and sped towards a mildly surprised Sasuke. As Sasuke leapt up into the air to avoid the attack, his eyes widened as he noticed the spot where Raiden-ryū was completely empty. Looking up directly overhead, he saw Raiden-ryū flickering into view above him, his sword raised high for the killing blow.

Grinning, Sasuke suddenly disappeared as he switched positions with his Zanpakuto, his blade held right at Raiden-ryū's throat. "Set… and matched," said Sasuke with a small chuckle. "Now, I'll say this only once. Use whatever resources you have, or you'll die."

"Oh?" Raiden-ryū chuckled softly, surprising Sasuke. "Is this all that the Sharingan can do?" He suddenly seemed to flicker out of view as he and Sasuke landed softly on the ground. Looking around for any signs of where he had disappeared to, Sasuke suddenly let out an "oomph" as Raiden-ryū flickered into view in front of him, spinning around on the ball of his foot and striking Sasuke's stomach with a pivoted kick. Sasuke struggled not to cry out as he went crashing into a rock, causing small and jagged pieces of rock to go flying everywhere.

"Oh, Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke…" whispered Raiden-ryū in a sinister whisper. "You're much stronger than you let on to be… You have something inside of you that you have locked away all this time, and you're just barely on the verge on unlocking it. You know, you're much stronger than I am… that is, you will be once you unlock that thing. Anyways…" Sighing out loud, he straightened up halfway and placed the tip of his blade against the nape of Sasuke's neck. "It looks like that won't be happening. I told you that I'd let up only this one time…"

Sasuke didn't even blink as he stared up at his Zanpakuto with a level look in his eyes.

"Now, it looks like I'll have to kill you," sighed Raiden-ryū in an almost tired voice. "It was nice knowing you, Sasuke… If you come back to life, come find me and fight me again…"

…

|Executive Room, Gladiator Coliseum|

Twenty-one hours later…

Sasori was sitting behind a cherry wood desk with a pile of documents sitting in front of him, neatly stacked. Sighing, he looked out the window as he heard the cheers of the audience from outside of the coliseum.

Such a boring day… Scoffing lightly, Sasori turned his gaze from the window to the paperwork on his desk. Boring is good… Paperwork is much more relaxing and fulfilling than this whole entire gladiator situation… He suddenly turned his head to face the door as the sound of knocking interrupted his thoughts.

"Come in."

The door slowly opened to reveal a fairly youthful looking male with slanted blue eyes and long blonde hair tied into a half ponytail. He, like Sasori, was dressed in a black cloak with red cloud designs on it. Sasori seemed displeased to see him as his face barely crunched up into a slight scowl.

"Speak of the devil…" he said quietly, almost as if hoping that the figure wouldn't hear. "What are you doing here, Deidara…?"

"Sasori no Dana, what is all of this?" scowled the blonde as he walked into the room. "What is this, a prison ring? It's my first time coming here, and I'm pretty disappointed. This looks more like a two cent kidnapping system rather than a 10 billion yen gladiator branch."

Sighing tiredly, Sasori slowly got up from his seat and walked over to one of the large windows. "You're fairly new to the Akatsuki, aren't you? If I recall correctly, you only just joined around fifteen years ago…"

Deidara scowled at Sasori. "What about it?!"

"Let me try to explain this as clearly as possible." Sasori become quiet as he continued to stare out the window, his hands clasped behind his back. "The Akatsuki runs on multiple giant operations that run throughout all of Soul Society. The gladiator base operation is just one of the few main operations that the Akatsuki has created and/or taken over. Now, the leader made me the head of the gladiator base operation, so here I am, and here I stay. I don't question his decisions. Do you understand now, Deidara? I simply do what I'm told. I don't question the leader's orders."

"Hah!" scoffed Deidara. "It just sounds like you're his puppet! I on the other hand am a true artist, and a true artist needs to be untamed and able to run wherever he chooses to go!"

Sasori's eyes narrowed as he gave his fellow member a dangerous glare. His hand suddenly flashed the next second as a sharp and gleaming pointed dagger sped towards Deidara's close, flying dangerous close past his nose as he tilted his head out of the way.

A bead of sweat travelled down Deidara's cheek as his eyes darted to the dagger that was stuck in the wall, hearing the hiss of acid doing its work as soon as the tip of the dagger buried itself into the wall.

A-Acid…! Closing his eyes, Deidara sighed in relief as he walked over to the wall and retrieved the dagger for Sasori. Inspecting the acid-coated tip, his lips spread into a wide grin as he smirked. "Well, just as hot-tempered as ever, huh Sasori no Dana?" Tearing his eyes away from the gleaming dagger, he tossed the dagger at Sasori, giving him it back.

Catching the dagger by the hilt, Sasori didn't even blink in reply as he stashed it back into his cloak. "Anyways, what are you doing here? I'm certain that you were stationed at South Rukongai for a three month operation."

"Leader's orders," explained Deidara as he walked over to the large oval table. "He ordered me here to get a feel of the place before I take over for you when the Akatsuki heads switch operations."

"I see…" If Sasori looked displeased about this, he didn't show it. "The leader must be crazy to have you head an operation. Young ones shouldn't be heading anything…"

Snorting, Deidara picked out a fancy crumpet from one of the trays and bit into it. "You're one to talk. You look like you had just hit puberty." Coughing, he struggled to hack out the crumpet as he started to choke on it. After successfully hacking it out, he took a deep breath and glared at the remainder of the crumpet in his hand.

"Anyways, I'll be leaving now," said Deidara as he walked towards the door. "I think that I've seen everything that I came to see." As he headed out the door, he waved farewell to his senior. "See ya later, Sasori no Dana."

…

Meanwhile…

Sasuke was sitting on the couch, cleaning the blade of his Zanpakuto with a piece of cloth. Juugo, who was on the floor next to him, was studying the ground with a solemn look in his eyes as the other gladiators waited in their own places around the room, quietly murmuring amongst themselves and honing their weapons.

A shadow appeared over Sasuke and Juugo, and they both looked up to see Naruto standing over them, his sheathed Zanpakuto in his hand. The two remained silent as they looked up at him, a questioning look in their eyes.

Naruto blinked as he glanced at the other gladiators and then back at Sasuke. "Ready?"

Sasuke sighed as he slowly got up from his chair, sliding his Zanpakuto into its sheath. "Yea…" Straightening up, he fastened the sheathed Zanpakuto onto his back as the other gladiators began to gather around them.

"Ready."

Author's Note:

I hope that it was more informative. I was hoping to clear some things up in case I wasn't able to last chapter. If you need anymore clarifications, just let me know.