A/N- Alright peple, we almost got as many reviews on the last chapter as the first one! Anyway, to the anon. reviewer who asked if I was planning something like in Naruto: Death's Second Chance (by Le loup de Kaiser), I honestly had no idea that my story would bear such resemblences to another story on this site. My story is my own, with a plot that I've spent hours thinking on and eventually writing out that ties the plots of both Bleach and Naruto while coming up with a plausable way of connecting the two in a way that I have yet to see on this site. I thank you for pointing out that story, I'm always looking to read new, interesting things, but my works are inspired only by all of the writers who have written Naru/Bleach stories, my own imagination, and my drive to write something of my own that people will enjoy. I'm not one for taking other people's stories, because in doing so, the only thing I would be able to do is produce a medicore mockery of that person's work, a twisted abomination that is nothing more than an insult. Which, of course, is the major reason why I didn't write a story similar to the one that inspired me to take up writing in the first place.

Anyway, I'm gonna take a poll that MAY influence a single, important point in this stories future. Should Naruto get a dojutsu, considering what I've hinted at his ancestory to be? If I do, I will try to make it as unique as possible, and I've got a few ideas. Anyway, Yes? No? Don't care? Tell meeee!! Only signed reviews will be counted.

Chapter 4, Identity

It was dark.

That was the first thing he noticed when he came to, that it was dark. There was some faint light comeing from somewhere, but he coudn't see where, and the only thing it did was it gave him some limited visibility and made everything seem like it was in permenant shadow. It was a vast, empty place, it's only adornments being larg, reflective rocks.

The second thing he realized was that he did not know who he was. He knew that he was a he, and what that meant, but he did not know who he was. He did not know what he was called or where he was from, his memory was a blank. So he had wandered over to one of the reflective rocks, peering at his own hazy reflection. What he saw was a young face, three whisker marks carved into each cheek, with two brilliant blue eyes looking back at him, topped by a head of tousled blond hair. His garb consisted of an orange and black jumpsuit, but not even a search of himself turned up anything about who he was or where he had come from.

The next thing he realized was that he was alone. All alone in this vast, empty, grey place, and he felt a twinge of pain deep in his heart. He knew lonliness, he realized. He knew the pain of not having anyone, and it was terrifying. His fear building, the boy stood up, looking around for any sign of someone else, but he saw nothing.

So the boy started to walk down the path ahead, looking for someone so that he wouldn't be alone anymore, and to find his identity, wandering through the seemingly endless, timeless place.

-Hueco Mundo, unknown area-

Aizen sat upon a throne, one hand resting on his lap while he propped his chin with another, thinking of his recent failure at aquiring the King's Key, which would have ultimately granted him access to his ultimate goal. He'd been defeated by a small oversight on his own part, and his plan had to be temporarily halted as the four captians, that damndable boy, and his friends had all managed to escape from Hueco Mundo back to the Soul Society, helping to thwart his attempt to turn Karakura town's inhabitants into the resources that he needed. Not only that, but he'd even lost that girl! Aizen's hand tightened into a fist, but other than that, he showed no outward signs of his anger. Already, he was beginning to plan his next action, when his senses were suddenly swamped by a huge source of power that seemed to just appear out of nowhere, causing Aizen's eyes to widen slightly. He immediatly recognized the source, it was coming from Karakura, where a soul gate that connected the human world to the other, lost human world. He had long ago set up wards around that particular area after hearing that the people from that world held a great power, and indeed he'd been in contact with one, but when he studied the spirits that came through, they seemed to be no different than any other spirit, so he'd finally given up on them, citing them a lost cause, unless he found some way to repair the damage wrought to the planar paths by the civilization so long ago. This power however, was completely swamping Aizen's senses to the point where he couldn't even feel his arrincar! His interest piqued, Aien stood up. "Tousen, Gin." He called, his fellow traitors answering his call almost immediately.

"Yes, Aizen-sama? How may we help you?" Tousen asked, bowing.

Aizen waved a hand dismissvly at the two. "Gather some Arrincar, as well as a troupe of Gillian. We've some business in Karakura town.

"Hai, Aizen-sama." Tousen bowed, disappearing.

Gin smiled, looking up at his superior. "May I ask what is going on?" He asked.

Aizen nodded. "Something has come up there, a power unlike any I have ever felt before, and I believe it requires my own personal investigation, to see if it will be useful to us. Or, if not, to make sure that those fools in the Soul Society do not get their hands on it." He replied.

Gin nodded, his smirk widening, then he disappeared as well.

-Sereitei, Captain's meeting hall-

Yamamoto sat in his traditional seat at the head of the room as he waited for the other captains to come in and give their weekly reports, when all of a sudden, a huge, familiar-feeling energy washed over him. While this energy felt familiar, something he hadn't felt in mellenia, since he himself had been a small boy, it felt unniquely different at the same time. The source was coming from Karakura, specifically from the old soul gate that was one of the last remnants of the mortal realms old twin plane, in which many wards had been set around to tell Yamamoto exactly when a new soul came through, which only happened every few years or so.

This new feeling though, was so overpowering that Yamamoto almost missed the other captains filing into the room.

"Hey! Can we get this over with? I've got things that need to be done." Kenpachi Zaraki complained loudly, cleaning one ear with a pinky finger as the other captains began to talk quietly amongst each other, save for a few, such as Byakuya Kuchiki.

Yamamoto banged his cane loudly against the floor. "Silence!" He commanded, causing all of the captains, save Zaraki, to straighten up. "We've a grave situation on our hands. One that requires our immediate attention, and so this meeting shall be held at a later time. In addition, four of you shall accompany me to the human city known as Karakura town. The rest shall stay here to oversee the Seireitei while we are gone." He instructed, standing up. "Kenpachi, Byakuya, Toshiro, and Sajin, you shall be the ones t go with me. We leave immdiately." He informed.

Zaraki was the one who decided to speak up at the sudden turn of events. "Hey, old man! What's goin' on, and why are you only bringin' the heaviest of the heavy firepower? I ain't complainin', but I know you'd only take me if you was expectin' a fight." He growled, ignoring Shunsui's complaints about how he was one of the strongest.

Yamamoto nodded, sitting back down. "I shall tell you a brief story. Long ago, when I was still a young boy, before I even started my training, there were five great planes connected together, instead of just ours and the mortal realm. There was our plane, which was ruled by our predessors, the plane of the ivine, in which angels live, the mortal plane and it's twin, and finally the demonic realm. The plane on which the angels live and the plane of the demons had waged war for countless millenia, trying to overcome each other, but neither succeeding, so they eventually came to an uneasy truce. Many years passed, and eventually, on the twin plane to the mortal realm, a powerful man was born, possesing a power that had the ability to overcome even our own, and his birth rekindled the war between Heaven and Hell. He singlehanedly fought off entire armies of both sides, wishing to remain independant. We feared this power, as did those of the mortal realm, which contained vast technologies superior to what they have now, and they created machines that corroded the pathways that kept the plains together. The demonic plane split away completely, and we haven't seen a single demon since, and the twin plane to the mortal realm, which was called Arcanis, drifted away as well, it's lines corroded almost to the breaking point, of which only three survived, allowing the continued circulation of souls to and from that realm, which only happens once every few years now for some reason. The angels grew angry and wiped all technology from the face of the planet, striking the memories that the mortals contained as well, out of anger for what they did. Then they sealed themselves in their own plane, allowing none to enter since." He explained.

"Why were we never told of this?" Ukitake asked, clearly shocked.

Yamamoto bowed his head. "Out of shame, that is why. Our own people had a hand in creating those machines, for we feared that power so, that power that that man called chakra." He replied, staring at his gnarled staff.

Zaraki waved his hand dismissivly. "Yeah yeah, that's a boring story and all, but what does all that have to do with us going to that town?" He asked, growing annoyed.

Yamamoto sighed. "I just felt a great power come from one of the three remaining gates, which happens to reside within Karakura. I do not know if this power is going to be harmful or not, but it feels similar to that of the man whose power caused the great upheaval, though different, in many ways. Not only is that an unknown factor, but there is a chance that the betrayers got wind of the power as well, and we may encounter them. In any case, we are moving out straight away, so I want the four of you to be prepared and at the gate within the next thirty minutes. Dismissed!" He exlaimed, tapping his cane and getting up, walking from the room, leaving the other captains standng there, most of them stunned by the sudden turn of events.

-Karakura Town, Kurosaki resdence-

"SMELLS LIKE BAAAAAD SPIRITS! BWA HA HA HA!" Don Kunonji exlaimed loudly, his voice amplified due to the high volume setting as Isshin and Yuzu laughed loudly as well, imitating the man on t.v. as they crossed their arms over their chests. Ichigo just lay there, eating an orange while Rukiya read a romance manga and Karin dozed on the couch. It had only been recently that Ichigo and co. had saved Orihime and Karakura town from Aizen's plots. It was a time of recouperation, and Ichigo and Rukiya were taking full advantage of it.

-Konoha-

Madara Uchiha was laughing loudly as he watched Naruto's lifeless body slowly fall away, the look of surprize still clear on the dead boy's face.

"NARUTOOO!!" Hinata screamed, horrified, as she watched him decend, smacking solidly against the ground hard enough to bounce him clear from the protective barriar around the gigantic statue. She tried to run to him, but she was grabbed solidly around the waist by Kiba.

"No Hinata, don't do it! It's too late for Naruto, but your going to his body now might provoke them!" He exlaimed, tightening his grip against Hinata's struggles.

"NO! I MUST GO TO HIM, I MUST! NARUTO! NARUTO, PLEASE WAKE UP!" Hinata wailed, tears pouring down her face as she pulled uselessly against Kiba's grip before breaking down completely, sobs wracking her tiny frame as she slid to her knees.

Madara's laughter finally died down, but his smirk never left as he watched the drama play itself out. "Throw Sasuke down there as well. They wanted him back so bad, so I guess they can have him." He ordered. Juugo nodded mutely and hefted the semi-concious Uchiha in the air, chucking him off to land not too far from Naruto. Looking over at Pain, Madara nodded, giving the go-ahead.

Pain's five bodies nodded in return, and leapt up, landing upon the statue's head. Each body began chanting ominously and going through it's own set of handseals in a rapid pace. They were flying through handseals faster than anyone could easily see, save for Kakashi, who had revealed his Sharingan. Tsunade looked at him questioningly after a few moments. "They've gone through 6,928 handseals so far, each one going through a different set than the others." He said, answering her unasked question. Tsunade nodded wordlessly, looking back up at them, her anger and sorrow raging inside her.

Simultaniously, all five bodies finished their handseals and placed their right hands on the statue's head, raising their left in the sign of release. "KAI!" They all shouted at once. The effects were instantanious as a dark, evil light shot from the ground around the circle, in the exact diamater of the shield that protected the statue and Akatsuki. Everything living that the void touched decentegrated, disappearing completely as it was sucked into the gaping maw. Hellish screams began to emit from the hole as several pairs of hands appeared, grasping at the rim. Demons of all sorts began to pull themselves out, ranging anywhere from Kappa roughly half the size of a regular man all the way up to hulking Ogres more than five times that sie, weilding all sorts of weapons, from axes and sickles to naginata andswords. In one unique case, a particularly large oni that had the head of a demonic horse hefted a large iron rod, easily eight inches thick and seven feet long, the thing looked increadibly heavy, yet the oni swung it with apparent ease. Hundreds of demons emerged from the hole, easily outmatching the Konoha forces by five to one.

Then it rose.

It was a beast almost as tall as the statue itself, and almost twice as thick, heavily muscled and covered by a carapace that seemed like a dull grey armor. The thing's head was covered completely by the carapace, allowing for no vunerabilities there, though it seemed to be able to see just fine. The creature's torso was similarly armored, though less so at the joints for flexibility. Both of it's arms were as thick as a Konoha gaurd tower, tipped with three, meaty fingers that it opened and closed, reaching out and grasping the top of one of said towers, squeezing it's hand shut, eaily crushing the stone and mortar. A trap of over twenty explosive tags that had been set by ANBU on the tower erupted in a huge ball of flame, covering the creature's entire forearm, but it seemed unharmed by the explosion.

Madara laughed, flinging his arm out. "GO, MY PETS! FEAST ON MORTAL FLESH, WHICH YOU HAVE NOT TASTED IN MILLENIA!" He yelled. The demons screamed their bloodlust as they complied, surging towards the Konoha defenders, who answered the charge with a warcry of their own, meeting the onslaught with a head on charge. "Alright, let us go to the next phase of our plan." He said quietly to the others, dismissing the statue, which disappeared in a plume of smoke, dropping them all to the ground.

"...Where did those demons come from?" One of Pain's bodies asked as they began leaping through the trees.

Madara remained silent for several seconds, as if contemplating his answer. "That is the ultimate power of our weapon. Using the power of all nine Bijuu and their ability to use chakra that they gained from being imprisoned in humans at one point or another, their energies can be channeled through you and the statue, opening a small, temporary portal that connects to a long-lost realm called Hell. Not even the Bijuu can open and maintain a permenant portal, however, so it collapses after only a moment, but every demon that is able to come through will remain. This is how we can bring peace through destruction Pain, by using demons, which we an control. No one will be able to argue with us, for we will have an army at our beck and call that we can use at any time we please." He finally said.

Pain nodded, sparing one last glance back at Konoha, from which smoke was already rising into the air as he wondered for the first time if what he was doing was the right thing.

And so Akatsuki and Hawk disappeared into the horizon, leaving The Village Hidden in the Leaves to burn.

-Konoha-

Despite their sudden attack, the demons found themselves stopped suddenly by these mortals, who were fighting tooth and nail for their home, not willing to back down for anything short of victory or death. The initial ranks of demons were decimated by several high powered jutsu, with the exceptions of the ones who held an elemental affinity for the attacks they were hit with. Several barrages of kunai and shuriken, as well as explosive tag traps took out many more, but even through all that, the defenders hardly made a dent in the attacking force whcih began to wreak havoc throughout the town, several close-in fights breaking out between groups of ninja and demons, and at the center of it all was the gigantic demon, whose power was roughly equal to that of Shukaku, smashing through buildings with ease. Demons laughed, the dying screamed, and they all fought.

"Sakura, attack number seventeen!" Tsunade cried out one of her and her student's preplanned attack methods for dealing with large forces, slamming her fist into the ground as roughly two hundred demons charged them. "RIGHT!" Sakura replied as her master's attack shook the very Earth about them, slowing the charge and breaking several large slabs of rock loose, lifting them into the air. With a yell, Sakura slammed her fist into the largest of the slabs with every ounce of strength she could muster, turning the six ton rock into a flying missle that promised death to any it hit, mowing down the center line of charging demons, disorganizing them.

With a roar of defiance, the Konoha ninja charged, Tsunade and Hinata leading them, screaming their battlecries in righteous fury. Those bastards would pay!

-Karakura Town-

The boy looked around, unsure of what was going on. He could see people and buildings around him, but they were transparent, and he could not interact with them, and the pain of being ignored was starting to crush him. "Please, just talk to me!" He cried out, grasping at a female passer-by, only to watch in dispair as his hand passed right through.

"Boy, are you alright?"

The old, gravelly voice caused the boy to whirl around, to be greeted by quite the sight. Standing there, was an old, smiling man with a long, flowing beard tied together with a rope, leaning heavily on a cane. Behind him was an assortment of odd characters, ranging from a boy who looked to be younger than himself to a a tall, insanely grinning man with spikey hair, an eyepatch, and a scar going down the length of his face. They all dressed alike, and every one, save for the old man, carried a sword.

"Ah-are yuh-you talking tuh-to me?" The boy managed to stutter out, his eyes going wide, someone was aknowlaging his exisence!

The old man nodded, looking at the boy, who appeared to be transparent for some reason, and was about to answer, when a sudden power washed over them all. Looking up, the five captains saw a rift open, five blocks of energy decending, containing Aizen and his entourage. "Betrayer, what are you doing here?!" Yamamoto snarled, gripping his cane tightly as the other captains drew their swords, looking grim, with the exception of Zaraki, who was sporting a huge grin, as their reiatsu began to overflow, clashing with the power that was coming off of the hollows.

"I was actually coming to see into this interesting little nugget of power over there. What is happening to him anyway? Is he being affected by our flaring powers?" Aizen replied conversationally, motioning towards the blond boy.

Looking over, Yamamoto's eyes narrowed as he observed the boy. The boy was standing there, his eyes open wide, staring at nothing. Suddenly, he let out an ear-splitting scream of pain as he fell to his knees, clutching at his head. The weird energy that had drawn them all there pulsed strongly, causing everyone to freeze momentarily as a huge dome of blue, swirling energy picked up around him, covering the boy completely, blocking him from view. The boy's energy fluctuated wildly, changing from the feeling that they'd all first experienced to that of a Shinigami's then to that of even a hollow's, each feeling blending into another before changing, feeling at times as weaker than an unseated officers, and at others completely dwarfing any of their own. The dome swirled around the boy for several moments as the energy fluctuated, before finally stabalizing, the swirling dome beginning to die down. The very first gap in which they were able to see through caused all of the Shinigami to gasp slightly, save for Zaraki, whose grin grew even wider.

For in that brief instant, all gathered parties caught a flash of white around a left eye, which glowed as red as if it were being lit by hellfire itself.

Aizen would have smiled, bt for some unknown reason, a single shudder coursed down his spine. What was this feeling that was coming off of the boy?

-End-