Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach

Chapter Sixteen: The Mini Grandes

"That was fast," Neji said as they walked through the gate.

"These Grandes are pathetic," Gaara remarked.

What had happened was this: Shino had used his bankai and set up a Destruction Bug Meteor above the gate. Naruto reluctantly opened the gate, the Grandes rushed through, and the bug meteor crashed around their heads, eating them alive.

"We didn't even get to see what the Medium Grandes looked like," Shikamaru said.

"Who cares?" Ino shuddered. "They're probably uglier than the Big Grandes."

"Hey, you Soul Reapers!"

The group halted as two human-sized figures came toward them. They were, unsurprisingly, rather ugly. The one with spiky blue-gray hair spoke first. "I am Grimmjow Jaggerjack, the Sixth Espada!"

"And I'm Ulquiorra, the Fourth Espada," his zombie-like companion said.

The ninja stared. "Um, why did you tell us your names?" Kankuro asked. "And what's an Espada?"

"Because you're going to die soon, and the Espada are ten of the elite arrancar," Grimmjow answered.

"Grimmjow Jaggerjack? That's the randomest name I've ever heard," Naruto muttered. "And I thought your name was weird, Gaara, 'cause it meant 'I love myself'."

"What's an arrancar?" Temari asked.

Ulquiorra said in a monotone voice, "Arrancar are Soul Reaper/Hollow hybrids created by the Great Master Aizen."

"Renji explained that already," Kankuro pointed out.

Temari shrugged. "Oh well, it's not like I can remember all these names. What language is 'arrancar' from?"

"Enough blather, Ulquiorra. Which one should I kill first?" Grimmjow's eyes ranged over the ninja.

Shikamaru, hoping that the Espadas' hesitation in striking meant they were unwilling to fight, asked Ulquiorra, "You say there are ten Espada. Where are the rest?"

"Them? They died. Ichigo Kurosaki and his friends killed them."

Ino's jaw dropped. "Ichigo Kurosaki did? How? He seemed like such a bozo."

"I'll kill the one with red hair and eyeliner!" Grimmjow declared. He charged at Gaara and was about to unsheathe his zanpakuto when he crashed into Gaara's wall of sand. It was three feet thick and as hard as cement.

Ulquiorra slowly looked over in a disinterested way. "Hey, Grimmjow, get up."

Blood streamed down from a gash on Grimmjow's skull as he lay on the ground, motionless. After a few moments, he twitched and slowly staggered to his feet. "I am up," he said.

"Fine. Let's go report to Great Master Aizen." Ulquiorra turned around.

Grimmjow grinned. He unsheathed his zanpakuto and stabbed Ulquiorra in the back. Ulquiorra fell to the ground without a sound.

The group stared at Grimmjow. "What…the…?" Shikamaru said.

"Release!" Grimmjow said, and fell to the ground as well. They followed the blue trail of light until it reached Ino's body. "Surprise!" she said. "I took over his body to save us all some trouble."

Shikamaru frowned. "But Grimmjow was dead. So how were you able to move?"

Kankuro chuckled. His fingers glowed with a blue light. "A dead body is just another puppet. It was a piece of cake."

"Good job, you two. Now that we have the Mini Grandes out of the way, let's go meet the big fry."

"You mean more Big Grandes?" Naruto said.

"No! I mean Aizen, you idiot!"