I forgot to mention, last chapter, Team 7 was wearing standard the soul reaper uniform with their headbands. Now they have more personalized uniforms.
Naruto: Normal kimono and hakama, orange obi, no socks, normal sandals
Sasuke: Normal kimono with the Uchiha crest on the back, normal hakama, dark blue rope-like belt, normal socks and sandals
Hawk: Sleeveless kimono, normal hakama, dark gray obi, normal socks and sandals
Sakura: Normal kimono and hakama, pink obi, normal socks and sandals
Disclaimer: Don't own Bleach or Naruto
Chapter Three: The Shikais Part One
Central Archives of the Seireitei
Seven Months Later
Naruto groaned in boredom. "This is so boring! Guarding a giant library in the middle of the Seireitei! Who'd be crazy enough to attack this place?!"
"We have our orders, Dobe." Sasuke said to his impatient friend. "And in case you haven't heard, there's been a string of break-ins and thefts all over the Seireitei. Books, scrolls, tomes, anything that has written knowledge on it, has been stolen from the Academy Library, from the libraries of various Divisions, and from here, the Central Archives of the Seireitei. So until further notice, the higher-ups want all of the libraries to be guarded 24/7."
"Yeah, yeah. Doesn't change the fact that it's boring as hell." the blond replied.
Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, when a massive spike of reiatsu flared behind them. It was coming from deep inside the archives.
"You were saying." Sasuke said as the two of them turned and started running deeper into the archives.
When they reached the source of reiatsu, they found a man wearing a white version of a soul reaper's uniform, flash-stepping in between the rows of books and scrolls. The odd thing was, his flash-steps emitted a static buzz every time he use it. The man was grabbing books and scrolls from the shelves and placing them in a pair of sacks he was holding.
"Hey thief! Put those books down!" Naruto shouted.
The man didn't stop or even turn to face them. "This is a library. Please be quiet. This is your first warning." the man replied in a Spanish accent.
"Warning?! You gotta be kidding me! You break in and start stealing stuff, and now are giving us a warning about yelling in a library!" Naruto shouted.
"Yes. And this is your second warning. There won't be a third." the man calmly replied.
Naruto opened his mouth but Sasuke's hand covered it before he shout anything else. "Who or what are you? And why are you stealing books and scrolls from all over the Seireitei?" Sasuke calmly said.
"Because knowledge is power." the man replied. "And I hunger for knowledge more than a hollow hungers for souls."
The man chuckled at his last statement.
"You didn't answer my first question." Sasuke coldly stated.
"No. I suppose I didn't. Let me ask you this. What is it that separates a hollow from a soul reaper? Protecting souls or devouring souls? No. The Hollow Mask or the Zanpaku-to? No. The Heart or the Hollow Hole? No. What really separates the two is fear. Fear of what kinda of creature would emerge from the fusion of soul reaper and hollow. Fear of the power of such beings. And most importantly, fear of becoming obsolete to such hybrids."
The man turned around to face them. "Fear that I have long since overcome."
Naruto and Sasuke stared in shock at the intruder. The man had gray eyes, long, flat black hair and aristocratic features. But the strangest thing about his face was what appeared to be a fragment of a hollow mask covering the left side of his face. It resembled a Medieval helmet. On the left side of his belt was a western style double-edged sword with a gold handle and a blue sheath. He also wore a silver necklace with a silver icon hanging from it. The icon was a small book on top of pair of swords criss-crossing each other.
"Are you a soul reaper?" Sasuke asked.
"No." the man said with a smirk. "I am Arturo Plateado. I am an arrancar. A hollow that has torn off its mask and gained the powers of soul reapers."
"What?!" Naruto shouted in shock. "How is that even possible?! No way a hollow could become like a soul reaper!"
"That's three strikes. Now you're dead, little soul reapers." Arturo said as a grin spread across his face.
Naruto and Sasuke quickly drew their zanpaku-tos, Sasuke's eyes changed from black to his crimson sharingan eyes. They weren't gonna go down without a fight.
Arturo laughed at them. "Tell me little soul reapers, do you even know the names your zanpaku-tos?"
Neither of them said anything. Arturo laughed again. "You actually believe you can beat me without your shikais. I have dueled the three strongest soul reapers alive and haven't killed me. You are nothing to me."
He set the sacks he was holding on the ground and raised his hands and spread out his fingers. "I tell you what, I'll give you ten free hits. If you manage to give so much as a paper cut, I'll leave. In fact, I'll even leave what I've taken. But after those free hits are used up, I start fighting back."
Naruto and Sasuke charged and slashed the arrancar across his chest. Or at least that's what they tried but instead, they found their hands bleeding and not even a scratch on the arrancar's kimono.
"You didn't think it'd be that easy?" He curled up his pinky fingers and added, "That's one and two."
"What? What just happened?" Naruto asked as he stared at his bleeding hands.
"My hierro is far far too strong to be cut by an unreleased zanpaku-to."
"Looks like were gonna have to try something else." Sasuke said. "33."
Naruto nodded. "33."
"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bares the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws!" Sasuke and Naruto chanted. "Hado 33. Pale Fire Crash!"
The two Kido spells impacted the arrancar square in the chest. No effect what so ever. "Still not good enough. That's three and four." he said as he curled his ring fingers. "So what do you have next?"
"Damn...Our zanpaku-tos aren't enough. Kido isn't enough." Naruto said. "Any ideas Sasuke?"
"No."
"Then we're gonna have to keep on trying!" Naruto shouted as swung his swords at the arrancar.
"Wait!" Sasuke shouted, but it was pointless.
Again, nothing happened, save Arturo counting off five and six. So Naruto continued to swing his swords at him again and again. After a barrage of pointless sword slashes, Naruto stopped. Panting as blood poured from his hands in a steady stream.
"And that's ten. Giving up? I don't blame you. You never stood a chance against me." Arturo said as he balled his fists. "It's time to end this."
"I'm not giving up!" Naruto shouted as he raised his swords again, preparing to attack again.
But before Naruto could, the arrancar's fist slammed into his chest, breaking several of his ribs, sending him flying backwards and lost consciousness.
"Naru-Aaaagh!..." Sasuke shouted as the arrancar flash-stepped in front of him and kicked him in the stomach.
Like Naruto, Sasuke felt a number of his ribs break as he flew backwards and lost consciousness.
"That was quite a pathetic showing Naruto." a voice called out.
Naruto opened his eyes. To his surprise, his wounds were gone and he was on a very, very familiar mountain top, overlooking a very, very familiar Village.
"Konoha?...Am I home?...Was this all a dream?" he said to himself.
"No Naruto. This is not Konoha. You are not home." the voice from before said.
Naruto turned around. Standing behind him was a man he never seen before. The man wore a very dark green, almost back version of the battle suit the Third Hokage wore during his final battle. Over top of that was a white, sleeveless trench coat, similar to one the Fourth had worn. There were green, swirling wind gust designs all over the coat. His eyes were the same blue as Naruto's, and a pair of green bangs framed his face.
"Are you the spirit of my zanpaku-to?" Naruto asked.
"Yes. I am !#."
"Err...I didn't catch that."
"Of course..." the man sighed. "You still can hear my name. I've been shouting it for quite awhile now, you know."
"Sorry but I can't hear it." Naruto said.
"You don't have much of a choice now. The only way you're gonna survive this battle, is to hear my name." the spirit of his zanpaku-to said. "I'll make this simple for you. I'm hidden somewhere in your mind. But there are many, many impostors in there as well. Find me and you will know my name. Fail, and you will die. Quickly, before the sun sets! Find me!"
The man disappeared in gust of wind and leaves. Naruto looked up. The sun, which had stood in the center of the sky, started to move downward, much faster than any sun normally did. The sun would set in a matter of minutes, not hours. How was he gonna find it in time?
Naruto leapt off the Hokage Mountain and by focusing his reiatsu, slowed his descent and landed safely on top of the Hokage Tower. There was a white box sitting on the roof of the tower. Naruto grabbed it and tore off it's lid. A strong gust of wind hit him in the face, knocking him on his butt. 'Wrong choice.' Naruto thought.
Naruto discarded the box as he stood up and looked over his mindscape. There were white boxes all over the place. There was no time to check them all.
Naruto frowned and closed his eyes. 'It can't end like this! Not here! Not before I've even become a lieutenant! I refuse to lose here!'
Suddenly, a memory entered his head.
"Come on Naruto! You gotta know this or they won't let you pass." Sakura said to him.
"But Sakura, it's so...boring!" he whined.
Sakura sighed. "Here, this one's an easy one. When sensing spirits, what's different between a normal soul and a soul reaper?"
Naruto opened his eyes. "Red Reiraku!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
Naruto put his hands together in the horse seal (the one were you put your hands together and have the pointer and middle fingers point up. if I got it wrong, tell me), closed his eyes and focused his senses. A moment later, he opened his eyes. All around him were white ribbons. He scanned the sea of ribbons, looking for the one red one. He found it, near his right ankle. Naruto grabbed it and started pulling himself forward on it. He pulled himself forward, faster and faster as the sun started slipping behind the Hokage Mountain.
The red ribbon ended at a white box sitting on the bridge that Team 7 used to meet at. Naruto picked up the box and tore the lid off. A gust of wind and leaves escaped the box and flew around him.
"I hear it!" Naruto shouted triumphantly. "I hear you name!"
Sasuke groaned as he woke up. He sat up and to his surprise, he was in the Uchiha District. Expect it looked like it did before the massacre.
"So the Uchiha is finally awake." a voice in an annoyed tone said.
Sasuke turned to the source of the voice. It was a strange humanoid creature. It resemble a cross between a dragon and a samurai warrior. It's body was covered in dark blue samurai armor with gold trim, that if you looked closely enough, you could see that it was made up of scales. The boots and gauntlets it wore looked more like armored, taloned feet and hands. It had a metallic tail that emerged from near the base of it's spine. It's head, the only part of it's body that wasn't covered in armor or metal, was a pale blue, dragon's head. It's eyes were gold.
"Well Uchiha, have you come to see me or are you still too stubborn to talk to me?" the dragon creature said, his voice loud and blooming like thunder.
Unlike Naruto, Sakura and Hawk, particularly Sakura and Hawk, he never once spoke to his zanpaku-to. The idea of talking to a sword didn't sit well with him. He had seen others do it and frankly, it looked stupid.
"Do you know how insulting it is, when the person, who's suppose to be your partner, won't say a word to you?"
A bolt of lighting struck Sasuke, but he refused to scream in pain.
"Who treats you like nothing more than a piece of metal?"
Another bolt, again no scream.
"To be all alone in this lonely place."
Another bolt, Sasuke fell to his knees, but still didn't scream.
"Oh wait. I forgot who I'm talking to. The brooding traitor."
A fourth bolt, again by sheer willpower, Sasuke didn't utter a sound.
"I don't know how Naruto, Kenshi and Sakura can even look you in the eye after what you did. Oh if only I was one of their's zanpaku-tos. Instead I get stuck with a treacherous bastard."
A fifth bolt struck him, Sasuke groaned this time, but that was it. Nor did he say anything to what his zanpaku-to said. He couldn't deny what his zanpaku-to was saying. It was all true. It was because of him that they all died.
"Well Uchiha? Nothing to say in your defense?"
"No." he replied. "Everything you said was true."
The dragon-man stepped up to him and stared at him, like he was inspecting a piece of meat. The dragon-man's nostrils flared a few times. "You don't appear or smell to be lying. Tell me Uchiha, do you wish for redemption for your past crimes? Are you willing to work with me? To protect your friends and comrades and bring redemption to yourself?"
"Yes."
A smirk crossed the dragon-man's lips. "That's what I was waiting to hear." he said as he held out his hand.
Acting on instinct, Sasuke reached out and took his hand. Lightning coursed from the hand of the spirit of his zanpaku-to to his own. But it didn't hurt him. "Now Uchiha, let us show that creature our power."
As one, Naruto and Sasuke opened their eyes and slowly stood up. Their broken ribs and cut hands temporally mended by their zanpaku-tos. Sasuke gripped his zanpaku-to's hilt with both hands and place it in front of him. Naruto crossed the blades of his zanpaku-to in front of him, like an X.
"The weak shall know their kindness, the wicked shall know their wrath, Kirinonai Kaze!" Naruto shouted.
A pair of mini-cyclones of wind and leaves surrounded the zanpaku-tos and grew larger. A moment later, the cyclones ended, revealing a pair of large falchions, each with a large, round hole near the top of the blade.
"Rain down your vengeful fury upon the unjust, Raikou Ryuujin!" Sasuke shouted.
There was a loud thunderclap and the entire sword exploded into electricity that coiled around his arms. Sasuke clenched his fists. There was another thunderclap and the electricity transformed into a pair of wicked-looking tonfas.
"Impressive, little soul reapers." Arturo said as he clapped. "I didn't think you both had twin-bladed zanpaku-tos. Now, let's see if that's enough."
Naruto and Sasuke started running at Arturo again. They slashed at him but the arrancar blocked the blades with his arms but this time Naruto's and Sasuke's palms didn't bleed. Small blue orbs appeared in the center of the holes in Naruto's swords. Arturo pushed them back with ease.
"Not bad, little soul reapers. But not good enough." Arturo said. "My turn."
Arturo flash-stepped, reappeared in front of Sasuke and punched him. But Sasuke managed to raise his tonfas and block the punch. The second Arturo's fist hit his tonfas, a current of electricity surrounded his body. Arturo recoiled like he had been given a nasty static shock. Naruto took this moment to attack the arrancar from behind, slashing at his back. "Damn brat." Arturo growled as he swung his left fist at the blond.
The second he hit Naruto, the blond exploded in a Naruto-size cyclone, shredding Arturo's sleeve. "What was that?" Arturo asked as he stared at his shredded sleeve.
"My zanpaku-to's version of one of my favorite techniques." Naruto replied as he stood next to two dozen other Narutos.
Naruto and his clones roared as they charged the arrancar. They cut and slashed at him from all sides, while Arturo punched and kicked at the Narutos. Every time a Naruto hit Arturo, the orbs in their swords grew larger and every time Arturo hit one of the Narutos, they exploded in a mini-cyclone. Sasuke, seeing his opportunity, channeled electricity into the side blades of his zanpaku-to and attacked, slashing at the arrancar's back. Again, the attack caused no damage, but it further annoyed the arrancar.
"That's it!" Arturo shouted in frustration as he let lose a wave of his spiritual pressuse.
The spiritual pressure was so immense that Naruto's remaining wind clones, exploded and it pushed both Sasuke and Naruto away from the arrancar. Naruto stood in front of the arrancar, while Sasuke stood behind him. Both were breathing heavily.
Both Naruto and Sasuke realized just how strong this creature was. Arturo hadn't been fighting them anywhere near his full strength. They even doubt that what he had just shown was his true strength.
"Sasuke, I don't have enough strength left to keep injuries in check and continue fighting him. We must take him down in an all-or-nothing attack." Raikou Ryuujin's voice said in the back of Sasuke's head.
Naruto glanced at down at his swords. The once small blue orbs now filled both holes in his sword completely and spun like a pair of Rasengans. "Naruto, now is the time." Kirinonai Kaze said. "If we are to win this battle, we must strike with everything now!"
Electricity surged around Sasuke's right hand and the tip of the right tonfa blade and the sound of birds chirping filled the air. The Rasengans in Naruto's swords spun even faster. As one, Naruto and Sasuke charged at the arrancar. Arturo just stood there, confidant that he would survive anything they threw at him.
"CHIDORI!!"
"RASENGAN!!"
Both attacks connected with the arrancar, creating a massive explosion. It knock nearby shelves down, scattering their contents on the floor. It sent empty tables and chairs flying. Naruto and Sasuke were flung backwards and both crashed into debris. As they slowly stood up, both could feel the pain from their wounds return. Both cough up a bit of blood as they stared at the smoking crater. It was over, nothing could have survived that.
Suddenly, laughter echoed through the large chamber. Arturo's laughter.
The smoke began to clear, revealing Arturo standing there. His kimono was completely gone, though his necklace was completely unharmed. There was a perfectly round hole over where the human heart would have been located, a hollow hole. There was a large scorch mark on his back and another on his stomach. Both Naruto and Sasuke were speechless. They had thrown everything they had in that last attack. But even that hadn't been enough.
"I applaud you for your efforts. But truth be told, you never stood a chance." Arturo said as he drew his sword. "Don't worry little soul reapers, I'll make your death painless."
"I don't think so, Arturo Plateado." a voice called out.
"I think you've had enough fun with our subordinates." another voice called out.
All three of them turned to the source of the voices. Captains Jushiro Ukitake and Shunsui Kyoraku, their zanpaku-tos drawn and unsealed.
"Ah...Ukitake, Kyoraku. It seems like I've overstayed my welcome." Arturo said.
He flash-stepped and reappeared next to the two bags he had been filling with books and scrolls. He grabbed the bags. "Tell me, little soul reapers, what are your names?"
"Sasuke Uchiha."
"Naruto Uzumaki."
"Well, then Mr. Uchiha and Mr. Uzumaki, consider this a reward for impressing me." He tossed one of the bags at their feet and added, "Perhaps we shall meet again, little soul reapers."
A black tear opened up behind Arturo. The arrancar bowed and said, "Give my regards to the Old Man."
Arturo jumped backwards into the opening and it closed.
"Sasuke, Naruto, are you two alright?" Jushiro asked.
Before they could answer, Sasuke and Naruto passed out.
Fourth Division Hospital
24 Hours Later
Naruto groaned as he opened his eyes. He immediately knew where he was. A hospital room, in the Fourth Division. Naruto sighed. He hated waking up in the hospital. It always meant sitting around, doing nothing until the doctors let him leave. And eating that horrible hospital food.
Naruto slowly sat up and clutched his sides. His ribs were really sore.
"So, your finally awake Dobe. You know, you snore quite loudly."
"Shut up Teme! I don't snore!" Naruto shouted back.
"Yes you do." Sasuke shot back.
"No I don't!"
Suddenly, the door opened, revealing Captain Unohana. "I see you're both awake. But I have to ask you, for the sake of the other patients, please refrain from shouting and fighting."
Both Sasuke and Naruto shuddered. Captain Unohana had said those words in her normal calm and gentle tone and expression, there was some thing about it that screamed, "Listen or suffer the consequences!"
"Yes, Captain Unohana." both nervously said.
"Good. Now, how are you feeling?" Unohana asked. "You both had a number of broken ribs and some minor internal damage."
"Sore but otherwise fine." Sasuke answered.
"I'm fine." Naruto said.
"Well then, are you hungry? You've been here for over twenty-four hours."
Naruto's response was a loud growl from his stomach. Naruto sheepishly grinned. "He he he...Yeah."
"Smooth Dobe. Real smooth." Sasuke said, just before his own stomach growled just as loud as Naruto's did.
Unohana chuckled and said, "I'll bring you something to eat. Is there anything else you need?"
"No."
"Nope."
"Very well then, I be back in a little while." the Captain of the Fourth said before stepped out of the room.
A few minutes later, the door opened again. But this time, it was a man with a lieutenant's badge, messy brown hair, and black, thick rimmed glasses.
"Hello Mr. Uchiha, Mr Uzumaki." the man said. "I'm Sosuke Aizen, the lieutenant of-"
"Of Squad 5, under Captain Shinji Hirako." Sasuke said, interrupting him. "Why are you where?"
"I was check on some injured members of my Division and heard you were awake. So I decided to finally meet you two face to face. I hope there's nothing wrong with that."
"No." Sasuke said with a shrug.
"I have to say, the stories and rumors about the four of you are quite interesting. Of course, the most recent is that you two fought and killed a powerful hollow that was responsible for the recent thefts."
"Their only half right." Sasuke said. "We fought him, but failed to kill him. If Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku, hadn't shown up at the right moment, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"And he wasn't a hollow." Naruto said. "He said he was some kind of hybrid of soul reapers and hollows. Hey, you know anything about these things?"
"Yes." Sasuke said. "He said he was an arrancar. But they never mentioned such a creature when we were in the Academy."
"Well, there's very little known about the hybrids and we've only discovered a handful of such creatures. Which is why we don't talk about them in the Academy. In fact, outside of the captains and most of the high-ranked seated officers, most have never heard of such creatures. And Captain-General Yamamoto and the Central 46 consider such creatures abominations and extremely dangerous." Aizen said. "We suspect that there's two separate breeds of hybrids, arrancar, those that were originally hollows and crossed over into the realm of soul reapers and a yet to be named species of soul reapers that have crossed over into the realm of hollows."
"That doesn't make sense. Why would any soul reaper want to become more like a hollow?" Naruto asked.
"Power, I suppose. Supposedly, the hybrids are superior to soul reapers and hollows. Though, we have yet to encounter such a hybrid yet. And save for that one arrancar that you fought, all of the arrancar to date are unstable and cannot leave Hueco Mundo." Aizen replied.
"But still...A soul reaper purposely trying to become like a hollow. It's just too disturbing to imagine someone doing it." Naruto said.
"You're underestimating what some people would do for power." Aizen said. "Wasn't there a man in your own world, an Orochimaru if I recall, who sought immortality by removing his soul and placing it in other people's bodies. Well, this would be the same kind of people. People that crave power over everything else. In other words, the worst kind of people."
Naruto nodded. He found the idea of a soul reaper trying to become more like a hollow, disturbing. Hollows were creatures devoid of a heart. That had to devour other souls in an attempt to ease the agony of not having a heart. Why would anyone want be something like that? Only sick and twisted individuals, like Orochimaru, would.
"Well, why don't we talk about something more pleasant for awhile." Aizen said with a smile.
They had talked with Aizen for quite awhile. And Naruto had to admit, he was a pretty decent guy. He reminded Naruto of Iruka, a kind and scholarly man. Unohana returned shortly after they began talking with lunches and told them that they would have to remain here for a week until their injuries were fully healed. That annoyed both of them greatly. Then she told them that the Captain-General wanted a full written report from both of them about what happened before they were discharged. Which greatly annoyed Naruto even more. Eventually Aizen left, but they plenty of other visitors. Sakura and Hawk visited when ever they weren't busy as well as members of their own Divisions, including, much to Naruto's surprise, his lieutenant, Lisa Yadomaru. Naruto asked her why she was visiting him when she found irritating at best. She simply stated that although she found him annoying, he was still a member of Squad 8 and she watch out for all of her fellow squad members.
Fourth Division Hospital
One Week Later
"C'mon Naruto. You had a full week to work on this." Sakura said in annoyance. "Why couldn't you be more like Sasuke and get it done in the first day?"
"I hate paperwork." Naruto grumbled.
"This coming from the guy who wanted to become Hokage." Sasuke said as he leaned on a wall. "A job where the person spends most of their days doing paperwork."
Hawk and Sakura chuckled at Sasuke's comment.
Naruto grumbled again as he finished the last of his report. Yet again he was reminded of how much he hated paperwork.
Naruto finished his report and signed it, when the door to their hospital room, revealing captains Ukitake and Kyoraku.
"Captains Kyoraku, Ukitake, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked as the two men entered the room.
"Well lovely little Sakura, we're here for our Seventh Seats, they're checking out today."
"Really?" Naruto asked while the rest of Team 7 had surprised looks on their faces. "I didn't know they injured too."
"Really, that's funny." Shunsui said with a grin. "You two would have been the first to know about it."
"Err...I don't get it." a confused Naruto said.
Everyone sweatdropped.
"I did your IQ drop when you released zanpaku-to Dobe?" Sasuke said. "Think about it. How would we have been the first to know that anyone was injured?"
The lightbulb in Naruto's head finally lit up. "It was us! We were the first to know we were injured." Naruto said. "But we're not Seventh Seats, we're...wait. You mean, we're being promoted!!"
"Yeah. Not many non-captains could have stood up to Arturo like you too did. So Jushiro and I decided to promote you both." Naruto's captain replied.
"Congratulations, both of you." Jushiro said.
"Naruto, Sasuke, you both really deserve it." Sakura said.
"Hey, why don't we all go out and celebrate." Hawk said.
"Yeah!" Naruto and Sakura cheered.
"Sure, I could go for a bite and a drink." Shunsui said. "How about you Jushiro?"
"Sure." his white haired friend said.
"The new Seventh Seats are paying." Hawk added as they all left the room.
"What?!" both Seventh Seats shouted.
"Hey, you guys got the promotion and the pay raise, so you guys pay." Hawk replied.
"But...but..." Naruto stammered.
"I agree with Hawk." Sakura said. "After all, every time someone pays for your meal, you end up trying to bankrupt them with all that ramen you always order."
"But..."
"No buts Naruto. You and Sasuke are paying." Sakura said.
Naruto hung his head in defeat. "No fair."
"Ah don't worry. The next person to receive a promotion will pay for dinner. Though I'll be imposing a three bowl limit on your ramen." Hawk said.
"Only three bowls...Aw...C'mon. That's not nearly enough."
"Then pay for it yourself."
Originally this was gonna be a single chapter, but it just started getting to long for a single chapter, so I stopped here and save Sakura's and Hawk's shikais for the next chapter.
Fans of my story Hollowification, will recognize Arturo. It's the same guy, it's just merely him before Aizen got the Hogyoku and used it to stabilize the natural born arrancar in Hueco Mundo.
Next Chapter: Shikais part two. Then the being of Turn Back the Pendulum arc. I imagine some of you have figured out what I have planned for that.
Please Review!