Bleach ©Tite Kubo

Naruto ©Masashi Kishimoto

The concept of Jiryokou ©Dahlia Derbyshire

xXx

( Leaving Konohagakure )

"Sakura seems awfully worried about you, don't you think?"

Ichigo had been walking with the group for half-an-hour now, and not once did Ino seem to give him a break. She was bombarding him with questions he preferred not to answer. Anything he said could be incriminating, and lead to his "special circumstances". Sakura had reminded him very thoroughly before he left that he couldn't reveal who he was to these people. First off, they would never believe him, and if they did it was likely they'd try to destroy him.

He rubbed the back of his head humbly. "Sure, that's what friends do, right?" He answered. The word "friend" was hard to comprehend when it came to Sakura. Were they friends?

Ino seemed to smile. "Just friends?" She raised an eyebrow.

After answering about a billion of her questions, Ichigo did not look forward to answering this one. Luckily, he was saved when Choji spoke up. "So where are you from, Ichigo?"

Still, the question wasn't much of an improvement. "Uhh," he stuttered, deep in his own thoughts. He needed to say a place that they wouldn't know about, initially that meant making something up. A name in mind, he smiled perkily. "I'm from the Hidden Rock Village." To him, there was no way somebody would put "rock" in the name of their village. Of course, he was wrong.

Shikamaru cut in, closely analyzing Ichigo as he said, "So you're from Iwagakure? I've heard that's a nice place."

Damn these shinobi were good.

For once Ichigo was thankful that they were almost to a destination. In only a few minutes they would drop Ichigo off in Iron Country, Hinata pointing in the general direction he was supposed to go. Then they would be off. Ino with her constant prodding, gone! Choji with his curiosity about food, also gone! And Shikamaru's endless critical observations also would be done with! Ichigo could hardly wait. Soon, he would be free at last!

xXx

( Land of Iron: Kage Summit )

The snow may have been a upgrade from the sand, but the building Renji now sauntered into was far better and impressive. No longer did they have to trudge through endless piles of wet, soggy, freezing snow! His feet were free, the danger of frostbite now completely avoided! (Why shinigami could get frostbite was something Renji did not know.) As usual Renji expressed his joy with a whoop or two and a nicely strung-out sequence of joyous cursing. Mifune, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro ignored Renji's delight. In fact, they ignored Renji altogether. It was as if he wasn't even there…

'Must be an outsider thing,' he told himself, sending conspicuous looks Gaara's way. He glanced over each person a few times, doing his best to ignore the casual glances Ino sent his way. He didn't like Ino, there was only room for one woman in his heart.

Once again his thoughts wandered back to his feet when they finished walking over the bridge, approaching a set of gates that reminded Renji of one of the four gates to Seireitei. It was big, and it was bold. The only difference was how there was only one gate, and said gate was covered mercilessly in snow. Behind it was the building he had seen earlier, the one they were now approaching. However, a closer look made everything about it change to Renji. Now it looked like a stack of rectangular blocks, each block a little smaller than the last as it reached up to a peak at the top. It looked nothing like a pyramid that he had thought of. If anything, it was bigger than a pyramid.

"S'pretty unique, isn't it?" Temari chimed a hopeful gleam to her eyes. Much to her displeasure, Renji gave her a quick-once over, a single nod, and then returned to the building. He didn't feel like responding to Temari. Her advances were much too obvious.

"Sure, I've never seen anything like it," he told them, shrugging.

Mifune led them through the gates respectfully. Though something about Mifune didn't seem right… To Renji, his aura was rich with Reiatsu, but why? Mifune was obviously not a shinigami, or else he would have recognized Renji's unusual attire by now. Whatever Mifune was, he was obviously different than Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro.

Any further thoughts Renji may have had were shattered as the gates began to close. He flinched, feeling something in the air change. His responsibility to his life as a shinigami kicked in the more he sensed the presence. It felt more like a Hollow than anything he had encountered thus far. Quickly he went to Gaara's side. Someone had to be notified, and Renji didn't trust flirty Temari or snippy Kankuro. He made sure to keep his voice down low, to a decibel he knew only Gaara (who was now closest to him) would hear.

"Don't be alarmed, but for your sake you need to know that I'm not a shinobi like you all. I'm a shinigami, and the thing I'm trained to fight, a Hollow, has now entered the Iron Country." Gaara's face didn't change; he looked as bored as ever. Yet Renji knew he could hear him. "Don't be surprised if I suddenly leave to go fight that thing. I will explain everything later."

Gaara nodded affirmatively, relieved Renji sighed and retreated to the back of the group. He was sure Gaara would keep that information to himself, and he was equally as sure that if it was necessary, Gaara would let Renji explain himself. Not only that, but he was absolutely positive that if it was needed, Renji would be able to sneak away (with the aid of Gaara) to fight whatever lay miles away. Whatever it was, it felt oddly familiar…

Jiryokou, Renji thought.

xXx

Entering the Land of Iron, something felt off to Ichigo. He ignored the off-feeling as he was directed by Hinata. "Naruto-kun should be that way," she told him shyly. He started off in the direction as the others left for whatever mission they were on. Following the path the nagging feeling he had returned, that something wasn't right. He could feel two unmistakable presences, both very strong. One he recognized, but could not put a name or a face to, and the other was new. Combined, Ichigo hadn't felt so much raw and trained power mixed together ever before, and he knew for certain that he never wanted to sense it again; a chill ran up his spin.

Soon enough he heard voices and followed them. He fared well, hiding behind some bushes and a tree. Based on how little they changed from when he settled himself down on the snow, Ichigo knew he had not been sensed. That in mind he took a very close look at who they were. Six people in total, three of which he recognized; they were the Kumo nin that fought with Naruto, Sakura, and Sai. The ones that wanted to know about "Sasuke". The other three Ichigo didn't recognize, but the big tan man in the middle was clearly the second presence he'd felt before. The only thing the man gave off was an essence of strength.

Samui began reporting to the man, who Ichigo assumed was her superior. Ichigo took this as a good opportunity to learn more about shinobi, but unfortunately for him she didn't even get past saying "We have returned from Konoha". The thin blond man beside their leader's face suddenly changed, and quite suddenly he was looking around at everything and anything.

He knew it, and Ichigo knew it. Samui and her gang had been followed. The pursuers were forced to step out, and it was none other than Naruto, Kakashi, and Yamamoto. The conversation that followed was a blur, but surprisingly helpful. With each moment that passed, Ichigo learned something of critical importance: Sasuke was Naruto's friend. Then why, of all things, was the huge man entitled 'Raikage' hunting Naruto's friend? It was perplexing, but it was also none of Ichigo's business. He waited patiently until it was over, ending with a small grudge on his part against the Raikage. After all of Naruto's selfless yet shameful begging, the stubborn man still refused to see it. That alone was disgraceful.

The Kumo nin were long gone when Yamamoto came to Naruto's side in the cold snow. "Naruto, get up." He said caringly, his voice taking a more urgent tune as he continued. "I think you've sensed it by now, too. We've got company."

Shit. They were good.

Ichigo watched as Naruto nodded, but still refusing to hoist himself up honorably. There was a different aura to Naruto now. Anger was definitely a part of it, but only a miniscule part. Out of all things, Naruto was worried. It was hard to believe. The Naruto Ichigo was starting to understand wasn't "worried", he was headstrong and rash. What happened to the confident Naruto that was always competing with Ichigo? Where did he go?

Perhaps a small spark of that Naruto came alive again as his eyes shot from the snowy grounds to the exact foliage Ichigo stayed huddled behind. Oh yes, this was that Naruto. No doubt striving to show he was better than Ichigo, which seemed to be a common theme.

Kakashi and Yamamoto looked his way too, and it was very clear to Ichigo: They knew he was there, just not who he was. The risk of being struck with shuriken was not only high, but one Ichigo wasn't willing to take just for some simple information. Rather like a criminal, with his hands raised high, Ichigo slowly stood up from the rustling greens.

"Don't worry…I'm alone." He told them. "I didn't bring anyone else with me." He took slow steps to their side.

Seeing Ichigo, Naruto felt the overwhelming need to stand up from the ground and glare Ichigo in the eyes. "So you saw all that?" He coughed, wiping his palms on his pant leg. They were sweaty from all the time he spent with them curled into tight white-knuckled fists.

"Yes." The shinigami stated. "I saw it all, but I'll forget it ever happened, if that's what you want. I'll just tell Sakura this whole trip was nothing." Naruto's face lighted up in both delight and confusion, Ichigo could tell. To diffuse any oncoming questions, he then commented, "She was just a little worried. But because she's so tied up in Konoha she asked me to tag along."

Kakashi didn't look very thrilled. He crossed his arms. "Very well. I would tell you to leave, but I doubt you would listen." There was a reason behind Kakashi's intent and purpose for letting Ichigo tag along; but it was unknown, even to him. Only time could tell.

xXx

Author's Note:

I'm so extremely sorry that I did not get this ready sooner. All my readers, I wish I could apologize to you in person and kneel down to kiss your feet. I promised you better, claiming I could update on a regular basis. I would like to give you a good, honest, decent excuse, but I'm at a loss for words right now. I have no idea what to say, and I know for a fact that none of my excuses would do you any justice. So please, forgive me. Continue reading and reviewing, and I will try my best to remember that I have a promise to uphold. But school loves to kick my ass, so responses might come as long as once-a-month from now on.

Because I want to catch up with the Naruto Manga, I will be skipping and only light describing stuff that is important, but not necessarily to the Ichigo-added plot. Let's not forget Jiryokou and Kyomu, who also have to enter the story some more. (Chapters will be a little shorter from now on, just to further the plot more.)

Huzzah for the next chapter, which will be waaaaay better!

Adieu.