Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I don't own Bleach. I just like to play around with the plots, is all! 8D

Enjoy the chapter!

xXx

Renji shuffled along with the Sand shinobi, though he was unable to wrestle away from Temari's attentions. Nonetheless he was seemingly unbothered. Renji knew he had to be on his best game, the presence he felt only miles away was nothing like those he had become accustomed to: in other words, it was not the Reiatsu of a ninja. It felt lighter, quicker, but also more potent. His recognition of the hollow in it blinded the other part from him; the human part. He was unable to see the possibility that the unknown Hollow could quite possibly be a person. He was already so sure it was a monster.

Inside the eccentric building he veered off from Gaara, ordered my Mifune to follow Temari and Kankuro, which he respectfully did. Albeit it was unwillingly, he allowed Gaara (the only one who knew his secret) walk alone into some fancy looking room that branched off of a dark hallway. Suspicious? Definitely.

Temari had finally eased her drabbling down, probably to keep the situation serious. This Summit was apparently a big deal to the shinobi. Renji didn't need to ask that question, he could get his answer off the serious and grave look to her face –it was hard to tell on Kankuro, who wore an awful lot of face paint for a man.

The group ascended what felt like stairs, and gathered around a large, circular empty space. Being in a tiny attic-like room, the abnormally tall Renji was forced to crouch down and peer over the edge of the empty space. It was dark down there, but he could hear voices. Whisperings. Only when the lights were turned on, candles ablaze, could he see what lay down there: it had to be the Kage Summit.

A large 'U' shaped table with five seats, in each seat sat what he supposed was a master of some sort, and behind each master was a long drapery painted with various kanji. He could read them all, and based off the knowledge he had learned thus far he pieced together the importance of the symbol: they were, without a doubt, the five "great" nations that Temari liked to chatter on about so much. And they just happened to be crouching directly above Gaara. In fact, now that he noticed his surroundings, he also viewed four other groups of people, all huddled together directly above a specific master. Huh, how strange.

In the air he counted the people below, bobbing his index finger with each number. He didn't count Mifune, considering how much he disliked of the man. He saw a short, old man with a big warty nose; a burly looking dark-skinned man with teeth like a bear; Gaara, looking incredibly nonchalant in the uncomfortable situation he must be in; a very gorgeous lady with her luscious hair sweeping over her left eye (a detail that was not overlooked by Temari, who promptly snorted defiantly); and a suspicious character. He didn't look like a master, not this one. He looked more like a mental patient. His whole forehead was wrapped, and the smallest part of his hand Renji could see was also tightly and securely wrapped. What was such an old crock doing here? At least the short dwarf knew a thing or two about looking ominous and intimidating, but this guy just felt off balance with the rest of them.

He made sure to get Kankuro's attention by poking the man's arm and pointing down to the alleged creeper. "Who's that?" He whispered.

Kankuro didn't look very thrilled about telling. He sent his shifty eyes towards the equally disconnected shinobi above the man before shaking his head. "You don't want to know who that man is." He started, "He's the Hokage, sort of a replacement for a woman named Tsunade. Personally, I liked her better…" And that settled it: This man (a "Danzo" from what Temari whispered) was not to be trusted.

Mifune asked the participants to place their hats on the table, at which moment Renji scoped out his "competition". (In all honesty, this whole ordeal felt like a competition.) Those also in the attic were just as sour looking as their masters. He was actually thankful he ended up with Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara. If Jiryokou had decided to dump him somewhere else in time, he could've ended up with the big guy who looked like he could eat a man whole, or shaky looking dork with the sword strapped to his back; no way would Renji want that.

A punch on the arm from Temari signaled his return to the Summit, and he quickly averted his eyes from the other guards and examined the happenings below. It was official:

The Summit had started.

Gaara spoke first, but was unkindly interrupted by the short, warty man from earlier. Old men…the older the got, the more superior they believed themselves to be. A particular old man came to Renji's mind: strong, stubborn, and increasingly old, always ordering around the Gotei 13 like it was nobody's business. Hey! Yamamoto! Have you met your future self yet? Renji thought to himself, chuckling.

The longer the meeting went on, the more it was evident nobody would agree. At least Gaara was putting in the effort and the woman was remaining courteous, the other four all had their cons. Cons that heavily outweighed the pros. Renji was thoroughly bored out of his mind, and couldn't help but thinking this time period needed a new political system. Only five strong powers would get them nowhere. They needed something more stable…like 13. Yes, 13 different organizational groups would be fine.

The main topic of the Summit seemed to be one thing and one thing only; or rather, one group. The Akatsuki came up in everything they had to say. Whether it was when Gaara mentioned being kidnapped (something he reminded himself he needed to ask about later) or the object of the Akatsuki's desire: something they called beasts. Slowly the debate began to heat up, almost ready to blow. Everybody watching from above tensed, even Renji. He didn't know why, but he felt like he trusted Gaara, and he protected those he trusted.

"Quit your yapping!" The dark-skinned man barked, slamming his hand down and breaking the surface of the table. Splinters flew up in the air, and by the time they landed back down on the table all hell broke loose.

The tension had finally boiled over once the Raikage exploded, and suddenly everyone from above had flown down to protect their leaders. In the harsher light Renji got a better look at their sweaty, exhausted faces. Even he felt the tiredness from their travels, but he suspected the Kages felt it worse, especially now that a dozen people were crowding the already stuffy and cramped room. Renji earned a few questionable looks from the others, considering the vast difference in height between them and him. (Excluding the fat, chubby man who protected the Tsuchikage, of course.)

He didn't know how, or why, but even though Renji had virtually nothing to do with the conflict he was right at Gaara's side, Zabimaru's gleaming edge drawn and ready. He felt his fingers tingle at the thought of a fight. The last challenging one he had was against Byakuya, and considering how "well" that went he wanted to redeem himself.

Mifune ordered them to stand down, which unfortunately they did. Renji followed Temari and Kankuro behind Gaara, whose expression had not changed once since they first entered the Summit. What a strange person he was…

The Raikage never eased, even when all the reinforcements took a back seat. He stayed upright, angrily pointing fingers at those around him. "Konoha, Iwa, Suna, and Kiri! Akatsuki is made up of missing nin from your villages!" He spat accusingly, the two men behind him nodding in agreement.

Things were never easy for Renji when it came to accusations, and he felt a hot flash of hate hit his nerves when the Raikage turned his index to not only all of Suna, but him specifically. "But that's not all!" The large man stated menacingly. "How can a young Kage like yourself, Kazekage, turn a blind eye to rules and bring him here. He could be a member of the Akatsuki! A sworn enemy! He doesn't even look like a ninja!" Murmurs rushed throughout the room, no doubt they were agreeing.

Gaara shook his head. "He's a surprise guest," the Kazekage simply replied.

Mifune was hardly amused. "Enough. Let's get back to business. Kurosaki, if you would…" Mifune gestured to his side, where the Samurai lined up. He wanted Renji to stand there, help ease the situation. One look from Gaara told him that not only moving was preferred, but needed. Obliged Renji stood with the Samurai. If anything, he felt more comfortable with them. Like him, they all possessed swords.

Shocking realization were being made. Gaara's face seemed to twist to something Renji could have never imagined. First denial, then hate, and finally came the acceptance: his precious Suna had used the evil Akatsuki for their own bidding, whether he liked it or not.

The questions were more and more prudent until they all realized that despite their wrongdoings, they needed to stop the Akatsuki. Having a mercenary group like that around long was not good, and could only result in something devastating. They were smart to realize that, but in Renji's mind that was their intelligence limit. Before he knew it, they were discussing something nearly impossible to agree on:

An alliance and all eyes were suddenly on Danzo.

xXx

( Konohagakure : Training Grounds )

Rukia was a good student, far better than many of her classmates at the Academy. She knew everything, and could memorize anything that was thrown at her. But now, she found it hard. Learning Jutsu was so much harder than she realized. There wasn't a textbook for this stuff. Instead, they climbed trees using their feet, and memorized hand signs like they were candy on Halloween. It was crazy and unfamiliar; strangely enough, Rukia liked it.

Albeit it was a tad awkward to be training with people like Ebisu and Kon, she could get used to that. Putting Kon's light-hearted pervert jokes and Ebisu suspicious looks to her nonexistent chest (which he was soon figuring out) aside, she could really get used to this. She didn't mind how difficult it was to learn the hand signs and memorize them. Even now she felt exhausted from all the effort, but was proud of the sweat on her brow. This was an achievement no other soul like her had ever reached. She was going down a completely new road, one that no shinigami had ever walked before. It was exhilarating, and she wanted to know more!

"Tell me more, Ebisu-sensei!" She chimed happily, already half-way up her tree when her shaky legs gave out, releasing the Chakra, and sending her falling to the ground. Luckily she was able to land on her feet, thanks to her reflexes. Kon wasn't nearly as lucky, falling and landing right on that big head of his. Rukia laughed. "Be careful! That body needs to be in one piece once Ichigo gets it back!" Oh, she was good.

Kon 'umphed', flopping over to his stomach and sliding –very much like a slug- over to her feet. "Onii-chaaaan! Why all the hate?" He asked.

Triumphantly her arms were crossed as she stood over him, and nearly retorted a very humorous comment back when Ebisu strode over, waving it off like it was nothing. "Ah, I think that's enough for today," he said modestly, wiping the back of his head to reveal his wet armpits. It seemed she was too good of a student, always working her teachers to the bone.

Sakura, who had been watching the training nearby was impressed, and happy to see Rukia get such a great handle on it. Her Chakra control, although shaky, was incredible! Give it a few weeks and she might be able to master her first Jutsu. Though, Sakura thought braggingly, there's no way her control could ever end up better than mine. She thought to herself, smiling. She liked Rukia, but not enough to see the prodigy in the short-haired female.

Ooooh of course! Aren't you just all that? What a hotshot, always being the saved, never the savior. What an achievement! Inner-Sakura retorted, for the first time in a long time, and it hurt. Thoughts like those hadn't entered Sakura's mind in years…she tried to feel better about herself, ever since she took training from Tsunade she had worked to better herself. Besides, what about her fight against the Puppet King of the Akatsuki? Was that not an achievement?

Rukia watched Sakura, oddly deep in thought, approach the sweaty group. By this time Kon was laying flat on his back, fanning himself with a loose group of large leaves he'd picked up only seconds prior. "Great work!" Sakura praised, smiling.

"Thanks," Rukia responded.

Before a decent conversation could be made, Sai was seen approaching the group. Ebisu excused him, but not without dragging Kon along with him. Ebisu had the same passion for training Kon as he did Konohamaru; nothing would get in his way. The strangled cries of weary Kon melted into the background. Rukia couldn't help but feel sorry for him, as did Sakura and Sai. Of course it had to be done, without knowing it, Kon was doing them all a huge favor.

Sai and Sakura exchanged a few words before the pinkette nodded and walked off with him, gesturing to Rukia to stay put. "We'll be right back, practice your hand signs!" Sakura called, her calm face morphing into worry the longer she talked with Sai. Rukia couldn't read lips, but by their expressions she knew it was serious. Thus there was no way she would miss out on this.

Technically, she was practicing her hand signs as she followed closely behind the two. They traveled into the interior of the village, and eventually to another large tent. Inside had to be something important. The two of them snuck under the tent flap suspiciously. Rukia didn't hesitate to wait outside, her ear pressed to the cloth lightly. Listening, waiting, for any answers to questions she may have.

Through the gap in the flaps Rukia peaked, still silently going away at the hand signs. Yet at the same time she was a keen observer, picking up on Sakura's sadness and Sai's reluctance. Somewhere along the way Sakura's eyes became watery with remorse, and she was tearing up. It was unexpected, a side Rukia had never seen to Sakura.

"Even I can tell that he really loves you!"

Those words…that name…was that what this was about? The blonde-haired kid named Naruto? It was hard to imagine that he caused Sakura so much pain and anguish. Or perhaps it was the other way around? From the looks of things, Sakura regretted making Naruto feel that way, more or less.

With her thoughts processing at the speed of light, Rukia made no comment.

xXx

( Land of Iron )

Ichigo knew the sad tale by heart, now. Everything of importance was told to him by Kakashi and Yamamoto, who so bravely went out of their way to explain the situation with Sasuke. Luckily Naruto wasn't there at the time, but hidden away in a room in a small little inn.

The snow felt out of a place. Ichigo liked snow, a substance that all too often made him happy. But now it was hard to like snow, when he knew what Naruto had been through. Having something that close, like a brother, wasn't a concept Ichigo was very familiar with. All he had were sisters, Rukia included. A bond that close he could only imagine with Zangetsu, but unfortunately for him his Zanpakutou was incredibly anit-social; which didn't make the best brother in the world.

Now Ichigo was inside the building, Zangetsu lying at his side as he sat on the ground, with his back up to the wall. Naruto was on a futon, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. For what purpose? Ichigo didn't know. All he knew was that Naruto was "under the weather", and if they were going to get back to Konoha in one piece that needed to change. Perhaps cheering up Naruto was his purpose for his trip, the reason why Kakashi didn't boot him out miles ago.

As if on queue, Naruto curled up to his side. His eyes were squeezed shut, definitely marking this moment as Ichigo's to step in.

"You know, Naruto," Ichigo started, being blatantly ignored, "I can kind of see what Sasuke is thinking, and you could too if you tried." His voice was small, yet sturdy. Still, he got nothing out of the Jinchuriki. Nothing. Maybe he needed to try a new concept. "I do understand-"

The teen flipped over, facing Ichigo with a face that said "business". "How could you know?" He barked, suddenly sitting up off the ground. "How could you know what he's thinking, or how I feel about this? Nobody knows, not even Sakura!" He fell back onto his back unceremoniously.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed, this was both a challenge and a threat. "I know a lot of things, Naruto. I know that Sasuke a dirty thief and an outlaw! And he deserves it to!" Ichigo was taking a more proactive road, and without knowing it his thoughts had mimicked Naruto's. Even at that precise moment he had been thinking the same thing: that Sasuke was eaten up by hate. He and Ichigo just interpreted it a little differently.

"You know nothing!" He spat back, scooting up off his bum. Before either of them knew it, he was standing over Ichigo menacingly. "Stop talking about things you don't know!"

It was working. "Tsk tsk," Ichigo mocked, shaking his head. "You're a fool. Sasuke can't be saved. It's too la-"

WHAM!

A crushing blow of alien proportion collided with the side of Ichigo's face. He felt his jaw crunch, his whole face and body being pushed to the side with such a force he rammed right into the wall, the weight of his body breaking straight through the wood. The splintering of the surface, the gaping whole that grew on the wall as Ichigo fell through; it all felt like slow motion. Falling backwards from the building Ichigo got a good look at Naruto's face: suddenly changed. His eyes yellow and frog-like, the skin over them suddenly an orange hue.

Ichigo knew what this was, Sakura had briefly described it: Sage Mode.

xXx

( approx. one minute ago )

Naruto had been through enough to know when to keep quiet. This was one of those moments. He felt helpless, and he truly wanted to talk to Ichigo, but he was fully aware that doing such would result in more bad than good. He could hardly tolerate Ichigo, who had taken many prosperous events of hero ship away from him. Furthermore, most of the glory seemed to be highlighted in Ichigo, the tall sticking teen he was. It was irritating how perfect Ichigo was. To Konoha he was like a celebrity, not an outcast.

Why was Ichigo so easily accepted, but it took Naruto years? Ichigo had a monster inside of him, too, Naruto could tell. But was he the only one? If only the others could see that second gleam to Ichigo's eyes, a dark passenger. It was the same as the Kyuubi, more or less evil and overwhelming. Yet only Naruto could see it, and all the doting ninja who gossiped about the handsome newcomer were blind to it. Naruto would just have to prove them wrong.

If it wasn't for Ichigo being right there at that very moment, Naruto would have drifted into depressing and confusing thoughts about Sasuke and his betrayal. The universe had a reason to thank Ichigo, for unbeknownst to him, he blocked out thoughts of Sasuke from both Naruto and Sakura. They could function easier with Ichigo around, because both their minds seemed to be focused on him. One day Naruto would learn this, and would be forced to apologize for all his wrongdoings towards Ichigo, especially the one that was about to happen.

Naruto was in the midst of a deep suspicion against Ichigo when the shinigami finally spoke up, escalating the temperature of the room with just his voice. Naruto didn't want to hear what he had to say, not until he revealed what the monster inside of him was. Nonetheless he responded with zeal, spitting venom on every word. No, it wasn't one of his proudest moments, but at a time like this that was not what he thought about.

Still, Ichigo persisted, and before Naruto knew it he was fuming. Finally off the ground and hovering over the shinigami, he threateningly barked at him. Until finally his nerves came loose, the only tie keeping him calm was slipping apart like a slimy shoelace. The nature's Chakra was gathered up inside of him.

WHAM!

It felt good to hit Ichigo in the face. The punch so powerful it propelled Ichigo through the wall and to the cold environment outside. The fact that it was an unfair fight -Zangetsu still lying on the floor behind him- didn't occur to Naruto, who briskly jumped out of the hole in the wall and to the snow below. He landed right in front of Ichigo, sprawled out on the ground and coughing; he was trying to regain composure, something Naruto couldn't let happen.

"Tell me who you are!" He screamed. "Tell me who you REALLY are!" He bent over Ichigo's body, using his Sage strength to hold him down by the arms. Taking his grip away momentarily, he sent another heavy blow to Ichigo. This time it hit his stomach. Ichigo convulsed, wanting to curl up and hold his stomach, but was once again held down.

"Why…w-why are you doing this?" Was the only response he could give before turning his head to the side and coughing up blood.

Naruto scoffed. There was an unfamiliar glaze to those froggy eyes of his; catlike, creepy. "You LIE! You always LIE!" He brought one hand up to Ichigo's throat, turning his head to force the shinigami to look at him. "Tell me the truth! Why are you here? What's your purpose? What are you hiding?"

Naruto watched as Ichigo narrowed his eyes in contempt, something that was noticed far too late. The one leg Naruto failed to hold down came straight up and kicked him in the crotch. Pure agony. The shinobi coughed and fell to his side, his face twisted. This time it was Ichigo's turn to stand over him.

"I have no lies! I've told your people everything!" Of course, that in itself was a lie. There was one thing, the very thing Naruto could see, that Ichigo was hiding. Something even he was afraid of, still. "Why are you attacking me? I'm an ally, a friend!" Ichigo used a sigh to vent out his again and slowly stood up, walking away from Naruto. He wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

"You m-may be an al-lly," he mumbled quietly, "but you will never be my friend."

xXx

Author's Note:

Woooooo! I loved writing this chapter. I had been anticipating a fight between Naruto and Ichigo forever. Now I finally got to write it! Plus I actually used Naruto's perspective for once, which I don't do often even though this is based off of Naruto's world...haha... I might be putting up a poll soon. I know this isn't a romance-based fanfiction, but I understand that most fans like to read that sort of stuff included with the action and adventure. So I was thinking I could put up a poll, see what you guys think about who Ichigo should end up with. Anyways, just tell me in your REVIEW, and I might do it by the next chapter.

Adios amigos!