Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach. Naruto to Bleach ga arimasen. ['I do not have Naruto and Bleach' in Japanese.] Brownie points for saying it (sorta) in another language?

A/N: OHMYGOODNESS. ;)

Don't you just love the witty banter that happens between fights?

xXx

Sakura was sure of her decision to kick Ichigo off the mission, it was so obvious. Not once did she look back at him as the group departed, despite how close they seemed to be getting. The rejected-Ichigo had to go off of was that look of guilt she had in her eyes when she looked to him before gathering her troop and disappearing as fast as the eye could see. She was determined to finish her mission, and Ichigo admired that. But wasn't her choice to kick him out too harsh?

Perhaps it was only because he was on the receiving end that it felt harsh…? Or, there was the slim chance that it actually wasn't harsh enough! Ichigo had been acting like a complete git, tackling Naruto out of nowhere. Although his tackle was (he thought) completely justified, it wasn't well thought out.

Yet Naruto deserved what he got, surely Ichigo's decision to go offensive wasn't totally irrational and stupid. He wouldn't have done so had it not been for that one word, that one nickname:

Strawberry.

It made Ichigo feel small, weak, and he hated that feeling. Unable to do anything to protect himself is what that nickname portrayed. He felt the same paralyzing self-loathing and helplessness when his hollow took over. He despised the feeling. Thus, he suddenly despised Naruto.

Ah, but the past was behind him now. Literally. The group was long gone, and Ichigo was now turned around and walking back to Konoha. Perhaps there was some explanation he could offer Tsunade, leaving out the dirty bits about him tackling Naruto and Sakura nearly knocking a whole forest tree over. He especially planned to leave out the part where Sakura cried and cursed.

It hurt, he had to admit. Seeing her tears was not a nice way to spend time. Ichigo didn't know what to do around crying women, mainly because none of the girls in his life had ever cried in front of him. He knew losing Mom, and not having a motherly figure, had to be hard for Karin and Yuzu yet they never piled their distress on Ichigo. He hardly even heard them talking about things related to depression or sadness. They were happy, satirical bodies of light. Then again, if they did cry more often he was sure he would be able to do something. They were his sisters! Everything was different with Sakura. When she was sad, he felt helpless. When she smiled at him he seemed to feel helpless. Even when she laughed, he was overcome with a paralyzing helplessness.

Was that even natural?

Whatever it was, Ichigo was ashamed of himself for causing it. Things would have been a whole lot simpler if he'd just obeyed his common sense so long ago and went to school, not to fight Jiryokou. "But how was I supposed to know what he could do?" Ichigo suddenly asked himself on the topic, rubbing the back of his neck angrily. "Nobody told me what to expect for Jiryokou!" Indeed, nobody had. Fate had a funny way of throwing Ichigo into situations he didn't want…perhaps this thing with Sakura was the same situation? Maybe it was fate that he tried to fight Jiryokou and was sent to Konoha to meet Sakura… The teen smiled and laughed at himself. It was a silly idea.

Ichigo stopped walking for a moment, leaning against a nearby tree. No amount of humor or wit could take his mind off the matter at hand: he'd just been kicked off of a mission that for some unearthly reason he felt he needed to complete. He couldn't explain it, but the further away he walked from the group, the more he felt he was needed. He felt like someone was, honest to god, calling him. It was unexplainable, and it let Ichigo with two choices:

For one, Ichigo could continue on to Konoha. He could try to explain to feeling, and the reason for his excommunication to Tsunade without success. From there he had no doubt that they would force him back into his body again, by which time Kon might have angered another group of women. The second choice had the potential to be more dangerous than an angry mob of violated women –which was admittedly hard to believe. For it involved turning around, and following the group's trail. It meant accompanying them on their mission like a shadow. For some reason, it was the second choice that made him feel calm. If he was there, he'd be able to protect Sakura, assuming she needed him. If not, that was fine. He would make it up to her by helping save her friends.

The shinigami put his knuckles to his lips, intently weighing the pros and cons. More than ever lately Ichigo had been thinking before acting, something he'd learned to do because of Sakura. He felt the compulsive need to impress her, especially since every time he fought with Naruto it made him appear rude and unintelligent… Oh, the irony.

It was decided: he would go against orders and assist. In his head it sounded like a good, reasonable solution. As Ichigo turned on his heels and bounded off in the other direction, he thought, I hope Sakura can forgive me.

xXx

For all his strength and individuality, he was a stubborn fool. Yet Naruto couldn't deny the fact that this mission would be a whole lot easier if Ichigo hadn't been evicted. After all, there he was, standing before a crazy man named Kyomu who was only interested in one thing: shinigami. And the very expert on the topic was in nowhere right then, trying to find his way back to the village. Somehow, Kyomu had a connection with Ichigo, that much Naruto could deduce. Kiba wasn't much help on the topic, to say the least.

"Are you frickin' loony?" Kiba questioned the two Kyomu, barring his dog-like teeth at them. The only one outside of Team Seven and Tsunade that knew about Ichigo was Hinata, who had been warned long ago when her group escorted Ichigo to the Land of Iron. Kiba was out of the loop; clueless. He laughed at the Kyomu, foolishly thinking it was the scientist who was ignorant. "Shinigami aren't real, bastard."

Kyomu laughed in response, a chilling noise that echoed up and around the arched ceiling. "On the contrary, they are. There's living proof, in your village." The first one said, followed by the second as he pointed his finger at Naruto. "Uzumaki-san knows what I'm talking about."

Naruto didn't tear his eyes away from Kyomu One and Two, still trying to decipher which was real and which wasn't; while Kiba sent a peculiar look his way, no doubt wondering if it was just a lie like he thought. The utter seriousness of Naruto's demeanor told him otherwise. His face stretched to a look of genuine disbelief, his eyes wide, while his mouth hung open. Quickly though, and like a true pro, Kiba turned back to Kyomu with an intimidating gaze. He refused to give them the upper hand.

Naruto clenched his jaw. "There are two things I don't know." He told Kyomu, turning his head to look at either one as he spoke. "I have no idea where the shinigami is; he left a long time ago. And I still don't know which one of you is real."

The two shrugged. "A pity, such a pity." The first one murmured as he swung his gloved hand at the air. The very movement created a paranormal ripple right next to where he stood, and from all angles it looked exactly the same; like Kyomu was in a painting and he had just torn a part of it rough scissors. The second Kyomu did the exact same thing on his side, before saying, "I can't help you if you don't know where the shinigami is. So…I guess it's time to leave you to the wolves, they've been waiting so patiently, after all."

As the two approached their respectable ripples, Kiba cursed loudly. "Where are our friends?" He demanded, yet got no answer.

There was something strange about Kyomu Two, yet there was something almost too average about the first Kyomu. Needless to say, Naruto was conflicted, and he didn't have much time to choose. Already the two were approaching their escapes, and if they went through it, he knew they would be lost forever. "Damnit!" Naruto muttered, his Sage eyes flickering from one to the other. He had no plausible evidence to help him make a choice…so there was only one option left.

Without warning Naruto ran up to the second Kyomu, his feet pounding heavily on the ground. He had no idea if this Kyomu was the real one, and he was certain that if it wasn't the portal would lead to utter death, but Naruto had no choice. He had to do this. Kiba called after him, but he didn't stop. Naruto threw himself at the second Kyomu, who was now half-way through and had just barely turned to look at all the commotion, when he wrapped his arms around the man's midsection and pushed him into the portal; into a world of swirling colors and uncertainty.

To be completely honest, going through the portal wasn't painful, just creepy. It felt like running through a cold sprinkler, but neither was Naruto wet nor having much fun. Curled around the waist of a person he hardly knew could not exactly be portrayed as "pleasant" or "amusing" as it might have looked. If anything it was awkward and stressing. Kyomu tried to pry Naruto off, but the blond refused to let go. This was enough to prove one thing: Naruto guessed right.

Within seconds they were spit out at the other end of the portal, but rather than landing in a room similar to the rest of the base, he landed in something else entirely. As he tried to stand up again, he took a moment to look around. Oddly, he only saw one thing.

Nothing.

A world of emptiness surrounded the two of them. White was everywhere, and it was paralyzing. Glancing down to where he landed, the fact there was no floor startled him and he inevitably lost his balance, falling back down to his knees. There was absolutely nothing to stand on, yet he could stand up just fine. Weird.

"You are so brave, Uzumaki-san." Kyomu babbled, standing about ten feet away. He calmly approached. "To invade my home, both my homes. As courageous as that was, it was a mistake. Foolishness is your fatal flaw. Going through a portal without even knowing where it ended? Fool. Such a fool."

Naruto got to his feet, still shaky but slowly getting used to his surroundings. He wasn't sure how far the nothingness went, or if there was even an end to this strange place. The only way to get out, he thought, was with Kyomu's unheard of jutsu. Naruto tensed as Kyomu approached, continuing on.

"You're in my world now. Out there," he gestured to the slight darkening where the portal once was, but was closing up, "out there, that's your world. But in here you're powerless. Anything I want can happen here. Anything. Whether you like it or not." Kyomu bantered, using both of his hands to form a combination of signs. It was hard to tell what it was, some were repeated whereas others were completely new things Naruto had never seen. Kyomu was so quick with the signing that Naruto didn't even stand a chance.

A few hushed authentic words and Kyomu held out his hands in front of him. Naruto took the opportunity to pull two kunai from his pouch and hold them steady, as he watched Kyomu. The man had to have been crazy, in order to have such an insane Jutsu, that is. Literally from nothing, a long black stick with an intricate golden design around it grew to a length the height of a person. At the top came a long curved blade, reminded Naruto of a scythe. Did that remind him of a shinigami, or what?

Kyomu stroked the scythe lovingly. "Ever since I was a child I loved the idea of shinigami. My poor mother would tell me stories of them…when I killed her bastard murderers, a scythe was the only weapon I used." A dastardly smile infected his face.

There wasn't a chance to respond, or even breathe, Kyomu was on the offensive with unexpected speed. He slashed the scythe at Naruto's stomach, which the teen evaded hastily, jumping back a good four feet. The sheer closeness of the attack left a mark on his orange windbreaker, leaving a long slash through its stomach. He reciprocated the attack by throwing a single kunai, which didn't do much. Kyomu merely held up his hand and it dispersed into thousands of tiny pieces.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto called with the appropriate signs. It was risky, considering he was loosing precious natural energy doing it, but he needed to. He needed to see where all the erased objects went. Technically two clones were at Naruto's side, but Kyomu could only see one. Stashed away in the form of a shuriken was clone number two. The technique was strikingly similar to when he and Sasuke fought Zabuza all that time ago; in both cases, he intended to miss with the shuriken.

He threw it right at Kyomu while coming up on either side with his clone. As expected, Kyomu reached out with a hand and erased the shuriken from existence, but something else was taken as well. To Naruto's absolute horror, his other clone began to disappear as well, falling to pieces until it was completely gone. Naruto stumbled backwards, trying to get as far away from Kyomu's hand as he could; Kyomu could erase people.

Kyomu smiled. "Do you see it now, Naruto? Do you see that you are no match for me, Sage or not you can never win. This is my world, my rules. I could have erased you the minute I saw you, but I decided to spare you thinking you might have information about the shinigami." He placed the bottom of the scythe on the "ground", still holding it upright. "So I will ask you again: where is the shinigami. Think about the answer carefully, now. Or you might end up like your clone."

It wasn't very smart, but once again Naruto summoned clones. Two yet again, and this time they were both at his sides. He held out his hands to them while they went to work with rasengan. "I already told you, I don't know. Believe it."

As soon as Naruto uttered the words, Kyomu's scythe began to disappear, and as Kyomu held out his now empty palms, a screeching sort of sound entered the room. Intently he looked at Naruto's rasengan, and without any help formed two of his own. Only, they didn't look like they were made of chakra, the color was too dark. Could this be more nothingness that Kyomu seemed to like so much?

No words were exchanged, rather than waste energy talking they focused on their respective rasengan, and quickly ran towards each other. Naruto wasn't worried about being erased, at least not yet, not when he had enough energy to dodge the quick punch Kyomu's rasengan-hand threw at him. Naruto aimed at the man's gut but missed as he arched his body to the right, bringing up his knee to hit Naruto in the back.

The semi-kick was hard enough to push Naruto to the ground. Using the momentum he rolled back to his feet and threw all of his weight onto one arm, sending it crashing towards Kyomu. As Naruto's rasengan came at him, Kyomu brought up his own and blocked it. The two forces collided, exploding in both opponents faces before pushing them away from each other with a tremendous force. Kyomu landed smack-dab on Naruto's awaiting clones, and they went away in a puff of smoke under his weight.

Naruto, however, was not as fortunate. The white ground was hard like stone, and his whole body landed on its side, crushing his arm under his weight. Naruto coughed violently, a fierce pain erupting in his right side. As much as he would have preferred to stay huddled there until the pain went away, there was no chance. Kyomu was already up on his feet and approaching.

The blond jumped to his feet and blocked Kyomu's first kick with his palm. Somewhere in the fall his second rasengan came undone, and he could already feel Sage Mode weakening. While he sparred yet again with Kyomu –reciprocating every attack to his best ability- he felt something, two more poofs, two more memories from his clones. He could see their final sights and feel their final thoughts like cloudy memories. The images were fuzzy and interrupted by an unseen force. Even so, it became clear. He saw the final moments of his clones perfectly.

Before they departed from this world, they landed in a dark room. In that very room were things much more important than stolen goods...In that room sat Kyomu hunched over desk, scribbling something madly. Once this Kyomu noticed Naruto's clones he attacked, but his attacks were so weak, so minor. If it hadn't been for the clone's weakened state, Kyomu would have never been able to kill them…

Based on what he knew so far, and assuming that the Kyomu hunched over a desk was the real one, it meant something big and obvious: Kyomu was a Genjutsu master. He'd fooled the team once with his flowery clearing, and somehow he was fooling the team again. He was fooling Naruto! It meant that the Kyomu Naruto was fighting, and the white world of nothing they were fighting in was all a scam, all a ruse.

Yet that didn't explain how clones, kunai, and shuriken actually disappeared if it was all just a Genjutsu. Though there was only one way to determine whether or not his Genjutsu theory was true. After blocking another swing by Kyomu, Naruto put his hands together. Risking it all by a short second in time, he mumbled, "Release- GAH!"

The moment he finished the jutsu Kyomu threw his spiked arm up and impaled it right on Naruto's bicep, going into the skin deep. He screamed out in pain, the sensation of tearing through flesh was anything but soft. As he looked up into Kyomu's happy face, the release began to kick in. The colors mixed together and changed, changed to something more similar. The white morphed into the familiar clay walls Naruto had been standing in moments before, except it was stretched and arched into the auditorium.

He was back with Kiba, and in this case it was unfortunate. Still biting onto his arm, teeth in deep, was Akamaru. Naruto forced Akamaru off, who only jumped forward again and tried to bite down again. Naruto regrettably pushed Akamaru away forcibly, using the last of his Sage Jutsu to push the dog into a wall.

He turned to Kiba, who had the exact same bruise Naruto had left on Kyomu's cheek. "No, Akamaru!" He called to his hurt dog, before turning back to Naruto and glaring. "You damn wolves, you'll pay!" He barked, running forward.

The sparring began again, but this time Naruto was not in his element. He couldn't hit his friend. Thus, when Kiba came forward with his infamous bullet jutsu, Naruto barely escaped it alive. The opposite side of his body from the bleeding bite marks, and the same part of his body that was still in pain was struck by the jutsu, his windbreaker torn up even more. Shakily he touched his right side and felt a sticky, warm liquid, no doubt blood. Naruto's eyes widened. It was obvious he had to do something quick; Kiba was going to kill him.

Naruto ran forward with gusto, despite his condition, and forgetting all reason and sense. He took Kiba's wrists unexpectedly and smashed his hands together. "Damnit Kiba, this is a Genjutsu! Wake up!" Naruto shook Kiba's body, his actions failing to catch on.

Kiba turned and twisted madly, trying to break free. "Gah, no! Get off me, wolf!" He cried angrily, unable to break free. Yet that didn't stop Kiba, and Naruto should have known better. Kiba brought down his head, bonking Naruto right on the forehead. Instantly he lost his grip and the two stumbled away from each other, both of them rubbing their foreheads.

Akamaru was up and ready within seconds of seeing his master in a bad spot, despite his wounds. Naruto prepared himself as Akamaru was transformed to look like a feral Kiba by one of his jutsu, the two of them stepping to each others sides. The two shot off at Naruto with the same fang bullet jutsu as before, and just like then Naruto barely missed it. He cursed as the force pushed him in the air. The blond landed on his hurt side and came to a rolling stop by the wall. He was feeling powerless. He wasn't drained, just tired and unable to put a hand to his friend.

Yet he had to do something, he couldn't fight Kiba forever without being injured. As he rolled off to dodge yet another assault, Naruto plotted his escape. He knew that if this base was anything like the one they failed to rescue Sasuke in, there would be doors and rooms, preferably one with a lock. Here he was, making more guesses when the last one didn't really get him anywhere… He had no choice.

Naruto got to his feet and bolted towards the arched exit, feet taking him as fast as he could go. He heard Kiba and Akamaru call after him, still believing him to be a mob of wolves, no doubt. Their shouting was almost comforting in the dire situation, for it was the only familiar thing Naruto had. Naruto ran so fast he didn't notice the voices die down, changing into something more urgent. Only when he heard the whip of something snake-like and a strangled cry did he stop, so close to the exit.

"Why so fast to leave, Naruto?" A voice mused, the same evil voice he'd heard many times. It wasn't Kyomu, no; there was no doubt in his mind that Kyomu was back in that room writing. Besides, this voice was true. Naruto turned to look, to gasp. It was exactly who he thought, in flesh and blood. With his arm held up, Kabuto had Kiba and Akamaru by the neck with some of the snakes from his sleeve. Yet, this Kabuto wasn't the exact Kabuto the blond could remember. His face was scaly, white…exactly like Orochimaru.

The Village Hero clenched his fists. Could this be another Genjutsu? He came close to attempting to release it, when Kabuto called, "Don't even bother. I'm real, as real as I can be." The snakes tightened their grip on the victims' throats, causing Naruto to jump forward. "So I see you've figured it out, though. Who Kyomu is, and I mean really is; a crackpot experiment gone wrong. Doesn't it confuse you how he's able to do what he does? It certainly does me, and I made him…but he is so good at fooling people…"

"Stop it!" Naruto growled, nodding down to his friends. "They're not involved in this, let them go."

Kabuto laughed. "Oh, so you can hurt your friends, but I can't? Oh, don't give me that face, Naruto. You could have figured out it was all fake a long time ago, and saved them from this. You could have spared them by coming here alone, it would have saved everyone so much trouble." Kabuto's yellow eyes looked down to the Inuzuka and his dog as they drifted in and out of consciousness. The snakes tensed.

A few steps forward and Naruto was prepared to pounce. "What do you want with me, them, any of us?" He demanded, eyes anxiously flickering to his captured friends. His side called out in pain, even his bicep hurt from Akamaru, but he ignored it.

"What makes you think I want any of you, dear boy?" Kyomu asked, his brows furrowed. He frowned at the notion, and to prove it the snakes picked the two prisoners up and chucked them at the wall. The two fell to the ground, and did not get up. "I don't want any of you, you're just in my way. This base was heavily protected for a reason, your friends just unluckily stumbled on it, releasing the jutsu just like you and your team. Oh, that Shikamaru, he sure was quick to feel something that was off. I couldn't just let him discover this base."

He folded his hands in front of his chest as the snakes slithered back into his sleeve, now revealing themselves to be a part of his actual arm. Naruto nearly gagged. "This base is purely experimental, Kyomu included. That fool really is a wreck, not following orders. I told him to kill your friends, but what does he do? Torture them instead, says he needs information on shinigami. What a crazy bastard, I think… Still, I let him do it. I let him work. He can be quite the entertainment when you let him." Kabuto smirked.

Nervously Naruto glanced to Kiba and Akamaru, it was hard to tell if they were still alive. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

Kabuto smiled a sicking smile, but at this point Naruto had seen enough of that. The blond unexpectedly ran forward, and thrust all his strength into latching on to Kabuto's throat. The smile never left his face.

"Everything I do has a reason, Naruto." He said in a strained voice. "Everything I've ever done has a reason and a limit. Kyomu's time is up. I want him gone, but at this point I can't stop him, he doesn't listen to me anymore." The longer he spoke, the more he shrunk down in Naruto's hand. Kabuto literally shrunk, melted you could say until it was just his cloak in a heap on the floor. Naruto's hand closed together in anger where Kabuto's neck once was.

Sighing, the teen released his anger when he looked back to his friend's forms, lying so helplessly on the ground. He approached the duo. First came Akamaru, who Naruto ran a hand over. The fur was dirty, and there was an unmistakable wound on his stomach, shaped like he was hit with rasengan. Naruto urgently turned to Kiba when his friend began to cough, his hands animated as he clutched his stomach. Eagerly looking to his friends for life with his back to Kabuto's cloak, Naruto failed to notice the white snake that slithered out of the pile and away.

Kiba's eyes opened wide as they searched the area, first coming across Akamaru. Instantly he sat up, but was so stricken with pain in his abdomen that he fell back down. Finally his eyes came across Naruto, but strangely they weren't filled with fiery anger. Thankfully, they were filled with curiosity.

"Dude…" Kiba murmured, craning his neck to look up at Naruto. "What happened here? Why are we so beat up?" His eyes came across Naruto's bloodied arm and instantly widened. "Oh shit, Akamaru didn't do that, did he?"

Good old Kiba, Naruto thought happily. He could forgive all of it, considering two of his comrades were still alive. Naruto waved his hands dismissively. "Don't worry about it. You were under some madman's Genjutsu." Kiba obviously didn't understand, his face twisted into an incomprehensible scowl. Naruto shrugged and added, "Let me explain…"

It was then Naruto went on a long explanation about what had happened, specifically mentioning how everything that happened as soon as they entered the large room had to be Genjutsu. The explanation was long, but Naruto held nothing back for modesty. He explained everything from the portals Kyomu made to how they nicked the floor with their shoes in a deadly spar. Kiba seemed especially apologetic, and Naruto kept it that way. He wasn't about to admit that he was the one who left that indent on Akamaru, rather he blamed it on a certain scaly-skinned Kabuto.

When the explanation came to an end, Naruto didn't know what to do. He needed to go find the room his shadow clones saw, but couldn't just leave Kiba and Akamaru there defenseless. Kiba did a good job of hiding his injuries, Akamaru too, as they encouraged Naruto to go on; they claimed that Sakura would come soon, no doubt, and heal them.

"Naruto, you must continue the mission. Hinata, Ino, Choji, and even Shikamaru need you." Kiba consoled, "We know the kidnapping isn't jutsu, it's real." Kiba finished by pulling himself up to sit against the wall with a hand lightly resting on Akamaru's side.

Naruto nodded in understanding. He didn't want to leave Kiba, but their other friends needed him more. The blond sighed as he glanced towards both tall archways. Each, in their own sense, looked like a good option. Like he had before, during what he assumed to be Genjutsu, he decided to guess which one to go through. Yet guessing wasn't an option, at least not for Kiba, who coughed and pointed to the archway furthest on the right. Naruto briefly asked why.

"Uh, dude," he mumbled, pointing to his nose, "super senses, remember?"

The Village Hero nodded solemnly. "Oh, right…I forgot." He responded prior to following Kiba's senses and walking through the designated archway. As soon as he stepped through the wall closed behind him, the edges blurring together as a large and hard slab came down and blocked the exit. Naruto wasn't worried, no, not about Kiba. He trusted that Kiba would be up in no time. Naruto was more worried about himself.

With the exit gone…there was no getting out of this one.

xXx

A/N: Yes, I know the similarity between Kyomu's white "world" and Madara's white "world". I wanted to do it black and purple, like the sky up in space, but decided not to. Let's keep in mind that in Asia, white is the color for death like black is here in America. I'm not entirely sure if the same applies for Japan too, but there's a good chance it does.

Also, did you guys know that 'I'll' isn't a word, but we'll is (I think)? But we use it in speech so much, that I haven't omitted it from dialogue yet. When a person says "I will" it just sounds too formal!

Kyomu is confusing, I know. Just trust me when I say it will all be explained, how he can do what he do. There might be a whole Chapter dedicated to his origins, I don't know yet. I'm still debating whether to kill him off or make him an ally… You can help decide, just review the story and tell me which you would prefer.

See ya,

Dahlia