Disclaimer: I in no way ,shape, or form own either Naruto or Bleach all of them belong to their own respective owners and I am not attempting to make any profit from this work of fiction.
Hurray, the disclaimer's done!
On with the story!
Three Days After the Akatsuki Attack on Suna...
"So, Naruto, what information do you have from your interrogation of the Akatsuki member Deidara of Iwa?" the Fifth Hokage Tsunade Senju asked the blonde Shinobi Naruto Uzumaki who looked up from the scroll he was looking over and he slid it into his pocket.
Purple catlike eyes locked with her brown ones.
"I gained little information from him, just the name of his partner, Sasori of the Red Sand, and that was already previously known. He knew nothing of importance and once I saw so I had Taka place him in a comatose state, I figured I could use him as a bargaining chip in the future." Naruto spoke up and Tsunade rose an eyebrow at his last statement.
'He's not telling me everything, I'll have to ask Gaara later what he made Naruto promise not to tell me.' Tsunade thought before wording her next sentence carefully.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to order you to deliver him to the T&I department, and Naruto please see sense because I do not doubt your skills as an interrogator but I sincerely believe Deidara knows more than he told you." Tsunade spoke after a moment and Naruto was skeptical and his face showed it but he simply shrugged and raised a hand after a moment.
Taka walked out the shadows along the walls and Tsunade immediately threw several kunai towards him.
Taka waved his hand and the kunai stopped in midair as he walked over to Naruto and handed him a scroll.
"The bodies are in that scroll, don't release it until your somewhere private." Taka whispered into Naruto's ear as he walked past him.
He turned to face Tsunade who eyed him warily.
"Naruto, who is he?" Tsunade asked as she signaled the ANBU hidden in the room to remain in position.
"He's my agent, codenamed Taka." Naruto answered as he rubbed his temple." But enough about that, didn't you tell me you had a mission for me?"
Tsunade had the decency to look embarrassed at this, a mission was the original reason she called him to her office but she had drifted off topic when she learned he had interrogated Deidara in Sunagakure.
"Ah, yes, I need Team Kakashi and Team Kurenai to intercept a shipment of weapons from the notorious weapons dealer named Bando. The Land of Spring has hired Konoha for this mission since it's coming through the Land of Fire and their Chakra Armor was stolen by Bando's still unidentified agent. We believe they will be traveling with the shipment so take extreme caution and avoid unnecessary risks. I've already sent an ANBU team in advance and lost contact with them, your secondary objective to the mission is to figure out what happened to them." Tsunade told Naruto who simply nodded.
"Anything else I should know or can I leave?" Naruto asked and Tsunade thought for a moment before handing him a scroll.
"Jiraiya said to give you this when you returned, he said it was from that thing you did and that you'll know what to do with it." Tsunade spoke up and Naruto grinned as he tossed the scroll to Taka.
"How many does that make?" Naruto asked the spy and he seemed to think for a moment before responding.
"Thirty-seven." Taka answered and he slipped the scroll into a satchel Tsunade just noticed he had.
'How the hell did he keep that hidden?' Tsuande thought but ignored it, for now at least.
"You're going to need to be at the gate in three hours, do whatever you want just be there." Tsunade told Naruto who nodded.
"I just have one question, can I ask it?" Naruto asked and Tsunade nodded." Would it be alright if I brought Taka along, this seems just like the type of mission he excels in."
"I'll need information on him like what he looks like and past allegiances." Tsunade answered and Naruto nodded to Taka who walked up to the desk and Naruto quickly drew his Zanpakuto.
"Shatter, Kyoka Suigetsu." Naruto whispered and his blade transformed into one with a green hilt wrapping and a hexagonal guard, two sides being longer than the others on either sideand giving it the appearance of a rectangle almost if you ignored the additional side at both ends.
No one seemed to notice the release and Naruto grinned as Tsunade examined a brown haired and black eyed Taka.
"I've seen that face, he's officially been a Mercenary all of his life. He never entered the academy in his village, impressive really." Tsunade commented before waving Taka away." He may accompany but if he endangers the mission I expect for you to deal with him appropriately."
"Of course." Naruto answered before he nodded to Taka and the masked Shinobi vanished.
Naruto sheathed his Zanpakuto and nodded to Tsunade before leaving the room in a Shunsin.
"So Kakashi-sensei, do you know anything about Naruto?" the Jonin's pink haired student asked him as the two walked down one of the streets of Konoha." He seems so different ever since he came back after his trip with Jiraiya-dono."
The silver haired Jonin sighed as he closed a book he was reading, it was all the information the village had on Bando and it wasn't much.
"We didn't see him for five years Sakura, people change in that time. Just look at yourself as an example, you blossomed under Hokage-san's teachings and have become a great Medical-nin and your Taijutsu has grown by leaps and bounds ever since you began training with Maito Gai and Rock Lee." Kakashi answered as he ran a hand through his silver hair." But I'll agree with you on Naruto, he's definitely changed since he's been back."
'Not to mention he's grown incredibly strong, he wasn't event trying against me during the test and he nearly killed me and I know he has more to him then just that.' Kakashi thought as he remembered the completely one-sided fight, if you could even call it that, he had against Naruto.
"But how much is the question." A voice spoke up from behind them and both Shinobi turned to see the purple catlike eyes of Naruto Uzumaki staring at them.
In the few minutes he had been gone from the Hokage Office he had changed out of his outfit and was now wearing a pair of black pants along with a red long sleeve shirt but he still kept his sword with him, it on his back instead of at his waist.
"Naruto, have you heard we have a mission?" Kakashi immediately asked and the Uzumaki nodded.
"I was actually looking for you, I have some information on Bando I would like to discuss with you two since we are a team." Naruto spoke a grin on his face and Sakura smiled.
'Naruto hasn't changed that much, he's still the same him out of a fight.' Sakura thought as she nodded.
"We can meet up in a few minutes, I need to finish a few errands. Bye Kakashi-sensei, Naruto!" Sakura spoke up before using a Shunsin with cherry blossom petals swirling around her.
'That smile…'
Kakashi walked up to Naruto and shook his hands before Naruto pulled him into a hug.
"Sorry about having to kick your ass Kakashi-sensei but Team Kakashi was riding on the line, I wasn't pulling any punches." Naruto told him, his smile wider and Kakashi waved it off.
"No problem, I would have tried to kill you too if my team was at stake." Kakashi answered.
'…it's fake…'
Naruto suddenly pushed Kakashi to the ground and drew his Zanpakuto.
"Scatter, Senbonzakura!" Naruto called out as the blade dissolved into a multitude of multiplying petals.
They surged forward and skewered a pack of ink lions lunging at the two from the rooftops.
'…just like mine.'
"Do you see him?" Naruto asked even as Kakashi flung several shuriken to take down a flock of explosive tag bearing birds.
"They're made out of ink?" Kakashi asked even as he scanned the rooftops before he flung several kunai towards a figure calmly sitting on one.
Another wave of lions intercepted them before three tigers lunged forward and bounded down the rooftops, the animals rushed towards the two Shinobi with the few tigers surrounded by the many lions.
"Turn All Creation to Ash, Ryujin Jakka!" Naruto suddenly roared and Kakashi's instincts screaming at him to roll was the only thing that saved him from death by cremation.
A wave of flames rushed forward and consumed the ink lions and tigers and rushed towards the figure on the rooftop only for them to vanish in a burst of smoke.
"Who the hell was that?" Naruto asked as the flames rushed back towards his reforming sword." I saw a Konoha forehead protector but that was it, nothing else."
"I have no idea but I have a feeling Hokage-san will know." Kakashi answered back before both leaped to the rooftops.
A figure stood in an alley nearby and watched the two leave.
"I guess it worked, as you said it would." Taka spoke up to seemingly no one before Naruto seemed to faze into existence next to him.
"Of course it would Taka, I assured you that no one would see the difference and no one did. It seems like Kabuto's Dead Soul Technique did come in handy in the end." Naruto commented as he saw the reanimated corpse follow after Kakashi, a portion of his Chakra placed in it after it was finished." That technique truly is useful, it's a shame Kabuto wouldn't give it up without a fight."
"Shall I have more prepared than, even with the enhancements I've given them they won't last long in serious combat." Taka spoke up and Naruto nodded.
"Jiraiya turned out to be useful after all, he's given us plenty of bodies, thirty-seven right?" Naruto asked Taka who nodded.
"Yes, that scroll also contained additional equipment and information on the technique." Taka answered and Naruto grinned.
"Remind me to thank you for placing that seal on him, he believes he acts out of his own free will even when he's following my instructions perfectly." Naruto commented as Taka simply gave a small bow.
"The challenge the task prevented was a good enough thanks, Jiraiya fought valiantly against me but in the end he fell like you knew he would. The moment you appeared he had lost." Taka told Naruto who grinned at the memory.
"It was an incredible fight and the benefits I've managed to gain from my control over him has made it all more than worth it." Naruto answered back before both turned away and Taka waved his hand, the shadows opening for them almost like a door would.
"But I still have work to do before everything is ready, still so much to do."
"I am here to assist you the entire way Naruto-san."
AN: And Naruto's darker side emerges and the next arc begins, the Bando Arc. I also gave a glimpse of what Naruto's been up to the past five years and I can tell anyone reading this now that it wasn't all just training. A few flashback will probably explain it all better so until then you're stuck with the pieces I gave you in the last few chapters. But I did give you a little bit of Naruto's manipulative skills with his talk with Tsunade and making her forget about Deidara and I'll tell you now that he'll play a role later on, just not for the Akatsuki anymore.
And to the anonymous guest reviewer who told me Tsunade had Uzumaki blood in her I can explain that to you now: I didn't know that, I thought she was just a Senju but thanks for clearing that up for me.
Alright that's it for now.
Peace.