Naruto: Konoha's Arrancar Shinobi

by Legion19

Abandoned.

4. Graduation Part 1

Naruto: Konoha's Arrancar Shinobi

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach; however I'm working on that. I have a plan to challenge Kishimoto and Kubo to a Xiaolin Showdown. Wish me luck.

"I'm Batman" Regular Speech

"I'm Batman" Inner Thought

"I'm Batman" Jutsu/ technique

"I'm Batman" Demonic Speech

Chapter 4: Graduation: Part 1

Last time:

"Who do you think you are, giving me all these lectures and stuff like that? That's it, I'm no longer your apprentice, from now on were rivals. One day I'm going to defeat you in battle, after all a Hokage has to be the strongest warrior in the village, right" Konohamaru said with false anger in his voice at first, as he turned his back to Naruto, before it morphed into a wide grin.

"Heh, I couldn't be your trainer even if I wanted to gaki. For you see, starting tomorrow I start active service as a shinobi of Konoha. But what the hell, I'll accept your challenge. How 'bout this, if you manage to beat me someday, I'll coronate you as the Hokage myself. Until then, I want you train your ass off, because I want you to be at your absolute best when we fight…Sarutobi Konohamaru" Naruto said with a grin on his face as well, before walking off and waving goodbye to Konohamaru.

'I won't let you down, I'll become the greatest shinobi ever' Konohamaru thought to himself with conviction, as he saluted Naruto.

(Six days Later: Konoha Academy: Iruka's Classroom)

'I'm so freaking bored,' Naruto complained mentally, as he leaned back into his chair and put his feet on the desk. Naruto sighed aloud, mentally chastising himself for getting there so early, as he struggled to find anything to occupy his time. Trying to alleviate his boredom, Naruto decided to observe the large empty classroom he currently found himself in.

It was a fairly spacious room, with a high ceiling and tall wide windows on the right hand side that took up a good amount of space. The view from the windows was surprisingly pretty good, it allowed students to easily take a look at the clouds above, the nearby buildings and an old swing set Naruto that was very familiar with. Throughout the room were long vertical rows of desk which went all the way to the back wall, only broken up by the stairs that ran along side them. In the front of the class room sat an elevated section of wood with a podium for Iruka to talk and observe the class from. On the wall behind the podium was a large black board that took up a good portion of the area, leaving very little room for anything else. Along the classroom walls were numerous instructional/inspirational posters either pinned or taped down, each of them more generic than the last. After a minute or two of observing every little detail of the room he could, Naruto quickly fell back into boredom.

Naruto closed his eyes as he put his hands behind his head and sunk into, as best he could, the chair he was sitting in. The hard wooden back of the chair against his back was slightly uncomfortable, but hell a wooden chair can only be so comfortable. Taking a deep breath, Naruto seemingly reflected on the turn of events that led up to this point.

(Flashback: One Week Ago: Streets of Konoha)

"Pathetic old bastard." Naruto muttered angrily to himself, his face a mask of repressed anger, as he made his way to the rat infested hellhole that was his apartment. Naruto was thankful it was so late at night, for he did not have any patience for dealing with the idiotic civilians at that moment. Naruto walked unimpeded down the empty street, his only company were that of his thoughts and the moths overhead orbiting the street lights that illuminated his path. The crunch of the rocks under Naruto's sandals echoed slightly down the street, but Naruto paid it no heed, too wrapped up in his thoughts. However the solitude was not meant to last.

Naruto finally pulled himself out of his rage filled thoughts when he saw that he had entered the Red Light District in Konoha. 'The Red Light District…home to every pimp, prostitute, thug, vagrant, yakuza, brothel and gambling parlor in Konoha. Home sweet home!' Naruto thought to himself sarcastically, as he walked threw the seedy underbelly of Konoha.

Flashing lights came from almost every possible angle, temporarily blinding him before his eyes adjusted to electronic onslaught. Gambling parlors and bars filled almost every part of the street, their flashing lights or signs illuminated the street more than any street light. Each and every building offering 'deals' or 'guarantees', trying to lure the poor fools into their halls to rob them of their money, and possibly their lives depending on the place.

Prostitutes flooded the streets, from every corner, ally, or outside a building they offered their services, who ranged from younger, more innocent girls down on their luck to the aged and experienced women, who were in the world's oldest profession for a long time. The local thugs stood 'menacingly' outside their boss's establishments, either leering at the prostitutes or sneering at passersby with their hands on their swords. Men, civilian and shinobi alike, staggered threw the street, almost all of them drunk off their asses as they either went home, more often than not with one of the local girls, or searched out for more. Naruto passed them by; one or two of them recognized him and started spewing both obscenities and what ever they ate that day on the ground, all of them too drunk to really do anything else. Naruto simply ignored them, trying his hardest not to simply cut their heads off to shut them up, as he clutched his katana firmly in his hand, the itch to kill them growing stronger with every curse sent his way.

"Hey Fishcake, what's with the new clothes? And did you get taller?" a homeless man yelled from an entrance to a nearby alleyway at Naruto, who turned to face him and was filled with a brief amount of joy. Sitting on the ground with one or two of his friends was a small man standing at about 5'0" with short graying hair and a medium sized beard that covered most of his neck. He had somewhat sunken-in brown eyes that were surrounded by a plethora wrinkles and age spots. As he leveled a smile at Naruto, it revealed he was missing more than one of his teeth.

On his head was a simple straw hat, which was frayed near edges and had a few small holes littering about it. He wore a dark grey jacket that went down to about his knees, if he were standing up at the moment, over a slightly tattered green button up shirt. He also wore stitched up black pants that surprising kept him warm, the pant legs resembling a quilt from all the patchwork done to it. And to top it off he wore simple wooden sandals on his feet. Naruto felt the frown on his face temporarily be replaced with a smile as he watched with keen interest as the old homeless man slightly stumble towards him.

"It's a long story old man," Naruto replied, mentally counting down for the man's outraged response. He wasn't disappointed by the result.

"Who are you calling an old man? Do you know who I am? I am Kotomura Nagi (1), Lord of the Bums, King of the Streets, and the man who united the homeless of Konoha under one glorious tattered banner. As well as one of the greatest chunin this village ever had!" Nagi yelled angrily as he stood up, thought he had a large smile on his face when he said it.

"Lord of the Bums? Hah…you're more like Lord of the Rums!" one of the other vagrants remarked loudly, getting a laugh from the third one as well as a smirk from Naruto. Nagi on the other hand wasn't as amused as they were. Nagi bowed his head as his entire body shook with 'anger' before he took a swing at the one who made the remark.

"I'll have you know that I am not an alcoholic! I just happen to partake in a swig of rum more than most," Nagi said furiously, as he took out his own bottle of rum for evidence. "They just don't understand Swiggy." Nagi muttered to his rum bottle, as he nuzzled his face against it for a brief second. 'One day the will learn to appreciate rum as I do…one day.' Nagi thought to himself with a shake of his head, as he slipped his rum bottle back into his inside pocket for later. Shaking his head at his fellow bum's 'foolishness' Nagi turned to face the now smirking Naruto. Nagi calmly walked over to where Naruto was standing, an expressionless look adorning his scruffy face. Nagi finally stopped when he was almost face to face with Naruto, as the two engaged in a stare-down of epic proportions.

"Fishcake," Nagi said flatly, as he still maintained eye contact with Naruto, whose eye threatened to twitch at that nickname.

"Drunkard," Naruto replied equally as flat, his face a picture perfect example of neutrality. However their stare-down came to end quickly as both Naruto and Nagi quickly broke into smiles and gave the other a small hug.

"It's good to see you again Nagi," Naruto said with a small grin on his face, as conversed with one of the few people he would gladly call a friend.

"Likewise Fishcake," Nagi replied, as he finally released Naruto from his hug, allowing him to do the same.

"You're never going to stop calling me that are you?" Naruto said with irritation in his voice, having to resist the urge to punch Nagi on the head. 'How many times to I have to say it, my name means "Maelstrom" not "Fishcake"' Naruto thought to himself, almost yelling it aloud, but decided it would be a waste of breath.

"Why stop now?" Nagi responded with a smirk, knowing damn well how much Naruto hated his little nickname. "But enough about that, what in the name of the Shodaime Hokage happened to you? Last time I saw you, you were a pint sized, orange wearing loudmouth ranting about becoming Hokage. But now, look at you…if it weren't for the whisker marks I might not have recognized yah," Nagi continued, using his arms for emphasis on both Naruto's previous height and that of how much he changed.

"Nagi lets just say I've had a…interesting night. One that I'm not liable to forget anytime soon and lets leave it at that," Naruto replied with an edge in his voice, unintentionally flashing back to his meeting with Sarutobi. Taking a deep breath, Naruto felt the rage inside him slowly simmer down back into recession for the moment.

"Fair enough kid," Nagi replied, an unreadable expression on his face, one that he had spent a good portion of his shinobi career perfecting. 'Not my place to pry, he'll tell me when he wants to.' Nagi rationalized mentally, content with waiting for Naruto tell him the details. "Well it's been fun Fishcake but it seems my people need me once more, such as the life of the Lord of the Bums," Nagi said melodramatically, feigning sorrow as he walked towards his fellow vagrants after making a long overblown dramatic gesture.

"Yeah…you go do that," Naruto relied as he watched Nagi walk away before he turned around and waved goodbye with his unoccupied hand. Shaking his head at Nagi's melodramatics, Naruto weakly returned the wave before putting his hands in his haori's pockets and walking off. Within moments of departing from Nagi, Naruto changed into that of his emotionless form, his good mood completely obliterated and replaced with cold indifference and anger. It also didn't help that his apartment complex quickly came into view, further killing his once good mood and replacing it with a slow simmering fury.

'How this building hasn't been condemned yet is beyond me.' Naruto thought bitterly, as he observed the broken down hellhole that was his apartment building. The entire building was about four stories tall, making it one of the taller buildings in the Red Light District. Trash littered around the entrance to the complex, its stench permeating the air causing Naruto to scrunch up his nose in disgust. The building itself was in disrepair, cracks were scattered all over and some of the windows were broken in, mainly the windows near his apartment, allowing the cold air to seem into the building like a plague.

'The better question is…why do I still live in this rundown rat's nest?' Naruto thought to himself, knowing the answer all too well. This was the only place in the Red Light District, let alone Konoha, that would give him a room and that was only because Sarutobi ordered them to. The landlord wasn't happy about that, but the miserable old bastard had found away to get at him without raising a finger. He raised Naruto's rent, turned off his hot water, changed the locks, in a vein attempt to get him to leave on his own. This didn't deter his dobe self in the slightest, as he always somehow found a way to overcome the bastard landlord's efforts, much to the old bastard's annoyance. But since somehow Naruto always came up with his rent money, the landlord couldn't rightfully kick him out, lest he incur Sarutobi's 'wrath'. It aggravated Naruto to no end that the landlord horded all of the rent money he had accumulated, instead of, you know, FIXING THE GODDAMN BUILDING.

Shaking his head of these thoughts, Naruto opened the door to his complex and entered, careful not to step on one of the squeaky floorboards that never seemed to get fixed. As Naruto climbed the stairs to his apartment, he felt disgust swell up inside of him at the conditions around him. The wood was rotting around the stairwells. Some planks being so rotten that the slightest weight would cause them to collapse on themselves. Paint peeled from the wall and ceiling, leaving piles of paint chips on the ground that stacked up like anthills.

Naruto narrowed his eyes briefly as he finally came across the door to his apartment, now covered in fresh, hateful graffiti. On his door were the standard "Die Demon" "Monster" and "Go Back to Hell", with one or two new hate filled messages on his door or wall. Naruto was slightly thankful that they didn't break down the door to his apartment, not matter how crappy it may be. Resolving to remove the graffiti from his door, once again, tomorrow, as there were more pressing issues at hand at the moment.

However the moment Naruto opened his door, he was immediately bombarded by a stench that nearly had him in tears. "GAH" Naruto cried in shock as he clutched his nose, trying in vain to prevent the horrendous odor from entering his nasal passages, to no avail I'm afraid. Normally to any passerby Naruto's apartment would just stink a little, but to those with enhanced senses like the Inuzuka clan or Naruto it was a pungent odor that raped their olfactory senses. Quickly using his haori to shield his nose, Naruto practically Sonido'd to the window and threw it open with tremendous force. Sticking his head out the window, Naruto took multiple deep intakes of breath, while simultaneously swallowing the bile rising in his throat.

After getting the necessary amounts of oxygen, Naruto pulled his head back into the room and felt disgust at what he saw. Ramen cups scattered on the floor, some having uneaten noodles hanging out of them, a few actually glowing in the dark from mold. Clothes were flung about all over the apartment, most if not all of them being severely unwashed. A few flies were buzzing about the trash lying around, though thankfully they quickly escaped threw the window. Hell, if Naruto's eyes were playing tricks on him, than he even saw a cockroach dragging a fully grown rat's carcass through a hole in the wall.

Scrunching his face in disgust at the state of his apartment, Naruto quickly crossed his figures and made a Kage Bushin. Wordlessly, Naruto gave his commands to his newly formed clone, which nodded in return and began cleaning the apartment. Satisfied that his clone would get the job done, Naruto hurriedly walked to his bedroom, trying desperately to avoid breathing in the noxious air. After throwing open and slamming the door to his bedroom behind him, Naruto took a deep intake of breath, seeing as how the air was far more breathable in there.

'Alright…lets do this' Naruto thought to himself, as he took a deep breath and gained a look of determination. As he made his way towards his crappy, squeaky as hell bed, Naruto completely removed his katana, sheathe and all, from the sash around his waist. 'It's about time I finally received some answers.' Naruto thought mentally, as he sat cross-legged on his bed, his sword rested across his lap. Naruto closed his eyes as he shifted into a meditative position, as he took deep, slow breaths.

'"Take deep breaths Naruto-kun; listen to your breathing and only your breathing for now. I want you let the world around you fade away, until the world is nothing but an empty void"' Naruto recalled, as his sensei's teachings came to the forefront of his mind, while following the steps exactly. 'In and out.' Naruto repeated over and over again, as he felt his body unwind, his body slumping as he listened to the rhythmic sound of his breathing. Slowly but surely Naruto felt the world around fade, his nose was no longer assaulted by the reeking odors that wafted in the air. His ears were deaf to the sound of his clone's cleaning and the chirping crickets outside. Within moments, Naruto felt himself leave the conscious world and be drawn into the furthest recesses of his mind.

(Naruto's Mindscape: Espada Manor (2))

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, relieved that instead of the sight of his revolting apartment he was greeted by the large ornate doors of his mindscape. He quickly grabbed hold of the large gold rings held in the decorate lion-head door knocker's mouth, and, with little to no effort, threw the doors wide open. Immediately he was greeted by a better view of the main courtyard at the center of the compound, which so happened to be where his white clad tenants were presently.

With a steely look in his eyes, Naruto pressed onwards towards the remaining Espada, intent on getting some answers to the questions that plagued his mind. With every step he took through the garden pathway, Naruto moved closer and closer to his spiritual tenants. It wasn't long before Naruto was close enough to make out the sounds of metal clashing against metal and his tenant's conversations, thanks to his newly acquired heightened senses.

"Stand still you pale faced bastard." Grimmjow yelled furiously as he unleashed a devastating barrage of slashes with Pantera. All of which, unfortunately for Grimmjow, were either dodged or parried by his pale skinned opponent Ulquiorra, who, to Grimmjow's irritation, didn't seem to be exerting much effort in their short duel thus far.

'Fight back dammit! Let me hit you' Grimmjow thought angrily while he grit his teeth in frustration, as his strikes got progressively quicker and more brutal. His attacks tore threw the air like a shark threw the ocean, his blade crying out of the blood of his opponent.

"Can you stop yelling already? Some of us are trying to take a nap here" Starrk said irritably from his place lying in the shadow of a large tree. 'Those two are almost as bad as…Lilynette,' Starrk thought to himself, with irritation at first, followed by sadness at the loss of his other half. 'Lilynette…I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise to you…But I have feeling wherever you are right now, you're not lonely' Starrk cried mentally, as clutched his hands tightly in a rare show of energy and emotion, almost completely unseen by his fellow Espada.

However both Grimmjow's angry reply and Starrk's depressing thoughts were put on hold by the sound of rocks crunching under someone's feet. They all turned towards the direction the sound was coming from and saw Naruto speeding toward them.

"Don't stop on my account," Naruto's voice rang out before he came into view, a blank look on his face as walked forwards with his hands in his pockets.

"Heh…it's about time you showed up kid," Grimmjow said with anger, as he laid the flat side of Pantera on his shoulder. 'Little bastard, how dare he keep us waiting like this' Grimmjow thought to himself, a sneer making its way onto his face.

"I'm here now, and that's what matters! It's time we finish our previous conversation, you have answers I need at the moment. And you no doubt have questions have questions that demand answers, so let's quit avoiding the issue!" Naruto said somewhat harshly, not in the mood to put up with anyone's bullshit, especially after tonight.

"I suggest you change you tone Naruto-san, it's not welcome here." Harribel said with absolute seriousness, as she stood up from her place on the ground, where she had been idly observing Grimmjow and Ulquiorra's match, with her eyes narrowed. The two engaged in a brief stare down that lasted well over a minute, before Naruto closed his eyes and sighed.

"I…I'm sorry." Naruto muttered out, as he slumped his shoulders slightly while looking down at the ground with no small bit of shame. 'How could I lose my temper that easily? I should know better by now, after all sensei practically drilled controlling my emotions into my head.' Naruto mentally cursed himself, despite Grimmjow acting like a complete asshole. It took a few seconds more of mental chastising before Naruto raised his head and locked eyes with Harribel once more.

'Hm…strange, I can't find any trace of deceit in his eyes. There might be more potential in him than I gave him credit for.' Harribel thought to herself with surprise, before adopting a small, unseen, grin underneath her hollow mask. With a small nod to Naruto, Harribel took a couple steps backwards and leaned against a nearby wall.

"Now as I was saying, we need to finish the conversation we were having before we were interrupted," Naruto continued with a much more humble and subdued tone, getting nods from the Espada, most of which in agreement. "Before we begin, I want to say one thing…thank you. I know I said that earlier but without your help Iruka-sensei and I would be dead right now." Naruto said while bowing slightly to his, mostly, white clad saviors, all of whom were starring at him in shock.

"Tch, What are you thanking them for? I did most of the work in saving your pathetic ass, you miserable ningen." Kyuubi said irritably, having just now woken up from its nap, as it craned its massive neck to look over the compound wall to look at Naruto and company.

"I was going to thank you first Kyuubi, but I figured you needed your beauty sleep." Naruto said with a small smirk, getting an angry growl from the Kyuubi as it narrowed its eyes at Naruto.

"Insolent gaki, I don't want your thanks! I only saved your ass because I didn't want to go through the hassle of reforming myself afterwards if I let you explode, don't forget that!" Kyuubi roared out in response, its tails flailing behind it as Kyuubi used every bit of its self control not to squash Naruto like a bug.

"Regardless, now that you're awake I can ask you all my questions." Naruto said, after a few moments of silence, as he glared at Kyuubi with his fists clenched. After a brief stare down, Naruto closed his eyes and started taking several calming breaths. With each breath, Naruto felt the anger inside of him slip away like a river until it was gone. With a relaxed sigh escaping his lips, Naruto opened his eyes once more and turned his back to the irate Kyuubi to that of the Espada.

"What do you want to know Naruto- Kun?" Nelliel asked kindly, as she clasped her hands in front of her while she put the book she, somehow, had to the side.

"Firstly, who are you people? I know bits and pieces due to our…arrangement, but I want to know the names of the people who saved my life. I'll go first, my name is Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto replied as he starred at each individual Espada as they introduced themselves.

"The names Jaegerjaquez Grimmjow and don't you forget it!" the blue haired arrancar, now identified as Grimmjow, boasted with an arrogant smile on his face as he pointed to himself with his thumb. Naruto had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at Grimmjow's boisterous introduction, seeing as how doing so otherwise would probably result in him getting his ass kicked by the blue haired arrancar.

"Cifer Ulquiorra" the paled skinned Espada with a dull monotone as he observed Naruto with his cold, unyielding gaze. Naruto involuntarily shivered under Ulquiorra's gaze, as a cold chill made it's was down his spine, as if though someone was walking over his grave (3).

"I'm Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, Naruto-kun," exclaimed the busty green haired woman, as she gave Naruto a wide, kind smile which immediately undid the effects of Ulquiorra's soul piercing gaze. Naruto, in turn, returned her wide grin with one of his own though it was much smaller than her infectious grin.

"Starrk (yawn)…Coyote Starrk" the brown haired arrancar, now dubbed Starrk, drawled out as he lazily raised his hand in greeting before yawning once more. Naruto starred at Starrk with an incredulous expression plastered on his face, as a massive sweat drop forming on the back of his head.

'This guy could give Shikamaru a run for his money.' Naruto thought in disbelief.

"My name is Tia Harribel" stated the buxom blonde arrancar, while she gave Naruto the slightest of nods, as if to meet his acquaintance. Naruto returned her nod with one of his own, before he turned his attention his largest and furriest tenant.

"Ha, if you think you're learning my name so easily you have another thing coming, you're not worthy enough to know my name ningen. You're going to have to earn that honor!" Kyuubi bellowed out angrily, its voice laced with hostility as it glared at Naruto.

Naruto starred blankly at the Kyuubi for well over a minute, before he lowered his head as a smirk made its way onto his face. "Fine…challenge accepted," Naruto declared confidently with a smirk into a somewhat cocky and confident grin as he locked eyes with the, now, confused looking bijou.

"What the hell are you going on about?" Kyuubi asked with a raised eyebrow (does Kurama have eyebrows?) as it glanced down at his hybrid jailor.

"Simple, I'm going to learn your name, whether you like it or not you've piqued my interest. I'm going to spent foreseeable future trying to 'earn the honor' of knowing your name," Naruto relied somewhat jokingly, with a hint of sarcasm near the end.

The Kyuubi looked at Naruto with disbelief written all over its furry features, as it unintentionally replaced Naruto with its surrogate father and creator for a brief moment. Kyuubi quickly shook its head to rid itself of those, in its opinion, horrible and inaccurate comparison. Kyuubi was about to reprimand Naruto for his sheer audacity, when it was rudely interrupted by Grimmjow's interjection.

"Hold up Gaki, you're not gonna really gonna have a chance to learn old fuzz ball's name any time soon," Grimmjow interrupted with a small scowl on his face as he marched close to Naruto and got right in his face near the end.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Grimmjow's phrasing and the fact he was invading his personal space. "What do you mean by that?" Naruto stated with absolute seriousness, as he grabbed his katana's handle on the off chance the situation were to escalate into conflict. Naruto and Grimmjow's manly stare off was cut off by the sound of Harribel clearing her throat to get their attention.

"What Grimmjow is trying, and failing, to say is that you are not going to have much time to attempt to learn Kyuubi-san's true name due to the fact that you will not have adequate time to try and figure it out," Harribel said quickly with a sigh at the end, trying to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand due to Grimmjow's poor choice of words.

"Busy with what exactly?" Naruto asked with an eyebrow raised in both confusion and hesitance, as he still kept his hand firmly grasped on his sword.

"Training!" Nelliel injected with a serious look replacing the normally bubbly and friendly look that Naruto had been accustomed to seeing during the short period he had known her for.

"…What's the catch?" Naruto asked hesitantly as he slowly removed his hand from his katana, whilst scanning the looks on his other tenant's face. Naruto carefully observed every little inch of his tenant's faces as he could, looking for even the barest hint of deceit or betrayal. After moments of careful observation, Naruto finally removed his hand from his sword and relaxed his posture slightly, if his shoulders slumping were any indication.

"Why would you all want train me? What do get out of this?" Naruto asked with no small amount of suspicion in his voice.

"While you were having your conversation with the person you call 'Sarutobi', the others and I discussed our current predicament. From what we have been able to gather from Kyuubi and our own observations, we realized that we are stuck indefinitely in your body. Add in the fact that due to our arrangement, that our souls are intertwined to a certain degree, should you perish in battle, than we would die as well once more Therefore, that makes you our host as well as representative in the outside world, and thus you need to be trained in order to survive." Ulquiorra explained to Naruto on behalf of the other Espada, all of whom nodded in agreement in some form or fashion.

"As long as we're stuck in here Gaki, you're our representative, and that means you have to get stronger because I refuse to have a weak host. We're going to train you into the freaking ground and won't stop until there is no force on Earth that can stop you." Grimmjow said assertively, his narrowed as he poked Naruto several times in the chest to emphasize his point.

"Under normal circumstances I would question this, but seeing as how these aren't normal circumstances by any means, I'll ignore it for now. However, you'll have to forgive me if I don't automatically trust you, despite all you've done for me. Hopefully we'll be able to change that as time goes on." Naruto said with a serious monotone, having once again switched forms, as he starred at the Espada with as much suspicion, not that you could tell considering the blank look on his face.

"Whatever gaki, that doesn't matter since your beatdow-…I mean training, begins…NOW." Grimmjow yelled as he unsheathed Pantera faster than Naruto could blink and with a mighty war cry, swung Pantera at Naruto with an insane grin. The sound of metal striking against metal once again echoed like thunder throughout the courtyard, as Grimmjow and Naruto's clashed in a shower of sparks.

"What the hell?" Naruto yelled in outrage, as he struggled to hold Grimmjow's blade back.

"Consider this a test." Grimmjow yelled with sadistic glee in his voice, his already manic grin widening as he put more force on his blade.

'Dammit this bad, he's more powerful than I am and he knows it. How the hell am I supposed to survive, let alone fight him?' Naruto though despairingly as he slowly but surely started to lose ground against the ever ferocious Grimmjow.

'Screw this,' Naruto thought to himself as disengaged his weapon from Grimmjow's while simultaneously back flipping about ten feet away. 'Okay that bought me a few seconds, think Naruto, how can you beat this…crap.' Naruto pondered in midair as he landed on the ground with a somewhat heavy thud, only to be immediately be intercepted by the blue haired arrancar.

"Ha, your going to have to do much better than if you want to live." Grimmjow declared as he swung Pantera at Naruto's kidneys, only for it to be blocked, barely, by Naruto's blade. Unfortunately for Naruto, Grimmjow simply pressed onwards with his assault, completely undeterred by anything he did. Without wasting a single moment, Grimmjow spun slightly on his heel and spun nearly a full 360 degrees, his blade facing outwards ready to cut into Naruto's flesh.

'Crap!' Naruto thought as he once again blocked Grimmjow's slash with one of his own, a flash of sparks flying off their respective weapons. Naruto grit his teeth in exertion as he struggled to block Grimmjow's furious barrage of attacks. Slash after slash, Grimmjow pursued our hybrid protagonist, his strikes ever increasing in speed. Each clash of their blades echoed like thunder, sparks flying from their blades like glowing embers in the wind after a fire.

"That's more like it!" Grimmjow yelled with glee; before he unleashed one particularly strong overhead strike that caused Naruto's knees to buckle slightly. Grimmjow didn't hesitate to take advantage of this, and quickly kicked Naruto square in the chest with a small fraction of his true strength.

"Gah," Naruto blurted out in pain, a mix of blood and spittle spewing from his lips, as he was thrown backwards from the force of the kick, his feet leaving grooves in the ground from where he slid. 'Dammit!' Naruto cursed mentally, barely able to stand, as he clutched his aching chest, each breath causing his lungs to ignite with pain. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the causally approaching Grimmjow, who simply starred at him with a cocky smirk on his face.

"Come on you little bastard, I know you can do better." Grimmjow yelled as he charged Naruto, a look of irriation replacing the cocky smirk on his face.

"You want me to do better…you got it." Naruto yelled furiously in response before he disappeared from view via Sonido. Within the span of a second Naruto appeared behind Grimmjow, his sword cleaving threw the air towards Grimmjow's unprotected back.

"Nice try gaki, but…" Grimmjow stated with a small laugh as he spun slightly on his heel and blocked Naruto's strike with ease. "Still not good enough." Grimmjow finished as he parried Naruto's sword to the side and quickly threw a punch towards Naruto's face.

Naruto promptly titled his head to avoid the attempted blow, Grimmjow's fist mere centimeters from making its mark. 'I can't beat him with only kenjutsu; he's light-years ahead of me in skill. I have to keep my distance, its time I use what these people have given me.' Naruto rationalized as he leapt backwards, just in at the right time to as Grimmjow lashed out with a swing of his sword that would have bisected him. With a stern look on his face, Naruto clenched his free hand into a tight fist, his bones cracking in unison (3) from the strain. 'Focus. Let the reiatsu flow into your hand,' Naruto instructed mentally to himself, as his fist quickly became enveloped in a familiar red aura.

"Bala!" Naruto muttered lowly, as to not to attract Grimmjow's attention, before he thrust his fist forwards, the energy in his hand rocketing off his hand towards his blue haired opponent. The red bullet tore threw the air like a like an ethereal missile, the speed it traveled at making it look like a red blur to any passerby. After seconds of traveling through the air, the Bala neared its target, to which Grimmjow simply starred at the incoming bullet of reiatsu with a cocky smirk on his face. Within a blink of an eye the Bala made contact with Grimmjow, an enormous cloud of dust enshrouded the nearby area after the initial explosion of reiatsu.

"Like I said gaki, still not good enough." Grimmjow's voice rang out from the cloud of dust, before the cloud gradually dispersed little by little. 'Still, it was a nice though.' Grimmjow thought with a small amount of pride, as he nonchalantly dusted himself off whilst never breaking eye contact with Naruto.

'No way.' Naruto thought in disbelief, his eyes widening slightly at the sight of a completely unscathed Grimmjow. Shaking out of his brief stupor, Naruto narrowed his eyes at the blue haired arrancar, before sheathing his sword and throwing his fist back. "Bala" Naruto yelled undeterred by Grimmjow's apparent indestructibility, as he unleashed a barrage of red death towards Grimmjow. His fists rocketed back and forth like pistons made flesh, each punch shooting off another Bala.

"Tch." Grimmjow sneered with a frown on his face, as he eyed the red projectiles heading towards him. 'Does he really think this is going to beat me?' Grimmjow thought incredulously, before letting out a sigh of disappointment and swinging his sword towards the nearest Bala. With no effort whatsoever the silver blade cleaved thru the red bullet, the two halves flying behind Grimmjow before they exploded with a thunderous boom. Wasting no time at all, Grimmjow charged forward with an annoyed expression on his face, swinging his sword wildly at each approaching Bala. Explosions rained down behind Grimmjow, each one illuminating him in an intimidating red light before it dispersed.

'Okay, there is approximately a three second delay after each swing, I need to wait for the right time,' Naruto calculated mentally, carefully counting every second between Grimmjow's strikes. 'Wait for it…wait for it, go!' Naruto chanted mentally before rushing forwards, his fist ablaze with red reiatsu. '10 meters…7 meters…5 meters…NOW!' Naruto declared, before he threw his fist forwards with all of his might, launching an abnormally large Bala towards Grimmjow.

"How many times are you gonna use the same goddamn trick? Face it, its not gonna work," Grimmjow yelled in frustration, as glared at the glowing spiritual bullet, more like cannonball, rocketing towards him with tremendous force. With a small yell, Grimmjow cleaved threw the red ball of death with a single slash of his blade. "Is that all you've got gaki?" Grimmjow asked arrogantly whilst his blade was halfway cleaving through the bullet.

"Not even close," Naruto's voice rang out from behind Grimmjow, who turned to look at him, or more specifically his now somewhat blood stained sword.

Grimmjow's eyes follow a small trail of blood staining Naruto's blade, the light illuminating the blood with an eerie glow. 'How the hell…?' Grimmjow pondered in disbelief for a brief second before immediately looking towards his abdomen, which now sported a long, thin cut near the middle that was slightly trickling blood. 'He actually hit me…,' Grimmjow repeated mentally for a moment, before he lowered his head and started laughing. "You actually managed to land a solid cut on me…good. Now let's kick things up a bit." Grimmjow yelled excitedly after his bout of maniacal laughter, a large sadistic grin stretching the confines of his face.

'That's all the damage I managed to inflict on him! One measly scratch,' Naruto gaped mentally as he starred at the shallow cut on Grimmjow's abdomen with wide eyes. Naruto was forcefully knocked out of his stupor by Grimmjow disappearing with a burst of speed, only for him to appear directly in front of Naruto. 'Crap!' Naruto yelled mentally, quickly back flipping to avoid being cleaved into by Grimmjow's powerful overhead slash.

"Shit." Naruto muttered angrily under his breath before he lunged to the side to avoid another of Grimmjow's blows. Naruto quickly ducked under another of Grimmjow's swipes, the blade barely missing his head only taking a few strands of hair being severed from his person. Unfortunately for Naruto, Grimmjow decided to make the bottom of his sandal make acquaintance with Naruto's face. The force of the blow sent Naruto flying backwards, his back painfully crashing against a nearby wall as cracks formed around his imbedded body in the wall. "Dammit!" Naruto growled out between grit teeth, only vaguely paying attention to the warm blood cascading down the side of his face. 'I will not be beaten like this!' Naruto thought angrily, as raw determination rushed threw his veins like a raging river, filling him with newfound strength. With his steely gaze and grit teeth, Naruto glared at the slowly approaching Grimmjow with anger coursing threw his veins. With power coursing threw him Naruto threw his weight forward and charged forward, his blade firmly clutched in hand, ready to cut Grimmjow down if he had to.

Time seemed to slow down for Naruto and Grimmjow as they grew closer and closer, as the world slowly faded around them. The sound of rocks crunching underneath their feet filled their ears, only offset by that of their surprisingly calm breathing. Their eyes locked onto one another in an intense stare down, both unwilling to yield to the other. The moment they were in striking distance of each other, they swung their blades with everything they had in them. Their blades tore thru the wind, appearing as nothing more than twin crescents of silver. The world came crashing down with the force of a hurricane the moment the two blades struck each other in a thunderous clash. 'I will win!' Naruto and Grimmjow thought simultaneously before their reiatsu flared and wrapped around them. The ground surrounding the two combatants cracked under the strain of the overbearing energies.

"This is going too far." Nelliel stated furiously, her normally chipper and beautiful face marred by a particularly nasty scowl. She narrowed her eyes at the, in her opinion, idiocy that Grimmjow was currently engaging in by issuing this duel. With a quick use of Sonido, Nelliel rushed towards the two combatants, intent on ending this farce right then and there. With nothing more than the sound of a miniature sonic boom, Nelliel vanished from her spot amongst her fellow arrancar as she rocketed towards the two combatants.

'This isn't good, I'm starting tire already. How strong is this guy?' Naruto thought despairingly, as he felt his muscles scream from exertion. Naruto grit his teeth as he struggled to fight back Grimmjow's blade, his arms shaking mildly while he continued to push back.

"Ha, you've put up more of a fight than I thought you would gaki. But it doesn't matter; you're not strong enough to beat me so let's end this already." Grimmjow stated with a grin on his face, before he felt an intense amount of pain coming from the side of his face. 'Wha-…' Grimmjow thought before he was sent flying towards a nearby wall, before he impacted with it. "What the…hell hit me?" Grimmjow muttered as he rubbed his aching face, his face a contorted in a mix of pain and anger.

"Grimmjow, what on earth were you thinking?" Nelliel chastised furiously, causing Grimmjow to look up at her from his place on the ground.

"What was I thinking? I was training the little bastard, until you came along and blindsided me." Grimmjow yelled in reply as he stood up, finally recovering from Nelliel's 'cheap shot'.

"Trying to kill someone doesn't count as training." Nelliel countered angrily, her grip on Gamyusa tightening as she locked eyes with Grimmjow. This went on for a few seconds before Nelliel turned away from the livid Grimmjow and rushed over towards Naruto. "Naruto-kun! Are you okay?" Nelliel yelled/asked worriedly as she grabbed Naruto in a tight hug, once again trapping Naruto between her bountiful breasts.

'Hm…so soft, so firm…no focus Naruto. Focus! I need to conserve as much air as I can, other wise I'll suffocate. But what a way to go.' Naruto commented to himself, struggling to resist the urge to nestle his head in Nelliel's clothed cleavage.

"I wasn't gonna kill him. Besides, if he was weak enough to get killed by that, than he isn't worth training in the first place." Grimmjow replied causing Nelliel to release Naruto, who look several deep breaths, an intense frown once more appearing on her beautiful face.

"He's only 'weak' because he is out of practice and not accustomed to this body yet. What he needs is a guiding hand to help get back to his prime, to carefully show him how we fight before we start training him seriously." Nelliel explained, her voice losing some of its anger and replaced with frustration, unconsciously placing one of her hands on her shapely hips with the other clutching Gamyusa.

"Oh yeah, that's a great idea. Let's get the little bastard back to his prime, waste countless weeks for to get ready for the actual training. Only for him to get COMPLETELY DESTROYED during an actual fight. You're right about one thing, he is out of practice and I'm going to beat him into the ground as many times as it takes for him to get back into shape." Grimmjow said sarcastically before launching into a rage induced rant, his fists clenched tightly.

"Enough!" Harribel commanded, as she unleashed a massive amount of spiritual pressure onto her bickering cohorts. A bright yellow aura enveloped the buxom blonde, as she leveled an intense glare at Grimmjow and, to a lesser extend, Nelliel.

'…Dammit.' Grimmjow exclaimed mentally, as his body collapsed onto the ground below, an ungodly pressure weighing him down. "Come on…move already." Grimmjow muttered out as he unleashed his own reiatsu to counter Harribel's overpowering aura. Grimmjow let out a small sigh of relief when he felt the pressure crushing him lessen considerably. With strained breaths, Grimmjow shakily push himself upwards, his fingers digging tiny grooves into the ground as he slowly brought one of his hands into a loose fist. Grimmjow craned his head upwards to glare at the 'bitch' known has Harribel, rage practically rolling off him like a wave.

'She's stronger than I imagined, no wonder they chose her to replace me.' Nelliel rationalized, as she starred at Harribel with a smidgen of respect in her eyes. Thinking quickly Nelliel unleashed a moderate amount of her reiatsu, her body being enveloped in a light green aura. With no effort on her part, Nelliel confidently stood tall, her reiatsu completely negating Harribel's spiritual pressure.

'Its like dealing with children,' Harribel thought with a sigh, before briefly rubbing her temple to sooth her small headache. 'I think I have their attention now.' Harribel observed as she watched with some interest as her fellow Espada managed to even move under the effects of her reiatsu. "Are you two done bickering like idiotic children?" Harribel asked sternly, her eyes narrowed as if daring them to say "no". After a moment or two of silence, Harribel closed her eyes and sighed as she slowly but surely lowered her spiritual pressure until it had completely ceased.

"Damn…there goes my source of entertainment." Kyuubi mocked with a deep chuckle rumbling in its throat, which was promptly ignored by the buxom Espada.

'Arrogant bitch,' Grimmjow thought furiously, as he glared at Harribel with an intense fury in his wild, blue eyes. His glare was matched by buxom blonde arrancar, who unflinchingly starred him dead in the eyes. 'She's not worth it.' Grimmjow reasoned to himself after a few moments of contemplating about attacking Harribel.

"This conflict is pointless as well as counterproductive; your constant bickering is only hindering our efforts." Harribel stated coldly, her eyes no longer burrowing holes into Grimmjow alone, as Nelliel was also a victim of her piercing gaze.

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Nelliel inquired after a few moments under Harribel's gaze, her tone reflecting the slight shame she felt about arguing with Grimmjow.

"We find a middle ground between your individual training methods." Ulquiorra stated, forcing everyone to turn their attention towards the pale arrancar. Ulquiorra turned his gaze from that of his bickering cohorts to Naruto, who looked at him with a blank stare before nodding in respect. "While you argued like idiotic pieces of trash, the both of you make valid arguments in regard to Uzumaki's training. It would take too long to simply let Uzumaki train to get back to his prime, therefore leaving him without proper instruction or experience," Ulquiorra continued, his eyes moving on to Nelliel, who nodded begrudgingly to his argument.

"HA!" Grimmjow taunted smugly, which received glares from Naruto, Harribel, and Nelliel, with a large smirk on his face.

"However, simply assaulting Uzumaki without any proper guidance or training is even more idiotic and detrimental. While this 'might' give Uzumaki experience in fighting opponents more powerful than himself, it would also possibly take him out of commission for longer than need should your 'training' session go to far. I purpose that combine your individual training plans into one cohesive training regiment." Ulquiorra countered immediately, causing Grimmjow's smirk to quickly transform into a nasty glare.

"Sounds reasonable…how do you all feel about this?" Naruto asked aloud, causing everyone's focus to shift from Ulquiorra to him, before looking amongst themselves.

"I'm all for it Naruto-kun." Nelliel exclaimed happily, though slightly disappointed her training routine was so easily picked apart by Ulquiorra.

"This seems like the best course of action…I'll support it." Harribel stated calmly after a moment of intense thought, her voice taking on a much more pleasant and controlled tone. 'Finally someone here who doesn't act like an idiot.' Harribel thought with a mental sigh of relief, happy to know at there was one person trapped along side her who wasn't immature or lazy.

"(Yawn)…Sure why not?" Starrk drawled out with a particularly loud yawn before rolling over in the soft grass and once again accepting the comforting embrace of sleep.

"Tch…fine, I'll just have to pick up the slack when it's my turn to train the little bastard." Grimmjow growled out angrily, his face contorted in nasty sneer, as he barely reigned in his rage at this development.

"Then it's settled, starting from this point onwards you are now our pupil as well as representative in the outside world." Ulquiorra stated blankly, getting nods, some begrudgingly, from his fellow arrancars in agreement before he turned his gaze towards the enraged looking bijou.

"Don't even think about asking me, you pale, melancholy bastard. I'm content to just sit here and wait for the hairless ape to come begging for a mere fraction of my power. It's only a matter off time; you'll come begging just like all the rest. You're nothing special gaki, just another power grubbing parasite like the rest of your species." Kyuubi roared out in fury, its tails flailing behind it like a bushel of snakes. 'Damn arrancar…where the hell does he get the nerve to even allude to me training the blond ape? Don't trust them; they're just like everybody else. They'll use me for my power and then lock me up once more when they don't need me.' Kyuubi ranted mentally as it narrowed its hate filled eyes at Naruto, its massive body trembling with rage.

"Hm, I guess I'll have to prove you wrong then, wont I?" Naruto replied in the utmost seriousness, his arms loosely crossed in front of him, as he starred down the furious fox.

"Get…OUT" Kyuubi growled out menacingly with its lips pulled back in a feral snarl showing its razor sharp teeth gleaming in the artificial light of Naruto's mind. The mighty bijou then took in a giant lung full of air, its entire body leaning backwards as it took in more and more air. Without warning, Kyuubi threw its head forwards and released an earth shattering roar than echoed throughout the recesses of Naruto's mind. A gust of hot, putrid wind swept over Naruto and, to a lesser extend, the other Espada, the force comparable to that of a hurricane.

"Gah" Naruto yelled out in shock as he moved one of his arms in front of him to shield his face from Kyuubi's roar. The hot air swept over him like a river, pushing him backwards as he struggled against the unnatural gust with all of his might. Little by little Naruto was forced backwards, his feet leaving ever growing grooves into the ground. With a startled yell, Naruto was blown off his feet and flung into the air above him, where he was continued to rocket backwards.

'Son of a bitch.' Naruto, somehow, calmly exclaimed mentally as starred at the wall he was rapidly approaching with no chance of slowing down in the slightest. '10…9…8' Naruto counted down in his mind, having already guessed approximately how long he had left before he impacted harshly with the wall. Using what little time he had left, Naruto quickly shifted his body in midair so that his back would make first contact with the wall instead of his face. '7…6…5' Naruto continued, briefly turning his gaze towards the, still, roaring bijou. 'I will unravel your secrets Kyuubi. Count on it!' Naruto thought with a steely gaze before letting out a sigh and closing his eyes. '3…2…1' Naruto concluded as he awaited the inevitable crash of his back against the cold, uncompromising stone wall. It wasn't even a second later before Naruto finally collided with the massive wall, a gasp of pain escaping his lips as pain coursed through his veins. At that moment a familiar sensation took hold of Naruto, as he slowly felt the world around him seemingly melt away into the inky void of nothingness.

(Real World: Naruto's Apartment)

"Gah" Naruto yelled out in shock, his eyes wide open as he took a panicked series of breathes in order to soothe his nerves. His erratic breaths slowly but surely slowed down, as Naruto took in the sight of his bedroom. With one final deep intake of slightly stale air, Naruto finally calmed down and, with a relieved sigh, leaned back and fell onto his shitty mattress. 'This is going to take some getting used to.' Naruto thought with a hint of exhaustion, as he clutched his sword tightly in his hand before leaning it against his bed. Naruto opened his eyes after a few moments of peaceful silence, his eyes blankly rolling over every inch of his moldy, hole ridden ceiling.

With a small groan Naruto turned onto his side, making an effort to ignore the annoying squeaks that came from his mattress, in order to look at the electronic clock he had on his small bedside table. 'What the hell? It's only been about five minutes since I started!' Naruto mentally gawked; astounded that so little time had passed since he ventured into the recesses of psyche.

'Hm…interesting, this might warrant further testing in the future.' Ulquiorra's muttered aloud in Naruto's mind, which naturally caused him to freak out a bit.

"What the fuck is going on? Ulquiorra, why can I hear your voice in my head?" Naruto yelled in shock, as he briefly looked around the room for the pale Espada before shaking his head and taking several deep breaths.

'I suggest you reframe from yelling out loud to yourself, lest someone overhear and believe you to be a lunatic.' Ulquiorra replied dryly, almost making Naruto face palm himself for not realizing what he must look like right now.

'Ok, can someone now tell me how I can hear your voices inside my head?' Naruto inquired mentally in a dull monotone, having once again shifted forms. Our, now pale, protagonist calmly rose up from his poor excuse for a bed, a blank stare adorning his expressionless face.

'That would be because of me you pitiful ape, I established a mental link between all of us.' Kyuubi growled out from its current napping area beside the Espada's compound, it voice laced with irritation and anger.

'Why?' Naruto replied curiously, his brow raised in confusion at the bijou's supposed act of good will.

'It's simple you blond imbecile, if you can communicate with your 'teachers' mentally, than I don't have to see your face every time you want to talk to them.' Kyuubi bellowed in return, a small snarl escaping its lips towards the end of its small rant.

'Despite Kyuubi-san's motives for creating our metal link, this is most beneficial to us in the long run.' Harribel commented coolly, her voice ringing in Naruto's ears as he contemplated her words.

'I'll admit this is development unnerves me a bit, but this is too beneficial to be ignored out of some paranoia. Thank you Kyuubi.' Naruto stated after a moment of mental deliberation, only getting a small "Humph" from the grouchy and indigent bijou in return.

'Enough freaking talking already, its time to get to work, I want to do 100 push ups, 200 squats, and 100 sits ups to start off with.' Grimmjow blurted out angrily, effectively interrupting his fellow Espada.

'As much as I loathe to agree with Grimmjow about anything, its best for the moment that you begin your training regiment to see the limits of your new body.' Harribel conceded in an annoyed and partial disgusted tone, as if the mere act of agreeing with him made her physically sick.

With a small frown on his face, Naruto begrudgingly dropped down onto the floor and began his on the spot workout regiment. 'This is going to be a long night.' Naruto muttered mentally as he repeatedly pushed himself off the floor, occasionally grumbling about 'Blue Haired Assholes' much to Grimmjow's anger, and the other's amusement.

(End Flashback: Konoha Academy: Iruka's Classroom)

'These last few days have been seriously fucked up, haven't they?' Naruto asked rhetorically in his mind, with an exhausted sigh escaping his lips. After a brief moment of silent relaxation, and situating himself better in his wooden seat, Naruto opened his eyes and was instantly greeted to the familiar, and dull, classroom once more. Naruto's descent into boredom was, thankfully, put on hold by the sound of multiple footsteps echoing off the smooth, wooden hallway floor. 'About damn time someone showed up.' Naruto thought with some relief as he turned his gaze towards the classroom door, waiting for inevitable arrival of the source of the mysterious footsteps.

Naruto did not have to wait very long, as in no time flat the previously echoing footsteps from the other end of the Academy were now outside the door. With a simple pull the door to the classroom was pulled aside, giving Naruto full view of the source of the footsteps.

Standing firmly outside in the hallway was a young boy about 12 or 13 years of age standing about 5'1", taller most of Naruto's classmates with the exception of Naruto himself. He wore dark, circular sunglasses that hid his eyes completely from view, which gleamed in the sunlight. He had tall, bushy brown hair that resembled somewhat of an afro, only held back by his blue clothed hitai-ate. He wore a long sleeved sea-green jacket with two large pockets in the front, with a high upturned collar that obscured part of his face from view. He also wore dark brown pants that end around a couple inches above his ankles, with a shuriken holster, as well as some bandages, wrapped around his right thigh. And lastly, he wore standard blue shinobi sandals on his feet. Standing before Naruto was none other than Aburame Shino.

"Do you remember me…Naruto?" Shino asked curiously, after a moment of starring at the white clad hybrid, with one brow raised in confusion. 'Strange, my Kikaichu say that Naruto's chakra tastes odd…like a giant mix of at least six different chakra signatures. This will require further observation.' Shino analyzed mentally, as he reviewed the data that his Kikaichu stealthily supplied him with regarding his, now, white clad classmate.

"…Shina, right?" Naruto replied after a moment of intense thought, as he scoured every inch of his memory for the identity of the bespectacled boy before him. The two gennin engaged in an intense stare down, though it was hard to tell with Shino's sunglasses obscuring his eyes. After what felt like hours of awkward silence Shino broke eye contact with the young hybrid as he dropped his gaze downwards, quickly turning his back to Naruto and walking towards the nearest corner.

'Is he…sulking?' Naruto thought with a large sweat drop forming on the back of his head, as he idly observed the depressed Aburame heir stare blankly at the wall in front of him. "You know, I'm actually impressed you managed to recognize me almost instantly. A good portion of the imbeciles of the village didn't recognize me at all." Naruto honestly praised, as he tried to coerce the sulking Aburame out of the secluded corner he had stationed himself in. 'It was worth a try.' Naruto thought after he received no immediate response from the sulking Aburame heir.

"It was simple to deduce your identity Naruto. How? You are the only person I know of in this village with blond hair and whisker marks. At first I thought you were an imposter, but a quick check of your massive chakra reserves, as well as your chakra signature, confirmed your identity to me." Shino replied in his usual monotone voice, as he slowly turned to face Naruto while walking to a nearby desk in the back.

"Heh, I suppose it's really not that hard to recognize me when you put it like that now." Naruto said humorously with a small laugh, slightly turning his head around to face Shino, who was currently sitting behind the white clad arrancar.

"Indeed." Shino replied simply with a small nod of his head, before the, slightly less, vacant classroom was once again overcome with silence. "I must ask Naruto, why do you look so radically different from when I last saw you over a week ago? I know you're not under some sort of Henge (Transformation). Why? Because that wouldn't explain why your chakra feels slightly different from the last time I had my Kikaichu sample it." Shino inquired with a hint of curiosity emerging from his normally dry monotone.

"Let's just say due to unforeseen circumstances that happened about a week ago, my body underwent a complete reconstruction and as a result I look like this as well as having a plethora of new tricks up my sleeve." Naruto summed up with a small scowl on his face, as he mentally reviewed the lies and revelations that been discovered over the course of the week. 'Calm down Naruto.' Naruto chanted to himself, as he felt the rage that had been building within him slowly fade away with each calming breath.

A fact that wasn't lost on Shino, who was observing the white clad arrancar with an analytical gaze, 'Strange…Naruto becomes extremely aggravated whenever the events of last week is mentioned. What could have happened?' Shino thought to himself, adjusting his sunglasses unconsciously, in confusion. "So you awakened some form of Kekkei Genkai last week?" Shino inquired, trying to uncover as much information as he possibly could from his, now, radically different classmate.

"Call it what you want, the fact of the matter is that I've changed for the better." Naruto replied with a small scowl on his face, his eyes closed tightly together before he opened them once more. 'I really need to come up with a concise cover story about what happened.' Naruto thought with some irritation, his mind already trying to form a logical cover story regarding his newfound appearance.

'Why not say your transformation was thanks to one of these 'Kekkei Genkai'?' Ulquiorra suggested from the recesses of Naruto's mind, his cold monotone ringing in Naruto's ears.

'I could work, it just seems…lazy to me though. But until I can come up with a better story, it will have to do.' Naruto replied begrudgingly to the pale Espada, seemingly angry at himself for being unable to think of a better explanation at that moment.

"Greetings, Hinata." Shino stated aloud with a little warmth filling his normally dry tone, causing Naruto to snap out his funk and look towards the door and, by proxy, the new arrival. Standing at the door was a young pale skinned girl about 12 to 13 standing at 4'10" in height. She had dark purple hair styled in a hime-cut that ended just above her forehead, with two stands of her hair ended a little below her chin. She wore a bulky long-sleeved fur lined cream jacket with a light red fire emblem on the upper left and right sleeves. She wore the standard navy blue pants that ended just above her ankle and a pair of regular blue shinobi sandals. Two things in particular stood out to Naruto, one more so than the other, with the first being the blue clothed hitai-ate around her neck. The other thing that stood out about her in Naruto's eyes, were her large white, with a tinge of lavender, eyes that lacked any form of pupil in them, which he instantly identified as being a Byakugan (All Seeing Eye). This young woman was none other than Hyuuga Hinata, heiress of the Hyuuga Clan and the class wallflower.

'N-N-Naruto-K-Kun? So d-different…So sex-x-y. ' Hinata mentally stammered out, an atomic blush lighting up her face like a tomato and her heart beating a hundred miles and hour, as she gawked in amazement at her crush's new appearance. For a brief moment Hinata's mind shut down from the sight of Naruto's new body, multiple thoughts overloading her brain, both clean and some VERY dirty, as she unconsciously leaked a small trickle of blood from her nose. Moments later her mind finally rebooted, her eyes finally coming into focus as she blinked a few times to get her bearings. 'Naruto-Kun g-graduated, thank Kami-s-sama!' Hinata thought with immense relief and happiness, her heart swelling with joy, at seeing the hitai-ate around her beloved's forehead.

"Hinata!" Shino said loudly, for him anyway, effectively breaking Hinata out of her love/lust induced trance. 'Hinata needs to confess her affections to Naruto soon, the longer she waits the less likely she'll get the outcome she desires.' Shino thought with a sigh as he idly watched his blue haired classmate climb the stairs towards the back of the class after releasing a loud "EEP!" in surprise.

'Odd girl, though I can't claim to be the poster child for normalcy.' Naruto thought to himself with some amusement,before he felt his emotions be quickly swept away by an unstoppable wave of melancholy and indifference. To the shock of those around him, Naruto began to change right before their eyes. With each passing second his skin and his hair slowly became paler and paler, his normally spiky hair loosing its luster until it finally hung down around his face. If the other residents of the room were able to see his face, they would be shocked to see Naruto's once vibrant blue eyes had changed into two icy glaciers that pierced the soul with a single glance.

The sound of the door opening instantly grabbed the attention of the room's occupants, causing them to look at the door to see the identity of the person, or people in this case, joining them.

The first person standing in the archway of the door was a young pale skinned boy about 13 years standing at about 4'11" with spiky black hair tied into a pony tail, making it look like a pineapple. He had narrow brown eyes and oddly enough small, silver hoop earrings in each ear; his face however was in a picture perfect example of pure laziness. His clothes reflected his overall lazy demeanor, by being relatively plain in nature in comparison to everyone else. He wore a green lined mesh t-shirt underneath a short sleeved, green lined grey jacket with a blue negative symbol on each shoulder with a blue hitai-ate tied around his left arm. On his legs he wore a pair of regular brown pants with a shuriken pouch tied to his right leg with a couple of bandages. And finally on his feet were a pair of blue shinobi sandals. With a tired sigh Nara Shikamaru, class slacker and heir to the Nara Clan, walked into the classroom, giving the others a good look at the compatriot.

Shikamaru's companion was a fair skinned…portly 12 year boy standing at about 5'0", making him one of the taller members of Naruto's graduating class. He had short spiky brown hair that was covered partially by his hitai-ate, which looked like an upside down diaper, allowing for two tufts of hair to be visible on either side of his head. Also like his compatriot, he wore a small silver hoop earrings in each ear. He wore a white shirt with the kanji for "food" on it, though most of the shirt was hidden by the green haori and the long white scarf he wore over it. He wore black shorts over his legs and wrapped bandages around his calves, as well as forearms, which ended just above his standard blue shinobi sandals. Happily munching on his barbeque potato chips Akamichi Choji, clan heir to the Akamichi Clan and chip enthusiast, entered the classroom along his best friend Shikamaru.

'Hm, who's that guy? Wait a minute…no way, it couldn't be. Blond hair, blue eyes, whisker marks…Naruto!' Shikamaru exclaimed mentally in astonishment, blinking repeatedly to make sure his eyes were playing tricks on him. "Naruto?" Shikamaru asked hesitantly as he eyed the white clad arrancar with suspicion in his eyes, his mind working overtime trying to find a rational answer to this complicated conundrum.

'No way…' Choji thought in astonishment, the shock of Naruto's new look causing him to almost drop his bag of chips. Almost mind you, as no self respecting Akamichi would dare drop their bag of chips, let alone any food, on the floor.

"Yes?" Naruto replied in an eerie monotone, one that sent shivers up Shikamaru and Choji's spines, as he eyed the two would-be shinobi with a cold, critical gaze. An awkward silence swept over the classroom as the resident lazy genius and white clad arrancar engaged in a brief stare down, which thankfully didn't last too long.

"…Ugh, you know what? I'm not even going to bother asking what happened to you, it's too troublesome to think about. But I do have to ask, what are you doing here Naruto? This is for people who graduated." Shikamaru groaned out with a sigh as he massaged the bridge of his nose, trying to alleviate the headache that was currently brewing in his head. 'Why can't life be simple and boring? Why does everything Naruto do have to be so damn troublesome?' Shikamaru complained mentally, silently cursing what ever forces conspired to make this day turn from average to just plain annoying.

"I did graduate; Iruka-sensei gave me a make up exam. Or was the headband tied around my forehead not enough proof for you?" Naruto replied coldly, mentally patting himself on the back for his impromptu excuse, as he closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

'Nice excuse Naruto-kun.' Nelliel said happily, her natural joy and exuberance seemed to resonate with every word that came from her mouth.

'Thank you Nelliel-san.' Naruto replied calmly, his monotone much warmer than normal, as a small smile made its way onto his face. Naruto took a long, deep breath through his nose as the silence of the classroom, only offset by the constant sounds of Choji eating chips and the crackling of said chips bags as Choji dug through them. With a calm sigh, Naruto slowly exhaled the breath he took as a strange calmness swept over Naruto. Time seemed fly by to Naruto, who at some point had fallen victim to the sandman's touch and dozed off, who unfortunately was awakened by a chorus of loud cries of joy made by howler monkeys.

"Gah!" Naruto blurted out in shock, his hand instantly clutching his sword's handle, as he awoke with a start. His eyes, which had a murderous glint to them, scoured every inch of the confined classroom for the source of the disruption. After a moment of scouring the classroom, Naruto finally homed in on the source of the commotion that awakened him from his peaceful slumber.

The source was a young, pale 13 year old boy with deep onyx hair, with two strands of hair that roughly reached his chin, which that was shaped, hilariously, like a duck's ass. He had dark black eyes that gleamed with his own arrogance, which along with the superior smirk on his face didn't give him much of a humble appearance. He wore a short sleeved blue shirt with a high collar that covered a good portion of his neck and a bit of his chin. On his arms he wore long white arms warmers, which stretched from his mid-bicep all the way to his wrists, with a blue belt at the wrist end holding it on. On his legs he wore a pair of simple white shorts with a black kunai holster tied to his right thigh and held down with bandages. He also wore blue shin guards (4) with bandages wrapped around them, and, to top it all off, he wore standard blue shinobi sandals. Unseen to Naruto at that moment, on the young boys back was a large white and red fan symbol, thus marking him as a member of, the now almost extinct, Uchiha Clan. To Naruto's displeasure, standing in the archway of the door was none other than Uchiha Sasuke, resident 'genius' and class asshole.

'Great, just great…' Naruto thought irritably, his ears ringing painfully from the sheer pitch of Sasuke's fan girl's annoying screeching. Scrunching his eyes closed, Naruto pressed his fingers to massage his temples in a vein attempt to soothe the stinging pain in his head. 'Finally!' Naruto thought as he released a sigh of relief, the pain in his forehead finally subsiding into nothingness. Naruto's eyes snapped open when he felt a presence appear next to him, his eyes shifting subtly to see who was sitting next to him.

'Dammit.' Naruto mentally grunted out, as much to his immediate displeasure it turned out that the person who had taken the seat next to him was Sasuke of all people.

Said Uchiha at that moment was preoccupied with looking out the window with an intense gaze, his elbows rested on the desk before him with his fingers interlocked in front of his chest. After a few moments of starring out the window, dreaming of the numerous ways to Itachi suffer in utter agony, Sasuke finally tore his blank gaze from the tree outside to that of the 'Dobe' sitting right next to him. 'Tch, does that loser really think that a new look will make him stronger than me?' Sasuke arrogantly thought with a mental sneer, his ego dismissing Naruto quicker than one of his fan girl's advances.

Without warning, a powerful rumbling sound swept over the classroom as the loose items, and some students, began to shake all over the place. The entire classroom shook with thunderous force; the papers and pencils on Iruka's desk flew off and clattered to the floor, where they continued to bounce around. Numerous students yelled out in shock as a few of them struggled to stay seated in their chairs, finding extremely difficult to stay on them when they are bouncing up and down like a pogo stick.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Is it an earthquake?"

"Oh Kami, we're under attack I know it!"

"Look, something's coming right towards us!" one of the students near the window cried out in terror, causing everyone to clamber near the windows and look outside. To many students shock and confusion, rocketing toward the academy appeared to be two figures side by side with enormous dust clouds trailing behind them as the ventured closer and closer to the outdated learning institution. Within seconds the two figures breached the main door the school, the shaking inside the classroom increasing twofold.

A loud crash came from outside in the hallway, muffled voices yelling in the distance at each other, barely comprehensible even to those with advanced senses. As the rumbling got closer and closer, the vibrations in the class got worse, which sounded like a herd of stampeding rhinos charging in the hallway. Said rhinos then threw the door open, both trying to force the other out of the way whilst spouting obscenities at each other, poor ones I might add.

"HA, I win Ino-Pig!" the first 'rhino' screeched out, revealing it to be a slightly pale 12 year old girl standing at about 4'8" with, weirdly enough, bright pink hair that stretched down to about her waist. She had rather striking large green eyes that shined like emeralds in the light. She wore a bright red, short sleeved qipao dress with a zipper going down the middle with multiple white rings on her arms and back. She also wore a pair of dark green shorts which ended roughly mid thigh with a kunai holster tied to her left thigh. And just like every other person in they're graduating class; she wore the standard blue shinobi sandals. The thing that, unfortunately, made her stand out was her abnormally large forehead, which was on display thanks to her using her blue clothed hitai-ate as a hair band. This howler monkey was none other than Haruno Sakura, resident bookworm, Sasuke fan girl, and Naruto's FORMER crush.

"No way Billboard-Brow, you totally cheated!" The other 'rhino' shrieked, turning out to be a young, fair skinned 12 year old girl with platinum blonde hair done up in a long pony tail that ended near the small of her back and with large bangs covering the right side of her face. She had large blue eyes which gave her an innocent look to her, or at least it would if she didn't have a nasty scowl on her face at that moment. Like Shikamaru and Choji, she was currently wearing a pair of small silver hoop earrings, barely noticeable to those who weren't looking for it. She happened to be wearing a fairly revealing outfit in comparison to her 'rival'. She wore a short, sleeveless purple vest like blouse with a large collar that rested on top of her shoulders. Similar to Sasuke, she wore a pair of long white arm warmers though unlike him, the straps holding the band on her were purple. Over her legs she wore a purple, apron like skirt that was cut off at the sides, exposing her bandage clad stomach and thighs. Her blue clothed hitai-ate was wrapped around her waist like a belt and last but not least she wore blue shinobi sandals, surprise-surprise. This was Yamanaka Ino, local gossip queen and Sakura's rival for Sasuke's 'love'.

"Did not Piggy!" Sakura yelled angrily as she got up close and personal in Ino's face with a furious glare.

"Did so Forehead!" Ino yelled in retaliation as she shoved her head towards Sakura's; their foreheads clashing against each other as sparks flew throw their eyes and clashed back and forth. A low growl rumbled in each of their throats, their fists were clenched tightly and were waiting for the opportunity to show the other 'their place'.

"For the love of Kami, will you two shut up? You're hurting Akamaru's ears with your damn screeching." A loud voice said angrily from the next row over, causing Naruto and most of the class to turn their attention to the source of said voice. He was a young, tan boy around 12 years old with; hidden at the moment, short spiky brown hair that was held up by his blue clothed hitai-ate. He had sharp, narrow black eyes which had thin vertical slits as opposed to normal round pupils. He had pronounced canine teeth that protruded from his upper lip, clearly visible when even his mouth was closed. He wore a long sleeved, dark grey hooded coat with black fur surrounding the hood and cuff links of the jacket. He also wore a pair of dark grayish pants that went to his mid calf and on his feet we're blue shinobi sandals. As if his feral appearance didn't make him stand out enough, he had two very distinct things that set him apart from everyone else. The first being the pair of large, red fang tattoos adorning his cheeks, signifying him as one of the Inuzuka Clan. The other being the small white and brown puppy, that was currently whimpering on the desk with its front paws over its long floppy ears. These two were none other than Inuzuka Kiba, local hot head and second heir to the Inuzuka Clan, and his ninken partner Akamaru.

"What did you say Dog-Breath?" Ino and Sakura yelled out in unison, their feud temporarily forgotten as they rounded on their feral classmate with their feminine rage. After mercilessly beating on Kiba, and scratching Akamaru's belly to say they're sorry, Ino and Sakura shook each others hand for a job well done, a pleased grin on both their faces.

'Sucker.' Sakura thought with an mental evil grin, as she pulled Ino close in and then, with a mighty push, sent her flying backwards as she herself ran to claim the seat next to her 'true love'.

'Cha, who did that piggy think she is, trying to sit next to our Sasuke-Kun.' Inner Sakura furiously ranted from her place in Sakura's subconscious, with the real Sakura agreeing with her completely.

'What the…?' Sakura thought in confusion, as she skid to a complete halt in front of the desk that her 'Sasuke-Kun' was sittingat. Sitting the seat that should have been 'rightfully hers' next to Sasuke was currently being occupied by some blond, admitting handsome, jackass. "I don't know who you are, but you're sitting in my seat next to Sasuke-Kun. SO MOVE!" Sakura yelled at the white clad boy, who had yet to respond to her 'reasonable' demand.

"FOREHEAD!" Ino yelled in anger as she stomped her way over to where Sakura was standing, her fists clenching to the point her soft, moisturized knuckles were turning white. "How dare you do that…to…me?" Ino ranted at the first but slowly drawled out when she took notice of the "gorgeous blond hunk" sitting next to Sasuke. 'Holy crap, he's so hot! Look at those abs… that face…go Kami, I think need to consider switching over to this guy's team.' Ino thought dreamily as she blatantly ogled Naruto's abs with a line of drool hanging from her gaping, dopy smile.

"Ino…Ino…Ino…PIGGY WAKE UP!" Sakura yelled as she repeatedly snapped her fingers in front of Ino's face in a desperate attempt to snap her out of her trance.

"Heh…and you're supposed to be the smart one of the class, simply pitiful." Naruto muttered with a small humorless laugh, as he closed his eyes and shook his head in both disbelief and disappointment.

"What did you say?" Sakura shrieked in a furious rage, her trembling fist clenched 'threateningly' in front of her, ready to the strike down the fool that opposed her at a moments notice. 'Who the hell does this guy think he is?' Sakura thought indigently as her rage grew with every passing second, her fists clenching tighter and tighter, just itching to strike down this 'blond asshole'.

"I called you pitiful Sakura, because that's what you are. You claim to be the smartest person in the class, and yet you couldn't recognize me when everyone else before you did in less than a minute. So I repeat. You. Are. Pitiful!" Naruto replied harshly his piercing glare locked firmly onto Sakura, who felt like unnerved underneath his unwavering gaze.

'Recognize him? How the hell am I supposed to recognize someone I've never met? Stupid blond Baka…wait a minute… n-no… it couldn't be him, there is now way in hell this guy is Naruto-Baka…could it? Naruto-Baka is my loyal little dog, he would never talk to me like this, not in a million years. But…the blond hair, the whisker marks, the horrible fashion sense, it has to be him. THAT BASTARD!' Sakura mentally pondered, her face scrunched up in thought, as she shifted from her initial denial to pure, unbridled fury.

"NARUTO-BAKA!" Sakura yelled in absolute rage, a large vein appearing on her massive forehead as she threw her fists back, ready to pound some sense back into Naruto and then pound Naruto into the floor. With a cry of exertion Sakura threw her fist forwards; her fist tearing threw the air like a bullet towards the top of Naruto's head. However, instead of the satisfying feeling of a person's skull crunching under her fists, Sakura's fist felt like it hit an unyielding steel wall. "Gah" Sakura cried out in anguish as an ungodly amount of pressure wrapped around her hand in a vice like grip.

"Sakura!" Ino yelled in a panic, her rival's cry of pain snapping her out of her lust induced trance. "Let go of her NOW." Ino demanded furiously as she, in a moment of brilliance for her, took out one of her kunai and immediately tried to stab Naruto. Sadly her plan was not meant to succeed as, with one hand still grasping Sakura, Naruto lashed out with his other hand and grabbed Ino's kunai with his bare hand. Ignoring Ino's stupefied expression; Naruto twisted the small knife from her hand and then proceeded to imbed it in the floor below with a well placed throw.

"My name is Naruto. Not Naruto-Baka or Dobe, or Loser. Just Naruto, and let me make one thing extremely clear Haruno. I am not your, or anyone else's, punching anymore, the doormat that let you do that is dead and buried. If you try to attack me again, I won't just defend myself, I will fucking DESTROY you. Do I make myself clear?" Naruto growled out angrily, completely ignoring Ino's yelling and attempts to attack him, as he applied more force onto Sakura entrapped fist, causing her to cry out in agony as she fell to one knee, trying desperately to try and free her hand from Naruto's crushing grip. 'Dammit.' Naruto thought with pity at seeing tears flow down Sakura's face, with an agitated sigh he released Sakura's hand.

Immediately Sakura clutched her almost broken hand to her chest, sobs threatening to escape from her throat as small tears poured from her eyes. She managed to send a small glare Naruto's way, her hate at that moment filling her eyes with a fiery glint. With from assistance from Ino, Sakura managed to walk over a desk three rows away from Naruto and sit down, still clutching her aching hand.

'Was that really necessary Naruto-san?' Harribel asked with an irritated edge to her voice, one that made Naruto practically see the glare she was giving him.

'Damn right it was necessary; you've got to show that weak bitch who's in charge Gaki.' Grimmjow stated with a large grin on his face as he punched his palm as if to emphasize his point.

'While I'll admit I might have gone a little too far, I'm not apologizing for defending myself. Besides, like Grimmjow said, this way everyone will know that I'm not to be fucked with anymore.' Naruto replied, his tone firm and unapologetic, as he crossed his arms stubbornly in front of him, ignoring the glares and murmurs of his classmates around him.

'We are going to finish this conversation later Naruto-san, one way or another.' Harribel warned with an angry tone in her voice, clearly unhappy with his answer, one that made Naruto feel a good amount of fear when it came to the buxom blonde Espada.

Thankfully the sound of the door opening tore Naruto away from imagining the horrible things that Harribel would do to him later.

"Good morning class and congratulations on graduating from this academy. From now on you will all be official shinobi in service not only to Hokage-sama but to Hi no Kuni in general. You will face numerous dangers and enemies as you carry out your missions with your comrades to the best of your abilities. It has been my honor to be your sensei for these last few years." Iruka said happily as he entered the classroom, now sporting a few bandages on his face, with a proud but serious expression on his face as he addressed his now former students.

"Now before I announced the teams that you will be assigned to for the rest of your gennin careers, I must address a new policy made by Hokage-sama last night. He has issued an exchange program system between gennin teams in order to help maximize your training progression and skills. What this means is, with a written request signed by your new squad leader, you can be swapped out with another student in order to be trained by their sensei for particular training you might need. Without any further distractions, let's begin the team selection process. Team 1 will be…" Iruka announced with a smile on his face as he started to list off the teams, though Naruto tuned him out for a minute as his mind tried to analyze the ulterior motive behind the 'exchange program'.

'What are you playing at Sarutobi? What's your angle here? How long have you been planning this and why now?' Naruto pondered with a frown on his face, trying to find the hidden agenda behind this seemingly good idea of Sarutobi's. 'This is giving a headache…screw it, I'll just figure out later or something.' Naruto thought in annoyance, mentally filing away his thoughts for later as he focused back onto what Iruka was saying.

"Next up, Team 7 will comprise of…"

What's up people of the internet? Legion here, I hope you enjoyed part 1 of this 2 part chapter. Originally this chapter was to include both parts but seeing as how long you guys have been patiently waiting for this chapter and the sheer length of this chapter, I felt like breaking it up into 2 parts. I wanted to get this chapter out a few days ago but between my new part time job and a little game called Borderlands 2, I've been very busy lately. I feel this isn't my best work, particularly during the second half of this chapter in the classroom, but I tried my best and that's all I can do.

If you felt like I could improve on something, please offer CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Flames will not be tolerated and properly ignored. Now to clear up some things that need to be cleared up in this chapter.

(1) Nagi is an OC of mine, mainly to be used for comic relief and occasionally a confidant for Naruto. He's not going to show up much in this story, at least not as of this moment, but when he does I plan to make the most of it.

(2) This will permanently replace Kyuubi's cage for the rest of this story, not a big deal but I felt I should tell you guys.

(3) To those you don't know there's an old wife's tale that states: When you feel a cold shiver up your spine, someone is walking over your grave.

(4) I really don't know what those things on Sasuke's legs were supposed to be so I just made them shin guards, if they weren't already.

One thing I need to address here is Naruto's personality and how bad he reacted to Sakura's attempted assault. That wasn't meant to be just Sakura Bashing, for the most part, but as an example of how damaged he is. After years of physical and mental abuse, numerous lies and betrayals and overall being sick and tired of dealing with people's shit, its not hard to imagine someone flying off the deep end once or twice. And that is something I plan to fully explore in this story, the depths of Naruto's psychological damage and how it manifests itself as I believe it makes him more of a human character.

I would like to thank some of the people who helped me get this story off of the ground. Skelo, who acted as my unofficial beta reader and frequent idea man, thanks for helping me with dialogue and the idea for the shinobi exchange program, I owe you man BIG TIME. Dregus, for helping me create a dynamic between Naruto and each one of the Espada residing within him. I would also like to thank Xager-the-Chaos-King, sblack13, XxXxSnowxXxX for offering their assistance, even though I didn't utilize their help this time. My next update is going to be a little…different compared to the rest of my work, one that should make my more perverted readers very happy. Until next time people, now if you'll excuse me I have to get ready for work.

Have a great Fourth of July, Legion…out.