BLEACHed Chapter 7, a Naruto + Bleach Crossover fanfic

Kasek: Yeys! I'm updating this! Hope you guys enjoy!

Stormvos growled at the young shinigami in front of her. "Out of my way, brat! I'm going to kill him!" Naruto refused, and instead slashed at her. She raised her arm, and Naruto was surprised when his sword didn't cut through it. "I said... OUT OF MY WAY!" She pushed, and Naruto was sent flying. Minato's eyes widened as he managed to register what was going on.

"Na...ruto!"

Stormvos turned her attention back to Minato. "Now for you!" Minato disappeared in a flash of lightning, and reappeared by Naruto.

"Naruto... are you alright...?"

Naruto grit his teeth as he got up. "You're the one with a hole in your chest, why are you asking me?"

Minato coughed, some blood trailing down his chin. "Heh... I guess... it's the father in me..."

Stormvos eyebrow twitched, and she snarled. "Feh, you humans and your emotions... I don't understand it..."

Naruto was on his feet now, and got between Minato and Stormvos, sword raised. "I... I won't let you hurt my father!"

Stormvos charged him for a moment, and then she slowed down to a crawl. Naruto's eyes widened as everything around him seemed to stop. He heard the clink of metal on metal from his left, and he saw some sort of man coated completely in thick, blue-with-gold-trim armor. It wasn't samurai armor- that much Naruto knew. He had some weird helmet that completely covered his head, with what appeared to be a hole shaped like two rectangles intersecting (or maybe a thick letter 'v') so that he could see. The man took another step forward. "Namikaze Naruto... my name is..."

Naruto blinked. "Huh? Your name is...?"

The man sighed. "Strange... I thought for sure you'd be ready..."

Naruto blinked again as time began moving again, and Stormvos grabbed him by the throat, and held him high. "That's it... I'm going to kill you slowly..." She began emitting reiryoku, and Naruto could see some of it being channeled into his body from her arm. "Let's see if this has an effect on you..."

Naruto grit his teeth. "I... won't... let you!" His own spiritual energy exploded outwards, the pressure of it causing Stormvos to let go. "This reiatsu...! Who... are you...?"

Naruto's eyes seemed to glow. "My name is Namikaze Naruto! And I'm not going to let you hurt my father!"

Stormvos put a paw to her forehead as her face contorted in pain. "Argh.... what is this feeing.... Why do I feel like..... I should know that name...." Her spiritual energy came forth once again, and focused around her face. The energy solidified, and her mask reformed. "Keh... I've got a major headache, now... I'm letting you guys go. But be warned... if we meet again, I will kill you..."

A hole in reality opened behind her, and she walked through it. Naruto could only growl as it closed again, and the two shinigami (and one shinobi onlooker) were now alone. Minato coughed again. "Naruto... go get Sakura.... She's in the Fourth Division, she can fix this, partly...."

Naruto, struck dumb by the sight of his father so injured, merely nodded, and then reached out to feel Sakura's reiryoku, and could feel her coming straight for them. A moment later, she appeared by Chiyo and Kakashi's side, and looked around for Naruto and Minato. Naruto waved at her, and when she saw them, she dashed right over. Her eyes widened when she saw Minato's wound. "Namikaze-fukutaichou, you're hurt!"

Minato gave a slight smirk. "So you noticed... mind patching me up?"

Bancyning growled again as he sat up, having been knocked over again by a combination attack from Haku and Neji- Haku had frozen his legs, while Neji had used a technique to push him over. Bancyning noted that it was similar to the Bala technique he had seen used by other Hollows- condensed, well, it was chakra in this case, fired off from the hands and used primarily to batter the opponent. He broke off his legs at the knees and regenerated them again, and grunted. "That's it... I suppose I will call this a draw. Consider yourselves lucky in this regard."

A large black hole in the air appeared, and Bancyning jumped through it. Lee cheered as the hole closed behind the great menos. Zabuza grunted. "Great... I wanted to get a menos on my record... the guys are never going to let me live this down."

Haku giggled. "You could just not tell them."

Zabuza shook his head. "Nah... no action at all is even worse than not winning."

Pakkun sighed. "Can we get going now...?"

Zetsu sighed. "It looks like... the team with Namikaze Minato has chased off the creature that was attacking them, though Minato was injured."

Hidan laughed. "So, even the great shinigami bleed, eh?!"

Zetsu nodded. "However... it seems that the pink-haired girl is capable of healing him."

Hidan swore at the thought. "That's... just great. I feel sorry for you guys, having to deal with the Yondaime Hokage."

Deidara snorted. "If we're lucky, we'll get to leave before they get here, un. If we're really lucky, we face off with them and kill them."

Sasori closed his eyes. "...if we're lucky."

Naruto had the decency to look ashamed as his father glared at him. "Any reasons you decided to disobey orders?"

Naruto sighed. "Besides a strong need to come along on this mission? Not really. Besides, it all worked out in the end, right?"

Minato groaned. He knew Naruto was going to say that. "That doesn't mean that that was going to be the outcome no matter what! You're lucky your unnatural amount of reiryoku was enough to intimidate her!"

Naruto looked his father in the eye. "Speaking of her, what happened to you out there?! You see a pretty face and you let your guard down?!"

Minato did not like where this conversation was going. "Naruto, it's not like that at all!"

Naruto grit his teeth. "What about Mom, huh? What would she say if she saw you act that way?"

Sakura gasped when she saw Minato slap his own son. "Darn it, Naruto, listen to me!"

Naruto looked up at his father, shock in his eyes. "D-Dad?"

Minato sighed. "I don't know how to break this to you, but... I think... that that was your mother."

Naruto gulped. "Wh-what?"

Minato nodded, the motion making Naruto flinch. "Her face... was just like your mother's."

Naruto looked down at the ground. "....Kakashi-sensei said... that mom died during the sealing, from the force of the energies present... which means she died shortly after being exposed to a shinigami's reiryoku... which I guess could've turned her into a spirit like it did Zabuza and Haku... but without a shinigami to guide her..."

Minato hugged his son, tears rolling down his face. "Please... don't say anymore..."

Naruto gulped, but nodded. Chiyo sighed at the sight. "Geez... what an emotional family... How did such a man get to be Hokage?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Well... what can I say? The guy was a talented shinobi."

Team Gai and company arrived in front of the boulder that hid the Akatsuki and Gaara inside the cave. Gai looked at Zabuza and Haku's feet. "...if you don't have chakra, how are you standing on the water?"

Zabuza shrugged. "Spirit beings can gather reishi underneath our feet and stand on that instead. Works in the air, too."

As Gai nodded, Neji activated his Byakugan, the veins around his eyes bulging from the stress. His eyes widened at the sight. "A-amazing... I don't think... I can really describe what's going on in there..."

Gai grunted, and dashed towards the boulder, punching it. He sighed as he watched ripples of energy dissipate across the boulder's surface. "A barrier, huh?"

Their leader sighed. "It's getting noisy outside..."

Sasori grunted. "Looks like we're going to have to fight our way out after all..."

Naruto grit his teeth as he leapt from tree to tree. "Come on! We have to save Gaara!"

Minato sighed at his son's behavior. "Come on, now... if you were paying attention, Zabuza and Haku have already arrived there... we don't need to hurry anymore than what we are now, considering that it's only a short distance left... Besides, you can't go any faster."

Chiyo snorted. "Why do you care so much about Gaara, brat?"

Naruto's gaze softened for a bit. "Because... me and Gaara... we're the same."

Chiyo raised an eyebrow at the phrasing. "The same? And what's that mean?"

Naruto shook his head- finding the words to use was hard. "Because... just like him, I... I grew up alone and hated in that horrible darkness. If... I didn't have the people I did to help guide me through that darkness, I... I could've turned out exactly like him... well, the way he was before I gave him a beatdown, anyways. I heard... that after I died, Gaara visited my grave often before he left here to go home... He needed a friend, and yet... right when he thought he had found one... I died. So, I want to be there for him now, whether he lives through this or not... because right now he needs me."

Kakashi starting jumping alongside her. "Naruto... is the host for the Kyuubi no Youko. I doubt you could find anyone who understands Gaara like that in either Konoha or Suna... You know, something I've noticed is that... without saying much, Naruto could always become friends with anyone... I remember the day he made the supposedly heartless Demon of Kirigakure cry with just his words. Though Zabuza himself will probably never admit that to anyone..."

Chiyo smirked at that. "I've lived long, and seen many things... I've learned much about the world. When I learned that alliances with other countries were in name only... I came up with a method to protect Suna. ...I was the one who used the jutsu to seal Shukaku into Gaara. I did it for the village, but the result was only hardship... and even though we avoided other villages, one of those other villages is trying to save us... What I did was most likely a mistake... and now I've gotten so senile that I give up with ease..." She looked up ahead to see Naruto and Sakura chatting as they moved along. "Youth... such possibilities... I'm envious."

Kakashi chuckled. "Hey, you've still got quite a ways to go yourself. You're young enough, aren't you?"

Chiyo laughed at that. "Well then, maybe a senile old fool like me can still help..."

Lee shook his head. "What do we do?"

Gai crossed his arms in annoyance. "We have to break the barrier, but..."

Tenten brought up the question on everyone's minds. "...how?"

Kakashi's voice came from across the river. "That's a Gofu Kekkai."

Gai snorted in annoyance. "You're late... Kakashi."

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask. "We... ran into some trouble, that's all."

Lee's eyes widened in shock at who was with Kakashi. "Sakura-san...? Naruto?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. "Oh, um... hi, Lee."

Sakura seemed very shy all of a sudden. "L-Lee..."

Neji was very surprised. "You two... are shinigami as well?"

Naruto chuckled. "Yep! I'm still a newbie though... my dad here's a real shinigami!"

Minato patted Naruto on the head. "Aw, stop, you're embarrassing me."

Gai's eyes widened at the sight. "Wait a second.... you're... the Yondaime Hokage!"

Minato nodded. "That's me alright."

Tenten's mouth hung open. "Wait... Naruto is the son of a Hokage?"

Neji smirked at the thought. "Heh, maybe you really were fated to be Hokage after all."

Naruto scowled at him. "I thought I knocked that destiny nonsense out of your thick skull."

Tenten noticed something else. "Who's the old woman?"

Kakashi smiled again. "Ah... Chiyo of Suna. She claimed she was all the backup we needed."

Chiyo laughed. "You bet I am!"

Gai shook his head. "We need to focus! Let's get started, now!"

The leader shook his head. "Sasori, Deidara, deal with the ones outside. The rest of you, scatter."

Pakkun sighed. "I'm not going to be much use from here on out, so I'll skedaddle."

Kakashi nodded in response. "Good work, Pakkun."

As Pakkun disappeared in a cloud of smoke, Gai turned to Kakashi. "So, how do we take this out?"

Minato spoke up for him. "Gofu Kekkai is created with five tags with 'kin' written on them placed around the vicinity. To remove the barrier, you have to remove all of the tags at the same time."

Kakashi nodded. "That about sums it up. Neji."

Neji nodded back, and activated his Byakugan. ".....found them. On top of a rock about five-hundred meters north-east of here... On the trunk of a tree on a riverbank, three-hundred-and-fifty meters south-east... On a rock wall six-hundred-and-fifty meters north-west... and on a tree in a grove about eight-hundred meters south-west of here."

Gai took out a small radio piece. "If that's the range, we'll use these, then. We'll be able to use Neji's directions over the radio to find them, and then use them to coordinate their removal."

Tenten nodded as her radio was put in place, the radio itself wrapped around her neck and an earpiece where it ought to be. "Radio placement, ok!"

Gai turned to Kakashi. "My team is faster, so we'll go. The frequency is one-seven-four. Wait for our message!"

Kakashi tapped the radio around his own neck. "I'll be waiting..."

Gai pumped his fist. "Team Gai! Let's go with the full power of youth behind us! Scatter!"

As they disappeared, Zabuza sighed. "Seriously... the power of youth... what's up with that?"

Haku giggled again. "Maybe you don't get it because you're old."

Zabuza grunted. "If I'm old, then explain to me what the heck Yamamato-sotaicho is?"

Neji landed next to his tag. "Lee, a bit farther south."

Lee nodded as he spotted it. "Got it!"

Tenten spoke next. "Same here!"

Gai's voice crackled over the radio. "Alright, then. Remove the tags!"

Kakashi ripped the tag off of the boulder, and immediately applied an explosive tag. As he jumped off, Zabuza took the sword off of his back and jumped at the boulder, and with several sword slices several cracks appeared in the boulder. The explosive went off, and the pieces were all blown inwards.

Gai heard the explosion through the radio. "Looks like we were successful." He turned when he heard a noise behind him (which was lower down the rock wall). Some... thing, made out of the rock the wall was made of, was coming out of the ground. "Neji."

Neji grit his teeth. "Here too." He took a fighting stance as the material rising from the ground took on color and shape, turning into a clone of himself.

Tenten swore. "What's with this?"

Lee steeled himself. "Perhaps it is a trap of the enemy's..."

Gai nodded in agreement, even though the only one who could see him was his clone. "It seems that, should the barrier fail, this trap activates to further frustrate the ones trying to gain entry."

Neji shook his head. "Going this far... these are some people."

As everyone entered into the cave, many of their eyes (or just an eye in Kakashi's case) widened as they saw what was inside- two Akatsuki members, a normal looking blond and a squat, hunchback looking man, were waiting for them, and the blond was sitting on Gaara. Next to the blond was a large, grey bird. Near that stood... well, Gaara's ghost. His chain was broken. Deidara smirked at the sight of so many. "Well, well, shinigami... if you're here to take this guy's soul, you're just in time!"

Naruto grit his teeth. "How could you...!" His gaze turned to Gaara. "Gaara, I... I'm sorry we didn't get here in time..."

Gaara nodded. "Naruto? You are... a shinigami?"

Naruto forced a smile. "Y-yeah... I'm sorry you died, but... hey, the afterlife isn't so bad... and you can always come back as a shinigami like we did..."

Deidara rolled his eye- the other one was hidden beneath his bangs. "Well, if you don't mind, we're going to be leaving now."

Naruto glared at him. "And why should we let you?!"

Minato put a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto... it is not our place to avenge Gaara. Our job is to make sure he passes on. Avenging him is up to Kakashi and Chiyo, if they so choose."

Gaara shook his head. "It's... alright. Let them go."

Deidara patted Gaara's corpse on the cheek. "Yeah, you heard the man, let us go, un."

Naruto glared at him, and began expelling reiryoku. Deidara's eye widened. "What the...? You feel that, Master Sasori?"

Sasori nodded. "It seems shinigami are not to be trifled with..."

Naruto took a step forward. "At the very least, give us the body. Now."

Deidara smirked. "And if I say no?"

Naruto began to dash towards them, but was held back by Minato. "Let me go, dad! I'm going to rip them apart!"

Minato shook his head. "I can't let you do that, Naruto."

Deidara began grinning. "You hear that? The Yondaime Hokage has a son! Oh, joy, maybe I'll get to kill two birds with one stone. Iwa would call me a hero if I did, un! Well, if I hadn't betrayed them and all that, un."

Naruto growled, and began emitting as much reiryoku as he could. Sakura let out a gasp as she collapsed under the reiatsu Naruto was emitting. Minato scowled. "Naruto! Stop this right now!" However, Minato's eyes widened when Naruto's yellow reiryoku began turning red. "N-Naruto! You need to stop this, before...!" Naruto swung his arm, and Minato was repelled by a shockwave.

Naruto held out his hand in front of him, and the red reiryoku concentrated there, as well as right next to his sword sheath. A moment later, there was now a sword with a white-and-gold weave hilt and a golden, V-shaped tsuba in his hand, and a pure white sheath was at his side. He held the blade towards the two members of Akatsuki, and put his hand on the back of the blade. He heard a familiar voice in the back of his head, though it sounded... more human, if he had to put words to it. "Say my name, boy! SAY IT!"

Naruto grit his teeth. "Hunt, Zorraluz!"

There was an explosion of reiryoku, and everyone had to shield their eyes from the harsh red light. When it was over, not one person was not staring in shock at Naruto. He had gained some kind of white , bone like armor over his body. There was a chest plate, four long pieces of armor hanging from his waist, leg armor that covered his feet, shoulder-plates, and armor on his arms and hands. The armor on his limbs ended in claws. There was more armor, forming a band that covered his forehead and the sides of his face, that had two protrusions that jetted backwards at the top corners. Minato knew what they were- ears. Fox ears. Naruto turned to his father, and he could see that his eyes had turned red, his pupils had slitted, and the whisker marks on his cheeks were far more pronounced.

Naruto growled, which sounded unnaturally beast-like. "I'll be right back."

Deidara's eye widened when he saw Naruto disappear. He didn't even get to swear before he was kicked in the head towards Sasori, and both became a tangled heap some distance down the cave.

Minato swore as he pulled out his zanpakuto and traced his finger along the blade. "Strike, Kyudenmaru!" The blade shifted into its secondary form, and in a flash Minato was between Naruto and Akatsuki. "Naruto! We're not allowed to kill, remember?!"

Naruto snorted. "Then I'll beat them to within an inch of their lives and make them wish for death."

Deidara got back up again. "Geez... what is this kid, un?"

Minato sighed. "You guys might want to get out of here while you're still alive."

Deidara patted his robe. "Saved by the Yellow Flash... if I was still an Iwa-nin, they'd never let me live it down, un!"

Sasori grunted. "Let's get out of here before you give the kid more reason to hate your guts."

Naruto snarled at his father. "Why are you letting them go?!"

Minato sighed at his son. "Because... Gaara told us to, remember?"

Naruto seemed to calm down at this, and he stared at the ground as Deidara and Sasori boarded the giant bird. "...I..."

They were interrupted when a hole in reality tore open by the giant bird, causing everyone present to freeze. Zabuza groaned at the sight. "Don't tell me... another Menos?"

However, this time the hole was much smaller- just large enough for a person to step through. Indeed, that is exactly what happened, as a white-clad boy walked through. Minato analyzed the boy- he was probably about Naruto's age. He had on what looked like an inverse of the shinigami uniform- it had white with black lines. He even had black socks and white sandals. He had two swords- one of which had a white sheath and a white weave like Naruto's, the other with a black sheath with a blue weave. The blue one was at his right side, and the white one on his left. He had some strange pieces of white material below each dark eye that covered his cheeks, and between the eyes and to the top of his forehead, each with a comma shaped hole in it. His white hair framed his face, and stuck up a bit in the back.

Naruto had yet to turn around, as he was still staring at the floor. The boy spoke. "Ah... what's this I hear about someone using their Resurrección?"

Naruto seemed to recognize the voice, as he whirled around and faced him. "Sa... Sasuke...."

'Sasuke' seemed to regard Naruto for a moment. "....Naruto? I can't tell whether you're a shinigami or an Arrancar..."

Minato tensed at those words. "You're an.... Arrancar?"

Sasuke looked over Naruto's head at Minato. "...Is there some relation between you two?"

Naruto clenched his fists, making sure not to cut himself with his own claws. "Sasuke.... you're... human..."

Sasuke smirked. "...Sort of. It's a long and complicated story, I assure you."

Naruto had tears in his eyes. "I... was told that... you were..."

Sasuke's smirk disappeared. "A Hollow? Yes, yes I was. And technically still am, too."

Zabuza growled at the sight of the boy. "What's going on here? The only human Hollows I've ever heard of are Vasto Lorde class menos... and then there's the fact that you don't have an entire mask on..."

Sasuke glanced towards Zabuza. "You seem familiar.... ah, you two are... Zabuza and Haku. Long time no see. Oh, and old Kakashi, too."

Haku stiffened at Sasuke's gaze. "How can you be so... yourself, despite being a Hollow?"

Sasuke smirked. "You know, everyone always asks me that... I don't know how, I just am. As for Zabuza's question... I am an Arrancar. A Hollow that has removed part of its mask in order to gain more shinigami-like form and abilities."

Naruto gulped. "So you're still a Hollow then..."

Sasuke turned his gaze back to Naruto. "Well, your appearance says... so are you. After all, I was sent here to investigate an Arrancar releasing his zanpakuto... and the only one here who fits the bill is you."

Naruto gazed down at himself for the first time since he had released Zorraluz. "I'm... a Hollow...?"

Minato sighed. "I think it's more the case that... what's inside of you... has become a Hollow."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What's inside of him? This I'd like to hear... does this have to do with the red chakra from our battle?"

In a flash of lightning Minato was clashing blades with Sasuke, Sasuke having taken out the blue-weave sword to block. "Ah, I forgot... I'm a Hollow, you're a shinigami, we need to try to kill each other.. well, since you have your zanpakuto released, I guess I'll release mine, as well."

He deflected Minato's zanpakuto, and raised his own above his head. "Shave.... Samehada." The sword expanded, and became a zanbato. Then, many, many blue spikes jutted out of it, all of them pointing down. Sasuke then swung the sword, if it could be called that, down at Minato, who jumped out of the way and avoided the strike as it struck the ground, sending rocks scattering everywhere.

Deidara shook his head. "You know what, forget this crap, I'm out of here, un!" The giant bird flapped its wings, and started flying out of the arena.

Sasuke smirked as he saw them try to leave. "Ah, I've been needing some target practice." He raised his right hand from Samehada and pointed at Deidara and Sasori with his middle and index fingers, and energy seemed to crackle around them. Deidara, hearing Sasuke's statement, turned to face the boy while his bird flew straight.

"Catch me if you can, un!"

Sasuke smirked, and a great beam of purple energy erupted from his fingertips. Deidara's eye widened, and the bird maneuvered out of the way in time as the beam passed them and flew out the entrance of the cave, striking the far rock wall and creating a large explosion. Deidara stuck his tongue out at Sasuke as the bird left the cave and out of sight.

Sasuke sighed in disappoitment. "I should have made the beam wider.... even a low power cero can wipe out someone who does not now how to reflect it.."

Gaara spoke up. "Why are you doing this, Uchiha?"

Sasuke smirked. "Ah... a Plus... I didn't even notice you there." Sasuke took a step towards Gaara, and in an instant both Naruto and Minato were between the two of them. "Oh? You think you can stop me? Amusing... you are... a vice-captain, correct? Admittedly, you are the most powerful shinigami I've ever faced..." He pointed Samehada at them, still smirking. "...but do you really think you can take me on?"

Zabuza interrupted them. "Hey, brat... where'd you get your hands on Samehada? And how the heck is it a zanpakuto?"

Sasuke glanced towards Zabuza. "I took it off of some shark-man. I think his name was Kisame... He didn't need it anymore after I ate him. As for its zanpakuto status, I believe this sword came into being when some blacksmith came across the method for forging physical zanpakuto here in this world... but since this blade was masterless to begin with, it attaches to the one it believes deserves its power most. Since I defeated its old master effortlessly, it serves me now. Now, may I get around to annihilating you or is there more you want to talk about?"

Zabuza smirked. "Well, there is one last thing I want to say... Silence, Kasumi!" His zanpakuto suddenly exploded into mist, which hung around his body. Zabuza charged Sasuke, who merely smirked. "Mist? Some things never change..." However, his thoughts were on something else. There's obviously a trick to it... or else his zanpakuto would not have disappeared...

Minato grit his teeth. "Zabuza, stand down! He's too far above you!"

Zabuza stopped in his tracks, and the mist with him. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Great... well, we elected you team leader for this, guess I have to listen..."

Sasuke sighed. "I think I've wasted enough time here... My mission was to find the Arrancar who dared release in this world, and bring him back for a punishment... I think they'd be far more interested in learning that a shinigami of all people has acquired an Arrancar's zanpakuto."

Naruto drew his original zanpakuto. "Sasuke! You think I'm going to just let you go when I can purify you here and now?!"

Sasuke chuckled at the thought. "You, purify me? That's a laugh. Besides... what if I told you I like being a Hollow?" He placed Samehada over its sheath, and in a flash of light it was back in its sealed form. He then slid it into the sheath, a small clink signifying that it was in place. Then, he grabbed hold of the other sword with his right hand, and drew it from its sheath. He pointed it at Naruto. "I could take you on right now even with your Resurrección... What makes you think you'd be able to take me on with mine?"

Naruto grit his teeth. "Why you-! I'm gonna purify you right now!"

Naruto was about to take a step forward when he was blasted back by some manner of concussive force. Sasuke clicked his tongue. "Look, they're really expecting me back now, so see you later. Oh, and say hi to Sakura for me, will you?" The same hole Sasuke had came through opened once again, and he stepped through it. Naruto grit his teeth as Sasuke sheathed his sword yet again and gave a lazy salute. "See ya."

Naruto swore as the hole closed, and his yell echoed across the cave. "SASUKEEEEEE!!!!"

Everything was going back to normal- Sakura had woken up, Minato had taught Naruto how to reseal his zanpakuto, Team Gai had come back, and Naruto was about to perform his first konso by sending Gaara to Soul Society. However, Chiyo had other plans. "Wait! I want... to try something first."

Naruto blinked as he looked at her. "Eh? Try something?"

Chiyo nodded, and walked over to Gaara's corpse. She laid her hands on his chest, and began concentrating chakra into her hands. Naruto could see the chain on Gaara's spirit body begin to lift and point towards Gaara's body. He watched in amazement as link after link began to form in mid-air, and the chain slowly grew towards Gaara's body. Gaara, possibly understanding what was going on, walked over to his body and kneeled next to Chiyo. "...you don't have to do this, you know."

Chiyo smiled. "What's the life of an old hag like me compared to yours.... Kazekage-sama. Sunagakure would have a fit if you came back dead."

Minato's eyes widened. "You don't mean she's..."

Kakashi nodded, his Sharingan eye watching the event. "Yes... she really is..."

Neji frowned. "I can't just believe that such a convenient jutsu exists..."

Chiyo smiled- it seemed... bittersweet. "Of course... it's an equivalent exchange... one life for another."

Sakura's eyes widened. "But then that means that you'll...!"

Chiyo laughed at her. "I was probably going to die of a heart attack one of these days anyways! Gyahaha!"

Sakura shook her head. "This is no laughing matter! Life should not be taken so easily!"

Chiyo gave a sigh while still smiling. "I'm seventy-three, young shinigami. I think the few years I have left are better spent giving Gaara here his next fifty years than living with my brother in some peqace and quiet."

Soon, the jutsu was finished, and Gaara's chain connected to his body. He was immediately tugged back into it as soon as the chain connected, and after that his body slowly opened its eyes. "Ugh... that feels... very weird..."

Chiyo slumped over, and her spirit was forced from its body. The chain shattered into many small pieces that seemed to evaporate instantly, leaving only a few links left on Chiyo's chest. Chiyo sighed. "Well, it's done... now, Naruto, right? I believe you were going to send your first soul to the afterlife."

When they were suddenly surrounded by Suna shinobi, they were surprised- not by the fact that ninja from Suna had come to help their Kazekage, but at the sheer amount of them that had come. Naruto's eyes were wide. "There must be a hundred of these guys!"

Temari and Kankuro appeared at the front of the group. Temari smiled at her younger brother. "Hey there... Gaara."

Kasek: I'm going to end the chapter here. Phew, I can't believe I actually managed to get around my writer's block for this! The WB for this chapter has been killing me for months.

...darn it, I have a bad habit of ignoring Kakashi. First he's not even in the fight with Stormvos at all (I've fixed that, if you care to look), and now he gets one mention during the whole cave thing.

Also, I apologize for skimping out on the battles at the beginning of the chapter. It was the only way I could get out of my writer's block. I've done this same thing before in this very fic- when in doubt, skip it.

Notes:

Naruto has a high-captain class reiatsu, but he can't control it very well sometimes, similar to but not the same as Ichigo. Whereas Ichigo has very little control over it, Naruto has at least moderate control because he's been trained to control reiryoku since a young age. An adjuchas menos is said to be equal to a vice-captain in power, so Naruto's reiatsu was more than enough to frighten Stormvos away.

Speaking of- reiryoku=spiritual energy, reiatsu=spiritual pressure.

This is pre-Aizen, so Sasuke is a natural-born Arrancar. Also, I wish I could draw so I could show you, but the pieces of mask under Sasuke's eyes are supposed to make him look like Itachi somewhat.

Naruto's regular zanpakuto- Bet you guys hate me for not revealing it, huh? Care to guess what its shikai form looks like?

Zorraluz (Light fox)- Named after the fact that the Kyuubi's Yang energies lie within Naruto. Gives Naruto armor with claws and enhanced speed and strength just like the old days when he drew on the Kyuubi's power. Just how strong this release really is remains to be seen. Yes, this means that the Kyuubi within Naruto has turned, not just into a Hollow, but an Arrancar.

Kasumi (Mist; different from Kiri=Mist)- Mist-related zanpakuto. Abilities are hidden for now ;p

Samehada (Sharkskin)- Come on now, you guys know this thing's abilities. Bet you can't wait to see its Bankai.