There is no telling what we'll do for ourselves.
Forget about the rest.
This isn't what I had in mind.
I can't forget the feeling.
Things are not always what they seem.
This place confuses me.
-- Inhale, Exhale - I Needed A Space Ship (Instead I Got Problems)
Chapter 11: Set in Motion
Standing up, Naruto stumbled forwards. Reaching out with his hands, he only just caught the edge of Kyuubi's throne. He leaned over it until his body gave and he fell on the chair, not enough energy left to hold himself up.
Kyuubi stood on the stairs leading up to the throne, watching his counterparts every movement. Sighing tiredly, the great demon climbed up the steps, stopping in front of the blond sprawled out across his seat.
"Normally, I would tell you how pathetic you are...but," Pausing, the demon sighed again. "You're dying boy." Kyuubi spoke softly.
Naruto languidly opened his eyes. Squinting at the fox, he sat still, because he didn't have enough strength to speak or move.
"I guess it is a fitting end for you." Kyuubi admitted. "Betrayal seems to be your calling."
Naruto grumbled as he was lifted from the seat and into the demon lord's arms. He looked into the Kyuubi's eyes and he could see the disgust reflecting back. No doubt it took a great deal of the demon's pride to do such an act. Which left the blonde feeling cold inside. Kyuubi showing sympathy for him? Maybe he actually was dying.
Naruto grunted as they began to descend from the throne. The blonde had a million questions to ask his look a like, but instead he simply closed his eyes, exhaustion overcoming him. He fell asleep in the nine tailed fox's arms.
"He's your most loyal subordinate. Why are you doing this?" Naruto's eyes snapped open at the sound of his friends voice.
"Nel-chan, I'm afraid that is classified information," Aizen spoke in calm tone. "and you're not permitted to be in this room, so if you would please…" Aizen finished in a smug tone as he gestured towards the door.
Neliel was shocked and looked at everyone in the room. "YOU'RE ALL HORRIBLE!" She all but shouted.
"I know but…" Aizen drawled. "This world is not kind to the weak Nel-chan." he spoke with a smile.
Nel grit her teeth together as she listened to the explanation Aizen gave for experimenting on her personal friend.
"Oh, you're just a great leader, aren't you…" Nel said sarcastically.
"I am...to those strong enough to accept the needed sacrifices to obtain power that was believed to be unattainable." He smirked.
She marched up to the calm man and gripped his robes. "Do you enjoy acting so callous toward your comrades?" She said frostily.
"Do you ever think about what you're doing!?" She questioned. "Had you ordered him, Naruto would have stormed the gates of hell without hesitation!" Nel ended, her eyes burning with fury.
"Neliel, you don't seem to understand. When we're done here, anyone who opposes us, will burn like paper in an inferno." Gin stated, his creepy smile present on his face.
Nel spared the purple haired shinigami a glance before returning her attention to the man still in her grasp.
"Nel-chan. Regardless of your emotions we are going to continue, so I suggest you accept the inevitable." Aizen said in an aggressive tone, indicating he was no longer amused by her actions.
"If you believe I'm going to stand around and allow you to kill him, then you're a fool." She growled ferociously as Aizen grabbed her arm and removed it from his captain robes.
"Then you leave me with no other alternative." Sighing Aizen threw her across the room. Nel flipped In mid air, redirecting her landing position. The moment her feet touched the floor she charged forwards, heading straight for the smiling visage of Aizen Sosuke.
"Ulquiorra." Aizen said, his smile still intact, even as the raging hollow was about to ram him through with its horns.
Ulquiorra appeared in front Neliel and batted her away like a fly. Nel hit the ground hard, she rolled for a few feet before digging her feet and claws into the ground, trying to halt her momentum. Her efforts were in vain as she crashed into a pillar of stone and was buried underneath debris.
Nel exploded from under the pile of stone she was buried beneath and snarled at the apathetic hollow who had defended a shinigami.
"Why?" She asked, confused by his loyalty.
"It is what Aizen-sama wishes." Ulquiorra replied blandly.
"Are you stupid? If he'll do that to Naruto, what's to stop him from killing us all?" She shouted. Nel couldn't believe anyone would follow a lunatic who would dispose of them if it was a convenience.
"It is not my right to judge Aizen-Sama actions. However, I will judge those who try to hinder his goals." Ulquiorra said scornfully as he stared at the fuming hollow. It was obvious to him what she was trying to accomplish. To turn him against Aizen, in hopes that the two would be able to overcome the shinigami. He was no fool though, such an act of disloyalty would warrant nothing but his death. He was happier serving those stronger then himself, than being slain.
"Foolish." Ulquiorra muttered narrowing his eyes as Neliel went on the offensive again.
Nel's eyes were red with rage as she galloped forth, not caring that she was outmatched in numbers and skill. She made it four feet before she fell to her knees, blood streaming down her face.
"Nnoitra please escort Nel-chan outside." Aizen spoke politely.
Nnoitra nodded as he hit the centuar again, and her consciousness was whisked away. The pray mantis like hollow, known as Nnoitra, caught her before she fell and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Oh… and make sure she remains alive Nnoitra." Aizen hollered as both hollows disappeared from view.
"Well that was quite entertaining, wouldn't you say so Ulquiorra?" Aizen questioned, his attitude neutral and seemingly unaffected by the events that had just transpired.
"Yes…Aizen-Sama." The hollow in question nodded before exiting the room, leaving only Gin, Aizen and Naruto remaining.
Aizen approached Naruto shaking his head the entire way. "Ah…Naruto-kun I'm sorry if we disturbed you from your slumber."
Naruto just stared at his once trusted friend and Sensei, his eyes cold and empty. It hurt, knowing this man had planned, from the beginning, to use him. Betrayal was not a new experience to the blonde. In fact, his life used to revolve around it. It seemed that no matter where he went, what he did, or how he acted, people would always use him, and then discard him like trash.
His thoughts were interrupted as the back stabbing shinigami approached from the side, with a needle that was attached to a tube in his hands.
"Aizen-Sama, we've been able to draw out fifty percent of the Kyuubi's power." Gin 's voice echoed from somewhere else in the room.
Humming, Aizen walked toward the blonde, the needle glinting dangerously in his hand. "I must say Naruto-kun, you most certainly have the largest amount of energy I've ever seen stored inside of you." He commented in an offhanded manner.
Naruto watched, wide eyed, as Aizen brought the needle closer to his skin. Gently, the point of the needle glided down his bare chest, leaving a small trail of blood in its wake. Aizen kept his smug smile as he dug the needle into the blonde.
Naruto jerked, his body beginning to spasm as a red substance began to funnel through the tube in his side. Aizen laughed as he strolled away, ignoring the cold, almost bloodthirsty killer intent be directed at his back.
"We have a long night ahead of us, Naruto-kun." Aizen called over his shoulder, even as he left the blonde's sight. Naruto scoffed, he knew that bastard was no doubt going to find that creepy, violet haired shinigami, what was his name? Gin, Ichimaru Gin.
He wanted to escape these restraints, hunt them down, and make them burn by the very power that they so desperately yearned for. Naruto coughed as another jolt of pain racked his frame. It seemed that in his condition he wouldn't be moving anywhere for a very long time, if at all ever again. Looking down at himself, his eyes widened. All over his body similar tubes were drawing his reiatsu out, and into different machines.
Naruto's gaze was hazy, his vision wavering as he struggled to fight of the blissful calling of unconsciousness. He needed to stay awake, he had to remain alert, if only to prevent the Kyuubi from being killed with him. At the very least he would save his fathers life, even if death claimed him. Naruto knew he would die without any regrets knowing he'd gone alone, and one day maybe his father would exact vengeance upon all those who ever wronged him.
A cold hand touched his skin, and he immediately jerked away from it. Opening his eyes, that he had not realized were closed, Naruto was greeted with his Sensei's smug smile, as he held another needle in his grasp.
This procedure continued the same way for the next few hours. When one of the tubes was too badly damage from exposure to the volatile energy, Aizen, or Gin, would appear and replace the corroded tube with a new one. By the end of the third hour Naruto was barely breathing. He was covered in blood from all the wounds inflicted upon him from the sharp needles, and his normal, sun tanned skin was a sickly pale.
Blinking away the liquid gathering in his dull, sapphire orbs, he turned his gaze to the man standing in front of him. Watching, as if he was calculating his every movement, and facial expression.
Naruto's gaze didn't leave Aizen's. He stared back, unblinking, into his Sensei's dark brown eyes.
"I suppose I owe you an explanation, before you dissolve into nothing." Aizen said, running his hand through his brown locks in nonchalance.
Walking closer to the bloodied blonde, the shinigami placed a hand on top of his chest.
"To put simply Naruto-kun, we're extracting the Kyuubi's energy from you." Aizen said. "Normally, this would not have had any effect what so ever on you, but since you fused with the demon lord, his life force became your own."
Naruto noticed the shift in his Sensei's personality, saw the maniacal look in his eyes.
"So, after every ounce is removed from your body, you'll die." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man stating that he would cease to exist on this night.
Laughing, Aizen continued with his explanation. "Don't give me that look Naruto-kun. Out of everyone, you should have expected this, you can't house a demon, with over two-thousand years of knowledge and experience, and expect for your life to be plain and simple."
Aizen glanced at the blonde's stomach and unconsciously took a step back from what he could instinctively feel trapped inside the blonde haired Arrancar.
"The Kyuubi himself has almost been completely extracted, soon he will be trapped along side his power." Aizen said, his calm attitude present once again.
Naruto didn't have the strength left to respond, so he just stayed quiet and continued listening to the ranting shinigami.
"Oh, and Naruto-kun? You should never accept gifts so casually from a stranger," He said in a mocking tone. "for this…weapon was the cause of your demise." Aizen finished as he held the blonde's blue steel katana. The one that he had received, as a gift, from the devious shinigami holding it.
"I have to thank the twelfth division for coming up with such an ingenuous creation." He said smirking as he appraised the blade, twirling it in his fingers.
Tossing it in the air, Naruto watched as it flipped in the air countless times before losing its momentum and beginning its decent. The blade approached, faster and faster as it built up speed, falling directly at the unmoving blonde. Naruto didn't so much as twitch as Aizen's hand shot out, and caught the blade as it hovered just above his throat.
Aizen stared into the blonde's eyes, smirking, as he held the blade in front of the Arrancar's face.
"Everything I do has a purpose. I gave this to you, because it is a blade that slowly feeds off of the individual wielding it." He reached down with blade and placed the point of the blade against Naruto's pale cheek.
"Everyday this blade was on your person, it was absorbing a minuscule amount of your reiatsu and transmitting that energy back here." Aizen continued. "From the data collected off of your reiatsu we were able to create a device strong enough to house the nine tailed foxe's volatile essence." Aizen allowed a grin to cross his features as he looked at the dying soul.
"Soon, the special orb we've designed will contain the great demon lord Kyuubi, and his power shall be my own."
Removing the blade, Aizen turned to leave and walked a few steps away before stopping. "Naruto-kun, please understand, I had no intention of harming you. However, your alarming transformations have forced my hand." Aizen paused and shook his head sadly. "I cannot allow a being stronger than myself to exist, I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me."
With his words spoken, the traitorous shinigami vanished and Naruto felt his hate for the man growing steadily stronger. Naruto blinked, as a cold, hollow feeling invaded his body. It wasn't the last of his energy leaving him to die, no, there was still plenty left to draw. It was a familiar presence he could no longer feel inside of himself, which had simply vanished.
Naruto clenched his eyes tight as tears streamed down his face. He knew, in that instance, his father, the demon lord Kyuubi, had been absorbed. Something snapped in the blonde and his reiatsu flared, the heat easily burning through the restraints and tubes attached to him.
"Aizen-Sama!" Naruto could hear the panicked voice of Gin echoing off the walls. "Fūja Hōin…the Fūja Hōin! It's completely stopped assimilating the Kyuubi's energy."
Naruto would have cried if he wasn't surrounded by a cloak of reiatsu that instantly evaporated any form of liquid. His father had allowed himself to be consumed by the orb, so that once he was drawn inside, he could find a way to stop the absorption process.
Aizen and Gin appeared using shun-po to see the blazing inferno surrounding the Arrancar.
The blond lethargically turned his head, saw Aizen clenching his fists with an enraged look on his face.
Both shinigami watched, with a small amount of dread, as the inferno grew brighter, the heat intensifying.
All the power washed over the room, Aizen cried out in anger as he watched the flames consume him.
When the flames finally died away, there was no trace left of the first Arrancar to ever exist.
Minato stared into the furious, downright frightening, gaze of Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai, captain of the 1st Division and leader of the Gotei 13.
"Yamamoto-Sama, please, I beg of you to reconsider…" A bang from the old captain's cane silenced the blond immediately.
"Namikaze Minato. I have already stated that this hollow, or 'Arrancar,' is to be exterminated." The captain of the first squad stated, his gaze serious as he glared at the blond haired captain.
"Captains will now be assigned daily patrols, and if you encounter this monstrosity you are to report it immediately and stall the hollow until back up arrives." Yamamoto stated, his hard voice leaving no room for discussion.
Minato bowed his head low and stepped back into line beside Urahara Kisuke, who shot the third division captain a sympathetic look.
"If there is nothing further to report this meeting is adjourned." With another bang from his cane, the captains of the Gotei 13 quietly filed out of the room.
Minato was one of the first captains to leave the first division as he quickly made way back to his office.
As silently as any trained shinobi, Minato gathered up a few essentials and personal items into a bag. As he placed the last item into his sac, he felt the distinctive presence of two beings behind him.
"Don't you think you're acting a little hastily Sensei?" Turning around Minato was greeted with his lazy third seat leaning against his desk, and Jiraiya standing in the door way.
"I won't let this happen! I can save him, I know it!" Minato yelled quietly.
Kakashi stared at him lazily. "If you're going to leave Soul Society, now is the perfect time." Kakashi suggested, his gaze still focused on his captain.
Minato laughed as he approached Kakashi, and enveloped the man in a bone crushing hug. "Thank you." He whispered.
"Kid, you better have thought this through." Jiraiya said blandly. "Once you leave, all of Soul Society will be hunting you down, you'll be labeled as a traitor."
"And you know how persistent shinigami can be!" Kakashi added.
"Trust me, as your captain and friend. I know what I'm doing." Minato said waving off the two shinigami.
Jiraiya's eyebrows went up in surprise, but he decided not to comment. "Do you have any thoughts about where you're going to go?" Jiraiya questioned nonchalantly.
The sheepish look on his captain's face told him all he needed to know. "Oh man…" Jiraiya snorted.
"What? What's the matter?" Minato asked as he walked past the seal master.
"You're a fool, but you have our support." Jiraiya added with a grin.
Minato reflected his friend's grin as he repositioned the bag over his shoulder.
"I need you to meet me at this location, one month from now." Minato slipped Jiraiya a note before flickering as he activated shun-po. Snatching the note out of the blond's outstretched hand, he nodded before his captain vanished.
"I guess the fool actually did plan this out." Jiraiya muttered to himself. Kakashi looked at him expectantly.
Folding the note Jiraiya placed it in his robes and walked away, heading for his private quarters, laughing the entire way.
"Wait, you bastard! Tell me what was on the note Sensei gave you." Kakashi almost fell to the ground as he chased after the laughing shinigami.
Though neither knew it, that night father and son abandoned their previous selves, becoming rogue souls, enemies of both Hueco Mondo and Soul Society.
Here's an easter present for everyone, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm going to be taking a small break now to actually fix up the plot, and think off some more ideas to add. I'd also like to thank everyone who read/reviewed or alerted and favorited this story. It might not seem like much compared to other stories but to reach over a hundred reviews is a big thing to me, so thank you all. Another big round of aplause to my beta Vassago-Toxicity. Finally everything is set for canon to begin, I'm really looking forward to writing the second half of this story. Happy Easter everbody.