Chapter 2: By The Numbers
It had already been a nearly half a century since Naoto and Sano were recruited into the arrancar army by Ulquiorra himself where they trained themselves in the use of their new abilities and honing their skils while serving as unranked soldiers. And as they had agreed upon, they held back their true abilities and even discovered a method to seal off most of their reiatsu.
But despite their best efforts to suppress their powers and keep a low profile, they knew that their spiritual pressure was still too high to remain unranked soldiers for very long without arousing suspicion. So they did what any good shinobi does when faced with a difficult predicament.
They adapted.
Knowing that a vast majority of the unranked arrancars were an ambitious lot who wanted nothing more then to advance rank, Sano and Naoto went with the flow and began to make a name for themselves to get them noticed by their superiors.
Sano became known for his swordsmanship, speed and uncanny ability to read an opponent's moves and react accordingly in a battle.
Naoto established a reputation for his raw power, sheer toughness and resilency as well as his unconventional battlefield skills and tactics.
Both also demonstrated a level of mastery over their own abilities that was beyond any normal arrancar and possesed intelligent, insightful minds.
Their hard work eventually pays off when one day, they were summoned to meet the head of the Arrancar army himself, Aizen Sosuke.
And this is where we find the two arrancars today. Walking down the long hall of Las Noches towards the throne room, Naoto and Sano looked a lot different from the wild, feral state which Ulquiorra found them in Menos Forest.
Sano wore a typical arrancar uniform except that his white jacket was unzipped almost all the way and instead of the normal sash around his waist, opted for a thick rope. He also wore a pair of long, black fingerless gloves as well as white hakama, socks and sandals and secured to the back of his belt was his zanpaktou (Author's Note: Think modified version of Sasuke's Shippuden outfit).
Naoto's outfit consisted of an unzipped shortsleeved white longcoat with an upturned collar instead of the normal short arrancar jacket over a white vest, white hakama secured by a black sash and white socks and sandals. Like Sano, he also wore long fingerless gloves though his was white and had metal plates on the back of the hand. Naoto held his zanpaktou in his right hand.
As they neared the main throneroom, a sneering arrogant voice stops them in their tracks.
"Well well well.... if it isn't Lord Aizen's new golden boys." A sneering voice said. Both Naoto and Sano looks back and sees another pair of arrancar looking at them. One was a runty looking arrancar with jagged teeth whose mask remnant was the hammerhead shaped helmet on his head. His taller companion had long blonde hair with a horned mask fragment on the top of his head.
"Excuse me? Were you talking about us?" Sasuke asks coolly.
"Who else would I be talking about?" The runty arrancar stated walking towards the two and studying them up close. "You guys don't look like much. Just some damned gillians who wanna be arrancars. Why would Lord Aizen have so much interest in you when he already has us Numeros?"
Naoto and Sano glances at each other. Numeros were the combat specialists of the Arrancar army and these two were obviously part of them. But what did they seem so hostile?
"Stop that D-Roy. We'll get in trouble if you keep this up." The blong arrancar said.
"I'm just reminding these gillians of their place here Ilfort." The one identified as D-Roy said.
"Our place right now is with Lord Aizen and you're delaying us buddy." Naoto stated in a bored tone of voice.
D-Roy was instantly in Naoto's face. "You talkin' back at me gillian? Don't you know who you're talking to?" He snarls.
"What? You goin' senile in your old age? I mean, you even forgot your name." Naoto said cheekily. In response, D-Roy turns away for a moment before whipping right back with a spearhand, intent on running Naoto through.
But Naoto quickly reacts by raising his left hand and uses the metal plate on the back of his glove to block the attack.
"You're dead gillian! NOBODY makes a fool of me and lives." D-Roy snarls.
"That's coz nobody ever bothered because you're so weak that they'd be accused of bullying if they tried!" Naoto shot back and rams the iron ball of his rochin into D-Roys stomach and drives him back.
Ilfort looked like he was about to jump in and intervene on his comrade's behalf but in a burst of Sonido, Sano disappears from his spot and reappears blocking Ilfort's path. "Let's let the children work out their differences on their own, shall we?" Sano stated, his hand lingering over his sheathed zanpaktou.
Back with D-Roy and Naoto, the short Numero recovers from the blow by Naoto and glares at him.
"That's it gillian. Lord Aizen or not, I'm gonna destroy you for laying your filthy hands on me." D-Roy snarls as he starts to draw his zanpaktou, putting Naoto on his guard.
All of a sudden, a crushing spiritual pressure abruptly stops the fight between the two factions as another another group of arrancar steps into view.
There were four of them.
One was a calm looking tal and slender arrancar with braided black hair whose mask remnant covered his head and left eye.
Another one was a big, muscular red-haired arrancar whose mask fragment consisted of the bony protrusion on the bridge of his nose.
The third one was a big and fat arrancar with the right part of his face covered by the remnant of his mask.
But it was the arrancar wearing a light blue hair and eyes with the jawbone on the right side of his face which catches the attention of Naoto and Sano. The guy had an insane spiritual pressure which he didn't even try to hide. They haven't felt anything like it since their meeting with Ulquiorra at the Menos forest.
So this could only mean that this Arrancar is an Espada.
"D-Roy!! Ilfort!! Where the hell have you two been?" The unnamed Espada barked then looks at Naoto and Sano. "And why the hell are you messing around with these gillians?"
Before Naoto could retort, Sano was instantly behind him and covers his mouth with his hand and spoke.
"Our apologies. We were summoned by Lord Aizen when these two stopped us for some reason." Sano said, gesturing towards D-Roy and Ilfort.
"Bullshit!!" D-Roy snarled. "These fricken' gillians were picking a fight with us and...."
"Shut up!!" The Espada growled then studies both Naoto and Sano who felt as if he was sizing them up. "So you two are the guys Lord Aizen called huh? The ones Ulquiorra was talking about?"
"If they are the same arrancars which Ulquiorra was talking about, then it is fortunate that we stepped in when we did." The tall, calm arrancar said then faces Ilfort and D-Roy. "For your information, these two are the only hollows known to have removed their masks inside the Menos forest and become arrancar."
"INSIDE the Menos forest?" D-Roy exclaimed. "But wait. If they became arrancars in there, then what happened to the other hollows in the forest?"
"Many were devoured by them obviously." The tall arrancar said casually. "And that would mean that their power is NOT to be trifled with especially by you two at your current levels."
"What? No way! These two are them?" Ilfrt said then looks warily at Naoto and Sano. Unfortunately for him though, their masks hid their expressions quite well and all Ilfort got was two masks looking back at him impassively.
"What are your names?" The Espada asks curtly, eyeing the two in interest.
"Uzuki Sano."
"Namejin Naoto."
"Uzuki Sano and Namejin Naoto, eh?" The Espada said, a wide sinister grin growing in his face. "I'll remember your names so you better remember mine. I'm the Sexta Espada, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques. See you around." And with a curt nod, Grimmjow and his companions leave.
"Well that went well." Naoto said in disgust as they continued their trek towards the throne room. "I hate bullies like that D-Roy who thinks they can push us around just coz he ranks higher then us."
"While I'll admit that he WAS annoying the hell outta me, did you really have to antagonize him?" Sano asks. "We ARE trying to keep a low profile, right?"
"Like I said, I hate bullies like him." Naoto said. "He reminds me so much of the kids that used to beat me up just for the hell of it when I was small."
"Yeah well I was more interested with that Espada, Grimmjow." Sano said, thoughtfully. "He didn't seem like the type who'd just take orders from anybody and he's just the sixth. I wonder how strong the other Espadas are."
"Forget the Espadas. How strong is this leader of the Arrancar army to have powerful hollows like them following his orders? Who IS this guy anyways?" Naoto said. "I guess we're about to find out won't we?"
"Yeah. Let's focus on this meeting with this Aizen Sosuke. Maybe we'll find out some more about him." Sano said as they reached the door of the throne room. They push the massive door open and enters the darkened throne room.
"Welcome my brother arrancars." A voice speaks out. The entire room brightens and their attention turns towards the throne.
Sitting on the throne and glaringly conspicuous by the uniform he wore was a shinigami.
Instinctively, Sano reaches for his zanpaktou while Naoto brandishes his rochin.
"There will be no need for that." Another voice cuts in. From behind the throne, Ulquiorra steps out into view and studies the two arrancar in front of him. "Excellent reaction. It's just as I expected of you two. But the shinigami you see in front of you is not an enemy. He is in fact, the leader of the Arrancar army, Lord Aizen Sosuke." Ulquiorra said.
The two arrancars looks at the shinigami with a bit of skepticism. With his bookishly plain looks, he did not seem dangerous.
But of curse, they knew better.
The eyes that studied them from behind the glasses were deceptively cruel and calculating plus the spiritual pressure that the shinigami was giving out seemed malevolent in nature.
The two then quickly gets down on one knee and bows their head as a sign of respect.
"Forgive our rudeness Lord Aizen. We did not know you were our leader." Sano stated.
Aizen waves a hand dismissively. "Please stand up you two. It's understandable because you haven't formally met me yet. You acted properly and responsibly as members of the Arrancar army." The two arrancars gets back up to their feet, giving the shinigami captain an opportunity to study them further before speaking. "I have heard interesting things from Ulquiorra about the two of you, Uzuki Sano and Namejin Naoto. You are the only two known arrancars known to have evolved from adjuchas INSIDE Hollow forest which is quite a feat. And you have achieved so much in such a short amount of time even as unranked arrancars."
"We can assure you Lord Aizen that we simply do our duties to the best of our humble abilities." Naoto said with a bow, causing Sano to glance at him from the corner of his eyes while thinking. "Laying it on a little thick aren't we Naoto?" Fortunately, his hollow mask hid his reaction quite well.
"I am very much aware of that. And such exemplary performance MUST be rewarded which is why I called the two of you here to meet you and give you your rewards personally." Aizen said then stands up from his throne and walks down towards them. "Now then.... A while ago, I sensed a disturbance somewhere outside this room. I take it you two were involved in it in some way?"
Naoto and Sano visibly tenses up at this. "Lord Aizen, please let us explain....." Sano began but was silenced by Aizen with a raised hand.
"There's really no need for you to explain yourselves." Aizen said a little too kindly while placing a hand in each of their shoulder. "I understand the difficulties of being an unranked soldier. Some of those in authority tend to get overprotective of their own positions and any potential promotion can be seen as a threat to their own place as a member of my army. But you two seemed to have handled the situation rather well even against Numeros."
"Your praises are not necessary Lord Aizen." Sano said. "We simply defended ourselves. Just because they were Numeros and we weren't does not give them the right to antagonize a comrade who is of a lower rank."
"Of course they don't." Aizen said. "Which is why I am promoting the both of you to the Numeros though you will remain unnumbered.
Aizen then walks past them while thinking. "But I also have reports of your field performance. The discrete and efficient way you accomplish your missions leads me to believe that you've had some sort of subversive training in your past lives and it seems like such a shame to waste your potential as mere Numeros. So that's why I have decided that you two will serve as special operatives in the arrancar army reporting directly to me. Lower then the Espadas and Privarons but certainly higher then a Numero. The responsibilities will certainly be greater but I am confident that you will be able to accomplish it. So do you two accept?"
The two arrancars goes back down to one knee and bows their head.
"It would be our honor Lord Aizen." Both stated.
Much later, as the two exited Las Noches for their patrol, Naoto speaks up.
"So what do you think of Aizen Sosuke?" Naoto asks.
Sano thinks for a moment before answering. "He may seem harmless but so was Kabuto when we first met him. And the vibe I'm getting from Aizen Sosuke is ten times worst then what even Kabuto is capable of."
"I agree." Naoto said. "I don't think he trusts us either because we're probably unknown variables to him. Why else would he assign us to be 'special operatives' who reports directly to him? Aizen Sosuke is certainly a very dangerous opponent. But luckily, so are we. We just have to watch ourselves around him and play along for now." Naoto said before he and Sano disappear into the desert of Hueco Mundo.
Author's Notes: Wow! quite a turnout just for this story. I guess I must be doing something right for all the story alerts though it'd be nice if you guys reviewed too. Anyways, as you've seen, beginning this chapter, I'm gonna start referring to both Sasuke and Naruto by their aliases which is Uzuki Sano for Sasuke and Namejin Naoto for Naruto. As usual, R&R please