Chapter 4: First Contact

"So THIS is the town of Karakura eh?" Sano said, looking down at the town far below them. "Doesn't look that much different from any other towns."

It has been a few years since Naoto and Sano had joined forces with Stark. The alliance had been a little uncomfortable at first but little by little, the two began to open up to the Primera who proved himself quite trustworthy and had even taken the two under his guidance.

Currently, Naoto and Sano floated in midair high in the skies above Karakura observing the town after stepping out of a garganta. Both had been ordered by Aizen to meet with another arrancar then observe the happenings in the town for a short period of time. His motives for assigning them this mission was still unknown though and when Stark heard about it, he grimaced and cryptically told the two to watch themselves against both allies and enemies.

"I know. I wonder what's so important about this town?" Naoto wonders.

"More importantly, where's our contact?" Sano grumbles as he looks around. A few moments later, the duo senses the minor sonic boom which indicated an arrancar's arrival via Sonido.

"Pardon my tardiness. Wrapping up my research proved to be more troublesome then anticipated." A polite voice said to them from behind. Both arrancars look back and came face to face with the Octava Espada, Szayel Aporro Grantz.

Both Naoto and Sano now knew why Stark told them to take care of themselves against allies and enemies alike. The notoriously cruel and sadistic Szayel was the Espada's scientific genius who was known to conduct his sick experiments using even fellow arrancars as test subjects. If he was able to do that to his own allies then what could he do to his enemies? And if he was here personally in Karakura then it MUST be an integral part of Aizen's plans.

"So you two must be the operatives Aizen sent to conduct the surveillance, right?" Szayel stated.

"Yes sir. I'm Uzuki Sano and this is Namejin Naoto." Sano answered with a bow. "We were told by Aizen-Sama to report directly to you here."

"Ahh.... So you two are the special operatives who reports directly to Aizen-Sama. Excellent." Szayel said with a curt nod. "Finally some competent replacements so I can leave this dreadfully boring place."

Szayel pauses before giving both Naoto and Sano a disdainfull look. "I CAN trust you two NOT to mess up any of the devices I have set up in the area to gather data, can I?"

"Of course Szayel-Sama. We WERE chosen by Aizen-Sama for a reason after all so you can leave this place to us." Naruto answers, betraying none of the anger he felt. If there was one thing he hated, it was people looking down on him and Szayel was clearly underestimating him. But for the sake of their goals, he would swallow his pride and keep silent.

"Well in that case...." Szayel said as he opens a garganta. "....I shall leave things here in your capable hands."

"We shall not let you or Aizen-Sama down." Sano said as he and Naoto bows at the Espada who enters the garganta and closes it after him. It was only after Szayel leaves that Naruto looks up and scowls.

"That guy reminds me why I hated Kabuto so much." Naoto growls.

"Careful what you say." Sano cautioned as he looks at Karakura warily. "Syazael DID tell us that he's bugged the entire town. No telling what sort of nasty little critters he's got floating around here."

"Good point." Naoto said with a grimace before a sudden surge of reiatsu catches their attention. "You feel that?" Naoto asks his friend.

"Yeah. It came from somewhere over there." Sano said pointing down to a certain part of the town. "Let's go have a look shall we?"

Making sure that they were high enough and that their reiatsu signature was sufficiently suppressed so they wouldn't be detected, the two arrancars flew towards the source of the disturbance and arrives just in time to witness a gravely injured black-haired female shinigami stab an orange haired teenager who was protecting her and a couple of other females from a large hollow with her zanpaktou.

"Hmmm.... Looks like the shinigami's trying to transfer some of her powers to the kid so he could fight the hollow." Naoto stated. "She must be pretty desperate if she's gonna bank on him surviving the process."

"If he's got the potential, then he's got a shot at survival." Sano said thoughtfully. "This must be the reason why Aizen's so interested in this place. There must a lot of people here with potential which he can exploit."

But before the two can say anything else, a bright flash of light and another powerful surge of reiatsu catches their attention. They look back and sees that the shinigami no longer wore her uniform and was instead dressed in a white kimono associated with ordinary plus souls.

The orange haired teenager however, was now dressed as a shinigami complete with a huge zanpaktou strapped on his back.

"Wow. The kid sucked ALL of the shinigami's powers." Naoto said in wonder then smiles widely. "He's got the potential for damned sure. This assignment is turning out to be a lot better then I'd hope for."

"Yeah." Sasuke agreed as he watches the new shinigami beat the hollow with a single stroke of his oversized zanpaktou. "We've found our subject. And I'm pretty sure that if we follow him around, interesting things are gonna happen."

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For the next few months, Naoto and Sano closely monitored the activities of the orange haired boy whose name was Kurosaki Ichigo and his shinigami companion, Kuchiki Rukia. And as they suspected, Karakura had a number of individuals who possessed unique abilities. Surprisingly, most of them were even acquaintances of Kurosaki Ichigo.

Such as the darkskinned, hulking boy named Sado who had the power to summon a powerful armored shell over his right arm.

Another one was a kindly girl named Inoue Orihime whose hair ornaments had unusual yet formidable abilites.

Uryuu Ishida was also another (albeit somewhat hostile) acquaintance of Kurosaki Ichigo whose powers as a Quincy was said to be more dangerous then a shinigami's to a hollow.

Kurosaki Ichigo's own father Isshin also seemed to possess great powers though he kept it severly supressed for some reason.

The occupants of a small store which included a small black cat, two kids, a massive man wearing glasses and the goofy looking owner wearing a bucket hat named Urahara Kisuke also had powers which they kept supressed though Sano and Naoto weren't too eager to find out why since they had a feeling that it would be the worst mistake they could ever make in their new afterlives.

But then again, it might also be a good idea to gather info on them just in case they decide to recruit allies from outside Hueca Mundo.

Things were relatively uneventful for the two arrancars until one day....

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"What going on?" Sano mutters watching Hollows appear all around the area. "Why the hell are all these hollows coming out of the woodwork all of a sudden?"

"Someone used some sort of powerful lure to attract them all here." Naoto said, sniffing the air with a frown.

"I think I found the ones responsible." Sasuke said pointing towards a spot in town where the hollows were gathering only to be destroyed by flashes of light and steel. The two arrancars moves closer to investigate.

"The shinigami and the quincy?" Naoto comments with a raised eyebrow. "It looks like they're having some sort of competition to see who kills the most hollows though this IS a dangerous game they're playing."

"What stupid fools." Sano growls. "Even though it may be easy to defeat all these weak hollows, they're risking a lot of lives by purposely attracting them here."

A sound above catches their attention causing both to look up. They look up and sees a large, familiar looking black shroud wearing a white mask with a pointed nose.

"Damn. Guess I was wrong." Sano amended. "Looks like things are about to get harder for them."

"A menos grande? Are they even ready for THAT?" Naoto asks and almost makes a move to help them out. Fortunately, Sano was able to hold him back.

"We can't interfere Naoto. We'd be attracting to much attention to ourselves." Sano said then looks at the shinigami and the quincy. "Let's see how things play out here first. It'd be interesting to see how they handle an enemy like this."

Fortunately, Kurosaki and Uryuu had manged to put aside their differences long enough to team up and defeat the menos grande. But even after they went their seperate ways, the arrancars were still in the area discussing the ramifications of this latest fiasco.

"This is exactly what we DON'T need. Because of what those two pulled, this place is probably gonna be crawling with shinigamis pretty soon." Sano grumbles.

"Not much we can do about that now. We need to contact Las Noches for further orders." Naoto said. "After THIS incident, I've got a feeling that our assignment's gonna be cut short."

"I agree." Sano said then looks at the spot where the shinigami and the quincy had stood their ground. "Mark my words Naoto. Those two have stirred up a hornet's nest and they're about to get stung. There's bound to be trouble here real soon."

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Sano's words proved prophetic as none long after, two shinigamis came to the real world with one objective in mind. The capture of Kuchiki Rukia.

But the ones sent to bring Kuchiki Rukia back to Soul Society were no ordinary shinigamis. They were ranking members of the Gotei Thirteen who identified themselves as Captain Kuchiki Byakuya and Lieutenant Abarai Renji of the 6th Division.

The two arrancars arrives just in time to see Kurosaki battle with the Lieutenant Abarai Renji who had the early advantage. But fueled by his need to protect Rukia, Ichigo slowly began to overpower the sixth division lieutenant.

But their battle was interrupted by the 6th Division captain who stepped in and disabled Ichigo with one swift stroke. In the end, rather then see her friend be harmed further, the one called Kuchiki Rukia chose to voluntarily go with the sixth division officers.

"As expected of a Gotei Thirteen captain. Whatever the hell he did, it dropped Kurosaki's spiritual pressure down to almost nothing. It's as if he never became a shinigami in the first place." Sano stated. "Too bad. He had promise."

"I don't know Sano." Naoto said doubtfully as he watches the stricken Ichigo struggle to crawl towards Rukia. "He shouldn't even be able to move after taking THAT kind of damage but he still is. The guy's got some guts."

"That's true." Sano said thoughtfully. "But guts can only take you so far."

The two arrancars continued to watch as the 6th Division officers took Rukia through a portal which will undoubtedly take them to Soul Society. Ichigo on the other hand had lost consciousness due either to loss of blond or the sudden shortage of spiritual powers.

After making sure that there were no other individuals with any sort of spiritual awareness in the immediate vicinity, Naoto and Sano goes down to check on Ichigo. Sano kneels down and studies Ichigo before shaking his head and gets back up to his feet.

"That attack by the 6th Division captain severed his Soul Sleep and Soul Chain. He has most likely lost his abilities as a shinigami." Sano said solemnly. "And the captain said his name was Kucchiki Byakuya which means he's somehow related to the girl. Makes you kinda' wonder what sort of people would send their own blood after you and why he or she would agree to capture you in the first place."

Naruto looks down at Ichigo with a touch of sadness and clenches his fist tightly. "Dammit, it's not fair. It's not as if he asked to be a shinigami. And under the circumstances, Kuchiki Rukia had no option but to transfer her powers to Ichigo or else he and his family would've died. Why the hell is Soul Society prosecuting her for that?"

Sano shrugs his shoulders. "Your guess is as good as mine. But for now we have to get this guy some serious help and I don't don't ordinary medicine is gonna help him."

Naoto looks down at Ichigo as he thought for a moment before an idea hits him. "I think I may know a place where we could take him. It's a longshot but it's the only option we have for now."

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*Ding Dong*

"All right, all right. I'm coming." Urahara stated lightly as he walks towards the front door if his small store. He opens the door and much to his surprise, finds the battered and bloody form of Kurosaki Ichigo.

"Kurosaki-San, what in the world happened to you?" The ex-12th Division captain said, using what little medical knowledge he knew to scan him before calling out to his assistants. "Tessai! Junpei! I need some help out here! Ururu! Try to contact Yoruichi and prepare the emergency kit for shinigamis!"

The burly Tessai and the diminutive Junpei rushes out from the back of the store ans sees Ichigo. "Isn't that Kurosaki-San?" Tessai inquires as he checks over the orange haired shinigami.

"Damn. How'd he get here and how'd he get messed up so badly?" Junpei asks as he helps Tessai bring Ichigo to the spare room.

"My guess is that somebody brought him here." Urahara answers as he glances outside with a frown. It was faint but there was a spiritual trace of a fairly powerful beings in the vicinity. He suspected that they were the ones who brought Ichigo to his doorstep since the orange haired boy seemed incapacitated for the moment. He glances at Tessai who gives him an uncharastically serious look indicating that he too, sensed the powerful beings.

"In any case, we'll figure out who brought him to us later. Right now we need to bring Kurosaki San inside ASAP. We have a lot of work to do." Urahara stated taking one last look outside before following his employees into the store.

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"I knew there's something funny about that store. The owner and that big guy are probably ex shinigami officers and high ranking ones at that." Naoto said as he and Sano watched and listened from a fair distance away.

"Yeah. They might have also sensed our presence judging from the way they're looking around like that which is not easy at all with almost all our powers sealed up like this. Those two are definitely strong AND dangerous." Sano said thoughtfully. "In any case, I think we've done just about all we can here."

"Yeah. If those 6th division officers who came to retrieve Kuchiki San is any indication, I think it's about time we made ourselves scarce." Naoto agreed. "We can't have anyone else find out we've been snooping around."

Sano then opens a garganta and after taking one last look around them, the two arrancars steps into the portal going back to Hueco Mundo.

Author's Notes: And with that, Chapter 4 is history. Hope you guys are enjoying my work so far. As always, R&R please.