Wow! 7 followers already! Awesome! Special mention to thek96, ARSLOTHES, and sa1ton-death. You guys started following within 3 hours of me posting this story, which is awesome! I felt so encouraged!

Disclaimer: I own neither Bleach nor Naruto. I wish I did, I would have much more money and likely more fun.

Thanks again to my sis for proof reading.

Enjoy!

Strange Places and Stranger Faces

Three days previously...

Ichigo wiped at the sweat dripping down his brow, only to scowl at the sticky residue left on his hand. He never used to sweat so easily. Only in the last three months had he started to wear down so quickly. Ever since his final battle with Aizen. Ever since he'd lost the only thing that made him strong.

He'd been sparring with Tatsuki for the last four hours straight, leaving both of them panting profusely. Tatsuki was bent over, hands on her knees and legs shaking. Since losing both his Inner Hollow and Shinigami abilities to Mugetsu at the end of the Winter War, he'd decided to hone his remaining skills the only way he had left: Karate. He'd gone back to his old dojo and, with the help of Tatsuki, had been working to get as strong as was possible for his human self. He could at least try to protect his sisters and friends from mortal threats, even if he could no longer protect them from supernatural ones. Well, what friends he had left, that is.

He was startled out of his internal reflections by a surprise left hook from Tatsuki, which he quickly dodged before throwing a kick of his own. Tatsuki jumped back grinning, barely able to avoid Ichigo's ridiculously fast reflexes.

"You're getting a lot faster Ichigo. I can hardly believe you've gotten even better than me so quickly."

Ichigo gave her a solemn look.

"I've had to," He sighed. "It's the only way I have left to protect." He looked hard at Tatsuki, raising one eyebrow.

"Besides, I was given a lot of training by Hat-n-Clogs and Yoruichi. That wasn't all for my Zanpakuto. There's no way Yoruichi would let me get off that easy."

"I guess you're right," Tatsuki sighed. "But that doesn't really help my pride."

"Well, you're still the second strongest girl in Japan, " He said, grinning. "You'll be first soon, I'd bet."

Tatsuki grinned at the thought. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The sudden sound of the door behind them creaking open made them both start. They were supposed to be alone in the dojo, and no one else was scheduled to come in. The light shinning from the bright spring day outside obscured their vision for a second before revealing a familiar stripped hat, accompanied by the sharp clack of wooden clogs on the floor of the dojo.

"Hey, Ichigo." Urahara called, snapping his fan closed. "Long time no see."

Ichigo scowled at his old teacher, who had the audacity to stroll back in to his life as if nothing had ever happened. Well, that was Hat-n-Clogs for you.

"Yeah yeah, it's been a while. But why contact me now? You've barely spoken a word to me ever since..." He looked away. Ever since Aizen.

Urahara looked sharply at the Ex-Substitute Soul Reaper.

"I know." He sighed, pulling on the front of his hat. "As much as I hate to get you involved, Ichigo, I need your help." Ichigo raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"What help could I possibly be?" He spat. "I don't have any powers now, remember?" he turned back towards Tatsuki, walking away farther into the dojo to get away from the old shop keeper.

"You see Ichigo, it's this old friend of mine." Ichigo paused.

"Shinigami?"

"Not exactly." Ichigo could hear the clack of Urahara's clogs as he took a few steps forwards.

"He's bringing his young student with him to the shop for some training. His pupil has a bit of a...situation. A 'friend' in here." Ichigo turned sharply to see Urahara tapping the side of his head, staring hard at Ichigo. His eyes widened.

"Like...an Inner Hollow?"

"Again, not exactly. But it's a similar situation." Hi lifted his cane to point at Ichigo. "I thought you'd might be able to help him with that, as well as a bit of physical training, of course." Ichigo scowled again.

"Couldn't you just ask Shinji and the others?"

"They're not really available," Urahara said, lowering his cane. "Besides, you two are a bit closer in age."

Ichigo sighed. He could see Hat-n-Clogs wouldn't let up on this. The Ex-Substitute knew better than to try and argue with Kisuke Urahara when he wanted something.

"Fine. I'll do it."

Urahara grinned, opening his fan back up to wave it casually in front of his face. "Perfect! Be at the shop by five o'clock three days from now." Ichigo face palmed.

"Yeah yeah, I'll be there," He said, still shaking his head. "Get outa here already."

Urahara pulled his hat back down over his eyes. "Bye Ichigo!" He called, turning to leave. With his back turned, Ichigo couldn't see the dark frown that washed over his old teacher's face. Well, he's doing better than I thought, but not as well as I'd hoped. He sighed to himself as he walked out of the dojo, door slamming behind him as his turned his face to the sky.

"Still obsessed with protecting people." he muttered, shading his eyes from the bright sunlight. "Well some things just never change, eh Rukia?"

The Shinigami hidden in the shadow of the side of the dojo stepped forwards, frowning at the man in front of her.

"He shouldn't be involved anymore!" she snapped. "He can't protect himself properly anymore if he doesn't have any powers." Her fists were shaking, tears building in the corners of her eyes despite her best efforts. "How could you? You know we're working on it, but there's not a lot of hope. So until we know for sure if it will work he should be allowed to just live his life!"

Urahara raised one eyebrow at the petite Soul Reaper in front in him.

"Really Rukia?" he asked. "Then what exactly are you doing here?"

Present time...

Naruto stared with undisguised curiosity at the group of people sitting around the table in front of him. After climbing up that ridiculously tall ladder in that weird cavern place, Hat-n-Clogs had led them down empty hallways and through bare rooms until finally stopping here, in a room filled with what he supposed must be his new trainers. He and his master sat down on the floor at a little round table while Hat-n-Clogs went to stand next to a tall woman with dark skin and long purple hair tied pack in a pony tail who was leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the room.

"Well, why don't I start introductions?" Hat-n-Clogs said cheerfully, waving his fan, which he had snuck out of his robes without Naruto noticing. He gestured at the woman next to him.

"This is Yoruichi Shihoin. She'll be helping you with speed and agility training." He grinned. "I'm -sure her...cat-like tendencies will be perfect for the job." The woman in question shook her head before look right at Naruto. He gulped. She's s scary as Lady Tsunade! His eyes traveled a bit lower. And her boobs are huge too!

Next, Hat-n-clogs pointed with his fan at two little kids sitting next to each other at the table. A girl with black hair tied in Pigtails and big sad eyes, and an angry looking boy with bright red hair who was scowling at Naruto. He scowled back, narrowing his eyes.

"These two are Ururu and Jinta." Urahara grinned. "They'll be seeing how well you can handle an outnumbered fight." Naruto and Jinta stared daggers at each other. Urahara coughed, interrupting what would soon have been a shouting match.

"Moving on..." He gestured at a tall man with very straight black hair and glasses. He was wearing a strange outfit, all white and blue, it even came with a little cape. Weirdo...Naruto thought to himself, narrowing his eyes.

"This is Uryu Ishida. He'll be seeing how well you can function under constant fire." The bespectacled man nodded at Naruto, his eyes hidden behind the frames of his glasses. What horrid fashion taste, Uryu thought, grimacing internally at the repulsive shade of orange his new pupil had decided to dress himself in. This will have to be rectified.

"This is Chad, or Yasutora Sado, but you can just call him Chad. He'll be helping Ururu and Jinta." Naruto looked over at a ridiculously tall man, who had darker skin and dark curly hair with just one eye visible. His eyes widened in shock at his enormous size. The strange giant gave a quiet grunt, nodding at the young ninja.

"And this is Orihime Inoue," Hat-n-Clogs said, pointing towards a pretty young woman with long orangey-brown hair and little blue hair clips on each side of her face. Naruto found himself staring at her chest -she's as big a Tsunade!-which made Orihime squirm a bit.

"She'll be around to take care of any injuries that might come up," Urahara added with a grin. "As well as helping you learn better control of your chakra-or as we call it, reiatsu."

Naruto forced himself to run away from the well-endowed woman sitting across from him to look at his master, only to find that Pervy Sage was living up to his name. He was practically drooling.

"Pervy Sage!"

Jiraiya started, shaken out of his stupor. "Hey you brat, mind your own business. The group in front of them started chuckling at the exchange, and at the surprising accuracy of the young ninja's nicknames.

Still chuckling to himself, Urahara added, "And that just leaves Ichigo...who should be here any minute..." No sooner had these words left his mouth than the door slid open, revealing a tall, scowling man with a shock of bright orange hair. He stomped into the room and sat down cross-legged at the table, not quite meeting the eyes of anyone in the room. Urahara watched him sit down before turning back to Jiraiya and Naruto.

"Aaaand this is Ichigo Kurosaki. He'll be working both with Yoruichi and by himself to get you into shape. Also, he'll be helping me with your...little friend. He's got some experience in that area."

Urahara turned back to Ichigo, noting that his old pupil's ever-present scowl was more pronounced than usual. "Well Ichigo, this is our new little student, Naruto Uzumaki!"

Naruto looked curiously at this 'Ichigo' who seemed to have little to no inclination to be there. He somehow reminded him of Sasuke, full of attitude but kinda sad too...he squinted at the ginger, wondering what had happened. Ichigo scowled right back, holding his gaze long enough for the tension to be nearly unbearable before looking away and sighing.

"Well, you don't really look like much, but I guess we'll be teaching you. So, nice to meet you, Naruto."

Naruto scowled and crossed his arms, before muttering one word.

"Strawberry."

Yay! 2 chapters up! Hooray for motivation! I'm having fun with this story already, more fun than I had with my other story, That Damn Hitchhiker.

Rukia made a guest appearance! I love her 3

Training starts next chapter. I know I said that Naruto would find out about the whole 'other world' thing this chapter, but I couldn't work it in without making the chapter overly long. So, next time :)

Thanks for reading! Please review, but no flames please.