Disclaimer: Look, I'm ALIVE! 8D Yes, I'm back! Y'know, I keep procrastinating this. I've been meaning to write(and finish) this chapter for a while, but I've never been able too. Now, I'm gonna try. Sitting next to the Christmas tree, wondering when school will get back in…cause seriously, without school, I have NOTHING to do, and it's kinda sad…but anyway, I got so bored that I started writing this. And, hey, I'm gonna take a shower soon, and I usually write my best while in the shower.
Yes, WHILE IN THE SHOWER. D8 It's totally normal, dammit. (Naruto: No it's not… KItsune-242: GO AVAY![Suddenly I have a German accent…a bad one, but one-ish])
Hopefully I'll get the spare parts for my other laptop…then I can use that one – the one with all of my Vulpes Alveus files – instead of this one. Plus, that one's bigger, so it won't keep falling off my DAMN LAP!
*repeatedly punches netbook in the screen-face*
Anyway, sorry about my absence. |D I is bad procrastinator. Or, I guess I'd be a good one…either way, I need to stop, but I keep telling myself I'll do it tomorrow…hmmm…I should stop…
…eh, tomorrow.
DOH CRAP! IMPORTANT! IMPOR-FREAKING-TANT!
I was looking over my list of Arrancars/1 Vizard that I wanted to use as Naruto's comrades/Fraccion in this arc thing, and…well…I have eight. Yeah, not a big number, but for the amount of time it took Ichigo to take action, it's a BIG NUMBER. So, sadly, I'll be cutting a few away. BUT NEVER FEAR, THEY WILL BE HERE! Eventually. I'll still need them later on, but their appearances will just be pushed back a little further than I had planned. I hope that's okay. Here are the few that I've decided that I can fit in before Ichigo and Gaara get there.
Tigre Garras, created by Torishi Satori
Mojo Gimji, created by Winged Wolfie Chibi. Though, apparently, it's now Masked Bard of Chaos.
Maybe I can fit these guys in right now. MAYBE. I'll see if I can make it flow right. If not…well, then they'll be pushed back as well.
Edit: Dad(at the neighbor's house): Hi, Merry Christmas. My kids got me a toy and it landed on your roof. Can I go get it?
XD I love Christmas. And my dad.
Chapter 14
Iniuria
:::Las Noches, Naruto's Wing:::
Sometimes, Naruto wondered if he would have been better off just telling Aizen that he had lied about what he now called the Terrifying Trio being his Fraccion just so Nnoitra wouldn't kill them. Seriously, things were beginning to get out of hand. Naruto knew it, Aizen knew it, Grimmjow knew it, hell all of Las Noches and a good portion of Hueco Mundo knew it! He couldn't even take a nap in his private wing with 'sound-proof walls' without getting showered by falling bits of stone and plaster, shaken loose thanks to the friend neighborhood Trio.
Naruto snarled quietly to himself, pulling his pillow over his head and bending it to practically snap his fox ears from his head, while simultaneously smashing his human ears into the sides of his skull. His lips quickly covered his teeth, though, lest he wanted the annoying taste of powdered plaster on his tongue. The walls shook with violent tremors, the bed the demon laid on bouncing a good two feet off the ground with each quake.
Why did life – or, in his case, afterlife – hate him? What had he done to deserve this?
Anything could be better than having the Terrifying Trio as his subordinates!
"THAT'S IT!" Naruto roared, throwing himself out of bed, and storming out the door into the addition that had been built – within days – to his room, creating an entire wing for himself and his Fraccion. Before he could even get a word out, he yelped, ducking as something flew right over his head. The silver comet was cackling like a hyena, bouncing from wall to wall, with some other torpedo following right on its tail.
"Give it BACK!" Cried the second speeding object, an edge added to the voice that Naruto had previously thought could only be achieved by demons.
"NEVAH!" Yelled the other, before insane laughter resumed.
Throughout the chaos, Toba sat on a couch in the middle of the large room, a book in his hands, his face blank as his eyes scrolled over the words. Naruto approached, careful to dodge pieces of falling ceiling that were shook loose with ever tremor. "What the hell is this?" Demanded Naruto in a rough tone, his hand gesturing to the room that most closely resembled a war zone.
"Riko did something stupid." Responded Toba simply. "I found it more beneficial to my health to stay out of it."
"And why, pray tell, would you do that? I'm trying to sleep, and these idiots won't shut up!" Griped the Vulpes. In Hueco Mundo, everything was permanently night, and it was no better in Las Noches. It was permanently day there, so Arrancars just slept whenever they wanted, or whenever they got tired. Most Espada and their Fraccion stayed on the same sleeping and eating schedule since they stayed together, but with Naruto being a lackadaisical Espada, he let his Fraccion – and himself included – sleep and eat whenever they wanted. And at the moment, Naruto was running one two hours of sleep for the past five days. It wasn't that he was tired, no – for some reason, he could never find himself tired. It was almost like sleep wasn't need by him, or, at least, not needed as much as normal. He was a demon, so it could have been normal, but no matter how much he thought, he couldn't remember if it was normal or not. And when he was really deep into the subject, his intellect on demonkind was seriously limited. – but it was more along the lines that his mind was telling him now was the time to sleep, having been up for hours and hours. His body wasn't tired, but his mind was telling him that it should be. And having Body and Mind argue was annoying. And bad for your mental health, considering his Body and Mind suddenly had personas in his mind.
"Riko used her stealing skills to commit the taboo." Toba responded, his eyes hardening as his hand tightened its grip on the book. "And I'm not suicidal, Vulpes-sama. So, I'm sorry, but if you want to sleep, then you'll have to take care of those two on your own.
Growling to himself in annoyance, Naruto whipped about to watch the two bouncing buffoons rocket around the room, the ceiling, and everything on the second floor of his wing, coming crashing down around him. Finally, seeing an opening, Naruto shot his hand out, his claws latching into the cloth on the back of Senza's clothes.
The young Arrancar looked positively monstrous, and considering it was from Naruto's point of view, it was pretty frightening. His hair was disheveled, his eyes were wide and wild, and he was foaming at the mouth. Like a dog. With rabies. "Lemme go, LEMME GO! I GOTTA KILL HER!" Roared Senza, flailing in Naruto's iron grip. The hold of a demon isn't broken easily, so Naruto held on tight, frowning as the other speeding bullet came to a stop, revealing Riko. A massive grin was spread across her face as her hands outstretched to display her prize, the prize that had sent Senza into a rage in the first place.
"Lookie what I've got." She stated proudly. Naruto palmed his forehead, sighing. He hadn't had the Terrifying Trio as his Fraccion for long, but he had learned a few things.
Don't put a half-asleep Toba in front of a flight of stairs, ever.
Don't, under any circumstances, even if the world is ending and this is your last hope of survival, give Riko excessive amounts of chocolate, or any at all.
And don't, for the love of all that is holy, ever, ever, take Senza's iPod.
EVER.
"Idiot…" Naruto muttered, looking to the heavily-breathing form of Senza. "She took your iPod?" Naruto didn't have a very large understanding of what an iPod was, but he knew that it could store music and play it back to whoever listened, and Senza treasured it. A lot. Over a lot of things, in fact. And nobody short of a depressed person contemplating suicide would dare lay a finger on the device.
"Yes." Snarled Senza, his crazed gaze landing on the rectangular piece of metal, plastic, and wires that was held in Riko's proud hands. Naruto shook his head. Well, Riko had stared it…
"Sic 'er." Deadpanned Naruto as he released the white-haired Arrancar. Within seconds, Senza was charging, an insane yell being ripped from his throat. Before any more damage could be done, and before Riko could start running, another flying figure shot into the room, smashing into Senza's back.
"Don't hurt Riko-chan!" Cried the child as Senza was knocked to the floor with a gurgled cry.
The new Arrancar in the room was a three-foot tall child, her blue hair pulled into pigtails. The 'she's an Arrancar' part was made obvious by the Hollow hole that went through her body right over her chest, and the mask fragment in the form of a spiked ball near her left ear, almost like a hair pin. Her eyes were a bright red that really stood out against her bright blue hair. She wore a white halter-top dress over white pants, the clothes being the perfect size for her six-year-old-body.
The girl gripped Senza's throat and immediately began to slam his head, repeatedly, into the floor. "Don't! Hurt! Riko-chan!"
"Who the hell is here now?" Naruto asked, a hint of a whine coming through on his tone. Seriously, would he ever get to sleep? "Riko, she knows you. Who in the hell is she?"
"Gimji Mojo! She's my former roommate!" Riko looked to the shorter girl that still sat on Senza's back a few feet away. "What're you doing here though, Mojo?"
"I missed you!" The little girl declared. "I wanna play!" When Senza twitched, she slammed his head into the ground again, then giggled like a little kid. "Senza-kun is making a funny gurgling noise!" Riko looked to Naruto with huge, puppy-dog eyes, her lower lip sticking out in a pout.
"Vulpes-sama, can Mojo be your Fraccion too?" She asked, morphing her voice to shake as if she was on the verge of tears. "Please? Pretty please with cherries on top?" She displayed Senza's iPod, as if it was some bidding token. To her, it probably was. "Look, I'll even give Senza back his iPod!"
"Anything to make this nightmare end." And let me get a few freaking hours of sleep! Naruto mentally added.
"HUZZAH!" Riko cried, throwing the iPod next to Senza's head. She threw her arms in the air. "Come hither, my Mischief Maker in the Making! Come so we may reap the woes of Las Noches!" The hyperactive Arrancar declared as she dashed out of the room. Mojo raced after her, shouting out her joy that Riko was going to play with her.
A crash and a strangled cry later, Grimmjow stumbled through the massive doors that led to Naruto's wing, one of his legs bent strangely and blood running from where it looked like he was now missing an arm. "Naruto, I hate your Fraccion!"
Senza lifted his head slowly from the crater that had been formed by his face, his nose smashed into his skull. "Vulpes-sama, you've doomed us all." His face then promptly fell back into the Senza-shaped crater in the floor. Toba stood up, his book snapping closed in his hands. He walked off towards the stairs to the upper floors of Naruto's wing.
"I'm going to go cry in a corner now." He quipped over his shoulder as he disappeared up the stairs. Naruto sighed, opting to ignore the warnings from his two other Fraccion.
I should go find some material to fix the ceiling…again. Naruto thought.
"GYAAAH!" Screamed Toba as he fell from where the floor of the second story was supposed to be, landing on his head on the ground floor. Naruto sweat dropped, chuckling nervously.
Note to self: add 'Don't let a fully-awake and coherent Toba near flights of stairs' to the list of things that shouldn't be allowed with my Fraccion anymore.
:::A Few Hours Later:::
"Sorry I'm late." Naruto laughed nervously, rubbing at the back of his head while he entered the Espada Meeting Room, taking his place next to Starrk. "I had a…pervious engagement."
"No need to apologize, Naruto-kun." Aizen said, his smile stretching wide behind the cover of his teacup. "I understand that your Fraccion can be a…a bit of a handful, no?"
"Fifth time I've had to replace my ceiling this week." Was Naruto's response. He ran a hand through his spiked hair. "And I foolishly took on another Fraccion no more than four hours ago."
"Oh, really?" Aizen questioned, mentally chuckling at Grimmjow's poorly-suppressed shiver. "Why do you believe it was foolish?"
"…she's a miniature Darklay Riko. I think Riko may actually be the mentor to this girl." Naruto's eyes hardened. "I think I may have just reunited the two under-Espada-level Arrancar in this entire building that can make this place a living Hell…"
"You doubt my Fraccion's abilities?" Harribel asked from her position near Naruto, her ever-blank gaze staring at the fox-eared Espada. The way she spoke made it seem as if the status as Hell-raiser was something to be proud of.
"No, I don't." Naruto chuckled. "Everybody thought Senza, Toba, and Riko together are bad…just wait until you see Riko and Gimji Mojo…"
"Oh my God we're all going to die." Starrk groaned, leaning his head back. Tousen, he existed right on the edge of the room's shadows, shuddered. This was one of the times that he was thankful he was completely and utterly blind. Grimmjow began to rock in his seat. Forward, back, forward, back, forward, back…
"I hate them…I hate your Fraccion, Naruto…I hate them…"
"They caused more injuries in a day than any other Espada did in a year! Even Nnoitra!" Szayel cried. Harribel just rubbed at her forehead, her eyes closing as she shook her head. Nnoitra was silent, his wide eyes staring forward at nothing. Apparently, his brain had shut down. The other Espada voiced their own concerns, all at once, very loudly.
"Them! NO! They're going to break us!" "Nobody will be spared…we will need to get out more class domes again…"
"Hn…I do not see this going well…"
"They're too fast for me to break! Dammit!"
Aizen calmly took a sip of tea, a massive smile on his face. "Yes, Naruto. I agree with your previous statement. I do believe that your decision was foolish." Aizen said as he turned his attention back to Naruto. Aizen actually sweat-dropped as he watched Naruto repeatedly bang his head into the table, apparently having not listened to Aizen's words. And over the rising din of the despairing Espada, the Lord of the Arrancars could hear his little pet repeating the same manta over and over.
"I hate my life I hate my life I hate my life…"
:::A Few Minutes Later, Naruto's Wing:::
"How'd it go?" Senza asked as Naruto reentered his wing a few minutes later. Naruto looked up, his face blank except for his down-turned eyebrows.
"Uliquiorra doesn't see this going well, Yammy says they're 'too fast to break', Coyote thinks we're all going to die, Grimmjow hates them, Szayel isn't looking forward to treating all of the injuries, Aizen now sees me as a foolish nut-case, and all of the Espada hate me."
"Mojo and Riko?" The question went unanswered. It didn't need an answer, it was obvious.
"Oh, and a group of Soul Reapers and humans have entered Hueco Mundo to come to Las Noches to get back a friend of theirs and kill me." Naruto frowned. "But that's not really the point, so…"
"What?" Toba demanded, leaping from where he sat on the only remaining couch. He winced as he put too much pressure on his sprained right knee. Stupid drop from the second story… Naruto, who had been meandering back to his room for a nap that his mind was telling his body it needed more than ever, looked over his shoulder, expressionless.
"Huh?" He oh-so brilliantly grunted.
"Soul Reapers are coming to kill you?"
"And humans. And to get their friend back." Naruto waved his hand in dismissal. "Aizen says it'd be best if I didn't fight them or try to find them to fight them, and since finding my wing will be next to impossible for them…" It was true. Who would think to look in a part of the interior of Las Noches where the wing was in a massive, wide tower that looked abandoned. This was probably because it had been abandoned before Naruto had been assigned to it, but whatever. "I'm not worried."
"Well, you should be!" Toba protested. He knew for sure that the Soul Reapers weren't coming to kill him, but to get him back. At least, he prayed they weren't coming to kill him. He had hardly known Naruto at all, and knew that the Naruto that he did know was probably the one that Aizen had fabricated, but he had developed what he could only identify as loyalty to Naruto. The demon had saved him from being maimed by Nnoitra, probably even killed. And if Soul Reapers were coming to kill him…
"You don't need to worry." Snorted the Vulpes as he stepped into his room. "Soul Reapers can't defeat me. And even if they did find my wing…I'd protect you." Naruto yawned half-heartedly as his door closed behind him.
"It's not us I worry about." Toba muttered. Senza looked up from where he was messing with his iPod.
"Well, I'm worried about us!" SMACK! "Ow! I was kidding!"
:::A Day Later:::
"Are you kidding me?" Senza hissed. "I'm not going to go wake him up!"
"Well, I saw first-hand how pissed he gets when he is woken up from his sleep!" Toba responded in an equally-heated whisper. "I'm not gonna do it!"
"He's still a little ticked that he was called down to Nnoitra-baka's wing when Mojo and I had him cornered…" The two males in the room sweat-dropped at their female companion's blatant disregard for Nnoitra's rank. Though, really, it was Naruto's fault. He let it slide, and even encouraged their disrespecting Nnoitra's rank, so long as they weren't around company where it would get them in trouble.
Mojo began to jump up and down excitedly, waving her arms in the air. "I'll go get Fox-sama!" She volunteered, before dashing off through the door that the four had been staring at. Riko chuckled nervously.
"Doh crap." She snorted.
"Her childish charm will save her from the wrath of a beast." Senza said with a thoughtful nod.
"Hopefully save her, you mean." Toba responded in a low tone. The door to Naruto's room flew open, and the orange-haired Espada walked out, one eyebrow lowered while the other was kicked up in silent questioning. He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, nearly jabbing Mojo in the head while she swung about on his back.
"Is there a reason she came in my room, jumped on my back, and refused to get off unless I came out here?" He looked to Riko, his eyes narrowed accusingly. "Or did somebody give the midget-Riko chocolate?" Riko laughed nervously.
"Uh, no, I didn't find any chocolate…why is there any?"
"No!" Naruto hastily responded, waving his hands in front of him, as if to ward off an attack.
"We wanted to ask you something, sir, but…well…none of us really wanted to go in your room to wake you up. Mojo offered, so…" Toba explained while rubbing the back of his head. Seeing a well-muscled Arrancar like Toba rub the back of his head like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar made Naruto mentally chuckle.
"Well, I wasn't asleep anymore-"
"He was just staring up at his ceiling!" Mojo called over his shoulder, before jumping off and skipping back over to Riko's side, a massive, pleased smile on her face.
"I was staring up at where my ceiling should be." Naruto shot a glare at Riko and Senza, both of whom laughed nervously, sliding to the side to try and hide behind the other. The effect that came forth wasn't the one that they wanted. They crashed to the floor upon slamming into one another's shoulders. Naruto may have fixed the ceiling in most other rooms in his wing, including the main chamber where he and his Fraccion spent most of their time, but his ceiling, and roof, of his own room were still on vacation, leaving him with the sight of a night sky whenever he looked up. And considering his wing was still in Las Noches, that simple nightly-fact confused him. But he had learned long ago to never question the workings of Las Noches. Including the sky. "What did you want, anyway?"
"Um…well, there are Soul Reapers coming to kill you…" Toba said, his nervous expression turning serious with no warning. "And we want to be able to fight them. We've been told Soul Reapers are strong, and if they do find your wing, we don't want to be helpless."
"Yeah!" Declared Riko, crossing her arms with a pout. "Will you help us train? It's your job as our Espada, you know!" Naruto sighed, scratching at one of his fox ears idly.
"Well then I guess I can't refuse, can I?" Naruto muttered, before shrugging. "Yeah, I guess we can do that."
"VICTORY!" Cried Riko as Mojo latched to her left leg, before both flashed away. Senza rolled his eyes, and followed after her. Toba, noticing Naruto's confused expression, chuckled.
"They're going to our usual training spot." He said, flashing away himself. Naruto nodded slowly to himself, and then suddenly stopped.
"I got there by accident last time…" A pause. "DAMMIT!"
:::Ten Uneventful(For the Fraccion)/Aggravating(Naruto) Minutes Later:::
Naruto finally reappeared from Sonido next to his Fraccion, his eyes narrowed in annoyance. "You know I have an easy time getting lost…" He grumbled to nobody in particular.
"But you found this place before!" Protested Senza.
"By accident!" Naruto responded, waving his arms crazily in the air. "Repeating an accidental-arrival in this place is hard since it's so freaking big!" Riko slowly smirked.
"So, Naruto-sama…" Again, Riko was the only one – besides Mojo, anyway – that had enough guts to call their Espada anything but his surname. "…where'd you end up?" Naruto blushed profusely, sputtering. "Oh, come on! It's for the learning experience!" How it was for the 'learning experience' was never clearly explained. Or explained at all, actually. Naruto scratched at the bridge of his nose with one finger while looking off into the distance, the blush still on his face.
"Grimmjow's secret storeroom filled with catnip…"
"Well," Toba began. "that's not to ba-"
"Nnoitra's training room – in the path of his Zonpaktou – under his room, Szayel's experimentation room, Gin-san's bathroom(he wasn't in there, thank GOD), Aizen's kitchen filled with a year's supply of tea, Yammy's dog's house-training chamber(Naruto shuddered), Uliquiorra's room(he was sitting in his room, watching a Spanish soap opera.), Coyote's sleeping chamber(nearly suffocated while sinking in the pillows), and…uh…"
"C'mon." Riko urged, her grin growing. Naruto's blush grew.
"Harribel's Fraccion's bathroom…while they were all taking baths." He muttered, hanging his head. "Scared me almost back to life…" Senza's jaw dropped, his eyes popping wide.
Lucky bastard…finding Mila Rose's living quarters… Senza thought. No matter how long he searched, or where he searched, he could never find where Harribel's Fraccion lived. It was like their living quarters were hidden from anybody who searched for it. It probably was. Most Espada had quarters that were difficult to find, but Harribel's, Uliquiorra's, and Naruto's were some of the more difficult ones.
"That's…uh…that's not bad." Toba tried to reassure Naruto who just dropped his head even further.
Riko was already rolling on the sand, laughing hysterically. Seeing his Espada's forlorn expression, Senza jumped onto a new topic, like the amazingly kind Fraccion he is.
"I just noticed something wrong with our plan of training out here." Attention was drawn to him, so he continued. "What if the Soul Reapers bust in through the wall near here? We're pretty far from the main buildings…and if they're trying to find you to kill you…" Or get you back… He added mentally. "…standing out in the open is helping them more than making their job harder." Naruto snorted, his mind taken away from his previous Sonido-induced accidents, waving his hand through the air.
"They came through an artificial Garganta in the middle of the Scrolling Sands." Naruto grinned. "It'll take them a while, if not forever, to get out of there." It was sound judgment. The Scrolling Sands were actually a few sectors round Las Noches; it was why Aizen had chosen that exact location to begin with. Natural protection. The Scrolling Sands was a wide, twenty-mile by twenty-mile patch of sand that dotted the landscapes every few miles, and when a Hollow – and in this case Soul Reaper – stepped on them, the sand would start moving at the same pace they were, dragging the crystallized and rocks with it. The Scrolling Sands were often compared to giant, natural treadmills. The only way to really get out of the Scrolling Sands was to either dig straight down to get to the Menos Forest, or to have knowledge of how the Scrolling Sands worked(and have the knowledge that you were, in fact, and idiot for getting stuck in one). If you knew how they worked, getting out was quiet easy. Scrolling Sands were no real problem for the more intelligent Hollows. Too bad Soul Reapers and humans are completely stupid. Naruto snorted in his thoughts.
Naruto looked over his Fraccion, trying to decide on a course of action. "Okay, well…let's start with this. What are your special abilities when you release you Zonpaktou?"
Mojo jumped up and down excitedly, her eyes wide, and her mouth stretched into a massive grin. "I'll go first!" She stood still, leaning back on her heels while simultaneously leaning forward. She took a deep breath, and then began to ramble at top speed. "My Zonpaktou is a staffy-thingy that has one blade on the veeeerrry end and when I say 'Flash!' I look like a total badass and I get another blade on the staffy-thingy and the ONE blade heals stuff and SECOND blade will infect whoever's hit with a virus that'll make them fall asleep in 30 minutes and then when I go into Ressurecion I get these really cool claws that work kinda like my spear-staffy-thingy except my right hand heals stuff better and my left hand'll make somebody paralyzed in 5 minutes, really ill in an hour, and dead within a WEEK!" At the end of her ramble, she collapsed, playing dead. Naruto just stared at her, blinking slowly.
"…did a six-year-old just say 'badass'?" He shook his head. Of course she wasn't actually six years old. She was probably over 100, but definitely not over 200. Somewhere in the middle, most likely. "And did she say all of that in one breath?"
"Yup." Sighed Riko, nodding with a prideful smile. "I taught her well."
"Um…sure…while she regains her breath, how about the rest of you?" Naruto asked, glancing back and forth between his Fraccion and their newest member who was still on the ground, and still looked like she was dead. If she wasn't up in five minutes, he'd take her for emergency treatment at Szayel's.
"I guess I'll go." Toba said, clearing his throat. "My Zonpaktou's abilities are more closely related to fire, I guess. In my Ressurecion, my Zonpaktou will burn anything it touches. Same goes for the fangs and claws that I grow. Oh, and depending on how bad somebody gets hit with my Zonpaktou, the burn can spread." Naruto nodded his head in appreciation. Some of his own abilities were flame-based.
So a fellow heat-user, huh? Naruto thought.
"For me," Senza jumped in, knowing Toba was done. "When released I get these white pangolin scales on my back, chest, arms, and legs, and I grow this prehensile tail that's around three feet long…uummm…" He struck a thinking pose. "I get scythe-like claws on my hands…I can launch my scales – they re-grow, thank God – and I can coat my claws in a Cero. Oh! I can roll into a ball and roll over and shred whoever I hit, though the shredding thing works better when I'm released instead of when I just roll when not, and I can manipulate the scale's I've launched." He paused. "Yeah, I think that's it."
"I'm last, I guess." Riko sighed, as if the task asked of her was too large for her complete on her own. "I…am…a badass."
"That…wasn't…helpful at all." Naruto said in the same tone from the light-haired girl before him. She gave a heavy huff.
"Fine." She paused. "I'm good with speed and agility, I have high-speed regeneration, and I suck at Ceros and Balas. Ask me to do one, I may just blow us all up. With my badass Ressurecion, I get long claws. And a spiky tail! As long as THIS ARM." She pointed to her right arm with her left. "See this arm? This arm, right here."
"Yes, that's very nice, I see it." Naruto rolled his eyes. "Okay, so far, the only similarities I see between any of you are with Riko and Senza. Animal-based Ressurecion. Then one healing/virus, and the other flame-like heat."
"Two similarities out of four." Toba thought out loud. "Is that a bad thing? The differences?" Naruto grinned.
"No, the differences give you strength." He responded. "They help cover a range of situations. Think about it. If you all had the abilities of fire, what if you faced a single Soul Reaper with the ability of water?" Naruto waited for them to answer.
"Uh, we'd burn the crap out of them?" Riko offered.
"Quite the opposite. The water-based Soul Reaper would wipe the floor with you. It doesn't matter that there's four of you, that one Soul Reaper will kill you all. Mostly because all of your flame abilities will be snuffed right out by their water…but with your heat powers, Toba, while you would be next to useless, your friends would be able to gang up on the Soul Reaper and hopefully defeat him. Or her." He paused. "See what I'm saying."
"Yeah." Senza said, nodding. "Our differences make us powerful. Or something sappy like that." Naruto nodded.
"Yeah, it's sappy, but it's true." Naruto gave a brief pause, thinking through what he wanted to say. "Take the abilities of my Zonpaktou for example. Fire and Light, Ice and Shadow, and Wind and Storms. See how they all clash? But with the clashing abilities like that, it leaves less room for an ability that will negate mine." The Fraccion nodded slowly in understanding.
"So what you're saying…is that if the Soul Reapers break in…you can just beat the shit out of all of them." Riko clarified.
"Pretty much, but that's not the topic I'm trying to hit on! You know what, we can return to this ability-clashing thing later. Let's get to the actual training. I've learned that you learn at your best when you're worn out. At least, when you're training for fighting. Draining you of your energy will bring you down to your bare minimums, so you'll have to fight with just your mind and your blade, instead of any flaunty powers that you have, or any speed that you possess."
Riko threw her arm in the air before Naruto could continue. "Yeah, that's nice and dandy and all, but you should show us your Ressurecion!" Naruto blanched.
"Uh, what?"
"Show. Us. Your Ressurecion!" Riko repeated, and began to bounce lightly on the balls of her feet. "It'll be a nice morale-booster. Show us what we can achieve if we train hard enough." Naruto blinked slowly, staring at the grinning Arrancar.
"Um…o…kay?" Naruto drew his Zonpaktou from his back; he had strapped it to his body when his Fraccion had asked him to help them train, deciding that yes, a sword was important when training people in sword-fighting.
Taking his Zonpaktou in one hand, Naruto slashed his other bandaged hand – now that he thought about it, he didn't know why his arms were always bandaged. They just were. And he knew for a fact that he hadn't been injured on his arms like that when in the Land of the Living – allowing blood to coat the wide blade. "Roar you Demon." Naruto declared half-heartedly. "Kitsuneryu no Arashi." He braced himself, waiting for the change to take over, to feel his bones cracking and growing, to feel his body explode form the inside out, only for the mass of organs and bone to reform into a massive beast.
But no such change occurred. There wasn't even a fluctuation of rietsu in the air.
Naruto let his body relax, and stared at his blood-coated Zonpaktou with a frown.
"Uh, was that it?" Whispered Mojo up to Riko, who shrugged.
"What the…?" Naruto muttered. He slashed his hand down the length of the blade again. "Roar you Demon!" He declared, this time more determined, his body tensing while he struck what looked like a crouching battle pose. "Kitsuneryu no Arashi!" Still, only silence met him. He straightened, growling. He slashed his hand down the blade, and waited for anything to happen; to feel the increase in his rietsu, to feel the beginning of the burst of power, to feel the fur crawling right underneath his flesh…
No such luck.
"What the HELL?" Naruto repeatedly slashed his hand down the blade, chanting his release phrase like a mantra. "Roar you Demon! Roar you Demon! Roar you freaking Demon!" The Vulpes crouched fully, his knees bending, and his heels leaving the ground to allow his body to balance on the balls of his feet, and his toes. He slashed his entire forearm with his Zonpaktou now, blood already having soaked the sands around him. He forcefully made his rietsu jump, forcing the power into the blade to try and get some type of response. "ROAR YOU DEMON, KITSUNERYU NO ARASHIIIIIIIII!" As he cried out, he thrust his arm that held the sword into the air, as if it was a lightning rod that would harness the power of lightning for him.
Silence reigned.
Naruto threw the Zonpaktou on the ground, snarling like an enraged animal. And he was. "What the hell is wrong with this?" He kicked sand at the unresponsive blade.
"Um…Vulpes-sama?" Toba said slowly, hoping that speaking to the enraged demon wouldn't result in the wrath being turned on him. "I don't think it's going to work…"
"Yeah, I figured…" Before Naruto could speak any further, Uliquiorra appeared near the group of five, making the Fraccion jump, and Naruto stifle a random snicker.
Soap-opera-boy…
He struggled now to not snicker.
"Aizen-sama noticed you trying to release your Zonpaktou, and its failure." Uliquiorra said in his usual deadpan. "He believes something's wrong with your Limiter. He requests your presence." Naruto turned to look at his Fraccion, a questioning look on his face.
Why's he asking us? Senza thought, mentally chuckling. He's the Espada.
"You heard the Espada! Aizen-sama wants to see you! Vamonos!"(A/N: Imagine a little ' thing over the a…don't know how to do it…stupid Spanish keyboard letter things!) Riko said in a commanding voice, waving off towards the general direction of Aizen's throne room. Naruto nodded slowly as Uliquiorra flashed away, only doing so himself when he knew that it was okay that he left.
He reappeared before Aizen, already down on one knee. "You wished to see me?" Naruto questioned, schooling his features to hide the confusion that he felt.
"Yes, Naruto-kun." Aizen said in his sickly-sweet tone. "I understand that you tried to release your Zonpaktou, but couldn't. Why do you think that is?"
"I…I'm not sure, sir…" For the first time since becoming an Espada, Naruto began to doubt if Aizen had chosen correctly. "I…I tried, but it…well, it didn't work." Naruto frowned, quickly trying to think of any reason, any reason at all, as to why it wasn't working. "I was going through muscle-memory, but I…I just feel like some big part of the Ressurecion process was taken out. Like I skipped some important part. Problem is, I don't know what that important part is." Naruto brought a hand up to his head, pressing at a temple as a splitting pain began to take over. It felt like something was trying to literally claw out from the inside of his brain. Not one something, but multiple somethings.
What Naruto didn't notice, was Aizen's frown, before he reached into the folds of his cloak's top. He pressed a hand to his chest, and as he did so, the jewel in Naruto's forehead glowed a bright purple. Naruto sighed in relief as the searing pain ebbed away, replaced with a calm that he rarely felt anymore, thanks to his Fraccion.
"I think I may know what's wrong." Aizen flat-out lied. "The Limiter Jewel in your forehead. It must have been adjusted too much, and is now blocking the energy you need to enter your released state."
"Oh…" Naruto said, his eyes looking to the floor in disappointment. He couldn't eneter his Ressurecion…? But…he always felt better in animal form. Sure, he still had his demon form, but it didn't have the spiritual powers that his Ressurecion did.
"Do not fear, my young Espada." Aizen said in a comforting manner. "Szayel can easily fix this. Go to his quarters. Tell him that your Limiter needs to be loosened. He'll think that you're just asking that so you can access more power for no reason, so tell him this. 'Code: 061E'. Tell him this after you've told him what's needed to be done." Code 061E was hardly a 'loosen Limiter' order. It was more along the lines of 'something's trying to break through the barrier. Don't know how it's there, but FIX. IT.' Aizen had never thought he'd have to have a code like this.
Now he was glad that Gin had suggested it.
Naruto nodded, standing while saluting. "Thank you, sir!" Naruto barked, before flashing out of the room. Aizen waved his hand once Naruto was gone, and an unranked Arrancar walked in.
He was dressed in a normal white hakama, and a white tank top, his dual Zonpaktou both coming over his right shoulder, strapped to his back. His hair was shoulder length, and a deep black, with a orange highlight down the middle, and a white highlight on either side of his head. His mask fragment was strange; it came from around and behind his ears, coming to meet down under his chin, almost like a type of mane. Where the two sides met under his chin was cracked, two puncture marks that looked like fangs existing.
The unranked Arrancar bowed low. "You wished to see me, Aizen-sama?" The Arrancar asked in a calm, smooth voice, not daring to straighten before his Lord.
"Yes. Garras Tigre. Are you familiar with the new Espada, Vulpes Naruto?" The newly-named Tigre nodded his head.
"Yes, Aizen-sama. I have heard of him. His Fraccion are infamous in my barrack section."
"Then you know that he is the ally of Soul Reapers?"
"Yes. With your astounding powers, Aizen-sama, you made him join your cause."
"Close." The former Soul Reaper Captain said. "He has an object of power implanted in his forehead that allows me to alter his memories, and completely take away others. His entire life is a lie! What he remembers is what I permit!" Aizen cackled shortly. "He is a pet that knows nothing but loyalty to me, and hatred to the Soul Reapers and humans!" Downside that Aizen didn't know, was that whatever he didn't know, Naruto automatically didn't either. Which included a large portion of demonic history. "But somehow, that object of power must have reversed." Aizen mused. "It planted something in his mind that was struggling to break free a few moments ago. I sent him to Szayel to have this fixed – unknowingly, of course – but I'm not aware if this mishap may happen again. I don't want it to come this far ever again. I want to know if this'll happen before it does." He paused, a massive, cold grin spreading across his face. "Garras Tigre, I have a mission for you…and with it, you'll be a Fraccion of Vulpes Naruto, where you will be protected from the other Espada." Tigre bowed lower.
"Whatever you wish."
…don't really like the ending. Or most of this chapter.
But HOPEFULLY IT MADE YOU LAUGH!
Anyway, as I write this, it's 11:22 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and I plan to put this up on Christmas.
SO MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU, MERRY CHRISTMAS DEAR READEEEERS, MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!
I called you guys freeloaders to my mom's face, you know. Me: I should be typing the chapter...but this orange juice is too good to turn away! Mom: Oookaaaay… Me: The readers are a bunch of freeloaders, you know. I do all the work, type everything, have brain-seizures…and they get a tale of hopefully-dramatic events and hopefully-humorous scenes. They're freeloaders I tell you!
And then my mom said something about Canada, and I said 'Who?' as a reference to Hetalia, and she didn't get it, so…
Anyway, sorry for the long delay, hopefully you like this chapter, but I won't be able to update this week unless there's free wifi at the hotel I'm going to stay at. I'm going to NEW YORK, baby! So if you live in NYC, and see some 'country person' walking the streets with their grandparents and an older sibling…yeah, please don't mug us. XD All we have to offer is a few bits of corn stalks, maybe a piece of hay. And a field mouse.
Sorry, I'm tired, rambling, and my tales of my boring life isn't important(though, it was pretty damn funny when I was yelling at my dad that 'putting Christmas presents under the tree is an art form! A FRICKIN' ART FORM, I TELL YOU!'. Oh, and when I picked up dog shit with my foot because I thought it was a rock…never mind…)
SORRY! Have a Merry Holiday everybody, and(if I don't see you before then) a Happy New Year.
Kitsune-242
P.S. – Chapter 14: Iniuria ~ Chapter 14: Wrong(also Injury, Damage, Hurt, Injustice. Trying to get at the entire; something's wrong, or something's damaged type of deal.)