YAY Chapter 41 is here :)

YAY now i get to answer my reviewers :D

Gravenimage - Thanks for the review, hope you like 41 :)

Bombat1994 - Thanks for the review, have you ever played the Persona games? in Persona 4, there is a char called Naoto, i liked the name and though it would make a great name for Naruto's daughter :)

RairyuuBlade - Thanks for the review, i hope you keep enjoying the story, and also hope you enjoy 41 :)

RSfan - thanks for the constructive review :) i was not thinking about the blade, so thank you, i did try to fix that small issue in this chapter :) i hope is satisfies you ;) anyway enjoy 41! :D

narusaku305 - Thanks for the review, hope you like 41 :)

Cecixx19 - Thanks for the review, I honestly didn't think that when i begun that this story would turn into such a huge monster, i had only a small plot in mind when i begun, but everyone enjoyed it and i just got shot after shots of inspiration and well... here i am, 41 chapters latter :P so i hope you enjoy it :)

Chi-Neko - Thanks for the review, and that's alright at least now i am not confused anymore :P hope you enjoy 41 :D

lilal6 - Thanks for the review, and here it is :P but sorry only 41, no 42 yet lol hope you enjoy it :)

naru-ca-titan - Thanks for the review as always :D, yeah, i felt bad making her say those things, but she had to be convincing, but she didn't mean any of it, i hope you like this new chapter :D

Now that i have responded to all your awesome reviews, on with the main event, Chapter 41!

This chapter was revised on June 2nd 2017. Most grammar errors should have been addressed (Hopefully :P) I did a few enhancements and changed a few things around but the story remained unchanged

Saving old bonds

Chapter 41 (Revised)

The Kurokage was dinning with his captains and their vice captains when the doors opened and a guard walked in interrupting their meal "My lord, tenth division captain Hitsugaya and his apprentice have arrived in the city. They are waiting for you in the audience hall" he told him

"Toshiro is here?" Byakuya the sixth division captain asked slightly surprised

"So, the brat has finally brought in his apprentice, I wouldn't mind meeting her myself. He always spoke highly of her. I want to see what all the fuss is about" Kisuke the twelfth division captain commented

The Kurokage grinned "Well this is a surprise; I wasn't expecting Toshiro to be here so soon after the last captain's meeting. Tell him that I will join him in a few minutes" he told the guard as he got up to clean himself from the meal

The guard quickly nodded and made his exit

"Kurokage Sama, may we join you in greeting Hitsugaya?" Kisuke asked

"I want to meet her personally, so you will have to wait your turn Kisuke" he said with a grin as he slipped his captain cloak on and exited the room

"I don't understand why he likes that little runt so much" Kisuke said

"Because, they grew up together. Although we are all loyal to him, he regards Toshiro almost like his brother and considers him his most loyal captain. There is also the fact that out of all of us, Toshiro could beat us all in a battle and could hold his own against Kurokage Sama" Retsu the fourth division captain added while finishing up her meal

Toshiro and Naoto were waiting in the audience hall. Naoto had applied makeup to once again cover her marks as she paced from left to right while Toshiro was perfectly calm "Calm down Naoto, there is no reason to be nervous" Toshiro told her trying to get her to settle down

"That's easy for you to say. You have known him since you were what? Five years old?" Naoto responded

"Actually, I have known him all my life; our families were very close to each other. We trained together almost every day" Toshiro responded

"Indeed we did my good friend" a voice from behind them came; Naoto was surprised while Toshiro calmly turned around "Toshiro! It is good to see you again, but I am curious as to why you are here"

"Kurokage Sama, I have come to report a major event" Toshiro told him in his usual calm voice "My apprentice who was on patrol along the night earth border has observe a major resistance force enter the earth borders, once they returned, she was able to capture one and make him talk using her medical knowledge as a tool. It appears that the resistance attacked the earth country, killing there Tsuchikage and killing some of their ANBU as well as cause a panic inside Iwa"

Ichigo was almost in shock "When you said you had news for me, I had no idea it was this big. But how sure are you of the information?"

"Naoto's interrogating skills are quite impressive sir, she also knows how to use her knowledge of the human body to cause the maximum amount of pain without killing them. She is quite impressive for her age my lord" Toshiro said with a smile and pride

"Well then, it is rare for you to speak so highly of someone with such emotion Toshiro. So this is her then?" he said looking at Naoto who had remained silent

"Yes sir, this is Haruno Naoto, my apprentice"

"So I finally get to meet the one that has finally caught Toshiro's eye" he said while walking up to Naoto taking a good look at her "Toshiro, do you mind if I have a private talk with her?"

Toshiro suddenly got nervous "Uh why my lord?" he finally asked

"Well, I want to talk to her without you in the room. Don't worry, I won't get her to tell me your secrets my friend" he said in a joking tone

Toshiro was uncomfortable, he had promised both Naruto and Sakura that he would not allow himself to be separated from her "Is that really necessary my lord?" he asked hoping to change his mind

"Toshiro, you really are overprotective about her, aren't you? It makes me want to find out about her even more now. What does this kid have that makes her so special huh?" He said with a grin "Come now Toshiro, it's actually funny. All these years I have never seen you as nervous as you are right now. Wait for us, outside will you?" Ichigo asked Toshiro

Toshiro reluctantly nodded. He did whisper something in Naoto's ear before he left "Don't worry, just stay calm. Everything will be fine; I will be just outside" the doors shut behind him leaving her alone with Ichigo

Ichigo walked around Naoto so he could check her out from every angle. Naoto was standing at attention. A small drop of sweat began to drip from her forehead. Ichigo could tell that she was very nervous and afraid "Don't worry, I am not going to hurt you or anything" he said with a smile "I am just curious to know what made Toshiro pick you as his first apprentice after having none for fifteen years. I will say one thing, he sure did pick a cute one" he said with a warm smile trying to make her feel more comfortable with him "So, I know your mother is Haruno Sakura, but tell me, who is your father?"

"My father?... I well… I never met my father my lord, he died in the original attack on Konoha" she told him, it was partly true

"Do you hate us for that?"

"No my lord, I was born after the attack. I don't even know anyone from the resistance, let alone what Konoha was like. The night country is my home and Sensei has been training me since I was strong enough to throw a Kunai my lord"

"I see, that explains why he is so attached to you. I guess he must have felt responsible for the death of your father that he decided to take care of you. He always was the emotional one" he said with a smile

"Sensei, emotional?! I have a hard time believing that…Uh my lord"

"He tries to hide it with that strong front he puts up for everyone, but I know him better than that. We were best friends since we were kids and he use to smile a lot back then. But one day his parents were sent on a mission that got them killed. He was only seven years old. After that day, he barely ever smiled again. He kept on saying that his parents died an honorable death for their country but deep down inside, he was crying like any seven year old would do"

"Wow, he never told me that" Naoto said, thinking about her Sensei and god father in a new light

"Well then, that is an interesting blade you have there, mind if I take a look?" he asked her

Naoto suddenly begun to feel nervous again as she took out her blade and handed it to him hilt first as he took it in his hands and examined it

"This blade, where did you get it?" he asked her seriously

"It…I was told by my mother that it use to belong to the Hokage of the leaf. The resistance had picked it up before retreating and she took it with her when she ran away from them. They were very close… Friends and she felt an emotional attachment to the blade" Naoto told him hoping he would buy the story

"This is a great blade; you should be proud to wield such a weapon. Its previous owner was great warrior who gave me my toughest battle" he said with a smile as he handed her back the blade hilt first before she put the weapon away

"Thank you my lord, I am honored"

They continued to talk together, Naoto was no longer as nervous. The Kurokage was nothing like she had pictured him to be. He was actually a nice person and he though very highly of Toshiro

Toshiro in the meantime was pacing from left to right just outside the door. His hair was a mess "What if she gets so nervous that she reveals something about our mission…or Naruto" he thought to himself, suddenly the doors open and both Ichigo and Naoto exit, Naoto was smiling and laughing much to Toshiro's surprise

"Toshiro! Why did you hide her from me for so long!"

"Excuse me my lord?" he asked confused

"She is a great apprentice, I am even considering putting her up for captain once her apprenticeship is over, and as long as you put her up for recommendation"

Toshiro was shocked, what had happened in that room? "Uh of course Kurokage Sama"

"I feel great, how about tonight we celebrate? I feel like having a good time with my best friend and his cute young apprentice" Ichigo said with a smile

Toshiro couldn't believe it. This actually worked in their favor but he was still very curious about what had happened in that room "That would be great my lord" Toshiro answered

"Look, for tonight, I am not the Kurokage and you are not a captain. So let's do away with the formalities and have a good time, that goes for you too Naoto. No calling me Kurokage Sama or my lord tonight, it's just plain Ichigo" he said with a smile

"Uh, are you sure that's alright?" Naoto asked

"If I say that it's alright, then it's alright" he said with a small laugh "For one night, I just want to forget about being Kurokage and go out for a bit of fun. That also means you don't need to call Toshiro sensei for tonight" he said with a grin

Toshiro felt horrible inside "How can I betray him… How can I turn my back on him? Damn it!" He thought to himself as he began having second thoughts about the plan

"Come on guys, I know this place that makes the best pizza in the city, I know you love pizza Toshiro and from what Naoto told me during our talk so does she" he said with a grin as he led them both out

Meanwhile Sasuke had rounded up the entire resistance "Everyone, I thank you for coming. Last night we all took a vote and the result was that we would fight to return Naruto to his rightful time. However, this will not be an easy task and I will be honest, a lot of us might not come back from this. But if we succeed then Naruto will be sent back to the past and everything will be as it should. If we fail then it's over, the resistance will cease to exist. I have already asked some of our elders to lead our children to the safety of Suna where the Kazekage will take them in and protect them in the event none of us return. But I know that we will succeed because you are the best, the strongest and the brightest of the fire nation and of Konoha. The sand will begin their attack at dawn so we must be ready to act. Shikamaru will explain our plan" Sasuke said as he stepped aside

"Thank you Sasuke Sama. Now then, we cannot stay together as such a large group will only bring unwanted attention. So we will break up into smaller groups" he said as he opened up a large map "every group will move to their designated locations and wait for the signal to attack. Once our attack begins our people on the inside will open up the gates. We will then proceed inside and fight off the defenders"

Sasuke stepped back up "So this is the last chance for anyone here to back out. If you feel that what we are doing is wrong, then please leave now. Because once we begin, there is no going back" he looked around but no one had moved

"Sasuke Sama, no one here would turn their back on Hokage Sama. We must send him back where he belongs, we know that he will make everything right!" Konohamaru shouted out

Naruto had a tear in his eye, he stepped up next to Sasuke "Everyone, I want to thank you all. I know that I don't deserve such loyalty but I swear that I will live up to it" Everyone shouted to show their support

They all separated into groups, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were one of the groups, team seven had reunited as they began their long march towards the occupied capital city

End Chapter 41

Well then, my goal for this chapter was to put a human face on Ichigo, so i hope you all enjoyed it :D next chapter coming soon!