Do I Have A Purpose Anymore?

by Kingkakashi

Naruto has loved 3 women in his life; all of them broke his heart. Life in the Village has become too much for him to endure anymore. Leaving, he sets off a chain of events, including attempting to free Princess Koyuki and the Land of Spring from Madara and his Akatsuki all the while, as many people chase after him, some for love and others to kill him. Bleach x-over Harem

14. The Test

Do I Have A Purpose Anymore?

Chapter 14: "The Test"

Naruto stood resolute before the portal, Hinata's hand held tightly in his own. He watched as the portal began to widen from a mere pinprick, to eventually a large ominous dark hole the size of a cave mouth.

Hinata gulped at the sheer darkness of the expanse that even her Byakugan could not pierce before a reassuring squeeze from Naruto's hand to her own calmed the former Hyuga heiress somewhat.

"So, what exactly is on the other side of this thing?"

Yamamoto raised his shoulders in a shrug.

"All I can tell you Naruto is that your first instructor awaits you on the other side and do not underestimate him. He may seem like a lazy fool, but he was also one of my first students."

Naruto unsheathed his giant blade, while releasing Hinata's hand ever so slowly-

Before shoving his blade point first into the floor to free his hands as he suddenly wrapped Hinata into a fierce hug while giving the Hyuga girl the most passionate kiss she had ever experienced in her young life.

A kiss, that left Hinata breathless and the room spinning in her eyes as he pulled away.

Nel just asked what that was and when told that was a kiss and being the inquisitive child turned to a very disgruntled Yugito and a rather amused Yamamoto to explain what a kiss was to her. After the explanation was given, Nel looked to her adoptive father and asked.

"So does that mean Naru-kun isn't mad at Hina-chan anymore?"

Naruto smiled and bent down to his daughter, ruffling her mint-colored green hair and answered.

"No little one, I'm not mad at Hina-chan anymore. You be a good girl while I'm gone, ok?"

"Ok." Nel replied, as Naruto kissed her cheek before rising.

Naruto then reached for his blade, and when he hoisted it over his shoulder, he heard a voice whispering its way through his mind.

Soon...

Soon, Naruto, you and I will be one...

Bearing this in mind and steeling himself for the worst, Naruto put on his mask and stepped willingly into the unknown darkness and was abruptly flung out the other side, landing roughly while stumbling and falling flat on his face, as he staggered forward.

With a small shiver and an irritated growl, he righted himself and took in his surroundings.

Naruto found he was now on the beach of a small island surrounding by the pounding surf of a sea. The island was of your typical tropical variety with a lush jungle populated by many palm trees and other indigenous plant-life. He noticed a small shanty type shack standing at the edge of the jungle line and scratching his head; he pulled off his mask and shouted loudly:

"OI! ANYBODY HERE?"

A calm voice replied, almost immediately.

"You needn't shout."

Naruto looked to right of the shanty hut and noticed a man lying in a hammock strung between two palm trees. Walking towards the man, Naruto was able to see the person in the hammock more closely, who in return eyed the blonde as he approached.

Naruto took note that the man in the hammock had grey eyes and long wavy brown hair, which was tied in a long ponytail and also has long bangs that framed the left side of his face. He also wore very distinctive pin-wheel hairpins that appeared to be very expensive and had thin facial hair around his mouth and on his cheeks. The clothing of the man consisted of a earing a straw hat called a sakkat and a pink, flowered ladies kimono, which he had draped across his shoulders and over the same type of uniform Yamamoto had been wearing. Rising groggily into a sitting position and letting his sandled feet hang loosely over the edge of the hammock the man asked while trying to stifle a yawn.

"And you are?"

"Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, I was sent here to receive training for my Zanpaktou from the protégé of Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. Are you that guy?"

The man gave a small nod before jumping off the hammock and bowing down, while sweeping his arm in front of him introduced himself.

"Shunsui Kyoraku at your service."

Naruto then noticed that Shunsui had two types of swords strapped to his body, a tachi and a wakizashi blade. The cross guards of the blades are rectangles, with the corners cut off and decorated by a pattern of cherry petals and lines, as each sported a dark-blue handle. Both swords were sheathed through Shunsui's waist tie at his left side.

Yet, while Naruto studied Shunsui, the former Gotei Captain did likewise and focused his eyes on Zabuza's blade that Naruto carried. A ghost of a smile tugged at his lips, as if in memory before he commented.

"So, you're here to finish what Zabuza could not."

"You mean this Bankai thing right?" Naruto asked, as he shouldered his Zanpaktou's massive weight with relative ease.

Shunsui chuckled and gave a small nod before his expression hardened, as he drew out both of his swords and set the two blades against each other in a cross before declaring.

"But first, you must prove your worthiness."

"Alright, so what's this test?"

"It's simple really, you need to kill me before I kill you that's all."

"That doesn't seem fair, you've already got this Bankai thing, I don't!"

"You're right, if I did use my Bankai on you it would be unfair, but I'm not going to use it. My Shikai should be strong enough for this test. The name of my Shikai is Katen Kyokotsu, now watch closely." Shunsui casually commented before shouting.

"When the Flower Wind Rages, the Flower God Roars, When the Wind of Heaven Rages, the God of the Underworld Sneers!"

"What the Hell?" Naruto exclaimed as he looked on in confusion.

A scant second later Naruto was blinded by an intense flash of light. When the light faded Shinsui was standing before him and his Katen Kyokotsu has changed his original swords into a pair of huge, heavily-curved, black Chinese scimitars with silver edges. The hilt and tsuba of each blade was still the same as they were in Katen Kyokotsu's sealed-form, but they now sport long red tassels dangling from the end.

Naruto had never seen such a thing before.

"I'd quit staring and concentrate Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, because I will come at you with intent to kill."

The blond swallowed nervously, a bead of sweat running down his face, as he boldly declared.

"I...am not afraid."

At this statement, Shunsui chuckled and began to move his blades into an attack stance.

"We shall see, now let us begin."

The air suddenly grew thick with power, as Shinsui extended Katen Kyokotsu to each side before saying.

"I should warn you the power of Katen Kyokotsu is to make children's games real. The Zanpaktou makes the rules and anyone who steps within the boundaries of its spiritual pressure is forced to play by those rules, including myself.

"And what are its rules?" Naruto queried.

"Pretty basic actually, if you win you live, if you lose you die."

Shunsui then began to rotate with both blades facing in opposite directions creating large wind blades that were fired towards Naruto from Katen Kyokotsu. The wind blades joined together forming a spinning circle of wind and if they struck would envelope Naruto with tornado-like intensity. The blonde Jinchuuriki was not about to let that happen and went through a series of hand signs before thrusting his arms forward towards the oncoming attack. A powerful gust of wind erupted from his hands indicating Naruto had unleashed his Reppushou (Gale Wind Palm Technique) and it impacted Shinsui's spinning circle of wind with tremendous force causing the two wind attacks to cancel each other out. However, before Gotei Captain could formulate another attack, he suddenly found himself on the defensive, as Naruto had shushin'd over to his position and began attacking him with thrusts and slashes from his Zanpaktou.

'Interesting, he already knows a form of Shunpo (Flash-step) as well as wind attacks on this world. Let's see how strong and skilled he is with a Zanpaktou.' Shinsui thought to himself, while dodging a strike from Naruto's blade.

The two combatants circled and danced around each other with deadly grace, searching out openings, and littering each other with cuts that did not kill, but did bleed superficially. The sweet hum of blades slicing through the air, the sizzle and crackle, as each met with sparks flying was almost like a musical concerto of their battle. After awhile, the Gotei Captain was suitably impressed by his opponent's skill. Shunsui had well over a 100 years experience in the art of Kenjutsu, but Naruto was matching him with every parry and stroke. It was evident that Naruto's three years of black op's and hunter-nin missions had turned him into a deadly swordsman.

Shunsui skillfully blocked Naruto's over-head swing with both of his blades, the force from the blow created a small crater under the Gotei Captains feet. Shunsui swore he could feel his bones creak under the intense pressure and power of the attack and realized that Naruto was channeling chakra into his sword arm to increase the strength of his strikes. The Gotei Captain knew he couldn't afford to make any mistakes against this opponent, as he shifted his swords to allow the power-house strike to slip off to the side and uselessly destroy the ground to his right. A large cloud of sand and dust billowed up from the blow obscuring Naruto's vision, which allowed Shunsui to shunpo behind the former Leaf Jounin.

Thrusting one of his blades forward, Shunsui was hoping to end this fight quickly. However, he was surprised when Naruto grabbed the blade with his bare left hand and held it in place. Ignoring the searing pain from his hand, Naruto yanked the blade off course and in the process pulled the Gotei Captain in closer. Naruto then planted his left foot and pivoted to bring his Zanpaktou sword around to skewer his now vulnerable opponent through the chest.

Shunsui knew he had a problem the moment that Naruto had grabbed onto one of his blades and began to pull. However, instead of fighting against the pull, he threw himself towards the direction he was being pulled in. Twisting his body to its fullest extent, the point of Naruto's blade barely missed fatally striking the Gotei Captain, as he was able to bring his other sword around in the nick of time to parry Naruto's strike. Growling in frustration, Naruto then launched into a series of chakra-enhanced strikes hoping to overwhelm his opponent once and for all by strength alone.

For his part, the Gotei Captain had decided he had seen enough and now was the time for Naruto's true test to begin. After a few minutes, it seemed as though Naruto's strategy of simply overwhelming his foe by sheer brute force was working. As the fight progressed, Shunsui slowly but surely grew more and more sluggish and was merely on the defensive at this point. For every time the Gotei Captain attempted to go on the offensive, Naruto was able to dodge all of the attacks in an impressive show of agility and speed and sent back a few effective counter-attacks littering Shunsui with several cuts along his chest and arms.

Finally, the Gotei Captain was too slow to dodge and with a anguished cry from his lips Shunsui found Naruto's Zanpaktou imbedded into his left shoulder blade forcing the man to drop one of his scimitars onto the ground. As Shunsui fell to one knee with Naruto's blade still firmly buried into his shoulder, he precariously held his other scimitar blade up in a defensive position. Unfortunately, the pain in his shoulder was agonizing, as he swayed unsteadily on the ground before Naruto who with one quick stroke knocked the remaining sword out of his opponent's hand leaving the man now defenseless. It was then that the blonde Jinchuuriki heard his foe gasp out in a labored breath.

"Fin-finish it Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. I told you the rules at the start, if you win you live, if you lose you die! You've won; I've lost; now strike me down and be done with it."

Naruto ripped his Zanpaktou out of Shunsui's shoulder causing the man to grunt in pain. Grabbing the hilt with both hands and raising it high above his head, it would only take a simple down-stroke to cleave the Gotei Captain in two. Shunsui saw his foe raise his sword and gave a small grin to the blonde man before closing his eyes and await the final blow that would end his life. Suddenly, Naruto unleashed a monstrous roar and swung his Zanpaktou downwards.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO….!"

A few seconds later, Shunsui opened his eyes to see Naruto blade imbedded in the sand next to him, while Naruto stood over him with his arms crossed and breathing heavily before he spat with anger and contempt.

"No I'm not going to kill you; I've no reason to kill you! And if you bring up that bullshit about the rules of the game, I don't give a damn what the rules say! I'm not going to kill anyone just because a bunch of stupid rules say I have to!"

Shunsui smiled and quickly rose to his feet surprising Naruto who had believed only moments ago that the man was barely able stay conscious. The blonde Jinchuuriki watched as the wound he had inflicted onto his foe only minutes ago, began healing itself at an astonishing rate.

"I congratulate you, Naruto Uzumaki Narmikaze. You...were the first to figure it out the true meaning of the test and only the second man to ever survive this trial. I have nothing more to teach you in this regard."

Releasing Katen Kyokotsu and sheathing both of his blades once more, Shunsui saw the confused look now plastered on Naruto's face and chuckled before saying.

"The test is over and showed yourself to be your own master, well done."

"You say I'm the first to pass this trial, but the second to survive it. Who was the first to survive?"

"The first was the former owner of your Zanpaktou Momochi Zabuza. For you see Zabuza was able to show that he too was his own master, but could never figure out the second part of the test."

Licking his wounds, and stretching, Naruto took careful note of what he was being told.

"You see the opportunity was given for you to strike me down yet you did not. Instead you spared me and that befits a true warrior of justice, one that does not bring unnecessary bloodshed or blindly follow rules like an obedient lapdog."

Looking away, he shook his head in disdain.

"Unfortunately, Zabuza loved any opportunity to commit unnecessary bloodshed, so when that opening always presented itself during the test, he was always taking it and thus failing the trial time and time again as a result."

The Gotei Captain now surprised Naruto by offering the blonde his hand.

"If it wouldn't trouble you, I'd like to accompany you back to the world of the living, if not as a mentor then as an ally."

Naruto eyed the hand warily, immediately on high alert.

"You mean you'd be willing to join me and my party and share in our goals?"

Shunsui nodded before stating.

"If they're worthy, then I would be honored to lend you my sword not only to you, but to your comrades as well. Besides I've been cooped up on this island in this dimension for I don't know how long? And if I don't see a woman again soon, I'm going to go nuts!"

At this Naruto chuckled, taking the extended hand a moment later and shaking it firmly.

"Then welcome to Team Fox, Shunsui Kyoraku."

No sooner had they shook hands when a portal opened behind Naruto, whilst another appeared behind Shinsui.

The one by Naruto was black, while the one near Shinsui was the purest of white.

Sensing the blonde's confusion, the straw-hat wearing Captain provided an answer to Naruto's unspoken question, as he released Naruto's hand from his grip and said.

"The portal you see behind me is the return to old man Yamma's place. The one behind you leads to the second trial. I will return to your comrades and inform them of our agreement."

Shunsui then stepped one foot into the white, before turning around once more.

"I wish you luck in your second trial, Naruto."

Then in a flash of white he was gone.

The Jinchuuriki sighed, as he looked to the black abyss.

There would be no more delays.

Every second he hesitated, would likely be another life lost in the Land of Snow.

"Well, here I go!" Naruto shouted as he charged into the darkness once more while wondering.

'What new trial was waiting for me on the other side?'

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile back in Konoha, Tsunade was fervently massaging her temples in an effort to relieve her mind from the horrid headache she had developed over the last two hours.

Emissaries from both the Hyuga and Inuzuka clans had voiced their concerns so to speak with regards to their missing heirs.

To further complicate matters, the Haruno family and the Yamanaka clan had also weighed in with their own worries with regards to their now missing children.

And while they had at least been respectful enough to Tsunade to ask for the Hokage's help in finding them, the Hyuga and Inuzuka clans essentially demanded that Tsunade do something to insure the return of their missing clan members.

After listening to the shouts, demands, and squabbles that had erupted for over two hours, Tsunade's patience was gone. She ordered everyone to go home with an assurance from her that she would send out a search party consisting of two of her finest Jounin Shinobi to locate and bring home everyone's wayward family members.

Grabbing her list of available Jounin and scanning through it, Tsunade smiled as she came across two names that were available for duty.

And considering whom all the missing shinobi were, these two would be perfect for the mission considering the relationships they had with all these AWOL nin's.

Writing the names down and giving them to a messenger, she wanted these shinobi in her office first thing in the morning. And with that taken care of, Tsunade began a frantic search for her sake, as nothing was a better remedy for a headache.

At least in her opinion...

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Author Notes: Well there's chapter 14 and I think it's an important chapter for the story, as I made a major change from the original version and it did require a lot of rewrite on my part. I chose to rewrite Naruto's first Bleach character ally, as Shunsui Kyoraku for two reasons. One, I always liked his character in Bleach more than Kaname Tosen. And two, it better fits when I make the attempt to explain how the Bleach characters are in the Naruto world in the first place later on. Hopefully, all of you will enjoy the change in the story and this chapter. I know it took me a little bit of time to get it to you, but I had to take a break from this story so I could get my other stories updated such as "Naruto vs. Sasuke: The Aftermath" I still urge all of you who are fans of this and have not checked out that story please do so. I truly believe you will enjoy reading that tale as much as you do this one.

News:

For the past few chapters I've alerted my readers to a couple of polls set up on each of their accounts by the fine authors brown phantom and Zentary asking the question.

Who is the best Naruto fanfic writer on this site?

Recently, brown phantom let me know that he would be closing his poll at the end of the year.

However, Zetary's poll will still remain open.

As for the poll themselves, they both have each listed 50 authors and you're allowed to vote for 10 choices on each poll. Both authors have graciously placed my name on both polls. And both polls have been going on strong for a few months and I'm really looking forward to seeing the final results.

So I humbly ask if you feel I'm worthy of being one of your 10 picks to please place a vote for me. If you haven't voted yet on these polls please do so, as I could really use your help to make a good showing. A top 10 showing would be nice, but a top 5 would just be incredible and it's the perfect late Christmas gift too, lol.

I thank you in advance for your support and the links to the profile pages for both brown phantom and Zentary are listed below.

brown phantom http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/1634435/

Zentary http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/2022054/

End of News

I'm still very pleased that this revised story seems to be a hit with most people. I also want to thank those readers who take the time to leave a review for the tale. They're very helpful in letting me know how the story is progressing with all of you. And they really do assist an author out in knowing what people like about a story. Thanks again to everyone for all of your support.

Take it easy and be good!

Kingkakashi