Chapter 2- Departure and Return

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto/Bleach.

[Las Noches, Hueco Mundo]

Naruto used a Flash Step to get to Aizen's stronghold. Naruto had gotten the abilities of a Shinigami, but didn't have a Shikai or Bankai. Thanks to Aizen, the Kyubi had been re-sealed inside Naruto's blade, hence him having a release; this made his zanpakuto more Arrancar-like in how it was used. Since the Tailed Beast was still connected to his soul, Naruto still had thehealing abilities that the Kyubi provided. Naruto's training also resulted in him gaining several hollow abilities, though without the need for an inner hollow to use them.

Naruto entered the center of Las Noches and decided to head to his room one last time. When he got there he saw some new clothes on his bed. A note was attached to it.

Dear Naruto,

I thought you might like some new clothes considering your leaving soon. This should be appropriate for you big return. Enjoy.

Signed,

Aizen

Naruto smiled at the note and put on the clothes. There was a shirt similar to Grimmjow's, but it had short sleeves instead of the long sleeves that the Sixth Espada rolled up. The pants were white and baggy with black trim. His sandals were Espada edition sandals, and he had white forearm gauntlets on his arms that had skulls in the middle; the outfit also icluded a pair of spaulders with a similar design. Naruto took a look at himself in the mirror after trying out his new outfit before going to Aizen's throne room. Naruto walked inside but found that Aizen was not at his throne. Rather than going out and looking for him, Naruto decided to wait for him. He was in no hurry to get back, and wanted to at least talk one last time with the Espada. Speaking of the Espada, Grimmjow had just walked into the throne room.

"How are you, Grimmjow-sama?" Naruto asked as his teacher looked at him and gave his usual grin.

"Bored as hell. What are you doing?" Grimmjow asked he sat next to Naruto.

"Just waiting for Aizen-sama. I need to discuss my departure with him," Naruto said as Grimmjow looked at him with a surprised expression.

"Is it time already?" Grimmjow asked, to which Naruto nodded in reply.

"Yea, it's been a while since I began my training. If my math is correct, it should be seven years passed in my world. I can't wait," Naruto said as he sported his trademark grin.

"I like that look in your eye," Grimmjow said as he smiled. Naruto gave a small chuckle.

"I'm just pumped is all. There are some people I've been dying to see," Naruto said before Grimmjow flashed a sleazy look.

"Oh? You mean like a girl?" Grimmjow asked in a mocking tone; Naruto, not surprisingly, got steamed at him.

"Shut up Grimmjow-sama!" Naruto yelled as Grimmjow laughed at him.

"I thought I heard some sort of commotion," another person said; Naruto immediately recognized that voice thanks to its lazy tone.

"So you actually decided to wake up, Starrk-sama," Naruto said, as Starrk just looked at him with his laziness still present in his eyes.

"I had no choice since Lilynette kept waking me up while you two started making noise over here," Starrk said as he cleaned his ears.

"Well that's great way to say farewell, Starrk," Grimmjow said; Starrk was confused by Grimmjow's comment, but he finally understood after a minute or so.

"So today's the day, huh?" Starrk said in a dull tone.

"Yep, time for me to head home and cause a little trouble. Though I still have to consult Aizen-sama, so I am waiting for him to return," Naruto said. Starrk nodded in reply before he sat next to Naruto.

"Then wait no longer," a familiar voice said.

Naruto, Grimmjow, and Starrk turned around to see that Aizen had appeared to see Naruto off. Along with Aizen remaining Espada, their Fracciones, and Naruto's own two Fracciones came to see him off.

"Oh so you were gathering the rest of the guys to see me off?" Naruto said while smiling at Aizen and the Arrancar.

"Yes, I thought that everyone that worked with you should be here to wish you luck. Though I'm sure that the people that fight you should pray for luck if they want to survive," Aizen said showing his usual smile.

"Got that right. Well then, I guess this is good-bye," Naruto said as he extended his hand to Aizen, who took it.

"For now at least," Aizen said as he shook Naruto's hand.

"Good luck, gaki," Nnoitra said while grinning at Naruto.

"Are we coming with you, Naruto-sama?" Tiraran asked while giving a hopeful yet sad look at him.

Tiraran was an Arrancar with long green haired who looked like a teenage girl. Her outfit was just a top with a skirt and some leggings. She had a piece of a mask in the form of a headband. Jango, Naruto's other Fraccion, was a bit taller than Naruto; he had brown medium hair and a hollow mask in the form of a human skull over his entire face. He had an espada outfit with long sleeves and his shirt was open. Both of them had regular katanas, but Tiraran's had a pink hilt and a black-colored blade while Jango's had a black hilt and a sickly-pale-colored blade. Tiraran and Jango were the 28th and 29th Numeros-class Arrancars, respectively; though they were both at the same level of strength as Ulquiorra when he used his Segunda Etapa without releasing their zapakutos they had chosen not to become Espada out of their loyalty to Naruto.

"No, you should remain here in Hueco Mundo. I will, however, call when I need your assistance," Naruto said as the two Arrancar bowed.

"If that's what you wish, Naruto-sama," Jango said, giving a weak smile.

Naruto opened up a Garganta and stepped through it. He took one last glance back at his teachers before it closed completely.

'Take care of yourselves, and thanks for everything,' Naruto thought to himself as the Espada disappeared from sight.

[Main Gate, Konohagakure]

Izumo and Kotetsu were at the entrance to Konoha, bored as usual. They had been there the whole morning, taking check of everyone that had passed into, and out of, Konoha. Though they hoped it was nothing bad, Izumo and Kotetsu wished that something interesting would happen. They got their wish when a black portal opened up in the sky above them.

"W-what in the name of Kami is that?" Izumo asked as he and Kotetsu just looked at the portal with a little scared look.

"I'm not sure, but it doesn't look friendly," Kotetsu said; Kotetsu was about to go get back up before was stopped by Izumo grabbing his arm.

"Wait, there's someone inside," Izumo said while pointing at a figure that appeared within the portal.

"No way. That's…" Kotetsu said as he stared at the person inside the portal.

The person he saw inside of the portal was none other than Naruto, who then stepped out of the portal and floated gently to the ground. Naruto walked to the gate and nodded to the two guards as they stared wide-eyed at him.

"Yo," said Naruto casually as he walked into the village towards the Hokage Tower.

Izumo and Kotetsu just stared with open mouths and then looked back at each other.

[Hokage's Office, The Academy]

A Few Minutes Later...

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was dealing with the one threat that no kage had been able to get rid of… paperwork. The stack in front of him was huge in height as the old man tried to make it smaller with every sheet signed. The sad part was that the stack was going to be at the same level tomorrow, if it didn't go higher. As he was going through some more documents, someone knocked the on door.

"Come in," the Third said as he took down another sheet to be signed.

"Long time no see old man," an voice said; this voice made the hokage look up with wide eyes.

Standing in the door way was Naruto, smiling at one of the few people that treated him with kindness. The Sandaime had tried to have Naruto be seen as a hero, as per the Yondaime's instructions, but it fell on mostly deaf ears. The few people who did listen tried to at least adopt the poor kid, but the civilian council, in their arrogance and complete hatred of the boy, shot them all down. When the Hokage told the councils that Gin and Tosen had taken Naruto, the civilian council was happy to be rid of the so called "demon child". The shinobi council, however, was not so cheerful. When the Sandaime assured them, in secret, that Naruto would return one day they got a little bit happy; unlike the civilian council, the members of the shinobi council did not hold any real hatred towards Naruto as they knew the Kyubi's attack on Konoha was not Naruto's fault. Now, after 7 years, Naruto has returned, Hiruzen sensing the definite change that had occurred.

"Welcome home, Naruto," Sandaime said as he gave the blonde a big hug.

"Thanks, old man, though I doubt I'll get the same warm welcome from most people. How've you been? Still dealing with paperwork?" Naruto said. The Third frowned in response to that comment as he was well aware that the child was mocking him and his torment.

"Unfortunately yes, I am unable to escape this torture, until I find a successor," the Sandaime said, going back to his desk and motioning Naruto to sit; Naruto, however, waved it off.

"I'm not here to talk long I just wanted to say hi and get back to the academy. Though they can't really teach me anything there, I still need to graduate to be a ninja," Naruto said, to which the Sandaime nodded; the Sandaime then held up a finger.

"Hold on a sec, I almost forgot. This will let you go through the graduation process without having going through all the teachings over again so you can graduate with your class," he said before he took out a piece of paper and wrote down a note that he then gave to Naruto.

"Thanks, old man," Naruto said before taking the note and waving goodbye to the man who was like a grandfather to him before leaving.

[Academy Classroom]

A Few Moments Later

"Don't forget that the graduation exam is tomorrow, so everyone study hard and sharpen your skills tonight," Iruka announced to the class.

Everyone was excited about finally graduating, having worked hard, for the most part, to become ninja. Some of the students had decided to become ninja to gain power, some were there to achieve glory, and some were just there only because their parents forced them to go(cough Shikamaru cough). The opening of the door stopped the chattering amongst the students. The figure that stepped in made the guys look shocked, the girls with blushes on their faces and few with nose bleeds. As Naruto walked in he gave a mock salute to Iruka and gave him the note from the Hokage. Iruka nodded at Naruto in understanding and motioned for him to take a seat. A certain Uchiha was looking at Naruto with a frown; the fact that this new guy walked in here like he owned the place felt like an attack on the Uchiha's pride.

"Class, our new student, or returning student to be more precise, is Naruto Uzumaki. He will be participating in the graduation exam with the rest of you," Iruka said. Some of the students were shocked by this revelation while other, including a certain pink-haired girl, were very upset.

"Iruka-sensei, that's not fair! Why does that blonde baka get to take the exam when he hasn't even been here for so long?" Sakura screeched. Because she had done this in Naruto's ear he had to clean them to make sure that the pink banshee didn't cause him to lose his ability to hear.

"Because Naruto has been training for the past seven years in another place. His training makes him more than qualified to take the exam," Iruka said as Sakura gave one last angry look at Naruto before she went back to her seat.

'Naruto-kun, I knew it was you,' Hinata tought as she blushed at seeing Naruto in such a hot outfit.

Naruto sensed her looking at him and turned around and looked at her. Hinata immediately tuned her head with an "eep" sound. Naruto turned back around and gave a smile. As the bell rung dismissed the students proceeded to return home. Naruto walked away from the classroom, but stopped when he felt someone's killer intent directed at him. Naruto turned around to see Sasuke Uchiha who was, giving him an ugly look.

"What do you want, Uchiha?" Naruto asked him; he was not in the mood for a fight with the Uchiha punk as that would have been a waste of his time.

"I just want you to remember your place. I'm the top student in my class, so don't you think that I'll let you pass this exam, you dead last," Sasuke said; the Uchiha was smirking until Naruto yawned in reply. Naruto had fought against beings with more power than anyone in this world could shake a stick at; the Uchiha standing before him was, to Naruto, little more than a cockroach by comparison and, as a result, not even worth taking seriously.

"You finished gloating yet? I have gotta go to my apartment to make sure I've got food to eat," Naruto said as he turned around.

"Don't you turn your back on me!" the Uchiha yelled as he threw a punch; Sasuke stopped his attack when Naruto disappeared.

Sasuke looked around for Naruto but couldn't find him until he reappeared behind the Sasuke, his sword pressed against the Uchiha's neck.

"I'm not gonna fight you today, Sasuke. I'll save that for tomorrow;, just be ready to be beaten by a 'dead last' in the meantime," Naruto said as he once again disappeared, leaving the Uchiha enraged at this humiliation.

Next Time – A Secret Revealed