"Did you ever say yes to a pleasure?

Oh my friends, then you also said yes to all pain.

All things are linked, entwined, in love with one another."

"What does not kill me makes me stronger."

Nietzsche

In the 53rd district of the Rukongai, many people were standing watching a commotion that was taking place with a terrified look on their faces. They were people, but yet they were something far more unique. Neither living nor dead, they were souls, freed from the confines of their mortal bodies via death and now residing in the soul society. Even as souls they retained human physiology and as such could be killed, but here, in soul society, death meant that they would simply be reincarnated, there would be no other alternative. The circles of life as it were. Only if they were devoured by hollows would they truly be lost.

Amongst all the commotion, one blond man walked past, neither caring nor giving any attention to what was going on. He was tall, and had deep blue eyes, and wore a simple white Gi, and was carrying some herbs in his hands. He was unofficially the acknowledged healer of that district.

As he was walking, the creature sealed in him blurted out, “Pathetic fools, they claim to be the guardians of heaven, and yet they let their charges rot, what foolishness!! I cannot believe that I was defeated by people like them,” it scoffed as its host smirked. The creature had been forced to depart with him when he had departed from the mortal world as well, and finally after death, they had truly developed a bond of camaraderie realizing that they would never be free of each other, unless they chose reincarnation in which case, the demon would be erased from existence, and he would lose his life, and more importantly his precious memories and personal identity, which neither of them wanted, and therefore they had agreed upon a tentative alliance. He shook his head in mirth, had the creature been so co-operative when he was alive, life would have been much different perhaps, he mused, but then shook his head. He was happy here, well rid of his home world, and he was glad to be shot of it. He was the only one who had been allowed to ascend to the soul society from his realm, and he was grateful for it. He had no desire to meet his fellow peers in the afterlife of his own realm, because he doubted whether he would be free of his wretched fate, even in heaven.

As a meager reward for his sufferings, the shinigami of his realm had allowed him to pass to the afterlife of another realm, with the condition that he could never ever see any of his old comrades ever again, and he had agreed to it in an instant. He did not want to be reincarnated in the wretched shinobi realm after all.

Meanwhile, the screams emanating from the area of the commotion escalated and he paused for a while, and then continued on.

“And this is supposed to be heaven,” the creature snorted in disgust while he paused for a second and retorted, “Life is cruel, why should the afterlife be any different?”

“Yes, I suppose so, still the shinigami patrols are becoming too brazen, and yet their leaders do nothing, worthless swine’s,” the creature growled in reply.

“Enough, it is not our place to complain, we are here simply to exist, what they do is no concern of ours,” the man replied with a soft growl and the creature became silent.

“Still, you do realize that you possess enough power to beat most of their captains even though you are not trained in their arts, do you not? If I had to guess, you would be in the top tier of the captains, amongst the five most powerful beings in this plane, of course, it is of no concern seeing that we have hidden our powers so well that you are considered as an ordinary soul; amusing, if they learned of your true capabilities, they will hound us until we join their ranks, or they will not rest until they kill us,” the creature remarked and this time, the man didn’t reply.

Soon, he reached his thatched hut and set his herbs down and began preparing medicines that he would need soon to heal the injured people who would arrive once the commotion was over.

After half an hour, some people did arrive, only thing was that they were not the injured souls of the 53rd district, but the shinigami patrol sent to patrol that area.

He recognized that they were from the seventh division looking at their uniforms, and noticed that they were being led by a swarthy looking man.

The man looked at him and barked, “You there, you are yet to pay the protection tax levied by the Seiretei, why have you not paid your dues yet?” he asked with a leer as he pointed his sword towards the healer who stood at a corner quietly without speaking a word.

He frowned, as far as he knew, the Seiretei never levied taxes of any sorts, which meant that this man was extorting money from the innocent people for his personal gain. Suddenly, the reason for the earlier commotion’s occurrence became clearer to him.

“I am but a simple healer sir, and I have no money or any possessions of such value, besides, I have never heard of such a tax,” he tried to reason with the men.

Another member of the patrol retorted harshly, “You dare argue? Do you know who this is? He is Hitotoki-sama, the 20th seated officer of the seventh squad of the Gotei 13, mind your place, worm,” the man growled while the leader puffed his chest out in pride.

He snorted inwardly, a 20th seat meant that this man was one of the weakest members of the shinigami power ranks, while the others were grunts, who had not even achieved shikai, he could take care of all of them within seconds, but he decided to play it safe.

“I have nothing to give to you, unless you are injured and require treatment of course,” he replied softly, at which Hitotoki growled. With a signal from him, his men went around destroying all the medicines and stored herbs in the hut willfully, but the healer did not protest, and refrained from interfering.

“Let that be a lesson to you, the next time we return, you had better be ready for us, healer,” the man growled and left along with his men.

That night, at the meeting called by the elder of the district, things were tense.

“This is outrageous, they are supposed to protect us, yet they are the ones’ who harm us more than even the hollows, this cannot be allowed to continue,” a spirited young man roared out and many cheered in approval.

“We should complain to the Seiretei,” another woman spoke out and there were some angry exclamations at that.

“You think they will listen to us over their own, they are nothing but cowards who wallow in their luxuries and let us suffer, I say we take matters into our own hands,” the youngster who had spoken first retorted to much applause.

The elder spoke softly, “We cannot fight the shinigami, they are the ones with the power and hence it must be their decision. Do not judge all shinigami harshly because of a few Shinigami’s behavior,” the old man spoke softly.

“Then what do we do?” another person asked quietly.

“Sooner or later, they will dig their own grave, we must be patient,” was the reply from the elder while the healer silently nodded in agreement at the wise words of the elder.

In the following month, Hitotoki and his posse returned again and vandalized the district once more. Again, the healer’s stores were ravaged, and again he was warned that next time he would face dire consequences if he did not pay the taxes.

Again, in the next month, things got hairy. When Hitotoki and his men arrived, the healer was busy healing an injured child and did not pay any attention to the rogue shinigami and it irked them all. With a angry frown, one of the men went and struck a blow to the injured child the healer was healing.

The very next moment, the man was literally flung out through the walls of the healer’s hut, unconscious and bleeding. A stunned and shocked Hitotoki watched with jaws wide open as an ordinary man flung a shinigami through the walls of his home as if the said shinigami was made of paper.

He drew out his zanpakuto as his men surrounded the healer.

“You have just made the biggest mistake of your life, healer,” Hitotoki growled.

“Here is the deal, meatball,” the healer spoke softly, while Hitotoki gaped in shock at the crude manner in which the man addressed him, “Leave now, and I will let you live,” the healer spoke stiffly.

After a moment, all the shinigami gave out a roar of laughter, “You know, you really are one of a kind, Blondie, I am going to enjoy gutting you, pal,” the man growled as his men launched themselves at the healer.

Instantly, the healer swerved left and caught an attacker’s arm and twisted it violently. With a scream, the man collapsed as the bone in his forearm jutted out at the elbow breaking the skin and becoming visible to the naked eye; seeing what had happened another of the men tried to hit him with his sword and he instantly did a split and sank underneath the man and delivered a powerful punch to his groin. With a very loud scream the assailant sank down and rolled around clutching his groin in pain with tears streaming out of his eye.

By that time, the remaining members of the posse had realized that the healer was not an ordinary man and surrounded him cautiously. Already three men were down, and apart from Hitotoki, only two others were left.

This time, the healer moved first and in a surprising display of speed, he reached one of the two men and delivered a powerful uppercut just under the man’s jaw. The man sailed 10 feet high in the air with a spectacular shower of blood erupting from his mouth interspersed with a few pieces of teeth within.

As Hitotoki and the remaining man turned towards him, the healer readied himself as he saw that the rogue shinigami was preparing to unleash his shikai. However, at that moment, more than 20 black garbed figures appeared around them.

The healer instantly recognized them as members of the Onmitsukido, and instantly sat down on his knees with his hands held behind his head. However, to his astonishment, the 20 members of the black ops turned towards Hitotoki and his lone companion and assaulted them. It was embarrassing to watch, to say the least. The proud and powerful 20th seat of the seventh division did not even last a 20th of a second in front of the best of the black ops.

After that, they turned their attention towards him and he silently awaited his fate. He had already pushed his luck too much and was cursing the fact that he had not taken the precaution to ensure that no shinigami were around before he decided to display his skills. Soon, the man who was apparently the leader of the black ops squad approached him. He analyzed the man. The man had blond hair similar to him, only it was a lighter shade in color, and he had brown eyes, and a very goofy appearance, but he was not fooled. This man possessed enormous power, almost bordering on par with most mid tiered captains, and he had a tremendous intellect, from the way he looked around and analyzed things, the healer deduced.

“Sorry about that,” the squad leader spoke quietly, “You see, these men are actually deserters and rogue shinigami, we have been tracking them for the last 4 months, but they always managed to slip away before we could get them. Finally, we learnt that they were raiding this settlement, and we finally managed to get them; nice work by the way, healer-san, and my name is Urahara, Kisuke Urahara,” the man introduced himself. “I am the 3rd seat of the second division and the commander of the 3rd platoon of the punishment corps, the detention squad,” the man explained softly.

“Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki,” the healer quietly spoke and the man nodded stiffly.

“Well, Naruto-san, you know there are going to be repercussions about this, right? You just defeated three to four shinigami, and if I am not mistaken you possess enough skill to defeat that man, who is a seated officer; you will soon be called in for questioning, and even though these men are criminals, I don’t think you too will escape attention from this,” the man spoke softly.

“I understand,” Naruto spoke stiffly and Urahara nodded.

As he made to leave, Naruto asked him, “Perhaps, I should treat those guys huh, I don’t think they can travel in that shape,” he spoke with a wan grin and Urahara laughed at that, “No need, Uzumaki-san, it will be okay,” the man spoke and soon he and his men vanished.

2nd Division Quarters

“You mean to say that four of those men were defeated by an unarmed civilian?” Yoruichi Shihoin, the captain of the second division and the leader of the Onmitsukido asked Urahara in surprise.

“Yes. He is very, and I mean very, proficient in hand to hand combat. He took out three of those guys in twenty seconds, and if we had not stepped in, I am sure he would have taken care of the others by himself as well,” Urahara spoke softly.

“What is his name again?” she asked as she pondered over the facts. An unarmed civilian who could defeat an entire shinigami platoon section by himself was not to be dismissed lightly.

“Uzumaki Naruto, he is a healer who resides in the 53rd district,” Urahara replied softly.

“Where is he now?” Yoruichi asked softly.

“He is being taken for questioning by the Central 46 chambers to be judged,” Urahara replied softly.

“Isn’t that a bit too high for something as trivial as this?” Yoruichi asked in surprise.

“Not really,” Urahara admitted, “You see, if word gets out that an entire shinigami platoon section was defeated by an unarmed civilian, even though it was a rogue one, it would still mean great embarrassment to the Gotei 13. My guess is that they will coerce him into joining the Gotei 13 as well with the threat of facing punishment otherwise,” Urahara spoke softly.

“Yeah well, seems like an interesting guy,” Yoruichi commented offhandedly as they moved onto discussing other matters.

4th Division quarters

As he eyed the 4th division, his mind was in turmoil. He had been told quite clearly that if he didn’t join the Gotei 13, he would be imprisoned for life, and he had grudgingly accepted. Since he was a healer, it had been decreed that he would join the 4th division, and would learn the shinigami arts as he integrated himself into the Gotei 13. Since he was considered too old to go the academy, it had been decided that one of the established shinigami in the 4th division would teach him everything he needed to know about the shinigami arts.

As he was eyeing the entrance, a man came out and looked at him, “Are you Naruto Uzumaki?” he asked as he looked at Naruto, who nodded in reply.

“Welcome, I am Seinosuke Yamada, the lieutenant of the 4th division, welcome to the 4th division,” the man spoke with a warm smile and Naruto finally accepting his fate, nodded in return and entered into the 4th division barracks and towards a new chapter in his afterlife.

5 Years Later

Life inside the Seiretei had been surprisingly easy for Naruto, and he was rather surprised at it. Since he had arrived without any knowledge of the shinigami arts, he was assigned as an unranked ordinary member of the division and was placed in Seinosuke Yamada’s platoon. Naruto soon struck up a close friendship with the man, who had a very kind and cheerful disposition. Seinosuke instructed Naruto in all the four fields of shinigami arts and was pleasantly surprised to see that Naruto was a surprisingly good learner and learnt everything he was instructed in, very quickly.

Naruto had decided very early on that he would try and hide his true potential for as long as he could. He had no intention of displaying his abilities or his powers, maybe it was his paranoia in effect, but being born as a shinobi had ingrained in him the fact that the only person who could be truly trusted was one’ self and no others.

Now that he had received formal instruction in the shinigami arts, he knew that if necessary he could actually become a captain if he tried. He had manifested Kyuubi as his zanpakuto, and he and Kyuubi had come to an agreement that they would not display their abilities for as long as it was possible to do so. He just wanted to spend the rest of his life as an unknown shinigami with no normal abilities, and he was content with that.

His duties in the division were straightforward and easy. The 4th Division was the medical/supply division of the Gotei 13. They were responsible for both treating the injured and doing most of the manual labor, such as cleaning the Seiretei. Usually, he found himself being assigned to clean the penitence tower or the underground sewers, but the former hokage never complained about anything.

He had seen the captain only a few times. Unohana Retsu was one of the oldest captains in the Gotei 13 as well as one of the acknowledged members of the group of top tiered captains. Her strength was nearly equal to his, although he was a bit stronger than her he supposed, but then again, it was not her strength that set her apart from the other captains.

It was her other attributes that made her so well loved. She was one of the kindest, noblest and most gentle souls around, and she always treated everyone with respect, even the unranked and ordinary shinigami as well. She was also said to be the most beautiful female in the Seiretei, and many were the people who adored her.

She had spoken to him a couple of times, and he had spoken guardedly with her, careful not to reveal too much about himself.

Meanwhile, things in the Seiretei had changed quite a bit as well.

Kisuke Urahara had been promoted as the captain of the twelfth squad, and was busy setting up the Shinigami Research and Development Institute.

Seinosuke Yamada had become the proud father of a young son, whom he named Hanataro. Naruto had been one of the select few whom Seinosuke had invited for the celebrations.

3 Years Later

Things were still the same, and Naruto was still an unranked shinigami in the 4th division. By now, a veteran of eight years, and many were asking him why he was not a seated shinigami, but he had shrugged it all off by stating that he had not achieved Shikai yet, while in reality, he had already achieved Bankai in the year in which he had become a shinigami itself and was now close to mastering it. Although, he and Kyuubi had used all their skills to hide any evidence that pointed out to that fact.

However, a major crisis had occurred in the last year. Kisuke Urahara had been banished from the Seiretei for allegedly conducting illegal experiments, which had apparently caused the deaths of the captains of the 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 9th squads, along with the lieutenants of the 8th, 9th and 12th squads and the lieutenant of the Kido Corps. To compound the problems, the captain of the second squad and the captain of the Kido corps had vanished as well, and Seiretei was in a prime time of crisis. And Naruto couldn’t care less.

Although, the lieutenants of the 5th and 2nd squads had stepped up to handle their squads, the rest of the squads were still in big disarray. Naruto knew that he could claim one of the vacant positions of captaincy by demonstrating his Bankai, but he was silent. He had no desire to be a captain. Fate it would seem had other plans.

“Uzumaki-san, the captain wishes to speak with you,” Seinosuke informed Naruto who was busy in sweeping the floors of the penitence cell. It had been 4 months since the catastrophic events had occurred by then.

“Me? What for?” Naruto asked in surprise as the man shrugged his shoulders and left.

Shortly afterwards, Naruto stood in Unohana’s office as she looked at him with an unreadable expression.

“Uzumaki-san, you are aware of the crisis plaguing the Seiretei currently, yes?” the soft spoken captain asked him quietly and he nodded curtly in reply.

“I do not see how this concerns me, taicho,” Naruto spoke quietly while she stood up and walked towards the window in her office and opened it quietly.

“Simple, Uzumaki-san, as of now, we desperately need captains, if word gets out of how weak the Seiretei currently is, we might even face an attack. As such, the Sotaicho is desperately searching for new captains, and therefore, I have nominated your name for the position of the captain of the 3rd division,” she spoke curtly as she walked back to her seat and sat down.

Naruto did not even bother to ask her as to how she knew of his secret; he simply asked one question, “Why?”

Unohana was surprised. She had expected vehement denials from the enigmatic man who had striven so hard to keep his power hidden. She had even expected a few violent outbursts but not such a calm and collected response. She had noticed the tempered nature of his Reiatsu the moment he had set foot in her division, and she had known instinctively, that the man had the power of a captain class shinigami even before he had officially become one. Besides, she had been good friends with Yoruichi and Urahara, and they had kept tabs on this enigmatic individual (without his knowledge of course, they weren’t in the stealth forces for nothing) and had kept her appraised periodically about the true capabilities of the man (as much as they had managed to learn without tipping him off of course), partly because they were intrigued by his capabilities, and because she too had been interested when she had learned the means by which he was forced to become a shinigami.

She had watched silently, hoping that he would take ranking exams and rise through the division, but the man had willingly and wantonly remained as a lowly menial worker, happily at that, and at that moment, she had realized that he was what the Seiretei needed in this time of stress. She quietly explained her reasoning to him.

“Is it possible for me to refuse?” he asked her quietly. He respected the woman, and he would not harm her feelings, not if he could help it.

“Why? Why do you seek to keep yourself hidden like this?” she asked after a moment as she considered his words.

“Have you ever known true peace? Striving through your entire life just to achieve a moment of freedom from all burdens and to live peacefully, that was my goal, but it was cruelly snatched from me while I was alive. In here, in this afterlife, I hoped at least to gain some semblance of a normal life, which was once more denied to me, but again it seems that the fates conspire against me. Why? Why can’t I be left alone?” the man whispered softly as if speaking to himself and for the first time, she noticed the amount of pain the man carried within him, and the burden he bore on his soul.

“I mean, Life is cruel, so why should the afterlife be any different? I was a fool to have expected it to be different,” he continued in a throaty whisper and struggled to maintain his composure. She laid a hand on his shoulders and spoke to him looking at him squarely in the eye, “I know not what horrors you have been through, but know this, if you try to run away from past pains, they will chase you even more fiercely, only if you face them, will you be rid of them,” she spoke softly and after a while, he composed himself.

“I am sorry, Unohana-san, sometimes, it is hard for me to control myself when I am reminded of my past, that is why I have tried so hard to be so inconspicuous, hoping to live the rest of my life in obscurity and trying to repent for my past sins,” he admitted and Unohana nodded softly in understanding.

“It doesn’t matter, but know this, sooner or later, you would have been found out,” Unohana continued and raised her hands to stop him from retorting and continued, “Your power is too great to be hidden, and very soon, it will border on the level of top tiered captains and it will be extremely difficult for you to stay hidden no matter how skilled you are in hiding your power, and then you will find it harder to explain why you hid your abilities when people of your skill were needed the most. And the central 46 are not known exactly for their understanding and leniency, do you understand?” she asked softly and Naruto nodded.

“So, what becomes of me?” Naruto asked softly knowing that his life as an obscure shinigami was now over.

“I have recommended your name for the position of the captain of the 3rd division, and I had to explain to the commander my reasoning for selecting an unranked shinigami for the captain’s proficiency test. He was understandably upset, but because he needs captains desperately, he is willing to overlook your indiscretion, but only if you pass the test. Tomorrow, two other captains along with him are going to supervise your test, so you had better be prepared,” she warned him and Naruto nodded curtly before leaving.

Two Days later

Sosuke Aizen, the newly appointed captain of the 5th division waited patiently for the captain commander to arrive. Today was the day, when he would nominate the name of young Gin Ichimaru for the position of the captain of the 3rd division. He still could not believe how well his plan had worked. Now more than 5 seasoned and powerful captains and four other captain class shinigami had been banished from the Seiretei, weakening the soul society exponentially, and at the same time allowing his own underlings to fill the positions of power in the Gotei 13. Everything was going just perfectly.

Suddenly, the doors opened and in walked captains Ukitake, Kyoraku and Kenpachi, along with Captains Unohana and Ginrei Kuchiki.

“I am telling you Ukitake, I don’t care what the old man thinks, the new guy is going to fight me, no matter what,” the unbelievably crass and rude Kenpachi was arguing with the captain of the 13th squad, while the man was trying to dissuade Kenpachi from that said endeavor.

“What is going on, Ukitake-san?” Aizen asked politely as he eyed the argument with great interest.

“Oh, Sosuke-kun, nothing, it is nothing, I am just trying to stop Kenpachi-san from trying to fight our newest captain,” Ukitake muttered quickly while Aizen was surprised.

“New captain?? But why were we not informed of this development?” Aizen asked as his mind began to furiously analyze the new developments.

“Well, seeing that we are desperately short on new captains, Yamamoto-sensei decided to accept his nomination at face value and had him tested yesterday, and to our surprise the person passed with flying colors. Actually, his power level nearly makes him a part of the top tier of captains,” Ukitake replied shortly.

Aizen was now genuinely interested. Although there was no such official classification, the shinigami of Soul society maintained an informal roster of the captains where the captains were placed according to their power levels. These ranged from low to mid level and to top tier, meaning the most powerful of all. Currently, the commander, Unohana, Kyoraku and Ukitake were considered as top tier shinigami, and for the newcomer to be placed in the same category by a person of the same caliber was nothing short of a formal declaration of his powers and abilities. He had kept a close watch on people who fell into that criteria and yet, the identity of this new person eluded him.

“Who is it?” he asked quietly when suddenly the doors opened and Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni, the Sotaicho, walked in.

After the usual greetings the commander brought the meeting to order.

“Yesterday, Captain Unohana nominated a member of her squad for the position of the captain of the 3rd division, and as such, I along with two other captains conducted the captaincy proficiency test, and we found that the candidate successfully fulfilled all criteria required for that position. As such, please welcome the gentleman who will henceforth be the captain of the 3rd division, ENTER,” the commander spoke in a booming voice and the doors opened slowly as a person entered.

The captains and acting captains immediately began to analyze the man. He was blond, and was rather athletic. He had blue eyes and what appeared like three whisker marks on both sides of his face. He was wearing the Haori symbolizing him as the captain of the 3rd squad, and he was carrying a rather ornate looking sword with a red sheath. It was shaped like a rapier instead of the usual Katana shaped Zanpakuto’s and the handle was inlaid with gold filigree, and nine strips of red cloth dangled from the guard. Many noted the unusual shape of his zanpakuto.

“Greetings, I am Naruto Uzumaki; I look forward to working with you all,” he spoke formally as he bowed.

Aizen was carefully assessing the man. He instantly recognized the power being emitted by the man, and realized that Ukitake was right. This new captain was powerful, and definitely one worthy of being in the top tier.

As he looked into his eyes, Aizen reflexively lurched back as he saw the shape of a massive creature lunge at him. For a second, Aizen almost buckled under the pressure but recovered himself extremely quickly.

What…was that? What was that thing……the man thought with trepidation as he wiped the sweat off his brow. Meanwhile, Naruto too had been busy evaluating the captains and on sheer instinct honed in on Aizen. Looking at the man, Naruto realized instantly that this man was more than what he appeared to be; almost exactly like him. Aizen too reacted to Naruto in exactly the same manner. They cautiously greeted each other as Naruto took his place among the captains.

As he watched the man leave, Aizen’s eyes narrowed. ‘Yes, definitely a threat to me if there ever was one. I realize now that I am not disturbed by this fact. No, it’s more like I’m… like I’m… afraid…’

His plans would need to accommodate for this new threat. Most of all, Aizen was intrigued about that image, the image of that creature that had snapped at him when he looked into the man’s eyes and caused him of all people to almost stumble in fear, and he was worried about that. It seems that I will have to keep Gin as my lieutenant after all. Kaname has already filed his claim for the captaincy of the ninth and Komamura has been nominated by Kyoraku for the seventh. Soi Fon has established herself in the second, as Mayuri has in the twelfth. This unexpected appointment has displaced my plans, but the situation is by no means lost. The most important thing to do is to gauge the power level of Naruto Uzumaki, yes…; these were the thoughts of Aizen Sosuke as he went to sleep that night.

And thus the pendulum of time fell.

97 Years later

“Taicho, it is time for us to go to the captain’s meeting,” the voice of Momo Hinamori, the lieutenant of the 3rd squad came out loudly as everybody in the 3rd division sighed at hearing the lieutenant’s loud voice. Momo ground her feet impatiently while Kira Izuru, the 3rd seat of their division watched with amusement as his friend began to pound on their captain’s door.

Soon, the door opened and the captain came out, “Now, now, you should calm down Momo-chan, here have a chocolate,” he spoke as he handed her a chocolate while she pouted at him for treating her like a child.

Honestly, why should he be so lazy? I mean, he is one of the most powerful captains in the Seiretei and yet he is so…goofy. Why can’t he be like Aizen-taicho? Honestly… the girl pouted as she looked at her captain.

She had a small crush on the captain of the 5th division, but she knew that she would follow her captain to hell and back if forced to choose between the two, it was her captain and not Captain Aizen who held her loyalty in the end. After all, she could still remember vividly the day of her graduation exams, when he rescued her and her friends from those hollows. On that day, she had seen his true power, which very few shinigami in the Seiretei had seen.

To date, Momo, Kira, Renji and Hisagi were still eyed with envy by the other lieutenants because they were the only shinigami apart from some of the captains to have viewed his legendary flame dragons in action. The man who commanded the flame dragons of the spirit of fire itself, the man whose Zanpakuto’s elemental ability was said to be on par with that of the Sotaicho’s itself, Uzumaki Naruto, the captain of the 3rd division.

“Now, Momo-chan, what is going on?” he asked her as she fell behind him while Kira went off to manage the division in their absence.

“Well, a shinigami has been reported as missing on patrol in the real world,” Momo replied quickly.

“That is it? But why call a captain’s meeting for such a trivial matter?” Naruto asked in surprise as Momo replied, “Because the girl missing in action is from the Kuchiki clan, Rukia Kuchiki, the sister of Captain Kuchiki,” the girl replied in a whisper.

“Those nobles are normal people too Momo, you don’t need to whisper their names, nothing will happen to you if you speak about them in public, it is not like they dropped out from the skies,” Naruto gently chided her and the girl blushed lightly. If there was one fault with Momo Hinamori, it was that she had a complex of hero worship when it came to authority figures.

“Well, we don’t know, that is why the meeting has been called, Captain,” the girl pointed out.

As he entered the chambers, the other captains greeted him as he took his position. Because he had been a captain for nearly a hundred years, he was considered as one of the senior captains and was widely respected as one of the most powerful captains in the Seiretei. He went and stood next to Unohana while Momo stood behind him. During the course of years, he and the older woman had become close friends. She reminded him a lot of Tsunade, and he would have sworn that if not for her contrasting looks, she would have been the reincarnation of Tsunade herself. He and Unohana, along with Ukitake and Kyoraku had become a close circle of friends; the unofficial top tier of captains, and the four most powerful captains after Yamamoto and as such were seen as leaders in their own right. Even though some others had become captains just around the same time as him, he was the one acknowledged as the most powerful of the second generation of captains, amongst whom were included Aizen, Kenpachi and Soi Fon.

Soon, the commander arrived and the meeting began in earnest.

“Captain Soi Fon, please give us your report,” the commander ordered and the captain of the second division and the head of the stealth forces began.

“Recently, we have received reports that the shinigami posted in Karakura town in the real world, a Rukia Kuchiki from the 13th squad has vanished without trace, and as such we sent out a member of the punishment force to track her, and all searches proved negative, and her Reiatsu signature was found nearly non existent,” the captain finished as she looked at everybody.

“However, exactly at the moment of her disappearance, a new Reiatsu signature emerged in Karakura, and it has successfully eliminated all hollows that have appeared subsequently in the area assigned to her jurisdiction; this matter was brought to our attention because recently, this signature defeated and forced a Menos Grande to return to Hueco Mundo. When investigated, it was found that this was done by a person named Ichigo Kurosaki,” the captain concluded her report as eyebrows went up amongst the captains. For a lone shinigami who was not a seated officer to defeat a Menos Grande was rather impressive.

“Wait, who is this Kurosaki Ichigo?” Komamura Sajin, the captain of seventh division asked her.

“We have no records of a Kurosaki Ichigo in the roster of the Seiretei, therefore we have concluded that he is a Ryoka,” Soi Fon finished.

“In other words, you believe that young Rukia-chan gave her powers to this mortal boy and has lost her powers, that being the reason why we cannot locate her, hmm, interesting,” Kyoraku pointed out. Soi Fon nodded curtly.

“Wait a moment; Rukia Kuchiki is an unseated and unranked squad member, is she not?” Naruto asked and Soi Fon nodded in reply.

“Can I see those reports, Soi Fon-san?” he asked and the surprised captain of the second squad handed them over while the other captains looked at him in surprise.

“What is wrong, Naruto?” Ukitake asked quietly while Naruto held up his hand to stall for a moment as he scanned the reports quickly.

“Ukitake, she was in your squad, correct? Where do you evaluate her, power wise that is?” Naruto asked softly and Ukitake looked taken aback.

“Uh, well,” the captain of the 13th squad began, “Even though, she is not a seated officer, she has enough skill to be one, I would place her around tenth seat if I had to speak truthfully,” Ukitake admitted.

“Then, I can safely say that there is something wrong with these reports,” Naruto declared as everybody turned to look at him in astonishment.

“What do you mean, Naruto-san?” Aizen asked in curiosity.

“These power readings are the issue. As Ukitake-taicho said, that girl is arguably around the level of a tenth seat, and yet these power readings are near the level of a lieutenant level shinigami. How is it possible for a shinigami of tenth seat level to generate enough power to grant somebody powers on a level that is beyond even her reach?” Naruto asked softly and a stunned silence befell in the room.

“Let me see that,” Ukitake interrupted and took the reports and began to scan them, and after a few seconds he blurted out, “Good Lord, you are right!! How is this possible?” while the other captains too were beginning to have doubts.

“Captain Kurotsuchi, perhaps you could care to explain this anomaly?” the commander asked the captain of the 12th squad who was also the chief of the Research and Development institute, as the reports were passed amongst all the captains who began to scan them to ascertain the truth for themselves.

“Hmm, well, I can only postulate that this boy, this Kurosaki, must have had an enormous spiritual power of his own, which was activated by accident, perhaps on coming into contact with this Kuchiki girl,” the chief scientist of Seiretei spoke out as he checked the reports in his hands.

“But is it possible that this power is partly also stolen from that girl? Could this power be Rukia Kuchiki’s and not his own?” Captain Tosen asked quietly.

“Impossible! No shinigami can generate a soul reaper with power greater than their own!! Captain Uzumaki is correct in his assumptions!! Something else is happening here, it is quite an anomaly!! Even I find myself intrigued,” the captain of the 12th squad declared flatly while still eyeing the reports.

“Which also means that Rukia Kuchiki is not at fault here, and I am sure we all can agree on that now,” Naruto spoke out and there were slow nods from the others.

“What are we to do? With these new developments, it is clear that a miscommunication has occurred and it is obvious that that girl has been wrongly accused,” Unohana pointed out quietly.

“But if this new signature is not hers nor of her origin, and she has disappeared, then that means something else has happened, we need to send a senior shinigami officer to investigate,” Ukitake urged.

The commander shook his head, “The central 46 have decreed that she has committed a first rate offence by handing her powers to a human, and as such have decreed that she is to be captured and brought here for sentencing,” the old commander decreed in a firm tone.

“What? But it has been proven that she is not at fault!! This is inappropriate, this is a serious miscarriage of justice, sensei, we should petition the central 46 to revoke this sentence and judge again,” Ukitake protested.

“Be that as it may,” the commander continued stubbornly, ignoring the younger man’s protests, “As of now, we have our orders, and we will act upon it, Captain Byakuya Kuchiki and his lieutenant Renji Abarai will be sent to the real world and apprehend the girl,” the old commander declared. More than a few eyebrows were raised at that.

“A captain and a lieutenant to apprehend a mere unseated shinigami? What is going on? The alleged crime in question nowhere nearly merits such an excessive punitive action,” Kyoraku pointed out grumblingly.

“I am going to central 46 chambers to protest personally,” Ukitake spoke harshly and turned to leave. The other captains whirled around in shock at seeing the usually laid back and cheery captain look so grim.

“Jushiro, what is the meaning of this? This meeting is not over yet!!” the general growled harshly but the sick captain did not care.

“The central 46 are making a mistake!! There is no evidence to suggest that such a crime has occurred and yet, they are using such excessive force, I cannot condone this, even if others do,” the captain of the 13th squad spoke harshly and turned to leave.

“Captain Ukitake, the word of central 46 is law, we cannot object,” Soi Fon pointed out.

“That doesn’t give them the right to abuse their authority!!” Ukitake nearly shouted in anger in return making the petite captain take a step back in shock. “If the dogs placed to guard the sheep themselves turn into predators then what are the sheep to do?” he asked bristling with anger. Soi Fon had no answer to that.

“If I may, Captain Ukitake,” Aizen intervened to defuse the tense situation, “It is clear that there has been a miscommunication and a possible miscarriage of justice, but at the same time we have valid orders as well, so may I suggest a compromise?” the soft spoken captain of the 5th squad spoke out.

“A compromise?” Komamura asked in surprise.

“Yes, for now we know that Rukia Kuchiki might be innocent, but at the same time we do have valid orders. So, might I suggest that while captain Kuchiki and his lieutenant apprehend the girl, we send another senior captain to investigate and perhaps supervise this recovery? That way, we may actually find out what has truly transpired and we can present our findings to central 46 and ask them to amend their judgment,” Aizen spoke in a reasonable tone.

After a few moments, there were slow nods. Trust Aizen to come up with a reasonable solution, Naruto grimaced. The guy was like an eel, slippery and yet slick and clean. For some reason, since the day they had met, the two had rubbed each other the wrong way, and had remained distant acquaintances at best. Even though, he and Aizen had become captains around the same time, Naruto was acknowledged as the stronger captain, while Aizen was placed in the middle of the mid-tier captains along with Kenpachi, Hitsugaya, Soi Fon and Byakuya.

“That is a reasonable solution. If we agree, who should we send to supervise this mission?” the commander spoke aloud, when Tosen spoke softly, “Why not send captain Uzumaki? He is one of the senior most captains, I am sure he will handle everything diligently,” the man pointed out and there were slow nods of acceptance from the others much to Naruto’s displeasure.

“It is decided then, Captain Naruto Uzumaki will head the retrieval mission and will be assisted by Captain Byakuya Kuchiki and Lieutenant Renji Abarai, this meeting is now adjourned,” the commander spoke out loud and thudded his cane on the ground to signify the end of the meeting.

As he turned to leave, Naruto turned towards Ukitake, “Don’t worry, I will make sure that nothing untoward happens,” he assured his old friend and turned towards Momo, “Momo, take care of the division in my absence, and,” he paused as he looked at her slyly, “Try and get Toshiro-kun to take you on a date,” he spoke softly just to make sure that Hitsugaya who was passing by them stumble in shock as he overheard them.

“Captain!!! You meanie!!!” Momo screamed with a blush as she punched him in the chest and ran away looking mortified while Hitsugaya threw him a disgruntled stare and walked away slowly as well, leaving Naruto and Kyoraku roaring with laughter.

Meanwhile, Aizen was moving in a brisk pace towards his division accompanied by Tosen and his lieutenant, Gin Ichimaru.

“That was close. A bit too close, if you hadn’t stopped Ukitake…,” Tosen pointed out softly and shook his head. The implications needed not to be said.

“Yes. I underestimated his attachment to his division members. It is a mistake that I will not make again,” Aizen admitted softly.

“I am actually surprised that you are so calm, Aizen-taicho, I was sure that they would almost go to the central 46 chambers itself,” Ichimaru pointed out with a slow smirk.

“Still, I did not expect Uzumaki-san to discover the deception so quickly, he truly is formidable,” Tosen admitted softly.

“Yes, and that was rather smart of you Kaname, forcing Uzumaki to accept the mission was an excellent diversion, by the time he returns, I will develop a suitable plan to counter the allegations and doubts he has raised today,” Aizen spoke curtly.

“He worries you,” Ichimaru spoke out. It was not a question and Aizen did not deign to reply to that statement.

“He is truly……unique…amongst all the other captains that I have ever met. Apart from Yamamoto, he, Unohana, Kyoraku and Ukitake are arguably the only ones with enough skill to stand against me. Kyoraku and Unohana usually do not involve themselves in the affairs of the Seiretei, but unlike them, Ukitake and Uzumaki do, annoyingly so. But what makes him more dangerous than Ukitake is the fact that unlike Ukitake who is weakened by his disease, Uzumaki has no known weaknesses,” Aizen spoke out grudgingly.

“Not to mention that you know nothing about his abilities as well,” Gin pointed out and Aizen nodded softly.

“We missed our chance that day when we set up those four academy students to try and subvert their loyalty to our cause. I never expected him to be in the area, he reacted extremely quickly and we missed our chance. We accomplished nothing that night, neither did we gain the allegiance of those four, nor could we arrive in time to witness his legendary flame dragons in action,” Kaname pointed out with a touch of sarcasm at the end of his tone.

Aizen smirked, “Kaname, do not dare underestimate Uzumaki Naruto, if you do, you will lose your life before you realize it,” he warned his subordinate who nodded stiffly.

Renji Abarai, the newly promoted lieutenant of the sixth division was standing at the conference chambers of the lieutenants when a messenger appeared to deliver a message. All the lieutenants looked up in surprise to see a messenger arrive at such a late hour.

“Lieutenant Renji Abarai-sama of the sixth division, you are hereby ordered to prepare for a high profile mission to the real world, and prepare for instant departure,” the messenger announced as eyes went wide amongst others.

“What? What mission?” Renji asked in surprise as the other lieutenants eyed the man with curiosity as well.

“You are to assist Captain Byakuya Kuchiki in a retrieval mission in the real world in the apprehension of missing-in-action shinigami, Kuchiki Rukia of the 13th squad,” the messenger replied.

“Wait, what?” Shuuhei Hisagi, the lieutenant of the 13th squad asked in surprise as his eyes narrowed at hearing the name of his missing squad mate.

“A retrieval mission has been ordered by Central 46 chambers and you and Captain Kuchiki are being dispatched to retrieve her,” the messenger replied curtly.

“But isn’t Captain Kuchiki her brother? What the…,” Matsumoto began when the messenger interrupted, “Captain Kuchiki will not be leading this mission, this mission is being led by Uzumaki Naruto-sama, the captain of the third squad, and Captain Kuchiki and Lieutenant Abarai will be under his command,” the messenger replied and left leaving a shit-storm in his wake.

“You have got to be kidding me!! Uzumaki-taicho!! But that is like the equivalent of sending the Sotaicho himself!! What the fuck is going on here? Seriously, all this to capture an unranked Shinigami?” Hisagi mumbled in shock as the other lieutenants grumbled in surprise.

“Damn, this looks like serious shit, better be careful Renji, Uzumaki-taicho is even more of a badass than Kuchiki-taicho,” Iba warned Renji as the newly promoted lieutenant gulped in fear.

“I am so jealous!! You actually might get to see those dragons of his again, oh, why couldn’t it be me? A sensitive mission like this needs a woman’s touch,” Matsumoto moaned as the others stepped away gingerly from the bipolar woman.

“Forget it!! He will roast idiots like you alive if you even go near him,” Nanao spoke snidely as the others snickered.

“Yeah, well at least he is not a pervert like yours, who tries to grope you at every given moment, not ignoring the fact that you have nothing worth groping in the first place,” Matsumoto shot back and everybody laughed outright while Nanao turned red.

“You seem troubled, beloved,” a soft soothing voice spoke as Naruto sighed.

“I did not want this, another innocent child being accused of something she hasn’t committed and now facing the threat of death for something that was not her fault,” Naruto sighed quietly as he picked up his sword.

“Reminds you of what happened with me, doesn’t it?” the voice came back sadly.

Naruto stopped abruptly.

“Why is it that amongst all the nine, you are the one who affects me so? Why…,” the man whispered slightly.

“Because I am what I am,” the spirit mentioned with a trill.

“Hmm, you know, of all the things, I never expected you to be the ninth but seeing how things have turned out, I am glad that it is you, even if I can’t be with you physically, at least I have some comfort in knowing that you are with me. I guess the after life is not really that cruel after all,” Naruto whispered quietly.

“Do not let what happened to us happen to that girl and that boy, Naruto, I do not want them to suffer the way we did,” the spirit urged him.

“This is unusual for you, I have never seen you so agitated…,” Naruto spoke quietly.

“She loves that boy, and he loves her, although they do not realize it yet. For her, he will dare to breach the walls of the Seiretei, and if he does, then he will perish in the effort granting victory to his enemies. Do not let another make the mistakes that we did, Naruto, please help them and in turn help yourself……,” the voice whispered as if the being was almost crying.

“I will ……… Sakura-chan,” the man whispered and left quietly.

As he neared the Senkaimon, he saw Byakuya and Renji waiting for him.

“I will be swift, and concise. This is a recovery mission, and as such we shall act accordingly. Evidence suggests that Rukia Kuchiki is completely innocent and yet she has been wrongly accused of granting shinigami powers to a mortal. While it is true that she has not recovered her powers, it is also true that she was not the one who granted those powers to that boy. We are going there to escort Rukia back to the Seiretei and investigate as to how the said boy gained his powers, as well as how the girl lost hers, am I clear?” Naruto spoke sternly and Renji instantly nodded stiffly.

“Byakuya, you too are a captain like me, and also the brother of the girl, as such I must ask you to hold a firm grasp on your emotions and to be pragmatic. It is likely that the boy who has gained shinigami powers will try to stop us as he will be under the impression that we are going to harm the girl. We must avoid that scenario at all costs. This issue needs to be resolved diplomatically, and not with violence,” Naruto continued as he looked at Byakuya.

“I am simply here to follow orders, Uzumaki-taicho, and for this mission, you are the senior officer in charge, and as such I shall comply with your orders,” Byakuya nodded stiffly.

“Good. Abarai,” Naruto continued and Renji instantly stiffened, “No matter what sort of provocation or physical altercation may occur, remember that that boy is not to be killed, if necessary incapacitate him, but do not kill him. We are not merciless killers, and I will not have the honor of the Gotei 13 sullied by resorting to murdering a child whose only aim is to protect his friend, however misguided his reasoning may be,” he finished and Renji nodded stiffly. Byakuya shifted imperceptibly as he heard those words.

“Good, let us leave now,” Naruto spoke as he stepped inside the Senkaimon, followed by Byakuya and lastly by Renji.

As Rukia ran in the dead night in the empty streets, her heart was beating loudly in fear.

Soon, they will be here, I must go away as far as I can, if I stay here, then Ichigo and all the others will die along with me.

She knew what would happen. The members of the Onmitsukido’s 1st corps, the punishment corps would send its hunters after her, and those merciless hunters would kill her, and Ichigo as well for becoming an unauthorized shinigami. If she managed to get far away, then at least Ichigo could survive. And she would see to that. She owed at least that much to him.

Meanwhile at some distance away from her, Renji was trying to pinpoint her current location.

“I got it, she is at least 700 meters away from us and heading right here. But her spiritual energy is at the barest minimum, I don’t understand what is going on, taicho,” Renji spoke as he eyed Byakuya.

“Let us greet the girl, and remember, do not frighten her. She believes that she is about to be hunted by the Onmitsukido and as such, she will be wary and fearful, do not intimidate her any more than she already is,” Naruto spoke quietly and the others nodded.

“Well now, this is extremely unexpected, whatever are you doing here, Naruto-san?” a man hidden in the alcove behind the location where the three shinigami had appeared muttered quietly. He was wearing dark green pants with a matching dark green shirt and a dark grayish-green coat, having large white diamond shapes along its bottom half. He also had a bucket hat on the top of his head and wore wooden sandals. In his hand was a cane, while a black cat was perched on his shoulders.

“Something unexpected has occurred, my dear. I think we may have to personally interfere, because, looking at the situation, it seems that our spy above is trying to send us a warning by manipulating the situation and sending an unwanted person along for the ride,” the man commented softly as he stroked the cat which hissed and tried to scratch his hands with its claws.

“Well, let us watch the show, shall we?” the man spoke softly as he eyed the blond haired captain with great interest.

AN: Feels good to be back, I must say. After the hissy fit I pulled three weeks back, now I feel like a heel, seeing what an ass I made of myself. Still, a new day, and a new life, as they say. It is time to move on and no looking back.

Coming to this story, this is something I have been working on for a long time, hence this massive chapter. Took me nearly three months and a half to write. As you all know, a crossover with Bleach and Naruto with elements of Flame of Recca thrown in. Will be quite a long one too, if I have to say anything about it. Massive changes have been made in this story of mine, so do not try and seek similarities with canon, for you will not find any.