Zrocker119: Now before you all start yelling at me, give me a moment to explain why this chapter took so long. There are two main reasons. The first One being that I now have to use my phone to type. It's a pain in the ass, but I have to live with it. At least until I can by my own laptop.

The second reason being that I'm now back in school. I was informed that my senior year of highschool would be so easy, that I wouldn't have take it seriously...if I could remember who told me that, I'd shoot them in both of their knees and make them walk home.

So between those reasons updates are going to be far in between, but I'll try to get new chapters up asap.

P.s. I almost cried when I saw how many favs and follows this is getting. I'm really happy that people are enjoying this.

"normal speech"

'thoughts'

~Zanpakto/tailed beast~

-START-

'I think that's enough for now.' Ichigo wiped the sweat off his brow having just finished his morning workout. It wasn't much, just a few laps around Konoha followed by several hundred push-ups, sit-ups, squats etc. you know the basics.

Instead of using shunpo, he decided to walk through the filling streets. People smiled and waved at him to which Ichigo would return with a nod.

It had been six years since Ichigo's and Orihime's arrival in this world. It had taken some time but they've adjusted to their new, somewhat peaceful life style. Ichigo has completed several dozen missions, both within the village and outside its towering walls and had made a name for himself.

All over the continent people have heard stories of Konoha's Orange Swordsman. How he disappeared from his enemies only to be behind them with his swords at his sides, blood dripping from the dark blades. How blades and other weapons seemed to bounce off his skin without leaving a mark. How he could freeze anyone with just a look.

Another is that he uses strange jutsu's that don't require any hand signs, but instead used incantations. It has been reported that he could use them without the incantation, but at the cost of a drop in power.

Yes, all of the other hidden villages knew to be cautious of him. He had quite the bounty in the bingo books to proove it. But one thing that puzzled them all, was that he refused to accept assassination missions. But Hiruzen never questioned Ichigo about his decision.

Ariving at his destination Ichigo opened the door. "DADDY!" Dropping to one knee, Ichigo caught the yellow blur and enveloped it in a hug.

"Hey Naruto." Ichigo smiled at his son. He couldn't believe how much he has grown. Naruto now reached his mid thigh. His face still retained some of its roundness and his blonde hair was still spiky. "You excited for today?"

Naruto gave him a toothy smile. "You bet dattebayo!" This enticed a chuckle from his father.

"Well you better come and eat breakfast and get dressed." They both turned to see Orihime smile lovingly at them, a hand resting on her noticablely large stomach showing that she is several months pregnant.

At the mention of food Naruto bolted into the kitchen. Ichigo, while hungry, stopped at his wife and pulled her into a kiss. After parting he looked down and slowly rubbed her belly.

"I can't wait for little Masaki to be here. I just know she's going to be as beautiful as her mother." Orihime giggled and took his hand into hers.

"We don't even know if it's a girl yet."

Ichigo shook his head. "Trust me I know. What time are you closing the shop today?"

While Ichigo became infamous throughout the continent for his deadly skills, Orihime is known within Koniha for something entirely different. For having the best baked goods in the village.

"I was thinking about closing it early today. Mikoto iand her family are coming over for dinner." Orihime liked the older mother. It was thanks to her advice that they did such a good job raising Naruto. Ichigo and Itachi got along great as well, probably because Ichigo used to be a older brother himself.

Speaking of brothers, Naruto and Sasuke might as well be ones. They constantly played and got into fights with one another, although they're nothing more than glorified slap fights.

Leaving the room, Ichigo came backs minute later in his shinobi gear. Besides the swords he looked like a normal shinobi. His headband hung loosely around his neck.

"Done!" Naruto yelled as he ran out of the kitchen. He was no longer wearing pajamas. Instead he had on green shorts and a orange shirt with a black flame in the middle. He grabbed his fathers hand and started pulling him towards the door.

Kissing Orihime once more, Ichigo allowed himself to be pulled out the door. Grabbing Naruto, Ichigo hefted him onto his shoulders making the blonde cry out in joy.

"Come on dad, go faster!" Said Naruto urging him to speed up.

"Calm down Naruto, the academy isn't going anywhere." The reason for his excitement is because today is Naruto's first day at the academy. The last few days Naruto had, almost literally, been bouncing off the walls.

As they got closer to the academy Ichigo noticed that Naruto had stopped vibrating on his shoulders. "You OK...Naruto?"

Naruto didn't answer but kept looking to their right. Following his gaze Ichigo saw what had caught his sons attention and frowned...well harder than usual that is. Three older children surrounded a younger girl, and from what he could hear and see they were picking on her.

Not waiting to see more Naruto hopped off his father's shoulders and ran until he stood in front of the girl with his arms spread out protectively. "Stop being mean you jerks!"

"What's it to you?" One of them said.

"My mom and dad told me to never pick on girls." Since his back was to her, Naruto couldn't see the girl blush.

"It's OK if they're a freak, just look at her eyes!"

Ichigo did and noticed that her eyes are pale, almost like she's blind but he could tell that she wasn't. 'She must be from the Hyuga clan.' He mused.

"I don't care." Naruto stood his ground. "I won't let you pick on her." Ichigo couldn't help but feel proud.

"And what are you going to do about it." Somehow they failed to notice That Ichigo now stood behind them.

The bullies sneered and took a threatening step but soon found themselves being picked up by their collars. Slowly turning around they gulped when they came face to face with Ichigo.

"I'm going to put you down now." They shivered at his monotone voice. "And when I do the three of you are going to leave and never pick on this girl or threaten my son ever again...understood?" They nodded. "Good."

They ran away so fast the dotted outlines were left where they once stood.

"I had that dad." Ichigo knocked him on the head. "What was that for!?"

"You got it wrong. Your mother and I taught you to never pick on anyone, not just girls." Ichigo ruffled Naruto's hair. "Good job for stopping them though." Naruto rubbed his cheek, a light blush dusting them.

Ichigo looked at the girl, who avoided looking him in the eyes. "T-t-than you. I'm s-sorry for being a burden." She said poking her fingers. Orihime would be fawning over how cute she looked right now. She squeaked when she felt his hand on her head.

Ichigo could tell just from looking at her that she's a shy girl. "Don't worry about it. What's your name?"

"H-Hinata H-H-Hyuga." She said.

Ichigo gave her a small smile. "Hinata? That's a pretty name." Her blush deepens at his complement. "Where are your parents."

Hinata suddenly found the ground to be very interesting. "Father was busy, s-so I went by m-m-myself." She cringed at his frown thinking it was directed at her.

Ichigo couldn't fathom what Hinata just told him. What parent is too busy to walk their child to school on the first day.

Naruto was thinking along those same lines. Getting an idea he said. "I know! You can come with us!" Before Hinata could say anything Naruto grabbed her hand and started running to the academy, oblivious to her ever growing blush.

Shaking his head Ichigo fazed right behind them and followed, making sure that they didn't get too far ahead.

-LINEBREAK-

Unknown to all of them, even Ichigo, two beings of incredible power were having a meeting themselves.

~It would seem that Naruto has made a friend.~

~Why should I care whether the brat makes friends or not?~

Oldman Zangetsu let out a "hmm" before responding. ~He is your vassal. You should be concerned about his wellbeing.~

~Shut up and make your move.~ growled an annoyed voice. Looking back down, Oldman Zangetsu saw that he was in trouble. Any move he made would lead to his defeat.

Seeing a way out he reaches forward...and moves his Rook, blocking his opponents Queen.

The Kyuubi cursed. ~Damn it, I forgot that was there.~

Now, you maybe wondering why Oldman Z is playing chess with the Kyuubi. Allow me a moment to explain.

You see awhile back both Zangetsu's were curious about the demon inside of their wielder's son. Since little Naruto is one of the few things that keeps Ichigo's inner world from flooding, they wanted to make sure that it won't bring any harm to the him.

After some trial and error they managed to find a way into Naruto's inner world. In another time it would've been a depressing, partially flooded sewer but thanks to Ichigo and Orihime it is instead a thriving forest, much like those that surround the village.

Following the dark dark energy, they eventually came to its source. In the forest was a giant cage with large bars in the front with a seal. No light seemed to penetrate the bars as nothing but darkness lied beyond. Large, red eyes with slit pupils opened and stared at the odd duo.

Sensing nothing but murderous intent from the demon fox, the Zanpakuto spirits decided that they would have to keep a close eye on him. They would take turns watching him since Ichigo would take notice if they were both gone.

Even years later the Kyuubi showed hostility towards them but it isn't nearly as bad as it use to be.

Oldman Zangetsu moved a pawn. ~After I beat you this time, maybe you'll finally grace me with your name.~

~I have know intention of telling you or the pale one!~ Kyuubi growled. Reaching through the bars with his claw he moves a knight.

~I think that I've finally figured out why you refuse to do so.~ Moving another pawn Oldman Zangetsu continued. ~At first I thought it was because you didn't have a name, but I immediately dismissed that idea. You're too proud of a creature to not have a name.~

~Then let's hear this 'theory'.~

Oldman Zangetsu nodded. ~Very well...~

-LINEBREAK-

'I wish I had a camera on me.'

Having slowed down to walking speeds Ichigo watched as Naruto talked with Hinata, but she kept on stuttering whenever she spoke. The fact that Naruto still hadn't let go of her hand didn't help things either.

"Oh, Kurosaki-taichou." Turning around Ichigo saw Itachi and Sasuke approaching.

Ichigo sighed. "How many times I have told you Itachi, it's just Ichigo."

"About 2,653, give or take a few." Itachi said without missing a beat. Ichigo, Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata all blinked. "What?"

Ignoring Itachi, Ichigo turned his attention to Naruto and Sasuke. The two, six year olds seemed to be locked in a intense staring match.

"Dope."

"Baka."

Lightning shot between their eyes. Both Ichigo and Itachi knocked their respective family members on the head.

"What was that for?!" Said Naruto and Sasuke at the same time.

"Be nice to each other." Ichigo said sternly. he swore that sometimes these two bickered more than him and Ishida. May he rest in peace.

The boys shot each other another look before turning away with a huff. Hinata failed to stifle a giggle.

Itachi noticed her. "Ichigo, is that lady Hinata?" What was the future head of the Hyuga clan doing with them. Ichigo explained to him what had transpired a few minutes earlier.

Itachi smiled. "That was very kind of you Naruto. I guess that makes you a hero."

Scratching his head sheepishly, Naruto blushed. "It was nothing. I would've done it for anyone." He felt a hand on his head.

"Good, that's how you mother and I raised you." Ichigo smiled, ruffling his hair.

"We should get going. School's about to start." Itachi noted. They resumed walking and soon reached the academy.

"Listen to you teacher and have fun. Ok Naruto?"

"Yep!" Naruto shouted holding out his fist. Ichigo held his out as well and they fist bumped.

"You to Hinata." Ichigo said, not forgetting about her. He leaned in and whispered not so quietly. "Please look after Naruto, he tends to get into trouble." This earned him a , "Hey!," from Naruto.

"The same goes for you as well Sasuke." Itachi said poking his brother's forehead like he usually does.

"Nii-san." Sasuke grumbled, but smiles none the less and ran after the other two.

Letting out a content sigh Ichigo turned to his fellow shinobi. "Are you and Sasuke going to be coming over tonight?"

"Are you kidding, of course we are. You think we'd miss it after what happened last time?" Itachi shivered at the memory. She made a 'special' dish just for them. He never new such monstrosities could be created in a kitchen. After that, they were never late for dinner again.

"Believe it or not, Orihime use to eat food like that all the time." Ichigo loves his wife to death, but he was so happy when she finally learned how to cook like a normal person.

It was probably due to the one time that the spaghetti she made came to life and tried carrying off baby Naruto.

"Are you listening?" Itachi questioned, snapping Ichigo back to the present.

"Sorry did you say something?"

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Itachi repeated himself. "I was reminding you that the Hokage wanted to meet with us later."

"Oh yeah." Ichigo remembered now. "Let's get going now then And see what the old geezer wants. If it's a mission, I want to be back before Naruto gets out of school!" Ichigo stated making Itachi sweatdrop. one thing that people learned early on about Ichigo, is that he didn't care about titles of formalities.

-LINEBREAK-

Oldman Zangetsu stared at the Kyuubi, who was staring back. After a moment, the strongest of the tailed beasts growled.

~This game is over.~

The Zanpakuto spirit didn't budge. ~I believe that if you opened up to-"

~LEAVE!~ The Oldman sighed quietly.

~I look forward to our next match.~

The Kyuubi huffed once the spirit faded from Naruto's subconscious. ~What the hell do you know anyway?~ He glanced at the chess board. ~Damn~ ,he growled, ~beat me again.~

-LINEBREAK-

"Have a nice day!" Orihime said to her latest customer. The bakery is busy as always, often seeing dozens of people a day. As her last customer left she put up a sign that read 'Closed'.

Exiting the shop, Orihime hummed happily to herself as she walked home. Checking the time upon entering, she was bummed to see that Naruto wouldn't be out for another 2 hours.

Deciding to take a bath she went into the bathroom. After striping herself of ever article of clothing she looked at herself in the mirror. She smiled at her large round belly.

Ichigo wasn't there, having been on a mission at the time, when the doctor revealed shocking news. They were going to be having twins. Wanting to surprise her husband, Orihime kept the news from him.

It wasn't easy though, since he could sense the babies spiritual pressure. That was how they found out she was pregnant in the first place. She had to use her own spiritual pressure to conceal the second babies. But how he hasn't figured out from her overly large stomach, she never knew. Maybe was was simply blinded from the excitement of it all.

Her smile turned into a grown though when her eyes trailed to the one thing she hated about pregnancy. Her breasts had grown as well. While she never said it out loud, she thought that they were a inconvenience.

Although Orihime never got the back pains she had heard that other women got, she didn't like all the men that stared at her as she past by. She has on more than one occasion, been sent flowers or letters from secret admirers. One even blatantly ask her out.

After kicking said man between his legs, the others quickly figured out that she wasn't interested and stopped trying.

Ichigo didn't seem to mind her larger breasts though. Especially after returning from a mission that had him gone for a week or more. She blushed at the memories at some of the things they've done.

Shaking those thought away, she tested the water in the tub. Finding nothing wrong with it she laid in the warm water. Orihime let out a content sigh as everything but her head and arms were submerged.

-LINEBREAK-

Hiruzen cursed as he was stuck doing battle with his most powerful enemy...paper work. No matter how much he got done, there always seemed to be more. 'Why did I have become Hokage again?'

Glancing at the portraits of the past Hokage he sighed. 'At least it wasn't Danzo.' His office door opened and in walked Ichigo, Itachi following closely behind him.

"Hey Oldman." Ichigo said missing Hiruzen's tick mark.

"You have a mission for us Lord Third." Itachi wanted to get to the point.

"It's more of a favor to Ichigo. I just wanted you to make sure that he came is all." Reaching into his desk, Hiruzen pulled out a scroll and tossed it to them. Ichigo caught it and read its contents.

"How credible is this?" Ichigo asked in a serious manner.

"This was sent to me directly from one of Jiraiya's summons. He was spotted leaving Ishigakure (village hidden in stones) 3 days ago with a group of merchants. They were last seen heading towards Iwagakure(village hidden by rocks)."

Ichigo didn't wait to hear the rest and was already out the door. He knew that Naruto's godfather didn't fuck around when it came to Intel. He was the head of his own spy network for a reason.

'What was in that scroll?' Itachi wondered.

-LINEBREAK-

Stepping out of the tub, Orihime drained the water. After wrapping a towel around herself she stepped out of the bathroom. Checking the time she sighed. Naruto still had another hour and 15 minutes of school left.

Entering her and Ichigo's bedroom, she discarded her towel and went on to getting dressed. She was having trouble with the clasp of her bra when the door opened.

"Can you help me Ichigo?" She asked knowing it was her husband. "The clasp's giving me trouble again." Shaking his head a bit, Ichigo snapped the clasp in place. "Thank you." Once she finished putting on the rest of her clothes, Orihime leaned back into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her. "What happened that has got you smiling?"

Ichigo let out a chuckle. She didn't even need to turn around and face him to know that that was what he is doing. He was quiet for a moment before saying. "...We found Chad.

Orihime spun around facing him. His little grin turned into a full blown smile. "We finally found him!" He yelled picking her up and spinning around. He then realized what he was doing and set her down, blushing. "Sorry."

She just smiled and gave him a peck on the lips. "You don't need to be. I'm excited too. How did you find him? Where is he?"

"Perv-Jiraiya spotted him and sent the third this." He showed her the scroll.

"You need to go and get him right away." Orihime said looking over the scroll. Ichigo moved to speak but she was already pushing him out the door. "I know you wanted us both to pick up Naruto, but he'll understand when I tell him why you're not there."

Ichiho smiled and pulled her into a hug. "I'll be back as soon as I can." Kissing her goodbye he disappears with shunpo. Orihime rubs her belly.

"Looks like are family is going to grow even more." Looking at the clock she was surprised to see that there was only 15 minutes left until school was over. Looks like all of the excitement made her loose track of the time. Smiling even brighter than before she left to get her son. She was looking forward to telling him that he has an uncle.

-LINEBREAL-

When Ichigo appeared at the gate the the village, the last thing he expected to see was Kakashi waiting there for him. "What are you doing here Kakashi?" Although he had a good idea why.

Kakashi put his book away. "I heard from the Hokage that you have a lead on one of your friends. Thought that you would want some help."

"Thanks for the offer Kakashi, but I can handle this."

"I was never asking your permission." Kakashi left in a swirle of leafs. Ichigo blinked once before taking off to catch up with him.

"So what's your friend look like anyway?" Kikashi asked once Ichigo caught up.

Ichigo shrugged. "Its been six years since I last saw him so I can't tell you exactly what he looks like. He's tall, muscular, has dark skin and brown hair that usually covers one of his eyes. He also has a tattoo on his left shoulder."

Kakashi nodded. "He should stand out then. Not many people where we're going with features like that." The two sped up, shooting brought the trees.

-LINEBREAK-

Meanwhile on a road that lead to Iwagakure is a caravan a merchants. They spent most of their lives traveling around the elemental nations, stopping at villages to sell their goods. It was a simple life that many never wanted to leave.

The leader of this particular group is a man by the name of Akio. He is about average in height, with short brown hair and a thick beard. He has the appearance of a 38 year old, but in reality he's going on 49.

Akio was wiping the sweat from his brow, the sun choosing to be warmer that day, when he heard a loud crash from the middle of the caravan.

"Hold up everyone!" He yelled signaling the caravan to stop. Hopping off of the main wagon Akio walked to the back. Upon reaching the middle he found the problem. One of the wheels had Broken off a wagon, causing it to fall over.

"What happened?" He asked inspecting the damage.

"Don't know boss. I checked all of the wheels before we broke camp this morning and all of them were fine."

"If you can get me a spare wheel, I can fix it." Spoke a deep voice. Akio turned around and behind him was the largest man he had ever seen.

He's tall, easily 6 1/2 feet, dark-skinned, brown hair that reached down far enough to cover his eyes and a goatee. He wore a green collard shirt with jeans and brown work boots.

"If that true," Akio spoke, "Then by all means go on Mr..."

"Yasutora Sado, but please call me Chad." Chad introduced himself.

"I don't recall seeing you before."

"You picked me up at the last village." Chad reached down and, with one hand, picked up the fallen wagon until it was level and pulled off the broken wheel. After looking at him in surprise the man driving the wagon ran off, coming back a moment latter with a new wheel.

A few minutes later Chad had the wagon fixed, good as new.

"Thank you youngster." He got a grunt in response. Sitting back on the front wagon Akio called out. "Alright brake's over! Let's get this train moving!"

Walking to the back of the group, Chad hopped into one the the wagons for people to ride in.

Since he arrived here six years ago, Chad had been searching for any infoation for his friends where wasn't until a week ago that he heard his first clue as to where they might be.

He had been working at a construction sight at the time, when he over heard some of his fellow works talking about Suna.

"Did you hear about Suna's new shinobi?"

"You mean how two of them are demons?"

"Yeah."

"Pfff, it's just something to scare neighboring villages."

"But on of them has a hole going through their stomach!"

"Like I said, just to scare people."

That was all Chad needed to hear. He finished working that week, collected his pay, and left, tagging along with the first caravan heading the way he was going.

He knew, without a doubt, that they were talking about Grimmjow. Holes going through your body was common back at home, but here it wasn't. If Grimmjow was there, then chances are that Nel was with him. With any luck they might know where Ichigo and Orihime are.

What Chad didn't know, was that one of them was heading towards him at that very moment.

-END-

Zrocker119: next chapter Ichigo and Chad are reunited after six years. Ichigo then finds out about Grimmjow and Nel, and Kakashi gets dragged along for the ride.

This is going to(hopefully) be the shortest chapter in this story. For those of you wondering why it took six years for Ichigo to hear about Chad's where abouts...its for the sake of the story.

Now those that are want to know if Naruto is going to develope any spiritual powers of his own, the answer is not likely. If it was before Ichigo had a grasp of his powers then maybe, but as of right now, don't hold your breath on it.

Well until next time, fav/follow, please review, and don't be afraid to PM me if you have any questions or ideas for the story.