.XI.

Pushing himself out of water and onto a bank, Naruto shook his hands and silently blended into the many shadows of the forest. Having hid himself under a simple transformation jutsu was just the trick he needed to lose the reapers. Of course he had to laugh when he saw one of them run right pass him without a clue.

Powerful and strong, "But blind as hel-…," Naruto stopped, he had spoken too soon.

"This was not supposed to happen, Kyuubi." Ichigo was standing behind him, the sharp edge of his blade held close to Naruto's neck.

Naruto turned to face the younker. Of course, Ichigo was one of the four who could see him with or without his jutsu just fine. Kurosaki blood was something completely unorthodox in that regard.

"Why do you persist in chasing me?" 'You're starting to resemble my old self.' Although Naruto didn't wish to admit it, he could finally relate to someone he knew from the past. But in his defense, he believed his reasons to be far more solid than Sasuke's.

"Why do you persist on leaving?" asked Ichigo. "What does Aizen have on you that you can't let go?"

Naruto cocked his brow. "Do you hope to bargain with me now?"

"No." Placing his other hand near the hilt of his blade, Ichigo stiffened his shoulders, whispering lightly, "I'm trying to help you. If you could just listen…"

Naruto looked pass Ichigo's shoulder before he replied, "There's something you should know, kid. I never listen."

Ichigo gasped as Kyuubi's palm suddenly covered his face and he was slammed against the ground. Clenching his eyes in pain from the harsh impact to his head, Ichigo missed a flying spin of energy zoom over them and collide with a tree, tearing it out of existence.

Changing back, Naruto charged at Urahara head-on, engaging him in a close-range combat.

"Wait, stop!" Ichigo's effort to get in the way failed miserably. "What the…?" he swore, seeing those annoying roots back and holding him pinned down. "Kyuubi, you… Fuck!"

"Trust Ichigo to be the first one to find you." commented Urahara while carefully evading those dangerous punches that gave him no chance to fight back. "Answer me something, Kyuubi." disappearing, Urahara reappeared in a tree a couple feet from Kyuubi's reach. "Why didn't you let that shot hit Ichigo?"

Naruto's eyes flickered between colors. With a light bent of his knees and a flex of his wrist, Naruto charged. Urahara had just enough reflex to evade the blow that could slice him to pieces.

"Why don't you just admit it already!?" deflecting those claws, he finally succeeded in catching Kyuubi's fist in his hand. Urahara stopped short to breathe before letting a confident smirk bloom out, "He means something to you."

Naruto's lips set in a thin line and Urahara's eyes widened as something pressuring and cutting was suddenly slammed into his abdomen and he was sent flying away by a powerful burst of light blue energy.

The attacks disturbingly loud sound was all the distraction Yoruichi needed to appear behind Kyuubi unnoticed.

Tearing the last of persistent restrains from his person, Ichigo's eyes met an unkind sight. "Yoruichi, NO!"

Ichigo's yell was all the warning Naruto received. In a flash, a sickening sound of bones breaking and flesh getting ripped open filled everyone's ears. Naruto's breath stilled as an electrified hand forced itself right through his heart.

Ichigo's breath caught in his throat and he froze on the spot. That scene had his vision duplicate. Repetitive scenery played out in his mind, forcing out an image of a hollow's tail pierce Kyuubi instead of Yoruichi's hand. He grabbed his head with a hiss. 'What's th-…?'

Naruto turned his head to look into Yoruichi's unforgiving yellow eyes.

"You made a grave mistake, Kyuubi. Never turn your back to an animal."

To her great bemusement, his lips tilted into a sneer and he enclosed his fingers around her wrist before she could take it out of his chest. "And your mistake was getting so close to me." The demon tore the rest of his ripped shirt off. Yoruichi felt even more confused when she saw his body covered in small papers. The seals blazed up.

"YORUICHI, GET AWAY!" Urahara yelled in warning. The woman tried to pull away but the demon's hold on her wrist was strong. Bright light appeared before her wide eyes and the paper tags exploded. Multiple detonations occurred one after another, combining them into one giant blast that expended in great range.

Ignoring his broken ribs, Urahara performed a Shunpo to get to the other side of the field and catch Yoruichi's falling body. Without any sound from her part, Yoruichi landed into Urahara's arms with her eyes closed and mouth partly open. Numerous cuts and wounds on her body were letting her blood flow in streams.

"Y-Yoruichi…?"

"Did I excel your interest, formed Taichou?" That uncaring cold voice behind him had Urahara's hands tighten around his dear friend's unresponsive form and have his teeth clench in pure rage.

..

"SING: BENIHIME!"

Naruto kicked his feet to move as Urahara fired a strong crimson energy blast towards him. The technique destroyed half of the cliff they were on.

Urahara felt no hesitation in his moves, he fired one blast after the other. With each swing and slash of his Zanpakutõ, Urahara was getting more and more serious in bringing Kyuubi to his grave. No longer was there a confident smile on his face, nor a smartass comment to pop in. All he saw was red.

Disappearing from the range of the blast, Naruto appeared right in front of Urahara's face. "Have I finally awakened you…?" Urahara's eyes narrowed and he copied Naruto's move, disappearing from sight.

Naruto blinked and turned his eyes to the side. Urahara was now behind him, his Zanpakutõ already meeting the side of Naruto's neck.

There was a clang and Urahara's eyes shot widely open. Bonny fingers were holding the middle of his katana in their grasp. Sharp edges of Urahara's Zanpakutõ were cutting deeply into the demon's skin, letting his blood flow.

Steel cold eyes met Urahara's straight on. "…Demon tamer." words seethed through Naruto's teeth in distaste. Layers of chakra suddenly surrounded Naruto's bleeding hand and with one tight squeeze, he snapped the sword in half. Not giving Urahara time to recuperate from the shock, Naruto clenched his right hand into a fist and punched Urahara with huge amount of force. Urahara went flying through a thick cliff and landed with a damaging impact into the ground.

"HAH!" coming suddenly from atop, Ikkaku slammed his massive spade into Kyuubi.

Escaping that environment devastating attack, Naruto noticed something gleaming from the corner of his eye. A skeleton snake's eye shone and it opened its mouth – shooting a laser blast directly at him.

'Where did these two come from?' Opening his palm, Naruto conjured layers of chakra and forced them against the redhead's attack. Streams of energy exploded and the chakra fizzled as it rapidly consumed the force of the red blast till its final drop.

"What the hell?" Renji's yell of outrage was met by a counter blast.

Splitting the energy in two, Naruto outstretched his hands in separate directions, one for the redhead and the other for his bald companion. "Here, have it back." Naruto fired the consumed power at them.

"Oh shit!"

The speed and range of the blast was not letting Renji and Ikkaku react on time, they steeled themselves. But something got in the way at the last millisecond.

Lowering his arms, Naruto frowned at the two intruding figures standing in his way. They managed to repel his attack with enough force to divert it into far distance. Which to not great surprise let itself be known under a slight earthquake after a few seconds.

The two noble looking men were dressed in fancy garments. Their yin yang colored hair fluttered freely under the wind. Naruto scoffed as memories flashed by; he remembered those two.

"Hi Kyuubi." carelessly and pretty emotionlessly greeted him Jūshirõ, while Byakuya spared him little to no words aside his judgmental gaze.

..

"You guys alright?" running to Renji and Ichigo, Rukia quickly made sure the boys were well before concentrating her attention on the demon. Although her look spoke determination, her breath failed to hide her concern when she noticed her brother facing that monster in a near distance. She trusted Byakuya to be okay and had full confidence in his skills. No matter the strength of their enemy – Byakuya would always come out as victor; but against that thing… Rukia couldn't help the rising worry and a small tremble of her hands. 'Don't falter, breathe…'

Ichigo noticed her fear and worry, of course he did, he was usually the one to notice when people, especially his friends, were in distress. But at this very moment he could not trust himself to be a helpful consultant… not when the one he feared for was actually their enemy. 'Enemy? Is Kyuubi really the enemy here?' His eyes involuntarily turned to look at Urahara and Yoruichi's bodies. Ichigo's lips parted slightly, his eyes reflecting conflicted emotions.

..

"I don't really wish to fight you, Kyuubi. I'm not usually the violence sort a guy, you know? So why don't we just settle this like reasonable men?" apparently Jūshirõ wasn't looking for a scuffle, the man always tried to see the better side in things and resolve them under a just and calm manner. Which however could not be said about his black haired partner.

Looking away from the unmoving shape-shifter that used to annoy the hell out of him, Byakuya found no more reason to have a conversation with this demon. In fact, forget reasoning.

"Scatter, Senbonzaura!"

"Oi, I wasn't finished talking!" Jūshirõ quickly jumped a safe distance away from Byakuya and his crazy self-centered technique.

What appeared as floating Sakura petals suddenly appeared from Byakuya's sword and began circling Kyuubi in serene calmness.

Azure eyes fogged in reminisce; these tiny leaves resembled him a field of Sakura trees in early spring that used to grow by the mountains. Distancing himself from a nostalgic feeling, Naruto turned back to his opponent with a tired yet mocking grin. What a girly attack, he thought, but soon reconsidered his choice of words as all at once he got pierced from various directions by invisible blades that just kept coming and coming.

Swinging the empty hilt, Byakuya forced the hidden blade fragments fast at Kyuubi's body.

Senbonzaura possessed a pretty deadly ability. Licking blood that sipped onto his lips from the many cuts to his face, Naruto chuckled, ''Pretty' in a sense but 'deadly' in matter. Shit.' They weren't only hurting him, but the vast number of them attacking restricted Naruto from any movement at all. Kneeling onto the ground, Naruto tried to shield himself with his wings.

'That won't save you.' putting the hilt up, Byakuya ordered a large portion of petals up into the air before bringing them all down onto the defenseless figure.

Ichigo gasped in horror when he saw that enormous mass crash into Kyuubi and cover his entire body out of sight. What looked like an endless stream of unstoppable pink water hammering down suddenly separated into thousand petals and scattered around, floating about the unmoving bloody figure in slow circles.

"Whoa, Taicho…" Renji looked at his captain in amazement, "That's scary."

Paying no mind to the others, Byakuya stayed focused. His scowl hardening when he saw one of Kyuubi's torn wings flinch. 'Still alive, huh?' Byakuya tightened his hold on the hilt; the shinning petals began circling faster.

"Ouch… that actually hurt."

Ichigo didn't realize when he finally exhaled. Was it in relief though?

Standing up, Naruto flicked one of the floating petals away from his face with a finger. The hidden blade shot at Byakuya and pierced itself into the ground between his feet, its unseen appearance gaining form. Byakuya tried not to show his surprise.

"De? How many more leafs are you going to throw at me next?" Naruto challenged.

Byakuya really tried not to show how angry he was becoming; instead he did it by commanding the petals to attack. If the first attack did not faze the blasted demon, then he will throw as many of them as necessary until the bastard got fazed. The pink petals gathered into an angry pile and stormed at Kyuubi like an unstoppable wave of death.

Crossing his hands in front of his face, Naruto closed his eyes for a brief second before opening them again.

The charging petal blades suddenly split and separated from Naruto's person right when they were about to touch him.

Rukia, Renji, Ikkaku and even Jūshirõ were lost for words. Byakuya was sharing their thoughts wholeheartedly. What just happened? He could feel Senbonzaura's reiatsu still under his control, but for some reason it refused to attack Kyuubi. Upon closer inspection, Byakuya noted his eyes – they were different. Yellow… red… almost gleaming orange in a sense, but their pupils were what really got his attention. They formed a weird shape of a cross. That however still explained nothing. Byakuya was tempted to grit his teeth in exasperation, 'What did he do?'

Naruto straightened himself up, his shoulders relaxing and a teasing smile blooming on his lips. Those reapers were actually pretty fun. They were forcing him to bring out many hidden talents which he had long since thought forgotten. Sage chakra being one of them.

Nature's very force sank into Naruto like a second skin, its aura radiating from him like he was its own child, something unbeatable and best of all – untouchable. Noting the flying petals that couldn't variate his presence, Naruto could now clearly see the actual form hidden behind those innocent petals; tinny slender blades which were naked to a normal eye… interesting.

"Unless you're done, I'll go next." Slapping his hands together, Naruto slowly started parting them apart. A violet ball of thick concentrated chakra began forming between his palms.

The reapers didn't need to know what type of sorcery was being used, not while it clearly screamed danger.

Naruto's hands were growing heavy and the pressure was shifting the air and shaking the earth around him. 'Fuck, forgot how hard it was.'

Byakuya cursed and quickly called the petals to himself; measuring the power of an attack, a thick protective barrier started forming around them all.

"One second too late!" yelled Naruto and fired the Bijuu Dama at his opponent.

"Brother, NO!" Renji and Ichigo caught Rukia before she ran into the danger zone. Even though the blast was not directed at them, the force it exceled had knocked them all away and along with it tore the ground and trees out of their roots. As Ichigo fell, he accidentally knocked his head against the rock and his consciousness went black.

The force had done quite an impressive damage to the area, even had knocked its own user off his feet. Naruto had to admit, he sure missed it. Groaning lightly, he sat up and flexed his muscles. He flinched suddenly when he heard more than felt a bone crack. His left wing's second main bone was standing on an ugly angle. One more hit and it'll definitely break clean. With a pained grimace, Naruto stood up. Numerous cuts on his skin finally started to hiss and heal closed. Any broken bones, not to mention all those inner ones, would take a little bit longer to fix though. Damn Sakuras had done a number on him. 'Were Sakura here, she'd probably kick me for saying stuff like that.' sniggering to himself, Naruto looked down the cleared of path that would most likely lead him to his dead opponent, if not dead then mangled perhaps. But that could be easily fixed.

Stopping suddenly in his tracks, Naruto looked to his right. Not too far was Ichigo, unconscious but alive, along with his waking friends. He could sense them well enough to say that he was practically standing next to them. One of those friends in particular made Naruto hesitate in his murderous intentions. It was that small girl; she was really struggling with her conflicted emotions, one of which showed deep concern and fear for a person closest to her.

Sighing lightly Naruto looked back to the far side of the smoky field. 'I see,' That girl had had screamed for her brother before Naruto had blasted him with his chakra.

'Care… love…? What an annoying emotion.' Naruto winced at his own words. …Look who's talking. Rolling his eyes, he clicked his tongue in irritation and turned his back to his presumably almost-dead challenger. It's not like he was backing out or feeling sorry for what he'd done, nor because he was considering that girl's feelings. It was just too much work for him to bother with finishing touches, they weren't too fun.

"Hm?" Naruto blinked and looked up. Appearing in front of him with torn garments, all bloody, covered in deep cuts and only one safe eye open, Byakuya never looked worse for wear.

He punched Kyuubi's jaw with all his strength, sending the demon off his feet and a pretty good distance away.

Steading himself with his hand, Naruto angled his fall and momentarily jumped away, before Byakuya kicked him again. The man was not going to finish, he charged at Naruto again and again and again.

That's a pretty good fighter right here; reprimanding himself for thinking unnecessary things, Naruto backed away from the man he had clearly angered beyond reason. 'Why is he still alive anyway?'

He received his answer when the white haired reaper appear before him midair and wheel his Zanpakutõ down. Naruto was positive this one had saved Byakuya from his imminent death. After all, the white reaper felt different in comparison to his fellow comrades. Forcing a huge amount of steel into his right arm, Naruto blocked the attack.

Jūshirõ blinked, hearing his blade clan against the strange phenomena. 'Is that steel?'

Appearing behind Kyuubi, Byakuya took the chance while both were distracted and pushed his arm into the demon's back. A second was all it took for him to seal off that nasty energy of his.

Naruto felt his chakra flicker out of control as his spiritual energy got sealed. Even though he could deal without the spiritual energy and make due with physical, it was necessary for him to sustain jutsu that were not of his nature. That being said, he's control over steel was disappearing along with the dark color on his hand. Jūshirõ's blade began sinking into his unprotected skin.

"You really think that's all I rely on?" Naruto flicked the white reaper's sword away and roundhouse kicked Byakuya into the face before punching him again while he still had a portion of his arm covered in steel. Byakuya slammed into the ground so hard he actually lost consciousness.

"Are you kidding me?!" Jūshirõ blurted out before ducking from the punch reserved just for him at the last moment, but that didn't save him from the leg that suddenly kicked him into the chin when he bent down. Oldest trick in the book, but why was it not possible for him to detect it sooner? Same was questioned when that heavy fist finally made contact to his cheek. The demon was creepily fast. "GHUA!"

Not done with them yet, Naruto landed by the fallen reapers, but someone else appeared in his line of vision at that very moment. The short raven haired girl. The redhead and bald one soon appeared on either side of her.

Rukia faced Kyuubi with a determined look. "I won't let you touch them!" Outstretching her left hand she yelled 'Kidõ'. The blue glow shone in her palm before it forced itself out and charged at Kyuubi straight on.

Rising his hand, Naruto smacked the blast to the side nearly killing Renji in its wake.

"Ah," Rukia stared at Kyuubi with wide unbelieving eyes. "What?" Kidõ was not supposed to be repelled this easily. She had forced a lot of energy into that shot too, but it didn't even make a single scratch; what the hell was this?

Naruto might have left if he was asked nicely, but then again… Snobbishly pushing his nose up, he accepted her challenge wholeheartedly. "Fine by me."

Rukia swallowed lightly. A light glow formed in Kyuubi's hands and extended itself into a black pole. Steeling her nerves, she grasped her Zanpakutō in both hands. She saw what this demon could do and at the given situation she couldn't be too picky with her choice of attacks, she had to use everything she got to kill him.

"Shik-!" Blood suddenly exploded from her mouth and Rukia stilled completely. Wide navy eyes trembled as they stared at the demon before her; his one arm hanging loosely in front of him, the pole no longer in hands. 'No… can't be… so fast-…'

Lowering her eyes, she looked down at her body. The dark pole was sticking out of her stomach. Hearing a loud thud, Rukia spared a look at her childhood friend and her eyes widened in shock, Renji was lying on the floor with the same pole sticking from his back. Ikkaku sharing the same fate. "H-how?"

"Should have gone home when you had the chance." Long fingers grabbed the pole and pulled it out of her body. "You'll live, if you call someone for help." Falling to her hands and knees, Rukia coughed out blood and pushed her head high enough to glare at Kyuubi.

"To think Ichigo considered you a friend… You're really nothing more than a monster."

Looking away from the pole and back at the girl, Naruto's eyes flashed a short moment before fading under an indifferent look. 'Monster, huh?' Turning the sharp end of the pole down, Naruto suddenly hurled it ruthlessly at the girl. But his attack was stopped before it even came close to touching her. Pushing Kyuubi away from his friends, Ichigo clashed his blade against Kyuubi's pole in a grazing fury. "What the hell are you doing, Kyuubi?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm killing."

"Tch!" not willing to start this bullshit conversation again, Ichigo forced him to back away with each swing, which he noticed Kyuubi had pretty easy way of blocking. "Bastard! Stop it, Kyuubi!"

Naruto had the sudden urge to grin. Ichigo was pissed he wasn't fighting him back. Not that he was to be blamed; Ichigo himself wasn't even putting much effort into his attacks. 'Not even close to it.' Blocking Ichigo's last swing, Naruto steeled their movements as he noted blood tricking down Ichigo's forehead and suddenly seep into his eye, forcing the young man to blink and curse. At that very moment Naruto felt something else entirely.

'Shit!' Punching Ichigo away with his foot, Naruto only caught a glimpse of a mad grin before his vision was blackened by an outrageous force that punched him to the side. His body slammed against the ground more than once before it finally came to a stop.

Arching his back with a gasp, Naruto turned on his side and looked back at his left wing. It was broken, part of it hanging loosely on muscles and nerves, showing a cracked bone peeking out. How the hell was he going to fly now?

"I'm not done, squirt!" those wicked similarities in the man's voice caught Naruto off guard, for some reason it reminded him of his perverted mentor… well, best one of all the perverts.

..

Ichigo knew there was something huge Kyuubi was hiding from them, him specifically – it had to be true, because how else was he to explain this whole fiasco? The way Kyuubi fought or expressed himself – it was all but a big hoax. Surely part of his actions came as an instinctive defense mechanism, but the other part showed something completely aberrant. Hesitation, regret, mercy were just the mentioned few. At first Ichigo considered it to be a bipolar personality on Kyuubi's part, but that just wasn't it. Kyuubi wasn't here to kill them, nor was he here to mock them. Since the moment Ichigo felt that tremendous power by the lake, Ichigo knew Kyuubi could have long since ended them all if he'd so desired. But then, what was his purpose here? And what did it have in relation to Aizen? Did it even have anything to do with Aizen?

Finally coming back to his senses and opening his eyes, Ichigo got up with a hiss of pain. His head was hit badly and he felt sick. 'What happened? Where am I…?' Glancing around the mess what used to be a beautiful forest, the first thing Ichigo caught was Kyuubi standing next to his fallen friends. 'What is he doing?' Despite feeling slightly disoriented, Ichigo ran full speed.

In situations like these, Ichigo also couldn't help but scream for reason to this wicked character that Kyuubi had. Jumping in the way, Ichigo repelled Kyuubi's surprise attack.

"What the hell are you doing, Kyuubi?!" Ichigo grit out as he forced the demon away from his beaten friends.

Had he been more focused, Ichigo might have spotted something unseemly flicker in Kyuubi's eyes; but it was quickly shadowed by surprise when Kyuubi sensed Kenpachi appearing behind him. Receiving a punch in the stomach, Ichigo heard more than saw Kenpachi brutally kick the blond away with a jaw breaking punch.

Unexplained fear for his so called enemy suddenly grew tenfold. There were a lot of people Ichigo could try and reason with, but this was not one of them. Besides, this towering man reached a whole new level of scary – to think he was able to catch Kyuubi off guard so effortlessly.

Grinning madly, Kenpachi went after the fallen demon. "See to your weakling friends, Ichigo. I'll handle this one."

Ichigo didn't know what to do. Not when the ones he wished to protect were both the good guys and the bad …guy.

..

Approaching his friends, Ichigo checked their wounds first. They looked terrible, but from what he had learned when helping his father during work – they weren't fatal. Ichigo's mouth set in a thin line, his eyes looking at Kenpachi's disappearing back. 'Kyuubi…'

..

Naruto skid to a halt, having gotten out of range of another one of that big madman's earth breaking punches. The man wasn't firing any of those weird glow-y attacks at him, more than anything he seemed to love fighting with his sword in hand best. Perhaps as a matter of shedding more blood? Cupping the healing cut on his neck, Naruto smiled without really meaning to. 'I bet he has no idea what I like.' Flexing his arms, Naruto suddenly kicked off the ground and jumped head on at his opponent. 'Heavy beating.'

Kenpachi was a bit surprised to see Kyuubi abruptly turn tables on him. The chased suddenly become a chasee.

Flipping his body in air, Naruto tightened his fists and with one final flip slammed them against Kenpachi's head. The bigger man grunted as his face suddenly met the unkind ground, nose first. That was new, usually his opponents could barely make him stumble from their kicks, but this one actually knocked him of his feet. 'Interesting.'

Landing on the man's back, Naruto grabbed Kenpachi's wicked hair and flipped the huge male over his own body. Kenpachi was taken aback as his body slammed him into the ground with enough force to dismantle the earth beneath.

Naruto wasn't stopping there; he pushed Kenpachi up and began kicking and punching him relentlessly. Each hit was heavy enough to make Kenpachi fight for his consciousness. In the eye, nose, check, gut, solar plexus, stomach, face… It went in sync to whatever angle the man was forced to. Finally landing a balanced foot on Kenpachi's chest, Naruto kicked the man in the chin with his leg and forced him completely off his feet.

Kenpachi just recognized that Kyuubi stopped beating him when he hit the ground for the third time and a rough edge of his Zanpakutõ pierce into his hands, pinning him to the ground. "Tch."

Kyuubi came around to look at the lying man he had taken down in five seconds flat. "I think you're done now." referring to one-eyed man's previous comment, Kyuubi turned to walk away. He stopped however when he heard the man's laughter explode to near insanity.

"I see now. No wonder the rest couldn't take you down."

Curious to hear what he'll say, Naruto waited for him to continue.

"Kidõ, Shunpo, Bankai…" clenching his fingers against the sharp edges of his Zanpakutõ, Kenpachi forced it out of the ground and soon freed his trapped hands from the blade itself. Not even a wince was witnessed by Naruto's eyes. Sure, reapers had their share of endurance, which was pretty admirable, but this guy… he was on a whole new league in comparison. 'Freakin' masochist.'

Clenching the hilt with one of his openly bleeding hands, Kenpachi flashed his opponent a huge grin, "…it's for the weak."

Kenpachi wasn't like his comrades; he didn't need an apparent skill or a petty spell to make him into a great warrior. Why would he, when he can easily make due with power and endurance alone. Pointing his blade at Kyuubi, Kenpachi yelled out, "Nothing can entice power more than sheer force!"

Naruto had to brace himself as an enormous gust of spiritual energy abruptly exploded all around them, covering the entire area under a wave of yellow distraction.

Spotting a golden flash from the corner of his eye, Ichigo covered his face as Kenpachi's immense spiritual power unleashed and swallowed half of what was left of the entire forest. "Shit, that guy's insane."

"That guy's our captain actually. And at moment our best chance," commented Yumichika. He had appeared back from Soul Society along with a medical squad in toe. That small effort to put some humor in the situation failed greatly for him. Their current situation wasn't funny, not after seeing so many captains and lieutenants beaten to near death by that fucking demon.

Ichigo looked in concern when his friends got attended to by medic specialists. Captains were the first ones to regain their consciousness and power. Hitsugaya, Byakuya and Jūshirõ's bodies required just a small amount of treatment before they were up on their feet and going against all other medical advises to stay put and fight. They had no time to concern themselves with full recovery – they had to bring that demon down.

"I suggest you get out of here, Ichigo." coldly advised Hitsugaya.

"What?"

"Your friend is no more." he shot Ichigo a warning look, "He's the Soul Society's concern now. Don't interfere."

Not his concern huh. That was pretty funny to hear him say that, because since Kyuubi's first appearance Ichigo considered him as nothing but his responsibility… … for some reason. Why exactly he thought so, he couldn't say, not yet at least. "I'm not going anywhere."

"…" the reapers looked at him suspiciously.

As much of a dilemma he currently felt himself in, Ichigo knew when main priorities had to come forth. "I'm gonna fight Kyuubi too."

..

Standing amid smoke and fallen pebbles, Naruto used the time to check his arm. Despite feeling a few bones crack anew, his bicep had received the majority of damage this time; it was split open and had covered his entire arm in a messy gore. Hating the thought more than loving it, Naruto had to admit, the crazed hedgehog was a good challenger. The man could actually do damage to him, much more than others could. That monstrous power he used had related to Naruto more than anything else. A purely natural force. What could be more dangerous than that?

Flicking the dust away, Kenpachi came to stand in circle with his enemy. An irksome scowl formed on his face once he spotted the 'progress' of their last dance. Just a cut on an arm? That wasn't the effect he was aiming for. "Ma ii ka…" flicking the blood off his sword, Kenpachi charged. "If I can't stab ya, I will slice off yer head instead!"

Naruto would've liked to continue, but he was growing annoyed and hungry. Besides, his fucking wings required treatment. "Enough." Disappearing in a flash, Naruto caught the man's wrist as he passed and twisted it behind his back to a point of a sickening crack. Zanpakutõ fell from numb fingers.

"You son of a bitch!" Kenpachi's eye flashed and he thrust his left fist onto the demon.

Evading the punch, Naruto quickly picked the fallen Zanpakutõ.

It took just one right turn to have them both excel their attacks to the point. Breath left Naruto's throat as Kenpachi's reiatsu covered hand caught him into a chocking hold. But at the same time, a sudden pained grunt left Kenpachi's breath when he felt his own sword go through his chest.

..

Naruto's teeth grit against the tight hold around his throat, that powerful reiatsu was uncomfortably chocking. His hope to wipe that sinister grin from the man's face was proved useless, even when he dug the blade into Kenpachi's chest up till the hilt. 'What's wrong with him? Does he feel no pain?'

"What's wrong, Kyuubi? Not giving up already, are you?" sneered Kenpachi. Yellow power whizzed around as it dropped from the man's body in powerful waves.

Byakuya's suppression seal burned against Naruto's skin in retaliation, the spiritual power pulsing beneath it in agitation as it called to answer to Kenpachi's reiatsu with its own power. It was fucking annoying, even more for the fact that it was required for him to heal his damaged body. But what the hell was he complaining about? It's not like he required it desperately. Picking his right arm above his head, Naruto forced it fast against Kenpachi's forearm, his elbow breaking the man's wrist in two.

Feeling Kenpachi's hold slacken, Naruto pushed himself from the man's reach but not before taking the sword from the man's chest with him.

'Fuck, my arm!' "Little shit!"

As the heavy man fell to his knees, his arms rendered useless, Naruto swung the blade back and forced it against the man's neck. "So you wished to cut off my head? Guess again!"

CLANG!

Blue eyes blinked in startle.

Vertically positioned black blade met attacking crude one. Naruto's eyes narrowed as they turned to stare angrily at Ichigo, who blocked his attack.

The orange haired man met his gaze in determined fury.

..

Naruto knew this look, no, he knew this feeling. How could he not. It was like looking at the face of someone he saw in the mirror so very long ago.

This fire. This instinctive will to protect. A burning determination that lacked fear. And this foolish bravery to go against a dangerous enemy… Naruto's eyes slid shut and his shoulders shook. He felt himself laughing.

Ichigo was confused, what the hell was so funny to him? He tried to ignore the thought that Kyuubi's laugh seemed genuine.

"Why you, Ichigo? Why you, of all fucking people…" Naruto's laughter gradually slowed down, leaving him with a frustrated feeling in his gut. "…have to remind me of someone I hate so much?"

Ichigo frowned at Kyuubi's words, understanding nothing. "You're not making any sense."

"Focus!" Kyuubi's eyes flashed red. Before Ichigo could react, Kenpachi's sword was already flying pass him and going straight for Kenpachi's forehead. Ichigo didn't even see Kyuubi flung it.

"Shit, Ken-…!"

Luckily, it was repelled by Yumichika. "No need to thank me for saving your hide, captain."

"Shut up!" none gratefully yelled Kenpachi.

Clicking his tongue, Naruto suddenly disappeared under a yellow flash. And Ichigo knew why, because not a second later, the other three captains Shunpo-ed after him.

"Bastard!" clenching his Zanpakutõ tight, Ichigo went after him too.

Left behind once more, Kenpachi grunted in deep annoyance.

..

Slowing down, Naruto continued his so called 'get away' by walking on foot.

Hissing and cursing, his tails flickered left and right, the annoyance of that seal on his back was growing by second. It was forbidding him from using a transformation jutsu, something he really needed to put in place before that man saw him for what he truly was.

Reaching his hand to scratch or claw off that freaking seal, Naruto suddenly arched as instead he got blasted with a 'generous' portion of Kidõ against his back. Angered blue eyes peered over the shoulder.

A bit taken aback by little to no affect his spell made, Jūshirõ fired another spell. As predicted, this one missed now that the demon was alert. "No matter." Unsheathing his Zanpakutõ, Jūshirõ charged.

Claws clashed against the blade, one slash after another cast sparks to fly left and right. Jūshirõ aimed his attacks precisely, which Naruto was quick to interpret as fatal. If one of those landed, it could cause him damage. 'Heh, funny.' When was the last time such things had actually intimidated him? One of Naruto's four tails suddenly entwined around Jūshirõ's arms.

"Huh?"

"You think I don't know what you're doing?" With one powerful tug, he flung Jūshirõ at Hitsugaya, who had already fired a wave of icy energy down at the distracted demon.

"Fuck!" stopping the force speed, Jūshirõ quickly deflected Hitsugaya's attack before he hit him. The energy blasted against the ground and turned it into ice. The two captains exchanged stares.

Of course it wasn't all. Remembering that sneaky captain that always liked to catch him of guard, Naruto quickly wheeled around and cursed. He was too late to dodge Byakuya and instead pulled his hands up to protect his face.

Byakuya's sword pierced through Kyuubi's crossed wrists. The edge of his Zanpakutõ cutting one of the three whiskers on the demon's left cheek.

Naruto was not amused. "You people are insufferable. How many times must I force you down until you stay down?"

Byakuya cocked his brow and suddenly withdrew his sword, stepping a couple of feet away from Kyuubi. "I think that should be enough." The other two captains landed next to Byakuya, appearing pretty satisfied with themselves.

'What are they doing?' Naruto arched an inquisitive brow, which quickly dropped down when he realized what the problem was. His eyes glinted dangerously behind his bangs, "Cowardly tricks." Naruto was standing on a very tight binding circle. The seal was impressively powerful, its energy restricting him from all movement and weighting his body down.

"Whatever you feel like naming this tactic does not matter to us. You are coming to Soul Society. Dead or alive."

Naruto blinked as all three of them raised their hands against him. Similar to the short girl's attack before, different shades of glows rapidly gathered around their outstretched hands and merged to the point of intense concentrated energy. A destructive spell.

"Hadõ!" they all yelled. Naruto squint his eyes as bright light consumed him entirely.

..

Ichigo hated this. He hated those flash-stepping captains, and he hated that speedy Kyuubi, but most of all he hated how much he sucked at pinpointing a person's presence. Since Kyuubi's energy had gradually deflated it became way harder for him to keep a track on him. Which was both annoying and also mildly concerning. Ichigo couldn't help but bit his lip in worry. Kyuubi was losing his energy, which meant he was losing his strength and that in turn meant that he was becoming more vulnerable to others…

Exasperated and not sure what to think anymore, Ichigo stop in his tracks and caught a deep breath. Ichigo knew he must be insane, because what normal person worried more for some random person he met but recently over people he knew for years now?

He was suddenly blinded as light was fired in the distance. Its brightness providing just a small cover to the tremendous force it hid beneath. Now it was clear where he had to go.

Ichigo wasted no time in following that light, his heart thumping and hands shaking.

..

Three standing captains held patient as their spell dimmed and the demolished area around them settled. Calculative eyes stared in waiting as smock cleared off and revealed their opponent. He was lying in the middle of burned and destroyed ground, the green binding circle still glowing beneath his body. Kyuubi was down, but he was breathing albeit irregularly and with some effort. But the important fact stayed: they actually managed to bring him down.

"Let's finish this once and for all."

The fox demon within him lidded his one eye, just as Naruto's eyes shot open. He didn't care who spoke those words, he didn't want to do anything with those reapers anymore. "Fuck everything!" Byakuya's seal on his back broke as his old companion's chakra suddenly burst through the eight trigrams seal.

Naruto's back arched and with a powerful cry a heavy transparent red energy blasted out of his entire body, swallowing everything into a spreading wave of pure destruction. His power killing and burning away all life in its path.

The reapers only had so much to shield themselves before their very entities were consumed by such high and burning pressure that it brought out just as much pain as it awakened their deepest fears from within.

Ichigo stopped, noting a huge wave burn its way through the forest. "Shit." Nowhere to run and having no power to build a force field, Ichigo could only brace himself against an unknown. Excepted, nothing happened. "Wha-?" Blinking a couple of times, Ichigo saw the red wave suddenly stop just inches from him before it slowly retreated and faded away. "What just happened?"

..

Breathing heavily, Naruto waited for his and Kyuubi's chakra to settle down and return back under his control. Man, his whole body was a mess. Those reapers sure managed to surprise him, not to mention completely twist his body till it's hard to control. But whatever… Rolling on his stomach, Naruto picked himself up. Now that his chakra was in steady flow once more (thanks to a certain friend of his), his wounds started healing in a hissing appreciation and his bones cracked back to right places.

'Good enough,' approved Naruto and disappeared from the area, leaving unmoving bodies of the reapers behind. However he missed an orange haired soul reaper landing in the area right before he left.

..

Appearing atop of one of the many highest cliffs, which resided a god distance away from the 'corpses', Naruto cast one final glance at Karakura town seen far over the huge forest …well, as much of the forest as was still left. The town was untouched and not even aware. Weird, how things worked here… but still pretty fun to mess with.

Naruto turned the town his back with a small smile and a thought he swore was not his own, 'He'll be alright.'

One step, two steps, Naruto stopped. Looking down at his feet, he saw his shadow growing. "Fuck, Ichi-…" Just before the thought left his mind, he was tackled to the ground by the tall younker.

Kicking Ichigo off with his good wing, Naruto tried to fly away, but Ichigo grabbed his ankle and forced him back down. Naruto's teeth clacked as his jaw and body was slammed against the ground.

Turning quickly on his back, Naruto pushed himself up to get back at the persistent boy, but groaned in pain as Ichigo's unnecessarily heavy body pinned him down, unintentionally forcing him to land on his healing yet still broken wing.

"AAH!" Kyuubi's sudden pained gasp startled Ichigo and he stopped fighting him, but that only gave his enemy an upper hand.

Naruto backhanded Ichigo in the face with more force than he wanted to. Rolling quickly over, Naruto stayed kneeled on the ground, watching carefully and a bit anxiously as Ichigo struggled to stand up.

The young man spit blood out and shot Kyuubi a heavy look. "Stop fighting me! I'm trying to help you!" he yelled and jumped to his feet, only to get blasted away before he even considered charging Kyuubi.

Naruto's eyes widened as he was Ichigo get blown a good few feet away. There was no need for Naruto to turn around, which he actually refused to do once he realized who was behind him. To think for a moment there, he had actually forgotten about him.

Ichigo picked himself up with a pained groan, his eyes widening in shock and concern. "No."

Standing tall and proud, the man's amused brown eyes stared with an undescribed glee at the demon's back. Taking in all the little detail presented to him. After all, it had taken him such a long time to finally witness "Kyuubi" for who he truly was.

The demon was stubborn. In all those years he was in Aizen's line of sight, not once did he reveal himself to the man; not when asked and certainly not when tortured. Yet here he was now, bare and beaten; and all thanks to this little thing called human emotion. If there was one weakness Kyuubi possessed, it had to be his emotions.

"That's a nice look on you… Kyuubi." commented Aizen, clearly mocking the name given to the demon.

Naruto refuse to pay Aizen even a little bit of mind, instead his eyes stayed focused on Ichigo. His expression betrayed nothing, while his eyes told otherwise. And Ichigo saw it. Regret, concern and anger. So many misplaced feelings, but what did all that mean? Was he trying to tell him something?

Without thinking, Ichigo took a step closer to the demon, who for once stood still. "Kyuubi. Please…"

Aizen was quick to take notice of the rising problem and his eyes glinted. As if by look alone an orange beam dropped down from the sky and encircled Kyuubi's whole form.

On instinct Ichigo rushed forward, but someone grabbed him by the back of his robes. "Don't Ichigo! Stay away from that thing!" Only now did he notice Renji and Rukia behind him. Not a minute later, Hitsugaya, Jūshirõ, Kenpachi and even Urahara appeared by his side. He was glad to see them all okay; however his concern quickly flickered back to Kyuubi.

On the opposite side, Aizen wasn't alone, he was accompanied by Gin and his two Arrancar – Grimmjaw and Ulquiorra.

Aizen couldn't hide the satisfaction he felt for long. His eyes looking over each and every one of them, gladly drinking in the worn out looks his former would be companions wore. "You're not looking too good there. Where's the rest of all of you?"

The reapers were not taking his jest lightly; more than positive that Aizen was well aware what had befallen them throughout this whole day. Hitsugaya and Jūshirõ actually found themselves lucky enough to still be standing. Byakuya and Yoruichi however had to be taken back to Soul Society to heal, their current state grim.

"I guess I should have known better, huh, Kyuubi?" Urahara ignored Aizen's words as he was full on leashing out at the demon that's been lying to him. Jūshirõ kept a careful eye on Aizen and Kyuubi alike. Kenpachi was breathing anxiously through his nose, his blood boiling to jump into another fight. Hitsugaya in turn was seething when his eyes landed on Aizen's right-hand man standing a bit further behind. "Gin."

The man's crooked eyes turned to the small captain and he flashed him a sinister grin. "Sorry, Tõshirõ. I don't have time to play today. We just came to collect our fallen piece." with a nod of his head, the rest looked at Kyuubi too.

Averting his eyes from the long abyss hanging above him, Naruto looked back at Ichigo. The boy was unsettled and very confused. Of course he was, but it was for the best. Placing his hand over the cold beam of energy, Naruto whispered a light 'sorry' before he felt his feet leave the ground and an invisible energy pick him up.

Aizen turned to his subordinates, "Let us head back too, shall we?"

Watching Kyuubi disappear from his eyes made Ichigo's insides turn in unpleasant knots. That was not right, something was not right. 'Sorry?' What the hell? What was Kyuubi trying to tell him, what did Aizen do to him? "Aizen, you bastard! What did you do?"

"Don't fret, Kurosaki Ichigo," raising his voice above Ichigo's yell, Aizen spoke, "You'll see him again soon. I'll make sure of that."

Before either of the reapers moved, another light dropped down on the two hollows and the former captains, the glow taking them back to Hueco Mundo.

Defeated and lost, Ichigo could only stare as the Garganta closed shut before his eyes.

..

:Translations:
De? – And?
Ma ii ka… – Never mind…

:A/N:
Thanks to:
buterflypuss, Demon2Angel, Crystalzap, Melodien, Takeru1996, suntan140, longshotqb, Nanashi, mr, guest & AnOptimist!

Sorry for the long pause guys. Till next time ;))