Tozase, Murciélago

Chapter 1

Despite taking place during the second task of the Chunin exams, the landscape Naruto awoke to was not a lush green jungle. Instead the young ninja found himself on a seemingly endless expanse of pure, white sand. The only landmarks anywhere in sight were a few dozen rather strange trees completely devoid of foliage.

Wh-where am I? Naruto wondered. There aren't any places like this in Konoha. Did that Grass-teme's seal transport me somewhere else?

"This place is called Hueco Mundo human."

Naruto quickly spun around, only to come face to face with the strangest creature he had ever seen.

This…thing towered above him at over six feet tall. It had wings, arms and legs covered in fur as black as the darkest night along with claw tips on the end of each digit. The thing's skin was as white as the sands around them and his head was topped by fairly intimidating pale horns. But the most shocking thing about it was the eyes: pale yellow eyes that seemed to be able to see right through to your soul, under each of which was a large black mark eerily reminiscent of tears.

Naruto reached into his pack for a kunai but found out that this was extremely unwise. Just as his fingers wrapped around the handle he was forced to his hands and knees by an ungodly pressure. Mustering all his strength to look up, he cringed in fear at what he saw: this thing's eyes were narrowed in a manner that clearly spoke of its strength, that it could kill him instantly if it so desired, and it was only by this creature's patience that he was still among the living.

With a surprisingly calm voice, the powerful being before him spoke.

"Do not attempt to point your weapon at me boy. I am here to aid you. If I had intended harm then you would have ceased to exist the moment your feet touched the sands."

It took all of Naruto's strength to utter the next three, short words: "W-W-Who…are…y-y-you?"

Naruto instantly felt whatever was holding him down disappear and he clumsily climbed to his feet. This creature must have decided that keeping Naruto pinned while attempting conversation would be counterproductive.

The man calmly indicated Naruto's stomach and said, "My name is Ulquiorra Cifer. I am a hollow, Vasto Lorde, and former slave to the Kyuubi that you have sealed within you."

The young shinobi thought that he had adequately prepared himself for whatever this thing had to say, but now he was about 99% sure that his heart had stopped. This creature before him was strong enough for the Kyuubi to consider him a threat. If that was true, there was no way in hell that a chunin-hopeful like him stood a chance. Naruto just prayed that the patience this 'Ulquiorra' had shown up till now would hold long enough for him to get out of here. A bit further along this line of thought, he remembered that this man called Ulquiorra had just promised to assist him.

Naruto met the still neutral eyes before him with a questioning look. "You said you wanted to help me. Why? It's not that I don't appreciate it, but I don't possess much experience with strangers that have good intentions."

Refusing to betray even the slightest hint of emotion, Ulquiorra answered the small boy in front of him. "You would not know this, but before he attacked your village, that fox used his near-limitless strength to bring the whole of this world under his thumb. Because my power was strong enough to rival his, he first sought out and defeated me. Afterwards I roamed Hueco Mundo as his slave for centuries while the other hollows suffered under his reign."

"When he disappeared twelve years ago, I felt happiness for the very first time and became content to wander the sands. But seeing you now, and knowing that you are the only one keeping that evil thing at bay, I realize that I must do all I can to ensure your survival."

Sensing confusion, Ulquiorra allowed the child to ask his question. "But how would that work? We have some pretty unusual things in my village but I'm fairly sure you'd stick out like a sore thumb."

Strengthening his patience after the ninja's display of ignorance, Ulquiorra calmly informed him that, "I am a spirit, boy. The seal that the serpentine man placed on you has suppressed the fox's chakra enough for me to enter your body. It's completely up to you to decide whether or not to let me in. Should you accept, most of my power will be sealed inside of a sword while the rest takes up residence inside your head."

"I feel I should also inform you that, after the merger, I will be able to gradually drain the fox of his life-force while strengthening your own. It may take centuries or even millennia but as long as you don't die from unnatural causes the fox will never be free again." Finished with his explanation, the Vasto Lorde crossed his arms to await a response.

Across from him, Naruto was surreptitiously going over the deal that had been laid out before him. He had almost jumped on it as soon as he heard that part about the fox, but was able to reign himself in enough to take time to think. It certainly seemed like a good deal: not only would he be rid of that evil spirit but, both from what he had felt and heard, he would gain the power of a being that rivaled that of the strongest of the biju.

Realizing that the benefits far outweighed the cost of having a new tenant in his body, Naruto put on a look of pure determination. "It's a deal. I look forward to working with you Ulquiorra."

Ulquiorra flashed the barest ghost of a smile before dissolving and reforming into a light-green katana on Naruto's left hip. So do I Naruto, so do I. Make sure to never forget the release command of this sword.

Noticing his mind-body beginning to fade, Naruto asked "and what would that be?"

Just before their return to reality, Naruto heard two words he would makes sure to never forget. Tozase, Murciélago. (Enclose, Black-Winged Great Demon)

Our hero woke up to the sound of someone losing their lunch. Not the best thing to hear when you first wake up but that wasn't important now. Naruto raised himself off the ground and onto his elbows just in time to see the last of Rock Lee's lunch exit his stomach. He also recognized the form of an unconscious Sasuke next to him, a worn looking Sakura in front of him, and the sound team from the first exam in front of Lee.

"Let's finish this."

The low, growling voice of the bandaged sound ninja broke him out of his reverie. Seeing the strange gauntlet being raised threateningly toward Lee, Naruto was on his feet in less than a second. Instincts he didn't know he had took over and his right hand automatically slipped around the hilt of his sword. He vaguely felt a strange energy being focused into his legs before he blurred out of existence with a strange buzz.

Dosu felt so assured of his victory at the moment that he foolishly let his guard down. Due to his rookie mistake, instead of hearing the eloquent sound of flesh and bone being crushed under metal, he felt an unexpected resistance accompanied by a metallic clang.

Looking up to see who would dare to stand between him and his prey, he was met with blonde hair and blue eyes fixed in fierce determination. The owner of these features opened his mouth to speak with a voice of absolute authority.

"You shall not hurt my nakama."

Somewhere deep in his soul, Dosu felt fear. This wasn't what he felt when he faced Orochimaru, the kind of fear you felt when faced with someone who would kill you in an instant. This was different. What he felt from the blonde shinobi was more of a strange calm. It was like looking into a bottomless ocean of power. The existence before him did not wish him harm, but still promised to destroy him instantly if he dared to oppose him. While he immediately made the strategic decision to retreat, it appeared that his teammates, namely Zaku, did not share in his insight.

"Who the hell are you Blondie? Move it Dosu! I'm gonna atomize this bastard!"

Having finished his loud proclamation, Zaku raised his arms to follow through with his threat.

Dosu saw the foolish action Zaku was about to take and attempted to yell out a warning. Before he could even speak, a surge of strength in Naruto's sword arm propelled him twenty yards backwards…right into the trunk of a tree. The last thing he remembered before passing out was an unsettling crack from his back followed by intense pain.

Seeing his team leader tossed aside like a rag doll, while the perpetrator merely turned back towards him defiantly, only served to enrage Zaku even more. Releasing his wind chakra in the blonde's direction, he waited with a satisfied smirk to see the ninja standing before him cut to pieces. What he didn't expect was for said shinobi to raise his left pointer finger and utter a word almost too quietly to hear.

"Cero."

Strange green energy gathered at the end of his finger for all of two seconds before firing. While he had never seen or heard of this technique, he was completely confident that it would do nothing to stop his prized wind jutsu. This error in judgment proved to be the last one in his short life.

The strange green light plowed through the wind like it wasn't even there. And it didn't stop. Kin could only gasp in horror as her teammate's body fell to the forest floor with a note of finality; with everything between the head and hips missing.

Naruto's eyebrows receded into his bangs from shock. He had released that attack more on instinct than anything but had attempted to decrease its power enough so it would only cancel the opposing jutsu. It appeared that he had been very unsuccessful.

As Zaku's body collapsed onto the ground, Naruto continued to stare at the shocking sight before him: his attack had not only completely disintegrated the enemy's body, but had continued on through seven entire trees before stopping a quarter of the way through the eighth.

Deciding to figure out his new powers later, he directed his voice to the only still conscious member of the sound team.

"Leave your scroll, get your friend, and go. Your bandaged teammate may have some broken bones, but he'll survive. Just remember that if you show your faces to me again, I will kill you."

Thoroughly frightened by the threat, Kin quickly jumped over to Dosu's crumpled body, flung the scroll from his pack to the blonde swordsman, and took them both from the clearing as fast as her legs could carry them.

Note (edit): Thank you Eyes of Truth for pointing out my mistake regarding Naruto's awareness of the Kyuubi. I can't believe the whole Mizuki incident slipped my mind!

Note pt2: I have four tests this week so if I do get a chapter out this weekend, it probably won't be much longer than chapter 1.

Thanks for all the reviews