Uzumaki Naruto, Taichō of the Sanbantai (Third Division) was once again doing menial paperwork. While normally a captain would always wear his uniform, today Naruto was wearing Living World casual clothing consisting of sweat pants, house slip-on slippers, and a black t-shirt with a red spiral symbol on the front. In fact, Naruto often wore his own style of clothes, but would always be sure to wear his captain's haori just to appease old man Yamamoto (when you are a captain, it's mandatory to always wear your captain's haori).

His sound system was on and he was listening to a random mix of songs from the World of the Living. Pure silence would otherwise make him go nuts and likely cause him to destroy the paperwork. Damn it all. Who knew paperwork existed even after you were dead, huh?

Lie down baby
Arch your back now
Maybe you can help me get what I want
Curve your little spine and tell me that you're mine
It's all about the game and what you flaunt

Yeah, I know that there's no pleasing you
When you know that you're not teasing me
She's an absolute terror for Absolute Territory

Yes, Naruto liked to sing to random songs now and then when passing time. Absolute Territory by Ken Ashcorp was an addicting song...

A knock at his office door and it opens, prompting the teen to glance up from his work.

"Hello Rangiku... shouldn't you be doing your paperwork?"

"Oh, Naruto-kun, I'm not busy today," she answers.

Naruto arcs his left brow just slight, questioning the big-breasted woman with a silent gesture.

"Oh don't be like that! Tōshirō-kun knows I do my work well."

"Of course, Rangiku..."

The song switched over to a new one in the background.

"So, aside random singing, Naru-taichō, what are YOU doing?"

"Paperwork," he answered, with a bit of a grumble at the end.

"You should relax, Naruto-kun," she tells Naruto, plopping right down on his couch.

Naruto rolls his eyes.

"Unlike you, my favorite slacker, I at least try and keep this division from literally going to hell. Man, I pity Tōshirō sometimes... not only is he a shota, he has to deal with your drinking habits."

He looks up, and lo and behold she's already taking out her bottle of sake she keeps hidden in her boobs. How she does that no one will ever know...

"Oh? But captain aren't you a shota, too?"

Naruto twitched at the saucy smile that touched on Rangiku's lips.

"Physically I'm about a year or two older than Tōshirō if we're in the World of the Living... which makes me a teenager by some time standards."

The door slams open and in comes Tōshirō, the shota we mentioned.

"Who's a shota?"

"Hi taichō!" Rangiku cheerfully says with a wave.

"Hello, Tōshirō," Naruto greets the white-haired boy as he puts his signature on yet another sheet of paper and puts it in the OUT pile.

"So this is where you run off to this time, Rangiku?"

"But it's so boring back home! At least Naruto has music playing," she tells her captain.

Tōshirō glares at Naruto.

"What? She's your problem," he tells Tōshirō.

"Don't I know it," the other only young captain of the Gotei 13 mutters.

Rangiku pouts cutely.

"Tōshirō." The teen looks to his other teenaged captain. "How's Ichigo?"

"He's doing fine for someone who regained his Shinigami powers," the white-haired captain answers.

"Nice... Nothing of interest has happened ever since we all poured our spiritual energies into that blade, and gave Ichigo the strength to defeat Ginjō Kūgo."

Rangiku sips her sake cup. "What's the matter, Naruto-kun? You want something interesting to happen?"

"Something that doesn't involve Zaraki going berserk looking for a fight, Yachiru-chan running amok amongst my division..." Glancing at Tōshirō, "or you stressing out Tōshirō-kun."

The white-haired teen just takes all of this in a relative calm stride. Or, as calmly as he could, that is. Naruto was always helpful to Tōshirō considering that both captains were of similar ages, and both of them are also the youngest captains of the Gotei 13.

"Rangiku, you have leftover work to finish, so we're leaving."

"Awww!"

Naruto chuckles at the humor in this scene. "Tōshirō, maybe it'll be better if you just bang Rangiku and get it over with."

"WHAT!?" the captain and lieutenant of the Jūbantai exclaim.

"It's just a suggestion," he says with a shit-eating grin.

Before this hilarious situation got funnier three black butterflies flew through the window, each landing on the desk.

"This is an emergency. All captains and lieutenants must attend immediately," the commanding voice of the Sōtaichō, Yamamoto, spoke through the Hell Butterflies.

The next song to start playing in Naruto's music player was BLUE by ViViD.

Shinigami Uzumaki

Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto is the creator of the popular Naruto manga/anime series and all its official characters. Tite Kubo is the author of the popular manga/anime series and has complete ownership of all official Bleach characters. I do not own anything that gets mentioned as cameo from other anime/manga, video games, music, and etcetera. All I own are Original Characters that come into play.

Author's Note: Naruto - Shinigami on the Prowl is a story written by Rocker1600; it's a good story. But it keeps switching from author to author and I wanted to take it and work on it but... I wasn't allowed because Naruto's Zanpakutō power cannot change. A really good author with much time on his/her hands should try and adopt that story. I hate to see such good story talents go to waste like that so if you are someone who would be willing to adopt Rocker1600's story, go and PM him about it. I'm just helping to spread a message about it.

This story on the other hand is kinda like Shinigami on the Prowl, but there are very few references to it. I'm trying my OWN hand at something similar. This story takes place after the Winter War and the Xcution arcs, but before the Thousand-Year Blood War arc so Ichigo before the Quincy Invasion still believes Zangetsu (the Quincy side of his powers) is the Zanpakutō and Shiro Ichigo (the true Shinigami side of his powers) was the manifestation of his Hollow powers (which was in truth the influences of White passed from mother to son).

One more thing: I know that in seventeen months after the Winter War, the events leading to the Thousand-Year Blood War occur but I'm kinda stretching that timeline to fit this plot in... Also, if you don't notice, BLUE by ViViD is the story's "opening theme song". I don't own that song or Absolute Territory...

Chapter One

In just under ten minutes, all the taichōs and their fukutaichōs arrived to the Main Hall of the Gotei 13.

"This emergency meeting shall come to order," bellowed Yamamoto in his usual voice of authority. "As of twenty minutes ago, a rip has torn in the sky north of Rukongai."

"A rip? Have Hollows invaded, sir?"

"Not quiet," answers Mayuri, "at first we believed it so but then our sensors started reading high influxes of spirit energy. The tear we discovered is jagged than the Garganta used by most Hollows. Not to mention when I sent some of my men to investigate, they reported of a clearing within the jagged tear. A mountainous region that feeds a waterfall between two carved statues within the stone..."

Mayuri operated the remote, turning on the monitor in the room. The photos taken were cleaned up and presented in HD. For everyone in the hall, the scenery within the tear is a mystery. But to three in that room, it was familiar scenery.

"Naruto-kun... isn't that the location where Jūshirō and I found you?" questioned Kyōraku.

"The Shūmatsu no Tani (Valley of the End)," Naruto answered, "I thought I'd never see that location again."

"Yes, I did some research on that. A similar, but much smaller tear had opened in Soul Society years ago. That tear in twenty-four hours had closed itself up, but after Ukitake-taichō and Kyōraku-taichō returned after performing a Konso of a recently passed soul." His eyes drift to Naruto. "These events from before and what's happening right now are linked in a way. But this time, the tear is much larger and seems to be stabilizing. As of now, it has no adverse effects to the World of the Living."

Naruto stared at the creepy bastard of the Soul Society's Research and Development.

"What about Hollow activity, and how will this strange anomaly affect them?" questions Tōshirō.

"With Hollows, normal weak Hollows are likely to detect this influx of energy and rather go through the hole than attack wandering souls of the Rukongai," said Mayuri.

"So if any Hollows invade through the tear, their destructive powers will spill into the world I once resided from. Is that what your implying, Kurotsuchi-taichō?"

"That is a very likely possibility..."

"Uzumaki Naruto," Yamamoto spoke up, "What do you know of your world within this anomaly?"

"Well... as I had told some of you a couple years ago, the humans of my world have an energy that dwells inside each of them. It is a combination of spiritual energy and physical energy forming the energy called chakra. As far as I know, every single human, animal, plant, almost everything has some amount of chakra. If you don't, you're likely a corpse. When I was alive, my chakra levels were almost on par with that of a captain."

"That'll explain why his reiatsu levels were so high when we used Konso on him," mutters Ukitake.

"The society of my world runs on a system that we mostly just call the Shinobi Era; humans that train in their chakra become warriors... ninja..." Here he glances to Suì-Fēng. "These ninjas live within a hidden village of a specific country, that answer to the royalty that rules said country, a daimyō. Beyond that I haven't a clue as to how humans of my world came to having chakra. There is a story I once heard about a man who was said to be a god that defeated some beast of a calamity and gave birth to the shinobi society that existed today in my world... but it's mostly a story. Frankly, I doubt that a human from eons ago could even dare claim the power of God himself just to give birth to a society like where I came from originally."

Not that Naruto would know, considering that he's rarely read into stuff like that. Although, it helped sneaking in material when no one's looking... Even the most studious of ninja, like Old Man Hokage, had little clue as to the truths regarding the so-called God of the Ninjas, the person who gave birth to the society that he once grew up wanting to be a part of until his untimely death, that led him to the life of a Shinigami. There was no doubt that no ninja today of that world would even know about the Sage of Six Paths, or even the story behind the so-called sage that defeated the beast of calamity.

"And what about this force, chakra?" asks Ukitake.

"Chakra used by ninja can be used to pull off simple to complex illusions, known as Genjutsu. They can pull off elemental attacks or use chakra to perform other types of techniques ranging from E-Rank to S-Rank, Ninjutsu. And chakra can also be used as augments for strength of hand-to-hand combat at times, they call Taijutsu. It's also used sometimes in seals and runes, Fūinjutsu. Most shinobi are like the Onmitsukido when it comes to silence and stalking the shadows, but at the same time most ninja are all about being the strongest."

Suì-Fēng said nothing, although few can see that the petite captain of the Nibantai had some interest about the ninja from the other world.

"It would be interesting if I could be given the chance to perform studies, then we'd likely get clearer answers than mere speculations and guesses. No offense to Kurotsuchi-taichō, but clear answers is better than suspecting and hoping it's not wrong in the end. Having come from that world originally... I haven't learned much growing up, mostly slacking off to pull off pranks across the ninja village that I lived at."

Yamamoto silently agreed. Even the old man knew that behind Naruto's past, the captain had a bad childhood. He was not afraid to tell them, those that met him the first time, that before his passing, he had some sort of demon sealed inside him, something called a Bijū. And from limited information Naruto had on the term Jinchūriki, which meant Power of Human Sacrifice, Jinchūriki were mostly nothing more than a ninja village's "secret weapon of war". And that Naruto because of being a Jinchūriki, or former considering he's dead, were mostly despised; not considered human by the majority of the living of that world.

"Really, captain Naruto? You and pranks? I never knew that," says Shunsui with a joking smile.

Naruto chuckled. "Before I learned of the Kyuubi no Yōko sealed inside of me at birth, I had a harsh childhood, almost isolated by the villagers aside a select few. And wanting desperate human attention turned to pranks as a way to get their notice. Quite a change from a wannabe in the Shin'ō Academy who quickly rose in the ranks to become a seated officer after-"

But Naruto's words died and a painful expression flashed on his face. Those that knew Naruto had uncomfortable expressions forming, realizing Naruto almost made mention of a certain silver-haired man. Yamamoto ignored the almost mention of the former captain of squad three. Ichimaru Gin before his betrayal of Soul Society, and after betraying Aizen in the final hours of the Winter War, saw talent in Naruto; untapped potential. He was right; Naruto had the potential to be someone great, something that he was denied when alive. From a seated officer, he obtained Shikai, and then eventually Bankai. And after the so-called Ryoka Invasion when Aizen would leave Soul Society to the world of Hollows, Naruto was entrusted with the reigns as Taichō of the Sanbantai because of mystery paperwork (likely Gin's handling prior to abandonment) promoting the teen.

"As of now, Uzumaki-taichō is the only Shinigami of our ranks to know of his own world, limited as they are considering his short-lived life. Until we know more, we have to be very careful of how we progress. Therefore, Kurotsuchi-taichō, I want you to study the tear in space more and determine whether it is safe to use a form of Senkaimon to connect our worlds. I plan to send Uzumaki-taichō and those he recommends on an investigation into his old world. I am also putting a high alert for any Hollows that may be attracted to that tear; if any appear trying to cross over, stop them at all costs."

Yamamoto gave one thud of his staff. "This meeting is over."

As everyone left, Naruto hurried back to his barracks before rushing to a nearby Senkaimon. There was someone that Naruto wanted to speak to regarding the upcoming mission to his old home world.

=0=0=0=0=

Karakura Town, Japan: The location of Substitute Shinigami, Kurosaki Ichigo. And right now he was just minding his own business since Rukia had to return back to Soul Society after an emergency text reached her on her Soul Pager.

"Shit... I hope nothing bad happened that would keep Rukia busy."

Let it be known that Ichigo's life was complex if you ignore the whole having supernatural powers of the dead thing. There are two girls in his life that have feelings for him. Inoue Orihime, a young woman with the powers that reflect in the face of god some would call it due to her supernatural healing abilities, and Kuchiki Rukia, sister of Kuchiki Byakuya and Shinigami. Then again, as Ichigo's name would tell, He Who Protects, it could be just that Ichigo would do everything to see those he cherished to be well protected from those that would seek them harm.

Suddenly, his Soul Badge started ringing, alerting him with its familiar tone and warning of Hollow in the vicinity. Having reached home, he quickly raced inside, got to his room, and then as a Shinigami Ichigo leaps out the window and raced towards the disturbance. He would arrive five minutes later at his speed, only to see another Shinigami was already attacking the dark beast. One with familiar sunny yellow hair...

"Assassinate, Kurohime!"

Naruto's short tantō (his Zanpakutō) glows before expanding into a black/red ball of energy that wraps firmly around his right forearm. A small glob of this energy melts off and attaches to his other forearm. Soon the energy solidifies forming a type of clawed armor gauntlet, red fingers and thumb tipped with silver fox claws with gold diamond-like points over his knuckles. The rest of the armored gauntlet was iron black in color with traces of red. The other gauntlet was not a gauntlet but more resembling a fox's head crafted out of red, black, and gold metal. The closed fist was now made of pure red energy, and surrounding it was the closed mouth of the fox head gauntlet with its long rabbit-like ears. Three rib-like bones but made of gold metal cross around the inside area of the buster-shaped weapon, ending with three short spines on the side of the arm. A fox's paw forms the shape of an elbow guard. From the "eye holes" of the buster arm reddish orange energy trails like ghostly fire.

The gorilla-shaped Hollow charges forward, but before Naruto could kill it with a Charged Shot, a Getsuga Tensho sweeps past him and cleave the beast in half, killing it. The destroyed Hollow vanishes in a burst of disintegrating spirit particles.

"... Damn it... I was about to kill it," Naruto complained, but he still turned to face Ichigo who lands next to him.

"Naruto... how've you been?" Ichigo greeted the yellow blond-haired teen.

"I'm doing well, Ichigo. So... how are you doing? It's been about a month since Kūgo's defeat."

The orange-haired teenager frowned a bit at the mentioned name.

"What are you doing here, Naruto? Where's Rukia?"

"Still in Soul Society," was the immediate answer. "Ichigo, I'm actually glad I bumped into you. I need to talk to you about something... but not here. I'll meet you at Urahara's place."

"Wait, what's going on?"

Naruto seals his Zanpakutō, and sheathes the dagger-sized blade into its holster on his belt. "I'll explain when you get there Ichigo." And Naruto vanished via Shunpo.

Ichigo did not like the strange feelings welling inside him. Something was going on and he was likely going to get scripted into yet another adventure that would leave Kon in control of his body to go perv across Karakura. With no other choice, the teen quickly returned home to get back into his body.

=0=0=0=0=

"Really?"

"Yes. Once were sure the tears aren't threatening... I'm going to lead an expedition into my old home world. I plan to have Ichigo come with me because I trust him. That and having a back-up powerhouse isn't too bad."

Urahara chuckles. Yes, Ichigo certainly was a powerhouse.

"Ichigo knows a bit about me. I just have to convince him to come with me back to Soul Society and prepare to follow me into a brand new world with select others."

The door opens and Tessai admits Ichigo inside.

"Hey there Ichigo-kun," greets the candy shop owner with a jovial wave of his favorite fan.

Ichigo grunts but he sits down at the table. He casts his eyes across the table where Naruto sat, sipping tea calmly. "Alright Naruto, what the hell is going on? I can't help but get this feeling I'm going to be scripted into yet another crazy adventure."

Naruto chuckles. "Well... crazy is too strong a term. But considering the previous adventures we had while preparing for the Winter War against Aizen, and the shit that went down after the Winter War, I wouldn't blame you. Your experiences aren't exactly something I'd use on a resume when seeking employment in the real world."

Ichigo gave Naruto the middle finger.

Naruto laughs, while Urahara hid his smile behind his fan.

"Ichigo... you're right. I need your help with something coming up soon. Your powers have certainly been a life saver more than once."

The hollow-like powers that dwelled inside him, Zangetsu the Zanpakutō spirit the primary source behind Ichigo's Shinigami powers, and Ichigo's nature to protect and defend. Ichigo was a warrior Naruto would willingly trust in a tough situation.

"Rukia and Renji will also be joining you when I leave on my assignment."

Ichigo stared. "Okay... So, what makes me so special you want me to go with you to... whatever?"

"Well... As you know Ichigo, there are other worlds, or realms of existence. Hueco Mundo being one of them, the home world of the Hollows..." Taking a sip of his refilled tea, "There is of course the Human World you reside in. Now, while the basic theory of the multiverse is all conjecture when looked up on Wikipedia, I can assure you that other worlds DO exist out there. Other universes... most of them are all fantasy-based like in books, anime, and video games. Others... tend to really exist without others knowing. I fall into that category."

"Wait... what?"

"Yes Ichigo. I told you once before that when I was alive, I was a shinobi, a trained warrior at a young age, although I had died at a young age of thirteen. I just wasn't a ninja of THIS Earth."

"What the hell do you mean, Naruto?"

"I'm saying I traded in all of my energy, called chakra, for reiatsu after I had died and Ukitake and Shunsui found and used Konso on my parted soul."

"You're... from another world?"

"Remember when you once told me I resembled the character who had my name in that one manga book that never really took off after the first chapter, before being recycled into the series by Kishimoto called Jammin' Ninja?"

"Yeah... I do recall saying that..."

Naruto glances to a smug Urahara.

"Well unlike Jammin' Ninja using my name as the series' female protagonist's male love interest, the world you'll soon enter with me is going to be... well... a bit of an awe-inspiring thing. Thus why I want you to come with me. As I said, your powers have saved more lives than you can count. The ninja world where I once resided when alive is dangerous. Because of the chakra that surrounds that world – I'll explain what chakra is later – you'll likely have a solid body even in your Shinigami form in that world so you and the others who'll join me will have unrestricted access to their powers."

Ichigo sighed. "I... I don't know, Naruto. I mean... I'm not shocked as much as I should be hearing other worlds actually exist. Then again, I invaded Soul Society just to rescue Rukia, then Hueco Mundo to save Orihime."

"If it's about the pervert in the Soul Candy, don't Karin and Yuzu know about your Shinigami powers after the whole Xcution bullshit?"

Ichigo sighed, again, this time in a relenting manner. "Fine. I'll join you on your little adventure."

Naruto beams a 100-watt smile.

"Goody! Then get ready because in ten minutes we're heading to Soul Society."

"And my friends? What about them?"

"I'm sure Kisuke can tell them what's going on. And if he forgets, Yoruichi will inform them," Naruto tells the orange-haired teen.

"Well then. Ichigo, looks like you're going to have some fun in the future," said Urahara.

"Fun my ass. I know I'm going to have to fight some asshole with evil intentions sometime later."

"Considering it's the ninja world, there are those who just enjoy killing for the sake of killing. And there are the threats of shinobi who abandoned their ninja villages that employ rogue elements, typically called Missing Ninja. It's these factors that make the mission a dangerous one."

"How dangerous?"

"Sometimes Missing Nins who abandon their village get stronger outside, becoming known and feared criminals who can be very dangerous, mainly because of the development of powerful ninjutsu original or stolen. Think Kenpachi Zaraki, only evil."

Ichigo shivered. That was NOT a good thought at all.

"I know. One such ninja of that type of caliber was an evil man known as Orochimaru. In classification, he's S-Rank dangerous. Still want to go?"

"Yeah. You asked me. And knowing you Naruto, you trust me. The war spoke very much even when I attempted to rescue Rukia before Aizen's betrayal and the long series of fights that followed."

Naruto smiled fondly.

"That's great Ichigo."

=0=0=0=0=

Despite knowing the dangers, Ichigo still went along with Naruto to Soul Society where he met up with Rukia and Renji. Naruto with all the knowledge he had on the ninja world submitted the information to the Gotei Thirteen, giving them as much view as they could have regarding his old home world. No one wanted to go in blindly. After the Winter War, safety was a primary cause for the Gotei Thirteen. And Naruto during the preparations elected Suì-Fēng, Rukia, Renji, and Tōshirō to join, citing very good reasons for each individual. The preparations lasted a day, but Kurotsuchi Mayuri was hard at work despite making snide comments about wanting to go and discover the "new world" first hand.

Naruto's common "Shinigami attire" as seen by his fellow friends consisted of black knee-length Bermuda Gothic-styled shorts with bondage straps connected at the sides with pocket-like knee pleats and metallic gray belt loops, long black white-buckled boots as opposed to normal Shinigami footwear, and a type of bodice-styled black leather vest with attached short triangular pauldrons with a fishnet shirt worn under it. Adorning the waistline is a white leather belt in which his short tantō-shaped Zanpakutō is secured, positioned on the backside. Over that is Naruto's modified sleeveless captain's haori with the three-parted jacket-styled kunai coattails. Special straps and buttons from the vest connect and fold the haori collar to the collar area of the bodice. The combined buttoned collars of the haori and the vest, in which specially-stitched cuts allow the pauldrons to slide through, gave Naruto a pronounced short gothic appeal.

Never one to understand Naruto's need for good fashion, it's just that they've since accepted Naruto's choice "uniform" even though he was a Shinigami captain. That and Naruto's enjoyment of the Castlevania game franchise influenced Naruto's clothing options. At least he no longer wears bright orange clothes or a bright orange jumpsuit...

"The gateway is connected now and should give safe passage. Thus far no Hollows have yet invaded so we are relatively fine on our end. Of course, once we go through, the spiritual portion of chakra that fills the very air itself and the lands will likely make us visible to the humans of that world. Meaning... we could very well die in that world as if we were human again."

Rukia, Renji, Tōshirō, Ichigo, and Suì-Fēng nod.

"Everyone ready?" Naruto questions the choice individuals he selected to join him into going into the Shinobi World.

"I have asked Ukitake-taichō to keeping an eye on my division while I am absent, so I don't have to worry about Rangiku slacking off," said Tōshirō.

"Nibantai can do well without me for awhile. Everyone knows how to operate without my supervision," said Suì-Fēng.

"I'm ready to get this party started, Naruto," Renji tells Naruto.

Rukia, always by Ichigo's side, only nods, determined. Ichigo gave Naruto a silent look.

"Well, let's go then. And do remember, even with unrestricted access to our Shinigami powers, mostly strong shinobi can sense powerful energy or chakra as they'll likely mistake our reiatsu from distances so keep them suppressed like normal."

Naruto faces the doorway, and a ringing bell sounds as the modified Senkaimon Gateway opens and bids them entrance to the portal. They walk into the doorway, and vanish into the light. In the Shinobi World, in Hi no Kuni, there was a hidden shinobi village. Konohagakure no Sato was the birthplace of Uzumaki Naruto. The bustling ninja village was as busy as ever with the civilians living their ordinary lives and ninjas go about their missions, Jōnin training new and upcoming Genin teams, Chūnin and other Jōnin working other missions or tasks around Konoha, and for the Hokage, complaining about the paperwork piling in her office.

The Godaime Hokage, Senju Tsunade, was given a reprieve from all this work when the door opened and a young woman steps in. She had short pink hair and wore a red battle dress with white pink vest over a red short-sleeved shirt, black bike shorts, and the standard Konoha ninja sandals. Her hitai-ate framed her hair, giving her locks an accentuated look. The apprentice to Tsunade, Haruno Sakura, was seventeen years old, and has changed since the apparent death of her former team mate, Uzumaki Naruto. Four years ago, Uchiha Sasuke tried to abandon the village. Naruto lost his life preventing Orochimaru's henchmen from stealing Sasuke.

Naruto no longer among them meant that the village had... gotten boring... that spark of liveliness was still there, but without Naruto around pulling off pranks or shouting to the world as loud as he could about how her would become Hokage, things got somewhat dull. Sasuke had changed from this experience in the four years since killing Naruto in his Cursed Seal-induced rage. For one thing, Sasuke has the Mangekyou Sharingan. And when told by Jiraiya about Naruto's origins the village doesn't know, changed. No longer was he about vengeance. Now he was about protecting his friends; Naruto's friends. Naruto's friends all grew up. They changed since Naruto's death, but the one thing that apparently binded them together was the fact that Naruto was more of a hero to the village than taken for granted, especially once learning about his burden.

"I'm here, Tsunade-shishou," said Sakura, greeting her mentor.

Tsunade smiled. Finally! A chance to get away from this damn paperwork...

"Sakura, why don't we head out for lunch?"

Sakura smiled. "Of course."

The pinkette knew just where they would eat lunch. Everyone of the Rookie Eleven started eating at Ramen Ichiraku just to honor Naruto's passing memory. Just as Tsunade was about to leave with Sakura, Tsunade's sake bottle she keeps in plain view cracked along the side. This sudden event was something both women saw as some sort of omen.

At the Shūmatsu no Tani, a Senkaimon opens and Naruto and his entourage arrived to the Shinobi World.

Well... I was bored and wanted something to write out so I did. This is more or less something to appease myself. I'm likely to get back to this later. For now I got other updates I want to get working on for some of my other stories I got written that really need it.

Now for some clarification: Naruto's references to a certain book is references to the pilot chapter of NARUTO by Masashi Kishimoto before the actual manga started and developed the hits it would have today in the anime world. Unlike the real world, in the world of Bleach, Masashi Kishimoto's pilot chapter never gathered much attention so replace it with a fictional work called Jammin' Ninja.

Hopefully that clears up any confusion...

Review if you wish.