Forever Is a Long Time

Haruto and Naruko slowly floated down from the hole made in the sky from their trip through the Dangai in the middle of West Rukon District. The town was quiet… too quiet for their tastes. Either this town was always this gloomy or something must have happened. No citizens, no children playing around, a relatively poor town from the looks of it.

Haruto didn't like the look of this town one bit.

"Where is our Rescue Crew? I swear if they start the party without me, I'm kicking their asses!" he whined childishly and let go of Naruko's fleshy rear cheek, much to her disappointment and relief.

"I'm sure they have left something for you, Beloved." If his hand had stayed there for a little bit longer, she was sure they would have missed everything because they would have been otherwise occupied!

"You think so?" he asked hopefully.

Naruko nodded calmly and walked ahead with a smirk, making sure to give her thick, matronly hips an extra sway as she was followed by a leering Haruto who was practically drilling a hole through her rear.

It wasn't long before they came across an interesting sight.

"Hahaha, you guys got your asses handed to you that quickly! You were right Naru, they did leave me something but instead of a little bit, they left me with everything!" Haruto roared with laughter, clutching his sides as he repeatedly kicked his feet in the air, his blonde companion just grinned in amusement.

Judging from the way they were slumped in front of a gigantic gate with a similarly titanic wall, it was evident they were defeated. Ichigo and a giant ape-like man—who was bleeding quite severely—were lying in the dirt and Orihime was using some kind of Technique to heal the bleeding giant while the people of the town were gathered around them in a circle.

That's not a Healing Technique. Haruto sent through the link to his wife. It looks like some kind of Reversal Technique.

Interesting. They sure are an amusing bunch.

"So can anybody tell us what happened to you guys while we were busy?" Haruto smirked when he saw Ichigo glaring daggers at him "Oi Princess, what's with that look on your face?"

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU TWO?" Ichigo shouted, a tic was pulsed on his temple as Haruto snickered at their misfortune. Seriously, it wasn't his fault that the snake-like man used an extending sword Technique! If he hadn't used that trick, he would've defeated him without any trouble!

"We were lost on the road of life," the immortal duo replied simultaneously.

Haruto and Naruko had to stop themselves from laughing out loud when they were acquainted with the stupefied expressions on their faces, eyes blinking repeatedly, mouth opening and closing without uttering a word. This excuse was just too damn funny; no wonder their Sensei used it so much!

"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN MEAN? THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE 'ROAD OF LIFE'" The group—except Orihime and Chad—shouted in unison, glaring daggers at the grinning duo for that lame and pathetic.

"Exactly. I mean who would use such a pathetic excuse?"

His anger at the duo for appearing late coupled with the embarrassment of his defeat, Ichigo was ready to tear out his hair in frustration. The redhead just used the excuse himself and was now agreeing with them like it had been used by a third party!

Yoruichi regarded the couple with a thoughtful and curious expression on her feline face. How did they stop the Cleaner, more importantly, how were they still alive after coming in contact with the Cleaner? The logical answer to these questions was that the Cleaner was destroyed. But then, how did these two destroy the Cleaner!?

What kind of power did they possess?

"So, anyway what happened to you guys?" Haruto inquired intriguingly as he tried to get his amusement under control. Naruko had no such qualms and was openly grinning like a Cheshire cat.

He had seen ichigo's power during his 10 days training with the former Captain of Squad 12 by spying on them using a Shadow Clone. The reason for the spying had not been because of distrust, but rather out of curiosity.

He had to admit being impressed by his resolve and determination, so similar to his own when he had been young. He was seeing himself in the young Kurosaki, the same drive for strength to protect his precious people, the same unyielding will to never give up. It was the cause of resurfacing so many long buried memories, both good and bad.

For someone to defeat him, meant he was strong and that the Seireitei was not to be taken lightly.

"We arrived at the Soul Society, but due to Ichigo's irrationality, were forced to move before formulating any plans," the black cat explained dryly and gave Ichigo a pointed glare. "As soon as we reached the Seireitei, the walls and gates dropped down unexpectedly. Jidanbo here is a Gatekeeper; it was his duty to stop us from entering. He and Ichigo fought and he lost. He was just about to let us through when a Captain appeared, and here we are."

Guess, she was still sore about their defeat.

"Do you want me to bust the gate down?" Haruto asked with a fox-like grin while Naruko shook her head, fully aware what the redhead was trying to do.

"This is no time to be joking, if Jidanbo was having so much trouble lifting that thing, there is no way you'll be able to do it."

Haruto shrugged nonchalantly. Hey, their loss. He could do it without any effort. He asked and they declined.

"You can stay the night with us, we would be happy to accommodate you," an elderly man offered kindly, stepping forward from among the crowd to offer them a place to stay after witnessing what they had done for Jidanbo.

"Thank you. That would be kind of you." Yoruichi thanked the elderly man and turned to the team. "Let's leave for now. We'll decide what to do tomorrow."