Naruto awoke with a yawn and froze. What the? He was looking out of a cage of fingers and they weren't Yoruichi's! What was more, he was inside a a sleeping bag-style bed with a silver metallic collar around his neck and upper shoulders at where his head was, effectivly making exiting the sleeping bag impossable without outside help.

The cage closed and he was lifted up to a face he'd seen at the the Shinigami Women's Association's meeting.

Petite and youthful, she had green eyes and dark purple hair with slightly parted bangs and is pulled back into a long braid. Her uniform, which she had on (if she'd slept in it, he didn't know) consisted of a short black kimono with a white nagajuban under it. The sleeves of her kimono weren't as wide as those worn by most Shinigami and the upper parts of the sleeves are puffed. She wore a traditional wide white obi with a red cord fastening it. In addition she wore white gloves that covered only the back of her hands and wrists; as well as a dark red choker. She was neither pale or tanned in color of skin, just fair.

Naruto wouldn't deny she was absolutely gorgeous. If his heart wasn't spoken for already, he'd have to say he'd try giving her a shot at her and him trying to make something work.

Seeing him awake, she smiled at him and nuzzled him against her cheek before setting him down by her feet.

"Hello Darling, I'm Nemu, Nemu Kurotsuchi. How was your rest?" she said.

"It was welcomed...thank you kindly for your concern." he said, making this giantess of a Shinigami smile softly at him.

Nemu knew what Mayuri saw whenever he looked at her. A tool, a creation, something to be used whenever necessary, a product with no life, no spirit, no substance. Just as she knew what others saw whenever she passed by them: A thing, his puppet, something that exists to do his bidding. A humiliated, beaten pawn.

That wasn't the case with how she saw herself, no, she was Nemu Kurotsuchi , lieutenant of the twelfth division, a shinigami.

Mayuri created her, it was true, but she'd never seen herself as anything other than a soul who wants nothing more than to be free of his tyranny. Mayuri was someone she loved and loathed in equal parts, for she was inbebted to him for the life, her life, which he held in the palm of his hand. He was a cruel master, who expected her to feel no pain, no sorrow, no joy. In his eyes she was just an experiment and didn't have the right to live. Nemu supposed because Mayuri was so used to having people obey him unquestioningly is he that he didn't know that she was more alive than he will ever be. In his quest for immortality, her "father" left his heart in a place darker than Hueco Mundo. She knew this; She was…closer… to him than most people would think. Yet despite this, she couldn't help but wonder if she was so flawed that he couldn't be proud of her, she knew he didn't love or care about her.All she wanted to do was become stronger, strong enough that he would acknowledge her, that when he looked at her, the only thing reflected in his eyes would be pride.

This wasn't meant to be.

He would never acknowledge her for hin his eyes, she was just an experiment to be taken apart as punishment, or to be the test subject for many other experiments that Mayuri cared nothing for. If she dared to defy him, retribution will be swift- and painful.

Nemu had a dream, one she kept to herself and relived in her darkest moments.

In it, she was standing in a field of daisies, in the sunshine. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, the wind blowing through her hair and she was free to laugh, to spin around in circles and get dizzy, to make daisy chains and pick as many flowers as she wanted. In that dream, a picnic had been laid out for her, with all her favourite foods and drinks, the chocolates from the living world that she liked so much, and there are presents, just for her. It is my birthday, and for one day I am special, I am loved more than anything or anyone, more than a mod-soul had any right to be. She wanted to live. To be happy. To feel the wind in her hair, the sun on her skin...to laugh so hard her stomach hurt...to cry when she's sad, be comforted, and be hugged when she got hurt. She wanted to be loved, be acknowledged, be someone worthwhile. Didn't she deserve the chance to prove that she can be more than what they see her as? Didn't she deserve the chance to show them that she was a good person, someone who is just as real as they were? Nemu wished she wasn't lonely, but she supposed that was the only thing she deserved. Even death was too good for the worthless creature that looks out of her mirror. If she couldn't make her own father love her, how could she ever expect to be seen as a person? If her father loathed her so much, why shouldn't she loathe herself and expect others to do the same? She saw herself as a pawn. A plaything of her father's division. a father's puppet unworthy of the life Mayuri chose to bestow upon her.

As these thoughts all went through her mind, she drew her Zanpakutō, the form of it appeared to be a thin katana with a green hilt and a seemingly warped guard.

"Tear through the Jungle:Shishi Kisaki (Lion Queen)" Nemu shouted, activating her Shikai.

Naruto looked up and there stood Nemu. Only she was different. Unlike the short skirt and robe she wore before, Nemu was decked out in a suit of golden cloth-like armor. Her hair was no longer up in a bun but was now free falling past her shoulders. Encompassing her head was lion shaped samurai helmet with a purple mane on it. On her feet were a pair of dark purple high heel boots going up to her thigh and the toe section of the shoes were clawed. Encompassing her arms were a pair of golden grieves and on her hands were a set of purple clawed gloves. A golden striped purple tail came down her back side. Over all, she looked like a golden humanoid lioness.

"Ready to play?" Nemu asked, her usually melancholic face was lit with playfulness.Thoughout all her so-called "father's" abuse, her eyes had not lost that spark her dream of happiness gave her...it was just hidden somewhere. And this Arrancar had found it and nursed the spark into a beautiful light when she'd first met him. Unlike others, when he looked at her, he saw a person, someone precious. That she was valuable, priceless and deserved to be loved and protected. he made her feel as though her dream were real.

And yet, for all he had done to see that her dream and her reality were made one and the same, his current state was proof of Mayuri's vile mindset.

While Nemu could understand what Momo treasured about the little soul before her, Nemu felt she had the right to play pirate and snatch the treasure from the girl.

"Wait...could you explain why I'm here before we start at least?" the blond asked.

"Simple really, I took you home. I know you don't remember what caused you to end up shrunk thanks to that partly-finished amnesia drug Mayuri used on you but..."

"WHAT?! Hold up, hold up, hold up...YOU know how I ended up like this?" Naruto asked.

Nemu sighed and nodded. "Yes...would you like to hear the story before or after we play a game of cat and mouse, my sweetie? I'll tell you either way no matter your choice."

"Sweetie?" Naruto repeated, ok NOW he wanted to know what happened to him even more. Good thing she was giving him a choice on which happened first.