Yo everybody. Sorry for the delay. I got the two fights done, then the rest of the chapter just seemed to crawl.

Before I begin, I've noticed a number of people have been putting this story in their favorites and/or alerts but not actually leaving a review. Come on people. You clearly like my story, so why not spend a couple minutes to write a review? And you don't have to leave a review within a couple of days after my latest post. It doesn't matter to me if you post a review a week after my latest post. I just love to hear from my fans.

Oh and a special thanks to Espada Zero. Your comment about Keigo's powers being like the Bounts', helped me finally choose a name for his shadow. I had been so long since I had seen the Bount episodes, I had forgotten about them.

With that out of the way, on with the show.

Chapter Twelve: Making Good Relations, Okay?

“A full wartime release. Damn...The Old Man really means business with these Ryoka.” Naruto said as they left the Lieutenants' Meeting Hall. “I don't even remember the last time that happened.”

“Nor do I.” Sasuke said, glancing at the setting sun. “But considering that they managed to knock out Izuru, defeat three of Squad 11's top officers, an officer of Squad 7 as well as number of lower ranked and unseated Squad 11 members, it's not surprising.”

Naruto turned his head towards the blond haired Lieutenant of Squad 3. “How did you get beaten anyway? I mean you're a Lieutenant of the 13 Court Guard Squads. You shouldn't lose that easily. Especially with your Wabaisuke. The two of us have a hard time countering your sword. Two Ryoka should have been easy pickings for you. Oh, and you hair's still standing on it's end a little bit.”

Izuru scowled as he tried to smooth out the frazzled ends of his hair. “I was caught off guard by their abilities. I've seen anything like them.” he said, defending himself. “Rest assured. Now that I know their abilities, I will not lose to them again.”

Earlier That Day

“Raise your head, Wabaisuke.”

Keigo and Mizuiro watched as the shape of Izuru's blade changed. Bending into a square hook. “Wow... That is one odd-looking sword.” Keigo said. “Look at it. How does someone actually use an odd weapon like that? Sure it's sharp and it could cut someone, but why would someone want to actually use such an odd weapon?”

A vein twitched on Izuru's face in a very Hitsugaya-like manner. “I am Izuru Kira. Lieutenant of Squad Three. And I will not allow you to mock my zanpaku-to.” said Izuru, barely containing his annoyance.

Keigo grinned as his shadow rose up again behind him. Taking it's jester shape again. “Well, you'll have to go through Narr first.”

The shadow clown swung it's arms forward. It's limbs stretched out, heading for Izuru. He jumped over the limbs as they reached him. “Ha! I know someone with a zanpaku-to that has that same ability. You'll never get me with that kind of attack.” Izuru said, bring Wabaisuke down on the shadow's arms.

Kira struck the arms three times. Suddenly, Narr's limbs crashed into the ground as it struggled to lift them. “What? What did you do?” a surprised Keigo asked.

Izuru smirked. “My Wabaisuke's special ability. It doubles the weight of everything it strikes. And my blade hit your shadow's arms three times each. They're now eight times there original weight.”

“Oh...Is that all? For a moment there, I thought it was something serious.”

Suddenly, the clown bit into it's left shoulder, severing the arm, before proceeding to do the same with it's right arm, grinning as it did so. Both limbs fell to the ground and faded away. “So... Rather than try to fight me with your arms weighted down, you severed them to be unhindered. A bold move.” Izuru commented.

Keigo smirked. “Not really.” he said with a shrug as his shadow snickered.

At that moment, the jester's arms grew back. Stunning Izuru and causing the clown to let out a loud, high pitched laugh. “You see. This guy is made from my shadow. As long as I have spiritual energy, I can keep on changing his shape. And if need be, replace lost limbs.” he gloated. “And now that I know what your sword's ability is, I know how to counter it.”

“Don't be so cocky.” Izuru shot back. “You haven't won yet.”

“Heh heh. Get him.” Keigo said, pointing at Izuru.

Narr's fingers became razor sharp blades. It lunged forward, eager to rip him to shreds. Izuru raised Wabaisuke. Just as the clown reached him, Izuru swung his sword. But as his blade neared the shadow creature, it's body twisted around his swing and it's bladed fingers cut into Izuru's sides. Izuru jumped back, a hand on his bleeding side. Narr lunged again. Kira swung his sword. But just like before, the clown's bent in impossible angles, evading his attack as his claws cut through his flesh.

But Izuru still had a few tricks up his sleeve. He pointed at finger at Narr. “Bakudo 61. Rikujokoro.”

Six beams of light impaled Narr, freezing him in place. “What the... What did you just do?!” a shocked Keigo exclaimed.

“A kido spell.” Izuru replied. “We soul reapers have more than just our zanpaku-tos. The spell I cast has frozen your shadow in place.”

Keigo let out a sigh. “It's just like your sword's weight thing. I can just cut off my reiatsu and he'll fade away, then I'll re-summon him.” he said, cutting off his reiatsu, causing his shadow to return to it's normal shape. Izuru saw this opening and rushed at Keigo. Izuru's sword slashed across Keigo's arms. Keigo stumbled back, his arms dropping down under the new, added weight. “As I thought. While your shadow is virtually indestructible, it has one flaw. You. Without the shadow, you're defenseless.” Izuru said, swinging Wabaisuke again, slashing a pair of shallow cuts in Keigo's chest.

Keigo groaned as fell to his knees under the increased weight of his chest and arms. Keigo looked up, his eyes wide with fear as Izuru stood over him. “Do you know what the name Wabaisuke means? Penitent one.” Izuru explained. “That's because when a person's limbs have been struck by it's blade, the increased weight of their limbs forces them to their knees. Bowing their bodies in penitence.”

Izuru gripped Wabaisuke with both hands, when suddenly, a strong force slammed into him, knocking him to his feet. He quickly climbed back up to his feet and turned to his new attacker. It was the other Ryoka, his arms extended out. Izuru had largely ignored him because he hadn't done anything since the battle started. Apparently, that had been a mistake.

“Thanks Mizuiro.” Keigo said, struggling to get to his feet, a grimace of pain on his face.

Mizuiro nodded. “Don't mention it.”

“So your abilities are different from his.” Izuru commented.

“Of course. You didn't think we'd have all the same abilities, did you?”

“I suppose not. Just what was that?”

“I can use my reiatsu to manipulate the world around me. I literally used my reiatsu to push you back.” Mizuiro explained.

“Hmph. That isn't a very dangerous ability. I doubt you could actually inflict any real damage to me” Izuru said, just before he charged at Mizuiro, Wabaisuke raised over his head.

“That's why I have this too.” Mizuiro said, raising his hand.

Electricity shot out of his hand, surging toward Izuru. The bolt struck his sword, becoming a lightning rod. Izuru froze as electricity coursed through his body. After a minute or so, Mizuiro stopped, breathing heavily and beads of sweat crawling down the sides of his face. Izuru, eyes wide and his hair standing on end, fell to his knees before collapsing, out cold.

“Wow.” Keigo said, leaning on a wall, the weight on his arms and chest decreasing. “You can control that lightning now?”

Mizuiro shook his head. While he had learned to use that electricity, he couldn't aim it very well. More often than not during their training, the bolts tended to arc in random directions. “No. I think his sword served as a lightning rod, drawing the electricity to him. Come on. We better get out of here before more soul reapers come or he wakes up. Plus we need to patch you up.”

Keigo looked down at his chest. “And I liked this shirt too.”

Mizuiro reached down and tore off the sleeves of Izuru's uniform. “Here. You can use this to stop the bleeding.”

Keigo nodded, taking the cloth and once he had tied the cloth around his arms and chest as a makeshift bandage, the two headed off. Looking for a place to lay low for a while. “You know. Considering that was our first time really fighting, I don't think we did half bad.” Keigo commented.

Elsewhere, two blades clashed, trying to overpower the other. Tatsuki knew she couldn't hope to match the strength of the Squad 11 officer. But she was use to fighting against male opponents that could overpower her. So to her, such a battle was fairly normal for her. She just needed to fight fast and smart. As Shinn started to force her down, Tatsuki kicked low, hitting his shin and knocking him off balance. Tatsuki, using the opening, thrust her blade forward while Shinn, in an attempt to counter attack, swung his sword as well. The two stumbled back a few steps. “You know, you're actually a pretty decent fighter. It's been quite a while since someone outside of Squad 11 has given me decent fight.” Shinn said, blood dripping off his sword.

Tatsuki grinned as blood dripped off her zanpaku-to as well. “I could say the same for you.”

Shinn chuckled as he grabbed his sword's sheath, pulling it from his belt. “I think it's time I take it up a notch. Immolate, Shakaku!”

Both the sword and the sheath started to glow bright orange. Like someone had placed them in a fire. Shinn slammed his sheath into the guard of his sword. Then the whole thing seemed to melt. Forming a new weapon. The sheath had stretched out. Becoming a chain, tipped with a heavy metal ball. While the sword had become a scythe blade. It was a kusarigama. “Now you're in trouble.” he said, spinning the metal ball end of the chain.

Shinn threw the mace head at her. Tatsuki dropped to the ground, the weapon narrowly missing her. Shinn pulled the chain back as he lunged at her with the scythe blade raised over his head. Tatsuki quickly rolled out of the way of his attack, causing Shinn to drive his blade into the ground. Using his momentary distraction, Tatsuki rushed to her feet, swinging her sword in a wide horizontal arc. Metal met flesh. The blade cut across Shinn's left side as he rose to his feet. But as the blade cut through him, Shinn started to turn towards her, loosening his grip on his zanpaku-to's chain.

Tatsuki was caught off guard as the heavy ball and chain wrapped around her body, binding her arms to her sides. Shinn grinned as he attacked. Cuts opened up across Tatsuki's body inbetween the coils of chains. As soon as he finished his attack, Shinn released the chains from around Tatsuki. “Why'd you do that? You had me.” Tatsuki asked.

“Bah! Who do you think I am? I'm a member of Squad 11. We don't like fighting bound opponents.” Shinn replied. “We in Squad 11 enjoy combat. There's no fun in fighting opponents that can't fight back. Release your zanpaku-to and lets get this fight truly underway.”

“Arise Ryuuko!”

Tatsuki's blade melted and reformed into it's shikai state. “Interesting.” Shinn commented. “I haven't fought against a new zanpaku-to in a long time. This should be fun.”

“Bite!”

The dragon head shot out. Shinn sidestepped, but the dragon's bladed horns extended, slashing across his right side. He swung his flaming scythe down on the armored gauntlet, hooking the blade into it. Tatsuki tried to pull her shikai back, but Shinn stopped her and threw the other end of his weapon. The flaming ball slammed into Tatsuki's chest, throwing her back.

Tatsuki rolled across the ground. But she didn't stay down for long. Tatsuki climbed back to her feet a moment later, a hand holding her side. “Wow. I didn't think you'd get up so fast. That attack must have broken some ribs.”

Tatsuki grinned. “Nah. Just bruised them.” she replied, her hand dropping from her side.

“Must be losing my touch then.” Shinn said, spinning his zanpaku-to. “Try this-”

“Blaze!” yelled Tatsuki, raising her right arm, the dragon head and jaw sliding over her hand.

A fireball erupted out the dragon's mouth, hitting Shinn in the chest. The Squad 11 member fell to the ground, smoke rising from his chest. Tatsuki pumped her fist in the air triumphantly. “You shouldn't talk too much in a fight. Or you'll leave yourself open.”

“Ouch...That burned a little. But unfortunately for you, fire doesn't effect me like does others.” Shinn said as he stood up, completely unphased by her attack, besides burns on his uniform. “Here let me show you why.”

He started to spin the end of the chain with the metal ball. Much faster than he had before. “You see, Shakaku is very temperamental woman. She always wants to be doing something and hates that I'm so lazy. So when I actually do use her, she rarely gives me her full power right off the hop. If you noticed, her release command is 'immolate'. Yet there is no fire on this weapon. You see, she punishes me for my laziness by making me work for her full power. Hence, I gotta spin this chain until she-”

Suddenly, flames erupted from the metal ball and scythe blade while the rest of the weapon turned red hot from the fire. “See. I'm quite use to fire. You can't burn me that easily. Oh... I'm done talking by the way.” Shinn said, still spinning the heavy ball.

Once again, the mace flew forward. Tatsuki raised her armored arm. “Defend.”

The flaming mace head impacted the shield. At that moment, Tatsuki reached out and grabbed the weapon's chain. Tatsuki bit into her lower lip as her hand wrapped around the hot metal, muffling a scream. And surprising Shinn at the same time. “What?! What the-”

“Bite!” Tatsuki half screamed.

Her dragon head shot out, wrapping around Shinn, it's head resting almost nose to nose with Shinn's face. “You said you're resistant to fire. But I bet it will still hurt getting hit at this range.”

“Oh crap...”

“BLAZE!!” Tatsuki roared, throwing everything she had into the attack.

The fireball slammed into Shinn's face. And the instant it hit, Tatsuki pulled back on her arm, tossing Shinn face first into the ground. But Shinn climbed to his feet, smoke rising from his head. “Not bad. But not good enough.”

Tatsuki didn't say anything. Both raised their weapons and charged. Shinn swung his scythe horizontally. Tatsuki ducked under the swing and delivered a powerful uppercut, the dragon head of her gauntlet covering her fist. The metal covered fist was driven into Shinn's chin. Shinn had a look of utter shock as he thrown in the air. His body crashed into the ground. “Damn...Guess I wasn't so lucky today...” he weakly said. “You know, out of all the battles I've fought, no one has ever touched Shakaku after I've released her full power. I never expected someone to do that. You're one tough chick to have done that.”

“Thanks.” Tatsuki replied, taking a glance at her burnt left palm. “But it was a crazy, wreck-less move I did out of desperation. I couldn't think of anything else.”

“Heh heh heh... More like crazy. Which isn't a bad thing. Most of the time.” Shinn said with a chuckle. “Let me ask you something.”

“What?”

“Why have you invaded the Soul Society?”

“We're here to save Rukia.” Tatsuki answered.

“Wow... And I thought when you grabbed Shakaku was crazy.” Shinn commented. “You'll have to go through thirteen Lieutenants and thirteen Captains to do that. Unless you've brought an army with you, it's impossible. Hell, I doubt any of you can beat my Captain.”

“Kenpachi Zaraki right?”

“Oh, you've heard of him. Yeah. He's my Captain. There's no one like him. No one has his battle lust. No one, save for the Old Man, can beat him.” Shinn explained.

At that moment, fireworks went off in the air above them. “Well I think you better get going. I got no idea who did that, but that will draw people here. You should get out of here before they get here. And good luck, cause you're gonna need it.”

Tatsuki nodded, heading back to where Ichigo was. But only the unconscious bald soul reaper was there. She put a hand through her hair. Trying to find Ichigo or just about anyone else in the group was going to be difficult. The only person she knew with a hundred percent certainty where they were was Orihime. So Tatsuki ran off in Orihime's direction.

But she suddenly stopped a minute later. There was something inside her uniform, rubbing up against her side. The same area where she had taken that blow from the metal ball. Tatsuki reached into her uniform and pulled out some white broken fragments. Tatsuki raised an eyebrow. Where had these come from?

“Come on! The Ryoka went that way!” a soul reaper shouted, leading a group of his comrades down a path, past a shadowed alley.

But as the soul reaper in the rear passed the alley, a pair of hands reached out and grabbed him and pulled him into the alley. Unnoticed by his comrades. A short while later, Vincent walked out, clad in a soul reapers uniform and started walking towards the center of the Seireitei.

The disguise probably wouldn't hold up if someone questioned him, Vincent knew that. The uniform was a bit too big for him. Anyone that looked at him closely would see that the uniform didn't entirely fit. But from a distance, he was just another soul reaper. And with the confusion of their entrance, he doubted that anyone would immediately bother him.

Until the found the uniform's owner. Then they'd likely start questioning lone soul reapers in search of him. But Vincent figured he had a couple hours until then. Long enough to get closer to where they were holding Rukia and find a place to hide out the night in.

Tatsuki had been walking for a good twenty minutes when she came face to face with a group of soul reapers. While they were clad in the normal soul reaper uniform, they all wore single-strap bags as well. The leader of the group was a man with glasses and slicked back blond hair. “I'm Yasochika Iemura. Third Seat of Squad Four. Who are you?” the man asked, eying her suspiciously.

Tatsuki fought to keep herself from tensing up and exposing herself. “I'm Tatsuki Arisawa. I'm a new member of Squad 11.” she lied, noticing how many of the soul reapers tensed at the words 'Squad 11'. “I got lost from my comrades and fought one of the intruders. But he fled like a coward half way through the battle.”

Iemura nodded, accepting her lie. “Are you aware of the current status of your fellow Squad members?”

“Not really. I did see our Fourth Seat fighting an intruder in that direction. But I have no idea on the others.”

“Very well then. Ogido, tend to her wounds. Everyone else with me.” Iemura ordered.

Tatsuki breathed a mental sigh of relief. They had bought it. The group continued on, leaving her and another soul reaper behind. “Okay. Let's take a look at you injuries.” the soul reaper said, a nervous tone in his voice.

Naruto laughed. “Wow. Now

Kira glanced over his shoulder. “Hey wait minute. Where's Renji?”

The group of Lieutenants looked around. But there was no sign of him. “Should we go looking for him?” Momo asked.

Naruto shrugged. “Nah. He can handle himself. Besides, I have somethings to take care of.”

“Let me guess... You and your Captain are going to sneak out and go drinking.” Rangiku said.

Naruto nervously chuckled. “Er...Yeah... Could you-”

“Not tell Nanao? Sure. But you owe me.”

“And I need to finish up some Division paperwork for Captain Ukitake.” Sasuke added as he walked off. “I can't trust my two third seats to do anything right without fighting between themselves.”

“At least they're not showing up drunk anymore.” Naruto commented.

“Yes. But I'm starting to prefer them drunk over sober. They may have been useless drunk, but at least then I didn't have to trust them with anything. Sober, I give them an assignment, they fight over it. I give one of them some work, the other won't stop bugging me about how I have ignored them and gave an important assignment to someone who wasn't up to the task. If I give them both separate tasks, they fight over who has the more important task.” Sasuke shook his head. “I don't know how Captain Ukitake would manage without me to keep those two in line.”

Later That Night

Sasuke had finished his Division's paperwork sooner than he had expected. But found himself unable to sleep. Rukia's execution was weighting on his mind. So he had decided to take a walk to clear his head.

The date of Rukia's execution had been pushed forward. Something highly unusual for someone to have committed Rukia's crimes. And they were planing to use the Sokyoku on her. Which was beyond unusual. The Sokyoku was reserved for Captain-level criminals. At most, Rukia was of Third Seat-level. So there was no reason for her to be executed like that. Then of course, there was no reason for her to be executed at all for the crimes she committed. Over staying in the World of the Living and transferring some of her spiritual power to a human were severe crimes, but not the kind that warrented execution. There was something else going on there. Something wrong. Someone wanted Rukia dead. It was the only explanation that fit.

But the question was, why?

“Good evening Sasuke.” a voice said, startling Sasuke.

Sasuke mentally cursed himself. He had become so distracted by his thoughts that he had stopped paying attention to his surroundings. “Hello Captain Aizen. You're up awfully late tonight.”

Aizen chuckled. “I could say the same for you.”

Sasuke shrugged. “I couldn't sleep.”

“Worried about Rukia?”

“Yes.” Sasuke paused. “Could ask you something private sir?”

“Of course. What is it?”

“This whole thing doesn't seem right. The punishment doesn't fit the crimes. And they've just pushed Rukia's execution date up. Which is even more unusual. Frankly, this situation is wrong.” Sasuke said. “The only explanation I can see, is that someone is manipulating things. But for what purpose, I have no idea.”

Aizen nodded. “I came to those same conclusions not to long ago.” he admitted. “I've also been trying to figure out what role those Ryoka play, if any, in all of this.”

“No. It's too much of a coincident for them to be here and not be involved in this in someway.” Sasuke replied. “Do you have any idea why someone would want Rukia to be executed?”

“Unfortunately, no. That as well as who is the mastermind behind this, eludes me. But if the Ryoka are working with whoever's responsible, then we must deal with them quickly before they can complete whatever it is that they're planning.” Aizen paused. “Are you two planning on trying to stop Rukia's execution?”

“Yes. Once Captain Ukitake is well again, we'll be appealing her sentence. If that fails, which if we're right, likely will, we'll have to do something more drastic.”

Aizen nodded. “Just between you and me, I've been working with Gin on this. Publicly, I've expressed my suspicions on him. So that the real mastermind thinks I'm chasing after the wrong person, and lower his guard.” He paused for a moment. “Be careful out there Sasuke. At the moment, I wouldn't trust anyone completely.” he warned. “Let's hope that we can get to the bottom of this before it's too late.”

“Indeed. There could more riding on this than we realize.” Sasuke said before walking off.

Sosuke Aizen smirked as Sasuke walked off. Everything was more or less sliding into place. After tomorrow morning, Toshiro would be chasing after Gin while Momo chased after him. Effectively distracting the inquisitive Squad 10 Captain from the truth. While Sasuke and Naruto would be chasing after phantoms and the Ryoka. The three of them were clever enough that they could figure things out if given enough time. Yamamoto would accept the Central 46's orders at face value. As would Soifon and Komamura. Byakuya would likely as well. Though his relationship with Rukia could possibly change that. Zaraki and Kurotsuchi wouldn't care about Rukia's execution. Ukitake would interfere with the execution, but his illness could prevent him from doing anything. The only unknowns were Unohana and Kyoraku. Especially Unohana. If she didn't buy his illusion, his whole plan could collapse then and there. While Kyoraku was difficult to predict. He suspected that the Squad Eight Captain didn't trust him. Perhaps he even suspected him of being the man behind Rukia's execution order.

The Ryoka were a source of concern for him. While they would likely provide a useful distraction for the 13 Court Guard Squads, they were sent by Kisuke Urahara. Which meant they were a possible threat to his plans.

But even should they stop the execution, he would just switch to Plan B instead. Either way, he would win.

Once Sasuke was long gone, Aizen looked up and to the left. A raven was perched on a nearby rooftop, glaring at him. Sasuke had been completely obvious to the bird that had been watching them. “Hello Karasu.” Aizen greeted. “I trust your master is enjoying the show.”

The bird let out an angry call, then flew off.

Lieutenant Meeting Hall

The Following Morning

Most of the Lieutenants had gathered at the meeting hall. Renji was still recovering from his wounds. While Yachiru and Nemu were still with their Captains and Momo had yet to arrive.

“I can't believe that Renji was defeated.” Izuru said.

“What do you expect from someone who rushed in without ascertaining the enemy's strength? I expected that kinda stunt from Ikkaku and the rest of the Squad 11 guys, but Renji should have known better.” Tetsuzaemon Iba commented.

“You forget that until recently, Renji was an officer of Squad 11. And you yourself were a member of that Squad.” Sasuke added. “You of all people should know that old habits die hard.”

Naruto groaned, clearly hungover. “Can you guys keep it down. My head is killing me.”

Sasuke pulled out his sheathed sword and hit it on wall. Producing a loud bang. Naruto let out a loud moan, a hand grasping his forehead. “Ah... Come on. Not so loud. I'm-”

Suddenly, a loud scream pierced the air, causing Naruto to wince while everyone else turned to the direction of the scream. Everyone recognized the voice. It was Momo. The Lieutenants raced towards the source of the scream. The sight that greeted them when they found her, horrified them all.

Captain Aizen, a sword piercing his chest, was upon the wall before Momo and the group. His vacant eyes staring out at them.

He was dead. They all knew it.

But what Sasuke found truly alarming was that state of Aizen and the area around his body. There were signs of battle, on Aizen's body and on the ground. Who ever did it, didn't murder Captain Aizen. They assassinated him. And the only people that could do that without Aizen fighting back, would have to be of Captain level.

Which meant that at least one of the intruders was of Captain level. Or it was worse. The possibility that the killer was from within the 13 Court Guard Squads. Could it be that Aizen was killed by someone seeking to keep him quiet?

“My my. What's all the shouting about?” a familiar voice called out.

“Everyone turned around. It was Squad 3 Captain Gin Ichimaru. And at that moment, Momo snapped.

“YOU DID THIS!!!” Momo screamed before drawing her sword and charging at the Squad 3 Captain.

But before she could reach Gin, Izuru intercepted her, blocking her attack. “Izuru! Why?!” demanded Momo, her eyes full of tears.

“I'm the Squad 3 Lieutenant. I cannot allow anyone to draw a sword against my Captain.” Izuru replied.

“Izuru, please step aside.” Momo pleaded.

Izuru shook his head. “I can't.”

“Move. Please.”

“No.”

“I'm telling you to move!” Momo shouted.

“And I'm telling you I can't!” Izuru yelled back.

“Snap Tobiume!” Momo shouted, releasing her zanpaku-to.

She fired off a fireball. There was a big explosion, forcing Izuru back. “You dare to release your zanpaku-to here? Do you realize what you're doing? This is no place to resolve personal matters Lieutenant Hinamori!”

Momo didn't say anything. Instead, she fired off another fireball. But Kira dodged this one. “I see. Then it can't be helped. I must treat you as my enemy.” he said, raising his sword. “Raise your head, Wabaisuke.”

The two lunged at each other. But just as they reached each other, Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya appeared in between them. Stopping their attacks. “Don't move. Either of you.” he said before turning to the other Lieutenants. “Arrest them. Both of them. I'll report this to the Captain-General.”

Rangiku and Naruto restrained Momo as Shuhei and Sasuke did the same to Izuru. With the two of them restrained, they left, heading for the nearest detention cells. Leaving the two Captains alone.

A Short While Later

“Damn... I can't believe this! Captain Aizen's dead!” Naruto exclaimed, slamming his fists into the guardrail. “Who could have done this?!”

Sasuke sighed. “Only two groups of people come to mind. One of Ryoka, having slipped past the soul reapers that rushed to capture them when they first arrived, could killed him. Or someone within the 13 Court Guard Squads of Captain level could have done it.”

“No way! No way one of us could have done that to Aizen!” Naruto shot back.

“There's something you need to know. I spoke with Captain Aizen last night. He told me somethings...”

Next Chapter: Naruto and Sasuke finally fight in a real battle. But I'm not saying who they'll be fighting in the next chapter. So you'll just have to wait and see.

As always, review!