"You've got to be kidding me."

"She's barely up to my waist!"

"That girl is gonna be chew'd up and spit out."

Zaraki Kenpachi listened to his men complain about the girl behind him. He was ready to just throw her out, but somewhere is his gut, he knew not to. It was recruiting time in the Seireitei, and he had found some great young men with brilliant potential, but… he'd also found a woman.

She was small and spunky, and had surprised him by how much raw power she sustained within her tiny body. She was taller than Kuchiki Rukia, at least, which was not saying much, but it was something. She was brilliantly skilled in Hakuda, making her wanted by Sui Feng for the Second Division, but once Zaraki saw her with a sword, no matter how inexperienced she was with it, he saw the potential. He knew he had to have her for his Division.

He was pleasantly surprised by how she held her own. Submerged in a sea of bloodied, battle worn men who were dissing her strength and prowess; yet, she stood by her new Captain with a surprising pride. She did not hide in his shadow, rather she used it to make her seem more formidable, the shadows painting her skin like black snakes. Her pale arms, tattooed and scarred were crossed over her chest, her faded-brown eyes narrowed in annoyance. She had bright, white-blond locks, dyed by proof of the light brown roots near her scalp, and it was pulled into a messy faux-hawk at the top of her head. Her uniform was tailored to suit her body, the hakama sliced off above the knee, the top part without arms and tied behind her neck. Two rings of black tape were around her lower arms. She risked a lot by showing so much skin in a place like the Eleventh Division.

Zaraki scowled. His ears were starting to burn from his men's scratchy voices. "Alright, Listen Up!" he shouted.

His men quieted down at a meandering pace, but eventually the training area went silent. Now it was a little bit too quiet… "It's not like you've never seen a woman who could fight before! Stop being such whiners and deal with it. She isn't the first woman to land in this Division, just the first in a while. So shut it and be civil. She's your new 6th seat."

The grumble that ensued make Zaraki grin. Sometimes, although he and his men got along quiet well, he liked to get them riled up. And this was perfect.

Zaraki had invited one other woman into the Division, some decades ago, Zuko. She was a woman who was a part time Eleventh member yet also a member of the 8th Division as an added help. She traded Divisions from time to time if she were needed or wanted, and she whipped Zaraki's men into shape when he wasn't around. She was a fighter. Zaraki would never have brought this new, petite little kitten into his squad if Zuko hadn't been there to protect her.

The warrior-esque woman Zuko stood not too far off, keeping a watchful yellow eye on the new woman. She watched Zaraki turn and leave, leaving the woman to stand on her own, and how every eye now landed on her petite form.

"Alright boys, you heard him!" she barked at the men, "Get back to training. The Eleventh will still be a unit, you just have a smaller member added."

A man shouted from amidst the crowd, "But she seems barely able to even hold a sword!"

Zuko went to retort, her short wing-like black hair now fluttering in the wind, but she was interrupted.

The woman's voice was not how the men assumed. She poke with a force, a demanding tone that was usually only found in a captains voice. "If you think be unable to pick up a sword, I dare you to fight me bare handed. If I defeat you, you spar with me like civil Swordsman. I doubt I will against you, but I will indeed prove that I am no lower than you."

To some of the men, her speech was confusing, but most understood what she meant. She was asking for a fight. They knew that much. But to fight without a sword? That was just unlike the Eleventh!

"I understand that Hakuda is not a trademark of the Eleventh Division, but it is a test of raw power. How many of you think that your physical strength is greater than mine, without a sword?"

Every hand went up. Zuko, calm and immobile in her corner, chuckled.

The woman laughed. It has hardy and true, full of aggressive happiness. "So then," she said, taking off her belt the housed her sheath and laying it on the ground, "who wants to prove it first? Bare handed, one-on-one, mano-a-mano?"

A ripped man, scarred and dirty, emerged from the crowd, shoving past everyone he could manage. He was not exceptionally tall or exceptionally muscular, but the young woman could tell by his eyes that he meant business. "I don't believe in women in this Division," he growled, cracking his knuckles and preparing his muscles, "I only put up with Zuko to please the captain. You don't mess with the Captain's bitch-" Zuko growled from her corner, "-and get away with it. But for you, I'll make no such exception. I'll throw your tight little ass all the way back to the academy."

The young woman stood still. Her cogs were ticking.

"Just for your information," she smiled, "The Captain Commander discovered me for himself. I did not go through the academy, and I am much older than you think I am. I am no child. Captain Yamamoto gave me a Gotei 13 test straight out of District 80 after witnessing me take down three men barehanded. He could find no other place that could hold up with my power, and even though my skill with a sword is not on par with the Eleventh Division, your Captain seems to have found something worth it in me. I don't claim to be the most powerful amongst you, I know I'm not, but how dare you disrespect someone you don't even know? I dare you to try to "kick my tight little ass" anywhere, you fucking brute!"

The man flung himself at her then. She could tell in the millisecond before his hand made contact with her nose that he was inexperienced without a weapon. She heard her nose crack but didn't feel the pain, and retaliated by grabbing his shoulder and slamming it into her kneecap, the resounding snap much more appealing than the one her nose made. Her hands gripped his neck, right below the chin, and she roundhouse-kicked him in the ribs, sending him across the training field. She ran to him quickly. As he stood to get his bearings, her legs both left the ground, and her feet collided with the man's heavy chest, sending both her and him backward in opposite directions. She flipped over herself and landed on her feet like a cat; he on the other hand landed like a limp sack of flour on the wall behind him, sliding down, panting.

She sat there patiently, crouched like a tiger, waiting to see if he wished to continued. His chest rose and fell steadily, but he made no move to rise. She stood up straight, and cautiously walked toward him.

As she stood above, his head rose up to look her in the eyes. His comrades, his allies, they stared at him with amazement at his loss, but he dared not look back at them. He noticed her hand come into his line of sight.

"I could feel your strength," she said, her voice a strangely calming tone, considering the blood that still dripped off her chin from her cracked nose. "Just because I've beaten you in a contest of Hakuda, you will beat me with a sword. I know you will. All I ask is that you respect me. Not as a friend, or a comrade, but as a Division member. I may not belong here. But I am here. I ask for you to deal with it like a gentleman. My name is Tobi."

The man stared Tobi's hand, tattooed with thin lines and designs that made his head spin. It disgusted him to do so, but he took her smaller hand in his own, and she pulled him to his feet; the act surprised him. He looked down at her, her toned, yet unaccustomed arms telling him that he would indeed beat her with a sword. She had no proof of ever training with a sword for too long. No sparring match would prove that fact any more than what already met the eye. But, she was strong. Stronger than he was, at least, with her inner Reiryoku.

He didn't say a thing as he walked back into the crowd of Eleventh Division members. He didn't look anyone in the eye, feeling disgusted that he was beaten in physical strength by a woman. But, as he reached the far back of the training field and he was out of sight of most of his comrades, he turned and looked at the girl who would flip his Division upside down.


I apologize for it being so severely short, but it is just a short introduction. I thank you so much reading! Reviews will all be read and replied to in thanks.~ Constructive criticism is great, but flames I would like left at home, please. :)