This is my first shot in fan-fiction, so here goes nothing. I hope you guys enjoy and feel free to give your thoughts! Of course, I don't own any characters mentioned, or own Bleach..

Without further ado, here is Sudden Realization:

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Betrayal

Rukongai District

"This is so stupid, Kensei," Mashiro whined as she trailed unenthusiastically behind the small group.

"Then, go home Mashiro," the ninth division captain said as he darted his eyes towards the uninterested short green haired lieutenant. "This is the head captain's orders! We have to investigate these disappearances in the Rukongai district so I don't have time to babysit you."

"Okay, okay..gosh you're so mean Kensei," Mashiro said as she began to pout even more. "I'm your lieutenant you big jerk, so I'm staying."

Kensei glared even more at his subordinate, but then took a deep breath before turning back and continuing forward. "Just take this seriously, okay?" he said softly with a hint of compassion in his voice. "We have to stay sharp, we don't know what to expect."

"Captain, over here!" two Shinigami seated officers shouted with concerned looks on their faces. They were crouched down holding black Shinigami robes as they looked back up at their captain in disbelief. "They….just vanished."

"Make a call into the Central 46!" the white haired captain shouted sternly. "We have our first Shinigami disappearances!" Kensei sat there quietly in thought. Outwardly, he gave off no reaction however inwardly, he was concerned. 'Sandals and robes with footprints all gathered in one location? What does this all mean? Surely this is connected to the Rukongai vanishings…in that case we better be on our toes.'

"Sir, what should we do?" a slender man with a jagged hair held backwards and up.

"We stake out here, Kaname," Kensei replied as he looked up from being deep in thought. "We have to get to the bottom of this. Can I count on you?"

"Yes, Captain," Tōsen confidentially boasted as the 5th seated officer stepped away from Kensei. "I'll inform the others of setting up camp here," as he adjusted his goggles and pulled up his mask. 'All is going to Lord Aizen's plans, just as he predicted. Although tonight will be difficult, the road to justice will always be on my mind. I'm sure the others are completely unaware of my intentions.'

Later That Night

With his Zanpakutō slouched on his shoulder, Kensei scanned the tent he was sitting in as his 3rd seated officer sat quietly with his arms crossed. The bald, muscular man was deep in thought perhaps reviewing the events that transpired earlier. As the captain looked to his left, he glared at Mashiro who was sound asleep. 'How can she sleep at a time like this? Sigh, she's more trouble than she's worth.'

"Where did you go?" Tōsen barked at the out of breath Shinigami standing guard outside of the tent.

Trying to catch his breath and gain his composure, the seated officer retorted, "Give me a break, I went to squad 12's barracks to inform them of the situation. They said they were sending their lieutenant." The man got up and shot Tōsen a glared before talking to another officer to his left. Kaname paused for a second to examine what the officer told him and responded, "Good, we could use the help. This is a terrible situation, one that needs swift justice."

'Just a lieutenant for reinforcements?' Tōsen chuckled to himself. 'Pitiful that the Soul Society can't handle this properly. I loathe battle, but I need to finish these guys quickly for Lord Aizen. I'm sure I can handle a lowly lieutenant too.'

"Alright, you three," Shinobu Eishima chimed in as he was higher ranked than the two arguing, he felt the need to take control. "We should start being on guard. We'll rotate out with Kaname and me starting first." He started to walk over to the left while the other two went ahead of the masked 5th seated officer.

'This is the path of least bloodshed' The purple haired man reached for his orange hilted Zanpakutō and slowly unsheathed it while whispering, "Cry, Suzumushi." A high-pitched tone pulsed over the area knocking out all the Shinigami officers outside the tent except Eishima who was barely conscious and visibly fatigued. Struggling in and out of consciousness, Eishima roared, "Tōsen! What is the meaning of this! Have you lost your honor?"

"Sorry, this is necessary for peace," Tōsen replied as he walked towards the downed officer with his bloodied sword, having killed the other two officer. Eishima mustered his strength to stand up before the slowly walking traitor came within distance. Reaching for his katana, he quickly looked down in utter shock to see blood gush from his chest.

'Damn..Damn, impossible!' Barely able to stand, the 4th seated officer grimaced out, "Tōsen!"

Having heard the commotion outside, Kensei and Heizō quickly arose from the tent. Quickly scanning the area, the white haired captain noticed two of his officers were killed and his eyes fixed on Eishima who had his back turned to the two shocked men.

"Eishima! Was this your doing?" demanded an angered Kensei. Blood violently gushed out of the gravely injured Shinigami's chest. "Captain….." Eishima collapsed on the ground as Kensei was now on full guard knowing the killer was still at large.

"Kasaki, draw out your sword!" Kensei instructed. However, to his disbelief, a blade had impaled his subordinate before he could follow his captain's orders. Frantically searching again for this killer shadow, the captain sensed the spiritual pressure behind him. However, he was too slow to counter the attack as the blade inched closer to his back.

'Damn, how could I not sense him? How was I not quick enough? Is this how it ends?'

He let out a large shout as he tried to bring his sword up, but to his surprise a third individual got in between him and the masked killer. "What the hell is going on here?" the unannounced visitor barked. "You mind telling me why a 5th seated officer is trying to murder his captain?"

"I'm surprised that you were fast enough to stop me from finishing my mission," Kaname calmly replied ignoring the question as the two were still dead locked with their Zanpakutōs trying to gain the upper hand. "Your flash step must have improved greatly. Has Kisuke been training you?"

"Shut the hell up you blind bastard," the short haired Shinigami hissed attempting to muster her strength to gain the upper hand. "You didn't answer my question. You killed your own squad members and was about to slay your captain. Traitor! I demand an explanation!"

Kensei looked in bewilderment at the short, sassy lieutenant, but was impressed by her speed and strength as well as she fought against Kaname. 'Has she really gotten that strong? I didn't sense her Reiatsu either, but I'm glad she intervened. If not, I would have been gravely injured, or perhaps dead by that bastard, Tōsen.'

"Hiyori," the white haired captain interjected sternly while gaining his composure and confidence. "Thanks for stepping in, if you hadn't I'd be de-"

"Yo, can all this sappy stuff wait? I'm trying to kick this guy's ass that was trying to kill you, remember?" Hiyori finally broke the deadlock of their blades and slide away from the traitor as Kensei flashed stepped back as well.

"Yeah, you're right, we've got some business to take care of and I'm not holding back," the captain asserted as his Reiatsu rose substantially. "Tōsen, you will pay for this! How dare you turn on your own squad!" He then grabbed his sword by its hilt with the blade pointing down towards the ground as if he were holding a combat knife.

"Blast It, Tachikaze!" he belted as immense spiritual pressure rose from the captain as the ground collapsed around him. The wave of Reiatsu cleared the area around the three Shinigami of all landscape, however the enemy gazed unaffected by the rise of spiritual pressure. As the pressure subsided, Kensei spun the small knife like weapon by a small ring and quickly gripped it by its black hilt.

"So, this is your shikai?" the masked officer muttered trying to provoke the two Shinigami. "I was hoping this would be over before my master came, but I guess I miscalculated. Oh, I loathe battle."

"You're really trying to piss me off, huh Kaname?" Kensei said as he visibly grew impatient by the lack of an attack by his rouge subordinate. "I thought I was your Master. Wasn't I your Captain, Kaname?"

Before he could reply, two Shinigami appeared from the wooded area behind Tōsen. One was a gray haired child with an evil grin while the other was a young man with glasses and brown hair that had a stoic disposition about him. The elder of the two seemed in charge as he had a rather calm, but intimidating appearance to him.

"I believe you are mistaken Captain Kensei," the young man stated in a rather condescending tone as he and his companion walked closer to the battlefield. "Kaname was just being a faithful servant and following orders. However, this is unexpected. I didn't think you would be alive when I arrived."

"Lord Aizen, I am sorry I failed you," Tōsen quickly retorted rather ashamed. "I was just about to finish your orders until she interfered. Please, let me handle this. I will finish what I started."

"Fascinating," the smug Shinigami quipped as he turned his attention to Hiyori. "Lieutenant Sarugaki, you arrived rather quickly to stop Kaname. I guess Kisuke Urahara is a competent captain. But in any case it's no matter. When you're cleaning the house, it doesn't matter if there are one or two ants."

Hiyori quickly turned to Kensei as they tried to hold their confidence amidst the overwhelming spiritual pressure of the sly Lieutenant who was now by Tōsen's side. She took a deep breathe and immediately snapped back to her senses. "So, Shinji was right about this guy," the brown eyed girl said with a taste of disdain in her mouth. "Hey, Sōsuke," now turning her attention back on the leader of the three men. "You wanna explain this or are you going to continue to stand there with that dumbass look on your face?

Aizen continued to observed and smirk at the two as if they were meaningless. This upset the hot headed girl even more as she grew ever impatient. She clinched her sword and with built up anger shouted, "Well, if you won't answer, I guess I'll come to you!" She flashed stepped towards the group of men as they seemed unfazed by her sudden attack. Kensei looked in shocked and shouted towards the girl, "Stop! We have to stay calm! Hiyori!"

"Impale her...Shinsō," whispered the young boy as he pointed his sword at the charged attacker. The blade rapidly extended toward the girl who was mid air with her sword above her head. Before the blade delivered the finishing blow, Kensei flash stepped in front of the two and grabbed the elongated weapon. "Idiot, never charge at your opponent without having a plan. I guess we're even now."


I realize this mirrors a lot of the manga/original story so sorry if you felt like you were reading from the manga again. I promise as the following will change a lot differently than the original story as a lot of what happens in this pendulum portion will have a ripple effect in the entire story. That being said, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and you didn't mind me not naming every character Kaname killed at the tent. More to come from the other Captains along with a very much alive Hiyori and Kensei as they face the man responsible for the treachery. I had fun writing this and thanks for reading!