Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo. This is just a fanfic.

AND... this was requested and done quickly. It was a birthday wish that I had to grant. Hope it's enjoyed by more than just that one person ^_^'

Oh, and BTW, I put down Byakuya and Toshiro not because of any pairings or whatever. It was just because it's mostly about those two. That's all. I feel I have to say that otherwise people are going to get confused. It has happened in the past.

So Please enjoy ^-^

Chapter 1:

It was a pretty slow day in the Soul Society. Most everyone was either doing work or resting. Not too many people were training today. Not even Squad 11, which was very surprising. Ichigo was brought to the Soul Society by Rukia for a short visit. Mostly to fill him in on any new information they had and for him to do the same. They wanted to know if anything strange had happened recently in Karakura Town, which was a 'no'. Nothing had happened in a while.

"I guess that means you're done, huh, Ichigo?" Rukia said as they walked down the hall together. "So I suppose you'll be returning home now, correct?"

"I don't have to," he answered. "Kon's filling in for me… don't know what I was thinking…" He moaned softly, thinking of what Kon could have been doing in his body at that moment. "Maybe I should head back…"

"You weren't in a rush a second ago."

"I know, but…" Ichigo rubbed the back of his neck. "I just haven't been here in a while and wanted to check in on people, you know? Maybe do a little match with Renji or Ikkaku or something."

Rukia gave a shake of her head. "Nah. Renji's filing reports for my brother and I believe Ikkaku's napping."

"I can wake him up."

"Then it won't be a match, but a real beating…"

"Is he really that grouchy?"

"When you wake him from a sound sleep? Yes, I think anyone would be."

They rounded a corner. As they walked, a sudden alarm sounded overhead.

"What the hell is that?"

Rukia looked up at the ceiling, standing in place.

Next came the announcement. "Intruder in the Seireitei. Intruder in the Seireitei. Spotted in the Kido Training Field. All able Soul Reapers report. Locate and capture target."

They looked at each other. Nodding, both Rukia and Ichigo ran to the nearest door and outside. Ichigo had no idea where the training field was, but Rukia did, so he followed her. They went straight there with several Soul Reapers close behind.

"The target has moved!" Hitsugaya jumped in front of them and turned down another street. "Matsumoto!"

"Coming!" Rangiku leapt to his side and led the group down the same path as her captain.

Rukia jogged up to their side. "Captain, Lieutenant… Which way?"

Hitsugaya gestured with his head down another path. "The target keeps changing direction. Clearly he has no idea where he's going. Go around that way and see if you can cut them off." He looked over his shoulder. "Half of you go around left, got it?"

"Sir!" They split up.

Ichigo followed after the captain and Rangiku. He was sticking with them.

Hitsugaya turned another corner and stopped. Rangiku did the same. The men on either side of Ichigo spread out and formed a circle around the center of the street, fencing in something. Ichigo slowed to a stop and looked.

There was a man with dark hair and a tan complexion standing in the middle of the street facing them. He didn't look very dangerous. He didn't even have a weapon. Was he really the target they were searching for?

"You there!" Hitsugaya pointed his sword. "Are you the intruder?"

The man gave him a worried look.

"How did you get in?"

He sheepishly nodded back the way he came. "Through the gate."

"The guard let you in?"

"… Sort of…"

The other men drew their swords. They took his words as something threatening. Had he killed the guard?

"We're placing you under arrest," the captain told him.

"I'm sorry," said the man. "I cannot do that. I cannot go with you. Please, there is some place I need to get to."

Hitsugaya's eyes wandered over his men on either side of him. They were all ready. He looked back at the man. "What's your name?"

The man hesitated.

"Answer me."

"… Checkers."

Hitsugaya and Ichigo gave the same confused expression upon hearing it. "What did you say?"

"Checkers. My name is Checkers."

Ichigo tried not to laugh.

"Hey, I'm not that proud of it either."

Hitsugaya sighed. "Alright. The way I see it, you have two choices. One, come with us quietly and we won't hurt you. Option two is that you don't and we are left with no choice but to hurt you. Either way, we're taking you in. But you get to choose how you're going: in pieces or on your own, whole."

Checkers looked at the ground, thinking. He nervously wrung the front of his kimono with both hands. "No."

"No to which one?"

"Neither." Checkers looked up. "I can't go with you until I see this through. I'm sorry."

Hitsugaya looked disappointed. "Then I'm sorry." He commanded his men. "Take him!"

The men started in, their swords raised high. Checkers backed away. "No, no, wait! Don't come near me!"

Ichigo's view was covered in an instant when a sudden whirlwind stirred up around Checkers. The next thing he knew, all the men had been tossed aside by the powerful gust. He looked up to see Rangiku leaping at Checkers only to get thrown back herself by the remaining winds. She slammed into a wall beside Ichigo and landed on top of another member of their Squad.

"I said not to come near me."

Hitsugaya leapt at him with a growl.

"No, please!" Checkers shouted. "Don't come near me or you'll be sorry!"

Taking it as a threat, Hitsugaya swung at him. Now it was clear that Checkers had no weapon. He had nothing to defend himself with. That must have been why Hitsugaya was so reluctant to attack him in the first place.

Checkers jumped out of the way, landing on the ground. He crawled a few inches before getting to his feet and running off as fast as he could. Hitsugaya looked at Rangiku who was getting ready to pursue him.

"Matsumoto, stay here and see to the others. I'm going after him alone."

"But, sir-"

"Do as I say! I won't let him get away." Hitsugaya ran off after the man.

Not wanting to be left behind, Ichigo chased after the two of them, sword on his back.

The two ran and jumped wherever their feet could land. Checkers was very fast, but clearly not as fast as a Soul Reaper's Flash-Step. Hitsugaya was gaining on him, but was still holding back, knowing that this man had no weapon. They both landed on the same roof and then ran, landing on another before landing on the ground and running off again down another street. Hitsugaya didn't miss a beat. Neither did Ichigo, who was hot on their heels.

Checkers turned around, pleading with the captain on his heels. "Please! I don't want to fight you! Just let me go! I promise I'll be out of here as soon as possible so please!"

Hitsugaya wasn't listening. "You can't enter here without permission. We have no choice but to treat you as a criminal. Just stop where you are and I won't hurt you."

Checkers kept going. Hitsugaya jumped, cutting him off. "Just let me go."

Hitsugaya shook his head. "If you don't want to fight, then surrender."

"I cannot do that. I cannot be imprisoned. Just let me be."

"I can't do that." Hitsugaya pointed his sword. "I'm giving you one last chance. Let me arrest you or I attack. Those are your only options."

Checkers frowned. "I told you that I can't let you arrest me. I refuse."

"Then don't blame me for this. I gave your plenty of chances." Hitsugaya attacked him. Checkers narrowly dodged the attack, still pleading with Hitsugaya. The captain lunged at him again and missed. This time it was on purpose. He didn't want to hurt him.

Ichigo stood back and watched. "Toshiro!"

"Stay out of this, and it's Captain Hitsugaya!"

Checkers started to run away again, but the captain wouldn't let him. He grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"No!" Checkers screamed. "You've got to get away from me! Quick! Hurry!"

Hitsugaya wasn't listening.

Checkers fought back, pushing against the captain's arm. "I mean it! Let me go!"

"I told you , I can't-"

"No, you don't understand! You have to get away from me now! I mean it! Let go now!"

That only made Hitsugaya tighten his hold.

"No! You have to get-"

A dust storm brought on by their activity surrounded them. It looked like a twister. There was a loud bang and both the captain and opponent were blown apart. Ichigo, staying back as he was told for once, watch on in amazement. Checkers was blown backwards, sliding across the ground. He got up looking very upset. His eyes found Ichigo's.

"I warned him. I told him to let me go." Checkers turned, calling out 'I'm sorry' as he raced away.

"Hey, wait! Come back here!" Ichigo started to chase after him, but got sidetracked when he realized that the captain wasn't anywhere to be found. He looked around. There was no sign of him anywhere. "Toshiro! Where are you? Toshiro!"

Looking down, he saw a small dark blanket that wasn't there before. It was moving. It was far too small to be the captain he was looking for. Perhaps it was a squirrel. Nevertheless, he bent down and picked it up. What he saw under it made him fall over backwards in shock.

Underneath the blanket was a small baby. No older than a year, the tiny infant squirmed around on its back, cooing and fussing, the bright sunlight in his eyes. His tiny fists rubbed his closed eyes, still fussing. The blanket was the only thing protecting him from the light. Removing his hands and blinking quickly, the baby looked around. His eyes were turquoise. And he had short white hair, the color of snow.

This couldn't be right. It had to be a trick. A mistake. Of course, it was a mistake. This couldn't possibly be him, could it? But it looked so much like him, it had to be. There was no mistaking it. Just to be sure or to prove himself wrong, Ichigo leaned forward.

"Toshiro?"

The baby looked up at his name, responding with big curious eyes.

Ichigo's jaw dropped. "Is that really you, Toshiro?"

The baby just stared at him, squinting in the light. Ichigo leaned over him, shielding his body from the light. Now able to see better, the baby gave him a wide-eyed stare.

"Toshiro?"

Now the baby was squealing with delight. He was happy.

That was his name. This baby was Toshiro Hitsugaya.

"Oh, my God," Ichigo whimpered. "Seriously? You're a baby? Really?"

He just kept cooing.

Ichigo sighed. "Ah… That must have been why that guy wanted you to get out of the way. He was warning you. Some genius you are."

The baby only giggled, not quite understanding what Ichigo was saying.

"Alright, now listen up." Ichigo pointed a finger in the baby's face. "We have to deal with this situation as best we can. Now you're a baby. And that's fine. But now we have to break the news to the others. This won't be easy. They might not even believe me. So we need to prove to them that it's really you. Can you do that? Give them some kind of sign that you're their prodigy captain of Squad 10?"

Hitsugaya grabbed Ichigo's finger and pulled on it playfully, giggling.

Ichigo hung his head. "That's not what I was hoping for."

Wrapping the baby in the blanket he found, Ichigo picked him up. Cradling the baby, he looked around for any other signs that he could use to prove that this was the captain. His zanpakuto was missing and so were his clothes. But this baby was fully clothed and even had a blanket that wasn't here before. Could it be that when he was transformed, he was reverted back to his childhood years, not just physically? Back then, the captain didn't have a weapon or a captain's uniform. This was going to be harder to explain than he thought.

"Ok." He turned the baby around in his arms, making the captain face him. "We need to do this. Got it?"

He responded with more staring.

"Can you at least talk? Is your brain also baby-fied or something?"

Hitsugaya stared.

"Come on, work with me here. We have to prove that it's you so they know I'm not crazy. Now can you say 'it's me, Toshiro'?"

The baby cooed and babbled in baby talk. "Ahh ba gah goo."

"Close enough." He carried Hitsugaya back toward the group. "Let's get this over with."

Everyone was examining their injuries and exchanging information. Rangiku seemed to be taking the information down for when her captain returned. They all looked up when Ichigo approached. Several of the men were giving the baby in his arms a strange look.

"What's with the kid?"

"Where'd he come from?"

Ichigo ignored them all until he got to Rangiku. "We have a slight problem."

She looked down at the baby. "Aw! How cute! Where'd he come from?"

Happy for the attention, Hitsugaya giggled and reached out for her. Ichigo pulled him back so he wouldn't fall out of his arms.

"This may be hard to believe, but…"

Rangiku looked around. "Where's the Captain? Did he catch that guy? Where is he?"

Ichigo held up the baby.

"Not now. I need to find the Captain."

Ichigo held him up even higher, hoping for her to get the hint.

"I see, he's a cute baby. But the Captain…"

"Is right here." Ichigo lost patience and blurted out the truth.

Everyone, even the lieutenant gave him strange looks.

"I'm serious!"

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"What do you take us for?"

"Ichigo, this is no time to…"

"Just hear me out, ok?" Ichigo tried to explain. "Listen, that guy with the weird name. He was fighting with Toshiro and turned him into a baby. This is him. I swear!"

They looked at him like he was insane.

"No, seriously. Test it out if you don't believe me."

"How do we test it? He's a baby. It's not like he's actually going to answer," one squad member said.

Rangiku tried the first thing that came to mind. "Captain?"

No response.

"Hits- uh… Toshiro?"

This time, the child looked up at her with big friendly eyes.

"Oh, God."

"See? I told you it was him."

Several of the squad members were still skeptical. "Just because a baby looks at you doesn't mean anything."

"Then we'll take him to Squad 4. They have a medical history of everyone who's been treated. They'd know if it was him or not."

They agreed and took him to see Unohana.

Though she was very busy, she managed to give him a full check-up. She needed help distracting the baby when it came time to draw some blood. Even so, the poor little baby ended up crying his little eyes out. He perked up once he saw the huge teddy bear waiting for him, though. While he played with the toy, Unohana went over the results.

She came back to them looking positive, but very confused. "Ok. I've read over the results four times."

"And?"

"This is Captain Hitsugaya."

"What?"

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "It's his Spiritual Pressure, his blood and blood type. His DNA. His eyes, his hair, everything that makes him who he is. It's without a doubt Toshiro Hitsugaya. He's just aged backwards."

Squad 10 looked baffled. "So… he's a baby?"

"For how long?"

That she couldn't answer. "Hard to say. It could be temporary. Or it might just have to be reversed by the same person who did this to him."

Rangiku had a plan. "Ok, so that means that we still have to capture that man, only now we have a new order. Take him in alive! Got that, everyone? Capture that man, but take him alive."

"Ma'am!" They all saluted her and ran off to carry out the orders.

"In the meantime, he'll need someone to look after him," Unohana went on. "So you two will have to baby-sit the captain until further notice."

"Got it!" Rangiku chirped happily.

Though Ichigo was less than enthusiastic. "Why do I have to?" Then again, could the lieutenant really be trusted alone with a baby version of her captain?

Rangiku seemed to be loving the fact that her captain was reduced to a helpless infant. She was having tons for fun playing games with him. He absolutely loved peek-a-boo. She would disappear behind her hands and reappear in a playful flash.

"Stop messing with him," Ichigo warned her. "This is serious."

"I know it is." She carried her captain into the office. "I'm just having fun. It's not everyday this happens. Besides, he's so cute! Look at his face!" She held him up for Ichigo to see. Hitsugaya's playful cubby baby face smiled and giggled at him.

Ichigo couldn't help but smile. "Well, I guess he is kinda cute."

"Exactly!" She tucked him away in her arms. "And we were told to take care of him until he changes back. It's our duty. I'm entertaining him. Babies like that. And as long as he's not crying, why should I stop?"

"You just like him better this way because he's adorable and he can't yell at you."

"Well, there's that…"

She set Hitsugaya down on his desk. He looked around at the tall stacks of paper towering over him. He ran his hand over them. More curious than before, Hitsugaya took a piece of paper from the top of the pile and looked at it. A bunch of words and print he didn't understand. He touched the pile again, this time moving it a little. Now interested, he gave the stack a push from the middle. It tipped over and spilled in every direction on the floor.

Rangiku let out a gasp while her captain giggled. This was fun! He tried it again with another stack, resulting in the same thing happening all over again. He laughed and moved toward another pile.

"No, no, no." Rangiku scooped him up and carried him away from the desk. "Don't do that. Ichigo, would you pick those up for me?"

"Why do I have to do it?"

Ignoring him, she set her captain down on the floor this time, far away from any papers. Taking a tiny fist in each hand, she made him do a little baby dance, swinging his arms from side to side, bouncing to an unheard tune. A smile spread across his face and he started laughing. He bounced his body to the beat of his arms, dancing.

"Isn't he the cutest?" Rangiku cooed.

Picking up the papers, Ichigo refused to look at them. "Yeah. Adorable."

Their game went on until Hitsugaya lost interest and looked away. The lieutenant got the message when he tried to pull his arms free from hers. She let him go and watched him crawl around the office, exploring.

"I wonder if he can walk," she thought aloud.

Ichigo straightened up, having finished tossing the papers back onto the desk in no particular order. "If he could, he probably would have done it by now."

Rangiku chased him down. "I wanna see." She picked her captain up by his underarms and stood him up. "Walk."

She released him and he fell forward.

"He didn't walk…" she pouted.

"I told you, if he could, he would."

"I wanna try it again!" She picked him up and did the same thing, resulting in the same way. "Come on, captain. Try walking. At least stand up." This time when she let him go, he managed to stand for about two seconds before falling down. When she moved in to pick him up again, he crawled off.

Ichigo laughed. "See? He's trying to get away from you."

"Come here, captain…"

"He doesn't like that."

She caught up to him and sat on the ground with him, holding him up by his arms. She made him walk in place and then made him do another baby dance. Not having fun anymore, Hitsugaya started to whine.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

He looked up at her with pleading eyes, looking very distressed. He didn't like this. He wanted her to let go. He didn't want to fall over anymore.

"I know!" She lay him flat on his back, rolled up his baby clothes and blew a raspberry on his bare stomach. Tickled and liking the funny noise, the captain started to giggle. She did it again, resulting in him kicking and laughing his head off. He was having fun again.

She poked and tickled his round baby belly, laughing along with him. "Who has a soft tummy? Oh, he's a little chubby baby, huh? Isn't he cute? Isn't he?"

Rangiku played more baby games with him after that. Hitsugaya laughed so much during that time, having a blast. But he was starting to wear down. All the laughing alone was wearing him out. But he was having so much fun, he didn't want to stop. Right in the middle of a hand swing game, Hitsugaya's laughter turned into a yawn.

Rangiku stopped. "Aw, are you tired already?"

Hitsugaya gave her a tired look but he was still smiling. He didn't want to sleep yet.

Ichigo gave Hitsugaya's heavy little eyes one look and said, "I think it's time for a nap."

"He looks tired, but he still wants to play." Rangiku seemed confused.

"They're always like that. They try to stay awake for as long as they can. I guess they don't understand that they can keep playing when they wake up. They want the game to go on." Ichigo chuckled. "I remember, one time, my sister, Karin, still wanted to play when it was naptime. She threw such a temper tantrum. She worked herself up so much, he ended up throwing up and then falling asleep in it. It was so gross. She hates it when you bring it up, though."

Rangiku wasn't listening. "I was just thinking… what do we use for a crib?"

Ichigo looked at the couch. "We could stack up pillows and stuff and make that a crib for him."

Rangiku picked up her captain and sat him down on the couch. "Time for sleep."

He gave her a blank stare.

"Bed," she told him.

Another stare.

"Bed," she repeated.

He lifted his arms up, wanting to be picked up.

She gave Ichigo a worried look. "He doesn't understand."

"I figured he wouldn't…"

"What should we do?"

"Simple," he explained. "Either rock him until he falls asleep, sing him a lullaby or give him a bottle of warm milk."

"We don't have any bottles around here."

That was a bit of a problem. What would happen when he got hungry? He was too young to eat anything solid.

Rukia walked in at that second, closing the door behind her.

"Hey, Rukia, do you have any bottles laying around somewhere we can use?"

She held one up already filled with milk. "Way ahead of you." She handed it over to Rangiku. "I thought you'd need it by now. Babies need their sleep. I hear that they sleep for 18 hours a day. Or is that cats I'm thinking of?"

"Both."

Rangiku lifted him up and gave him the bottle. Hungrier than he realized, Hitsugaya started to suck on the bottle as fast as he could, unable to get the milk in fast enough.

"Slow down, Captain, or you'll choke." Rangiku warned. She tipped the bottle up for him, draining it faster than any of them knew was possible.

Soon the bottle was almost empty. By this time, Hitsugaya had slowed down by a lot. Now he was sucking on it tiredly, drinking at his leisure. His eyes were drooping as he drank. They fluttered closed and he stopped drinking, only to open his eyes again quickly and continue drinking. Then they would droop some more and his sucking would slow.

"Aw, look how tired he is. He's so cute."

He couldn't stay awake anymore and gave up. Bottle still in his mouth, Hitsugaya fell asleep.

Rangiku leaned down and kissed his forehead. "Adorable..!"

"Just be careful not to wake him."

She gently lowered him down onto the couch, the captain completely undisturbed.

"Now what do we do?" she whispered.

"Easy, we let him sleep." Ichigo looked at the clock. "Someone needs to keep an eye on him, though. Rukia, any luck on finding that guy that did this to him?"

She shrugged. "No sightings, but we know he hasn't left the Seireitei yet."

"That's good. And now people know to take him alive so he can reverse this."

Rangiku was confused. "What does this guy want anyway? Did he say?"

"You were there," Ichigo reminded her. "He said that he was trying to get somewhere."

"That's it? I thought there was more to it than that. Seems like an awful lot of work for something so simple."

"They said they wouldn't let him in at the gate and it was urgent."

"And they don't let anyone into the Seireitei without permission or an escort," Rukia added. "We still don't know the whole story. After we capture him, we'll interrogate him and find out more."

"Right, but until then, we have no choice but to see him as a threat."

"Though turning a captain into a baby doesn't seem all that bad…"

"Ichigo, what if he hurts himself? Babies don't know anything!"

"Yeah, yeah…"

There was a pop behind them and everyone looked at the couch.

Hitsugaya was back to normal and wide awake. He looked around in confusion. The zanpakuto behind him tipped over and hit him in the head. Rubbing his scalp, he looked up at the others. "What the hell happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"You turned into a baby."

He gave his lieutenant a look. "What?"

"You did. And you were adorable!"

He frowned. "Can someone explain?"

Rukia stepped forward. "The man you were pursuing transformed you into an infant. Unohana put us in charge of taking care of you until you were cured."

Hitsugaya got off the couch. "That's strange… How did I change back? Did you find him?"

"No. We're still looking."

"You changed back on your own. It seems to be temporary."

"Good." He secured the zanpakuto to his back and stood up straight. "Let's get moving."

"What?"

"Of course. If he's still on the loose, we have to find him. Let's go."

"But-"

"I'm back to normal. There's nothing stopping us from continuing the mission."

The door opened. "Captain, sir! We heard your voice from the hall. Are you alright?"

"Yes. Now we can continue the search."

The squad member rubbed the back of his head. "Well, there's a slight problem with that…"

"How so?"

"Squad 6 was put in charge of the mission from this point on. The Head Captain felt that there was no point in leaving it in Squad 10's hands if the captain was reduced to an infant. Captain Kuchiki was put in charge and is heading out now with his Division."

"The hell he is." Hitsugaya pushed past the man and marched down the hall. The other followed after him, unsure of what he was going to do.

He discovered the captain of Squad 6 about to descend the stairs and stopped him. "There's no need for you to take over. I've recovered."

Byakuya turned. "That's not the issue. I was assigned-"

"I'm not finished! I refuse to be cast away due to something as stupid as a minor, temporary transformation."

Byakuya didn't say anything.

"Captain, please…" the squad member was trying to reason with him. "We still don't know the extent of this power of his. What if he uses it again?"

"And what if it isn't temporary?" Rukia asked. "What if you change back? We need to find out more about it before you go charging off. Please sit this one out and let my brother handle it."

Hitsugaya refused. "He can take over, but I'm going, too. I will not sit back while I still have unfinished business with this man."

This was about pride, something Byakuya knew all too well. A man had to have his pride. "Alright. Suit yourself. But I am in charge. From one captain to another and being from two different squads, I suppose I cannot command you. But your actions and your fault are your own and you must live with them." This was Byakuya's way of saying 'don't blame me for what happens to you'. He didn't want to be faulted.

That was the deal. They set out immediately afterwards.

More baby fun to come!

Please review! ^-^