Author's Note:
Thanks for everyone's support in the first chapter of this story. I had no idea that so many people were willing to read this. I apologize for the slight delay in the update but hopefully this will make up for my tardiness. Hope you enjoy. If there are any questions, please ask. I'll be sure to answer them the best that I can.

~X~

Chapter Two
The Realm of Torture

~X~

The first thing that Rukia noticed when she woke up this morning was that it was still dark out. The sunlight had barely filtered through the room when her eyes had fluttered open. The Shinigami sat up slowly and looked around at the foreign surroundings.

The Hyuuga Manor? Rukia thought, getting up. Yes, that's right. Nii-sama and I have been staying here with Hinata-sama and Neji-san…

Sitting up from the futon, the Shinigami winced at the pains on all her muscles. It had already been four days since their visit to the shinobi realm and the training…was painful, to say the least.

~X~

The first day of training had been on Chakra Control. To her, it was a walk in the park. Rukia had discovered that chakra required both spiritual and physical energy to mold, therefore, all the Shinigami were to be put into a gigai, since they lacked the physical energy while in their Shinigami forms. First, they had to meditate for an hour, which was quite hard for some, like Ichigo, Renji and Kenpachi. Then, Hinata, their instructor, had given them each a leaf and told them to stick it onto their foreheads with nothing but chakra for the whole day. She told them that it could help with their focus. The last exercise for the day was tree climbing. Ichigo and Renji had launched into a fit when they heard that but was surprised when the Hyuuga heiress had managed to walk her way up the tree and hung upside down on the branch with only the soles of her feet connected to the branch.

Rukia had managed to get it on her third try.

The second day of training had been on Stealth and Sai, the pale skinned ANBU captain, had been their instructor. It had been all right. They learnt how to mask their chakra but nothing really unusual happened, save the fact that Hitsugaya-taichou kept glaring at their instructor, who wouldn't stop smiling at the snowy haired captain for some strange reason. Something must have happened, Rukia mused silently.

Weaponry was covered on the third day of the week. Rukia had discovered that their instructor, Nara Shikamaru, was genuinely lazy. But nevertheless, he did go over the basics of weaponry with the twelve. Just like Zanjutsu, Rukia didn't find it easy. Although, she wouldn't say she was the worst, she was just not at the same level as Byakuya and Toushiro. As a Shinigami, Rukia was only used to seeing different types of swords used by Shinigami, Vizard and Arrancar alike but after discovering the different range of weapons that shinobi have in their arsenal, it had made her quite excited, even a bit terrified at what a ninja could do for torture.

Finally, the forth day of their training came and it was absolute torture. Naruto and Lee, their Stamina and Speed instructors had decided to split the twelve of them up into two groups and work with them separately since they were both sick of waiting for their turn and were so eager to get some action. Rukia, along with Orihime, Rangiku, Toushiro, Uryuu and Renji had decided to go to Naruto's training first. She had thought that it was going to be a walk in the park like Chakra Control and Stealth, but boy, was she wrong…

Rukia mentally groaned at the recap of the training session. Naruto had made them wear weights, all weighing at 10kg, on their wrists and legs and made them jog for a few minutes just to get them used to the training weights. Rukia thought that her arms and legs were going to fall right out of their sockets. And to think that the warm-up was bad, wait till the main session. The blonde haired ANBU had then created a thousand solid clones and ordered the six of them to fight using nothing but their bare fists. Six hours of non-stop sparring, aka, six hours of torture. After which, Naruto had congratulated on their hard work and took them out for some ramen. Renji, for some odd reason, had screamed bloody murder and dashed away immediately after hearing the name of the food.

An hour later, Lee had appeared with Byakuya, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Kenpachi, Yachiru and Ichigo. Rukia was shocked to say that least at the sight of her nii-sama. Although his facial features betrayed nothing, Rukia could tell that Byakuya was tired as hell from his slightly sagged shoulders and from the sweat that drenched his face. The raven-haired Shinigami gulped. And here she though that hell was over.

Lee had led them to the training grounds with an excited expression on his face. "I would like for you to keep the weights, that Naruto-kun gave you, on," the jounin had said. "You will need them in this exercise if you want to improve on your speed."

Rukia mentally gave off a groan. More weight training? Just what in the world was he planning on doing with them?

"Alright then, now go and run a hundred laps around Konoha!" Lee hollered, shaking his fist in excitement.

What did he just say?

"Then after that I would like for you to do two hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups, three hundred punches and…"

Thump. Oh, well look at that, Rukia had fainted before Lee had managed to finish his sentence.

What was this, a ninja boot camp?

~X~

Rukia let out an exasperated sigh. She might as well get ready for Neji's Taijutsu session today. Hopefully it won't be another session of torture. Rukia put on her training attire, which consists of a plain black fishnet shirt, covered by a white and lilac, V-necked shirt. She also had on navy coloured capris pants along with the standard black shinobi sandals. Rukia grinned. Although it was quite plain, she absolutely loved her new training attire. She would have to thank Hinata later.

"Rukia," Byakuya suddenly called out from the other side of the door. "It's time for us to leave."

"A-alright!" Rukia answered, slightly startled before following the Sixth Division Captain out the Hyuuga manor.

Now, it was time to see what Neji had in store for them.

~X~

Sakura absolutely loved having days off of work for many reasons. No paperwork, no annoying blonde haired shinobi whining in her ear, no socially-retarded ANBU making rude comments on her look, no tardy porn-reading jounin and most of all, no adamant Hyuuga banging on her front door first thing in the morning, demanding her to help with train a bunch of Shinigami and humans from another world.

Too bad that last part was too good to be true.

"I still don't understand why I'm doing this. Isn't there someone else who you could have asked?" Sakura grumbled under her breath, sending a glare towards the ANBU captain, who in return just looked away with his arms crossed.

Don't worry, Neji. We all know that even you were afraid of Sakura's death glares.

"Who else is there, Sakura?"

"Hinata?"

"On a mission."

"Tenten?"

"Training."

"Naruto?"

"Whereabouts unknown."

Now, she was getting upset. "Lee?"

Neji responded by giving her a blank look. "…"

Sakura sighed, clearly defeated. "Okay, I see your point," she muttered. "But still, why me?"

"Do you consider yourself incapable of teaching Taijutsu?" Neji asked calmly, ignoring her question. "Perhaps you are, since you keep complaining this much. Perhaps I should find Yamanaka…" Neji trailed off and glanced at the rosette, knowing fully well that this was going to piss her off.

Sakura's face lit up, half of anger and half of embarrassment. "I'll have you know that I'm excellent at Taijutsu," she fired back. "And I'll prove it to you." With that, the ANBU medic turned away and crossed her arms with a huff.

Neji just smirked. Mission accomplished.

A few minutes later, Byakuya and Rukia showed up in the training grounds. Rukia inwardly cringed at the sight of the field. This was the place of their Stamina training torture yesterday. She was hoping that they never set foot on a place like this ever again, and to think, all this place has was a few trees, grass, grass and more grass – all seemingly innocent parts of nature. Who knew that they could associate with such an evil place on this cruel planet…?

"Hm, well it seems like you guys are early," Sakura remarked, walking up to the Kuchiki siblings. Neji followed behind silently.

Rukia raised an eyebrow. Wasn't she the instructor for Genjutsu? Why was she here for their Taijutsu session?

"Um, not to be rude or anything," Rukia started, "but what are you doing here? I thought you are the instructor for Genjutsu."

Byakuya stared at the rosette kunoichi, clearly wondering the same thing.

Sakura smiled. "Well, thanks to a certain someone," She sent Neji a glare, who raised his eyebrows in return, "I'm kind of stuck here for the time being."

"You're very much welcome to leave," Neji's blunt voice stated.

Sakura ignored him – her attention remained solely on the two Shinigami. "So, yeah." She grinned. "I'm here to help with your Taijutsu training."

Rukia nodded understandingly. Well, at least there's another female, she thought smiling.

"Oi, Rukia, Byakuya!" Ichigo called from few feet away.

Rukia could see Byakuya's hand twitch slightly but didn't say anything. She had a feeling that it was about the way that Ichigo kept referring Byakuya with such an informal tone, but obviously he couldn't do anything about it here, since they were no longer in Seireitei.

"Good morning, Kuchiki-san, Byakuya-san!" Orihime chirped, from behind Ichigo.

"Ichigo, Inoue." Rukia nodded in response.

Orihime ran up to Rukia excitedly, despite the cries of her tired limbs. "I'm really excited about today's lesson, aren't you, Kuchiki-san?"

"Er…yeah, very excited," Rukia said nervously. How could she be excited for more torture?

It wasn't before long that everyone had arrived, much to Rukia's dismay. She had wanted a few more minutes of freedom before entering the gates of hell once again. Guess that wasn't going to happen.

"Alright, for today's session we'll be covering the aspects of Taijutsu, which is another word for hand-to-hand combat. I have asked Sakura here to help with this lesson." Neji gestured towards the rosette haired medic, who in turn gave them a small wave.

Kenpachi scoffed. "A weak, puny woman like her is going to teach us how to have a fist fight? Heh! Don't make me laugh!" Despite saying this, the Eleventh Division Captain barked out in laughter.

Sakura's eye twitched slightly. Why that little-!

"Do not question my decision on who I choose, Zaraki," Neji said coldly, surprising Sakura. Was he…defending her?

The grin that was on Kenpachi's face slowly slid off and was replaced with a frown. "Che," he muttered, turning away. "Whatever."

Ignoring the Eleventh Division Captain, Neji turned his attention towards the other Shinigami and humans. "Unlike Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, Taijutsu does not necessarily require the use of chakra," Neji explained. "There are two different types of Taijutsu used. First would be Gouken, which has to do with breaking bones from the outside." His pearl-white eyes turned towards the medic. "Give us a demonstration, Sakura."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yes, Neji-sama." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. Then, without warning, her fist lashed out and went sailing towards the Hyuuga. Luckily for him, he was able to predict her movement and managed to duck at the last second.

"I didn't mean demonstrate on my body," Neji commented dryly.

Sakura inwardly pouted and dropped her fist. No fair! That was so close, too!

The Shinigami and humans looked amused.

"Do the demonstration," Neji told, once again growing serious.

Sakura nodded and walked a few feet away from the group towards a lone tree. The twelve watched, curious as to what she was going to do to the tree.

Taking in a deep breath, Sakura pulled her fist back and, with a battle cry, drove the fist towards the trunk of the tree. At first, nothing happened but then a few seconds later, the bark began to snap. Soon enough, the tree had broken in half completely and went crashing towards the ground with a loud bang.

Heh…? Kenpachi raised an amused eyebrow. Not bad, woman…

"Wow…" Rukia muttered under her breath. Her violet coloured eyes slightly wide from the site. I sure don't want to get on her bad side.

Straightening up, Sakura turned around and faced her little audience with a bright smile on her face. "That punch was just a small demonstration of Gouken without chakra. As for a demonstration with chakra…well, let's wait till another time, shall we?" Sakura chuckled slightly.

"Thank you, Sakura," Neji said bemused, before turning back to his audience. "That, as Sakura has stated before, is Gouken. Now, the second style of Taijutsu is called Juuken. It doesn't require any sort of strength to perform, just accuracy."

"How does it work?" Uryuu asked, pushing his glasses up, clearly interested.

"Juuken is when one person sends their own chakra from their fingertips into another's chakra network, which can disrupt the flow of chakra. Because of the fact that only the Hyuuga clan is allowed to perform this style of technique, we will not be covering this," Neji stated.

Then why'd you bother explaining it in the first place? Renji thought, frowning.

"In this lesson, I'm going to be going over the basic Taijutsu kata with all of you and once you get the hang of it, we'll do some sparring."

"I think it'll make things a lot easier if you pair up," Sakura added.

Neji nodded in agreement.

"Kuchiki-san, would you like to team up with me?" Orihime asked, smiling gently at the Shinigami.

Rukia looked a bit hesitant. She actually wanted to ask Byakuya so that she could prove to him that she was a capable fighter, but looking into those warm grey eyes of her friend, Rukia couldn't find the strength to refuse. After all, Orihime was someone who she and the others risked their lives to rescue. Not to mention, she was one of her closest friends.

"Sure, Inoue," Rukia said, returning her smile.

Orihime beamed and dragged Rukia by the arm to an open area on the field.

Soon, everyone had gotten themselves paired up – Neji with Sakura, Kenpachi with Ichigo (against his will), Rukia with Orihime, Renji with Uryuu, Ikkaku with Yumichika, and Rangiku with Toushiro, which left Byakuya with…

"Yay! I'm with Byakkun!" Yachiru cheered, bouncing up and down from beside the stoic captain.

Even though his facial expression betrayed nothing, anyone could tell that Byakuya would rather be anywhere but here.

Neji's lips curved up into an amused smile. "Well, it looks like everyone agrees with the matching," he stated, ignoring the frosty stare that a certain captain was sending his way.

Sakura stifled a laugh.

"So, what do you want us to do?" Ichigo asked curiously.

"Sakura and I will demonstrate a basic kata for you to see. I would like for you to watch carefully."

The coffee haired ANBU captain walked a few steps away from the group and got into his stance. Sakura followed his lead. The demonstration then began.

Rukia was amazed at the two's Taijutsu form, especially towards Sakura's. The rosette's kata, although rough and had a lot of power behind it, was as graceful as a swan flying through the clouds. Her pastel-pink hair whipped around her head gentle as she made a turn. Rukia allowed her violet orbs travel to the ANBU captain, who was also performing a similar, yet, different kata. Unlike Sakura's, Neji's kata flowed as gentle as water in a river. Their pink and brown tresses brushed against each other as they both made a turn in their step. Finally, the two kata were completed.

The Kuchiki female had found the kata to be quite interesting to watch and it looked quite fun to perform, as well, seeing as how Neji and Sakura looked completely in a deep trance while performing. Her lips pursed. Perhaps, this session might not be as bad as she originally though.

A snort was suddenly heard from behind. "So you danced around and made some fancy movements. Big deal," Ikkaku scoffed.

"Oh, now don't say that, Ikkaku," Yumichika spoke up amusedly. "I thought it was quite a beautiful performance."

The bald-headed Shinigami raised an eyebrow, filled with disbelief, at his partner but then scoffed and looked away. "Che."

"In your pair, I would like for you to practice what we've just showed you," Neji stated. "And in the meantime, Sakura and I will come around and help you out."

With a nod, the Shinigami and humans began their kata training.

~X~

"I'm telling you, taichou, it's like this," Matsumoto Rangiku whined as she demonstrated what she had just seen to her stubborn little captain.

Toushiro's eye twitched in annoyance. "No, Matsumoto, you're doing it wrong," he stated with annoyance laced in his tone. "I remember what I'd seen. So, stop complaining and follow my lead." Why did she have to choose me to be her partner anyway?

Rangiku pouted and crossed her arms over her large chest.

"Everything alright here?" Sakura's voice came as she walked up to them with a smile.

Rangiku's eyes lit up at the rosette's presence. "Ah, Haruno-chan, please tell my stubborn taichou, here," She gestured towards the twitching captain, "that he isn't performing the kata correctly."

"Matsumoto, you-"

Sakura cut him off with a chuckle. "Well, Rangiku-san, sorry to disappoint you but Toushiro-san is right," she said with a smile.

"Eh?" Rangiku looked at her in disbelief. "Why does everyone takes taichou's side?" She pouted her lips.

Toushiro sighed and sent Sakura a nod, showing his gratitude. Sakura returned it with a smile.

"He's kinda cute." And just like that, Inner Sakura decided to show herself once again. Sakura scowled at the thought. This was no time to be fascinated by boys, she told herself. After all, she had learnt that the hard way through a certain someone, who had left the village. At this thought, Sakura's viridian eyes darkened. Even after all these years, they still haven't found him.

Just how much longer to you plan on staying away from us? The ANBU medic thought bitterly.

"What's wrong?" a voice suddenly asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Sakura jolted slightly and turned towards Toushiro who was looking at her with a mask of aloofness. Inwardly, she cursed herself. Some kunoichi she was, getting distracted like so.

Plastering a fake smile onto her face, Sakura gave the snowy haired captain a reassuring look. "I'm fine, Toushiro-san."

Toushiro didn't look convinced and Sakura knew it well and clear.

"Well then, I better go and check on the others. See you later, Toushiro-san, Rangiku-san." With that, the rosette walked off.

Turquoise coloured orbs stared after the back off the kunoichi. Those eyes of hers…they seem so familiar. Almost like…

"Taichou?" Rangiku inquired. Her voice immediately cut his thoughts off.

"Hm?"

"Why are you staring so intently at Haruno-chan…?" Her clear-blue eyes widened in realization. She let out a gasp. "Don't tell me, taichou, you like her?"

Toushiro's vein popped. "That's not it, Matsumoto," he growled in annoyance.

"Are you sure?" Rangiku gave him a sly look.

"Let's get back to practice."

"Hey, wait for me, taichou! You haven't answered my question!"

"Shut up, Matsumoto."

"Aw, but taichou~!"

~X~

The last day of their basic training had arrived a lot quicker than Rukia thought. Never once had she felt more energized in her life. A grin slowly crawled itself up onto Rukia's face as she recalled yesterday's Genjutsu training. Sakura had been their instructor on that lesson and it was quite thrilling. The medic had demonstrated a few basic Genjutsu for them to see and to Rukia's surprise, she discovered that she was quite good at it. Of course, the best part was casting an illusion on Renji and Ichigo, showing them a Genjutsu of their greatest fear. Needless to say, something good had definitely come out of that session.

Who knew that Abarai Renji was afraid of needles?

With a small laugh, Rukia then allowed her thoughts to drift towards the Taijutsu training. Never in her life had she ever seen Byakuya so annoyed. He looked as if he was about to murder someone and it was all thanks to a certain bubbly lieutenant. The corner of Rukia's mouth twitched up in amusement. If it wasn't for Neji's appearance, Yachiru might have been sliced into pieces by the stoic captain. Although, Rukia highly doubt that Byakuya was capable of harming the young lieutenant, with Yachiru's wits and all.

"Rukia-san," a soft voice called from the other side of the shoji screen door. Rukia immediately recognized the voice to be Hinata's.

Getting up hastily, Rukia slid the door open. "What can I do for you, Hinata-sama?" she inquired politely.

The cheeks of the white eyed female stained red as she gave the Shinigami a small smile. "Please, Rukia-san, there's no need to call me that. Hinata is fine," the Hyuuga heiress said softly.

Rukia hesitated slightly before nodding. "Alright, Hinata-san, if you insist." Somehow, looking into those warm orbs of the heiress, Hinata had instantly reminded Rukia of Orihime. She had a feeling that those two would get along quite well if they had time to interact with each other.

"It's almost time for your Ninjutsu training to begin. You should get ready," Hinata said, before walking off.

She's right, Rukia thought and then left promptly towards the training grounds, eager for their last day of basic training.

~X~

Sweat glistened off his eyebrow as he sat on the floor cross-legged, meditating…or at least, trying to meditate. Ichigo could hear the sound of impatient pacing and the string of curses emitted from the Ikkaku and Renji. The sounds of flies buzzing around his head were heard loud and clear, only adding to his fueling annoyance. Even with his eyes closed, Ichigo could sense that even Toushiro and Byakuya were beginning to get sick of this waiting.

Just where in the world was he, making them wait for four freaking hours?

Then, a puff of smoke appeared. "Yo!" The silver haired jounin waved. His mask creased into a smile.

Ichigo couldn't take it anymore. "Where the hell were you?" he yelled with a glare.

Kakashi rubbed the back of head nervously. "Well, you see, I had to help this old lady cross the street so I'm afraid I got a bit side-tracked."

"Like I'd buy that bullshit!" the Substitute Shinigami fumed.

Laughing nervously, Kakashi then lead them into the clearing of the forest. "Well, anyway, why don't we get started," he said smiling behind his mask.

Ichigo muttered something under his breath that could not be heard. No doubt it was something rude, seeing as how Rukia elbowed him in the ribs.

"Hey!"

"Shut up!" Rukia hissed with a glare.

"Now then, let us begin with the Bunshin no Jutsu." Forming three seals at the speed of light, Kakashi hands stopped at the Tiger seal and in a puff of smoke, a clone appeared beside him. "Unlike Kage Bunshin, the jutsu that Naruto uses, this clone is not solid." He demonstrated by putting his hand right through it, making the illusion disappear. "This jutsu is usually used to confuse an enemy or for a quick escape."

Ichigo scoffed at the thought of running from a battle.

"Why don't you all give it a try? The Hand Seals for this jutsu are Ram, Snake and then Tiger. I'm sure you've covered Seals with Hinata, am I correct?"

Everyone nodded.

Kakashi smiled. At least, that saves me a lot of work. "Well then, get to it. After which, I'm going to teach you Kawarimi no Jutsu, Henge no Jutsu and then finally Nawanuke no Jutsu. After that, we're done."

Adrenaline rushed through Rukia's veins. It was almost over – she was now so close to becoming a real kunoichi. Just thinking about it had got her excited. Rukia wondered if she was able to become a skilled kunoichi just like Sakura, Hinata and Tsunade one day. Clenching her fist, the violet eyed girl's eyes shone with determination. This was her biggest chance to make Byakuya, Renji, Ichigo, everyone recognize her strength – a chance that she could not possibly pass up.

Getting into her stance, Rukia formed the Hand Seals for the jutsu. After all, she was Kuchiki Rukia – one of the members of the prestigious family in Soul Society and she must live up to her name.

She would not fail him.

~X~

Author's Note:
Sorry if it seems a bit rushed. I didn't really want to go through all the basic shinobi trainings 'cause I think that would have taken up at least three or four chapters and I'm sure that no one wants that, right? In the next chapter, you'll (hopefully) be able to find out about which teams they're in and who their sensei is going to be. Feel free to take guesses, although I won't be revealing anything, hehe… :) Not sure if I've said this before but there will be no main pairings in this fic. It is strictly Sakura and Rukia-centric. That does not mean that they are going to get together with every single male. It just means that they're the main focus of the fic. Although, there will be some slight moments here and here… Now that that's out of the way, thanks for reading! Please leave a review and constructive criticism is always welcome. See you in the next chapter!

~X~

-Setsuna