Sakura stood alone in the training ground behind the main academy building, left to dismantle the targets as a punishment for being tardy. She had almost finished packing the items away when a male voice greeted her.

"Hey, Sakura!"

She looked up, face already breaking into a huge smile.

"Renji!" She started to run forwards and then noticed Rukia Kuchiki standing slightly behind him and paused, her smile faltering ever so slightly.

The crimson-haired man strode forwards, coming to stand before her with his hands in the pockets of his Shinigami uniform casually, though he smiled down into her eyes.

"You being punished again?"

She beamed at him. "Rules are made to be broken, right?"

He laughed, flashing that almost goofy grin of his.

"I see you're still the same."

He pulled her into a bear hug, and Sakura wondered if this was the hug of a friend, or more like how a brother would hug his sister, or even if it meant something else entirely, and all the while she cursed herself for it.

"Hello, Sakura. How have you been?" Rukia asked, wide dark blue, almost purple, eyes gazing up into Sakura's face. The tiny Shinigami female was almost half her height.

"Rukia, it's good to see you. I'm fine, thank you. How are Ichigo and the others?"

Rukia smiled. "Good. They asked after you, and told me to pass along their greetings."

Sakura couldn't help but smile as she thought about her friends back in the human world.

"You two staying long? Want to get some lunch?" Her eyes wavered between the two, though they hovered a little longer on Renji's handsome, tattooed face.

"We have to meet Captain Kuchiki, but we'll see you again tonight."

Sakura tried not to let her face fall at this.

"Oh, okay."

Rukia was already turning away, eager (and nervous) to reunite with her adopted brother, the regal Captain Byakura Kuchiki. Sakura opened her mouth to speak with Renji but the tall man noticed his friend leaving and went after her. He threw a wave and a smile over his shoulder at Sakura as he did so.

"Later, Sakura!"

She lifted a hand in a feeble wave. "Sure, later."

Lowering her head, she picked up the boxes laden with the targets and headed into the academy.

After packing them away, she went into the large hall that served as a dining room during meal times for the huge Shinigami academy. It was almost empty now, sparse groups of happily chatting people sprawled around the room. Sakura pretended she didn't notice the way so many of them stopped to stare at her as she collected some of the remaining food on offer and sat down at an empty table.

She ate in silence, her mood dark as she thought about Renji. And Rukia. She knew the two had a history and that they considered each other family despite Rukia's adoption into the noble Kuchiki clan, but was there more to it than that? She thought not on Rukia's part. She'd seen the way the woman looked at Ichigo and sometimes wondered if she cared for him more than a friend and mentor should. But what about Renji? He certainly seemed to follow Rukia's lead, and she knew he'd worked so hard for his position so that he could be closer to her once her adoption placed her far above his station.

She sighed, pushing her food around her plate, her appetite diminishing. She was being stupid, she knew that, and that just made her even angrier.

A shadow fell across her table and she looked up into the faces of a small group of Shinigami trainees. She'd seen them around many times, though she couldn't remember their names. They knew her, however.

"Oi, Sakura!" The tallest of them, a boy with spiky black hair and a self-assured look on his face called rudely.

"Can I help you?" She asked politely, eyes on his face.

His upper lip lifted slightly in a small sneer.

"What's with you, anyway?"

She blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

Some of the other men in the group sniggered a little, and she gazed at their faces before turning back to the young man who was now leaning over her table.

"We hear all about how you break into Seireitei with that Bount, and we know you had something to do with that huge explosion. Old man Yamamato takes pity on you, and you can't even get into a seated position? What's the matter? Is the legend greater than the reality?"

She frowned up at the boy.

"I don't see what this has to do with you."

He scowled. "You're favoured! We all know Captain Ukitake is your father, and you're always hanging out with Kyoraku. We," he gestured at the men behind him and everyone else in the hall, who were watching silently with owlish eyes, "had to work to get accepted here, but you ryoka break in and get everything handed to you. And you don't even bother to turn up to practice!"

He leaned down further, until his face was mere inches from hers.

"You think you're better than us, but you're just human trash."

Sakura's eyes lowered, noting how his right hand was already gripping the hilt of his sword.

"I see." She looked into his eyes, and then headbutted him.

Faster than the others could follow, she leapt onto the table, spun gracefully, and kicked the boy who was now gripping a broken nose that was dripping blood onto his uniform. He flew across the room, only stopping when he collided into the adjacent wall.

There was a blur and Sakura was suddenly heaving him up by his robe, lifting him until his wide, furious eyes were level with hers.

"I might be mostly human, but I can still kick your ass."

He scowled, lashing out with his fist, forcing Sakura to leap back. She raised an arm, closing her hand into a fist, but was halted by a firm grip on her wrist.

"Enough!"

She turned to face vice-captain Izuru Kira. A triangular swath of thick blond hair obscured one of his eyes, and the other smouldered fiercely.

"Fighting, in the dining hall? What are you two thinking?"

The boy with the broken nose bowed stiffly. "My apologies, sir."

Sakura pulled her arm away.

"Whatever."

Kira stared at her and then looked around the room.

"And who instigated this?"

The boy looked suddenly worried but he needn't have been. Sakura shrugged.

"I did."

"I see." Kira continued to stare at her face. "Come with me, Takahashi. We need to talk."

Stifling a sigh, Sakura followed her commanding officer, refusing to look back at the Shinigami who had provoked her, though she could feel his gaze boring into the back of her head.

The two of them walked silently along the corridors of the great building, before walking out into the courtyard. Kira turned to her.

"Even if he provoked you, Sakura, as I suspect he did, you should not fight with the other students."

She shrugged again, as if dismissing the idea.

Kira's eyes hardened. "You might be a member of my squad now, Sakura, but you are still expected to attend the same classes that we all did. Your tutors tell me you're increasingly tardy."

"Am I failing?"

"No, but none of your tutors feel you're fulfilling your potential."

"Which is?" She glanced at him. He moved closer to her, voice lowered.

"I saw you achieve bankai. I know what you're capable of. Why have you stopped striving, Sakura?"

She sighed and looked up at the sky.

"What am I striving for?"

The blond man blinked. "To improve. To advance. To fight."

She snorted and looked at him askance. "To fight? I thought I was not supposed to fight."

He frowned at her. "Don't be smart with me, Sakura. You know what I mean."

His eyes suddenly softened. "I hear Renji has returned from the human world. Why don't you talk to him about what's bothering you?"

Sakura looked at her commanding officer and mentally shook herself. He was not the cause of her discomfort, or anger, and she should not treat him unfairly.

"My apologies, sir." She bowed formally, and then smiled at him. "I will try harder."

He nodded, eyes watching her face closely. Then he left.

Sakura watched him go, her expression troubled once more. She knew she'd lied.

She was gloomily returning to her room when she was accosted by a pair of huge breasts.

"Sakura!" A womanly voice trilled, and Sakura looked past the breasts that were threatening to suffocate her up into the face of Rangiku Matsumoto, vice-captain of the 10th Division. They'd met, briefly, in the human world during a Bount attack but the older woman now greeted Sakura like a long-lost friend.

Sakura smiled at the attractive Shinigami. With her pink sash, beautiful Zanpakuto, and long, wavy strawberry-blonde hair (not to mention her killer rack), Rangiku was undoubtibly one of the most beautiful and striking women Sakura had ever met. She was strong, too, despite her playful, carefree, and sometimes ditzy behaviour. Now, the woman, equal in height to Sakura, squeezed her happily.

"Renji is back from the human world, so a few of us are going to be drinking tonight. It'll be a party! You should come."

Sakura opened her mouth to decline and then realised that maybe a night of carefree drinking was just what she needed to unwind.

"Who else will be there?"

"Oh, some of the other vice-captains. Just friends. No captains, so we can let loose!" The stunning Rangiku Matsumoto nudged Sakura in the ribs, her breasts bouncing dangerously close to Sakura's face. The younger woman stepped back before she found herself the victim of a black eye.

"Okay." She suddenly felt almost shy.

"Excellent!" Matsumoto exclaimed, clapping her hands together with glee. "Now, let's find you something to wear!"

She grabbed Sakura's wrist and dragged the wary girl forwards.

"Uhm, I have my own clothes."

"Yes, but this is a party, and you want to impress Renji, right?" Her voice was sly. Sakura fought down a blush.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Right, right." Matsumoto winked at her. "Either way, we should still make an effort. Oh! I have some new make-up, you'll love it!

Sakura was dragged forwards, largely against her will.

Well, she mused, this is certainly a distraction. . . .