~~~Chapter Start~~~

'Naruto,' Ichigo thought, rubbing his still-sore throat as he listened to Yuzu gush over how great he was, 'There is something… off… about that guy. I can't explain it but…'

"There is something just fundamentally wrong about the guy. Isn't there, Ichigo?" Karin's somewhat drawling voice broke Ichigo out of his thoughts.

"What are you talking about, Karin?"

"You were rubbing your throat, and with the way Yuzu is gushing about the guy, I assumed you were thinking about Naruto."

"Huh? Karin? Ichi-nii? What are you guys talking about? There's nothi-" Whatever Yuzu was about to say was cut short by the loud explosion from nearby.

"What was that!" Karin's usually calm voice now had a hint of hysteria in it.

"I don't know! But whatever it was it came from the direction Uryuu went," Ichigo was just as surprised as his sisters. From this distance he knew he would have sensed a Hollow. Not to mention his badge that marked him as a Substitute Shinigami would have alerted him of a Hollow's presence in the Living World.

But if it wasn't a Hollow… then what… ? "Karin! Yuzu! Go find dad and tell him what happened here. I'll go see if I can help out somehow!"

"But-"

"No 'But's! Whatever that explosion was, it was big. Big enough to have hurt or even kill several people. But it wasn't big enough to really alert anyone. We're probably the only ones who heard it!" He was right. The Kurosaki siblings found themselves in an abandoned parking lot, near a district of old, abandoned office buildings set for demolition in the next month. The way Uryuu went however was through a park well renowned and loved for late night walks. Large, open, plenty of trees, and always at least five couples in it on any one night. There was an absolute zero chance that no one would have been hurt in that explosion.

"Okay. But promise you won't do something stupid and die." The look of pure terror on Yuzu's face and the hidden trace of absolute fear in Karin's voice let it be known that they were deadly serious.

"I promise. Now go!" With that he was off to the site of the explosion while his sisters hurried off to alert their father, who, Ichigo hoped, would alert the hospital as well.

~ Scene change (before the explosion) ~

"Burst, Shabon-dama." The words, although unheard to the Last Quincy, left an uneasy feeling in said Quincy's stomach.

It was odd, the spectacle clad teen thought to himself. The park was well known for being perfect for late night romantic strolls, the park had even been, rather aptly renamed a couple of years ago to Shin'ya no Ai no En, was completely empty that night. And it certainly was strange. After all, there was always, always, at least five couples taking a stroll through that park at that time of night. No matter what season or what weather Karakura Town was experiencing there were always people walking through the park.

In a word, if Uryuu Ishida was asked to describe how it felt that night, he would say, "Disconcerting."

"Yes it truly is, isn't it?" The voice was smooth, and male. Uryuu looked all around him, but couldn't pinpoint the speaker.

"You're surprised." It wasn't a question. Uryuu continued searching for the speaker but ultimately knew that it was useless. All that there was around him were trees, trees, more trees, some bubbles and trees. Wait – bubbles!

"Truly? Have you truly become so pathetic without your powers Quincy? That you could not even sense me? Even when I released my Zanpakuto? That even before I spoke those words you could not even sense what those bubbles that surround you truly are?" The voice was unmistakably incredulous by this point.

The questions had not been needed to be answered vocally. From wherever he is, the speaker has a clear sight of my face and can easily find his answers on it.' This thought sparked a renewed, and much more frantic and wild search for the position from which the voice was originating.

"How pathetic. When I was told that I would be attacking a defenceless and spiritually aware human that had lost his powers at the hand of that insane nut-job in an effort to rescue the friend of a friend that he barely knew personally as well as to avenge his family, I must admit to being greatly hesitant. But now that I see you, as I watch you flounder about trying to find someone who has already admitted to wanting to attack you and knows all about you instead of running and finding help; I feel that I will be doing Ichigo-san a great favour. Killing you will be removing an obstacle from his path to greatness. An obstacle in the form of a useless fool that would do more harm than good in the name of 'helping'."

The bubbles that surrounded the teen standing shocked in the middle of the park all lit up, glowing a great light. He was barely able to recognised the feeling of a mouth pressed to his ear, and the whispered words flowing directly into his ear before Ishida Uryuu, the Last Quincy knew no more.

~Scene change – with Chad and Orihime~

Sado 'Chad' Yasutora and Inoue Orihime both walked the path to their adjacent apartment buildings. They were on the complete other side of Karakura Town from where the Kurosaki siblings and Uryuu had went. The streets were empty, and every light in the buildings surrounding the dynamic duo were off. Not that this kept the busty auburn haired girl from chattering like a chipmunk to the stoic part Mexican.

What did shut her up however was the small and silent form of a cloaked figure standing in the middle of the street, in between the two teens respective apartment buildings. It wasn't the figure per se, neither was it the fact that the figure was standing in between their apartment buildings. No the thing that caused Inoue Orihime's silence was the strong reiatsu the figure was producing.

It took but a split second before Chad thought it prudent to activate his Brazo Derecha de Gigante. As the two spiritually aware humans approached the figure pouring out reiatsu they were able to get something of a look of it. It was short, maybe four feet eight at the most. It was fully cloaked and held what seemed to be a katana in its hand.

"Who are you?" the words that came out of the part Mexican giant's mouth were the only things to be heard in the otherwise silent street. Therefore the fact that the figure did not reply indicated that it either was ignoring them or had decided not to deign them with a response.

"Guard my existence, Kame." The words broke the stare-down that had occurred in the five minutes since Chad had posed his question. The sword the small figure was holding changed. Where once was a simple katana there was now a shield.

The shield seemed to be made of a turtle's shell. That was not the surprising thing, sure it was odd, but a shield made from a turtle shell was something that had been used for years. No, the odd thing about the turtle shell shield was the blade extending from the sides of it, turning the normally kite shaped shield into a perfect, razor sharp circle.

"Sado 'Chad' Yasutora, Inoue Orihime; prepare yourselves." It was at this time that the teens noticed that the calm steady voice was male, and didn't sound much older than they were. However the fact that he had just released a Zanpakuto meant that their opponent was most likely much older, and experienced than them. "Die, knowing that it was your friendship and allegiance with the substitute shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo that cost you your lives."

His piece said, the unknown Shinigami was upon them.

~Scene change – Shin'ya no ai no en~

As Ichigo entered the park he was blasted with the unforgettable smell on the wind of burnt flesh. Living at a clinic Ichigo had seen almost every horror there is, among them the trauma of seeing a body that had been burnt severely in a car accident down the road from his home as a small boy.

If there was any one smell that could bring Ichigo to his knees in the need to vomit, that was it. Searching for the cause he saw it. A badly burnt Ishida Uryuu lying in a crater in the middle of the park, horribly burnt – he thought he could almost see the bone in some spots – and seeming to all the world dead. Surrounding him was a large amount of reiryoku that lingered in the air.

Ichigo had been able to feel someone's reiatsu as he approached the park, and had therefore stashed his body in the shrubbery at the edge of the park before hurrying to find what had caused it. The sight of Uryuu, however, had pushed this from his mind and so he did not notice the increase of reiatsu as he approached the dead body of one of his closest allies and, though they both would deny it with every fibre of their being, friends.

He did notice, on the other hand, the dozen or so soap bubble in the air. Unfortunately for Ichigo, spatial awareness was not his forte and thus thought nothing of them; so it came as an unprepared-for surprise when they all glowed for a second before exploding in his face.

Fortunately for Ichigo, he was in his Shinigami form and thus a lot more damage resistant. He was also a lot faster with quicker reflexes than what was normal. As such he was not badly damaged by the initial explosion. Emphasis on initial. The red orb of destruction that blast through the smoke and debris hit the orange haired teen head on. Literally.

As Ichigo slowly rose from his prone position on the ground he was able to get a good look at the person that had just hit him with a Shakkaho. He was of average size, five feet six, give or take a couple of inches. He wore a black, hooded, open coat that reached down to his ankles and black hakama pants, tied with white bandages with a sheathed sword stuck through them.

"What the hell!" Ichigo's shout seemed to startle the man in front of him. "Why the hell did you attack me, and Uryuu for that matter!"

"He was weak, and more trouble than he was worth, if anything you should be happy I have removed him." The man's reply startled Ichigo, he had honestly not expected his mystery assailant to answer him.

"You mean he's…" Ichigo wasn't able to complete his question, and received no answer from his attacker.

"Enough talk, I am here to do battle with you, Substitute Shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo. I had no reason to attack the Quincy beyond luring you here to fight me. If you wish to place blame on anyone, place it on yourself. Now grab your Zanpakuto, and come!"

Ichigo followed the instruction to the letter. He would place blame where blame lied later. Right now there was a man in front of him that had hurt his friend and wanted to fight him. If that was what he wanted, then that was what he would get! Ichigo would avenge Uryuu!

~Chad and Orihime~

It did not look good for the two spiritually aware humans. They could not do much more than dodge every blow their small attacker threw at them, sometimes quite literally. It seemed that the razor edge wasn't the only thing that the turtle shell shield had that separated it from the norm. It was quite aerodynamic, not to mention somewhat like a boomerang. They had been caught by quite a surprise when they had put a large distance between them to prepare for their counter-attack only to find their foe launch his shield at them, causing a rather large gouge in the road where Chad had been standing before returning back to its wielder.

As the teens' enemy prepared to launch his shield at them again, they decided it was time to strike back. Upon release of the shield the counter-attack begun.

"Santen Kesshun, I reject" Orihime's orange shield sprung into life, blocking the bladed shield turned projectile. At the same time Chad rushed forward, reiryoku gathering in his arm as he unleashed a blast point blank at his foe. Only, instead of hitting his foe like it was supposed to, it blast a slab of concrete into dust.

"Chad! Duck!" Reacting on instinct Chad did as told and watched as the bladed shield soared right through where his neck would have been, before turning around and flying straight back at him. Chad dove to the side to dodge and found himself on the business end of a savage kick that sent him flying back to where Orihime waited.

"What happened?" The normally slow, calm voice of the friendly giant was non-existent as he struggled to work out what had happened.

"I don't know. One second he was directly in front of you and the next his on the side of the street next to you. It was odd."

"Hmm, let's try again." Just as he said that Chad charged the cloaked figure one more time, unleashing yet another point blank blast that impacted on the shield. The figure was pushed back somewhat of a distance, caught by surprise at just how much power there was in that blast of reiryoku. He was caught by surprise once more when a second blast came not long after the first had finished, this one from a distance.

The figure dodged to the side, only to find another heading his way as he rose. Launching himself into the air he thought, 'Hmm, it would seem that I am at the disadvantage,' from a platform in mid-air the figure launched himself to the side yet again to dodge another blast of reiryoku spawned by the part Mexican. 'Then again, I am able to stay in the air while they are not. Yes, I can work with this.'

"Ye lord. Mask of flesh and bones, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man. Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws! Hado #33. Sokatsui!" The large blast of blue reiryoku crashed down upon the two teens only to be blocked by the patented orange shield of Inoue Orihime. Prepared for this result, the instigator of the fight disappeared in Shunpo before appearing in front of his male opponent, carving a large gouge into his chest before planting a solid kick into his freshly given wound.

As the large boy flew back he landed at the feet of a horrified Orihime. "Hang on, Chad!" the girl cried hoping to save him before it was too late. "Soten Kisshun, I reject," the orange oval shaped shield-like object that the girl used to heal people appeared over Chad.

"How pathetic, crying over a wounded comrade. You have no strength of you own, and resort to needing others to fight for you. You're just a love struck, silly little girl hoping that her hero in orange hair will come rescue her before she is killed."

"Shut up!" she cried "Koten Zanshun, I reject!" And so the last of her abilities were revealed, the single offensive ability in her repertoire flying towards the small attacker. Said attacker just watched impassively as said offensive attack flew towards him. Even as it got within twenty feet he continued to watch. Fifteen feet, ten feet, five feet, one foot, CLANG!

The projectile attack launched from Orihime's hair clip came short of the attackers head by an inch. It hovered there, persisting in continuing its flight while the assailant just studied it. 'So it is just as Naruto thought,' he switched his gaze frequently between the orange shield the busty teen had placed in front of herself, the orange oval shield-like object that was healing the massive wound he had given to the massive teen before his eyes, and the orange blade-like projectile in front of him. 'The power to reject. To reject damage, force, time, and matter. Amazing, and yet, the silly girl has no idea of the power she wields. She knows not the meaning of subtlety and is too ruled by her emotions to stay out of the way of the fighters. If Aizen witnesses her power, he will find the way to manipulate Ichigo under the guise of something so completely different no one but he and his most trusted followers will know. To protect him, to guide him onto his true path, she must be removed.'

"Is that all you have?" raising his hand the unknown shinigami batted Tsubaki away and into a nearby wall. "How pathetic. You are nothing but a waste of time and space. For the good of your 'beloved' you must be removed." As the cloaked man talked he walked up to the stunned girl, effortlessly breaking through her shield, weakened as it was from her lack of focus. "Die now, knowing that it is for the good of Kurosaki Ichigo."

Close as he was Inoue Orihime saw the bottom of his face, a pleasant smile gracing his lips and what seemed to be a stitched scar running down the side of his face. Her unknown attacker placed his released Zanpakuto against her throat, smiled at her and she saw black.

~Ichigo~

Ichigo was in trouble, no matter what he did, nothing worked. Every Getsuga Tensho he launched was dodged, every strike of his sword was blocked, every Shunpo was followed and he had no chance to release his Bankai. In other words, he was screwed.

"You have done well so far. Now I shall see just how strong you truly are. Burst, Shabon-dama." The sword in the mystery man's hand changed into what looked like a pipe. As he placed it in his mouth he blew out a dozen or so bubbles from it.

"Bubbles? That's it? That's all your Zanpakuto does, release bubbles?" Ichigo's underestimation of his opponents Zanpakuto was an incredibly stupid thing to do, not to mention forgetful, since his first meeting of the man was after bubbles had exploded in his face.

"Indeed," it would seem a repeat performance would be needed. "Kibakuhō."

The bubbles surrounding Ichigo yet again exploded, only this time five times worse than before. As the dust from the explosion settled the unknown shinigami gazed down at the Substitute Shinigami who barely clung to life.

"I guess Kyuubi-sama was wrong. You are too weak to be the one he spoke of." He watched as Ichigo struggled to get back to his feet. "Why do you persist in clinging to life, no matter how long it takes you will die by my hand this night, you might as well give up now."

"I… promised." The strawberry headed teen coughed out. "I… promised my sisters… that I wouldn't do something stupid… and die. I know that I did… something stupid… so I refuse… to die!"

"I see, you cling to life out of some misguided sense of family loyalty. Bound to your word by your naïve belief in familial love. I do not know whether to envy you, or pity you. Either way, whether it be through envy or pity, I shall strike you down now and be justified." The man's pipe had changed back into its sealed state and was raises above Ichigo's head. "Farewell, Kurosaki Ichigo, it is unfortunate that you were not strong enough to be the one that our leader spoke of."

The blade fell, blood spilt, and all was silent.

~~~Chapter End~~~

From now on translations shall be given only for words that are not part of canon Bleach and thus cannot be found on the Bleach wiki. Therefore what we are left with translation wise this chapter is:

Shin'ya no Ai no En: Late night love park

Kame: Turtle

Kibakuhō: Exploding Bubble

And that's it. Once again a shout out to my awesome beta HTM who has beta'd this chapter despite being sick, let's give him a round of applause.

P.S another round of applause to Shin'en of the Chaotic Destiny and ElementalMaster 16 for reviewing all three of my chapters so far with more substance than a 'thanks for the update' or 'update soon'. They are also my 15th and 5th + 10th reviewers respectively.

Editor's Note: Thank you for thinking I'm an awesome beta, First Australian! Nya~! I'm still sick, but thanks to you, I'm feeling much better now! :D