-Volume II: Strawberry and the Avenger-

Arc I, Chapter 2: First Day of Hell

Ichigo Kurosaki

When he'd first seen Sasuke, Ichigo hadn't been sure what to think.

Initially, he'd seemed kind of like Uryu. But that illusion had shattered within seconds.

For one, Ichigo hadn't been able to track any of the guy's movements. It was like looking at someone who didn't even realise how quickly they were moving. He acted and spoke as though things were normal, but every tiny movement of Sasuke's body was nothing but a blur of absurdly fast motion.

Two, the bastard had nearly tried to kill him after a single conversation. Ichigo wasn't exactly sure why he'd reacted so severely, but it had been terrifying. For the few short seconds that Sasuke had let his hand hover over his throat, it had felt like an ocean had suddenly crashed down upon his shoulders. Ichigo knew that he was fairly weak, at least compared to most ranked Shinigami, but this was ludicrous. He'd felt Reiatsu before, he knew what it was like to feel another's spiritual pressure. This was completely different. It wasn't pressure, it was like he was immersed in the depths of something so gargantuan that he couldn't even comprehend its full magnitude. So, naturally, it had shut him up in an instant.

And after that, Kisuke had decided to let that monster of a Shinigami take over their training. Ichigo had been furious. That Kisuke would even consider letting Sasuke within a mile of Orihime or Chad was absurd. The guy could probably sneeze and kill both of them. But, thankfully, it seemed as though Yoruichi would be handling the two of them, while Sasuke would be working with himself and Uryu. If he was being honest, he was kind of glad that he'd be fighting someone other than Kisuke. At least this guy wouldn't try to actually kill him.

"First off, I want to see your stance. You'll never get anywhere in a fight without a good starting position." His new mentor's voice ordered, and after letting out a breath, he did. He squared his shoulders, sliding his feet into a traditional Kendo stance. It wasn't the same as the one Kisuke had shown him, but it had worked well enough so far. He reached for his Zanpakuto, drawing the blade and bracing it in front of him. Sasuke walked closer, eyeing the stance with a critical eye. Before he could react, pain exploded in his jaw as the Shinigami's finger made contact with his chin. There wasn't even a chance for him to stay grounded, the flick sent him flying backward head over heel for several yards before he finally hit the ground again, his feet digging into the dirt as he righted himself. The second he realised that Sasuke wasn't still attacking, his hand flew to his jaw, and a growl escaped his lips as he attempted to fight through the pain.

"You need to start looking for something that works better for your blade. That Zanpakuto is much larger than average, and so its weight is going to affect your fighting style. If you keep using such lax defenses you'll die before you ever get to Seireitei. The purpose of this lesson isn't to hurt you, it's to make you sharpen your defensive capabilities and help you react to targets immensely faster than you are." Sasuke said, once again crossing the distance between them faster than Ichigo could track. "Now, before we continue, I want to see how you handle that sword in offensive situations. Come at me with whatever you can, but don't get any hopes up. I wont let you land a strike unless you've earned it." He took several steps backward, once again too quickly for Ichigo to make out anything more than a blur, and raised a single hand. "Go."

Ichigo rushed forward, sprinting at full speed in hopes of getting a lucky hit in to start things off, but the effort was fruitless. Sasuke sidestepped the overhead strike with ease, before nonchalantly weaving around the flurry of slashes that Ichigo attempted to deliver as a follow-up. Ichigo had the distinct impression that he wouldn't be able to even make Sasuke defend himself anytime soon.

But I'll be damned if I don't try.

And so he did, his Zanpakuto cleaving through the air in a frenzy as he attempting to make the elder Shinigami do something, anything other than flawlessly dodge his every assault.

He hadn't been at it much longer, maybe a couple of minutes, before Sasuke's approach to the fight changed dramatically. As Ichigo attempted to leap into the air in an effort to split his mentor in twine, the Shinigami phased out of sight completely, and before Ichigo could even look away from his afterimage, his right side caught fire as he felt Sasuke's knee slam into his ribcage mid-air. Saliva flew from his lips as his momentum was overridden by the force of his attacker's blow, and his body was thrown to the ground violently.

This time, however, he was prepared. As he body hit the ground, he drove his left hand into the dirt in order to gain control of his own weight, and rotated his momentum to push off of the rocks with his feet, catapulting himself in Sasuke's direction once more, this time staying low before wrenching his sword skyward with all of the speed he could muster.

For the first time since they'd started, Sasuke's expression changed. Up until now, he'd been completely focused, his eyes flicked around as he analyzed every single action Ichigo made. Now he noticed that Sasuke was actually smirking slightly, but he didn't let that change stop his assault, driving his blade upward.

Sasuke reached out with a single hand, closed in a fist, and extended his index finger, moving it in front of Ichigo's Zanpakuto before the latter could think to stop himself. The razor edge of Ichigo's Zanpakuto slamming into the digit with enough force to cause a burst of disturbed air around them, kicking up small rocks and throwing them away from the two. In that instant, Ichigo was absolutely positive that he just accidentally lopped off his teacher's finger in an unexpected burst of power.

To his bewilderment, the massive blow didn't even manage to make it through Sasuke's skin. It simply rested against the appendage now that all of its kinetic energy was gone. He couldn't help but stare, his jaw trying to piece together something to say, but nothing would come out.

"I assume you've never seen something like this?" Sasuke questioned, letting his arm drop to the side. Ichigo nodded, still slightly dumbfounded. "Then I'll explain it to you once. When two Reiatsu signatures clash, the result depends on the difference in their strength. What happened just now was the result of my Reiatsu completely nullifying you own. If I were similar in strength to you, then you would have been able to break the skin and cut off my finger. However, because I'm immensely more powerful than you are right now, I was able to snuff out whatever power you put into your attack. Don't worry, that doesn't mean that this will happen in Soul Society. But if it does, I'd recommend running away from that fight. No sense waging a battle that can't be won."

"And what? Just leave Rukia to die?" He growled. The idea of retreat was disgusting to him, especially with the stakes this high. Running away would be a guaranteed death sentence for her, and Ichigo would rather die that let that happen. Sasuke didn't seem at all bothered by his words. "If it's either that or let your friends be slaughtered instead, which are you going to choose? The real world isn't forgiving, Kurosaki. You're going to have to make impossible decisions in battle, because no matter how powerful you become, you'll never be strong enough to protect everyone."

That stirred up a fire in Ichigo. Anger boiled in his heart as he responded, his eyes set in a gaze of utter determination, "Then I'll keep trying until I'm strong enough to prove you wrong. I will protect the people I care about, even if it means sacrificing myself in the end, I won't let them die!" He yelled, exploding forward as his frustration dredged up previously untapped wells of Reiatsu. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he noticed the change, and just as Ichigo was about to bring down his Zanpakuto upon the Shinigami's shoulder, he vanished from sight.

Just as Ichigo was about to adjust, a familiar pain spread across his body, Sasuke's geta dropping onto the back of his head with such force that his chin was slammed into the dirt before Ichigo could stop it. This time crimson liquid spewed from his mouth, as his teeth sank into his own tongue. His mentor's foot remained planted firmly atop his head, the hard edges of the geta pressing against his skull. He couldn't move, he could barely even breathe, but still he struggled to lift himself, to no avail. The pressure of Sasuke's foot was more than enough to render him completely immobile.

"Well, seems the two of you have more in common than I first thought," The words didn't make any sense to Ichigo. What did he have in common with who? "..the f-fuck are you tal- agh, shit!" His question was snuffed short as Sasuke suddenly pushed off of his skull like a stepping stone, the pressure increasing for an instant before the weight was gone entirely.

"Regardless, you see what anger and determination gets you in the face of impossible odds. Sure, that little tantrum may have been enough to overwhelm, say, a Seated Officer, but it wouldn't have made the slightest difference against a more powerful and experienced foe. You're going to be weaker than any Captain when you reach Seireitei, no matter what you might believe. It's simply impossible for you to get stronger than that in a measly three weeks. However, that also means that most of them will leave you for the lower ranked Shinigami to deal with. Captains are, in my experience, extremely honorable and privileged. If they can avoid bothering with a lowly ryoka like you, they will." He explained, his voice mostly monotone. His eyes flicked down to meet Ichigo's. "And you're going to want to accept their generosity. If a Captain sets their sights on you early, you'll most likely die."

Ichigo couldn't really say anything in turn. Every word that Sasuke spoke was the brutal truth, whether he wanted to believe it or not. After all, Kisuke had told him the exact same thing when they'd first talked about invading Soul Society. The fact that there were so many people that would tear him apart in a real fight was... concerning, naturally.

"But, they won't be what you want to worry about. In fact, they barely even factor into your invasion attempt at all." That, however, caught him by surprise. "The hell do you mean, 'not a factor'? They're the best Soul Society has, aren't they?" He asked, trying to figure what Sasuke meant. It was hard to speak clearly, with his tongue messed up, but he'd live.

"Realistically you might have to fight one Captain, and even then it isn't likely to be an older Captain such as Kyoraku or Unohana. They'll probably be recent additions, Shinigami I've never met. Normally I'd say to be careful because of that, but it genuinely doesn't affect the plan unless one of you dies. In that case, I'll get involved myself." Sasuke reached to his back, his hand resting upon the hilt of his own Zanpakuto. "There is only one person in Seireitei that cannot be involved. If he makes a move, I'm taking all of you back to the Realm of the Living immediately."

Ichigo furrowed his brow, now stricken with cautious curiosity. "And who's that, exactly?"

Sasuke drew in a deep breath, "A Shinigami by the name of Sosuke Aizen. The last time I saw him, he was still a Lieutenant. That may have changed over the years, but I've little doubt he's been preparing for my return." Ichigo felt Sasuke's Reiatsu suddenly flare up, causing sweat to form on his forehead. "Why is he such a big deal? Kisuke didn't even mention him."

"Aizen's threat is not in his physical prowess. If that were the case I would have killed him a long time ago. No, the problem lies with his mind. That man is terrifyingly intelligent, to such a degree that he's managed to completely outplay Soul Society time and time again. If he gets involved, the entire mission was a setup, and we're going to leave immediately, no matter what the circumstance. Pray you manage to save this 'Rukia' before that happens." It was blunt, but it sounded like Sasuke was being deadly serious.

"Alright, guess that means I'll have to make things quick, huh?"

"Yes, and it also means that we can't afford to sit around and talk all day. Get up, we're going to keep working on your defenses." He ordered back, and Ichigo complied, shoving himself to his feet with a huff.

And the torture continued.

Two hours later, with Uryu Ishida

He'd been training for a few hours at this point, with one eye sometimes wandering to where Kurosaki was currently getting the complete and utter shit kicked out of him. It didn't exactly comfort him that, almost every time he did so, the raven-haired Shinigami responsible would meet his gaze with an indifferent stare. It spoke volumes about his awareness, and just how little effort he was putting into shredding the poor substitute.

Though at the very same time, Uryu noticed just how specific each strike was. This 'Sasuke' was being exceptionally careful not to break Kurosaki beyond repair, even without taking the fight seriously. Ishida could respect that kind of restraint.

But, that didn't mean he wanted anything to do with the Shinigami.

"Idle thought isn't going to make you stronger." A voice caught him in the midst of his thoughts, and he snapped his head towards the source. To his genuine surprise, Sasuke was somehow standing directly in front of him. He looked back to where Ichigo had been training, only to see a battered Kurosaki sitting against a boulder, receiving healing from Orihime.

"Kurosaki will be fine. I've been observing your training, and it's become clear to me that you have several issue that need to be addressed." He stated, rather bluntly.

While he'd normally object to such a remark, Ishida couldn't help but find himself curious. Just what could he have noticed, given all of the distance between them? "Alright, let's hear it."

"First of all, you're focusing too much on rapidly firing as many projectiles as possible, as opposed to maximizing the strength of each individual arrow. You should be using your natural speed to out maneuver your opponents, and ending the fight in a single, well placed shot. Firing a hundred arrows in an instant won't mean anything if those arrows are too weak to pierce a Captain's skin." He explained, "And honestly, as they are, those would do little more than polish their chin."

Uryu's instinct roared as the Shinigami before him rushed forward, and he was forced to throw himself to the side. A sloppy, desperate dodge, but it'd been every ounce of the Quincy's Reiatsu just to escape. He ripped his head back to look at Sasuke, who was standing where he had just a second ago. He gave Uryu an amused look.

"Good. Seems I was right about your speed, after all. Kurosaki would have been hit just then. In that case, we'll be dedicating your time to refining your speed, and reducing the time it takes you to draw power to your attacks." His tone was final, certain.

Uryu could only heave his chest, shallow breathes escaping his lungs as his heartrate began to slow. His eyes drifted upward slightly, meeting Sasuke's charcoal orbs for the first time.

It was like looking into a black hole. He could literally feel the Shinigami absorbing all of the information he could, meticulously digesting each piece at a speed that Uryu couldn't fathom before shelving it away just as quickly. His mind was filtering through ideas and organizing chains of thought like a fucking super-computer.

Sasuke's eyes refocused, though Uryu could only guess as to why, before the raven-haired Shinigami spoke, and his words sent a shiver of horror up the Quincy's spine.

"Physical training begins now."

Just what sort of beast had they been left with?

A groan escaped his lips.

"Of course,"

And so his torture began.

Hello! Sorry it's been so long, I've been busy working on my second attempt at a RWBY oriented fic for a while, ironing out some kinks and what-not. Expect the first chapter to be up within a few days, if not sooner.

So I know that not much actually happened here, but this training arc is going to be where most of my big changes to the main cast are going to happen. It's probably going to be around 3 to 4 chapters of development and interaction, with some more important moments sprinkled throughout. After that, the big shit starts happening, I promise.

Buh-Bye!!!