Sui-Feng and Kakashi stood ten meters apart on a training ground that had recently been reconstructed after a grand battle. The captain of the Second Division glared at the strangely dressed man for several seconds, before releasing her Zanpakuto, Suzumebachi. She swiped the air with it to signal that she intended to be merciless.
"Prepare yourself, Hatake Kakashi," she said before charging toward him, "Sting All Enemies to Death, Suzumebachi!"
Ideally, her great speed would have allowed her to dispose of him in an instant and she had counted on that. Captain Yamamoto's request to have Kakashi join Sui-Feng's force irritated the leader of the Second Division because she was certain that the outsider was not as trustworthy as others seemed to think. He had shown up over a month ago and, though he demonstrated to other members of the Gotei 13 that he was willing to aid the Shinigami, Sui-Feng was unconvinced.
Kakashi stood completely still as she lunged toward him. It was odd to her that he made no attempt to guard himself in any way, but that did not make her want to hold back. Defense or no defense, she had already decided to kill him and she was set on doing it quickly so that she could get on with her day.
Her blade made contact in no time. Although she aimed to mark his chest, she was shocked that her stinger-like blade jammed into a log instead.
"W-what is the meaning of this?" the fluster captain said. She held the log in her hand and looked at the Homonka. She knew she had hit flesh, so how did a log end up in Kakashi's place?
"I'm over here," Kakashi yelled.
The captain turned to see Kakashi standing on the roof of a building far behind her.
"What kind of trickery is this?" Sui-Feng yelled.
"Huh?" Kakashi put his hand to his ear, "I'm sorry, could you say that louder? I can't hear too well from over here."
Sui-Feng threw the log to the ground and used Shunpo to quickly get behind him. Surprisingly, he evaded her attack once again by using a flash technique of his own to move back down to the ground.
She looked down at him with disdain as he scratched his head and laughed.
"Hey, you almost had me there!" he said, "I have to admit, I'm impressed, you're one of the fastest people I've ever met."
"Shut up!" she said, "Stop being such a coward and face me head on! The longer this takes, the worse it will we be for you in the end."
"Wait, you really want to kill me?" Kakashi said, "But didn't your leader instruct you to train me?"
"No, I received orders to observe you and determine if you are worthy of being a part of my division," she pointed Suzumebachi at him, "I've come to the conclusion that you are not. I have fulfilled my duty, now I am free to discard you. It's as simple as that."
Kakashi sighed, "And here I was hoping we could be friends."
He closed both of his eyes and lifted his forehead protector. From the rooftop, Sui-Feng leaned forward slightly and frowned. She didn't understand how he seemed to not take her determination to kill him seriously. Every one of her subordinates knew exactly how dangerous she could be. She never made a threat to or in front of her men that she did not keep.
"Draw your weapon," she said. She took a quick glance at the Zanpakuto on his side. She had never once seen him draw it, and it irritated her that he was so arrogant as to carry it around anyway. He ignored her command and placed a hand over his eyes.
"Tell me, do you know what a 'genjutsu' is?" Kakashi said.
Sui-Feng gritted her teeth. She knew then that he was committed to toying with her. When she decided to jump from the roof and attack him again, he removed his hand from his eyes and looked at her. Sui-Feng made the mistake of looking into the eye that had been hidden, and that mistake greatly decreased her chances of winning the fight.
Suddenly, Sui-Feng felt as though she had been suspended in the air. Her surroundings blurred and her body movements had slowed dramatically. Her hatred for her enemy still burned in her chest, but her limbs were cold.
In her mind, a day had passed without her being able to make it to the ground. Suddenly, time sped up so fast she couldn't catch herself before her body slammed into the ground. She was able to push herself up to her hands and knees, but she didn't yet have the energy she needed to stand.
"What kind of being are you?" Sui-Feng said in a rageful whisper.
"Hm," Kakashi said, "That's a good question..."
Sui-Feng slammed her fist into the ground. She was lucky that none of her subordinates were around to witness her losing control over her emotions. Or rather, the subordinates were lucky. Had they been around, she would have made quick enemies of them, all because of her hatred of this mysterious man who was clearly not dead, but also not alive in the traditional sense. He seemed to exist both in existential limbo and in the personal hell of her heart.
"Answer me," she growled at him, "Tell me who you are! I order you to do so!"
"You know who I am, you said it yourself earlier."
"You bastard! You know that isn't what I mean..." she shut her eyes briefly and took a deep breath to calm herself. She bit the corner of her lip before speaking again, "Honestly, who are you?"
"I am...just a man," Kakashi said, "I'm not from around here, but I don't know how to get back to where I'm from right now. I am someone who has lived life in the shadows, but I come to light when necessary. I come to light when people need me to. I live to help others live, but I have also taken many lives. I guess that makes me many things, not wholly evil or good. But I try to stay in the light. Even as you are here trying to kill me, I cannot bring myself to inflict that level of harm onto you."
Sui-Feng shook her head. Part of her was disgusted with his answer. Another part of her accepted it.
After a few seconds of silence passed between them, she was able to find the strength to stand again. In her mind, a full day had truly come and gone and her body felt as though she had been training for all of the past twenty-four hours.
But the truth was, it was an illusion like she had never seen before.
"A 'genjutsu'..." she said, "That's what you called it, right? Where did you learn something like this?"
"The answer to that is complicated," Kakashi said, "But I learned it thanks to an old friend. Where did you get that?"
He pointed to her Suzumebachi.
"I earned it," Sui-Feng said. She grit her teeth and prepared herself to continue her fight, "Sting All Enemies to Death, Suzumebachi..."
She raised her Zanpakuto. Kakashi let out a sigh and made no attempt to avoid her attack. Sui-Feng forced herself forward to strike him in his chest and the Homonka appeared. She had just enough energy left to strike him once more.
Sui-Feng felt no resistance from him when the tip of the Zanpakuto touched the same spot it had struck before. Although it was closed, she felt the watch of that unusual eye and it filled her with discomfort. She then blinked and found that her opponent had transformed. She was no longer looking at Kakahi, instead she only saw a copy of herself.
Seeing the image of herself with the Homonka, Sui-Feng wanted to withdraw her Zanpakuto, but it was stuck. She grunted and yanked her hand, but it was useless. Slowly, she was pulled into the other version of herself as she cursed her enemy who she could no longer sense at all.
Sui-Feng believed that she was doomed to oblivion until she blinked once more and felt heat pour from her chest. She looked down and to her horror she had become her enemy. The body that was in front of her before had vanished and the blade had somehow turned on its own master.
A single Homonka marked her chest. As she slowly pulled her hand away the heat within her was released. He had caught her twice in his genjutsu and she had been so stuck in her rage that she almost made ash of herself.
"Well," Sui-Feng furrowed her brow, but her mouth formed a slight smile, "Are you satisfied?"
Kakashi stood to her right with one of his favorite books in hand, acting as though he were unaware of the fact that the complex genjutsu had stunned her.
"Are you?" he said. His eyes stayed on the pages of his book as she put away her Zanpakuto.
"All this time, and it didn't cross my mind once," she said, "You've learned our techniques, but we hadn't learned much about yours. We-no, I thought you were a fool. Hmph. I guess I was the foolish one this entire time."
"No, I don't believe you're foolish at all," Kakashi said, "But you do seem like the type who gets stuck on things."
"It is bold of you to assume you know what type of person I am," Sui-Feng said as she folded her arms and turned to him, "Admittedly, you have been fortunate enough to catch me on a day when I am not at my strongest."
"Hopefully you keep me in your division then," Kakashi smiled, "I'd really love to see all that you could do...captain."
The hint of warmth in his voice let her know that he was being sincere. Her response to him was interrupted by an alarm sounding in the distance.
"Damn, another one? It's getting too chaotic around here for my liking" Sui-Feng started to speed off across the field, "Come on, let's go!"
Kakashi put away his book and touched the hilt of his own Zanpakuto. A dark energy shifted inside of it, but he knew that he could not put off releasing it much longer.
Maybe today's the day..., he thought. As he saw members of the Second Division running in the distance, he decided to ignore his concerns about his weapon and ran to join them. Little did he know, the emergency would require him to release it and he was not prepared to deal with the catastrophe that would ensue when he finally released the Zanpakuto that had been ignored for so long.