SOUL SOCIETY

Toshiro Hitsugaya the captain of squad 10 was having a really bad day. His lieutenant Rngiku Matsumoto as always has dumped a huge load of paperwork on his desk. He was sure there were several papers that were reserved for his lieutenant as well among the huge pile on his table. Right now the pile of paperwork was so high that he had to stand on the table to take the topmost paper. That was a humiliating experience as he was very conscious about his height and his predicament reminded him of his lack of height. The door to his office slid open and he saw Matsumoto enter with a large stack of papers on her hand. This time Toshiro couldn't control himself.

"From where do you conjure up all these infernal things? How long have you been neglecting your duty Matsumoto?" Toshiro thundered

"But captain there is only a week's work here. After this is done everything will be over."Matsumoto pouted

"Then what is this mountain on my table?" Toshiro asked incredulously

"That's the work related to the week before this one." Rangiku pointed her eyes at the stack she was holding

"What were you doing all this week and the last week?"Toshiro screamed

"Well, the newbie had to be shown around the squad barracks, captain."Matsumoto answered as she placed the paperwork on his table and took a seat on the couch

"That would only take a few hours of your time Matsumoto." Toshiro reigned in his temper

"Well he had to be introduced to everyone. The poor guy was in the kido corps captain and you know how reclusive they are. I had to help the guy to get over his withdrawn character. Besides I think you found a genius like yourself captain." Rangiku happily said as she twirled a lock of her blond hair between her fingers

"Genius..? Captain Aizen said that he would be a good training partner. Is he that good?" Toshiro asked momentarily forgetting his anger.

"Well yo can see for yourself today. Indra and our third seat, Masaki Nagai is about to have a match today." Rangiku casually mentioned

"What..? When did this happen and why was I not informed of this?" Toshiro became angry again

"But captain you were the one who insisted on doing all the paperwork. So I had to look after the squad in your absence." Rangiku pouted

"Don't try to put all the blame on me Matsumoto. Why did you allow Indra to even fight our third seat? He only has six years of experience being a shinigami and that too in the kido corps." Toshiro gritted his teeth in anger

"I didn't just put him up against our third seat in a day. I had him fight all the other seated officers below and he defeated them very easily. He reminds me of you when you entered the squad under Captain Shiba." Rangiku had a faraway look on her face

Toshiro also became uncomfortable as he was reminded of his old captain who was probably dead in his last mission.

"Inform me when the match begins." Toshiro ordered and returned his attention back to the huge pile of paperwork on his table

"Will do captain." Rangiku quite happily escaped from Toshiro's room

XXXXXX

Indra stood at the training yard of squad 10 facing his opponent who was staring daggers at him. He glanced sideways to find Toshiro and Rangiku observing him. The other members of squad 10 were also surrounding the yard but they were far back to give the combatants space.

"This match will determine who holds the third seat in our squad. There will be no fatal attacks and the match will be over if one of the combatants surrenders or is unable to continue battle. Am I clear?" Toshiro asked aloud

"Yes captain."Indra and Misaki agreed to the rules

"Then begin." Toshiro and Rangiku vanished in a flash step leaving the two combatants alone. Toshiro knew this was not going to be as easy as Indra thought as he knew Misaki was someone on par with Rangiku.

Indra looked right into the black onyx eyes of Masaki and they both vanished in a blur of flash step. They met at the middle of the ground as their swords clashed with a ringing sound. Misaki twisted her wrist and dragged her blade in a swipe that came close to Indra's face. Indra reciprocated as he raised his arm appropriately and managed to slide her sword with his zanpakuto. Misaki was not done and she stabbed her sword aiming for his right knee. Indra angled his body and let the sword pass harmlessly at the same time he switched sword hands and swiped with his left hand and managed to nip the hand of Misaki who managed to dodge partially drawing first blood. Misaki was about to rush in to attack but Indra vanished from line of sight. She instinctively ducked her head and she felt a whistling sound as a sword passed over her head. Then she felt a huge force on her back and she was blown away from the spot. She stabbed her Zanpakuto on the ground to arrest her movement and turned on Indra with a thunderous expression.

"You kicked on my back intentionally you pervert."Misaki accused

"I was aiming for your knee but you were the one who suddenly decided to lower yourself to the ground. Perhaps you are the pervert." Indra goaded back

"How dare you?" Misaki growled and rushed in and began hacking and slashing with her sword. But Indra gracefully avoided each attack sometimes by swatting away her sword by his own. Tired with her inability to scratch him Misaki went for an overhead slash but Indra disappeared with a flash step. She turned to her back and saw that infernal guy raise his palm at her.

"Hadou 31: Shakkaho (Red Flame Cannon)"

Indra chanted the kido spell and a red ball of energy launched at Misaki from his palm at incredible speed. She was caught flat footed and raised her sword to defend against the incoming kido. The red ball of energy blew her away and her hands were burned by the power behind the spell.

"Bakudo 4: Hainako (Crawling Rope)" Indra casted a binding kido.

Before she could recover she was tied up by several energy ropes around her.

"Surrender yourself." Indra commanded

"You might have won some baffles against the other members of this division with your kido. But don't think you can intimidate me with such low level kido, Kurosaki." Misaki smirked and held her Zanpakuto in a reverse grip despite the restraints around her.

"Rejuvinate, Shizen no megami (Nature Goddess)"

Masaki activated her shikai and the sword emitted a green aura and began to drip a green liquid into the ground. Suddenly thick roots burst out of the ground and broke the restraints around her. Misakai looked at Indra with a confident smirk and pointed her sword at him. The thick roots that was growing around her burst out of the ground in large volume and rushed at Indra.

Indra vanished in a flash step but the moment he landed on the ground roots burst out of the ground and bound his left leg. With a clean swipe of his sword he cut down the roots and vanished in a flash step again.

"You are going nowhere you little creep." Misaki shouted and stabbed her sword into the ground and a green aura surrounded her and her black hair blew in the wind as she exerted more of her spiritual pressure.

"Jukai Kotan (Deep Forest Emergence)"

Masaki whispered and the entire training ground began to get filled with lush trees. It even consumed Indra despite his speed as he had limited mobility as trees began to block his path. The trees and plants converged on his position and buried him down by the thick woods.

"Call the match Captain. He has lost."Rangiku said to Toshiro

"It's not over yet." Toshiro absently replied as he felt the reitsu of Indra in the forest before him

"Transcend, Kagetsu (Bright Moon)"

All of the assembled shinigami heard a voice and their vision were consumed by a bright light and the trees that had converged upon Indra were blown apart by the spiritual pressure exerted by him. All of the squad members saw the released state of Indra's Zanpakuto. Kagetsu shined brightly with blue vein like patterns spread out along the periphery of the blade.

"Don't think this is over." Misaki growled with frustration as she never thought her opponent also had shikai. She once again manipulated the trees and plants to attack Indra.

"Your powers, while impressive are very vulnerable to me." Indra smirked lightly

He stabbed his Zanpakuto into the ground and activated another technique.

"Hi no okoku (Kingdom of fire)"

A blue circle of fire appeared around Indra. From there it began to expand and one by one many other concentric circles began to form and the forest began to disintegrate into ash.

Misaki was struck speechless by this turn of events and she didn't expect the next move by Indra as well and it caught her fair and square.

Indra raised his Zanpakuto and brought it down with a yell of "Getsuga Tensho".

A blue arc of energy escaped from his blade and struck Misaki consuming her in a bright explosion. Smoke and dust covered her spot and as the dust settled everyone found their third seat down on the ground unconscious with her Zanpakuto returning to its sealed form.

"The match is in Indra's favor. He is the third seat of squad 10 from now on." Toshiro declared and there was a small applause from the other squad members. Rangiku ordered some of the squad 4 members to take Misaki to the hospital wing.

Indra dismissed his shikai and sheathed his zanpakuto as Toshiro and Rangiku approached him.

"Misaki was not an easy opponent and yet you have managed to defeat her easily. You are easily lieutenant level or maybe even beyond. Why did captain Aizen easily give you away?" Toshiro asked

"I was uncomfortable with working under captain Aizen. Perhaps he noticed my reluctance and decided to transfer me." Indra answered with a shrug

"Why were you disturbed by captain Aizen?" Toshiro asked curiously

"It's mostly because of my Zanpakuto. You see Kagetsu is a light based Zanpakuto and for some reason captain Aizen's spirit energy affects him in some ways." Indra explained

"Didn't you say this to captain Aizen?" Toshiro asked perplexed by the odd answer

"I did. He said it was quite natural as his zanpakuto has the power to manipulate light by the water it produces. Captain Aizen also thought it was a farfetched conclusion so he promised me to find another suitable division to work on. The duties of Kido corps were delicate in nature and a single mistake might have spelled doom for the entire division. So he arranged for my transfer." Indra answered easily

"Hmm… This is quite the strange tale. Tell me truthfully. Have you achieved bankai?" Toshiro asked seriously

"Not yet captain. But I can summon my zanpakuto spirit outside into the material world." Indra admitted freely

"That is the first step. You must maintain the zanpakuto spirit in the physical world for longer period of time and force it to teach you the bankai. Anyways as the third seat you have certain duties to perform and if you are not capable of executing them you will lose the position you have earned. Power alone does not determine rank in my division. Am I clear?" Toshiro asked

"Yes captain." Indra agreed

"Good. Rangiku will explain all your duties." Toshiro looked meaningfully at his lieutenant.

"Oh yes. I will deal with our new third seat captain. Don't you have all those paperwork to complete?" Rangiku subtly reminded him

Toshiro threw a cold look at Rangiku but walked back to his office to complete his work.

"As our captain said you have several duties to perform. Most importantly you have to assign patrol duties to your subordinates in the Hokutan district of Rukongai. That district is entirely your responsibility. You will have to constantly report to me about squad movements in your area of control. Also you will have to file proper paperwork before you assign any patrol duty." Rangiku listed off the duties one by one

"Is that it?" Indra asked

"No there are several more but as a test of your efficiency I would like you to do some work." Rangiku said

"What work?" Indra asked

"Come." Rangiku led Indra to Toshiro's office

"Captain it seems Indra has graciously agreed to help you in doing the paperwork. Moreover it will also help him as he is now the third seat." Rangiku happily said

"You are right. I will be able to correct any mistakes here and now. Take a seat Kurosaki." Toshiro pointed at the chair that was conveniently close to the table. Indra sighed and sits down and began to start the most boring work in the whole universe.

Later that night after the entire squad 10 was sleeping soundly a single figure walked out of the barracks. But strangely the patrol guards couldn't see this figure as the person was under an illusion courtesy of Koyoka Suigetsu.

Indra found the ability of complete hypnosis a very useful tool to have as it allowed him a lot of freedom to move in soul society. The only problem was he could not use this ability over people have not yet seen the release of Koyoka Suigetsu. That's why at the moment he was merely scouting out his target area. He was extra careful to suppress his reitsu as much as he could and scouted out one of the noble houses of soul society. As he suspected the clan grounds were protected by several barriers and some of them were quit alien to his senses. He travelled around the barriers to check for any weaknesses. There were several but he had the feeling they were too strategically placed and to be intentional. With that knowledge he returned back to his room in squad 10 barracks.

Indra laid down on his bed and thought of how to bypass the barriers he encountered. First he will have to identify the barriers and for that a visit to the spirit library was quite necessary. Then there was the need for absolute secrecy as he was sure he was being monitored by Aizen too closely for now. Today was a risk but he was counting on to the fact that Aizen had no knowledge that his own powers could be used against him. Perhaps it would be better to just search for some of the barriers that he had yet to learn and being a kido specialist he could easily accept such knowledge. With that thought he closed his eyes and slept peacefully.

XXXXX

Misaki woke up in the patient ward of squad gritted her teeth in anger as she realized that she lost the match against Kurosaki Indra before the assembled squad. She was not angry she lost the duel but what she was that she lost in front of the whole squad.

Till this day she had enjoyed the superiority over the other members of her squad. They were all in some ways related to the noble elites of the Seireitei living in the luxury afforded to them by those connections and relations. But she was someone who came from one of the poorest districts of Rukongai and some of the members of her squad never failed to mention that now and then. In fact she was always mocked in the Shino academy as her batch mates were all from noble families.

In the end the joke was on them as she managed to pass most of her subjects with top marks while all those who mocked her were left at the bottom. Again fate played a cruel hand as she had to endure their company again when she joined the shinigami as family power can also buy a position in the thirteen court guard squads. But that didn't let her down instead it made her more determined than ever to improve her powers and that's how she came to this position.

When she joined squad 10 Isshin Shiba was the captain and in the beginning she cursed her luck. But later she realized her captain was not like other nobles and was quite the opposite in her opinion. That doesn't mean she liked but she had no problem in respecting such a person especially as he never showed any discrimination against her or anybody for that matter. The nobles in the squad were quite happy when the captain went missing in the human world in his last mission.

But those things never affected her as she was focused on her training and in the end her hard work paid off as she achieved the shikai release of her Zanpakuto. Even though she couldn't become the lieutenant she was comfortable to work under Rangiku and captain Hitsugaya. Both of them were from Rukongai but Misaki was too much alienated from the rest of the squad and she felt a little alone.

She could have established a better relationship with Rangiku but she didn't like her lieutenant as a person. Rangiku keeps a blind eye to the blatant discrimination against Misaki in the squad. Professionally she agreed with Rangiku as involving in such a problem might affect the efficiency in the squad but she could not help herself to dislike Rangiku as a person. That was the only reason why she never bothered to befriend her lieutenant. Besides she didn't want to be a problem for Rangiku as she was sure Rangiku must also have these same problems in a different way.

Still that left her friendless. There were very few Rukongai residents in Seireitei and those that did were real nut jobs that either became too bitter with their lives or they were the glorified pets of the nobles. Kuchiki Rukia was a stellar example of the later. Whenever Misaki saw that little bitch all she could see was a leashed dog who was led around by a master and in this case Kuchiki Byakuya and his stupid clan. In her mind that was the worst possible fate one person could have. Then there were those psychos like the captain of squad 11 and his thugs. They were the worst of the worst and she despised them with a passion.

She was brought out of her thoughts as a squad 4 member entered her room.

"You have a visitor waiting outside Nagai san. Shall I allow him in." the nameless 4th squad member asked

"A visitor for me…? Let him in." Misaki said unsurely

Her eyes widened briefly as she saw Kurosaki Indra enter into the room. She sat up in her bed and looked curiously at the shinigami before her.

"Good morning Nagai san. I hope you are feeling well." Indra sat down near her bed on a chair

I am fine. If you are here to gloat…" Masaki trailed off as she was presented with a box full of green apples which were her favorites.

"I didn't come here to gloat. I came here to check upon you. I do need a good training partner and seeing as you are a fellow Rukongai resident feel it would be best. If you are okay with it I would be grateful for your help." Indra pressed the box to her lap

"What are you playing at?" Misaki asked slowly

"You should know how difficult it is to work with the residents of Seireitei. You are the only one with an attitude that I like in the squad. So if you will I would like us to be friends." Indra gave his hand and looked pointedly at her.

Misaki looked at the hand and hesitated for a bit but in the end she shook hands with Indra her first real friend.

"I know you didn't have anything for breakfast. So eat the apples. They taste good or so I am told." Indra took a knife and cut the apple into little pieces and handed them to Misaki.

"Thank you." Misaki took the pieces hesitantly and literally swallowed it down in one go. She blushed as she saw Indra was smiling at her actions but she also felt a weight was lifted off her heart by spending time with Indra. They spend the rest of the morning talking with each other. In the end after buying her lunch Indra left to squad 10 as he only took a half day leave. Misaki was in high spirits that day and by evening she was released from the care of squad 4. It was with a small smile she entered the squad 10 and Indra was there to receive her. From that day onwards they became good friends and perhaps more.

XXXXXX

"Look who is here captain Aizen." Gin pointed at the door to their secret lair

Aizen turned to find Indra closing the door behind him.

"Welcome Indra. I hope you are settling in well with squad 10." Aizen asked

"Well enough. I came here for another reason. I would like to know if you have any knowledge of my mother." Indra asked

Aizen turned to face Indra completely serious.

"What makes you think I know about your mother's whereabouts?" Aizen asked

"You knew my mother died at the same time in the human world as I did. After all you knew when I died as you said yourself to me in Las Noches. So do you know where she is in Soul Society?"Indra asked

"I do. Are you sure you want to meet her? She will not remember you or anyone else from your family. The konso removes the memories from all souls. It is very rare for a soul to retain even a fraction of memory of their previous life." Aizen explained

"It does not matter whether she remembers me or not. I just need to meet her one last time." Indra said

"Very well then….I will take you to her." Aizen stood up and walked close to Indra

They both went outside the secret lab and disappeared in a flash step. Indra followed Aizen and soon they began to move faster with repeated flash steps. After some time, Aizen stopped moving and settled on top of a roof and Indra soon arrived at the same spot.

"This is the district of Sakahone, the 76th district of Rukongai." Aizen said as he observed an old shrine

Indra looked at the shrine Aizen was observing and he saw the name plaque of the deity worshipped in the shrine, Mimihagi.

"There is god worship even in a place that is filled with dead souls. Is this a shrine for the soul king?"Indra asked acting ignorant

"You could say Mimihagi is a part of the soul king. I think they are just tales to glorify the soul king. Your mother works in that shrine." Aizen said

They waited for some time hiding their presence and soon enough they saw Masaki coming to the shrine in some ceremonial robes. There were others as well and Indra thought it would be better to just watch from a distance.

"You should not dwell on the past Indra. You have a great destiny before you and your mother will only be a distraction." Aizen subtly spoke

"I just wanted to know she was well enough. Now that I know she is here I am satisfied. I will not trouble you again captain Aizen." Indra promised

"Think nothing of it. So are we going or are you interested in speaking with her." Aizen asked

"Before we go I have to do something." Indra unleashed his spiritual pressure and focused it on the area around the shrine. The effect was fast as all the people began to fall down unconscious under the weight of his spiritual pressure. After making sure no one was awake he stood near the downed form of his mother.

"Limit release" Indra whispered as he pressed his finger near his heart and the seal that bound his spiritual pressure became released and suddenly came into his full strength.

"What are you doing Indra?" Aizen asked in confusion as he stepped near him

"As you said I should not dwell on the past and she is a reminder of my past that I cannot easily discard. So there is only one option." Indra raised his hand and using his quincy powers he formed a reishi sword and plunged the blade straight through the heart of Masaki. She let out a choked gurgle as blood filled her mouth but before she could look at him he channeled his reitsu and completely destroyed her soul. Masaki's body glowed with a blue colour and disintegrated into spirit particles.

"You have removed her from existence. She will never again have rebirth." Aizen commented with a curious look

"Good. That was my intention as well. Let's go now unless you have something to do here." Indra looked at Aizen in the eye

"I am surprised and you have once again gone beyond my expectations. I find you to be a very interesting person." Aizen said with a brief smile. They both vanished in a blur of speed and returned back to where they came from.

XXXXXX

Indra sat near one of the running stream of water and meditated. Soon he felt himself he entered his inner world. This time he found Kagetsu standing on top of a building looking up at his little creation of floating rocks. Indra stood near the spirit and looked at the rocks.

"So you destroyed her soul without any remorse." Kagetsu asked

"There is no need for me to feel any remorse. You were already creating a stable home for her upon that rock. I merely removed a version of our mother from soul society. The soul that exists in our world and the one in soul society is not different and we both would prefer the soul in our world. Nothing truly ever dies for us." Indra said and sure enough he saw the soul of his mother staying at the top of the flying home Kagetsu created.

"I see. So you have now finally learned to let go of the material world by sacrificing the soul of Masaki. You have passed my test. You are ready for Bankai. Remember Indra nothing ever truly dies for us. We can always use anything we have seen and give it life whenever we want. The world outside may be heaven for others and hell for some. But we have the ability to create heaven and hell for everyone. My bankai is dangerous to the world so listen carefully…." Kagetsu began narrating the effects of the bankai and the first lessons began.

Author's Note:

A very short life for Masaki... Poor woman but Indra knew from the start Kagetsu was testing him to see whether he had the ability to trust in his powers. I mean if Indra held on to Masaki in soul society it would be like he had no trust in his ability to copy and preserve the souls of every person he meets. He could give life to Masaki anytime he wants as her copy is preserved in the inner world. A little bit twisted but it helps Indra in the long run as he do not have to worry about anyone taking her a hostage.

Misaki is my own creation in the story. She will be needed in the future and you saw a little bit of Mokuton from Naruto as well with her zanpakuto. I always wanted to bring that in a fic as it is my favorite blood line limit in Naruto.

If any of you have any ideas about the Bankai pleae review or PM me.