Chapter 2: Rage
Sasuke walked into the square, as he did every morning. Walking over to Sakura's booth, as he did every morning. But today was different. Today was the day he would ask her to marry him.
"Hey Sakura!"
"Hey Sasuke!" Sakura beamed as the man she loved walked toward her. When they met, they hugged. Sasuke was nervous, and she could tell.
"Sakura…we need to talk." Sasuke was smiling…but was shaking just as bad.
"About what, dear? Ever since you finally got accepted into the Gotei 13 you've been nervous about everything!"
"Sakura…I want you to come live with me in the Court of Pure Souls."
"But Sasuke…I am not a shinigami. I have no reiatsu like you do. The only way I could go into the Court of Pure Souls with you is to be your wife!"
"Exactly, my love. Marry me!" Sasuke kneeled down. He revealed a small ring, and lifted her hand.
"Oh my love! Yes! Yes I'll marry you!" The ring was placed onto her finger. The two embraced and then Sasuke made the announcement to all in the public square that day.
A man walked up. Shrouded in dark garments, he walked past Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke realized he didn't know who this man was, so he stopped him by placing his hand on his shoulder. "You sir! I would like to invite you to our engagement party!"
The man shrugged Sasuke's hand off. "I ain't interested." he said gruffly.
"But sir, you must! I insist!"
"Touch me again. See if I'dn't kill you dead." The man pulled back his robe to reveal a sword. His face was hidden under a dark hood.
"Sir, only shinigami are allowed to carry zanpaku-tos around. As a newly appointed member of the 7th squad I will have to ask you to give me that sword." Sasuke turned to his new bride-to-be. "Sakura, please go home now and tell your family we are to be wed. I will meet you after I deal with this."
"Yes, my love."
Sasuke turned to face the man. "Sir, would you please relinquish your zanpaku-to?"
"Screw you. This is sword's mine and ain't nobody else's. I'd prefer killin' you 'fore I handed it to you." The man drew his sword.
"Sir, I will have to ask you to stand down." Sasuke drew his sword.
The man swung at Sasuke, who easily matched the speed and blocked. "If that's as fast as you can attack then I'm afraid this battle is over, sir. I am the 9th seat officer in the 7th squad, Hatake Sasuke. Give me your zanpaku-to."
Sasuke's blade began to shine. Confused, Sasuke tried to pull back, but he couldn't. "No…" the man said as he raised his face for Sasuke to see. His eyes glowed a bright yellow. "You give me your zanpaku-to." Sasuke's sword shined brighter. "Whisper…Sanzoku."
Sasuke's sword stopped shining and fell to the ground. It's reiatsu was completely drained. The man raised his sword, readying for attack. Sasuke couldn't move, all he could do was stammer out the words "Who…are…you?"
"Ex-lieutenant of the 3rd squad of the Gotei 13, Kyuzo Ankashi." He swung down.
OOOOOOOOOOO
The shadowy figure raised it's blade to block, easily matching Shosuke's speed. It pushed hard against Shosuke, knocking him back again. The figure raised it's sword and swung down, sending a layer of ice towards Shosuke. It has Genkan's powers…. Shosuke raised up his blade, creating a wall of ice to defend. Both attack and wall shattered and fell to the ground.
Dosu laughed. "You might have noticed by now how I've improved my connection with Kokuei. I can steal your shadow and make it fight for me. It has all your strengths and all your powers, 8th squad Captain."
Shosuke knelt down. He stabbed his sword into the ground violently. "Way of Frost no. 57, Frozen Eruption!" The ground exploded, and huge icicles shot out of the ground all around the shadow Shosuke. The icicles grew into the sky quickly, covering the courtyard. Dosu backed up; he didn't want to be near the icicles, because he knew what would happen next.
Suddenly a figure jumped out of the middle of the icicles, Shosuke looked up. He had missed his initial mark. Raising his hands, Shosuke started the second attack. "Way of Frost no. 58, Ice Implosion!" The icicles burst. The shadow Shosuke looked around him as huge chunks of ice began to fly at him. They crashed into each other, causing a massive eruption of ice and ground.
"Well done, Captain." said Dosu. "You destroyed your own shadow. Way to go."
Breathing heavily after the huge exertion of reiatsu, Shosuke stood up and drew his sword from the ground. He looked down, and seeing his own shadow beneath his feet he felt better. Raising his sword to chest level, he pointed it at Dosu. "Dosu, you leave me no choice." Shosuke's reiatsu began to rise. "Ban-kai."
OOOOOOOOOOO
Ankashi walked slowly. His sword gleaming with blood, he looked around at the carnage. He was just protecting himself, after all. The whole family had attacked him, and without reason. He was justified. He had no guilt on his head. He stopped and looked down at the face of his friend…his dear friend. Kanoshi was dead now. Slain by Ankashi's sword…because his friend had betrayed him. He looked down at the face and his eyes widened; the mouth of a dead man began to move.
"Don't lie to yourself, Ankashi!"
Ankashi screamed and stabbed his sword into the lifeless body again and again. All around him, though, more voices started chiming in. "Don't lie to yourself…Don't lie…" Ankashi began to slice all of the bodies, but the voices would not stop. He turned to run out the door and ran straight into his mother, who he had just killed. She reached out for him and Ankashi screamed.
The sun began to rise higher and met Ankashi's eyes. He woke up, gasping from his dream. His sword was gripped tightly between his hands as he leaned up against a tree about three miles outside of town. The sun was very bright, so he raised his hood over his face again and stood up, ready to travel once more. When had he dozed off?
I must've collapsed against this tree…. He placed his sword on his belt and walked away, north towards the Court of Pure Souls. The mere site of the Shrine of Penitence, the only building visible from nearly all of Soul Society, made Ankashi shiver as he remembered once serving time in there.
Those ruthless bastards…he thought. I'm stronger now…and with my strength I will right the wrongs and crush the Gotei 13 myself.
Ankashi's sword began to glow. It's reiatsu was strong.
"Right, Sanzoku?"
"As you wish, Ankashi."
Ankashi looked up at the Shrine. Penitence…that's exactly what I'll make them feel.
The trees around him swayed in the wind. Stronger winds rushed by, and Ankashi could feel a strong reiatsu in them. He began to walk towards it.
OOOOOOOOOOO
The glow of reiatsu finally began to die down and the great force of wind began to settle. Dosu uncovered his face and looked upon the dust and smoke still billowing off of the ground. A massive chill shot through the entire courtyard. It was so cold he could feel his muscles tightening. He gasped as he realized the sheer power that now stood before him.
Koji and Miko were blown back, unable to stand for the great reiatsu. They too were chilled to the bone. Koji drew his sword.
"Sear, Kashou!" He could barely move but felt much better once heat began to emit from the blade. He and Miko moved back against the walls of the courtyard, fearful of what may come out of the dust in front of them.
The dust finally began to settle. A figure could be seen, kneeling. His whole upper body was covered by gleaming armor, made of solid ice. He rose, and with his rising came four huge wings of ice erupting from the back of the armor. Two large wings rose high above his shoulders, and two smaller once behind his back. He raised his sword, which had doubled in size. It was nearly 7 feet in length and covered in frost, with jagged serrations along the blade.
"TENBATSU GENKAN!"
Dosu was speechless. He tried to back up, but couldn't because his muscles were contracting from the cold. He had to raise his reiatsu to it's extent to keep from freezing to death. He hadn't prepared for this.
Shosuke gripped his huge sword tightly. In a flash he made his attack, and even though Dosu was expecting it, he was still caught off guard. As Shosuke swung his blade the very air around it froze, leaving a suspended trail of ice in the air. Dosu jumped back with barely enough time to see the outside of his robes freeze solid against his chest. Shosuke looked hard at Dosu, and raised his hand, forcing the suspended ice to fly towards Dosu. Dosu raised his scythe to defend but it wasn't fast enough. Huge portions of ice stabbed into Dosu's body, sending him backwards and pinning him to the wall. Dosu screamed in agony as the ice began to cover his body.
Shosuke stood calmly. His reiatsu was billowing through the courtyard, freezing the grass and shrubberies around them. "I'll give you one last chance, Dosu. Stop now and I'll spare your life. Otherwise, I'll kill you."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" cackled Dosu. With his one free arm he raised Kokuei above his head. "BAN-KAI! KOKUEI SOUZOUNUSHI!"
A flash of light exploded from where Dosu was. The light was quickly dulled by the huge shadows that filled the courtyard. Dosu himself became shrouded in dark reiatsu, visibly darkening the area around him. Soon he could not be seen. A long, dark trail began to snake it's way towards Shosuke.
Shosuke's eyes widened as he saw that Dosu was no longer pinned to the wall. The long dark trail disappeared into the shadows consuming the courtyard.
"An unexpected turn, 8th squad captain." Dosu's voice could be heard from all directions. "For now I'll retreat using my ban-kai." The dark shadows began to recede to the north. Shosuke swept his sword up, causing another layer of ice to condense in the air. The ice shot forward, crushing into the wall where Dosu had been.
"DOSU! YOU BASTARD!" he shouted.
"Now, now, captain…you need to understand. My fight isn't with you. I have bigger fish to fry, so to say." The shadows continued to recede until almost none was left as the bright morning sky flooded Shosuke's senses. "Goodbye, Izu.."
"DOSU! COME BACK!" screamed Shosuke. He yelled angrily as he slammed his sword onto the ground in front of him. "YOU BASTARD!"
Koji and Miko stood to the side, watching Captain Shosuke as he began to cry. His ban-kai disappeared in a flash of light. He stood up, and walked over to Ayame's dead body.
"He loved her, didn't he?" said Koji.
Tears came to Miko's eyes. "I don't know, but I know she loved him."
Shosuke picked up Ayame, and wept as he held her in his arms. He cursed himself for not being able to save her. Not being there in time. Not knowing before hand that something was wrong.
Shosuke walked out of the courtyard, towards the 8th squad district. Koji and Miko followed closely behind.
OOOOOOOOOOO
The spiritual forces Ankashi had felt slowly faded. He recognized one of them.
"Only one man has a reiatsu that cold. The 8th squad captain, Shosuke Izu." As he walked, the walls of the Court of Pure Souls became visible. "Let's go, Sanzoku."
"As you wish."