-2 ½ Days Later-

It's been two and a half days since Hinata's training started and it's been nothing but hell for the young Hyuga. All it's consisted of is her climbing up the waterfall only to be knocked back down into the lake. A couple of times it seemed like she almost got to her prize only for Daisuke to appear out of nowhere and send her flying. He didn't hit her, no instead he'd bodily pick her up and throw her over the waterfall into the lake. She's just about reached her limit; not only is she tired and soaking wet but her chain of fate has almost completely corroded away. Oh yes, she's spent and ready to give up or scream, whatever comes first. 'What kind of torture is this? I didn't take nii-san for a sadist.'

"Come on now Hinata-chan. You have to get up. Your time's almost up." he told her seriously, although he wanted to laugh because she looked like a wet kitten

Standing up shakily she sent him a heated glare that met with amused eyes. She breathed deeply as she shivered and tried to come up with a plan. 'As if it'll work because my other ones didn't. I don't stand a chance.' Don't think like that little one or else you really will fail. a feminine voice told her 'Huh? Where'd that come from? Who said that?' It came from you, from your mind. I said those words. 'Who or what are you?' I am a part of you. If you want to know who I truly am then you'll have to search deep within yourself to find out. 'What? What do you mean by that?' She didn't receive a response this time.

"Hey are you done daydreamin' yet?" Daisuke called out effectively breaking her from her thoughts, he waited for her to do something

"How much time do I have left?" she asked, it's something she's questioned him about before over the course of the 3 days

"You've got about eleven and a half hours left before the end." he answered her about the 3 day deadline as he watched her intently

"Okay. Thanks." she nodded tiredly to him then she closed her eyes and began to think

'She said search within myself. She is a part of me. A part of me.' As she thought this her breathing slowed and her body relaxed and it looked like she was about to fall asleep. But something more was going on beneath the surface and Daisuke had a good idea as to what it was. Opening her eyes, Hinata expected to see her adopted older brother standing before her with her body but she didn't.

The sight that greeted her was odd and sadly decaying. In front of her was a vast field of withering flowers and a deep gray sky and off in the distance was a large castle made of pure white stone. The massive building seemed to be crumbling and was dulled but there was something about it that drew her in.

Getting up she walked towards it and towards whatever it was that was calling out to her. Once she stepped inside, a strange feeling of familiarity swept over her. It felt as if she knew exactly where she had to go, as if she'd walked these very halls numerous times in her life. This feeling intrigued her and comforted her all at once as she allowed her feet to take her to her destination.

Arriving in front of a dilapidated set of wooden double-doors, she pushed them open and stepped inside. The appearance of the room shocked her senses because what she saw was a room that looked like the night sky. The floor, the walls, the ceiling were a deep midnight blue and scattered all around were what appeared to be thousands, no millions of stars. 'What is this place? Is this outer space or something?' Her curious eyes scanned the entirety of the room before walking along a path, that can only be described as stardust, towards something. She stopped and stood before a throne that looked like it was made of diamonds and shimmering crystals.

"Wow." she said clearly impressed

"I know." a womanly voice seconded

Surprised by the response, she nearly jumped 10 feet in the air before spinning around to see a beautiful lady dressed in a pure white kimono with a lavender sash and a sparkling gemstone bracelet on her right wrist. She had long hair that reached her lower back in a curtain of silky blackness. Her complexion was a healthy peach tan and her skin was smooth and supple. The kimono she wore accentuated all her curves while giving her an ethereal, regal look.

Staring at her face, Hinata saw how young she appeared, no older than 18 or 20 if she guessed right. The woman's eyes were enchanting and held a kindness and wisdom like no other in their beautiful lavender depths; they also had sky blue pupils. The older female gave her a dazzling smile as she looked at her younger counterpart amusedly.

"Why do you look so startled little one? You did after all come here to meet me, right?" she grinned with a raised brow

"You're the voice?" she inquired shell-shocked

"Mhmm. Welcome to your inner-world."

"My inner-world?" the woman nodded to answer her, "Why does it look like this?"

"Like what exactly?"

"Like it's falling apart, yet this room doesn't seem touched."

"It appears that way because it is in fact falling apart and this room remains unchanged because this is the core and it hasn't been affected yet. This throne room is essentially the center of your universe. If this place were to start decaying then all is lost and you would surely die."

"Oh. But why is my world collapsing?"

"Because you are going through the process of turning into a hollow."

"How do I stop it?"

"You asked the right question. In order to stop it you have to find your powers and unlock them. Only then will you be able to prevent it."

"How do I find them?"

"You look little one. They're somewhere within the castle locked away. Find out where and you will have what you seek."

"Alright. Thank you!" she bowed to her hurriedly and ran off to search

"I hope she finds them soon or it will all be over." she said as she felt the changes take effect on the rest the world

Running around from room to room she scoured the whole castle as efficiently as possible. It seemed like hours since she's started and judging from the even more rundown look, it had been. Hinata was starting to panic now.

"Oh man! Where could it be?! Crap! If I don't hurry up it'll be too late!"

Speeding down the hallway she almost missed a door that led to another room. Going inside she saw this room was actually a training room filled with weapons. All along the walls many different kinds lined the place, ranging from your average staff to the most elaborate kind of blade. Looking around she saw a red ribbon lying on the ground seemingly out of place in the room. She picked it up and realized that it trailed off to the far end of the room.

Grabbing hold of it she pulled on it only to find that something on the other end of it was keeping it from coming to her, so she did what any clueless person would do, she tugged harder until she decided to give it a rest and go see what was holding it back. Following its lead into the dark corner she noticed a katana laying within a glass case on top of a red clothed stand. She went over to it and freed the katana from its glass prison and eyed it reverently.

The sword was sheathed inside of a pure white scabbard that had a golden dragon design imprinted on it. The hand guard was golden as was the hilt but the hilt was wrapped in white silk. The handle was wrapped in a way so that there were 3 open areas in the shape of diamonds that displayed the gold of the hilt. The middle diamond had a sapphire gem carved in the shape of a star centered in it. Wanting to see what the actual blade itself looked like she decided to unveil it only to be blinded by a white light.

"Ah. So she's found me at last." The woman smiled serenely once she felt her home begin to rejuvenate. "I'll tell her my name some other time."

Hinata uncovered her eyes only to find herself looking up at the sky, which was a beautiful baby blue and not the dismal gray or the starry blue she saw previously.

"Whoa. The sun's bright. What am I doing outside on my back?" she asked aloud

"You sorta passed out imouto-chan. Are you okay?" Daisuke looked at her as she sat up

"Yeah. Never better nii-san. Wait… nii-san? You mean I'm back with nii-san?"

"Yeah. Where else would you have been?"

"Uh… nowhere I guess. Ano… Daisuke-niisan?"

"Hmm?"

"How long have I been out?"

"A day and a half."

"What?! But the deadline!"

"What about it? It's been met and you're not a hollow."

"Alright!" She yelled out excitedly while she jumped up and pumped her fist in the air.

Chuckling at her antics he said, "Mitsurugi's already rubbed off on ya huh?" She blushed and quieted down making Daisuke laugh a bit harder, "You're too funny, ya know that? Anyways a little after you passed out I brought you and your body back to camp and covered you up near the fire. A few hours later, after I finished training otouto, there was a huge reiatsu surge coming from your direction, so I ran over to check on ya and saw you had tapped into your shinigami powers. Just take a look, see yourself."

Doing as she was told, she looked down to see herself dressed in shinigami robes clutching the very same sword that had hypnotized her in the castle.

"I… I did it!" she whispered in disbelief

"Yes you did." Daisuke smiled proudly

"So… can we start the real training now?" Mitsurugi asked very anxious to begin

"Later, she still needs to eat and rest otouto."

"Okay. And by the way, congratulations sis!" He gave her a thumbs up with a grin.

"Thank you." she replied but as she looked him over she noticed he was wearing shinigami garbs as well, "When did you get your powers?"

"Oh. I had them for a while. I gained 'em when I was training with brother when he first got into Seireitei."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We were having a spar and otouto was losin' pretty bad and it looked like there was no chance he'd beat me but being as stubborn as he was wouldn't quit."

"Yep. You see, there was a slight chance for a comeback and I went for it. It really paid off too." he told her while proudly patting his zanpakuto, "I wish you could've seen the look on aniki's face; man was that great! But you probably weren't even born then."

"What do you mean by that? It couldn't have been that long ago; I mean you're only a little bit older than me."

"That's not really true. We only told you we were that old because we looked the part and it'd be easier for you to handle." Daisuke informed her while scratching his head sheepishly

"That's right. Our real ages are over at least 100 years old. To be perfectly honest I'm 127." Mitsurugi told her

"And I'm 158. People age FAR slower in Soul Society than those in the living world. A woman could appear to you as someone that doesn't look a day over 20 and could in fact be easily 150 or older. It's pretty wild."

"I think I need to lie down." Hinata breathed out while shaking her head.

Laughing Mitsurugi said, "You do that sis. You deserve it, besides you'll need all the rest you can get for later."

"Just one question."

"Shoot."

"Does that whole aging thing effect me?"

"Nope because you're still alive. The aging only happens to souls that have truly passed on from the world of the living. You haven't so you'll still age normally. But the more we stay around you, you might very well cause us to grow up a little faster than we did before because you're alive, but that's just a theory. Now get some rest." Daisuke told her before walking off

"Nighty night sis." Mitsurugi said before following his brother

'I got some real elders for brothers. I guess it's true what they say: young at heart is young forever.' She chuckled at that thought. She then got up and went inside her tent after grabbing a bite to eat. 'I wonder what the rest of training is going to be like? I hope it isn't as bad as the past 3 days. I don't think I'll be able to stay sane if that were to happen.' Shaking her head at her thoughts, Hinata readied herself for bed. 'Just don't think about it. Don't think. Oh boy, what did I get myself into?' And with that last thought she promptly fell asleep.