Chapter 9

Ichigo sighed happily as he relaxed in the hot spring, the ache of his muscles caused by the pressure of the reiatsu breaking down the fibres in his body and rebuilding them in a stronger. Tougher, form "Yoruichi" he called as his love stepped from behind a boulder showing her towel clad body "yes Ichi kun?" he waved her over. As she did so she stood above his leaned back head and bend down slightly so that her hair shielded them from view as they kissed gently.

"You ok?" Yoruichi could feel the slight sliver of power that always leaked out of him uncontrollably and shivered as it ran over her skin in swirling, flitting patterns, caressing her pores teasingly before wisping away into nothingness.

"Yeah, just anticipating the fights and planning ahead" Yoruichi nodded and pushed him forward lightly showing the upper half of his bare back to which she lowered her hands onto his trapezius muscles and began to slowly but firmly knead all the residual tension out "hhn" Ichigo groaned as her thumbs brushed across several pressure points "feel nice" Yoruichi purred as he nodded slowly "y-yeah" she smirked and dragged a nail gently down his back, parallel to his spine "I hate seeing you hurt" she whispered, laying her head on his shoulder in an uncharacteristic moment of venerability to which he responded by reaching up and rubbing the back of her head comfortingly "maa, maa don't worry, just let me deal with it ok?" he smirked and leaned back to kiss the area behind her ear gently, reassuringly before leaping out of the spring, donning his robes and disappearing in a whirlwind.

As he disappeared Yoruichi soon heard the sound of an iron door screeching before a resounding BOOM echoed through the chamber.

"Well" Yoruichi grinned "that was interesting"

With Ichigo

He flashed across the brown tiles of the division roofs at top speed, said speed breaking tiles down to dust as his foot collided with them "almost there" stomping his right foot into the roof he stopped himself in time to see over the edge and look down at the bloodthirsty, lumbering form of one Zaraki Kenpachi who looked up at him with a beady eye and a massive, predator grin "and so the star show up" his voice was like gravel, with an undertone of acrid amusement "of course" flaring his reiatsu he pushed of the rooftop, obliterating the section below him in his acceleration past the sound barrier as he collided with the monster of a man in a match of blades, Zaraki Kenpachi's jagged, used one grinding against the smooth, polished edge of Zangetsu's in a test of strength that cratered the ground underneath them, their blades weren't the only things being tested either as both began to ramp up their reiatsu , the sheer force of said energy causing the area to rumble as the seki seki rock became saturated in their power "your good, very good" the maniacal glint in Kenpachi's eye magnified as Ichigo leapt up, Kenpachi's blade swiping across the area where Ichigo used to be.

"Too slow"

Ichigo whispered appearing in the shadow of Kenpachi's back, bringing thee cleaver of a blade down to cut through the captains reiatsu and into his body gouging and tearing tissue before successfully resting it's tip against the ground softly.

"hehehe" he heard Kenpachi's chuckle, it one of a man thirsty for something.

For something obscure.

He gained his own smirk; he understood the man, one so confused and misunderstood by his peers.

Zaraki Kenpachi did not lust for battle.

No.

He did not wish for a rival, no that would be stupid.

What he wished for.

Was somebody who could take that step.

Somebody who would wade through the bloodiest of hells, the most torturous of situations.

One who could be his equal, who understood what it felt like having monstrous amounts of precious energy that nobody but him had in spades.

Oh Ichigo understood him alright; he had more energy and power than the man ten times over.

He understood perfectly.

He smirked up at the man who stumbled forward due to the wound "what, not going to fight back?" Mocked Ichigo, beckoning the turning man with his left hand "come, remove the patch and fight me, man on man, or are you a wuss?" he raised an eyebrow as the man chuckled and gripped his eye-patch, tearing it off in one swift movement. That one action released the restraints on the man's reiatsu causing a veritable tsunami of roiling thunderous yellow reiatsu to envelope the battlefield that they stood upon.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow as the man laughed madly "this power, finally someone who I can use it on!" the scarred captain screamed raising the jagged blade that had the same yellow reiatsu rolling off of it.

"The man's intoxicated by his own power" Ichigo mused, chuckling lightly as he raised his own blade and released a tenth of his reiatsu, equalling Kenpachi's output.

"Getsuga!" he prepared his attack, focusing the energy to the tip of his blade for maximum cutting strength, it would take it if the man was to be subdued.

"Tensho!" swinging his blade down in a forward arc sending a 20 feet tall crescent moon of shaped destruction at the man who grinned and brought his blade down on it, battling with it for a few seconds before it broke and passed through him, unleashing hell upon his body, creating several lacerations that broke deep into his giant of a body, some deep enough to become critical should they not be treated in time and some meagre where they wouldn't even require a glance.

Such was the power of a getsuga tensho when battled head on.

Even through this, Zaraki Kenpachi continued his mad rush toward the teenager his body still brimming with yellow energy "Kurosaki!" he swung the worn blade down upon his opponent his aim to maim and kill.

"Kenpachi!" quickly bringing his blade to bear he matched Kenpachi in a duel of strength, sparks generating as they battled for dominance.

"Sorry Kenpachi, you lose this one" charging reiatsu to the edge of his blade he condensed it on the edge of his blade causing it to give off a hazy aura.

"Getsuga" he muttered just loud enough for Kenpachi to hear as the man's eyes went wide "shit" he muttered.

"TENSHO!" the roar was drowned out as the area lit up in a column of blue, blinding any person or creature unlucky enough to get within 100 metres of him.

Area change!

Yoruichi yawned as she leaned against a rock, her training was finished and she had nothing to do but wait.

"I wonder where he is. Yoruichi muttered brushing a bead of sweat from her brow.

"SHHHHT"

The sound of groaning metal met her ears as she perked up and looked over at the heavy duty iron door to the training ground "Yoruichi!" she grinned and stood up, disappearing into a sonic boom and appearing before her man and tackling him to the ground and mounting his waist "so, Ichi, how'd it go, did you win?" she questioned as he raised an eyebrow as it to ask "are you serious?" Sighing her replied anyway "yes I did, see, barely a scratch on me" she growled happily, "good, because your fight is with Renji tomorrow and you have to make it convincing" her smirk was predatory "do I have to, he's such an ass" Yoruichi cocked an eyebrow "we need his help for the invasion remember" Ichigo sighed and laid his head against the floor "just let me have my fun, Yoruichi, just for a little bit" her eyes softened at his muttering of words "it's true, someone his age should be out partying and having fun, not fighting for their life and reaping the souls of the wicked" she reached out and cupped his face with one hand "one of the good things you got out of your shinigami deal was us though Ichigo" she smiled as he did so back, however unnoticeable it may be "hmm" he just hummed in agreement and stood up, the neko woman doing so at the same time "I believe it's time to go to bed" he let the exhausted tone leak into his voice as he disappeared suddenly leaving Yoruichi to process it for a few minutes before she grinned cheekily.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" the cry of the woman echoed through the underground cavern and repeated several times until it died down.

With Ishida

Ishida sighed as he limped down the darkened street of one of sereiteis districts, away from the white tower in the distance "guh!" he collapsed against the wall that he had propped himself up against and winced at the throbbing of his right hand "agh!" he cried out in pain as an array of thin needles struck his back, focused mainly on pressure points and the nerve cluster located under his sternum "I-chi-go" he gasped falling to his knees "I-chi" he couldn't say anymore as another needle pricked the back of his neck causing him to collapse as his vision faded and hind fell into the endless oblivion of unconsciousness.

The soft tapping of feet soon sounded as a pair of waraji wearing feet stopped next to the Quincy's head "poor, poor Uryuu san" the soft, melodious voice sounded as the person kneeled next to the boy and hefted him into a bridal carry that was supported by her generous chest "it's not your time to die yet" the person gained a smirk, her usually kind eyes glinting maliciously.

"That's Kurosaki kuns job"

Sorry about the short chapter, I have had little to no inspiration lately when it comes to writing but I've decided to slow down with the writing of chapters because its putting a lot of stress on me so I'm taking my time with it now. I also would like your opinion on something, I was thinking of writing another story in which it would be a self insertion fic that's based in Naruto but with a dark twist, if you could give me your thoughts on whether I should write it I would appreciate it.

Anyway.

See ya!