Fate's Twisted Whims
a Bleach fanfiction
Written by: Sakura Onna
disclaimer:
Sakura-Hime: Will you do the honors this time, Sakura?
Sakura: You're gonna make me even if I say no aren't you?
Sakura-Hime: -_- Not this time. It's your choice.
Sakura: O.o Are you feeling okay?
Sakura-Hime: -_- Yeah.
Byakuya: O.o You sure about that?
Sakura-Hime: Yeah -_- Just feel like being nice to you guys for a change.
Byakuya: O.o" (whispers to Sakura) Did she get a hold of something?
Sakura: (whispers back) No. I heard from Ryuku-kun that she got in a fight with a friend about two weeks ago, and that they aren't friends any more now because of it.
Byakuya: Oh. =(
Sakura: (continues to whisper) Yeah it does make sense with how she's been lately.
Byakuya: (whispers back) She maybe a little mean now and then but that isn't enough to warrant dumping her as a friend. She maybe a little mercenary once in a while but for the most part she's super loyal to her friends and would gladly fight to protect them.
Sakura-Hime: That's enough you two! Quit messing my private life up with what should be public information!
Byakuya: =( Just trying to show you got people you can talk to that wouldn't think bad of you for it.
Sakura: (looking concerned) Yeah. You been different lately.
Sakura-Hime: Shut up!!!! I'll do the damn disclaimer myself!!!!! I don't own jack from the Bleach universe except for Ryuku, the Hideyoris, and all the other ocs in this story!!!!!!!!
A/N: Just to warn everyone in advance this is a chapter back before the fire that left Sakura orphaned and is in third person. This is back before Sakura is old enough to form many permanent memories and before the youngest of the Hideyoris, Ranmaru, was born. I was in a bit of a mood to write a holiday special and this was the only one of my stories I could try that with. I will give a little bit of a spoiler with this but I'm in the mood to get some of the relationships between some of the older shinigami and the Hideyori family actually out there. And no I didn't feel like doing a one shot for this.
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Chapter ?: Hideyori Christmas
Jushiro Ukitake and Shunsui Kyoraku sat watching their best friend and fellow captain, Tadakatsu Hideyori's, three children run around the garden in the fresh snow. The eldest, the only boy so far, Hiei was going wild and dumping arm loads of snow on his little sisters. Sakura squealed in protest when Hiei put a handful down the back of her kimono and ran over to the two watching captains to try to use them as human shields. Sakura crawled into Ukitake's lap and clung to his captain's haori forcing him to move his tea mug out of the way prompting Kyoraku into a fit of laughter at the startled look on Ukitake's face. Yume looked at Sakura and was surprised abit at just how small their little sister was still, even though if she was a mortal she would be about five years old, Sakura didn't even reach Ukitake's throat with the top of her head. A wave of anger at Hiei's picking on the smallest member of the family swept through Yume and she threw a bunch of snowballs at her brother's head on Sakura's behalf. Hiei chucked a snowball right back at her and pegged her in the shoulder.
As the snowball fight erupted between the older children Kyoraku and Ukitake talked over the top of Sakura's head.
"So what do you think Tadakatsu's next one's going to be, Ukitake?" Kyoraku asked casually then took a sip from his sake cup.
Ukitake glanced at his long time friend from the corner of his eye, "I'm not sure. What do you think your younger sibling is going to be, Sakura-chan?" a small smile tugged at his lips as the little girl tilted her head back to look up at him. Sakura had her father's deep blue expressive eyes and her mother's light brown hair, and her eyes were showing surprise at being asked her opinion. Ukitake knew that Tadakatsu generally did his best to keep the girl silent and was trying to suppress the intelligent mind the child had from independent thought. Ukitake also knew that Tadakatsu didn't think well of his youngest daughter even though she showed such great potential.
"I think Mommy's gonna have a boy, Take-nii-san..." Sakura said slowly carefully watching Ukitake closely for his reaction.
Ukitake's smile widened and he ruffled her long hair to show approval of her answer," Is that so, Sakura-chan? Well I think you have a very good chance at being right."
Kyoraku rolled his eyes, "Come on, Ukitake. You know you don't have to patronize the girl like that. Tadakatsu's just gonna put her back in that quiet state of hers the moment he returns and finds her talking freely again. Besides with two girls in a row I have to say that the one on the way is more than likely a girl as well."
Anger flared in Ukitake at Kyoraku's words. "If you're that strong in your belief that Tadakatsu and Ai are going to have another daughter then why don't we make things interesting."
Kyoraku choked a bit on the sake he was just starting to swallow. After his fit of coughing subsided he looked at Ukitake incredulously, "Are you proposing a bet?! That's not like you, Ukitake."
"If you're going to talk down about Sakura-chan then yes. I don't want to see her turned into a robot by her father so I'm going to do everything I can think of to encourage her to be opinionated and to think for herself." Ukitake said fiercely. "How can you even turn your back on the favoritism he shows?"
"Sake helps," Kyoraku said jokingly to poke fun at Ukitake's uptight mood. "Come on, Ukitake. Tada ain't your old man. Besides it's his business how he raises his kids. Relax for a change. I mean you got the kid in question in your lap right now and you being so up tight at the moment can't be that good for her. Aren't ya gonna give 'er that thing you got from the human world for 'er? :hick:"
"You're already drunk, you know that?"
Sakura stared at the grown men as they argued. She had know them for as long as her young mind could remember and they had always argued over different things. Her father tended to come up at multiple points in them. Sakura couldn't quite understand everything they talked over but she could clearly understand that Kyo-nii-san had said something about Take-nii-san getting her a gift from the world of the living. What could he have gotten her from there that couldn't be gotten here? Was it a doll? Candy? A book with a bunch of pictures in it again? A writing set? Some small trinket? A stone? A plant? Curiousity made her eyes big and round. She wanted to know what he got her! Sakura's small hands grabbed part of one of the sleeves of Ukitake's captain haori and she tugged on it to get his attention.
"Take-nii-san!" Sakura tugged on his sleeve again, her deep blue eyes glittered with her excitement and curiousity. Ukitake's brown eyes looked down at her in question.
"Yes, Sakura-chan?
"What did you get from the world of the living that Kyo-nii-san was talking about?"
Ukitake gave a small laugh and smiled. He reached into the sleeve Sakura hadn't been tugging on and pulled out a small box with colorful paper wrapping on it, "Well, why would I say what it is and ruin the surprise? Granted Shunsui did a decent job of that himself....."
Sakura squealed in excitement and grabbed for the box only to have it pulled out of her reach causing her to face plant on the floor. "Whoa! Wait a little bit. Do you know why I got you this gift, Sakura-chan?"
"No." Sakura pouted as she raised her face from the floor.
"In the world of the living there is a holiday around this time of the year called Christmas. On it good little boys and girls are given presents. When I was last sent to the world of the living and heard of it I thought you fit that category quite well and earned yourself a Christmas present."
Sakura looked up at Ukitake with doubtful eyes then looked at the present with longing," Can I have it now, Take-nii-san, or am I going to have to wait for Daddy to come home first?"
Ukitake sighed then handed her the present which she proceeded to tear into. "Tadakatsu is making you grow up faster than you should, Sakura-chan."
Sakura dug into the colorful wrapping paper and pieces of it started to fly everywhere attracting the attention of Yume and Hiei. Soon the box was bare of its wrappings and Sakura turned it this way and that trying to figure out how to open it. Hiei, with his short, spiky, jet black hair and olive green eyes, crept up to the veranda on which Ukitake, Kyoraku, and Sakura sat trying to get a better look at what his little sister had in her hands and getting himself to a place that would make it easier to snatch it from her if it caught his fancy. Yume, with her long reddish-brown hair and blue-green eyes, moved to a position that would allow her to block Hiei if he tried to steal Sakura's gift. The box itself was simple in design and made of carved cherry wood with a flower and tree design carved into it. It was a small jewelry box big enough for a few necklaces or bracelets. Sakura oblivious to her older siblings proximity found the catch on the box and pressed it. Inside the box at the bottom lay a small chain with a few charms on it. Sakura lifted the chain out and examined the charms, one was a cherry blossom fully in bloom, another a snowflake with a glittery stone in the middle, another was a tree without flower nor leaf as if caught in the dead of winter, and the fourth was completely made of the glittery stone and carved in the likeness of a tiger. Sakura and her siblings' eyes were wide in wonder as they looked upon the gift. The chain was much too small to be a necklace and too big to possibly stay on Sakura's slender wrist so it couldn't be a bracelet.
"What is it, Ukitake-san?" Yume asked voicing her younger sister's question. "It can't be a necklace because it's too small and it can't be a bracelet because it's too big for her."
"It's an anklet, Yume-chan." Ukitake took the anklet from Sakura and clasped it around her right ankle. Sakura twisted her foot this way and that to look at it. "It's meant to be worn like that."
"Anything for me and Yume, Ukitake-taicho or are you going to be a fascist and only give something to the runt?" Hiei glared at the older male almost daring him to say so.
Kyoraku barked out a laugh and slapped the boy's back pitching him forward a bit, "First off, Hiei-kun, that is the wrong context to use fascist in, and second only those deemed to be good and nice children get presents at this time of year. You don't really fall into that category with how much you pick on your sisters in Ukitake's book so he didn't get you anything."
Ukitake glared at Kyoraku, "Thanks alot, Shunsui! Be glad that you aren't going to get any of the traditional ways bad children are treated, Hiei-kun. Depending what part of the world you look at there are different things that happen to the naughty ones. In some parts all they get is a lump of coal, another they get their bottoms smacked with a switch, and in some parts it is even said that there is a spirit that will carry off the naughty children and they will never be seen again."
"Humph. It that was the case, you, Shunsui, and Tadakatsu would have been carried off years ago, Jushiro. With the way the three of you were back at the Academy you would have all ended up on that list." The deep old voice of the head captain as he stepped on to the verandah with a thump of his staff. "What one of you couldn't think of the other two did I swear."
"Ojii-san!" Sakura raced forward and wrapped both arms around head captain Yamamoto's legs a huge grin spread across her face. She let go of his legs and twisted her right leg to show off her new anklet. "Look what Take-nii-san gave me!"
A deep laugh rumbled in Yamamoto's chest at the small girl's excitement and energy. "A very nice gift."
Ai hedged at the doorway to the house watching her children and her husband's friends talk and interact. Her olive green eyes were troubled. Sakura was rather bold and friendly when it came to the three captains sitting on the verandah with her and her siblings. The child seemed to fit into the shinigami relations much too easily for Ai's liking. She had allowed her son to enter the Academy and start training to be a member of the thirteen court guard squads because it was expected that Hiei would follow in his father's footsteps and that it would teach him more discipline, but she would never allow another of her children to go there. Things were hard enough with her husband always coming and going because of his duties to his squad and leaving her and their children without him. Ai would rather die before she'd see either of her daughters enter that dangerous line of work. She couldn't count the number of times she had lain awake at night worried that something had happened to Tadakatsu or her son. She didn't want either of her daughters to be wed off to a shinigami either. She didn't want them to know her constant worry and fear for her husband and son. Ai knew though that Tadakatsu had other plans though. He was already trying to nagotiate with various noble families that were of higher standing than theirs and had sons that were members of the thirteen court guard squads to marry Yume. Ai was also very aware of Tadakatsu's extreme and irrational dislike of their younger daughter and of the buises on Sakura's back from him. Ai knew of the not so rare beatings the child got but knew as well she had not the power to make him stop. How Sakura could still act fairly normal and be so open and trusting was beyond her. Ai placed her hand on her swollen belly over her unborn child. She feared for this child as well and hoped it was a son as that might help with Tadakatsu's behavior toward their daughters. She hoped he would mellow toward them and not be so harsh.
"Mommy, are you okay?" Sakura tugged on her mother's skirt as she asked staring up with concerned eyes so like the color of her father's.
Ai just nodded and pasted a false smile on her face and joined the group to play the role she had done countless times in her marriage, that of the happy housewife and hostess to her guests, like the expert actor she had become.
Yamamoto watched Ai with a critical eye as she made pleasant talk with everyone and how she interacted with her children. He had often found himself thinking of Ukitake, Kyoraku and Tadakatsu as if they were his own sons and by extension he found himself thinking of Tadakatsu's family as if they were his own. He noticed how Ai was careful of Sakura's back when she was near the child and the girl's winces of discomfort when any one touched her back. They weren't that noticable but the keen and observant eyes of the old man caught each and every one. Was Tadakatsu's anger issues being directed at the girl? She didn't have any visable injures but, knowing Tadakatsu the way he did, he wouldn't be careless enough to make it that obvious. Yamamoto could sense the strength of Sakura's spirit and knew she would have a great deal of spiritual power when she was older, perhaps more than enough to become a captain. If she learned how to control her strength she would be a good shinigami if she chose that path. He knew if Ukitake could he'd instantly take in the girl as his own. It didn't take a genious to see that. Yamamoto had seen clearly that Ukitake had treasured Sakura as if she was his own daughter or younger sister from the day she was born. Yamamoto couldn't say much either, the girl was like a granddaughter to him. . .
If they had known then that this day would fade from her memory as Sakura grew older dispair may have spread through all their hearts. Yamamoto, Ukitake and Kyoraku always remembered the younger daughter of their friend every day. When the fire destroyed the Hideyori home and there was no sign that any one had survived besides a few of the lucky servents their greif was great. Some of them looked for a while for the bright eyed girl they loved but eventually gave up hope that she had survived. Those three weren't the only ones that felt that grief though. There was another that had only met her once that fell into the same deep pit. He eventually married but he never really forgot those deep blue eyes and light brown hair.
A/N: I know this isn't quite the fluffiest of writing but I hope it showed the relationships of some the shinigami and family members clearly enough and brings the personallity of some of the Hideyori characters more to life a bit. This is my semi-dark holiday gift to all of you who read this that's a couple days late. I hope you liked it! Whether you did or didn't please leave me a review though! Anyone can leave one not just members of FF so there is really no excuse for you not to. I would like to hear from as many people as possible. And animechick247 I will do my best to get at least a little Byakuya moment in the next chapter for you so don't give up hope! I will still try to find spots for reader suggested moments or character appearences so give me your thoughts! Also anyone that can guess the meaning of any of the charms on Sakura's anklet gets a batch of cookies!
Til next chapter!
~Sakura-Hime