Chapter 2

Kana was surprised when she arrived at the exam center and with only a few cursory questions, was admitted late to take the exam. The exam was taxing and it did not help that captains and lieutenants were wandering in and out of the testing center to watch. By the end of her exam, Kana had quite a crowd of onlookers. As she bowed to the exam instructors, Kana notices the murmurs going through the crowd and flushed with embarrassment. When they released her she practically dashed out of the room.

Kana wandered around in a daze for the rest of the day. She worried about every little detail of the test, reviewing it in her mind, trying to come up with a better way she could have handled things. But she could not think of anything she had done so bad as to earn the comments of the watching soul reapers. That night she could barely sleep. What if she failed the exam? What would she do? Could she go back to her valley? What would become of her? And what was with all the murmuring in the crowd? These questions and more plagued her all night till the ring of her alarm nearly sent her through the roof.

When she was dressed and ready, Kana decided to check her notice slot but there was nothing there. Her anxiety doubled as she checked in periodically throughout the day and it remained empty. Had it ever taken this long before? She tried to think about what the people she talked to had said. Everyone she asked said that they had gotten their exam result the next morning but it was nearly dinner time and there was still nothing in her notice slot.

Kana was headed towards the market to kill some more time when the messenger appeared next to her. He told her to report to a room in a building within the Squad 1 grounds at once then disappeared in a flash step. Kana had mastered flash step months ago and decided to use it now and within moments was standing in front of the designated room. She took a deep breath and pushed open the doors.

The first thing that she noticed was the overwhelming spiritual pressure that pressed down on her after her first step into the room. Fortunately her own spiritual pressure was enough to counter it so that she could still stand straight up and walk but she could tell that it would cause many to fall on their knees immediately. The room was rectangular in shape. One wall was full of huge windows that allowed the light from outside to spill across the bamboo floors while the opposite wall was covered in banners with the emblems of all 13 squads on it. Against the wall opposite to the door was a raised dais with a railing and a row of chairs. Seated in those chairs was none other than the captains from squad 4, 8, 11, and 13. The head captain himself was seated in an almost throne like chair in the middle of them. Kana felt her heat beat faster as she crossed the floor to a circular are in the middle of the room that was slightly higher than the rest. She stood in the center of it, unsure if this was where she was supposed to stand but figured that if she was supposed to be somewhere else someone would have told her so by now. So she stood there, arms by her side, slightly bowed, and waited for someone to speak.

"You have been called here before the council to determine which squad you will be assigned" The head captain thundered, "Your skills have proven to be wide enough so that you would fit in many different squads and based on your records, several different captains requested that you be assigned to their squad. Based on your performance here, I will determine which in which squad you would provide the most benefit." The head thumped his cane on the floor and that seemed to be a signal for the evaluation to begin. Out of nowhere a man attacked Kana from behind. She immediately drew her katana and blocked the man's attack then swung her sword around for an attack of her own. The fight lasted barely a minute before the man was on his back and unconscious, his sword laying yards away. Kana sheathed her sword as she turned back towards the seated captains and bowed.

The expression on the head captains face was one of intense concentration as he looked at the girl in front of him. It had been a long time since he had seen such potential. The big question in his mind right now was what kind of potential was it? Pure power was awakening in the girl and it was crucial at this stage that it be guided into the right channels. The head captain's brows furrowed as he thought about how much she resembled a certain captain who was also in the room right now. 'It couldn't be…..but better to be sure…..' he though with grim determination. He made a mental note to talk to the captain of squad 12 about running some tests. He then refocused on the girl. She had fought well, though she was clearly still a beginner in the finer nuances of battle but she had great instincts. It was time for the next test.

The captain of Squad four, Retsu Unohana, watched Kana work her way through the various tests the head captain had devised to assess her skill. Her heart was beating faster and faster the more she watched. Unohana studies the girls face with an intensity that would have surprised anyone who knew her since she was usually so calm and collected. 'Could it be her?' she thought, 'could it really be my baby girl? The one I lost so many years ago on the aful night…..' A thousand emotions rolled over her as Unohana thought about that dark july night. She wanted so desperately to believe that the child in front of her was indeed her own, but what if Kana was not? Unohana would die if she gave into the hope and then found it crushed again. This had happened several times over the years, Unohana had found a child that resemble her and gotten her hopes up, only to be crumpled under the weight of disappointment when the tests came back negative. She could not go through that again. So she resolved to not think about it again. It was time she got on with her life. So Unohana sat up straighter and leaned forward to watch the girl more closely.

The captain of Squad 13 was also studying the child with unusual intensity but not the same half formed hope as the captain of squad 4. Jushiro Ukitake watched the girls movements carefully, noting the way she seemed to anticipate her opponents movements and counter them with ease. He watched as Kana skillfully solved any puzzle that the head captain threw at her. She would be an asset to his squad, though the resemblance between Kana and Retsu was quite extraordinary, almost as if they were sister, but Retsu did not have sisters so Ukitake knew this to be impossible. But it did unnerve him quite a bit. But he needed a lieutenant and he needed one soon. This girl had the skill and spiritual pressure to fill the position and with a little guidance and experience, she would have the knowledge to fill the position as well.

The captain of squad 11 was leaning forward in his seat, his fingers itching to wield his sword against this new untried opponent. Kana was handling herself beautify and Kempachi could tell that she was not even using her full potential. He would have given his left arm just to have the chance to jump down off this ridiculous dais and spar with the girl but the head captain told Kempachi that if he could not control himself, the head captain himself would escort Kempachi from the room. So Kempachi Zaraki just forced himself to relax a little and watch.

The captain of squad 8 was not having any inner turmoil that the others were battling. It was true that he wanted the girl for his squad, but after seeing her in action and seeing the other captains reaction to her, Shunsui Kyoraku decided that this was not a battle that he wanted to fight. He would keep an eye on the girl though. He was surprised that he had not already been asked to help train the girl since she was a dual wielder and the only other two people in the soul society that wielded dual zampakuto were Jushiro and himself. But he supposed it might be because in its sealed form, Kana's zampakuto was only one sword. Like Jushiro's, Kana's katana only became two separate blades after its shikai release. 'Mmmmm….speaking of Jushiro, I wonder if he has noticed the resemblance between the two of them…' Shunsui sat up a little straighter, something tugging on the back of his mind but when he tried to figure out what it was, it kept slipping away.

When the last test had been completed, Kana stood in front of the seated captains sweating and still nervous. She had tried her best at everything but was not totally sure what they were looking for. She had hoped to be assigned to a squad after graduating the academy but had never given any thought as to which of the 13 squads she would want to be assigned to. She had never imagined that she might be sought after by multiple captains. Now that she thought about it, she knew that she did not want to be assigned to squad 4. It was true that her healing abilities were above average and she was interested in the subject, but she wanted to fight. She did not know much about squad 8 but she was not too thrilled about what she had heard about their captain. Squad 11 would not be bad since the captain was a fighter and she would certainly grow stronger in that squad. But now that she was thinking about it, she hoped that she would get assigned to squad 13. The captain was a dual wielder like herself so she would be able to continue her training with someone who would really be able to help her. The captain was also of a more serious nature so that was another plus. But the big draw was the empty lieutenant's seat. If Kana got assigned to that squad then she would be one step closer to being able to attain a higher rank than if she got assigned to another squad. But Kana doubted that she would be given any choice in the matter so she just stood there in front of the dais, waiting for someone to decide on her future.

The head captain was concerned. The girl was going to be hard to place. Kana obviously had talent for both healing and fighting but seemed to have a greater desire to fight so squad 4 was out of the question. Squad 8 was not much of an option either, since Shunsui would not be much of a guide to the child. But should he put her in squad 11 or squad 13. Squad 13 would be a good choice since Jushiro would help the girl develop her skills and guide her along the right path to a steady future, not to mention this girl might make a good lieutenant for him. However, Jushiro was often sick and was forced to leave his squad to the guidance of others and that could be dangerous if Kana was given too much free time to get into trouble. Squad 11 would also be a good option since Kana would be given plenty of opportunity to develop her fighting skills and based on the way that Kempachi was eyeing the girl, he doubted that she would be given too much downtime unless she was too injured to fight. But the thought of giving this frail looking girl over to the blood thirsty squad 11 did not fell right. The head captain knew that the child could handle herself, he had just seen proof, but it still rubbed him the wrong way. 'What should I do with you child? You would do good anywhere but where would you flourish the most?' the head captain thought with a growing sense that no matter where he put Kana, she might still cause problems down the road. But she would be worth all the trouble she would cause, that was just as obvious…..

Ok, so after this chapter I am going to transition away from Kana and put more of the focus of the story on Unohana and Ukitake. Hopefully you enjoyed reading this and please review!