Disclaimer: I do NOT own Bleach in any way! All copyrights go to Tite Kubo.

Author's Note: It's the first of July (Happy Canada Day! xD) and I'm back with another update for The Next Greatest Treasure. Special thanks goes to my dear reviewers: tlg, Samantha, Peanutbutter Princess8, Amiru-chan, AznInvasionGirl, MoonLightView, icyangel27, RebelAngel912190, satomika, KnowledgeandImagination, cool!, Neko-cheung, iamkiley, becomeafan, lil'sayuri-chan, applestoapples, chococat450, serenity095, SMILES208, and Kaye. Shirogane. Without any further delays, here is chapter two. Enjoy!

LEGEND

"Talking." "Thinking."

The Next Greatest Treasure

Chapter Two: Hi no Tori

The intruder did not answer her question. Instead, the person raised his hand up towards its face to see the object in his possession. After taking a close look at it, Momo gasped. The item in the thief's custody is none other than one of her family's greatest treasures that have been passed down from generation to generation: her family heirloom. "Give it back!" she exclaimed. "It's not yours!"

Soon, the figure's eyes are fixated on hers. Without any hesitation, it took out three long and thin acupuncture needles from the inside of its sash and held it with a single hand. Just as the intruder is about to launch an attack on the Princess of Seireitei, Captain Hitsugaya quickly stood in front of Momo. He drew his long sword from its sheath on his back and held it diagonally in front of him. As a result, he successfully blocked against her assault and saved Hinamori from harm. "Toshiro," the peach girl said as she watched him lower his guard.

With one glance at the raven haired girl, he said, "I'll take care of this matter."

Raising a hand up to her chest, she had no other choice, but to trust him. Besides, dealing with thievery issues are his specialty. Momo slowly nodded with agreement. "Okay, be careful."

"Don't worry; I will be alright once all this is over." Upon noticing the invader is escaping from the broken window, the young Captain of the Royal Guard exclaimed and began chasing after the person, "Wait!"

The princess let out a sigh and suddenly remembered something. "It's winter right now; will Toshiro be alright fighting in cold conditions?"

"Another success for me," he said, showing a grin under his mask. "Not even a week passed by and already I got a large handful of goods. Who would have thought that stealing from the Hinamori Palace would be so easy?"

Without any warning, something flew by from the right side of his head. Just as he was stopped in his tracks, the thief glanced back to see the white haired captain chasing after him. He let out a small hiss.

"He's quite daring to be risking his life to capture me in these conditions." A grin suddenly formed on his lips. "Oh well, let's see how long he can pursue me."

Noticing the changed expression on his face, Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes, suspecting that the thief has come up with a way to flee from the palace grounds. All of a sudden, he watched the intruder approach to the end of the roof and leaped into the air. During the process, he placed his arms close to his chest did a double full body twist. When he landed on the next rooftop safely, he continued running.

"Quite impressive; I would give him that much," Toshiro thought before a faint smirk appeared on his face. "However, wait until you see what I can do."

With that, he raised both hands above his head and picked up his running pace. By the time he is almost at the end of the roof, the young captain used his momentum to implant the palm of his hands on the snow covered tiles and did a handstand. From there, he used the power in his arm muscles to send his body in to the air. Along the way, he held his knees close to his chest and did several front midair rolls. When Hitsugaya reached to the next rooftop, he let go of his legs and landed safely. He then bent his knees and using his right leg, he slid on the snow and thin ice across the roof in hopes of catching the intruder. Luck is on his side.

Just as he is about seven meters away from his opponent, Hitsugaya put his right hand under the left side of his haori and took out three kunais. Trapped between his fingers, he held them close to his left cheek and then launched them towards the thief.

The sky blue eyed intruder took a short glimpse back and noticed the attacks coming in his direction. He stopped running. Using the weight shift on his toes, he quickly turned around and drew his ninjato. With the weapon in his possession, he used to knock all the kunais away.

By the time he resumed his attention to the white haired captain, he is already a mere arm's length from catching him. The thief's eyes widened with surprise. "Im-Impossible! How is he able to catch up especially in these snowy and icy conditions? No, that's not it; he's being too reckless and might hurt himself!"

Just as they are about to crash into one another, at the last second, Hitsugaya once again leaped into the air and flew over his head. Before he knew it, an arm is hooked around his neck. Suddenly, his body is pulled back until he felt the cold touch of his opponent's sword against the side of his neck. "There is no use escaping from me," Toshiro said into his right ear. "Give up and hand over the princess' family heirloom, thief."

"He's definitely no ordinary guard," he thought. Suddenly, a grin appeared on his face (under his mask). "I'm glad to see that there is someone here who can entertain me."

"Entertain you? I think you're sadly mistaken." Without any warning, Toshiro placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him away. By the time the intruder stopped and glanced back, he found the white haired captain in possession of the treasure he has stolen from the palace. "I think it's the other way around."

His sky blue eyes narrowed, knowing now that he is quite the advisory.

"State your name, thief."

The intruder drew his sword back into its sheath on his back. He replied, "Where I come from, people call me Hi no Tori. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hi no Tori, huh?" the white haired captain thought. "My name is Hitsugaya Toshiro, one of the two Captains of the Royal Guard. Be lucky that I'm letting you go for today, but if our paths are to ever cross once more, I'll make sure to send you to the dungeon."

"That's quite the interesting statement you said there, Captain Hitsugaya."

All of a sudden, both fighters heard a sound. Upon turning their heads to the side, they found themselves ambushed by a rainfall of arrows. While Hi no Tori did a giant leap back, Toshiro did not move a muscle. As a matter of fact, his focus is on the thief as arrows landed around him. The black clothed thief felt a mysterious pressure from him as if he's some sort of hawk ready to catch its prey. As another set of arrows rained from the sky, he had no other choice, but to escape empty-handed. The fifteen year old captain silently watched him flee from the scene.

He let out a sigh of relief. He managed to get Momo's stolen treasure back without too much trouble. Hitsugaya carefully slid to the edge of the roof and jumped onto the lower elevated rooftops. By the time he landed on the ground safely, the young captain is soon surrounded by members of the Royal Guard. "Hitsugaya-taicho, are you hurt?" one of them asked.

"It's alright; I managed to get out of the battle unharmed," he replied.

"I'm glad to hear that none of the arrows that my subordinates and I didn't hit you at all," said a voice.

Heads turned to the side to see Gin, Renji, Hisagi, and Kira approaching them and joining the conversation. The lower ranked guards quickly placed their hands on their sides and bowed to them. "Ichimaru-taicho and the Trio Knights!"

Toshiro, on the other hand, gave the gray haired teenager a stern look. "Yes, I'm glad to know that I'm still as active as ever despite the passing six months. But then again, you guys have pretty accurate aiming at your target."

"Who was that person exactly?" Kira asked.

Hitsugaya didn't answer right away. Instead, he turned his body to face the direction where the intruder made his escape. Upon placing his hands into his kimono sleeves, he answered, "He calls himself Hi no Tori."

"Hi no Tori?" Hisagi questioned.

"Do you have any idea who he is?" Renji asked.

"I don't know his identity, but I've heard rumours about him," Toshiro replied.

"I see."

"Now the big question is who the better thief is?" Ichimaru asked.

The Trio Knights and Captain Hitsugaya gave him a stern look. "Isn't that obvious?" Renji said. "Since Hitsugaya-taicho managed to retrieve Hinamori's family heirloom from Hi no Tori, Aisu no Ryu is the better thief."

"Better thief or no better thief, it doesn't matter anymore," the Royal Guard Captain commented. "I retired from being the great notorious thief, remember? There is no reason for me to steal anything."

"What if Hinamori-chan asks you to steal?" Gin suddenly asked with an amused grin on his face.

In response, Toshiro shot him a glare and retorted, "I'm ready to cut that throat of yours at any moment, Ichimaru."

"Hai."

"Let's head back inside and bring the news to Momo. I'm sure she's wondering what has been going on outside."

"Yes and good thing I sent Ran-chan back inside to guard the princess or else she might try to do something reckless again."

Hitsugaya let out a sigh. To a certain extent, his point is valid. "Enough with the dawdling; let's go."

"Sheesh, even to someone like me, you're so commanding."

"Oh, shut up..."

"We're back," Gin sang as he, Hitsugaya, and the Trio Knights entered the throne room to find Matsumoto and Princess Hinamori safe and sound. "What's even better is none of us are seriously hurt."

Momo let out a silent sigh of relief. She is glad to hear and see that her boyfriend and her comrades are alright. The peach girl turned to Toshiro and asked, "Were you able to get it back?"

Taking the sacred heirloom from the inside of his kimono, the white haired captain handed it over to his girlfriend. "Yeah, it wasn't that hard to take it away from the thief," he replied. "However, I let him get away."

"Oh, do you think he will strike again?"

"Probably, but don't worry...we'll know how to deal with him by that time."

"Apparently, Hitsugaya-kun knows quite a few things about the thief, Hi no Tori," Ichimaru explained.

She gave the younger teenager a worried look. "Are you certain that you know him?"

"There are still a few things I need to confirm. So, I will be taking a trip back to Rukongai to gather some information."

"I see; should I come with you?"

"I don't see why not," Gin commented happily.

Toshiro gave him a stern look, having a pretty good idea why he's allowing the princess to stay at his side. He turned his attention to his friend from Rukongai. "Matsumoto, you're coming with us."

The strawberry orange haired woman gave him a nod of agreement. "I understand."

"In the meantime, Abarai, Kira, and Hisagi shall be with Ichimaru and the other guards should be resuming to doing their usual tasks as if Hi no Tori never invaded the palace in the first place, am I clear?"

"Hai Hitsugaya-taicho," Izuru replied.

"Yes, clear as crystal Hitsugaya-kun," Gin answered with his trademark smile.

With a nod of agreement, he focused his attention to the Princess of Seireitei. "Are you ready to go Momo?"

She nodded with agreement. "Let's go."

Not long after, the young captain, the princess, and the female Royal Guard member all left the palace walls to make their way to the hometown of Hitsugaya Toshiro and Matsumoto Rangiku, West Rukongai.

"Now when was the last time we've been here?" the strawberry orange haired woman asked as they are walking through the streets. "It seemed like forever..."

"We were here about two months ago," Toshiro replied. "At the time, we were only here to rebuild the land and unite the people with the Seireitei people. This time, we're here to gather information about Hi no Tori."

"You're so stingy, Hitsugaya! Can't we have some fun first before we do our jobs?"

"Sure you do that," he exaggerated. "In the meantime, I'll take Momo with me to get that information we need. Besides, what if he infiltrates the palace again?"

"You just have to do what you usually do: be the hero and kick his butt!"

Hitsugaya immediately gave her a stern look. "The last thing I want is to get involved again like what happened this morning. It also involves scenarios that are far worse than that."

The female swordsman folded her arms over her chest and pouted, "Fine then, be boring!"

"Matsumoto, I'm warning you..."

"Well well, look what we have here?" asked a voice. "Rangiku-chan, are you causing the little shorty some trouble again?"

Toshiro and Rangiku turned their heads to the side to see a pair of familiar faces approaching them. The young captain shot him a glare. "Don't call me shorty, old man. I hate being called that."

He is a tall man with gray eyes and wavy brown haired that is tied into a low ponytail while leaving long bangs on the left side of his face. He also has facial features around his mouth and on the sides of his cheeks. For his clothes, he wore a straw hat, a pink flowered ladies kimono, which is draped across his shoulders on his gray one. Furthermore, he wore a pair of beige sandals, a long light blue obi sash, and twin expensive pin-wheel hairpins on his ponytail. "Hn, I don't remember you saying that."

An eye twitched. "Uruse..."

"Now Kyoraku, enough picking on lil'Shiro," his companion said, trying to stop the minor conflict. "Anyway, it's nice to see you both again after a fairly long while."

The other man is also tall and appears slightly emaciated. This time, he has long white hair and dark brown eyes. He wore a maroon coloured kimono with a dark faded blue sash tied around his waist and a pair of beige sandals. Hitsugaya then glared at the other man. "Don't call me that either, Ukitake. It's Hitsugaya."

"Um," Momo said. "Who are you two?"

Before either Toshiro or Rangiku could say anything, the brown haired man quickly took hold of her hand. He leaned over and gave the top skin surface a soft kiss from his lips. When he raised his head to look up at her, he smiled. Hinamori blushed with a sudden shyness. "Oh you must be the beautiful Princess of Seireitei. How rude of me; my name is Kyoraku Shunsui. It's a pleasure to meet you in person for the first time."

"Y-Yeah, same here..."

Without any warning, Hitsugaya drew his sword from his back and quickly came up from behind. After taking hold of his left wrist with his own, using his other hand, pointed his blade across the front of his neck. Momo gasped with surprise while Matsumoto made a semi-surprised look on her face. At the same time, the long white haired Rukongai Citizen went all panicky and tried to settle them down. Hinamori suddenly called out his name. "T-Toshiro!"

"Ky-Kyoraku! Hitsugaya!" Ukitake exclaimed.

In a dark voice, the white haired captain warned the man, "Don't you dare flirt with Momo or else I'm going to kill you."

"Daijobou Hitsugaya, I'm not going to actually make a move on her," Shunsui explained. "I know enough to figure out that she's your girlfriend and future wife. Now, settle down and put away that sword of yours."

After staring at the straw hat man for a few moments, he finally put down his sword and put it away back into its sheath on his back. The others let out sighs of relief that no violence happened. Putting his hands onto his sleeves, Hitsugaya turned to his princess and explained, "Do mind Kyoraku; he has a tendency to flirt with girls. As for Ukitake, there's nothing really much to look out for."

The long haired man gave Hinamori a short bow. "It's nice to meet you; I'm Ukitake Jushiro."

Momo nodded with agreement. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Yare yare, do you really have to say that?" Kyoraku asked Hitsugaya.

"Yes," he quickly replied.

"You're so cold."

"Uruse, I already have enough annoying people pestering me about stuff."

It is when Matsumoto pointed a finger at herself and asked, "Wait, does that include me too?"

Hitsugaya gave her a short glance before closing his eyes and shrugging his shoulders. "Who knows..."

"You're so mean!"

"Anyway, let's get to business; I need to gather information about a certain person."

"Okay, who would that be?" Jushiro asked.

"Hi no Tori."

It is when Ukitake looked at Kyoraku and then back to Hitsugaya. The brown haired man placed his hand on the edge of his straw hat and lowered it. He replied, "Well, isn't this quite the serious case?"

"Let's head over to the usual spot and we'll talk about it over some mitarashi dango (a Japanese dumpling covered with a syrup made from soy sauce, sugar, and starch)."

"Now, that's a good idea!" Rangiku answered excitedly. "It has been a while since I've ate some food from our hometown."

"I also heard that they are selling some nice sake," Kyoraku said.

"Really? Then, there's more reason to go there! Let's go!"

As the group of teenagers and adults started walking to their destination, Hitsugaya said, "Oi, I told you before to not drink sake while we're on duty!"

"Hn, whatever you say..."

"MATSUMOTO!"

References

Hi no Tori - Fire Bird, Taicho - Captain, Aisu no Ryu - Ice Dragon; Hitsugaya's codename as the notorious thief, Hai - Yes, Uruse - Shut Up

Author's Note: After six months of retirement, Hitsugaya's still as skilled as ever in battle. (So cool!) Anyway, with the help of their Rukongai allies, Kyoraku and Ukitake, hopefully they'll be able to get more information about Hi no Tori. Stay tuned for the next update. In the meantime, please review! Thanks.