I do not own Bleach

Chapter 7 Two Years

Ulquiorra looked down at Hinata as she slept peacefully. It had been two years since he had found her on the sand, sleeping the same way she was now. Ever sense nine months ago, she had started sleeping with her sword and she appeared to sleep deeper and better this way as well. She had explained to him about how she had what was called an inner world, and within it there were people, one of which was her sword.

He had been trying for months to be able to do what she did and he had finally been able to recently. It surprised him but when he had woken up he had found that most of his mask was gone and that he had changed appearances as well. He looked more human than he did before. He had become stronger and now had a sword of his own as well; he always wore it. He also found that with his evolvance into an arrancar, he no longer needed to eat hollows. His hunger was gone, the hunger that had eaten at him for well over a hundred years.

He found himself give a smile as she shifted positions. She would be waking up soon. She had grown so much taller; she was now over four feet tall and was nearing his shoulder in height. She had gone to the human world ten times this last year. He always worried about her, but she had always come back safe. She could take care of herself, he would tell himself. Still, if he were to lose her, he knew that he would die another death. The emptiness that was inside him would consume him.

He was looking back up at the moon when she sat up rubbing her eyes.

"Good morning, Hinata," Ulquiorra said without looking down.

"Morning, Ulquiorra!" She jumped on his back and then they sat and watched the moon for several moments.

"Are you going to visit the boy today?"

She sat and concentrated for a moment before nodding and placing her head on top of his. "Yep! He isn't doing well today and seems sadder then he normally does."

He gave an inaudible sigh. She was leaving again. "Be careful, and be back before dark."

She gave one last hug around his neck, "I will be!" and then she was gone.

…

Hinata found Ichigo sitting on his front steps looking at the ground when she arrived. She sat beside him and grabbed his hand. She felt that right now, he just needed her there.

He glanced up at her and gave a small smile before looking down at the ground again.

Hinata could hear his family moving around inside like they were preparing for something. She loved listening to his family when she came. They seemed so nice and warm. When the sounds inside changed, it seemed to her that they were about to leave. It was at this time that Ichigo finally looked up.

"Hinata?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"Me and my family are going to visit my mom's grave, and I was wondering if I could have some alone time with them before I spend time with you?"

Hinata could tell that he felt bad about this, but she also knew that he was taking a big step in wanting to face the hurt that he had inside, so she nodded and stood up.

"Be safe." She waved at him as she walked away. She was sad that he didn't want her to come, but she felt that he needed to do this alone. So she left him alone. She wandered Kaurakura looking for things to do when she felt the appearance of a hollow nearby. Smiling she raced towards it.

This last year, she had taken to killing hollows with the karate skills she had been learning with Ichigo, but this morning she had learned from Nikko a way to hide her sword and she wanted to see if it worked.

The closer she drew she could feel that this one was stronger than the others she had met in the world of the living so far. She rounded the corner to see it standing in the middle of the street; it appeared to be sniffing the air, looking for its next meal. It let out a roar as it found it. She found herself smiling. Reaching back, she pulled her hair pin out. Focusing her spiritual pressure into the small pin, she watched in satisfaction as it grew to the length of a small knife. "Thanks, Nikko," she whispered. With the growth of her sword the hollow seemed to feel her spiritual energy increase and had turned around to face her. It almost seemed to be smiling, letting out a final roar as it charged towards her.

Jumping into the air, she flipped over its head, holding her sword out. She landed behind it laughing, throwing both of her hands in the air. "Tada!" She only held her pose until the hollow had completely dissolved behind her. Once it was gone, she focused her spiritual pressure to once again shrink the knife into a hair pin. She then pulled her hair back, pushing the pin into place. She twirled a couple times to make sure that it didn't come out. Once she was positive it would stay, she stopped. "Sigh, now what am I supposed to do until Ichigo comes back?" She was about to sit down when shafts of yellow light came flying towards her. They slammed into her waist, holding her arms to her sides.

Startled, she looked down. "Wow! It's just like a skirt!" She pulled her hands up in excitement. She swayed for a little and watched the yellow lights sway with her. "It's so pretty!" When she tried to move though, she saw that they started to crack, and after only a few steps they completely shattered. "Noooo!" She tried to grab the pieces of yellow light as they slowly vanished between her hands.

…

A shady individual on a nearby roof top felt his mouth fall open from behind his fan. How could this happen?

He had noticed for about a year that hollows seemed to be going missing from around Ichigo Kurikasi. It had him concerned, and he had been trying to figure it out but he always got there after the hollow had been disposed of. Today, when he had felt a strong hollow arrive, he had hurried to the scene in time to watch a small girl jump over the hollow and had watched in surprise as it vanished as well as her theatrics afterwards.

Quietly he said, "Bakudo 61 Rikujokoro." He watched as the six rods flew towards the girl, pinning her. He was surprised when she easily pulled her arms out with no problem then proceeded to play with them before they broke because they couldn't hold her. He looked closer at the girl and took a step back; she had a mask! It was barely larger than a quarter but he could see the small tell tell signs of it being a mask. He briefly looked away to where he could sense the Kuriokaki boy's spiritual pressure. He seemed to be safe for now. He turned around when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He jumped back several feet when he saw the arrancar girl holding onto his sleeve. Her grip was so tight that he pulled her along with him.

"Oh, you can see me Mister!" She declared happily.

He quickly pulled himself back together. "Why, of course I can see you little arrancar."

Her eyes got big as she started jumping up and down, "You even know what I am! Mister, what are you?"

He didn't let his surprise show in his eyes as he fanned himself, "Why I'm nothing more than a local candy shop owner."

"Are you the one who gave me the yellow lights?"

"Yes, I did."

"Can you give it to me again?"

"Ah…" She wanted it again? She was unlike any arrancar he had ever heard about; she was completely different than any hollow he had ever seen. If he didn't know better, he would have thought she was just a normal human girl. "You want me to give it to you again?'

"Yeah! I really loved the skirt." Her eyes seemed to be sparkling as she spoke.

"Okay. Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six! Bakudo 61 Rikujokoro!"

Her face lit up as the lights flew towards her again. This time, she carefully pulled her arms out so as not to hurt the lights, then carefully swayed and watched them swing. "Thanks Mister! These ones are much better than the last ones you gave me."

"You're welcome."

"I should probably return the favor."

He could see what she was going to do but didn't have a chance to run before she recited the spell and he found himself trapped in Bakudo 61.

"It's pretty, isn't it Mister!?"

As much as he tried, he couldn't break out of it. He would say it was even stronger than his own. "Yes, it is little arrancar." He worked hard to maintain his calm as he tried to figure out how to get out. This must have been her plan from the beginning: to trap him, then kill him.

She giggled and looked up at him. "My name's Hinata, mister, what's yours?"

"Kisuke Urahara. Hinata, can you let me go?" She looked up at him confused. "You trapped me."

"I didn't trap you," she tilted her head.

She didn't understand what he was saying. He thought about it a moment before replying again. "I can't move."

She laughed, "Of course you can, silly." She gave a twirl and the Kido rods bounced around her. "I'll show you." She reached out to grab one of his rods and it shattered in her grip. "Oh no! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to brake it! I can make you another one."

She began the chant to cast another one, but Urahara was able to stop her. "Don't worry about it, Hinata. It doesn't look as good on me as it did on you!"

She stopped and smiled back up at him. Suddenly, she turned her head off to the side. Urahara looked the same way but didn't see anything. "Looks like it is time for me to go, Kisuke! My brother, Ichigo, is looking for me! I'll see you soon!" She gave him a big hug, which shattered the remaining light rods, before vanishing.

Urahara fell to the ground. He felt lost for a moment. Nothing like this had ever happened before. He felt sure that she wasn't harmful though, at least not right now. He would have to keep a close eye on her.

…

Hinata quickly found Ichigo. She jumped on his back causing him to nearly fall over.

"I'm back, Ichigo!"

He turned around and smiled at her. "Welcome back, Hinata."

They spent the rest of the day together just playing around. He had told her he was thankful for the alone time and that it had really helped him to know that she would be there waiting for him when he came back. As the day had progressed, Ichigo had started to tell her about his family. He didn't talk about them often, so she listened with open interest.

When he got to explaining what extended family was, she stopped him.

"Ichigo, what's an Uncle?"

"It's a man who is either your dad's or mom's brother."

Hinata thought about how Kisuke had a similar feel to how Ichigo's dad did; they must be brothers then.

"They also like to spoil their nieces and nephews, maybe giving them gifts and teaching them things."

"Ichigo, I think I have an Uncle!"

He looked a little surprised by this. "Who is your uncle?"

"I met him when you were with your family earlier. He taught me to do this." With that, she stood up and said "Carriage of thunder, bridge of a spinning wheel. With light, divide this into six! Bakudo 61 Rikujokoro!"

Ichigo jumped back when he saw yellow lights appear around her waist. "Isn't it pretty, Ichigo?"

He reached out to touch it and felt a faint shock. "It is very pretty, Hinata," he said with slight awe in his voice. She'd distracted him with her questions, but now he was reminded as she spun that he had a gift for her too. "Actually . . ." he said, "I have something to give you too. I've decided today's your birthday."

"What's a birthday?" Hinata asked, eyes wide.

"It's a day you celebrate once a year and you get presents. Come with me and I'll give you your present."

"Ok!" She bounced to her feet and took his hand, skipping alongside him as he took her back to his house. He ran inside, telling her to wait just a minute, and then came back out holding an odd looking lump in his hands.

Ichigo had wrapped it himself and he was proud of it even if it wasn't pretty. He was so excited to give it to her. When he put it in her hands, she turned it over, squeezing it just like the way Karin and Yuzu did when they got presents.

"Open it," he encouraged her.

She tugged at the purple wrapping paper and then ripped it open. A white dress unfolded in her hands with purple flours sewn around the waist. "Wow! It's so pretty! Can I put it on now?!"

"Hold on," he said, "not out here! Let's go up to my room, and you can change there."

"Stop running through the house!" Yuzu yelled at Ichigo from the other room as he brought Hinata inside.

"Sorry!" he called back, pulling Hinata's hand as he started up the stairs. She just smiled, her new dress held close to her chest, as they made their way to his room. He let her in and then closed the door quietly behind him to give her privacy. Within a minute, a soft knock let him know she was done. He opened the door and watched her spin.

"I love it!" she said, giving him one of her bone crushing hugs. "Thank you, Ichigo!"

"You're welcome, Hinata. Happy birthday."

…

Urarhara had finally gotten home after observing the arrancar girl and Ichigo all day. She seemed innocent enough, but he couldn't let his guard down.

He jumped to his feet when he heard Tessai give a shout in surprise. He saw a blur before he was blown into the wall with Hinata on top of him, giving him a bone crushing hug. "Uncle Kisuke!" she yelled.

He was able to give Tessai, who was looking around the door, a small smile before he blacked out. A moment later, he came to and blinked up at his attacker. A strand of her long orange hair had come loose from her pin and was now tickling his face. He sat up, rubbing his nose so as not to sneeze and shifted her into his lap. "You found me!" he said, surprised.

"Yup!" She smiled and hopped off of his lap. "I wanted to see where Uncle Kisuke lived so I could come back and visit!"

Kisuke shook his head, smiling. She was an arrancar; her very existence should be impossible. He had come to the conclusion that she was different from anything he had ever met before. He was determined to continue watching her.

"Who is he? Is he my uncle too?" Hinata was looking up at Tessai with excitement on her face.

"Ummm . . ." Tessai said, looking to Kisuke. He had noticed the portion of mask on the side of her head too.

"Yes," Kisuke told her, getting to his feet and brushing the dust off his clothes. "He's your uncle, Tessai."

"Yay!" Hinata clapped, then ran to hug Tessai too. "I have a big family now!"

Kisuke smiled, thinking again that she could pass for a normal human child if not for her partial mask and extraordinary abilities. She was spinning in circles around the room now, having recreated the Kido he had taught her. Tessai gave Kisuke another questioning look, but he could only shrug and say, "I'll explain later."

Hinata stopped abruptly, the Kido shattering. She giggled and ran to Kisuke, hugging him again. "I have to go now. I'll come visit soon though!"

"Sure, kid," Kisuke said, patting the top of her head, then watched as she ran off and vanished into the street.