I do not own Bleach.

~outside Central 46 compound~

Shunsui watched the silent compound from under his straw hat. There were no guards posted and it was silent. He tipped his hat down to give the signal for 2nd squad to make their move. Only the sound of metal cutting metal was heard before the deed was done. He looked back at the door to see it open and the security doors cut to pieces.

Silent and tense moments followed before the lean form to the 2nd squad Taihcou stood before him. Sui Feng dropped an unconscious shinigami at the soutaichou's feet before giving her report. "No one is alive down their. And they have all been dead for at least a few days. Same as last time." Sui Feng cursed how easily Central 46 could be taken down. "We found this one hiding in one of the rooms. Seems he was the one giving out orders to us."

"Any trace of Aizen Sosuke?" Shunsui asks hope for an answer and hoping for nothing.

Sui Feng glared at the man at her feet. "We found a distorted device with him. Seems he sabotaged whatever he was using to contact Aizen." She crossed her arms and looked back up at the Soutaichou. "Shall I interrogate him for information."

Shunsui turned around and faced the Commander of the Onmitsukido, Shihoin Yorichi. "Find out what he knows." Yorichi nodded as she walked passed the Soutaichou. Shunsui sighed as he heard the whoosh of shunpo behind him. He knows he just sentenced a man to a terrible death, but it had to be done. He had to protect the Gotei 13.

"Looks like Aizen is still plotting and scheming." Shunsui looked over towards his long time best friend. "I must say that I'm not all that surprised that he attack the Central 46 again." Jushiro frowned as he walked up to his friend. "I thought they had better security this time?"

"They did. But apparently that didn't help much." Shunsui looked over his shoulder as stretchers were being carried out of the compound. "Looks like Inoue-Taichou is going to be busy for a while."

Both men turned from the bodies and began walking away from the scene. They walked in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

~several hours later~

Shunsui stood at the head of a tall and long hall. The bright red of the wood around him almost gave it a warm feel, but the gravity of the hall squashed that.

He looked at all of the Taichous lined up in two rows in front of him. Their respective Fukutaichou's kneeling behind them. They were just waiting on the commander of the Onmitsukido and the Taichou of 2nd squad.

The large doors opened and two women walked in. The hall was silent, not even their footsteps made a sound as they walked up to the platform Shunsui was standing on. Both woman gave a respectful bow.

"What did you find out?" Shunsui wanted to get this over with. The more information they knew the better prepared they could be.

Yorichi crossed her arms and frowned. "Nothing. He only confirmed what we guessed. Aizen was giving him instructions from Hueco Mondo and he killed the Central 46 before he left."

Shunsu ground his teeth together. Aizen was being careful this time around. "Thank you for the report."

Yorichi and Sui-Feng bowed again before returning to their places in line. Sui-Feng to the front of her line as Taichou of 2nd squad and Yorichi to the end of the same line as Commander of the Onmitsukido.

Shunsui took a deep breath before he proceeded. "Now on to the final business of this meeting. Since Central 46 is no longer functioning, war time orders are now in place and that means all power falls to me. Which means we can finally take action. And first action I am taking is organizing a new squad, Squad 14."

The large red doors opened once more and two figures walked into the room. Love smiled as he walked towards the platform, feeling some nostalgia from the last time he did this. Starrk walked beside him with an almost bored expression, he wasn't used to such formalities. Both men wore a hoard over their uniforms. Love was the traditional white, while Starrks was inverted in colors.

Shunsui smiled at the two men. "14th squad is split into two segments, Vaizard and Arrancar. And each segment have a Taichou and Fukutaichou. And once Hueco Mondo is free of Aizen, the Arrancar segment will move its base of operations to Hueco Mondo. Till then, they will be here." Shunsui saw everyone nod and accept the new addition to the Gotei 13...Gotei 14 now.

Shunsui looked at the two men again. "I will be expecting your decision on your Fukutaichous by the end of the week." He got a nod from both men. "Alright. That concludes business for the day. You're all dismissed."

Sakura sighed as she walked through the halls of Shin'o Academy. Her mother had taken her here and they had given her a test to see where she would fit in best. She looked back down at her schedule while balancing her books in her arms. She had a mix of years for her classes. 1st year History and Calligraphy, 4th year Hakuda and Hoho, 3nd year Zanjutsu, 5th year Kido, and all 3rd year theory classes.

Sakura sighed again as she checked her map again. She should be right in front of the dormitories. And she was in room 6825. Wherever that was.

"Hey! Are you lost?" Sakura looked behind her to see a tall boy wave at her. "You look a bit lost." The boy gave Sakura a smile as he blew a strand of his golden hair out of his face. "Do you need any help?"

"Umm..." Sakura stared at the boy till she felt her books slip from her grasp. "Eep!" Her cheeks reddened as several books tumbled from her arms. "Some help would be appreciated. Thank you."

"No problem." The boy smiled as he knelt down and helped the new student with her books. "I'm Takuto, Yakimoto Takuto that is." Takuto rubbed the back of his head and looked away nervously.

Sakura couldn't help the small giggle that escaped her lips. "It's nice to meet you Takuto-kun. I'm Suzaku Sakura." Sakura gave Takuto a kind smile. Her parents had told her it would be best if she didn't use her parent's family names at the academy. Sakura didn't know why that would be, but she guessed it had something to do with her parent's jobs.

"It's nice to meet you too, Sakura-chan." Takuto stood with some of Sakura's books in his arms. "So where were you heading to?"

"My dorm room. It's 6825, but that doesn't help me much." Sakura noticed a shocked look on Takuto's face. "What's wrong?"

Takuto felt his cheeks burn as he looked away. "Sorry. I was just surprised that you are in a 6th year dorm room. That's what the first number means. It tells you what year your room is associated with. The next number is what out building you are in, then comes the floor you are on, and last how far you are from the front entrance of your building." Takuto gave Sakura a sympathetic look. "It's hard for a new student to understand."

Sakura adjusted the books in her arms. "No kidding."

"Come on. I'll show you a quick way to your dorm." Takuto started walking at a leisurely pace so Sakura could keep up. "So how did you get them to let you take the test? Usually they don't allow anyone in this late into the year. Not unless the Gotei 13 insists."

"Ise-Fukutaichou brought me. Apparently I am too powerful to wait till the next year." Sakura hugged her books and looked away from Takuto. Her parents certainly weren't making it easy for her to hide her connection to the Gotei 13.

"Really!?" Takuto stared at Sakura again. He could feel some of her reiatsu, but it didn't feel too powerful. "Wow. You're lucky to have met someone like Ise-Fukutaichou. She's the Fukutaichou for 1st squad."

"Yeah. I know right. I want to be like her when I graduate." Sakura really meant that. Her mother was amazing. "So...what year are you in, Takuto-kun?"

"I'm in 4th year. So I still have a few years to go before I graduate." Takuto looked at the buildings around them. "Okay. Another thing new students don't know. All of the buildings are color coded and don't actually have numbers on them."

"What!? How do they expect anyone to find their way around here?" Sakura looked at all of the buildings and tried to find any numbers. But there really weren't any. "So, what color is associated with 6th years?"

"That would be pink." Takuto spotted the disbelief on Sakura's face. "Yeah. Most of the 6th years get used to it, but everyone below 6th years dreads it." He angled them towards the bright pink building. "So, once you get to the building, it is broken up into different sections and that is where your second number comes in."

Sakura looked up at the bright pink building. She could have sworn her father chose the color. "Okay. So...section 8." Sakura looked around at the building. She could see stairwells break up the building into sections. "How do you tell the sections apart?"

"You don't." Takuto noticed a look of horror cross Sakura's face. "You just have to look at the room numbers and see which one has your number." Takuto was already walking towards where he could see an 8 as the second number. "And you also have to go up the stairs to the left of your block."

"Why is that?" Sakura was dreading the set up of the dorms. She was used to her father and mother's organization skill. This was just chaos to her.

Takuto started up the stairs to the second floor. "Because the blocks are barred off on the second floor. Something about students goofing off and causing problems." He got to a door that said 6825. "Looks like this is your room."

Sakura smiled as she saw the room number. "Yep." Sakura opened up her room and walked in. She saw a bunk bed, but it looked like the bottom bunk had been replaced with a desk and wardrobe. She saw one half of the room was already taken and decorated. "Looks like I have a roommate."

Takuto set Sakura's books down on her desk. "I hope you get along with her. And I hope I can see you again, Sakura-chan."

Sakura gave Takuto a smile. "I hope so too. You're a really nice guy Takuto-kun." Sakura's attention was drawn away by a little black butterfly flying in through the window.

Takuto noticed Sakura's stare and turned to see what she was looking at. "Oh. I wonder who that is for." Takuto reached out to the butterfly, but it flew passed him to Sakura. "Looks like it is for you."

Sakura held up her hand and watched in fascination as the butterfly landed on her hand. She smiled as Jushiro's voice filled her mind. "Hello Sakura. I hope you've settled into your dorm alright. Just wanted to make sure you found the cafe. And don't worry, your mother is keeping your father busy during our date. Can't wait to see you."

Sakura continued smiling as the butterfly fluttered up to her shoulder. She knew it would lead her when she was ready.

"Well..." Sakura looked over at Takuto, he was slowly backing up to her door. "It seems like you have somewhere to be. So I'm just gonna go now...yeah...bye." Takuto waved as he left Sakura's room.

Sakura watched Takuto go with a confused look. 'What was that about?'

'Maybe he finally noticed your blind eye and got freaked out?' Sakura shook her head at Tsubaki's words. 'It is a bit unnerving to some people. Mostly those that have had a sheltered upbringing.'

"Well at least we have been getting better at merging. Although having different colored eyes is also a bit unnerving to some." Sakura giggled as she walked out of her dorm and closed her door. She took the butterfly off her shoulder. "Alright little guy, time to go meet up with Jushiro." The butterfly fluttered away from her slowly. "Okay, let's go!"

Sakura hid behind a flower pot as she looked towards the cafe where she was meeting Jushiro. And there he was, sitting there with a smile on his face and a cup of tea in front of him. And then there was her father sitting across from him. She grumbled as she tried to think of a way to get her father or Jushiro away.

She nearly jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder. Sakura looked up and returned her mother's smile. "Hey sweet heart. Sorry about your father. He was already with Jushiro-san when I found him."

"It's okay mom." Sakura gave her mother a hug as they both hid around the corner from the men. "Do you think you can draw him away? Then I can sneak Jushiro away."

Nanao peeked around the corner and spotted her husband and his best friend. She came back behind the corner and gave her daughter a smile. "I can get him away. Just make sure you both hide your reiatsu. I'll keep him busy as long as I can."

Sakura watched with a smile as her mom walked up to her father and her boyfriend. She hid back around the corner as her father and mother began walking away. She quickly ran towards Jushiro and tapped him on the shoulder.

Jushiro turned and smiled as he saw Sakura. He quickly got up and follower end her down the street. They went into another little cafe when they thought they were far enough away.

"I thought that would have taken longer." Sakura smiled as she and Jushiro found a table and sat down. "Good thing my mother is on our side."

"Yes, but going behind Shunsui's back isn't a good thing." Jushiro didn't like going behind his friend's back, but said friend hadn't left him much of a choice. "We're going to have to tell him and get him to accept us."

Sakura sighed as she placed her hand on Jushiro's. "I know." Sakura smiled as Jushiro held her hand in his. "And we aren't going to be seeing each other much with me being in school."

"Not necessarily. Nanao-san says you are very advanced in most areas. So I doubt you will be at the academy for more than a year." Jushiro looked over as a waitress came over to their table. "And while you are at school, I will make time to see you. Especially once you get settled into your schedule."

"Welcome to the Captain's Café. What can are start you both off with. We have a wide selection of couple specials." The waitress smiled at the two as they looked at their menus.

Sakura looked at the menu and easily found something she loved. "I'll have a cherry smoothie and a veggie salad." Sakura smiled as she handed the waitress her menu.

"I'll have the green smoothie and a fruit salad." Jushiro kept his eyes on Sakura's bright smile as she ordered.

"I'll be right back with those." The waitress bowed before she headed off to the kitchen.

Sakura noticed Jushiro staring at her. She felt her cheeks heat up. "Umm..." Sakura didn't know what to say, he was just staring at her. "Jushiro?"

"Hm?" Jushiro rested his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his hands. "What is it, Sakura."

Sakura felt her face grow warmer. 'What is happening to me?'

'Must be effects of that look darling.' Sakura remembered Muso-ku talking about a look. 'Don't worry about it. Too much honey. Now pay attention to him and not me.'

Sakura focused on Jushiro again and noticed him looking concerned. "I'm sorry. Zanpakuto was talking. Did you say something?"

Jushiro chuckled a bit. He remembered what it was like for him when he first found out about Sogyo no Kotowari. He had spent hours just talking to them. And everyone else had thought he was such a newbie, which he was. "Don't worry about it. Getting to know your zanpakuto is always a good thing. And I was just saying how nice it is to spend time with you."

Sakura smiled happily at Jushiro. "I love spending time with you." Sakura giggled a bit as she noticed a bit of pink on Jushiro's cheek. "Thank you, Jushiro."

"You don't have to thank me. Your smile is thanks enough." Jushiro smiled as Sakura blushed and looked away. Her reactions where cute and made him fall in love with her again. 'Am I in love? I haven't said I love you to a woman outside my family since my academy days... Wow. I really don't get out much.'

'Pay attention! Sakura-hime-sama is speaking!' Jushiro chuckled at his zanpakuto's exclamation. They really liked Sakura. 'Yep. And her horse friend is fun to play with!' Jushiro was frowning now. What are they talking about? 'You'll see! You'll see!' Jushiro was shaking his head now. His zanpakuto could be such children. But what were they talking about?

Finally back. Did you miss me?

My gosh this has been the hardest writer's block to get through. But I am back, and hopefully there won't be any more big blockades like this. Hopefully...

I have to admit that I haven't actually finished writing yet, but I couldn't wait any longer. So please forgive me if you have to wait a while for the end of the story. It just means you get to enjoy it more before it ends and I crush all your-I mean before I end the story...Enjoy!

So, leave a comment please.