Rebirth in Bleach

The intruder was surprisingly Aizen Sosuke,

"Aren't you supposed to be missing, Captain Itsuki?"

"Aren't you supposed to be dead, Captain Aizen?"

Aizen was surprised at first before a small laugh escaped his mouth as he looked at Itsuki,

"I died after you entered here, it seems you had calculated it from the beginning. How long were you suspi- no, that doesn't matter now. Still, I didn't expect you to find this place…"

Aizen's smile left his face as he continued,

"…It seems you've read all of it, quite a fast reader, aren't you, Minamoto Itsuki?"

Itsuki just stayed quiet as he looked at the man in front of him, someone whose plans and machinations run deeper than the abyss. A table and two chairs were prepared with a chess set on top. Itsuki was white and Aizen was black.

Leaving the Daireishokairo, Itsuki looked back at the meeting with Aizen, as he felt a shudder pass through his heart. Itsuki felt it was the correct decision that he never underestimated Aizen since the beginning. Each move made, each word spoken had numerous interpretations and numerous back up plans. He wondered how Ichigo defeated him in the end. That game of chess gave Itsuki a glimpse of a master strategist and the only reason that match ended up in a draw was due to him using his mental abilities.

Itsuki then remembered how they ended it,

"Itsuki, knowing your capabilities, you would have already started forming a plan, want to make a bet?"

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as numerous Onmitsukido members appeared around him,

"Captain!!!"

Itsuki just nodded as he carried on walking with the news of what had happened coming in one by one,

"8th Division Captain had apprehended a Ryoka."

"11th Division Captain was defeated by a Ryoka."

It seemed the fight between Zaraki and Ichigo had just finished. Itsuki then dismissed the guard and made his way towards a certain location. Arriving there, he felt two different sources of Reiatsu as he walked in. An orange haired youth was lying unconscious as a black cat lay a distance away. Itsuki then picked up the cat and shunpoed away.

Arriving at a cliff side, Yoruichi was surprised by the change of scenario before she felt the all too familiar patting on her head. She then purred in satisfaction and stayed in her cat form. Yoruichi didn't feel like changing as they were out in the open, since being with Itsuki caused her to become more reserved.

Staying there for a while, they felt a reiatsu fluctuation indicating the kid waking up. Yoruichi just rubbed her head on him before she left. Itsuki looked at her leave before he felt Byakuya's reiatsu fluctuating. It seemed to be towards the shrine of penitence where Rukia was currently being held.

But before he left, he made Seikyo stay and overlook Yoruichi as he clearly remembered this scene from the anime. Fortunately for Itsuki, their seemed to be some changes as Yoruichi didn't just reveal her human form blatantly in front of Ichigo but did it behind a screen of some sort.

Itsuki then made his way to Byakuya's location. A bridge was present leading to a circular building with small windows that viewed the execution grounds. The Shrine of penitence was where death row would stay, look at their execution grounds and reflect on what they did.

It seemed that Ganju had just run out on to the bridge and protected Yamada Hanataro. Hanataro was a short Shinigami with black, chin-length hair and blue eyes. he had a simple expression and looked like someone easy to be duped. Shiba Ganju, however, was a tall, muscular guy that wore a white top beneath a green vest, green bandana and a pair of goggles. He wore black pants and had bags containing various types of fireworks around his waist.

It seemed that Byakuya had just arrived as Ganju threw Hanataro back while Rukia also ran out. She was wearing a pure white kimono made for prisoners and a red collar made to stop her from recovering Reiatsu. Turning back to Byakuya, Ganju shouted,

"Let's do this, young master. Your enemy is me!"

Byakuya was unperturbed by the sarcastic comment as he looked at the man in front of him.

"I felt a fluctuation of Reiatsu here and thought what kind of warrior was hiding his reiatsu, but it was just a tiny bug."

Rukia seemed to understand her brother as she tried to stop the man,

'That's Kaien-dono's little brother…'

The words never left her mouth as she collapsed due to her reiatsu being sapped away by the cell. Itsuki, made his entrance as he appeared behind Ganju. Ganju had just seen Itsuki's shadow when a sword went through his heart.

Ganju had barely enough time to react as he suddenly lost all feeling in his body and started to collapse. His heart slowly died out as the time between the beats got longer and longer.

Ba dum…Ba dum...Ba dum....

'I'm sorry, Aniki'

Suddenly, Ganju came back to himself as he could see himself being propped up by his own two hands. Cold sweat could be seen creating a puddle beneath him as he slowly lost consciousness.

None of the others felt Itsuki release his reiatsu and just saw Ganju collapse on his own.

Byakuya and Itsuki looked at each other as Itsuki gave him a nod and appeared in front of Rukia picking her up. Hanataro went to help Ganju as Byakuya looked at him.

"What are you doing?"

Hanataro was stumped by the question as he saw Byakuya lifting his sword. Hanataro started trembling but was able to gather some courage and kept his stand. Byakuya was about to swing his sword when a hand suddenly stopped him,

"Dear, oh dear. How dangerous?"

Rukia who was lost in being princess carried by Itsuki, came back to her senses and was surprised at the newcomer,

"Captain Ukitake…"

"Yo, Kuchiki. You've lost a little weight. You okay?"

Byakuya turned around and looked at Ukitake,

"What are you doing, Ukitake?"

"Hey, hey, that's my line…"

Before he could continue, a captain level reiatsu was felt. Ukitake was surprised as was Byakuya because they couldn't recognise the reiatsu.

"What is this, Reiatsu?!"

Rukia, who was still in Itsuki's arms, recognised the reiatsu,

"This reiatsu… it can't be…"

A figure suddenly flashed from beneath the bridge and into the air. All the people on the bridge, apart from Ganju, looked at the figure holding a device strapped to his right arm. Itsuki recognised that device as it allowed one to fly and Yoruichi used it to escape with Ichigo after his battle with Zaraki.

Ichigo then landed in front of Hanataro to check up on him.

"You okay, Hanataro? Sorry, it seems that I've put you through some scary situations

After checking up, he ran in between Itsuki and Rukia's cell and unsheathed his sword,

"Let Rukia GO!!"

"I-Ichi…"

Seeing the energetic individual with the bandages in front of him Itsuki wasn't fanboying like usual.

He just replied calmly by pointing at Rukia with his eyes.

Rukia was currently tightly grasping Itsuki's clothes and looking at Ichigo with a shocked expression. Seeing the opposite party look towards her she also looked towards her hands. Realising what she was doing, she suddenly blushed looking away but the hands never moved

Ichigo didn't know how to respond as it was his first time encountering such a situation. He put all these thoughts aside as he looked at once more at Rukia. Rukia was done blushing and had water in her eyes, she seemed to be moved by Ichigo showing up to rescue her,

"What's with that look? I'm here to save you, act happier?"

Itsuki was stumped by how Ichigo acted.

"I told you not to come…That…I won't forgive you if you came…you're all torn up…You fool!"

Rukia looked at Ichigo's bandages as she was on the verge of tears. She genuinely considered him a friend and was quite hurt seeing his state.

"Got that right…So…I'll let you scold me how much you want…when I save you."

Rukia seemed moved once more hearing this,

"Ichigo…"

"What? You're not going to tell me to back down after coming this far, aren't you?"

"But…"

Ichigo just interrupted her and continued,

"I'm not backing down! I'm not kidding. I came this far to save you. It doesn't matter if you say you want to face this death penalty…"

Holding his sword with one hand he pointed with the other,

"From now on, all your opinions are rejected, got that, dumbass?"

Rukia was shocked as her rights were snatched,

"What the hell is that? You are ignoring the rescuee' opinions?"

Rukia seemed to have forgotten that she was being held by Itsuki as she shouted,

"What kind of tyrannical way is that to save someone?!"

"Shut up! The one being rescued doesn't get to complain!"

The two continued quarrelling before they stopped and calmed down,

"But before we could continue…"

Itsuki seemed to be all but forgotten during this exchange, it did hurt him a little. Seeing Ichigo get ready to attack, Itsuki just waited for him to move. Ichigo then charged towards him while Itsuki moved back a little and shunpoed behind him. To vent his slight grievances, he kicked Ichigo and pushed him towards Byakuya and disappeared into the cell.

Ichigo fell down and quickly recovered from the kick.

"You…!"

Ukitake was shocked seeing the kid in front, he looked really similar to Kaien.

"Byakuya…who is that?"

"No relation…at least, not to the man that just flashed through your head. He is no one at all, just another Ryoka. I will erase him. Then it will be over…"

Byakuya then shunpoed in front of Ichigo. Ichigo got into a stance as he started speaking,

"You're taking it quite easy, not attacking me when that pretty boy kicked me onto the floor…"

Hearing how Ichigo addressed him, Itsuki stumbled a bit before looking back at the exchange that was going to happen. Rukia was quite worried but found herself unable to speak.

"Who do you think you are speaking to? Are you telling me to exploit an opening for the likes of you? Do not speak out of your league, kid"

A tremendous amount of reiatsu was unleashed from Byakuya as Hanataro was brought to his knees. Ichigo also felt the pressure but was still able to remain standing.

"Oh, completely unaffected by this much reiatsu, it seems you have improved quite a bit. I don't know how you are alive, but it would have been better for you to remain in the living world."

Byakuya then shunpoed behind Ichigo. It seemed Byakuya had also become less talkative than the anime while staying in the presence of Itsuki. Ichigo had surprisingly blocked Byakuya's strike shocking Byakuya.

"I can now see you, Kuchiki Byakuya"

Itsuki was surprised as well but regained composure, this wasn't out of his calculations. If Ichigo wasn't stronger then he would be disappointed. After that it all went just like canon with Itsuki just watching it all happen. Yoruichi was inwardly surprised by Byakuya's improvements but he still ended up short against her. Before she left, she gave one glance in Itsuki's direction before leaving.

After Byakuya had left, Kaien showed up next to his brother before Ukitake ordered his arrest. Ukitake knew that they were siblings but the capture of the Ryoka took priority, a captain had died. Although reluctant, Kaien then took his brother to where they were keeping the Ryoka after bowing towards Itsuki who had just left Rukia's cell.

Nodding back, Itsuki left the area. On his way he made a surprising discovery, two sources of reiatsu had just entered the area covered by his jurisdiction.