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Name:Shana Hirai
Alias:Enpatsu Shakugan no Uchite
Age: 75
Age of Appearance: 13
Gender: Female
Race/Species:Shinigami/Vizard
Character Alignment:Neutral Good

Appearance:

Spoiler:

Shana has silky smooth fiery red hair stretches down to about mid-calf on her with one stubborn section that sticks up towards the back of her head making it appear as though she has a single crimson antennae sticking out of her head. She normally leaves it loose flowing around her, more a distraction to her enemies than to herself. Though when she is cooking she tends to put it up in buns on both sides of her head, to keep it out of the way, and when she dresses formally she will occasionally take the time to braid into a pony tail, or drape it over one shoulder.

Shana's most striking feature would probably have to be the scarlet irises of her eyes. While she may appear young her eyes convey her age, and the pain of her experiences rather well. Though when she is happy or eating sweets they light up and all signs of the pain and sorrow that she has experienced in her life seem to melt right out of them. Just like when she is eating sweets while she is combat, the pain in her eyes seem to melt out of her, though rather than lighting up and becoming filled with joy, the take on a stern focused appearance while she watches her opponents every move. When enraged Shana's eyes seem to literally ignite, glowing with an intensity that is only matched by the flames that is produced form her zanpakuto.

The rest of Shana's face seems rather plain in comparison to the appearance of her eyes and hair, though it is considered by some to be rather pretty and definitely of asian descent it doesn't have any other remarkable features. Her nose is small with a slight point, and her lips are thin, and almost always in an almost arrogant looking smirk. Though she rarely smiles when she does it is from the heart, and can be rather infectious. When flustered or angry the smirk quickly turns into a frown.

Shana herself is rather diminutive in height standing only a measly 141cm tall (approx 4' 8") and weighing in at an astonishing 35kg (approximately 77lbs). Underneath her lightly sun-kissed skin exists layers of thin wiry muscles tightly bound together giving her a rather slight build with thin, well toned limbs, that can naturally lift more than they can appear to.

Style/Clothing:

The Pendant: This is the one thing that all of her outfits had in common, no matter while in the Gotei 13, or while in the real world. It it is a pitch black gem with what appears to be an explosion of fire in its core, with a silver setting with what appears to be two gold rings wrapping around from the back to hold it in place. The pendant itself is attached via a steel chain around her neck.

The Pendants Image:

While with the Gotei 13 Shana wears a standard Shinigami uniform with her hair hanging loose, and her zanpakuto at her waist, The only deviation from her and the next individual who has just left the Shinigami Academy was the pendant that she always wore around her neck.

While in the human world (post Vizard Banishment), Shana tends to wear two main outfits, depending on where she is. Both of these she will wear with a long black trench coat that goes down to her ankles.

The first is a standard girls high school uniform, With a white button up blouse, dark green collar and skirt and a beige bow, worn while she is at or traveling to or from school, in an attempt to fit in and learn more about the world in which she was now living. She also wears long black stockings that go up to mid thigh, disappearing under her skirt in still weather, and brown loafer style shoes.

The second outfit is by far her preferred, worn whenever she gets the chance to involves a black form fitting vest like shirt with a silver zipper that comes up to her collar bone. A black pair of relax-fit jeans held on by a black belt with crescent moon shaped buckle, adorn the lower half of her body. Her feet are covered by a pair of black combat boots.

The Black Outfit:

Tattoo's/Scars/Etc: She has one scar just below her heart on the front from where the claw of a Hollow pierced her, while ripping her soul from her body.

Personality:
If one was to try and some up Shana in one word, well there truly is only one word that would fit her personality, and that word is complicated. She is normally a calm and analytical individual with a gentle heart, and a strong desire to protect those around her. However due to her innocent nature in some matters she can be quite easily embarrassed or flustered, causing her to tell whoever was causing the discomfort to 'Shut Up! Shut Up! Shut Up!'. She is also quite driven, pursuing her goals with great zeal.

Though when she is eating sweets she seems like an almost different person than the flame-wielding warrior that she is. In fact to any onlookers she would appear to be nothing more than a little kid enjoying her treat, with a innocent smile on her face. When around people, both those she knows and those she doesn't she tends to remain quiet, keeping idle chatter to a minimum, and answering any question she is asked as succinctly as possible.

In battle her personality changes depending on her opponent. For most hollows, she is silent aiming to quickly and quietly dispatch her foe. Against a more troublesome opponent if the attempt to quickly finish the fight failed she tends to taunt her opponent trying to make them make a mistake that she can capitalize on. In both of these situations however, it does not stop her from analyzing how her opponent is fighting, just in case they get away and she has to face them again in the future. However when those she cares about, or have sworn to protect are in danger, Shana loses it, becoming reckless, and aggressively attacking and leaving gaps in her defenses.

(For Likes, Dislikes, Ambitions, etc, go for 1-3 sentences per point, more if you wish.)

Likes and Strengths:

• Melon Bread: Shana loves melon bread, the sweet flavor, the crispy texture of the outer crust, the soft spongy texture of the bread. She enjoys taking a small bite of the crispy crust, and then a bite of the spongy inner.
• Sweets: While Melon bread is her favorite, Shana enjoys all things sweet.
• Rain: Contrary towards her abilities and strengths with fire, she enjoyes the rain and how it seems to wash the world clean with its presence.
• Sunrises: Shana enjoyes watching the
• Analytical: Shana's has a habit of analyzing the world around her. This can be both a strength and a weakness due to her occasionally over analyzing. This also allows her to fight hollows without anger or hatred clouding her judgement, because she knows no matter how vile their actions may seem they are only following their nature and their desire to fill the void in their existence.

Dislikes, Fears, and Weaknesses:
• Bitter things: Shana dislikes anything bitter, especially beverages. She will either pour them out or load them with a bunch of sugar.
• Being Weak: Shana is both afraid of and dislikes being weak. In her past she was too weak to save her family, and is worried that she will be too weak to protect those who have taken her in, and given her a new home.
• Cold: Shana strongly dislikes the cold, and has even shown to have a reduced capacity to fight in lower temperatures weakening her abilities and even slowing her moves.
• Bullies: Shana absolutely abhors bullies and anyone who would use their strength/position to pick on those under them. She has strong beliefs that the strong should protect the weak and will violently object to those who bully the weak.
• Fish, and other seafood: Shana finds fish absolutely disgusting, the way they stink, their cold lifeless eyes, just about everything about fish disturbs her. While she may occasionally admire the scales or patterns of them she still won't reach out and touch them.
• Temper: Shana has a temper that is as fiery as her hair, and potentially even more volatile than her Zanpakuto. While over her life she has learned to keep it in check when it flares it tends to be bad. First burning away her logic and reason, and then followed quickly by whomever caused it to flare.

Ambitions/Dreams/Goals:
• Becoming Stronger: One of Shana's greatest goals in her life, well her after life is to become stronger, not for selfish reasons, but so that she can protect those around her and so that she will never have to suffer the feeling of losing those close to her again.
• Finding her Sister: Shana's Twin sister, Yukari had gone missing while Shana was still alive. Though she knows Yukari is no longer among the living she continues to search the soul society hoping to one day reunite with her.
• Learn More about Alastor: Alastor is the spirit of her Zanpakuto and as such it is only natural for Shana to desire to learn more about him, and through doing so learn more about herself.

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List of 'Known' Skills:

Fighting Style:
While Shana did not have any actual combat training prior to joining the Shin'ō Academy she had found she had a knack for both Hakuda and Zanjutsu, leading her to prefer a more close-range combat over a longer range. Though that is merely her preference, not a limitation to her abilities. Her actual fighting style fluidly combines the use of Zanjutsu and hakudo, using each as if they were complementary tools of one another rather than as separate techniques. Even when focusing on using her zanpakuto, she will use her whole body in combination with her swings, such as striking the back of her blade with her foot to increase its cutting power. In order to provide an essence of unpredictability, create openings, or even to just break deadlocks Shana will use either Eishōhaki or in some rare circumstances fully encanted kido.

In training Shana is just as aggressive as in a real fight, though she tends to start slower, and will even go as far as to let her opponent set the pace. However if she feels that the sparring session isn't progressing fast enough she will attempt to take control of the fight and increase the pace of it herself, and when this happens, she will relentlessly attack her opponent forcing them to play defense.  However no matter how the match turns she will intently watch her opponents move looking for openings and tells to take advantage of. If and when she finds any she will intentionally strike at them with all of her strength, and if using her zanpakuto she will turn the blade mid swing striking with either the flat or mune (back) of the blade. As long as the opening didn't turn out to be a trap, then Shana will talk to her opponent after the fight and give some pointers, hoping that the combination of the pain and lecture will at least breed awareness in them and in turn maybe save their lives some day.

Shana takes all real fight seriously right off the bat, trying to end it quickly, with as little energy expended and damage received as possible. This is especially evident when her opponents are the underdog in the fight. Against opponents that are closer to being at the same level as her, she tends to take a bit more caution, though not much. If she senses that her opponent is definitely stronger than her, her choice of actions will depend on the situation that she is in.

If She is trying to protect someone or something, she will attack head on to try and draw her opponents attention away from what she is protecting, or if possible to buy enough time for what she is protecting to get away. If she can successfully get their attention and start leading them away she will try to force them into traps to wear them down, and restrict their mobility before either turning to deliver a finishing blow, or making an earnest attempt at escaping with her life. If there is no one or anything to protect in the area, she will just follow the latter half, of that, using hit and run tactics, all the while trying to stay one step ahead of her opponent.

Shana will also use similar hit and run tactics when she is outnumbered trying to force the fights to be one on one either through the use of the terrain to restrict the directions that they can come from, or by using the natural difference in speed that her enemies will have with one another to put space between them, and thus force a one on one confrontation for a little while, at least.

Personal Abilities:

(Shinigami may not start with more than ONE personal ability. Personal abilities are special powers unique to your character. They are obtained at birth or through freak occurrences. These cannot be things you would able to teach others or simply obtain through hard work along.)

Name: Kanetsu sa Reiatsu
Effect: Shana's Reiatsu is unique in that it is heavily aligned with fire. So much so that the effect of releasing it will cause a noticeable increase in temperature, which will continue to rise, and can even cause certain objects to spontaneously combustion. This unique trait also increases the offensive capabilities, of fire based abilities by 1, though it also decreases her defense against cold based abilities.

Name: Hohō Mastery
Effect: Shana is considered to be a prodigy in the art of Hohō, and is capable of maintaining high speed movements for extended periods of time while using the least amount of steps to achieve those movements. Masters are capable of using advanced steps, which are considerably harder to initiate. A master can possibly create new techniques but it is most likely a rare occurrence.

General Techniques:

(Shinigami may NOT start with more than four general techniques. Techniques are not extra abilities, but rather, skills which use your abilities in more extreme forms beyond their basic use. For example... let's say I can shoot fire from my fingers. A technique might be gathering a whole bunch of fire for a few minutes and then shooting a fire-laser from my fingers, doing much more damage than what my ability normally would on it's own. Other special or basic techniques using your normal control over your spiritual energy can also be added here, like adding reiatsu to your punches to inflict more damage, and things like that. Think of abilities as special powers - and think of techniques as moves which use the powers you already have. These are moves your character was taught or trained and developed on their own. They are things anyone would be able to learn and perform unless they are dependent on your unique race or abilities. Examples are custom shunpo variations, hakuda/zanjutsu techniques, and using your reiatsu on an object to simulate telekinesis.)
These are not used for extra shikai or bankai techniques, elemental techniques, extra abilities and powers. Limit 4.


Technique Name: Hosoku sa reta Utsusemi
Technique Description: 2 Post Cooldown - The Hosoku sa reta Utsusemi is an advanced Utsusemi where Shana can leave behind a kido spell inside of the after image that will dissipate if ignored, but should the after image be struck she the spell itself will be released towards the nearest source of spiritual pressure. Any kido stored in the after image itself has its power cut in half.
Technique Effect Chart:
[The Technique Effect on various opponents will depend on the Kido stored within the after image.]

Technique Name: Utsusemi
Technique Description: 4 post cooldown - Utsusemi is an advanced Shunpo art where the user moves so quickly that they leave behind an image of themselves. The user can then add extra realism to the image by leaving behind some of their reiatsu allowing the image to appear to have taken physical damage.

Technique Name: Hakuda Expert
Technique Description: Experts of this art can take on average armed opponents and those many times their size easily. They are well versed in hand-to-hand combat in instances where they are lacking in a weapon or need the use of the skill to give them an edge in battle. While not masters, an expert is more than capable of handling themselves in a physical altercation.

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Zanpakuto Name: Alastor
Zanpakuto Element: Fire, Rebirth
Sealed Weapon Appearance: While in its sealed state Alastor looks like a regular katana, with no noticeable adornments on it. Its over all length is 101.6 cm (40 in), it's steel blade's length is 69.85 cm (27.5 in). The light wood of its handle is wrapped in a black cord.

Spirit Appearance: Alastor appears in one of two ways, depending on what Shana's need is.

Spoiler:

The first appearance is that of a large crimson and gold bird of prey, with the two outermost, and most central of his tail feathers being more than twice as long as the rest of his body. The two on the outermost are shaped more like the tails of a cat with a flat spade on the end. while the one in the center looks like links of a chain fused together with a Ruby embedded in in the center of each link. the Total length of Alastor in this form from the tip of his razor sharp beak to the tip of his central tail feather is more than 610 cm (approx 20 ft) and a massive wingspan of 457cm (approx 15 ft). His talon's have four 'fingers' on them, each ending in a claw sharp enough to slice through stone as if it was no more than a warm hunk of cheese.

The second appearance that Alastor takes, and the one that he would appear as if he was ever manifested in the real world is that of a young man, who appears to be in his late teens or early twenties. In this form Alastor stands just under 183cm (approx 6 ft) has short spiky crimson hair, and eyes like liquid gold. His muscular tan torso is covered with only a blood red sash running from his left shoulder to his right hip, with a pair of red and gold wings sprouting from his back giving him an almost angel like appearance. His arms while muscular are not bulging in any way, by choice Alastor tends to keep them bare, minus a Gold flame shaped bracelet on each wrist. From the waist down Alastor is dressed in a pair of long black pants with two red stripes about mid thigh, and red and gold design that starts on each knee and wraps around his leg meeting back up mid shin. On his feet he wears a simple black pair of slippers with black socks.

Spirit Personality:
If one was to try and sum up Alastor in a single word that word would be Regal. He is strict, yet gentle and caring. Whenever Shana visits him to train, he will scold and discipline her for her mistakes, though he will also pay attention to her well being, making sure that she doesn't push herself so far beyond her limits that she may not recover properly, or isn't hurt beyond repair. While in combat, Alastor has a calm, and confident air about him that doesn't break and makes him come off as some what arrogant whenever he and Shana spar.

On their more social visits Alastor will patiently listen to and answer any questions that he has the knowledge to answer, as well as calmly give Shana advice.

Inner World:

Spoiler:

Shana's inner world would be most comparable to that of Laputa (the castle in the sky), though rather than just a single castle floating up there among the clouds it is an island the size of Kahoʻolawe 116 km² (44.6 square miles). With a palace towards the northern part of the island. There are also 3 separate bodies of water, one the size of a lake and the other two appear to be that of ponds. There are also patches of forests and large walls interconnected walls that surround the palace area.

Shikai Release Phrase: Rise from the Ashes and Blaze with the Flames of Heaven, Alastor!

Shikai Appearance:

Spoiler:

Alastor's shikai appearance isn't much different from that of his sealed appearance. The only real differences are to the tsuba, and the pommel of the sword. The pommel changes from, bland and undecorated to having a phoenix stamped into it, and the Tsuba goes from a basic round one to something slightly fancier, with a design etched into it.

Shikai Abilities:

(Shinigami may start with ONE shikai ability; you may have two shikai abilities only if you can get the tier of 3-3 or stronger. If you have two anyway and fail to get that tier, you will simply have to lock one of the abilities so you can't use them until you hit the appropriate rank. Shikai abilities are only usable in Shikai - they do not apply in bankai or your sealed form.)

Name: Guren no Oodachi - Great Blade of Crimson
Effect: It coats Shana's zapakuto with a flame which she can use to increase the destructive powers of her Shikai abilities. This ability doesn't have to be active in order to use any of her Zanpakuto techniques, and if it is used to enhance one of her techniques it can not be reactivated for 2 posts, otherwise it doesn't expire.

Shikai Techniques: (Shinigami are allowed to start with no more than SIX shikai techniques)

Technique Name: Shinku
Technique Description: 3 post cooldown - Shana swings her zanpakuto releasing a ball of fire that changes into the the shape of an four foot wide open hand that will try to grab her target. If it successfully does it will either hold them till for upwards of a post before detonating surrounding the captured opponent in a fiery explosion, unless broken at which point it explodes instantly dealing damage equal to approximately that of a rank 30 hado. Shana can also instantly detonate the hand if that is her desire. if Guren no Oodachi is used to enhance this ability, the explosion is slightly stronger equating to approximately a rank 45 hado.

Technique Name: Hien
Technique Description: 2 post cooldown - Shana swings her zanpakuto creating a wave of flame, that expands outward in a circle like pattern, however it does not form a full circle, and leaving the area behind the Shana's back untouched. The wave itself has the same cutting power as her own zanpakuto, though the flames will prevent the wound from bleeding, by instantly cauterizing it dealing up to second degree burns in the process and doing damage equal to about a rank 20 hado. If this attack is empowered the cut depth will double.

Technique Name: Danzai
Technique Description: 3 post cooldown - Shana will either swing or thrust her zanpakuto into a stance where she is holding the blade straight out pointing towards her opponent, her arm fully extended. Alastor lets loos a spiraling torrent of fire that is approximately half a meter in diameter, starting from the Tsuba of the blade and continuing on to a maximum of distance of 10 meters from the Alastor's tip. The tip of the attack while dull in appearance can pierce through flesh and bone working almost like a drill of fire inflicting up to second degree burns on its way through, The damage of the attack is equal to that of a rank 40 Hado. The enhancement for this technique rather than increasing the damage it deals, it increases its size by 50%;

Technique Name: Hantei
Technique Description: Cooldown Varies - By far one of the most basic abilities that Alastor possesses being just a simple fireball fired from the blade of the zanpakuto that explodes on contact. The only variation of this technique is that Shana can fire off fireballs of variable sizes. The sizes in feet are as follows:

Fireball Chart:
1x1x1 : deals about half the damage of a Bala and cause first degree burns on impact, though Shana can fire five of these in a single post. Firing three or more in a single post will cause the ability to have a one post cooldown.
4x4x4: Deals the same amount of damage as a Bala causing first degree burns on impact. Shana can fire up to 5 of these in one post. Firing 2 or fewer only has a 1 post cool down, though firing 3 or more will cause the cooldown to rise to 2
8x8x8: Deals the same damage as a Cero causing up to second degree burns on impact. Shana can only fire one of these per post with a 2 post cool down.
12x12x12: These are the most powerful of the fireballs that this technique can generate, dealing damage equal to 150% that of a normal Cero, causing second degree burns on impact, and first degree to anything in the blast radius. Shana can only fire one of these per post an the ability goes on a 3 post cooldown afterwards.

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Bankai Name: Tenbatsushin Alastor
Bankai Release Phrase: Ignite your heavenly fire to punish the wicked! Tenbatsushin Alastor!
Bankai Appearance: The Zanpakuto itself does not undergo any changes between shikai and bankai, Though Shana herself grows a pair of angel like wings made out of Crimson and gold flames. While they appear to be sprouting out of her back her clothes do not receive any damage from them at all, as if they phase right through them. Her eyes and hair also undergo changes while in her bankai, making her seem almost like a living embodiment of her zanpakuto as they take on a more flame like appearance, with her eyes flickering as if flames literally were dancing in them, and golden embers start falling from her glowing red hair.

Bankai Ability: (Limit of 1)

Ability Name: Jisshi keitai o moyashi (Burning Embodiment)
Ability Description: Shana no longer needs to be holding her zanpakuto to use any of her Shikai or Bankai abilities. In fact she can now launch any of her shikai or bankai techniques from any part of her body, even if she is disarmed.

Bankai Techniques: Limit 6

Technique Name: Shakunetsu no hane
Technique Description: Shana flaps her wings and a dozen feathers dislodge and launch themselves at her target. The feathers pierce their targets becoming lodged in whatever they strike. The feathers burn as if they were red hot daggers dealing damage similar to that of Byakurai, and inflicting second degree burns to the flesh it gets caught in, and Shana can cause them to explode dealing damage equal to that of a #50 Hado in a one foot radius around the feather, also inflicting first degree burns to anything caught in the blast radius, if not the feathers vanish after two posts.

Technique Name: Umarekawaru
Technique Description: Cooldown: 15 of Shana's posts.. Shana engulfs herself completely in white hot flames, normally through some theatrics that makes it seem like her power got away from her and back fired or if one of her attacks are redirected. The flames will consume her completely leaving nothing behind but a pile of ash in its wake. Over the next period of time (1-2 posts), Shana reforms herself out of the ash without so much as as a scratch on her. While this technique will not restore her energy to its full levels, it will heal her of all injuries that she has sustained.

Hado:

Bakudo:

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Inner Hollow Appearance: Shana's inner hollow looks exactly like her twin sister Yukari, and as such Shana refers to her as such. Yukari and Shana are identical in all things except in the hair and eyes, Where Shana's are both Red Yukari's are both a dark color. Her hair is pitch black, so much so that light seems to be sucked into it. Her eyes while darker than Shana's red, are merely brown like that of a cup of hot chocolate.
Mask Appearance:

Mask Image:

Mask Ability:
Ability Name: Sisterly Bond
Ability Description: Due to Shana's inner hollow being caused by the assimilation of a piece of her hollowfied twin sister, causing her to hold the appearance and personalty of Yukari leading shana to have an abnormal bond to her hollow self. This bond leads to Shana being able to easily control her hollow form and even keep the mask on for an abnormally long duration without any negative side effects.

Mask Duration: 8 Posts, with an 8 post cooldown.
Mask Techniques:

Technique Name: Cero
Technique Description: No cooldown - Can be used Once per post - Shana charges her reiatsu into a concentrated beam that she fires from the palm of her hand, sole of her feet, or even out of her mask. The damage of the beam is that of about a rank 60 hado.

Technique Name: Bala
Technique Description: No Cooldown - Can be used up to five times per post - This technique is similar to cero in that it is a concentrated beam of pure reiatsu, but it trades off power for speed being only approximately the strength of a rank 30 kido.

Technique Name: Fenix destello Cero
Technique Description:x post cool down where x = posts charged This is a variation of Cero that only those with a unique Reiatsu similar to shana can perform. The beam of the attack is super heated and will melt that which it comes in contact with similar to that of a gundam heat sword. This attack can either be fired up five times in a post similar to that of a Bala, or can be charged to a stronger attack. After one post of charging this attack becomes equivalent to that of a Cero, after charging for three posts the damage that this attack can do is equivalent of a Gran Rey Cero. This technique can be charged for a maximum of 10 posts Each post after the third will increase the power of the technique by 50%. However After the third post of charging Shana can no longer move while charging, basically becoming a high power Artillery piece.

Technique Effect Chart:
Posts Charged:
0 Posts Charged: Basically a heated Bala.
1 Posts Charged: Basically a heated Cero.
2 Posts Charged: A stronger Cero than normal, though not quite as strong as a gran ray cero. This one has the destructive power equivalent to that of a rank 75 kido.
3 Posts Charged: The technique has become equal to that of a Gran Ray Cero and will do damage equal to that of a rank 90+ hado.
4+ Posts Charged: For each post past the third charged, the power of the technique is increased by an additional 50%. so after charging for 5 posts the ability would be twice as powerful as it was at three posts.

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History:

In the land of the living:
Years ago, in a simpler time when technology wasn't so advanced a pair of twins were born to the Hirai family. Their names were Shana, and Yukari, as is common with most identical twins they were completely inseperable and in some ways polar opposites, especially when it came to social interactions. Shana was always reserved and shy, where as Yukari was outgoing and cheerful. Their time together was full of joy and love leaving them with very few wants in the world.

However when they started going to school at the age of five that changed, at least for Shana. Her outlandish hair and eye color combined with her timid nature made her a natural target for bullies, and other such mean individuals who would relentlessly pick on her whenever Yukari wasn't around, though when her sister would catch them she would give them quite the earful. It was during these times that they had made a promise to one another, that they would always be together. About six months after the promise was first made Shana and Yukari were playing in the park when Yukari saw a young boy run out into the street, running as fast as she could to try and stop the boy from being hit by a car, Yukari ran out after him, though as she went to push him out of the way he vanished leaving her all alone in the street as the car struck her. The car had slowed to the point that when it connected it only knocked her back slightly, though her head hit a rock as she fell and she was dead before the paramedics arrived.

However do to the promise shared between Yukari did not cross over when she died, instead she stayed behind to stay with Shana, who through being able to see and interact with her sister like she did before did not grieve her death like everyone who could not see her. The doctors that Shana's parents took her to to help her through the grieving process thought that she was in shock, and still hadn't quite registered that her sister was dead, especially when Shana talked to them like Yukari was in their presence and even asked if they could not see her.

While in front of Shana, her parents tried their hardest to keep themselves together and act as the happily married couple that they were before Yukari's death though while Shana was gone, or in bed asleep the two would fight constantly, and due to Yukari's new spiritual form no longer needing sleep, she over heard all of their arguments, and all of the negative emotions that her parents were releasing combined with their spiteful words hurt Yukari far more than dying, then one day after about six months of this, Yukari disappeared from Shana's side while Shana was in school. Shana was worried, but decided that she probably went home early, and figured she would ask her about it when she got home.

However upon getting home Shana felt a great sense of unease that she could not pin point the source of. Even though she was right outside of the door, every molecule of her very existence was telling her to run away from there, but because Shana didn't have anywhere else to go she swallowed down her fear and entered her home. What she found was a scene that would make a slasher flick look tame, almost benign in comparison, their furniture was destroyed. As she ventured further into the house she found blood all over the place, sprayed on the walls, and floor smeared as if something rubbed against the walls with blood on them. As Shana turned to run from the place she saw something that was more terrifying to her than any monster that she could have ever dreamed up, and now it stood between her and the door, with half of her mothers body in its claws. As Shana looked at the look of pure pain and terror that was now permanently frozen on her mothers face Shana collapsed to her knees holding her head between her hands, and started screaming.

Then came a noise that will come to haunt her dreams for many years to come. It was the sound of the monster's laughter, the noise was cruel, and vicious, as if the beast reveled in the amount of pain that it had inflicted upon Shana without so much as even touching her. But there was something strange about the noise as well, almost as if the voice behind it was familiar in some way. Before Shana could determine the source of the familiarity of it though, the creature lunged forward, its claw ripping Shana's very soul from her body, and slamming her into a wall. As the beast started forcing the thumb of her claw right into Shana's chest inciting a scream of agony out of her, the creatures sickening laugh intensified as the claw inched its way through Shana's flesh. Just before the beasts claw exited Shana's back, the monsters laughter changed to scream of pure agony as the index that was in Shana's flesh was burnt clean off. As the beast raised its other claw to finish Shana off it stopped smelling an even bigger threat approaching fast, Crouching over the now unconscious Shana the monster whispered into her ear 'We will meet again', then shimmered out of existence.

When Shana awoke there was two men in her house that she didn't recognized wearing black Kimonos, each with a sword at their waist. She heard one of them mutter something about a melted chain before they noticed that Shana was still alive, well sort of and now conscious. One of the men explained to Shana that she was a spirit and was going to have to move on, and that, that was one of the reasons that the pair of them were there before gently touching Shana's forehead with the pommel of his sword.

Welcome to Zaraki:
For a few moments after the pommel of that man's sword touched her forehead Shana felt like she was floating, gently spiraling like she was in a slow moving whirlpool as she transferred over to the Rukongai, Her body glowed slightly mid transition as her clothes changed to a simple gray kimono, like those worn commonly in feudal era Japan. As soon as she felt her feet hit the ground the scenery around her started to come into focus revealing what appeared to be a war torn village that was recently ransacked by bandits. The buildings were all in shambles and the people that she could see loitering around in the gutters appeared to be in even worse shape the than the architecture. All in all it did not look like the kind of place that the man with the sword promised her.

As she turned around taking in the area that was supposed to be her home for all of eternity she caught movement out of the corner of her eye, but before she could react she was surrounded by rough looking individuals, all of which with some kind of weapon, from a stick with metal spikes to a Naginata, and most every inch of bare flesh on them was covered in scar tissue. Shana started to shake uncontrollably, the concentrated glare of the dozens of hungry eyes staring at her as if they were deciding whether to cook her, sell her, or do who knows what to her made her want to curl up into a ball and hide. That sensation was made worse as she started to pick out the words that they were whispering to each other. All Shana could think about while surrounded by those men is that she absolutely must get away, before they make up their mind about what they were going to do.

Suddenly One of the men in front of her turned and started an argument with another one. Seeing this as the only opening that she was going to get Shana ran for all she was worth, crunching herself up as small as she could make herself as she approached hoping to be a smaller target for their greedy hands to grab. As soon as she broke out of the circle she ran as fast as her little legs could carry her to afraid to look back, because of the sounds of hooting and hollering as if they were looking forward to the chase. Though unfortunately the direction Shana started running was bringing her towards the outskirts of Rukongai, pretty much a no man's land where only the truly brave, stupid or hopeless choose to go of their own will.

As they chased her The men started at a leisurely pace, ever few steps they would pick up their speed, just enough to keep up hoping that Shana would wear herself out and such be easier to restrain while they figured out what to do with her. Just as they were about ready to reach out and grab her Shana tripped over a person lying on the ground as if he was just taking a nap. Before Shana could get up and run again, her body left the ground as one of her pursuers lifted her up, His iron grip so tight on the back of her neck that she could only whimper in pain as tears started to flow from her eyes.

A single tear rolled down her cheek splashing on the forehead of the man she tripped over as she was carried over him on their way back to Zaraki. As quick as a flash the man shot up his arm grabbing the forearm of the man holding Shana. There was a loud crack and Shana found herself face down on the dirt. Suddenly feeling as if someone turned up the gravity two or three times her tiny body was unable to move, it took all of her strength just to look at what all of the noises going around her was. The man that rescued her was moving through the ranks of those chasing her dancing around them and bowling them over as if they were nothing more than a pack of kittens trying to act tough. The man didn't look like he should have been able to move nevermind defeat the bullies that was chasing her. His frame was so heavily emaciated that his clothes was falling off, the only thing about him that was even remotely impressive was what appeared to be golden light radiating from his frame shooting off like arcs of lightning into the air.

As Shana's pursuers turned tail and ran the pressure that had been pushing down on her suddenly released allowing her to get up and get a good look at her hero. He was dressed similarly to the two that had rescued her from the monster though her hero's clothes were faded and worn. At his waste he carried a sword though it appeared to be sealed shut by an extremely thick chain, his face was probably once handsome though now it was Gaunt and sunken, almost more like a skull than that of an actual human. His long hair was tangled and knotted, it obviously hadn't been washed in a long time.

A sudden urge of relief washed over Shana now that she was out of immediate danger and she collapsed being caught by the man, who mumbled something along the lines of 'So even though I have lost everything, I am still not allowed to die in peace'.

Training Begins:
When Shana awoke again she found herself in what appeared to be a small rundown one room house not much bigger than a shack with noticeable holes in the wall that let the light in. a small pit in the center held a smoldering remnants of a fire. Against the far wall sat the man who had rescued her, and apparently carried her to her current location, his eyes were open and he was alert watching her carefully as if she was a potentially dangerous creature. As she sat up the man said 'Good your awake. I can't tell if you have the worlds best luck or the worlds worst. Cause first you ended up in Zaraki, by far one of the most violent districts in all of the Rukongai, but when you ran into trouble of all the places you could go, you ran into me, probably the only person in all of Zaraki who would be willing to help you for nothing. My name is ...'

Unfortunately her savior's introduction got cut short by a loud growling noise that Shana was embarrassed to discover came from her stomach, and her face flushed as red as her hair which was only made worse when the man just burst out laughing. 'Kirigaya is my name, now lets quiet that little beasty of yours so that we can have a proper talk'. With that he got up and motioned for Shana to follow. As she did he told her about the Soul Society and how the Rukongai was split up. He also covered things such as what Soul reapers are and their entire purpose, what hollows were, as well as anything else that Shana could think of asking. On their way back after picking up a large bag of rice, he stopped by one of the buildings that was in slightly better shape, where he picked up two wooden swords.

As they walked back with his purchases he explained to her that he may choose to not come to her rescue again in the future so just in case he was going to teach her how to fight. They got back to the house had food and then they went outside where he started drilling her in the most basic of kenjutsu forms from which all other moves would branch from.

They went through the motions of practicing basic forms of Kenjutsu, and even some hand to hand martial arts as Shana's confidence and strength grew Kirigaya would even show her some more elaborate techniques for her to master on her own. Though as Kirigaya trained her he realized that her tiny frame didn't have the ability to pack much of a punch on its own, so he started to teach her ways of redirecting her enemies force back against them while working on a style that would allow her to throw what little weight and strength she had into every move through the use of her momentum or using her body in an unorthodox way to add just that extra bit of oomph to her strikes. As Shana slept he would try some unique things that he had seen in the human world back when he was still a soul reaper where Humans would strike the back of their blades with their feet or hands providing small bursts of speed or strength to their attacks. As he found moves of it that felt almost natural and easy to use he would teach them to Shana, who with an eagerness unsuited to that of the lady that her family was trying to raise her to be.

After almost a year of training Kirigaya trusted enough in her skills to allow her to start running errands for things such as food, though he would secretly tail her, watching her actions and making sure that she doesn't end up in over her head. The punks that decided to challenge her were foolish enough to try and do so in one on one combat, which made it even more embarrassing to them when she would mop the floor with them sometimes she wouldn't even bother to draw her bokken or put down the rice she was carrying. The only time that Kirigaya found himself interfering in one of Shana's fight was when he stumbled across a group that was going to gang up on her to try and catch her off guard. So after secretly dispatching them he realized that she was starting to build a name for herself in singles combat and was going to start attracting groups so he was going to have to teach her how to deal with multiple opponents at once.

The first trick that he taught her for facing multiple enemies is to try and force them into a bottle neck where they would have to come at her in numbers that she could handle. He then explained that when bottle necking isn't an option for one reason or another, she would have to out run them and let the natural difference in speed of those that would do her harm bring them into a situation where she could dispatch them one at a time.

After their second year together Shana finally worked up the courage to ask Kirigaya about why his sword was wrapped up in a chain. That was the first time since they had met that Shana saw him look so broken, even when he had practically starved himself to death when they first met. He explained that a long time ago he used to be a soul reaper, and that the sword was his Zanpakuto. He had made it to captain rank, and fell in love with the woman who was his lieutenant. Though it was highly irregular they got married and had a child, and after developing their son joined the thirteen court guards, and even made it a point to join any squad but his till he made a name for himself finally transferring to Kirigaya's squad to take up the roll as the third seat. There was then a massive hollow outbreak and the highest ranking members of Kirigaya's squad was sent to the human world to exterminate the hollows and investigate the cause of the gathering. While they were doing their investigations they came under heavy assault and by the time that he managed to find his wife and son they had both been slain. He swore on that day that the next time he used his Zanpakuto he would die as he sheathed it, that vow took on the form of the chain that now sealed his Zanpakuto shut.

Tragedy Strikes Again
About three years after learning of Kirigaya's sad past, Shana had managed to take the basics that she had learned and some of Kirigaya's suggestions and turned it into her own style that while not fool proof tended to be unpredictable enough to almost stand on equal footing with Kirigaya, at least with technique. It was about then as well that her own Spiritual abilities started to truly manifest and one night it flared with near disastrous effect almost causing the floor around her to combust in her sleep. Kirigaya decided that it would be best to just seal off her power for the time being until she had been taught how to control it.

To that end he pulled a few strings to have a special amulet ordered that would take care of sealing her powers for the most part, leaving her enough that she would still be slightly faster and stronger than your average run of the mill soul. However little did Kirigaya know, Shana's little flare up was felt all the way in Hueco Mundo where the hollow that was once her sister, who killed her parents and was very much responsible for Shana's death had been searching to try and find her.

Enlisting the help of even more hollows who the hollowfied Yukari threatened on fear of consumption made their way to the soul society by enlarging a small tear between worlds Yukari tracked the scent of her sisters spiritual power to Zaraki arriving, the evening that Shana obtained the pendant. Frustrated by the loss of the trail Yukari had her minions start wreaking havoc, eating any soul they pleased but the one that she herself was there for.

Kirigaya cursed his luck as he and Shana went to check out the cause of the disruption, only to find that Zaraki was infested with easily a dozen different hollows. Grabbing Shana around the waste he hefted her up carrying her under one arm as he shunpo'd towards Kusajishi. As they passed through the wreckage and the carnage that was her home she was amazed as to how different all Hollows could appear from one another. Then her eyes settled on one and her mind started to shut down and go into a panic mode. She recognized the beast as the same one that took her parents and sister away, as well as the very same one that took her life away from her. When they finally got far enough away that Kirigaya felt safe leaving Shana he put her down in a hiding place and tried to go back and stop the hollows from killing everyone in Zaraki. But Shana just clung to him not wanting him to go for fear of losing him just like everyone else that she has ever cared about.

Unwilling to waver in his desire to protect as many as he could even in the lawless sections of the Rukongai that he now lived he knocked Shana unconscious whispering an apology and farewell into her ear as he drew his Zanpakuto shattering the chain of promise in the process. When Shana came to the next day she ran back towards Zaraki in an attempt to find Kirigaya, instead she ran right into the Shinigami squad that was sent out to clean up the mess and tend to the wounded. Trying her best to stay hidden she eavesdropped on them hearing about how they found a shinigami captain that they thought had died years ago standing, dead in the middle of what appeared to be a massive battle, still holding his zanpakuto sheathed in his left hand.

New Determination
Shana's eyes filled with tears as she wandered blindly remembering the years that she had spent with the man who had saved her, taught her, trained her, and in the end chose to sacrifice himself to save as many people as he possibly could. Shana was in such a daze she didn't realize that she had let herself get surrounded by a dozen men dressed as bandits until one of them held his sword to her neck. The feel of the cold steel against her hot skin snapped her back to reality. Glancing around her she didn't truly like her odds but did her best to exhale with a bored sounding sigh, before speaking with an arrogant voice. 'Really only ten of you, you should at least double that before trying to take me on.'

The man with his sword to Shana's neck pulled the blade back and readied for a swing that would have taken her head off, though he never got a chance to do so because Shana drew her Bokken from her waist crashing it into his leg  with a sickening pop as his knee bent sideways keeping the momentum of the swing she rose up and spun herself mid air landing a strike on the collar bone of the guy to the right of the first. Landing and spinning around she brought her blade up splitting the uprights of a third man who let out a pitiful squeak as he fell over. As she turned to the fourth, the rest of the goons had already dropped their weapons and ran away, with their tails between their legs.

Slipping her bokken back into her belt she left the fools who she disabled crying in the middle of the road and continued her wandering and thinking. No matter how she tried, her thoughts kept wandering right back to Kirigaya, the man who gave her, her life as well as invaluable skills that she could use to protect others, just as he had done for her. In the end she decided that the best way to honor that man's memory would be to become a soul reaper and use her strength to protect the weak.

With that, she found a new determination and the turbulence in her heart and mind cleared up leaving room for other things, such as the hunger that had been gnawing at her since she woke up on the day of Kirigaya's death almost a week prior. As she wandered through the street she found herself in front of a rare site especially this far out in the rukongai, a food cart. The man behind the griddle took pity on her and decided to give her food for in exchange for a days worth of work helping with prep and cleaning up, not that he was expecting much business in Kusajishi, as hungry as she was Shana readily agreed, and after she had her fill got to work following the man's instructions to the letter.

As the sun went down they packed up the cart and started traveling towards where the man was staying for the night. The building was just a little run down shack, barely enough to keep the rain off for the night. The following morning before the crack of dawn the picked up and move in towards the center of rukongai at a pretty decent pace. Apparently the food cart owner was known and relatively well respected because even the roughest group of thugs just stood off to one side and bowed slightly. When Shana inquired about it, the cart owner explained how he has fed most everyone in north Rukon for nothing more than just washing their plate which has given him pretty much a safe net so long as he doesn't involve himself in others business.

By night fall they had made it to the 64th District of North Rukon, home of the cart owner, who so kindly decided to take Shana in so long as she continued to pull her own weight, which seeing as she didn't have any where else to go she agreed to readily. The owner of the food cart seemed to be one of the best off in all of that district of the Rukongai, having a restaurant that doubled as a house and his own food cart, the building itself was by far in the best condition of any that Shana had seen in since coming to the Rukongai.

Truly Terrifying Nightmares
That first night in her new home above the restaurant held by far what would be the most terrifying nightmare of her life yet. It started innocently enough with her and her sister playing like they did the day before Shana's death. Suddenly there was a change, the weather went from warm and sunny to cold and cloudy. Shana shivered and hugged herself to warm up as Yukari laughed, her joyous gentle laugh. The laugh changed however to the monstrous evil laugh that the monster that killed her made. As Shana looked up she saw Yukari's form shift into that of the Hollow from her house. The hollow ceased laughing running its tongue over the teeth of its mask it looked down ant Shana and spoke with a voice very much like Yukari's mixed with the hiss of a snake, 'Yes sister. This is what our promise did to me. It made me into a monster and thanks to that stupid man that died trying to protect you, the piece of me inside of you is doing the same to you.'

Shana woke up covered in sweat that seemed to just steam off of her. And while she couldn't remember the details of the dream she couldn't bring herself to go back to sleep. Carefully picking her way down stairs she went outside to practice in hopes that it would calm her mind and let her rest before the sun came up. After making her way through most of the forms and working up an honest sweat, she did a turning swing and almost took out Seijiro's head stopping the blade of her Bokken just millimeters from the restaurant owners head. They talked for a bit and he told her that he was going to take the cart to one of the better districts for a while to make some money and talk to the owner of the farm where he buys most of his produce, and that he wished for her to join him.

The two of them left before the crack of dawn and started to make their way towards the inner districts. The trip itself was uneventful and passed mostly in silence, they would stop during peak food hours and set up shop for a few hours before moving on. Shana was surprised at just how much the quality of life between districts seemed to improve as they got closer to the first district, and while there may not have been much difference in the quality of buildings or clothes the general atmosphere of the people gradually went up with each district they passed.

The nights on the trip were just as bad as the one above the restaurant, unfortunately the days weren't busy enough to take her mind off of the nightmare, what made the nightmare all that much more terrifying to Shana is that she started to notice that no matter how much she ate her hunger never truly felt sated. On the fourth day of traveling they landed in the second district of north Rukon home of a woman who goes by the name of Auntie, friend of Seijiro and owner of the best produce farm in all of North Rukon.

Auntie appeared to be a middle aged women, well built from years on the farm. She apparently happened to make it a habit of taking in children with some form of spiritual power off of the streets and making them work for food rather than letting them become beggars and thieves. The Evening they arrived at Aunties house Seijiro explained his knowledge of Shana's situation, about how she lived in Zaraki for years and how he found her in Kusajishi.  He also explained about Shana's eating habits have lead him to believe that she harbors a strong spiritual power and it seemed to have been strengthening by the day during their trip as her appetite steadily increased. That was all Auntie had to hear before offering Shana a chance to stay with her and the children that all lived with her helping her tend to the farm.

Shana said that she would think over the offer, that night when she awoke from her nightmare and went out to work up a sweat she found Seijiro sitting on the porch looking up at the sky. When he saw Shana he told her that there was a chance that he might not be able to keep everyone that was already under his care fed especially if she continued to stay with him so staying on the farm where she would be almost guaranteed enough to eat might be best for her. Hearing such words of honesty from him made Shana's decision to stay that much easier. Not that she was worried about going hungry, she just didn't want to be an extra burden on a taxed household that has already helped her this much.

Farm Life:
The morning after Seijiro left Shana was assigned to Kudo, one of the older members of the farm crew who was going to show Shana the ropes of life on Aunties farm. Under Kudo's tutelage Shana learned the art of weeding, removing rocks, watering, raking, and other tasks that left her body so tired and sore that even when her nightmares would wake her on the verge of screaming in pure terror she would be unable to move to work them out of her system. The farm work also seemed to go a long way towards sating the 'hunger' that would persist even after eating, almost as if having a purpose in her life was slowing whatever was causing the problem.

By the end of the first month there Shana returned to practicing and developing her form whenever she would be awoken by the vision of her sister becoming a monster, or the new nightmare of Shana being the monster that slaughtered and ate her family, and while Shana knew that she probably wouldn't have need for those skills while she was with Auntie, she still intended to become a soul reaper the first chance she got.

Another upside of the manual labor that she was performing was that it helped her body strengthen in ways that her time fighting in Zaraki didn't, giving her some much needed strength to her style.

After living with Auntie and the other orphans for a year Shana had her worst nightmare yet. She had taken on the form of a bird like creature with arms that had razor sharp claws as well as feet. She tore through the house that she lived in with Auntie and the other orphans breathing fire and eating any and all of the people she found. The worse part was the realism of the dream, the sensation of heat, smell of burning hair and flesh, the taste of her friends as she ripped them to pieces with her beak. The entire time this was going on in her dreams her spiritual pressure kicked itself up to max overloading the gem around her neck and igniting the house around her starting quite the blaze, the flames immediately around her swirled around her encasing her in an egg of pure fire.

Mixed with her reiatsu was the reiatsu of a hollow which drew the attention of those in the Seireitei who sent a couple of high ranking Shinigami to investigate. What they found when they reached the source of the signal was a bunch of kids trying to put out a building fire while a middle aged woman was being held back from going back into the house for one of the children in her care. The younger of the two shinigami, a brash young man named Kentaro leaped into the burning building. Seeing the egg of flames right where he felt the Hollow Reiatsu at its strongest he thought it was just a hollow trap so he slashed it with his Zanpakuto.

The strike broke the egg which burst with a bunch of pressure that extinguished the flames in the room. Both Reiatsu were gone so Keitaro grabbed up Shana and took her outside. Once he was outside he left Shana with Auntie and he and his partner helped out the Orphans with exterminating what was left of the flames.

A Path Opens:
Once the flames were out Keitaro explained what he saw inside of the house to his partner, as well as his suspicions that the young girl that he rescued was subconsciously the cause of the fire, though he couldn't find any signs of a hollow in the house other than the Reiatsu from the egg. The two of them decided to stay till morning and to tell both Shana and Auntie of their suspicions about the young girls power.

After sunrise Auntie sent everyone but Shana away for their regular chores while she talked with the Shinigami, and scrounged through the house for anything salvageable. Once their suspicions were heard they told Shana that they could take her to the Seireitei and place her in the care of a Soul Reaper who will teach her how to control her power to prevent it from flaring like that again as well as other things, that would help her in the entrance exam for Shinōreijutsuin. With a combination of fear about what they said about her being the cause of the flames, and seeing this as the best path towards her goals Shana took them up on their offer and left Aunties farm.

The Seireitei was easily the most amazing thing that Shana had seen since coming to the Soul society. It was basically a giant gated community with its buildings in perfect order, atleast on the out side. the streets were stone instead of dirt, and the very sight of it made Shana feel like she needed a nice long bath.

The next few years were spent in relative peace, the nightmares seemed to have stopped. The Shinigami that took Shana in was a seated officer of squad five, and unfortunately rather busy so it was very rare that Shana would get hands on training with anything. Though her new guardian did leave reading assignments to help Shana ready for the written part of the entrance exam as well as to build Shana's general knowledge of the Soul Society and Shinigami in general. When Shana did manage to get some hands on training with the Shinigami they spent most of their time on meditation and spiritual control exercises.

Finally the day came where both Shana and her guardian felt that she was ready to take the entrance exams. The first part of the exam where they measure a shinigami's spiritual power Shana passed with flying colors, though she struggled her way through the written portion of the exam, her mind going blank as soon as the test was in front of her. When it was done Shana waited around anxiously to hear her results worried that she bombed the written part and was going to have to wait another year. As she gained her results she heaved a sigh of relief, while her written results were sub-average when combined with the results of the spirtual pressure exam it was enough to pass, making her one of the youngest to ever enter the academy at the age of 15 even though she didn't appear to be much older than seven at the time.

Shinōreijutsuin:
Finally the time had for Shana to make true progress towards her goal of becoming a shinigami and go to school. Though of course because of her diminutive stature and youthful appearance she drew a bunch of attention especially from her older classmates. When it came to the free practice portion of her first Zanjutsu class Shana decided to put an end to the problems by calling out the three largest of her hecklers and challenging them to a three on one fight. Shana took up her stance with the three of them surrounding her, the bokken that she had been given for class still hanging at her waist. Beckoning for her opponents to begin, Shana avoided their overly predictable swings with graceful moves that made it appear as if she was dancing, dodging the blades by mere centimeters.

After dancing around like that for a few minutes her fight had drawn the attention of the rest of her classmates and the instructor as well who started watching the fight intently. Finally Shana was ready to begin her counter attack. Dodging the attack of the one on the right by kicking back she immediately rushed back in spinning as she entered range using the centrifugal force to draw her bokken and strike the right knee of the one on her left forcing his leg to bend in an unnatural angle with a loud pop. Keeping the momentum of her spin Shana rose up and twisted mid air so that her spiral motion went from horizontal to diagnal bringing the bokken down on the collar bone of the guy on her right with a resounding crack and causing the guy to crumple. As her feet touched the ground she spun one last time raising the bokken in a vertical strike aimed right between the legs of the center guy, the largest of the trio, turning the blade so that the flat would strike Shana struck the blade with the palm of her hand and kicked off the ground just before impacting the guy's jewels. The wooden sword impacted with a deafening crack, striking with enough force that the man who easily weighed five times what Shana did was lifted off the ground, his eyes tried to pop out of his skull as his face twisted in pain.

Satisfied with the stunned silence around her Shana put her now broken Bokken back into its proper place on her left hip and walked her way through the crowd of people who just parted and created a clear path for her to walk, which was good enough for her because it was now time for her to head off to her next class, Hakuda.

Apparently word of her little exhibition in the basic Zanjutsu class hadn't made it around quite yet because as soon as she entered the classroom she was singled out by a man about three times her size who immediately started to poke fun at her. The first class was being dedicated to testing to see what each person's skill level is. By her request Shana ended up paired off against the bully in hopes of putting him in his place. She had taken guys like him down before, however she had always had her bokken to help make up for the size difference, and she knew there was a great chance that this guy would prove tougher than her past opponents.

Not wanting to risk the guy being a better fighter than her Shana opened up the fight aggressively striking at her opponent forcing him to stay on the defensive, using her small stature to keep in close and prevent him from putting up too much of a counter offensive. Unfortunately this plan worked against her as well, her opponent just kept his arms in making it almost impossible for her to get a decisive blow on him. After almost three minutes straight of wailing on her opponent trying to get through his defenses she made the mistake of slipping into a rhythm with her strikes which allowed her opponent to break her offense, shifting his body on an impact and lashing out with an elbow strike that knocked the feather-weight Shana off of her feet and knocking her back a few feet. Shana flipped back up to her feet getting her guard up just in time to block the next punch though the impact did force her to step back to keep from losing her footing.

The next strike that Shana's opponent lashed out was another straight punch but Shana was ready for it, saying a small thanks for being a small target she moved out of its way and started to advance. Leaping into the air to perform a spinning kick on Her opponents head she was swatted aside. Kicking her feet up she flipped mid air and landed on her feet, sliding slightly. Shana rushed in again crouching again as if she was going to try another leaping blow,  the bully fell for the feint performing a roundhouse kick that would have knocked her out of the air if she actually went vertical with her strike, instead she jumped straight forward her body, barely hovering over the ground twisting mid air she impacted with all of her might into the side of her opponent's knee. The force of the kick combined with all of the weight on his leg caused his knee to pop out of joint as his leg started bending in the wrong direction. Shana pushed off on the ground sliding between his legs as his body collapsed to the ground.

While the fight was a lot closer than the one in the Zanjutsu class it was still impressive enough for the instructor watching it to take notice. The rest of her classes that day were pretty uneventful though she did draw quite a few stares from her classmates who had heard about her performance in her earlier Zanjutsu and Hakuda classes already.

Later that day as she was heading home with her Asauchi she was pulled off to one side by her teachers. Following them to an empty classroom they told her how impressed they were with her Zanjutsu and Hakuda skills and wished to let her know she was going to be skipped ahead to the most advanced classes in each of those two subjects.

The Birth of Alastor:
That night she asked her guardian about how she should go about communicating with her zanpakuto. Her guardian taught her about jinzen and how to perform it, though she explained how the Zanpakuto that Shana was currently holding was nothing more than a blank slate, and until the bond between the two strengthens Shana will find nothing by communicating with it. Even with that warning, it didn't stop her from trying after dinner that night. It was as Shana's guardian said, even though she was in the world of her zanpakuto there was nothing there, leaving her floating around in empty blackness.

As Shana meditated in the real world she drifted through the nothingness that was her inner world. After finding nothing she decided to go through some image training, crafting opponents out of her imagination to fight. This was the pattern that she went through for the next four months. Around that time the world of her Zanpakuto had formed completely, the first time she appeared on the floating island she was so stunned that she just wandered about finding a large egg in the middle of a massive blazing brazier. Finding herself inexplicably drawn to the egg she got as close as she could to the flame and just knelt there watching it.

For the next month after her homework was done and dinner was eaten she would just enter the world of the Zanpakuto watching the egg surrounded by flames. One day while she was sitting there, a voice called out to her from within the egg, beckoning her to enter the flames and touch the egg. Reluctantly she approached getting closer to the brazier walking around it she saw that there was no way that she could reach the egg without entering the flames. Swallowing hard Shana stepped up on the edge of the Brazier and entered the flames, almost expecting to be burned but the fire itself felt no warmer than a nice hot bath as she stepped towards the egg. Once up against it she realized that the egg itself was about half her size, as her fingers caressed its hard shell cracks appeared and the egg burst creating a back draft as the bird within hatched.

Alastor the young bird no taller than the shell that he just hatched from explained that he was the spirit of Shana's Zanpakuto, though he refused to give her his name for a few reasons, those being first his powers hadn't fully matured and her calling on him before they are ready might stunt their growth, and because Shana's control over her own power was poor, and the combination of the two of their powers could prove dangerous for all in the area, Shana included. To emphasize his second point he need only point out Shana's performance in Kido class, where her spells have consistently fizzled or blown up in her face. Flustered Shana just hung her head in shame, seeing exactly what the bird before her was talking about. While he told her that he wouldn't give her his power, he did promise to help her learn how to control hers.

And so their partnership began in a sort of student teacher way, over the next few weeks following the lessons that Alastor had given her when she would visit each night she noticed her proficiency in both hado and bakudo improve drastically.

All in all between her accelerated Zanjutsu and Hakuda classes and the improvements shown in her Kido through Alastor's assistance in control exercises she managed to end up on track for graduating from the academy in one and a half years rather than having to attend for the full six years.

Welcome to Squad 2:
Upon graduating from the academy Shana was drafted into the second squad of the gotei 13 where she was trained in stealth and tracking techniques. After about 6 months the higher ups felt confident enough in Shana's abilities to start letting her take on missions. Most of them were simple find the run away, or purify the hollow missions, but Shana performed them with such speed and efficiency her squad mates felt that she was a natural born hunter and dubbed her Enpatsu Shakugan no Uchite, or the Flame-haired Burning-eyed hunter, that combined with her spiritual pressure she was offered a seated position after her fifth successful mission which involved a particularly troublesome hollow. Graciously accepting the offer she took her spot as the sixth seat of squad two Making her one of the highest seated officer's to not be able to call upon the power of their zanpakuto, because Alastor who had grown exponentially, and even started to take on a humanoid appearance to train with her when she visits him each night still refuses to give her his name.

About fifteen years, and dozens of successful assignments after her appointment to the sixth seat of squad two a massive alert went out for multiple hollow appearances throughout the rukongai, almost like it was supposed to be a massive invasion of sorts. Shana was assigned to a squadron sent to the north sector of the rukongai where small groups would break off in districts where signal's were popping up, due to her familiarity with the area she was assigned to Zaraki, the source of the signal there was pretty weak so her backup was the 15th and 16th seat of squad two, a pair known for their combination techniques.

Upon arriving in Zaraki they found the hollow that had shown up on radar, a large tortoise looking thing that kept its mask hidden inside of a thick shell, that would lash out on a long neck biting into souls in a similar manner to a viper. With a wave of her hand she signaled for her partners to attack, and attack they did striking out at the hollows shell with kido and zanpakuto trying to crack it and get at the head within, but to no avail, as their attacks didn't even put a scratch. Unfortunately however the hollow was a lot faster than it's appearance would suggest, lashing out with one of its hidden claws and knocking the sixteenth seat through a building that collapsed on top of her, before turning and firing a green ball of energy at the fifteenth seat who blocked it with his zanpakuto just to have the blade melt in his hands.

It was then that Shana interceded pushing the now sword less squad mate out of the way of a subsequent blast. Telling him to get his partner and get out of there and call for backup while she released her spiritual pressure making herself seem the tastiest option for the hollow to eat, though she wasn't quite sure how she was going to crack his shell. Concentrating her reiatsu and honing the blade of her zanpakuto as sharp as she could make it she waited for the beast to attack, sure enough another green glob was launched at her, ducking around it she rushed in dodging two more in the amount of time it took her to close the gap, leaping into the air she spun  her body around before bringing her zanpakuto down on the hollows shell, but even with all of that her blade barely even scratched the creature's hard shell.

The hollow lashed out with his claws knocking Shana back into a building, turning to fire another one of its green energy balls Shana intercepted it with a Eishōhaki Shakkaho. Shana rushed in again dodging the energy balls and slashing at the limbs that lashed out at her, firing a point blank range shakaho she leaped up and spun striking the same spot, though this time she struck the back of her zanpakuto with an axe kick increasing the force of the cut. While the knick was deeper than before her zanpakuto was still proving to be relatively ineffective. Holding her ground as the hollow tried to shake her swinging her zanpakuto down on that spot again hoping that if single strikes won't be enough repeated would weaken it to the point where her blade could cut through it. Before her blade made contact though the hollow kicked up flipping itself so that it would land on its back and crush her between the earth and the shell. Kicking off of the hollow Shana turned mid air hoping that the exposed underside would prove more susceptible to zanpakuto blades than the back. The hollow landed on its side more than its back, putting her right in line for a thrusting blow. Rushing in to deliver what she hoped to be the fatal strike to the Hollow before her zanpakuto sank to its hilt in the underside of the creature slicing through it like it was no more than mere putty.

Rise from the Ashes and Blaze with the Flames of Heaven, Alastor!:

The hollow that had brought her back to Zaraki had been vanquished, though her instincts told her that she should remain on guard. The air around her gradually started to get cooler, at first Shana didn't pay it any mind because her adrenaline was wearing off, though when she started to be able to see her breath she started to look around for another enemy. Sure enough four of them seemed to materialize out of no where.

One of the four Shana recognized as the hollow of her nightmares, back to finish what it has failed to do on at least two separate occasions. The other three were flanking the central hollow as if they were that hollows body guards. The smallest of the three was avian in appearance with a flat round mask. The mid sized one looked like it could have passed as a werewolf with its bi-pedal canine appearance and long limbs tipped in vicious looking claws, The third of the trio was a mass of flesh and fur whose mask and massive claws gave it a rather Ursa-like appearance. The two ground bound hollows had what appeared to be spikes of bones protruding from their fur.

The power radiating from the trio didn't seem all that strong, though the fact that Shana couldn't truly sense them until just a few moments ago wasn't sure whether or not she could trust her ability to sense their spiritual pressure. For a brief moment Shana considered fleeing to live and fight another day, though she immediately dismissed the idea, cursing herself for being so cowardly. She was here to protect the citizens of the Rukongai even if they were the violent bloodthirsty curs of Zaraki, and that was exactly what she was going to do even if it cost her her life. There was an audible tha-thump like a heart beat as soon as she resolved herself to stand and fight, but before she could contemplate it the wolf-like hollow was already pouncing at her.

Side stepping the pounce, Shana sliced upwards only to find herself slicing at air. Before Shana could locate the wolf hollow, the bird-like one launched a volley of knife like feathers at her with a flap of its wings, drawing all of Shana's attention to it just to keep from being sliced to ribbons. As she swatted the last feather out of the sky she was struck with the massive furry paw of the the Bear-hollow who was amazingly stealthy considering it's enormous size. Landing in the rubble of an already destroyed building, the wind completely knocked out of her. While Shana was blinking the spots from her eyes, fighting to regain both her breath and footing at the same time she could barely make out the hollow that had killed her slowly meandering its way towards her as if it had all of the time in the world.

Shana's vision cleared just in time to watch her nightmare take a deep breath. Deciding that she didn't want to be hit by whatever the hollow was planning Shana started moving, trying to circle around the hollow, though she was stopped short by wolfy, who swiped his claws at Shana who stopped just shy of being disemboweled by the strike. Shana then heard a massive exhale and felt the temperature around her drop drastically. The next thing Shana knew was that she was in the castle of the floating island looking at Alastor in his full grown bird form. Shana's voice seemed to had been left in the world of the living as she got to see the true form of her zanpakuto spirit for the very first time. Alastors voice rang in her head as his golden eyes locked with Shana's Scarlet ones. 'It is Time, Call my name or we shall die', was what the voice said, Shana was confused by that statement he still hadn't even told her his name in all of her memories of their conversations that was the one topic that hadn't came up since the first time Shana asked him. As she continued to ponder what his name was, only one came to mind and that was 'Alastor'. As Shana consciously thought the name Alastor's eyes seemed to light up and all of the flames in the room flared simultaneously.

So Shana called out Alastor's name out loud, finding herself back in Zaraki though she was completely encased in ice. Shana's spiritual pressure started to pour out of her like someone just turned the faucet on full blast. The ice itself started to melt and crack as Shana heated the air around her. Suddenly the shell of ice burst, Swinging her Zanpakuto to one side Alastor burst into flames. The four hollows looked shocked as Shana stood before them, clothes soaked and torn but otherwise no noticeable damage on her. Swinging her Zanpakuto in a large ark Shana released a wave of fire at the three ground bound ones. Her nightmare intercepted the slash with another wave of freezing breath but that appeared to have only weakened the blow as it still struck leaving a large gouge, seared flesh, and burnt fur where it impacted Swinging her zanpakuto towards her air-born opponent a hand of fire shot out of the blade grabbing onto the face of the bird-like hollow before exploding dispatching the bird like hollow, whose body dissolved before it even struck the ground.

As Shana turned to do the same to her injured ground bound opponents they slipped between realms appearing to just melt into the air around them. A noise behind her caused Shana to turn swinging her zanpakuto she stopped just shy of the neck of her lieutenant who had been dispatched to back her up. Suddenly Shana noticed the lack of adreneline in her system, not that the danger had passed her body ached, and she was utterly exhausted, unable to stay awake any longer Shana passed out.

Peace and Quiet: 37
When she awoke in the hospital, she was looked over briefly by a member of squad four before being dismissed. Returning back to her barracks Shana turned in her report before heading off to the outdoor arena to practice with her shikai. Learning how to produce each of the attacks she used when she first released her sword. After successfully repeating each technique that she had used she communicated with Alastor to learn what else Shana would be able to do with his powers.

Spending what free time she had between missions, learning developing new abilities to use with her zanpakuto. After a couple of months Shana felt she had mastered her shikai, atleast to the point she could without a truly challenging combat experience, so she started to make her way towards learning Bankai. She had learned the basics back in the academy about how she would first need to manifest Alastor and then make him Submit to her will, and at that point in time the both of them would learn Bankai. Both Shana and Alastor knew the theory behind it, though the both of them were troubled with how to perform their part.

After Five years of training, studying and practicing Shana finally managed to manifest Alastor at will. Though the form that he took when she did so, caught her quite off guard as it was the first time she ever saw him in the guise of a human. While she was still in shock at Alastor's appearance he reached out and snagged the pendant from around her neck. After taking off to the sky he explained the rules of the engagement to unlock Bankai all that she would have to do is get her pendant back and he would submit to her. He also gave her free reign to use what ever method she deemed appropriate to get it back.

Tenbatsushin Alastor:

For the better part of four days they fought, Shana unable to even land a hit on Alastor who unfortunately knew her fighting style and and her moves as well as she did if not better. Though he would point out flaws in her movements he did not pull any of his own punches, covering his master in slashes and burns, each one worse than the last, as it started to take more of his concentration to stave off her attempts to reclaim her pendant. Her kido had been either deflected or completely ignored as if she was nothing more than a fresh from the academy greenhorn not a experienced shinigami working on her Bankai.

Each exchange of blades brought Shana closer to reclaiming her pendant, and succeeding in her training. Her understanding, and confidence growing with each exchange as she had to come up with new and inventive ways to use the very abilities of her zanpakuto.

After it was all said and done she managed to get her pendant back from Alastor completing the test that he had laid out for her, with her pendant in hand, exhaustion set in and she collapsed. While her body rested Alastor brought her mind back to her inner world. While there Alastor warned her of just how dangerous her Bankai was, not just to those around her but to herself as well, and his power could only go so far to protect her, so she should use it as a last resort. With his warning said, Alastor let her drift off into a deep restful sleep.

After waking, The first thing Shana did was report to her captain, explaining her absence and also revealing that she had finished unlocking Bankai. Upon hearing this Shana's captain broke out in a wide grin, and brought Shana to a secret training ground, created in a naturally occurring deposit of Sekkiseki Stone so that any who trained in there could use any kind of ability without worry of the effects of those outside. Once the Training Area had been closed and sealed Shana's captain had her release her Zanpakuto to its Bankai level just to see how much control Shana had over her new powers.

Not wishing to argue with her captain she followed the order, releasing directly into Bankai. The sudden surge of power that Shana felt upon doing so was unlike anything she had ever felt before. All around her, the temperature started to climb at an alarming rate, so much so that her captain who was watching her impassively started to sweat profusely. After about a minute the stone in the immediate vicinity started to glow from the heat that she was emitting. Within a few seconds however Shana's power flared out of her control and the area around ignited. The flames sucked the oxygen out of the air around her in almost an instant, they raged so hard that they even sucked the air right out of her lungs.

Unfortunately Shana's captain could only watch on as one of the most promising members of Squad 2 lost control of their powers and was being engulfed by her own flames. Luckily for Shana, her Zanpakuto sealed again and the flames died out, leaving a slightly singed Shana in their wake. After making sure that Shana was still alive her captain found a cool stone a few feet away, sat and waited for Shana to awake.

Luckily they didn't have to wait long, within 10 minutes of oxygen returning to her Shana started to stir. As she came to her senses, Shana's captain asked for an explanation as to what had happened on Shana's end, what she had felt, and what went wrong. Shana explained everything to the best of her ability, about how thrilling the flood of power was, and how it seemed to get out of her control bursting forth like a wildfire.

Shana's captain just sat there, taking in every detail, and at the end of Shana's story her captain just looked at her with a half smirk on their face before explaining how Shana's Bankai appears to be far too powerful for her to use at this time. As a preventative measure, Shana's captain placed a seal on her similar to the one that is placed on higher ranking officers when they are sent to the human world. The biggest difference between the two seals is that this one, would only prevent her from even trying her Bankai, unless the captain herself was there to release the seal.

Shana's Captain's explanation behind that was that Shana's Bankai unlocked more power than she could handle at that time and to prevent her from accidentally killing herself while trying to master it. However in the mean time Shana's Captain told her that she was going to train her in mastering Hoho, and how to better control her new strength through fully mastering her shikai.

Flash Fire:

It turns out that just like Hakuda and Zanjutsu, Shana had a knack for Hoho picking up Shunpo in only a few attempts, and even mastering Senka in under a week, and even getting good enough to perform Utsusemi almost without fail by the end of the month. Her zanpakuto training was coming along as well, while Shana's captain wasn't releasing the seal and allow Shana to work with her bankai itself but she instructed her to use her Shikai, but not how she normally would instead of limiting the power output on her abilities, She was supposed to turn it up to the max and sustain it at that for as long as she could.

According to Shana's Captain doing so would adapt Shana to her Zanpakuto's new strength, and help prevent her from losing control of her Bankai in the future. While Shana could understand the logic, it couldn't stop her from itching to feel that rush of power again. When she was on her own she continued to practice the advanced Hoho techniques, and even developed one of her own. It involved leaving a Reiatsu impression of herself in an Utsusemi to provide some solidity to the image, and turning it into a container that can hold Various Kido spells.

Her captain was thrilled to see the young Shinigami grow and evolve at such a rapid rate, mastering and even adapting some of the most complex techniques and making them her own.

By the end of her first year of following her Captains training course, Shana finally was allowed to test the strides that she had made towards being able to stay in control of her Bankai. As she released her zanpakuto Shana body filled with the same power that overwhelmed her just one year prior, this time however her Bankai fully manifested, complete with her scarlet wings of fire. The sensation of her full power flowing through her was both exhilarating and absolutely terrifying at the same time. Especially as she took in the fact that the rocks nearest to her were glowing, and starting to sag. Looking over at her captain sweating face Shana debated whether or not to dispel her Bankai, though the look on her Captain's face solidified the resolve she had at the start of the experiment.

With out any more thought than it would take to move her arms her wings snapped open and with one mighty beat she shot off like rocket. The feeling of flying through the air on wings of her own was almost as exhilarating to Shana as the power of her Bankai flooding through her.

Once she felt she was a safe enough distance a way, Shana tried firing off one of her Shikai abilities. Shana could feel the difference in the ability immediately, the heat it gave off and the sheer destructive force of it. Shana descended back down towards the ground landing in front of her Captain before dispelling her Bankai.

A Flame in the Shadows:
Over the next five years Shana spent her free time training her Bankai, Either in the secret training grounds with her Captain, or in her inner world with Alastor. Learning the ins and outs of its abilities. Including one that when used properly could provide her with an easy means of escape from an otherwise unwinnable situation.

Shana became engrossed in learning the full extent of her powers, their limits and capabilities. However before she felt confident enough to use her Bankai in real combat she was assigned to assist with an influx of hollow activity in the region that Shana was being assigned to, but even more than that. Though that was only part of her mission, and not even the most important part. Shana was being assigned to the region to also in investigate the cause of the abnormally high levels of activity.

After a year in the human world, Shana noticed that at least the hollows that she had purified seemed to be drawn to a particular school. Not able to pick up on anything odd about the school or the people that attended it, Shana borrowed a Gigai to go under cover at the school itself, to see if she can find some information by actually interacting with the people themselves.

After integrating herself as a new transfer student Shana knew that she couldn't seem too curious or nosy if she wanted to get the information, or at least any information that might prove useful. After six months of subtly digging for information Shana found out something that shook her to her very core. The school was built on the site of an old elementary school that had burnt down a little over two decades prior. Though that wasn't what had shaken her, no the detail that shook her the most was the name of the elementary school, it was the same school that she had attend with her sister when they were still alive.

While there was no apparent correlation between that fact and the increased hollow attacks that Shana could detect, she couldn't shake the feeling that it was relevant. After two more years in the Human World, Shana received orders to return to the Seireitei. As she was opening the gateway between the two worlds she got attacked by a pair of feline-esque hollows. As the battle went on Shana Injured one, causing the other to fight even more ferociously than before. The first released a screech that knocked Shana to her knees.

---

RP Sample:
An old Naruto Themed RP of mine
It was early in the morning when Sakota walked into Yung-Shi's office in order to recieve the mission he was called there for. In front of the desk stood two men. One of which was a short portly fellow the person who stood next to him was tall and skinny. Sakota quietly walked up to the desk up until he was a few feet from his desk where he took a knee bowing down to Yung-shi who was sitting behind the desk.  "Lord Raikage you wanted to see me about something."

"Yes I did. We have been hired by two separate countries who both have a similar trouble which leads us to something that I would consider to be even more dangerous than an S-rank mission normally I would send a sannin or even take care of this myself but as you know we are a little shorthanded right this second with preparations and are lacking in advanced ninja's so I want you to take care of both of them but seeing as time is a factor in this so the two of them will explain what is going on while you head to their countries. Don't forget that if you do succeed you are to collect the money and return with it. Am I understood!" Yung-shi explained to him.

"Yes sir." Sakota said thinking to himself 'great a mission that will more dangerous than anything that I can even prepare for just what I needed' Sakota then got up and walked to the door realizing that the two men had yet to move "For something that time is supposedly a factor of you two don't seem to be moving much."

The two men started to quickly follow him out of the office the short pudgy one needing to take at least two steps for everyone of Sakota's one while the taller one was power walking to keep up as they reached the gates Sakota said "Okay now I need to know where we are going."

The taller one said "I am an aid to the daimyo of Kiba no Kuni and my name is Shikon this man here" He gestured to the short tubby man "is the aid to the daimyo of Tsume no Kuni he goes by the name of Hanone. As for where we are going it doesn't matter where we go first we will be going in the same direction in the end but seeing as Tsume no Kuni is closer we will stop there first now Hinone if you don't mind explaining to him what is going on in your village and what his mission is."

Sakota had nodded and started heading out on their way in a southwesterly direction "Thank you for the introductions Shikon and yes I should tell them about our respective issues. You see my dear ninja Tsume no Kuni or as it is also known Claw Country has been under attack by a giant white tiger that goes by the name of Byakko he has ordered my country to offer up 100 of our young women and 50 children to him and he will leave us alone. We have hired shinobi from other villages that were cheaper than yours and they sent in teams for less we hoped that they would have succeeded but they did not they were all killed and devoured. Shikon has also hired many shinobi from other villages with the same result on his troubles though unlike my country his is under attack by a giant arctic wolf that goes by the name of Ookami and she has requested 100 of their young men and 50 children for the same reward. The deadline for both of their requests are approaching and we request no not request beg of you please at least make these demons flee in fear if you can not send them back to the hell in which they came from."

"I see well I can not guarantee that I will succeed in that heck in the end I might just die after angering them causing them to destroy your village in its entirety so where exactly are they and when do they return." Sakota said warning them to the best of his ability knowing full well that he was probably going to be way out of his league.

"Ookami lives up in fang mountains though we have no idea where specifically or how on earth she keeps herself hidden up their because she appears to be approximately half of its size Byakko on the other hand lives somewhere deep in the forest that borders our respective coutries. As for when they return Byakko will be returning in about 5 days which is about a day after our Estimated time of arrival at our current pace and Ookami will be returning in 10 days which barely gives you enough time to lick your wounds and to get to Fang Country if you are successful against Byakko." The tall man said looking rather dismayed. Sakota had stopped turned around facing them he removed his gloves biting his left thumb pressing it against his right hand he then formed the handseals Hare, Horse, Monkey, Dog, Dragon, and Tiger. Slamming his right hand on the ground a seal formed followed instantly by a puff of smoke then a giant shadow appeared in the smoke, As the smoke cleared it was revealed that the shadow belonged to Chitraka queen of the cheetahs. Her size combined with her White fur and feline appearance frightened both of the daimyo aids who mistook her for Byakko.

Sakota leapt down from her head landing quietly and gently right in front of the two aids Chitraka's head lowered down next to Sakota's "Why have you summoned me here my child because unless I am underestimating there skills or over estimating yours you could take out these two blind folded and with only your left hand."

Sakota reached his hand up and stroked the side of her face her soft fur felt like silk between his fingers he started to chuckle at the thought of what she had said "I haven't given that much thought but now that you mention it you are probably right. But fighting them is not why I have summoned you, you see they are both clients of Kumo and I have been hired to take care of a little issue that both of their countries are having. Time is a precious commodity that we are short on and I was hoping that you could help us pick up the pace a bit. You see both The Fang Country and the Claw Country are being threatened by a White tiger by the name of Byakko and a Arctic Wolf name Ookami. We have less than a week to get to the Claw country and prevent its destruction by Byakko."

"Well if Byakko is involved then you have even less time than you think this is at least the fourth time he has done this since I have been around he will request an offering and either one or two days earlier than he was supposed to he will show up and expect it if it is not ready the second he arrives he starts destroying the village. You see he does this just for fun ruining the name of the guardian of the winds and the west. I have hear rumors that Ookami was just as bad if not worse than Byakko but they never have attacked this close to one another or at the same time heck an all out war might break out between them. The two of them have been around longer than even Kentarl there names being mentioned in our family's oldest history scrolls. They were once best of friends but now they are rivals and some say even enemies. With that in mind if you are ready grab them and hop aboard." Chitraka said and without hesitation Sakota grabbed his two clients by the shirt and leapt from the ground up to the back of Chitraka.

"Thank you for the warning but you know full well that when I am assigned to a mission like this there are only two options first is success and the second is failure by my death as you well know I am too stubborn to retreat. Now please get us there as quickly as possible with the minimum amount of collateral damage" Sakota said as Chitraka took off with a bound sprinting as fast as she could without using Reidou Ai. She sprinted as far as she could stopping about 3 miles out of Claw country just before sunset on the day of their departure. She was completely out of breath as they approached a lake. "Drink and take a rest and go home if I require your assistance against Byakko I will call for you"

"As you wish my dear child but be careful his claws can rip through your steel coat faster than you can blink your eyes." She said as she was lowering her head down she stuck out her tongue and started lapping water. Sakota started to walk away the two aids right on his heels. A few hours later as the moon reached its highest point in the sky they finally reached the capital of Tsume no Kuni. The aid led the way straight to the daimyo's residence. He brought Sakota straight to the daimyo's dining hall where he the daimyo was sitting his body looked weakened and as if he has been starved over the past couple of weeks barely looking at food never mind consuming it. In front of him was a table full of food yet no one else to partake in it with him his servants were next to him coerceing him to try and eat.

The daimyo's mouth opened and a weak voice that was barely audible to even those sitting next to him spoke "How am I supposed to eat when my people are threatened by a beast that is probably just going to destroy us either way."

"Daimyo what have you done to yourself I told you not to worry I would find away to solve our dilemma. Granted the help I have hired might just bankrupt us but at least our people will be safe." Hanone said to the daimyo his voice full of concern for his ill daimyo.

The daimyo flicked his hand as if a sign of dismissal "Shinobi leave now before the beast kills you I do not want the death of another warrior on my conscious as I die. Keep the money that you have been paid and leave now"

Sakota moved over to the daimyo and with a well placed Hakke Kuushou he turned the daimyo's seat to face him then he bent over to stand face to face with the daimyo. Sakota grabbed his mask lifting it up to show his face to the daimyo who looked shocked at its appearance. Though youthful Sakota's face showed his experience with death both cheating it on a regular basis with his missions and losing those close to him. "Death and I are and always will be close until he chooses to take me from then on only my actions in the world of the living will be remembered as for the money I am supposed to return with it after I complete the mission this way we are not getting paid for a failure and as for running away I will tell you the same thing that I told Chitraka this mission will end in two ways my success or my death."

The daimyo seemed shocked by these words and for some reason felt that Sakota would succeed at killing Byakko his face seemed a little less grave and a smile went across it he then nodded "Now my young shinobi my I please get your name and feel free to sit and eat."

"My name is of no great importance to you but since you requested it I go by the name Ryudo, Sakota you may just call me Sakota. And I thank you for the food now why don't you honor me by eating also oh and I need to have a place to sleep till Byakko shows up." Sakota said attempting to get the daimyo to eat as well as trying to make sure that he is at his peak when he has to go face to face with the monster.

"I think I will for some strange reason you seem to have put me at ease oh Hanone, and Shikon was it sit join us and after you have had your fill I will send word to your daimyo Shikon that you are doing okay while Hanone shows you and Sakota here to the guest rooms Shikon you may leave at first light If you wish or you can stay here and leave with Sakota when he is finished." The daimyo said gesturing to the two aids to have a seat and partake of the feast that was laid out on the table they spent the rest of the time eating in relative silence.

After filling and emptying his plate three times Sakota ceased eating and placed down his chopsticks the daimyo started laughing as he just finished his first plate Hanone was still approximately halfway through his first plate while Shikon had barely touched his food. He had been captivated at the rate in which Sakota had eaten. The pace had both amuzed and disgusted him robbing him of his appetite but he still finished his plate. As they all had finished the daimyo got up and with the assistance of his servants made his way to his bedchambers were he sat at his desk and wrote the letter. Sakota reset his mask stood up along with Shikon and Hanone. Hanone then led the way down a corridor to where the daimyo's son stayed before the daimyo sent him away at the start of this whole incident "Sakota this will be your room for now rest easy no harm shall come of you at least by human hands. By that tigers paws though I can not promise you. Or The wolves Jaw should she show up to attack Byakko"

Sakota smiled behind his mask he walked his way to the young lords bed laying removing only his shoes before laying down on it, He slowly drifted into a feather light sleep the same one that he was taught to be in while training to become an assassin. He slept till just after the crack of dawn as the sunlight started to shine its way through the crack in the shade. Sakota leapt out of bed going over to the shade he opened it slightly to look outside and he could have sworn he saw the silhouette of a beast in the early morning rays of the sun though when he blinked it was gone. Sakota then spent the rest of the day traveling across the capital city to get a good layout of the land. He found a spot just outside of the village where there was paw prints larger than what Chitraka makes they were fresh too. "Soon Byakko is going to attack I just hope that I am strong enough to defeat both him and Ookami"

Sakota went back to the daimyo's palace where he convinced the daimyo to have that area of the city where he saw the paw prints evacuated and their people brought inside of the palace before he went and sat in the room meditating. Focusing on the task at hand when the sun had gone down and the full moon was high in the sky. A roar echoed throughout the city causing windows to shatter and some of the buildings to shake themselves apart. Sakota left the room out of the window leaping out of it where he ran down the wall leaping with great speed when he was close to the ground. The daimyo's guards had started closing the gates as soon as Sakota had left them. He ran down an alleyway where he leapt kick jumping off of the buildings till he reached the rooftops. He then leapt from one rooftop to another till he reached the spot where he found the paw prints earlier. There stood a creature that stood a bit larger than Chitraka. The beings amber eyes glowed with a ferocity seen only in wild beasts, the moonlight reflected eerily off of his white fur his and the black stripes just made Byakko appear as if only a part of his body was there. There was a series of scars on the back of his neck and on one of his legs. They were in the shape of a jaw and were a result from His and Ookami's last encounter. "You smell of that other feline I saw approaching yesterday are you her master"

"No for she has no master other than her mate she chooses to assist me of her own free will though if I am doing my math right you are a whole 3 days early." Sakota replied to the monstrous beast who just swatted at him. Sakota leapt backwards and knew that the claws had completely missed him yet the disturbance in the air current had sliced his coat and even his under shirt. "Hmm it appears that Chitraka was right about you slicing through my coat in ease"

Sakota removed his coat and instinctively ripped his shirt stuffing his ears with the torn fabric not to help lower his susceptibility to the roar. He then pulled out a kunai tying a tag in the loop with as well as a strand of ninja wire. He then threw the kunai at Byakko who swatted at it cutting the ninja wire causing the explosive to go off. Sakota was happy at first thinking that he crippled the beast though when he saw that all it did was cut Byakko's paw up a bit he was kind of upset. Byakko roared sending a shockwave out that hit Sakota like a semi sending him flying back into a building that had started to crumble. The building fell on top of Sakota Byakko stopped roaring and started laughing until a chunk of the rubble that landed on Sakota went flying crashing into his head. Sakota's mask cracked falling off of his face Sakota then threw a couple of his specialized smoke bombs that were laced with copper. He then performed some handseals creating a small sphere infront of him that then fired a beam shaped like a dragon "Raiton Rairyuurendan No Jutsu".

The jutsu hit the cloud and Byakko started growling as he was getting electrocuted. He growled again and a tornado formed around him dispersing the smoke and the electrical attack "Grrg you are starting to tick me off"

"Ow Ow Owoooooooooooooo" a wolfs howl roar out across the wasteland as this giant arctic wolf came bounding out of seemingly no where "So it was your blood I smelt there Byakko now I get to finish you off once and for all"

The wolf seemed to radiate an almost arctic wind as she leapt off of Byakko letting him get up. Ookami's growl her breath seeming like the steam that you exhale on a winters day. She howled again and an arctic wind burst forth from her jaws causing Byakko's fur to freeze. A group of kids appeared out of the rubble from one of the buildings that were knocked down by Byakko's last roar "This is getting out of hand Chitraka Get out here and give me a hand please. Kuchiyose No Jutsu"

Just as before Sakota summoned out Chitraka standing on her head he could barely see Eye to Eye with both of the monsters before him he bent down to her ear"Chitraka keep them busy for a few and do your best to get them away from here"

"Understood my child I will do my best now go keep those children safe." Chitraka said before Sakota leapt down onto the ground. He landed right as Chitraka's eyes started glowing. Clouds started rollong in and lightning flashed. A purple lightning bolt struck Ookami and chained itself to Byakko. The both of them cried out in pain as they stood there unable to move Chitraka then started to radiate electricity as she bounded almost faster than a human eye can see towards Ookami knocking the wolf over grabbing her by the neck and kicking at her with her rear paws sending the thing flying away. Chitraka then pounced on the still immobile Byakko doing the same thing.

Meanwhile Sakota made his way over to the kids where he saw that the smaller one of the two a little girl had her leg trapped underneath a few pieces of rubble Sakota attempted to lift it but after failing to do so he pulled out kunai and handed it to the girl "Bite down on this cause this might hurt a bit and biting on this is better than your tongue trust me."

The ground shook as Chitraka did her best to fight off Ookami and Byakko both of which are larger than she is by far. Chitraka got knocked away with a swat of Byakko's paw knocking her down and sending her sliding through the rubble of the ruined parts of the city stopping at the part Sakota was at he looked at the girl holding up one finger to let her know that she was going to have to wait a bit more he went over to Chitraka "I am sorry my child they are too strong for me I cant hold them off much longer"

"Remember Chitraka these children are depending on you as much as if not more so than I am don't worry you are doing great just remember size and strength means nothing to wit and love. Now go I will join you soon enough" Sakota said patting her on the head and kissing her gently on the top of her head before going over to the kids nodding to the little girl she then stuck the kunai knife in her mouth biting down on it Sakota then looked at the rock and hit it with his palm as hard as he could enhancing it slightly with chakra in a similar method to juken he shattered the rock around her foot though unfortunately he broke her foot also. Just as he expected she released the kunai screaming in pain. "Now lets get you to away from here"

The children knodded Sakota carried the little girl in his arms while the other one a boy about the same age as Hyo wrapped his arms around Sakota's neck and his feet around his waist. Sakota brought them to the center of the city knocking on one of the doors to find a place for the children at least till the night. An old lady answered the door and accepted the children without there even needing to be an exchange of words. Sakota went back to the battle field. Chitraka was still holding her own though she her fur was turning red from her blood. "Chitraka rip out Byakko's throat Ookami is mine."

Sakota started performing handsigns his hand got surrounded by a blue glow and lightning started to shoot off. Then there was that distinct sound of thousands upon thousands of birds chirping there was a quake as Chitraka knocked over Byakko pinning him down bending her head over Chitraka latched on to Byakko's neck ripping it out. Sending blood everywhere Ookami then lifted her head to howl. Sakota used this as the opportunity to put his Chidori to use. Sakota leapt out at Ookami Chitraka stuck out her paw to give him a boost. Sakota leap off of Chitraka's outstretched paw and lunged at Ookami. With the power of chidori he sliced the devil wolfs head off. Sakota smiled at Chitraka before he collapsed. He didn't realize it earlier but Byakko's first attack did manage to cut skin, and he was bleeding from his head when the building fell on it he was battered and bruised all over, and to top it all off he broke the hand he used to shatter the rock. All in all Sakota was a real mess right now. Chitraka picked him up gently by the seat of his pants and brought him to the daimyo's palace where he dropped him off at the front gates the guards took him inside as Chitraka disappeared saying to them "Take good care of him cause if you don't you will find that I can be a far worse beast than Byakko and Ookami combined."

About two days later Sakota woke up in the daimyo's sons bedchambers. The daimyo's personal physicians were taking care of his injuries when he woke. The daimyo's voice sounded from a corner of the room "Both me and my Ally in the Fang country thank you from the bottom of our hearts we have the convoys with the agreed upon amount on there way to Kumo. As far as we are concerned you may be an Anbu but in our countries will always be legendary so we are rewarding you with the rank of Sannin as long as that is alright with you kage and those he answers to. Now rest up you deserved it"

Sakota smiled and after another couple of days he made his way back to his village where he got a heroes welcome.

Approved for 1-2.