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

Synopsis: Sequel to The Greatest Treasure. A time of prosperity, good-will, and great fortune has descended on the land and its people including the future King and Queen of Seireitei, Toshiro and Momo. However, before they could be wedded and crowned, they must deal with the trials and complications which include meeting the new thief in town, Hi no Tori.

Author's Note: Back when I was still working on the prequel to this fan fiction, I never intended to write a sequel. However, as time passed by, I thought of an idea to continue this series as you can see from reading the synopsis. Isn't that great? xD I'm not really expecting this to be better than the original, but if it is by the time I finish this story, I shall give myself a pat on the back. Yay!

Anyway, it is recommended that you read The Greatest Treasure before you start reading this. There is a high chance that I'm going to be referencing a few things that was explained in the prequel. So, please do take some time to read it.

This story is dedicated to all my supporting fans and all the HitsuHina lovers out there. Well, enough with all the delays, I hope you enjoy reading my story! After a whole month of me planning and relaxing, here is chapter one of my 25th HitsuHina fanfiction (25th? O_O Wow, now that's quite a lot of HitsuHina ideas I have come up with over the past one and a quarter years.), The Next Greatest Treasure.

~ LONG LIVE THE HITSUHINA LOVE ~

In case you're wondering, Hi no Tori means Fire Bird.

LEGEND

"Talking." "Thinking."

The Next Greatest Treasure

Chapter One: Special Guest

Princess Hinamori Momo, the future ruler of Seireitei, woke up in the morning feeling good. She believes that today is going to be a wonderful day. A smile crept up on her lips before she began stretching her arms and legs out. Getting out of bed, Momo walked up to the tall glass window and opened the curtains. Her eyes dazzled with great awe and excitement when she saw the scenery outside. A blanket of snow has fallen on the land just as planned on this cold winter December.

Looking at the cold precipitation reminds her of a certain white haired captain of the Royal Guard who was born during this time of year. "During this time, he's probably long out of bed and on duty."

All of a sudden, the princess felt an arm wrap around her belly and a hand covering her mouth. Momo muffled and tried to glance back at the culprit who has done that. However, she is unable to see the person's face behind her. She closed her chocolate brown eyes and struggled to break free, but her efforts were hopeless. She then heard a voice whisper in her ear, "Don't make a move princess or else you're going to lose your life."

Hinamori stopped and opened her eyes, recognizing who said that. Even though it sounded deeper and more mature, she cannot be mistaken. Besides, it's the same voice she hears whenever the notorious thief, Aisu no Ryu talks. She grabbed onto both his wrists and put them down. Momo turned around and suddenly pouted, "Mou, don't do that Toshiro!"

Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro gave a short chuckle, hugged the raven haired sixteen year old, and kissed side of her head. "Sorry Momo, but the opportunity is too good to pass."

She tried to resist the many kisses he planted along her neck, but soon gave in and started giggling. "S-Stop it! It t-tickles!"

Toshiro stopped and gave her a smirk. "I knew you won't be able to stay mad at me for long."

Momo then cuddled against him, protected in his arms. "You're right; I can't stay mad at you. Besides, you were only teasing. So, what brings you here in this early morning?"

"I'm here to wake you up, my beautiful princess. It's already ten o'clock in the morning."

"What already?" Hinamori asked. She looked over at the clock sitting on her night table to confirm the time. "Oh...it is."

Hitsugaya gave her a short kiss on the cheek. Letting the princess go, he headed towards the door. Toshiro stopped and glanced back. He said, "I'll be waiting outside, okay?"

The peach girl nodded with agreement, watched the former thief leave the room, and quietly closed the door behind him. Momo turned her body to the side and let out a pleasant smile. It has been a month since he started living in the palace, serving under her as one of the two captains of the Royal Guard. After all this time, it still felt unreal.

She and Toshiro are currently living their days together in happiness and prosperity. What's even better is that he also proposed to her to be his bride someday. Of course, she agreed to his offer with new found joy and excitement. Hinamori strongly believes that Hitsugaya is her one and only love. From the bottom of her heart, she wanted to share a future with him for the rest of her life. Now, the important question remains: when is the right time to actually making plans for their wedding?

Considering what has been going on lately, the people of Seireitei are probably still upset over the fact that the former thief from West Rukongai has become one of her most trusted swordsman in the Royal Guard. What's even worse is her reputation; it's already as bad as it is, but marrying him? If they got married, then the two of them would become the new King and Queen of Seireitei. It would cause many other royal families to question her decision.

Momo let out a sigh of defeat. Walking to her wardrobe, she picked out a few clothes, and went to take a nice warm bath. She wanted to make their marriage work out, but she knows too well that it is not an easy task to complete.

Hitsugaya stood outside Hinamori's room and patiently waited for her to come out. Suddenly, he heard a door open. Toshiro glanced to the side to see the already dressed strawberry orange haired companion come out of her room, yawning and stretching her arms in the air. "You're late Matsumoto," he commented as he folded his arms over his chest. "You were supposed to be awake three hours ago."

Turning her head to the side, Matsumoto Rangiku noticed the young captain's presence. She then placed a finger on the bottom of her chin and looked up. After a brief moment of thinking, she then placed a hand on the back of her head. She gave out a short laugh. "Oops, I sort of forgot."

Toshiro immediately shot a glare at her. "You...forgot? You do understand this isn't the first time you've done that."

"I'm sorry, but I had to stay up late to be on guard duty last night."

"If being on guard duty means drinking with the Trio Knights, you're sadly mistaken," Hitsugaya replied. "What if someone ends up invading the palace?"

"Oh, don't be such a worrywart," Matsumoto answered back. "Hinamori can take care of herself. Besides, I've been teaching her the art of swordsmanship over the past month."

"What?" he exclaimed with disbelief. "You can't go around promoting other females to become like you!"

"Is there something wrong with that Toshiro?" asked a voice behind him.

Hitsugaya turned around to see Hinamori came out of her bedroom. She is dressed in a traditional pink kimono with red flowery designs at the bottom tied together in a thick purple obi. The right side of her hair is clipped together with a peach hairpin. "No, there's nothing wrong with that Momo," he replied. "You don't have to listen to what Matsumoto says if you don't want to le-"

"I do want to learn," Hinamori interrupted. "I'm the one who asked Rangiku-san in the first place."

Toshiro stopped and blinked. "What, you did?"

Matsumoto folded her arms over her chest and nodded with agreement. "Yes, she approached me asking if I could teach her a few things," Rangiku explained. "Gin has been teaching her as well."

He then turned to Momo again. "And you haven't told me anything about it?"

Hinamori slightly tilted her head forward and apologized, "I'm sorry Toshiro, but I-I only wanted to be a little more useful."

"Useful?"

"When I was younger, all my folks ever taught me are the ways to be a princess," she explained. "However, all it ever brought me is boredom and constant danger."

Hitsugaya let out a small exhale, knowing where this conversation is going. He then continued, "In other words, you refuse to become the typical princess."

She slowly nodded with agreement. "Yeah...you don't mind, won't you?"

He turned his head to the side. "No, not really. Learning swordsmanship as a defense mechanism is a good idea, but...just be careful, okay?"

Momo smiled and gave him a big hug. "Oh, thank you Toshiro! I'm so glad you're supporting me!"

"Or maybe he just wants to see his girlfriend's happy face," Matsumoto teased, nudging the small captain at his side with her elbow.

Toshiro then gave the female swordsman an icy glare. "Uruse..."

When the Royal Guard members escorted the princess to the dinning room, they met up with the rest of their companions, the Trio Knights and Captain Ichimaru. "Good morning Hinamori-chan," Gin greeted as the others gave her a short bow.

"Ohayo Hinamori-kun," Kira Izuru replied.

"Morning everyone," Momo answered back as she took a seat on a chair.

Hisagi Shuhei approached the young princess with a few sheets of paper at hand. He scrolled through the notes and then said, "Morning Hinamori, there are a few important things that need to be done by the end of the day. Today you need to attend your daily special lessons."

Hitsugaya turned to his girlfriend and raised an eyebrow at her, confirming his suspicions about her learning swordsmanship with the female swordsman and the older captain of the Royal Guard. Upon noticing his actions, the young princess gave him a hesitant laugh before resuming her attention to the short haired Trio Knight. "Okay then, what else I need to do?"

"You and Hitsugaya-taicho planned to go to his hometown for a visit."

"Eh, you're both going to Rukongai for a while?" Rangiku asked. "Why am I not invited?"

"Isn't that obvious?" Toshiro replied. "While I am away, I need you to do some of my paperwork."

"Aw, do I have to?"

He shot a glare at her and warned, "Matsumoto..."

"But really taicho, can't you ask Gin to do the work for you? Besides, he is your fellow captain."

"Even if I want to Ran-chan, there is a high chance that I won't even touch it," Ichimaru explained. "I have my usual duties to carry out too. That is why you're considered to be Hitsugaya-kun's most trusted swordsman."

"My most trusted swordsman?" the young captain asked. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

Crossing her arms over her chest, the strawberry orange haired woman pouted. "You guys are so mean!"

"Anyway, let's get back on topic," Shuhei said. "After that, you are to return to the palace and attend your afternoon lecture with your tutor."

"Hisagi-san, I already mentioned this before that I don't need a tutor to help me in my studies," Hinamori said. "Besides, I already have Ichimaru-taicho and Toshiro teaching me."

"I know that, but both of them have their respected duties to carry out. These are one of those days where neither of them is available. Ichimaru-taicho is on guard duty today while Hitsugaya-taicho is on paperwork duty. So, you just have to bear with it."

"Mou..."

"Now Shuhei, have some sympathy for our princess," Matsumoto said.

Hisagi sighed with defeat. "I know what you mean Rangiku, but we can't keep spoiling her like that. It's our job to make sure that Hinamori becomes the Queen everyone wants her to be: intelligent, gentle, and strong."

"I agree, but there have to be times where she needs to have fun and forget about being a part of the Royal Family."

Kira let out a sigh. Turning to the other Trio Knight, Abarai Renji, he said, "This issue might take a while before it's solved."

"No kidding," the red head replied. "It has been that way since Hitsugaya-taicho and Rangiku-san started living here."

All of a sudden, a hand grabbed the front of his kimono. With one look at it, he raised his head to see it belonged to the busty woman. She pulled him towards her face and asked, "So, you're saying that we're the source of your problems?"

Feeling chills run up his spine, Renji quickly said, "N-No, it's nothing like that!"

"Oi Matsumoto, stop scaring the pants off of Abarai," Captain Hitsugaya interrupted. "We'll sort the whole issue out after we have some breakfast to eat."

Without another minute to spare, she let go of Renji and began walking over to the dinning table. Placing her hands together behind the back of her neck, she said, "Whatever you say captain; I am getting a little hungry..."

"Hitsugaya-taicho does have a point," Kira agreed. "Let's eat first."

"Sure, we could use the extra strength for later," Hisagi said. "Besides, Kira, Abarai, Ichimaru-taicho, and myself have patrol duty later."

"Hn, I wonder what we are going to have," Gin said, showing a grin on his face.

Kira took a glimpse at the older captain and sighed with defeat. Despite being his subordinate for a long time, he still couldn't understand what Ichimaru is thinking. Eventually, everybody took their seats and prepared to eat their very first meal of the day together.

Wooden swords clashed into one another as the two sparring partners battled for dominance. Shortly, one swordsman over took the other and parried against the assault. Feeling the pressure, she took a step back. However, she noticed it and decided to use this opportunity to make her move. Upon changing the grip on her sword, Matsumoto swung her weapon from the side. Luckily for the young princess, she avoided the attack by ducking down.

Placing a hand and a knee down on the ground, Hinamori extended a leg out in an attention to trip the female swordsman by the ankle, but she saw through her intentions and jumped back. As she is regaining her composure, the raven haired girl got back on her feet. The two girls raised their wooden swords up in front of them, ready for another round of sparring. A smirk appeared on the strawberry orange haired woman's face. "Sugoi Hinamori, you're getting better at this."

"Arigato Rangiku-san," she replied. "If it weren't for you and Ichimaru-taicho, I wouldn't be this good right now. However, I still have a lot to learn."

Suddenly, Matsumoto put down her guard and raised her left fist in the air. "You got that right! You're still miles away from attaining the strength that your lovable boyfriend has!"

Momo raised her hands up in mock stance. "W-What are you talking about? I have no intentions of becoming as skilled as Toshiro."

Approaching the peach girl, she gently elbowed her gut as she teased, "There is no need to hide it; you're trying to stay close to him as possible. In other words, you want to become Ms. Aisu no Ryu!"

"Just when I thought about checking up on you, all I see is that you're making Momo feel uncomfortable once again," said a voice.

Upon hearing his voice, the two girls turned their heads and jumped by the sudden presence of the white haired captain standing in between them. "Taicho, don't sneak up on us like that!"

"Yeah, it's just what Rangiku-san said!" Hinamori agreed.

Hitsugaya let out a sigh and then turned his attention to the female Royal Guard member. "Anyway, judging by the mess you've caused in this room, it seems like Momo's training lesson is about done for today."

"Yeah, pretty much," Rangiku replied. All of a sudden, a thought came into mind. She narrowed her eyes at him and revealed a snicker on her face. "Don't tell me you're here to pick her up?"

"I'm just doing my job and following the schedule that Momo has sorted out," Toshiro retorted.

Matsumoto leisurely walked past the lovers and headed towards the door. "Whatever you say, Captain; stop making excuses."

The former thief turned his body to the side and gave her a fierce glare. "Shut up..."

Suddenly, they heard a thud. Both heads turned to see Hinamori has fallen to the floor on her bottom. With no hesitation, the two friends from Rukongai run to her aid. "Hinamori, are you alright?"

"Do you need us to call for help?" Hitsugaya asked, holding out his hand.

Accepting his offer, Momo took it and shook her head in response to his question. "I'm just a little exhausted from the spar. It really took a bit out of me."

Toshiro pulled her back on her feet. "Maybe we should cancel our trip to Rukongai. We can always go some other time."

"No, it's alright; I'm still good to go. I just need a little rest, that's all."

The white haired captain let out a sigh of defeat. There is no point trying to convince the girl to change her mind once she has made her decision. "Alright then, I'll take you back to your room."

She nodded with agreement. "Hai."

With that said, after catching up with Matsumoto, the three friends left the training room and slowly made their way to the princess' bedroom somewhere deep in the Hinamori Palace.

"Even after a month of living here, I still get lost in this big place!" Rangiku complained as she, Hitsugaya, and the princess are walking through the hallway.

"I'm sure you'll get used to it soon enough," Momo replied.

As the two girls are chatting away, Hitsugaya is high on alert in case anything happened. All of a sudden, something caught the corner of his eye. Toshiro immediately stopped and turned his body to the side. From his perspective, there is nothing that seems out of place. However, it is his intuition that is telling him to keep his guard up. His eyes narrowed.

"Toshiro, what's wrong?"

Snapping back to reality, he turned his head to see Hinamori and Matsumoto waiting for him. He slowly shook his head. "No, it's nothing."

"Well, hurry up or else we're going to ditch you," the strawberry orange haired woman said.

He then gave her a stern look. "I don't need you to tell me that."

Hitsugaya eventually caught up with the girls and continued walking to their destination. Whatever he's feeling at the moment, it will go away soon enough. However, by the time they arrived at the bedroom, it turns out that his gut feeling is right after all. They heard the sudden sound of glass breaking. "What was that?" the peach girl asked.

"It's coming from the late King and Queen's room!" Rangiku replied.

"Matsumoto, you go outside and tell Ichimaru to stay on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. You are to also follow his orders," Hitsugaya commanded.

With a nod of agreement, the strawberry orange haired woman left the two lovers alone. Toshiro let out a sigh of defeat. His first priority right now is to take his girlfriend to safety. "Momo, let's go somewhere saf-"

His words were cut off when he realized she's not at his side anymore. There is only one logical explanation to her whereabouts. With no time to waste, he ran to his next destination: the late King and Queen's room.

"Don't do anything stupid while I'm coming..."

By the time he has arrived, the white haired captain found his princess safe and sound. However, it is too early for him to say it out loud. There is a special guest present in the room, standing in front of the broken window. He has cool sky blue eyes who wore a black shinobi shozoku (ninja outfit), a long red scarf tied around her neck on one end, a ninjato (a straight bladed ninja sword) and sheath which are carried horizontally on his back.

Things wouldn't go the way she wanted if she didn't do a thing. So, after taking a short step forward, the Princess of Seireitei asked, "Who are you?"

References

Aisu no Ryu - Ice Dragon; Hitsugaya's codename back when he was the notorious thief, Ohayo - Good Morning, Taicho - Captain, Sugoi - Amazing, Arigato - Thank You, Hai - Yes

Author's Note: Well, what is there to say? Do you like the story so far or do you dislike it? Who is the person who just barged into the Hinamori Palace? What is going to happen next? Well, your questions will be answered in the next chapter. In the meantime, please review! Thanks.