Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach or the characters.

A/N: The idea came to me after reading '1000 years: one-shots' by Yemi Hikari, where it was mentioned that the Quincy are 'taking Soul Society's children away'. What if? This story is what came of it. Thank you again, Hikari-san, for letting me use it. I've spend a few months on this and, frankly, I'm tired of editing it. It won't be long, five or six chapters at most. Enjoy!

Now edited. Thanks!

The Road to Home

Chapter One

Storm Warning

The sound of a blade cutting through the air was prominent in the training grounds. Intricately weaved ice manifested itself, only to shatter a moment later. It kept going well into the night.

After the war with Aizen, everyone had been in high spirits. That is, everyone who hadn't lost a close friend to treason or depression. However, time heals all wounds, and now after seventeen months, everything slowly fell into place again. One could even say things were better than before. Matsumoto would be sober for a least three out of seven days a week, Hinamori was happily getting to know Shinji, Komamura was getting closer to the others and the members of his division, Kira actually smiled at least once a week, Hisagi got a minimum of six hours of sleep every day… everything was well.

This of course meant that something had to go wrong.

Hitsugaya smirked mirthlessly, going through endless kata with Hyourinmaru. Usually, he could be found practicing his bankai, but unfortunately that was no longer an option. Nevertheless, that was no reason to mope about, only another force pushing him forward. The Quincy were a formidable foe, and he could not afford a moment of rest.

That was when the Hell Butterfly got in the way of his zanpakutou. A week ago, he would have sliced it in half, but now he changed the curve of his slash and saved the insect by a hair's breath. He let the messenger sit on his finger, exhaling forcefully at the message. A captains' meeting would be held this late into the night? Something was definitely amiss…

Quickly, he sheathed Hyourinmaru, and used shunpo to get to the First division. No one was there yet, and they started to appear after a few minutes, in various levels of disarray, except from Kuchiki, Soi Fon and Unohana. It was to be expected, with a sudden meeting at two in the morning.

Kyouraku Shunsui critically looked over the captains with one eye.

"I have called you here in light of a recent development made known to me a few minutes ago. It seems that the Wandenreich are making plans for a new battle, something that is going to cause a problem for us."

He stopped there, and the meeting hall erupted with sound. Some loudly complained to Kyouraku to 'Get on with it' and 'Stop the theatrics'. For his part, Shunsui only half-smiled, though there was no humour in his face. Seeing that, most captains got an ominous feeling.

"They're planning on taking Soul Society's children away." No matter how much he tried, Hitsugaya could not stop his eyes from widening in surprise as most captains' eyes inevitably turned to him. He sighed internally. Everyone still saw him as a child.

"I am not a child," he spoke evenly, willing them to look away and acknowledge the truth in his words for once.

"That is for certain, Hitsugaya-taichou. However many attempts there have been to encourage you to, for lack of better term 'act your age', they have all failed. Yet, a child might be just what we need in this situation."

Hitsugaya caught the reluctance in his commander's voice. "Are you perhaps suggesting …infiltration?" he asked.

"Precisely," Shunsui nodded. "But I am offering you this mission only if you have faith you can accomplish it." Hitsugaya did not even think about it. He was a soldier of Soul Society, and if he was required to infiltrate a hostile organisation to aid his home, then so be it.

"I will do it," he said, not letting any indecision sip into his tone.

"I was afraid you'd say that," Kyouraku sighed. "Ideally, we would send a member of the Onmitsukidou, but there isn't anyone who would be classified as a child. Which is a bit of a relief actually," he added, and Ukitake along with Unohana smiled as best as they could under the circumstances. "In eight hours' time, we should be prepared for battle. Hitsugaya-taichou, I trust you understand that it should appear as if you were taken against your will?"

"Yes sir," he affirmed. "However, I find myself unable to believe that they would ever trust a captain, so we must find a way to bypass that obstacle."

Kyouraku nodded. "Before we continue, I'd like to mention that what is said here is to remain here, only among the captains and maybe carefully chosen lieutenants. It would be very troublesome for us should information of this kind reach our enemies, whether about this mission, or about our prior knowledge of the attack."

"Speaking of which, are we to assume that we have an ally somewhere in the Wandenreich ranks?" asked Hirako Shinji, looking intently at Kyouraku.

"You would be partially correct, Hirako-taichou, however, their position is rather complicated, and that small warning was issued due to the nature of this particular plan. That will nonetheless prove useful to us, but we cannot expect any more help from them." Shinji nodded in acceptance. "Now, let us construct a strategy…"

Half an hour later, most captains left the First division's meeting hall, leaving only Kurotsuchi and Hitsugaya with the new head captain. Kurotsuchi took some measurements and hastily left to start working.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, I would assume you have noticed what was not disclosed about the warning on my part?" he asked, half-smiling when the younger's eyes widened.

"Yes, Kyouraku-soutaichou. I was wondering how you are so sure they would see me as a child that needed to be taken away than as a captain that needed to be killed. And they have killed haphazardly before, why would they care about the children now?"

"That is part of your mission. About the other though… The truth is that the person who informed me seemed to do so precisely because you would be targeted. Tell me, Hitsugaya-taichou, do you have any ties with the Wandenreich?" But he could see that was not the case, as Hitsugaya's eyes filled with confusion and then he bristled, indignant.

"Of course I don't, Kyouraku!" Then, he forcibly regained his calm seeing that the head captain had just wanted confirmation. "In fact, I've only encountered two Quincy in my life and, disregarding the Stern Ritter a week ago leaves only Ishida Uryuu, one of Kurosaki's friends. He's not on the best terms with Shinigami, but he has expressed a peculiar tendency to not look away when a shinigami needs help."

"Do we know of his whereabouts?"

"No, Kyouraku-soutaichou, it has not been confirmed and no one saw him during the battle."

Shunsui looked pensive, and then with a nod dismissed the young captain. "Very well, you may go and make any necessary preparations."

Hitsugaya bowed and made his way out of the room, only to be stopped at the door by Kyouraku's voice. "Oh, and one last thing," he said. Hitsugaya turned, curious, to see that one eye look at him, for some reason looking very tired. "Be careful."

"Understood, Kyouraku-soutaichou." And then he was gone, disappeared into a shunpo.

In less than a minute, he was standing in front of the Second division's gate.

"I need to speak with Soi Fon."

"You were expected," one of the Onmitsukidou said. Then, to the child captain's confusion, he closed the gate.

In that instance, felt the by now familiar sensation of his head hitting something soft and round, only with no warning this time. His eyes widened in shock, and he heard loud, obnoxious laughter coming from above.

"That face is the same as Byakuya ahahaha…" For a moment, he contemplated taking action, but he knew enough about Shihouin Yoruichi not to attempt that. Instead, he waited patiently for her to stop laughing at his expense. "I trust this is about what I think it is?" He nodded affirmatively, and she smirked. "I knew you'd come here. Oh this will be fun!"

Somehow, he truly doubted it…

…

Hours later, a pretty beat Hitsugaya Toushirou turned up in the Twelfth, with Hyourinmaru jokingly commenting that it wouldn't be that hard to fake his abduction if he was this tired even before the battle started, and him just thanking his lucky stars that he caught up fast. At least, that's what would have happened, had he still been able to contact the zanpakutou.

"Wonderful, it looks like we have our patient!" Kurotsuchi exclaimed delighted, most likely replacing 'patient' with 'lab rat' in his mind, and that was the second time Hitsugaya doubted whether it had been a good idea to accept the mission.

He could almost imagine a voice in the back of his mind chuckling, 'Getting cold feet in the face of crazy scientists, I see…'

Be careful, or I may just ask him to give you a sex change, he thought back, with no real fire behind the words. Then, he shook his head, clearing it. He'd promised himself he would not dwell on Hyourinmaru, and he was not going to disappoint his zanpakutou's spirit by not following through.

"Now, the important thing about this mission is to tie up all the loose ends. Everything needs to be accounted for, or we'll be in trouble, ne?"

Hitsugaya could only nod as he was guided to a surgical table, next to a surgeon's heaven of tools to cut a person open. He gulped.

"Kosode off, please. Now let's get to business." As he was working on Hitsugaya's back and hand, Kurotsuchi was for once absolutely silent, concentrating on the important task. The child captain was, for his part, curled up in his inner world, thinking the plan through. Really, it all depended on Kurotsuchi, Urahara and their creations, and that did not sit well with him. Not that they were known for their incompetence, no, in fact it was exactly the opposite. However, he had no idea what else the mad scientist would bestow him with, apart from the things he truly needed. Mini spying devices, for one – something he was known to do – and any worse monstrosity he could dream up.

When Kurotsuchi was done, he started the explanation of his creations that Hitsugaya would need. "Now, I hear you are a clever child, ne? So you must understand that there is no such thing as perfection. Okay, now that we've established that, let me tell you about my latest creation that will be one of the most important for this mission. Keep in mind that it has not been tested by someone with Captain-level reiatsu…"

It was going to be a long, long mission…

An hour after entering the lab of horrors, he found himself flash-stepping to his division, just in time to catch Matsumoto who was leaving. A relieved expression crossed her face the moment she saw him, and he was immediately engulfed in a hug.

"Taichou, here you are!" his lieutenant chirped happily. "I was worried when you didn't show up after the meeting. Where were you? It's been hours!"

"Well, I'm glad you're back to your old self, Matsumoto," he grumbled when he disentangled himself from her. "Be on guard for me, will you? I have… certain matters to attend to."

She looked at him, worry apparent in her eyes. "What's wrong, taichou? Remember you can tell me anything, okay? Don't be so secretive!" she whined.

He considered her for a moment. Gin would always leave her behind without a word, in the end hurting her more. As his lieutenant, she at least deserved a reassurance, right? And, no matter how you looked at it, he was leaving her with weeks' worth of paperwork ahead to do alone…

"Daijoubu, Matsumoto." There was a pause, during which she looked at him doubtfully, and he sighed. "Alright, pay attention. At the meeting, I was given a mission, a mission only I am suitable to take on."

"Are you leaving?" she asked.

"Yes, I am. All I want of you is to keep a clear head no matter the situation and be assured that, disregarding what things look like, it will probably be for the best." He could not assure her of success, or that everything would be alright, but he could spare her the thought of failing him, at least.

"Thank you." She looked sad, but she smiled. "Thank you for telling me you're leaving."

…

He thought he could hear the sounds of battle already. That's just your sleep-deprived mind, Master. If he kept hearing Hyourinmaru's voice, even he knew he needed sleep. He had around two hours. He lay down on the couch in his and Matsumoto's office, turning his gaze upwards.

Kyouraku's words haunted him. Of course he was going to be careful. For some reason, however, the head captain's parting words sounded like a goodbye; a permanent one.

He was dreaming of icy plains and heavy skies. A pleasantly cold presence embracing him, protecting him and a voice calling out to him…

"Taichou! Taichou, wake up! They're here!" He jerked awake, a hand on Hyourinmaru's hilt. His mission had started, and he'd make sure it would go exactly as planned.