Prologue:

Becoming A "Man" And Proving One's Worth

"Go back home girlie!" The rough looking crowd jeered as their Taicho kicked a young blonde haired girl into a wall, causing a rough outline of the girl's body to become imprinted into the sand colored wall, along with several cracks from the force of the impact.

The girl looked rather worse for the wear; she had blood running from her mouth and nose and she had several cuts all over her body. The worst was a deep diagonal cut that went from her wrist all the way down to her elbow, the injury was bleeding profusely, but the girl did not heed it. Her shinigami shihakusho was ripped and torn in many places, from the fight. Her once crispy white and red clothing, which she was wearing, was swiftly turning a dark crimson from her blood. Her breathing was ragged and her body was shaking from both pain and exhaustion, yet she had a cold and determined look on her bloodstained features. She was not going to loose, she had to prove her strength to this man. She had to win.

Gritting her teeth, she sucked in air from between her teeth, making a low hissing noise, before gripping her Zanpakuto in a white-knuckle grip and standing from her kneeling position. When she straightened her back, she shot a razor sharp glare at the tall, spiky haired man before her. Who in turn just grinned evilly and readied his Zanpakuto for another attack.

"Heh, you've got guts girl." Kenpachi Zaraki grunted when the girl stood up defiantly and sent him a death glare that would have killed him instantly, if looks could have killed.

"Go back to your Mommy girl!" One man jeered from the crowd, making the whole crowd laugh maliciously at the young girl's plight.

"Go to hell!" The girl hissed angrily, before lunging at the 11th Division Captain again. A look of pure determination etched into her now cold features. Oh how she hated men. They thought she was weak, but she would prove them all wrong today.

Back on the sidelines of the jeering crowd, two of the 11th Division members were intently watching the fight. Both of them held firm looking features as they watched the quarrel. The young bloodied girl had been cut so many times already. It was a wonder how she was still standing, let alone fighting their monster of a captain.

"Ikkaku Senpai, why doesn't the girl just give up and go home? She probably knows that she is going to die and that she cannot possibly win, against Zaraki Taicho. So why?" The spiky redheaded boy asked his superior. Turning around he saw the young girl get sliced across the face, her blood went flying from the cut and stained the ground and the building beside her, yet she still kept on fighting. Perhaps she had finally become numb to the sting of the blade.

"Renji…" The bald headed man started, turning his head slowly he looked at his subordinate with stoic features, before calmly and wisely speaking, "That girl. She has nothing to loose that is why she keeps on fighting. Even if the cost is her life, she won't stop until her power is recognized by someone."

"Nothing to loose, huh?" Renji muttered to himself curiously, before returning his attention back to the gruesome fight.

The girl expertly dodged another swing from Kenpachi's Zanpakuto, which just narrowly missed her injured and bleeding shoulder. She quickly retaliated, swinging her black double-bladed Ronin sword around and making a deep and long cut down the 11th Division Captain's back, to which he only let out a soft grunt of pain. The evil smile was back on his face; it was surprising that such a little girl could damage him so. Perhaps here was more strength to this girl than he originally thought.

From the rooftops of the tall buildings above, most of the Captains and Lieutenants of Gotei 13 watched the fight below. Some were disgusted with the bloody fight and some held sympathy for the girl, but the others just watched on impassively, waiting for the inevitable outcome. For everyone already knew what would happen, the girl who was undoubtedly a skillful fighter, even though she was not properly trained and she knew how to handle her weapon masterfully; still in the end, she would die. The unbendable will she possessed was not enough to beat the monstrosity of a Captain the 11th Division had acquired.

"This is pointless bloodshed of an innocent!" Nanao Ise, Fukutaicho of the eighth Division spoke angrily, as she watched as the young girl received yet another deep slash across her face. The cut had startled her enough for the 11th Division Captain to kick her into another wall. This time when her small body hit she started coughing up blood. She must have had a punctured lung from that kick.

"Yes, I agree someone should stop the fight, before the girl gets killed!" Isane Kotetsu, Fukutaicho of fourth Division agreed. Only to gasp loudly as she watched on, as the girl was suddenly stabbed in her left shoulder. It was clear to everyone who watched that the blade had pierced straight trough the girl's body as Kenpachi's blade could clearly be seen as it exited the other side of the her shoulder, causing more crimson to stain the already blood red soil.

"We should not interfere." Jushiro Ukitake spoke-up calmly, never taking his dark eyes off the fight. Most of his younger comrades looked at him in complete disbelief, but a select few did not even act as if they even heard him speak.

"Why? The girl is going to get herself killed!" Isane bit back angrily, not understanding why they should not stop the fight, which by now looked more like a murder than a battle. However, were they not almost the same thing?

"Because, that girl has a greater chance of killing Zaraki-Taicho than any of us here," Jushiro replied calmly, never taking his eyes away from the bloodied blonde haired girl. She held so much strength for an inexperienced fighter, yet her weakness was going to her downfall. Her pride would get her killed someday, if that day was not this one. It was a pity to see someone so young and innocent, with so much hate in her eyes.

"Look." The 13th Division Taicho pointed, when the girl sharply pulled herself from Zaraki's blade and quickly retaliated to his attack. With a flick of her wrist, she placed a shallow wound across the monster Captain's stomach and quickly back flipped away from the injured man, reading her injured body for another attack.

"H-how is she wounding him so?" Isane stuttered out, completely bewildered at the strength and power that the young girl possessed. Kenpachi was a monster and yet this young academy girl, with only the raw skills of her blade was wounding him. It seemed impossible, but here she was a witness to the impractical.

"You are good, but you will loose." Kenpachi told the girl coldly, before he delivered the final blow. The sickening sound of ripping flesh and the choking sound of someone who had been pierced through their stomach resounded throughout the entire street. The girl had not even seen the tall Captain move, all she had known was that one second he was standing a few feet away from her and the next was the sting of metal and the pain of ripping flesh, as his sword pierced through her abdomen. The whole crowd instantly fell silent as the girl fell, almost in slow motion to the ground; a large puddle of blood already stained the ground beneath her, before her lithe body even hit the earth.

"You fought well. Better than most men, I know… You have my respect, kid." Kenpachi acknowledged through deep breathes, when her hazy hazel-blue eyes met his dark gaze. It was a surprise that the girl was not dead. Most would be after fight him, yet he could not bring himself to finish her off completely; it would have been incredibly easy right now. Yet, a gut feeling kept him from killing her.

"What is your name?" He asked the dieing girl, wanting to know who had caused him such injuries and put up such an exciting fight. 'Just a kid, that's all. Just a talented kid, with hidden power, that's all she is.'

The girl did not answer for a minute, taking in a shaky and pain filled breath she finally spoke. Her tone was soft and almost child-like, yet her voice held a hard edge that only some one who has experienced the true pain of life could have, "Saita. My name is, Saita." Her voice never faltered or showed the true pain that she was feeling, when she spoke.

This greatly surprised the 11th Division Captain, no one he had ever fought before had a voice like that. Not even Ikkaku Madarame. 'You are truly strong, kid.' The 11th Division Taicho thought to himself.

"If you live… you can be in my Division, no questions asked." Zaraki told the girl seriously, before turning around and walking away from the fatally injured girl

Saita glared at the 11th Division Captain's retreating form hatefully, before trying to force her severely wounded body off the ground, with a deep hiss of pure pain. Her wounds were ripping open from her movement, but she did not care. If she fell here and lived or died by the monster Taicho's pity then she had failed. She had trained non-stop since she had acquired her silent Zanpakuto, even going so far as to skip most of her classes, just to learn its name and powers, just to become one with her partner. Power, the power of ones Zanpakuto and oneself was all that mattered.

Everyone in the crowd gasped in amazement, as the girl stood back up, held her Zanpakuto out towards the giant Taicho's back, and coldly spoke, "Where are you going… this fight is not over."

At hearing her voice, the 11th Division Taicho, turned around and nearly choked when he saw her standing and glaring defiantly straight into his eyes. Not one speck of pain could be seen in her eyes, her face was a frozen mask. Suddenly it hit him as to why she had refused to just lay there and die. She held too much pride to do such a thing and her will was stronger than steel.

'Heh, you're just like me, kid.' He silently mused to himself with a sly grin. Suddenly, he was glad that he had not severed her head from her shoulders during the fight. She would be a tough fighter someday, a perfect member for his division. The only thing she was lacking was experience and the spirit to kill. She had purposely avoided the chance to take his head, as he had given her the perfect opportunity, yet she had gone for his torso instead.

"This fight is over, tyro. But, if you want to be able to fight me again kid, go get your self fixed up, I won't fight you anymore." He grunted, before walking away. The crowd clearing a path for him, but just before he disappeared, he spoke again, "Kid, today you've proved you self worth to me and… become a man." before he completely disappeared out of sight.

A shocked look came to the young girl's face and respect flashed in her hazy eyes, seconds before she collapsed to the ground unconscious. Her body had finally had enough.

"Now you may heal her, Unohana-Taicho." Shigekuni Yamamoto-Genryūsai, General of the Gotei 13 and Taicho of the 1st Division, told the healer woman calmly. She had been patiently waiting for her superiors' word to heal the child and though she was a patient woman, the battle and wait was enough to test her. A child, fighting that monster of a Captain was a hard thing to watch. Retsu had no children of her own, yet her motherly instincts went into overdrive when she saw the young academy level girl openly challenge Zaraki-Taicho. A child, that was all she was, yet there was so much strength within her and pain.

"Hai!" Retsu nodded her head respectfully, before flash stepping down to the wounded girl. Isane Kotetsu, her Lieutenant following right behind the elder woman. The young grey haired Lieutenant silently wondered if the young blonde haired fighter was even alive anymore. Her wounds must have been severe, at least from what the young Lieutenant could tell and from all of the blood that was staining the street turned battleground.

"Well, that was an interesting fight, was it not?" Shunsui Kyoraku, the Taicho of the eighth Division asked no one in particular. He was just curious as to what his fellow Captains and the Lieutenants thought.

"It was a waist of my time." Byakuya Kuchiki, Taicho of the sixth Division muttered coldly, before flash stepping away with Soifon the Taicho of the second Division and commander of the Special Forces right behind him. The always stern and quiet ones, of course they would think nothing of the fight.

"I feel sorry for the kid." Shuhei Hisagi, Fukutaicho of the ninth Division muttered quietly to his Taicho, as they slowly walked away from the bloody scene. All of that blood, her blood was enough to make the dark haired Lieutenant's stomach churn. She was just a kid, a brazen child with potential. Had she chosen to challenge any other Captain, her luck would have been better, but she had chosen Zaraki-Taicho and with that, her fate was sealed. There was no way she could have beaten him, he was just too strong, a true monster in human form. With all of the damage that must have been done to her maturing body, the quiet Lieutenant wondered if she would live from all of the blood loss, or if she would be able to become a Shinigami after that brutal battle.

"Yes, that Zaraki did a lot of damage to the girl." Kaname Tōsen, Taicho of the ninth Division, nodded in agreement to his Fukutaicho's comment.

"Do you think she will live, Tōsen?" Sajin Komamura Taicho of the seventh Division asked his long time friend, as they walked away from the makeshift battleground.

"She has a strong will to live, or else she would already be dead. So… yes, she will live." Kaname told his old friend, before they disappeared from sight.

"She's going to make it, lucky girl." Retsu Unohana sighed thankfully after patching up the girl and healing her injuries to the best of her skills. Saita would still need to rest and recuperate for a while, but she would come out of this battle with no side effects or pain after she was fully healed. Only a few scattered scars would remain, all of the blood that she had lost would keep her bedridden for at least a month and then the recuperation for her shoulder strength would begin. The girl was a fast healer, so she should fully recover from the wound, if the girl did not rip the tendons and muscles in her shoulder while it was still healing.

"She's a good healer." Isane commented quietly, amazed with the child before her, "Her wounds probably won't even leave many scars."

"Yes, I noticed. She is indeed a remarkable child." Retsu muttered quietly, giving the young blonde haired girl a soft motherly look, before gently pushing her Fukutaicho out of the recovery room. Rest was what the young girl needed most and that was exactly what she was going to get.