Chapter 10!!!!!!!! :3 *sigh* this has been coming for awhile. Enjoy THE END.

Hinata vision

"Leave the academy early?!" The headmaster fixed his hanging open mouth."What are you asking?? She's only a fourth year!"

Toushiro didn't seem troubled by everyone's shock. "Well, you said it yourself she's talented, besides I think she's already experienced to leave, she even has a zanpakto." He pointed to Miharu sitting against my chair.

"But she has yet to finish many of the academy's-"

Toushiro raised a hand. "I will make sure she receives training to make up for the missed lessons. I don't think Rangiku would mind taking care of that. Since she has more than enough free time since she always doesn't do her own work. Right, Lieutenant?"

Matsumoto sighed but smirked at me. "Guess I have no choice, oh well, might be fun."

The headmaster gaped at her, then at Toushiro. His face turned a new shade of purple and he jabbed a meaty finger at him. "Now see here! Just because you're a captain doesn't mean you can-"

He looked at him with icy eyes, making the man shiver. "What can I not do?"

The headmaster stuttered than conceived to the pressure. "Fine. She can go. Happy?" He was escorted out of the room, hanging his head. I felt sorry for the poor man.

"Well that settles it, pack your stuff we're leaving." Toushiro stood up and started walking toward the door.

"Wait a minute!!" I jumped out of my seat and turned to him. "Don't I have a say in any of this??"

Toushiro looked over his shoulder, thought, then turned back around. "Nope. Now are you coming or not?" He asked, holding his hand out for me.

I looked at his hand, then back at his face. His familiar frown was there, but his eyes were soft and warm, waiting for me. I considered this path. If I took his hand I would never be able to leave him, I'd be with him forever, any other path I could take would never reappear… Why not?

I giggled and ran over to him, squeezing his hand. "Of course!"

He smiled. "Then come on, you slowpoke, we have to get your stuff." He led the way out of the office.

I heard Matsumoto laugh. "Well this is new."

I leaned up against Toushiro's arm as we walked down the hallway.

.:KAEDE:.

I watched Hinata walk away from me. Her cold words stung me, my eyes watered. I got to my feet, knowing she would never forgive me. Knowing that I could never come back here. Knowing… that I ruined everything I had worked so hard for. Tears dripped down my face.

I turned and ran as fast as I could down the hall, the opposite way from Hinata, who I would never see again.

What have I done?!

Go back! Kill them all! Earn what you deserve! A voice cackled.

SHUT UP!! Why did I listen to you in the first place?!

Go back go back!

NO! BE QUIET!!!

I put my hands over my ears, anything to block out the awful things running through my head, sobbing. The world blurred with my tears. I ran down hallway after hallway, a door outside final showed up and I ran out it, through allies, and eventually made it to a gate to the rukongai. The person guarding it wouldn't stand aside until I showed him my zanpakto, he opened the gate for me and I charged toward the trees.

I didn't pay attention to the time, or how my legs ached, or the awful voices in my head. Just to the sounds around me, blocking out everything that just happened.

It got pitch dark. Nighttime. I began to slow my pace but fell over a tree root. I hit the moist ground and listened to the water from a nearby stream. Images floated into my mind.

Stabbing the captain.

Trying to attack Hinata.

Her hating face, her disgust with me.

I broke into fresh sobs and curled into a ball, wanting to disappear, to stop existing.

I've ruined everything!!

The reality of my situation slowly sunk in, I betrayed the soul society, injured a captain, tried to assault a fellow student, allied with hollows, and let one… I clutched my head. What did that monster do to me?!

"Hello there, Kaede." A voice crooned.

My shoulders shook at the voice and my eyes shot open. I shot to my feet and faced the hollow. "Another hollow? What do you want?" I asked it.

"Oh, just checking up on my little ally is all."

"I'm NOT your ally! You things ruined my life!!"

"No YOU ruined your life. And really, what will you do now? You attacked a reaper and a reaper to be, and betrayed the soul society. You know what they'll do? They'll hunt you down and kill you! They're probably on your trail right now. But if you pledge your loyalty to us then I can get you away from here, to a place where they can't get you. How does that sound?"

"NO WAY! There's no chance that I'm ever going to do anything with you monsters ever again!" My head hurt again and I swayed a bit. I glared at the hollow. "What… did you bastards do to me?"

The hollow laughed. "Nothing really, according to the one who made the deal with you, just scrambled some things around in your head a bit. Don't you remember? It said that you were quite cooperative afterwards."

My head flared. I stooped over and clutched it as the memories came back to me.

I walked around, giving Hinata and the captain some alone time. I spotted the sparring room and went inside. I walked over and picked up a zanpakto sitting in a rack with several others. The kind we used when we practiced in the living world. I fingered the metal blade and walked over to a dummy, I raised the sword above my head.

"AAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

I swiveled my head and paused for a minute, still holding the sword above my head.
That sounded a bit like…

I ran back into the hall, still holding the sword, and turned the corner. Chitose was pinned under the claw of a massive hollow, she spotted me, tears in her eyes.

"K-Kaede!" She cried out weakly. "H-help!!" Her eyes flitted shut and she went limp.

I ran forward instinctively. "I'm coming, hold on super bitch!!" I held the zanpakto and lifted it to cut off the hollow's hand. The hollow disappeared from my sight, surprising me. I felt a presence behind me and turned to see that it had gotten behind me somehow.

What the…?!

I grabbed me and pinned me on the floor. I lay still, horrified, as it bent down and sniffed me.

"Hee hee. You smell of bitterness, maybe you can be useful! Hold still for a minute." My eyes widened as a wormy looking thing came out of the hollow's wrist.

"N-n-no! St-stop!" I stuttered. The world disappeared from my eyes.

"Remember, Kaede? My comrade just…played with your brain a little bit." The hollow cackled as my shocked eyes stared at the ground. I felt bile rise in my throat.

"You…bastards!" I growled angrily. "Fix it! Fix what you did to me, change me back to how I was BEFORE!!"

The hollow began laughing again. "That's impossible! You'll be like this forever! That voice you hear is the darkest part of you, and you will listen to it, and one day you'll go insane! Can't wait until then! You were halfway there until just a while ago." It cackled sadistically. "So since you have no choice how about coming with me already? You have no where else to go."

I was about to say no but I thought over the proposal. Forever, being a slave to hollows until I became one myself, or being hunted down and killed by a shinigami. Either way, I was going to be miserable.

"Well? What's your choice?"

I clenched my fists and looked up at the hollow. "Neither!" I turned and ran, the hollow pursued me, expecting me to trip and tire. But I already made a choice, the only option I could do. The ground gave way under me and I fell into the river, the one that I had been listening to all this time. The one that I decided to be my third choice, my only choice. I was quickly swept under the icy water.

The hollow didn't follow me, it disappeared, giving up on me.

---

"Hurry! Pull her out." I numbly felt hands pull me out of the water. A woman stood beside me directing a bunch of dirty looking people. The sun stung my eyes.

"Yamada get a towel! Someone do some CPR! Help me get her out of these wet clothes-"

I grabbed the woman's ankle. She looked down at me.

"….no…." I whispered. I looked above her, through the tree canopy. The sun glittered through the leaves. Though everything was slowly getting dark.

"No? What do you mean-"

An older woman put a hand on her shoulder. "Kojima… it's no use. I can see it in the girl's eyes, she's already at peace. You can't save someone who's already decided to not continue here."

The woman named Kojima stared at the old woman, looked back at me, and sighed. She squatted down next to me. "What's your name?" She asked me.

I stared past her, still looking at the sun, at warmth that I could no longer feel. It felt like my body was getting lighter. "….K…ae…de……" I mumbled, using my last bit of strength. I felt my body getting number.

The man named Yamada patted Kojima's shoulder as they watched me. Some of them began crying but I didn't care, I was absorbed in my own thoughts. The dark voices in my head were quiet at last.

'Hinata…. I'm sorry… I wish I could tell you in person… but it looks like I won't be able to. Be happy… I hope that I'll be able to repay you one day… that I'll be able to say sorry in person……..Hinata…..goodbye…. my friend…………….'

Peace.

12 years later………

"KAEDE! Your special friend is here!" My mother called me.

My face got red. I stuck my head out the door. "MOM! Don't call him THAT!!!" I ran back to my bed, strapped the weapon pouch to my leg, and checked my reflection one last time.

My black hair was tied into two ponytails, no zits, and ninja headband around my forehead. I smiled at myself and left my room. I ran down the hallway and into the living room of our home. My mother smirked at me. "Honestly, you look more and more like your father everyday!"

I ewwed. "I don't want to look like dad! He's ugly!!"

My dad's shoulders sagged at my declaration, but his face had the same frown as it always did. "Temari, look what you've done. Your personality has rubbed off on our daughter."

My mother frowned and groaned. "Well, she could use some of me. Have you looked at her lately? She's practically a clone of you, Shikamaru. Only thing she has of me are her eyes!"

My parents squabbled as I grabbed a bagel and ran to the door. My teammate Hyuuga Akuro waited for me outside.

Akuro looked up as I ran to the door. "Ready?" He asked me.

I grinned at him and nodded. "Hai! Bye mom, bye dad!" I called back to my parents and closed the door behind me. Akuro and I walked and met up with our fellow teammate Akimichi Koken. Koken stated drooling when he saw my bagel but I refused to trade for chips, making him pout all the way to the training area where we were meeting up with our sensei.

We arrived at the training area with him nowhere in sight. We started snickering about how we had beat our 'youthful' sensei there.

"BAAAHHH!" Someone yelled behind us, making us jump. We turned around and sighed.

"Rock-sensei! That was not funny! You almost made me choke on my chips!!" Koken griped at him.

Rock-sensei just laughed at him then raised his eyebrows my way. I was clinging to Akuro's arm. My face turned 12 different shades of red and pink and I let go of him.

"S-sorry Akuro-kun!!" I apologized.

Akuro just waved my apology away. "It's fine."

While sensei talked about what we were doing today I reflected on how Akuro always made me act differently… how I just acted made me feel déjà vu… I wondered why.

I walked alongside them to the matted stumps we would be training with in turns, so we could offer advice to the person before us. Akuro was decided to go first, he was just activating his byakugan when Koken piped up.

"Rock-sensei what's that?" Koken pointed at something on the ground.

"What? Oh that?" Rock sensei walked over to Koken and looked down at something.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as Akuro and I joined them. A small plague lay in the soil with something written on it.

"This thing…?" Akuro asked bending over. "Oh! I know what this is! It's a memorial plaque to my aunt Hinata!"

"Aunt? I didn't know you had an aunt, Akuro." I bent down to look at the plaque too.

He shrugged. "Well, she's dead. She died when she was about my age. This must be the plaque my mother mentioned."

Rock-sensei chuckled. "I still remember her…"

Koken looked up at our sensei. "You knew Akuro's dead aunt?"

Sensei nodded. "Yeap. I was on the same team as your mother's cousin Neji. She was always really quiet. Used to have a huge crush on the current Hokage,

Uzumaki Naruto. Died to save him from some kind of beast, in fact. Whole village was moved by it so the fourth Hokage had a memorial plaque made for her… was a sad day."

Sensei smiled. "But she must be happy wherever she is. Anyway let's get-"

"….sorry……" the words slipped out of my mouth.

"Sorry?" Koken asked looking at me.

I felt tears slip out of my eyes, slowly but building. I sobbed and covered my eyes, not knowing why I was crying or why I felt so sad.

"Kaede? Are you ok?" Akuro asked me, patting my back.

I shook my head and continued crying. My teammates stayed with me as I let out my tears. After I finished Akuro put his arms around me and gave me a hug, my face lit up at that, Koken also gave me a hug, and we were almost killed when Rock-sensei joined in the group hug.

Sensei sighed, sparing our lives by getting out of the group hug. He offered to buy us some lunch, which sent Koken into a frenzied pace toward the nearest bbq place.

All the way there Akuro held my hand and we enjoyed the walk there, together.

While Koken scarped down almost all the food, and Rock-sensei started an eating contest, I found myself thinking about Akuro's aunt. I looked out the window next to me and at the sunny sky.

'Be happy, Hinata.' The words echoed in my mind for a minute.

Then Koken's nasty burp broke my reverie. I threw a balled up napkin at him and yelled for him to grow some manners. Which started a huge food fight, which ended with us getting banned from the bbq restaurant.

In the soul society...

Four shinigami peeked around the corner at Hyuuga Hinata, a girl from the 10th division. She stood next to a wall, waiting.

"See, didn't I tell you she's super adorable?"

"Yeah, I should have believed you!"

Hinata nodded at some shinigami that passed her. Greeting them.

"We should go talk to her!!"

"Maybe, if we're lucky, we can get a date!!"

"Maybe get the 10th division lieutenant in on it too!!"

The shinigami giggled at the fantasy.

"Can I help you four with something?" A voice asked them.

The men looked behind them at Lieutenant Matsumoto of division 10.

"L-lieutenant Matsumoto!!" The men shrieked at the gorgeous woman. They almost fell over their own feet turning around to look at her.

They paused, resisting the urge to look down.

"Well?"

"N-no Lieutenant we're perfectly fine!" They waved their hands.

She tilted her head, thinking. "Are you from the 10th division. I don't recognize you."

"Oh! No we're not, we're from the sixth division!" One explained, happy to get her attention.

She smiled. "I see… So do you have business here?"

They looked away. "Not really…"

"So why are you here?"

They looked at each other. One man looked back shyly at the lieutenant. "Well… we actually wanted to ask that Hyuuga girl if she wanted to… hang out with us later." One man blushed, thinking dirty thoughts.

The lieutenant was quiet then smiled at them. "Is that all? Then go ahead, she's not doing anything right now."

The men broke into big grins, thanked her, and ran around the corner to talk to Hinata. Matsumoto rubbed the back of her head and laughed. "I wonder how the captain will react to this… Oh well." She turned and walked away, eager to go play poker.

The four men ran up to Hinata who looked up at them. Lavender eyes making their heartbeats go faster.

"Hello." She greeted them. One began to drool and ended up getting smacked by one of the others.

"Hello, Hinata-chan. You don't know us but we were… wondering…" One man began, looking at her with a huge blush.

"Yes?" She asked.

He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, thinking about how cute she was. "Well if you would like to go hang out for a bit? Like a date y'know?"

Before she could reply someone else entered the conversation.

"Sorry, but she's already has plans."

"Eh?" The foursome looked behind them to see the captain of the 10th division, Hitsugaya Toushiro.

But unfortunately one of the men was an idiot and didn't know this, despite Toushiro's clothes that showed that he was at least a captain.

"Plans? With who? You, shrimp?" The man cackled loudly. "How about you go play on a slide, kid, while we take her on a grownup date."

One of his companions poked him. "Dude, do you know who he is? He's a captain."

The man's jaw dropped open. "Captain? This puny little-" A burst of wind interrupted him. He turned around to see that Toushiro had activated his shikai. Though the spiritual pressure he had was more than enough to scare them.

"Just who are you calling puny?"

They gawked at the captain in terror. "N-no one! Goodbye!!" The men ran back to the 6th division where they received punishment later for speaking to a captain like that.

Toushiro vision

I made a mental note as the cowards ran away to report them later on.

"Did you have to use your shikai?" Hinata sighed as I put Hyourinmaru away.

I huffed in annoyance. "Well I just wanted to demonstrate the difference between them and me."

She gave me a look. "It was because of the 'shrimp' comment wasn't it?"

"I didn't say that, that had nothing to do with it!!" I barked at her. She rolled her eyes at me and walked over.

"So, Captain Hitsugaya, did you find the Lieutenant?"

"No." I groaned. "She disappeared again, that's why it took so long to get here. I had to do all her work! Wish she'd just find her bankai and become a captain sometimes so I don't have to do all her work anymore."

Hinata giggled at my complaining.

"Don't laugh at me."

She smiled at me and grabbed my hand. "Ok fine, captain."

I let out a sigh and gripped her hand affectionately. "You can stop calling me captain, Hinata." I told her.

"Ok, Shiro-chan."

"Scratch that, keep calling me captain."

Hinata began laughing at the disgust on my face at having been called by my nickname. I scowled and looked away from her. When we went around a corner and out of sight from everyone else she leaned over and kissed my cheek. I turned toward her and she hugged me.

"I love you, Toushiro." She whispered to me.

I put my arms around her and held her tightly. "I love you too, Hinata… I thought I told you to call me captain."

"Toushiro!" She looked at me with a scowl. I snickered as she hit my shoulder and told her I was just kidding. She commented that I was 'terrible' but lightened up and we continued on our way.

Hinata vision

I licked my ice cream and smiled to myself, I couldn't remember the last time I had it. Gigai sure are useful at times like these, I thought to myself. We were currently in the living world, enjoying a nice sunny day.

I glanced at Toushiro who was also eating his ice cream. I came up with a sneaky plan.

"Toushiro."

"Yeah?" He asked.

I dabbed his upper lip with some of my ice cream. "What a fine mustache you have, sir!"

I laughed as he glared at me. "All the more tasty for you to kiss me then, young miss." He remarked, grabbed me and pulled me toward him. Laughing, I kissed him and held onto his arm as we ate our ice creams.

When we finished our ice creams, we started walking around the city we were in, taking our time.

"What do you want to do next?" I asked him cheerfully.

He pondered for a minute and checked his watch. "Well, we still have two hours before we have to go back. We could-"

A girl screamed and we looked to our right to see a ghost girl running away from a hollow.

"HEELP!" She cried out as she ran out of sight.

I looked at Toushiro and sighed. "Looks like our work is never done." I commented. We walked over to a nearby bench, sat down, and left our gigai. Once again in our shinigami uniforms.

We ran after the girl and hollow, doing our duties as shinigami as we always do.

As the years passed many plusses would come to recognize two distinct shinigami that often worked together. A white haired captain and a dark haired girl, who after a few years became the lieutenant of the 10th division.

And to this day the two are still together, enjoying each day as it passes, sharing the burdens that come with being a shinigami and well… just enjoying each others company.

~THE END~

All through this chapter I was playing the songs "Shattered", "May I", "She is the Sunlight" and "Revolution" by Trading Yesterday. Listening to those songs helped me write this fanfic. I am so happy for everyone's love and support through the entire thing. ^^

Sorry that it ended so suddenly, but I thought this would be the best way to end it. And we all know it couldn't have gone on forever.

Right now I am already thinking about my next fanfic and who knows? We might just see Kaede in her own story one day. ^^

Thanks again for reading my fanfic and maybe you'll run into some of my others. But for now,

Good bye.