Chapter 33 - Duty (1/2)

”I am sorry, I don't think we have met. I am Kuchiki, Rukia.” Rukia Introduced herself.

”Uchiha, Itachi, It's nice to meet you.” Itachi Introduced himself. 'A Kuchiki.. Like the Captain of the sixth division?' Itachi thought to himself.

”I am sorry, but I don't think I've seen you before.” Rukia replied.

”I am new to the squad, I will be the Lieutenant.” Itachi says.

Rukia was startled, she had actually come to speak to the Captain about the lieutenant that would be joining. ”I see.” Rukia said despondently before quickly leaving.

Itachi watches Rukia walk away as he could not think of anything he could say at the moment to console her. He entered Ukitake's office and saw a brand new lieutenant's badge on the table. He walked up to the table and picked up the badge and placed the badge on his arm. He also notices a list of things that Ukitake needed to do. 'The Captain isn't feeling well so I'll do this instead for today.'

Itachi sits down at the desk and begins going through various paperwork, including shinigami files, duties tasked to shinigami, and contracts for future renovations to the division. After thirty minutes of tedious work, Itachi sorts out the papers and signs them. Suddenly, Kiyone and Sentaro come into the office.

”Lieutenant Uchiha! There you are! What are you doing here?” Kiyone asks as she and Sentaro walk up to the desk. They are surprised when they see all of Ukitake's paperwork filled out and completed properly.

”Lieutenant, you did a good job here!” Sentaro says enthusiastically as he goes through the papers.

”A lot of this isn't much different from what Captain Soi Fon had me do. The only difference is it is for the entire squadron instead of a singular corps.” Itachi said as he neatly stacked another pile of papers.

”For now, you two check on the Captain. I'll finish up things in here.” Itachi said to the two third seats.

”Yes Lieutenant!” The two of them replied then ran out of the room.

”Hey, maybe he's not so bad,” Kiyone said as they two dashed back to Ukitake's room.

”Yeah!” Sentaro agreed.

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'They're a hyperactive bunch aren't they.' Itachi thought as he rose up from his seat and weaved a hand sign.

A puff of smoke appears next to Itachi and a clone emerges from the smoke. 'It's been a while since I've had a clone do work for me. I can do this while I explore the division grounds more.' Itachi's clone sat down and started working on the paperwork as Itachi left the room.

It was already late afternoon when Itachi left the building. 'Maybe I should get to know some of the squad members.' He headed over to the training fields first and saw a few shinigami practicing their sword skills.

The shinigami saw Itachi approaching and became nervous when they saw the badge on his arm. 'The new lieutenant' they thought to themselves. Truth be told, they weren't excited about having a new lieutenant so soon after the death of their previous Lieutenant. It hadn't even been that long since he was replaced. Not only that, this was someone from the second division. All members of the second division were ruthless in their tactics, with no regard for their comrades. A complete opposite of their division's ideals.

”Your form is off.” Itachi said to the shinigami.

”Hmm?” One of the shinigami was surprised. They weren't expecting Itachi to suddenly point out their flaw. Itachi approached the shinigami.

”Your stance is too stiff.” Itachi said before continuing his explanation and pointing out all the errors.

The shinigami thought for a moment before reviewing Itachi's pointers.

”Th..Than you Lieutenant!” he said quickly bowing.

”As for you, you and you” Itachi pointed to the rest of the shinigami and pointed out their errors.

”Thank you Lieutenant!” The group all said together while bowing.

”Continue working hard” Itachi replied before leaving the field. The shinigami watched Itachi leave with a hint of respect.

”Maybe he's not so bad right?” They said to each other.

”Yeah.”

On his way out of the field, he noticed Rukia sitting under a tree with a solemn expression. He made his way towards her.