Eight Division Captain's Office

"Changes in the Ommitsukido and the Hachibantai":

Tsukiro left his room at the Eighth Division barracks in a rush, not able to stand being in that room any longer. It was still early for him to start his duties, but between the idea of what unmentionable things had occurred in that room before Kyoraku was made Captain Commander and the dream with Kita he had had, he would have gone insane if he didn't get out and do something. He really didn't want to have a mental breakdown only a few days after he was made captain. And if the captain wasn't in good health and mindset, neither was the captain's division. That wouldn't work, especially since there was a lot to do with him being both Division Eight captain and Stealth Force Commander.

He briskly walked through the living quarters of the barracks, pulling his long black hair back into his violet hair tassel. He needed to find his lieutenant; both for moral support and to discuss changes that would be taking place and how to go about integrating them smoothly without disturbing the peace within the division. When he arrived at the barracks the first night after the ambush during the meeting of captains, he expected to be met with skepticism and bitterness. After all for years after Kyoraku became commander, the third seat, Shota Kato--Naomi's father--was their commanding officer. Now suddenly they had not only a new lieutenant, but a new captain as well. And the first thing they hear from the both of them, before they even met them, were orders to aid the relief effort in the Rukongai.

This, however, was not the case. The moment he stepped foot into the barracks in the black of night, the remaining officers who hadn't been dispatched were there to greet him into their division for the first time. He hadn't met Shota, however and still hadn't. Apparently he had gone with the other officers to assist Kairo in leading the officers, and when he had called Kairo back, Shota had stayed behind to quell the last of the chaos. He would have to call him back soon. He would be a crucial part in the changes that were to take place.

"Good morning, Captain!" A male officer stopped as he walked through the hallway, moved off to the side and bowed to Tsukiro as he passed.

"Good morning," Tsukiro said back, trying to make eye contact as best he could as he fumbled with his hair tassel.

A few meters down and around the corner and suddenly he was greeted by another officer. A female this time. Again, he greeted her back. On his way through the living quarters, he was greeted at least four more times. After a couple repeats he had dropped the "good" and just simply replied "morning." When he entered the office areas, he stopped and sighed, looking back, thinking that he'd have to get some info from Shota on the division members. He was used to the cold personalities of the Stealth Force officers and the passive, no nonsense members of Tenth Division. These officers were lost with him, much like their former captain was.

"Lost, Captain?"

Tsukiro jumped slightly at the smooth voice behind him. He turned to see a tall young man with bluish lavender hair with silver streaks. The hair around his head was short and whispy, laying back over his head somewhat. At the nape of his neck was a longish tail of hair tied with a small hair tie. His eyes were storm cloud gray. He wore a normal shihakusho with a white scarf with violet tassels on the ends and a violet, long-sleeved undershirt. He smiled at Tsukiro warmly.

Tsukiro opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He pointed at the man, mouth still open like a large mouth bass.

The man laughed and waved it off. "Don't fret over it. I do that to my daughter as well. Get's her every time." He bowed deeply. "Shota Kato, Third Seat, here to report that all activities in the remaining Rukongai districts are peaceful once more. It took a while, but the task was not impossible."

Tsukiro was about to mention Shota being Naomi's father, however something made him keep that to himself. He put on a smile and nodded. "Excellent work, Third Seat. Tell me, have you seen the Lieutenant?"

Shota nodded. "I saw him out by the west courtyard last."

"Very good," he nodded back. He turned and nodded in that direction. "Come with me. I want you to sit in on our discussion."

Shota bowed quickly and followed Tsukiro to the west courtyard to find Kairo.

Tsukiro grinned, ignoring his side. He held out his hands and carefully caught all of the kunai between the fingers of his hands. Then he threw them back and disappeared, reappearing behind him then kneeing him in the back hard, but not hard enough to break his spine.

"Attacking your captain? Shameful!"

"Good morning, Lieutenant Namori," Shota greeted him as their captain spun back around the other direction and swept Kairo off his feet. As he looked down at the two of them wrestling on the ground, he thought to himself, "They kind of remind me of Captain Kyoraku and Lieutenant Ise..."

Tsukiro sat on Kairo's back with one of his arms pinned behind then and his other arm twisted out to the side. He huffed from their nonchalant wrestling match. "Will you stop already so I can talk? We can spar later!"

Tsukiro grinned and rolled his eyes. "Amazing how you can switch back and forth between the two." He nodded in the direction of his study. "Let's go. We've got some things to discuss at last. Third Seat Kato will be sitting in with us. I feel he will make transitions easy for Division Eight."

He looked to the Third Seat who nodded with a smile.

"Juushiro Ukitake may be an old dog, but he's no where near out of fight. I know he'll make it through. We just have to do what we can from this side. And that includes making all of our forces stronger. That's what this is about."

They continued through the barracks to the study room. There were numerous books and tables with lamps for reading and paper and writing utensils. There was everything one would need for planning and researching. The Lieutenant and the Third Seat sat at a smaller table and Tsukiro stood at the head.

"Now that we're all settled, let's get down to business," he started. "First I want to say that just because I am the Stealth Force commander and now the Division Eight captain, that doesn't mean that the entire Onmitsukido will be moving here. Division Eight's traditional duties will remain the same. As will Second Division's. Soi Fon will still run her Division accordingly. Soi Fon and her Lieutenant, Omaeda, will act as the second level of the Onmitsukido. They will handle smaller scale missions and activities, mostly in Seireitei and parts of Rukongai. She commands her Division only unless directed further by me. Our level, Kairo and myself, are the primary forces. We will command those who are a part of the Stealth Force but not Second Division. Now, since Kairo is doing double duty with both Stealth Force and Division Eight, Third Seat Kato, I'm counting on you to continue to command the forces here in Division Eight when Kairo and myself are busy otherwise."

Shota nodded deeply. "Yes, sir. It would be my honor."

"Great. Now, the main thing I want you to keep in mind, Kato-san, is that none of the officers here are expected to take on the Stealth Force ways. They are to continue doing as they already are. I won't try and fix a wheel that isn't broken." He paused to fold his arms into his haori sleeves. "Now, concerning structural differences of the two forces, to keep things even, I'm planning on bringing about a quarter of the Stealth Force here to Division Eight. They will be integrated into the forces already here. Their responsibilities will be the same as yours. In respect, I want to take a handful of Division Eight members and have them shadow the Stealth Force in Division Two for a little while. Just long enough to gain the ropes and learn to work well with the different environment. I will rotate out members when I feel that one group is doing well with the Onmitsukido forces. Kato, these things will be your main focus. I want this to go as smoothly as possible to eliminate friction between the two forces."

Tsukiro nodded once more, listening intently to their ideas. "Alright. We'll do that both ways. A few from each forces will be integrated at a time. Then, when and if transitions have gone smoothly, if any members want to stay where they are or return to their original posts, we will deal with that accordingly."

He took a nearby chair and pulled it forward, turning it backwards and sitting down facing the back of the chair, his arms resting on top of the back rest. "Now, then next order of business is this: both Eighth Division and the Stealth Force have one thing in common. They both have to fight quite a bit at times. Eighth Division being in charge of support and back up and such, we have to be ready to go into a situation with guns blazing. Lately, the Gotei Thirteen's guns haven't been very effective. I want to introduce new ways of fighting and new tactics, as well as reviews of old tactics, in order to better ourselves so that when Aizen makes his next move, we can be ready. As far as the Stealth Force, this involves a new set of Shunko techniques I'm working on. Kairo, once I've mastered them, I'll teach you and you will help me train the Stealth Force members in these techniques. Also, Kato, if you or any of this Division want to take a crack at them and some Stealth Force techniques to broaden their horizons, they're welcome to train with us."

He looked to Shota. "Kato, you and I are going to work on helping the Division members strengthen areas that they're not as strong in; things like Hakuda, Kido and even their own Zanpakuto powers. We will assess the Division as a whole, first, then go from there. We'll create a game plan for each area and apply it to training sessions. Again, Stealth Force members can sit in on these sessions if they wish."

Tsukiro chuckled, leaning his head against one of his hands. "I like it. I'll allow the tournament, however, Kairo, Kato, I'm putting you two in charge of this. You'll organize it and spread the word. I've got enough on my plate with renovations, gutting areas that need work and organizing the Stealth Force since some aren't yet used to the strange set up now that I've taken over. Organize it however the two of you please. I'll expect periodical reports."

He stood up and leaned against the table. He looked between them. "Anything else you feel should be brought to my attention? Things that need to be fixed, amended? Issues?"