Chakra Points [Naruto, Sailormoon]
Chapter One | Table of Contents | Chapter Three
Title: Chapter Two
Fandom: Naruto, Sailormoon
Characters: Hyuuga Neji, Tomoe Hotaru, Meiou Setsuna, Hino Rei
Word Count: 1,680
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Neji gets his injuries looked at by Hotaru, then Setsuna makes things Very Clear.
Author's Notes: Still don't have a title or an over-arching plot yet. Grrr. Got one now! Not beta'd.
Falcon stood with inhuman stillness before carefully taking the knives from Saturn's gloved hand. His own gloves had claws in the tips, she noted, but they didn't appear to affect his dexterity as the knives vanished into the leg pouch.
"Would you allow me to heal you?" she asked. "I know you're wounded, and I can smell the blood on you."
"Most of it isn't mine," he responded dryly. There was another hesitation - clearly, he was thinking of whether or not to accept the offer. "Perhaps a place with better light? You may have good eyes, Sailor Saturn, but even they could miss details."
The masked man had a point. Saturn glanced at Pluto. The senshi of time was grim, but she nodded. "Meet you at the Shrine," she muttered for Saturn alone. Then she vanished in a wink of garnet light.
Falcon lowered his chin as he looked at the spot where Pluto had been. "Where did she go?" he asked. Saturn would bet good money that if he had had feathers, they would be ruffling in agitation.
"The same place we're going, except we'll go by a more conventional way. If you'll follow me, please."
He did, and they returned to the motorcycle she had hidden. She detransformed before she touched the helmet, which she debated a moment before putting it on herself. Some instinct told her that he would be all right, whatever happened during the ride. She would still be extra careful, of course. She pulled the bike away from the tree before she straddled it. "Get on behind me," she said, turning her head.
She caught him staring at the bike with the same earlier stillness. "What is that?" he asked.
The question caught her by surprise. "A motorcycle," she answered. "Think of it like a horse, but much faster. ...Have you ever ridden a horse?"
"No," he answered.
He knew that word, at least.
"Just sit behind me," she told him, "and put your arms around my waist to hold on."
He still hesitated. "I wear a sword and mask. Don't you think I would stand out?"
"You could take the mask off," she suggested.
"Later," he answered with careful neutrality, and Hotaru wished she could see his face. He moved carefully, no doubt from wariness and his own injuries, but he obliged and sat behind her. One armored arm encircled her waist but the other remained at his side.
"Falcon-san," she started, but broke off when he shook his head.
"I will not fall off."
"Then hold on tightly," she told him. She turned the key in the ignition. He jumped a little, but then he settled down quickly enough. She would have thought the noise would continue to bother him, but he didn't seem to mind it. Adaptive, she thought. Falcon was an enigma, and hopefully one they could figure out.
~ ~ ~ ~
The ride had definitely been odd. Despite only holding on with one arm, Falcon stayed his seat very well. Hotaru also caught that sweetness of healing energy again, but it was faint from wind and speed. What, she wondered, couldn't wait until they reached the shrine?
It was getting close to midnight by the time they reached Hikawa Shrine. She felt the power of the crystal point before she reached it. The calm of the place always soothed her, and she smiled behind the visor of her helmet. When they reached the buildings, she saw that lights were on in the living quarters. Setsuna must have already woken Rei and let her know to expect a guest. Indeed, the young priestess slid open a door as Hotaru's motorcycle puttered to a stop.
"Evening, Rei-san."
"Hotaru-chan," Rei responded gravely. Her face still held some sleep, but her eyes are sharp. "We have a wounded guest?"
Hotaru nodded. "Rei-san, meet Falcon. Falcon-san, this is Hino Rei, the priestess of the shrine."
"Hino-san," Falcon murmured, tilting his head politely.
"Come on in, then. Setsuna-san helped me get a room ready." She turned and started down the hall.
The pair followed Rei to one of the guest rooms. Rei's grandfather had retired from the shrine a few years ago, leaving it Rei's care. Yuuichiro had left during the attack by Galaxia, he believing Rei dead and too heartbroken to remain. His departure had hurt Rei, but was probably a good thing in the long run, Hotaru felt.
The guest room already had a futon laid out and a first-aid kit and a deep bowl of water with a sponge and some towels on the low table.
"I hope this...oh, God," Rei breathed.
Hotaru turned, and saw how much more detail the light showed. The vest Falcon wore was practically soaked in blood, and his leggings were stained as well. His skin was pale enough that Hotaru wondered if it was natural or from blood loss.
"I'll take care of it," Hotaru said quickly. "Why don't you see if you can find some clothes for him?"
"R-right." Rei flicked her eyes at Hotaru for confirmation, which the younger girl gave with a nod. The priestess left, and Hotaru saw Setsuna now in the hallway behind Rei before the door closed.
"Saa, Falcon-san, let's get a look at you. Do you need help getting undressed?"
"Unfortunately. My shoulder is dislocated and I haven't had the chance to pop it back into place," he replied. "Does everyone here have two names?"
Hotaru smiled despite herself as she motioned for the tall man to sit. "My 'civilian' name, I suppose you might call it in comparison to my senshi name, is Tomoe Hotaru."
"Ah." So much, and yet so very little, in that one syllable. Falcon reached up and removed his mask. "My name is Hyuuga Neji."
Oh, wow, Hotaru thought upon seeing his face. Her heart gave a flutter; the man was beautiful. Even dirt that had gotten under the mask, and the all-white eyes only added to the aristocratic beauty of his face. She found herself blushing, and cleared her throat. "Nice to meet you, Hyuuga-san. Are your eyes natural?"
"Yes." His face was as neutral as his mask.
"I thought so; your vision is too good for it to be cataracts," she said. "Let's start with your shoulder..."
* * * *
The healing reminded Neji a lot of his healing sessions with Sakura, only with considerably less bitching on the healer's part. His eyes hadn't thrown her off so much as the fact he had spent the trip to this peculiar shrine healing his eardrums. That had gotten her attention more than anything else, because it told her how well he could lip-read. The discovery gave her a moment of unease before it disappeared beneath the calm, cool exterior.
He had balked, at the beginning. Healing chakra was normally green; hers was a very obvious purple. She had calmed him enough to allow her to heal him after she demonstrated her ability on one of his leg's minor cuts. The purple still bothered him but he hid it much better.
Other than the eardrums, which she finished up herself, she complimented him on his healing. He would take that back to Sakura at least. Let her know the lessons hadn't been in vain.
He was full to bursting with questions, but he was also at the end of his endurance. So he sat quietly while Tomoe-san healed him, and gave monosyllabic responses when he gave them at all. After the healing came the sponge bath, and then Tomoe-san got the clothes from Hino-san.
They were priest's clothes, Tomoe-san had explained. They weren't what the Fire monks wore, that was for certain. Tomoe-san also helped him into the clothes despite his snarls of protest. He knew he needed the help, he just didn't want it. He already felt beholden enough to this stranger, and his body was exhausted where his pride wasn't.
Tomoe-san left him laying on his backside on the futon. It was good to have a soft bed beneath him and his hurts attended to, but he lay awake with worry. Naruto was all alone, in hostile territory, dealing with Kumo-nin without help. And from the way Pluto had spoken to Saturn, Neji wasn't even in his own world, apparently. This place was an entirely different place, and no amount of travel would get him home.
The rational, shinobi part of his brain accepted this calmly as information to store. The rest of his mind was loudly protesting what had to be impossible but clearly wasn't.
He sighed, and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he knew time had passed, and the woman -- Pluto, to go by the eyes, but not in her black-and-white outfit -- stood over him. She didn't have the killing intent like last time, but she was definitely unhappy and he was the focus of it.
"Can I help you?" he asked politely, more out of spite than a desire to actually be useful. She had tried to kill him, after all.
"Yes," the garnet-eyed woman replied. "You can tell me how you got here, and how you bypassed my wards without my knowing."
Neji sat up, slowly so as to not alarm her. "'I don't know' is the answer to both. I gather it's not the answer you want," he continued, "but it is the only one I have. Believe me when I say that I would rather be home than here."
The woman stared hard at him. "I believe you," she admitted, slowly and grudgingly. "So I will warn you: if you try anything, anything at all to harm someone, I will kill you. I am the Guardian of Time, and you still managed to go where you aren't supposed to. Saturn asked we find out why you are here. If it's for malice, you will die. Understood?"
"Understood."
He didn't plan on antagonizing anyone at present, but he had a mission to get home now, whatever the method. And you'll find me difficult to kill, should it come to that.
-end chapter two-
Chapter One | Table of Contents | Chapter Three