Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Naruto. Only the OC is my idea, her backstory, abilities, appearance, etc. I do not make any money from this story. Some characters may be a bit out of character.
Neji sat on his knees next to her as they were briefed on the situation. Lady Tsunade had selected Neji for the mission believing that the threat was a shinobi skilled in stealth tactics. From a human stand point it did make sense, but there was something else that was troubling Chiaki about the situation. The heir to this clan had been attacked the night before and was currently unconscious, something else that happened which made her question if the attacker was even human anymore is that his friend had drowned at a nearby river just three weeks ago.
"We will do our best to ensure your son's safety," Neji promised the distraught father.
"I have some medical skill, if I may examine your son?"
"of course," the man agreed. He was getting a bit on in years, she estimated roughly forty, or maybe fifty years old going by the amount of grey in his hair, the wrinkles surrounding his eyes and mouth. Chiaki stood from her spot and the man, who dressed in more traditional attire of a black kimono lead her into another room.
When he opened the door, Chiaki gave an imploring look to Neji before entering the room where the boy was being tended to by a woman, who appeared to be roughly in her late thirties or early forties. She wore a light blue kimono, and her dark hair was also slightly streaked with grey.
"Are you the Shinobi that's been assigned for my son?"
"My friend is. I'm here to help with the medical aspect," Chiaki clarified as she approached the boy. She was aware of the chain attached to his chest, but also that his mother wouldn't be able to see it. The chain wasn't very long, although it was beginning to erode from the boy's physical body.
'If that detaches, it's all over. I can't fail,' She realized as she placed her hands over the boy's body and they began to glow a pale green.
"You're a medical ninja. So good of the Hokage to send you along," the boy's mother voiced in approval.
"I honestly just picked it up by observation. I don't know much, but I can heal some things," Chiaki explained.
'As long as the chain of fate doesn't sever,' She inwardly pleaded, focusing on restoring his chakra to mend the internal injuries. 'Whatever or whomever attacked him. He his liver's been injured, there's some kidney damage, and head trauma. This won't happen twice kid. I swear on my life.'
Her focus was so intense she wasn't aware when Neji entered the room and sat next to her. The mother stood and left the room. Once the door was closed, Neji asked in a low whisper, "how bad is it?"
"I'm not in the medical squad, if it were any worse I wouldn't have much hope of helping him," she admitted in the same hushed tone.
"Neji, I don't think a human did this. The damage to this boy—it's similar to what I find in hollow attacks. The other part is, this boy's chain of fate is still intact. As long as it's connected to his human body there's a chance he can be saved. If it severs—I've no way of reviving him," she confided.
Neji glanced at the boy, his eyes were low, but then the he seemed to push that sympathy down and stated, "then we'll make sure a second attack doesn't happen."
"It isn't a general rule but if a hollow does attack, and it's intent on revenge it's more likely to occur at night," she suggested. Neji nodded in acknowledgement
"Alright, looks like we'll keep watch in shifts then."
Chiaki nodded in agreement as she continued focusing on healing the injuries, Neji watched the boy and then quietly asked another question, "is he dead?"
"No, but close to it, his spirit was forced out of his body. You see the chain at the center of his chest?"
Neji nodded in agreement. Chiaki continued, "that's called 'the chain of fate' it binds the spirit to the body. If it's severed there's no returning the spirit to the body."
"In other words—I see," Neji realized.
"You can see me?"
The third voice in the room now belonged to the spirit of the dark haired boy that Chiaki was focusing on healing.
"Yes. Do you remember what happened to you?"
"I remember I went for a walk, and I went by the lake, something grabbed me and… I don't know something else seemed to grab me as well," the boy recalled.
Neji and Chiaki exchanged glances before Chiaki nodded, "I see. You'll be safe now."
'Good thing I brought Chiaki with me. I can damage hollows but I doubt I could do more than that,' he thought to himself before a question occurred to him. Still keeping his voice low he asked, "how would humans kill hollows?"
Chiaki met his eyes as she simply replied, "most can't. In order for someone to injure or harm a hollow they typically need to have spiritual power. While you lack that, you have the ability to see their reiatsu network the same as you can see chakra networks. Sometimes when people can see that, they're able to harm or disable the hollow but they don't actually purify it. That's what my blade is for."
"Purify it?"
"Yes. Hollows were once plus spirits, and plus spirits are deceased humans. However, if a plus remains earth bound for too long and unable to pass on to the next world, their chain of fate erodes overtime and once that happens they become a hollow. My Zanpakuto purifies the soul of any regrets, sins, earthly concerns, whatever is keeping them from moving on so they can go to soul society and once they've been there for a few decades, they can go into the rebirthing cycle," she explained.
"You're not a ninja?"
The question came from the boy, who was dressed in a navy blue track suit with the jacket open revealing a grey shirt underneath. Chiaki smiled sweetly and replied, "Sorry, no. I'm a Shinigami. That's why you're safe now. I won't let this hollow attack you twice."
At this point the sun was beginning to go down, Neji looked to Chiaki as he offered, "I'll take the first shift."
"No, I will. I need to keep up with this kaido, I'm nearly done. Hopefully once the injuries have healed he'll be able to return to his body and wake up," Chiaki countered.
AN: Kaido = healing kido.
