"C- call a medic! A medic!" A man said, surveying the accident.

A teenage girl and a child had been hit by a car.

"It wasn't my fault...!" Worker said.

Hikawa Kurisuta, age 14. She was supposed to have been the hero of this story, but... She seems to have suddenly died!

"What? That's me lying down there, isn't it?" Kuri said.

"-All right, move aside, move aside!-Please, make way! The child is okay! He just has a scratch! This one's not gonna make it. -Okay, let's put her on the stretcher.-Right!" Med-nin said.

"Hey! Wait a minute, come on!" Kuri said.

"At any rate, let's hurry and take her and the little boy to the ambulance!" Med-nin said.

"Hey, I said wait! I'm right here! That's not me! Hey! I'm talking to you!" Kuri punched but her arm went right through the Med-nin. "What the hell is going on here?"

Kuri shuddered and her form disappeared.

Sasuke Uchiha stared up at her, Sharingan active, watching as she winked out of existence.

Otherworld

Kuri looked back down the tunnel where she had just sailed through. Nothing there except dancing light. Kuri turned to the wall and felt a jolt of electric shock. Whoa! There was a woman sitting cross-legged in front of the wall! She was wearing a white fringed dress that was beaded with the same symbols that were on the wall behind her. She was fantastically beautiful, with long straight hair so black it looked as if it had blue and purple highlights, like a raven's wing. Her full lips curved up as she spoke, filling the air between us with the silver power of her voice.

"Grata filae. Welcome, Daughter. You have done well."

She spoke in Latin, but even though Kuri hadn't practiced the language much in the last couple years she understood the words.

"You're not my grandma!" Kuri blurted, feeling awkward and out of place as her light blue words joined with the woman's, making incredible patterns of sparkling blue-silver in the air around them.

Her smile was like the rising sun.

"No, Daughter, I am not, but I know Kaori Hikawa very well.

Kuri took a deep breath. "Am I dead?"

Kuri was afraid the woman would laugh at her, but she didn't. Instead her dark eyes were soft and concerned.

"No, filae. You are far from dead, though your spirit has been temporarily freed to wander the realm of the Alium Orbis."

"The Otherworld!" I glanced around the tunnel, trying to see faces and forms within the shadows.

"Your grandmother has taught you well, paulo anatis…little duck. You are a unique mixture of the Old Ways and the New World—of ancient sacred blood and the heartbeat of outsiders."

Her words made Kuri feel hot and cold at the same time. "Who are you?" Kuri asked.

"I am known by many names…Máni, Luna, Gaea, Arianrhod, Chang'e, Chandra, and even Isis…"

As she spoke each name her face was transformed so that Kuri was dizzied by her power. She must have understood, because she paused and flashed her beautiful smile at Kuri again, and her face settled back into the woman she had first seen.

"But you, duckling, my Daughter, may call me by the name by which your world knows me today, Selene."

"Selene," my voice was barely above a whisper. "The Goddess of the Moon?"

"In truth, it was the ancient Greeks touched by the Change who first worshiped me as the mother they searched for within their endless Night. I have been pleased to call their descendants my children for many ages. You are my sacordos, my priestess."

All of a sudden Kuri wanted to cry. "I—I don't understand. Find my destiny? I just want to find a way to deal with my new life—to make this all okay. Goddess, I just want to fit in someplace. I don't think I'm up to finding my destiny."

The Goddess's face softened again, and when she spoke her voice was like Kuri's mother's, only more—as though she had somehow sprinkled the love of every mother in the world into her words.

"Believe in yourself Hikawa Kuri. I have Marked you as my own. You will be my first true filia luna…Daughter of the Moon…in this age.

You are special. Accept that about yourself and you will begin to understand there is true power in your uniqueness. Within you is combined the magic blood of ancient Priestess and Wise Women, as well as insight into and understanding of the modern world."

The Goddess stood up and walked gracefully toward Kuri, her voice painting silver symbols of power in the air around us. When she reached Kuri she wiped the tears from her cheeks before taking Kuri's face in her hands.

"Hikawa Kuri, Daughter of the Moon, I name you my eyes and ears in the world today, a world where good and evil are struggling to find balance."

"But I'm fourteen! I don't even have a driver's license! How am I supposed to know how to be your eyes and ears?"

She just smiled serenely. "You are old beyond your years, duckling. Believe in yourself and you will find a way. But remember, darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good.

Then the Goddess Selene, the ancient personification of the Moon, leaned forward and kissed Kuri on her forehead. Kuri faded back into the real world, words echoing in her head, a desperate cry, in her own voice.

"O mater Luna, regina nocia, adiuvo me nunc!"

Earlier That Day

Kuri was sitting up on the roof avoiding Kakashi.

Kurisuta had long straight hair with bits of hair framed inward towards her face. There was a split in the middle of her widow's peak and she let a streak of hair on both sides frame her face in front of her shoulders. Her eyes were blue and her skin was pale. She wore a gold pentacle around her neck. Kuri wore a red medium dress, black fighting pants and brown boots.

"Sis, you got that!?" Reiko said.

Reiko Hikawa stood two inches taller than Kuri, with long red hair tied in a high ponytail, and bright blue eyes. Reiko was dressed identical to Kuri, but due to her rebellious nature, wore red pants and white and red dress shirt and red tie. Now Reiko was as straight as could be and not a cross dresser really, she just despised, more than anything on God's green earth, DRESSES.

"Oh, It's you, Reiko." Kuri said.

"Here you are!" Reiko said. "Kakashi-sensei is looking for you, ."

"Cmon Sis you like to skip too," Kuri whined. "Don't you wanna skip with me?"

"Don't be like that! We both worked so hard on to become a ninja! Here, you forgot your jacket."

Reiko held out a red leather jacket that she'd left in her locker.

"Sister, I'm not cold! I've been training too. I just needed...a break." Kuri said.

"Well don't forget, we made a promise to each other. You're not going to make it to the next grade if you don't pass gym! Kakashi-sense has been calling you for a bit, ." Reiko said.

Reiko went downstairs.

"Reiko!" Sakura said.

"Are you done?" Ino said.

"What are you sneaking around about?" Reiko said.

"You see, we're afraid of Hikawa-imouto, is the thing." Sakura said.

"You sure aren't bothered by talking to her." Ino said.

"If you're together with Hikawa-imouto, you're going to get a bad reputation, too, Reiko!" Sakura said.

"Is that it? There's absolutely nothing wrong with my sister! What's the matter with you two? You used to be her best friends!" Reiko said.

"But the stories about Hikawa-imouto are awful!" Sakura said.

"They say she trained in Suna under some mysterious master!" Ino said.

"And she can kill you with just a glance!" Sakura said.

"Hold on, it's nothing at all like that!" Reiko said. "It's no wonder she has trouble making friends with people spreading such vicious rumors! Kuri did train in Suna, but it's not mystery, she's a priestess; a miko-nin! And as for killing with just a glance, it's a secret technique called reikohaidan!"

"Even so..." Sakura said.

"-I'm still afraid of her!" Ino said.

Xxx

"There you are Hikawa Kuri!" Kakashi said. "You were late for missions for a third time this week."

"I told you, Kakashi-sensei." Kuri said. "I was doing research."

"Research? On what?" Kakashi said.

Kuri shifted her weight. "I was looking into the records to find out what happened to my brother. Hikawa Shimano. You were in the Anbu, surely you know—"

Kakashi's face turned serious and he put a hand on her shoulder.. "Kuri. For your own good, stop looking into it."

POP! Kakashi was holding a log.

Kuri laughed. "Relax, it's just a substitution jutsu, Kakashi-sensei! I'll find my brother! You can count on it."

Xxx

"Nothing on Shimano...yet again" Kuri said, heading down the street.

All the shop doors slammed shut as she passed.

"They never let me in no matter what,

"Hikawa Kurisuta..." Sasuke said.

Sasuke was standing there. He had ebony spiky hair, dark eyes, and pale skin. He was handsome enough to have a fan club. He always wore varieties of dark blue and black, and always somewhere on his person was the Uchiha fan symbol.

"You're such a pest, Sasuke! Every single day!" Kuri said.

"Shut up and fight me! You're the only one who's ever beaten me in a fight!" Sasuke snapped. "That's why I have to beat you! No one's going to say I was beaten by a girl!"

"Yes well...I'm in a really bad mood today. I won't be going easy on you, Sasuke." Kuri chuckled.

They fought and Kuri won.

"So strong!" Reiko said running over. "She's a demon!"

"Ah, that was refreshing." Kuri said.

"Sasuke, you should stop picking fights with Sister, already." Reiko said. "She's using Reiki, so no ninja using Chakra would have a chance."

"Shut the hell up! I'll do this until I've won!" Sasuke countered, getting up. "If I can't win against her then how can I defeat..."

He passed out.

"Sasuke!" Reiko said.

Xxx

"Right, after that I met that child..."

Kuri handed a ball to a little boy.

"Thanks!" He said. "My name's Konohamaru!"

"Look, you brat! It's dangerous here! There's construction on that building there, you know!" Kuri said and the boy looked said. So she made faces to cheer him up.

"Baka! Baka!" Konohamaru said.

"Hm, my performance still has what it takes, I guess." Kuri said. "Listen, don't run around by that building, 'cause it's dangerous, okay? Go play somewhere safe."

Konohamaru went right back to playing there.

"He's still at it! There's just no helping a stupid kid like that!" Kuri watched, and then suddenly some rubble began to fall. "Hey! That's dangerous! Don't play there! Hey! Watch out!"

Kuri ran out and pushed Konohamaru out of the way.

Xxx

Kuri's Wake

"I suppose this means I'm dead." Kuri said. "I don't really think anyone will mourn me. I didn't make much of an impression."

"Today we honor the death of Konoha's Miko, Hikawa Kuri." Hokage said.

"Ah, it's those girls, Sakura and Ino. Those bitches, here someone's died, and they're there with their cheerful faces!" Kuri snapped.

"Sister!" Reiko cried out, falling to her knees and sobbing.

"R-Reiko..." Kuri said, starting to wish she hadn't come.

"Kuri...!" Sasuke said. "Dammit...why did you have to die?!"

Sasuke choked on his words, tears falling, turned away.

"Sasuke..." Kuri said. "You are crying for me?"

Suddenly the wind blew between Kuri's spirit and Sasuke's face, and he turned his gaze heavenward. His Sharingan locked on her ghostly eyes.

He mouthed her name in shock.

As Sasuke watched, a black crescent opened behind her and widened, widened, becoming a full circle.

A small girl with blue-silver pigtails and Sharingan like Sasuke reached out and captured Kuri, pulled her onto what appeared to be an oar, and pulled her into the portal, where they vanished into Otherworld.