minds young (Halloween Mission, p)

Truth - pt 1:

Truth - pt 2:

Truth - pt 3:

May you find your worth in the waking world.

Softly, these words were whispered to him, each word quieter than the next. They were spoken faintly enough that he could doubt their presence, but even with shinobi training as patchwork as his, he knew better than to doubt his senses. Goro came to awareness suddenly and without warning. It was less like waking up and more like flicking a switch; one minute he wasn't, and then the next, he was.

Two things he was certain of: one, even though there was no proof otherwise, he knew he was in a dream. And two, he was not alone. Whether this meant he was sharing a dream with a fellow villager or otherwise wasn't clear.

He blinked slowly- the surroundings distorted slightly, as dreams often do, before gradually focusing to life-like detail. What was he supposed to do here? He rubbed his shoulder, feeling stiffness he knew he shouldn't have, and-

Oh.

He wasn't wearing that earlier.

Looking down seemed to confirm it: he was in a white kimono, folded right over left, straw sandals, and against his bare chest inside the garment rested six coins of unknown mint. His arms felt cold. The scientist wasn't superstitious, but this seemed like a bad omen.

He was clearly meant to resemble a corpse.

You are not alone.

Goro looked around- a short distance away stood a building, though it would be more accurate to refer to it as a temple of some sort. There seemed to be some activity towards the entrance- people in dark clothes and such passing through. Unfortunately, it was hard to see from this distance, especially without his goggles.

You are-

He flexed his fingers, deliberately not paying attention to the pounding of his heart. On a whim, he bit the inside of his cheek.

...not-

A faint taste of iron filled his mouth.

...Alone.

He turned around. Someone else was there.

WC: 323
Total WC: 323

A hand grabs Goro's hand roughly and pulls him, the world disappearing in a whirl.

Then he sees Murata's face, a finger raised to her lips in a shushing motion. She's pulled him into an alleyway behind a pile of trash, next to the boarded-up doors of what looks like a long-closed bathhouse. One of the dark-clad figures stalks past where they were just standing, scanning their surroundings with inscrutable eyes. A crimson kama gleams in their hands. After a long few moments, the figure keeps walking.

"I do not feel good about this," she murmurs, Goro's impromptu guardian clad in the same funereal white as he is. She looks around the pile of garbage towards the towering pagodas of the temple. "Goro, do you also feel as though you're in a dream?"

The last thing she remembers is being a horrible monster and... hurting her teammates? She can't remember, it's all a blur. Now she's here, aware of the nightmare she inhabits, dressed for a journey to the underworld. Perhaps it's all an elaborate metaphor.

176

Goro made an extremely undignified sound- something akin to a rubber chicken crossed with a caterwaul- as he was dragged back. He squirmed unpleasantly, but due to his diminutive strength, he probably was incredibly easy to restrain. Wait, holy shit, that's Murata. What the fuck?

He cut off extremely quickly as soon as he saw her raise a finger to her lips. Then he saw the ominous figure just beyond the corner and came to the sudden realization that he was a paper ninja. Debatably all brains, minuscule brawn. Could he even fight back, if attacked? He swallowed heavily before answering the question posed.

"I- yes, actually. I was told as such! Sort of. Kind of. Not really. But it was implied. So, basically yes." It was a very roundabout (and rambly) way of saying what Murata had expected. A quick glance told him that she was wearing the dead people outfit as well. Hmmm... "Have you tried a genjutsu release yet?" not that Goro knew the technique, but by this point, he was too embarrassed to ask. He had no idea what to do or what to expect, but Murata basically knew everything, so he'd defer to her.

A pause, before he spoke up again. "Are those people LARPing? Or is this, like, some mainland religion? They have a cool uniform. We should definitely try to have coordinating outfits in Kiri. Maybe we could tell the Mizukage? Anyway..." evidently, nobody had told him about the change in leadership as he continued to speak about nothing in particular. It was likely a coping mechanism, but it seemed unlikely that Goro would ever confirm that directly.

WC: 275
Total WC: 598

A voice comes to join the two. "It's no Genjutsu. My sight is fine here." Joining the two was the young Hyuuga genin, Mitsu. Dressed similarly in the same funerary garb the other two had on. Though there is obvious fear in his face when he sees Murata with the other Ninja. Memories flash in his mind of Pinocchio, the attack, whatever it was that pretended to be her. He steels his breath though. Whatever had been back then was whatever had been back then. Surely this was actually Murata.

"Wherever or whatever this place is its not a genjutsu. It's... a lucid dream almost.. that we can't get out of. Think it might be an attack from some rival village?" The rumors of war on the horizon had been brewing for a while and Mitsu wouldn't put it past somewhere like Sunagakure to do something like this. But then why these three? Maybe the other shinobi were in here too... or worst case the whole village be trapped in this? "Have either of you seen anyone else in here?" The thought of his father having to deal with this did get a bit of a smile. Regardless they needed to get the bottom of this. Whatever it was needed to get fixed fast lest the whole village be endangered.

[220]

Armor? Check. Weapon. Check. Cool funeral garb outfit that he didn't know why, but he felt like was super important to be wearing for some undisclosed reason? check. Non slip shoes so he never has to deal with the embaracement he faced in the last mission? Check. Everything was set up. Pinochio wasn't exactly sure WHY he'd found himself in a stange village the night before when he fell asleep at the kitchen table sorting candy for saya, but today would not be the same. He'd made sure if he did fall asleep that he was fully geared and in something that didn't look quite so ridiculous. As he pulled the covers up over his head, laying down to sleep, he was certain that he would look totally epic and bad ass if he found himself back in the dream world.

Damn it.

He found himself standing directly behind mitsu, in a huddled mass of kiri ninja looking at... .something? Boy this place was wierd.

"Just us for me. Looks like we can control what we have in this place at least." It was right as he said this that he looked down and realized that while he was absolutely wearing the funeral garb, underneath it was, of course, an armadillo costume. "Scratch that. I'm still an armadillo." He tested the tread on his shoes, and nearly did the splits as they slid across the ground. Definitely not non slip. Still, it was nice to see that he'd kept the cool funeral outfit so he could stand out and look bad as--why were all of them wearing the exact same outfit? How was it even possible that all of them went to bed wearing the exact outfit he'd spent the entire day trying to plan up and have tailored so that he would have an awesome custom look? This was clearly not going to be pinochio's night.

(TWC 317)

Murata shakes her head. "I just... woke up as well," she says, mouth twisting as she finds she cannot find any other way of expressing it. She puts a hand on Goro's shoulder and forms a single Tiger handseal to attempt to release them both from this nightmare, but it finds no purchase and they remain in the alleyway.

Mitsu's voice rings quietly through the air, confirming that this isn't something they can get out of so easily. Murata looks to him, worry in her eyes, so far from the distant sickness in her face from their previous shared nightmare, and further from the frenzied hunger of the beast. Pinocchio's appearance in the armadillo costume does not provide levity, but it offers... something. Perhaps it adds to the surreal atmosphere.

"I don't know," she says. "I can only sense us and the people in the black robes."

She looks over the trash towards the pagoda, stretching high into the haze. There is a sense of dread emanating from it.

"I have a bad feeling about that tower..."

Murata's trailing thought is interrupted by a distant wail. A young woman, bleeding from her shoulder, is dragged by two of the black-clad figures towards the door of the tower. She struggles fruitlessly against their grip as they appear to offer identification to the ones guarding the door, and after this check-in they continue inside.

232
TWC 408

With the arrival of the others, the failed genjutsu release, and the ominous screams in the background, Goro came to the conclusion that oh shit, this is actually an issue.

The prospect of dreams being a tangible place you can visit was an enthralling one, but he didn't voice this thought. He can learn social skills too, in theory. "What are we supposed to do?" despite not knowing the others, he figured he was the lowest ranked one here- which meant by technicality he was supposed to listen to Murata at the very least. "We should at least check the building out in terms of village security-" he paused. Were the other two Kirigakure ninja?

...Well. They seemed familiar with Murata, and not outright hostile.

The thought of 'it's a dream so it doesn't matter' didn't seem like a particularly engaging argument. "I, hmmm. Can't imagine I'd be useful here, unless you need a seal broken or something." He didn't have any weapons, any techniques, nothing (except a can do attitude!) that would help out in this specific situation.

"Or, if. You need a distraction..." he WAS labeled as one of the most obnoxious people in the village for a reason. Hmm... "I could start screaming, maybe. Or transform into the most obnoxious thing I could think of. I don't have any lab stuff, so starting fires isn't an option." a pause. "I... AM allowed to start fires here, right? I won't get put on probation?" the 'again' is implied. Hm...

Either way, sneaking in through the front door didn't seem like an option with all the commotion. He- really wanted to ensure the lady's safety, but if they were caught, and there was nobody left to do anything, there was no telling how many more would get captured. He looked away with a heavy feeling in his throat.

WC: 309
Total WC: 907

The scream in the distance snaps mitsu to attention, seeing the woman being dragged into the pagoda mitsu could only imagine what was going to happen. The stories his father told him about Missing nin come to mind. "Even if it's a bad feeling odds are whatever brought us here or whatever is in charge of this place is gonna be found in there." he says pointing to the pagoda. 

Mitsu holds his hand to the air for a moment. Blue chakra coalescing in his palm into two swords. One he tosses to Goro. "Here, even if you don't have much I hope you at least know how to stab." 

"As for what we should do" It's there Mitsu's veins protrude next to his eyes. His gaze focused on the world all around them, scanning and watching for any robed figures. Seeing how they were dressed, whatever might be beneath the robes if it wasn't human, all the little details he would need. "Regardless of what we plan on doing, getting ourselves disguised would be a good first course of action" He forms a one handed Dog seal before a puff of smoke hides his form. Now appearing as one of the robed figures in front of them. 

[430]

"I mean. Theres two guards standing in front of a closed door right. What if we just.... Took care of the guards really really quick?" In emphasis her would nod his head extra hard. The ram head that hung where his hairline would be(if he had hair, he is currently bald) slipped down, hiding his form. Two large eyes hidden in the center granted him sight, but it wasn't really that important. From the turtle neck portion of his armor he pulled a set of glasses. They slid up and into place over his eyes, locking through the magic of small metal arms that retracted when stowed, and as the armors effect activated, he checked the area again. 

"Yep. Definitely only two at the door. Good ole thermal vision. So heres my thought right. All we have to do is murderify them real quick and we're good, so...." Unless stopped he would shift from his position silently. Using the universally understood "sneaking stance", two hands held up near his face as he walked slowly on just the tips of his toes, he moved around the building and out of sight of the guards. Heres where things get interesting. pinochio....didn't have many actual jutsu. he had ONE but it required him to open gates and well. He's gonna need that for part three SO that one is out. What he does have however is a weapon that can attack both at range and close up. 

He would lie in wait, the curvature of the gate that wrapped around the building to guard the door only three meters past it(a horible building design really) allowing him to get within about five meters before it curved enough that he could be seen. Now was time to really show his stuff. Activating the samurai sabre technique he poured chakra through his weapon, turning the ball on the end into a three meter wide net of barbed wire. We love it when a plan comes together. 

If a signal to attack was given, he'd release the web at a blistering speed of 107, flinging it over the top of the wall so that it would descend on them from above, floating in place behind them to be impossible to see. If a signal wasn't given he'd give the signal, checking to make sure everyone was in place, and then do exactly as described. His goal was to do a bunch of damage, of course, but more than that it was to hold them in place so the rest of the team could gang up and hit em with a super molly whop double XL one two three four punch of epic awesome super swoot proportions. He'd work on the name later. 

(TWC 773/750 first mission wc done for me! )

"You may start fires, hypothetically," Murata says, behind her jaw nervously. She beckons Mitsu and Pinoch to hide out in their little corner for the moment so they aren't spotted. "I agree that something has to be going on in the pagoda."

"We can take care of the guards out front. It will just have to be quiet," she says in response to Pinoch's plan, nodding in approval as he sneaks ahead to get into a good position. Murata motions for Mitsu and Goro to wait for a moment and flashes through several handseals. 

"When I give the second signal, come to the gate." She takes on her own transformation into a black-cloaked figure and exhales a thick mist, then slips away into it after Pinoch, her silent footsteps meaning she's vanished like a ghost as soon as she's out of sight. With the streets already shrouded in chilling fog, the thickening of the mist isn't much cause for alarm to the guards, and it will hopefully slow the approach of more of the cultists heading back to the tower.

The signal to Pinoch comes in the form of a sharp whistle - the mimicked screech of a bird from above the pair of guards, provoking the two gaunt figures to look up towards where Murata is currently hidden by fog. Of course, they see nothing, and their distraction allows Pinoch to effortlessly bag them at the same time two senbon sail through the air with a dangerous gleam and sink into their throats to deliver a hefty dose of paralytic poison. The entire affair is near silent save for a few heavy thumps and a strangled gasp of surprise, Murata silently landing next to them to ensure they are quickly rendered unconscious.

Another bird screech pierces the air - the second signal. Assuming Mitsu and Goro head to the gates, they'll find Murata standing over the stunned guards. 

"Put these two in the trash, won't you? Quickly," she says to Goro and Mitsu, looking to the door beyond the group, the mysterious tower beckoning.

343
TWC 751, first mission complete!