A Trip Down Memory Lane

It was a hot and blazingly sunny day as the streets of the Star Village. Not really a good day for training but it was certainly better than having to take care of training on a rainy day... At least for most ninja and Higuto was not like most ninja. Travelling in a hoodie, his hood brought over his head and mask brought up over his nose as usual, he walked along the less crowded streets towards the village's training area. He kept his head down, his vision set only on the road, as he didn't want to allow his vision to meet anyone else's gaze by accident. He also wanted to keep the sun out of his eyes as the light often burned and stung them. He needed to invest in glasses at some point. As he walked along the dirt roads of the village over to the training field he made sure he didn't run into anything all while thinking about what he was going to do for his training. He knew he wanted to do some stamina training but maybe he would utilize some more training into his chakra growth. As he thought about such things he crossed the threshold that led into the training grounds and he made his way inside while finally lifting his head as he got under the much needed shade that was provided by a tree.

He removed his hood off his head, noticing that he was the only one at the field, as he looked up to see the sun blocked by the leaves of the tree he was under. It was these moments when he was alone that he could relax and let his guard down just a little bit yet, in a village with so many people, there was always the chance that that was going to change. He took in a deep breath from behind his mask, the material filtering the air he breathed in a bit before being breathed out, as he took a seat by the trunk of the tree and laid his head back in order to relax. He would cross his legs as he rested against the trunk and closed his eyes in order to focus his attention onto his meditations as that was often the training he liked to take in order to get in a bit of training for his chakra reserves. The insects that flew and hopped around the field allowed his senses to fall into a deeper concentration quickly as his consciousness fell into his mind allowing him to go into a meditative state right away.

As he sank into the deep recesses of his mind, the smell of the air surrounding him changing from one that stunk of the grass at his feet to one of nothingness, as he opened his eyes from within his mind and saw that he was sitting upon an endless pool that stretched further than even his eyes could see. The color of everything was different from outside the world, his black jacket turning white as his white hair became black, as he got up onto his feet and looked upwards towards where the sky was meant to be but the only thing visible was an endless void of nothing. His yellow eyes were black as the sky they looked upon as he closed them and started to concentrate his thoughts which instantly caused his scenery to change. The liquid he walked on gave way to green grass and trees sprouted from it all around him as they grew taller and their branches filled with leaves. They grew so tall it almost seemed as though they pierced the blackness of the sky above him as the darkness of the sky separated and flooded with the light of the sun. The few clouds that remained in the sky were pretty and fluffy as the smell of the forest reached his masked nose.

He opened his eyes to see that he was standing in the middle of a familiar forest in the center of a group of trees that swayed by a nonexistent wind as the sounds of birds filled his ears which caused him to look around to try and find them. Of course he wasn't going to be able to... they weren't part of this memory. He brought his hood down and walked along the road that he had transported to, his body still reverse in it's color, as he looked around as he walked in order to try and remember the better times of his life. He saw squirrels running along the ground and up the trees, they also having reversed colors among the completely normal looking trees, as he watched one bunker itself into one of the tree's hollow holes where it had built for itself a little nest. Right above it, perched on a branch, was a raven as it watched Higuto with a glare in it's eye.

Higuto would close his eyes in order to stop staring into the eye of the bird for just a moment before opening them back up to reveal a pair of glowing crimson eyes that glared back at the raven menacingly. The raven's eyes would change, becoming red itself with hints of black dollops along the iris, as it cawed and flapped it's wings before flying off in the direction that Higuto was meant to follow himself. Taking a slow breath and allowing his eyes to go back to normal he would slowly take his steps towards the direction the raven flew all as he swatted leaves that fell around him. He could tell from the direction he and the raven were headed that he wasn't going to like whatever it had to show him as he remembered this path quite well... and there was nothing but darkness, sadness, and incredible malice. The raven would fly up and land itself upon the branch of another tree before cawing to Higuto signaling to him that they were at the place he was meant to be: A hospital. Higuto always hated hospitals. The way they smell, the sick people that roam their halls, the hope of life after death. Everything about this place just caused Higuto's skin to crawl as he looked at the raven before walking over to the door waiting for him.

The front doors of the hospital slid open as the raven flew in with a caw and landed atop the desk where the information receptionist was supposed to be. As Higuto stepped in he couldn't help but take note of how empty the hospital was yet didn't look as though it had suffered any of the symptoms of a hospital abandoned. In fact, apart from how dim it was, everything looked spotless in cleanliness like most hospitals and the receptionist's desk looked as though it had just been looked after before whoever was manning it left it alone. He sighed as he stepped in, his senses unable to sense a spec of presence anywhere apart from the raven, before he walked over to one of the chairs and touched it. His fingers immediately detected the feel of fabric as his mind perceived how it was supposed to feel in his hands. Even the smell of the hospital was familiar as it penetrated his mask and made it's way through his nostrils making him feel the slightest hint of nausea start to swell up within him.

The sound of a raven's caw drew his attention back towards the desk as it was standing by a stack of papers that had appeared suddenly where they weren't on the desk before. He walked over to them and picked one of the papers up in order to see whatever was on it. The thing was there was nothing on it, however, as he flipped the paper on it's back and saw nothing there either. He set it down and picked up the next piece of paper to try and get some kind of information... and then another... and then another. Each piece of paper he picked up in order to read had nothing on the pages as he was getting frustrated and took the whole stack in his hands. He would place a finger along the corner and flick the pages rapidly in order to see something, anything, so that he could pull out whatever pages had something on them and read whatever significance they were supposed to have to this place. What he found wouldn't be what he expected however...

As he flipped through the corners of the stack of papers images appeared along the once blank pages and as he continued to flip through them the images moved creating a moving scene. He watched the scene unfold before his eyes, his thumb consistently keeping the pages flipping as they never seemed to reach the end, as the scene showed a drawing of a small stick figure running fast through a forest being chased by what looked like a tiger and a bear. The figure ran over to a tall tree and climbed it thinking it would be safe from the animals but the bear soon climbed up after him causing him to jump off the tree and start running along the branches of the forest they were all in. The tiger would follow him on the ground, it's legs causing it to keep up the same pace as the stick figure, before the figure would jump off the tree and down a cliff that was led down via a waterfall. The stick figure would tuck it's limbs into itself as it would fall into the cold and raging water underneath and as soon as the figure hit the water Higuto himself felt a rush of wet cold wash over his body and clothes.

Higuto would look at himself and see that his clothes were soaking wet now as he scoffed and looked at the raven who cawed and flew up and into the long corridor that led from the desk into the halls of the hospital. As it flew Higuto could see from the pristine front of the hospital an equally nice and clean hall that led into well lit rooms as he saw the raven fly into a room that was all the way at the end of the hall. With a breath Higuto concentrated his chakra as his chakra warmed his body as he removed his wet jacket before hanging it on his forearm to let the water dripping from it hit the floor rather than his shoes. He sighed into his mask before bringing a hand up and ruffling the water out of his hair before following the raven and walking along the same hallway all while looking into the rooms he passed by and seeing that they were just as empty as everywhere else in the hospital. Eerily clean and eerily empty as though they had just been cleaned before everyone involved in the cleaning seemingly had to leave in a rush.

He looked further down the hall where the raven had disappeared into a room and he continued walking along the hallway as he noticed that the lights were slowly growing dim as he walked slowly towards his destination. He could also feel a sense of impending dread coming from the door as it had closed itself just before he got to it. It didn't slam shut but just closed slowly and intentionally by whoever it was that was behind the door who clearly either didn't want Higuto to come into the room or didn't want Higuto to see who it was on the other side. With a deep breath Higuto put his hand on the handle of the door and gave it a test tug feeling the knob turn in his fingers letting him know that the door was unlocked. That feeling of dread, however, wasn't leaving him as he tried to sense what might've been on the other side of the door and felt nothing. Whatever was waiting for him on the other side was not friendly... This was about to be a fight.

With a push he opened the door and looked into the room as his eyes were taken over by the brightness of a room that was cleaner than the other rooms in the hospital, the windows open allowing natural light to flow into the room making it bright due to the sunny day that was outside, as he looked and saw a bed that was well made and unlike the other beds in the hospital. It was a bed that he recognized well as he stepped into the room and could smell an odor of Sakura blossoms filling his nostrils even through his mask. He kept his guard up even in such a beautiful and peaceful looking room as the feeling of dread hadn't left him. In fact his body was filled with even more caution as he had the strong feeling that he was being watched. He looked around the room and saw that the raven that had led him here was sitting atop the wardrobe above him yet he could tell it wasn't the raven that was giving him that feeling. As he walked up to the wardrobe the raven flapped it's wings and flew down from the wardrobe and out of one of the open windows which caused Higuto to walk over to the window in order to see where it was going next.

What wound up waiting for him instead was a foot as someone came down into the window from above feet first intending to kick Higuto square in his face. His reflexes kicked in as he dropped his jacket onto the floor and his back bent backwards in order to get out of the way of the feet as the assailant launched themselves past Higuto and landed directly behind him. Chakra flowed through Higuto's feet, allowing him to keep his feet stuck to the ground, as he was looking up at who was attacking him and saw that they were shrouded in shadow. The only thing he could see was their eyes, glowing crimson red as they had the familiar pattern of the Sharingan, as the figure lifted their foot and attempted to stomp Higuto in the face. Higuto quickly used his legs in order to move his body to the side, dodging the foot as it smashed into the tiled floor of the room, as he quickly stood up straight while forming a few hand seals and gathering his chakra.

His own Sharingan would activate as he stared into the eyes of his opponent as he tried to cast a Genjutsu on the opponent that would cause them to see images around them that would cause them to start swinging at things that weren't around them. What Higuto didn't account for was his opponent's own Sharingan as his Genjutsu was completely negated as the shadowy figure charged ahead and tried to swing an uppercut straight for his jaw. He barely got out of the way, his Sharingan doing what it could in order to keep his senses sharp, as he could see his opponent's moves and predict them a few fractional seconds into the future. This would allow him the advantage of seeing all the punches and kicks that was directed his way as he would bob and weave around the blows all while keeping his chakra engaged in order to allow for faster movements. With one punch coming his way he dodged left and circled around until he was behind the shadowy figure in order to pick up his wet coat and run towards the window in order to hop out and jump up to the roof of the hospital.

He would skid upon his landing atop the roof, the roof surrounded by drying racks with linen sheets swaying in the breeze that didn't exist for Higuto, as he felt a rush of wind behind him and his eyes shifted around to see the figure behind him ready to attempt another punch. He ducked and hopped forward, using his hand to pivot his body around until he was facing the figure, as he landed in a crouch ready to jump again in case his mysterious opponent was to try to launch another attack. All the while he put his jacket back on, better than having to keep track of it in the middle of a fight, as his crimson eyes kept track of his opponent's every move while also observing his surroundings. He wanted to see every advantage and disadvantage there was presently throughout his surroundings. At current the flowing sheets of linen were certainly going to be both of those as they could easily block either of their movements and cause them to have to swerve around the area more than they'd need to. Better yet if Higuto could launch a fireball jutsu then the area would become a perfect zone for causing damage to his opponent as linen was an excellent source of fuel for fire to latch onto. Unfortunately he still needed to train himself when it came to his fire techniques.

Suddenly the figure moved, bringing it's hands up in order to form some hand seals of it's own, as Higuto prepared his eyes just in case the figure wanted to try a bit of Genjutsu on him. Instead what happened was the figure brought it's hands up and Higuto could detect what it was about to do next as he jumped straight up just in time to avoid the fire that rapidly left out of the figure's mouth and surrounded the ground with flames. All the linen surrounding them caught on fire, spreading it out onto other sheets of linen, as the entire roof of the building was covered in a swirling vortex of white hot fiery fury. Higuto flipped in the air and brought a kunai out from within his pouch, a wire tied around the loop, as he tossed it onto a raised platform atop the entrance to the roof causing the tip of the kunai to sink into the stone. With a tug Higuto pulled himself via the wire onto the raised roof as he was safe from the flames all to watch them burn everything they touched.

He pulled the kunai out of the stone and put it back into it's pouch as his crimson eyes followed the flames for any sign of the shadowy figure in case it came out of the flames or anywhere else around his person. He took in a deep breath and concentrated his chakra in trying to track the figure but, oddly enough, even though he was adept at being able to keep track of such things he wasn't able to keep track of it's chakra at all. More than likely it was because it wasn't an actual real creature but rather a figment of his subconscious deep inside his mind. He blinked and suddenly witnessed the flames start to swirl around a certain point within the inferno as though a tornado was starting to form within. Higuto kept a close eye on the swirl within the flames before they evaporated and he saw the figure inhaling the flames into it's mouth before it exhaled the flames it had just inhaled towards where he was.

Higuto jumped straight up, his hand reaching into his pouch in order to pull out a few shuriken, before twirling his body and tossing the shuriken through the air towards the figure who was still blowing out fire. The figure disappeared in a flash of speed as the shadow moved across the rooftop and hopped up in order to meet Higuto who was hanging in the air as he got out a kunai from his pouch. Twirling it in one of his fingers he would get a good grip of it's handle before long and catch the incoming swipe of a clawed hand. The kunai would clash with the sharp set of claws, sparks flying off the two as they collided, as the force of the strong arm would cause Higuto to plummet back towards the roof. He would flip around and land on his feet, the flames surrounding the roof and burning the sheets to a crisp causing the air to fill with smoke which overtook his sense of smell, as he quickly ran to the side in order to avoid the next incoming attack that was coming at him.

His foot would catch the gate that stood along the edge of the roof top, his kunai twirling in his hand as he tried to secure a better grip on the cloth wrapped hilt, as he used his foot to kick off the gate and soar back upwards into the air and to get away from all the fiery danger that was around him. The wolf would jump up in order to meet him in the air but Higuto would have his kunai ready while also getting out something else from his pouch in order to use against the wolf. As soon as the wolf had made it's ascent up to where Higuto was Higuto would pull out a paper bomb and slash it in half before the wolf. Nothing would happen as the curve of his kunai swing would catch the wolf's claws and allow him to block yet another strike it had taken against him before the strength behind the swipe would propel him back and up higher into the air which was perfect for Higuto as chakra spread along the two halves of the tag from his slash. One of the halves would catch fire and explode right in the face of the wolf as the strength of the explosion would cause the other half of the tag to float up to Higuto.

With a twirl he would catch the half of the tag that was flying beside him before he slapped it and wrapped it around the hilt of his kunai. As the sound of the wolf screaming would reach his ears he would take aim and throw the kunai right into the smoke causing the kunai to sink deep into the wolf's throat before the remains of the tag would also set fire and explode. The wolf was consumed in a twisting fire of doom from the blast, it's body blasting apart from the force, as it's own form would dissipate as though it was smoke itself. The fire that had been swirling on the roof disappeared, the sheets restored as though they had never been burned, as he landed on the rooftop and took in a slow and steady breath as he felt his nerves and calmness collecting back into himself. He reached down and picked up the remains of his kunai that had been blasted apart by the paper bomb before tossing them aside and looking at his surroundings to see that everything was back to normal as though nothing had even happened.

After getting his mind back together and situated in the moment he looked around once more and saw the raven that had guided him this far perched atop the chain link fence that was connected to the edge of the roof top. During the battle Higuto's hood had come down to show his white hair in full, his hair draping his forehead and covering his eyes a little, as he moved his neck around a bit in order to massage it before bringing a hand up and sliding his hair back. He brought his hood back up at the same time before looking to the raven and wondering where it was going to take him next as he hopped up on top of the fence with it causing it to start flying away from the hospital. Getting a better look at his surroundings he could see that there were more roof tops for him to hop along and follow the raven as he focused on a roof that was more than a few meters away and hopped all the way over to it landing in a roll and stopping on his feet so that he could hop up once more and continue this process along roof top to roof top.

As he got further and further away from the hospital the sky above him would shift as his surroundings would be surrounded in darkness causing his eyes to lose sight of where he was going. He rolled his eyes as with one final hop he would land in a cirle of light, the only light that was to be seen around him at all, as he adjusted his eyes and they shifted into their crimson hue once more. His eyes, however, proved useless in trying to see through the darkness as he stepped forward and found that the ring of light was following him as he walked. He knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere if he didn't proceed forward thus he just kept walking along the path, his feet crunching a few leaves as well as a few tufts of grass, as the terrain was reminiscent of a forest rather than the village he was just in. With a bit of pep in his step in order to get through whatever this was as quick as possible his ears would perk up as he could hear the raven cawing out to him as he followed it's sounds as best as he could.

He would walk for a few minutes, his feet being the only sounds that echoed around him alongside the caws of the bird he followed, as he looked around with his Sharingan all the while to see if they could track something, anything, that could help him out with his bearings. This didn't seem to be any kind of Genjutsu that was trapping him or anything. It was almost like he was being guided by his own mind to whatever destination it had in store for him... and as soon as he thought of that the darkness started to spread out and away from him as he stopped walking and looked around to notice that he was in a clearing that was in the middle of a forest as he had thought he was. He took a deep breath as he watched the darkness continue to dissipate around him and the raven revealed itself to him once more flying around a circle above him and cawing down at him. He couldn't tell if it was actually helping him or taunting him as he watched the clearing come more and more into his view.

After a while even the sky revealed itself as it was sunny and showcased rays of sun all around him and he could instantly tell where he was. This was indeed a place of his memories now as he walked along the clearing towards an opening that led back into the forest as the raven followed behind, curving it's ways around the trees, as he placed a hand upon one of the tree trunks and felt the bark press into his palm. Felt just as he remembered as he walked along the road into the forest and made his way in the direction of where it was last time he had visited. He could hear the sounds of the forest as he walked, the sounds that were so familiar with him as he felt feelings of nostalgia as well as dread,  as he could hear the sounds of snapping twigs that led him to another clearing. He took a deep breath in order to set his nerves as he was now looking at his old school... The school of the forest.

It looked just like how he remembered it, the windows looking as though they had just been cleaned and the paint along the outer walls glimmering in the sunlight that shined through the surrounding trees, as he walked over to the doors that acted as the entranceway of the building. He tested them out, trying to pull them in order to open them up, as they opened without any trouble as the raven flew into the now open entranceway beckoning him to enter with it. He stepped over the threshold, his footsteps echoing across the marble floor, as he walked into the entryway of the school which had cubby hole shelves meant for him to put his personal shoes in so he could switch them for the school's shoes. He ignored them, noticing that there weren't any shoes anywhere around to begin with, as he made his way over the step that led into the main halls of the school. He looked all around him, noticing how eerily quiet it was, as he could see the rays of the sun outside making it's way into the building causing the school to lighten up quite a bit as he could see the shadows of the lockers reflecting onto the floor.

He took in a breath and could smell the cleaner that had been used to clean up the floor what must have been very recently. It was a smell that he had forgotten due to how long of a time it had been yet it was a smell that was so familiar to him causing his memories to reawaken once more. He looked ahead and saw the steps that led to the school's second floor and beyond as he made his way up the stairs to his homeroom classroom. His steps were slow and cautious, his mind reeling as to what he was going to find in these halls, as he was preparing himself to do battle with yet another beast of some sort. After all his mind was acting very weird today as he crossed the last step that put him on the second floor and he looked around to see that it was exactly the same as he remembered. Reaching into his pouch he pulled out another kunai and started twirling it playfully, not really getting himself psyched up to fight yet again in some way but not letting his guard down either, as he walked down the hall towards his homeroom classroom.

He made his way to the sliding door that had a see through window built in as he slid it open and looked into his former classroom. It was, again, just as he remembered with all it's desks organized neatly into rows that led up to the chalkboard which was completely blank. That was the only thing that contradicted with what he usually remembered as there was usually something written on the chalkboard whether it was a reminder of homework that was due that day or another day, a calculation that was prepped to talk about during the class, or even the scribblings of a joker meant to get a laugh out of the class. He tried taking a seat at his old desk but being that the desks had been built for children it was quite a squeeze for him to be able to fit in as he managed to finally and could hear the creaks of his chair adjusting to his weight. He looked around the room and then out of the window that he was sitting right next to as he could suddenly hear the sounds of kids playing down below outside.

He looked down and saw that there were indeed kids that he recognized having recess down below, playing various games and enjoying their time outside, as his eyes blinked in disbelief and he watched as all the kids were suddenly gone from his vision. He thought it had to have been merely a trick of his memories or mind, a simple glitch that showed him a bit of his past, but soon he heard a female voice he immediately recognized call out his name as he turned and saw that the class was now fully populated with his classmates of old! Even the teacher was up at the front, an open book in her hand, as the chalkboard behind her was covered in math calculations that was easy for him to solve as they should've been since they were meant for middle school kids. He also realized that he had shrank as his chair was much more comfortable to sit in as he looked around and didn't know how to react as the teacher called for him once again.

"Higuto." she said to him as he nodded and was about to respond by standing up and saying "Yes, Mrs. Brookes?" but as soon as he got up to his feet a light shined into his eyes and he blinked once more to find that he was once again grown and the room was once again empty of nothing but the chairs. This was proving to be a very strange mind trip as he looked over to the sliding doors that led into and out of the classroom and noticed that kids were walking along the corridor through the windows in the doors. He walked over to the door closest and slid it open only to notice that the halls were empty once again, the sounds of the walking kids having disappeared completely, as the floor didn't even look as though it had been stepped on by groups of people just a second ago. He stepped out into the hallway and closed the door as he looked around and noticed an open doorway that led into the bathroom. He walked over to it and looked inside as he didn't see anyone inside yet knew that, from everything that had happened thus far, that could change in an instant. He thus walked into the bathroom and looked at the mirrors he passed by and stopped at one of them in order to examine it more closely.

The reflection in the mirror that stared back at him was the younger version of himself as he blinked a few times all to see that the reflection was still his young self. He thought it only a little freaky before turning away and looking at the rest of the bathroom in order to see if it was exactly as he remembered which... didn't really do anything as he had always felt that all public bathrooms were the same no matter what building they were in. He turned towards the mirror again in order to see his younger self in the reflection once more but he saw that his reflection was gone instead. He blinked again a few times before he suddenly heard the sounds of kids coming in laughing at a joke one of them had told. One of them was Higuto as they passed right by the older version as though he wasn't there with them. This was turning really trippy now as he walked out of the bathroom in order to get out of that situation.

Exiting the bathroom he looked around and saw that the sun outside was setting giving the halls a now orange glow as he was enthralled by the light due to how beautiful it was. Scratching his head he walked forward through the halls and watched as the shadows from the light outside danced before him. He walked downstairs at the next staircase he came across and made his way to the cafeteria of the school as he could smell something cooking inside there. Opening the doors he passed the threshold into the cafeteria as he noticed on his left in the wall the door that led into the nurse's office right where he remembered. The smell coming from the kitchen attracted him as it smelled very much like ramen and he could see a sole bowl of ramen sitting on the counter seemingly waiting for him to grab and enjoy. He figured he would go all the way with this mind trip and try it out to see if the taste was as he remembered but, before his hand could grab it, another hand grabbed out instead and took the ramen. He looked over to see whose hand it was and he saw it belonged to one of his past bullies that he went to school with who was sneering at him.

This was an odd turn of events as the bully made to shove Higuto away but his arm passed straight through him and pushed someone else instead. He turned to see who and it was the younger version of him once again as he stumbled back from the shove so much so that he tripped over his shoes and fell to the ground. The grown up Higuto sighed as these types of memories were not his proudest moments as his younger self hopped back up to his feet and tried to get the bowl of ramen but the bully just kept him back with one arm. This would go on for a few seconds before the bully would push Higuto back only to step forward and punch him square in the face. The act of which would cause the entire cafeteria to suddenly be shrouded in black, the grown Higuto looking around wondering what happened, as he saw a light was on in the nurse's office. Most likely his younger self was now in there in the memory as he stepped to the door and opened it to step inside.

He moved inside and saw that he was lying in a bed in the room while the nurse was tending to other things at her desk. He walked over to the bed where his young self was lying and saw that there was a nasty bruise plain in the light of the room on his cheek. He sighed to himself, ashamed at how weak he used to be and how weak physically he still is, before he looked over to where the nurse had been working and noticed that she was moving someone else into the office alongside a number of other nurses and even school faculty. Higuto didn't have any memory of this as he watched the scene unfold before him with a hint of confusion behind his eyes as the person they were moving in the room had a face that was heavily wrapped in bandages. He shifted his eyes to the Sharingan in order to see if he could make out the person's face but, unfortunately, this was the Sharingan and not the Byakugan as all he could see of the person was the flow of chakra going through the person which was in a very weakened state.

They laid the person on a bed, their build striking Higuto as familiar, as he hypothesized that this person was the bully he had just seen moments ago! What or who could've done this to him? The bully had multiple bruises all along his body as he saw the staff walking out of the room as the nurses stuck around in order to tend to his wounds all as the young Higuto laid in the bed that was right across from his bully's. He brought his hood down in order to scratch his head in his confusion as he looked over to the door that led back into the cafeteria and he saw a long-haired individual peeking around the corner of the door before they ducked back around and out of sight upon Higuto looking over to them. He immediately made his way over to the door in order to look around the corner and was taken aback by the crow he had been following flying right where the individual was watching and waiting for Higuto before it turned in order to fly off back to the main halls of the school.

He noticed that the sunset colors outside had returned to the cafeteria as he put his hands in his pockets and made his way in the same direction as the bird wondering how much longer this trip down memory lane was going to take. It wouldn't be long, after he stepped back into the hallway, that he noticed something: the long-haired individual he had seen earlier was running down the hall towards the staircase as he managed to get a better look at them. This was a girl that he recognized as he used his Sharingan to try and get a closer look at her face before she turned the corner to get out of sight again. He couldn't catch her face but he could see her chakra and he was astonished at what he saw as he could see the aura that surrounded her was immense. Just as immense as his own was even though it was coming from a girl that looked as though she could've been around half his age. He rushed over towards where she was going and turned the corner that led upstairs but saw that she was gone with no remnant of her chakra anywhere in sight.

This was becoming something of a strange memory as he recognized the girl from her build yet didn't remember going to this school with her. Was this memory possibly overlapping with another memory somehow? That shouldn't have been possible as he hopped up the steps of the staircase in order to go to the second floor and he saw the raven waiting for him before it flew up further to the third floor. He followed quickly behind it, hopping three steps at a time as he did so, before stopping on the third floor in order to look around and see if he couldn't find anyone. However what he found he was not expecting as he stepped into a hallway that had shifted into a degraded and seemingly ransacked looking hallway. Various items like desks, papers, puddles of water forming due to drips coming from the ceiling, windows shattered both inside and outside classrooms, tiling in the floors cracked and chipped off, even the paint peeling off as though it was years upon years old. This was not the third floor as he remembered it as he walked forth and looked around in order to try and get a better picture of what was going on.

Everything made the school look as though it had made a journey through hundreds of years of time as he walked back downstairs and saw that the second floor was pristine as it had been. This was either something that only his mind was making him see... or... He racked his brain through the memories of his past as he tried to remember what the third floor looked like for him back then. He soon remembered that he never actually made any attempt to come up here as there was always a barrier over the stairs that led up here. A Funjutsu of some sort that he had no knowledge of bypassing back then and, luckily for him, the barrier didn't prove to be a problem for him in his memory zone... But why though? If this was his memory then the barrier SHOULD have been a problem for him to handle... and more yet if he had never been up here how was he seeing the third floor this way. It should have been just a blank space for him. A dark corridor that he would have no way of seeing through or exploring.

He walked back up to the third floor and looked around as he saw the raven hovering around one of the rooms beckoning Higuto to come closer. He heeded the bird and made his way over to the room it was flying around before it flew into the room and Higuto peeked inside to see how it looked. Upon looking in the room he was taken aback to find that it was actually as pristine as all the lower floors of the building. In fact, stepping into the room, he could've sworn that the room was a bit more organized and polished than the other floors. He walked over to the windows and instead of having to look through dust, markings, and chips of broken glass these windows were much more forgiving to people looking out of them as he could see how low the ground was in comparison to what he was used to seeing the ground from when on the second floor. Taking in a deep breath and trying to make sense of whatever he was experiencing he looked around the room he was in and noticed that it there weren't any chairs nor chalkboards nor anything really school related.

What he did see, however, on the ground next to the wall closest to the third-floor corridor outside was a single white flower that sparkled in the sunset light that sprinkled into the room from outside. He walked over to it and, without picking it up, examined it's petals and stem in order to see what type of flower it was as his mind immediately went through superstitions and stories of the school trying to remember what had been said about the third floor. He couldn't recall anything special or specific being said about the third floor besides that it was the oldest part of the building as the other floors had gone through constant renovation. Perhaps something had happened once sometime in the past that had made this floor like it was. Something bad must have happened, Higuto would hypothesize, as the flower was an indication that someone might have lost their lives up here. Or it could have also been an offering to some form of higher power maybe to protect this portion of the school. He didn't know what to make of it exactly as he got up and walked over to one of the corners of the room in order to take a seat.

Just as he sat down, however, his eyes caught a glimpse of a pair of feet standing right in front of him as his eyes immediately shifted into Sharingan and he looked up to find... nothing. Whoever it was that had been standing there before him had vanished without a trace as he got back up onto his feet looking around the room with his eyes. He couldn't find any indication that someone besides him had just been in the room with him and he couldn't detect any remaining traces of chakra that would've indicated they were using Genjutsu or had used any form of jutsu to make themselves vanish before his eyes. He looked over at the flower and saw that it had not moved at all yet, now that he was looking at it with his Sharingan, he could see small traces of chakra coming off of it as though someone had recently picked it up or at the very least touched it. He took in a deep breath and calmed himself down once more before he sat back down and thought of what or where he should go next.

He looked around for the raven yet didn't see nor hear it at all anywhere. This was turning more and more into something out of a amusement park haunted house rather than a memory which was causing him to wonder if any of this was actually reality that he was looking at or if this was actually something out of his memory... Or maybe perhaps it was something that was coming out of someone else's memory. He had no recollection of ever merging his memories with someone else in this school. Maybe his memories had been erased at some point but either way this was turning more and more trippy the longer he resided within these memories. He got up and made his way over to the flower in order to examine it a bit more but as soon as he knelt down in order to take a closer look he heard the caw of the raven above him and he looked to see the same girl he had seen downstairs standing out in the corridor looking into the room right at him.

He stood up in order to look at the girl, his Sharingan tracking how much chakra was coming off of her which was an immense amount, as he could see the girl's facial features more closely which reignited memories as he recognized her right away. Her hair was long and black as she wore a dress that was white and frilly almost ghostlike in the way that it seemed to flow in a breeze that didn't exist. She suddenly turned and ran down the corridor away from the area as he got up and followed, rounding the corner around the door that led out of the room, as he saw that she had disappeared from view once again. This was getting irksome yet he couldn't help but feel that he wasn't supposed to be here in this particular memory. It was as though this memory was meant to be locked away and forgotten yet why was he led here? He looked back into the room and looked at the flower still sitting on the ground as he went over to look at it once more before picking it up. This would prove to be a vital decision to make as suddenly memories flooded into his mind that he had long since forgotten.

His eyes fluttered a bit as the memories flooded in and took him back to where he dropped the flower and stood up to get away from it. He took a step back and shook his head a few times, his mind trying to reset and get situated with his current surroundings once again, as he blinked his eyes a few times before reaching back up and pulling his hood back over his head. He didn't want to deal with his new memories right now as he made his way to the door in order to leave. He walked through the old hallway and made his way back down the stairs but was soon stopped by the sound of the raven cawing at him from higher up. It was calling him not only back to the third floor but higher to the roof of the building. He took a deep breath and knew that this memory wasn't going to end unless he saw it through to it's end thus he went back up to the third floor and went up further to the door that led out to the rooftop.

As he stepped out onto the roof he looked around to find the raven or the girl or something that would advance the memory forward in some way. He had never been up here before and yet there was a set of memories rummaging their way through his mind that made this roof familiar to him. He walked over to the chain link fence that surrounded the edge of the roof top and he looked down to the ground and could see a series of children enjoying recess once again down on the ground. He looked away in order to observe the rest of the roof as he could see that the roof was strangely clean in comparison to the third floor. Not too clean yet not too old or dirty looking. He walked over to the bench that was sitting beside the door that led off the roof back into the building's third floor. He took a seat upon the bench, the sound of his weight upon the old wood causing it to creak a bit, as he could hear the sounds of the kids down below all as he looked up to the sky to see that light was slowly but surely losing a battle to the darkness of night creeping in.

The sky slowly transitioned to night as the sounds of the kids below slowly died out as he could see the stars steadily coming into view causing him to observe them, his eyes giving up their crimson hue, as he looked away in order to see the roof he was on now... Only he wasn't on the roof of the school any longer. He was on a completely different roof but it was a familiar one all the same as the flowing linen sheets of hospital beds were once again rustling before him. He was back on the roof of the hospital he had just visited once again as he got up from his bench and looked around to see if anything was different about it. There didn't seem to be any changes to his surroundings strangely but the sheets did look a bit more... dirty than he remembered. He took a step towards the door that led back into the building and he could hear the sounds of cawing coming from deep within which caused him to open the door in order to get a more detailed sound of the cawing and he could hear that it was indeed coming from a raven.

Taking that as his cue to enter he walked down the steps that led to the hospital corridors but he could see right off the bat that this was not the hospital he had just been in nearly an hour beforehand. He could see that the corridors were far more scorched and dilapidated than before as he made his way inside and looked into hospital rooms to see that they, too, had seen far better days. He couldn't wrap his head around what was going on. He had never seen the hospital in this way before yet again it was bringing back memories that told him he in fact had been here before. This definitely had to be the memories of another person that he was experiencing and he had a pretty good idea who it was. He walked towards the cawing of the raven that echoed from an unknown part of the hospital as he made his way to the front lobby and the doors that led into the hospital slid open to allow the raven to enter and land upon the reception desk.

He turned to look at the raven, it's Sharingan eye looking into his own which shifted back into their own crimson ones, as he watched the raven blink and move it's head a few times before flapping it's wings and hopping back behind the counter out of sight. Higuto looked over the counter to try and find it but couldn't as he was getting tired of this game of cat and mouse and hopped over the desk in order to get a better look underneath it. His advances were interrupted, however, as he could see a shadow moving through a crack under the desk that looked as though there were two feet beyond the crack. He closed his eyes in order to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to see as he slowly stood up and looked over the desk and saw the girl he'd been seeing standing there once again. Her own eyes stared back at him, the eyes of a Sharingan, as her vision suddenly completely overtook his as he wound up falling down through the floor he was standing on and continued to fall straight into the pitch-black darkness of his consciousness.

He fell through the darkness for what seemed like forever until he was suddenly sitting back at the trunk of the tree that he had been sitting upon in order to commence with the meditation to begin with. He took a breath in order to collect himself as he got up from his seat and looked around in order to make certain that he was really at the training field he had started this all with and not still within his memories. His mind had played enough tricks on him today, after all, and thus he needed to collect himself before he could take his vision at it's word. The smell of the training field made it's way through the filter of his mask, a very familiar smell that put his mind at ease a bit more, as he reached down in order to touch the ground before pulling a blade of grass from it in order to take a closer look. It gave off a hue of green that was a lot brighter than his memory more than likely could catch and the definition of the blade was also something to take into consideration as he let it fall. He stood up and nodded to himself in relief as he believed he was in reality once more as he looked towards the entrance of the training field.

He then looked over to the training logs on the field and walked over to one of them in order to feel the bark that was connected to it as he appraised the feel of the bark in order to solidify his thought that he was in the real world again. He sighed and looked up at the sunlit sky to see the little clouds passing by overhead as he stretched out his joints due to his long time sitting and decided that that was probably enough for the day and he made his way over to the entrance of the field. Along the way, however, he heard the sound of someone speaking towards him from behind, a very soft and feminine voice, as he turned in confusion and saw that there was no one there. It didn't sound like a voice he had heard in the dream world he was just in but it did feel familiar somehow nevertheless. He stood there for a second to see if he would hear the voice again before he turned back towards the entrance and made his way through the threshold.

He walked along the streets of the village towards his home, the sounds of the roads and the people that travelled them being drowned away as he was deep in his thoughts over the events of his meditation, as he got out his key and unlocked the door of his apartment before walking inside and closing the door to lock it. He then took off his jacket and tossed it onto a nearby chair as he sat down in it beside his desk and got out his notebook. He started writing the events of what went down in his dream state, his pen moving furiously as he had a lot to write down, as he included the events with the wolf at the hospital, the school and his discovery of what happened with the bully after he had been knocked out by him, and the strange girl he kept running into as though she was experiencing the dream world same as he was.

He also included in the notebook the memories that had wormed their way into Higuto's mind upon touching the flower he had picked up as his mind was still thinking about everything that he had seen. With those notes jotted down he set the notebook down along with his pen and got up from the desk in order to walk over to his window and look out to the village. Everything was operating at a normal basis within the village, the shops and restaurants treating their customers as well as the people hanging out with their significant others and children, which was a stark contrast from the world he had visited during his meditation. He scratched the back of his head as all this unorthodox memory tripping was making his brain itch and he turned away in order to go to the bathroom and wash off his uncertainty with a hot shower. It was during this shower that his mind would continue to think about the girl as the memories he had taken into his mind from the flower came from that same girl... The girl simply named Ayaka.

{Exit}

WC: 10,001

Claiming 100 stats (50 to Vigor, 25 to Chakra, and 25 to Speed), Mangekyo Sharingan level (8,000 WC), False Surroundings (C Rank; 1,000 WC), and Great Fireball (C Rank; 1,000 WC)

Approved