From Streets to Dreaming of Sheets [Events: D&N]

Asami looked up as the third member of their party finally arrived, carrying a stack of documents. He seemed to have heard part of their conversation, due to the comments about the rift over the Land of Hotsprings. Asami let him speak while she thumbed through the documents she'd been handed, her eyes scanning over the text. So the investigation had been formally launched, it seemed. It was only afterwards that Asami finally caught the boy's name. "Yukio-san," she repeated, giving him a similar nod of her head that she'd used to greet the other girl, who was thusly introduced as Kurai. "Kurai-san," she acknowledged with a glance in the outsider's direction, closing the documents in front of her. When Yukio mentioned finding her in the database, Asami gave him a bit of a flat expression. It did seem a bit stalker like, but she decided not to say anything about it at this point.

She wasn't incredibly surprised to hear that Kurai wasn't from the village - after all, she wasn't sporting a Leaf headband, and frankly she didn't look like many people that would be found around here. "I see," she said simply, in reply to Kurai explaining her business. "Well, if the Deputy Kage has vouched for you, then you have our welcome as well. What's curious is that the administration has chosen you to join us Konoha-nin in our duties, as it wouldn't seem that you fall under their jurisdiction. But I suppose they will use any help they can get... this problem doesn't seem to have borders. We appreciate your support in the matter."

As the waitress brought them all fresh cups of tea, Asami smiled politely at the woman, finally acquiescing and picking up the hot beverage. The caffeine might indeed help, even if the warmth tempted her body to relax. While she sipped, she listened to Kurai's mutterings, wondering very much the same things herself. "I'm not sure how 'real' the things are, myself... They are clearly made of chakra, you've seen how the bodies just seem to evaporate when they're killed, haven't you? And from what I could tell, they didn't have a proper chakra network, either... it did appear that they were simply made of chakra, much like a construct. As for their origins... I'm scarcely able to guess that, either. I've never heard of anything that could create this sort of large scale problem... I suppose the only thing we can do is to continue our investigations into the matter."
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WC: 419 | TWC: 2,326 | TMWC: 7,592/15,500

Yukio returned the greetings that both Kurai and Asami gave and listened intently as they spoke about the current events around them. He fought to keep focused, his own weariness causing his eyes to wander around the café as they spoke. Their waitress appeared sleep deprived, and Kurai too seemed especially tired, her thoughts slightly jumbled as she attempted to make heads or tails of the situation. Asami followed her train of thought, discussing how the nightmares are obviously chakra constructs that dissipated once their formed bodies took enough damage. That thought made Yukio’s ears perk up.

”Chakra constructs? If that’s the case, my Wood Release may come in particularly handy. All wood techniques of the Senju clan have chakra draining properties – if I can get these things entangled with them, it could make fighting them fairly straightforward, if not simple.” Yukio stifled a yawn as the waitress brought them their order. ”As for their origins, I don’t know any more than you to do, they seem to originate from dreams and nightmares, but why is this happening? It feels, at least to me, that some greater entity must be behind this. Some larger, more malicious chakra entity that seeks to enter this world for some purpose. Has anyone been able to observe what these beings obtain when they attack us? Are they consuming us for nutrients?” Yukio wished he had more knowledge on what was taking place, but the truth of the matter was the entire shinobi world was reeling and off balance right now. Sleep deprivation was destroying the cohesion usually found within the ranks of their forces. Trade had all but ceased and the civilian sector was slowly grinding to a halt as well. If they didn’t get to the bottom of this, people were going to start passing out in the middle of the street in broad daylight as their bodies succumbed to their need for sleep. Not to mention the way effectiveness of each shinobi had been affected. Yukio let out a slow sigh and drained the rest of his teacup. ”I suppose it doesn’t ultimately matter who or what or why, we just need to stop these things so that our citizens and shinobi can sleep peacefully once again.” Yukio looked at his two squad mates, happy that he had competent shinobi to watch his back. In his sleepless state, he failed to notice as things around began to go horribly wrong.

---

WC: 408 | TWC: 2,670 | TMWC: 8,000/15,500

With their discussion finding a natural conclusion of thought and idea, there was just the matter of applying some of the thoughts the group could figure out and determine. With more and more issues arising it really boiled down to how applicable the knowledge they were coming together to find would be. Enjoying her tea as the others offered similar confusion, it was nice to be around people her own age. Though their experiences were worlds apart, perhaps this was just another distraction from what she would have been wanting to be doing over traveling. Though as she already stated traveling was probably ill-advisable at this time. With the cafe they were at being located near some of the more residential districts, it would be easy to navigate to other parts of the village, though Kurai was not fully sure of all the pathways around as she had only been there for a short period of time.

That was the thought process before a thud and clatter could be heard as the waitress that had been serving them collapsed to the floor unconscious. She stirred as she fell but once fully on the ground, she remained inattentive. Kurai's own senses were sluggish as other patrons also turned to see and check on her. Kurai's attention shifted away as people went to help her. Kurai's bags under her eyes were contrasted by the sharp attentiveness she began to focus outwardly away from the cafe, "Something." She said, her volume ever unchanging, as she grabbed her bow and leaped to the roof of the cafe for a better vantage point while she knocked an arrow, ready to launch it as a rift formed right above the cafe itself, expanding rapidly as patrons alike scurried and began to panic. "Inside! Now!" The Phantom exclaimed at a normal talking volume, likely not heard by many. Taking mental note of her own capacity In the moment she cursed as she looked at creatures beginning to climb out of the spatial rift before them, some people slow to move.

Her face grimaced as the threads inside her stirred as she was not one to take her own survival out of the equation but right now there was extreme circumstance as the people of the cafe were innocent. They were more innocent than her as her eyes teared up in this moment of stress, releasing her arrow at the body of something coming out before her hand reached out towards someone else who fell unconscious shortly after the waitress. It happened to be another wait staff as from her sleeves that covered her arms, black threads reached out and wrapped around the individual before pulling them up onto the rooftop with her. The threads showed fine control as they were able to wrap around the individual and pick them up. She strained as she made the choice the arrow eventually falling back down to the ground as once more it was time for the group to fight.

With a person behind them unconscious, Kurai's objective transitioned from pure offensive support to a defensive bastion as her abilities became more and more apparent and she excelled in some split-second decisions as her skills as a hunter seemed to mirror her capacity as a shinobi as well. Once it became apparent that there was more she needed to be worried about, Kurai placed her bow down before forming the seals for the shadow clone technique once more. Two more Kurai arrived adjacent to her as one grabbed the wait staff member and descended to put them inside while the other formed more hand seals pulling out elemental-orientated arrows and beginning to launch them outward toward the creatures that had begun to descend on the cafe. The rift itself rose before growing in size as something larger was coming outward to join in the fray that had begun. The creatures being flying shelled mammals made it difficult at first but the precision of the hunter's clone won out against most of the shells. If the shell proved too hard or too tough to puncture with their arrows, they would simply aim for the cracks and openings.

The original Kurai stood staring at the rift with a level of displeasure that could be seen on her face. She pulled off her cloak pulling up the sleeves of her hunter's garb before exposing stitching across her arms. Black threads began to come out of the conjoined limbs as she used her threads to reach outward 10 meters away aiming to puncture and stop any creatures approaching the cafe. From there a few more hand seals would form as a dome of earth began to cover the cafe's front blocking most creatures approaching the building as the earth below encased the front half of the building. Her other clone inside disappeared giving her some more energy back into being able to help fight. "Whatever is coming I'll help support." She called out to Asami and Yukio as they were left to contend with whatever else came out of the rift alongside whatever the big creature that was soon to drop out of it on a more frontline situation as Kurai supported from the rear. The combat thankfully was able to be handled by the three of them as more issues began to appear across the sky of Konoha.

"Others seem to be passing out. We ought to see what we can do to help spread awareness to others once we wrap up here!" Kurai exclaimed as she eventually picked her bow back up and began to shoot out her arrows once more. Her threads damaged retreated back into her body as she unleashed a flurry of shots at the large humanoid creature with the arms of an octopus and the head of a ram. Her clone continued on the smaller creatures as their bow and arrow combination continued to focus on any smaller creature trying to find a way into the cafe while the Earth Shelter was covering the front. It was just a matter of time before the large creature fell to the other two with their skills of Konoha shinobi trained to handle such encounters. The only hope would be for them not to also pass out. Kurai was sad at the fact that she likely would not be able to finish her tea that she was quite enjoying with her new company. She was not the best at making friends and thus only really considered the two as really good acquaintances at this time.

With the group wrapped up, Kurai released the earth shelter around the cafe so that others could inspect and make sure no one got harmed. Kurai's clone did its job of getting everyone inside well enough but afterwards, it was a question of their condition. Jumping down from the rooftop, Kurai pulled her cloak with her as she adjusted her sleeves once more covering the stitching and putting the cloak back on, pulling the hood up. She stood out like a thumb on a leg but she was more of just fearful of the reactions. She felt that this moment in time was vital to be able to do all that she did with Asami and Yukio handling things on their own front as well as they could. "I think it would be best for us to relay what we're seeing to others so it can be addressed... I also think I should probably stick to quieter and less populated places... I don't want to cause more issues." She softly spoke from the depth of the darkness her hood provided. There was thankfully a good amount of people taken care of in the moment but she was unsure of how many civilians witnessed her threads in those moments. She could pass it off somewhat but when she went into full defensive mode it would be hard to challenge accusations.

Without a full outcome to determine, Kurai knew they should not linger long at the cafe with other rifts forming. At this time it appeared that just falling asleep was causing problems and that the group needed to find something out to point them in the right direction of what was needed of the group. Surely some idea on how to take the fight to the Land of Nightmares would arise for them to attempt to do so. With the concept of rifts, chakra bodies, and other almost summoning-style techniques that would be used it almost was as if it was just a natural occurrence and not some directed action. That was when Kurai thought of something not inherently clever but rather something simple. "What if we dreamt to fight whatever is on the other side?" She murmured to herself, a hand reaching to rest on her chin as she spoke the words. There was much to consider but that was limited to the need to reach out and relay the information so far that they had discovered. Rest was pivotal to the proceedings that were to come and likely they would need to be well-rested to be able to fight back once an answer was in front of them.

Once the cafe's situation was settled the group likely began to head to an administration point within the village to help relay their findings or even the administration building itself. When approaching such a building, Kurai would be in the back of the group depending on how they walked. She was scared to be quite visible for the group's understanding and ability to proceed. She was quieter than before and did not seem keen on opening up at that moment. The squad's words after the fight itself were probably lingering in her head if any were directed at the actions she took. She refrained from looking up as her eyes were more fixated at about 15 paces in front of her as she scuffled along with Asami and Yukio. There were more concerns to be worried about than one's own bloodline and heritage but to Kurai it truly was the most vital thing she had of her past life as a child before the events of about 5 years ago roared its ugly head and had her separated from her family.

A sigh escaped the huntress' lips as she uncurled the hood off her head turning her gaze towards the sky in the massive rift that was growing, "Who fell asleep to that degree? Why is that different?" She asked aloud stopping and turning to look at the massive anomaly in the sky. Surely there had to be an answer to these two questions and perhaps an idea or two could bring that to a suitable answer for the group to be able to act on. Perhaps someone from the administration side of Konoha already had an answer for the group to begin working on or towards. Kurai's focus was better than before the fight as the caffeine mixed with the adrenaline helped her awake and the clones did not take too much out of her own reserves to continue. That was when she realized she probably should say words before they became too lost to remember in her own head. Turning to Asami and Yukio, Kurai bowed lightly, "Thank you." She plainly said to the duo as she remained there for a moment before standing up.

She held onto her arm, hesitant to continue but she knew they would have words of their own to relay and speak up on. With that in mind, she simply waited to hear what words they had to say as it was just a matter of them loosely meeting to start the whole mess that brought them together in this small part of history. Small relative to whatever was actually going on. They were young and likely not the ones to resolve the problem after all. That did not stop them however from trying their best to be help out.

WC: 2,000, TWC: 5,000 | TMWC: 10,000 / 15,500

Asami sipped her tea, listening attentively to the others in the conversation, though it seemed in conclusion that they were no closer to solving this mystery. Her thin brows furrowed slightly. It was frustrating to be sure, having limited power and resources, all the while have so little information about the anomaly. She didn't have much time to think about this, however, before new developments jerked her attention away.

First, it was the waitress who had been serving them. Asami's eyes widened with concern as she simply dropped to the ground, completely unconscious. 'Surely it's the lack of sleep,' she assumed, but still it was alarming to witness. She stood up at once, going to the fallen woman and touching her cheek gently, patting it smartly and resting a couple of fingers above the pulse point in her neck. Her heart was still beating at least, her breathing shallow, but she was unresponsive to any attempt to wake her. Asami's attention was pulled away quickly when she heard a panicked scream from one of the patrons, their finger pointing skywards. Asami's eyes eyes followed, her mouth dropping open when she saw the massive rift that began to materialize right on top of them. She had seen such rifts before, but she had never witnessed their creation.

As she looked up, she saw Kurai already on the roof, her arrow ready to pierce whatever came through the rift. It was difficult to hear her over the panicking patrons, but Asami understood at once, calling out clearly and loudly to anyone who would listen. "Everyone get inside, quickly!" she echoed, directing people to the doors and ushering them in with haste. While most listened to the order, a few more of the wait staff were dropping unconscious just as the first had. Just as Asami moved to try and collect them, she saw a set of strange threads reaching down from above and wrapping around the unconscious body, lifting it up onto the roof. Asami watched with astonishment as she realized that the threads had come out of Kurai's arms. As strange a thing as it was to see, it was certainly not the most pressing matter, and Asami hurried to continue dragging the other fallen wait staff inside. Kurai, it seemed, was right behind her, as she crossed paths with her bringing in the one from the roof - but as stepped back outside and looked up, she realized that it had been a clone that was doing her bidding, as the true Kurai still stood high upon the rooftop, her arms exposed and black threads flying in every direction to hold the flow of creatures at bay.

Asami stood back as the dome of earth was erected over the cafe's entrance, nodding her understanding when Kurai offered her support. "Roger!" she called back, immediately grabbing up her katana, the veins around her eyes bulging as her Byakugan was activated. With 360 degree vision, she was able to tackle the swarm of smaller creatures that remained, spinning and slashing through their bodies with practiced grace, giving a final forward thrust of her blade to pierce the 'heart' of one final beast before she looked up to see the massive creature that had just spawned out of the widening rift. It was an abomination, as that is the only word that could accurately describe it, with octopus-like tentacles and a ram's head on a humanoid body. Without a moment's hesitation, Asami dashed forward, releasing a shout as she sliced through a few of the coiling tentacles, the severed ends of which dropped to the ground and evaporated into mist.

Asami continued to fight in this way, deftly dodging any further attacks before plunging her blade into the abomination's body, together with the other two finally bringing it down. She watched its body vanish just as the others had, her blade not even stained with blood. Going back to the table where they had all been seated before, she picked up her discarded scabbard and sheathed her sword, slinging it over her back once more as the trio regrouped. "That seems to be all, this time," she said, peering inside the cafe with her enhanced vision to check on those who were hiding there, before finally letting the Byakugan recede, her eyes relaxing wearily. "We should go and report this."

As they walked, Asami heard Kurai mention something about dreaming the fight, a notion that made her brows furrows softly in thought. "I wonder," she agreed, as they approached the administration building. "If our dreams are entering our reality, perhaps we may have some influence over the land of dreams as well... it's an interesting thought." Pausing at the steps to the building, she stopped when she saw Kurai bowing in thanks to the two Leaf Genin. She waited for the girl to raise her head, before smiling lightly. "I'm not sure why you're thanking us - really we should be thanking you. You have no ties to this village, and yet you have proven yourself an ally in these times of hardship. You have our gratitude." Asami returned her gesture with a light bow of her head. She had noticed that Kurai seemed rather self conscious about her unique ability. As soon as the fight was finished, she'd covered her arms and head, as though she was expecting to be targeted or feared. But the Hyuuga decided that it wasn't necessary to point that out, just now. She hoped that her thanks and appreciation would be sufficient to let Kurai know that she was welcome among them.
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WC: 933 | TWC: 3,259 | TMWC: 10,933/15,500

Yukio’s eyes widened in alarm as the waitress collapsed to the ground. Asami was quick to move, checking on her and trying to rouse her with no success. She was evidently still alive, just unconscious. The Senju teenager immediately narrowed his eyes and looked around. If she had fallen unconscious due to sleep deprivation, then perhaps an attack was coming soon. As he peered around the area, he heard another person collapse and then a short scream of panic from one of the café patrons. The young woman was pointing into the air and Yukio followed her extended hand to see a rift forming above them, creatures pouring out in droves already. Kurai was on the roof in a flash, arrows firing at anything that exited the rift and Yukio was somewhat stunned as he saw black threads begin to emerge from her body and quickly pierce through any of the smaller nightmares that attacked.

”Whatever is coming I’ll help support.” Kurai called out, her focus intense on providing large scale suppression of the smaller entities and was working wonders. A few slipped out here and there, which Asami and Yukio both leapt to deal with. Asami used her sword and Taijutsu to great success, and Yukio relished in the opportunity to test out some of his wood release against these chakra constructs.

”Mokuton: Smothering Binding Technique!” Yukio spoke the name of his jutsu as his right arm erupted into a series of wooden tendrils, snaking out and constricting around the beasts. The chakra draining nature of wood techniques meant that those creatures that were restrained quickly faded away, as the very essence of their beings was stripped and funneled back into Yukio. Kurai formed an earthen dome to shield the patrons of the café and Asami began using her Byakugan to its full extent, effortlessly locking down an entire section of the battlefield in a 360 degree field around herself. ’That is so cool! Yukio tried not to fanboy too hard watching an amazing example of one of Konoha’s founding clans at work. Realizing that he, too, was part of that same legacy, he quickly went back to work, using his wooden tendrils to grasp and constrict the small creatures that continued to issue forth from the portal.

The battle continued this way for several minutes, as each of the trio used their respective techniques and specialties to contain and control the battlefield. Yukio himself was actually quite enjoying it, but mostly because his wood technique was self-sustaining at this point, using the chakra from the nightmares to fuel his technique in perpetuity. However, something much larger and much more disturbing came clambering through the portal. A humanoid beast, much larger than any they had fought before, with the head of a ram and arms made of tentacles, it bellowed a challenge before leaping to the ground and battering on the earthen dome. It held, barely, cracks forming at the edges of the earth technique. ”We can’t let it get to the civilians! I’ll try and contain it, you to hit it with everything you can!” Yukio turned his mokuton skills toward this new threat, wooden tendrils reaching out and encircling the abomination. Unfortunately, this creature proved it was more than capable of tearing free of his rudimentary wood technique, at least at the mastery he could currently employ. ”I’m gonna try something bigger, brace yourselves!” Maintaining his Smothering Binding technique, which was really only serving to drain the thing of chakra slowly, Yukio used his free hand to form the seals Dragon, Ox, Boar, Ram, and Snake. Again, he shouted the name of this technique, although reflection after the battle would cause Yukio to reconsider why he did that. ”Mokuton: Wood Dragon Technique!” The head of a magnificent dragon, 5 meters in width, burst forth from the wooden wall of the café, moving at a breakneck speed toward the tentacled abomination. A mighty roar was released from its maw as it closed with the creature and bit it on the left shoulder, effectively immobilizing the beast. Its twenty meter long body coiled around its back and over the other arm, restricting it from moving as well. With the Dragon latched on, the creature could no longer move freely and was open to attack. ”Now! Hit it with everything you’ve got! Yukio shouted to his companions – and hit it with everything they did. Kurai and her clone peppered the creature with arrows, such that it resembled a pincushion more than anything else. Asami dove into melee range, slashing with her sword in precise and vicious strikes. She was the one to deal the death blow, nearly severing the creatures head from its body and finishing with a fierce thrust into its abdomen. The creature slowly faded from existence, and Yukio released control over his Wood Dragon, which too faded and crumbled into dust. The trio regrouped and checked on the civilians within. As his companions did that, Yukio used his wood release to repair damage done to the café and the surrounding buildings. The interior of the café was a destroyed mess; tables and chairs were overturned and broken from the scrambling civilians attempting to flee the battle. Tea and various food items littered the floor and outer seating area. Where he could, Yukio did his best to repair or replace the broken furniture, since it didn’t really cost him anything to use his wood nature in this manner. Finally at a sense that he could stop and speak with his comrades, Yukio turned as the trio reconvened.

"I think it would be best for us to relay what we're seeing to others so it can be addressed... I also think I should probably stick to quieter and less populated places... I don't want to cause more issues." Kurai had the gall to look somewhat sheepish, as if she were a burden or inconvenience to them!

”Cause more issues? What are you on about? You were instrumental in saving the lives of Konohagakure civilians. Hell, if you wanted, they’d probably make you a ninja of the village if you asked! You were unbelievable out there!” Yukio spoke with passion, thrilled to see someone with no ties to the village operating with such compassion. ”And, if you don’t mind me saying, those threads of yours were, frankly, bad ass. But yes, I agree we should head to the Hokage Building, there may be more work for us to do after we give them this intel.” The trio traveled down the road toward the administrative heart of the village. Everywhere they looked, signs of battle were visible. Civilians were busy cleaning, moving debris, or repairing structures. Occasionally a spot of blood was visible, but thankfully Yukio did not spot any bodies. Walking along, Asami and Kurai spoke about dreaming, perhaps even giving them a way to have some influence over the land of dreams itself?

”I don’t know about influencing it, but I’d love to be able to cross into that place and fight back. Although, from the way things are looking, it’s more than likely the land of nightmares now.” The trio entered the Hokage building and gave their report, which earned them not much more than a weary thank you and an order to stand by as the village leaders prepared for whatever response they would have. Yukio turned toward the two girls as Kurai issued a thank you, to both he and Asami. The Hyuuga girl took the words right out of Yukio’s mouth, explaining that no thanks were needed and that they should be thanking her. Yukio nodded in agreement, a warm smile on his face.

As the group continued to chat amicably, Yukio looked out over the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He could see a flurry of activity, shinobi moving rapidly to secure the safety of the village, civilians recovering from the aftermath of the sudden attack. His face creased in concern – how much more of this could they take? When even their sleep conspired to destroy them, what hope could they have? Looking back at the two women with him, Yukio steeled his heart.

They would succeed, no matter the cost.

---

WC: 1,367 | TWC: 4,037 | TMWC: 12,300

With the group coming together and on their walk to the administration building, Kurai's responses to the two baffled them to her understanding. Both provided a resounding retort to her own reservations about herself. There was a degree of doubt that they understood what she was or that she was born under cursed circumstances. She let her breath escape as she nodded not pushing to fight back the compliments. She knew her own status in the village would be turned around against her if she had not been helping more than likely. Even the Deputy of the village has only so much power against popular opinion. The degree of concern she had was alleviated to a degree though. Not many would fight for her and she appreciated the validation that her efforts were appreciated, thus a small smile would form on her lips regardless of how she felt. Konohagakure was a road bump in her plans that was taking a while to get over but she was happy nonetheless on the capacity she had been able to sort through and be able to help out for these past few incidents. Time was becoming difficult for her to track though they were reaching the end of what was going to be needed of her.

Thinking back to the words said by Asami, 'You have no ties to this village, and yet you have proven yourself an ally in these times of hardship. You have our gratitude.' and then the words said by Yukio, 'Those threads of yours were, frankly, bad ass.' She had never heard such words directed to herself. Her life up to this point was riddled with disaster, disappointment, and disdain. She reached out to the two knowing full well not to show too much of herself to others but she felt they deserved to know a bit more and she herself could not form words to describe the pain she had dealt with in the past. She patted both on the back, a glimpse of a young Kurai being scolded, her arms stitched around already but freshly done. Her Ninshū allowed the two to peek into her own past briefly. Seldom to press the conversation further, there was much to discuss beyond what she showed.

Eventually, a staff member came out and passed along a document detailing a supposed game plan tied to a location for the trio to report to. The instructions were clear as they were assigned to aid a group of shinobi researchers who were attempting exactly what they were talking about, taking the fight to the Land of Dreams. There was a bit of hesitation for Kurai as she read over the note. It was a dangerous task for the trio to undertake considering the capacity some of the creatures forming were beginning to take. She knew there were more tricks up her sleeves as she continued to recollect the same five arrows and thankfully the shadow clones she formed were able to help appease some of the quantity issues she had. Her lips opened but no voice came out as she pursed her lips closed retracking the thought from becoming words. There was one more thing for her to accomplish and do and for her, it was to see it as the natural conclusion of the affairs present. It was to see these leaf shinobi make it to be able to fight back. Once Konoha makes it there, surely the issues would resolve quickly and become not an issue for her to return to travel.

Once they gathered what was needed of them, it was time to depart to the designated location. Kurai remained relatively quiet on this part of their journey as the village itself was not her normal walk so she followed Asami and Yukio. Konoha seemed to shift once they were on their way, other shinobi either hurriedly moving toward the administration building or away with missives, directions, or other subject matter to handle. Kurai never put her hood back up but remained vigilant to her surroundings to better equip herself should another rift open or the need to flee arise. She was skittish from the beginning so when she felt her hand twitch, she adjusted to hide the nervousness she was presenting. She shook her head multiple times as she stood above the other two even though they themselves were tall for their age as well. Her fear as an individual who was hunted was apparent even in moments when she was not the prey that was being sought after.

Once at the designated location, it was just a matter of time for them to prepare for what was to come. They were to be assigned or volunteer for different roles as the ideas they presented seemed to be matched by others as the idea of taking the fight to the Land of Dreams to fight back the nightmares that were coming through developed into what was to be an attempt of doing such. When the roles of defending, attempting, aiding researchers, or proposing an alternative came up Kurai opted to stand aside to be on the defense as it was best to let the actual shinobi stand and rise to fame through their actions here not for her to get more of herself exposed. She knew that she was making an effort to help but it truly did come from somewhat selfish reasons. She wanted to find her sister sooner rather than later and perhaps she could, if this works, find her on the other side of the veil and learn truly if she made it out of the incident all those years ago. If anything this helped support her goals as much as it was in her interest to help too. It was obvious by the massive rift in the sky well beyond the reach of shinobi that this was not a singular issue to be handling.

In her mind, there was no way that other villages were not trying such affairs either. Pushing beyond one's limits was always something people aimed to do and she felt this was one such situation. 'Perhaps this will only work right now... if the divide between dreams and reality is being blurred this might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to try such actions out as well. I'm sure this village's leadership is going to use this to perpetuate itself further compared to the other villages. Everyone is selfish in their selfless actions.' Kurai thought to herself as she slowly began to fade into the background of the current ongoings. Unsure what roles Asami or Yukio would select it was just a matter of time before they began to attempt to reach the Land of Dreams in reality, actual life. Her bow was strung and ready to go and she as previously before summoned more clones of herself to be on guard and ready. Knocked and prepared, Kurai relayed to the team that she was ready to act should the need be present. The complex they were in was some storehouse backroom, cleared out and opened to use its full 50 meters by 50 meters of space to their desire.

Setup for use was multiple beds, desks around the corners of the room were occupied by researchers and other note-taking individuals documenting what happened next as the groups of various styles and backgrounds of shinobi were forming almost a full company of individuals to execute such an idea. Surely they needed this many people as the creatures likely had some help to form the rifts or simply did not care sure it was on their turf that they reached towards the world of the living. For those not asleep, this was a pivotal moment of truth should this work, it meant that they could launch an offensive strike against whatever was on the other side. Should Asami or Yukio have chosen to be one of the individuals attempting to find a way to the other side, Kurai offered a small blessing of Shikigami and good luck. The one thing she did not seem to be was semi-religious or one who upholds a belief system of that nature so she was unsure how they would react and thus kept it to only those two should either choose that option.

Once the preparations were finished and set up for the group to undergo the proceedings, it was a simple matter of time for them to see what was to happen. At first once the 'Sleepers' fell asleep, due to exhaustion itself or through help, it was quiet in the massive space as the uncertainty was palpable within the room. There would be a handful of sleepers as compared to the multitude of dozens of shinobi and staff present at this time. With a variety of individuals present, surely something would happen where the teams would need to act and help out. That was the fear that Kurai had if delving into the Land of Dreams turned to be dangerous, whoever was reaching out would likely need a way to stay true to themselves or anchor their identity in that landscape if that was what they chose to do. Otherwise, they likely would need to straddle in between and cause a controlled rift to form where they could enter, and not just the creatures who wanted to leave were capable of using. Drawing her arrows, she could feel something stir beyond the edge of her own senses before a rift formed at the cardinals of the room, splitting each corner's group's attention... mayhem.

May shinobi stuck to the general plans in accordance with leadership within the storehouse where this took place. The 'Sleepers' were unattended quickly as the rifts that formed had some creatures come out but their sights were on the corners of the room, the more civilian members. Kurai positioned near the sleepers was able to operate without much pressure from the creatures as she launched arrows of various degrees of danger and depth toward the creatures that spewed out of the Land of Nightmares. Surely someone on the other side if they were successful would be able to either turn the tide or close these other rifts before opening their own door or confirming that asleep they can reach the Land on the other side be it of Dreams or Nightmares. Many shinobi fought through thick and thin moments but eventually, they were able to beat back against the tide of them. As the clones of Kurai vanished in a puff of smoke, the Phantom slumped against one of the bed posts, exhausted on multiple levels themselves as she dozed off even for a moment.

At that moment, she saw her room. Not the room that she was staying in or the room she was presently in, but the room of her childhood. The makeshift space that she called her own. It was dark and cramped but it was hers and in that moment of unconsciousness, she felt herself reaching for a door. A curious child before the fear of discovery etched itself onto her, Kurai opened what she felt was a curtain that makeshift covered her space but it felt tacked down. Pulling on the fabric itself she yanked and pulled until it eventually gave, she stared out beyond that veil as she woke up at once. She had seen the room she was currently in. Subconsciously she saw it from the other side. Unsure if others had been able to encounter or find the veil itself literally or figuratively, Kurai waited before revealing what she had discovered. Should anyone else have insight or their own experience, she let them speak out first and foremost as she was just helping, she was not one of the ones who was supposed to be making the dive or otherwise, making that attempt. A happy accident of sorts followed her once more as she was unsure what was to happen once they were finished.

WC: 2,000 | TWC: 7,000 | TMWC: 14,300 / 15,500

Asami couldn't be positive how well Kurai accepted the affirmation from her and Yukio, but at the very least she seemed to accept the kind words without a fuss. Something strange happened, then, as Kurai stepped forward and placed her hand on Asami's back. In her mind's eye, Asami witnessed a sort of vision, a glimpse of Kurai in her childhood. The stitches on her arms were apparent and fresh, and it seemed as if she were being scolded by someone. But when Asami blinked, the vision had vanished. She looked curiously at Kurai, her brow furrowed softly. "How did you..." she started, before they were interrupted by a messenger bringing a summons. Apparently, they were to report to one of the storage sheds kept in a remote area of the village, where a last ditch operation was being held shortly. Asami's questions for Kurai would have to wait.

With the other two, Asami made her way to the designated location, a bit surprised by how busy it seemed to be. A large group of shinobi representing various specialties had all gathered, and filled the space inside the storage shed, which had been largely cleared out to make space for the operation at hand. Asami saw several beds in place along the walls. According to the missive the messenger had given them, there were two main roles to fill. The sleeper squad would attempt to gain entry to the land of dreams while the defending squad would handle any nightmare creatures that made their way through the veil. In all fairness, Asami didn't have the slightest clue what it might be like crossing into the land of nightmares.. but the plan seemed to be to go there in an attempt to discover the source, or at least to see if it was possible to fight the problem from the inside.

And it seemed that largely, sleepers were being assigned on a volunteer basis. Asami's eyes closed, and she smiled ruefully. She couldn't deny that she had been curious about the other side of the veil from the beginning. "I'll go," she said quietly, looking to her two companions with a steadfast gaze. "I'll enter the land of dreams... and try and find out how they're getting through. If something goes wrong, just try to wake me... I trust you," she said, looking equally to Yukio and to Kurai. To her surprise, Kurai then seemed to offer her a protective blessing, which Asami stood by to gratefully receive, bowing her head and pressing her palms together until the blessing was finished. Then, she picked a bed, laid down, and clutched her katana to her chest. It took some time for her to relax, even though letting her eyes close like this after so long felt near enough heavenly. But once the drowsiness started to take hold, she sank quickly into sleep, her mind plunging deep into the dark unknown.

When her eyes opened again, her katana was gone, and she was in her bedroom at home. A small paper lantern lit the otherwise inky black room. As she pulled her blanket off her body and sat up, she realized that she no longer looked the same. She was a young girl of seven again, and she was very, very afraid of the dark. She felt her chest tighten, as she scrambled to slide open her door and run to her parents room. As she set foot on the hallway, it began to stretch, and she ran and ran, breathless and terrified, as it seemed to go on forever, the safety of her parent's bedroom slipping further and further from her reach as the darkness closed in behind her.

"Asami," she heard a voice say, and she froze. It was a woman's voice, one that she had not heard in a long time. She felt tears well up in her eyes. "Haha-ue," her small voice croaked, and she turned and ran into her mother's arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Her mother held her for several moments, and she relished the comfort of her embrace, her soft and warm body, the gentle silks against her cheek, the sweet scent of night blooming jasmine. "Are you still afraid of the dark?" her mother crooned, stroking Asami's hair from her face. "You know, your Byakugan will awaken eventually... And then nothing will be able to hide in the shadows any longer. You will see everything, my sweet girl... and then you will know, there is nothing to fear." Asami sniffled quietly, clutching her mother's waist before raising her head. She wanted nothing more than to look upon her mother's face once again, but as soon as she moved, the woman had vanished. She was back in her bedroom, hugging nothing more than an armful of her blankets.

Bitter tears rose in Asami's eyes, the darkness in the corners of the room starting to swim. Slowly, she crawled over to her standing mirror, looking at her own small-faced reflection. Her pale eyes stared back at her, wet and piercing. Her fists clenched, and as she stared, veins started to pop and bulge around her eyes. Then she gasped. In that moment, she was able to see through the mirror, into a busy room full of shinobi, some sleeping, others battling a myriad of dream beasts. 'That's right,' she thought, reaching out and touching the cool glass. It rippled under her touch, and the air seemed to shift around her.

In the next moment, she was standing in the middle of the room, clutching her katana to her chest and shaking as her eyes darted around. The bed that she had been in previously was now empty, as if she had simply teleported to a different location. She quickly returned to the others, the scabbard of her katana clutched in one hand as she looked at the pair of them with wide eyes. "What happened while I was gone?" she asked, still a bit shaken, though she did her best to conceal her nerves behind a mask of calm. "I was in a dream... It's a long story, but I discovered a portal of sorts back into the real world, and then.. It would seem that traveling through it allowed me to shift my location," she summarized, frowning in thought. She had only heard of teleportation in the context of specific Space-Time jutsu. Now people, and supposedly creatures as well, were able to travel into and out of this dream dimension at will...?

She would listen to what the others had to say, but would eagerly await the opportunity to go home and get some real rest. Whatever happened today, at least they had discovered something.

[Exit]
__________________________________
WC: 1,120 | TWC: 4,379 | TMWC: 15,420/15,500

Mission Claims: 38,750 Ryo, 192 AP, 90 Dream Tokens, 1 Dream Waiver

WC Claims:
+43 Stats (20 Chakra, 23 Speed)
500 WC for Vacuum Palm (D) -> 3,879 left
500 WC for Gentle Step: Front Kick (D) -> 3,379
1000 WC for Gentle Fist Barrage (C) -> 2,379
2000 WC for Gentle Blade (Skill) -> 379 left
379 towards Willow Strike (D) - (379/500) -> 0 left

Yukio smiled as he and Asami gave similar words of affirmation to Kurai. She didn’t appear quick to accept such compliments, but they gave them nonetheless, because they were true. A light touch on his back was unexpected, but the sudden vision of Kurai in her childhood would shock him to the core. He had never experienced anything like this. The stitching around her arms appeared freshly done, harsh lines against pale skin. Just as quickly as he had seen it, the vision vanished. ”What was…” The Senju teenager trailed off, lost for words at the myriad of emotions he felt from whatever Kurai had shared with them. Unfortunately, they would not have time to explore further, as a missive from a shinobi ordered them to gather in one of the large warehouses to the east of their location. The trio agreed, walking in companionable silence as they read through the document explaining what was about to happen.

The route to the meeting location was fraught with activity. Shinobi and civilians moved this way and that, carrying information, orders, materials, all needed by the village to combat this threat. He saw shinobi carrying pillows, which was somewhat strange, if Yukio thought about it. The missive they had received detailed a plan which followed along the same thoughts the young trio had previously; if the nightmares could invade our world, perhaps we could invade theirs. A group of “sleepers” would attempt to invade the Land of Dreams while a support group remained awake and prevented any beasts from harming them. Yukio quickly came to the conclusion he would like to be one of the members of the sleeping squad. Getting some payback for the pain and suffering these things have caused sounded great to him. They entered into the large warehouse, which had been cleared and then made ready for their attempt.

The first thing Yukio noticed were the beds arranged along the walls of the warehouse. The floor in the center of the building was covered in the largest Fuinjutsu script he had ever seen, and there were many desks and workstations covered in scrolls for shinobi and support staff to utilize. Looking to his two companions, Asami quickly spoke up to be on the sleeper squad, while Kurai seemed to simply slide into the background amongst the defenders. Yukio voiced his opinion as well, stating his intention to join with the sleeper squad. He gave Asami a small nod as the two of them made their way to their assigned beds. Taking a deep breath, Yukio sat on the bed and waited until he was instructed to begin sleeping. Just the act of sitting on a bed cause his weariness to crash down upon him. He was so unbelievably exhausted, how had he even managed to walk here? Thankfully, he wasn’t forced to wait for long as the sleeper squad was given the instruction to go to sleep. He laid his head down on the pillow and the tension in the room actually made it somewhat difficult to relax. However, he soon succumbed to the call of sleep, and no sooner than closing his eyes did Yukio slowly blink his eyes back open. Except this time, he was no longer in the warehouse.

’Huh, didn’t think that would actually work.’ He peered around, taking in his surroundings. He was still on the bed, but the warehouse and all of the others were gone. Instead, he appeared to be in a large field, filled with dead grass. There were very few trees, and the ones that did seemed dead or dying soon. The sky was a dark, ash choked smear above him, and in the distance a large mountain loomed. Flashes of lightning without the follow up of thunder rolled above him, and the silence of this desolate place was the most concerning thing. Yukio stood slowly, his feet sinking into the dead grass, the earth below him spongey, as if he might sink into it at any point. He saw no one else in his vicinity, so he set off towards the mountain, as that was the only visible landmark around.

His trek was slow, as if the land between him and the mountain was slowly expanding. Sound started reaching his ears, small yips, growls, and caws from what he could only assume were the small nightmare beasts all around him. He pressed forward, eager to find some high ground in case of an attack. As if summoned by his thoughts, a small flying creature dove at him from the sky, nearly invisible against the inky black. Yukio quickly expelled a senbon made of water from his mouth, the Mouth Shot jutsu catching the flying creature in the back as it attempted to bank around for another pass at him. It fell to the ground, dead, and did not dissipate into the ether as it had in his own world. ’Well, at least they can still be killed here. I wonder if they die permanently?’ He pressed on, the calls of animals and a small wind picking up around him.

His footing became more stable as the ground beneath his feet turned from the spongey dead grass towards barren, dark earth. He was in the foothills of the mountain and had been attacked by several more creatures. Luckily, none were too difficult and the weeks he had spent killing them while awake made it fairly easy to deal with. The earth began to turn upwards, and the mountain was in full view before him. It was a monstrous thing, all sharp edges and lethal falls. At the top, swirling clouds occasionally blocked the view of a shimmering portal at the peak of the mountain. This must be his destination. He set off again, slower to make sure his footing wouldn’t fail him.

Yukio climbed for what felt like hours as more and more monstrosities attacked him. He was fatigued, drained of chakra, nearly spent, and he was still only halfway up the mountain. His next step saw him slipping as the ground began to shake and rocks began to fall down the mountain. A roar sounded from above him and the biggest creature he had seen to date appeared, all misshapen limbs and incorrect anatomy. The longer he looked at this eldritch abomination, the more his head hurt. He simply couldn’t comprehend it. Realizing he would need some more firepower, Yukio put some of the last of his strength into summoning his Wood Dragon to fight against this monster. The clash between the two creatures was mighty, and the young man was worried he would not prevail. However, his luck held true and he finally struck the beast down, its body tumbling down the mountainside. Yukio stepped through the portal and braced his eyes against the harsh interior light of the warehouse. He stood in the center near Asami and the others, with a golden piece of paper clutched in his hand.

[EXIT]

---

WC: 1,163 | TWC: 5,200 | TMWC: 16,583/15,500

Mission Claims: 38,750 Ryo; 192AP; 90 Dream Tokens; 1 Dream Waiver

WC Claims:
+52 Stats, 17 to Vigor and 35 to Chakra
--2,500/2,500 for Swamp of the Underworld
--1,500/1,500 for Shadow Clone
--1,125/1,125 for Underground Projection Fish Technique
--75WC to Earth Style Wall prior claim here 432/500

Asami Hyuuga wrote:
[Exit]
__________________________________
WC: 1,120 | TWC: 4,379 | TMWC: 15,420/15,500

Mission Claims: 38,750 Ryo, 192 AP, 90 Dream Tokens, 1 Dream Waiver

WC Claims:
+43 Stats (20 Chakra, 23 Speed)
500 WC for Vacuum Palm (D) -> 3,879 left
500 WC for Gentle Step: Front Kick (D) -> 3,379
1000 WC for Gentle Fist Barrage (C) -> 2,379
2000 WC for Gentle Blade (Skill) -> 379 left
379 towards Willow Strike (D) - (379/500) -> 0 left

Approved

Senju Yukio wrote:
[EXIT]

---

WC: 1,163 | TWC: 5,200 | TMWC: 16,583/15,500

Mission Claims: 38,750 Ryo; 192AP; 90 Dream Tokens; 1 Dream Waiver

WC Claims:
+52 Stats, 17 to Vigor and 35 to Chakra
--2,500/2,500 for Swamp of the Underworld
--1,500/1,500 for Shadow Clone
--1,125/1,125 for Underground Projection Fish Technique
--75WC to Earth Style Wall prior claim here 432/500

Approved