How's the Water? [Tsubaki]

[Samejima]

Some time passed, and Naoki hoped that she hadn't missed anything Tsubaki was trying to tell her as her eyes still weren't fully functioning... Then they slowly came into focus, shapes and colors melding together but the student's bright red jacket wasn't where she'd expected it to be. Naoki blinked several times in rapid succession, and caught sight of the jacket at last... and it was a good distance away from shore. "Tsu-" She stopped herself just barely. Tsubaki had not lost her concentration yet, she was still above the water. She was indeed doing very well, but Naoki decided to start going after her anyway, just to be safe.

Then she heard a light sneeze, and Naoki sprung into a dash as she saw Tsubaki falling in. Ahh no way! She was doing so well! It didn't take Naoki very long to reach where she'd estimated Tsubaki had gone under, despite overshooting the distance a little. While keeping herself focused on both her eyesight and the chakra under her feet, which was fully responsive to her will from the number of times she'd tried running up buildings and training stamina in this very area, she thrust her hand under the water close to where Tsubaki had been, hoping to be able to catch her attention before pulling her up, had one of her hands been seized. "Tsubaki-san! Can you hear me? I'm over here, take my hand!"

 

[Kazumi]

The amount of time that had passed between her sudden submerged and when Naoki's hand clasped onto Tsubaki's wrist was nearly mindboggling. Just how quick was this girl? That was not on her thought at the moment, however, and Naoki was likely able to lift Tsubaki up and out of the water with relative ease. Having been completely caught off guard by the sudden, more than a little of the water had attempted to take up new residence in her lungs.

As she was pulled up out of the water, Tsubaki awkwardly coughed as her lungs attempted to give the boot to the new and unwelcome tenants. Looking a little dazed and completely drenched she accidentally muttered, "thank you" with that low horse and gravely voice of hers. She tried to put her foot on the water, but she was still too shaken to actually get it to stick, the foot passing through the surface of the water with only minimal resistance.

 

[Samejima]

Was that...? Never mind, at least she's safe... Naoki had gotten her friend up and out of the water, pulling the arm she managed to grab onto over her own shoulders carefully, then placing her other arm behind Tsubaki's knees to try and lift her up to more easily get the both of them to shore. The adrenaline rush seemed to have given her momentary control over her eyesight, but as she continued to try and focus on the extra chakra she had to put into walking over it, she began to lose the colors little by little. This time however, she caught herself before it did and managed to keep track of it before it disappeared completely again. In this case, bringing it back up to its original functionality was easier than calling on it in the first place. "Maybe keep closer to the edge next time... Or did you wanna call it quits for today? You did a lot better though, nice work!" She reassured Tsubaki with a calm, quiet voice, trying her hardest to mask the rapid beating in her chest from both the preceding event and the proximity, hoping there wouldn't be objections to this once they got back.

The voice she caught just now didn't sound like it did when she sang. Did something happen to it? Or maybe there was some reason why her speaking voice can't sound like her singing voice, and that's why she didn't talk? Still sounds okay though... I know I could understand it. Why doesn't she talk then? Hmm... The rest of the walk back to shore was spent in silence as Naoki pondered the best way to go about solving the curious circumstances surrounding the girl's seemingly fluctuating voice... and decided that it was against her perception of tact, letting it go. Once they got back to shore, if nothing was said, she would lower Tsubaki onto the ground slowly and sit down alongside her again. At least if she'd decided to rest for a bit. If Tsubaki's determination was shown, she would try and be better at supporting the student this time.

 

[Kazumi]

It was strange, being held like a kid in another person's arms as she dripped water from her soaked outfit. A few small coughs overtook her as her lungs worked to clear itself from anymore of the offending liquid as Naoki walked them both back to shore. This reminded her of the first time she had seen the young woman, though then the situation was both reversed and was only fictional. Remembering back caused a small wave of exhaustion to try and overtake her as she felt her lack of energy trying to catch back up with her.

Before she knew it, she was crouched on the shoreline with Naoki sitting down next to her, coughing a little more now that she was in a more favorable position. She tilted her head up, looking over towards Naoki with her own hair half covering her face. She gave the girl an appreciative smile that sparkled with masked embarrassment that forced the confident girl to look away after only a few seconds. Eventually she nodded to Naoki's suggestion of cutting it early. Over the past week she had only managed to gather a fraction of the nightmares compared to what she was used to, and even then, those did not seem to help combat the fatigue which was clawing at her psyche overly much.

 

[Samejima]

Naoki nodded understandingly, and the details of Tsubaki's decision to rest for the day were left unquestioned. Overexertion is a big problem in students, yep... Maybe I can help with restoring energy though. Hmm... She tried to voice some ideas to see if any would stick, hoping it was something other than just having them both return to their respective activities for the day. "Lessee... We could swim a little, wind down from the exertion, walk around Suna a little, have some snacks somewhere, try and read some books... Maybe take a nap? I'm sure there's other ninja covering my area of the patrol now in any case, if a nap's in order~ Actually, it sounds pretty good right about now..." It was the middle of the day, and though the light was artificial, it certainly produced enough warmth to cause the beginnings of an afternoon siesta. She proceeded to lie back, resting her head on her arms and relaxing. The sand underneath felt soft, like some kind of natural bed that sank a little the more one moved in it. Distributing weight evenly would probably make it stable enough to nap on though. I kinda... don't want to leave her side. Probably offer to walk her back home if she's that tired? I did like seeing those flowers, and if there's a chance she'll let me hear her sing...

Memories of that time gave her a slight tingle of excitement. Her auditory memory at least was spot on, and there was no way she could forget that voice... Recalling it only strengthened the feelings she had of the event, and she couldn't help but replay it so much she memorized the words to the song. Was there a particular reason why she sang that one? I know I like the melody for sure, so maybe that's why... It'd be cool if we liked the song for almost the same reasons, hehe~ Doesn't seem like she'd relate to the lyrics themselves, I doubt she's committed any sort of sin at all... Ah, I'll bet she's the one who teaches her siblings about stuff! Her parents are probably busy a lot, and she seems like the type to get along really well with kids... Kinda wanna know how she interacts with her family... And does she cook? The questions floated around as she waited for some kind of response, if none was given immediately.

 

[Kazumi]

The mere thought of a nap nearly sent a yawn through the exhausted girl as she tried to keep her senses in check. Part of her doubted it would work, but if she could manage to find and consume a nightmare... Her mouth curiously moistened from the mere thought of it, but the likelihood of finding any at this hour was... Her attention drifted over towards Naoki as the fragments of an idea began to form.

If Naoki was asleep, then perhaps she could...? She had never tried to go into a specific person's dreams before, and she wondered if that possibility could even work. Surely it couldn't have been too different than mental projection. It was, after all similar... at least so far as they were both not real, in the strictest of senses. A surprisingly eager nod would follow the tail of Naoki's recommendation, even catching herself off guard as to how eager she was to indulge in this potential respite. Had she been less desperate for energy, feeling less mentally and physically drained, she might have realized how much the mere thought of this was filling her with trepidation.

All she had to do was to wait for Naoki to go to sleep first. Then she could try and see if it was possible to... a small sliver of her mind cried out in how predatory this sounded, but it was quickly quashed under the force an invisible hand. So, clearing her throat, she scooted a little closer to Naoki and tried to lie back in a similar position. She had no intention of falling asleep, and resisting that urge in this position was taking more effort than she had been exerting just staying awake, but she couldn't really give up the opportunity... could she?

 

[Samejima]

Hm?! Oh... She's up for a nap out here then? Thought she'd head home to rest for sure... Her breath hitched as the older girl scooted closer, and as she composed her thoughts she smiled and relaxed, feeling rather comfortable in the sand. "Hum~ Let's just take a short nap out here then..." It was always surprisingly easy for her to fall asleep, barring a few isolated incidents, and it was a little harder for her to do so after worrying about snoring or any similarly embarrassing mannerisms she was unaware of as she slept. Whether or not they normally did manifest, she made none of them and just fell asleep quietly. The sound of the breaths she took slowed, and a look of peaceful slumber was visible on the 14-year-old's face. She would still have been sensitive to loud noises, but otherwise it was very possible that she wouldn't have woken from outside stimuli.

"Hm hm, hmhm hm hmm~" Walking along the streets of Sunagakure had always served to calm her down, and today was no different... For a while. The streets were far too quiet, too dark, too... unfamiliar? No, hostile. How is all this even possible in such a short time? It wasn't.

Where is everyone? All gathered in Undersea or something? Why's it so dark? Why Undersea? Why could she see at present? Stuff doesn't make sense here, that's why. There was a slight shuffle, and she turned to see everyone she knew, her parents, her aunt, her friends from the Academy, the shopkeepers, the Main Branch Sennin and even the Steward and his son... Each of them were slowly advancing on her, as if trying to surround her, and she kept hearing 'you should have done better' and 'supposed to be a genius right?' as well as a few instances of 'go back where you came from' and 'you're a waste of time'. Thoughts now in a jumble, Naoki started whimpering and curling up into a ball of regrets, worries... and fear.

 

[Kazumi]

Thankfully for the drained aspiring kunoichi, the soft rhythmical sounds of sleep soon eminated from the prone girl that laid next to her. Softly pushing herself up to a sitting position, she fought hard against a yawn that she feared would awaken the girl and ruin her chance. Softly, slowly and carefully she pushed herself over closer towards Naoki's head. She had to admit, Naoki looked quite adorable while she slept. An expression of peaceful serenity not unlike that of her brother and sister's rested on the sleeping girl's face. A serenity that starkly conflicted with the predatory grin that Tsubaki was unwittingly wearing as she stared down at the unconscious girl.

Sitting cross legged above Naoki, Tsubaki took a slow and silent breath as she reached her hands down to carefully place them atop Naoki's head. The positioning was similar to how she trained, and she wondered if it would actually work, but the need to try overwrote her other concerns with ease. Tsubaki closed her eyes and tried to both focus and relax as she attempted to reach out and gently touch Naoki's mind. It was risky, and that same part of her mind that had cried out before in uncertainty did so once again, hoping to remind Tsubaki as to what Naoki would think should she awaken in this position. Yet, once again it was silenced by an unknown looming presence.

Before she even realized what had happened, she felt that familiar black void surround her as she plummeted into the dark depths of Naoki's mind. Had she more control, or perhaps even the ability to do so, this might have been a coveted ability among the shinobi. As it was now, however, it was simply an uncontrolled ride through whatever thoughts, dreams and nightmares that Naoki's unconscious mind guided itself though, with Tsubaki riding along behind.

Voices, faint at first but growing louder and more distinct, echoed through Tsubaki's mind as the scene slowly came into existence around her. A wall of bodies and faces, some familiar but mostly foreign seemed to be approaching her. A tentative step back proceeded the acknowledgement of another body much closer to her own. It looked to be Naoki, as best Tsubaki could tell, curled up into as tight of a ball as she could imagine. With the mob approaching, slowly but steadily, Tsubaki hurried to kneel down next to the ball as she placed a hand on it as she softly worked to shake it into uncurling. "Naoki-chan, are you alright? Naoki-chan, please stand up." She softly, but soothingly urged.

 

[Samejima]

No... no more, stop, I don't wanna hear it... it's not my fault, not my fault, just give me time, I'll make things work... Reassuring phrases she kept repeating in her mind swirled about, getting lost in the sea of voices in her head, and probably audible within the area. Leave me alone, I can do it The stares of her instructors, of her parents. Let me help you, just let me try The scoffs she heard from her Academy peers. I'll be great in time, really The voices, they were too much. She couldn't even see anymore, the weight of their words bearing too heavily on her awareness. I don't wanna hear it! Go away!

Then a voice in particular pierced through her state of mind. A voice she hadn't heard in awhile but recognized well, strangely enough... It also seemed to have come from someone not trying to destroy her psyche. It was a soft voice that rang clearly in her head, she was compelled to follow its instruction... But nothing came to her, she couldn't move. She felt herself being shaken slowly, recognizing her name being spoken at about the same time. Naoki...? That's me... Even as she thought it she could scarcely believe it after failing so much over the past few years or so. It wasn't a name she could associate herself with, not really. She probably still embodied the spirit her parents named her with, but that was not how she saw the situation. She couldn't bring herself to stand back up.

 

[Kazumi]

As she continued to attempt to shake Naoki from her seemingly catatonic state, a sharp and unpleasantly familiar pain stabbed into her mind. The girl froze in place as she attempted to dull it out, striving to segment it to another part of her consciousness so that she could ignore the sensation. The pain worsened, but she was able to open her eyes and concentrate for a short while longer as it continued to drill into her head. Again she shook Naoki, “Naoki-chan, please get up. We need to leave.” She pleads seemed to fall upon deaf ears, it was possible that truly was unable to hear Tsubaki, the rules of reality often held little sway here after all.

Looking up, she saw the figures moving ever closer towards the pair. They were slow but not quite shambling, though she knew it would be less than a minute until they were upon them. Tsubaki knew not what the consequences would be for having them reach Naoki, but she did not wish to take any chances. Standing up, she clutched her hands to her chest as she closed her eyes and concentrated. She still could not feel the nightmare… she had not been able to all week, but she might be able to-

A few seconds of pained concentration followed and in one smooth motion she raised her hands up over her head, and a sphere of pure blackness formed in a bubble overhead, no larger than her a melon. She moves her hands outwards in an arcing shape from the ball, out to eh side and towards the ground. As she did, the void stretched out, shrinking as it began to form a solid dome of blackness around the pair until it finally touched the ground around them. This normally would have only winded her, but once the black dome connected with the ground, she instantly collapsed to her knees in utter exhaustion. She felt as if she had been forced to hike up a mountain after being forced to run around that mountain for multiple days straight, not tired just… empty.

 

[Samejima]

We need to leave, she heard, and it was decidedly something she wanted to do as well... But it was much easier to just wait and hope they'll go away at some point, willing them away and focusing on calming herself down instead. And yet, even as she waited, she found it hard to keep that self under control, feeling it spiral out of her grasp further and further the longer she waited. Desperately, she tried to wrestle with the feelings stabbing her from the inside, warring with her currently deflated sense of self-confidence... and she was losing to it. She was on the verge of awakening in a fit, then a certain change occurred.

Opening her eyes, she looked straight ahead and saw... nothing. Just black. The dome was an anomaly, something she wouldn't have been able to comprehend, one because it wasn't something she created and two because she was currently not in a state of mind that allowed her to try and think about the causes of things, just that she should accept them and move on. The voices were gone at least, giving her a brief moment of reprieve. It was enough to calm her down a little, but not entirely enough to cause her to stop shaking on the ground like a leaf, knees in her arms curled up and still unwilling to move. Her brief glance at the outside before she shut her eyes tight once more did reveal a familiar figure to her, and she thought about this for a little while. Having someone by her side at a time like this really was reassuring if nothing else, and she ran the memory of the girl on her knees through her head a few times to ensure herself that she wasn't alone. Whilst doing so, a similar memory appeared. The memory of that same girl being on water, carrying her, telling her things were going to be okay.

Once that memory clicked, she began to try and crane her neck upwards, as if pulling herself up by her neck, trying to check on whoever that girl was. She recognized the figure then, and got up almost immediately, though not all the way, just enough to try and hug Tsubaki. Reassurance was what she currently needed, and this was the simplest way she knew how.

 

[Kazumi]

Her breathing was ragged and she barely had enough energy to even continue doing so. That wasn’t something which was overly complex, draining or anything of the sort, but when one barely has enough energy to stand, even something comparatively small can be a huge burden. She could feel her tether to this dream waning quickly, only held together by determination rather than any energy she no longer felt she had. That sharp sensation edged its way to the forefront of her mind, not able to keep it at bay as she continued to kneel over on the ground, her hands pressed against the ground as she proper herself up. Just as she was about to simply let go, to pray for the best as she let her consciousness be pulled back to her body just so that the pain would end she felt something.

Raising her head a little, she looked over to see Naoki’s form cradling her in a hug. She could barely feel it, being almost too far gone as it was, but she could feel her need for reassurance even as she lost her grip on this pseudo-reality. A small smile lined her lips as she reached one hand up off the ground, wrapping it over Naoki’s shoulder as she pulled her into a soft hug. Tsubaki couldn’t speak to offer encouraging words, couldn’t move to try and sooth the girl’s worries, and she certainly didn’t have enough energy left to dislodge the nightmare from Naoki’s dreamscape, even though that was the need which drew her here in the first place. Instead she simply held Naoki as long as she could, fighting back the pain which grew worse by the second.

Her hold couldn’t last forever though, and after what felt between a second of comfort and an eternity of pain she lost her grip on the dream and was ejected back to her own consciousness. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, her body still prone on the ground but at least her pain was gone. Her exhaustion was worse than it was before, and she couldn’t bring herself to sit up. Turning her head slightly to the side, she did manage to look over towards Naoki, hoping that she was abe to bring the girl some level of comfort, even if it was not as lasting as she would have otherwise desired. It seemed that today she was just going to go hungry… again.

 

[Samejima]

Feeling the soft hug in return, Naoki's shoulders relaxed and a feeling of relief coursed through her. A distinct feeling that bordered on joy was felt, but it didn't last all that long. The figure disappeared, and though she kept the faint inkling she had as she felt Tsubaki in her arms, the disappearance was enough of a loss in support that she fell through the ground where her hands were supposed to establish contact with it, and as she fell she heard that one song, almost as if it was sung in slow motion:

</I>

Without hesitation, I believe in this love and live on
I'll tightly embrace your unbandaged wound​

<i></i>

And after that instant, she was jolted back into reality, awakening with a gasp and her eyes wide open, though they couldn't see anything. For a moment she was under the impression that she was still in the dream, but once she felt the sand beneath her and heard the sounds of the waves gently lapping against the shore and a quickened heartbeat next to her. Taking a minute to recompose herself, and remembering where exactly she was at the moment along with the person next to her, she began her now-tiring concentration on her eyes. She felt a bit of a pulsing, painful sensation where her eyes connected to the tissue of her eye sockets, but this was somewhat normal given the time she's been practicing it. It doesn't seem to have gotten any less painful nor has it been improving over the months through which she's been pushing herself to this point, and this was slightly worrying, but she managed to recall her eyesight normally this time. The colors of the cavern walls and the light refracted by the crystals jutting out of the water came slowly back into visibility for the blind-but-not-really genin.

Once her eyesight came back, she felt compelled to reflect on the dream she just had. She remembered nothing of the part before that, but she did distinctly remember a hug... And a verse. What came before that? <I>The area was all black, and she was tired... Before that...? Voices... then suddenly, nothing. What were the voices saying? I didn't like it in the least is what I remember... Then I heard her, I think, and the voices went away. Putting two and two together, she managed to realize that the person in the dream was indeed, the same person lying next to her at this very second. Once the realization came to her, she sat up abruptly, looking at the girl she'd invited for a quick nap. She had no idea how much time had passed, but felt like she wanted to convey her recent logic links to the one who had apparently been in her dream...

Before realizing that this was in fact, a very stalky thing to say. Her mouth half open, about to mindlessly blurt out something like "I saw you in my dreams just now!" she snapped it shut and smiled to herself, happy for some reason that Tsubaki had gone to save her. In fact, if she remembered properly, it's the second time now, unless anyone else happened to be wearing the same red jacket with the same long hair. Why does she keep popping up... Instead, she turned to Tsubaki to try and see how she's doing. She couldn't tell exactly, but it seemed like she'd actually gotten worse with the nap. "Tsubaki-san...? You look kinda... pale?" Of course, she could've just been mistaken, what with the worry.

 

[Kazumi]

While she was technically still conscious as Naoki awoken from her own sleep a few minutes later, it was difficult to notice any sort of stimuli outside of herself. Suddenly hearing her own name, distant as it sounded, caused Tsubaki’s eyes to refocus as she looked slowly up towards Naoki. She wanted to sit up, put on a cheery smile and perhaps give Naoki a reassuring pat on the head, but she could do little more than turn her head. She had gone without drawing one in for a few days in the past, but how long had it been now? A week? Two weeks? Time wasn’t something she could fully comprehend, and while the mechanics of this curse were still not fully understood, it was something close to going for over three days without any sleep.

“I’m fine…” she gutturally croaked, though her voice likely would give Naoki more to be concerned over, rather than less, even if she knew the details behind why she sounded as she did. “Just tired….” Her eyes looked somewhat glazed over, appearing as if she were peering past Naoki at some unseen figure rather than directly at the kunoichi, and while she was not physically pale, she most certainly did look worse than she had when she had originally gone to sleep. Instinctually her eyes lulled back as she tried to go back to sleep, only a fragment of her knowing that it would be for naught.

 

[Samejima]

Whoa! Know I know she talked! She sounds... really tired! Unable to pick up the differences between one being tired and one just having a different set of vocal cords, Naoki's mind rushed through several alternatives as to why she sounded this way after just waking up from a nap. Maybe she needs to be at home? The atmosphere here is pretty open, so maybe she doesn't feel safe enough sleeping out here and it made her even more tired? Or maybe it's the sand! It's kinda soft so I didn't really think it was bad to sleep on, but maybe she's used to sleeping on a bed! I should get her home... Softly, as if not wanting to wake Tsubaki even though she clearly heard a voice coming from the girl, "Umm... Would it be okay if I got you back home? Can you walk?"

It would've been disastrous if she were to get to said home and no one was there however. Despite it being a shop, it was possible that everyone was out for dinner or supplies or something, and so the best bet might've just been to get Tsubaki into the hospital where she could probably get some medication for whatever's making her so tired. Was there any reason not to? They were probably going to be okay with treating her friend for free, but if it came to funds Naoki did have the money she was saving up for the Akatsuno Extravaganza. She was going to miss it, but when it came to a life or death (as she perceived it) situation, friends come before candy! "I could just take you to the hospital though, it's closer and I'm sure the medic-nin can can get you something for fatigue..." she continued, at the same careful whispery volume. If she received no response, the hospital would be the next place she went, with the sapped student in tow.

 

[Kazumi]

Why couldn’t she move? It was as if every cell in her body had doubled or tripled in weight as they all kept her pressed to the ground, resisting any attempt for her to make much headway in movement. At Naoki’s suggestion of going home, however, Tsubaki nodded faintly as she managed to pull her arm up slowly off the ground. With Naoki’s help, though it was mostly Naoki doing the majority of the work, she managed to get pulled up slowly to her feet. Her eyes were unfocused and the continued to blink closed every few seconds as she struggled to keep them open.

As she attempted to take a sluggish step forward, her muscles gave out and she half-collapsed onto the ground, only prevented from turning into a limp doll on the ground through Naoki’s assistance. She knew something was wrong, seriously wrong, but her mind couldn’t work hard enough to process that knowledge past a fleeting reminder. Her eyes finally drooped closed as she drifted off into unconsciousness. Her body was completely limp, but her heart still beat and her breaths, while shallow, still continued. It was up to the ill-informed shinobi to decide what to do now, without Tsubaki’s council or assistance. Her expression was one of sleep, though it held an unmistakably distressed appearance, if Naoki was able to pick up on it.

 

[Samejima]

The genin now faced a dilemma. She knew Tsubaki nodded to the earlier suggestion, but the hospital would very likely be the better alternative as there were people there who might know why she was so tired. On the other hand, if her parents were home, she would be able to ask them what had happened or, if they didn't know, pass Tsubaki off there without having to sacrifice her candy fix for the month. She didn't have much time and couldn't think for too long. If I just take her home, her parents would know what happened... But what if this hasn't happened before? If it had, she would've told me that a nap wouldn't help very much right? Or that a nap might be more helpful if it were taken at home... Or- ahh I don't have the time to be standing around here!

Carefully, she lifted Tsubaki back up in that carry she used to get her back onshore, and made sure to run as smoothly as she could in order to keep from jostling the exhausted girl, headed straight for the hospital. A passed out student should be cause enough for the hospital to take her in, and it'd probably be good to have her around friends... She had a bit of an idea as to whom she'd request a room with, if it came to that.

[TBC elsewhere~]