16autumnroad | [Voice / Action : Forest, 3/17] Arrival

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[Voice / Action : Forest, 3/17] Arrival

Kai! [Sudden absence from the battlefield prompts Chouji's immediate attempt to dispel an illusion.]

Why won't the genjutsu break? It must be too strong. [Not to mention that genjutsu and fine chakra control are not his strongest skills. Pain should also work. It's hardly the preferred method for breaking illusions, but it's more reliable for anyone whose chakra control isn't near perfect. He reaches for a kunai, but none is available. Unarmed and unarmored in a genjutsu that could be used to do pretty much anything to him; somehow that isn't surprising. Chouji is starting to worry though. He crouches down, snatches a jagged rock, and slices open his left palm. Still nothing.

Unwilling to simply sit and wait, he pushes off lightly, leaping into the trees. Chouji conceals himself as well as he can among the branches, only now noticing the journal lying open on the ground below. Shivering from the cold, a twinge of pain between his shoulder blades makes Chouji twitch, wondering if the attack he's been braced for is finally coming. His eyes widen as he looks over his shoulder to see a pair of feathered wings. A little desperate now, Chouji makes one final attempt at breaking free. He stabs his thigh with the rock. Still trapped, he resigns himself to staying here until someone manages to free him, letting the stone fall back to the ground. Chouji keeps watch for any further signs of danger on the off chance the genjutsu's caster slips and gives something away.]

[Chouji can heard over the journal; he will pick it up as soon as he receives an answer. He can also be found in the forest or anywhere in the common areas of town after he eventually makes it there.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sorry to startle you. These things are pretty weird... [When you're not used to them, or don't remember them. Well, that answers that question.]

Anyway, yes, they did. And it's not a genjutsu, unfortunately. You've been pulled into a different world, for real.

"No, no need to apologize."

"I... don't know what you mean by another world." The part about it not being a genjutsu, Chouji supposes he can believe. "That would explain why it didn't work, though."

He neglects to mention what exactly didn't work. He knows the medic would frown on him cutting himself open, especially given he did so more than once. She heard him trying to dispel the jutsu with chakra, so Chouji hopes Sakura won't read too much into his musing.

Oh, damn right she would. Not that she wouldn't understand why, necessarily, but she still wouldn't be happy about it.

She doesn't question, though. "It's... a long story. But this isn't home, and we can't get home from here, that's what it all boils down to. We're stuck here, and the people who are theoretically," she says the word with heavy irony, "trying to get the whole thing reversed are using us as their guinea pigs for the ways to do it."

A pause, though, and she adds, "There's quite a few of us here from Konoha. The rest of your team...." Including Asuma. How do you bring that up gracefully? "... And some people that it might be kind of startling for you to meet. It's going to sound crazy, but just bear with me, okay?"

"What about the war? We can't afford to lose so large a percentage of our forces!" Chouji may not be his team's strategist, but this calculation is distressingly easy to make. He is paying attention to what Sakura says, but the only parts he is ready to address are the presence of Konoha nin and their inability to leave.

The rest of his team. Ino and Shikamaru are both alright. He raises his eyebrows at her warning. Crazier than a whole different world? "Alright," Chouji agrees. He will do his best to bear with whatever Sakura has to say.

"That's why I said it's a long story." She sighs, knowing there's no way to make this sound believable -- hell, sound rational. "As far as our world, as the war is concerned, we've never left. People are pulled here, and then they're sent back, and it's like they were never here. And sometimes they're here for years... but it doesn't matter. They go right back to when they left, with no memories of this place. It might as well be a dream."

A pause, a breath, and then she adds, "It happened to me. Everyone swears I was here before, but I don't remember it at all, and no one at home has ever mentioned that I disappeared for a while. And Shikamaru certainly hasn't been missing from home for years, and he's been here for that long!"

"That isn't possible. It can't be." Chouji looks and sounds fairly well adrift now, not having any idea what to make of this. A genjutsu would almost be welcome now, even though he knows a more life-threatening attack is bound to follow. "Can it?"

He frowns at what Sakura reveals about her own experiences, but the mention of his teammate is what hits Chouji the hardest. "Years? He's been here for years!?" 'without me' is the unspoken end to that question, just as loud as anything Chouji actually says. If the unbelievable things Sakura has told him are true, how much of his friend's life has he missed? Chouji hasn't been here to help Shikamaru or Ino. How long has Ino been in this place?

His teammates were right next to him during the hardest fight of Chouji's life, shortly before his arrival. They've never been separated for any significant length of time. Not in Chouji's eyes, at least. But for Shikamaru and Ino, was it different?

"I've only been here two months -- this time, if what everyone says is true," Sakura offers ruefully. "So really, I can't confirm it... but I know he's taller than when I saw him last, and..." Different, in a way she can't entirely pinpoint. More experienced, maybe.

"I know it's a lot to take in all at once," she adds, "and I'm sorry. But it's good for you to be warned of it. And also... people are taken from different times. Sometimes they won't know about things that have happened. Ino hasn't been through the war yet." And a question behind that -- how much does Chouji know?

Chouji sighs. Shikamaru will still be Shikamaru, but he hates the thought of what he's missed. "Thank you for telling me."

He doesn't manage to hide the way he flinches at the mention of Ino's point in time. "Ah, I just heard that from Ino." How much has Sakura experienced? Chouji opens his mouth as if to speak, then shakes his head, unable to find the words he needs.

"You're welcome." She nods, wishing she had better news to give. "It's... really different, all of this. And one other thing I really need to warn you about. When I say people are taken from different times... it also means that some of those people... aren't with us anymore. Back home, I mean."

The dead walk in Luceti. It's something he needs to know, preferably sooner rather than later.

"You mean... is it like Edo Tensei, or are they actually alive?" 'Who' would be the more pertinent question, but Chouji skirts it for a moment.

He is thoroughly distracted from his desire to ask Sakura about her own timeline, but he will probably come back to it later.

"It's not the Edo Tensei." It's the first thing that comes to him -- at least he knows the war, she tells herself. That's... that something, at least. "They're taken... I don't know. Some of them are taken from... from before, but I think some know... how they ended." The words are hesitant, trying to skirt a little; she's still working her own mind around this.

"Some of them? ...Sakura, how many are there?"

That's not the important question, and he knows it. Chouji shakes his head. He hesitates but knows he'll have to ask eventually. "Who?" Basic intelligence gathering training as well as knowledge gleaned from another conversation here prompt him to immediately countermand his own question. "Wait, don't tell me who unless they already know. Other people can hear this if they try, right?"

Chouji doesn't want anyone to find out about their own death through an overheard conversation. He won't be responsible for that.

"Exactly right," Sakura agrees grimly. "A moment, let me see if I can filter this...

She fiddles with the journal a bit, and engages the filter -- it's something she hasn't done often, but she's glad the function exists.

"There, they shouldn't be able to see this now," she says more firmly. "As for your question..."

She pauses there. "I've been making an effort not to say anything," she admits quietly. "I don't want to inadvertently... give anyone a reason to dread going home again. Who would want to know the future when they won't be able to change it, or even remember it when they go home?"

"You're sure they can't?"

"What's the last thing you remember, then?" Chouji asks. Memories and timelines are code now, if they're still trying to avoid giving away too much. They don't know which of them has experienced more in their own world, after all. Chouji has never been very good at codes or riddles, but he'll do his best.

"I'd..." He'd heard his best friends' fathers in his head before they died. Headquarters had exploded. Neji had died. So many people died, but those are the three whose fate he knows for certain and who he knows by name. "I'd gotten an extra boost of chakra from someone who had plenty to spare." That would mean something to Sakura if she'd been there, because she would have received the same.

She feels hideously guilty that her first reaction to his cautious statement is intense relief. She shouldn't be glad that someone else is from the middle of the mess that battle became, she shouldn't be glad that someone else has seen the suffering behind it and is going to be confronting someone they just watched die. She shouldn't...

But she is. Gods, it's such a relief not to be the only one.

"The last thing I remember is Naruto spreading his chakra to Hinata," she admits quietly. "So he kept it up?" It sounds like Chouji is, if anything, from seconds or minutes later than her.

"Yes. I think everyone got some. I'd lost so much weight from my techniques, and I gained it all back immediately. The last thing I remember, Naruto and Lee were working together to avenge--" Neji's death, but Chouji stops before he says the words.

He pauses, adding softly, "If it seems like anyone needs to talk to my teammates, I'll do it." It's probably been hard for Sakura to look at Ino and Shikamaru, especially Ino, knowing of their loss. Chouji can already feel it starting to wear on him. If they're going to find out, though, he wants to be there to comfort them.

To avenge, yes. She draws a slow breath, then says, "He's here. Neji is." On the same floor as her, and two months now she hasn't been able to make herself confront him. The thought of those pale eyes, which she last saw Lee's hand sadly close, facing her just makes her sick to her stomach.

And speaking of which... "So's Asuma." For the warnings Chouji needs before he finds out the hard way. Asuma's been easier for her to deal with - she wasn't present when he died, hasn't had to battle images of blood and impalement and her own feelings of crushing failure. But all those things, Chouji will probably have to confront.

Chouji closes his eyes, grimaces, nods. "And he doesn't know? His teammates don't know?" Chouji may be willing to take the responsibility for breaking awful news to his own teammates, but he wouldn't even know where to start with Gai's students. Plus, it's different when it's your own death. The idea of Neji knowing he'll go home only to die is awful.

The next part is hard to take, and a sharp intake of breath precedes his words. "Asuma-sensei? He's... he's alive here?"

"No, they don't." She shakes her head. "I haven't been able to tell them. How... how do you say that to someone? They won't be able to change it, when they go home they won't even remember the warning..." She takes a deep, slow breath, forcing herself to calm. The whole thing makes her feel ill.

"Yes, he's here. Arrived not that long ago, and not for the first time, he says. So... you'll get more time with him. I don't know if... if he knows, though."

"No. I don't think I could either." Chouji will leave that team's heartbreak alone, let them enjoy the extra time they have left together.

Time has at least started to dull the pain from Asuma's death. Asuma's students didn't only see him die, though. "We had to fight Asuma-sensei's body, during the war. He was one of the ones they revived." He shakes his head, not allowing himself to cry. "He was still himself, he just couldn't control what he was doing. He was proud of me for finally attacking him." Chouji knows he did the right thing in the end, but the very idea of being praised for attacking his mentor is horrifying. It's almost as bad as the fact that it was necessary.

He falls silent momentarily, then asks softly, "Is there anywhere to get barbecue here?" Chouji would give a lot for one more team dinner with his sensei.

"I'm sorry." It's an empty thing to say, foolish, but it's all Sakura can offer. Both her mentors still live, but she can well imagine what it would feel like to face down Kakashi or Tsunade, to have to strike them even if they were nothing more than puppets. It's ugly.

The whole war's ugly, and trapped in Luceti, her bitterness against it has only grown.

"There's a grocery shop, and a couple people are running restaurants," she offers. "They might prepare something..."

He just nods to accept the sympathy. It's hard to know what to say, but Sakura tried. She's probably had a hard enough time in the war herself. She has to deal with the wounded as well as the fighting when it comes to battle, and goodness knows Chouji has enough trouble managing one role in the war. "Thank you. For listening."

A thought occurs to him, given their initial hesitance to discuss the war openly. Has Sakura had anyone to do the same for her? "Are any of the others from the war, or are we the only ones this far along?"

He waves off the uncertainty in that offer, a slow smile spreading across his face. "As long as provisions are available. I can always do the cooking myself if I need to."

"Anytime." The ones who know have to stick together, in her mind. They're carrying a burden that the others don't, and so they need to share it. "Tenten knows about it, at least, but she's... not as far long as we are. She doesn't know." And, Sakura quietly hopes, she won't find out. "The others... I'm not sure." It's a topic she's generally tried to avoid, to steer as safe and as clear as she can. "I don't think anyone's from as far along as we are."

She takes a low breath, in and out, and pushes away the unpleasant thoughts. "Pretty much anything is available here, from what I've found. The Malnosso at least keep us in good conditions." Even if the price was far too high.

"I won't say anything to her about it." When she confirms his theory, he hesitates, not wanting to question Sakura's ability to cope. He knows how strong she is. She just shouldn't be forced to use that strength unnecessarily. "If you need anything, you can let me know, alright? You listened to me, after all."

Chouji nods. "The Malnosso are our captors, then?"

"Thank you." The smile she gives him is a little thin -- yes, she has very much been carrying this alone for the past two months and more, but it's hard to relax that hold even a little. And she's never been good at admitting when she's feeling overwhelmed.

"They are," she confirms, happy to be on easier ground. "They're people who've been brought here by this world too, but they're unable to ever leave. So when we appear, they put us in these enclosures to try and figure out how we're able to leave, and to try and replicate it so everyone can." She doesn't sound happy about it, not in the least. "Supposedly it's all for our own protection, because not everyone who's stuck here likes the people who will disappear and go home, but that's a pretty stupid excuse, if you ask me."

[Voice / Action : Forest, 3/17] Arrival

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