In Search of Dreams

Kagura stepped off the ship after four days of rigorous travel and took a moment to stretch. The dawn was just breaking, but the swordswoman was already feeling better than she had in an exceedingly long time, feeling like she was able to breath again. But she wasted no time. She had a mission, and she was going to get started right here and now. Moving to a nearby shop, she purchased a good map of the area, but noticed it was missing just about anything important, so she also purchased several pencils so she could fill it in and then moved towards the border. She would work in sections around the town, but based on her calculations, she would need about a month to fully explore the country. She would stay local for now, since this was her source of Lodging and Sustenance, but would expand outwards slowly. It wasn't like she didn't have enough time on her hands.

(FINISHED TRAVEL FROM KONOHAGAKURE)
[BEGIN EXPLORING LAND OF WOLF - CURRENT ESTIMATED TIME TO COMPLETION: 4 WEEKS]
{START TIME: 1700, 25 SEP 2021}
{COMPLETION: 1700, 23 OCT 2021}

Kimiko had been following someone for a while, not for any particular reason. Mainly it was just to kind of gain some distance from Konoha. Imagine her surprise when it took her completely off the mainland continent and brought her to the Land of Wolves. It was definitely far enough that she wasn't going to be tracked. Now she was interested in what brought out whoever she had followed this far. It wasn't usual for people to head across the water this distance, but since they'd arrived on separate boats, it would be impossible to track whoever she'd been following just with her eyes. Or so she thought.

It was pure coincidence that she had happened upon Kagura. She didn't know the girl personally, but she'd seen her around the former Hokage before. It was the only reason she knew this must have been the person she was following. A familiar face in somewhere so far away. Pulling down the hood of her cloak, Kimiko brushed the hair out of her face and approached her.

"What brings someone from Konoha out this far?"

She asked, a little amused at the coincidence. Try as she might to avoid connections to the Uchiha clan, she stumbled upon the girlfriend of one of their former Kage. Almost as if this was intended to happen. If Kimiko believed in fate, she'd have probably thought it was, but she didn't. Everything was a cosmic coincidence, and actions taken made some amount of sense to have landed them both there. Especially, since she had, after all, followed someone from Konoha.

====
Assuming I'm assisting from here.

1 Week from this post until it's explored.

Kagura had paused in town, looking at the bit of her map where she had explored thus far and drawn in what she believed was important such as geographical details, landmarks, paths, rivers, streams, bridges, and everything else a map needed.  She hadn't made it all that far, but her map and attention to detail were second to none.  It also made it an extensively slow process... she estimated that it would take her an entire month to map out the area and find everything she was looking for based on the progress to time ratio established so far.  She was so engrossed in the details though that she didn't register the individual that her Sensory had picked up as approaching her directly, having written the significant signature as someone who intended to simply pass her by.

"What brings someone from Konoha out this far?"

Kagura blinked and then looked up, realizing quickly that she had been addressed directly.  She looked to the woman's face and considered it a moment, recognizing her from the time she had spent in the Uchiha compound.  Despite not knowing who she was directly, the brunette had made a point to try to learn everyone's names who were significant, but at times it was difficult to recall, so it took an extra second or two before the name finally formed in her mind.  "Kimiko Uchiha, correct?  I could ask you the same question.  As for myself... it might sound a bit crazy... but a dream led me here.  I keep having it over and over... but I need to find the primary hub of this country.  It is nice to see a friendly face."  She gave the woman a weak, but genuine, smile... something she hadn't managed to pull off in a very long time.

[2]

---

(HELP IN EXPLORATION HAS ARRIVED!)
[BEGIN EXPLORING LAND OF WOLF - CURRENT ESTIMATED TIME TO COMPLETION: 1 WEEK]
{START TIME: 0700, 29 SEP 2021}
{COMPLETION: 0700, 06 OCT 2021}

The other girl knew who she was, which wasn't a surprise. Kimiko was a very famous Uchiha, giving a lot of people tons of reasons to have perhaps at least cursory knowledge of who she was, let alone Akari's ex.

"I left Konoha, just traveling at random while I figure some stuff out."

Her reply was more or less how it was. She didn't really have any real plans other than train, prepare herself, and then assassinate Nyguyen, Satomi, and the rest of the Uchiha elders that participated in Akihiro's execution. In her eyes, they were all traitors to the clan, and she'd avenge her clan leader's death. Still, given the talents Satomi showed during the execution, she didn't think that she was ready to take him just yet. She needed contingencies set so she could FTG out if she was in trouble.

"Well, if finding the village of this land is a thing ya need, I can help map it out quite a bit faster."

Her memory was near perfectly eidetic, and with some of her skills, she could easily help cover far more ground than Kagura could. Forming the clone seal, Kimiko used her multi shadow clone jutsu, and 50 clones were created around her. Spreading them out with 20 meters between each of them, a kilometer wide clone wall trailed forward, mapping out the land around them in their minds. When they popped, the entire information they'd received would be returned to her, and she could help map out large swathes of the land pretty easily given her memory recall.

With that done, Kimiko focused more on Kagura.

"Now, ya mentioned dreams? Good ones, bad ones?"

Kagura listened to her first response and nodded. "I didn't know the Hokage released anyone else. I even offered to be ANBU for him, and he made me a citizen instead... but it seems we both came here seeking answers." She had very much noticed how vague the answer from Kimiko had been, but she wasn't going to press; not unless she pressed first. There was an unwritten law when it came to Ninja, or in this case, Former Ninja, and that was to allow one another to keep their secrets unless it was something necessary or important. Her offer to help handle the search however was very welcome, although the method she used was something impressive..

"That would be extremely helpful, thank you. I can make the clones, but processing the information that floods in would take me just about as much time as it would take for me to explore myself." Kagura long since knew she wasn't the most intelligent person around; that had been Akari, still the smartest person she had ever known. But then the big question came up, and since they were going to be sharing information, a little push and pull was certainly in order, and she took a deep breath, knowing how it was about to sound.

“I keep having this one dream. Outside the nightmares that are more common, there is a single, repeating dream where I find this shrine… and I can hear Akari’s voice, calling to me, directing me there. But the biggest thing about this dream that makes me think it is more than just a dream is the fact that I cannot shake the sensation of being watched while I am in it. More than a gentle sensation, but an intense one, and it is more than just one thing peering into what feels like my soul. And a sense of expectation.”

She let that settle for a moment in the air. "You probably think I'm crazy or under Genjutsu as well... but I'm going to find it. How about you? What leads you out this far across the sea?" It was fair after all, and an honest answer deserved one in kind, so perhaps the woman would be able to shed a little light on what her own motivations were. After all, she was far from home, and if Kimiko was willing to help Kagura with her task, perhaps she could help her in kind somehow.

[3]

Kimiko didn’t reply to Kagura’s initial statement for a moment, narrowing her eyes at the mention of how Kagura wasn’t a member of the military anymore. The Hokage had granted her leave, but had halted Kimiko? He made Kagura a civilian, but deemed her a threat?

“He didn’t.”

A simple reply, Kimiko’s response was cold. She hadn’t really thought too much about Tengoku since her ire had primarily been rooted with the Uchiha clan elders, leaders, and the former Hokage, but apparently Tengoku viewed Kimiko as a danger. Maybe she should be.

"No problem. Might not look it, but I'm fairly smart. Being Akihiro's ex-fiance'll do that. Always liked learnin, he was a good teacher. Processing new information is easy for me."

Activating her basic 3 tomoe Sharingan, Kimiko looked at Kagura, examining her chakra system. There was no irregularity that suggested a genjutsu affecting her at all, so she simply shook her head at the suggestion that Kimiko thought she might be under a genjutsu.

"Naw, ya look fine to me. Crazy maybe, but there's weird stuff in the world, weirder than some dream tellin ya to go places. As for me? Got nowhere else to go for now. I just followed on a flight of fancy."

Kagura blinked for a moment, thinking about exactly what her first statement meant.  If he didn't, that made her a Missing Nin... someone who might be hunted simply because she didn't go through the proper procedure.  Or maybe there was something more to it?  She thought about asking, but to be honest, the less she knew the better.  The swordswoman knew that Kimiko likely had reasons, good ones, for doing what she did, and it wasn't her business to dig.  Now, if it became a problem later on, maybe they could address it then, but the chances of Konoha sending someone all the way out to Land of Wolf to try to find her was slim, and since Tengoku had made her a citizen instead of a Shinobi, technically Kagura was not obligated to report her or anything like that.  Being loyal to Konoha she would make sure that Kimiko didn't do anything too crazy, or so she hoped.

She nodded to Kimiko's next sentence, but came to a complete and utter standstill, locked up to the point that it was quite possible that she stopped breathing, as she looked into Kimiko's eyes as the woman used her Sharingan.  It was so utterly bizarre how alike Kimiko was to Akari that it was almost breathtaking in that moment.  Granted, that moment passed, she resumed breathing normally and shook her head.  "Thanks... and sorry.  You remind me of Akari quite a bit, but unlike most of the time that something brings up her memory, it isn't painful.  It's kind of... relaxing.  Comfortable."  She had no idea why that was, but knowing that she wasn't under Genjutsu was helpful reassurance.  "I am sorry to hear about Akihiro.  I know I'm only an outsider, but we both know the pain of losing someone we love."

[4]

Kimiko nodded sympathetically. She felt bad for the other girl, but the differences between what had happened really did inform how they’d left Konoha. It had been a different circumstance that had taken Akari’s life. Akihiro was killed, Akari had died. There wasn’t anything that could have stopped either of them though, unfortunately. Still, had Kagura been present to see Akari die?

"I'm glad I can remind you of her. At least in a good way. But I don't really want to talk about Aki."

She'd shift the topic to something else after a moment of silence, and try and bring it around to something else. Her heart felt like it was ripping itself to shreds, so she busied herself by intensifying her focus on the task at hand.

"So tell me a little bit about yourself."

They carried on talking for a while, with Kimiko occasionally popping her clones, resending new ones out based on certain information that they gathered, following random trails and over time they began to complete a full map of the area. It didn't take all that long in the scheme of things before-

"I found it."

Kagura nodded quietly, willing to drop the subject of her own lost love just as quickly as though it had never been brought up at all, but she had to admit that she very much appreciated the company of someone else who knew what that pain felt like.  The kinship of that brought Kagura to decrease the physical distance between her and Kimiko, shifting herself to where they were almost touching, wanting to truly feel the presence of someone else that could relate but uncertain on if she could do such a thing again.  Companionship?  Was that the craving?  Something to stave off the loneliness she felt within perhaps.  She would keep an eye on her internal structure and move forward like she had promised, and then the question was brought up about who Kagura was, and she gave her a sad smile.  "Not a ton to tell.  I come from a small family, was no one before Akari found me, and she trained me to be one of the strongest fighters in Konoha before she passed.  When she did, I fell into inactivity for so long that I knew that if I didn't make a change, it would kill me.  So... I requested to leave the village, and here I am."

There was a fair amount of pain in her words, knowing how little she had been able to give back to the world she had been brought into in her time thus far, but a smidge of hope as well.  The brunette was brought out of her thoughts quickly by Kimiko declaring that she 'found it', and a smile crossed her face as she got to her feet once the raven-haired woman finished up her work on the map.  "Well, let's not keep them waiting then.  I have many questions I need to ask if I am going to make any sense out of this dream.  Hopefully the people there will provide some clues for me to follow... and perhaps we can find a Inn to rest after the long travels?  It's nice to have company.  My treat."  She hoped that their time together wasn't going to be overly short, and would be willing to make moves to ensure it if it was something that Kimiko was willing to entertain as well.

[5]

Kagura had come from a small family, something that Kimiko definitely couldn't relate to. Her entire life had been with the Uchiha, even though she was an adventurous youth. She'd pretty much always been surrounded by family and her clan, which were almost one and the same. Even the ones not closely related to still treated each other like family. At least, that's how she'd been raised. Now she wasn't quite so sure. She wondered how things might have been different for her if she was born in a small family with no prominent clan around. How might she have been different?

It was impossible to tell really. The world view escaped her. Any number of circumstances could have changed her fundamentally. Probably she'd be a completely different person, so ruminating on it was a complete waste of time really.

"I suppose I get that. Something like that could give you real mixed feelings about the village. Good memories, bad memories, just gotta get away from 'em all. Pretty much the same for me. Couldn't stay, wouldn't stay. Had to head out for a bit."

The conversation had then turned to the finding of the village, and Kimiko was surprised to hear Kagura offer to treat her to a room. It was a surprisingly nice gesture, one she certainly hadn't expected.

"Appreciated. Let's go."

Kimiko didn't need anyone to pay for a room, but she wasn't about to turn it down necessarily. Nobody needed to know she had access to a couple of million ryo, especially since she wasn't really earning any more right now either. She'd need to stretch out what she had for a while, at least until she could get a new source of money.

[Exit to Okami no Mure]

Kagura was a bit surprised with just how easily Kimiko accepted her offer, although in all honesty there wasn't much in the way of mixed feelings about it either. They were simply working their way to the same destination and hopefully saving some Ryo by sharing a room. For the brunette, it was a simple gesture of thanks as well because the woman had helped immensely in finding the village that she had been looking for, but something else was bothering her as well. Everyone here seemed so... downtrodden. Like their luck had turned sour and they were simply surviving rather than living and thriving. Maybe it was just this little part of the country? It was possible... but Kagura already felt like it was something that she could do something about. She would leave this place better than she found it, and that was simply the end of it.

Already her mind was beginning to spin up ideas on how to do so, but it would need to wait until she got to the main capital of the area and got a feel for the leadership that was implanted there. If she found out that their poverty and absolute lack of morale was the result of their poor leadership, she would start to see what she could do to fix it. One way or another. As she walked, she began to converse with idle small talk with Kimiko, hoping to get to know more about the woman, and helping her get to know a little bit about herself along the way. By the time they would reach the village, they would be far more comfortable, hopefully, sharing with one another and opening up a little bit, something that they both desperately needed to be able to do in order to conquer their grief and pain.

[6]
[EXIT]