realityshifted | 001 | time here all but means nothing, just shadows that move across the wall.

001 | time here all but means nothing, just shadows that move across the wall.

You know, I have better things to do than daydream. Do I daydream?

[ Sakura has to stop and consider this, since she doesn't think she does so much anymore. Hadn't she been going to the store? The weird one, one of the first rebuilt after the attack, that'd made no sense when she'd stopped in to see how things were doing. Who had she even met at the time? Why had she come in again? ]

Not that it matters. Come on, wake up, stop staring into... oblivion? What kind of place is this to dream about?

[ Dreams are what make sense, if this is more of a nightmare after current events. No floor, endless stars? Points of light in darkness and buildings that feel more like child's building blocks strewn about an area, held up by nothing she could actively grasp as being there and concrete left her unsteady. What had -- been mentioned before? She pinches herself, flinches, and frowns. ]

Ouch! I knew that trick wouldn't work.

[ Things could stand to be a little more familiar. Sakura runs a hand through her hair, schooling herself into meditative breathing. Look. Observe. React accordingly. ]

All right, the stress has finally gotten to me. I'm standing in the middle of space, and there's an information booth. I wonder if it has any tips for how to locate your sanity when it's gone missing.

[ She makes herself stop again, largely because she's talking out loud to herself, and this isn't as helpful as she wishes it was. Time to pretend an audience! ]

Hey, if anyone can hear me, a little guidance would be appreciated! You've got a really nice place here, but there's a few dozen appointments I have to keep and a Hokage I need to check in on, along with most of a hospital to help run, and a war to prepare for, so as much as I'd love to stay, I need to get going.

[ Another pause, and she looks upward toward the sky that isn't the proper sky, and sighs. ]

Or I can use the information booth and file a complaint with whoever's in charge. [ Adjusting the gloves on her hands, she smiles. ] In a manner of speaking.

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[Fighter. If she's the same or similar as the one before, field medic, freaked out, and this time he has an idea of what things to assure her on first. As for taking her lightly, he's unlikely too. Tiny girls are not to be underestimated (girls in general aren't) even if Guy himself is pretty tall at just over six feet.]

Right.

[He keeps the smile and his distance, hands resting on his hips but not at his sword.]

My name's Gailardia. I'll answer if you have questions, though I bet I can predict what's worrying you most. [Unfair advantage, but he'll tell her why later. He grins instead, to make it seem more cheesy, more relaxing.] You can get home. And before you ask, you won't lose time there--as long as you're here, time stops back home.

If you want to give it a test, think of going home, you'll be there. Think of this place again and you'll be back. Easy, right?

[ And suddenly, no Sakura. ]

[ Then there is Sakura. ]

[ Then there's no Sakura. ]

[ Then there's Sakura again, this time looking distinctly disturbed. ]

The bird was still midflight between being here and being back.

[ Now he knows why the out and back again. Sakura doesn't trust things easily, and she looks for some kind of echo of pattern to what she encounters in her life. ]

How is that possible? What is this place?

[ Her voice drops down low, eyes scanning the great big... everything she can, then returning to Guy's face. Something concrete. ]

Where're my manners? [ She won't win awards with this smile, but it's small, polite, and attempting to normalize. ] It's... a very strange pleasure to meet you, Gailardia. I'm Sakura.

[ Remember that whole handshaking thing? She's doing it again, but only after removing her glove. It's an intent motion, one she doesn't think about.

She's going crazy. Man, did it have to be like this? ]

[He's patient, calmly waiting for her to finish her test. He sympathizes, really. At least he was greeted by some people he trusted. Still trusts, present tense.]

For where, that's easy. It's the Astral Plane. Though the how is a little trickier. I could theorize but...

[And then this face.]

[Followed by this one.]

[And Guy is backing up several steps rapidly, holding his hands out in a slightly defensive way, keeping the smile, though it's strained and closer to terrified.]

Ah--ha ha... I-it's not you! No offense! [His voice cracks a little with stress, and it's actually pretty comical. Aside from the seconds from terror thing.] But pl-please, could you keep your distance?

[ Sakura watches, surprised at first, then bothered, then concerned. Partly for Gailardia, partly for herself, evidenced as she looks down at her hand, then to him, and let's her hand just... slowly drop down.

Yes. Officially losing it. This is all too bizarre to really be offended, so she offers a softer: ]

None taken.

[ Before taking one step back herself, then another, then scanning the area to her right looking for someplace to -- go. The urge to sit down and absorb her own mental breakdown is imminent, and tied up init is the anger that it wasn't fair, that none of this was fair, and that apparently she wasn't able to hold up under the pressure of everything back home. ]

Damn.

[ Still soft, but said for her own sake as she lets anger and dismay show on her face, completely independent of anything Guy had asked after. His reaction's weird, but maybe -- with this all being in her head -- it's just the natural conclusion of what anyone should do when presented by her hands. You want steady, you want dependable. Sakura was much better than she had been, but... she wasn't there yet.

She folded her gloves together, tucking them into the pack at her hip as she started walking. Sakura ran a hand through her hair, a futile attempt at gathering her thoughts and remaining sanity together.

The bird had still been in the air. She went back to see it land, came back here because that couldn't be possible. Moving toward the kiosk, largely because it was the obvious landmark, she was shaking her head. ]

Damn damn damn damn damn damn. Naruto's training, the village is rebuilding, and I'm going insane. Sakura, you don't have the time for this!

[Watching her mild freak out Guy has to sigh. Good job Guy. Maybe if she leaves and arrives without memories half a dozen times he'll find a way to break it to her without stressing her out. Or maybe he's losing his touch. Either way, he catches up to her, settling at his comfortable but not too far distance as he joins her walk towards the kiosk.]

[Sounds like she's having a tough time anyway.]

I doubt there's ever a convenient time to go insane. If it helps, you're not hallucinating this. I'm real, this place is real. You can even use it to take a breather, if things are hectic back home. Though, it has it's own hazards here too.

[ She's being followed. She guess it makes sense. Not like she ever left herself alone mentally anyway, it should keep up while she's here. In the Astral Insanity Plane. ]

There are better moments, usually when you have back-up plans of people handling things. I don't even have...

[ She trails off, throat constricting. It's hard to breathe for a moment, and she shuts her eyes, still walking. Shizune... and then Tsunade unconscious, in a coma nothing was rousing her out of. ]

You don't get it. Or maybe I don't.

[ She opens her eyes, looking at her hands. Now it's a thing about her hands. ]

There's no one else. If Shizune had... but it doesn't matter. She isn't, and Tsunade isn't, and I'm the only one with a handle on what's going on. I know the hospital medics who survived, I can keep them coordinated and working. Between me and the other jounin we can manage the paperwork all right until she wakes up, but [ she looks over and up at him, brow furrowing ] we don't know how long that'll be. There's going to have to be a move to appoint a temporary in the meantime, but they still won't know what to do on the medical side of things. Maybe Shikaku?

[ A frown, then shaking her head. She's not cut out for this sort of planning, largely because she never, ever wanted to be. ]

I don't have time to lose it. There's no one here to pick up the pieces if I don't.

[ Looks like that's enough to get them over to the kiosk, which she stares at, silent. Then with an abrupt swirl of motion, she seats herself at the bottom, awkwardly leaning back against it. She should just think herself back, ignore her own shambles of a head. If she repressed hard enough, it wouldn't be real. Right? That's how it worked.

Consequently she's gone again, and a few minutes later... Sakura's back. No... not just back, but burying her face in her hands with a heavy sigh. ]

New plan. Figure out how to deal with literal escapism while rebuilding efforts go forward. Figure out the mass grave situation. Figure out where we're at with the health risk assessment... update the missing lists.

[Guy crouches down in front of Sakura when she gets back, leaning his elbows on his knees as he watches her. Maybe he doesn't get everything she's said but he certainly follows well enough to understand an outline of the situation. Destroyed village, dead leader, a lot of dead, actually. So, probably war. Either the aftermath of one or the aftermath of a battle. Casualties enough for mass graves. Plenty of work for a medic, more than plenty, too much. Guy's more than familiar with the horrors of war and genocide and the consequences of rebuilding afterwards. There's also the possibility it was simply a natural disaster--either way, destruction and death.]

Hey. [His voice is gentle, kind.] Relax a minute. Take a deep breath. In. [Pause.] Let it out. Okay, look at me, Sakura.

You don't have to believe this place is real. Sounds like you have enough problems as it is without dealing with this place's brand of mischief.

From what you're saying you've got too much on your plate and not enough resources to handle it. Winding yourself up isn't going to help. After a disaster, those who are healthy have an obligation to look after themselves as much as they have to look after everyone else. [Says the mother hen.] So take a minute and breathe. Sort yourself out. The work's going to pile up until you collapse under it and then it'll really pile up, so give yourself a chance to rest, okay?

Let me make you a cup of tea and we can figure out what to do to help you, alright?

[Guy never could say no to a damsel in distress. Even if they aren't helpless, even if they didn't even ask for help.]

[ She doesn't listen to his advice, particularly -- just happens to be breathing in and out as he says (really, just that, she swears) -- if it's hard to tell what she's thinking as she watches this figment of her imagination.

Please be fictional. ]

I'm fine. Really! Though...

[ Her takes on a somewhat confused, someone amused expression. ]

Is this a pep talk? You should really yell more. Or try to punch me through something.

[ Because, Gailardia, that is how she's gotten her pep talks in the past. They mostly seem to stick. ]

Usually worked pretty well in the past.

[ Much more carefully this time, she turns her hands around to show him her empty palms. They're calloused in a way that says they get enough use, but clean. ]

There's nothing to worry about. [ This is that reassurance. I'm not a burden. Don't carry me. I can do it. She will regret all of this far too much when the stringent belief in it's fictitiousness finally wears thin. ] I'm sturdier than I look. Not that I'd say no to tea, mind you.

[ Maybe she should go for tea. ... Nope. Once this delusion was over, she had to check in with the team over at the far end handling excavations. Shikaku was handling the actual political end, meeting with the other jounin and calling on the lords to figure out what was being done in the meantime. Or he would be. She didn't think people had been pulled together quite yet. ]

[She is so far from fine it really reminds him... Of all his other friends. Why does he pick up the ones who smile when they hurt? Never mind that he does this himself to an extreme degree, to the point of mastering the lie. The important thing is that Sakura is clearly not okay, and Guy is naturally inclined to do all he can to help her out.]

I don't make it a policy to punch girls. [Another gentle smile.] Especially not pretty ones. And I doubt you need yelling at.

I didn't say you were weak. But everyone gets tired and needs a break now and then. I know we're practically strangers, but that just means you can relax. I'm not among those counting on you, so you don't need to keep up the pretense for me. Think of me as furniture, if you want, and don't mind my presence.

[He stands. He'd offer her his hand, but you know how that goes. Instead he points behind him with his thumb.]

Come on, I'll make you that tea and you can talk it out.

[ Sakura listens. Her lips curl up a little. ]

Defeats the purpose of sparring if you hold back.

[ She looks away at the pretty comment, because she's not at her best, mentally, to deal with it past a level of feeling her face turn red. Compliments aren't something that come along those lines often, even if she pegs it as part of the whole 'be distracted' feeling she has going on.

... Did this mean she just called herself pretty? Guess she had some ego after all.

Sakura snorts, laughing briefly as she stands. ]

Don't say that. I actually use my furniture. What's the point in having something around if it doesn't serve a purpose? And I doubt you want me sitting, sleeping, or eating off you.

[ 'cause she sure as hell wasn't going to figure a way to do that to part of her mind. ]

I try to keep my sparring and motivational speeches separate, most days.

[Guy grins--smiling, he does it a lot. but it's nice to hear Sakura laugh, even if it's dry.]

Haha... [He laughs himself, his usual slightly awkward chuckle.] Probably best we don't try any of that. It'd be a bit indecent.

[Off to the kitchen they trek! And along the way, Guy glances down at Sakura as they walk.]

It sounds like something major happened to your home before you got here. Do you want to talk about it?

[ Something in the way she glances at him when he laughs like that makes it seem like she's questioning the sound. Still internalizing it -- yeah, she feels a little awkward, that's what going crazy does to you when you recognize it, right? She can compartmentalize. Let the real awkward out when she's alone and away from the people depending on her. ]

No. Not really.

[ If this is herself trying to get her to examine what happened, it could bugger off. Sakura feels her face settling into -- not quite a frown. Troubled, passing for neutral.

Okay, so cope with what happened. Enough to focus on what still had to happen. Then jump right back in and start dealing, like she'd been trained. This is stupid. I can't afford to let them down. ]

There's only so much mental revisiting I can take before I end up wanting to straddle my rooftop and scream until the images stop. What's past is past. Leave it to nightmares while you plan for the future.

[He nods, crossing his arms as they walk. Repress? He's been there, done that. Still doing it, honestly. But there's a point past which is leaves lasting, festering wounds, that only remembering and facing can begin to let heal and scar over. But he won't push. They've only just met.]

I understand. Then don't think about it for now. You can use being here as a chance to catch a moment's rest.

[Ahh the kitchen.] He goes to set the kettle on.]

Did you have any questions about this place?

Yes. No. Maybe.

[ She half smiles. ]

Does it have decent vacationing spots?

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001 | time here all but means nothing, just shadows that move across the wall.

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bear with me on this

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My turn for spam

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