Mirai had noticed the genjutsu right after it had been cast and released it before turning to the woman beside her to do the same to her. Much to her surprise the woman was sitting up as if nothing had happened staring into the arena with a worn out look on her face.
"And so it begins," the woman said as she closed her eyes before turning to face Mirai. "Your team mates need you," she said, locking blue eyes with the younger girl. "Go find them. You're much stronger together."
Mirai's eyes flicked over to the competitor's box and then back when she saw that they weren't there. "What about Kyoko and Kako?" she asked, refusing to move until she got an answer.
"They're in capable hands," the woman said, gesturing towards where the two had been sitting.
Mirai glanced over and saw her sister and brother safely encircled by the two older Akazaki boys and her sensei. She looked back at the blonde woman and gave a stiff nod before she stood and dashed out of the stadium, dodging enemy shinobi along the way.
The woman closed her eyes as she took a deep breath before turning to face the group of Oto-nin that had been sneaking up behind her.
"Would you boys care to hear your future?" she asked with a wicked light in her eyes, performing a string of hand signs.
"Takashi-kun!" Mirai called out when she found her male team mate.
He was standing over the boy that Jizouko had fought with his bow loaded and pointed at the boy's chest.
"Mirai-chan? What're you doing here?" he asked as she walked up next to him, not taking his eyes off of his golden eyed prisoner.
"Looking for you, where's Ji-chan?" she frowned as she looked around at the empty buildings.
"She went after that woman," Toshiro chuckled darkly, "you'll never be able to find her!"
"Oh, shut up, you," Takashi groaned as he punched his prisoner in the head, knocking him out cold.
Mirai winced as she clutched at her head when she felt a sharp pain in the middle of her forehead. Behind her closed eyes she saw a man with brown hair carrying a blurry shape in his arms as he ran through falling debris. She grunted in pain when the vision changed. The details weren't as sharp as the first one, but she could make out a woman's face with red eyes and black and white hair falling over tanned skin.
"Mirai-chan? Are you alright?" she felt Takashi place a hand on her back.
She cried out as she collapsed on the ground and curled into a ball when the colors swirled in her mind's eye and settled on a new picture. It was of a burnt out shell of a house nestled into a verdant clearing with a woman standing before it. The woman was dressed simply in a plain brown kimono, really the only thing that set her apart from anybody that Mirai had seen before was her purple streaked brown hair and string of silver earrings decorating her cartilage that peaked through her two toned strands.
Her stomach churned violently, prompting her to lunge to the side before its contents spilled onto the street.
"What's wrong?" Takashi asked worriedly as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I… I'm not sure," Mirai gasped as her body shook uncontrollably. "We have to find Ji-chan!"
Jizouko woke up again to the earth shaking beneath her.
Where am I? She panicked as she looked around her.
She was in a relatively intact store front lying on the floor behind the counter; she peaked through a display case and saw that the front window was shattered along with the majority of glass in the place.
How did I end up here? She wondered rubbed her palm against her throbbing temple.
She stopped moving when she saw a large white dog sitting directly in front of her with its head tilted to the side staring right at her with deep black eyes.
"Uh… Hi?" she wasn't sure what to say, let alone do in this situation.
The dog wagged its long white tail as it stuck its tongue out and started to pant happily.
"Good boy," she said as she patted his head when she got up to leave.
The dog barked and jumped into her path as its tail wagged furiously, moving the back half of its body as well.
Jizouko frowned as she tried to maneuver around the animal only to have it jump in front of her each time.
"Hey, I can't play right now," she said as she managed to climb through the store window. "Go away."
The dog tilted its head and whined as she started to walk off. She stopped and turned around at the pitiful sound.
"Fine," she sighed loudly, "come on! You better not slow me down…"
Broken glass crunched beneath her feet as she walked down the street, not entirely sure where she was. The dog barked and padded up alongside her with its tail still wagging.
She smiled as she buried her hand in the long fur atop the canine's head; it looked like she'd made a friend…
She sighed as her thoughts began to wander as she walked through the empty street with her new companion. That woman she'd followed looked so familiar… But was it possible?
Tomo-nee, are you alive? She dared to wonder as she turned a corner.