Part 4 in the Obelisk Series:
Kingdom of Man, Kingdom of Beasts, Kingdom of Monsters, and Kigdom of Gods.
OBELISK:
KINGDOM OF GODS
"Holy places are dark places. It is life and strength, not knowledge and words, that we get in them. Holy wisdom is not clear and thin like water, but thick and dark like blood."
C.S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces.
In a weird twist of fate, it was actually Jugo's grandfather that found her in the dirt of his orchard,feet naked and bleeding from the impossible walk. She had passed out again so the memory was hazy, but there were people helping her, holding her. She couldn't hear any of it, but she felt all of it.
When she was out of it all she saw were red poppies, bleeding red poppies blooming behind her eyes.
It was night when she woke up and there were people in a room around her. It wasn't the same day.
Someone held up a sign and Sakura struggled to see it.
One finger for I remember
Two for I don't remember
Sakura just closed her eyes and returned to the field of poppies.
When she awoke again it was another day later and the sky was caught between noon and afternoon. There were less people in the room, but Sakura recognized Ino asleep in the chair. There was beeping in the room, the sound of beeping, but it was so far off and distant. Sakura doubted it was even truly there. Was it an auditory hallucination or was her hearing really coming back to her?
"Ino?" Sakura felt the vibration of her voice and heard it in her ears.
The blond was awake on a jolt. She looked lost for only a second before she realized Sakura's eyes were open and staring at her. Ino gasped and raced for Sakura's bed side, falling down on the empty space of the cot and collapsing atop Sakura's pillows, careful not to actually touch or hurt Sakura.
"What happened?" Sakura asked in what she thought was a whisper, but likely wasn't.
It took a while because Ino talked so fast and the sound was so far away Sakura kept having to ask her friend to go back and repeat stuff. By the time the blond got to the part when they were waiting for her to wake up yesterday she gasped.
"I needed to tell them you were awake as soon as it happened. Hang on, I'll be right back."
Alone again, Sakura sat back in the hospital cot to think.
According to Ino's story they had been out at another club but Ino went home with someone else, someone from the set she would be working with, and Sakura had planned on going back alone. The doorman didn't see her come back and there wasn't any video of her on the security tapes to indicate she made it back.
Ino didn't even know Sakura was missing until she got a call later the next day. Someone had found her a mess in their apple orchard, bleeding from superficial wounds and moaning about broken bones. Something had happened to her ears as well, they were caked with blood and they suspected she would be suffering some hearing loss when she woke up. Ino didn't know if it would ever get better.
When the door opened again Sakura looked up and expected to see a doctor, but it was the man from the apple orchard. Jugo's grandfather. He seemed pleasant enough, but Sakura remembered Jugo explaining how his family was distant and antisocial.
"You've given us a scare," the old man said in a raised voice. The volume was perfect for Sakura, but she knew she would need hearing aids if things did not get better.
"Thank you for rescuing me."
"I don't think I did much of that. We just found you in the dirt. They'll ask you what happened when the doctors come back, it looks bad enough that police were even contacted."
"I'm not sure I'll be able to tell them what happened," Sakura breathed, inwardly panicking. A date gone bad? A joke gone too far? What would her story be? Not even she truly knew how she ended up in the orchard. She could have sword she made it back to the room before sleeping, and it wasn't like another bout of sleepwalking could explain how she traveled two hours out of the city to the rural side of New York.
The old man took a seat in a chair close to her bed. He smiled up at her and Sakura noticed how tan his face was. He wore dirty overalls as well, faded in the knees and fraying in places. "You'll need a friend if you want to lie to authorities more than once."
Sakura swore her hearing was playing tricks on her. "What?"
He didn't say anything but his gaze drifted to something on her nightstand. Sakura looked and saw behind the books and the lamp something black and white, glittering in the dim light.
The Obelisk!
Somehow it was always there when she woke up from a dream, no matter what. If she fell asleep in someone else's room, it was right there on the nightstand when she woke up. If she passed out on the couch, it was on the coffee table in front of her. That's always how it had worked in the past.
Had it been there in the dirt when she awoke in the apple orchard? Why was he suspicious about it? Why was he even still at the hospital?
"How long has it been since you found me?" Sakura asked, looking to the window. It was evening. How long since she last dreamed in the land of the gods?
"This is the second day since we found you."
"And why are you here?"
He had been leaning forward, but at her tone he straighten up in his seat and regarded her cooly. "How long have you been inside the Obelisk's trials?"
Run, run, run, run, run! Her mind was screaming and she felt her heart kick up into a panicked beat. She wanted to run and fight, but her legs were wrapped down and her ankle felt like it was in a cast. She wouldn't be running anytime soon.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
He stood and crossed the room to her nightstand and reached behind the lamp to pick up the Obelisk. Sakura's heart skipped in her chest as she watched him turn it around with wide, old eyes.
"Your grandmother was a fool to leave it where someone else might find it. Did you even know what it was when you opened it?" he glanced down at her and shook his head. "Of course you didn't. It's a cosmic joke. They told the old people it was a trail for godhood, but we learned well enough on our own how silly we were being to believe in such a fairytale. Thousands of years, thousands of lives, the best humanity had to offer and no one ever made it."
Sakura looked up at the man with growing dread. "Who are you?"
He sighed, replacing the Obelisk and reaching inside his overalls to pull out his wallet. There was a medal in between the folds he turned over his fingers to let her see. An eagle with an arrow through its heart. The memory hurt.
"My grandmother had a wooden box with that same eagle symbol on it, and Jugo had a seal like that on his fake Katana from last halloween. What…?"
"We were a liberation movement. My family used to be one of seven families that was tasked with finding dreamers and protecting them while they slept. We were also charged with defending the Obelisk from outsiders. Our legacy spanned back to when the Obelisk first came to Japan via the silk road. Each family held up their traditions with honor and pride. But, over a hundred years ago attitudes began to shift. You see, my father was younger than you when he saw the last dreamer die."
The man's voice was still raised, but Sakura heard it grow softer as he kept close so that she might hear the rest of his story. "My father had been friends with that boy before his death and after that event four of the original seven families overthrew the remaining three and vowed to discontinue the use of the Obelisk. We stole it away to America where it eventually passed to your grandmother who married into one of the four families. One family remained in Japan, ours came here, and the last family split up. We hoped we would never be needed again, as your grandmother assured us it would be safe in her possession and the bloody legacy would be over. "
"You did a great job," Sakura bit out, feeling antagonistic with all the stress her heart had just been under. "Let me guess, the families were originally big on the idea of having a friend of theirs turn into a god that grants all their wishes, yeah? There were no ulterior movies there. Just wanted to do the right thing, eh?"
When he looked down at her she smiled up at him with sarcasm strong in her eyes.
"I'm surprised you're not more of a mess after all of this." He pointed to the Obelisk. "How long have you been dreaming to make it so far?"
Based off the colors, he could tell what Kingdom she was in, but he didn't know how many days, months, and years it had taken her to get so far. Sakura closed her eyes and traveled back to that early summer in the attic. The puzzle had been her downfall.
"It's been two years."
"So short a time…" he mused, glancing down at the Obelisk once more. "No wonder Jugo though you disliked him. You've been bearing this burden remarkably well so far."
"Jugo…you're not going to tell him about this, are you?" Sakura flushed with the thought of someone she was close with knowing what she had done, what had happened to her, what continued to haunt her every night.
"He was one of the hands that helped you into the car that drove you here," he laughed. "Of course he knows. He's always known and done a fine job keeping the traditions even when his father wouldn't. He's been asking to see you."
Sakura felt angry again, pushing herself up in bed. "You don't have the right to share my experiences with others. I don't care who you are or what sort of shady organization you claim to be a part of, but I've gotten this far on my own, I don't want anything to do with you."
"It's your legacy. You're a part of the families-"
"Bullshit! I'm a part of a mess I've been climbing out of for two years now. I'll make it the rest of the way on my own."
"You don't have to. There's a way to exit the Obelisk trials."
Sai had told her the same thing once before, a long time ago and she knew it still wasn't an option. She wasn't going to quit and give up after coming so far. She just killed a god, she defeated three other Kingdoms and their gates. When she spoke it was through a snarl. "I know about the pregnancy clause and that's not an option."
He seemed a bit taken aback and she didn't know if it was because of her tone or what she said. Maybe both.
"It wasn't right of you to open the Obelisk. This is a mistake we're trying to fix."
"I made the mistake, it's mine to fix."
He took a step back and his face sagged a bit. "Would it be so terrible to rely on your friends for help? You're suffering, not just right now, but all nights in that world. Why not rely on others who care for you."
"I don't know you and I don't trust you."
He nodded to the door. "The girls who have been in and out care for you, and my grandson cares for you more than you probably know. He made promises when he took up the Wounded Eagle and he thought those promises might sever his friendship with others, but I don't believe in that. You need others to get by. You should know that if you've gotten this far."
"You don't think I got that far on my own?"
He frowned. "The Uchiha who relied on their own might did not fare as well as those who knew to ask for aid. Madara might be the exception."
Sakura felt ice in her veins at the sound of that name. She had spoken it many times before, but hearing it coming from someone else, someone outside the dream…
The shock must have shown on her face since he hummed and eased back down into the seat. "Yes, we know about him. We've kept records of every boy and girl who went took the trials; over a thousand years of records has been our legacy. Now we must add you, but I hope it won't be a name we have to count as lost."
There were nurses outside and Sakura thought she heard Ino. Her hearing was still bad. She didn't have much time left. What was she going to tell them, what was she going to say?
A hand on hers made her look up. He seemed almost kind when he pat her wrist and smiled down at her. "We've already told them a story of intruders. You don't have to remember anything. Jugo will be here tomorrow to help your discharge. The blond will understand if you have to stay with family friends for a while."
"I didn't agree to any of that," Sakura hissed, feeling panic race her heart.
"You have a better idea?"
She didn't.
He chuckled, standing and moving away from her bed, opening the door to let the nurses in. No one stopped him as he left and no one noticed the look he gave her over her shoulder, nor the look she sent back.
She was prepared when weariness dragged her down, past the poppies to the inky under layer of the dream.
She awoke among rubble, the stones had come down all around her. She was nearly crushed under a heavy slab, but it had gotten caught on what was left on the golden husk of the god she awoke in. Her ankle was pinned and her ribs screamed, but the damage wasn't terrible. Her hearing was coming back slowly.
Green glowed from her hands as she ran them over her ribs and concentrated on welding bones back, shard by shard. Her ankle came next and then she tried her best to repair the damage in her ears but she could feel something beyond her reach. One was easier to hear out of than the other. She wondered if she would ever be able to hear like she used to out of her left ear if even her chakra couldn't fix it.
"Sai," she called, crawling out of the black gold husk. "Sai, where are you?" The world was dizzy when she walked and she could still see the afterimage of poppies when she moved too fast.
Not enough time would have passed in the dream for him to have gotten up and wandered away without first getting her, right? Sai wouldn't do that. She knew better.
Sakura heaved slab after slab out of her way, recognizing the ruins of the room around her. She righted herself with what used the be the doors and then turned down to the place where she had left Sai. It, thankfully, looked less demolished that the rest of the room. Sakura slid down the rubble, feeling her head zing with dizziness as she stumbled the rest of the way. Her shield was still in place, right where she left it. With a touch it melted into dream once more and she was kneeling before the form of her half awake friend.
"Right where I left you," Sakura breathed. Her body was shaking.
Sai smiled tiredly up at her. "Time has passed so slowly here. Nothing has moved since you went to where the flowers sleep," he whispered, reaching for her. She grabbed his wrists and halt him up till he was staggering into her arms. His head fall atop her shoulder as he hummed. "I knew you would win."
"Are you okay?" Sakura asked, still worried about the scabbed over wound on his chest. He had seemed so out of it earlier and she suspected there had been a toxin in whatever hurt him.
"I'll be fine. I'm still weak from the possession."
Sakura frowned. "Possession?"
"The dream killer in this world can't touch you physically. She's too close to the Great Eye to take a solid form, but she can possess others. She's called the ghost and she's a copy of Orochimaru."
"She's terribly pleasent."
"She operates by antagonizing others and luring the dreamer into traps. I'm no better than an actor, I couldn't stop her from taking over my body."
"I thought she would need permission for something like that."
"She is a Medusa of sorts. She moves into actors freely so long as they look into her eyes, or the eyes of one of her snake thralls. I was unwise and met the eye of an asp." Sai coughed before taking a step on his own, closer to the husk of the fallen god. "I doubt we will go long before her trouble finds us once more."
Sakura let Sai go from under her arm, allowing him to use his legs while she recovered the strength in hers. The bruises and minor cuts were still pressing on her body and she felt tired. She felt light. She felt like resting. Sai turned to look over his shoulder and stopped when he saw her resting between a rock and a fallen pillar.
"We may rest a while if you need it. Killing a god brands you. Have you inspected your body in the dream yet? There should be a mark with his hieroglyph somewhere." He pointed to his chest area. "It's important for later on when we need to use their sealed power to stop the sandstorm that surrounds the Obelisk. You're already one fourth of the way there."
Sakura looked down at her body. In the dream she was covered in ink, but underneath that her armor had been burned to scraps. Without the ink she would have been an immodest display, but with just Sai she didn't care.
"I'll have to get the ink off later and see." Sakura breathed deep, sucking in dust and sand with the filtered breath. "That wasn't so bad of a fight. Where to next?"
Sai almost chuckled at her battered form. "You should rest for now. There is no rush and I'm not going anywhere."
Sai was a few paces away from her, standing atop a limp tentacle when something dropped to the floor between them. Sakura looked up the shaft of the room to where cracks in the ceiling let in light from the outside world, but Sai was shouting at something else.
Sakura looked back down and saw the cloth bag that had just plummeted down between them was leaking a colored smoke that curled out and away in angry blue hues. Another two cloths fell between them and Sakura heard others. She coughed, smelling the toxins in their smoke. Sai was trying to say something but she could see him wavering. He started to pitch and stumbled to a part of the god's dead body where an old dagger stood out. Sai fell next to the hilt and tugged it out as even more smoke curled up over his body.
The poppies behind Sakura's eyes were growing heavier and she whimpered, even less capable of fighting them away with how broken her body still felt. She could heal, but her skill was only so developed. Bones she could mend, cuts she could close, but never all the way, and never fully. She was still weak and still in plenty of pain. The smoke curled over her and she felt nearly lost to the world.
Sai was calling her name, but he was so far away, his voice was so small.
Through the smoke she saw tails uncurl. One two three, they hit the floor around them with a dull smack and Sakura realized they weren't actual tails, but coiled rope. Heavy rope…
Sai was still calling her name and trying to stand. She saw the dagger in his hand, dripping ink. A shadow rose up behind him and Sakura watched with only half her hearing as the shadow grabbed Sai with bandaged hands. Another figure helped restrain Sai while a third moved to inspect the dead god's body. There were words exchanged but Sakura only heard parts of them.
He said we would…desert hawks…
Sand….That wasn't a part of…
…According to what we already knew of…
You can check later, hurry! We ….
How long?
Scouts say ….or more…
The royal pain…horses and chariots….
Scorpion or claws?
…..Matter?
There was a struggle and then someone said something about weight and then Sakura saw Sai's limp body being raised up, the rope tied around his waist. One of the bodies followed Sai up a second rope, and then another. The last body, the one that always wandered, sprinted through the blue smoke and stopped close enough that Sakura was sure it saw her. She looked up and met the eyes hidden between wrappings of blue cloth. A hawk was painted into the fabric over the mouth area. The figure's face was hidden, but it's eyes were wide.
Someone whistled high and urgent. The figure hesitated, but then was gone in a flash, likely deeming her not worth his time. The smoke was thinning, but she still couldn't move. Her body wouldn't listen to her. She was stuck. She couldn't move an inch and they just took Sai.
They took Sai. They took SAI!
No! Sakura had just gotten him back, she had almost lost him, and she had just gotten him back after almost a year of thinking she had killed him-one of her closest friends! They couldn't take Sai away from her. She got got him back. She just got him back, shejustgothimback shejustgothimback shejustgothimBACK!
Sakura screamed, but it was a gurgle in her throat as her body was still so sluggish and the poppies were still there. No, the poppies were yawning wide as something snapped in the world around her and she felt herself slipping backwards. The dream was starting the grow taunt around her and she still couldn't see Sai. They were out of sight, they were taking Sai away from her, but the dream was ending already. It didn't make sense to her in a way that had her begging for this one small mercy. She wanted Sai back. She needed to move.
"You can't take him away from me again," she seethed, pulling herself up over the stones to where she had seen the ropes come down. She'd dream her own up and follow them to the surface. She'd chase them down. She'd cut them down. She'd get Sai back-she'd-
The dream snapped like a rubbed bad and she was lost in darkness, falling back into the real world as she opened her eyes in the hospital room.
A nurse was there, smiling as Sakura stirred. "Oh good, you're awake. Your friends will be here soon to take you back. You're being discharged today!"
More than one person was surprised to see how able bodied she was when Sakura limped down the hall with a determined glint to her eye. The nurse was following along behind Sakura with the wheelchair that Sakura refused to use, even with her ankle in a boot. Down the hallway in front of the desk she saw more than she bargained for and was grateful she had been stubborn enough to walk.
Karin looked like she wanted to cry when she pushed away from Jugo to run the rest of the way and fall into a hug that had Sakura wincing. Behind her Jugo and his grandfather were commenting on how she should be more careful, but it was noise to Karin.
"I'm going to kill Ino."
Sakura groaned. "Karin…"
"She left you like the selfish bitch she is. What the hell is wrong with her, why isn't she here now? I'm going to kill her next time I see her," Karin seethed.
"Shut up, she's already distressed enough as it is. I told her already I would be staying someplace else to recover and she helped me get time off from my work."
"The accounting gig was a dried up before this, it's not like she had to do anything," Karin bit out, stepping back while holding Sakura around the shoulders.
"I was working at the publishing office in NYC. Accounting stuff dies down in the summer. But yeah, she was helpful and she felt terrible. Don't blame her, it wasn't her fault and she couldn't have done anything different to make things happen any other way, so drop it." Sakura closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm still tired, it seems."
Jugo came up and tapped Karin on the shoulder. The redhead grinned to their mutual friend and stood back, allowing Jugo more room to communicate. He reached out to touch her elbow in a gesture meant to be encouraging. His smile was as soft and sweet as she remembered it.
"Hey," his voice was warm feathers under her head. She felt instantly relaxed.
"Hey," she croaked back. "Long time no see?"
Karin snorted, but they ignored her. "Yeah. I'm glad you're awake and walking around. You look better than when we first found you," he said.
Sakura groaned, rolling her eyes. "Oh please don't mention it, I know I'm still a mess, don't make me feel worse."
"Okay, I won't. You always look nice, Sakura."
Sakura hummed in appreciation and caught the sideways look Karin was throwing her. It was enough to make the green eyed girl flush and feel embarrassed. They weren't flirting, they were friends!
Karin's eyes grew wider and she pointed to Sakura's face before making a gagging gesture. Sakura frowned, causing Karin to sign in exasperation before pulling out her phone and taking a quick picture.
"Here, look at yourself," Karin demanded, shoving her phone in front of Jugo's face, separating them.
The picture came into focus and Sakura wanted to recoil. She didn't care what she looked like in the dream world, even though she knew she was a mess there, but it seemed she was just as bruised and broken looking in the real world. She had a modest nebula of bruises encircling her left eye and cheek, cuts on her jaw, and a greatly abused lip. Her eyes were red rimmed as well, making her look like an addict.
'And he just said I looked nice,' she mentally moaned, wanting to reach up and cover her face in a moment of pettiness.
"Karin!" Jugo chastised in a voice stronger and sterner than what Sakura was used to hearing. Karin just tittered, enjoying his annoyance a bit too much. "You said you were worried about Sakura, but it hasn't been two minutes since you've started teasing her. Can't the bickering take a break?"
"Oh Sakura, did you need a break?" Karin fake gasped. "I didn't know I was too much for you."
Sakura huffed, hating how her annoyance with Karin was so damn pleasant. It was unfair how fun it was to bicker and taunt. "It was so nice having a break from using only lower level vocabulary that high school drop outs could understand."
"Don't worry, I just graduated from Never Woke Up Ugly University."
"With what? A major in Bad Decisions and a minor in Skank Studies."
"You should know, you were teaching all the classes."
"Karin!" Jugo sighed, glaring at both girls in exasperation. "Really, the both of you. Is this appropriate?"
"Is your face appropriate? The end of life care patients are in the same room and they don't need any help moving on."
Jugo groaned, shaking his head as he walked backwards towards his grandfather who was helping check Sakura out in the legal sense.
Begrudgingly, Sakura had come to accept his help when faced with the prospect of having to pay for her hospital fee with her low end health insurance that did basically nothing for her. It had been a part of his negotiations strategy when he came back the other night to try and win her over. She hated how trapped she felt when she said yes, but a part of her knew that if there were others who knew about the Obelisk and others who knew about what she was going through, it was better to be closer to them and learn what she could.
He claimed they had records, hundreds of tomes detailing the accounts of past dreamers. It was his family's speciality to keep the chronicles preserved through the generations. Other families had other jobs, such as seeking out potential dreamers, raising wards to protect the dreamer in case of an invasion, decoding and deciphering puzzles presented in the dream, and so on. Sakura's grandmother had been one of the coders tasked with helping solve the puzzles of the Obelisk, which made sense when Sakura considered her inherited love for puzzles. She had a mind well suited to solving cryptic mysteries.
"Ready to go?" Jugo's grandfather asked, coming over to the still bickering girls.
Karin beamed and wrapped an arm around Sakura. "Yeah, I told my boyfriend where he can pick me up and he'll be there around three so I can make it in time for work. But that should be plenty of time to help Sakura get settled in."
"You do nothing but unsettle my stomach," Sakura whispered, looking away innocently as Karin turned and glared.
Jugo groaned in the background while his grandfather chuckled, reaching for Sakura's only traveling bag. Ino had dropped off some things the other day and had wanted to give up more, but Sakura had been encouraged to rely a bit more on Jugo's family, so she had told Ino not to bother. Most of the things Sakura needed would be at the estate waiting for her.
Sakura loved Karin and felt a bit of peace when she had her friend on her arm, but even with Karin, there was no way to forget the anxiety that made her flip out on the nurse in an incoherent rant about having to 'go back for my friend' when she first woke up. Sakura still flelt jittery and wanted to go back as soon as possible for Sai, but she knew she would have to wait until night when her body actually needed the rest.
Once Karin left, Sakura would be able to talk about her experience a bit more freely.
The four of them packed into Jugo's truck and let him drive them from the small hospital back up into the mountains where the apple orchard was nestled. Beyond the orchard was a sprawling Japanese style house built into the side of a modest mountain. Off to the side was a barn for equipment and another for storage. As they were climbing out Sakura also noticed an area off beyond the bars where a trailer bed sported the framework and early steps of a micro home that Jugo had been building.
Sakura had a room to herself, small with sliding doors leading out to a porch that wrapped around the whole of the house's inner facing courtyard. Karin helped Sakura set up the futon for the night with extra pillows for elevation before she got a text from Sui that he was outside the property and would be there in minutes.
"You sure you don't want to stay with me and our family? You're practically my sister if you ask my folks about it."
Sakura shook her head, only vaguely thankful that she wouldn't be a burden to her friends. "Jugo's grandfather is a surprisingly stubborn man, and he's generous to someone who won't be much help until this boot comes off. At least by then I'll be able to help with the apple harvest."
"Please don't talk like Autumn is right around the corner," Karin moaned. "I still wanna enjoy my summer."
"I hate summer."
"I know."
Sakura closed her eyes and laid back against the pillows. "It's nice here. It's quiet."
Sakura couldn't hear as well as she once could, but the hum of cicada was loud enough to feel between breaths when both girls were quiet. Sakura's fingers twitched when she felt the wood of the porch vibrate. She looked up and saw Jugo coming down the way, footsteps heavy but soft.
Karin moaned. "That's my cue to get out of here. I'll try to come visit again tomorrow or at least the day after. You're going to be bored out of your mind here."
"I'll sleep most of the time."
Sakura smiled at her friend and gave her a parting kiss on the cheek before the redhead disappeared back inside to go home with her boyfriend. There was a moment of humming silence before Jugo climbed down to sit alongside her on the porch. He smiled when she looked over at him.
"You okay?"
Her hands shook when she spoke, even when she balled them between her knees. "I think I lost my friend last night. I need to go back as soon as possible to save him."
"Will you tell me what happened?"
Sakura did, summarizing huge chunks of the story, glossing over her fight with a simple sentence to focus more on who Sai was, and what he meant to her. She talked a bit about the dream killer and how little she knew of the other actors in the new Kingdom. Sai had been her guide, but they took him. She was blind in a new world.
Jugo was thoughtful and quiet as he listened before speaking. "You've gone through too much to loose him again. I think you'll be able to get him back if you've come as far as you have."
"I'mm less worried about winning and advancing and more worried about my friend. Sai doesn't deserve it. He's already sacrificed so much for me. He believes in me, so I can't let him down."
"I've read some of the accounts." Sakura turned to watch Jugo as he stared off across the inner courtyard garden. "Officially I've been allowed access since moving in with my grandfather, and I haven't gone through much, but I've read about the Sigh of Dejection more than once, sometimes in passing, sometimes in detail. He's the knower of secret ways, a distant observer, a creative artists that is more concerned with the world he crafts than the dreamer he guides. I always thought he was cold. He seemed like an unlikeable guy, so stiff and formal, almost cruel in his uncaring." Jugo turned to her. "But you don't see him that way. To you, he's your friend."
"He wasn't always my friend. I didn't like him at first, and I didn't trust him for a while." She remembered his face in the Kingdom of Man when she told him she was going after Orochimaru, and when she told him she was bringing him with her to the next world. "But yeah, he's one of my best friends."
Across the garden on the other side of the house a couple of older women ran in and out of several of the rooms, carrying bedsheets and extra linens. Jugo had told her that the following evening other members of the Wounded Eagle would be coming over to stay and hear from her. She hadn't been trilled about the idea of becoming a spectacle, but grit her teeth when she remembered who was paying her hospital bill and taking care of her.
Sakura reached inside the pocket of her fabric shorts and pulled out a micro usb drive. "Your grandfather asked for this, but I wanted to give it to you first," Sakura said, dropping it into her friend's hand. "Back when I thought I was going crazy I wrote down what happened in the Kingdom of Man and a little bit of what happened in the Monarch Woods. I didn't get any further than that. I thought it would be better for my mental health to quit when things got dark."
"Is that when you cut your hair?"
Sakura reached up and fingered the stands that were curling over her shoulders, brushing over the first few bones of her spine. "No, that was the Kingdom of Beasts, when I had to kill Sai."
"Sorry."
Sakura frowned, looking over at Jugo as he turned her usb over and over in his hands. "What are you sorry for? You didn't do anything."
"I knew you were suffering from something and I couldn't help." He swallowed, keeping his chin down. "I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with me when it became clear that you wouldn't share any other details. It's stupid and I was selfish, thinking I could be special. I didn't know what was really going on."
"Don't apologize for that. I didn't tell anyone."
"You couldn't."
"…No, I couldn't. You're right. But still, I appreciated you coming over for dinner and making it less awkward. The normal things helped."
Jugo swallowed again, fidgeting even more with his hands. "I won't do it again. I-I'll be your chronicler and do what needs to be done for my family, but I'm also your friend. I'm not going to leave you again."
Sakura closed her eyes, wanting the moment to last a little longer. His words felt like a hug, or a sweater in the winter times. She wanted to wear the comfort he gave her a little longer. "I don't know enough to trust this organization, and I don't feel comfortable about sharing something I've tried to keep secret and deny for so long, but I'm glad you're here. You don't know how much better that makes me feel."
She opened her eyes when she felt his hand on hers, squeezing it in reassurance. He was smiling brightly, but his eyes were still remorseful. "Anytime."
Sakura awoke in the dream screaming, utilizing that drive to move her forward through the rubble. The smoke had cleared, the ropes were gone, and there was no sign of the intruders left. Sai once told her very little time passes between dreaming sessions, and that from the time she wakes from a dream and reenters it, nothing great ever happens.
There were no more ropes, but she knew where they had come from. Sakura dreamed up stairs and climbed them up the shaft to the crack exposing the light of day.
The world was blinding. Sakura flinched away from the light, shielding her eyes as she stumbled out of the shaft and down into the sands. Everything was white and her eyes hurt. It took too long before she could open her eyes again, utilizing a pair of dreamed up sunglasses.
She stood atop a mound of sand stretched over the ruins of what used to be a great pyramid. She had to lean her head back to see all of it, but the side of the old structure looked as if something had taken a huge bite out of it. The stones were smoothed over along their edges by sand and time. Down what used the be the path to the front entrance of the pyramid Sakura saw columns, broken and desecrated, laying in the sand dunes. The human face of a mythic creature lay half buried in the sand, staring out at nothing with a pharaoh's hood and beard.
Sakura took a few steps and stumbled, falling into a pocket of loose sand up to her ankles. In another place she found stone solid enough to walk across even if it was hidden under a thin layer of golden land was shifting and uneven, making it hard to travel easily. There were what looked like tracks leading away from the hole she had just climbed out of, but they faded after a few feet.
Sakura cursed, spinning and searching for a clue or a sign. She saw mounds and hills of rolling gold all around her, spotted in just a few places with the ruins of a dozen or so lesser pyramids. Sakura strained to see beyond one of them when she caught a flash of light off in the distance. She dreamed up a pair of opera glasses and held them to her eyes, pushing her sunglasses up.
There were people dressed in red and gold riding what looked like horses. It was hard to see clearly, there was so much dust and haze making the image unclear. Sakura replaced her shades and threw the opera glasses away, letting it turn back into dream before it could hit the sand. The people who had abducted Sai had been dressed in blue. Maybe if she met with the characters in red she would find a clue as to where she could go, or maybe it would go poorly for her and she would be even more off track. Was it worth the risk?
Sakura glanced down and realized she was still covered in ink and indecently exposed with very little of her original armor covering her top half. She dreamed away the mess and when she blinked her body had been transformed. Gone were the mess and scarps, and in their place she wore the humble shirt dress from when she first encountered Sai. It seemed the easiest to blend in with.
Making a hasty decision Sakura skipped dow the side of the ruins in the direction of the footprints left by Sai's bandits. She would follow those as far as she could and when the red riders asked her what she was doing she would tell them and ask for help.
There were temples, or what was left of what used to be temples along the way, and Sakura climbed through them, grateful for the steady surface to run across. The bust of another cat faced god stood out of the sand, paired with one that looked like a flacon faced god. Sakura ran past both of them into the shade of another temple.
There were stairs and when she cleared the to the surface above Sakura froze. A body lay before her, dressed in blue and bleeding heavily. No, it was a dead body, leaking old blood. It hadn't been dead long, but it was lifeless. Sakura approached it from the side to get a better look at it before turning the body over onto its back. The wound opened his gut and spilled a great deal of his lesser organs onto the stones he had fallen atop. His face was covered with a blue cloth and there she saw the sigil of a desert hawk or eagle of some sort flying. Maybe a falcon?
Sakura reached for the fabric, meaning to take and save it, but an arrow cut through the air and tore through the skin between her fingers, making her recoil and cry in pain. She balled her hands into a fist and held her bleeding hand close to her chest, staining her shirt. It wasn't deep and hadn't hit anything vital in her hand, but it stung a great deal. It hurt vividly.
Another arrow landed in the body behind her and she spun to see a man dressed in red emerge from the shadows with his arrow and bow aimed and taunt. He had been one of the riders Sakura spied earlier, but he had likely been a part of a separate group. The rest of his people were still a ways off. Was he a scout?
"Desert rat," he sneered from behind his face cloth. "You're not from the brat prince's ilk. You're not worth my arrows, no matter how easy the shot."
"Who are you?" Sakura hissed, seeing a claw painted onto the cloth around his neck.
She heard string stretch and wood bend and turned to see a second archer make his way up the stairs, silent while his friend had been boastful. The second archer's face was uncovered, and was dark skinned for the desert. Sakura almost recognized it, but couldn't remember from where. He was an actor.
"Vermin asking questions is the end of civilization as we know it. Stupid vermin make it worse." He nodded to the dead body behind her. "You're picking the pockets of the lesser Pharaoh's man."
"Lesser Pharaoh?"
The archer looked offended. "Idiot. Please let my hand slip and kill her on accident Darui."
"Shi, you know the rules."
Sakura tried to remember but all she could recall was a vague recollection from the TeaLion Express, but she was almost sure that she had seen Darui or heard of him before. "I wasn't trying to steal anything, but they took my friend and I need to find where they took him."
"Who?" the man called Shi asked with a sneer.
Sakura nodded to the pyramid she had just crawled out of. By now there were men in red dismounting from their horses to explore the hole. "He and I were inside the tomb below when we were attacked by men that looked like him. They took him and left me, but I need to get to him. Please, it's important. Help me find my friend."
"Can you believe this bitch?" the blond asked the quieter archer. "What the hell would we be doing helping trash like her find more trash like her? Listen girl, over here." He waved his bow and arrow to get her attention. "You're trespassing on blasphemous grounds and looting on the land of the gods. You're an outlaw so we don't do anything for you. I don't think you're worth taking to the palace though. You don't look like you were ever anything at all."
"Shi!" the other archer called sharply. The blond frowned but lowered his bow. Sakura looked to the other man and swallowed. He still had his arrow trained on her. "What were you doing inside the tombs?"
Sakura toed the line between truth and lie, licking her lips. They're both actors, but Sakura doesn't doubt that they could kill her if they wanted to. They're not the loving sort of actors she was used to.
"We were learning. The walls had stories we were searching for. We came a long way to see and read those stories. One day I woke up from a sleep and he wasn't there. I heard thunder and there was…there was a mess. I was almost crushed and I fell. When I woke up it was only in time to see the men in blue steal my friend. He had been knocked out using some sort of blue smoke."
Darui looked over Sakura's shoulder at Shi and huffed. "That sounds like the story we heard."
Sakura pretended to look confused. "What story?"
"Someone killed a god."
Shi made a sound of displeasure when Darui answered Sakura, but the darker skinned man ignored his blond companion.
"We are here for that truth and to find the individual responsible for the act." He loosened his arrow and stood up fully. "It sounds like the brat prince pharaoh of lesser Egypt also had the same idea and had his men make it here before us. They're pathetic, but they are fast."
Shi snorted again, replacing his arrow and drawing a dagger in place of his bow. "They have to be, he's got no god of his own to control." He waved the blade at Sakura and nodded to Darui. "What do we do with her, kill her?"
Sakura stiffened and Darui sighed. "No, we'll take her to the palace and the high priestess will make a decision. We need only follow orders."
"Who are you?" Sakura asked, stilling holding her bleeding hand and taking a step back. Ibiki had mentioned there might be more than one Pharaoh, but the set up of the world around her was still unclear.
It was Darui who answered. "We're en employed in the service of his worshiped highness, the Pharaoh of the Red Sands and king of Upper Egypt. For trespassing on blasphemous grounds you will be brought before the high priestess and judged."
Darui took out a knife of his own and nodded to Sakura, gesturing for her to come to him while talking to his fellow thief. "Prepare the spare horse. We're riding back with here. I don't want to be out past nightfall."
When Sakura refused to move Darui sighed again and walked over to her. She didn't fight when he took her hands. A scarf in his back pocket was tied around her wrists and Sakura almost jerked at the memory of shackles, but cloth was easy to break. She could escape any time she wanted to, she wasn't a slave, she was never a slave, and she would never be a slave. Still, Sakura felt her breathing escalate and panic set into her veins. She was shaking.
Darui tugged her forward, surprisingly gentle. When she looked up at him he shook his head, as if to tell her not to run, it wasn't worth it. "You'll be safe. We don't treat men and women poorly before they are judged."
"Why are you taking me? I have to find my friend. It's not safe for him to be apart from me."
"If you are judged innocent and do not struggle you may petition for his release from the lower court," he answered in an even tone. "Though I doubt that would be worth the trouble. If he is as important as we believe him to be, our own Pharaoh will collect him on his own."
Sakura frowned, going over his words. "Why do you think my friend is important?"
"He likely killed the god. Isn't that what you said yourself?"
"I never said that."
Darui almost smiled. "Would you admit it if it were true? God killers are kings. The Pharaoh of Upper Egypt killed one of the wild gods and so did the King of the Thieves. The Pharaoh of lesser Egypt has no such boast and is eager to earn a friend of such might, but he won't be able to hold on to anyone if our king demands."
"What…what are the names of your Pharaohs?" Sakura asked, following as Darui led her down the stairs to where the rest of his party waited. Several had come back from scouting the empty tomb and Sakura saw one crawling out of the hole in the ground with one of her knives in his hand. It was stained with black.
"We dare not speak their names. It is a disrespect."
He tugged her forward and then nudged her to an empty horse before helping her up. He wasn't rough and Sakura couldn't find it in her heart to hate him, even if she was being tied and captured. She knew she could get away whenever she wanted, but there was no point if she didn't know how to get to Sai.
"How long will it take to get to where you are going?" Sakura asked, throat dry.
"She's asking too many questions, can't you shut her up?" the blond man asked, stomping past to talk to the others.
Darui shook his head. "We will travel to an outpost and reconnect with the rest of the caravan. You'll be moved to a cart and before the end of the day you will reach the palace. Tomorrow you will stand trial."
Sakura nodded before another member came up behind her an placed a cloth around her head, covering her mouth and nose. Darui tugged it so it was slit only around her eyes and explained simply, 'for the sand' before mounting the horse ahead of her.
In minutes Sakura understood what he meant when the group took off in the direction they had come, kicking up dust and sand like it was a need. Sakura's eyes watered and she had to screw them shut and let her horse be led by his tether as they raced out of the ruins and onto a road.
Sakura didn't know what time felt like, but after a while when she thought her throat would break apart the horses eased to a trot and the stopped. Sakura looked up to see a cluster of houses dug into the earth. Around them fresh horses waited. There was a cart with bodies inside it drawn by two mules and Sakura grimaced when she saw several men inside, all dirty, all bound.
Darui gave her a look of apology before helping her into the cart and then changing out the horses for the rest of the men. When they set out again, the pace was more relaxed and there was more scenery to be distracted by.
In the cart there were four other men. Two were asleep in the corner, one was bound in actual chains and couldn't move to face her, and the last was left in loose shackles not unlike her own. He caught her staring and grinned, stretching some of the pain on his face. His face was clear and easy to see, he was an actor.
"What are you in for?" he teasingly asked.
Sakura shrugged. "Being somewhere I shouldn't have been. You?"
"I killed a man, but everyone agreed he was annoying."
Sakura eyed his restrains. "Those are pretty light for such a dangerous person. Why aren't you in chains?"
Now it was his turn to shrug. "I didn't resist when they brought me to the guards, and I'm not sorry for what I did. Whatever happens to me, I won't ever regret it. Ah, but I guess they're trying to be nice to me because of who I know."
"You sound awfully sure of yourself," Sakura said around a yawn. The cloth around her face was itchy and full of sand. She reached up to tug it apart and when it fell away it was so much easier to breath. Her lungs felt fuller and cleaner with fresh air to fill them. When she glanced back at the prisoner in face pain she caught him staring.
"Oh wow, you're prettier than I thought you'd be. You're not a local are you?" he said, eyes roving.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Sakura straightened up and put more distance between them.
He saw her subtle movements away from him and laughed. "Ah, no, don't take it the wrong way. I'm just used to a sort of type and you're different. A good different, don't worry. What's your name?"
She waited a moment before saying, "Sakura." He grinned at the sound of her name and didn't say anything more, prompting her to add, "You're going to tell me yours?" She eyed him suspiciously.
"Of course. I'm Kankuro, don't forget it."
Sakura nodded, leaning her head back and waiting for the rocking of the cart to slow and stop. The land around them was rapidly changing, from sparsely populated to densely packed with paved roads and mingling bodies in the street. Travel picked up and Sakura noticed more than one extravagant temple in the distance before they were pulled off the main road to a impressive looking brick shaped building.
Kankuro shifts forward and Sakura is rightful to be weary when they roll in and stop. Members of their group are joined by more guards and there is time for communication between them. Sakura sees paper pass hands and someone inspects a scroll before returning it to a side pouch. The whole process looks vaguely official. Kankuro catches her watching and makes a face at her, rolling his eyes and shaking his head like the whole process is some silly deal. Sakura doesn't say anything back, but she can't help but grin.
It's minutes later when someone comes to lead them out and heard them down stairs into a stone chamber with sections separated by bars. The two sleeping drunks are deposited into the same cell, the man in chains is led into another, and Kankuro and Sakura are separated into the last two cells. There is a boy in begging clothes coming around to feed and give the prisoners drink. Sakura is last in line, but she waits by her door while the guards linger. Apparently there's hot gossip going around.
Eventually Sakura gets her bread and water but doesn't scurry back to the corner of her cell. Instead she lingers by the door, eating and listening for anything that might be worth overhearing. There's a lot of whispered talk about the temple she came from, about the 'little prince' she assumed was actually the Lower Pharaoh, and some more talk about the King of the Thieves. There isn't a lot for her to go on, and she ends of feeling more frustrated than informed by the time she finishes her bread and water.
The rest of the prisoners including Kankuro are settled down in their bunks, stone slabs lined with hey and cotton sheets. Sakura paces, feeling too jittery to lay down. Was it worth it to stay the night and wait to go before the more important/powerful Pharaoh, or should she be out there, blindly searching for her friend?
There was s shifting in her cell and Sakura freezes, surprised to be not so alone. But when she turns to see who it could be the man raises a hand to his lips.
"Baki," Sakura hisses, glancing to see if anyone else was awake. "What are you doing here?"
He nods to her in greeting. "I've come to watch and to warn."
"Warn me of what?"
"Be careful of your weaknesses. You don't choose a helpless dove for your boon, but your companion is little less than even my equal. Do not deviate from the narrative."
"You know, when someone tells me not to do something, it makes me want to do that exact thing," Sakura whispers harshly, stalking forward. "Where is Sai?"
She reaches for the guide but her hand passes into shadow. There is a vibration in her ear and she hears his voice before the dream snaps her awake.
"The dreamer should worry about herself a little bit more."
Sakura rolls the pen over her fingers, dropping it in between the gaps and grasping it before it can fall into her lap. Her other hand sits in her lap, bandaged.
"And Hidan also showed awareness in the Kingdom of Beasts?"
Sakura looked up, seeing Jugo looking back through the notes on his computer. When she didn't reply right away he looked up and watched her, waiting to see what was wrong. She blinked, dropping the pen.
"Yes, that is correct. He also remembered. I thought it was unusual because in the Kingdom of Man we were not as close as others."
"That is peculiar," Jugo agreed, saving his document before closing the lid on his laptop. Sakura looks up at the sound of it closing and sees him turn off the tape recorder meant t catch whatever he misses. "I think that's enough for today. You've recalled so much and I have to make annotations." He paused, watching her watch him. "Would you like to take a break? Maybe a walk?"
Sakura looked down at her hand and finally nods. "Yes, I scarcely feel as if I am in my body these days. I…I think it would be good to clear my head."
Jugo nods and offers her his hand. He holds her elbow helping her up as she wobbles. Her legs had been crossed too long. The first steps are like walking through pins and needles and she thinks it is appropriate.
She failed Sai. She didn't fail Sai. She failed him, or did she?
"This is the most you've ever spoken about the other half of your life after keeping them so well separated. It's normal to feel out of it," he says, guiding her out to the porch. "I'm sorry I have to pester you so much."
"It's new to you too, isn't it?" Sakura says.
"But it's not that big a deal for me, all I have to do is write down what you tell me. You're the one that has to kill beasts and slay gods and fight monsters."
Her lips quirk at a memory. "I didn't really slay many monsters, just gods and beasts, and animals."
Jugo mutters something under his breath and sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Sorry, I'm supposed to be distracting you, but here I just make it worse. Ugh, Ino called you, right?"
"Video call, she's working hard and I think it's best that I'm away, but it feels wrong how I left. Ino and I…our friendship was healing and when I left it hadn't finished healing. I feel like I did that a lot with people I knew. I feel like I did that with you too."
"Don't feel bad for it and don't apologize for it. I did my own share of drifting away. You can't blame yourself for it all. Before anything else, you and what you are dealing with come first."
They stop under the pavilion in the garden and through one of the rooms Sakura can see out into the driveway where another car is pulling up. Out steps a man with a cane, followed by an older woman. Another car leaks younger men and women, looking like their eyes are peeled for danger. Bodyguards.
"Is it almost time?" Sakura sighs, dreading what will happen during dinner.
After Jugo explained what was going to happen Sakura dubbed the event the Great Inquisition. They would sit down to eat and after everyone had a mouthful the questions would begin. Sakura didn't plan on eating much. She felt sick just thinking about all those eyes on her, asking her about things she'd rather never mention out loud.
"We have plenty of time. Nothing starts until you are ready."
His hand on her elbow directs her to the path behind the barn and they take a long walk, speaking less and less until one of Jugo's cousins asks them to return for dinner. The sky is dimming and dusk is within reach. Sakura should be hungry, she hadn't had lunch before leaving, but all she feels in her stomach is a rolling of filth that rises up her throat into her mouth whenever she thinks about food.
Sakura feels a calming hand on her elbow and knows who it belongs to. She might have unraveled and become a phantom of herself again, sick with worry for Sai and the gods and the curse in her dreams if not for that hand on her elbow.
"Let's go," she sighs, walking ahead of him. He lets her lead, never pushing or encouraging her to go further or faster than she is comfortable with.
"It'll be less awkward to get a seat first and watch them come in than be the last one yourself," Jugo suggests, keeping close to her as they head towards the room from yesterday.
Only Jugo's grandfather is there, seated on the floor in front of a raised tray of food. The set up is Japanese traditional, with floor mats being set out in place of chairs, and tray of food in place of plates and tables. Each place has a pillow, distinguishing it, and it is with a roll of horror that Sakura sees where her place is. The places are arranged in a oval pattern so each one might look out and see any other guest except for whoever sat in the middle.
"I'm not sitting there," Sakura hisses, stepping back. The thought of all the eyes on her, everyone watching her, listening to her, chatting with her as they eat and lounge made her want to throw up. She wasn't brave enough to be a spectacle for spectators and strangers.
Jugo was right beside her in an instant, loosly holding her elbows. "You don't have to, we'll get you another place, here…."
Jugo's grandfather mearly watches as Jugo pulls the place setting back towards the ring, close to his own seat. He looks up to make sure she is watching. Her place mat is no longer in the center of the room, but it isn't fully a part of the ring either. It's a compromise.
"I'll be right here, beside you."
It's more than Sakura knows she should expect, and when she hears voices she decides she can find the courage to be brave one more time. Jugo smiles for her as she kneels to take her seat while elders trickle in.
There is a modest of murmurs as the adults take their seats, speaking with each other as if it is the first time they had seen each other in a while. There are a few younger guests, but the three most noteworthy individuals that stand out are all aged elders that look to be around the age of Jugo's grandparent. The one in the middle makes a note to save the two seats on either side of him, commenting that he is waiting for his wards.
It's with a start that Sakura realizes she recognizes the man. Jugo leans in to whisper. "That's Danzo, he owns the Orchard as well as Root. His family was in charge of defending the Obelisk a long time ago. He's a sour apple, but don't be scared. He's the most likely to fall down and worship your feet. Last time we met he was the only one who seemed interested in using the Obelisk again in the future."
As if he could hear them speak of him, Danzo raises his head and stares out across the room at her with his one good eye. Sakura swallows, doubting the possibility of ever feeling comfortable again for as long as she remains in the room.
"Who are we waiting for?" one of the oldest women asks, reaching for her chopsticks. Across from here, the oldest male elder begins to pick at his food.
Danzo turns to her and his voice is gruff when he speaks. "My wards are inspecting the grounds. They will be here shortly."
"My, you don't trust me and my own security?" Jugo's grandfather asks teasingly.
"No offense to you, Log, but I trust not even my own two eyes if I can help it."
He speaks to the other man but Danzo's stare is heavy when it lands on Sakura. Sakura wants to shudder at the weight of it. She wants to run. She wants to hide. She wants the night to be over. She wants to go back!
And just when she believes the night can not grow more tense, the screen door rolls back and two new figures enter, going for the seats beside Danzo. The first man takes his seat easily enough but the second freezes the moment he notices Sakura. Behind her Jugo tenses as well.
Realizing his friend isn't sitting, Genma looks up to make a joke but stalls when he sees Sakura sitting in the seat of honor. Yamato's eyes are wide as they take her in and Sakura realizes the roll in her stomach is something to be grateful for. Anything more than an empty stomach would have ended up on the floor by now.
AN:/ Okay, four for four and the next chapter is almost guaranteed to be updated next week! I'm so excited. This chapter was longer than I wanted it to be, it just didn't feel right to end it with her in the cells, so I kept going until I felt comfortable ending the chapter. I don't want to scare anyone off with huge chapters that take forever to read when it's updating so frequently, but the next one looks like it will be a longer one as well.
What do you think?
Sakura is learning more about the Obelisk in the waking world and people who know about what she is dealing with/going through have shown up. Is this a good thing, is this a bad thing? Did you suspect I would do that with Jugo and the Root boys? I feel like I've finally pulled off a long con and it's so freeing. Yes, the boys are back and now Sakura has drama on both sides of the fence.
Please remember to review, because really, that's what sustains me.
RANDOM BITS OF INFO YOU DIDN'T WANT:
Dreamers like Sasori, Pein, and Deidara were a part of the Obelisk during the late Meiji era (1890's) when the elders were considering using the offspring of interracial couples based on the assumption that mutts were stronger and had more vitality in the dreamworld.
The elders were desperate for a champion towards the end of the Meiji era, desperate enough to break with traditions.
Some of these dreamers were borderline unwilling, others were tricked. Deidara did not know what he was getting into, only that he could buy food for his family if he 'played the dreaming game.' Sasori and Pein knew and wanted to live forever/become a god. Like Deidara, they came from the streets and were poor with no family to care for or be cared for by.
The Obelisk came to America during the Taishō era, the 1910's, right before WW1.
Actors older than the Heian Period (794 - 1192) are super rare to come across in the dream world. The longer you've been dead, the more faded your memory becomes to the Obelisk.
Before the Heian Period the Obelisk was in India.
Mizu nin are primarily from the Kamakura Period (1185 - 1333) before the Obelisk fell into the hands of the Uchiha clan, who held possession of the Obelisk until the 14080's or the Warring States era.