Patrol Duty [C-Rank Mission]:

"And this is... mandatory?" Kaiji Kyudoka moaned to the patrol duty coordinator. The archer with dark-pink hair was still immensely exhausted from his last mission involving a runaway child named Jun. To be pulled for patrol duty now? The duties of a village shinobi were tireless, it seemed.

"Kaiji, was it? I'll let you in on a little secret, kid. Patrol duty is a fodder mission to be honest. Just stand guard around your designated area and look out for anything out of the ordinary. But trust me, it's a total snooze fest," the patrol duty captain said with a yawn. "Eight hours and you're done. As for me, this job is an everyday thing, so don't complain, ya got that?" Kaiji straightened up and stood at attention.

"Y-yes sir, of course, sir!" the Genin barked shrilly. "I'll do my best," but inside his head, Kaiji desired the sweet release of sleep above all things. After mentally taking note of where it was exactly that he would be patrolling, Kaiji Kyudoka made his way to his post and at eleven PM sharp, his duties began.

The man in charge of patrol duty had been absolutely correct in saying that this job was a 'snooze fest' as he had called it. In the first hour alone, Kaiji found himself drifting off while both walking and standing still. Despite his ever present exhaustion, he was not one to let people down, so he took a moment to revitalize himself by splashing water from a canteen in his face. The water was cold and it gave him a slight boost in energy, enough to where he was no longer actively falling asleep every few minutes, at least for now. Kaiji had reached the third hour now, and so far, nothing had caused him any alarm. Was it just that no one with wicked intent dare mess with the Hidden Leaf? Or maybe the era of peace that everyone was living in simply meant that things like 'attacks on the village' were a thing of the past? "Hmm, you know, this whole 'patrol duty' thing isn't half bad. I might even say that if I weren't so incredibly tired, I'd even enjoy this. It's nothing but walking, and watching, and waiting ad infinitum." Kaiji smiled to himself, teeth gleaming in the moonlight. "Yeah... yeah, I could get used to this." Feeling more confident and assured by the second, Kaiji leaned against the massive wall surrounding the village and before he knew it his shift was half way over. "Such an... easy... task..." His eyelids fluttered. The world before him was swimming in and out of focus like one of those optical illusions that tends to leave you with a headache. "I'll just..." And before long he was asleep.

| Dreamscape |

Kaiji Kyudoka looked down at his hands and a wave of confusion washed over him. "Were my fingers always so stubby?" he questioned, no real urgency in his voice. No matter, his duty was to patrol and look out for anything suspicious. Before him, a child, a girl, was running. Her short straw-yellow locks were swaying in the wind behind her as she jogged away from him. "H-hey, it's past curfew, you're not supposed to be--" but his call was cut short. It was sunny out, afternoon if he had to guess. "Wait did I..?" He shook his head from side to side in an attempt to slot the disjointed thoughts into place. "I said hey!" he yelled once more, "Who are--" At that moment the girl turned and Kaiji recognized her face almost as well as he recognized his own. Her name was Sachiko. She bore a smile that nearly consumed her entire face, but something was off. Though she grinned wide as a canyon, her eyes betrayed the expression, full of worry and... was that fear?

"Catch me, Kaiji! Hurry! You've gotta catch me first! C'mon, hurry! Kaiji please!" That voice, like a siren, dropped Kaiji to his knees. He clapped his hands over his ears to drown it out but it only grew louder and more earsplitting in response. The boy's head was down and his eyes were shut so tight that his eyelids might tear. After a while the voice died out and when he looked up, the girl was stood before him. "Kaiji why?" was what she attempted to say, only her words oozed out of her mouth in a series of choking gasps. There was something blooming from the girl's thin neck that caused Kaiji to look away.

"No, noooo, noooooooo!" Kaiji cried, unable to look.

| Awake |

"Noooo!" Kaiji spat hysterically, heart racing. To his left a child, tiptoeing towards the treeline, stopped dead in their tracks. The Kyudoka stood up, when had he sat down, and sprinted for the kid, laying a hand on his small shoulder and spinning him around so that they were facing each other. "Sachiko! Sachiko?" he grilled the child, only to find out that this child, this boy, was unfamiliar.

"Please don't kill me!" the child wailed, tears erupting from his eyes and snot dribbling from his nose. "I admit it, okay! I snuck out past curfew, a-and I'm sorry! I d-don't wanna die!" The kid was a mess, and Kaiji had caused it. Immediately, the archer felt bad for what he had done, but there was also a sense of relief that accompanied the guilt.

"I'm not going to hurt you, kid. I j-just thought you were someone else. B-but hey!" Kaiji attempted to make a stern face and snuff his stutter, "It is past curfew, s-so you need to go home, now!" The young boy, probably Academy age, could only nod and run back towards the gate, fear in his heart. "Well... he'll most likely never sneak out past curfew again..."

For the remaining few hours of patrol duty, it went by uneventfully, but Kaiji never once nodded off again. The sun was beginning to rise in the east over the village, and morning light spilled over the world to start a brand new day. After another half hour of meekly patrolling his designated section of village perimeter, the captain of the patrol duty approached him with two mugs of tea grasped in his hands. "Here," the man handed Kaiji a steaming mug, "I think you've earned it. What with all the screaming that went on last night," he clicked his tongue. "You must've had it rough. That said, thinking of doing it again? We could always use more watchful eyes around here," and with that he winked.

Eyes wandering, jaw slack, Kaiji replied "I think... that I'm going to go get some sleep. No offense, but this isn't the job for me."

"Suit yourself," the man chuckled laconically, sipping from the mug.

On his way home, Kaiji trudged along sluggishly, no pep in his step, no song and dance, just a zombie walk directly to his bed. Exhaustion like this was bad for one's health. Kaiji felt drained in more ways than just one, both physically and mentally. He felt that he just could not catch a break lately, but went back on this, as he was reminded of the friend he had made known as Nayoko Nozara. "Whenever Nayoko gets back," Kaiji said, voice barely above a whisper as he collapsed upon his futon bed, "I'm going to tell him. After all, two's better than..." he was pitifully fighting to stay awake now. "B-better than one..." Kaiji Kyudoka, pink-haired Genin archer, let the world of dreams take him. There was no use arguing with the Sandman.

| ???? |

"Sleep well, Kaiji. You can't escape me any better than I could get away. I'll make you remember if I have to..."

[EXIT]

TWC: 1330 - 1000[C-Rank Mission] = 330 words remaining.

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