I jerked awake so hard I almost slid off the roof.
For a second I didn't know where I was. Rain was hitting my face. My hands were shaking. I looked down at them, half expecting to see them falling apart, but they were fine. Just cold and wet.
"…The fuck," I muttered.
The dream was still stuck in my head. The black thing standing over me. That voice. My body coming apart. All of it. It felt way too real. I could still taste blood in my mouth even though there wasn't any.
I sat there for a bit, just breathing. Amegakure looked the same. Quiet. Wet. Nobody was running around screaming, so whatever that was, it stayed in my head.
Still. I didn't like it.
I rubbed my eyes. The Rinnegan was calm, but something felt off. Like part of the dream was still watching me from somewhere.
Footsteps on the tiles behind me.
"You good?" Pakura asked.
I didn't turn around right away. "Yeah. Just… fell asleep up here."
She stepped closer. I could feel her looking at me.
"You look like shit."
"Thanks."
She didn't laugh. Just stayed quiet for a moment.
"Something happened?"
I almost told her. Almost. Then I decided against it. What was I supposed to say? That I dreamed some faceless thing killed me and a girl in chains talked to me? Yeah, that would go over great.
"Just a bad dream," I said instead. "Nothing important."
Pakura didn't look convinced, but she didn't push.
"Alright. I'm heading back down. You coming?"
"In a bit."
She left. I stayed.
The rain kept falling. I touched the seal under my eyes out of habit. Still there. Still working.
I didn't know why the dream shook me that much. I've had worse ones. But this one… it felt like it was trying to tell me something. Or warn me. Or maybe just fuck with me.
Either way.
I stood up, rolled my shoulders, and started walking toward the edge of the roof.
"Not yet," I said under my breath.
I didn't know who I was saying it to. The dream. The thing in it. Or myself.
Didn't really matter.
I jumped down.