Chapter 5: Arc 1: Chapter 3.5

Chapter 3.5

 

"See you tomorrow Hinata," I waved goodbye to my seat-neighbour as she left hastily after the final bell rang. With a reserved wave, she ducked her head and left through the door. Hinata certainly didn't waste time; Every day, she'd packed quickly and left just as fast, in a haste to leave what I'd discovered must have been a stifling environment for her.

I couldn't blame her, really, but being in close proximity with her was… an ordeal. The proximity was both a bane and a balm, as she flitted between negative and positive emotions on what seemed like a whim. She was very jittery. Fidgety. It was infectious in the worst way, and took effort to keep at bay.

It helped me practice though, helped to define the bubble that was me. Kept the lines that demarcated the me zone sharp; The emotions were so obviously foreign, so obviously not me that I couldn't even begin to drift, to mistake them as my own.

The farther she got, the more I felt the lingering nervousness bleed off from the edges.

As more and more people left the room, the pressure on my walls drained gradually as they took their emotional… imprint with them.

In a beautiful contradiction, I felt a little bit lighter, yet somehow more and more whole.

I glanced at Chouji and Shikamaru, who were both packing up, getting ready to leave.

I pushed past the small bit of lethargy and approached my friends, Mitsuki and Yuna, as they giggled by the door.

"What's so funny?" the closer I got, the more the mirth they emanated infected me like a virus. A good virus, if those even existed. I allowed it to seep in and fill me, and as a result I couldn't help the smirk that formed on my lips.

It felt good.

Their laughter tapered off, and while the feelings mirth didn't quite recede, it was sidelined somehow, by a vague but growing hint of impatience.

What?

"Ah. Nothing, Ino. You wouldn't find it funny," Mitsuki waved me off dismissively as she brushed her curled hair back and out of the way.

"More like, you wouldn't even get it. Ain't that right Blondie?"

Merely a week ago, I'd have snapped back with an insult of my own, we'd have laughed it off, and gotten along like normal. A week ago I had the energy to do just that.

"Ah, no problem," I said lamely, and I could feel the weight of their disappointment as it sat heavily on my shoulders. I could feel their impatience blend into irritation, and it wasn't even their fault.

I wasn't playing along.

I was the one who changed our dynamic. This past week had ground me down. Like a well-worn kunai, the nicks accumulated, and now I was just tired. I just wanted to relax with friends, but the shift in my… everything weighed down on them as much as it did me.

My smile faltered a little bit.

It had only been a few days. Just a few days, and conversations became stilted. Interactions like this became more and more commonplace. Friendly bickering gave way to exhaustion.

Now, these two were the last of my friends; Most had ditched me almost immediately after I swapped seats, the rest waited until they realized I didn't want to talk about Sasuke anymore. They'd laughed internally, thought I confessed my undying love to him, thought he rejected me in private.

While they were glad that I was no longer competition, they no longer felt the need to play nice, so to speak. Even though playing nice with them meant trading barbs, it was all fun, at the end of the day.

Or so I thought.

Internally, I felt the lingering mirth fade away, and it dragged the rest of my mood down with it.

God, I'm a mess.

Yuna wasn't ever one to let silence linger for long though, "How come you're sitting at the back these days, Ino?" Beside the pale eyed freak.

"We miss you up front, you know," Probably figured out Sasuke hated her guts.

"Ah… I just needed some space, is all," I said as I awkwardly scratched my cheek with a finger, "It's been hard to breathe, lately. Figuratively, that is."

Yuna rolled her eyes, "That's so you, Ino."

My two friends shared a glance, and in that moment, their thoughts were in unison. Since when was she such a buzzkill?

I could feel it as their impatience melded together—they played off of each other so incredibly well, so in tune at the barest level. I felt their impatience as one as it roiled off of them in one pulsating wave that pushed and prodded at me repeatedly.

They wanted me to leave.

I felt like the third broken wheel in a pushcart, and when the owner pulled me off, he found it worked better with just two. Easier. It seems they'd adapted without my presence. Bonded in a way.

I didn't belong anymore, it seems.

The ambient irritation beckoned me like a Siren's call. Give in, it said, it'd be so much easier. I wanted to be angry, even though it was all my fault. I was the one that distanced myself. I wanted to shout myself hoarse. I wanted to plead for them to let me back in.

It really would've been so easy to just lean into it. They were annoyed. It affected me. Not my fault right?

I wanted to play into that so badly, to just… lash out.

But I'd promised to try. To try and not be so snippy. To try to not let it allhis get to me. To not let it get out of control. I'd always had a temper, but I could be more than that.

Yamanaka were not slaves to their own mind.

I pressed my eyes closed for a moment—one long soothing moment— then opened them and asked in what felt like a last ditch effort, "Do you guys have plans for later? Wanna hang out?"

They didn't even hesitate.

"Nah, I'm not feeling so well actually. I think I ate something fierce at lunch," Mitsuki rubbed her stomach over her plain white shirt in a mock show of discomfort. Probably just wants to look at flowers again. Booring.

"Oh, I have to help my mom with something later, sorry," Totally not in the mood to deal with her crap today.

What felt like my last bastion crumbled. A part of me died with their empty platitudes, I could see them envisioning the plans they'd actually had. Without me. Only a tiny bit of guilt, a miniscule amount of shame. But mostly relief. Enthusiasm.

Was that really it?

"Alright, maybe next time," I ground out as I fought back tears.

"Uhuh, sure thing Ino," Yuna said and they'd left as quickly as they could. I felt the well of impatience drain from me, and soon enough, I heard their laugher resume and echo throughout the walls. They took with them the majority of the impetus for my anger.

All that was left was…

I sighed, and covered my face with a palm as I leaned my back against the wall.

This wasn't going well. At all.

Before long, a heavy comforting hand found its way to my shoulder. I looked up at the worried gaze of Chouji. We didn't need words, I conveyed all that needed to be said in a single drawn out groan.

"How bad was that, really?" he pointed towards my head with a single discrete gesure as he spoke.

"Bad," maybe it hadn't looked that bad on the outside, three friends too busy for plans, common right? "Just… bad."

He grimaced, "Alright, come on. Let's go," which prompted a raised eyebrow out of me.

"Where to?"

"Dunno," he shrugged, "Doesn't matter. Market?" I felt my stomach turn at the mere thought of the congested marketplace; Luckily he pressed on, "Could just go for a walk? Or just hang out. Maybe barbecue?" he lit up in hope at the latter recommendation, and I gave a tired chuckle.

"Sure, I guess," I wouldn't mind doing Barbecue today, "We can do barbecue today, need to stop by the store first, and home to let dad know."

He nodded with understanding, but his eyes betrayed the enthusiasm he felt.

"Where's Shika?" I asked, not knowing when exactly he'd left.

"He said uncle's been riding him lately," he said with a chuckle.

I smirked, allowing the small bit of schadenfreude in, "Huh. How's that working out?"

"For him? Not well," his resulting grin was filled with mirth, which I couldn't help but reflect, "He's been fighting every step of the way, those two are gonna come to blows soon."

"My ryo's on uncle Shikaku," I said with a laugh as we left.

"Sucker's bet."

It's something we'd learned early on in life. Never bet against a Jounin. Even if it sounded impossible, they'd already have at least three ways to do it.

We walked on in mostly silence, while I paid heed to my fluctuating emotional state.

With practice, the separation got easier. Increasingly so as time went on. My skills were like a muscle, except this muscle was always in use, and didn't seem to get tired. But the more I consciously flexed it, the more I could make sense of it all.

In the end, I'd either lose my mind honing it, or it'd become my greatest tool.

No biggie.

Before long, Chouji snapped me out of my thoughts, "I'll stay outside if you don't mind."

I looked up and then around in confusion, before realizing we'd arrived.

"The smell still bother you?" I asked with a hint of a smile.

He nodded seriously.

"I'll find a flower you like yet, mark my words Chouji," I delivered my threat with mirth, completely ignoring his discomfort.

Hmph!

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Before I entered, I stepped to the side as a couple left the store. They'd left hand in hand, and the young lady had a beautiful trimmed red rose notched in the ear. They'd walked off with a pair of smiles on their faces, and I couldn't help but grin at the sight.

Smiles really were the good kind of virus.

When I walked in, the cauldron of scents buffeted my nose. Altogether, it made one powerful blend. With practice, I could pick apart the various scents; The two strongest were the sharp but tangy smell of Roses, and the sickeningly sweet scent of the Oleander that drifted from the back.

Ah, I missed this.

The bell rang as the door closed behind me, "Ah, young Ino, I haven't been blessed by your presence in over a week!"

I giggled, "Hello to you too, uncle Reigo."

Uncle Reigo was a retired shinobi, he married into the family some decades back, and even after his wife passed we still considered him family. He helped out with various Yamanaka businesses from time to time, but nowadays he mostly took over running the store for us.

I hadn't been able to stop by the shop recently—for obvious reasons— but this place really helped calm my nerves when I could stop by.

Without conscious effort, I gravitated towards the most dominating scent, the roses. With a careful touch, I inspected them one by one. I slowly but meticulously pruned each plant, cutting out the older stems allowed for better airflow.

As I lost myself in the cathartic process, I asked absentmindedly, "How's business?"

I was broken out of my reverie by a felt a flare of panic which was quickly stamped down, "It's been slow recently, young Ino."

"Hmm?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary, I assure you," he lied effortlessly, but pressed on nontheless, "Some weeks are slow, some are not. You'll find that normal as you see more seasons, young miss."

Even if I didn't have these abilities, I wouldn't have bought it. I started to focus more on him as his finger rapped nervously against the book held firmly under his hand.

"Slow huh," nevermind the civilian clients—I'd have expected that side of the business to wax and wane depending on the seasons and trends— but we had consistent shinobi clientele. Ever since mom passed, we slightly shifted to selling more… esoteric products.

Like blends from the Oleander that blessed my nose even now.

Typically, a prepared Yamanaka needed merely time to to loosen the minds of their targets. It's why so many of us worked alongside Konoha's various information services. But when necessary, a little bit extra served to help loosen restraints. Grease the wheels, if you will.

We kept the more normal side of business active, of course; There was no reason not to, and taking care of the more aesthetic plants always helped me remember mom.

But for the other side to dry up? Hrm.

I made sure I wasn't looking his way—physically, at least— but I paid rapt attention to him. He had no physical tells—he was a shinobi after all, retired or not. But the more I let the silence drag on, the more unsettled he became.

He could've been telling the truth, and I could've been reading far too much into it, but something about it didn't feel right; The way he'd been reacting internally raised all sorts of flags. That and the fact that we'd usually had a consistently steady demand, what would a dry period even mean? Shinobi stopped going on missions?

Absurd.

Did he think I'd just buy that? Was it just a hasty excuse? That… did seem plausible.

So, something was off, and he needed to buy time. I could feel how hyper focused he was on the book under his palm, he'd thought about trying to slip it out of sight numerous times.

Curious.

It was only logical to assume that the book was incriminating, then.

I couldn't really see what it was from here, but I could tell how hyper focused he was on it. It was important, incriminating, and something to be kept in public. A public record. An accounting book?

Ticked all the boxes.

So, he'd either not done the records properly, or he was fixing the values. The former would get him reprimanded, but ultimately he'd be fine, no real reason to panic. The latter though…

Issue is, I had no way at all to tell, even if I looked; Accounting was not even remotely in my skill set. At all. Not even close to it. In fact, the numbers seemed to float off the page when I looked at them. I'd never tell anyone that, though.

Hrm.

It's times like these I wish I could just pull what I wanted from his mind.

Maybe I could? Not directly, but… guide him to think about what I wanted—namely, the book. "Hey. Uncle Reigo, is that the accounting ledger?"

He started—physically, even— when I spoke, showing that even though he used to be a shinobi, he'd grown lax in the decades since.

His mind raced, and he couldn't stop thinking about a specific set of pages, and how he needed to change things. How he just needed a little bit of time, then he'd be home free.

"Ah… yes, lady Ino," his tone became more formal, more supplicant, as if he waited for judgement.

"Can I have a look then?" he certainly didn't seem to like that idea, and had thought in circles over the notion of escape. I couldn't stop him if he tried, to be honest. I wasn't even a genin, and retired—and old— or not, he was still a Chuunin at some point.

However, even I knew how stupid that'd be. He wouldn't even get to the village gates before being apprehended.

"U-um," for the first time in my life, I heard him stutter, "It shames me to say that I haven't properly updated the records for the past week, lady Ino."

Part of me wished it was just that, but I could see him thinking about the ledgers; I don't know how long he'd kept this up, but he'd been skimming a little bit off the top. A lost product here, undocumented sales there. Just a little bit each time, it had to have added up to a fair bit.

What could possibly have brought this on?

Part of me wanted to ask why. We could've easily asked him to leave. Hell, we could've kicked him out without question. It was well within our right to. But we didn't. We housed him for years. He wanted for nothing. Hell, he'd changed my diapers at some point!

I said nothing. I knew the second I voiced my suspicions he'd throw caution to the wind and bolt, or worse—try to take a hostage.

And being the only hostage within reach, I held my tongue. Naturally.

"Alright uncle, no worries," I really shouldn't have been surprised. I really really shouldn't. But still… "I'll just check on a few more of the flowers before I head out," he gave a bow in response and his relief grew with every second.

It made my stomach turn.

I exited the doors with a gust of wind that pushed away any adventurous insects. To the immediate right, Chouji had been chewing on… a stick—the remains of a kebab I assume. Where'd he even get it?

Something must have shown on my face, "You okay?"

I shook my head and took off with Chouji trailing behind me.

 

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I paced back and forth as I ranted to my dad about what happened.

"Okay okay slow down. Reigo did what?"

"I said!" I fought to keep my voice down, but my tone was irate. Livid, even, "He's been messing with the account books. Stealing from us!" luckily, dad took it in stride.

"And how, exactly, do you know—"

"—What, you don't trust me?"

"That's not it at all, Ino. You know this. I have to know exactly what happened," he raised his hands placatingly, and he was nothing but patient the entire time. I was the unreasonable one. Ugh.

I let myself latch on to dad's emotional spectrum to guide me to my own calm. I couldn't do it myself. I was too riled up. Too stressed. I needed him as a beacon, right then.

With a plop, I sank into my soft comfortable sofa, which helped with the process. I detailed my visit to the shop, went through my suspicions, and what I'd seen in his mind.

Dad's face was set in a stern grimace, "I knew he had money problems recently, but still. Damnit Reigo…"

"What problems could he be having to bring him to do… this?"

How could he even have money problems? All auntie wanted was for her love to live on without issue, and we'd honoured that.

This had blindsided me.

"Ah, don't worry about that I—"

"—Dad, please, just tell me," I interrupted him with a plead. I had to know, I just had to.

He sighed, and rubbed his face wearily, "About a year ago, he'd taken up gambling, and he'd lost. A lot."

"What… that's it?" I asked in disbelief.

"He lost a lot of money, Ino," he spoke in a placating tone, as if it should've been obvious. Which—of course— threatened to rile me up.

"So what, he's in debt so he decides to steal from us? His family?" I asked with a disappointed sigh.

"Sometimes it really is that simple…"

I pulled my legs up to my chest, "This sucks, dad."

"I know, dear."

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that, Ino. I'll pass it on," he sat down beside me and enveloped me in a strong hug, which forced a groan out of me, "I'll handle it, don't worry. Go have fun now."

"Thanks dad," I returned his hug before I left.

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