If the window were a living creature, it would surely be drowned by now thanks to the endless torrent of heavy rain. The reports said it would last for a long time, possibly even over the period of the entire fall season, with little breaks of just heavy grey clouds hanging above the soaked village. Flood warnings were in full effect. Ino would look out her window to spot some poor souls running from cover to cover to make their way through the wet streets. Sometimes a rather stupid person would come by and make Ino's day by doing something profoundly dumb and entertaining.
But while the village had been trapped in their houses without much choice, Ino had been doing long before the rain came in. Following the end of the war, she lost a great deal of interest in the outside world. She only left the house to go out and do necessary chores, and not very often would she run into friends and chat for more than a few minutes at a time. Ino hadn't taken on any new missions as of late either. She rarely left her own room; only for meals or for chores. Her mother expressed worriment at her daughter's new shut-in lifestyle. Ino continued to stay in her room, hugging the windowsill.
What brought this on? Her father's death still hanging above her head? The terrors of war still haunting her dreams? Feelings of inadequacy over her skills not advancing as well over the others? Maybe she just bored of her life and her friends?
Regardless of the cause, she needed a solution. Ino didn't want to stay this way anymore. She needed the energy to leave first, regardless of weather! No manner of exercise or eating good food could pick Ino back up onto her feet and motivate her to going outside on her own time. Looking into her mirror, Ino could see she had at least gained five pounds, became even whiter in skintone, and lost some muscular mass. At this point, she couldn't partake in doing Missions higher than Rank D.
It had only been a few hours following lunch, but Ino already felt like turning in for the day. Might as well. Ino let her legs give away for her body to fall into bed. She hadn't thought of anything she could do to get her outside. She wouldn't mind the rain; she would go out there with a good umbrella and run like mad through the rain. Ino would hit all the still-open restaurants that served hot food and gorge herself, maybe even treat her friends to the meal, maybe even offer to come over to their places and escort them over with her own umbrella! They would shake off all the water like dogs once inside…
Ino jumped when a series of loud thumps came from below her; specifically at the front door. She decided to ignore it and let her mother get instead. The raps got louder and stronger a few seconds later. Realizing that her mother might be either asleep or out getting groceries, Ino had no choice but to get the door herself. Grunting as she moved her lazy bones out of bed, she took her time going down the stairs. The pounding grew more and more impatient. Ino ran towards the door and threw it open.
"About time!" The drenched Hokage coarsely got out. "Were you planning on leaving me to drown in the rain?!"
"Tsunade?" A very detached Ino asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I came here…" Tsunade sighed as she hung up her soaked coat on the rack and kicked off her shoes. The garment had become a cloud in itself; raining down water onto the wooden floor and started to form puddles. "...to get something from your mother about the Allied Mothers…thing…and to drop off something important." She reached into the inside her coat and pulled out a long envelope. Going by the size and the bulge of the item inside, Ino picked up fast the contents of the package, but kept her body rigid without betraying her emotions.
"I would help you with that thing, but I don't know what my mom does with that Allied Mothers Force." Ino shook her head before a yawn escaped from her lips. Great, a guest comes over and now she actually feels tired. Tsunade shuffled over to the couch and sat down, with the envelope sitting next to her. "Do you want some tea, or like a snack?" Ino then asked. "I think my mother stepped out…"
"Anything hot will do." Tsunade waved off before putting her hands inside of her pants pocket for warmth. "Soup, chilli, curry…" She rambled on before letting loose with a long groan. Ino walked into the kitchen and decided to make good use of those cheap pasta bags her mom bought in case they became trapped in their house. Took about five minutes to make, so might as well serve the tea while we'll wait…
"Shizune has been on my back big time…" Tsunade sighed after taking a few sips of the tea. "…she wants me to take it easy, just do paperwork all day or hand the job over to Kakashi." She groaned as she slammed the cup down onto her plate, nearly shattering both. "I'm still capable of doing my job. I can interact with the townspeople, resolve situations both with violence and/or peace, and I'm willing to deliver important mail in the middle of a terrible rainstorm!"
Ino felt like pointing out that the last thing wasn't a good thing really, but she didn't want to argue with the powerful Hokage inside of her own home. "About that envelope…" She started to ask about.
"Oh." Tsunade resigned before reaching over and opening the envelope with a trembling hand. As Ino predicted, indeed the contents were that of a torn and messy head-protector baring the symbol of their village. Ino started to hug herself voluntarily. It was fairly obvious who it belonged to. Tsunade didn't need to say anything more, she reached over and handed Ino the headband. Ino took it and held it close to her. She could pick up the faint smell of bush clover. No doubts. "We're going to be renaming the new HQ in honor of him and Shikamura's father…are you okay with that?"
"Yeah." Ino gripped the headband tight. "Yeah."
"We don't have to if you feel it would…"
"I'm fine with it, really." Ino pushed out. "Go ahead."
Tsunade didn't go further than that and went quiet. With the timer going off, Ino got her escape and went off to get Tsunade's meal. Mixing up the noodles, Ino really stopped thinking all together. Her head felt empty and yet she felt fine; no dizziness or nausea. Her stirring slowed down and she ended up getting the spoon stuck in the solidifying noodles. Still she managed to deliver the bowl to Tsunade without dropping it or putting the meal in the flowerbed. But without any more words, Ino went back to her room and collapsed onto the bed.
Minutes became hours and hours turned into minutes. Ino went into a delusional world where she lost all track of time and all sense of the physical world. Drifted off into a inky blackness with no escape. This felt good. No need to think, no need to feel, no need for anything but for her to forget the world around her…
…for a actual period of about three minutes when her mother called for her loudly. Ino once more grunted out of bed. As she went downstairs, she could see both Tsunade and her mom talking, but the attention became fixated on her when the two heard the stairs creaked. "Ino?" Her mother asked. "Are you feeling all right?" When Ino tried to say otherwise, her mother then filled in, "Tsunade-sama said you were looking a little pale…and don't say you're fine."
"Tsunade delivered dad's headband." Ino came out bluntly. Her mother then gasped. Obviously Tsunade wanted to break the news solemnly like with Ino. Based on Tsunade's disapproving scowl and her mother's sobbing, Ino did something wrong. But not being a complete terrible person, Ino quickly apologized. "Sorry."
Tsunade consoled Ino's mother with more gentle words and pats on the back. Ino ignored this and decided to go back upstairs and stay in her room as a form of self-punishment. For the third time today, she slammed her body onto her bed and just resigned herself back into the imaginary world of nothing. But she didn't completely go into it; knowing full well that someone would come up and confront her on it. That, and the storm outside got so loud she couldn't push it out of her head. Rolling over to face the door, she counted off imaginary seconds until the door swung open and in came her mother.
"Ino." She sighed. "I understand you still hurt…" Her mom crossed one arm over and rubbed her bicep up and down. "…we will have a talk later, after Tsuande-sama leaves." Ino weakiy nodded. "Which be later. Look outside." Her mother pointed over to the window. Despite not feeling like moving at all, Ino managed to pull herself up and look outside. The sight below amazed her enough to get her to open her eyes wide. The entire street was flooded up to five inches of water. The street had become a raging river! While a ninja could cross it without any problems, they would end up flooding whatever room they chose to escape from. Ino worried the window might break from all the pressure.
"I'm guessing Tsunade is going to stay?" Ino asked to confirm.
"Yes…" Ino's mother sighed. "You mind if she sleeps in here? Our guest room has a leak…" Ino shook her head in agreement. Her mother then silently left the room, closing the door behind her. Ino jumped onto her bed and stared at the ceiling.
So, the Hokage is going to stay for a while? It could be a few hours, the rain could shift again and the streets would be less of a hassle to swim through. Or it could last several days with the ongoing weather and Ino's decreasing amount of luck. Maybe even over a week's time. Good thing they stocked up.
As the rain continued to beat down above her, Ino wondered just how things will change with a legendary sanin in their household…