Just a disclaimer here: I don't own Naruto.
I gave a long sigh, one of those really, really, long deep ones that give you a feeling of contentment. Except, I was far from content. I was tired and annoyed and I really just wanted to get out of the shop.
I'd been sitting in here all day, from 8.30am till now, 4.30pm. I mean, sure, I loved my family's flower shop; I loved the scents and the colours and the petals and the shapes of the flowers! But seriously, sitting on your ass, all day, with no customers can put a bit of a damper on your mood.
So yeah, since about 10am, I've been sighing non-stop, my head in my hands.
That is, until, I met her.
Now, now, is that any way to talk about Sakura's Inner?
Go away, iSakura -.-
Ino, you're so mean! I thought you would love me! We're so compatible! I mean seriously! LOOK AT US!
Look iSakura, I know we're tots compatible, but I am in no mood to deal with you.
*sniffle* You sound just like Sakura now, minus the yelling. *sniffle*
Ugh, fine, how about you just talk to my Inner, okay? I mean that's why you visited me!
Oh, right, of course! Inner Inoooooooooo!
Oh god, no! Ino, save me!
No can do, iIno, this is your friend.
Well, technically, I should be your friend as well, because I am part of Sakura, and Inner Ino is part of you, therefore I am still your friend.
You're giving me a headache, iSakura. Go away.
Not until I've had my chat with Inner Ino!
INO! SAVE ME! PLEASE!
Didn't I tell you your Inner was just like Sakura, Ino? Naw! Come here, my Inner friend!
INO, WHY AREN'T YOU SAVING ME? I DON'T WANNA GOSSIP ABOUT INNER NARUTO OR INNER SASUKE OR INNER SAI OR INNER ANYONE ELSE!
Oh shut UP! You're all giving me headaches, as if my day hasn't been bad enough!
Well, nothing really happened, you know, Ino…
Just shut up.
You're probably thinking that I, Ino Yamanaka, have finally succumbed to the insanity the ninja world was to bring upon us, despite my young age. Well… if iSakura's explanation is true, I haven't. In fact, just about everyone would be insane if iSakura's explanation is true.
I'll start from the start, so everything is clear:
I was quietly minding my own business (not that I had any), when suddenly!
HI INO!
"HOLY FRICKING SHIT! WHO'S THERE?" I jumped out of my seat, standing in a defensive position, creating a thin chakra web around the shop to discover who had suddenly entered the shop, yet was invisible to me. I could sense my mother, upstairs, cooking up some lunch, a few trusted employees in the back, but no-one else. I knew my father wouldn't be home, because he was out on a mission. Strange.
I pulled my chair up, and sat down slowly, warily.
So, Ino, I guess, I gave you a bit of a scare, there, huh? hehe…
"Shit." I muttered, as I got up again, defensive stance taking over once more as I scanned the area with my eyes, and with my chakra.
"Who's there? Show yourselves!"
Ino, there's nothing to be afraid of! It's just me! Inner Sakura!
Sakura? What was she doing here? And how come I couldn't see her, let alone sense her? Must have been an imposter… I decided to call out for her anyway though.
"Sakura? Where are you?"
Perhaps, I could just scout out their location, pretend I fell for the trap and let them think I thought they were Sakura, while, in fact I just used their prank against them and attacked.
Really, Ino, you don't need to go through such a plan, no-one's here except for your mum and the other employees! I'm Inner Sakura, the Sakura inside Sakura's mind!
Hold up. A Sakura… inside Sakura's… mind?
"What the *beep*!"
Haha, I know, I would so totally swear like that too if I didn't get beeped! xD
"Who the hell are you?"
Oh my God, do I have to repeat myself? You're sah dumb Ino! Just like me! HAHA!
I could feel a tick appear on forehead, you know, like in the anime. Anyways, I was annoyed. Who the hell was this imposter, claiming to be 'Inner Sakura'? In fact, where were they, so that I could ambush them?
*sigh* Ino, you can't 'ambush' me. I'm in your head!
Oh crap, I really was going insane. I was hallucinating. Not just that, my hallucination could understand my thoughts! Oh, God, the life of a ninja was tough!
Okay, Ino, STOP IT! You're not 'hallucinating'! I'm real! Sort of… I belong to Sakura though! But I exist, in minds. Well, technically I should only exist in Sakura's mind, but I've managed to bend the laws a bit! I came for a visit!
Well, if I was going to be insane, I decided to be insane the proper way.
"Well hello there! Oh haiiii! I'm glad you came by! Thanks, so am I! I just came over for a chat, you know, time to catch up and all! Naw, how sweet, would you like a cuppa tea? I'm sure my mum won't mind if I left the shop unattended just for a few minutes… Oh wait, YOU'RE IN MY HEAD! AHAHAHAHAHA! You can't drink real tea! You're gonna need in-my-head tea! HAHAHA! Here's some tea for you, did you like it? Oh of course I liked it, it was amazing! So, how's it going? Any improvements wi-" I was sure by now, standing in front of the shop window, talking to myself, civilians and ninjas passing by would have thought that I had finally cracked it.
Ino… I didn't know you really were crazy! Let's be crazy together!
At this I laughed maniacally. Oh what were my friends going to think?
Ino, stop it. You're not crazy. And look what you did, Inner Sakura! Making her react like this without even telling her what's going on!
What was this? A second voice? Oh my, I must have been more delusional than I thought! It was time to up my antics.
"Oh heeeey! Didn't know you passed by as well! I know right, didn't expect to meet you two here! So what's up? Oh not much, just wanted to go shopping you know! Oh Ino #2, I met your dream boy on the way! ;) OMG, no way! Whatcha say to him? Come on, spill! I bet Ino #2 is dying to hear it! I know right, Ino #1, BUT you two have to give me some tea first! Oh sure, Ino #3! Wait, you're all in my head, HAHAHA SOME MORE IMAGINARY TEA FOR EVERYONE!"
INO SHUT THE HELL UP!
Lol. You go, girl! Keep up the talk, Ino!
Inner Sakura, stop encouraging her!
Wait… I was being told to stop being crazy? What the hell was going on?
I immediately stopped talking, confusion evident in my face, uh, I mean, mind. Or face. Or whatever.
Good girl, now walk back to the counter, where people can't see you too well through the window. Don't wanna ruin your rep do you?
Oh please, I make Sakura ruin her reputation all the time! Just a little bit of insanity wouldn't hurt anyone!
SHUT THE FRICK UP INNER 'KURA!
Nawsies, you used mah nickname! You're not really angry!
-.- Anyways, let's just ignore Inner Sakura for a bit, shall we, Ino?
"O-okay..." I suddenly realised how Hinata must have felt around Sakura and me. These two voices were just like us!
Oh Ino, you're so smart! You've finally caught on!
Shush, Inner 'Kura! Leave her alone, let me deal with this!
Tch, you're so mean Inner Pig, you're just like Sakura.
Anyways, Ino? I need you to pay attention, you may get lost. Just like Hinata did the other day, when Inner 'Kura decided to bring me along for a visit to Inner 'Nata.
"Y-you visited H-Hinata?" Oh God, what had they done to Hinata? I needed to see her immediately!
Oh, don't worry Ino, I made a point of going back with Inner 'Kura to let Sakura know of the damage done. Sakura should be with Hinata today, going over rehab or something.
"So… So Sakura knows all about this?" Oh crap. Maybe she's thinking all her friends have gone crazy!
Don't worry about, Sakura knows she's gone crazy herself!
Sakura is not crazy, she's simply unfortunate to have such an outgoing Inner.
Unfortunate? Tch, Sakura's lucky, unlike Ino, here! She's learnt to have conversations with me in her mind rather than out loud, and she's even learning to keep her facial expressions in check! Although the other day, Naruto did say she was making weird faces and looked like a pig… Haha, wow, did she send him high!
"S-so… Naruto wasn't really flying? That was a-actually Sakura's fault?" Huh, seemed like Shikamaru was wrong for once! Wait until I'd rubbed it in his face that he was wrong! But then, uh, he'd have to know how I know, meaning he'd learn I'd gone crazy and would never talk to me again! D:
Ahaha, Sakura's fault indeed! And she claimed it was an accident… tch. Oh well.
Okay, back to the topic of Inners! Basically Ino, everyone has an Inner. You have an Inner, which is me, Sakura has an Inner which is Inner 'Kura-
MEEEE! HAHA!
Shikamaru has an Inner, which is Inner Shika-
I bet she has a crush on him, you know, Ino, I mean seriously, who calls Shikamaru 'Shika' xD
Chouji has an Inner, which is Inner Chouji-
That's the reason why Chouji keeps eating and eating and eating. Like, seriously, noted how he's always self-conscious of his largeness? He'd try to diet, but Inner Chouji keeps telling him to eat and eat and eat. Not that it's a bad thing, bigness is needed for Chouji's jutsus to work.
Hinata has an Inner, which is Inner 'Nata and so on, so forth.
This was hard, taking in all this information. Basically, everyone had an Inner. Got that. But… "Hey, how come I never knew about this till before now? And doesn't this mean everyone's crazy?"
That's because we Inners, or at least, most of us, know that by showing our presence, it could potentially send our people insane. And no, not everyone's crazy, Inners are just a part of you. Inners are basically everything you're not. Like, you know how Sakura's always modest and everything? Well, Inner 'Kura is-
EVERYTHING ELSE! I'm pretty much like you, Ino! Outgoing, beautiful, amazing, wonderful, smart, cool, everything opposite of Sakura!
Okay… so Inners were the complements of people. Which would mean that Inner Sakura is, like she said, opposite of Real Sakura. And Inner Ino is opposite of me…
That's right, Ino! You're a pretty quick learner! Soon, you'll start learning how to talk to us in your head!
o.O You might even be smarter than Sakura. I started showing up when she was about three, and it took her until she was four before she could talk in her head.
You do realise that might have been because Sakura was a teensy tiny little kid then who need to practice talking by actually saying out her thoughts?
Woah. Hold up, Sakura had Inner Sakura since she was three? I was feeling pretty impressed by this.
"Wait, is this why Sakura could reply my Mind Control technique? You, Inner Sakura, repelled me, didn't you?"
Uh huh! Thank God for that! I would never have let Sakura live it down if she failed and you passed!
"I-I see. So then, this means, that if anyone else was like Sakura, which they are, because everyone has an Inner, this means then that my Mind Control technique could be repelled by anyone?" Shit this was bad. This was really bad. My whole importance as a ninja would become redundant if this was true!
Oh no, no! See, not every Inner has the strength to emerge. Because most people are so afraid of being insane, they push down their Inners until they become non-existent. Inner 'Kura was stronger than most, and also she showed up early in Sakura's life, making Sakura used to have an Inner around and so Sakura didn't push her away. But Inner 'Kura hates not having anyone else other than Sakura to talk to, so every once in a while she goes to revive the Inners of the Rookie 9 and Gai's team. Usually she doesn't make a note of bothering the actual people though…
Well, I thought it would be heaps more fun to let them all know of the existence of Inners!
And a whole heap more troublesome too… Thank God, Inner Naruto is still pretty sensible! Because the rest would have drove me crazy!
"B-because everyone is else boring in reality and their Inners are opposites?"
Exactly.
Inner Ino, you're so mean!
And so, that's how I came to know the existence of Inners. I also learnt to talk in my head! For clarification between Inner Ino and I, and also to shorten their names, I decided to attach 'i' to the front of their name for Inner, you know like iPod or whatever, so Inner Sakura became iSakura, and Inner Ino became iIno.
You love us ^.^
Why are you here?
To talk of course! I can't find Inner Ino! She's being mean and avoiding me!
Well no wonder… Gosh, I can't believe how Sakura lives with you! In fact, how does she live with me!
It takes a huge amount of effort, trust me.
THERE YOU ARE!
OH HELL NO!
"Ino?"
Looking up, I saw Sakura enter the shop. The REAL Sakura.
YIPPEE! SAKURA'S HERE!
Good, go home now.
You're mean :'(
You deserve it, Inner 'Kura.
I do not! Turd!
You're a turd!
Shut the hell up you two! I have a customer!
You mean, Sakura visited you ;P
Ino, please, get rid of Inner 'Kura.
Oh Inner Ino, you love me!
iSakura, iIno, SHUT UP! I want Sakura to know I am exempt from this… Inner stuff!
But you're not…
Just shush!
"Ino, are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, of course I am! Why wouldn't be, haha?"
"O-okay then… Say, Ino, what flowers do you reckon I should buy?"
Reverting to my all-knowing-flower-shop-girl mode, I started thinking and firing questions at Sakura.
"Well, for what occasion are they? A wedding, a funeral, a sick friend or…. Oho! I know what you want! You got your eye on a special someone, hey? ;)"
She gave a deep blush, and looked away.
"N-No! Of course not!"
"Sure, sure, honey, I bet you saw another guy with chicken-butt hair, hey?"
"As if I would fall for another Uchiha, Ino. Ignoring the fact that there are no more Uchihas in the world aside from Sasuke and Itachi."
"Honey, Uchiha was your first love. And with such a rejection you got, I wouldn't be surprised if you found some look-alike to rebound off."
I could see her stiffen and immediately regretted my words.
"I'm sorry, Sakura. I-I didn't mean to mention him in that way."
"I-It's okay, Ino."
Naw, so sappy!
Tch, not really. Sakura can get a lot worse.
Ugh, with Ino to deal with and all the images she puts in her head, this is enough.
Ahaha, oh how I would love to live in Ino's head.
You two, quit it. iSakura, if you can behave, MAYBE I'll get iIno to arrange some sort of swap between Sakura and I. I need some kind of info on Sakura's mind to bribe her when I need to. She's getting better at getting around what I have now!
OH YES, I'LL SHUT UP AND BEHAVE!
Ino, really, you shouldn't be like that.
Whatever, now shut up!
"So… what flowers do you need, Sakura? What occasion?"
"Well, I kind of need something for Hinata. And Naruto."
"Hinata? What happened to her? WHO HURT HER!"
"No-one! Well, someone did… But I'll take care of them." Darkness ran over Sakura's features then, and I'm pretty sure I heard something like 'That damn Inner' but I couldn't be too sure. All I knew was, I was feeling pretty scared for iSakura. Then before I knew it, that darkness left her face, and Sakura was back to her usual cheery self.
"Hmph, if you insist… then what about Naruto? Decided to return his feelings? Finally get some action?"
"Ino!"
"Haha, I'm joking! So just tell me, what's wrong with Naruto? He try too hard at training?"
So our conversation continued as I helped Sakura pick out suitable flowers for our friends. Eventually, Sakura was done with flowers and together we went back up to the counter so she could pay.
"So, Ino, anything happen today?" She looked at me with suspicious eyes.
"Um…" Crap! I think she's talking about us people-hopping!
You mean, you, Inner 'Kura, people-hopping.
Whatever! Oh God :/
If I die, it's your fault.
Oh I highly doubt you would die, you would just go under rehabilitation with Sakura.
What does she do for rehabilitation?
It doesn't matter now, stop talking with us, she's looking at you funny! Don't forget, you haven't mastered controlling your facial expressions yet!
Shit!
"N-nothing weird happened today! "
"Really?"
"Nope, not at all! Why? Something out of this world happen to you?"
"Oh yes actually, it seems someone has been… avoiding me… and annoying the rest of the world. You happen to have met them?"
"Uh…"
Okay, you two, quick question. If I say yes that I'd met you iSakura, what will Sakura do?
SHE'LL USE SOME JUTSU TO GET ME BACK AND PROCEED TO TORTURE ME!
She'll probably try and rehabilitate you.
Rehabilitate how?
Dunno, erase your memory perhaps? Depends on how the person's faring. What she did for Hinata was knock her out and erase her memory of the day.
Hm, that's not too bad, the way you were making it out, it seemed horrible.
It IS horrible! When she does that it erases the memory of the Inner too! And then Inner 'Nata will forget everything that we did! SHE MUSTN'T FORGET!
But look at the damage you did to the real Hinata!
"Well…"
Now Sakura looked at me with a concerned/angry face. Don't ask me how she did it. She was just clearly concerned for my well-being and angry at iSakura.
"Well, what, Ino?"
Should I own up and mention that I met iSakura? Or should I conceal the secret and save myself from losing all memory of Inners?
Well, not ever knowing that Inners exist could do me a lot of good…
What?
But then… you could potentially kill me :'(
Oh, iIno you're too sweet to kill! You're just like Sakura!
Thank you!
So I made my decision.
"Well, I saw a random cat flying in the sky with a bunch of dogs surrounding it like a bodyguard."
Sakura was not impressed.
"Ugh, gosh Ino, you're crazy, you know that?"
"Aren't we all?" I gave my sweetest, most innocent smile then, but Sakura had to know what I meant, after all she just gave me a really suspicious look.
"Well, bye, Ino… Tell me if you meet that troublesome person!"
"Alright, Sakura! Byeeeee, babe!"
Oh thank God! Thank you, thank you, thank you, for saving me Ino!
I didn't do it for you iSakura! I did it for iIno. I figured, iIno is just like Sakura, so sweet and… just, yeah. She's amazing, the most beautiful flower of all, and she will be more than I can ever hope to be. And potentially killing iIno would be like killing Sakura, something I could never ever do.
You're so sweet!
*sniffle, sniffle*
What's wrong, iSakura?
NAWWWW! I LOVE CHUU!
*sigh* Don't worry, she's always like this.
Always like me, you mean?
Yup.
Say, iSakura, if you stop crying, I can shoo iIno away to go visit Sakura while you and me catch up on some goss, yeah? ;)
*GASP* WILL DO!
And that summarises my day of what seemed a boring work day, but ended up being a really good goss sesh, while iIno went off to have a sensible (boring, ugh totally) discussion with Sakura about the politics of the Hidden Villages.