Look! A chapter!
Um. So, you're all going to pretend it hasn't been forever and enjoy this chapter like it was posted only days after the last one, right? Gosh I'm sorry, I'm bad at this updating stuff. :c This is a timeskip to four days after the last chapter's end, by the way; it's her fifth day at T&I. It's a bit short, a bit filler, but I needed to do a kind of filler chapter in order to set everything up for next chapter. I think I finally know where I'm going with this.
Also a big big thanks to all who have reviewed/favorited/followed since my last update. c: Enjoy this chapter! C:
Disclaimer: I have a headache, but no Naruto.
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She props her sandaled feet on the table in the break room, sipping at the cup in her hand and rifling through the papers that sit in her lap, stark white against the deep blue of her pants. Her bracelet, a silver loop around her left wrist, clacks against her wrist bones as she looks through the files, hidden under her white long-sleeved shirt. They're ones given to her by ANBU's captain, detailing known upcoming missions that she can take on once her stint here at Torture and Interrogation is finished. While a good number of ANBU's missions are spur of the moment ones, made as fast as information flows in from spies and other informants, there are quite a few that are also planned ahead of time, given an amount of thought and planning before the members are sent off.
Ino prefers the spur of the moment ones, herself; she couldn't ever really explain it, but there's a certain thing about it. The rush of not knowing exactly what you're going into, that something unexpected could happen at any time, any moment; she loves it. The adrenaline flowing through her body and her heart pounding hard is something that just can't be replicated; at least, not with anything she's ever experienced.
She pauses in her flipping of the papers, her interest caught by one of the missions. It's long term, and a long way away as well, starting a month, a week and two days from today. It's undercover, requiring a female and male agent to pose as a married couple in a town suspected to be involved with some unsavory activities; they're to investigate without drawing attention to themselves, and if proof of any illicit activity is discovered, any known participants are to be subdued and returned to Konoha, with help from backup during transport.
Ino's not truly sure why, couldn't explain it if asked, but this particular mission appeals to her. It just seems very… her, somehow. She pulls out that particular mission detail and folds in half, then folds it again, tucking it into her pocket. She replaces the rest of them in the folder before her, and then stores it in her purple duffle bag. She zips it and slings it over her shoulder, scraping the legs of her chair over the floor as she pushes it back to allow room to stand; she needs to be down in Room 56 in a few minutes. Reaching up to fix the messy knot that her hair is secured into, she walks out of the break room and turns left down the hall.
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Ten days later
She's sitting on the couch next to Yuugao when he walks in.
They're chatting about missions they've been on recently, about the people they've worked with, whether they liked them or not. Neither of them have their masks on, and they're in day clothes: both of them barefoot, with long pants and short-sleeved shirts on. She's got a bandage wrapped around her left ankle, and Yuugao has a cast on her left leg; they've both been injured recently, and while most of the damage has already been healed by the medics, both of them were told to stay away from any activities that could lead to straining their muscles: basically, bed rest. It's two more days for her, five for Yuugao, and they've been passing the time here in headquarters; though Ino has an apartment, moved into a month after joining ANBU, and Yuugao has a house, out to the west, it would strain the muscles in their legs to make the trip from their respective residencies to headquarters.
Yuugao's been talking about the mission she broke her leg on for the last five minutes: she and three others (Bear, Tiger, and Panda) had been chasing down a target, one who was wanted for the murder of five ANBU. They'd thought it would go easily, especially with four of them, and they were wrong; he'd known they were coming, tipped off by somebody, and was waiting with a defense force. While they'd broken through his private guard, he'd gotten away, and she'd been the one to follow him; in the ensuing chase, she'd managed to get her leg caught around a vine, and the way it twisted had broken it.
She's been simultaneously listening to her friend's story and watching the room, observing her fellow ANBU; and just as Yuugao takes a breath to talk about their return, he walks in, flanked by two ANBU (Crow and Bear, funnily; two of the first four people she'd met here). He's dressed in ANBU uniform, minus the mask, though that's held loosely in his left hand (she can't see all of it, but from what she can see, it's a hawk). He and Crow and Bear make the walk over to the captain's office, knocking one, two, three times on the heavy oak door.
Yuugao notices she's not listening anymore just as they. She snaps her fingers by Ino's ear twice. "Ino?" She follows Ino's eyes and hers land on the same three people. "What the hell? Ino… is that Uchiha Sasuke?"
He and Crow and Bear disappear into the captain's office as she answers, pulling the door closed behind them. She swallows. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."