No time to turn back. Ino took a deep breath in front of her mirror. She had dressed up in her cleanest clothes she had and groomed up nicely. This had been the best-looking she had been in weeks. The only thing she couldn't help fix was the paler skin she got by staying under the sheets and in her room all day. Still had a little bit of a headache and a slight twitch in her back, but those would go away soon. Unconsciously licking her lips, Ino pushed open the door and descend down to the living room.
Tsunade and her mother were waiting there, with a complete tea set on the table. Ino had a chair on the other side of the table facing the two older ladies. Ino cleared her throat to announce her presence before taking her seat. She pushed out any creases she had on her dress as she waited for the session to begin.
"You look nice." Tsunade complemented. "I'm glad to see you are taking a interest in your recovery."
"Thanks." Ino got that out with half of a mutter and half of a normal voice. "So…how's this going to work? You going to show me a few cards, answer a few questions, confront me directly…"
"We'll start with a few questions relating to your condition." Tsunade crossed her legs and reached over for the large notepad next to her. "And please, if I cross over any boundaries, please tell me and I'll stop. But we may have to push a few things regardless if you want a full recovery. What I want is for you to understand a few things that have recently developed. Are you okay with this?" Ino nodded and Tsunade started to write down a few things. "Let's start with how it started, actually. When did you first starting feeling this way?"
Ino blinked. She had to think about that. "…after the war. I was helping out with the injured…" Ino found herself drifting back to that time. Covering up her own wounds with shreds of her already torn uniform, she looked around the medical tent. Every bed is full with people all severally wounded, some even missing limbs. And not just ninjas, but civilians caught in the crossfire. Their screams were the loudest. Many of the doctors, nurses, and healers were rushing around all over the place to help as many people as possible, tripping all over each other in the process. The war had ended, so these people were the last victims. But that fact still didn't help anything at all. These people were still in pain and were on the edge of death. And a few of them did die. Loss of blood…infection…suicide…malpractice…
"Ino." Tsunade firmly stated. "Go on."
Ino took in a prolonged breath of air before continuing. "I was doing what I can to help…there wasn't much left. Some of them needed a hospital, some of them just needed bandages and were taking up beds for the severely wounded…some of them…" Ino unconsciously bit her bottom lip. "Some of them…" She repeated, recalling a very particular memory involving a elderly fisherman with half of his face melted grabbing a dirty needle…
"Ino, let's go away from that for now." A little worriment came into Tsunade's voice, realizing that Ino had hit a trigger. She took a second to consider a new path to travel on. "Let's discuss things you enjoy doing, things you haven't done recently because of the rain."
"I like most things girl are supposed to like." Ino sighed, managing to calm down and get away from that tent. "Shopping, exercise, dieting, thinking about boys…" Ino cracked her neck back and forth. "Once the rain ends, I need to lose a few pounds."
"Good." Tsunade happily sighed. "Exercise is a good way to get the heart going! Lose a few pounds and build a few muscles and you should be in good, healthy shape. Now, what kind of things do you like to buy when shopping, or do you usually window-browse?"
"Depends on how much money is in my purse." Ino played with her hair, moving a blade around her face. "I might just look and imagine myself with a certain dress for a bit, and if I can afford it, I go in and try it on first. If it fits, I look great in it, and it's affordable, yeah, I'll buy it in a heartbeat." Ino cracked her neck back, looking up to the ceiling fan to which she followed one of the blades around. "And I got tons of stuff in the closet I wore a grand total of once." Ino then sighed. "More bad decisions on my part…"
"That's normal." Tsuande shrugged. "Everyone, and I do mean everyone, buys crap they only ever use once or never at all. I actually got a small warehouse of junk outside the village. It's got dresses, scrolls, silverware, furniture, stacks of paper, weapons…" Tsunade snapped her fingers, diverting. "Ino, can you recall a recent memory about you and Tenten?"
"I got one." Ino looked back to Tsunade and her mother, who had remained quiet so far. "So, before…" Ino motioned with her hands to non-verbally bring a word she didn't want to use. "…we went out for ice-cream, just to calm ourselves and relax after a long…time of working hard like dogs. We talked…about…" Ino slowly reached a finger up above her right ear and scratched. "…the future, I remember? I remember Tenten talking about opening her own shop…not just weapons, but like a convenience store. Yeah!" A slight smile came to Ino's face. She found herself on top of a old building, looking at the sunset in the distance with a large strawberry ice cream cone in her hands, with actual chunks of strawberry! When Tenten told in detail about her huge store, Ino asked if Yamanaka Flowers could have a store on site…
"That's good." Ino's mom finally spoke up. "Focus on stuff like that!" Tsunade calmly placed a hand on the mother's lap. Ino's mother went quiet again.
"I wonder how she's doing in this rain…" Ino spoke up.
"Before I came here, I stopped by her place to drop off something for her mom." Tsunade cleared her throat. "She's a little under the weather, like everyone else, but she's doing well. She mentioned a project, so she might get started on that store you mentioned. You could help her get started."
"What about you?" Ino pointed to Tsunade. A little bit of negativity went into Ino's brain. "You run the village and you need to approve everything about the store: the land rights, the building permit, the supplies to build the place…"
"I know a abandoned building that works well." Tsunade stopped Ino mid-sentence. "It's off to the side, but it's big and has plenty of rooms and it would need only a few things to change, like adding more windows and more access." Tsunade crossed her legs. "We could use a economy boost. You and Tenten could really help Konohana."
"Yeah." Ino muttered. She started to really become bored of this conservation. She wanted this and now she grew bored of this. Kinda like her talking ballet classes as a kid. She shifted in her seat and started to look away and at the windows. The endless rain suddenly became more interesting than this. Tsunade saw this and decided to move on to something that would get Ino back on track.
"Ino…is there something you would like to eat?" Tsunade adjusted her robes as she felt a bit stuffy. Ino caught a little bit of cleavage. Going into negative mode once more, Ino decided that Tsunade was too loose. Must she expose her breasts every time she went out? All of her clothes showed off the cleavage line, displayed off her curves, or hid very little. Jealousy started to bubble in Ino, but she still kept her bored looks. "Any certain place, type of cuisine…"
"I'll take whatever." Ino dejected. "I'm not picky." Ino's mother wanted to bring up the truth, but kept quiet.
"I can treat you." Tsunade gently smiled. "You've been dealing with me as a guest for nearly a week now, so I owe a few things. A meal is the very least I can do. I can get you into some of the more prestigious restaurants in Konoha just by snapping my fingers. Once the storm fades away, I'll treat the entire family to a great meal!"
"Sure, sure." Ino grumbled. Tsunade realized that Ino had slipped a bit and progress had been halted for now. By trying to go further would be wasting time, and possibly even detrimental to Ino's recovery. Even Ino realized this and got up in a fuss. "May I go now?" Tsunade merely nodded and Ino stormed up the stairs in a hurried fuss.
"This isn't working." Ino's mother meekly admitted.
"It needs more time." Tsunade admitted as she too got up. "I'll treat you to some tea. We can discuss Ino's health over a cup."
Ino awaited at the part of the stairs where she would hidden by the wall. She grunted at hearing Tsunade and ascended to her room to sulk some more. To think that this…busty bitch can assume what she is feeling? And treat it with the promise of free food? Whatever! Ino removed her outfit and threw into the corner, not caring about the condition of the getup. She reached into her bookshelf and took a random book out and tore into it, loosing herself in the pages until dinnertime, where she darted down and took her plate upstairs to eat in private. Neither her mother and Tsunade objected to this.
Ino once more entered her own world without a single care in both her world and the real world. She wasted the rest of the evening watching the rain trickle down her window and creating patterns out of the watery lines.