Chapter 6
I thought those white clouds
were gathered around
some distant peak,
but already
they have risen between us.
Ino awoke in her guest housing the next morning with the sunrise, already leaving an eventful evening behind in her memory. Her only focus now was the mission.
Ino arrived at the Raikage Building the same time as Jae. They bid each other good morning and walked up together.
Upon entering, Darui and Cee were standing behind the raikage as he sat on his signature couch. Ino noted he conducted his business from it instead of a desk, she wondered if Kakashi was aware that was even an option.
"Alright, everyone is here and ready." Ae began.
"This mission will be led by Darui. Cee will be your sensor and backup. Jae, will be able to continue on the mission with tracking if anybody escapes. Ino, your job is to go to the inn since they're already familiar with you, we're going off your hunch that you can find out more undetected."
Everybody nodded at their respective roles.
"The agenda is to find out as much as you can about this organization. If you come across any enemies, don't be afraid to kill them." He continued. "And Yamanaka,"
There was something about his constant firm exterior that kept Ino from ever feeling at ease with the raikage unlike the 3rd, 5th and 6th hokage in her home land. "Yes, sir?"
"I believe any shinobi should go in ready to die but we're borrowing you and I don't want any problems with the Leaf so soon. So if you get a whiff of any trouble, call your backup right away."
"Don't be reckless, right." Ino agreed.
Ae asked if they had any questions and dismissed them.
The four of them left Kumo in single file, jumping through the mountainous terrain. The team worked together very well, mostly because there was minimal talking and everybody was focused.
Once nightfall began to crawl, the team was at their resting spot, very close to where Cee and Ino had met up just a few days before.
"Alright, this will be good for the night. After tomorrow we will travel on, to the location. Ino-san, you'll go on by yourself to the target's inn and from there on we will be tracking far behind so as not to raise any suspicion." Darui spoke.
The four man squad stopped at a small inn along the bottom of the mountains where travelers passed by. It was minimalist with little to no bells or whistles.
"I got us a large shared room where we all will be sleeping on tatami mats, if that's okay." Darui said walking outside the ryokan building.
Ino felt the question was directed at her since she was a woman and the rest men, but it wasn't as if she didn't experience that a million times with her squad and other shinobi.
"Chivalry is appreciated but I'm more than used to it." Ino laughed reassuringly. It's not like they were sharing actual beds.
They took their packs inside and scattered. Some took turns washing up while others began snacking on their provisions.
Though she was offered first wash up, she declined, insisting she'd rather go last.
Ino's back against a wall, she opened her pack and rummaged through it. She saw her provisions and also the doggy bag from Chouji's mom she forgot all about. She opened it, hoping it wasn't something fresh that was now rotted.
Seeing the rice crackers, she sighed relieved.
In the middle of their humble room there was a small floor table for them to sit at and eat. Ino walked on her knees over to the table and poured the snacks out in the empty bowl the inn had left.
It caught Darui and Cee's attention, Jae was already in the bath washing up.
"I just wanted to share a snack that was given to me in Konoha."
"Prawn rice crackers." Darui said, approaching them.
"Not just any prawn rice crackers, Yukari Ebi Senbei. These shrimp were dried in a special way only by the Akimichi Clan's knowledge. They're all about filling food up with as many nutrients as possible needed for their diet, so they're full of energy boosting nutrients that will help for the trip. My teammate's mom gave them to me, I forgot all about them."
Cee looked on but didn't approach.
Darui bowed his head briskly and took a bite. "Hey, these are pretty good."
"Mostly because you heard how healthy they are." Ino giggled and took one herself.
There was a pause as Darui looked at Cee, expecting him to be polite.
Cee stared on and didn't move.
"Take one." Ino suggested.
When Cee looked at her, she was holding the bowl towards him, without making eye contact and looking a bit flushed. If she weren't a succubus, he would have found it slightly endearing.
He almost started to feel bad. Almost. The he recalled it was easy for her to put on any facade she wanted.
Hesitantly, he took a single one and slunked back to his spot to eat it. He mumbled a thanks and Ino considered it a victory.
Darui gave Ino a knowing smile that felt forced, causing Ino to feel uneasy. She realized that Darui was there that night it all happened, but not once during the war did he mention it. Could he possibly have known? Maybe Cee told him.
When Jae walked out of the bath, Cee took his turn to wash up.
"Can I ask you something?" Ino whispered to Darui as soon as Cee was out of earshot.
She caught his full attention again and he looked at her.
"Are you and Cee-san friends?"
"We're the whole package; teammates from childhood, now bodyguards of the raikage and of course through all that friends."
"Ah," Ino nodded and didn't say any more.
Darui expected her to continue but she offered Jae some snacks as well then went back to her spot against the wall.
'What is with these two?' Darui wondered. He wasn't one for prying or playing matchmaker but the idea bounced around in his head to help the two along on whatever was happening now. The air was always tense when they interacted and he couldn't handle his best friend being on edge all the time. He also couldn't have an envoy being caught up in past conflicts.
'Probably sexual frustration.' Darui concluded, knowing his friend would say something like 'That's the conclusion you came to?!' and get really irate, so he never brought it up to his face.
His friend had every right to be upset over the matter, but he also thought he should make peace with it and perhaps get to know the real Ino. Any former grudges left to fester could bode bad for an alliance.
He approached Ino and sat beside her. This whole thing was way out of his zone but he figured he'd begin with the more reasonable and emotionally available seeming blonde.
"Is everything okay?" Ino asked.
"Uh, yeah, sorry to bother." He put his hand behind his head. "I just wanted to talk about Cee."
Ino tensed up and eyed him.
"I know things have… happened between you two in the past and Cee is having a hard time letting go." He began.
Ino put her head into her knees, embarrassed. "So you know."
Darui nodded empathetically.
"I tried to explain things but he didn't want to hear it. It's not my fault." She went on the defensive.
"I know it's not entirely. He's being stubborn." He realized he had little plans on what to even say about all this. Why was he getting involved again?
"I understand why he is. He lost his mother in the war. At least, that's what I heard."
"And our teammate." Darui added.
Ino peeked up to look at him. "Konoha, too?"
Darui nodded.
She retreated back to her knees. "What a fucked up situation for him."
"I didn't tell you to make you feel bad. Just explain some things. I know it's not fair to me to ask but during the duration of your time together, maybe you can keep doing what you're doing. I'm sure his hard shell will crack enough."
She pouted, feeling a bit lectured.
"It's not just a grudge he has because of all that, it's also just the fact that he… this might sound creepy but he seemed to have liked you. Well, the woman he met that night." Darui knew there were no emotions tied in for her that night, it was all purely business.
She nodded silently, already knowing that from reading his mind. But maybe it fostered into something more even after she left. That's why she thought she erased his memories back then. But her technique was very shaky and it seems she failed.
Cee walked out of the room with steam following behind him, wearing his black pants and shirt without his Kumo vest. It reminded her of the night she met him.
Darui casually stood up and went to the bathroom for his turn.
Ino sat back against the wall and pondered the conversation with Darui and the mission ahead tomorrow. The two twirled around in her mind until it was her turn.
After her turn in the bath was finished, she came out to see Darui and Jae, laying down and relaxing before an early sleep.
With her mind too wired, Ino took her pack and walked outside.
The one floor inn had a porch that wrapped around its entirety, she took a seat outside and decided to get a moment to herself the way she did these days; through a book.
She actually didn't intend to bring any along, but accidentally brought her poetry book.
After a few minutes, Cee came back, walking up a grassy dirt path. He had been out around the surrounding area to do a sensor survey before they slept to keep tabs on all the chakra in the area.
He stumbled upon her before he came into view. She was sitting outside with damp hair hanging loose and wrapped up in a book. His vision honed in, it was by a famous woman poet he never bothered to read.
Finding his courage he walked forward like he had never stopped, though if she were halfway paying attention, she would have sensed him.
She looked up at him, one hand holding up her dainty face and the other holding the paperback book. Her hair hanging loose reminded him of the night they met and how soft it felt to his touch.
He swallowed a lump in his throat. A physical reaction that betrayed his mind. "Are Darui and Jae still up?"
"No, I don't think so."
He let out an awkward grunt of a reply.
"How sad that I hope
to see you even now,
after my life has emptied itself
like this stalk of grain
into the autumn wind." Ino read aloud to herself in a mumble, trying to avoid any small talk with the Kumo nin.
Cee blushed, taken aback by the words of the poem. "Tale of Genji?" He asked, not sure what to reply. He wasn't sure why he asked at all.
"No, that's Murasaki Shikibu, but close." She hummed reading the poem again in her head, studying the kanji used.
"Ah," He looked away awkwardly.
He approached not having any clue what to say to this bizarre woman or if he could get away with not saying anything at all.
"You should get rest, don't think you can slack off because you're not from here."
Nailed it!
Ino sat the book in her lap and looked at him for a moment. She recalled Darui's words about being the bigger person for now until Cee warmed up.
"Last I recalled, I was asked to come here for my abilities, I didn't show up unannounced for fun."
Nailed it!
She walked into the room in a considerate and silent rush; not wanting to wake the others if they were asleep but to let Cee know she was pissed and leaving this exchange.
He stood his ground outside and had several conflicting thoughts that swirled around her until he followed a few minutes later.
The room shone with moonlight and he automatically looked for her. She was on the far side of the room with her back already turned to the door. Her hair mixed in with the moonlight and glistened like silver from that distance.
Cee took a spot close to the door by Darui and took his rest as well. He wouldn't let her get in the way of this mission.
A/N: Went back to chapters 4 & 5 to help compile a list of characters that are canon and OC so it's easy to keep track if you'd like to look the canon characters up on Narutopedia or something.
Canon:
Ran, J, Amai, Karai
OC:
Jinsui