Chapter 13
Love-soaked, rain-soaked-
if people ask
which drenched
your sleeves,
what will you say?
"Are you sure I can borrow this?" Ino asked, already being stripped down.
"We're the same size, it should look great on you." Jinsui assured.
Tonight was the festival that Amai had mentioned upon Ino's first arrival. Everybody insisted she attend this cultural event despite the excuses she made out of politeness. She pointed out that she had no yukata, and that's how she ended up in Jinsui's apartment, stripping down to her underwear.
Truth be told, she felt like she failed today and didn't deserve any time off. However, Ae assured her work was done for the day, which made her mood dive even deeper into the abyss. Usually she would revel in a unique opportunity, but somehow her heart was set on punishing her tonight.
"This blue matches your eyes." Jinsui hummed, making work of helping her slip it on.
It was a simple summer yukata that did have a similar tone to Ino's eyes and plum blossom patterns. Ino adored it and thought to herself she needed to find one like this back home when she returned.
"Thank you so much, Jinsui, you've been nothing but kind to me." Ino's heart clenched.
Jinsui gave a sweet eye smile. "I'll go get mine now."
Ino helped her get dressed into hers that was scarlet red with marigolds. It suited Jinsui so well, Ino couldn't help but squeal in delight. She missed fashion nights like this with girls, thinking on it.
"Tonight is the festival and the raikage is expected to attend this event." Darui reminded Ae, who was making work of the logs along with Cee.
Ae grunted with frustration but stood up. His work was important to him but surprisingly he was also one to have respect for the traditions of his village. Without traditions, the village could easily collapse after all.
"That means you, too, Cee." The raikage barked.
Cee rubbed his temples, and stood. "Yes, Lord Raikage."
Truth be told, none of them wanted to go, they were too fixated on this situation that threatened their village. But this was just as much of a duty. If the raikage doesn't show, the people wouldn't be happy.
They all adjourned to prepare themselves.
Cee returned to his apartment and dressed in his yukata, deciding to remove his kumo headband and his arm guards. It was rare he ever took those things off. Only during festivals and menial tasks sleep, actually.
The thoughts rung in his ear of the raikage suggesting it's time Ino returned back to Konoha, in case anything else unexpected occured.
He couldn't decipher why he felt unsure and uneasy about the whole thing. There was a piece of him that was used to her being around, maybe. Or that he felt with her abilities, they could eventually catch someone and find out everything.
Being in the city center, Cee only had to step outside his door to be into the threshold of the festival. Children were running with lanterns and snacks on a stick below, carrying with them the sign of happier times.
Things were still under construction but children were happy and safe. Cee thought of the threats brewing from outside and felt annoyance at it all. Some people were just psychopaths that needed to be dealt with before they disrupted the peace any further.
He walked through the crowds of people and vendors, hoping to find Darui, the raikage or someone so he could get this night over with. It wasn't that he didn't like festivals and was joyless, but social situations could make him anxious. He brought his work home with him too much and made it hard for him to be present in this moment.
As he was making his way to the center of the festival, the Himeji Castle, he stopped in his tracks.
There was a vendor selling all sorts of books. Everything from cheap paperback to nicer hardbacks. Rare book collections and common alike. There he saw the Yamanaka browsing by herself.
He decided he should walk by her.
But then he backtracked.
And he then wondered if it'd be rude to say hi or leave. He felt a sense of panic, not even sure what was socially acceptable. She was standing there alone with no one around her, surprisingly, and he wondered if it was his job to make sure she was feeling welcome on one of her last nights here. His job was beginning to feel more like customer service these days with international peace at stake.
Ino turned and eyed him, knowingly and Cee felt himself tense up.
"Why do you keep doing that?" Ino looked at him, annoyed.
"Doing what?" Cee looked around before approaching her.
"I can sense chakra too, you know."
He sighed, sharing her annoyance. "I… was looking for someone is all, then I saw you."
"You don't have to babysit me." Ino chided him to go on.
"I wasn't implying that." He defended, wishing he were somewhere else. "Weren't you with Jinsui?" Cee thought it was her turn to babysit this Konoha diplomat.
"She was, but I really didn't want to keep her from her friends and boyfriend, so I snuck away to do some shopping." Ino smirked, rummaging through books again.
Cee raised an eyebrow, he had no idea Jinsui had a boyfriend. Girls really spilled secrets with each other fast.
"This too heavy," Ino sighed to herself, setting the book back down and turning her body towards Cee again.
He looked at the book she sat down. "Weren't you carrying a book like that around?"
"I did, it got lost with my bag in Hot Stones. I came across this vendor but this edition of the book is hardback and not light enough to just carry everywhere."
"That's why you don't take that on a mission." Cee pointed out. He recalled when they first were stuck together on this mission and he found her book reading odd and an even odder choice for relaxation.
"I didn't mean to bring it," Ino turned from the vendor and without thinking, Cee and Ino began slowly strolling together. "I usually took it to work to read on lunch break and it somehow ended up in my bag I brought along on my mission."
Reading flowery poetry definitely seemed like something he'd expect of a girl like her. A lot of guys would find something so feminine highly endearing. But it contrasted with her own occupation, he thought.
Without warning, Ino dived into a dark alley.
Cee looked on confused, he was about to ask her what the hell.
"Cee-senpai!" He heard Amai call, approaching him fast.
Cee looked and saw Amai, also in yukata.
"I thought I saw Ino-chan here but I think I was mistaken. Have you seen her?" Amai asked looking through the crowd.
"N-no?" Cee lied, regretting he was caught up in this.
"Oh, I see." He sighed.
"She was supposed to be with Jinsui, she's her guide tonight. So maybe towards Himeji Castle." Cee suggested, which would throw Amai off her trail. He wasn't sure why he lied, giving her away would technically make him free of her.
"That makes sense, I'll go look." Amai thanked him and ran off back in the direction he came.
Cee looked to the dark alley Ino was standing in. "Was that necessary?" He furrowed his eyebrows at her.
She stepped out of the shadows but not fully into the light. "Was that mean? I just wasn't in the mood, honestly."
"In the mood for what?"
"I don't know, socializing. He's really nice and easy to talk to but…" Ino trailed off. Even she wasn't entirely sure.
Cee watched her in silence with his arms folded. On the outside, it probably looked like he was judging her but quite the opposite. He was discovering another layer to her. He presumed she enjoyed attention from Amai but maybe he was wrong.
"Anyways, I'm going to go watch the fireworks by the river." Ino announced, turning around. Her plum blossom hair trinkets that dangled from her head jingled with her head turning.
Cee sighed, "You'll get lost going down those alleys alone. It's not like you know your way around here."
Ino paused her movements and turned to him.
He groaned out loud and followed behind her, knowing he'd get in trouble if he abandoned her to get lost.
Ino smiled nervously and let him lead the way.
The two walked in awkward silence for a long time, neither knowing what to say.
Ino noticed he looked extremely handsome in his black yukata as she watched his back. They walked along a less crowded street towards the river.
When Ino saw the river in the distance, off Himeji Castle, she stopped to look at it. "I hear in spring there are thousands of cherry blossoms that bloom, I bet it's beautiful."
"It is," Cee nodded, not having much to add. "Maybe you can come by again in spring to see it."
Ino pondered on it for a moment. "Yeah, I'll be leaving tomorrow, I assume."
Cee looked at her and wondered if that was sadness he saw on her face.
"Things seem far from over though, I wish I could be of more help." She confessed.
"You helped a lot." Cee pointed out, only telling the truth with no agenda.
"In the interrogation world, things that end in suicie are a failure. Maybe if I had read his mind from the beginning…"
"He was prepared to self-detonate the moment you tried it. It didn't matter." Cee shook his head.
"Still. When or if you capture someone else, I'd like to help."
The two were walking again now, towards the river.
"Why?" Cee asked.
"Why not?" Ino laughed back.
Cee shook his head, he didn't get it. "Aren't you happy to return home?"
"Sure, but I want to help, too."
"Even after all that stuff he said?" Cee asked. He couldn't help but have it on his mind and he felt Ino did, too.
"I already knew about that, who cares?"
"Who cares?" Cee replied, shocked.
"Okay, okay, I was trying to protect your feelings. I don't want things to be weird between us again."
"They were never normal, and that's not going to protect me… hiding from the truth."
"I know it's the truth." Ino replied, somberly.
Cee examined her face again.
"A classmate of mine… I don't know what you call it or if you even know of specific cases. But we call it the Hyuga Incident."
He vaguely recalled such a thing being mentioned in more guarded documents. A few decades ago Kumo had attempted to kidnap a Hyuga girl, which ended in the death of the shinobi in charge. The situation escalated through sneaky measures on Kumo's part: if they couldn't get a live Hyuga, they'd want the body of a dead one. Though it was discovered that upon death a Hyuga's eyes were destroyed if they weren't from the main branch of the family.
"That doesn't upset you, thinking about it?" Cee spent many years feeling animosity towards Konoha and other villages for things. He had a hard time believing one could simply decide not to care.
"It's not my burden to carry. What's important is to not repeat past mistakes in the future. I have my own things to carry with me and they're heavy enough."
Cee remained silent but wondered if she meant the death of her father.
"I'm sure you have your own stuff to carry but you're not lashing out against Konoha." Ino pointed out.
She was right. Despite his inner turmoil, he carried the burden on his own and didn't lash out.
"It's the mature thing to do." Cee said, accepting no credit given to him.
The crescent moon was high in the sky and the fireflies were floating in the grassy fields. Several people who arrived early were sitting by the river on mats, waiting for the fireworks. Couples, families and groups of friends were all sitting around, happily chatting this evening.
It made Ino think of festivals back home and she did indeed miss her friends.
"Thanks for walking me here, I hope it didn't take up your whole night." Ino gave that endearing smile she had, looking at him.
He felt a knot in his throat when she looked at him so directly and sincerely but he would never tell a soul.
"It's my job, don't worry." He said as they stopped under a tree.
"We're both heading Sensor Units in our respective villages, I'm glad if we can get along... I'm glad we saw each other again." She said, not looking at him but off somewhere else wistfully.
Cee watched her in shock. He wasn't expecting her to say something like that the night before her departure. Or ever.
"Uhmm.." Was all Cee could say, feeling a loss for words. He had emotions on the subject, none he wished to convey verbally.
"Sorry." Ino laughed nervously, now looking at him. "Did that sound weird?"
"N-no, not really." Cee lied. "I'm glad we could… figure this out before we ran into each other again at random, under other circumstances."
Ino leaned back on the tree they both were standing under. Only the light of the moon illuminating her face from the side. "I'll be leaving, so I'm not sure we'll be seeing each other again."
He felt a panic rise up in him for some reason. Shouldn't he be relieved? Why was she so certain they would never cross paths again?
"Why are you making a face like that?" Ino asked, feeling bold in this moment.
"A face like what?" Cee raised an eyebrow.
"You looked unhappy."
"You're mistaken," He shrugged. "I always look unhappy."
"You're unhappy I'm leaving?" Ino snickered.
Cee's face twisted into frustration. "As if,"
"You are!" She jumped up and down in victory.
He let out a low growl. "Maybe, a bit. Your skills are useful. But if you tell anyone I'd deny it."
"I've never told anyone anything that's happened between us." She laughed, but was serious. She hadn't.
His face flushed red that she would joke about something like that. "You really think your looks will get you out of being so rude to people?" Cee sighed, agitated.
He slapped his mouth that he just let that slip out. 90% of his thoughts were filtered out and never left his brain.
Ino froze and looked at him, trying not to snicker. "Did you call me pretty?"
"Not directly," he pointed out, ready to die.
"But implied."
"What of it? Do you think you're ugly or something?" He rolled his eyes.
"I'm glad you think so." She replied quietly.
Cee switched between avoiding her face and looking to her, feeling out of his element.
She tucked a strand of tendril framing her face behind her ear. Half the time she spoke in a way he barely understood the intention behind it. Like she lived to mess with the minds of people, mostly men if he had to guess.
Without reason or thinking, they found themselves gravitating towards each other. Cee was pretty sure Ino leaned in first but before he knew it, his lips planted on hers.
It was nothing like the first time they met and kissed. There was no lustful air behind it. Instead it felt like the awkward first kiss of two people afraid to screw everything up.
Ino's back was against the tree and had nowhere to go until Cee decided it was over.
He pulled away, while stroking her face, slowly remembering where he was and what the hell he was doing.
Ino's cheeks were rosy, his probably were too.
"I-I'm sorry." he blurted out, ruining the moment. "I shouldn't have done that, that was a mistake. An accident."
She pushed his hand away from her face, insulted. "Sorry every time you're around me you end up regretting things."
He wondered what that meant but she was already storming off.
He should have chased her and made everything make sense but he stood paralyzed at the tree, with the fireworks now going off in the distance.
He wasn't sure what happened, but he managed to screw it up before it even got started.
She was like a hurricane in his life, blowing by violently and quickly, and only leaving destruction in her wake.
A/N: So sorry it's been about two months! I never meant to wait that long without updating. Unfortunately I had technical issues and dealing with covid. But come Monday I'll upload yet another chapter and get back on the Monday weekly schedule.