I can tell it's him. All ninja have a distinct feel, as ninja and as themselves. Ninja are more focused, more aware, more… A hundred different things. They feel like no other type of human. I've met at most four non-ninja, all mercenaries, which felt even a little like ninja. Each ninja is different, as well. We are highly individualistic people, as well as being at least a little bit mad. Even if power does not corrupt, it warps. This is a Nara, and this is Shikamaru. Beside him is someone tired, bitter, and a bit psychotic. Anko. I like Anko, but if she's being paired with Shika that means that I'm in trouble. I don't think the pair of them has failed yet.
I try to make myself inconspicuous. Amateurs always think they have to hunch down, get out of sight, but that actually attracts attention. It doesn't matter if they see you, it matters that they notice you. You just have to not stand out. Move with the crowd, look like the crowd, be the crowd. When you do notice someone, you might think "Whoah, he has a big nose" or "That's bright hair!" but that's not what attracts your attention in the first place. The big nose and the bright hair don't help, but they aren't the only reason. It is patterns and motion at the core of it.
I'm able to avoid detection for a while, the first sweep doesn't catch me, but then they go over everyone one by one. I take a swig. The beer is piss. I slam it down to catch their attention, slopping it over the bar. The bartender gives me a dirty look, but blanches at my glare. Orochimaru is the master of body language; he created a formalized system that goes straight to the reptile brain. You have to modify it for the culture and your own looks, but the theory is always the same. He taught some of it to Anko, and she taught most of that to me. Orochimaru can paralyze you, Anko can terrify you, and I can look more dangerous than you'd believe. People use it instinctively, if you know you're dangerous you act dangerous, but a wimp who knows it can seem badass if he knows how. You can do more with it, seem a leader or be overlooked or a thousand other things, but fear is simple and easy. Bartender won't fuck with me. Poor consolation.
Shikamaru looks over and sees me, gets that oh so loving, painful, worried, needy feeling. Normally I respond in kind, but I'm a bit drunk and belligerent so it pisses me off. I flip him off in the mirror, he gets shocked and a bit hurt, but Anko laughs. Not out loud, but she laughs all the same. We get along, Anko and I.
They sit beside me, Shikamaru to my right and Anko to his right. They aren't trying to intimidate, then. Either way, between the shadows and the snakes they've got me, but truth is weak to emotion. I do feel safer. Shikamaru projects loving reassurance, he wants to help me. To find out what's wrong and kiss it away, and if he gets to keep on kissing he won't complain. I know him. I don't want to be helped, I don't want kisses. This is a rough bar, not a bar for talking but a bar for drinking and a bar for fighting. I want to fight and my self control is fading.
When you're a ninja, you're dangerous. You know that all the time, and as per the cliché, with power come responsibility. I can snap you like a twig, so I'm not allowed to try. We fight with words when no one is going to get killed. I've made one man cry today.
"Ino…" He begins with a plead. He knows I'm pissed, he knows I'm upset, but won't you just listen to me? Don't stare forward, don't fix your gaze, don't be a bitch. Be reasonable. I'm not in the mood.
I turn to him, sucrose sweet, fake as an office plant. "What is it, oh dearest?" He jerks, stung. He knows I don't love him, but can't help but hope. We broke up a month ago, which means that he'd usually be making up around now. "Don't mind me, talk. I'm listening." I'm going to fight. Talk to me, expose a weakness. I'll pounce.
"Don't be that way, we're worried about you. We didn't know where you went." He's isn't playing fair, not putting up his mask. He's not even accusing. No offense, no defense. He offers reconciliation, redemption, surrender. Just go with us, ask a few questions, and it'll all be alright. Fuck that.
"What, don't think I can take care of myself? I've a clean bill of health, strong as an ox. Even if I was sick, I'm a fucking jounin." I'm not dumb enough to mention that they don't trust me. In a perfect world, everything would be treated like it actually is, but in this one pretending something doesn't exist helps make it go away, or at least puts it off. "Or is Temari leaving again and you're worried that your bed will get cold? Don't worry about that; you can just do what you always do. Follow me around for a bit and I'll open my legs. I'm a Yamanka after all." He's stung again, hurt. He fishmouths for a bit. He always genuinely regrets what he does with Temari. He feels that he's using her, not that she minds, and that he's betraying me, which makes me glad and makes me pissed. I want him to go away, to stop loving me, stop making me love him, however temporarily. But he does love me, thinks he's betraying me, and does it anyways. That pisses me off. If he didn't care, I wouldn't, but he does so I do.
"I…" He's shaken, eyes slightly bright, and I actually begin to feel a little bad. If Temari really is gone he's got no one to run to for comfort. I kill that straight off. Anko is an honest bitch, she's enjoying this and doesn't mind that, so I grab that instead.
She's a psychotic and a sadist, and so I become. "You what? Want me back? Want me to be nice and obedient and return on schedule? I'm not a boomerang, you know. I'm not a fucking yo-yo. Each time I leave, you give me flowers, take me on a date, and I come straight back. You don't try to keep me because you know that you can just do it again. Fuck that. Fuck it up the ass with no fucking lube." There are lines, and I'm crossing them. I win. He gets angry, puts on his mask.
Little Shika the hunter-nin is back. The lazy hardass; he says don't fuck with me and don't waste my time. "You know you're under house arrest. You're a jounin, and ANBU to boot. You know what having an escort means. Why'd you drop it?" Anko is getting serious too. I see her flash some symbols out of the corner of my eye; She was willing to stand by and let him try and control the situation, but this is the point where I might run. She's not going to be caught with her pants down.
I smile again, this time aspartame. Fake, far too sweet, and poisonous to boot. "Oh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to try on a few outfits; My wardrobe is getting a bit dated you know. You know how it is, don't you Anko? You get mission after mission, no time to relax and your wallet just getting bigger. Didn't think they'd appreciated just sitting around and watching me dress." I shouldn't have done that, digging at Anko. She doesn't get very many missions at all. I'm lying my ass off, he knows it, I know he knows it. How the game is played. No ANBU would mind a lazy little mission like that. It beats rounding up all the puppies in Po-Dunk village and mutilating them to put the fear into the populace. Beats it by a lot, unless you like hurting puppies, in which case you wouldn't be in ANBU. Be cruel, but don't enjoy it. Enjoying it means you might get too… Enthusiastic.
"Bullshit." Right on time, all according to schedule. "Stop wasting my time," I could be napping, "I could be napping right now." Shika, I know you too well. "You aren't a fucking spy. Why'd you drop them? Just tell me."
I drop the smile. "My team died." He blinks and pulls back just a bit. "I fought with one of the most dangerous people in the world. I'm a bit tense, if you can't tell. A girl can't relax under supervision." He narrows his eyes at me.
"You didn't give a shit about your team. I doubt you even know their names. You don't give a shit about fighting. For the past three years you haven't requested a day off, not even after we tried to interfere with the soukou raid. Why? What happened this time?" Truth and truth. I wasn't bothered by trying to stop five Akatsuki, which I guess should be bothered by. It doesn't say much for my self-preservation instincts. I pull out a big gun.
"You know, I wasn't wearing very much when they brought me in." This is truth. It's a misleading truth, but a truth. That's the very best kind. He goes white and back to worrying about me, shattering the mask. "I just needed some time alone." Truth as well. I had to think, or to avoid thinking.
"I… I'm sorry, I… I didn't…" It's pathetic. I stand and walk off, careful to make no threatening gestures. I look at Anko before I exit, jerking my head slightly.
"No, you didn't." He looks shattered. He's a stew of regret and self-blame, forgetting entirely about his mission. I should feel bad about this, and I do, so I toss off one thing more. "He didn't rape me." Bam. From shattered to a different kind of shock. I close the door. If I'm lucky, he'll wonder about just exactly that means. I never said Kisame didn't fuck me. This might keep him off me for a while.
Anko comes out, a considering expression on her face. "That was mean; all of it was. I didn't know you had it in you." She gives me a sly look, and a tiny laugh. More of a huff, really.
"I'm feeling mean. Wanna spar?" She's considering. It'd let her keep tabs on me, and if we went to a training ground we'd be surrounded by ninja. It's only noon, after all. She gives me a lopsided grin and a nod. I'm on the roof before she stops moving.