Ino sat up in her seat, and triggered the byakugan that she currently had control over. As a seasoned body swapper, Ino had experience with many different types of vision, mainly of the various qualities of standard human eyesight. The most disorienting changes in vision happened when Ino used her techniques on animals. One of her most memorable and incredible experiences with a new type of vision was when she mind controlled a dragonfly on one of her missions.
The Hyuuga liked people to think they had 360 degree vision, but they really only saw about 350 degrees with their byakugan. On the other hand, dragonflies did have complete 360 degree vision. As Ino possessed the dragonfly, she found herself dazed by her complete field of view. No matter which direction her target went in, she could see him. The dragonfly eyes had a number of other glorious and jarring features, like the extra visible colors and the mosaic pattern, but the full field of vision was what Ino recalled when she first started using the byakugan.
Somehow, it was more unsettling to see in almost all directions than to have either her usual vision or the full vision of the dragonfly. Something about having one small section of the world cut off from her brought out the paranoia in Ino. With the one blind spot constantly teasing her, Ino kept feeling as if something sinister was lurking in that blind spot. It didn't make much sense to be so worried with more vision than she usually had, but being so tantalizingly close to seeing in all directions made everything Ino couldn't see more significant.
As Ino sat in the simple sitting room in Neji's place, spying on Mai with the byakugan, she couldn't help the paranoia that swept over her. If someone in her blind spot was watching her then, he would note how suspiciously she was acting. Hyuuga didn't generally sit alone in a room in the compound, watching their fellow clanmates through the walls. Ino turned her head slightly to compensate for her missing vision though the action just created a new blind spot for Ino to fret over.
Ino supposed she should attribute the majority of her paranoia to the task she, Shikamaru, and Neji had imposed on her -the task she was currently in the middle of- but Ino knew that didn't account for all of it. Never before in a mission had she felt the same. It wasn't that Ino was more fearful than usual or that the stakes were higher. Her unprecedented discomfort was the result of the buildup of emotions that started ever since she woke up in the wrong time and body, which was precisely why she was using her byakugan in the Hyuuga compound and watching Mai.
Mai Hyuuga didn't have much of a routine that she adhered to. Seemingly, Mai spent everyday doing as she wanted by whim. Ino knew that was highly unlikely, and she could probably discover a pattern if she had more time to watch Mai, but the whole reason for infiltrating the security was to get things back to normal as quickly as possible. That's why they were making a risky move and why they chose the specific day carefully.
Mai had one obvious activity that she did at exactly the same time every week. Every Thursday, after the academy let out, Mai picked up her son to train him for a couple of hours. At the moment, Mai's son was still sitting at the kitchen table eating the breakfast his mother cooked for the family. The three family members ate together as Mai's husband rattled on about his work as a clerk. Unfortunately for Ino, Mai had never talked about her own work to her family, at least not during the time Ino had been observing her.
Ino turned her head back to its original position to changed the blind spot again. There was still nothing to worry about. Ino stopped thinking about the possibility of someone spying on her as Mai's family finished up breakfast. Keeping the byakugan on, Ino opened the window in the room. She walked over to a box in the corner and opened that as well. A bird peeked up at her, and Ino quickly lashed out with the chakra strings she readied before opening the box.
"Sorry, bird. I promise I'll let you go after this," Ino whispered softly as she formed the seal for her mind transfer technique. She needed to stay in the compound to keep an eye on Mai and make sure she didn't follow after her son, but she also needed to inform Neji and Shikamaru about her son's departure.
A bird's vision was another matter entirely. Ino maintained a field of vision similar to a typical human, but she could see detail much farther. As such, Ino was able to see the three zinnias in a vase sitting on the table of Sasuke's kitchen. Ino cursed mentally as she couldn't speak out loud as a bird. Ino perched briefly on a branch before making up her mind and flying off to give the signal to Neji.
In Ino's position, Shikamaru would have called the plan a loss and cancelled it until a replacement plan could be made. Ino was much more impulsive than her teammate. She trusted Shikamaru's intelligence and judgment, but he would sit around and plan forever if time allowed. Ino knew few plans were carried out flawlessly, and she did not want to delay this even if they had a lack of time constraints. The sooner she got her hands on the scrolls, the better.
After Neji signaled back to Ino that he'd gotten her signal, Ino landed on the ground and pushed her mind out of the bird back to her own body. Mai was still bustling around the kitchen, clearing up dishes. The blind spot in the back of Ino's neck still burned.
Get ahold of yourself, Ino. No one's watching you. No one has any reason to suspect you of anything.
Ino watched with distaste as Mai checked her headband in the mirror. She used to assume that Neji and the other branch members hid their curse seals of their own volition. It was sort of true, but Ino learned better early on in her friendship with Neji.
Ino and Neji started their training in medical ninjutsu around the same time. It was only natural for Ino to take up medical ninjutsu with the excellent chakra control she possessed. Neji also had good chakra control, but he never would have taken medical training under normal circumstances. Tsunade took to encouraging teams to have at least one member trained in basic medic jutsu. On Neji's team, he was the only one even slightly suited for medical.
As a result of sharing their training at the same time, Ino and Neji saw a lot of each other. At first, they barely interacted with each other even if they did have to work together regularly. Ino and Neji didn't have many interests in common to converse about. Even so, Ino couldn't push back her curiosity enough to prevent herself from asking Neji an inappropriate and personal question.
Ino's curiosity was piqued as she watched Neji carefully replace the headband around the forehead of a patient that was a member of the branch family. Neji's face was pretty unreadable as he stepped back, but Ino could tell his thoughts were dark. As Ino followed Neji into the supply room, she knew she had to ask lest the question bugged her for the rest of the day.
"Why do the branch members always cover their seal?" Ino asked bluntly, not one to mince words unless she was using discretion on a mission. Neji turned his face slowly toward Ino, not looking angry like Ino thought the question might make him.
"Would you want to show off your greatest misery?" It was a legitimate explanation, but it wasn't enough for Ino. During the chunin exams, Neji had unveiled the seal precisely to show off the source of his misery. He couldn't have been the only bitter branch member to want to display the atrocities of the Hyuuga clan to the village.
Deciding to press her luck, Ino continued her line of questioning. "Then why did you reveal the curse seal to everyone at the chunin exams?"
Neji pressed his lips together and focused his attention on the IV solutions on the shelf. Ino figured Neji was already done with the conversation, so she gathered the appropriate accompanying supplies. As Ino prepared to leave the supply room, Neji spoke back up halting her in her tracks. "They don't want the curse seal to be in the forefront of the minds of the village."
Ino clutched the supplies she'd gathered in her hands. "Are you saying that the main family makes you hide it? Did you get in trouble for showing it?"
Neji stared down at the objects Ino carried, silently. Suddenly, he reached out and took the bandages from her. "We should get back to the patient." He spun around and headed back in the direction they came, leaving Ino to hurry on after him. She supposed Neji had reached his limit on the topic.
Ino was proven wrong once again as she set up the IV while Neji waited for her to finish. "The main family says it's not mandatory to hide the curse seal, only encouraged." Ino stilled the hand that was swabbing the vein with an alcohol wipe and glanced up at Neji. He was staring fixedly at the arm Ino was holding.
Ino continued disinfecting as she spoke. "But what they say is different from what they practice?" she guessed.
"There is always backlash when a member of the branch family goes against the wishes of the main family."
"Was there backlash for you?" After asking her question, Ino waited for Neji's response, needle poised over the vein.
"Mainly just disapproval. I have more leeway than other branch members since the main family sees potential in me, or so I've heard from some of the elders."
Ino frowned at Neji's bitter tone. She'd seen during the chunin exams how negatively affected Neji was by the seal, but hearing the same tone from him even after he'd reconciled with his clan made Ino rethink the importance of the curse seal. Suddenly, she understood why hiding the curse seal was "encouraged" by the main family. It was much too easy to forget about the seal and pretend it didn't exist when it was out of sight. Talking about the seal with Neji and directly seeing the pain it caused him made Ino more reluctant to leave the situation alone, not that she could do anything about it anyways. But if the Hyuuga clan started using the seal in public where anyone could see, Ino would bet that the village would put pressure on the clan to end the practice. The main family was right to pretend that the curse seal didn't exist in public.
Ino finished up taping the tubing and stood upright, facing Neji. "Is anyone trying to stop the usage of the curse seal?"
Neji lifted his gaze to meet Ino's eyes, completely expressionless. "Very few people. It's just the way it is, and it will continue to be that way."
Apparently, Neji's defeatist attitude prevailed. Ino shook her head. "It's not right. Someone should put a stop to it."
Neji laughed shortly and derisively. "Just forget about it. It's nothing to do with you."
He was right. The whole thing was a Hyuuga issue. As a Yamanaka, Ino had no business even commenting on the seal. Still, she couldn't stop thinking about it, especially when she had a Hyuuga branch member that was plagued by the seal working with her every week.
Ino's distaste for the curse seal grew rapidly as she learned more about it and grew closer to Neji. The fact that the main family branded the branch members and then made them cover up the seal they'd forced onto them boiled Ino's blood. When Ino had ended up possessing Neji, she felt the urge to ignore the rules and keep the seal uncovered, but her rationality prevailed.
Watching Mai get ready to leave the house brought back Ino's anger even more now that she had experienced the pain of the curse seal herself especially since it was Mai. Mai's support for the curse seal sickened Ino. She couldn't understand how someone that had felt that pain could wish that on anyone else.
Ino pushed her thoughts and her hatred for Mai aside as Mai left the house. Ino had a job to do now. She left the Hyuuga compound, went somewhere concealed, disguised herself, and headed towards Sasuke's apartment. When Ino was sure no one could see her, she snuck into the apartment. Upon seeing her own image standing beside Neji, Ino balked.
"What's he doing here?" Ino asked Neji. Even though she kept her gaze firmly on Neji, Ino could see Sasuke smirking at her out of the corner of her eye. Ino hoped she never looked that smackable when she was herself.
"He followed me," Neji admitted grudgingly.
"The three of you have obviously been up to something for the past month. I want to know what it is," Sasuke said staring intermittently between Neji and Ino.
"Yeah, we're trying to learn sealing. You know, the thing we were all working on until you decided to pout and go off doing your own thing," Ino said hoping Sasuke would accept that.
"If that's all, why are you being so secretive about it?"
"Why did you use the mind transfer technique on Shikamaru? And what have you been up to lately?" Ino countered. Sasuke and Ino stared unblinkingly at each other waiting for the other to speak. Ino held a lot of embarrassment over her past feelings for Sasuke, and she refused to be a pushover again when it came to him.
Finally, Neji ended the silence. "Where's Shikamaru?"
Ino flicked her gaze back to Neji. "He's on a mission." Neji sent a disapproving look back at Ino, clearly not on board with continuing the plan with Shikamaru gone, but he couldn't say anything with Sasuke there.
"Tell me what you three are up to," Sasuke demanded.
Ino was fed up. "Why should we? We can't trust you. And you still haven't told us what you're up to."
"I can't trust any of you either. You picked a fight with me as soon as you could, and Shikamaru punched me after I won the fight fairly, and you've all made it clear that you dislike me. Why would I share my information with you?" Sasuke pointed out.
"Because we have the same goal!" Ino exclaimed throwing up her arms.
"That goes both ways," Sasuke commented drily.
"Quiet, both of you," Neji said monotonously. Ino threw him a nasty glare which he ignored. "Sasuke, if we tell you what we have planned, will you tell us what you have planned?"
"Neji," Ino started, but Neji sent her a look that Ino easily read as asking her to trust him. Ino sighed and turned to Sasuke for his response.
Sasuke mulled over the question with a blank expression. "I'll tell you anything relevant to our situation," he responded after awhile.
"Yeah, right," Ino muttered.
"Deal," Neji agreed.
"Neji, you can't be serious. Are you forgetting that he betrayed the village?" Ino reminded him.
"No, I'm not. I don't want to include him either, but it will be easier if we all work together. Besides, he can replace Shikamaru's part in the plan."
Ino pressed her lips together tightly as she thought it over. She decided to trust Neji's judgment. "Fine. We'll need to make a few alterations, but it will work."
During their exchange, Sasuke just observed the two quietly with his arms crossed, waiting for their conversation to play out. "Do you want to explain?" he asked after they were done.
Ino left the explanations to Neji, not particularly enthused about including Sasuke into their plans. When Neji finished telling Sasuke everything, Sasuke chipped in for giving recommendations on altering the plan with his inclusion. Ino partook in that part of the conversation if only because she had no choice at that part. She remained uncertain about how wise it was to bring a traitor in on a plan to infiltrate high security levels and steal secret scrolls. Only Ino's confidence that Sasuke had no ill will towards the village let Ino have any peace over the matter. He hated Itachi, and that was it. Itachi was the one thing behind every one of Sasuke's motives, thoughts, and actions. Of that, Ino felt certain.
When the time came, Neji and Sasuke followed the tracking seal Neji had placed on Mai's son on his way to the academy. Their job was to place genjutsus on Mai without her noticing, so that when Ino went up against her in disguise, she wouldn't see through the disguise with the byakugan. Ino couldn't use her mind transfer technique since anyone she transferred to would count as a witness.
Ino walked over to where she felt the signal from the tracking seal disguised as a nondescript, young man. She hid her presence as long as she could, but Mai noticed her approaching a little before she wanted. Mai activated her byakugan and signaled for her son to get behind her as Ino dashed out towards Mai. This is where it would have been helpful to have Shikamaru around to paralyze Mai with his shadow jutsu, but Sasuke did well enough sneaking behind Mai and using the lightning move he'd used on Ino during their fight. As Sasuke caught Mai off guard, Neji gently hit the right pressure point to knock her son out. It wouldn't do if he saw Ino using her mind searching jutsu.
When Mai went down, Ino rushed to her and placed her hands on her head. Ino carefully dug for the thoughts she sought, ended the jutsu, and pulled her hands back off of Mai's head. She looked up at Neji with a grim smile, pretending that Sasuke wasn't there. "I've got what we need," she told him.