The Doctor: Do you know what thinking is? It's just a fancy word for changing your mind.
Bonnie: I will not change my mind.
The Doctor: Then you will die stupid.
Chapter 10: Inversion
The library was deadly silent. Sakura and I were looking into several documents. Of course some of the recent works spoke highly of Jiraya-Sama, and some history books as well. I learned he was a student of the third Hokage as well as a renowed sealmaster. I was starting to wonder how I would manage to get my revenge on that perverted old man.
I was no fool enough to confront him directly.
I looked at the pink haired girl who had volunteered to go with me. The two other girls had that sort of aversion for libraries I couldn't understand. That quiet shade of a girl who had come with me in my research was of my liking. She was a little bit on the thin side, though. She didn't look physically apt to be a kunoïchi. I knew it could be somehow deceptive, but I didn't think I was really out of track in this matter.
Haruno Sakura was a weak child; she might never attain the Genin rank.
A pity, but ninja work was tough.
Yet, she had some skills I couldn't deny. She was efficient in her searching, and I could see the way she ticked. She had a highly structured mind and was a fast thinker. There was also something else in her quietness. She seemed observant of everything around her, but that wasn't what shocked me. That girl's appearance was the opposite of discreet: long pink hair and vivid green eyes. But when she moved, I could barely hear her. If I wasn't paying enough attention, I wouldn't have realized she had gone to pick another book. She was barely noticeable when she wanted to.
What a curious girl she was.
"Hum… Senpai?" she called me.
I looked at her.
"I doubt we'll find anything more than what we've already did." she muttered with that unsure voice of hers.
I nodded. It was obviously because of that reason and because all the plans I might have had in mind seemed full of flaws that I was analysing the girl in front of me. We cleaned our table of all the pens and papers and scrolls and put the books back on their respective shells. The desk lady waved at us when we left. Sakura-San and I bowed together.
My stomach growled lightly. The Academy student pursed her lips, trying not to giggle. I gave her a glare.
"It's lunchtime anyway. I should go home feed my cousin." I sighed.
That imbecile probably had no clue how to use the rice cooker correctly. I was wondering what I would be eating when Sakura-San spotted both our friends chatting on a bench. Tenten's shoulders looked stiff. I think she was containing her annoyance. As we walked towards them, I understood that Ino-San had been talking about beauty products with my tomboy friend.
"Ah! Senpai! Sakura! Welcome back!" she greeted us. "We were discussing make-up tips."
Tenten was silently begging me to get us away from the blonde.
"That's an… interesting subject." I said.
"None of you seem to use much of it. I thought I should give you some advices." she beamed at me.
"It was very detailed." Tenten deadpanned.
"I expected no less from Ino-San. You seem to take care of your appearance in all circumstances." I added.
Sakura-san gave me a puzzled look, probably wondering if I had complimented or insulted her friend. The blonde frowned; she had probably understood the depth of my thought. Make-up could reveal itself useful when your aim was to be charismatic or seductive, but these missions were out of my reach for now. I seldom used mascara, and only to mask the blood tears that had rolled from my eyes after I had struggled against the Genjutsu in my head.
"Well, it's time I take my leave." I said.
"That soon?" Ino-San asked, half-relieved, half-disappointed.
I was wondering how far she was willing to go to befriend me. Did she think I would let my cousin to someone as superficial as her? I decided that I shouldn't let her hope for something that futile.
"Yes, Ino-San." I answered calmly. "You may be the heir of the Yamanaka clan and I a simple member of the Uchiha clan, I think we both know what we're worth."
Her eyes widened. Tenten eyed me warily.
"I'm sorry? I'm afraid I have no idea of what you're implying, Yanagi-Senpai."
"You don't? Shall I make myself clearer?" I asked with a colder tone. "You think you're gonna be a good kunoïchi, an adequate heir to your clan and marry my brother later with your current pathetic self. Don't make me laugh. You don't become a fighter through skincare and shampoos."
She gritted her teeth. Fists clenched, she stood up before me. I was taller that her and way stronger. I deliberately looked away to Tenten.
"Would you mind pick up some documents at my house to give to your parents?" I asked. "I stored them in my desk for most of them."
"Okay." she said.
I nodded at the girls, though I tried to look nicer to Sakura-San. Then we walked away.
"Wait!" Ino-san shouted. "I won't let you go like that."
"What do you want?" I huffed in annoyance. "You are not the type of person I'd befriend."
"You don't befriend anyone lately." Tenten remarked.
"So not true! I like Sakura-San. I think we could be friends." I retorted.
Tenten looked at the pink haired girl. She looked very embarrassed by the situation, but happy of my words.
"Plus there is Naruto-Kun I usually see in my morning training." I said. "I don't know if we're friend, but I think he's an interesting little guy."
"I see! Then maybe you are getting better!"
"Wait Uchiha Yanagi-Senpai! We haven't finished talking!" Ino-San yelled.
I stopped and looked at her from above my shoulder. She was totally raging. Even Sakura-San had stepped back, hiding herself behind her book. Her eyes were watchful, though. Good. I looked at the blonde.
"Is that so?" I asked.
"I don't care if you don't accept me as a friend. But you will let me have Sasuke-Kun!"
"You're being ridiculous, you know. Throwing that sort of a tantrum will do exactly the contrary to what you are expecting. You'd better give up."
"In your dreams, Senpai!"
She put herself in a fighting stance. Was she really thinking of fighting me head on?
"Ino… You shouldn't…" Sakura-san muttered.
"Shut up Sakura! At least I admit my feelings for Sasuke, unlike you!"
Her friend gasped loudly, a redness crawling on her neck and cheeks. So Sakura-san was attracted to my little cousin too… Seriously, what did he have of particular? All their promotion was filled with clan heirs and such. Sasuke-Chan wasn't particularly manly, he looked too much like Mikoto-Sama for that. Plus, he wasn't training that much, only thinking excelling in most of the courses was enough to be a good shinobi.
"I don't wish to fight you, Ino-San. I believe you have a standard training, but I don't think this will be enough to win against me. Furthermore, even if I did lost against you, I don't see why I would accept you as my cousin's boyfriend, nor why I would aid you to achieve that goal."
She put her hands forward in a seal I didn't recognise.
"I don't need to fight you Senpai! Shintenshin no jutsu!"
I felt like my mind was trembling. Suddenly I couldn't move my limbs as the girl's chakra was suddenly entering me. At first my mind was sending me the same signals as when I was hit by a Genjutsu, but it wasn't that. No, it was entirely real. Yes, the girl had literally entered my mind and taken control of it. I started to panic. I could hear her mocking me in victory.
I couldn't even close my eyes, nor activate my Sharingan to chase her away.
"What the…!" Tenten shouted as she jumped forward to catch Ino's falling body.
That pig! She had entered my body! I tried to tog at my chakra, but it wasn't reacting. I felt something akin somewhere to a flutter but I couldn't sense where. Hidden and blocked in the back of my mind I could do nothing. Even the concept of where was irrelevant here.
"I have taken Senpai's body with my own spirit." Ino-san explained with my voice.
I started searching for that chakra flutter again. I had never been a sensor, and I probably never will. The best I could do was recognize my kinsmen when they were close to me. That actually meant I could see where Sasuke-was if I was in the same neighbourhood. And that only if I focused enough at the moment he was using his chakra. So very unlikely.
Yet I couldn't explain this feeling other than sensing chakra. It was like pulling on an invisible strong with something far on the other side. I had no hands to grip it, but I tried. I think catching water with my bare hands would have been more effective. At least I could cup water and keep some in my hands if I wanted to. This was literally like plunging into water and only be slightly moisturized. I focused again.
There was a time I had been one of the best Katon user of the clan because my flame was pure and almost blue. There was a time I was experimenting every day because I had to put my mind on something and hadn't any instrument to play on. There was a time where I was hiding my talent to surprise my relatives with my new skills.
"Are you showing off, Yanagi?"
Brother's words resonated in my secluded area. I wasn't keeping attention to the boasting Ino-san anymore. She was probably still gloating about being able to win against a Genin. I kept focusing. I had found my way. I felt my hand twitching. She didn't notice. Yes, this was probably the way to go. It was time to push her out of my head. I started activating the parts of my brain with my chakra. She didn't resist me.
"So what, Yanagi-Senpai? Are you giving up?" she laughed again.
"Does it look like it?" I asked.
I opened my eyes and sat up. Sakura-san was closer to me than I had remembered. Had the girl moved while I was focusing on being the only one in my head?
"What have you done!" she shreaked in fear.
I looked at her. Or actually I looked at me through Ino-san's eyes.
What.
The.
Fuck?
I looked at my thin body. It was telling me it was a bit hungry. My muscles weren't that developed, my chest either for that matter. Long, pale blonde strands of hair were obscuring the lest side of my face. I had never had such long and straight hair before. I reached for them with my thin manicured hand. My nails were glimmering under the sinlight. There weren't any scars or calluses due to intensive kunai use.
I went to my feet, looking at the girl in front of me.
"What the fuck Ino-San?" I hissed with a voice that was to high-pitched to be mine.
"Did… Did they just switch?" Tenten asked.
"It seems like it." Sakura muttered. "Are you Yanagi-Senpai?"
"Yes, apparently." I said.
I scratched the back of my head like I used to do. My hair was so smooth under my hands, so different than the rough curls I was used to.
"Don't do that! You'll ruin my nails!" I yelled at myself.
It was very strange. I mean seeing myself controlled by someone else. And being in that someone else's mind.
I looked at my body. It was very different than looking at myself in a mirror. There was more depths and relief now that I had an outside look. My face was bonier than I thought. Actually I really had that sort of average boyish face without make-up. I wasn't particularly pretty, as if all the Uchiha beauty traits had been lost on my face. As if genetics had decided for that average look: not particularly pretty, not particularly ugly. Just a normal plain face surrounded by seaweed-like hair.
"You seem pretty calm about all this." Sakura-San remarked.
"Oh, I bet some part of her is boiling hard enough." Tenten said. "I think she's just trying to analyse what she's going through right now."
"What did you do?" Ino-San freaked. "Seriously! That wasn't supposed to happen!"
"I tried to move you out of my mind. I thought there was a way through chakra." I replied. "Can't you just posess my body again and we switch again?"
"A chakra path? Oh no! Don't tell me you've…"
She frowned. Hum… I should never frown, it made some sort of ugly wrinkles on my forehead. She put my hands forward and did the same seal as before. She tried, and tried, and tried…
"Senpai, you idiot! You've altered my way out!"
"Eh? What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled.
"You took the path I had settled to take your body over. Which means I can't use my Kekkei Genkai while in your body."
"Well that just mean I have to use that jutsu for myself. I should have copied it with my Sharingan."
"I don't think you have the abilities to trigger it. Even if you had, it would be very dangerous."
"Dangerous like what? Headaches or chakra depletion? I think I can deal with that."
"Yanagi-Senpai, my clan Jutsu mainly consist in manipulating spiritual energy to put your spirit out of your mind. I don't know how you manage to wake up in my body, but you remember using the path I had settled with my chakra. In short you'd try to use this Jutsu with no safeguard to make things right. Either you won't succeed at doing the technique, or your mind is likely to be lost outside your body."
I shuddered. I didn't want to try this.
"So we can't undo it by ourselves. Let's try someone from your clan then." I suggested.
"Please, could you be a little bit more feminine when you use my body? I look like I'm a soldier reporting to its hierarchy."
I looked how gracefully she moved. It wasn't efficient at all. Yet looking at me moving that way… I looked more attractive, more fragile. Interesting. But if I told her I thought I looked a bit too sultry, she wouldn't take it positively.
"As for my clansmen, I think of one or two persons to help us… Too bad my dad's in a mission right now. Follow me, I'll show you the Yamanaka estate."
She turned her heels. She looked much more feminine and loveable than I probably did. I felt like walking in a costume that was alternatively too tight or too wide for me. Instinctively I tried to follow the way she walked instead of marching. It felt odd, honestly I tried to think of me as if I was Yamanaka Ino. How about I was living in that petite yet tone body for all my life? What if I had been that girl? What were my concerns in life?
I didn't knew much about her, but had I seen today? She was walking with a slight swing of her hips, trying to look older than she was. She wanted to impress my little cousin so that he would fall for her. Quite the charmer, wasn't she? The way she talked, the way she moved, everything was me now. What quirks made her Yamanaka Ino, and not just me trying to impersonate her.
"Damn, you look like a model today." Tenten noted as she followed my body. "You know with the height and all."
"You're so right!" I heard Ino-San say with my voice. "Seriously with the right dress and make-up, you'd be stunning!"
I raised a disbelieving brow at that. No, this was wrong. Ino-San would have pouted, wouldn't she? Like she was this cute little girl, hiding her temperament to everyone around. She was popular because she was smart and beautiful, quite like the person I had been a few years ago. I tried to remind these memories. They seemed so bland and fuzzy. What about her friends? If I was correct she was friend with that boring young genius from the Nara clan, and the heir of the Akimichi clan. They would form a team later. They had been raised that way by their parents I supposed.
"I'm serious!" she added. "You could be so pretty with some help."
Yeah, right! I would have snorted at that, had I been Uchiha Yanagi. But I wasn't right now. Right now I was Yamanaka Ino. I was a girl who had real sensing abilities and a seemingly okay Genjutsu user. My father was the head of the T&I department, and my mother was a civilian florist. I think I remember this story being quite the tale in the women of the clan. The three clan head had taken civilians or ninjas with a civilian background as their wives and not members of their own clan.
"But you'd never be as pretty as I am." I said with a slightly arrogant smile.
The girls looked at me with their eyes wide. Had I hit the mark? Did I act correctly? I walked three steps to the tall girl, still smiling. Yes, I was a girl who was confident in her appearance. She thought she was a beautiful girl. She felt like everyone should look at her. She was proud to be the heir of a respectable ninja clan. Yes, she was all these shades at the same time. I flicked her nose with amusement (I flicked my body's nose with her fingers).
"Don't worry Senpai, you'll fully bloom later. I'm sure of it!" I assured her.
"I'm… lost." Sakura-San remarked.
"Wow, what just happened here? I thught you were supposed to have exchanged your bodies or something akin." Tenten added. "But Yanagi isn't herself, and seem exactly as silly as before."
My body and the body I was in turned to the girl. With the same voice we yelled:
"Hey! Don't you dare saying I'm silly!"
Sakura-san looked at my body. Then she looked at me. She looked back and forth.
"Yanagi-Senpai, I didn't know you were good at acting."
"Actually It's only thanks to the fact none of us know Ino-San fully. I would be immediately discovered by her family members or closer friends." I explained with the tone I thought appropriate. "Actually I tried to remember her body language without using my Sharingan since I can't use it while in her body."
Tenten's eyes lit up.
"That's true! Had you been in your own body, you'd have dissected her with your Dôjutsu and all"
"What is Sharingan?" Sakura-san asked
"It's an Uchiha clan technique. Only the best members can use it. It must be awakened by special means."
"Is that so?" Ino-San asked through my body. "I wonder if I can use it."
"It's not like using it a battle is difficult." I explained.
"You bet, you're using it all the time." Tenten said.
"I don't!" I denied.
"Yeah, sure! You and me both know your accuracy is super bad without those eyes. Neji told you were as bad as Lee when battling without your Sharingan."
"So not true! I was fighting it without it when we fought in front of those Academy students. But if you're right that must explain why Gekko-Senpai makes me train without the swords."
"We're here." Ino-San signalled as we found ourselves in front of the flower shop.
I squinted my eyes. What to do now? I hadn't enough information to be Ino-San all the time. Well it wasn't like I didn't want to get found out but it felt unnerving. Failing at acting, that is. Failing in general, in fact. Probably a family trait: Sasuke-Chan had often his moments as well.
I nodded in direction of the girls, stretched my body (I liked how Ino-San's body didn't creak when I extended its arms), and opened the door.
"Mom, I'm home. I brought friends over." I said looking at the flowers.
I hoped Ino-San's mother wouldn't interrogate me about flowers. I never understood all this ikebana stuff. Seriously, the only bouquets I had made looked wrong to me, and I always did them to put on my relative's graves.
Yamanaka Nana was a petite blonde civilian. I heard she was the biggest source of gossip of the town. Really, whenever I had to go by their shop I tried not to talk to her. As well as when I went to see my psychiatrist. Since I was now "her daughter", that would prove tricky.
"Well hello dearies." the woman greeted us. "Sakura-Chan, Yanagi-Chan, and…"
"I'm Tenten."
I frowned slightly seeing myself not cringing at the suffix. Either she didn't note it, or she was too busy observing my friend. That woman criticized people a lot basing on their appearance. I supposed she was even more perceptive than she looked since she married into the Yamanaka clan. The woman addressed me a look. I couldn't tell if it was a proud one or a sly one.
"I didn't know you and Yanagi-Chan were that close." she said.
Ino-San didn't make my body cringe again. I had a hard time not to make her body cringe, but I rather straightened her spine and flashed a smile. Her mother mirrored it. Seriously, did they think they could use me that easily?
"Actually, we've never been as close as today." I heard Ino-san say through my body.
"I guess that's the closest people can be." I added.
Tenten snickered. Sakura-San's lips quirked in a slight smirk. Nana-San pursed her lips. She suddenly gripped both our shoulders and forced us to stand side by side. She looked very closely.
"Ino…." she started with a threatening tone.
My real body shuddered.
"I swear I didn't do it on purpose!" she blurted.
I looked at her. She was the one who blew our cover. Not that I especially wanted to keep it. I just like being on the winning side. Her mother facepalmed.
"Seriously! Why does nobody tell me how trouble you ninja-people are?" she ranted.
"Sorry for the inconvenience." I apologized. "We were in the middle of training and our jutsu clashed badly."
Yamanaka Nana gave me the look. I never had to face it much since I had no mother. But Mikoto-Sama had gave it to me from time to time. Like she knew how much of a liar I was. I knew I had given a good excuse. I didn't know why I was covering for Ino-San, but I did. Maybe I did felt closer to her while occupying her body.
"I like you, Yanagi-Chan, but I know my daughter. I have a fairly precise idea of why she took your body over. I know how fond she is of your cousin."
"I'm not sure being fond of is the term I would have used here." I said dryly.
"If you were that blunt to her, no wonder you found yourselves in that situation."
"She wasn't blunt, Mom, she was insulting." she growled.
"I was being realistic, Ino-San. My clan values talent. And you've mostly shown superficiality and a lack of interest in the ninja field. If I add the fact that your crush on my cousin is akin to an obsessive behaviour…"
"Please don't tell me you're criticizing my daughter in front of me, in our house, while occupying her body." Nana-San interrupted me.
I had the great idea to shut up. Hopefully Ino-San talked after me.
"So Mom, do you know if Dad's round here? I'd really like not to stay in her body."
"But dear, you know your father had a mission. He won't be there for a week."
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
I was trapped into her body for a week.
Hey guys!
Yes the quote at the beginning of this chapter was from Doctor Who (I love this series, even though the scenarists/directors under Moffat are doing weird stuff really)
I hope you liked this chapter. I know I did since it will be an important arc for this fanfic.
I was growing a bit worried about Yanagi, though. Is she going Marie-Sue(ish) or not? I feel like she doesn't have superpowers or anything, and her battle prowess are only because she uses her Sharingan like all the timeand is some kind of genius (not quite a genious, she's just very smart and very persistent). So you tell me!
I also had some questions about Yanagi and Neji. Why aren't they dating or saying anything to each other? I don't know if you've remarked that, but Yanagi is a bit hopeless in sociaety (and so is Neji). Actually she understands how people react when they are under stress or anger, and so on, but she can't understand why they feel that way. And she had that need to understand since she can't understand the emotions within her. If you want to place what happened in her life: her mother died at birth, her father died when she was 4 and then she started the Academy at 5 or 6. During that time, she has been educated by minor Uchiha clan members who wanted to use her for political gain. Instead of helping her, caring for her or protecting her, her brother Shisui is rather distant (he is 13 when she is 5 approximately, which would make Itachi 8 and Sasuke 3), and is even trying to keep her from showing her talents (You'll learn why later). So in her earlier life, Yanagi has been used to be stripped of her relatives to produce results, and such can only understand others through hard work (even though she does have emotions and holds subjective opinion like every human being).
So if Yanagi had feelings for Neji, she wouldn't be able to detect them, nor to voice them. Which leaves only Neji for the feelings part. Neji the icecube... Not a pretty good combo. But there will be some interactions later (especially because they are teenagers full of hormones :P)
minamicchi: So Neji and Sasuke interactions? Probably in next chapter, but I don't think there will be any bickering over Yanagi. Yet.
ZabuzaGirl: Love the enthusiam !
Girl-luvs-manga: I know right! This is exactly the "Must use books to solve problem" side of Yanagi XD
Guest: Yes, a Neji perverted with Icha-Icha. And after that people want me to write interactions between my Yanagi and that perv.
Anyway, I'll try to update next week. See ya!
