I'd like everyone to know...I hate this chapter. The end.
6. Open Wounds
The wind cut harshly against Ino's exposed face, whipping cold air onto her rosy cheeks and running nose. Ino covered her frigid face with her sleeve, hoping that would help. It did, kind of.
The people she passed raised their brows at the sight of her. The people she passed wore hats and scarfs that wrapped around the necks and covered half of their faces. The people she passed wore at least three layers underneath their jackets, and maybe two layers underneath their pants. To all the people she passed, they deemed her as "underdressed" with her usual lavender V-neck shirt and her black pants that were "breathable", which also meant they were thin as hell, and she could feel the wind between her legs. Over her shirt, she wore a thin jacket with a hood she tried to keep up, but the wind constantly knocked it down.
No one warned her about the wind or the snow that reached her knees. Well, she guessed that is expected considering it was in the middle of winter. Still, a warning in advanced would've been nice.
Ino held the directions to the pub in her hand. Tsunade mentioned the pub being almost impossible to find. Ino stood in the middle of a busy sidewalk, pushed in every direction possible by the hustling villagers, and tried to decipher the confusing instructions.
"Damn it!" she shouted, startling the others walking around her. Everyone walked around her from then on, but even without people bumping into her, she still couldn't understand the directions. Ino flipped the paper in different directions.
Last time I'm ever taking directions from Tsunade, Ino thought when she looked up to find the sign that pointed to the village park. Through the park, she could find the Pub easily, but with her luck and searching ability, the park remained invisible.
"Excuse me, miss. Do you need any help?" A woman smiled at Ino when she looked up from the wrinkled paper.
"I'm trying to find the Blue Pub."
"Oh, I'm going in that direction. I can show you."
"Thanks."
Ino walked behind the stranger. The wind ceased suddenly as they walked between the huge skyscrapers, which thankfully blocked the wind. The woman pulled down her hood, revealing curly, sandy blonde hair that cascaded down her shoulders, hitting the middle of her back. Ino noticed the short dress the woman wore underneath the fur coat she sported. She wore scarlet high heels to go with the scarlet dress she wore.
"Well," the woman said, suddenly stopping, and turning to face Ino. Ino stopped before she could bump into her. She had a pretty face with big, round hazel eyes and semi-full lips that naturally pouted. It almost looked seductive. Can someone naturally pout seductively? "The Blue Pub is three buildings that way." She pointed to her right. "It's really small, so you'll have to look for it…. Can I ask you something before you go?"
"Yes?"
"Why are you going there?"
"I need work."
"Then work here." She pointed to the building they were currently standing in front of. The building stood three stories high with a bright pink sign hanging in the second story window.
"Pretty Ladies?" Ino thought back to her mission. Why does someone take women from a pub when there's a strip club a block away?
"Yeah, it's a lot of fun. They pay good, too."
"Uh," Ino paused to watch a group of men in suits enter the building. The woman wiggled her fingers and batted her eyelashes at them. "I'll definitely…think about it."
"Come look for me if you wanna give it a go. I'm always here."
She watched the blonde girl walk circles around her, analyzing Ino from top to bottom as she rubbed her chin and hummed, sometimes leaning in close to Ino's face then backing away to circle Ino again. The other employees sat in the round tables, watching the blonde girl with amused smirks on their faces.
Ino glanced at the clock.
A gangly man with shaggy, black hair and matching colored eyes chuckled when the petite woman started to bounce as she circled Ino. Ino fought the urge to raise an eyebrow at the strange person. "Minako, I think you're done."
The blonde girl, Minako, turned around, hitting Ino in the face with her curly, blonde locks, making Ino want to pull at the girl's hair and pound her face in, but she—and she was so proud for doing such—resisted.
"Konan, you're really no fun."
"Jin told us to make her feel comfortable here, not to scrutinize her."
Minako huffed, putting her hands on her hips while stomping her foot. "She totally looks comfortable." Minako leaned in close to Ino's face once more. "She's pretty, huh?" she asked Konan. "Jin always picks the pretty girls."
Konan chuckled. Then, his attention zeroed in on Ino. Her breath caught in her throat when all eyes followed his gaze, locking their sights on a nervous Ino, who squirmed in her thin jacket and picked at a loose string on her sleeve.
"So, what's your name? Jin forgot to mention it," Konan said.
"Ino."
My name's Minako!" Minako grabbed Ino's hand, shaking it with a hard grasp. Ino decided to grab her hand just as hard, making Minako let go with a yelp. She looked at her hand as it grew a pink color around her knuckles, then she gawked at Ino for a long second before grinning. "I like you."
The image reflected back at Ino astonished her. Scars contaminated her once smooth and even skin. Now, splotches of unhealthy colors dirtied her skin. Ino frowned at the callused feel of her skin as she ran her fingertips over the rough scabs.
With her regular sorrowful look in her eyes, she gazed at her scars, starting from her shoulders. Tiny, faded slivers scattered along her shoulders and spread onto her back. Her fingers caressed the undamaged skin until they met the thin scar beginning at her collarbone. The scar would trail between her breasts and then veer to the left, ending under her left breast.
Then, the stubborn gash that plagued the width of her stomach didn't seem to know how to heal. Every time Ino took a breath, spots of blood oozed between the healing, cracked skin of the angry looking scab.
Much to Ino's dismay, her stomach wound didn't compare to the three bloody, scarlet red rings that wrapped around her mid-thigh. Each scar was about the width of her fingernail. As much as Ino didn't want to remember, she remembered the man taking a knife and peeling at her skin as if he was peeling the skin off an apple. She remembered how he pinned her down when she tried to escape his grasp and laughed at her when she screamed.
The woman Ino stared at wasn't the Ino she knew, and it sure as hell wasn't an Ino she liked. Ino wanted to punch the mirror, shattering her beaten image under her fists. She never wanted to see the disgusting image again.
She didn't want to stare at the face of the woman who didn't fight back.
Why didn't she fight back?
"Ino, are you awake?" The door clicked as Minako turned the doorknob. Panicked, Ino grabbed the nearest thing in order to cover her partially naked body. "Oh, you are awake. You have about an hour before your shift starts."
"Thanks, Minako."
Minako smiled and closed the door. Ino released a sigh of relief, dropping the blanket from her shoulders.
Back home, Ino freely walked around her apartment in her bra and underwear, not embarrassed of her body. There was nothing to be embarrassed about. She couldn't see her stomach past her breasts, which were always perky and on the big side, and her legs were toned. After what happened, she couldn't look at her body.
Ino ripped her eyes away from the mirror. Time to get ready for work.
"It's a pretty sight, isn't it?" Shikamaru only glanced at the elderly woman, who smiled when their eyes met. "You can only get the best view in this spot." She chuckled softly when Shikamaru smiled at her comment, showing he agreed with her. From the corner of his eye, he watched the woman leave to tend to her small cart.
In the distance, the sun began to disappear behind the gray colored mountains with the blue sky slowly turning pinks and oranges as the clouds began to disperse into thin, white lines. The stars faintly sparkled in the incoming night sky.
Shikamaru leaned against the railing. Far below the railing, on another ledge of the mountain, he noticed ant sized people walk the not-so busy streets of the Section 1, the upper class section of the village. Section 1 required a pass to enter that part of the village.
How long has he been standing here? One hour? Maybe two? For the past several hours, he thought about Ino. When he assumed he couldn't think any more, more hypothetical scenes and questions popped into his head.
What if Ino wasn't at the Pub? Jin never specified whether she would be there or not. Maybe Jin really wanted to talk over some beer. What if Jin changed his mind and didn't allow him to see Ino? He'd punch Jin in the face is what he'd do. No, Shikamaru couldn't hit a civilian. Maybe, a flick to the forehead would suffice.
How would he approach her? He couldn't bring attention to them, so being straight forward wasn't an option. He had to wait until she was alone. What if Ino didn't want to go home? Knowing Ino for so long, he knew failing a mission—in Ino's case: an "incomplete mission" in Tsunade's words—bugged Ino.
Well, he'll find out at midnight.
The second Ino spotted Sachiko rounding the corner to replace Ino, she quickly waved at Minako, who worked an hour longer than Ino did, and went to clock out. Jin, who sat in the back with a group of old friends, waved at her, telling her, "Goodnight." Ino waved back at him as she hustled to his office to clock out.
As usual, the lights were dim and flickered disconcertingly. When she came back after her disappearance, she always brought Minako to keep her company. Minako became fed up with holding Ino's hand when she went into the office, and eventually convinced Ino no one would spring from the darkness and attack her. Ino still reluctantly walked into the office. She always poked her head in the office before stepping inside.
The light from the hallway darkened, making Ino squint to see what she wrote.
She turned around to see who blocked her light. A man leaned against the doorway, blocking her writing light. Ino opened her mouth to chew the man out, but her voice caught in her throat when he started walking towards her. She pressed her back against the wall, hoping she could bust through the wall and run away from the man.
"Can you take out the trash?"
Little relief washed over her when she noticed the familiar face. "Takao, you scared me."
"That's nice," he deadpanned. "Can you take out the trash?"
"Yeah."
Takao never liked Ino. She knew he hated her from the beginning. His green eyes constantly glared at her. When he passed her in the hallway, he glared. When she came out of the bathroom, he glared. The mornings when he decides to get his lazy ass out of his bed and goes down stairs to eat breakfast, he glares at her while she eats. Ino concluded he just wanted to intimidate her. Back then, it didn't work.
Ino followed the older man out of the office, keeping a minimum of ten paces between them. To her surprise, he actually grabbed the trash bag and tied it closed, making Ino's job slightly easier. With a bored sigh, Takao held the bag out to Ino. As she reached for the bag, he dropped it and left, taking his place behind the counter.
What a bitch.
Ino grabbed the trash bag and dragged it outside, ignoring Jin's usual cries and threats about dragging the bag on the floor.
As soon as she opened the back door, a gust of spring air whirled around her sweaty body, sending shivers down Ino's spine. Leaving the door open, Ino hustled off the porch and across the concrete ground to toss the trash into the dumpster. Her teeth clattered as she hustled back to the pub, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.
The door closed shut before Ino could jump inside the warm building.
"You're not dead."
She couldn't say she wasn't surprised. "You need to stop hiding behind doors. It's creepy."
I could've been studying for a history test, but no, I decided to do some more editing with this chapter, which was a pain in the ass to edit. I hated this chapter.
Anyway. Onto useless, trivial things.
You've met Konan! So many OC's, I know. I doubt you'll be seeing him again, maybe in flashbacks.
There wasn't supposed to be so many OC's, but they just wanted to say HI. At first, it was just Jin and Minako, but then Sachiko showed her face, then Takao, and now Konan. But really, you just keep track of Jin, Minako, and Sachiko.
At first, while outlining this chapter, it didn't have the flashback to it (and the only reason why I put it in there was to make it longer), so we wouldn't have met Konan. And here's a little behind the scene look on this story: I wasn't going to put Konan in the story, and you'd have to wonder who that fourth employee is. Now, there's only one more employee to reveal, but I think I'm going to keep her to myself. Really, she's not very nice, nor exciting.
Another behind the scene: Minako was originally Michiko, but I changed it because I was also brainstorming another story (which is about Kakashi, Obito, and an original character of mine. If you wanna know more about it, you will eventually or you can just ask me about it) and the main character of that story is Michiko, and I couldn't have two Michiko's.
Hm, anymore useless tidbits….?
Oh! Here's a big one: Hinata was originally the main character of this story, but I have another story outline that stars Hinata, so I thought Ino should have a chance, which I think was the right choice.
And, the location was originally in the Rain… or the Rock—I can't remember, but it started with an R.
Sooooo, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Finally, sometimes is happening!
Please, review!
Thank you for everyone who has review, favorited, yadda, yadda, yadda. You know what I'm saying.
The next chapter will hopefully be longer than this. In the next chapter, you will learn more about Minako!
Anyway, HAVE A GOOD DAY.