Please review once you're done reading the story. Any suggestions/corrections will be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Chapter 2
Golden yellow sun rays hit my eyes and tell me that it's morning. I do a quick checklist of how I'm feeling right now. Is my head feeling heavy? No. Am I able to move my limbs freely? Yes. I look around me and wonder where I am, that's when I see my Genin team picture beside and decide that I'm in Shikamaru's room. Once I come out of the room, I see Yoshino and conclude that I was right. She beams at me, "Good morning,Ino dear. Did you sleep well? "she asks me like how my dad would ask. Suddenly it felt as though I was home. "I slept for too long. Didn't I?" I ask her sheepishly, feeling a little guilty. "Oh. No dear. You needed this rest" she assures me by patting my forehead and goes to check on Shikamaru's room if things were neat. With a satisfied smile she looks up at me and says "Thank you dear. I hoped that you wouldn't mind sleeping in his room". "I hope he doesn't mind" I say it with a chuckle to which she laughs and agrees. She goes to make me tea and I sit aimlessly on the chair. I hear the front door open and I tilt my head to see who it was. "Think of the devil and there she is" he motions his hands towards me to which I wince. "Shikamaaaaru. I'll beat you into a pulp" I say stretching my arms and folding my fingers to give him a punch. "That's the Ino I know" he says smirking at me while I still continue swearing at him in my lowest possible voice. I get my tea from Yoshino and begin drinking it with my eyes closed. He clears his throat and I open my eyes reacting to him. "I had to talk to you anyway. You saved me from the trouble of finding you" he says with the usual laziness in his voice. "What's the matter?" I ask him with an urge. I could see Yoshino taking a break from her kitchen work to listen to our small talk.
"Well..Ino we want you back in action" he says with a pause and continues "as a shinobi".
"You want me to do missions at this peaceful time?" I ask him calmly sipping the tea slowly and enjoying its taste. "Tea is simply wonderful. Yummy! "I look at Yoshino and slurp the tea to which she smiles "I'm glad that you like it dear " she says nervously. (I could feel him getting irritated now. That's what I wanted. Pays him right for calling me devil.)
"Listen to me. The shinobi world is at peace right now, but still we have our duties. Many died during the war so we have more to do. I know its troublesome" he says sulking, "but we aren't kids anymore" he stresses on the last part. (Not even in my wildest dreams I imagined him to be this responsible. But I knew that he had it in him.)
I take in whatever he just said. I keep my fingers on my head trying to think logically. "What should I do?" I ask him seriously. He hands me over a scroll and smiles victoriously. (He's great at convincing people. I'm not doing this for him but for myself. I need to start working. My dad would've wanted this.) "Congratulations! You're an Anbu now" he says and I look at the contents in disbelief. "Is this what you and Chouji doing?" I ask him with my eyes still reading the scroll. He scratches his head and says "No. We're not a part of the Anbu. I'm in the Intelligence department while Chouji is one of the guards of the village." "Are we no more a team?" I ask him raising my voice and rising from the chair before he could complete what he wanted to say. (Ino-Shika-Chou always works as a team since we perform combined attack. We posses immobilize and then eliminate an enemy.) Yoshino had the same reaction as me. He sulks, "They have seen what we can do. They want to do what our fathers did" he ends his talk. "They?" I ask him with a questioning look. "The Alliance" he says and continues "If you're having any more questions, meet the Hokage in an hour. It's troublesome answering you". With that he leaves the house saying he needs to report for a meeting ignoring his mother's offer to eat something. I thought Ino-Shika-Chou worked best together. But maybe they want to use our individual talents for now and make us function as a team when there's trouble. "Ino dear, freshen up. You have a busy day ahead", she stops to hug me and says "Congrats. You'd be a great Anbu" she smiles at me with pride.
(I enter the Rokudaime Hokage's room with an anxiety.)
As the sound of my heels echoed through the Hokage's room, Kakashi sensei lifted his head from the book he's been reading all this while to look at me. "Ah. Welcome back, Yamanaka Ino" he says cheerfully with a smile to which I respond with a smile. "I hope Shikamaru briefed you. Now I'll give you the details" he says rummaging his desk to pull out another scroll from which he read out loud "Yamanaka Ino will be a part of the Anbu and the Interrogation Squad. You'd have to report to Morino Ibiki" he looks at me and says light heartedly "I'm sure you'd remember him". When I think of Ibiki, I shudder. He was one of my examiners in the Chunin exams. I have heard stories about his style of interrogation. To work under him is going to be a nightmare, I tell myself. As though he could read my mind the Hokage begins laughing "You'll be fine" he reassures me to which I nod weakly. I know I should take my leave but my curiosity doesn't allow me. Rokudaime looks at me, "What is it Ino?" he asks. I gather all my courage "If you can..Lord Hokage,umm.. What is Sakura doing?" I ask him amidst my stammering due to the stupidity of my question. He's going to think that I'm unfit to be an Anbu. He laughs at me and I'm standing clueless. "Curiosity isn't bad. Your friend is working at the Konoha Hospital assisting the Godaime" he says. Honestly, I'm not surprised. I'm happy for her. "Give your best. I'm counting on you" the Hokage tells me. "Yes sir " I reply to him confidently and take my leave. (I'm not going to lose to Forehead. )
(At the Anbu headquarters)
I enter the Anbu headquarters to collect my newly assigned uniform, weapons and mask. The place has a mysterious aura to it. Shinobis enter, collect their stuff and leave without a word. (Totally not my kind of place. It's too dark and people don't even talk. ) I search for a familiar face in the room, twirling around in my Anbu outfit. I see him amidst the group of people. Who would miss spotting the boy with raven hair and pale skin? Even the Anbu outfit cannot hide Sai's skin colour. I walk towards him relieved that I had found someone I know. (I don't know much about him. But he was Sakura's teammate, about my age and former member of the Root. He has difficulty in expressing his feelings. But he helped me out yesterday for which I'm grateful.)
"Hey Sai " I say with my cheerful voice and wave at him. He removes his mask and looks puzzled. "Thank god you're here" I tell him and sigh. "Ino?" he asks me with a confused look. "You look totally different in this uniform" he says pointing at my new outfit. "Yeah. I'm supposed to. Right?" I adjust my ponytail as I ask him. He gives me his trademark smile and says "you look too good to be an Anbu". I begin to blush. Do I really look that good? I wondered. He suddenly keeps his hand on his head and turns away from me. He did that as though he regretted on telling me those words. Understanding his uneasiness I tell him " It's okay Sai. I didn't take it wrong. Infact it's a compliment." He turns towards me still looking nervous. Before I could further convince him, I'm cut off by an instruction from our Anbu chief- Izumo and Kotetsu. They basically briefed us about our job and the new rules since we're at a time of peace.
We're given a break and all of us scatter around away from the Headquarters. I spot Sai standing alone. I walk towards him and still see him nervous. Before he could run away from me, I tell him " Sai. I want us to be good friends since I practically know no one here. There's no one my age except you". I pause waiting for his reaction and continue "you can compliment a friend based on their looks" I blush slightly when I tell him that.
"Friend?" he asks me as though he doesn't know what it means and murmurs "like Naruto kun and Sakura chan". "Like that. Let's be good friends " I tell him as patiently as possible and offer him my hand. "Friend" he says and gives me a warm handshake to which I smile. (I can feel him sweating his palms.)
(During lunch break)
I share my lunch with Sai which Yoshino had packed for me. He breaks the long silence "So friends share lunch" and continues eating. "And even secrets" I tell him hissing on the word 'secrets' and end up giggling. "Secrets, likes, dislikes , anything" I add before he could get confused. "Example?" he asks me seriously. I can see a glow of curiosity in his eyes. "Like.. What's your favourite colour?" I ask him with enthusiasm. He looks blank. Thinks for a while and says "I don't know". (What the heck? How can someone not know their favouritecolour?) I'm grunting now. "I like purple. The colour of the dress I used to wear" I tell him keeping my cool. (I don't mention any flower for reference since I'm pretty sure that he won't know.) "That's a nice colour" he says beaming at me. We finish the rest of our lunch in silence.
Every division gets trained separately. Since I'm in the Interrogation department, I get to meet my team members. Thank god Ibiki didn't join us today as he had a meeting to attend. Sai's with the Intel department.
After few hours, when our duty for the day was done we could go home. I wear my normal clothes putting the Anbu stuff in my bag. I think whether I should wait for Sai or head home and I choose the latter. He's in a different department so they may leave him late, I convince myself and walk home. That's when I hear someone calling out for me and running towards me.
"Sai. What happened?" I ask him with a surprise. He's still panting due to the run but still talks, "I got it". "Got what?" I ask him with confusion. "My favourite colour " he says excitedly. (He did? Wow. ) "And what is it?" I ask him. He comes closer to me and says "the colour of your eyes ".
I look shocked. My throat feels choked. Nobody has ever said anything about the colour of my eyes. "Blue?" I ask him. Maybe he took the colour of my eyes as a reference for blue colour. He shakes his head, I could see his hair flying as he does that.
"Whatever the colour of your eyes is" he says smiling. He's insisting on my eye colour. This isn't something I expected. Does he really mean it? I wondered.
He comes closer to me and holds my shoulders. His grip was soft and at the same time strong. Warm. I gulped as I was unprepared for this closeness. I could smell paper and ink mixed with his sweat. I tried calming myself. Maybe he doesn't know what he's doing. "Thank you Ino. Now even I have a favourite colour" he says honestly. I can feel the smile in his voice. He really meant it. I didn't know how to respond. He releases his hands from my shoulders. I didn't want him to stop holding me that way. Strangely, it made me feel good. He whispers slowly amidst the cool breeze flowing between us. "Thank you, Ino". These words echoed into my ears. Before I could say a word, he zooms off into the Headquarters.I stand still trying to take in what just happened and smile to myself.
The first thing I do after reaching home is to see my eyes in a mirror.
(Her eyes are crystal blue. A shade that shoudn't exist on the human body, a shade I immediately crave, a shade that makes my heart beat a little bit faster-almost as if I recognize it. I want to steal it, paint it, throw it into every room I decorate. It's the perfect blue I have ever seen. Her eyes are remarkable.)
-The Chaos of Stars