Silence

She woke up with one of her hands plastered on her face and the other one in her stomach, the house was quiet despite the light that poured inside the room through the window, beige curtains moved with the warm breeze. Ino passed her fingers through her nape, sweat had gathered in the roots of her hair, she swallowed and felt the constrictive dryness of her throat, she had slept with her mouth open. Her back was pressed against the mattress, and she allowed her hand to wander over her neck and breasts, before dropping it to the tatami –there, a low rumble grasped her knuckles and she moved her gaze towards her fingers.

She pressed harder on the tatami, bones gently flushed against the mat –the rumble echoed through her pads and palm, it was a faint feeling that could be marked as non-existent, Ino wondered if the confusion and sensation were to be blamed in her morning mind.

Howard had ordered one of his underlings to guide her to a room for her to rest, refusing to speak about the mission any longer. The chamber she was to sleep on during her mission was big enough to be the size of a small apartment –floors of dark wood and cream-colored walls (not shoji walls, thankfully) with wonderfully embroidered fusumas that mimicked Sakura flowers jumping out of the material.

Ino allowed herself to dress in a green-colored kimono that one of Howard's servants had prepared for her –she secured her Hitai Ate in her backpack and quickly put her belongings under the mattress, leaving a kunai tied on her thigh and the two pouches with the chakra wires on her hip, hidden in between her robes.

As far as Ino knew, she arrived at Howard's mansion four days before the first meeting was to be held, the client didn't want to risk spies from picking up on her visit –more so looking "so distinctively Yamanaka", she was bound to ask more about this particular client –her Jutsu worked better when she had enough information, it meant fewer walls to climb when forcing herself into their mind, it allowed her to create more "natural-looking" memories and ideas. Ino let her hair cascade down and brushed it with her fingers.

Kaze no Kuni was hot weather and dry air, Ino turned a corner and saw a woman rush through a door with what seemed a basket full of clothes and face flushed, she followed her path and opened the door that she had disappeared into and a hot blast touched her cheeks, forcing her to breathe through her mouth as to not get dizzy.

"I'm sorry-" she started, the woman whipped her head towards her at the sound of her voice, "I'm looking for Howard-sama," Ino felt ridiculous when saying the name out loud, she hoped that the blush covering her cheeks could be passed as a consequence of the sudden heat.

The woman stood from her crouched position –there was a small fire in the room (it explained the heat), she was sweating and her face was stained with coal, in her hand a fire iron that she used to pick up the embers as to fill a smoothing iron. "Master is busy."

"Master-" Ino mumbled, but regained her wits, "I need to speak to him –it's about my mission here, I don't want to be an inconvenience-"

"Then don't be," the woman said, cleaning the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand, leaving the smoothing iron face up on the table. She washed her hands in a bucket full of water and dried them on her apron before reaching for a shirt on the basket and setting it on the table, "I'm working at the moment."

"I know," Ino hoped her tone sounded apologetic enough, "but it's just that-"

"If Master wants to speak to you he'll find you." The woman pursed her lips, "in the meantime, do whatever ninjas do, and allow the rest of us to work." She dismissed her, and Ino didn't even bother with a polite farewell, she closed the door and took a big breath through her mouth again, trying to regain as much composure as she could.

Ino walked away and tried to reach the garden, wanting to think not about the most recent exchange –the wooden floor was soft against her feet –the socks were thin to allow her skin to breathe, and she could sometimes hear the panels creak under her weight. She threw her chakra net and expanded it, covering the four floors of the mansion and barely reaching the grass that touched the pond; she couldn't extend her sensing through water –she hadn't been able yet, but she was still proud of how much terrain she could cover.

Through her veil, she was almost able to see everyone, she didn't know who they were –most chakra signatures were still a mystery except for the three swordsmen that escorted her, Howard and Botan. A chakra figure moved through a room that was close enough for her to label as the woman she interrupted before. The farthest the chakra she sensed, the less detailed the figure –until only a faint point remained. The terrain she covered was enough to keep her alert, but even those by the pond were bound to become shapeless points.

Ino walked through the mansion, turned corners, and went up and down stairs without entering any room, reckoning her surroundings was mandatory, but she didn't want to overstep and be scolded –it was her first mission and she lacked character, Howard seemed the type of man who would know how to downgrade her to nothingness. She moved and sensed, eyes glazing over the figures of men and women around the spaces, quickly attaching human-like shapes with their corresponding chakra signatures –trying to commit to memory their sensation.

At one point, she felt grass under the sole of her feet and warm sun over the cloth of her sockets, more people were around the garden, watering roses and pruning bushes, it was a challenge to both her memory and sensing to be able to differentiate in between such quantity of servants, but Ino smiled regardless, the breeze brought the smell of jasmine.

Ino sighed and walked further into the garden, noticing the quick glances that some servants were throwing her way –still, there was no sign of Howard, and she had already covered almost all chakra signatures she could sense. Had he left during the night? Ino huffed, this was going awfully –how was she supposed to accomplish her mission if she wasn't even able to keep track of her client? Turning, she was able to see the mansion in the distance, she had wandered and moved the chakra net she threw with her, but she could still feel most people. Ino glanced at the distance, as far as she could see, the terrain was covered with grass too green to have been grown naturally, she wondered for how long Howard's domains stretched.

She rested her hand on one of the trees, resting her weight in the trunk. The sun was particularly strong despite the early hour, a harsh shadow crossed her face and she narrowed her eyes when a movement caught her attention, she glanced up and saw a crow perched in a low branch, its dark eyes watching her blink.

"Oh… hello," she greeted, the animal did not acknowledge her, deciding to clean its wings. She had never seen a crow in Suna before, but considering Howard's garden was the only space with green foliage in –probably- the whole country, it wasn't surprising that the bird was attracted to the only trees that didn't have spikes on them.

Abruptly, at her back, she felt a figure emerge inside one of the rooms on the ground floor, a chakra point that hadn't been there and that it suddenly was. She glanced at the mansion again, trying to distinguish the identity of whoever had suddenly flared into existence. It wasn't difficult for her to notice the unique chakra pattern once she learned it, Howard stood in all his glory in the middle of the room doing whatever implied him pacing through space.

Ino furrowed her eyebrows and walked closer to the mansion, keeping tabs with Howard's signature. How had he done that? Did he Kawarimi inside the mansion? But how had he without her noticing? Unless Howard was a trained ninja –which he gave no impression of being, however, the technique didn't cover much ground, and if he did it, with what did he switch?

When approaching, Ino noticed a window opened and behind it, Howard leaned over the frame and picked through the glass, he waved at her, a small smiled gracing his lips -before closing the curtains, his chakra signature moved out of the room and into the main hall.

"I'm sorry to bother you Howard-sama," Ino forced her voice to remain unaffected by the shame of saying the name out loud, she felt her cheeks flush when Howard glanced at her from above his sunglasses, besides him, the maid that Ino found ironing the clothes glanced at her with her eyes narrowed. Howard's fingers were carefully caressing the cloth she held. "But I need to speak to you about my job."

"Master is busy," the woman said, her face twisting.

"Don't be rude to our guests Yua," Howard chastised with a soft voice, letting go of the fabric.

Ino pursed her lips when witnessing the exchange, "I'm not a guest, Howard-sama," she said, "I'm a Leaf kunoi-"

"Yua, leave-" Howard ordered, his tone severe. Ino bit her tongue and glanced down, fearing what was to come. The woman left the room in a hurry, dragging the cloth through the floor, once she was out of sight –her chakra signature stood close however, Ino was sure the woman was eavesdropping, he spoke once more. "Thankfully, Yua is faithful to me-" he said, taking his glasses off and cleaning them with the belt of his kimono, "so no harm done. However, I thought my request had been pretty clear-"

Ino opened her mouth to speak, saw Howard's severe gaze lifting to meet hers, and decided not to interrupt the client's speech, "I said, and I could have sworn you told me you understood, that no one could know about your nature."

"I-"

"And yet," he lifted his glasses and put them against the sunlight, looking for spots before gently placing them over his nose, "you so recklessly decided to outright speak about your mission."

"Howard-sama she already knew-"

"Of course she did," Howards shrugged, "but there're so many ears in this house –as I'm sure you were able to notice, and I can't ensure everyone's loyalty."

"I apologize," Ino said, clasping her hands behind her back, looking down.

"I don't think you truly understand your position" he continued, "you ninjas truly think you're better than everyone else, that you know everything about the world," he shook his head, "let this be a lesson: there's so much of the world you don't understand –you haven't experienced, your gifts are nothing compared to mine: you might be able to read minds, I can make you to do it for my own benefit."

Ino's eyes narrowed, she pinched her thighs in order to focus on something other than her anger, her thumb brushed against the hard material of the kunai hidden in between her robes.

"I know you think I'm being too harsh-" he continued, not sounding at all bothered by whatever she thought of him, "-but kindly stop from hurting yourself," he said, glancing at Ino's legs. "I won't repeat myself again over this matter. We'll talk about the mission when I decide to-"

"It would be better for me to know something about the subject before-"

"Oh, there it is again, that shinobi ego."

"With all due respect, I know how to make my technique work better, and I-"

"Honestly, Yamanaka, I won't budge on this –least of all in public," he said, looking positively upset –if not angry, "I will call you to my office to discuss matters when I see fit, not a moment before that. We can't have you questioning my orders can we?"

Ino wasn't able to fully control her temper, she bit the inside of her upper lip until it bled and she licked the inside of her mouth, tasting the irony flavor. Howard followed the movement of her lips, "of course Howard-sama," she forced herself to bow.

"Great!" The man suddenly beamed, his entire demeanor changing as quick as a blink, relaxing his posture and clapping softly –like a child, Ino couldn't believe such a man had walked all over her. "Please become acquainted with the terrains, I bought a lot of flowers from Hi no Kuni -perhaps you're familiar with many of them, I heard the Yamanaka greatly love plants."

Ino sighed, "as you wish, Howard-sama."

Ino turned to the other side of the bed seeking cool. The night had forsaken nothing of the sun's hotness –merely turning the bright light into darkness, bringing nothing but mosquitoes buzzing in her ear and eager to pinch her skin. She swallowed and kicked the sheets until they pooled by her feet, she breathed harsh, her chest moving up and down frenetically.

She brought her hands to her face and scratched her cheeks –perhaps a little bit too harshly, she was sweating yet her skin felt dry, she didn't bring her skincare products, concerned that she will look less professional if caught worrying about the condition of her skin; however, now that her client had pretty much considered her unprofessional regardless, the sacrifice seemed too much. Perhaps she could ask a maid to give her a lotion.

Sighing, she allowed her hands to travel down to her cleavage, cleaning the sweat gathered in between her breasts, making a disgruntled sound –then, beyond exhausted and frustrated, her hands dropped to the side, missing the mattress and landing on the tatami. The hit made her knuckles hurt and the sound seemed too loud in the silence of the night, yet Ino did not move. Not for the first time that night, she mourned not having the same affinity as her teacher –a wind Jutsu would do wonders in this unforgiving heat, yet, what Asuma had for wind she had for water, like her father.

There was water in blood –she remembered, and then grunted when noticing the path her thoughts had taken her.

Ino was tempted to throw her chakra net once more just to take a quick look at everyone's whereabouts, –but considering she hadn't been able to sleep yet, and she probably wouldn't be able either, wasting chakra seemed a bad decision. She licked her lips, sighed once more, and closed her eyes. Hopefully, staying completely still will force her brain to shut down for a couple of hours.

Such a faint rumble, such a delicate motion, it could have been ignored hadn't been for Ino's overthinking mind, Ino opened her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows, spreading her hands on the tatami –palms up. She could feel it, the slight tremor on the floor, the vibrations that climbed up her fingers, she wasn't imagining it, she decided, and turned to the side until she kneeled beside the mattress. The rumble was weaker now, Ino pressed both her hands in the tatami and closed her eyes, knees, and palms were able to feel the pulse –it was so subtle, so faint, it might not exist at all -only, it did.

Her room was on the first floor, what could make the foundations shake in such a manner? Ino decided it was enough and, blaming her exhaustion for her lack of composure, she threw a new chakra net, spreading it around the whole first floor, trying to find whatever caused the motion –if it had chakra, even the tiniest bit, she'll find it. Nothing but sleeping human beings sparked her net, so she rolled it again towards her –then, suddenly, her mind provided an image: the appearance of Howard's chakra, how he was nowhere to be found, only to pop out in existence seemingly out of nowhere. Ino bit her lip, she shouldn't take such liberties, whatever the client did or possessed was none of her business –she wasn't paid to even care, curse her wonderful mind that was the whole core of her clan technique.

She shouldn't –she really –stupid, stupid.

Huffing, Ino realized that there was no other sensor in the perimeter but her –she hadn't been able to feel other net but hers, and even if there was, they might be fast asleep.

Fuck –this was so stupid, she needed to rest –this sudden curiosity was a consequence of her lack of sleep.

Ino glanced at the mattress and pinched her nose, the rumble was even softer now, almost gone –perhaps it didn't exist and it was just a stupid trick of her mind. She huffed again, it was just the night of frustrations, and kneaded more chakra –but instead of expanding it as she usually did, she molded it and threw it downwards, compressed in a ball –the effort it took for her energy to take such shape was incredibly big, she had tried just once to do so during her second chünin exams and it barely held itself together before collapsing; she should have to ask her father about it –but she had never heard of a shinobi giving shape to their kneaded-sensing-chakra.

The sphere went through the floor and landed over a table, it bounced and rolled onto the carpet, and she focused her senses to move the ball around so it wouldn't disintegrate. It was so compressed she was only able to sense what the sphere touched –it went through objects easily, the technique limited considerably what she was able to sense, but shall be any sensor around, they wouldn't be able to know of her technique until Ino spread it (unless, of course, they were sensor prodigies, but she doubted Howard spent his money that well).

Her technique went through a foot –she was able to distinguish the chakra pathways located in there, Howard was awake, so she decided to follow, not wanting to stretch the net yet. She didn't know exactly where they were going, but she had her suspicions, so she quietly went beside him, constantly bumping into him as not to lose him.

So stupid –spirits, she should just let go, disintegrate the technique, and just-

Suddenly, abruptly, Howard took another step and disappeared, Ino's eyes widened and she bit with her molars as to not allow the sphere to fade out of existence as well, how had he? If he just performed a Jutsu she would have noticed! If someone cast it she would have sensed it! It wasn't possible –it just wasn't! The ball froze where Ino had felt Howard for the last time, should she rush into the office and offer aid? What should she do?

Fuck –Spirits.

She forced the ball to go forward, to where Howard had last moved, the floor beneath rumbled –there the vibrations were stronger if she could feel them through her technique, and then a quick, harsh, violent jerk crashed against the sphere, forcing it out of existence.

Ino gasped, her hands flew towards her head where a headache started to rise, she breathed through her mouth, sweat slipped through her fingers. Something had forced her out –a moment she was sensing the man, seeing him move through her Jutsu, and the other she was forcibly blind.

Fuck –fuck –FUCK.

A/N: Can't remember if there's any canon evidence of sensors being able to give shape to their sensing chakra (it's possible, however, to perform Chakra Form Manipulation, the first stage of the Rasengan is an example of that), so I took narrative liberty. Manipulating chakra form is an extremely complicated thing to do, I'll say that since sensing chakra isn't for attacks (also not visible) -manipulating the form of sensing chakra isn't as hard as changing the shape of chakra that gets used for attacks (like the Rasengan).

Also, just to clarify: No, Ino isn't blind -it's a way of saying the sensing technique was cut off.