Music box

"Ah –there you are, have you sleep well?" Ino froze right under the doorframe, her fingers tightly grasping the wood, Howard didn't seem to notice her distress, quickly turning and raising the newspaper to his eyes again. Yua was stirring his tea and threw a nasty look towards her before dropping her gaze to the table, tapping the little spoon in the rim of the coup and leaving it at the side of a little plate.

"Do you want anything else, Master?" She asked straightening her back, clasping both of her hands over her pelvis.

"Be a dear and make a cup of tea for our guest –do you have any preference, darling?" He said, his eyes not leaving the newspaper.

Ino was too shocked still to duel on the fact that he had called her darling, or to even reply to his first question (no, she hadn't slept at all, Kaze no Kuni's weather was a nightmare), she watched him –allowed her eyes to move up and down his frame, up and down again, before settling on his fingers, he followed the words he read with his index's pad, like a child. "N-no." She was barely able to say, moving forward without taking her eyes off of him.

She sat, watching him still, remembering the way he had disappeared the night before. During what remained of darkness, she had carefully thrown a net of chakra over the whole house, trying to pinpoint the moment Howard just… materialized again. She probably dozed off at some point, because when she opened her eyes, Howard's chakra signature was where she now found him.

"Is there something you would like to say?" He suddenly asked, throwing a quick glance at her, "or are you merely enjoying the view?"

Ino shook her head, blushing at her carelessness, "no –I apologize, Howard-sama." She replied, pressing two fingers on her lips to try to hide a yawn. Not being able to sleep during a mission wasn't a new thing for her, the Academy and Asuma had forced such condition on her plenty of times, but she had no comrades to rely on –and she had wasted much of her chakra to maintain her sensing. "Could I ask for something to eat?" Building her chakra back up was everything she could do, and in order to do so, she needed to replenish her stamina.

"Could you-" the man chuckled, finally leaving the newspaper on the table. "Yua, bring some pastries for the lady." He turned to her, "oh –I'm sorry, are pastries okay for you? I don't know what type of diet you shinobi are forced to maintain."

"It's fine," she nodded –and saw Yua roll her eyes before leaving the room, Ino would have cared had it not being for the client still present.

She glanced at Howard again, he was taking a sip of his tea and licking his upper lip, Ino looked down at her hands, trying to focus on the faint scar on her wrist –she didn't remember how she had done it, nor when. This mission was so important –for her and her family, the first stone to build up a path to prove herself worthy to rule; if she fucked this up because of her traitorous nature she wouldn't be able to forgive herself.

"Apologies for Yua's rudeness, she has a rather bad temper for someone as young as her, but in the two years she has been with me she's proven her loyalty in more ways than one."

Ino blinked and was assaulted with the image of Yua on top of Howard, moaning the name of her employer as to obtain a benefit –she narrowed her eyes and swallowed, trying to focus on something else.

Howard smiled when he saw Ino's expression, like he had noticed her discomfort, Ino forced her features to compose, trying to bring back some neutrality to her face. When Yua came back, she carried a tray with more pastries that Ino could even dream of eating, chocolate and pink colored cupcakes with white frosting dripping from the sides. Ino nodded politely while Yua placed a plate in front of her, and waited not to serve herself a piece. She smelled it, sensing no poison, and took a small bite, breaking the frosting with her tongue.

"Such a distrustful nature," Howard said, resting his chin on his hands, elbows on the table, "what good would do to me to kill whom I paid for?"

"Habits," Ino shrugged, taking another bite –smelling twice the tea before gulping the liquid, it was too hot for the kind of weather of the country.

Howard hummed, "what a wonderful creature you are," he mumbled, watching her eat –Ino moved in her chair, uncomfortable under his scrutiny. Abruptly Howard straightened his back, smacking the table with both his palms, "I shall go now –business to attend and whatever." He closed his mouth to assess her, "quick question –how good are you with a henge? Are you able to mask your chakra?"

Ino swallowed the tea that was still in her mouth before replying, "oh –well."

"I don't think people will notice your nature because of your energy's pattern –but your physique might be a problem, take today to perfect the technique shall you need to. Otherwise, dyeing it is." With that, he approached one of his guards who gently placed a Haori over his shoulders and walked out, Ino had to bit her lip not to snap at him –she could do a henge if she wanted to, to even hint that she would fail in one of the first jutsu they were taught was preposterous. She even graduated from the Academy with such technique!

"Next time, make sure to salute Master properly," Yua basically spat, "stay sitting when he leaves the room is not proper."

Ino glanced at her, watching the way she piled up the cutlery without waiting for Ino to finish, "isn't your job to take care of the guests?" She cocked her head to the side, grabbing one more slice of the apple pie that Yua was trying to take away.

"You are not-"

"Tut, tut." Ino shushed her, giving a bite to the desert while standing, "we don't want Master to get mad."

Ino wanted to think that Yua furrowed her eyebrows in anger when Ino left the room.

The bug landed on Ino's cheek and made its way up her forehead, Ino jerked upwards when feeling its paws against the skin between her eyebrows, gasping when her soul returned.

She had been almost able to touch a cloud, feel the wind against her wings and sing in low tones when passing through a group of birds the same species as her. They took off without singing back, for some reason, they were able to notice she wasn't one of their own. Ino had improved the distance she was able to maintain her control, yet she couldn't move as far as her father without straining her capacities and cause a nosebleed –a lot of shinobi of her clan had died by maintaining the jutsu through distances their brains weren't ready for –blood leaking through nose, eyes, and ears.

She walked through the garden after her banter with Yua, licking off her fingers the remaining of the pie, throwing quick glances, and assessing the flowers' condition –she couldn't help it, worrying about plants was in her nature. After an hour she returned to her room, thinking about practicing her henges –just to be sure, not because Howard had shaken her confidence, only to become distracted with the fauna perched on a branch outside her window.

Ino bit her lip –she was behaving like a child, allowing such distractions, letting a client control her –her! Of all people, such a shame!

The scroll kept rolling up when Ino let go of the paper, having to press it on the tatami and pin the sheet with her forearm, there was no time to waste on self-pity, not when she was still on duty. Ink stained her fingers, few drops falling back to the inkwell while she looked. She wrote the details –she learned to keep tabs on the events while away, forcing her mind to remember everything to plaster it in the final report always became a nightmare.

She dwelled on what to record, definitely not how the client kept doubting her skills, so she wrote about what was expected of her –about the Henge, about her Jutsu… she tapped the tip of the pen in the rim of the inkwell, wondering if writing last night events as well. It had little to do with her mission and Konoha –yet…

No, it wouldn't do –if anything, it will plaster her misbehavior, so she wrote nothing of it and lidded the inkwell; the movement forced her forearm away from the scroll that rolled up when free, she tsiked, opened it again, and saw the damage made by the fresh ink. She blew a breath of resignation and dropped the scroll.

Fingers and palms were stained with black ink, her pale skin contrasted roughly against it –she was able to see green veins on the soft skin of her arms, orange gloom filled the room with shadows, Ino passed her hands through her collarbone collecting sweat, leaving a black trail in its wake. How long had she been in the sky?

Water danced around her and caressed her skin like a child starved for affection, gently touching her filthy skin and moistening her pores. Black ink and perspiration mixed with the bubbling soap of the bath's surface, Ino drew patterns in the white porcelain –erasing them from existence with her knuckles, sinking her hand in the water after.

Strands of golden-colored hair floated around her like snakes seizing the opportunity to strike, rounding on their owner as if she was the prey, Ino's eyes moved around them before sighing. She played with the bubbles that gathered in her palms, blowing them away and watching them land.

She hummed a low melody that echoed in her throat and trembled in her lips only to pause –carefully, to blow more bubbles of the foam she collected. She started again, her mind singing in tune with her mouth, leaving little space for any other thought. The harmony belonged to her clan, a song that most Yamanaka mothers sang to their children when the screams of war reached their babies and kept them away from rest. When the absence of their fathers became too much to bear, they hummed the melody to calm their anguish, mixing the tune in their voices with faint waves of chakra to influence their mood. She had no mother that sang for her, Inoichi had tried –yet, he hadn't been able to master it; women had always been better when influencing, men, when it came to shattering.

Ena did –however, create a music box with the melody embedded in it –mechanical gears producing smooth notes that resonated in the back of Ino's consciousness, calming her distressed mind when she was still a small baby. Inoichi pumped chakra in the box often, and whenever he had to leave her side and Ino cried, the music box will wake, playing the soothing harmony. Leaving the child in awe –her father's warm chakra caressing her worry.

So she sang, thinking of the old music box and its melody that she still possessed, keeping it safely in between the flowers of her room; she will never admit (least of all to Ena), how much she adored it.

Mother?-

Ino paused, her mouth still open from almost blowing another bit of foam, her eyes widened –trying to understand the origin of the invasive thought. When nothing else followed, she dropped her hands –the water splashed against her, and she resumed her bath, humming again, sinking her head in the water-

Mother help me-

Ino stood, almost tripping and falling, she had barely time to steady herself in the wall, her breath came out shallow, feet sliding slightly in the tub. Her chanting had stopped completely, legs trembling in fear –the voice echoing in her mind wasn't hers, she hadn't heard it before… a Yamanaka –it had to be, who else will link the tune with a mother figure if it wasn't…

But she was the only Yamanaka around –it couldn't be. Had she been projecting? Was there another Yamanaka? Where?! And they needed help! Ino's knees buckled and she was barely able to miss the edge of the tub, falling directly on the white tile. Her hands flew to her forehead, there was no voice rumbling around anymore, Ino had severed their connection. She started to hum again, yet, she couldn't inflict the same calmness as to attract whoever was on the other side –when aware, she wasn't as good with her techniques than when not trying, the idea raised bile upon her throat.

The rumble returned, faint vibrations against her naked body reached her through the floor, Ino's lower lip trembled and tears gathered in the corner of her eyes, quickly cascading down onto the tile. "Is that you? -Is that you?" She whispered, her voice breaking and fingers caressing the floor as if she could reach the fountain –the heart full of distress. She jumped up and grabbed the first towel that was reachable, running until she bumped against a small frame.

"You're bleeding!" The person said, and Ino blinked to see Yua watching her with a reprimanding look –she was right, Ino felt the blood dripping from her eyebrow – "and running in such undressed state!"

"I-" Ino stopped, closing more forcefully the towel, "the rumble-" she started, Yua's eyes moved around her face.

"Rumble?" She asked, "what rumble?" The woman narrowed her eyes, her expression twisting in a manner that made Ino gulp and pause –could it be just Ino projecting her chakra around? Could it be that she was the cause of the rumble? If she was the only one who felt it-

"I think you need to return to your room…" Yua said when Ino failed to reply, fingers twisting as if worrying that Ino will attack her, she could understand her worry –but she couldn't stop her lower lip from trembling, not even to reassure the civilian in front of her.

Ino gulped, opened her mouth, and quickly closed it, Yua narrowed her eyes even further, almost closing them, so she turned and walked quickly to her room, closing the fusumas and falling on her knees –forehead pressed on the frame of the doors. Tears fell on her cheeks and chin, whether if she was losing her mind or someone truly asked her for help –she was alone.

Ino was terrified.

A/N: There's no canon evidence of the Yamanaka's chakra to be able to influence people's feelings, I'm taking small freedom for my narrative. In that sense, the Yamanaka clan developed the jutsu, and then, after generations, their chakra mutated to complement their technique.