Chapter 24 The Dark Flower

Ino found herself in an all white environment, one that she had seen before in using her jutsu with others involved. However, this time something was different. Off to the side there was a black dome with purple streaks swirling around.

"What's that?" Ino asked herself, looking around and seeing no one else. "That can't be my dark side, right? I mean, Sakura's looked like her, shouldn't mine be the same? Or is that... hiding her?"

Careful and uncertain, Ino crept closer to the black dome. As she got closer, she felt a bit of a chill. Not cold, but more like you think you're being watched. She couldn't see into it, and having no other option she put her hand to it. Her hand went through, and whatever this dome was made of felt like is fog was made out of mud. At least it wasn't cold, so she pushed the rest of herself into it.

"Dark Ino? Are you there?" Ino asked, struggling to see. "Please don't make this difficult."

She could hear something, but it wasn't a response. No, it sounded like... crying?

Confused, Ino tried to follow the sound of crying, her eyes adjusting to the dark. Or rather, her own body began to glow, as if she was personifying her own light side a little more.

"Dark Ino?"

"Please, stay away."

That gave the platinum blonde a better idea of how far away her target was, and in no time she found who could only be Dark Ino. She was crouched on the ground with her back to Ino, covering her face and making soft weeping sounds. Her hair was down rather than in a ponytail but tied together near the end, and the clothes looked similar but more concealing.

"What's wrong? Why are you so sad?" Ino asked.

"You hate me."

"What?"

"You hate me. Everyone hates me. Everyone wants me gone. No one actually loves me."

Feeling hurt, Ino moved to the front of her dark half, who shuffled to face away again. "Why do you think that?"

"Why do you focus so much on your appearance and your reputation? Why do you need everyone to look at you? To like you? To want to be you?"

Ino jerked back as if lightly punched. "What? That's not-"

"Yes it is! It is the truth!" Dark Ino shouted, startling Ino enough to make her lose her balance and fall on her rear. "You're desperate for approval and you're quick to criticize everyone you can. You're shallow and selfish and you're going to be alone forever."

"I... I don't understand. Why are you so negative?" Ino said. This was nothing like what she had expected. Sure, her dark side was going to be different, but this was practically a different person completely.

"Because you won't see your own faults." Dark Ino stated, again surprising the dominant persona. "You want to know why you spend so much time looking in a mirror? Because you think that if you like what you see there then you'll actually like yourself. But you don't stop there. You try to be the girl that every girl wants to be but can't, and the girl that every boy wants to be with but can't. You want everyone to look at you and wish they were you, and why? Because then maybe you'll finally want to be you too."

"What?" Ino gasped, hand over her mouth. Her dark side was... self-loathing?

Dark Ino looked away just stared at the ground, tracing circles on it for no reason while whimpering.

"Hold on, that can't be true." Ino objected. "You make it sound like I hate myself. But I'm a proud confident woman. I have friends, I'm a strong kunoichi, I've come a long way from the fangirl I used to be. Why would I hate myself in any way?"

"Remember when you started the Academy? You went in thinking you'd be a queen bee, that because you were a clan heiress that graduation was a guarantee. You were excited but you thought you wouldn't need to do work or train, you just needed to prove you were hot stuff. Then you got there and discovered there were several clan heirs and even another heiress there. Stupid, like you forgot about Shikamaru and Chouji. And you found out that you could actually fail and not become a ninja. So what did you do? Did you train and make friends? No, you dolled yourself up and looked to see who was the weakest, because as long as it wasn't you, that was good enough."

"Now I know you're just full of it." Ino asked, getting defensive. "I didn't think I would be given anything for free and I certainly made friends. How do you explain Sakura?"

"You only helped her because you saw an opportunity to humiliate the other girls. If she hadn't been bullied you would have ignored her, maybe even bullied her too at some point."

"Look at me." Ino demanded, making her counterpart look into her eyes. "I understand why you are the way you are, you're made out of my unspoken thoughts. But that's the thing, by your nature you can only see one side of the situation."

"What do you mean?" Dark Ino asked.

Ino sighed. "Maybe you're right that in the very beginning I was only nice to Sakura just because I wanted to be mean to someone else, but that isn't the reason I stayed her friend. I became her real friend because I liked her, and now we're more than friends. I actually like Sakura, maybe even love her, she's not just there so I can make myself look better. All you're seeing is a small part that I'm not proud of."

"I see it because you won't." Dark Ino pointed out.

"Okay, fair enough. But why are you so glum? What thoughts would make me so... weepy?"

Dark Ino fidgeted and bit her lip, but took a breath. "You're never truly happy. All those times you pretty yourself up, flirt with boys, get praised for what you do, a part of you doesn't believe it's real. You try so hard to be beautiful, but you don't believe you are. You tried to get Sasuke and other boys to like you, but none of them ever really did. You get told how strong and accomplished you are, but in the end you still believe you're the weakest of the clan heirs."

"But why would I be like that? I mean, I might have some self doubts, but you're making it sound like I'm suppressing a lot of self loathing instead. I may have my bad moods but that's normal. I don't hate myself."

"But you don't love yourself either." Dark Ino protested.

"But why? Why don't I love myself?" Ino asked, not understanding that. She had always thought of herself as a confident attractive accomplished woman, so why would she subconsciously see herself the opposite way?

"Because no one else does either." Dark Ino answered, curling up into a seated fetal position.

"That's not true. I mean, you can't seriously believe that."

"How many times have our parents said they were disappointed in us? How many times has our own team called us annoying? Why did Sakura leave us in the first place? Why didn't Sasuke ever give us a chance? Why did all the other boys we tried never ask for a second date? Why did no one else want to be our friend?"

Ino felt sad for her and hugged her from the side. "Most of those problems are our own mistakes. Yes it hurt when Dad thought I wasn't trying my hardest, but the thing is at the time he was right. I wasn't trying my hardest. I was dieting and focusing on my looks, but I was young and dumb. As for friends, that's also my fault. I was too bossy for my own good and I didn't respect other people's privacy. Who wouldn't call me annoying for that back then? Sakura made a mistake too and Sasuke just wasn't the guy we thought he was. But can I point out something you're overlooking?"

Dark Ino looked to the platinum blonde with curiosity.

"All those things you mentioned, they happened years ago. They're not recent problems. I'm a strong kunoichi that my parents are proud of. My team accepts me more now, Sakura and I are friends again, and I have more friends now. I've grown up, so why are you so hung up on what I used to be?"

"I'm afraid." Dark Ino confessed, confusing Ino. "I want to be loved, I want to feel like I really am loved for me and not just for being pretty or being a clan heiress. But I don't know how to get anyone to love me. Everything I've tried hasn't worked, I don't know what else to do. What if I screw things up with Naruto or Sakura too? I keep making mistakes and everyone judges me for them, what if they do it too? Sakura's my best friend and Naruto deserves someone who can make him get his dreams. What if they get bored of me or remember why they used to not like me? If I lose them both, what do I have left to look forward to?"

Ino looked at her counterpart with wide eyes, unsure what to say.

Dark Ino looked down and hugged herself a little tighter. "Why don't people like me? I tried to be pretty, it didn't work. I tried to be friendly, it didn't work. I tried to be strong, it didn't work. I tried to be smart, it didn't work. I even tried to be sexy and it still didn't work. Why am I always left alone at the end of the day? Is there some sort of sign hanging over my head that says 'Keep Away'?"

"No, there isn't. But I think I know what the problem is. It is me, but not the reason you think it is."

Dark Ino looked to Ino again.

"If what you're saying is true, then the reason you're miserable is because ultimately... I never accepted my own faults. I buried them, I covered them up and tried to present some flawless version of myself to the world. I thought that if everyone else liked me then I would finally like me. But I'm never going to like myself if I keep ignoring my own problems and hoping no one else sees them."

"But what can we do?" Dark Ino asked.

"First, we need to accept that we're not perfect." Ino stated, maneuvering to be in front of her dark side again sitting on her knees. Dark Ino left her fetal position to do the same, making her mirror the other. "We're going to make mistakes and people won't always like them, but that doesn't mean they hate us. Mom and Dad never hated us, they still loved us but they had a right to be disappointed when we didn't take them or the teachers seriously. Sakura made a mistake too and we forgave her when she apologized, why do you think she won't do the same for us?"

Dark Ino looked like she wanted to answer but couldn't find one. At the same time, Ino saw that the darkness surrounding them both was beginning to weaken. She took that to mean that her dark persona was starting to cheer up, so she had to keep going.

"I don't know what's going to happen now with us trying to be with Sakura and Naruto at the same time. I admit it can go wrong and someone can get hurt, but it's not like we're going to actually try to hurt them. If we screw up, this time we admit it and apologize, and if they care about us they'll forgive us."

The darkness faded a little more.

"What if they don't?"

"What can we do that would be unforgivable?"

"Do you really want to share Naruto with Sakura and Hinata? Or share Sakura with Naruto and Hinata?"

Ino didn't reply right away.

"See? You can't promise that you won't get selfish or jealous and then do something that ruins everything."

"Do you think the others can make that promise?" Ino asked back.

Dark Ino looked surprised, like she had not considered that.

"Look, I'm not perfect. I can be selfish, a little entitled, and I can admit it, I'm afraid that things with Sakura or Naruto will go wrong and I'll lose their friendship as well as their love. But I'd rather try and fail then never try and always wonder what if. Would you really be happier avoiding the problem?"

Dark Ino rubbed her upper arm for a moment. "No, I don't think I would."

"And maybe you can help me make it work this time." Ino added, surprising the other girl. "Let's face it, I don't have the best history with romance. I'm too proud to admit when I'm wrong, and I might expect too much from Naruto when I shouldn't. You could help fix that, keep me from going too far. Then if it works, we can both be happy and feel loved the way we want to. Doesn't that sound good?"

For the first time, Dark Ino smiled. "It does."

The dome of darkness was getting much weaker, now no stronger than the shade of a tree.

"Besides, you've got nothing to be afraid of. Sakura's clearly into us, and this time we're not fighting over a boy or anything else. And Naruto's into us but not the type of guy to take advantage of us, so you know he's not going to hurt us on purpose. Hinata's an unknown, but I'm willing to see if anything can come between us. So you're just panicking over a lot of 'what if's. Do you remember what Asuma-sensei told me before we took the Chuunin Exams for the first time?"

"Not exactly, something about not dying?" Dark Ino replied.

"Yeah he did say that, but I was worried about what being a chuunin actually meant and if I could handle the extra work. Asuma-sensei said that even if the future is full of unknowns, you can't stay in the past just because it's familiar. So we can't keep holding onto what used to be, you can't keep fixating on old memories because you're afraid new ones won't be any better. I want to give this relationship, as weird as it is, a try. Are you willing to join me?"

Ino stood up and offered her hand. Dark Ino looked at it and her as if she didn't know what to do, then she smiled again and accepted the hand. With that, the last bits of darkness around them both faded.

Ino opened her eyes, feeling calm and somewhat confused but at the same time oddly refreshed. She saw Sakura and was about to tell her what she just experienced, but then she realized that Sakura was currently kissing Hinata.

Ino felt hurt in a way she did not expect. She didn't know why, it wasn't like they were exclusive or anything. In fact they wouldn't be starting a polyamorous relationship in the first place if they were exclusive. Hinata had just as much a right to kiss Sakura as Ino did. But at the same time Ino didn't enjoy seeing it right then and there. So she quietly got up and walked away.

'I'm not jealous... or maybe I am a little. Okay, yeah I am, more than a little. But why is sharing Sakura with Hinata different than sharing her with Naruto? It's not like I'm going to be replaced... no, don't get into that. I'm not going to be replaced, I'm just... I need to not be selfish."

"Ino?"

Hearing her name made the platinum blonde stop in her tracks then turn around. She saw Sakura and Hinata coming to her, looking concerned. "Hi girls, is everything okay?"

"We were going to ask you that." Sakura replied. "Why'd you go off?"

"Well, I figured I'd give you two a moment alone as you... had your fun." Ino confessed, feeling awkward. "So, does this mean you two are girlfriends too?"

"Not exactly. My dark side is quite the hentai, but not interested in anyone except Naruto-kun." Hinata confirmed. "Not yet anyway. I might be more open to ideas later if Naruto-kun likes it."

"You think Naruto-kun won't like the idea of two girls making out? He may be innocent but he is a boy." Sakura asked.

"A boy who can use clones and turn into a girl. I don't plan on letting him stay innocent for long." Hinata claimed with a perverted chuckle.

Sakura and Ino looked at the Hyuuga heiress in surprise before looking back to each other. "Did seeing us like that bother you?" Sakura asked.

Ino kicked some dirt. "A little, but I'm not sure why. My dark side is a little... let's say insecure. I guess I wasn't ready to consider what being in an open relationship really meant. But you're both my friends, I know you won't hurt me."

"It's okay, we'll take this slow and make sure we all adjust to our new changes." Sakura assured, pulling Ino and Hinata into a hug. Both girls smiled and hugged back.

Then there was a pink glow.

At his home, Naruto had gone through some fitness exercises both Jiraiya and the toads had taught him then taken a five minute shower after feeling sweaty. Now he was in the kitchen looking through a cookbook.

"Since I've got time now, and I would like to have something to impress Sakura-chan with, now I can give that recipe I've been wanting to try out."

He checked the ingredients and went to get them, glad that shopping for food was no longer the hassle it used to be and that the Ichirakus would sometimes shop on his behalf when it was. When he looked inside the fridge, he heard a loud knock on his door. Not pounding or demanding, but clearly someone who wanted his attention and wanted it now.

"I wonder who that is." Naruto thought out loud, genuinely curious. Did someone else hear about the strike and wanted to say something? It didn't sound like one of the girls, and he sure as hell hoped it wasn't one of their fathers coming back for more.

"Yes?" He asked when he opened the door, seeing a girl he had never seen before. "Can I help you?"

"Naruto-kun, it's me."

"Me who?"

"Sakura... and Ino... and Hinata."

Naruto blinked and looked at this stranger like they were speaking a language he didn't understand. "Come again?"

"Something happened to us and now... we're in one body."