Chapter 13

 

I inhaled deeply, and with it my focus peaked like the foamy crest of a surging tidal wave.

Two at the neck.

My sweat trickled down my brow, and leapt down towards the earth. I paid it no mind.

One at the shoulder.

My muscles flexed and unflexed in rapid but controlled movements.

One to the left, hip height. Cut off escape.

My accuracy was immaculate. My form perfect.

Three in parallel, followed by one lower than the rest.

I exhaled as the wind picked up briefly behind me.

My opponent leapt and spun, her body horizontal in the air for just a moment as my shuriken whizzed past her, and she hit the ground in a sprint. She made it look effortless as she weaved through a veritable hail of blunted shuriken while running towards me. Whatever wasn't evaded was easily deflected.

Her dark lustrous hair billowed and flowed as she ducked, leapt, and rolled past my onslaught. Somehow, with each erratic movement, she seemed to lose no momentum. Erratic, yet her eyes were still. Erratic, yet calm. Focused. Efficient.

Yet not calculated.

Unlike Shikamaru, she was completely directed by instinct. Her instinct drove her in accordance to stimulus, and her intent shifted rapidly as shuriken after shuriken was loosed.

She was, in practice, impossible for me to predict. Which meant I had to opt for more traditional strategies.

I knew my ability had flaws—Chouza Sensei had proven that to me in a spectacular manner after all— but to think I could be countered by one my own age?

It was two parts both amazing and preposterous.

And yet… I couldn't help but grin as my metaphorical flames were stoked.

My breathing was laboured, and she wasn't in any better shape.

My ShurikenJutsu was simple and refined to perfection. Never did I miss my mark. How could I? I felt both my target and my weapon with stunning clarity, I knew instinctively the trajectory my shuriken would take, regardless of my strength used.

But against her, the mark shifted after my throws.

I chuckled even though my lungs took offence.

No matter. I always knew my ShurikenJutsu wasn't meant to win fights. No matter how immaculate my aim. No matter how powerful my throws; All it amounted to was control.

There.

For the first time since this particular match started, she moved with clear intent. Whatever trance she'd been in had snapped momentarily, and that haze over her actions was lifted.

It only lasted a moment, but that was all I needed.

She grunted with exhaustion as she jerked left, and I cut her off with a few carefully placed throws and she retreated to her previous path with a breathy grunt.

I felt it as much as I saw it each time my shuriken rebounded off of the back of her plated hand, and sailed off into the distance behind her.

With every deflect, she winced. With every wince, she was lesser than before.

Little by little, I wore her down.

We'd been at this for hours, after all, and I was no stranger to the fatigue myself.

However, even with the fatigue, as the fight went on her thoughts accelerated to a blistering pace that even I found difficult to trace.

Her sweat glistened as she screamed to a halt as a flurry of shuriken flew towards the spot she'd intended to step to, and she instantly pivoted on a leg to change directions while evading another two.

Got her.

I exhaled as I rapidly performed a single hand seal. Shunshin.

This wasn't a Jutsu that was typically useful mid-combat, as it was easy to interrupt, and fairly predictable once used. But as an opener? When the opponent was compromised?

Heh.

Chakra suffused my body, my muscles, my very bones, and I felt a momentary sense of weightlessness as I pushed. A moment later, I felt the surge of energy drip away as I spun and released a pair of shuriken to both her left and her right from behind.

She smirked—I felt her brimming with deserved satisfaction; She wanted this then, damn— and moved from her less balanced pivot to a far more solid stance with a spin that was borderline instantaneous. She easily evaded both shuriken and deflected my followup right jab with a backhand to my wrist—and I winced in pain as the Tenketsu she'd touched slammed shut— while she targetted my neck with a palm.

I raised my other shoulder to take the brunt of the attack, and after a moment of searing pain, that arm fell limp.

My teeth gnashed together as I rapidly funnelled Chakra into my wrist to pry the Tenketsu back open. Normally, in this position I'd retreat. I knew that, she knew that. She expected that.

I had to, after all. There was no way I was winning in an even TaiJutsu fight with her. I had to retreat to regain the upper hand before striking again.

Instead, I threw caution to the wind and advanced.

Those pale lavender eyes widened as she stepped forward with intent to chase, only to crash nose first into my elegant forehead. She yelped and staggered backwards, and with an armless lunge, I tackled her shoulder first.

We landed on a heap, with me on top, and the following scrap was… not quite elegant, but I had leverage, and she most importantly did not. We were both too tired for a proper grapple—I'd lose those handedly otherwise— I got my right arm under control somewhere in the middle of it—although my left was lost for now— and it ended up with her face gripped between my thighs and my kunai held right above her pale lavender eye.

I felt nothing but pain as her palms gripped the aforementioned thighs, and the bulging veins of her active Byakugan receded as she sighed.

"That's 7," I grinned as my chest heaved in exhaustion, "It's my win, Hina."

Her light laughter was interspersed with equally light coughs, and her tension bled away.

She smiled, "Congratulations, Ino," and her smile grew even brighter through her rapid breaths, "I'm happy for you."

This was our first sparring session since graduation, and the first time in what felt like ages that I won more than I'd lost.

I was nervous when she hit 6 to my 4 but I managed to bring it back. Somehow.

I deflated and leaned back onto her soft torso, revelling in my victory.

It was only after I regained feeling in my thighs a short moment later that I noticed two things. One… her touch on my legs felt like searing lava; And two… her heartbeat ran loops in a literal marathon. Her breaths came in shallow, rapid, greedy gulps.

I'd know, I was still on top of her after all.

With a groan, I flipped up off of her, and was graced with the sight of her flushed scarlet way down past her neck and into her training outfit—a loose creamy white t-shirt and purple spats combo— from exertion and embarrassment.

Yes, those two things specifically. Not anything else that I was too tired to parse.

Nope.

Before she could say anything however, I proffered a hand, which she accepted while staunchly refusing to make eye contact.

I passed her a damp towel for her to cool off with, "Tea?"

She nodded tiredly, "Yes please."

I rolled my eyes and passed her a glass of chilled green tea poured from a container—with a little milk and sugar that I knew she loved, even if she refused to admit it— while I fetched myself some water.

"So, to celebrate my win, I got you a graduation gift," it was a near thing, but she almost spat up her tea in shock.

She did drop the towel though, so I counted it as a win.

"B-but I didn't get you anything," her panic rose in tandem with her joy.

I grinned as I fetched the box before handing it to her, "I didn't get it so you would give me something in return, silly."

She was overwhelmed with emotion as she looked down at the box in silence.

"Well? Open it," she snapped out of it with my urging, and carefully unboxed my gift.

A purple jade bracelet—her favourite shade of purple pulled directly from her mind— with an ornamental crystal eye that dangled from a metal chain attached to it. I had it commissioned a few weeks back, and it took a while to complete—perfection can't be rushed, apparently— but luckily they finished it on time.

The jade was reinforced with a Chakra Metal layer underneath, and the eye itself had an inner lining of the metal as well. All in all, it looked just as I'd envisioned.

Her expressive pale eyes brimmed with tears as she shakily whispered, "T-thank you."

Of course, my heart melted, "Want some help?"

She nodded, still too overwhelmed to do much else, and I carefully helped her lock it in place around her wrist. Which resulted in her wrapping me in a particularly sweaty hug, of her own volition even!

I didn't hesitate to return it in kind with a grin.

"It's so beautiful," she lifted me off the ground with a yelp and whispered, and I nodded into her ear, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

She repeated that again and again while enveloping me with happiness and gratitude and something else that I was definitely just imagining.

Worth every ryo.

 

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"And Kurenai Sensei said we aren't ready for missions yet, we lack cohesion apparently," she huffed, before continuing her tirade, "It's Kiba's fault, I know it is. I swear, without Akamaru he'd have no redeeming qualities."

I laughed into a palm, "Come on Hina, he can't be that bad."

She sighed, "He's not. He's just loud and pushy. Akamaru is a sweetheart though."

We sat on my bed, encircled in a fort of royal purple and blue pillows—I'd thrown out all the pink pillow cases, of course.

"What about Shino?"

"Shino's nice, once you get to know him," she leaned back into a pillow, "Every time I use my Byakugan around him, he lights up into thousands of pinpricks," she cut herself off with a shudder, "Even his eyes."

I briefly imagined ants crawling over his eyes and—

I shuddered. No. None of that.

"The Kikaichuu, right?"

She nodded, "Chakra flows through him and into his bugs constantly. It's like one big external Chakra pathway."

I hummed in an interested manner. I kinda wished I could see Chakra like that, it must be really pretty.

I hadn't spoken to Shino much in the Academy, but when I focused on him, or any Aburame really, I only felt a hive of contentment. His bugs were really happy, all the time. The Aburame must have been doing something right with their care.

"What about you?"

"Hmm, Shikamaru's lazy as always, but Chouji's been working hard I think. He sometimes gets to practice already sweating."

She giggled, "Same old Shikamaru then?"

I nodded with a laugh.

As we talked, Hinata's eyes kept falling down to my gift—the bracelet— and every time her heart would flutter and sway.

I tried not to pay attention to the specific way her emotions would dance, as it was very clear that I must have misinterpreted something, somewhere along the line.

A traitorous thought whispered to me that my senses had yet to be wrong.

Yet, I insisted.

I recognized that particular set of emotions anywhere, really. It's what I felt from Sakura every time she looked at Sasuke, after all. The same thing I felt from my cousin Akko whenever she looked at another distant cousin—these family gatherings had been becoming increasingly awkward for me, because of it.

A silence lulled in our conversation as those particular feelings of hers seemed to inflate and inflate. I shook my head—even though that did absolutely nothing for my plight.

Your best friend isn't crushing on you Ino, that's impossible.

I continued to lie to myself as I scrambled for a topic to escape my traitorous thoughts.

Of course, my traitorous mind went straight to the topic I most wanted to avoid, "So what about boys?"

I didn't have much time to regret it though, as she lit up in embarrassment and a grin found its way onto my face.

See? I was right. It was clearly a misunderstanding.

I knew it was impossible.

"Oh! Who's the lucky boy? Is it Shino? Couldn't be Kiba…" her relief was palpable as she shook her head frantically. "Hmm… Oh! Shikamaru?" a clear emphatic no resounded from within her, "Chouji?"

"N-no," the trademark Hina stutter returned. I wasn't sure else who to guess, not knowing which other boys she interacted with typically, but I had a lead.

Was it Uzumaki? Sasuke? An older boy perhaps? Hrm. I did see her talking with her cousin rarely; Neji, was it? What a scandal, if true.

Either way, I could tell when I needed to back off—her fear rose with each guess I proffered. She'd talk when she's ready, "Alright, no clue then," I leaned back into my pillow fort in bliss.

Silence returned for a moment as Hinata fought an internal battle between letting the conversation die, and determination to continue it.

In the end, she found her strength, "W-what about you?"

"Me? Umm, I dunno," her curiosity piqued and rose over the lowering tide of fear, "Haven't really had time to think about it, you know? I spend most of my time training…" I petered off for a while before continuing, "I thought I liked Sasuke, but every time I look back at that, I don't really feel much."

At first the hurt felt so raw at the time, so overpowering, but it tapered off into annoyance and now… I just didn't care. That time felt so far away. Felt so little to me now. I felt more every time I saw Sakura than I did Sasuke, so I guess my dad was right, it was just a fleeting crush.

He'd never hear it from me, though.

"It's cool though, I'm not in a rush," I gave her an easy grin from my perch on the pillows as I continued, "I'm sure I'll find someone someday."

Her relief hit me like a wave, before slowly being overcome by a crawling dread, "What about Shikamaru? Or Chouji?"

My response was quick and seamless, "Oh Kami no! They're like my brothers. I love 'em to death but… no, just no…"

We basically grew up together, from the crib to school. Ew.

She flipped back to relief, likely due to how weird the friend dynamic would've become.

Sure.

That.

 

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I flew with a singular purpose. I wanted… no. I needed to get to something. To me.

What?

I was far, yet close. I was here, yet there.

I could feel myself with astounding clarity; I knew as much as I felt that I was sleeping, some unfathomable distance away. Yet… I also knew the soft embrace of my covers as they wrapped around my shoulders.

It was a trip, all things said.

Whatever disorientation I had was fleeting, as I flew through voids without sight. Lights wicked off as I flew past them at blistering speed.

With every light that flashed by, with every veil I pierced, I drew closer. I could feel it. I could feel myself a little more clearly. A little more closely. The pathway grew just a tad wider.

Progress was being made. I was inevitable.

I stopped at a particularly bright and big light—a sun. A star. The lights were stars, then?— and spread my senses out. I stared up and outwards in wonder, as my senses enveloped the supermassive thing. It was so hot, yet I felt nothing but comforting warmth.

I was within touching reach of its apparent surface, and it suddenly erupted in a bright hot flash. I screamed a soundless scream as I was suddenly surrounded by hot—no. Surprisingly comforting flames.

The flames covered me with blissful comfort, like warm expensive velvet running over my skin.

If I blinked, I would've missed it. For a single moment. One single fleeting moment, I was hit with an overwhelming surge of mirth—my own mirth, I recognized that imprint anywhere— before it disappeared as if it never existed.

It would've been incredibly jarring if not for this whole… experience I'd been going through anyway.

It was a lot, okay?

Sitting within the flames, all felt right. I felt myself descend as I spread my senses outwards. The flames that hit me continued outwards from the sun for a great distance, like a particularly powerful geyser.

Except I was pretty sure geysers didn't shoot water out into space.

As I relaxed, my range spread out even more, enveloping other small planets, all mostly empty, lifeless.

It was as when I hit one in particular that I felt billions of empathetic pinpricks enter my senses. I didn't quite understand what I was feeling, their feelings so very foreign to my senses. So very… other.

I reveled in the chaos of these new sensations before I felt myself pull.

Huh?

Before I could even tell what was going on, the star—the very sun I'd been sitting in, receded. It rapidly flowed into me, like rivers of bright super hot flame, and in just a few short moments, it was done.

At that moment, I felt content. I felt energy suffuse my form as my wings spread out and reached across the stars. I knew I could've just taken energy from stores reserved for future… me's. But this was more efficient, it was just here.

In the next moment, I felt something that must have been the realization of billions. Billions and billions felt the same emotion, and hit me like a potent wave.

I learned quickly what I was feeling. The mindless confusion. The realization. The resignation. The soul crushing dread. The all encompassing panic.

I heard the shrill haunting screams, sounds I'd never even imagined.

Sounds my kind were not equipped to even make.

All in pain.

And then I was gone. I had taken flight.

The screams left my range within an instant, and flickering lights took their place.

No.

The cold dissonance between my thoughts and my actions hit me like a particularly irate Sannin. I screamed, and I felt my confusion spike in response to it as I stopped.

No!

Unfathomably large rocks around me instantly ground themselves into dust, and shot outwards into the void.

What did I—

I shrieked.

 

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Hinata had been having a… trip of a day, all things considered. She'd felt on top of the world every time she looked at—every time she traced a soft finger across her gift.

It was hers and hers alone.

She hadn't known how Ino figured out her favourite colour, but she wasn't surprised. She was always an open book to the blonde, somehow.

From halted sparring sessions the very second she began to become overwhelmed, to having delightfully tasting foods on a whim—milk and sugar to tea? She never even knew she liked it until she tasted it! The way she pushed her buttons, and withdrew the very moment that Hinata started to feel uncomfortable.

It was all so much.

Yet again, the pale eyed ex-heiress ran a finger over the cool jade as her smile widened and warmth travelled across her body.

She ran through the recent conversation over and over in her mind.

She'd panicked when Ino brought the conversation to romance, she wasn't yet ready to broach that topic with her. She wasn't sure if she ever would be, to be honest. Just thinking of it had a platoon of butterflies run wartime drills in her stomach.

Even just thinking about the casual intensity in Ino's eyes made Hinata feel weak, after all.

Hinata supposed that she'd been inexplicably lucky; Somehow, Ino hadn't seemed to figure it out yet. She knew she couldn't hide it forever, and it was only a matter of time before she did, but all she hoped for was time. Just a little more time. Future Hinata would appreciate it.

She sighed and leaned further into her pillows. Hinata found she couldn't sleep—something that didn't seem to affect the target of her affections at all, given the fact that she was out like a rock— and her heart kept pounding against her chest incessantly.

It'd worsen every time touched her… her gift, but she never stopped.

She couldn't stop.

She settled into an… alien sense of contentment, and felt her eyes finally relax themselves into something approaching sleep. She felt full even though she hadn't eaten in hours. A sense of freedom and satiety—

—Suddenly, she was alert.

She felt a myriad of emotions tackle her from within—a staggering mix of confusion, dread and panic— and her eyes widened as her best friend visibly spasmed.

Hinata found herself blasted from her futon to the wall opposite the room by an unseeable force, and her Byakugan flared to life instantly as she instinctively gyrated mid air and her feet slammed against the wall.

She let go, and as soon as her bare feet touched the ground she moved to evade… well, everything. Ino's very room became a warzone as she leapt over pieces of a flying dresser, and weaved around projectile mirrors that shattered against the wall behind her.

The projectiles were obviously untargeted, as evidenced by the other walls that were splattered with debris.

She pressed forward, and immediately felt a formless pressure try to push her back as the alien misery forcefully filled her mind.

She was used to misery, though. She knew its rictus grasp. She knew its sapping touch.

She allowed herself to slip into a trance as she deflected a comb, and stopped relying on her thoughts.

She looked to her friend—her Ino— as she floated up against the wall in a fetal position, and caught a glimpse of her face. Her eyes were unfocused, and rippled constantly as if lost in an ocean unseen. Her mouth was choked in a soundless, breathless scream, and her hair was splayed out against the wall like that of a banshee's.

Hinata swore that she heard the faintest sound of a screaming bird rattle against the back of her skull.

Now's not the time.

She winced as a vial of perfume cracked against the back of her fist, drawing blood, but she pressed on.

With each step, the struggle grew fiercer.

With each step, the misery grew more palpable.

With every step, the following one came more quickly.

With every step, the world seemed to drag itself more and more into a halt.

She felt a particularly strong wave of… something suddenly hit her in the front; The world sped back up and she almost lost her balance then as a leg flew upwards, but her solid core muscles allowed her to find stability as she forced herself downwards.

Her leg slammed into the floor—and the wood cracked and splintered— before she returned to that trance again, and she quickly moved aside to dodge a slow moving box of shuriken.

"Ino!" her voice cracked as she yelled when she drew closer, but the blonde seemed to be lost to the world.

Hinata saw her friend in astounding clarity, locked in a soundless shriek.

She wasn't breathing.

In a bid of manic desperation, Hinata lunged, pushing her legs more than she ever did in one explosive movement. She flew farther and faster than she'd ever imagined, and almost instantly crashed bodily into Ino's aloft form.

Or she would have, if not for the thin… barrier that surrounded her friend.

Hinata silently cursed and applied Chakra to her palms in a panic. Luckily, it held, and she stuck to the thin transparent film.

Hinata eyed the strange construct with her Byakugan, but saw nothing. To her elevated senses, it was as if nothing was there. Yet to her hands, it was like a cocoon of some sorts.

But that's impossible.

Ino was always doing the impossible, though.

It felt rigid. Solid. And it pushed against her hands with a constant vibrating thrum. The pressure was even. Her Chakra weaved into the tiny gaps of the formless construct, as if it were a physical wall.

But clearly also not.

It would do fine.

She looked into Ino's eyes—still gone to the world— and her heart fell as a single tear fell from them before it quickly turned into vapor.

She banged against the wall fruitlessly, before swiftly realizing the hopelessness in the direct approach.

But… The Hyuuga were never about direct approaches.

The wind picked up—even though the windows were still very much closed— and her hair billowed behind her. She had an idea, but it'd hurt her friend. A lot. More than she ever had before. More than she was… comfortable with.

She'd been experimenting with Chakra leaving the body after learning to apply Juuken through her feet, and she'd found middling success so far. It didn't have much range, but for this purpose it didn't need to, as the film was very close to Ino's own body.

She didn't have much time, as even now it grew more and more difficult to cling to the barrier. The pressure grew stronger with each passing moment, and the heat grew more and more unbearable.

She had no other option. She whispered, "I'm so, so sorry," and committed herself to a course of action.

She reeled a hand back and delivered a fast pinpoint Juuken strike into—and through the barrier. The Chakra pierced true, directly into a spot under a particular rib on Ino's left side.

Hinata winced in sympathetic pain—she knew how much that particular spot would hurt, the scrolls were very descriptive— but luckily it did the trick.

Things that were lodged into the wall fell with a crash, and Ino shuddered; "Wh-what?" Her eyes were wide as she fell to her bed in a heap as the barrier disappeared, on top of Hinata.

She groaned in obvious pain, "Hina?" and asked in a bleary whisper.

Hinata found her voice momentarily, "A-are you okay?" as she subconsciously checked her Chakra Pathways for any actual damage.

There was none, other than what she'd inflicted.

"N-no," Hinata's neck burned searing hot as Ino struggled to bury her tear filled face into it, "There were so many…"

Ino was hotter than usual—physically so. It wasn't quite uncomfortable—and it never would be!— but Hinata squirmed underneath the heat as Ino's forehead slotted easily into the crook of her neck.

Her voice was but a whisper, "I… I think I ate a sun," she chuckled a dry empty chuckle, and Hinata's chest clenched, "Not like, our sun. It was… like ours, but bigger. So much more—"

Ino wheezed a cough and Hinata's hand found itself running soothing circles on her back.

"I felt them all, in that one moment. So many…"

Hinata couldn't quite find the words. She didn't quite know what Ino was talking about, but she knew her friend was hurting, she knew her friend needed her, so she hugged tighter.

She sniffled, and Hinata felt her world come crashing down as she realized she'd never seen Ino cry before, "I felt them all as they'd realized… what I'd done."

Her voice was hollow, "I felt them come to terms with… with…"

Hinata couldn't help but humm a soothing tune—one her mother sang to her when she felt scared or worried— as she continued to rub circles on her friend's back. She didn't know why she defaulted to it, but it was all she could think of.

Eventually, Ino's breathing evened out, and she fell asleep shortly after.

Almost immediately after she did, Ino's father—uncle Inoichi— burst into the room in a flurry of activity, dressed in his full combat regalia with a litany of thin strips of paper in his grip.

A single moment after that, Nara Shikaku and Akimichi Chouza—Ino's Jounin Sensei— appeared out of nowhere, equally dressed for combat.

Their faces radiated a grim determination, which bled into realization and then soul-deep relief.

Uncle Inoichi looked at the other two and nodded, which they returned before disappearing.

He took a look around and grimaced at the state of the room, before his eyes returned to the pair.

Hinata lay still under Ino's sleeping form, and as the shock bled away, her embarrassment slowly came to the forefront.

"U-umm, it's not what it—"

Uncle Inoichi raised a palm.

He stared at her in silence for what felt like an eternity, before saying gravely, "You know."

She didn't quite know what exactly he was talking about, as her brain wasn't quite working up to par, all things considered. Still, she gave a slow shaky nod nonetheless.

She didn't quite know, but one look around the room… how could she not realize something? She looked as if she was literally in the eye of a storm.

Hinata felt her fear rise to the forefront as he gave her a sharp stare before grounding out, "Ino trusts you… so I will extend that trust as well."

She released a breath she didn't know she was holding, and he continued, "Firstly… are you okay?"

She looked down at the cluster of blonde hair that tickled her neck before looking at her stinging hand. He followed her gaze and winced, before flashing away and returning with a grip of first aid supplies.

He began wrapping her hand as they spoke quietly, "Has Ino told you anything?" She shook her head, and he continued, "Well, tell me what you've figured out on your own."

"W-well…" Hinata took a breath and gathered her confidence, "Ino always seems to know what to say," and how I'm feeling, "And she moves as if she knows how I want to move," he nodded, as if that were obvious—normal, even, "H-er body is hot. Really hot."

She realized how strange that sounded, so she added, "I haven't even heard of fire attuned shinobi having a higher body temperature… not like this at least."

Her blood flow increased in pace as she pointedly omitted how she'd grown to love the warmth.

He finished up his ministrations, and she winced as he wrapped her hand more tightly than she'd expected. He nodded and waved for her to continue.

"And recently—as of just now, I learned that she can make things fly? Without Chakra?" His eyes widened as he took another, more careful look at his surroundings, "I-I saw her do it before, back in school. She didn't even know she did it though… I thought I'd been seeing things…"

"Thank you for remaining silent about that Hinata," he bowed to her and her eyes widened.

"There's no problem s-sir!" she hurried and said, "I'd do—" anything.

Silence took over before he seemed to come to a realization and chuckled, and she had to forcefully stop herself from squirming in embarassment.

"Alright, is that all?"

She shook her head, "Also… I think she made me feel things…" and shuddered as she remembered that particular flavour of misery. It wasn't a taste she liked.

He grimaced and nodded, "Alright, tell me what happened here, please."

She slowly but carefully relayed everything that happened from start to finish. And she ended with how she woke Ino up from the apparent trance, and what she'd said afterwards before passing out.

Uncle Inoichi sighed, a tired sigh. One she'd only seen her father do in private, where none could see.

"Okay," he seemed to have come to a decision on the spot, "Normally I'd leave it to Ino to tell you, but I don't think there's much harm in me doing it. Not after tonight…"

He then told her of things her friend was apparently capable of. Mind reading—with some effort, apparently— a prodigious empathetic sense, some form of future sight. Things she knew were possible—her father had warned her of the capabilities of all the clans in Konoha, after all— but… without Chakra?

That was insane.

But also very evident.

Her grip tightened around her friend and uncle Inoichi chuckled, "You don't mind at all, huh?"

"N-no sir."

Hinata found that she really wasn't bothered. At all.

Ino was her friend, no matter if she could read her mind or not.

She was brash, she was honest to a fault. Hinata had never seen so much care in the eyes of one person, when Ino gazed at her with an intensity that made her squirm.

Ino was there for her when no one else was. Ino believed in her even when she didn't believe in herself. She dragged her out of her shell and out into the light.

She made her heart flutter.

"Not at all," Hinata was shocked as she found that her voice was resolute.

Uncle Inoichi smiled in a way only a father could—in a way she hadn't seen in… years— "I'm glad she has a friend like you, Hinata," Hinata found that she didn't quite like that term as much as she used to.

"You're one of the few that are in the know about this," his face grew serious as he bowed deeply, and before she could plead for him to rise, he said, "Please take care of my daughter."

Her pleas were caught in her throat, but she still ground her reply out, "I will."

Forever.

"One more thing before I leave you two to… cuddle," she found she didn't have much room to squirm, even though her body very much wanted to, "We think my daughter is… haunted by something. We're not quite sure if it's malevolent, and sometimes it speaks as if it's bound to her."

He breathed a deep calming breath, "The one thing I do know is that it's incredibly deep. And unfathomably powerful. It has thus far resisted any attempts at probing from myself; Something I'm not sure any shinobi alive would be capable of doing, if I had them where I wanted."

She nodded shakily.

"So please, if you see or notice anything, let me, or her Jounin Sensei know."

"Of course," she responded resolutely.

"And with that, you have my blessing," he gave her a wink and she could only groan in silence as he left.

 

<('.' <) (^ '.' ^) (> '.')> <('.' <) (> '.')> \\(^ >.< ^)// <('.' <) (> '.')> <('.' <) (^ '.' ^) (> '.')>

 

I woke up disoriented, still somewhat reeling from the echoes of everything I felt prior. I was still tired, sapped, but at least my bed was comfortable.

And warm. And soft.

A soul deep comfort bled through the malaise and suffused my form. A nostalgic feeling I'd thought that I'd never find again. It reminded me of when my mom held me after I'd had a nightmare. I didn't know how much I'd missed it until then.

I buried myself further into it, and felt my worries strip away piece by piece like the shell of a boiled egg.

My bed gave me an airy giggle, as it rose and fell in a consistent pattern. Which… instantly clued me in because beds notably did not move.

Well, mine didn't.

I looked up into two spirited pale seas that stared at me with a deep, cloying, comforting care.

I blinked.

I sloppily pushed myself up, and my lips accidentally trailed against her collarbone and she shuddered in response.

I froze. Okay.

I could delude myself all I wanted, but…

Yeah.

It was clear. With the way she was all but screaming at me. With the way that her hands tightened around my waist when I tried to rise off of her. With the way she was determined to not let me escape. With the way she gazed at me with a courage I'd never seen before in her eyes.

My best friend… was in love with me.

Or at least, in like a lot.

Like a whole lot.

Looking back, the signs were there. Her emotions were always chaotic, but recently one strand in particular had been more consistent than the rest. The rest seemed to rally around it.

I'd initially chalked it up to misunderstanding, and lied to myself profusely. Over and over again.

It was hard to believe my lies when her feelings shouted and screamed behind a thin content smile.

And I… didn't know what to think about that.

But first, I had to survive the morning, "Hey…"

Her smile grew wider, "Hey."

Another blink.

Her smile had a predatory glint to it, somehow. As if the stalwart dam that was her restraint shattered and crumbled.

Wait…

"Did you sleep at all?"

She started nodding, before stopping herself and shaking her head with a sigh.

Oh.

She knew.

I looked around and my eyes widened as I only then realized the state of my room.

My brain really was moving slowly this morning.

"Umm—"

"—I know. It's okay," her arms wrapped around my waist even more tightly and… my body responded with an unfamiliar heat. I mean, I knew what heat was like. This was different though.

My danger senses pinged as I became more and more awake. Whatever remnant of grogginess that existed faded with soft bangs.

But in the end, I chuckled weakly as I let myself sink into the comfort.

What? I was a sucker for hugs, and I felt like mush anyway.

I'll figure the rest out eventually.

Some moments later, I gave her a cursory scan with my senses, and froze when I came to her hand. Her wrapped hand. The wrapping was slightly damp.

I'd hurt her?

She interrupted the beginnings of a groan, "What's the matter?"

I looked up into two lavender ponds, and she nudged me as I stared like an idiot, "Oh, err. Your hand."

What's wrong with me?

"Don't worry about that, Ino," I blinked at her breathy tone as her face relaxed into a calm smile, "It's fine."

Oh.

Oh no.

"It's not fi—" her hand rapidly moved from my waist to place a finger on my lips—what the hell did I miss last night!?

"Trust me Ino, I'm totally fine. Happy, even."

Did dad put her up to this? Was she up all night thinking? What am I saying, of course she was.

Her Byakugan flared as we heard a knock rap against the front door, and she sighed as she realized that yes, her escort was here. Yes, she had to leave…

Since when was Hinata so possessive?

I didn't mind it, the hugs were great after all, but it was just… different.

"I don't want to go," she groaned as her thoughts raced from one bad option to another.

I blinked a slow blink. Again.

"It'll just be a few days, Hina."

She squeezed tighter.

I'm not sure my body can take much more of this.

Luckily, she eventually accepted defeat, and after we untangled she left without much fuss.

Well, without much external fuss.

I sat with dad at the table in our kitchen as he sipped from a steaming cup of black tea.

"Hey dad…" I said hesitantly.

"Hmm?"

"Can girls… even do it?" He said nothing in response as he slowly parsed what I said, so I added more, "With each other, I mean," his horror eventually mounted as he realized that yes, I did just ask him that, and yes, his tea really was entering the wrong pipeline.

He choked. A lot.

Good. I still wasn't sure if this was his fault or not, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

"Nope," he said as fear and desperation raged a torrent inside of him, "Nope, nope, nope."

He rose from his seat as my heart sunk, "Wha— what d'you mean—"

"—Nope. I'm too sober for this," he cut me off and grabbed for a—two bottles of sake.