Huggable Kitten B3, Friday Late Afternoon

[intraspective]

Friday afternoon and Ino was sprawled out on her bed with an anatomy text. Talk about boring. This was better than brooding about Cal, or giving into the urge to go and strangle Ichigo though, so whatever. The text, at the moment, was closed and she was testing how well she'd managed to retain what she'd studied.

Ino wondered, really, if she'd ever feel like she knew enough to actually feel confident in her abilities while working at the clinic. What had she been thinking, seriously? She didn't know anything about healing.

Bruises and cuts were only the tiniest tip of the knowledge she needed to know. She sighed, and focused again on her studying.

[For Hinata, then open afterwards.]

Comments

[intraspective]

She rolled her eyes. “What? Seriously, this can’t be a surprise to you, geez. You had to bring me the scroll, what do you think that says ‘bout the current state of things back home?”

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

“T-That rather than a-avoiding writing h-home, maybe y-you should do it m-more often,” Hinata said quietly.

[intraspective]

Ino glanced sideways at her. “So I can get lectured by him?”

Um. Not really into that, thanks.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

“S-So if a m-mission goes w-wrong, y-you won’t regret n-not writing.”

It happened. Frequently.

[intraspective]

“My Dad is not going to die.”

A child’s stubbornness. She knew it was easily possible.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

“A-And if it does?”

[intraspective]

“He’s not,” Ino said flatly, warning in her voice. “He’s not.”

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata just tilted her head at Ino-san and waited patiently.

[intraspective]

“He’s not,” she insisted.

Logic? What logic?

“I wouldn’t regret anything.”

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

“Y-You don’t mean that,” Hinata said serenely. “Y-You’re lying, Ino-san.”

[intraspective]

“I’m allowed,” she said petulantly. “It’s just a birthday, geez.”

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

“Y-You should s-still go,” she said gently. “E-Even if he’ll y-yell at you.”

[intraspective]

“Don’t ever try for inspirational speaker, Hinata-chan,” Ino said. “Because, seriously, not helping.”

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

“I-If he can yell at y-you, then y-you’d be a-able to yell b-back.”

[intraspective]

That… was a good point.

She mulled over that one. “He hasn’t really done anything to deserve it.”

Not, mind, that that had stopped her before.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

“Y-You’d enjoy it anyway,” Hinata pointed out.

[intraspective]

“I would, yeah,” Ino had to admit to that.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

“W-Why not g-go then?”

[intraspective]

“Because...” of Kabuto, really. And she was a crappy liar. Ino knew this.

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

“B-Because?”

[intraspective]

She shrugged. “It’d be weird, right? To just suddenly go back home.”

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata was torn between amusement and exasperation. “Y-You’re just m-making up e-excuses now.”

[intraspective]

“I don’t know if I want to go home,” she snapped, then slumped back against her pillow. “I don’t know.”

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

“Y-You should,” Hinata said. “O-Or it’ll just b-bother you.”

[intraspective]

That got a faint grin. “It might, at that.”

She sighed. “I’ll think about it.”