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.]

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[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.”

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata bowed her head. “I’ll l-leave you t-to it, then.”

[intraspective]

She paused, watching as Hinata moved to go.

“Hinata-chan?”

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata looked back. “Yes, Ino-san?”

[intraspective]

“Do you think I’m being selfish now?”

Did she want to know the answer to that?

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

She hesitated, then nodded. “Y-Yes, Ino-san.”

Truth, and truth asked for.

[intraspective]

“Right,” Ino said, frowning. “Right. Okay.”

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata paused for a moment, shook her head, and slipped out of the alcove.

[intraspective]

Ino eyed the scroll, and scowled.

Did she, or did she not want to go back?