Room 504, Thursday Early Evening

[intraspective]

Ino was currently sitting cross-legged on her bed, already in her pajamas, and brushing her hair out. Scattered on her bed were several other combs and various clips and hair ties.

It had been a pretty awesome week. All her classes were fun and now she was pretty much free until Monday to do whatever she wanted. At the moment though Ino was pretty content just to be brushing her hair, humming under her breath, while idly wondering if A.J. would show up like they'd arranged on Saturday.

The door was open.

[Open!]

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"Okay," A.J. said, deciding to leave it for now and taking up the brush. He gave her a light grin. "Where do I start?"

[intraspective]

"From the beginning," she said, turning her back to him, "First, brush my hair back and away from my face."

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"Can do," A.J. said, his smile coming a little easier before settling in and working on doing as instructed. "It's so long!" he gushed. Yes. Gushed.

[intraspective]

"It's a family tradition," Ino said, amused by the gushing, "and I like it long, besides. This is the simplest sort of braid," she said, "just one braid straight down the back."

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"Family tradition to keep it long, huh?" A.J. quirked a slight grin. "I think you mentioned that last time, and I mentioned my whole thing that my family says mine's too long. And simple is good. So, uh, how do I do it, really?"

[intraspective]

"Once it's all brushed back, you split it into three even, or as close to even, parts as you can get it." She told him. "And yeah, we did. If you ever see my Dad though, you'll get it. His hair is longer than mine."

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"Oh, that's right," A.J. said, remembering up the conversation and the potential plan of a first impression if he ever did meet him with amusement as he carefully brushed out and divvied up the separate parts. He took his time, though, because Ino's hair was nice and long and if it wasn't for the whole spat there, he was thinking he could chalk this up as one of the best days ever. "Is it just you and your dad, then? Any siblings? And now what do I do that I have these three parts?"

[intraspective]

"Just me, Mom and Dad. Mom wanted more, but it just never happened, you know?" Ino said, "Ninja families don't tend to have many kids. Most of the ones I was in school with were either single children, or only had one other sibling."

"Now, you take the right strand and cross it over the middle one..." Ino continued talking her way through the right process of doing a braid.

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"Or maybe," A.J. said, because some people just never learned, "they had you and then decided one was enough. That's another joke, by the way, it's funny, so you laugh." He figured, though, that he had her hair; that hopefully put him in a position of safety. "And right strand crossed over middle. Check."

[intraspective]

"Not funny," Ino told him, even though she couldn't help but smile. "Though it does mean I've got my Dad wrapped around my finger." Except when it came to boys, of course. "Now, you take the left strand and cross it over the right, while bringing the middle one up and over the left."

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"Left...strand," A.J. repeated as he followed the instructions. "Cross over the right. Bring the middle...up and over....err..." There was a pause. A slight moment of confusion. "Over the left. I see now. Got it! And wrapped around your finger, huh? See? Girls have it so much easier sometimes, I swear."

[intraspective]

"Learning how to get our way is genetic," Ino agreed, "and Dad's are espeically suspectable to this for whatever reason. Then you bring the right strand over the middle, and continue on. Are you seeing the pattern yet?"

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"I...think so," A.J. said, biting his lips as he followed the directions and held the strands. "So, since the right's over the middle, then the right becomes the middle and the middle becomes the right, yeah? And now I move the left?"

[intraspective]

Ino started to nod her head, then stopped. "That sounds about right. Correct. Whatever. You know what I mean." She paused. "And it's not a big deal if you mess up, it's just brushing it out and starting over."

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Chuckling slightly but still managing to placidly continue braining Ino hair, A.J. admitted, "It's not so much a brushing out sort of mess I'm worried about. I keep getting horrible visions of just an terrible tangled mess that a brush just isn't going to fix."

Although, as it stood, he was really doing quite well.

[intraspective]

"If you managed to do that while trying something as simple as a braid I'd never let you near my head again." Ino told him. "A few tangles are one thing, that's quite another."

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"I think, in some ways," A.J. pointed out, "that would almost be impressive."

[intraspective]

"It'd get you pink hair." Ino threatened. "For at least a month."

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"Oooh," A.J. enthuseded with a chuckle. "Then Anemone and me can match."

[intraspective]

"It suits her better than it does you." Ino told him. "And I'd make it an awful shade of pink, not like hers."

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"All shades of pink are pretty awful," A.J. reminded her. "And how do you know it suits her better? You've never seen me in pink hair."

There was a pause.

"And you never will, so I guess the point is kind of moot."

[intraspective]

Ino liked some shades of pink. She wrinkled her nose, "Is that a challenge?" She asked, "Because I could totally break into your room and dye it while you were helpless and sleeping."

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"No, you wouldn't," A.J. stated, "because that would be mean, and you're not mean. Most of the time."

[intraspective]

"Mmmmm." Ino said, laughter starting to creep into her voice, "You keep almost insulting me like that and I'll totally do it."

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"Maybe that's what can be my invention for class," A.J. commented. "An Anti-Ino device for my door, windows, and probably a considerable amount of the walls. Also? I think I got it. Hand me a hair tie or something."