![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
runespoorTitle: Things that could have happened had Hizashi been the older son. (or: a cage is a cage is a curse, dammit.)
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
runespoor7
Rating: R
Summary: series of unrelated drabbles/fics. So far, series include various flavours of implied Neji-Hina-Naru combinations, but it's really Hyuuga centered gen with occasional cameos of other characters.
Notes: follows this and this. Also. Hum.
Previously: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
2E. ninja academy – continued 5
Ino was furiously kicking her legs as she waited. The chair's feet rapped on the floor and echoed through the room, filling it with a low, scratchy rumble. A medic-nin frowned at her to stop when he passed his head through the doorway, and Ino did, but her feet started kicking again without her realising it. Probably not long after the medic-nin'd left.
If she kicked her legs, it wasn't because she was actually angry; she wasn't, for the most part. Okay, so maybe she resented her father a little for telling her in the grown-up, solemn tone he only ever used when he was lecturing her, that she would be on her own.
But otherwise she wasn't angry.
No; this was worse.
She was anxious.
And the more she waited the worse her anxiety got.
She prided herself on being a role-model for every girl in her class; how could she have slipped so far? It wasn't even that she'd lost her temper… Because Ino would've readily acknowledged she had a temper… No, she'd just… slipped. Miscalculated.
Her miscalculation had sent the other girl into the hospital.
Ino was mortified. And more than a little shameful.
She had sent someone into the hospital. And she hadn't meant it.
Which meant that she was incompetent on top of everything.
Any harder or more on the left or anything and it could have been a concussion.
She sent a worried glance at the still sleeping girl in the bed. She didn't know her name; just that she was a Hyuuga.
None of this would've happened if Ino hadn't started loudly talking about The Hyuuga.
In Ino's mind, he was always The Hyuuga, because she didn't know his first name either and had undertaken a campaign to undermine him.
He'd never talked to any of them, which made him a snob, and not sooooo mysterious like Ami insisted, and he certainly didn't have nicer hair than she did, and he did not deserve the title of genius when they'd never seen him do anything and were only repeating dubious rumours that were coming from god-knew-where.
Okay, she didn't know him personally and she'd barely even glimpsed at him – which, if she was perfectly honest with herself, may be more than slightly instrumental to her annoyance; Ino liked knowing things – but belittling him meant belittling his fanbase.
His fanbase.
What, suddenly Sasuke-kun wasn't good enough for those bitches anymore? Noooooo, they had to go looking for the exotic upperclassmen type now.
Luckily, Sakura was still loyal.
Not that it mattered to Ino. Not that it hurt or didn't hurt that Sakura still held by Sasuke when she'd dropped Ino.
Not that Ino cared.
None of this would've happened if Ino had been a little less adamant when the Hyuuga girl had first approached her and more or less told her to take it back.
Of course Ino had refused.
None of this would've happened if Ino had kept a little less true to her namesake, and if she could take a rebuttal or a disagreement without taking it like a personal attempt on her pride. …She wasn't really used to other girls disagreeing with her. At least not to her face.
And okay, so Ino may have unconsciously felt like it was a threat to her authority.
None of this would've happened if Ino knew how to back down gracefully. Oh, she knew how to do it well enough during the kunoichi-only classes, but that was different. That type of graceful retreat meant you won.
Outside class, she had to make sure everyone wouldn't doubt that she wasn't seemingly accepting because she was unsure of herself.
In all honesty, the last two things could also be said about the Hyuuga girl – the stubbornness and the refusal to eat her words – and she'd probably have made a point of letting her father know about it before complaining to her mother, or at least her mother's neighbours; in fact, chances were she'd have also argued that additionally, the other girl didn't know how to choose her fights.
But given it was the Hyuuga girl tucked into the bed – and her face was as pale as the sheets, oh god – Ino would never have dreamt of saying it.
The girl had been studying to be a ninja for only three months; it was pure luck that made her Ino's age – it'd made Ino feel even worse when she'd learned about that. The girl had lost two years, and now Ino went and…
Though again, if Ino wanted to be honest with herself – and here she found herself really wanting to – she could admit to herself that the girl had seemed more advanced that the average first-year.
Ino didn't remember having been so quick on her feet and adept at twisting her wrists before the end of her first year - especially since, if she'd understood well, the girl hadn't started at the Academy when class normally did.
At this point in her reflections, Ino abruptly realised she was biting her nails. Horrified, she snatched her hand from her mouth.
Then she jumped a little on her seat, because the girl's eyes were now open – she was blinking as though she'd just woken up.
"Oh god you're awake," Ino blurted out. "Oh god I'm so relieved."
She didn't wait for the other girl to say something.
"Listen, I-I'm here because what I did was terrible, and I should never have fought you, and… I wanted to apologise."
There. She'd said it.
The Hyuuga girl was frowning.
"Why?" Her voice was soft; Ino wasn't sure if it was because she was feeling weak or because she naturally wasn't a loud person.
Nonplussed, Ino tried to see if the girl was being sarcastic; but no, she didn't seem angry at her.
"Because I should never have fought you," she pointed out again.
The girl focused her attention on Ino.
"But… I wanted to fight you."
They remained staring at each other for a moment. Then Ino felt a thin smile stretch her lips.
"Yeah…"
And she had. She really had. She hadn't been anywhere near threatening Ino – who was by far the best in the girls' ranks in her year, and who could defeat without breaking a sweat all but one or two of the boys as well – but yeah, she'd wanted to fight, hadn't she? She certainly hadn't gone at it as if she expected anything less. She'd fought like she meant it.
"What's your name?" Ino asked.
"Hinata. And – yours?"
"Ino. Yamanaka Ino." She smiled brightly when the girl's expression didn't change. "Say, Hinata-chan, do you want to come home when you get out of the hospital?" Hinata's expression had closed as Ino was speaking, and she babbled on, attempting to cover for it, "I think my father wants to meet you and apologise in person."
Instead of smiling and relaxing, Hinata tensed when Ino mentioned her father.
Oh no, Ino thought, now I've gone and lost her… She wanted to take it back, start anew, but it was like with every word she said she was making things worse. She felt a pang in her chest. Sakura…
"Do you still insist upon what you said about Neji-sama?"
Ino started. She'd forgotten about that.
"What? Oh, er, no," she answered automatically. She barely remembered half of it anyway, before Hinata had quietly challenged her, forbidding her to badmouth Neji-sama in her presence ever again. It was a side-effect of her temper.
If she didn't, Hinata might never forgive her.
"No," she repeated with more conviction.
She'd lost a friend already over a stupid matter of pride. (And where had that left her? She didn't have one friend left anymore. She had sycophants who never contradicted her, and Sakura, on the outskirts again, unpopular again, taut and unyielding, and whose eyes for Ino were so hostile Ino sometimes found herself letting Sakura win their staring matches.)
Hinata smiled shyly, a blush rising to her cheeks. "Then, I-I'll be honoured to go to your house," she said awkwardly. "I… Thank you."
She wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
Author:
runespoor7Rating: R
Summary: series of unrelated drabbles/fics. So far, series include various flavours of implied Neji-Hina-Naru combinations, but it's really Hyuuga centered gen with occasional cameos of other characters.
Notes: follows this and this. Also. Hum.
Previously: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
2E. ninja academy – continued 5
Ino was furiously kicking her legs as she waited. The chair's feet rapped on the floor and echoed through the room, filling it with a low, scratchy rumble. A medic-nin frowned at her to stop when he passed his head through the doorway, and Ino did, but her feet started kicking again without her realising it. Probably not long after the medic-nin'd left.
If she kicked her legs, it wasn't because she was actually angry; she wasn't, for the most part. Okay, so maybe she resented her father a little for telling her in the grown-up, solemn tone he only ever used when he was lecturing her, that she would be on her own.
But otherwise she wasn't angry.
No; this was worse.
She was anxious.
And the more she waited the worse her anxiety got.
She prided herself on being a role-model for every girl in her class; how could she have slipped so far? It wasn't even that she'd lost her temper… Because Ino would've readily acknowledged she had a temper… No, she'd just… slipped. Miscalculated.
Her miscalculation had sent the other girl into the hospital.
Ino was mortified. And more than a little shameful.
She had sent someone into the hospital. And she hadn't meant it.
Which meant that she was incompetent on top of everything.
Any harder or more on the left or anything and it could have been a concussion.
She sent a worried glance at the still sleeping girl in the bed. She didn't know her name; just that she was a Hyuuga.
None of this would've happened if Ino hadn't started loudly talking about The Hyuuga.
In Ino's mind, he was always The Hyuuga, because she didn't know his first name either and had undertaken a campaign to undermine him.
He'd never talked to any of them, which made him a snob, and not sooooo mysterious like Ami insisted, and he certainly didn't have nicer hair than she did, and he did not deserve the title of genius when they'd never seen him do anything and were only repeating dubious rumours that were coming from god-knew-where.
Okay, she didn't know him personally and she'd barely even glimpsed at him – which, if she was perfectly honest with herself, may be more than slightly instrumental to her annoyance; Ino liked knowing things – but belittling him meant belittling his fanbase.
His fanbase.
What, suddenly Sasuke-kun wasn't good enough for those bitches anymore? Noooooo, they had to go looking for the exotic upperclassmen type now.
Luckily, Sakura was still loyal.
Not that it mattered to Ino. Not that it hurt or didn't hurt that Sakura still held by Sasuke when she'd dropped Ino.
Not that Ino cared.
None of this would've happened if Ino had been a little less adamant when the Hyuuga girl had first approached her and more or less told her to take it back.
Of course Ino had refused.
None of this would've happened if Ino had kept a little less true to her namesake, and if she could take a rebuttal or a disagreement without taking it like a personal attempt on her pride. …She wasn't really used to other girls disagreeing with her. At least not to her face.
And okay, so Ino may have unconsciously felt like it was a threat to her authority.
None of this would've happened if Ino knew how to back down gracefully. Oh, she knew how to do it well enough during the kunoichi-only classes, but that was different. That type of graceful retreat meant you won.
Outside class, she had to make sure everyone wouldn't doubt that she wasn't seemingly accepting because she was unsure of herself.
In all honesty, the last two things could also be said about the Hyuuga girl – the stubbornness and the refusal to eat her words – and she'd probably have made a point of letting her father know about it before complaining to her mother, or at least her mother's neighbours; in fact, chances were she'd have also argued that additionally, the other girl didn't know how to choose her fights.
But given it was the Hyuuga girl tucked into the bed – and her face was as pale as the sheets, oh god – Ino would never have dreamt of saying it.
The girl had been studying to be a ninja for only three months; it was pure luck that made her Ino's age – it'd made Ino feel even worse when she'd learned about that. The girl had lost two years, and now Ino went and…
Though again, if Ino wanted to be honest with herself – and here she found herself really wanting to – she could admit to herself that the girl had seemed more advanced that the average first-year.
Ino didn't remember having been so quick on her feet and adept at twisting her wrists before the end of her first year - especially since, if she'd understood well, the girl hadn't started at the Academy when class normally did.
At this point in her reflections, Ino abruptly realised she was biting her nails. Horrified, she snatched her hand from her mouth.
Then she jumped a little on her seat, because the girl's eyes were now open – she was blinking as though she'd just woken up.
"Oh god you're awake," Ino blurted out. "Oh god I'm so relieved."
She didn't wait for the other girl to say something.
"Listen, I-I'm here because what I did was terrible, and I should never have fought you, and… I wanted to apologise."
There. She'd said it.
The Hyuuga girl was frowning.
"Why?" Her voice was soft; Ino wasn't sure if it was because she was feeling weak or because she naturally wasn't a loud person.
Nonplussed, Ino tried to see if the girl was being sarcastic; but no, she didn't seem angry at her.
"Because I should never have fought you," she pointed out again.
The girl focused her attention on Ino.
"But… I wanted to fight you."
They remained staring at each other for a moment. Then Ino felt a thin smile stretch her lips.
"Yeah…"
And she had. She really had. She hadn't been anywhere near threatening Ino – who was by far the best in the girls' ranks in her year, and who could defeat without breaking a sweat all but one or two of the boys as well – but yeah, she'd wanted to fight, hadn't she? She certainly hadn't gone at it as if she expected anything less. She'd fought like she meant it.
"What's your name?" Ino asked.
"Hinata. And – yours?"
"Ino. Yamanaka Ino." She smiled brightly when the girl's expression didn't change. "Say, Hinata-chan, do you want to come home when you get out of the hospital?" Hinata's expression had closed as Ino was speaking, and she babbled on, attempting to cover for it, "I think my father wants to meet you and apologise in person."
Instead of smiling and relaxing, Hinata tensed when Ino mentioned her father.
Oh no, Ino thought, now I've gone and lost her… She wanted to take it back, start anew, but it was like with every word she said she was making things worse. She felt a pang in her chest. Sakura…
"Do you still insist upon what you said about Neji-sama?"
Ino started. She'd forgotten about that.
"What? Oh, er, no," she answered automatically. She barely remembered half of it anyway, before Hinata had quietly challenged her, forbidding her to badmouth Neji-sama in her presence ever again. It was a side-effect of her temper.
If she didn't, Hinata might never forgive her.
"No," she repeated with more conviction.
She'd lost a friend already over a stupid matter of pride. (And where had that left her? She didn't have one friend left anymore. She had sycophants who never contradicted her, and Sakura, on the outskirts again, unpopular again, taut and unyielding, and whose eyes for Ino were so hostile Ino sometimes found herself letting Sakura win their staring matches.)
Hinata smiled shyly, a blush rising to her cheeks. "Then, I-I'll be honoured to go to your house," she said awkwardly. "I… Thank you."
She wouldn't make the same mistake twice.
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2007-10-20 04:08 pm (UTC)But this was a nice mix of the sweet and the surprising. I can't help but cheer Ino on for being kick-ass (even if that did land her into the hospital) and for making a new ally in Hinata. Hey, Sakura's loss can be someone's gain and I can't wait to see what sort of... er... inspiration Ino might hand over to Hinata... especially since Hinata isn't likely to fangirl SAsuke so hard their friendship breaks!
no subject
Date: 2007-10-22 03:06 pm (UTC)I have no idea what kind of influence Ino might possibly be on Hinata, and I'll thank you for not giving me bunnies. >_> But yeah, there's no way Hinata would start fangirling Sasuke. Though I never felt Sasuke was the real reason behind the break of Ino and Sakura's friendship. And c'm'on, we all know Sasuke is only Ino's cover story.
I like chibi!Ino. She's cute. :)
no subject
Date: 2007-10-22 03:40 pm (UTC)(Plot bunnies, attack! Have no mercy here!)
no subject
Date: 2007-10-23 03:41 pm (UTC)Besides, for all that I love Ino TO DEATH, you can't deny that she wasn't entirely blameless either; after all, Sakura only learned about Ino's crush from someone else, and Ino, in some flashbacks, had made a few 'derogatory' comments about Sakura as well (the ikebana class, when Sakura's running after Ino and she stumbles, I think Ino pulls a face and says/thinks something like 'what an idiot...').
Hum, so far this verse and the Sasuke-crushes-on-Hinata are separate -- no wait, they're definitely separate, in this one Neji is an Academy and in the other he's not. But that might be interesting.
(Plot bunnies are gonna have to wait for their turn. >( )