one_long_mission | [open] singing in the rain (or not)

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[open] singing in the rain (or not)

After such a long dry spell without water (without a shower, more importantly) having it rain so much, to see all the wet, could have been a heaven sent. For a while, Ino stands in the middle of a downpour, her blonde hair getting plastered to her face and dirty war clothes. The fabric of her flak jacket and shirt heavy as it weighed her body down.

It's not long before she looks more like a drowned rat than her usual lively self.

She's not sure how to react at first because she should be used to how strange these places tend to be. Her face tilts up and she squints at the dark sky, wincing a bit when a water droplet falls too close to her eye.

Once the situation and the irony of it all sinks in, Ino grits her teeth and shouts to no one in particular.

"I COULD HAVE REALLY USED THIS DOWNPOUR A FEW DAYS AGO!"

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She perched on the edge of the tub, nodding her understanding. "Yeah, it's pretty intense. This one is from someplace different, the one who is helping I mean, but he's still Sasuke underneath it." She gave her a wry smile and leaned on the wall. "He's a flirt, but~ I'm kind of taken so I'm not going to be chasing him, even if he is adorable. He smiles a lot."

She shook her head, studying the older her. "Littlest Sasuke is 8, he pops by from time to time and brought me the cutest hairpins. Another is 13, he was the first here. He never defected. There's an ANBU, he is, believe it or not, with Tenten and ah, his brother. It's kind of one of those open secret things. There's a blind one, our age, that I've heard of but never seen, I understand he's really antisocial."

She sighed, wishing she could get a hold of that one to try to work him out. "There's mine. She's a girl that is pretty close to how the one from our timeline is. She's really adorable when she's being shy, and she's with Neji too. It's ah, the three person thing I mentioned to you right off."

She waved a hand through the air. "Then there is the other girl Sasuke. She's with the Naruto from her timeline and she's actually kind of nice. Prickly, but nice. And that's just the Sasukes."

And that's just the Sasukes. If she was going to stay here like she had done on Thor and Omega, she would have to get used to all these multiples. A hand comes up and she rubs her temple.

"Part of me thinks I'm still just having a really crazy dream and imagining all of this, but I know that's not the case. The first time I showed up in one of these places I pinched myself to wake up and tried to dispel any genjutsu."

It was real. Unfortunately real.

She sinks down deeper until just her head is visible above the steaming water. They all had their own lives and personalities it looked like. Even the girl Sasukes had chosen different people to...be with.

Did that mean this Ino might have different tastes too? Obviously, right? If she had said yes to a threesome with a girl Sasuke.

And Neji.

Was this payback for trying to use her charm during the chunin exams? He did have great hair though. It's not surprising her twin would know all this either. Ino had sort of prided herself in being a gossip or at least 'in the loop' and knew about what was going on with her friends.

"Are there guy versions of us running around too?"

"Not yet, but there is a boy Sakura. He's a hottie. He also doesn't like me." She couldn't help a bit of a pout. "Won't even talk to me. It was kind of jarring. I talked to the girl Sakura around and she told me that he'd never even been friends with his Ino in the first place."

Since she had already heard about girl Sasuke's she's not too surprised. Still, the thought of a male Sakura is a strange one. Not to mention the fact that she...er, he didn't like Ino.

"Doesn't like you?"

While Ino and Sakura had always been rivals and had their rough patch when they were genin, things were different now. They were friends.

It's nice to hear a girl Sakura is around, regardless. Maybe she could talk Sakura to knock some sense into the boy version of her and stop being such a jerk.

"Maybe he wasn't picked on like Sakura was so we didn't stick up for him. Still, that's no reason for him not to talk to you. Unless the Ino he knew was evil."

It makes her uncomfortable to realize how possible that is right now.

"No... he was polite! Really. He just... that distance was kind of stiff, if you get what I mean? Though, from what I understand, it was Sasuke he was hiding behind instead of one of us so... that might have to do with it? Sakura tried to explain, but you know how she can be when she doesn't have all the details."

She huffed a breath and shook her head. "So don't worry, I've heard no Ino horror stories yet."

At least there's that. Ino still frowns.

"I still think we should go talk to him. We can do that on the way to steal Shikamaru."

She laughed and grinned. "Well, I know where he lives~. He's in the house with most of the Uchiha actually. Oh~ we'll probably be ambushed by the kids if we go in there."

She made a motion with her hands. "Fifty fifty chance it'll be Itachi-kun or Sasuke-kun though, Naruto never greets visitors. Believe it or not, he used to be shy."

"Really?" she blinked. She never really paid attention to him other than when he was pulling pranks but he was sort of like Sakura then, huh?

"You said Sasuke-kun was eight?" That was when she had a crush on him. She would bet he's still as completely adorable as she remembers. "I wouldn't mind being ambushed by him!"

"Definitely! I'm still trying to coax him into coming over to me when I visit. We've gotten him up to staring at me around doorframes from across the room instead of fleeing at the sight of me." She gave a soft laugh and shook her head.

"Oh yes, Sasuke-kun is absolutely adorable~. I've been teaching him flower meanings since he's so dead set on getting people presents all the time."

Okay, she could admit that was sort of cute and released a soft laugh of her own. "I never would have guessed. Maybe we can lure him in with some ramen!"

And a young Sasuke-kun learning flower meanings? Nothing could be cuter than that. Sorry, young Naruto. A small squeal leaves her lips and she leans over the side of the tub, very interested.

"Has he gotten you any presents yet?"

"He did! Just hold on a second." She slid off the edge of the tub and padded out of the room, returning quickly with something in hand.

She settled herself before showing the other girl the hairpins, silver with flowers the same color of blue as her eyes. "I'm pretty sure he got these off the caravans, but I really have no idea."

She smiled happily at the pins and wondered if she would get a present of her own when he ambushed her. Honestly, she can't wait so she focuses on washing again to clean up and be presentable.

"He has great taste! I knew he would, even when he was young."

"I know right? I got him when I tagged pretty much everyone with presents in February, and then this is what I got a month later. I'll introduce you to everyone though, don't worry. I think you'll really like some of the people here."

"Is it really introducing when they already know me as you?" she teased while lathering her long, silken hair with the nice-smelling shampoo.

She snickered and waved a hand at her. "It's only polite to let people in on there being two of us, right? No meet to stun them into fainting or anything like that. Though that would be fun..."

It would be really fun and she laughed before she grabbed a basin to dip into the tub and then dump over her head.

"We're still scaring Shikamaru like that though~~!"

"Definitely. No warning for the lazy bones~." She snickered, then looked thoughtful. "I wonder if we could get Temari to help us scare him with it or if we'd have to sneak around her."

"Do you think Temari likes that sort of thing?" All she remembered of the girl was her fight with Shikamaru and how unintentionally she had called her a bitch. Only because she was going against Shikamaru! Besides, she was young back then. She could blame it on that.

"I guess it would be good payback for getting the best of her during the chunin exam."

"I really don't know, I haven't actually managed to talk to her. She's evasive." She shook her head on a huff. "Buuut I'm sure we'll figure it out Two great minds, right?"

"Two genius minds, you mean!" she grinned and then tapped her temple. "Shikamaru may have an IQ over two-hundred but I think even the two of us could give him a run for his money."

"Of course! We give each other an exponent! Much better than just adding us together." She laughed and tilted her head to the side. "Do you want to stay here? I only have two rooms but you're welcome to move into mine."

Even if it's herself, the offer is generous. To be honest, if this was her new home, she definitely needed a place to stay. There's a warm smile on her face for a moment for the generosity.

Instead, Ino smirked with her response. "And live with Asuma-sensei? I'd like to spare myself the second-hand smoke." The house smiled pleasant though. It's just her way of letting this Ino have her own space and time with Asuma. She would find her own room.

"How do you keep the place smelling so good if he lives here anyway?"

"I make him open the window and threaten to spritz him with mint oil if he doesn't comply." She gave her an impish smile. "If that doesn't work, then I step it up to rosewater. It helps that he's cut down on smoking a lot since the seal fiasco happened. I heard he got stuck in Itachi's body for a bit. That one is bedridden half the time so..."

Ino returns the smile, just as devious. "You could always just spray all of his clothes with some perfume or tuck a few flowers in his pockets."

Asuma cutting back on smoking. That didn't happen unless something was on his mind.

"...Did something happen to him?" Itachi was Sasuke's brother, right? He was dead too, from what she remembers.

"Basically there was a rash of body switches a while back, and he got caught in one. That Itachi has died, briefly, from his lung issues so... I guess it made him a bit uncomfortable. I figure it won't last."

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[open] singing in the rain (or not)

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