I don't own Naruto. If I did, SaiIno would not exist. Apparently since I don't like that pairing, I ship Ino with everybody else. Also, I think I might've gotten a few ideas from headcanons that I read, but I really can't remember. So thank you to thatshinobilife and doodlingluke on tumblr for entertaining me with your posts. Thank you to my friends for helping me out. Thank you for reading.

Redolent

1

Ino Yamanaka keeps you awake at night. She is a sandstorm. She is a desert oasis. She is a mirage. One minute she is ripping your walls down, the next telling you that you shouldn't have had to put any up in the first place.

Your face is so handsome and kind under that scary-looking face paint, she tells you. Don't be ashamed of your inheritance, and she'd sure like to sit herself down on it too, but it's a shame she can't stay another night. You say next time. She says she doesn't know when that might be.

2

You lie in bed listening to water fill the tub in the bathroom. She always washes herself before joining you, and then again, afterward. You close your eyes and wait for her to come.

Some time later, you wake to the weight of her head on your shoulder, and the warmth of her bare skin on yours. She stays there for a while, giving you time to shake off the sleep.

She lifts her left hand up above her, the angles of her elbow and wrist somehow blending into one soft line of an arm. She twirls her hand and unfurls her fingers, revealing peach painted nails about a week past looking good. Then, she turns her hand the other way, studying her palm like maybe she's hoping the lines have changed since the last time she checked. Suddenly she seems to find what she's been looking for and she flips her hand over again. Palm. Back of her hand. Palm. She keeps flipping, flipping, becoming more and more distressed, hand turning faster each time.

"What's wrong?" you ask.

"I'm so wrong," she says. "Look. I'm one thing and then another. Just like that. Did I ever mean to be so deceptive?"

"You're not deceptive."

She rolls over, straddling you, and stares you down. "That you think so only proves that I am."

3

You find her on the floor, crying over a box of tissues.

"They fell," she says simply.

"What?"

She looks at you like you might have lost half your brain cells, and then explains, "I tried to pull a tissue out of the box, and they all fell on the floor." There is not a hint of humor in her voice and you begin to seriously question the state of your neurons.

"Oh," is all you can manage.

You consider asking why this event is so significant, but think better of it. Instead, you sit down on the floor and join her in staring at the box. Pretty soon, while you are pondering the decisions that have led to this situation, laughter takes over her, terrifying in swiftness and intensity. She clings to your shoulder to keep from falling over, her lily white teeth too close to shredding the fabric off your chest. You smile politely. She looks up at you with those swirling bath drain eyes and in that moment you are drowning. You love her and she hates you with all of her being.

4

"It's really fucked up that you can read my mind. Like you could be listening in on my dreams and I'd have no idea."

"I don't need ninjutsu to read your mind. You're obvious enough without."

"What do you mean?"

"You're afraid of bugs. You walk an extra kilometer just to avoid the Aburame compound when you're in Konoha, and you mumble about beetles in your nightmares. Your nose is shot from breathing in the poisonous fumes while working on your puppets. You always say the flowers smell nice when you walk in, even when there are none. You wear all that makeup because you look too much like your dad, and you hate it. I can tell because your eyes dart away when you see your reflection without it on, the same way as when you see a picture of your father. You're an open book. It's not a bad thing."

"Okay, then. How long have I been in love with you?"

"Since the first time we locked eyes."

5

Temari crushes a fly with her bare hands, and brushes it off into the trash. You are complaining that Ino leaves you nothing to remember her by. Not a single article of clothing. Not a comb. Not a toothbrush. She spends ages in the bath, and doesn't leave even one strand of hair behind. You've checked. It's like she doesn't want you to remember that she exists.

Temari asks if you know what she does. Why she won't stay with you.

"She's a Konoha ninja. That's why."

"No, Kankuro. It's because she's a whore. Do you get it? She's a special kind of kunoichi. Her job is to sleep with men to learn their secrets. Shikamaru was concerned that you were the crazy one. And you are. But you couldn't have found a better match."

"Why wouldn't she tell me? It's not like I would've minded."

"Maybe she minds. She's a healer. She could've fixed your nose if she wanted to. If you ask me, she's afraid you'll smell another man."

"That's ridiculous."

"Not when everybody else thinks you're sweet and pure. Not when you think that your whole body is rotten. Besides, don't you miss her less this way? Otherwise, every smell would remind you of her."

Temari walks out the door and starts down the hall. A few seconds later, she comes back. "Lavender," she says. "That's the scent of her shampoo."

6

She's the kind of person who floats in and out of your life, out of your control. You wait and wait and she doesn't come, so you give up waiting and she comes back and you find that you were wrong. You thought you had given it up, but no, she still has you on puppet strings, and you have lost control of your own comings and goings too.

She runs away and by now you know well enough not to chase her.

.