Must Not Do [...but then, they're more like "guidelines" than actual rules]
Title: Must Not Do
Challenge: Prompt 036 - Fly (100_situations)
Word Count: 555
Notes: Had a surprising amount of fun with this one. References one of Ino's abilities post-timeskip rather vaguely, but if you don't want to know about it...
--
Ino dutifully learns the techniques of her family. She knows her abilities--to overwhelm and suppress the minds of others--and she knows the risks she faces--losing herself in too powerful a mind, risking her body vis-à-vis endangering another's. There are things she Must Not Do.
She Must Not enter the minds of others when she is low on chakra; similarly, she Must Not stay in a foreign body too long. Without the chakra tying her mind to her body, she will be lost in a strange body with no way out.
Isn't this Sakura's mind, she thinks, but this isn't Sakura, can't be Sakura, she's far too loud and brash and so strong-willed it makes Ino choke with fear just looking at her. The determination, the power of her will alone, is too much fartoomuch and she can't move she can't move shecan'tmoveshecan'tmoveshe'sgonnadiegonnadiegonnadie--
get
out
NOW
--and she can still barely breathe, but it's enough that she's alive and out of that place, that mind too strong to fight against; that mind she doesn't know anymore, she realizes.
She Must Not control the mind of another species. Instinct is powerful and difficult to fight, and the different structure of the animal's mind will resist suppression by a human mind.
So this is what flying is like, she thinks. It feels nice. Free. She closes her eyes and enjoys the rustle of air over her wings as she swoops down.
Swoops down? She doesn't want to do that. Stop. No. Stop. Prey on ground, must kill. Eat. Bring to nest.
No, she wants to keep flying. Practice control. Learn to steer, to spy from the skies.
No! and the force behind the mental cry is so reminiscent of that brash part of Sakura, that she has no time to think before she has reflexively pulled out and is back in her body, panting heavily. Shikamaru frowns, holding her by the shoulders as he looks her in the eye in a way she'd call worried, if he were anyone but Shikamaru. She shakes her head. "Instincts...way too strong...can't just use wild..."
He and Chouji find a messenger hawk for her to practice on until Asuma-sensei buys her a small falcon to raise for spying, summoned easily with a short whistle.
She Must Not use her abilities to trick others. Even if it's for the good of the suppressed, it is dishonest, and just plain mean.
"...Hinata? What're you doing here?" Naruto blinks stupidly as Hinata reddens. Ino, passing by, is sick of seeing this scene play again and again, and does something about it.
"Well, you see, I was just...um...I was just--" Hinata's mumbling stops suddenly, and she looks up at Naruto with a coy look he's never seen there before. "Well, Naruto-kun, I was just checking you out. I really like you, you know." Hinata walks away with a sway in her step, Ino's presence in her mind giggling at the sound of Naruto choking on air.
Days later, Ino's bad acting reveals herself when she runs into Hinata and Naruto not looking at each other's red faces. She is still waiting for either a lawsuit or an invitation to the wedding.
There are things she Must Not Do, but Ino's always seen restrictions as recommendations, really.
--
Challenge: Prompt 036 - Fly (100_situations)
Word Count: 555
Notes: Had a surprising amount of fun with this one. References one of Ino's abilities post-timeskip rather vaguely, but if you don't want to know about it...
--
Ino dutifully learns the techniques of her family. She knows her abilities--to overwhelm and suppress the minds of others--and she knows the risks she faces--losing herself in too powerful a mind, risking her body vis-à-vis endangering another's. There are things she Must Not Do.
She Must Not enter the minds of others when she is low on chakra; similarly, she Must Not stay in a foreign body too long. Without the chakra tying her mind to her body, she will be lost in a strange body with no way out.
Isn't this Sakura's mind, she thinks, but this isn't Sakura, can't be Sakura, she's far too loud and brash and so strong-willed it makes Ino choke with fear just looking at her. The determination, the power of her will alone, is too much fartoomuch and she can't move she can't move shecan'tmoveshecan'tmoveshe'sgonnadiegonnadiegonnadie--
get
out
NOW
--and she can still barely breathe, but it's enough that she's alive and out of that place, that mind too strong to fight against; that mind she doesn't know anymore, she realizes.
She Must Not control the mind of another species. Instinct is powerful and difficult to fight, and the different structure of the animal's mind will resist suppression by a human mind.
So this is what flying is like, she thinks. It feels nice. Free. She closes her eyes and enjoys the rustle of air over her wings as she swoops down.
Swoops down? She doesn't want to do that. Stop. No. Stop. Prey on ground, must kill. Eat. Bring to nest.
No, she wants to keep flying. Practice control. Learn to steer, to spy from the skies.
No! and the force behind the mental cry is so reminiscent of that brash part of Sakura, that she has no time to think before she has reflexively pulled out and is back in her body, panting heavily. Shikamaru frowns, holding her by the shoulders as he looks her in the eye in a way she'd call worried, if he were anyone but Shikamaru. She shakes her head. "Instincts...way too strong...can't just use wild..."
He and Chouji find a messenger hawk for her to practice on until Asuma-sensei buys her a small falcon to raise for spying, summoned easily with a short whistle.
She Must Not use her abilities to trick others. Even if it's for the good of the suppressed, it is dishonest, and just plain mean.
"...Hinata? What're you doing here?" Naruto blinks stupidly as Hinata reddens. Ino, passing by, is sick of seeing this scene play again and again, and does something about it.
"Well, you see, I was just...um...I was just--" Hinata's mumbling stops suddenly, and she looks up at Naruto with a coy look he's never seen there before. "Well, Naruto-kun, I was just checking you out. I really like you, you know." Hinata walks away with a sway in her step, Ino's presence in her mind giggling at the sound of Naruto choking on air.
Days later, Ino's bad acting reveals herself when she runs into Hinata and Naruto not looking at each other's red faces. She is still waiting for either a lawsuit or an invitation to the wedding.
There are things she Must Not Do, but Ino's always seen restrictions as recommendations, really.
--