fandom_clinic | FTEC – Saturday [March 21]

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FTEC – Saturday [March 21]

Oh hey, look, it was a desk! And a chair, which Ino flopped down in, and then leaned back and rolled her eyes at herself.

Hon-est-ly. What was she getting moody about? The fact that her ethics were different, and that people were going to keep treating that like it was bad? “Ugh,” Ino informed the ceiling. “No way.” Because, ew, she wasn’t going to change.

So, she was there, and determinedly cheerful about it.

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"He's my friend still," Ino admitted. "But I trust him less, and that makes me angry. I want to trust him, but I can't now."

It wasn't entirely making sense to him, but at least he was trying to grasp it. "Cause you think he'll cheat on you? ... As a friend." Trying.

"Because he didn't keep his word," she said, trying to find words. "And he did it for nothing but that he was mad, and went drinking. He didn't do it for a mission, or for something that would save someone's life, or for anything important. Just... because he was mad, and didn't want to deal with the fight face-to-face."

"Okay," Ichigo said quietly, getting where she was going now. He made a point of keeping his word for a reason. "Tell him he's an idiot." Because that solved everything.

"Told him that already," she said, smiling slightly at that. "Don't think it helped. I mean, I get it if it was for a mission, or something super important, or..."

She shrugged.

"But not 'just because'."

Huh. He watched her for a moment before he asked, "You'd do it if it was a mission?"

It was questions like that that made her realize just how little she thought the way she was 'supposed' to.

"Of course I would," Ino said. "That's my job, doing missions however it happens."

His eyebrows knitted together. "So ninjas aren't supposed to ask why either?"

"Depends on the mission," she said flatly. "But most the time, we're given the mission, and that's it. You don't argue with what you're giving. Refusing missions is super rare 'less it's for medical concerns and even then... it's not a good shinobi that does that."

"I'd make a lousy ninja then," Ichigo decided. "What if the guy giving the orders is no good?"

She snorted. "Then his teammates cover for him."

"No," he shook his head. "Higher than that. What if someone undermines the very structure of your ninjas and gives orders from high up that will do nothing but destroy Konoha? It's what happened in Soul Society. Everyone was following orders that made no sense at all. If you don't think about why you're fighting or doing something? Why bother?"

"I would cry," Ino said, eyes cold. "But if we're stupid enough to fall for that, then we deserve it. Hokage-sama is our leader."

And that was that.

"It's not about being stupid," he argued. "It happens. No one is perfect and there are a whole lot of jerks out there. If no one thinks or questions, then you're just opening yourself up to falling for that kind of tricks. If you got orders to kill someone on your team, wouldn't you question it?"

Her expression was blank. "If I was ordered to kill my teammates," she said, "I would be in ANBU, and have the clearance to be given proof of treachery beforehand. It's unlikely I'd be sent for a mission like that though--they would choose someone whose ties weren't so close."

He shrugged. "I'm just saying no system is perfect, no matter how much you'd like it to be."

"I'm well aware," she said frostily, "that no one here cares for how my world works."

Ichigo frowned. "I didn't say that," he protested.

She pushed away from him.

"You might as well have," Ino snapped. "As everyone else has."

If she was snapping, he was snapping too. "Look, it shouldn't matter what anyone thinks. It's your world and if you have faith in how it works, then good. I just wouldn't be comfortable with it and... If everyone in Soul Society had thought like that, then Rukia could have been dead now. And... And..." He drew in a breath, not sure how to continue. "Just make sure that whatever you do, you can still look yourself in the mirror at the end of the day. That's all."