Who Am I?

Chapter 18: Family

Ino woke bright and early the following day to the smell of breakfast cooking in the kitchen. She grabbed a brush on her way out, pulling the long braid she'd let her hair stay in overnight over her shoulder and removing the tie, taking a seat at the table and slowly working through her hair with the brush, starting with the ends.

"Have I mentioned how wonderfully convenient it is that you're a cook?" She teased, carefully separating the strands of her hair with the brush. It was a good thing she always slept with it braided; without that, it would have taken her hours to brush through the entire length every morning.

"Do you not enjoy cooking?" Sai asked as he glanced at Ino out of the corner of his eye. He was deeply grateful for her presence last night in calming him down. His head was still spinning, but her clarifications had made things more straightforward for him.

"Not really. I don't hate it, but I don't love it, either." She shrugged and ran her fingers through her combed hair. "After high school, Sakura and I stayed together in a small apartment since we both had scholarships and plenty of money for school. She loved cooking, so I left it to her and took care of the cleaning. There was one time I tried to cook something... I think it was lasagna, and boy did I ever burn it to a crisp," she said with a laugh.

"I am assuming Dr. Haruno did not enjoy that very much," he replied with a chuckle.

"Oh no. She outright told me she had no idea how someone could burn a lasagna so badly. After that, she told me I was banished from the kitchen except to use the microwave to warm things up. She would handle all of the cooking as long as I would keep the kitchen clean after." Then, satisfied that her hair had been combed enough, she started to braid it again, this time in a long braid over her shoulder to keep it tamed.

"I see," Sai replied as he set a plate in front of Ino. "I do hope that my cooking is of a suitable standard, as I am sure Dr. Haruno is a wonderful cook." He'd never had Sakura's cooking, but if she was an experienced cook like he was, he was confident that it would be good.

"It is. Sakura's got this magic little touch that I don't know how she does it, but I like your cooking." Ino reached for her utensils and took a bite, savouring the taste. As she'd said, Sakura's just had this magic touch that couldn't be replicated... but she'd certainly never say no to Sai's cooking.

After breakfast, Ino checked all of the security policies on her laptop, ensuring her location couldn't be traced by routing through a variety of different servers. Once it was sure that she couldn't be tracked, she pulled up various files, made notes, and organized things. Whenever she came across something significant, she reported it to Sai, who quickly compared it against his notes. A few charges and financial things lined up with other events Sai had indicated, but nothing seemed concrete. It felt like they were at a dead end with the information they had.

Until Ino noticed her email chimed. She clicked the notification that popped up, opening it and reading it. It was from... her mother? She opened it to see a series of photos. It was a floral arrangement, consisting of various darkly-coloured flowers, most appearing black in colour: dahlias, roses, and lilies primarily. At the center was a large cluster of black rhododendron flowers. To anyone else, they would have just been simple flowers. To Ino... They meant something. Especially the rhododendron. Flower language was a unique knowledge that she and her mother shared, and to be sent something like this had significance in meaning.

Ino was up and out of her chair the moment she looked at the email, reaching for her jacket.

"Where are you going?" Sai asked, standing between Ino and the door. Did she really think she was going to leave after something so cryptic? Her safety was his main priority. Letting her leave would jeopardize that.