sith_happened | Office hours [all day]

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Office hours [all day]

Anakin was sitting in the center of the carpet on his floor, eyes closed, hands on knees, meditating.

His office was, once again, spotless, but he was having trouble finding any kind of serenity.

Soft music was playing and the door--also fixed--was about halfway open.

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She shook her head. "No!"

"Then you're strong enough to keep them out," Anakin said. "It's a matter of willpower rather than raw strength. Outstubborn the other person."

She frowned a bit at that. "Cable-san said it was a matter of believing in your wall."

Anakin nodded. "He's not wrong. You don't want people in there, so you believe in that barrier. If you forget about it, it'll disappear, right?"

That got a slow nod. "So it's... almost a mix of believing in it, and just being too stubborn to drop it?"

"Exactly," Anakin said, nodding. "And being able to keep that wall up under tremendous pressure."

He ran his hand through his hair. "When Jedi fight, it's mental and physical. Getting inside their head isn't just a phrase."

Her lips twitched. "Not exactly just a phrase for me either, but not the way most people seem to do it."

"Go in, rip memories out and tell you about them?" Anakin asked.

"Yeah," Ino said, wrinkling her nose. "That's not how what I do works like at all."

"Tell me how yours works, then," Anakin said, looking interested.

"It's not... well, if I go into someone else's mind," she said slowly, "I'm in their body. It's... deliberately ripping my mind, soul, whatever, out of my body--and leaving it almost entirely--and taking over there's. I can get their memories, but that's almost a secondary function. Primary use was always to take over the body by taking over their mind. Most people... don't know, if I do it. I mean, they lose time, but they don't remember anything that was done while I was, well, in possession."

Ino tugged at her hair. "So I'm very literally in their head, their body? But the memories are just another tool."

Anakin tried very hard not to look horrified.

"That's quite a power," he said carefully. "What would you use it for?"

"Shintenshin, that's the name of it," she explained, staring at him, "is a family technique that was designed for infiltration, sabotage, and assassination. My family's mission... niche, in other words. At my rank, and age, I've only used it for minor infiltration."

"And you'll work your way up eventually?" he asked. He'd done his share of all three jobs.

That got a nod. "It's just a matter of refining my control further, and getting strong enough to take on higher-risk missions."

"So you need to be strong enough to take someone else over without losing yourself," Anakin guessed.

That was going to get a long pause.

"...not really," she said carefully, "it's, back home, pretty hard to break free of it 'less we let you go. It's not, you know, impossible. But it's rare. Not that that's an excuse to get complacent, 'cause it's not, but the strength I need is more physical--right now I just wouldn't be able to keep up with what a higher ranked mission demanded from my body in terms of speed, endurance, stamina, and skills."

Anakin nodded. "Okay." He gave her a small smile. "It's a little outside my realm of expertise."

That got a rueful smile in return. "Different world, yeah?" Ino said. "But it's hard 'cause a wall 'round my head is... almost contrary to everything I can do?"

Anakin nodded again. "Will the wall stop other people like you from taking you over?" he asked.

"I don't know," she admitted. "We're, well, my family are the only ones that can do it. It's not something other people can learn."

"I take it not that many people know about this, then," he said quietly.

"Here?" Ino asked, tilting her head. "Not many, no. Or if they do know, they don't have any idea how I do it. Just the vague idea of me being able to possess people."

"Back home," another shrug, "it's a bit different? Most shinobi in our village have, at least, a vague idea of it. But there's more detail in my profile, and a lot of the older generation know from my dad what we do--he's, um, yeah. Dad and his teammates are relatively famous? Not the big names? But they've got their own spheres of recognition."

"So this is an accepted part of society, then," he replied. "Interesting."

"In Konoha, at least," she said. "Some villages aren't so... enthused by blood traits, and lines that have their own specialties."

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