Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is a fic based on Masashi Kishimoto's creation.

A/N I've had a soft spot for Shikamaru and Ino pairings for a while now. This was something I thought up and thought was sweet. Hope you think so too!

Watching You Sleep

It was the strangest sensation. Having one's spirit leave your body and occupy another's; seeing your own body crumpled on the ground like a corpse was not something to be enjoyed. It was, however, the Yamanaka family speciality and as a member of that family Ino was expected to be fairly proficient at it. In its advanced form, the technique enabled the user to control an enemy's actions without loss of control of their own body which wasn't easy to master. Which meant training.

"Shikamaru, I don't know if this is a good idea," Ino hesitated in the execution of the seal. The two ninjas, one in a purple dress and one in a Chuunin vest with his hands in his pockets, were standing several feet apart facing each other in a small, grassy clearing.

Shikamaru sighed.

"You're the one who pestered me until I let you train with me," he replied. "How troublesome," he muttered half under his breath. "Chouji's training with his Dad and as your speciality technique could be improved you might as well practise on me" he added for Ino's benefit.

"But I usually train with my Dad," Ino said with some consternation. "He knows what I'm supposed to be doing. I've never done this before."

"Look, why don't you just perform your usual technique so you're comfortable and we'll move on from there?" Shikamaru suggested patiently. Having been in a team with Ino for some time now, he knew it was best not to push her too hard too fast. It made her reckless and she made mistakes.

Ino pondered this then nodded firmly.

"Right!" she said with conviction. Shikamaru was right, it was best to start with what was familiar to her. She performed the correct seals, brought her hands up to face level and…

Jumped in to Shikamaru's body. She looked over at her own form huddled on the grass and couldn't help checking to see if her hair was all still in place in its small bun. It was, she noted with some relief. She then took stock of where she was. Or, more accurately, who she was. Shikamaru. She brought his hands up to her face and examined them. They were hard and calloused from training much like her own despite her best efforts of using hand cream to lessen the effects. She smiled at the odd sensation of seeing the hands that she usually saw holding weapons, moving shougi pieces or in a meditative pose being held right in front of her as if they were her own. Looking down at Shikamaru's lean and muscled body she realised that the odd sensation wasn't solely due to being in a body that wasn't her own. She had done that many times before. During the Chuunin exam she had jumped into Sakura's body and then Shikamaru's and Chouji's to give them the answers she had copied. She jumped into her father's body when she was training with him and while it was still strange to occupy a male body much taller than hers, it still didn't exactly compare to the feeling she was getting now.

Then it struck her. She was alone. Apart from her own body lying a few feet away, she was alone in Shikamaru's body. Usually when she trained using this technique there were other people around; Chouji or Shikamaru or Azuma. When she trained with her father he was able to keep his consciousness during her occupation so it was more like sharing a body than occupying it totally. With anyone else it was like they were asleep and she was moving their body on their behalf. She tentatively probed out with her consciousness to find Shikamaru. He was there as a presence in her mind; a weight of another person, another personality, softly sleeping in a region she always thought of as just behind and above her right ear. For the most part she tended to ignore the slumbering host and got on with whatever she was meant to be doing at the time. But for some reason…

Ino gave herself a mental shake. She was supposed to be training she reminded herself. She took a deep breath and tried to picture what her father tried to explain to her about controlling her host's body to its full potential. You usually only had a short time to mentally explore the form you were occupying, to assess its chakra levels, its height, weight and strength, before you were forced to use it in a combat situation. Ino knew Shikamaru's statistics fairly well as she had occupied his body many times during training but she still did an assessment now to refamiliarise herself as it had been a while since she had done any training with him. Since he had become a Chuunin she had seen less of him and she realised with a jolt that she had missed him. Missed watching him play go and shougi with Azuma, missed his serious face with eyes that sometimes held a hint of ironic humour, missed his laidback and lazy attitude. And now, reassessing his body, she found that he had changed while she hadn't been there to see. He was a little taller now with a few more muscles. Her team-mate's seemingly lazy attitude did not stop him training his body and his mind so he could achieve his potential. His body was stronger, even more lithe if that were possible and was positively brimming with carefully controlled chakra. Ino couldn't stop feeling admiration for her friends condition. He was a worthy Chuunin both physically and mentally.

Having mentally assessed her host she was now, in theory, ready for action. As there was no fighting to be done she decided to try some taijutsu techniques. Moving Shikamaru's feet further apart she sank into a ready stance then launched into a series of kicks and punches ending with a leap into the air to land a devastating thrust kick into a nearby tree, somersaulting onto her feet in a perfect landing. She stood there thrilling at the physical exertion and the feeling of a well trained body in her control. Moving a boy's body was always strange. A boy's hips had a different motion and their walk was utterly different. The balance of upper body was also different as there was less…erm…flesh to consider. Ino again looked down at Shikamaru's body and felt her appreciation change note. It wasn't her body but she knew it so well, knew its rightful owner even better, how he moved it, how he used it, trained it, fed it, maintained it. It was Shikamaru's body and for the first time Ino appreciated it as such. She looked again at work-worn hands and muscled arms and on impulse wrapped them around her borrowed form. She felt safe and secure and she took a deep breath inhaling a scent that was familiar yet different as she had never breathed so much of it before. It was musky and masculine and reminded Ino of the deer that Shikamaru's family tended, not an animal smell, but one that belonged outdoors, free to watch the clouds, proud but with a desire for a simple, wholesome life.

As a sudden realisation at what she was doing struck her, Ino released her hold of Shikamaru's body and stood trembling with an emotion she did not recognise. In a panic she wondered if Shikamaru had noticed then reminded herself that he couldn't; he was there, in a gentle slumber in the corner of her mind. Once again she hesitantly reached out her consciousness towards him. Finding the small curled-up ball of his personality she gently ran her thoughts over him, reminded of stroking a drowsing cat. He felt like a warm and comforting weight in her mind and she was suddenly loathe to let him go, wanted to spend time with him here even if he was asleep and couldn't know. She wanted to hold him and protect him as she had never realised she wanted to before and at the same time wanted to be held and protected in return. By Shikamaru, by her closest friend. Ino moved to sit among the roots of a tree at the edge of the clearing, Shikamaru's knees brought up to his chest and his arms encircling them. There she allowed herself just a few more minutes, watching him, sensing him, possessing him. Watching him sleep. Then, with a deep breath she brought her hands together and breathed,

"Kai!"

Ino sat up and immediately brought her hands up to her head to check on her hair. Pulling out some small twigs she stood up and turned to her team mate who was pushing himself up from the ground with a hand to his head, shaking it slightly. Then he stretched and yawned.

'As if he had been asleep' though Ino with some amusement

"What time is it?" Shikamaru asked.

"A little after 6 o'clock," was Ino's reply. "I only occupied you for a few minutes". A few minutes that, Ino reflected, seemed like days that had flown by too fast.

If Shikamaru had wondered at the strange position he had found himself in, crouched among some tree roots he didn't say. His brown eyes regarded Ino appraisingly.

"Do you want to try the advanced technique now?" he asked.

Ino suddenly felt drained.

"No, not today. I had better get home, I think Mum wanted me to help her with some flower preparation this evening."

Shikamaru shrugged.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around then until Azuma-sensei calls us together for another mission." With that, he turned and started to leave the clearing.

Watching him go Ino felt a wrench in her chest and on impulse called out to him.

"Wait!"

Shikamaru turned and looked at her with raised eyebrows. Ino turned slightly pink. She walked towards him quickly, her own eyes lowered until she stood in front of him. Raising her bright blue eyes to his face she noticed he was regarding her with a wary expression.

"Shika…I don't…I don't want to have to wait so long to see you again. I…I've missed you. We never seem to see you so much now you're a Chuunin and I…I miss that." Then with a burst of that strange emotion she had felt earlier, only this time stronger and more intense, she raised herself onto her toes and bracing herself with one hand on his chest, placed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. She hovered there for a moment, inhaling the scent of him one last time before pulling away and once again lowering her eyes to her feet.

'Now, I've done it,' she thought. 'He's going to think I'm such an idiot. This is Shikamaru, girl's are troublesome to him and I am nothing but a flake, an excitable blonde, a…'

These thought went through her mind in a second but they were interrupted by a hand under her chin. She found her face being raised up and her eyes met deep, forest brown ones. Then they were gone as heavy lids covered them and they came too close to focus on as a light, feathery kiss was placed over her own lips. Then the hand and the lips were gone and Ino found herself facing her slightly pink-faced team-mate with his hands once again in their familiar pocketed state.

"See you tomorrow Ino," he said softly, then turned and left her in the clearing as dusk slowly fell and Ino watched his retreating back until he was enveloped by shadows.

Ino stood for a moment in silence, then smiled. "See you tomorrow Shika," she murmured.

I'm not amazingly happy with this fic, some things didn't turn out as I expected (especially the end) but I hope I got what I was trying to convey across. Apologies if anyone found Ino a little OOC - I find her personality hard to come to grips with. I think she was a little too docile in this fic but then I figured, she is facing some scary new emotions here. I personally think Shikamaru rocks so he deserves some big praising now and again! Please leave a review if you liked it (or even if you didn't) and let me know what you thought.