A/N: I was watching the episode with Shikamaru and Temari's fight in the Chunnin exams, and I hatched this little egg of an idea when Chouji told Ino that she didn't really know Shikamaru the way he did. I came to the realization that Chouji is probably the most perceptive of the three, and it would make sense that he would be able to read his teammates well (hence his ability to be a very loyal friend). This fic is set during Part II/Shipuuden. Have fun!

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The Man Who Knew Too Much

Unbeknownst to many (except Chouji), Ino had a slight self-esteem problem.

Nobody would even realize it unless told, and given Ino's extroverted personality, they probably would not believe it, anyway. It took an observant (and good-natured) person, able to see through the aggressive demeanor and haughty vanity, to notice the reason Ino was the way she was in the first place.

Chouji was just such a person. He knew what everybody knew: Ino was a looker, and she was well aware of it. What other people did not know was that, despite her knowledge of this fact, she seemed to need constant reminding of it. She felt that she was the type of woman who deserved to be admired, but did not understand why, nor did she offer any explanation (even to herself).

It may have even been that Ino, for all her confidence, was unaware of the fact that she required others to admire her in order to feel validated. A fact she would have remained ignorant of had Chouji not kindly pointed it out to her one day. She, of course, scoffed at the idea...at first. But then, it began to make sense. When all other kunoichi in Konoha seemed to develop their own skills, their own jutsu, their own name, she was just another Yamanaka, a user of mind jutsu, forever under the shadow of Inoichi's masterpiece, the Mind-Transfer Technique.

Ino would be forever grateful to Chouji for that moment of enlightenment. After that day, she began to see herself differently. She realized that she had been striving to excel in order to impress everyone, much in the same way her beauty impressed everyone. But that was not what she truly wanted. What she truly wanted was to be powerful, for reasons that had nothing to do with second-hand validation. She wanted the ability to defend herself, to defend her family, to defend her friends, to defend Konoha, if necessary. She wanted to know that, should her 'special people' (as the late Sandaime used to call them) ever need her, she could deliver.

Soon after that day, Ino's skills began to grow at an alarming rate. With a little help from her boys, she began to develop several jutsu that, when perfected, would rival her father's trademark in both stealth and lethality. She would not simply be Yamanaka the Spy, she would be Ino...the Best. It was a wonderful thing that she would always have Chouji to thank for that realization.

Oddly enough, Chouji was the only person who had the clout to tell Ino that she had low self-esteem in the first place. In spite of her initial disregard for him, Ino's respect for Chouji had grown steadily over the years, as she watched him become a behemoth of a man from the insecure boy he had once been. In addition to advancing in the ways of his family's techniques, Chouji had also learned various new jutsu of different natures, even one genjutsu (used to change little details in your surroundings – very helpful when trying to confuse the enemy), courtesy of Kurenai-sensei.

Her appreciation for him deepened as she watched him watch her become a pillar of strength herself. No one else could field her mood swings and still have the compassion left over to be proud of her. It was Chouji whom she felt sincerely cared about her desire to become a great ninja, earning himself the position of confidante as well as trusted advisor (if Shikamaru had been the one to point out Ino's character flaw to her, she would have tossed the suggestion out like yesterday's trash). Not that Shikamaru didn't care – it was simply that Chouji was always the one going out of his way to help her improve, to tell her that she could do better, to remind her that the limits she thought she had could always be set higher, or that she could even be limitless if she so chose.

It was Chouji who taught her that the most important opinion regarding herself was her own.

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It was for that reason that she was still on this mission. Ho no Kuni's latest attempt to ally with Kusa no Kuni had gone sour, with no explanation for it. The Land of Grass had recently instated a new daimyo who had expressed his desire to see that his people (mainly his shinobi) were not wasted on the battlefield because of stupid squabbles between countries, and proposed an alliance treaty with the Land of Fire. It was rumored that the real reason behind the desired peace treaty was that Kaminari no Kuni had been particularly hard on the Grass Country that year, and in an effort to keep his shinobi from diminishing, the Grass Country's daimyo sought a treaty with the Land of Lightning's most powerful neighbor. But the Grass Country's daimyo had recently become cool to the idea, despite having been the one to propose it.

Suspicious of foul play, Fire Country's daimyo requested Konohagakure's assistance, and Godaime Hokage sent Ino on a solo mission to infiltrate the Grass Country's royal court. The Fire Country's daimyo had no desire to see his shinobi wasted either (and a stronger offense against the Lighting Country's treacherous ways never hurt), so Ino was in charge of uncovering the reason behind Kusa no Kuni's sudden reluctance to sign the alliance treaty.

As was expected of a Yamanaka, Ino's investigation yielded valuable information. By employing her father's master technique, Ino was able to infiltrate not only the Land of Grass, but Kusagakure itself. She discovered that there was indeed, a snake in the grass (Tsunade-sama giggled at this unintentional pun when Ino presented her report, but to her credit, said nothing). A certain shinobi by the name of Higa Kisho was given the charge of acquiring a position as one of the Grass Country's royal councilors, then making it his job to sabotage the mindset of the council members and keep the daimyo from signing the treaty.

Apparently, Kisho was hand-selected by the Kusakage himself. It seems that the leader of the Hidden Village of Grass did not like the idea of an alliance between the Fire and Grass Countries and was doing his best to keep it from happening. While he was not stupid enough to instigate a war between Ho and Kusa (hence the lack of assassination attempts on the Fire Country's daimyo), Ino's research suggested that the Kusakage resented being dwarfed by his neighbors. He would rather defeat Kumogakure's shinobi without anyone's aid. In conclusion, the Grass Country's daimyo would be disinclined to sign the treaty so long as Kisho remained in the council.

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After finishing her report, Tsunade-sama stated she had yet to decide how to handle the situation, but promised to keep Ino updated, should she need her services again. With a polite bow, Ino saw herself out. Having seen her walk out of Tsunade-sama's office, Chouji met and congratulated her on the success of her mission, and while she thanked him, Ino took no pride in having recovered such precious data. She did not like the idea of having been type-cast (yet again) into a spy mission. For her, it was a mission unworthy of praise. What she would have preferred was Chouji's congratulations for something like...like...

Like an assassination.

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