Typical Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the Characters

Yamanaka Ino was upset when Shikamaru became chuunin. She didn't know why she was upset, she should be happy for her team mate. Especially since he wasn't obliged to train with them. Ino was really happy about that. She always disliked Shikamaru's lazy attitude. However it meant all she had to train with was Chouji and Asuma. Sure Chouji was "good" but he wasn't the best ninja to have when training and sure Asuma was a jounin but all he did was compare her to Shikamaru. He'd say such things as "Try to think outside the box….like Shikamaru" and "Tactics always beat strength…..ask Shikamaru" and her most hated of praises of Shikamaru "Just try to act like him, he must've been doing something right during training". That phrase had made her feel useless. It was as if Asuma had wanted 3 geniuses on his team. After all he had found Shikamaru from his low test score rut but maybe he felt the rest of his team couldn't compare.

It had made her feel even more useless when she had fully realised that she had lost to Sakura. If it wasn't for Sakura's schizophrenia like quality she would have won. Then she'd have been in the finals with the other people and would've had the chance to become a chuunin. That would've made Asuma, Chouji and Shikamaru proud of her.

However she knew she had to do something. Something more that just training with her team and listening to complaints from the ever nit-picking Asuma. She also knew that her father had been working on a lot of special abilities that were powerful tools for anyone from the Yamanaka clan. Things like reading the minds of the enemy, disrupting a jutsu with just your mind or making the enemy lose control of part of their brain. Ino knew that these abilities would make her stronger. Now all she had to do was hope that her father would say yes.

He had said yes.

Of course Yamanaka Inoshi had wanted to teach Ino some of the Yamanaka abilities. He had been working on them for quite a while now and seeing how easy they would be to learn would be an indicator of there usefulness. Also, he had realised, Ino hadn't been her happiest after the chuunin exam. After all, drawing with her rival she had thought was weaker than her had to have been a crippling moral blow. Especially after getting through the Forest of Death, which was a triumph for her.

However he knew he couldn't give her much choice of the abilities that she could learn. The disrupting one had a tendency to leave you chakra-less while the brain one had the "small" problem of backfiring. Really he only trusted teaching her the mind reading ability. His only 2 problems with teaching Ino that was the problem that she might abuse her power and read everyone's minds and that she might lose control of her power. However Inoshi thought that Ino could handle it so, later that day, they began training.

"Just concentrate on clearing your mind" Inoshi grumbled. After all he had been sure that Ino could have become even the slightest bit peaceful. Especially after 5 hours. "Then everything will follow through" If only Ino didn't need to go get something to eat he mused. Or go to the toilet. Or sweep the hair out of her eyes when it had fallen out of place. (Inoshi had always thought that Ino had looked better with short hair) Or answer the phone. Or……

"Dad!" Ino shrieked. Like a banshee. A loud banshee being tortured. A loud banshee being tortured with things of unspeakable horror. Inoshi cringed inwardly, wondering what had made his daughter screech like that.

"Yes Ino?" he sighed. This obviously wasn't his day.

"That call happened to be a very important call about Sakura's hair"" screamed Ino, going what could only be described as a fit of impatience.

"I never said anything about our phone Ino"

"But I heard it so clearly…" Ino sighed, obviously stressed by the voice that she had heard.

Of course Inoshi, after a while of thinking had figured out where the voice was coming from and, of course, he was proud of her.

"Ino" Inoshi said, voice full of pride at the fact that Ino did manage to read his mind and partly because he had figured it out and he felt that he had done well saving himself from more mind-clearing silence.

"Yeah Dad?" Ino said.

"You did it!" Inoshi proclaimed hugging his daughter tightly

"I did?" Ino questioned but soon got caught up in the moment screaming with Inoshi "I did it!"

"Of course you're going to have to keep on practising over and over again. After all it's not like you've mastered it." Inoshi said.

"I know Dad. I'm gonna practise it during training…..whenever that may be" Ino told him.

"That's great Ino. And remember" Inoshi said using a warning tone Ino knew well "you can't tell anyone about this ability. Ok?" Inoshi, afraid that his daughter getting angry at him for suggestingthat she would abuse her powers, didn't ask her not to. Of course he assumed she wouldn't anyway.

"I won't tell anyone" Ino promised, without a dishonest thought running through her head.Hopefully Asuma will drag us all together soon so that I can practise this ability while training Ino thought, hoping she would do well to show her team – especially Asuma – that she could be just asgood a ninja asthey were.

And that's Chapter one. Hopefully it doesn't burn your eyes out. I also know that Asuma doesn't go "I hate my entire team except for Shikamaru and I especially hate Ino" but if hedidn't then they'd be no story.

Thanks to my friend Lerone (Fey) for reading it over first.