Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except for Inoni.
A/N: Got inspired by Skania from tumblr. But hopefully won't find this because I won't update it frequently, and I added an OC to keep Team 10 around.
* = a signal that an explanation is provided at the bottom.
._._._.
"Ino, I heard that you like Sasuke. From now on we're rivals."
Ino stood in front of the mirror, preparing herself for today, which was the day that she was going to be teamed up with Shikamaru and Chouji since she was the heiress of the Yamanaka clan. It was also the day that Sakura would also try to become a genin. Ino still remembered that day when her best friend dropped their friendship for a boy. She liked Sasuke, too, and wouldn't mind that they both did since friends can like a boy without ruining their friendship. It's not like he's the only one who existed. But without even the sound of a gun clocking, Sakura pulled the trigger.
"What are you so upset about?" A girl who looked similar to Ino asked at her bedroom door. They had the same face, except the other girl had a pixie hair cut with her own side bang covering her left eye instead of her right. She was wearing a high collared unbuttoned, sleeveless dark purple blouse with her torso wrapped in bandages, and her elbows covered in mesh armor. Her pouch was connected to long black pants, and she wore the standard ninja footwear.
"I'm not upset." Ino sounded frankly defensive as she tied up her hair. "And is that literally your outfit, Inoni? Why does it look similar to mine?!"
The girl joshed, "People gotta tell we're twins, but set as apart, sis. We don't want any mix up when they start calling out who's who."
"I think your choice in hairstyle already does enough of that." Ino got up from her vanity table to walk out of her room, and the two headed out. "I still wonder how in the world I ended up having a tomboy like you for a twin sister."
Inoni crossed her arms behind her head as she teased, "I still wonder how I ended up with the Academy top student like you for a twin sister when all you wanna do is talk about boys and file your nails."
"Hey! Girls can be both beautiful and dangerous! Just you watch me! I'll beat every kunoichi there is! Especially Sakura!"
"Speaking of disappointments." The twins stopped in front of their shop and saw Sakura coming their way. "I'll save ya a seat, sis." The ninja student ran off quickly to the academy, knowing full well that her sister would be doing some idiotic race with her so-called rival, Sakura. Inoni was very well aware that the pink haired girl did have the highest scores for written exams, but she wasn't anything special. Inoni honestly didn't see what Ino saw in that girl.
When the tomboy sister got there, she was welcomed by Ino's slackers.
"Oh hey, Inoni." Chouji greeted her. The two of them with Shikamaru being childhood friends of sorts. "Ino's not with you?"
"Nah. Fighting with Sakura like usual. Yo, lazy deer." She greeted Shikamaru. "Ready to have a wild ride with my sister as your squad leader?"
The twelve-year-old slacker genius groaned, "It's such a drag. You're lucky you have a twin sister. If I did..."
"I bet he'd be just as lazy as you, Shikamaru." Chouji pointed out, chuckling a bit when he imagined it.
"Whatever. Just let this day be over. I'm going back to sleep." He laid his head on his crossed arms, and fell to sleep with ease.
Just then, Ino and Sakura bust in and were immediately fighting over who sat next to Sasuke. Inoni rolled her eyes. She was about to pull her sister away until she caught a glimpse of the class clown, Naruto, and Mr. Too-Cool-For-You, Sasuke smooching it up! She howled in laughter while the girls beat up poor Naruto for stealing their crush's first kiss.
After Ino was done, she sat down in between her sister and Shikamaru since the spot was right behind Sasuke. Inoni telepathically talked to her, "Hopefully after this, you won't have to pretend to be his fangirl."
"Who said I'm pretending? I'm serious about Sasuke!"
"Yeah, as serious as Shikamaru is about training."
"Quiet you!"
Iruka began giving out the names for each team. Ino wasn't interested in knowing who was with who. She'd hate the girl who'd end up with Sasuke since she can't, but it was her destiny to continue on with the ino-shika-cho tradition. Not that it was a bother at all. She was all for making her clan proud. She just wished it wasn't with Mr. Such-A-Drag and The Kind Glutton.
However when Iruka called out for the members of Team 7, he said, "Naruto Uzumaki. Sasuke Uchiha. And Ino Yamanaka."
"Wait, don't you mean Inoni?" Ino called out.
"Not at all." Their teacher of four years explained, "As you must have known, the reason for why certain students are grouped together is because of their compatibility. Naruto has the lowest scores of the class while Sasuke has the highest in all scores except for cooperation. Something that you have excelled at Ino. Yours, Chouji's, and Shikamaru's parents have agreed that you would be better suited for this team while your twin sister, Inoni, who was the first born to begin with, will take place in team 10 with Shikamaru and Chouji, and she will carry on the tradition of your clans instead."
"WHAT?!" The clan members cried out in shock.
Inoni was more out of anger before she slammed her hands on the desk and stood up. "You have got to be kidding me! We weren't informed about this! What makes Mr. Golden Doofus and Emo Prince here special? My sister have been training her butt off to take on as the heiress of our clan, and because of some social rejects, she's stripped of that!"
"Oi! Shut up, Inoni!" Naruto yelled at her.
Sasuke was also pissed off, but kept his cool.
"QUIET!" Iruka yelled out, and all the children obeyed. "Inoni, your sister is still the heiress of your clan. Think of this as splitting your duties. As the first born, you shouldn't be exempt from your responsibilities to your clan, so your parents agreed that you will take on the tradition of upholding your clan's alliance while Ino will continue her training to be the one to take your father's place. Everything has already been decided, so sit back down, and not another peep! You understand?"
Inoni still wanted to argue, but Ino scolded her, "Sit down, Inoni. You heard what Iruka-sensei said. Our parents decided this."
The twins fiercely glared at each other.
"Don't tell me you want this? What?! Is Sasuke that precious to you!"
"You know better than that." At the sound of Ino's reluctant, yielding tone, Inoni regretted her mental outburst of anger.
"I'm sorry." She stomped out of the classroom despite Iruka's reprimanding cries.
Ino wished she could do the same, but she was the good child. A part of her was happy that she teamed up with Sasuke, but a majority of herself was panicking. She had been mentally, emotionally, and physically training herself to pick up the slack of Shikamaru and Chouji, so they could succeed. Now all of those years of hard work was flushed down the toilet, and what seemed to be worse was when she saw Sakura staring at her with horrified eyes. Her former childhood friend had been working hard as well to try to beat Ino at being a good kunoichi of ninjutsu and love. Sakura was far from ever beating Ino in ninjutsu, and now that she was teamed with Sasuke, it looked like the final blow of defeat to Sakura's ego.
Ino felt both guilty and righteous for hurting her. She wanted to set things right, but unlike Inoni who was going to argue with their father, Ino knew everything had been case closed.
After that ended, everyone filed out, and the teams were to meet their sensei at the afternoon. Shikamaru and Chouji were by Ino's side, and they had their meals at the veranda of her place.
"What a drag. I can't believe they paired you up with those two."
"Inoni's right. This isn't fair to you, Ino. But I guess you must be pretty excited to be paired up with Sasuke."
"...I guess." Ino let out a heavy sigh. "What I mostly feel is terrified. What were my parents thinking? I bet Inoni's already getting down to the bottom of that. You guys already know my clan's sacred technique leaves me vulnerable, so I have to trust one of those two to watch over my body. I'd be overjoyed if Sasuke did that, but both him and that Naruto guy are close-ranged fighters."
"Then don't use it." Shikamaru reasoned, "That technique wasn't meant to be used for battle anyway. Just learn your other clan's techniques, and if you need us, it'd be troublesome, but we'd help those guys learn how to support you."
"Really?"
Chouji answered with his mouth full of chips. "Of course! We were supposed to be your teammates, but even though we're not, doesn't mean we can't help each other out. Although, Shikamaru is the one who'll be helping you out mostly." Shikamaru sighed at that fact.
Hearing this made Ino relax somewhat. She just hoped that their sensei was reliable, too.
After finishing her lunch, she made her way to the classroom. Yet, she paused when she heard Sakura's voice loudly crying out. Ino quickly hid behind a tree, so as to not interrupt, but know what was going on.
"Sasuke, I love you! I always have since I first saw you! I know you barely know me, but I love you so much that I can't stand it! I'd do anything for you!" Sakura confessed with all her heart. Ino didn't know how to feel about hearing this heartfelt confession. She liked Sasuke, too, but Inoni's teasing always made her wonder if her love was strong. Hearing the love and desperation coming out of Sakura's voice really made her question her own love.
"Sasuke, I-!"
"Shut up."
Though it was just a second long pause, the world seemed to stop time for the two girls listening to him. When the world did move, it felt like gravity increased it's pull on their feet and hearts.
"It's like you said. I don't know you, so why would I care about anything you say." That was a rhetorical question.
Sakura still tried to answer, but her mouth was left silently agape by his next words.
"You're annoying."
Ino froze at those words. Her heart leaped to protect Sakura, but her legs remained frozen when she remembered what Sakura did to their friendship. Yes, she understood that her best friend wanted to get out of her shadow, but to end it the way she did? Ino still couldn't forgive her for that.
She watched as Sakura watched Sasuke leave her, and sat down on the bench crying. Ino wanted to comfort her, but she just remained at where she was, and remembered the happier days of their friendship, but also the pain during the aftermath of when it was over. She felt justified in holding her grudge, and reasoned that she was also helping Sakura out by not looking like she pitied her as if she lost.
Sakura cried for a good while that Ino thought she would be late for her meeting with her sensei, but Naruto came around, insistingly asking her of what's wrong out of worry. However, he only upset her further, which earned him the role of her punching bag before she stormed off.
Ino sighed at Naruto's lack of tact, but his caring attitude towards Sakura wasn't missed from her watchful eyes. She stepped away from the tree to look down at the harmed Naruto. She loudly sigh to show her disappointment. "Hey Naruto. We have to get going."
"Huh?" The blond blinked at the female voice, and looked up from the ground where Sakura had him lay. "Oh, it's you." Naruto grimaced at the sight of her. "Just so you know, I'm not happy being on the same team as you either!" He stubbornly declared.
Ino didn't feel insulted since she saw Naruto as an immature boy, and as a future clan leader, she knew how to babysit immature boys. "Yeah, yeah, come on. We're going to be late for class."
"Mmh?" Naruto blinked at her.
"What?" Ino thought she had something on her face.
Naruto looked at her suspiciously. "Hmph!" He snapped his head away from her and walked away indignantly. It was Ino's turn to blink at him.
"What was that about?"
Naruto had always been a weirdo to her. She saw him as the class clown like anyone else. She wondered how in the world did someone with no ninja talent like Naruto could've graduated from the academy. He was definitely going to be the weak link of their team in combat, but to be fair, she was also aware that he was an orphan. Unlike her, who had been trained since birth to be a strong and efficient ninja and leader by her father, Naruto practically had no one besides Iruka-sensei.
She figured that since Naruto was able to graduate, she could give him the benefit of the doubt, so she followed him to the classroom where the other students were at. Sasuke was already sitting and looking serious and mysterious as usual. Ino felt her face get a bit warm at the sight of his handsome face, but then she remembered what happened with Sakura earlier, so her feelings were a bit wary at the moment. She watched Naruto and him have eye contact. What happened earlier was fresh in their minds that they quickly looked away, trying not to vomit. Ino had the same feeling, but let it go.
She looked around for her sister, and her eyes landed on Sakura who were sitting with her new teammates. It was obvious that the girl had cried and was depressed, and Ino wanted to comfort her, but she knew better.
It looked like her sister was nowhere to be seen, and Ino couldn't connect with her telepathically, so she just stood with Shikamaru and Chouji. They asked where her sister was, and weren't surprised that she didn't know. They sighed, and waited. While they did, they were fully aware of their now-former-classmates' stares, especially the ones from the girls. The female eyes glared hatefully at Ino who they thought just had to have everything.
She belonged to a prestige clan who happened to be close and friendly with the hokage's clan, and everyone knew that the hokage's own favorite son would've been their sensei, which meant that their team was already a shoo-in to take the four* genin team spots available. It didn't help that Ino wasn't just only privileged, but she was practically the queen of the academy.
Her and Sakura were the top beauties of the class that the boys from the younger classes were jealous of them for having such beautiful girls. And plenty of the boys argued of who was prettier. Sakura seemed to gain the most favors in beauty, so she was well recognized for her looks and her smarts, but her short and violent temper and lack of ninja skills weren't ignored.
Ino may not be deemed the prettiest or smartest in the academy, but she was the most talented among them and the most likable. These being proven by her grades and her plentiful love confessions, which she turned down kindly. Everyone knew the blonde was sharp tongued, pushy and flirtatious, but her bright and supportive personality mixed with her talents as a kunoichi made her an ideal girlfriend. Because of this, everyone thought Ino had more of a chance to be Sasuke's girlfriend. Now, they were just waiting for them to hook up much to almost everyone's disapproval.
Ino could hear all the girls loudly whispering encouragements to Sakura to not give up, and win Sasuke over since they preferred her over Ino any day. This helped Sakura feel better and become determined again.
The Yamanaka heiress ignored this since she was used to being bashed behind her back, and knew that acting ignorant was more hurtful than giving attention. Shikamaru glared at the girls while Chouji showed Ino his support and concern.
Soon the new jounin teachers arrived, and took their teams with them. When Asuma arrived to take Shikamaru and Chouji, they gave Ino their good lucks before leaving. The blonde watched everyone leave, which left her with her new teammates alone. She wasn't sure of what to do. She thought of being the usual her, and playfully flirt with Sasuke, but the thought of Sakura made her not in the mood to do so. And Naruto seemed to not like her for some reason. She tried to think of what she may have said that would offend him since she knew she had a loose tongue, but nothing came to mind.
She decided the best thing to do was just sit down, and wait for their new teacher to break the ice. She knew it wasn't like her to sit out from being social, but she really had no idea of what to say.
Sasuke looked Ino's way, surprised by her aloofness. He expected some annoying, loud, flirtatious holler, but he figured that this team up really did jar her being. He also heard the earlier girls' loud whispering to Sakura to win him over, but he didn't care about that. He felt nothing for the blonde who was simply a blank face to him among all the other female blank faces, but she did have some of his respect since she did beat him in taking the top seat in the academy, and was only second to him when it came to other skills other than cooperation. He thought that as long as she kept her annoying attitude down a level, then this team up might actually work.
Naruto was just complaining in his mind about how he was teamed up with the worst people. One was his greatest rival, and the other was the greatest rival of the girl he liked, the idiot fan of the guy he hate, and an all around terrifying person! He believed that he really had the worst of luck!
After an hour passed, Ino and Naruto were getting impatient.
"Geeze, did our sensei get lost on the way here?!" Ino complained. Naruto stuck his head out the door and looked both ways. "See him?"
"Nada! What the hell?! Why is our sensei so late! Everyone already left with their sensei and Iruka-sensei also left!" Naruto grimaced at this tardiness.
Ino groaned while Sasuke just kept quiet. Then Naruto caught their attention when he began placing one of the chalkboard erasers at the top of the door since a bucket of water wouldn't work.
"Naruto, what do you think your doing?" Ino questioned him, though it was obvious.
Naruto chuckled, "That's what he get's for being late!"
Ino thought it was stupid, but it was a ridiculous sort of stupid, so she giggled.
Sasuke also couldn't help letting out a laugh, "Pfft. As if a jounin would fall for such a stupid booby trap."
"But it'd be hilarious if he did!" Ino snickered at the thought. "Hey Naruto, maybe you can make it better if you added my perfume to it! Then if it was a guy, he'd be smelling like flowers!"
"Good idea! Gimme! Hey, I didn't know you were into pranks!"
"No way! Pranks are so beneath me, but I will make exceptions!" She spoke with a slight flirtatious tone, and sprayed the chalkboard eraser with her perfume. "Let's see how our new sensei will like that."
Sasuke covered a snort. He was also deeply surprised by the girl's willingness to get in on one of Naruto's pranks. He wasn't sure if she was literal or just acting to get on Naruto's good side.
Their teammate-prankster put back the eraser, and they waited. It didn't take long for it to drop and make a mess on a silver haired man's head. Naruto guffawed at his face, Ino giggled behind her hand wile Sasuke was seriously questioning this guy.
However, the bright mood was dropped when the man opened his mouth for the first time, "Hmm...How should I say this? My first impression is...I don't like you guys."
That put a downpour on their moods, but Ino was quick to open her mouth to show her disapproval without a care if this man was a jounin. "It's not like you made a good first impression. What sensei shows up two hours late to meet the team he's supposed to test if they're good enough to be genin. Punctuality is supposed to be one of your qualities as a jounin."
"Your a mouthy little girl, aren't you." The jounin commented calmly. "If I remember correctly, you're the daughter of Inoichi. The number one interrogator of the interrogation unit, and the head of your clan. I'm sorry to tell you princess, but now that you won't be the one taking on the responsibility of continuing the tradition of your clan, you won't get the easy way out."
Ino cocked her pretty head to the side with piercing, blue eyes and a hard smile. "Are you implying that I got to where I am out of privilege, and my clans traditions don't care about the quality of their future leaders? If that is so, that is sadly very obnoxious of you to think, sensei. So here is my first impres-no- Here's a piece of advice. Have the hokage assign us a new sensei because a man who can't do his own homework on his new squad members, and shows up late, obviously doesn't have what it takes to make ninjas out of us."
Naruto and Sasuke thought they heard a mic drop because Ino just let out the sickest beat down to their new sensei. Ino was actually panicking inside because as much as she applauded herself for being brave, she just mouthed off to a man that could kill her in a split second. That wouldn't be very mature or ethical, but this would lead to a lot more hardships than she was asking for.
Now, their sensei was glaring right at her, and she knew the fear was evident in her eyes, but it was too late to back out now, so she just took a deep breath through her nose and did her best to not let the shaking of her legs behind the desk be evident.
Kakashi approached her, and all their hearts stopped as their bodies froze at what he was going to do. The man came a little bit closer, and bent down to meet her at eye level. Ino's innocent blue eyes with specks of green in them were dilated when they met with the pupils filled with utter darkness. Her legs stopped shivering entirely, and she just waited for whatever was to come. Running away didn't look like an option.
"You..." The man breathily growled. Everyone felt goosebumps, and Ino swore she just pissed herself a little, and was glad she was wearing kotex to not soak her underwear.
"I like you."
What?
The students stared at him in complete shock. The man seemed to be smiling under his mask. He turned to the two males and proposed, "Now that I'm here, let's move somewhere a little less..." He touched his head, which left the white chalky substance on his hand. Everyone could definitely smell the floral perfume. "Chalky."
The kids sported their best smiles for him.
They all moved to a rooftop, and Kakashi told them to tell them their likes, dislikes, dreams, and other things. They had him introduce himself first. His name turned out to be Hatake Kakashi who had no desire to tell them anything really. Ino felt annoyed, but she already played her tough card, so she was just going to let this day end with no more troubles.
Kakashi then had Naruto go first, and other than his name, his likes and dislikes revolved around ramen and iruka-sensei, which made Ino furrow her brows at his obsession with food.
"And my dream is to surpass the hokage and then have the people of this village acknowledge my existence!"
"Acknowledge your existence? They already do that with how you go around doing pranks all the time, and how do you expect to be hokage when you were dead last?" Ino thought, breathing a sigh through nose, but she looked over to Naruto with open eyes. "But you did graduate somehow, and you sure do have the energy to keep going. I still don't think you can be hokage, but I'm willing to see how far you'll go." She felt a bit more interested and a bit disappointed at the fact that his hobby was pranking. This boy definitely had no idea what it meant to be hokage.
It was Sasuke's turn, and Ino was all ears to hear something personally from him. He was always such a closed case that she truly didn't know what to expect.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are a lot of things that I don't like, and I don't really like anything. And...I can't really call it a dream, but I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan, and..."
Ino's eyes widened and her face fell at his next words.
"To kill a certain man."
Ino felt a chill. She knew about what happened to Sasuke's clan, but she didn't know the finer details. She couldn't properly know what to think about this when her turn was called.
"Huh, oh." She relaxed herself to answer cheerfully to give a better impression to their sensei. "My name is Yamanaka Ino. What I really love are flowers and the meanings they hold, and what I dislike are fatty foods and sashimi. My dream is to marry a handsome, intelligent guy. Oh, and my hobby is shopping!"
"She is a young girl after all." Kakashi figured. He went on to tell them that they were going to start off tomorrow with survival training since only twelve graduated students will pass. Naruto and Sasuke were shocked, while Ino wasn't since she had been well informed already, but she did heed his warning to not eat breakfast.
After they got their instructions, the meeting was over. Ino was worried since she didn't know what the test will be or if she would actually get along with her new teammates. It didn't hurt to try. Her heart wanted to talk to Sasuke first, but then the thought of Sakura made her hesitate once again. She knew she was being silly for letting her former friend get in the way of her openly interacting with anyone, especially Sasuke. However, she couldn't help feeling like she would become a terrible person to take advantage of the opportunity she had. She liked Sasuke, but she always knew she cared for Sakura more, and wanted her to be happy.
So she just called out to Sasuke just to say in her usual friendly, flirtatious way, "Hey Sasuke, let's do our best tomorrow!"
"Hn." Was the only sound he made as he walked off coolly.
Though rude, Ino couldn't help falling for that bad boy attitude. She then turned to Naruto who looked fired up to beat their new sensei. The girl found that ridiculous and somewhat cute in a way. She knew that her and Sasuke won't have a problem, but the teams required three people, so she figured she should try to get along with Naruto even though he didn't like her for some reason.
"Hey Naruto."
"Hm?" The boy looked over to her, confused, and then suspicious.
"Don't look at me like that." She scolded lightly. "I just wanted to say let's do our best tomorrow."
Naruto still held his suspicious look, but it was needless to be rude and reject the cheer, so he just said with child-like caution, "Yeah, you too."
Ino thought he was weird, but it was the best she could get. Gotta take baby steps since he wasn't Shikamaru or Chouji. They went their separate ways.
She went home, and she wasn't surprised to hear her sister yelling above the flower shop. Her mother was smart to close the store because the deep, monstrous yell that could raise itself as if a banshee was taking form would scare the customers away. She sighed as she made her way upstairs, and was greeted by Inoni having a shouting match with their father who just came back from work early for this since doing it at night would disturb their neighbors. From the look of how red Inoni's face was, they had been at this for almost ten minutes.
"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT WHAT YOU GUYS THINK IS BEST CUZ ALL OF THIS IS BULLSHIT!"
"INONI! I AM TRYING TO EXPLAIN TO YOU THAT WE JUST WANTED YOU TO TAKE SOME RESPONSIBILITY AS THE FIRST BORN OF THE YAMANAKA CLAN!"
"WE'RE NOT IN THE FUCKIN' OLD AGE! YOU TREAT THESE TRADITIONS AS IF THEY'RE WRITTEN IN STONE! BUT WHEN SOMETHING DOESN'T GO HOW YOU FUCKIN' LIKE IT, YOU'LL DO WHATEVA DE FUCK YA LIKE!"
Ino just went to the kitchen to help her mother prepare dinner. She was making food that wouldn't stain or leave crumbs on sheets since it's obvious that Inoni was going to eat in her bedroom. Usually a parent wouldn't let their child speak so rudely to them, but discipline that would bound or beat a child to become "good mannered" wouldn't work on Inoni who only became violent and more determined to argue for her beliefs. The only way to handle this was by stubbornly arguing with her until she's done. This harsh ritual actually helped keep their father on his toes and continue to endure hours of arguments and other problems during interrogations.
When it finally settled down after another ten minutes, the family sat down for dinner. Their father asked Ino with cautiousness trying to sound casual, "So Ino. How was your first day with your new sensei? I heard that it was Kakashi Hatake. He's a very talented ninja, so you're going to learn a lot from him."
After the first impression that guy gave, Ino highly doubted that. "Whatever you say dad. It wasn't so bad. I'm still shocked that you made such a decision without consulting me first. You betrayed not only my trust but also my privacy. I understand that how teams are chosen is out of my hand, but the least you could've done was alert me."
Inoni was about to add to that, but her mother covered her mouth.
Her father had the decency to look genuinely guilty. "I know, and I deeply apologize, but this decision was made last minute. You should understand that assigning teams is a heavy task since your teachers and other members involved had to consider every aspect of a student and pair them with the most suitable teammates. Otherwise, we may lose good ninjas along the way. You being teamed up with Shikamaru and Chouji were decided and was meant to happen, but the hokage himself needed a born leader."
Inoni opened her mouth before it could be covered again, "So the guy played favorites."
Her father held back his voice, "The hokage was taking into consideration for the future of all ninja children, and you, Inoni, could use some lessons on being a leader since Shikamaru and Chouji are going to need you to be their leader. You're not the type to let family down, so accept this." His daughter glared at him, but she kept silent. He then looked back at Ino, "And from what I hear, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki were teamed up because the Uzumaki boy will need all the help he needs from someone who can pull his weight, but the Uchiha boy isn't a team player. That's why you were chosen, Ino. You have to be the glue for this team."
Ino felt a strong yet soft feeling of pride yet discomfort for this new role she didn't prepare herself for. "If that's what the hokage need me to do, then I guess I have no choice. But it's not going to be easy. Sasuke and Naruto hate each other's guts, and you say that Kakashi guy is great, but he's seriously weird. He made us introduce ourselves but he didn't say anything about himself. And he was even late! And fell for a stupid prank pulled by Naruto! I swear! Not even Sasuke would make things easier in this team. And-"
And so, Ino went on full gossiping and ranting mode during dinner while everyone else either made a comment or simply ate their dinner in peace.
._._._.
The next morning, Ino considered the threat that Kakashi made that she would puke if she didn't eat breakfast. Well, real ninjas would end up starving in real missions, and the guy might actually come on time this time, so she told her mom that she wouldn't have breakfast. But her mother insisted that she at least eat an apple since even ninjas without food would scavenge for some. Her mother quickly sliced the apple in half, scooped the seeds out, and gave one half to Ino while the other went to Inoni who was also told to go light on her meal.
The twins took them and ate them on the go.
"UUUUUGH! I don't wanna do this!" The tomboy twin whined.
"You were going to do this whether you were paired up with those slackers or not."
"But I hafta listen to lazy deer whine and see fatso fill his mouth. Like why the fuck does the Yamanaka always have to be the one responsible for these rejects?"
Ino sighed, agreeing with her sister, but also encouraging her. "It can't be helped. The Yamanaka clan's hidden jutsus require us to have beauty, brains, and strength both inside and out. It's the price for being part of a prestigious clan."
"No wonder all the girls hate us. Dad did say he was pretty popular with the girls like your precious emo was."
"Hey! That emo has a name you know! Sasuke! Saaasukeeee!" Ino sounded it out for her twin to say it, but Inoni didn't bother.
"Whatever. Just don't go falling for him for reals. You know the clan's rules."
"I know." Ino really didn't need a reminder since she always reminds herself. "Just let me enjoy this at least. Girls like me can't help falling for the cool boy after all." She couldn't help blushing a little at the thought that she was going to see Sasuke soon.
"And pink haired loser?"
The blush quickly faded away when the fresh memory of Sakura being rejected came back. Ino's feelings quickly went haywire, but she controlled herself, and yelled, "Hey! No one but me can call that billboard brow a loser! And if she still wants to fight for Sasuke's affections, I won't stop her! But she better fight harder since I'm in the lead! Anyway, your test is that way, so see you if I don't get a date with Sasuke after we pass!"
Inoni stuck her tongue out in disgust before playfully grinning as she ran towards her destination. Ino went on her way to the training grounds where she was not surprised to see Sasuke already present. Naruto was nowhere to be seen yet which is no surprise since its actually fifteen minutes before the designated time. Despite how Sasuke had treated Sakura, that was their business, so Ino acted as her usual flirtatious self.
"Sasuke!" She gushed the name.
Sasuke was used to being called in such a way, so he just spared her a glance before stoically greeting, "Hey."
Ino felt her inner self squeal at his absolute coolness. She continued on with the conversation happily, "Looks like Naruto isn't here. Let's hope that guy shows up or I'm going to break down his door and give him an earful! Let's also hope our sensei comes here on time, too. Maybe he did have a mission before he had to come see us. My dad called him a great ninja, but he's still really weird but also really scary. I didn't think I would come out alive after my whole show of bravado. I just couldn't help it after he insulted me like that, you know!" Ino got comfortable at one of the wooden posts. Sasuke didn't say a word, which she didn't mind. She just went on to say, "I just hope our sensei is serious about training us because if he isn't, then that means that I'm going to have to train Naruto myself to get him at our level or we won't even pass the chuunin exams with him on board. That idiot never listened in class, and just like Iruka-sensei said, he has the lowest grades. But I'll give him credit that he has more energy than me that I get tired just looking at him. He also seems to not like me for some reason. We're going to have to work on that. Do you want to join us train, Sasuke?"
"Hm?" Sasuke looked over at her, looking that he heard, but didn't compute.
Ino paraphrased her words, "I asked if you'd like to train with me and Naruto if our sensei is hopeless. Even if Naruto doesn't want to, I'll drag his sorry bum to this training field if I have to."
"You talk a lot." Sasuke commented.
Ino was surprised by that, but didn't take offense to it since boys are dumb about girls. Surprisingly, Inoni was as well, but oh well.
She giggled, "Of course, silly. Girls have a ton of things to say since they pay attention to more details than guys do. But if you need peace and silence, I don't mind just humming to myself." She placed her finger in front of her lips and winked. Sasuke didn't react at all, but that was okay. "So training? You, me, Naruto?"
Sasuke looked away as he answered, "I guess if we do want to pass the chunin exams, I'll join. That loud idiot might be more than you can handle."
"Oh please. Have you met my sister? If it weren't for me, she would've just ran off with Naruto, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba to cause chaos. Training Naruto should be a breeze! It could also help if we figure out a strategy to incorporate my Yamanaka clan's skills with your Uchiha skills and Naruto's...Naruto." She said that in the kindest way she could. "I'm still pretty slow with doing my clan's most prized jutsu: the mind transfer jutsu. It will let me transfer my mind into someone else's mind. However the drawback is that it takes time to build up the chakra, so I need my target to stay still because if I miss, I won't be able to wake up for awhile. That would be bad during a mission, but I guess I could focus on my clan's other jutsus to help us out."
"That might be a good idea. The Uchiha clan's jutsus don't specialize in binding anyone down, and I doubt that idiot could do it without endangering his own life."
Ino was saddened by this since she worked really hard to master that jutsu, which Inoni did get a hang of, but wasn't pleased with the risks that came with it. "I guess for the time being, I should work on my taijutsu. I would really like some pointers from a genius like you, Sasuke!" She flirted, but was really honest. It would be a bonus to learn from Sasuke!
"Heh." Sasuke couldn't help the small chuckle that came out. He was really surprised by the conversation they were having. He was honestly suspecting her to just try to flirt with him until he agreed to date her, but instead they were talking about training. He was about to say something, but then the cry of an idiot caught their attention.
"Hey! I'm here! You didn't start without me did you?!" Naruto looked out of breath after running all the way to them.
Ino got on her feet to scold him, "No! But you almost were! Aren't you aware that you should arrive earlier than the designated time!"
"Heh. Heh. Sorry. I stayed up late, and my alarm clock-"
"No excuses! Geeze! You do know that our fate as ninjas hang in the balance today, don't you?! What would've happened if our sensei actually came early, and disqualified us because of you!"
"Hey! He's not here, so there's no need to be so loud in the morning!"
"Of course I have to be loud! You had Iruka-sensei yelling at you to pay attention than actually teaching," She pulled his ear. "So you better listen up, and don't be late next time!"
"So what! Our sensei is late himself!" Naruto pulled away, and held his pounding, red ear.
"That may be only a one time thing!"
Sasuke watched as the two bickered over Naruto's sloppiness. Eventually the two got tired of yelling at each other, and got comfortable at the wood posts in silence. It remained that way for almost half an hour before Naruto began to complain, and Ino told him to suck it up. That just made Naruto complain about earlier and how Ino was wrong. Ino got mad, but quickly took the mature route since she knew that arguing would result in nothing. Instead she admitted her mistake, and for Naruto to just wait a bit longer. They did, and after ten silent minutes passed, Naruto started to doze off to sleep. Ino smacked his cheek lightly, so he wouldn't go to sleep.
It took another five minutes before their sensei finally came.
"Hey guys! Good mor-"
"YOU'RE LATE!" Ino and Naruto yelled!
"I seriously thought you had an excuse yesterday, but you're just irresponsible!" Ino roared.
"Right! What she said! You don't take us seriously do you!" Naruto's nose flared.
"Sorry, sorry. Anyway, let's begin your survival training." The man had them step away from the wooden posts, so he could place a timer on one of them. He then explained to them that their goal was to take away two bells from him, and only two were most likely to not be returned back to the academy. Ino figured that Naruto would be the one to go. That prediction felt more true when he tried to attack their sensei before it began. Yet, the man was fast. Something Ino has witnessed with the many times her father trained her.
When it did begin, they scattered off to hide. Well, except for Naruto who was being an absolute moron. Ino most definitely could see Naruto being tied to a wooden post, and then going back to the academy with Iruka-sensei giving him the lecture of the lifetime. She inwardly sighed as she watched him horribly fail with his lame taijutsu techniques.
She then gasp when the man appeared behind Naruto and formed a hand seal. Ino quickly called out for him to run away before he was killed! However it was just a powerful ass poke that made Ino once again question whether her team will survive even with Sasuke on board. She knew that she was placed on this team to keep it together, but wasn't that the sensei's responsibility in the first place. Did they run out off jonins who could take care of kids, so they had to rely on her? She just hoped that Inoni and the rest were doing better than her.
Ino was suddenly snapped out of despair when she saw Naruto pull off a jutsu where there were multiple clones of him, and they didn't look like an illusion!
"What?!"
He then pulled a clever trick to sneak up behind him, so he could get a good whack at him. However, the guy had switched himself with one of Naruto's clones without him seeing, and the idiot ended up beating himself up before realizing he could just release the jutsu to see the truth. Ino felt pity. She felt it more when he thought he found a bell left unwatched, but got caught by a rope that left him to be hung upside down.
"Seriously, Naruto. Did Iruka-sensei teach you nothing? How did you even graduate! Well, I guess that jutsu was pretty good. I never saw something like that before. It looks like Naruto does have a few tricks up his sleeve, and can be pretty clever. Too bad he's as dumb as Choji or that plan could've worked and he wouldn't have fallen for such an obvious trap. I would honestly want to have Choji on my team instead of you, and I don't want to lose Sasuke, but Shikamaru has the jutsu that could bind him down. The three of us would've worked together to get Kakashi trapped in Shikamaru's jutsu, and I would use my mind jutsu to possess him since Shikamaru has a time limit for how long he can hold onto someone. Then if any of us had to leave, I bet Shikamaru would be the first one on board. I don't want to lose my chance in being a ninja and neither does Naruto and Sasuke. So of course, we wouldn't be working together like I would with Choji and Shikamaru for those bells...Now that I think of it that way, I actually sound pretty selfish. But do I want to face the shame in returning to the academy despite how hard I worked? Of course not! But if I ever did learn something from the academy, it was that these sort of tests are supposed to simulate a real mission, right? This is survival training meaning that if the three of us were in the position where only the two of us can get those bells from the enemy to succeed and then the one who doesn't will...But ninjas are about sacrifice. Ugh! I don't want to lose! But I know what I have to do!"
Just as Ino came upon a realization, Sasuke had launched his weapons at their sensei with the intention to kill. However, that one was also an illusion. Which meant that Sasuke's position was blown. Ino's heart panicked for him, but she quickly knew that she couldn't handle their sensei if even Sasuke couldn't face him. She thought quickly, and decided to head to Naruto first to set him free. There wasn't exactly a plan, but the three of them together could slightly even the odds to at least survive this round. Plus, she needed the three of them together to hopefully get a real plan in action.
She cautiously went over to him, and quietly called out to him. "Naruto!"
"Huh? Ino?"
"Shh! I'm gonna get you down from there." She threw her kunai in a way to help Naruto fall away from the trap.
"Ow!"
"Shhh! Do you want to get caught by sensei again?! C'mon!" She pulled him away to a hiding spot.
Kakashi saw this as something interesting, and decided to let those two play together while dealing with the Uchiha boy.
"Oi! What are you doing?!" Naruto questioned in a whisper.
"I'm trying to save both our butts!" Ino thought about getting Sasuke, but he must already be facing their sensei. Plus, there wasn't much time left. She considered her options. She could either still go look for Sasuke, and let time be up before any of them got a bell, or she could just work with Naruto, so the two of them got bells, and leave Sasuke to return to the academy. Ino remembered his promise to kill a man, and she couldn't entirely grasp that kind of goal, but she didn't want Sasuke to lose his chance to achieve vengeance. Then she cooked up a plan.
She looked to Naruto, "Hey, can you use the jutsu you used earlier to make a bunch of you because I'm going to need them."
"Huh? Why?! And why should I listen to you?!"
"Just listen!" She snapped. "There isn't much time, so just do as I say okay!" She roared viciously that Naruto shrunk back in fear.
"Okay! Okay! Geeze!"
"Good! Now, here's the plan."
After she told him, they searched for Sasuke, and they saw a huge ball of fire come to life. Ino felt her legs quiver in fear, but Sasuke was over there, and she had Naruto by her side, so she had to run that way! When she reached there, she saw Kakashi talking to Sasuke whose body was buried in the ground. She let that distract her for a second before she threw her weapons. The man dodged them, but he appeared real enough for Ino to attack.
She charged with all she got from the academy to get the man defenseless against the four Narutos that appeared in different directions. One of them jumped in front of him and wrapped his legs around his head to cover his eyes while the other slammed his hands against his ears, and the third one grabbed his legs. Ino kept his hands and the leg closest to the bells locked for the third Naruto to get one of the bells while Sasuke who was able to pull himself out also aimed to take one.
However, Ino was thrown at Sasuke, and the four Narutos burst into smoke after the jonin stabbed them with his kunai. A panting Ino was bewildered by this. "Wait, they were were all shadow clones?"
Kakashi answered, "It appears so, but I know where the real one is. Excuse me." He walked away to get the real Naruto.
Ino felt too shocked to be enraged by what Naruto did. The boy followed every direction he gave her, except that the real him had to stick with her. Perhaps, they were going to fail anyway, but this betrayal hit her pride.
"Ino, are you alright?" Sasuke questioned as the two got up.
The girl tiredly answered with a tone sounding like she wanted to whine, "Yeah. I just thought my plan would work, but looks like I'm just as clever as Naruto. That idiot! I told him to stick with me! And now where is he! I hope that after this, he's tied to one of those posts and left to starve!"
"Don't sell yourself short. You did pretty good out there."
"Yeah, well that good enough isn't going to make us genin." She went off to walk to the posts since it was going to be times up soon. "Think about how humiliating it will be when the heiress of the Yamanaka clan returns back to the academy while my sister and her team goes on to take on the chuunin exams. That's never happened before! Ugh! I should've just went to find you instead. Then maybe we could've come up with a reliable plan. I bet you were closer to getting those bells than us."
Sasuke didn't comment on that. He never even thought on working together.
The two reached the posts, and to no one's surprise, Naruto was tied to one of them. Ino gave him the stink eye as she took her place at one of his sides. Naruto just glared at the ground with a scowl. Sasuke just sat down at the other side.
Ino didn't know what their sensei would say about their failure, but he really took it too far when he seriously told them to quit as ninjas since they didn't deserve the position. Ino couldn't help agreeing with him for a second due to how bad she failed earlier, but she quickly reminded herself that she had the potential to be a good ninja. It's just that she still needed a bit more training to handle this kind of situation. She couldn't fail her clan!
Naruto was yelling, and he would've charged at the guy, but instead Sasuke took that charge. He was taken down easily with the man's foot on his head.
"Hey! Get your foot off his head, you jerk!" Ino demanded.
Their sensei ignored her, and instead questioned of why they were made into teams and the point of this training. He looked to Ino. "I believe only you truly knew the answer. No surprise considering you were raised in a clan that depends on it."
"Huh? What?! Ino knows?!" Naruto looked back to Ino and their sensei quickly.
"It's teamwork." The heiress answered, and explained why she knew. "The Yamanaka clan has a traditional alliance with the Nara and Akimichi clan, and it's expected of the first borns or anyone closely blood related to the successors of the clans to become a team, and perfect the traditional techniques that formed the alliance in the first place."
"I don't get it." Naruto didn't see the connection.
"To put it simple for idiots like you," She answered spitefully, "Kakashi-sensei wanted us to work as a team, so we can get the bells! Because in the real ninja world, a majority of our missions will be spent in a team."
"Exactly." Kakashi agreed.
Naruto caught on, but he noticed something wrong. "But hey! There's only two bells! What teamwork?! One of use were just going to be thrown under the bus anyway!"
"Of course! This test is purposely set up to make you fight among yourselves." Kakashi carried on the lesson. "The purpose is to see whether you can forget about your own interest and successfully work together under these circumstances. The only one who was willing to do that among you was Ino. Naruto! You were just running around by yourself. Sasuke! You just assumed the others would get in your way and tried to do everything by yourself. Ino's mistake was trusting in either of you to be there for her. If she had been with the team she was originally meant to be in, that wouldn't have been a mistake since they understand that the duties are done by the team. Of course, superior individual ability is important to a ninja. But what's even more important is "teamwork". Individual play that disrupts the team can put your comrades' or your own life in danger. For example," Kakashi held a kunai to Sasuke's throat. "Ino! Kill Naruto or Sasuke dies!"
Ino was mildly shocked at the order, but it was just an example. Naruto however panicked since he thought he was serious.
"You see?" He finally got off the Uchiha. "If a hostage is taken, you will have tough choices and then die. You will be risking your lives in these duties." He then walked over to the stone monument where he explained that the names carved there were the names of heroes who had died under the line of duty. Ino was well aware of that since members of her clan were on that stone as well. Apparently, even their sensei's best friend's name was on it, too.
Then he told them that they had one more chance after lunch. Only Ino and Sasuke were allowed to eat since Naruto ditched Ino to eat the meals without them. Anyone who fed him would immediately fail. Ino had no problem letting Naruto starve after the stunt he pulled no matter how much he apologized.
But soon, Sasuke suddenly decided to give him some. "Here."
This shocked the blondes.
Ino cried out, "What?! But Sasuke, sensei just sa-"
"Don't worry." he told her, "I don't sense him near here. After lunch, we'll work together and get the bells."
"What are you talking about?! Can we really trust him?!" She turned her attention to Naruto, "How could you just ditch me to get food!"
"Hey! I left you some clones like you said didn't I!" He defended himself.
But Ino quickly broke down that armor, "The point of you giving me those clones was so we could undermine our sensei! We were supposed to work as a team! I trusted you to have my back, but the only thing you cared about was filling your belly! If this was real instead of a simulation, I bet you would've just left me for dead at the hands of the enemy!" She pointed at him, "I knew you were a scoundrel, Naruto, but I didn't think you'd be the type to abandon the people who needed you!"
"You would've just gotten those bells for yourself! You were just using me, making me think that I would be the one to get the bell, but you were just going to backstab me and get it for yourself!"
PUNCH!
Ino punched Naruto hard enough for him to have cut his lip. "If that's the kind of person you think I am, then maybe the adults were wrong in putting me in this stupid team!"
"They weren't." Sasuke spoke up, and told Naruto, "I saw it for myself. If you had actually been there Naruto, you would've seen that Ino actually sacrificed herself so the two of us could get the bells. I was too far to reach, and she saw how bad your taijutsu was earlier, so she knew that you wouldn't have been able to hold down Kakashi. Maybe if you were more capable of it, she would've used you."
"So be glad you're terrible!" Ino yelled at the blond. "And I bet after lunch, you'll still mess up like the goofball you are, and I don't want Sasuke to lose his chance in being ninja. I don't want to either, but one of us has to go, and that person is the one who can distract sensei. My parents will cry, but I hate it more if we don't at least try to take down that stupid sensei of ours and show him who's boss!" She really didn't want to lose, but she knew none of these boys would willingly be the sacrifice. So she figured that they could at least stick it to the man before she's dragged down. "So you better not stab my back a second time, or I'll stab these chopsticks into where you wouldn't want them to be! Hear me!"
"Ah! Yes ma'am!" Naruto answered. "Man, she's scary!"
"Okay, so let's make up a plan while we eat. Any ideas Sasuke since mine didn't go so well." She looked to the genius.
But Naruto reminded them, "Hey wait, I'm tied up, so I can't use my hands to eat."
Ino felt annoyed, but it couldn't be help. "Fine. Here."
"Thanks!" Naruto opened his mouth to accept the tasty rice, but before he could eat it, their sensei arrived, and passed them.
"HUH?"
"Pass?" Ino arched an eyebrow.
Then Kakashi went on to tell them that they were the first students that he ever passed since the students before them just did as he said.
"A ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are called trash, but you know what? Those who don't take care of their comrades are lower than trash."
That sounded pretty cool, but Ino was just relieved that she didn't have to return to the academy.
And thus, that was the end of the survival training and the beginning of her adventure as a genin with Naruto and Sasuke.
._._._.
A/N: This is what I believe would've gone down if Ino was part of the Team 7. Unlike Sakura who has no formal training or clan customs, Ino was raised by them, so she was formally trained and taught the importance of teamwork. I also believe she was actually low key hated by many of the females in her class, which became more evident after being teamed up with Sasuke. Plus, I believe she isn't as crazy over Sasuke as Sakura is. She does think he's a catch, but nothing to truly obsess over like Sakura does. She's actually more interested in making the team work because Sasuke and Naruto aren't friends like Shikamaru and Choji, and Kakashi appears very unreliable. As the heiress of the Yamanaka clan, she has to prove she is worth the position while also living her life as a girl.
I hope Inoni came off as a good OC for you. She's basically the boyish version of Ino where she's rough and has a looser mouth than Ino that she's commonly mistaken to be a boy until they see her chest.
*I made it four, so Sakura could still be in the story.