Ino shook off her jounin flack jacket and threw it on the ground with her pack, announcing that she was going for a swim in the river and that she would murder anyone who came too close. Her teammates, Choji and Shikamaru, didn't say anything, but it didn't matter really, she trusted them not to look, and they were too lazy and weary to challenge her declaration. Ino was always more cheerful when she got a chance to swim in a natural water source, river, lake or whatever, so they were hardly going to object. It didn't matter about time for once either, as they were on their way home from a brief information gathering mission and weren't needed back in Konoha until tomorrow.
Shikamaru sighed, not bothering to remove his jacket as he lay down on the grass, watching the light die as Choji lit a fire and put an unknown packet of food on it to cook. It didn't take long before the smells made his stomach growl. He looked up and smiled over at Choji. The smile made him wince.
"Ah, what's wrong?" his friend asked across the fire.
Shikamaru tested his lip with his tongue for a moment and a sharp stinging confirmed his medical assessment.
"Split lip," he grunted. He touched it with a finger this time and frowned when he saw the tiniest speck of blood and his lip stung again. "Troublesome."
Choji smiled sympathetically and shrugged his heavy shoulders. "Inevitable," he said simply. "It's not so bad most of the time, but if I spend too much time in the sun mine cracks and it really hurts!"
Shikamaru let out a quiet laugh. "The hazards of being a ninja." he said, earning another smile.
"Why don't you use a little of Ino's lip balm?" Choji suggested, testing the food with a tiny spoon. "I do sometimes and she doesn't really mind. It's good, the stuff she brings on missions. Not like that girly stuff she usually uses."
Shikamaru looked at his friend from the corner of his eye. "She really won't mind?" he asked, a little suspicious.
Choji shrugged. "You can go without it if you want, just don't complain!"
The darker haired ninja lay back on the ground and considered his options. Both were troublesome, but he also knew the stinging in his lip would be distracting, and if Choji had used it, it must be discreet, as he'd never seen his friend wearing lip balm. He pushed himself up and slouched over to the fire where all their things were.
"Flack jacket?" he sighed.
"Usually."
Nervous about going through Ino's things without her direct permission, he rifled through the contents of her jacket quickly and found a little white pot of balm that he'd seen her use the day before. It looked pretty discreet. He unscrewed the lid and he swiped a little on his finger before replacing the lid and her jacket to where it had been before. He sat in his spot again and traced his finger over his lower lip.
And promptly passed out.
When he woke up later, it was obviously very late in the day, but too early for it to have been the same day he'd passed out. At least, that's what he could tell from the window next to his bed. How he'd gotten there was another question, but he had a few guesses.
There was a harsh knock at the door, and while he had no intention of answering it, it opened quickly, as though the person behind it wouldn't have waited for an answer anyway. A blond head peeked around the door and Ino's eyes glistened with glee as she let herself in.
"Awake?" she asked cheerily, getting only a grumble for a reply. "You know you should pay more attention to the tools I use for information gathering. And to use any substance from an unlabeled pot…" She didn't say anything else, her words trailing off, but the look in her eyes said more than enough. It had been a long time since he'd felt so stupid.
"Troublesome."