Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure Naruto doesn't enjoy being owned.

AN: It's Ino-centric, in case any of you were wondering.

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Going Against the Grain

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Scroll 1

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"Asa-chan! Asa-chan!"

I glanced up from my genjutsu scroll, my initial annoyance fading at the sight my classmate. The excited strawberry blonde waved her long, thin arms about, reminding me strongly of the windmills on the outskirts of Suna. I shifted further down my bench so she would have room to sit besides me.

"Hey Tsuru-chan! What's up?" I asked, although the source of her excitement was all too telling from the way her smile outshone even her new hitae-itai.

"We're getting our teams today, and we're now Genin! Life couldn't be more perfect!" she sang, draping a twiggy arm across my shoulders in an attempt to draw me into her dance/sway of victory. I shrugged off her arm when the others in the classroom began to stare. I leaned back into my seat as I crossed my legs. My warning violet eyes made it quite clear that if eyes did not turn away, the level of pain in the room would rocket to new levels. It was effective as always. Satisfied, I flicked my long rope of platinum blonde hair over my shoulder.

"Watch where ya' toss the mop, stupid wench," I heard someone grumble behind me.

"What did you say!" I yelled as I whipped around to confront the narrow brown eyes of Matsumaru. He glared at me from underneath his bandana styled forehead protector.

"I said, 'Watch where ya' toss the mop, stupid wench.' Don't tell me that on top of bein' damn ugly, you're also deaf." Fortunately for that idiot Matsumaru, our Academy sensei Kujira entered the room before I could reach over to tear out his ponytail and shove it down his throat.

"Alright, munchkins, listen up!" Kujira-sensei bellowed. Tsuru tugged my arm, pulling me back into my seat. I rolled my eyes rudely once more at the boy and turned my attention to the petite woman up front. Funnily enough, the woman whose name meant 'whale' was both the loudest and the smallest teacher of the entire teaching staff.

"You're finally out of my hair after today – thank Kami-sama! Stay here until your jounin sensei gets you." Then she proceeded to read out the teams of three. I listened only for my name, since most of these teams won't even make it genin. My team was near the top of the list.

"Team 4: Aoten Tsuru, Shinrino Asahi–" here, I cheered with Tsuru –" and Shiro Matsumaru." Here, I groaned.

AN: "'Aoten Tsuru' means 'Blue Sky Crane'" "'Shinrino Asahi' means 'Morning Sun of Truth'" "'Shiro Matsumaru' means'White Pine Circle'"

Already, I could feel the formulation of death plots within the minds of the majority of my female classmates. Did I mention that Matsu-I'm-so-cool-with-my-stupid-bandana-and-my-cu rsing-badboy-attitude-that-you-should-bow-down-to- me-and-grovel-maru was the Number One Rookie of the year and the current fad in bimbo world? Apparently, Matsumaru was also noticed the sudden rise of malicious intent aimed towards me.

"Sucks to be you, bitch," he whispered smugly so only I could hear his words. I flipped him off, and then threw a couple senbon towards, ahem, choice places to make my point. Smirking, I relished in the sound of his nervous gulp and turned my attention back to the front of the room.

Our sensei turned out to be a jolly grandfatherly shinobi named Yorokobi. He was far from old by normal standards, but by ninja standards, he was…well, he may as well be a living fossil. Which either meant he must be incredibly competent in battle, or incredibly competent at shirking his duties. I refrained from judging, though I immediately acted like I believed the latter of the two assumptions. Especially when he invited us to eat lunch with him rather than to train like the other groups.

"How old are you again, oyagi?" I asked innocently as we walked to his designated restaurant. He grinned at me, making the smile lines on his face crinkle pleasantly. Right then and there, I knew he was one of the best. That smile was enough to make any unsuspecting shinobi fall into the very dangerous action of underestimation, and no average ninja could exude such grandfatherly harmlessness.

"Forty-seven," he replied and patted my head. I snorted as if my confidence in him had dropped even further.

We were seated to a table with surprising efficiency despite the crowd gathered at the entrance of the restaurant. I was beginning to suspect that Yorokobi had something up his sleeve. My suspicions only increased when we found ourselves on the top level of the open-air building, accompanied by only a few other groups on the otherwise spacious floor. Tsuru, unsurprisingly, was mesmerized by the view. However, Matsumaru only narrowed his eyes, unimpressed by the show of wealth.

"So, why don't you guys introduce yourselves? I'll go first. My name is Chizutama Yorokobi. I dislike fighting, but I specialize in swords. I really like soda and Ihope to collect all the Coca-Cola merchandize out there." He beamed at us. If I hadn't known better, I really would have been disgusted by the seeming incompetence of my new sensei. Tsuru didn't seem to notice, beaming back at our teacher.

"I like soda too! My name is Aoten Tsuru and I specialize in taijutsu! I really really like cute things like bunniesand I hate getting sand in my shoes. I hope someday to bring honor to my father's side of the family."

Matsumaru went next.

"I am Shiro Matsumaru. I use the Shiro clan's wire techniques. I like good people. I dislike bad people…and I hope that those that matter will come to respect me." He leaned back with his arms crossed, daring any of us to comment on his terse sentences.

"And I am Shinrino Asahi. I think I specialize in genjutsu since I'm really good at dispelling them. I have a weakness for chocolate and I have strong dislike…" I trailed off here, unsure on what I could reveal to these Sand shinobi. Then I simply shot a sour look to my left where a certain arrogant boy sat.

"…for that bastard. And I hope that someday I can be called a great kunoichi." Yorokobi only smiled again at all three of us and then motioned for the waiter to bring in two plates of steaming teriyaki. My stomach grumbled, and I realized that perhaps I was a little hungry. I felt a small flash of charka, and then suddenly, saliva filled my mouth. The food I was regarding previously with only mild interest began to look strangely heavenly. To my immediate annoyance, my two teammates also eyed the food with the interest of one who had just survived a 7-year famine. We reached for our chopsticks simultaneously, warning off each other with dirty looks. Yorokobi looked almost smug.

"Well," he said with a chuckle. "There are only two plates of food, thus only two of you may eat. You are to fight for the food." Yorokobi stood and with a shove, sent the table of food sliding across the room, leaving us angry students sitting around nothing. "Also, you are disqualified and denied lunch immediately if any one of you leave your seats."

"You may begin."

He must have placed some sort of jutsu on us. Only that would explain the overwhelming hunger that seized me. It was distracting and I felt my control wavering towards my more animal instincts. That bastard had turned us into a trio of hungry wolves caught on the scent of blood. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to concentrate. With a deep sigh, I felt cool focus seep into my brain as my animal side faded to the back of my mind. I knew what I needed to do now.

"THAT TERIYAKI IS MINE!" I screamed, launching my chopsticks at Matsumaru. He looked at me with wild eyes, whipping out a roll of wire to shred my weapon to bits. I evaded injury by leaning back, still balanced on my bench. My fingers flashed through a minor genjutsu as I dug out several kunai to counter Tsuru's fist. Briefly, I mourned the fact that I was forbidden to perform any of the Yamanaka mind jutsus as Asahi. Nonetheless, I found it quite simple to slip away from the core of the battle, my henge double still "evading" the feverish attacks of my two classmates thanks to a little Notice Me Not genjutsu.

I must had appeared quite ridiculous to the watchful eyes of Yorokobi as I walked to the table, holding my seat firmly to my rear. Setting my bench on the ground, I popped a few pieces of the delicious meat into my mouth. It would much too suspicious if I immediately began to separate the teriyaki into three separate servings as if his "Hunger" jutsu hadn't affected me.

"Kai!"

Shit.

With wrathful expressions, Tsuru and Matsumaru vaulted across the room while carrying their seats, having discovered the same little loophole as I had. Matsumaru locked his ankles on the legs of his bench and with an impressive show of upper body strength, launched a devastating kick towards me with his hands acting as pivots on the floor. The corner of the wooden seat scraped my cheek, neatly leaving a red angry welt on my face. At the same time, Tsuru aimed an equally destructive blow towards the legs of my chair. With a squeak, I rolled out of the way, wincing as the edges of my new burden dug into my hands. To my extreme chagrin, I gained several more scrapes to my face when I encountered Matsumaru's wire traps.

With a growl that I almost didn't have to fake, I uprighted myself and glared at the two before me. My fingers flashed through a long series of seals to land on theboar seal, setting in motion Asahi's signature jutsu.

"Chakra Freeze no Jutsu!"

The spurt of pure charka issued from my body barreled through my targets' bodies, temporarily shutting down the nerve and charka lines, thus rendering them motionless for the moment. Unfortunately, I could never quite get that technique fine-tuned enough so that the eyes were also affected, and said failure resulted in two very heated glares directed at me. Our ensuing death glare match was interrupted by the loud clapping of one very amused Yorokobi.

"Wonderfully fought, wonderfully fought," he complemented with a chuckle as he walked over to the table where we were all currently gathered. The fading heat of the battle and my Chakra Freeze had cleared my teammates' minds of Yorokobi's dirty little trick, and they simply looked at him warily.

"I had expected you three to simply forget about all rules once taken up by my Desert Oasis no Jutsu and get out of your seats. Just like true ninja, you kept a certain coolness of mind despite distractions. Congratulations." He grinned widely at us as he sat down near the table.

"Although, we do have extra seats over there; your benches look at little scuffed up." Before I could open my mouth to warn the other two that we had yet to obtain food and could not leave our seats, Matsumaru's firm grip on my arm stilled me. Tsuru, who had nearly stood up, was also pulled back down by the bandanna-ed boy.

"We have yet to eat," Matsumaru said coolly, icy eyes boring into Yorokobi's. Our sensei nodded, his grin now even wider.

"You may eat, then. You three pass. Good job!" His eyes crinkled into happy little crescents and I sighed. A waiter appeared out of nowhere with two more plates of meat and suddenly, the there were customers again in the top floor.

"Well, that was fun," Tsuru chirped as she shoved teriyaki into her mouth. Matsumaru ignored her, concentrating only on his hard-won prize. I smiled wanly, picking at my share. Not that she noticed, but my appetite was gone. Right before Yorokobi-sensei had closed his eyes into a smile, he had regarded me with a most disconcerting glint in his sharp eyes. Like a cold snake slithering over my spine, I realized with dawning horror that he had never dispelled the Desert Oasis no Jutsu. And I never used any seals to dispel the effects.

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My mind racing as we all parted ways after lunch, I debated whether I should reveal a certain little secret about myself to put my new jounin sensei off my trail.

I have something of a split personality.

As the Haruno clan had demonstrated long ago, a spy's ability to separate parts of his or her mind into different people was essential to long term infiltration. Many spies outside the Haruno clan returned often confused, no longer able to distinguish between their fake characters and their real selves. Yet Haruno spies revealed an almost miraculous ability to switch between personalities, and even where they were caught, they could continually play the role under torture without any loss of sanity on the part of their real selves. Though I wasn't born with such an advantage, the strong sense of identity and mental flexibility of the Yamanaka blood served my purpose just as well. So at the tender age of 4, I learned how to meditate daily, filing all my thoughts, knowledge, and experiences into different viewpoints.

Shinrino Asahi is a blonde orphan with blue eyes, though some believe her to base her parentage in the Wave country. She is impulsive, loud, highly opinionated, and prone to jump to conclusions. Her taijutsu is average, ninjutsu nearly nonexistent, and genjutsu above average. Her only distinguishing feature is her amazing resourcefulness with what few abilities she does have. She has one signature move; the Chakra Freeze no Jutsu. In her free time, she helps at the Hidden Sand greenhouse. Recently, she took to wearing purple contacts because she claims it makes her appear more mysterious.

Yamanaka Ino, however, was cultivated to be a spy from the moment she was born. Thanks to years of intensive study, she is close to mastering all forms of the Yamanaka family jutsu, and is also developing several news one on her own. She was sent to the Hidden Village of the Sand at the age of 5, and has lived in secrecy for almost all her life. Her taijutsu is above average, ninjutsu off the charts, and genjutsu good enough to fool all but the observant and those with the Sharigan. Coldy intelligent and even more stubborn, she focuses solely on her ultimate goal – spying for Konoha.

Asa and Ino…

I had enough presence of mind to convince my sensei. Besides, it would be reasonable that this other "Asa" could appear only when Asa was in danger. But, damn, life would be a hell lot more complicated with three personalities in tow.

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The sun was setting by the time I got to the designated meeting area that evening. The dark bruises of clouds over head promised little rain – perhaps only a drop in temperature tonight by the way they muffled the waning sunlight. A chilling breeze whistled though Training Area #36, shifting the dark sand into elegant swirls around my covered ankles.

"Shinrino Asahi."

The ANBU stood unaffected by the wind, though I knew he must be freezing in such thin clothing. His familiar Eagle mask almost looked friendly in the murky darkness. My fingers flashing through a series of the hand signals, I motioned him towards the base of a towering boulder, where the wind chill would be considerably less. The eagle mask tilted in an almost grateful angle, its beak twisting into a parody of a smile.

'Report,' he immediately signed as soon as he laid his pack down and returned the silent password. His pale fingers glowed against the dark fabric of his fingerless gloves, charged with the indigo chakra needed to maintain the complex genjutsu around us.

'Position remains uncompromised. Mapped 10 more buildings –including Kazekage's home and first level of ANBU headquarters,' I replied, handing over two enormous scrolls, one of which contained the maps. I briefly summarized the contents of the second scroll as the Eagle ANBU tucked the scrolls into his pack. 'Sand Tanuki now Genin with elder siblings. Kazekage dealings normal.'

'Good. Hokage has new orders for you. You are permanently Genin?' I nodded, motioning towards the Sand hitae-itai secured around my waist. The ANBU continued.

'Chuunin exams in 5 months at Konoha. Ensure your team goes. Hokage wishes meeting in person and complete transfer of Sand memories to scribe.'

I frowned. This order would be difficult to accomplish. Asahi was mediocre as a ninja at best, as was Tsuru. A Genin team would hardly be allowed to ascend to Chuunin by the talents of one team member alone, no matter how well we learn to work together. If we learn how to work together at all. I relayed my concerns to the ANBU.

'Improve,' he gestured simply. He continued before I could protest the suspicious nature of such vast improvement within only a few months.

'Seek your teachers; not everyone will teach you automatically as I have.'

I knew that he would not advise me further when the ANBU dropped into an offensive stance. These precious few hours of night training with the Eagle ANBU every other month were the only times that I can fight with my full ability.

Time was limited. As always.

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The salt and pepper mix of stars was already dissolving into the faint light of dawn by the time I stumbled back into the orphan housing area. With a quick calculation, I figured I could manage 3 hours of sleep if I skipped my shower. I changed my mind when I caught a whiff of myself. Two hours of rest would have to suffice for today if I wanted to keep any degree of dignity.

Not that I had any left.

To my utter frustration, I still barely hold my own against my teacher of 6 years. With no small exertion on my part, I only managed to corner him once. The rest of our mock battles all ended with a humiliating checkmate in his favor. Pathetic for a spy who needed to map the ANBU headquarters and regularly listened in on the Kazekage's private conversations. Mumbling about stupid jutsus that refused to be learned, I dragged my weary carcass towards my inviting dorm room.

The feeling of being watched caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stiffen, my skin tingling with acute discomfort. I jerked my head up, warnings flashing in my eyes as my weak body snapped to an alert. I froze at the sheer darkness of his aura. There, he crouched on the roof of my dorm, studying me with discomfiting interest. The stark silhouette of his gourd stood all too distinctly against the watery moonlight.

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Wow…..seven pages in one day…I'm pooped.

Tell me what cha'll think!