The gates of the Forest of Death loomed above Team Asuma. Somewhere in the background, they could hear Anko cackling manically. Chouji and Shikamaru grumbled about the food situation and how troublesome the next few days were going to be.
Ino sighed and examined her fingernails, expertly concealing her growing apprehension. The Chunin Exams were the beginning of the end for peacetime in Konoha. Sakura had told her about how Orochimaru had attacked Team Seven, and how it was the beginning of the end for Sasuke, as the heavenly seal slowly transformed him from their aloof crush to the monster wearing his body. And now she got to relive it. Oh. Joy. A rational part of her mind whispered that she could walk away if she wanted to at any moment. There was no need for her to torture herself like this. Was beating Sakura really worth all of this trouble?
Psh. Of course it was. Still, coma or reality, Ino couldn't help but feel anxious.
"Go kiddies, go!" Anko's voice boomed over the loudspeakers, and their gate swung open. "Become the cute, little monsters you are!"
Monsters. Ino hated them.
As they sped through the forest, they began planning their first ambush. A genjustu-heavy team from Sand was to be their first target, and thanks to a little maneuvering on Ino's part, they had only been lined up two gates to the team's right. Mirages worked great in the desert, but the team would be at a disadvantage in foreign territory where they would have to create a genjustu that blended in with unfamiliar surroundings.
"They've got a well balanced team, there isn't one specifically weak person like in Team Seven. However, none of them had the right calluses for taijustu. They need a powerhouse to finish off the ones trapped in the justu, so that means either weapons or ninjustu, probably wind justu."
Ino briefly landed on a limb, scanning the area for potential threats as she did. "Should we split them up? Genjustu means more observant than normal, and they're going to be studying for any irregularities."
"Ha..ha…We could bait them?" Chouji was slightly out of breath by now, but doggedly kept up with the aggressive pace they had decided on.
"We could," said Shikamaru.
"Easy!" said Ino. She pouted her lips and blew a kiss to where she thought Sasuke might be. "Beauty is very distra-"
"Not going to work," said Shikamaru, not even bothering to see what she was doing. An acorn rocketed off of his head not a moment later.
"Troublesome woman."
Ino huffed. "You'll never get a girlfriend," she said, ignoring his later diplomatic relationships with Temari of the Sand. They weren't official, so it didn't count.
Shikamaru gave her a disinterested glance from his point position, but Ino could barely make it out. The sun was beginning to set, and here in the forest under the thick canopy, that meant visible light faded very quickly. The birds stopped their singing and fell silent, leaving the cicadas to drone on as the trio halted their advance on an old tree and took shelter in the shadows.
"We've got two choices. Attack now or later. I don't care either way." Despite his claim of disinterest, Shikamaru's gaze was sharp, and Ino immediately became serious.
"Now. Let's get to the tower as fast as we can." There was no way Ino was going to willingly stick around where there was an S-ranked criminal after small children longer than necessary.
"I'm with Ino," said Chouji. The shadows splayed across his face gave him an uncommonly solemn and dangerous look. "I want to finish this quickly. The longer we're out here, the more chances are one of us will get hurt. And the faster we'll get to real food."
Shikamaru nodded. "Here's the plan…"
The Sand genin were speaking quietly amongst themselves, tired after a long day and night of avoiding other ninjas, wildlife, and the forest itself. They stood in the middle of a small clearing that they had miraculously stumbled upon. Around them Konoha's giant trees formed a circular wall with few gaps between the trunks, effectively securing their hideout from other team. One of them, a small kunoichi, was idly alternating placing and removing a genjustu on some of the giant roots, playing with the shading and details of the wood as they wound down for the night.
Thud.
In a flash the Sand genin were armed and in battle stances, eyes flickering warily from side to side. The sound had come from the gap on the west side of the grove.
Thud. Thud.
"Not a genjustu. It could be some sort of animal," said the kunoichi.
Thud. THUD.
The kunoichi that had been playing with genjustu earlier shuddered for a second and gasped. Her team leader, a tall boy with the hints of a goatee, gave her a concerned look.
THUD.
"I...I...I'm so scared!" Genjustu Girl cried, and latched onto Goatee with surprising strength.
"Get. off. me," said Goatee, struggling to get away. All he did was end up making Genjustu Girl sob even louder. Their other teammate rolled his eyes.
"It's like you want people to find you and kill you. Now shut up."
Genjustu upped the tears. "But I'm too cute to die!"
THUD.
Light spilled into the clearing. Genjustu squeaked and tackled her teammates into the shadows. There, they were frozen momentarily before a huge hand came soaring in out of nowhere, instantly knocking them out.
"Good one, Chouji."
Shikamaru stepped out from a nearby tree, supporting a rapidly-recovering Ino.
"That was really pathetic," said Ino. "They shouldn't have been so distracted by their teammate. Well, then again, she was pulling off a super cute look, thanks to me." She let go of Shikamaru and flipped her long hair. Long hair. The thing that she was going to keep. Very. Long.
Chouji emerged from the undergrowth sheepishly, having finished circling around the clearing and randomly hitting things.
"Thanks."
Ino surveyed the clearing. Ninja-wire, coated with mud to cover the shine, was discreetly twisted into the many vines surrounding the clearing, leaving only one of the gaps between the trees open. They had herded the team to this exact location after a grueling few hours of mixing animal noises, sounds of fighting, and natural terrain like quicksand. After hours of constantly being on alert, the Sand team was psychologically worn out, and fell easily to their final trap. It had taken most of the night to do - the light grey staining the eastern part of the sky told them so. It was a pretty good plan that required minimal effort on their part so they could conserve themselves for other encounters.
Shikamaru began patting down the kid with the goatee. "Got it."
He withdrew a scroll from the boy's pocket. The kanji for Heaven could be made out in the growing light, giving all three genin, Ino included, a sigh of relief.
"That was lucky," she said. Good. Now all they had to do was go to the tower and wait for Sakura's team. Easy. Chouji silently took the scroll and hid it inside what appeared to be an empty bag of chips. Shikamaru nodded, eyes losing what focus that had and returning him to his regular, unmotivated self, and drooping slightly. Birds started chirping again, eager to greet a new day.
"Should we sleep?" Chouji was giving worried glances to his best friend. It was unusual for Shikamaru to be awake for this many consecutive hours without some form of sleep. Heck, he even would sleep during training when Asuma wasn't looking, or was taking too long with his next shougi move.
Ino put her hands on her hips. "No. Let's get this done, Team Ino-Shika-Cho style! Sleep is for civilians, ninjas can't afford to sleep. Call it training for the mind!"
Shikamaru groaned, obviously not happy with the lack of sleep, but Ino ignored it. The sooner they could get out of this godforsaken forest, the better.
"I'll take point." She began leaping up the trees, leaving the boys no choice but to follow.
They were fairly close to the tower later that day when Ino heard the sounds of fighting in the distance.
Ino remembered this. Lee was getting his ass handed to him right now, and Sakura was in trouble.
She paused and made a spilt-second decision. She grabbed Chouji's scarf and headed to the tree where they had watched the fight before. Something was different this time, though, and Ino couldn't put her finger on why.
"Argh!" Lee took his first sound attack, flying up in the air and landing harshly before standing up again.
Oh. They were early. Sakura still had long hair.
"What a drag," said Shikamaru.
"Formation Side-Shadow, I'm taking down that Zaku kid," said Ino.
"What? You're crazy. We already have a scroll, there's no need for us to stay," said Chouji, and crossed his arms.
Oh great, Chouji had been barbecue-deprived to the point of whiny-ness. Ino's eyes narrowed. As the unofficial leader of the team, she was used to calling the shots.
"I said Formation Side-Shadow," Ino practically hissed.
Lee crumpled to the ground, and Sakura was caught by her hair. The best time to strike would be directly after Sakura's vicious attack on Zaku, when all the Sound ninja were distracted.
"It's Ino's idea, not mine Chouji. And we might be able to take this team down if we use the new formation."
"This isn't teamwork," Chouji said in a loud whisper. "And we just learned that new formation a few days ago, there's no way it's working. Shikarmaru and you haven't trained enough, and we had an elaborate plan for when we got the scroll. This plan is one thing - suicidal! You can't make me!"
Ino clapped her hand over his mouth, alarmed at how loud he had gotten at the end of his mini-speech.
"Are you trying to give away our position?"
Below, Sakura cut her hair, and began a series of attacks of Zaku. They needed to hurry.
"I was in his mind to get answers for the exam," said Ino, lying hastily like the good ninja she was. "Did you know he thinks you're super ugly and fat? That kunoichi said that whales weigh less than you do." A lie mixed with truth was the best way to go, and Zaku had said Chouji was fat the first time. The kunoichi, Kin, hadnt said anything of the sort, but that was the genin that Chouji needed to attack.
Chouji went still. "This just became personal," he growled.
Sakura bit down on Zaku's arm. It was time.
"She said that a fatty like you could never defeat her," said Ino cheerfully.
"She WHAT? Expansion Justu! Leaf Style : Human Bullet Tank!"
"I get the furry back?"
Ino nodded in response to Shikamaru's question.
"Yes, Dosu. Stall him for a second. I'll knock him out." She flipped through handseals as fast as she could. Kin was doing her best to avoid Chouji, but had already been clipped by the angry genin twice. Dosu was preparing to strike, and Zaku had just shaken off Sakura. The Side-Shadow formation required Chouji as a distraction while Ino and Shikamaru alternated performing their own signature techniques. However, distractions have to be taken advantage of right away. They didn't have any time left.
"Shadow Possession Justu," said Shikamaru by way of reply.
"Mind Switch Justu."
Duso froze. "A paralysis technique? Zaku! Wake up Sas-"
He never finished his sentence. The ring end of a kunai had hit the very back of his head, knocking him out but still leaving him crouched down like he was awake, thanks to the Shadow Possession.
"Why...would you turn on your teammate like that?" Sakura was bleary eyed, and Ino thought she might have a confusion from Zaku's repeated hits on her head. She made Zaku shrug.
"Shikamaru, switch!" shouted Zaku. The shadow connecting to Dosu let go. Dosu slumped to the ground as the shadow twisted and latched onto Zaku. Right before it connected, Ino canceled the technique.
"I'll kill you all," said Zaku when he regained use of his vocal chords. Ino checked Sasuke. Evil-looking purple chakra streamed from his body in small amounts. They needed to hurry up. Kin was out for the count, but Chouji wasn't going to knock out Zaku for her. Bursting from her cover, Ino flipped in the air and struck a devastating chop to the back of Zaku's head. There was no way he was waking up from that anytime soon.
"Clear," she said, and Shikamaru gratefully canceled his possession.
"Jeez. What a drag."
"Whoa," said Chouji, impressed by how little time it took for their team to take down the Sound genin. Ino didn't have time to be proud. It wasn't over yet.
"NEJI!"
The Hyuuga appeared in the trees, followed by Tenten.
"I must say, I expected you to be a lot weaker. Fate has-"
"Neji, seal Sasuke's chakra now! There's only allies around here!" Ino's voice was full of command she didn't know she had.
Neji's eyes narrowed, disliking being spoken to as such. Ino chanced another glance at the monstrous chakra.
"Godammit, you bastard, use the Byakugan, please!"
Maybe it was the desperate tone of her voice, maybe the tears that threatened to fall, but to the confusion of the other Rookies present, Neji listened and activated his bloodline with one handseal. He quickly understood what the blonde kunoichi was trying to say. Sasuke's chakra was unstable, and if there had been enemy ninja about, he could have gone berserk on them and therefore helped out his team. However, in an area full of allies, the chakra explosion building up inside him could potentially harm his fellow Konoha ninja. And after the way Team Ten had taken down their opponents, they had earned some grudging respect from Neji.
He flashed down to where the Uchiha lay, and, ignoring the chakra coming off him in waves, plunged his hand into Sasuke's shoulder where the curse mark was. He continued to cut off chakra along the arm and around the chest and neck as well. It may have been overboard, but it was very satisfying to do to sole member of the Hyuuga's rival clan. Ino relaxed, and Sasuke opened his eyes to see Neji smirking at him.
"Sakura, what happened?"
As Sakura filled in her teammate on what had happened, Ino slid over to Neji.
"Thanks."
Neji nodded. "If you were stronger, you wouldn't have needed my help," he said.
Ino took that as a thank you.
"Sakura, how badly hurt are you?" Sasuke's voice drifted over to Ino, and she was reminded that once upon a time, the condemned Sasuke cared for his teammates. She walked back to Sakura, hands glowing a light green.
"Here, let me."
She may not have been as good as Sakura in the future, but already the very minor concussion was healing, and her swollen eye was back to normal.
"Ino, your medical justu is surprisingly good."
Damn. Stupid Shikamaru and his observant I-am-so-much-smarter-than-everyone ability. Ino sensed a very long team talk in the future. Boring. Maybe she wouldn't tell them and let her teammates deal. She was in charge around her anyway. For now, though, she shrugged.
"I've been practicing."
She moved on to cutting Sakura's hair while Sasuke introduced himself to Tenten and Neji. Sakura's brows furrowed. "Ino...why...?"
Ino paused in her trimming and gently hugged Sakura. "Because we're friends. Always have been, always will."
"I-Ino..."
"Besides," Ino added, starting on a cute layer effect on Sakura's bangs. "There's other hot boys out there. Sasuke just happens to be in the hottest in out age group."
Right now, Ino mentally corrected. Sai wasn't here yet. And Neji wasn't so bad himself. Was Tenten with Neji? Hmm. Well, if she was, it hadn't happened yet! He was free game in Ino's eyes.
Sakura hesitated for a second, then gave a watery smile.
"Yeah."
Ino smiled back, and privately congratulated herself on a job well done.
"Wait. If we're such good friends, why did you steal my answers, Pig?"
The kunai that Ino had been using to cut Sakura's hair was hastily thrown into the ground beside her while Ino began to slowly walk away.
"Oh, will you look at the time, looks like Sasuke's okay and Naruto's waking up, and is the sun really that far west right now? Huh. Guess we'd better get going, too bad, so sad! Shikamaru, Chouji?"
"Might as well," said Shikamaru. "No need for us to stay longer than we have to. I hate tests."
"You invaded my mind for no reason!" roared Sakura, leaping up with her fighting spirit restored and her fist aimed Ino's head.
Ino nimbly dodged the swipe. "Well hello there, Team Guy, I hope Lee is fine, we're on our way to the tower as well. Sakura darling, catch you later!"
Ino gave her best flirtatious wink to Sakura and blew a kiss to Sasuke. She gave Team Guy a wave as she, Shikamaru, and Chouji hightailed it out of there, leaving behind a surprised group of genin.
"She didn't talk to Sasuke at all," Sakura said faintly. She reached up and touched her new haircut, a thoughtful expression on her face. Sasuke grunted and started a competition with Neji on who was the better Rookie of the Year, distracting the Hyuuga prodigy from contemplating Team Ten. Then Naruto came screaming out of the tree base only to be hit by Sakura, and everything was right with the world and Team Seven again.
AN: Whoo, over 3000 words! No beta on this story, but I'll be going back and editting this story later/when I can. Yes, I'm making up formations and stuff. Why? Because I'm the totally awesome and godlike author. Hm. There's still tons of room for improvement. I should try reworking my style and descriptions. Well, it was better than the first chapter, and that means we're seeing improvement, guys!
-Hazie
EDIT 10/30/12: Added spaces to make it easier to read.