Gaahina chan: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Lounge Act

Chapter 2

By Gaahina chan

Ino panted as she ran through the clearing. Neji made her run all days! But she thought it was okay, she felt her legs more light than ever, it was easier to run and she could feel her speed improving. She smiled at herself, Neji did was a harsh tutor but she liked the results. When she was done, she walked to Neji, who was meditating.

"I finished my 30 laps" Ino said proudly as she put her hands on her hips.

"I'll show you something" Neji said as he took out something from a bag he was carrying. Ino stared questioningly at him until she saw something in his hands.

"Are you crazy?! I'm not going to use those" Ino said pointing at the weights that he was holding.

"You have to, unless you want to be weak" He said smirking.

Ino glared at him and furiously took the weights. When she took them, her hands felt weak and she couldn't stand the weight. She let them fall and she glared at Neji.

"That is way too much weight for my legs!" Ino said glaring.

"You will train with these starting tomorrow. It will be good. For now, we will go to some place for you to train with water" He said as he took the weights easily and started walking. Ino slowly followed him.

When they arrived, she saw a large river with calm waters. She looked at Neji questioningly and he started speaking.

"This is a basic training for chakra control. You said to me that you were able to walk upside down in trees, but in water is more difficult." Neji said seriously looking at her eyes.

She nodded for him to continue. "First, you will concentrate your chakra on your feet, and then you will release some of the chakra into the water to keep your balance. But you have to release a small amount, do not exceed the chakra, it will be useless. That way, you'll be able to control the chakra in your feet and the releasing one to the water. If you keep releasing the chakra constantly, you will not fall" Neji said as he slowly took some steps forward.

He concentrated his chakra and started to walk in the water. "It looks simple but it isn't. If you are able to complete this task, you can increase your speed and force with your chakra control" He said as he walked beside her.

Ino stared at the water and then started to concentrate. She felt the chakra flowing and slowly she make it go to her feet. When she felt the chakra on her feet, she slowly walked to the river. As she was about to step on the water, she made a sign of nervousness but quickly took it away. She carefully stepped and concentrated more her chakra. She couldn't hold it until she remembered Neji's words. "Focus Ino, FOCUS! You know you can do it" She thought as she let her chakra flow to the water. As she took another step, she felt unbalanced but quickly focused more. "Come on Ino!" She screamed as she opened her eyes. She looked at the water below her feet. She was doing it! She felt happy but as soon as the thought came she felt unbalanced and fell down.

Neji stared at her. "It was a good start. Do it another time. This time don't let your emotions get in your way" Neji said as he sat in a nearby tree.

Ino slowly step out of the water. Now she was completely soaked. "What a mess" She said as she looked at herself then to Neji. He was smirking uncontrollably.

"Stop it will you!" Ino said as she glared. "This time I will do it" Ino said with such determination that her eyes flared. She started focusing and when she felt the chakra on her feet, she stepped on the water. As she managed to make a path, she opened her eyes and focused more, this time she stepped faster and she felt a little uncomfortable. She felt herself get unbalanced but she didn't give up. She focused her chakra more and more. "Control Ino. Control!"

She felt the balance coming and she felt proud, this time not letting her focus go away. She looked at Neji who was slightly shocked but then his expression turned into a one emotionless. "I have chakra control!" Ino said as she started running on the water.

Neji could only admire her. After all, she was able to complete the task so easily. Maybe she did have some hidden talent. She was running like a child that was able to get a toy. After some minutes of displayed happiness, Ino turned to Neji.

"You were good" Neji said emotionlessly.

"Thank you" Ino said as he looked at his light purple eyes. She felt herself drown into them. They were beautiful, she thought but then a blush spread and she looked away.

"What now?" Ino asked.

"Well, training is finished for today" He said as he walked away.

"Wait!" Ino said as he was about to jump. "What?" Neji said as he looked at her. "Um… Nothing… Thank you" She said looking at the floor. Neji only nodded and jumped.

"What was that Ino?" She thought as she grabbed her hands close to her heart.

Then she walked away.

-o-

Ino walked through the streets. She felt some pain on her legs and decided to take a rest. She then went to a bench and started to look at her surroundings. Everything was the same. There were kids playing and people doing shopping. She saw Naruto running up to the ramen stand. She smiled at herself. It felt good that everything was fine and normal. But then, when she watched Shikamaru coming to her way, she looked down. She wasn't prepared for this, so she walked away until she heard her name being called.

"Ino" Shikamaru said as he grabbed her arm. "Ah. Hi Shikamaru" Ino said as she turned around, meeting his eyes. "I saw you, training with Neji. Why do you train with him?" Shikamaru said as he looked at her eyes. His expression was unreadable. "I-uh well I wanted to be stronger so I decided to get a tutor" Ino said looking at him.

"You could always come to me Ino" Shikamaru said seriously. "Well…I used to train with you so I wanted to change a little bit my training" She said a little uncomfortable. "Is that so?" Shikamaru asked as he raised an eyebrow. Ino slowly nodded.

He then let go of her arm. "Come" He said as he walked. Ino slowly followed him. "What does he want?" Ino thought as he took her to the woods. "What are we doing?" Ino asked as he stopped. "I wanted to say something to you. I don't feel that comfortable with the idea of you and Neji training together. He might hurt you" Shikamaru said as he looked at her. "But he hasn't. He is a good teacher. He's different in a good way" Ino said quickly. Shikamaru slowly nodded.

"We…haven't talked lately. That Neji is keeping you away from me" Shikamaru said as he sat on the grass. "What are you saying?! You are the one that has a girlfriend. And you didn't even told me about it! You let yourself get apart from me!" Ino screamed as anger flowed in her veins. "How..?" Shikamaru said as he quickly stood up and looked at her face. "I saw you!" Ino said as she backed away. "Now…just let me go" Ino said as she started crying. Shikamaru went to her but every step he took she took one back. "Okay." Shikamaru said as he walked away silently.

Ino felt the world falling over her. "Why this does happens to me?! I was okay, and then he comes with this shit!" Ino said as she started sobbing.

After some minutes, she wiped her eyes and started walking. She headed to the river where Neji train her today. As she looked around and saw nobody, she started taking off her clothes. When she was done, she let her hair loose and jumped into the river. She felt the cold water but she liked it that way. "I wonder…what he thinks about me" Ino mumbled before she started swimming. She felt free as the water traveled all her aching muscles. "Ah…this is nice" Ino said as she stopped swimming and looked at the sky. It was a beautiful one, the stars shined brightly. "God wants me to be happy" Ino said as she laughed at herself. Some minutes later, she went out of the river and put her clothes on. She walked away.

-o-

-Next day-

Ino arrived at the training grounds seeing Neji meditating.

"Yo" He said looking at her, "Good morning Neji" Ino said as she smiled at him. Neji slowly took out the weights and when Ino saw them, her face changed completely. She totally had forgotten about the weights.

"Use them" He said as he handed her the weights.

Ino slowly sat down and putted them on her legs. When she was about to stand up, she couldn't balance herself because of the weight and fell down. "Ouch!" Ino said as she rubbed her knees. "Be careful, I don't want you to be injured because of little things" Neji said as he offered his hand. "Thank you" Ino said as she started walking into the clearing.

Neji then sat at a nearby tree and looked at Ino. As he saw how she "ran" around the clearing he thought about how she was. The few days that he had known her, he learned that she wasn't a woman that gives up, that she was sensible but she showed power in front of anyone, and that she wasn't one to be defeated rapidly. He thought she was strong in attitude; also she didn't lack confidence which was one of her best weapons. She did was a nice girl, although loud mouthed, she didn't cower in fear in front of other people and she also like to express her ideas and feelings. He liked that. "Mmmhh what am I thinking?" Neji said as he felt stupid and started meditating.

Ino was way too tired. The weights were consuming all of her energy. "I'm... I'm going to faint." Ino said as her feet started to walk slowly. "No. I won't give up. I have to get stronger!" She thought and began to run. Neji saw this and he appeared to be surprised, in matter of seconds Ino was running way too fast than before.

As Ino finished her 10 laps, she stepped closer to Neji catching her breath. She then supported her weight by putting her hands on her knees. Her forehead was sweating, and she was making a few moans of tiredness.

After some minutes of resting, Neji offered her some water.

"Drink" he said and Ino took it gently. "Thank you" she said and then she drank all the water.

"You're improving" Neji said for her to be a little happier. "I know so. Thank you Neji" Ino said as she smiled at him. "You know…The chuunin exams are in like a month and a half." (A/N: Ino isn't a chuunin. She's a genin and Neji is a chuunin. The other rookies are also genin except for Shikamaru, who is also a chuunin)

"Yeah. That's another reason for me to be stronger" She said as she sat on the grass.

"If we keep training like this, you will improve greatly. Take a rest of 30 minutes. The next task is improving you force" Neji said as he sat beside her. Ino nodded slowly.

"Mhmm Neji. Which food do you like?" Ino asked as she laid down on the grass extending her arms. "Why?" Neji asked as he looked at her questioningly. "Just curiosity" Ino said as she closed her eyes. "I like rice balls." Neji said as he too laid down and closed his eyes. "Mhmm how ironic" Ino said as she opened her eyes. "Why?" He turned and looked at her. "I used to cook rice balls everyday for Sasuke kun. Since I liked him, and I knew that rice balls were his favorite food, I cooked and gave them to him. But he always trashed them..." Ino said as her eyes looked distant. Neji frowned and Ino looked at him. "It's okay Neji. It's not like he accepted anyone's gift. He also trashed Sakura's ones" Ino said as a smile spread. "Neji nodded and looked at the sky. He was feeling… peaceful. Talking to Ino was something relaxing, he thought. "Neji" "Mhmmm?" "Lets train some more" Neji nodded.

As they stood up, Neji took her to a different place. "Where are we going?" Ino asked as she followed Neji. "To my house. I'll bring a dummy for you" Neji said as he saw the Hyuuga manor. "Wait for me" he said as he entered the compound. Ino waited patiently and decided to look at the Hyuuga manor closely. It was way too boring. Everything looked plain and without life. "How depressing is this place" Ino thought as she looked away.

As she felt a tap on her shoulder, she thought it was Neji and said "That was fast Ne- Oh Hinata! I thought you were Neji" Ino said as she laughed nervously. "Are you waiting for Neji-niisan, Ino chan?" Hinata asked as she smiled at her friend. "Oh yeah, we are training" Ino said as she looked at Hinata's cute face. "I see. He told me that you were his student. Oh well Ino, I have to go. I will train with my team" Hinata said as she, one more time, smiled at her. "Oh okay Hina-chan. Take care. Bye!" Ino said as she waved.

She sighed. She missed her team too. She didn't know why but after that incident with Shikamaru, she didn't like to train with them. Nevertheless, she didn't get any missions with them, so it was far okay.

"Lets go" Neji said as he walked away, a dummy on his arm. As Ino snapped out to reality, she ran to him.

"Well, what am I going to do?" Ino asked as she saw Neji placing the dummy. "Well first focus your chakra on your arm"

"Yosh! Lets do this" Ino thought as she concentrated her chakra. After some minutes Neji speak to her "Now focus it on your punch." Ino nodded and she concentrated. When she was ready, Neji saw a huge amount of chakra on her hand. "That's good. Now when you punch the dummy, expand your chakra like if it was an extension of your hand. Don't spread it too much because it will be useless" Neji said looking serious.

Ino looked at the dummy in front of her. "Now!" she thought as she directed her punch into the dummy's chest. When it hit, Ino went flying and fell down.

"Ow…What was that Neji? I thought I did it ok" Ino said as she rubbed her arm.

"Let me see it another time" Neji said activating his byakugan. As Ino performed one more time the punch, Neji frowned and went to her. "I see the problem Ino. Your chakra control is good but your muscles can't contain that amount of chakra. You have to do normal exercise" Neji said as he helped her stand up. Ino looked down. "God, my body is so weak" Ino thought as she absorbed Neji's words.

"Take this and punch the dummy without chakra. Until your muscles get accustomed to non stopping exercise, we will practice with chakra" Neji said as he handed her another pair of weights for her arms. "Okay" Ino said as she started punching the dummy.

"This is going to be so long…" Ino thought helplessly.

Gaahina chan: I try not to rush the fic. So tell me how it goes. Please review and forgive me for grammatical errors. Also, if the chakra control explanations are bad, please forgive me. I tried my best u.u. In the next chapter some special moments, and developing feelings. Please no flames. Constructive criticism is welcomed. Adios!