Chapter 3: Ino Wants In

Ino knew they were complete and utter losers. Dorks. Spazzes. Nerds and burnouts of the lowest pecking order. Without a single doubt in her mind, she understood with all her womanly intuition now that these four idiots were total failures to society and needing immediate purging from all relevant social groups. It was a true wonder that any of them could even function.

Especially when they ran around doing things like what she had stumbled upon.

And were those broomsticks? Seriously?!

And what was with the white bathhouse robes over their slightly stylish black ninja wear? But of course Naruto would be the one still in that horrid orange jumpsuit he was so fond of…

And why were they acting like total rejects in the middle of broad daylight? Naruto she could understand. The moron had no quarrels with being an outcast. Heck, he was one all his life.

Kiba, too, she could see behaving in such a rough manner as he tried to assault Naruto with a stupidly polished broomstick. And did Uzumaki just flip over the side swipe? That had looked difficult, and yet remarkable as his hand caught the ground and the blond flipped again away from the others with his broomstick still in hand. Naruto was gymnastic… Not that she was praising him or anything! She could do ten times better than him!

Choji was always a bit of a loose cannon when it came to people he considered his friends. He didn't necessarily care how he looked so long as the person he was hanging out with didn't mind. And for once Ino was seeing the chubby boy without a bag of chips or candy anywhere nearby… Oh wait, she spoke too soon. There was a pile of snacks over by the apartment complex that looked like all but the top level needed to be torn down.

Choji stood at the ready beside Shikamaru before they launched into action, shouting out such stupid nonsense that had them slashing and hacking at Naruto while calling him Kenpachi Zaraki… whatever that was… They even took to throwing blunted weapons at Naruto, which the blond was either dodging or batting away with his polished broomstick as Ino knew the weapons were very blunt because they didn't even have points where the knife edges should have been. Hell, the kunai weren't even sticking into the ground when they fell!

And as she squinted from her obviously-not-hiding-place of standing in the middle of the open street, Ino was starting to think that those broomsticks weren't actually broomsticks. They were bokken, wooden practice swords that looked to be freshly purchased from perhaps a week or two ago. The wooden blades still looked new, but had a few dents in them where they had met resistance. The one Naruto was using looked the most beat up. He probably used it a lot more than the others, who had clans behind them to teach each of them more refined arts than beating sticks against practice dummies or anything the no-name orphan could boast.

But even still, Naruto was keeping pace with his three opponents, because Ino could now clearly see that was what this theatre of beating each other up was. Them versus Naruto, three against one. Yet still, Naruto was outlasting them. He leapt over Choji to deliver a one-handed strike against Kiba, who only barely had enough time to get his guard up to repel the heavy strike.

Watching these losers even more intently than she would ever admit, Ino noticed how Naruto fell thoughtlessly, instinctively, into the prowling assessment that presaged every Academy weapons bout they had shared together under the watchful eye of Iruka-sensei and his assistant, Mizuki. Eyes intent, that smug grin lurking, Naruto moved like a predator and the others countered him by matching him step for step.

"Come on now, I thought you said this was going to be better than my morning exercises."

Naruto's voice sounded weird to Ino's ears. She had heard his loud-mouthed nonsense more than she ever cared to, so she knew his voice as good as anyone. Whereas normally he sounded whiny and bratty, like a child who didn't get mommy and daddy's attention, here he sounded gruff and ill-tempered, like a swordsman itching for a good battle. And maybe that was right. Naruto certainly didn't look winded, but Choji and Shikamaru were already breathing hard. Kiba appeared slightly warmed up, but Naruto was as cool as if he hadn't yet stepped on the field of their bout.

"Ready?" Kiba asked his teammates in this match. Choji and Shikamaru nodded, tensing themselves as they stood. Shikamaru held his bokken in an open stance, as tense as he was relaxed even despite the rapid rise and fall of his chest. Choji was the same, but he had a two-handed grip of his sword in front of him, whereas Shikamaru was one-handed and held his sword up at his side like an open challenge. Kiba crouched low and held his bokken above his head, angling down until the point was almost at his knee.

"Come at me!" Ino felt that shout from Naruto. Maybe he was a little too battle-ready, as if he were trying to project bloodlust.

And she watched still as their dance began.

When she had come all this way on the mere whim of seeing where Shikamaru and Choji were spending all their time where once they liked to take a few days of slothful loafing around at her family's flower shop, this was the last thing Ino had expected. Neither boy was the training for training's sake type of person, and when she learned that this abandoned block was actually where Naruto lived, Ino had almost laughed. Of course no one wanted to live around the brattest kid in existence! Naruto probably gave people hell on a normal basis for even stepping foot near his place. Ino could see it now, and had almost let slip a hysterical laughter.

Of course, she didn't because people were around and she didn't need any rumors get out that she was crazy. People already thought her family were a bunch of nutjobs because of the mental ninja arts they practiced, so she wasn't going to be adding fuel to that fire.

However, to see Shikamaru and Choji actually busting their asses in an unnecessary dork fight against Naruto was not even in the realm of possibilities she had imagined.

And, wow, were they really putting some effort into it!

Moving and then standing much closer than she would ever admit, Ino found herself becoming unsuitably envious of her four male peers.

I'll never handle a bokken that well. Jeez, it's like they're trying to kill each other right here and now. Even if I trained twenty hours a day I don't think I'll ever be like them.

Of course they were all brute force and fancy flips. Naruto seemed to have a little more technique to his movements than the others, but it was still rough and unrefined. Ino had flexibility and finesse. She had craft and deft in what she knew. Where they were fighting like barbarians trying to knock each other's brains out, Ino knew she could skim around all of them with the grace of a dancer or gymnast. They were stone and she was water.

She studied them more than anyone would know that day as Naruto pitted himself against Kiba, Choji, and Shikamaru in a play, dueling each other in the demanding form of swordsmanship.

And it was play, even though they were deadly serious. Watching her classmates leap over each other, she wondered what had gotten them to this point. She had never seen or heard any of them take an active interest in their training as future shinobi. Had never heard of them inquiring about swords or samurai. And when did they have the time to get so good? And who had shown them these techniques and moves? Because she could clearly see they were copying someone with the sloppiness of their specific attacks against each other whereas they could have just continued to slash and hack at one another until a side fell exhausted.

Ino frowned on the inside, where none of them would see if they suddenly took notice of her, but she doubted they would. And that made her angry, too. This was their training session, and she was an unwanted spectator to it. This was Naruto Uzumaki, Kiba Inuzuka, Choji Akimichi, and Shikamaru Nara dancing with their toy swords for their own amusement and improvement.

It wasn't for her. She was the one butting in, being nosy where they probably wanted no eyes upon them.

And that wasn't fair, she felt. An unworthy thought, she knew, and she thought it anyway—just for a moment. Because she should be included, if only to mock them and their hard work.

Choji was a fatass, as wide as he was caring and gentle. And Shikamaru was a loser, as smart as he was lazy and unmotivated. They were her friends, even if she had never called them such to their faces. She was the one who was supposed to get them off their asses and off to the races. Not Naruto. Not Kiba.

And those two… Ugh!

Kiba was a mutt in every sense of the word. He looked scruffy, he sounded boorish, and he carried himself with a pride that hardly seemed acceptable for his station in the social order of their classroom. More often than not, Ino wanted to tear him a new asshole because of the cocky grins and self-assured words he threw around.

And Naruto Uzumaki was a dozen times worse! At least Kiba had a clan name behind him and some basic manners to fall back on. Hell, Kiba even had some good grades every now and then along with the training his family put him through that made him redeemable. Naruto had nothing redeemable about him. He was a loser in every sense of the word, and Ino would stand by that verdict as long as she lived. Naruto was a no-name orphan. He was a trouble-maker. He was the dead-last student of their class. He was ill-mannered and quick-tempered. He never paid attention in class and skipped school as often as they attended it in his absence. He pulled pranks around the village on anyone no matter their station in the social order. He had no manners at all and no training.

And yet still he acted with all the swagger of one of the Hokage. He grinned big and spoke an even bigger game with nothing to show for it. He was a stain on her sensibilities and she wished he would just move to another village.

And yet here he was—with all of them, including her Shika and Cho—training hard and still grinning as he made Kiba, Shika, and Cho sweat for his amusement.

She wished even more that Naruto Uzumaki would disappear at the moment.

He was stealing a spotlight Ino had never really thought anyone would or could take from her. He was making Shikamaru and Choji sweat just for the hell of it, but the sweat didn't stop them.

The mock-fight carried on.

Strike and counterstrike, blow and counterblow, leaping and spinning and slashing and evading. Running and jumping, as one with the rhythm of battle. Every now and then, a sharp bark of laughter from Kiba. A good-natured jibe from Naruto. A clever hit acknowledged by Choji. Shikamaru had maneuvered himself at one point in the spar so Naruto's attention was caught between Choji and Kiba before he slapped his bokken across the blond prankster's backside. And Naruto had howled at that without any real irritation rising from the normally sore loser. That made Kiba and Choji laugh. Ino laughed with them to herself quietly, and didn't mind so much that they were still not aware of her. Because, after all, she was there to see them, and not the other way around.

And to herself, she reasoned that they were sort of dancing for her. No one could take that away from her.

As she watched them, they paused again for a moment to let Shikamaru and Choji catch their breath. Kiba was also wiping the sweat from his brow, but Naruto had only just started breathing hard. He had a light sheen covering his forehead, but aside from that and the dirt on his white bathrobe he seemed perfectly ready to continue until sundown.

Then they resumed, and though it scarcely seemed possible, they were fighting so swiftly already, Naruto gripped his bokken in two hands—something Ino only just took notice of—they went on at an increased speed. The training swords moved in a blur too fast for a normal person, but with the training they received at the Academy during observation classes, Ino was easily able to keep up with who was beating up who. Holding her breath, amazed at the way they were now going at their fullest, she watched her four boys put on a display of their true skill level. No longer was it one versus three, but now it was a free-for-all as Choji attacked Shikamaru, who slid the Akimichi boy into the path of Kiba before Naruto jumped into the fray and batted them all away before Shikamaru gave a roundhouse kick to Naruto's torso.

Strike—block—parry—evade—bind—counterbind—countermeasure—broken time—body-to-body and double release—push—pull—feint—backflip—recover… and start again all over.

When Naruto jumped away from Kiba, he leaped atop the courtyard's wall and Kiba pursued. Naruto seemed to curse his luck as they dueled fiercely atop the brick structure. He finally got an opening, but it was blocked by Shikamaru who had finally managed to distract Choji by pulling his bathrobe over his head. Shikamaru tripped Naruto off the wall, and caught the blond in the side with his bokken when it looked like Naruto would recover from the fall. He would have finished Naruto off if Kiba didn't jump down with an overhead two-handed heavy slash that swept the dust from the ground. Naruto rolled away just in time, as the strike seemed just as much for him as it was for Shika.

But not even her brats could keep this kind of playground warfare up, and Ino could see them all beginning to truly tire from their pace and power.

So, like a true ninja, Ino made her presence purposefully known to them then, when they were too tired and weak to do anything about it. Not that she cared.

And not like she had enjoyed watching them and decided they needed a break anyway, mind you.

Just as Shikamaru caught Naruto on the shoulder with a particularly hard whack of his bokken, Ino walked up with her hands on her hips, clearly marching toward them as though she had just arrived on scene.

"What are you idiots doing?" she snapped at them like she was only now seeing them. It wasn't hard to fake; that had been her initial reaction to seeing them play around in bathrobes with a bunch of sticks. "Don't you morons have anything better to do than bang around like a bunch of kids? Honestly, I don't even know why I bother with any of you dorks! You'd rather dress up in bathrobes and beat on each other with sticks like some kids than commit to serious ninja training like my Sasuke. Why can't you losers be more like him? I bet he's hard at training right now while the four of you are nerding it up over here!"

Naruto appeared too shocked by her preemptive verbal assault to say anything. He was still rubbing that shoulder of his as his cerulean blue eyes found her with surprise as clear as day in them. Shikamaru and Choji also didn't have words for her as they glanced at each other in a rather confused manner.

Kiba, however, didn't miss a chance to mouth-off. Even when Naruto was clearly working things out still as he looked at her searchingly, Kiba shouldered his bokken and gave her that damnable cocky grin she wanted to punch off his mutt-face.

"What's got you in such a mood, Ino? Sasuke caught you stalking him again? I told you he'll get the police force on you and those other girls you hang out with if you don't stop." Kiba said as if it were plain truth. Ino grit her teeth in fury. How dare he say something so boorish to her!? Sasuke would never call the police on her. Or anyone, for that matter! Her Sasuke was as gallant as he was strong, and this mutt knew nothing about the budding love they shared.

"Give me that!" Ino snatched away the bokken from Choji so quick that he hardly had time to react. She leveled it at Kiba, who looked shocked and surprised before she flew forward with the barest lunge at the knees and ankles. The point of the bokken was aimed directly at Kiba's heart, and while it won't kill him, it would smart for just long enough for Ino to get her point across.

Then Naruto got in the way. He still looked shocked that she was even there, even as he stopped her with his bare hands grabbing the bokken before she could reach Kiba with her fencer-like stab. After all, they had only had a handful of encounters outside of the academy their entire lives. Ino could count on hand the number of conversations they had without anyone forcing them into talking to one another. All of them but two had left Ino annoyed and with a sour taste in her mouth as Naruto grated nerves she wasn't even aware she had at those times. The two that weren't bad were still equally annoying as they involved Ino learning things about herself and her fellow blond that she hadn't cared to know at the time. Emotional things. Ugh…

"Ino? What are you doing?" Naruto asked, as he stupidly would. He could beat the crap out of Kiba in training, but far be it from her to kick the mutt's ass when he insulted her and insinuated that she was a stalker!

"What's it look like? I'm going to skewer him with this damn thing!" That was probably a little too crude for the proper lady she should be, but she knew they wouldn't care. Heck, she had probably just earned some points with Naruto for her coarse and graphic language. Kiba too, though she didn't care what either of their opinions of her was.

"We can't let you do that…" Naruto said, looking at Shikamaru and Choji with a strange look, "We cannot… let you… hurt Rukia!"

Wait… what?

Naruto threw her back by shoving hard at the bokken in her hands. She went stumbling back, but she would be damned if she lost her balance and ended up on her ass in front of these losers like some newbie civilian girl. She was a kunoichi in training! Naruto himself leapt back to be at Kiba's side and Shikamaru jumped clear over her with a flip to land in a crouch beside them. Choji stood where he was, watching them with an unreadable expression as Ino readied to go after Kiba again.

"If you want to lay a single finger on our Rukia," Naruto proclaimed, a fiercer look of determination in his eyes than Ino would have expected, "then you'll have to go through us!"

That got her even more irritated. These unbelievable jerks were still playing their kiddie games! Worst yet, they were involving her in them!

Ino raised the bokken high above her head with both hands and a war cry bursting from her lips. She charged straight at them, and it didn't matter to her which one got in her way now, she was gonna clobber all of 'em!

Naruto and Shikamaru took up the opposition against her, defending against all her strikes as she tried attacking them from every angle. She fell back on the training she had with her parents and the Academy in handling kunai like they were short swords. She thrust and stabbed—slashed and hacked—swung and swatted. But they were all either blocked or dodged with at least some effort on their part. Her nonstop offensive had caught the boys off-guard, and she was better with the wooden sword than all of them—including mostly herself—had expected of her in the heat of the moment.

The boys were indeed tired, and Shikamaru was the first to get hit as she struck his hand when he tried to block her. If asked, Ino would proudly lie about how it was done on purpose because she liked Shikamaru more than the others. She left him with that as she twisted gracefully passed him in order to catch Kiba, who still being protected by Naruto as he barely managed to stop her attack in time.

The fight between the two of them was more controlled—more theater than actual brawl. Ino kept attacking, giving no quarter, but Naruto was making his own where she gave none. Every now and then he would stop defending Kiba in order to probe at her defenses, but Ino wouldn't let him press the advantage of strength and experience. She had speed and grace over him, as well as her own practiced flexibility. Whenever her fellow blond knocked her sword off course and tried to press forward with a quick stab or upward slash, Ino would bend out of the way, or kick him in the chin with a graceful backward heel-touch as she flipped back onto her hands before executing at least three more flips to get a safe distance. Then she would be back at him as quick as lightning with a rapid fencer's thrust as her feet barely skimmed the ground from the way she lunged at her opponent. Naruto found those the hardest to defend against. He had to get himself and Kiba out of the way the first few times, but afterward he managed to barely start redirecting the angle of her stab by whirling his bokken either up or down at just the right moment in her attack to throw her off balance. If he tried to follow up with a sidelong swipe of his bokken, Ino would bend back, limber in her limbo to safely dodge the strike against her before bringing her own bokken to play. She slashed it just over or under his wooden sword to try and catch his hands with a speedy slight. Naruto never fell for those, skidding back from them or skimming his sword against hers so she would be the first to back off since ruining her nails was the last thing she wanted to do while playing around with them.

And that was exactly what she was doing; playing with the boys. She was actually taking part in their stupid childish games. But not only that—Ino would only admit to herself that she was actually enjoying it. She felt her heart racing and her blood pumping in her veins. This was a different excitement from finding the perfect dress to blend in with the night, or convincing her mother to take her to the hair salon with her. Or even getting the perfect pair of shoes to go with the new shuriken set her father bought. This was even better than hearing the latest gossip from her group of gal-pals.

This was a rush! Ino couldn't remember the last time she had liked something that involved making her sweat. She hated exercise with her mom, lectures on clan jutsu from her dad, and even going for special training with her cousins in the Interrogation department. But this… this was different for some reason. Ino didn't know why, but it was. It made her fell free. Wailing on these idiots was like taking a refreshing step back from everything else in her life. And maybe that was it. It had nothing to do with jutsu, clan secrets, or even the fact that they were exercising. It was just a game to these dorks. A game they seemed to take very seriously, but at the same time not serious at all.

As the sweat trickled down from her forehead to her chin, Ino could feel herself grinning as she finally got Naruto with a clever feint. She slipped pass him when he thought she was going to attack his right leg. This was nothing. Nothing important. Nothing she would need in the future. She would be just fine in her life—even better in her social life, in fact—if she just dropped the bokken right then and there before calling them all losers, walking away never to return.

She would be. She knew it. They knew it. The universe knew it. This whole thing was as irrelevant as it was exhilarating. It was as stupid as it was fun. It was as much a potential stain to her popularity as it was a blossoming freedom to her stress-filled life.

And she knew that if she walked away while that stupid look was on Naruto's face, just as she twirled to get inside his guard, she would be called the victor by the four boys no matter what happened next; and no one else need know she was ever there to begin with.

But dammit if she didn't want vengeance against these idiots for bringing her into their insanity. And she would have it, no matter what.

Plus, even if she'd never admit out loud, she liked hanging out with them all like this. Naruto was actually pretty cool once he stopped being so bratty and whiny. Kiba was as sneaky and hilarious as he was steadfast and loyal. Shika and Cho were her boys, through and through.

But she'd never admit it aloud.

Seeing that dumb look on Naruto's face, Ino noticed very fast that even despite getting the better of him with her little trick, Naruto Uzumaki was not without tricks of his own. That bokken of his was redirected so fast that it ripped a hole straight through his bathrobe—which this close up looked less like an actual bathrobe and more like a colorless haori, which she realized it was—and thrust right at her collarbone. Naruto, even caught unawares, was still in the fight and aiming to indirectly make Ino drop her bokken or be forced to do it from the pain it would bring her swinging the much-heavier-than-it-looks sword around for another few clashes against him. He already sent shockwaves through her arms every time she met him head-on, and she had stopped that a while ago. Ino wasn't sure what she could do at that moment. She refused to give up and have them know they had her beat. And she certainly wasn't about to be defeated by the dead-last of their class when she was the cream of the crop in their year!

So, Ino did what any self-respecting shinobi would have done then. It was only natural. After all, it was the oldest trick in the book, and no one would fault her for it in the end because it was so obvious a method that they seldom had to rely on it.

She cheated.

Oh, did she cheat.

Ino already had her bokken lowered because she thought she could get a skyward slice off on Naruto to make him back off. This would have separated him from her real target: Kiba Inuzuka. It would have also left Kiba defenseless and stunned by her quick-thinking.

Now, with her bokken skirting the ground anyway, Ino dug it in even deeper as she surged her arms in a crest and thrust forward at Naruto. The dirt from the ground went flying at him, and he had no way to stop it as he took a face and neck full of dirt grains and gravel. Naruto sputtered uncontrollably as some got in his mouth and eyes, stumbling back from Ino even as she felt a little sorry for the cheap tactic.

Then he started swinging wildly around at everything, blinded by her stunt and she was annoyed all over again. Didn't he know how to just give up and rub the dirt from his eyes!? Jeez, he was as thick-headed as he was determined, and equally irritating in the fact that he refused to simply let her win. She had never been so agitated in a fight before.

She had also never been pit against him like she was against Ami or Hinata. Naruto was always sparring Kiba or Sasuke when they practiced any fighting skills. Even when they mixed things up she would always get someone like Shino or Haiden while Naruto fought Ami or Naoko.

Now that he was disoriented, Ino had no trouble taking Naruto out in less than a few moves. She kicked up even more dirt just to be sure the blond idiot wasn't getting back in the game any time soon. And for added measures she hit his sword hand—his left one—and then caught him in the side before delivering the finishing blow as when he doubled over in pain she brought the wooden sword down from over her head with all her might on his exposed back. Naruto went down like a ton of bricks, and Ino was left disgustingly sweaty, dirty from her own cheap stunt, and so out of breath that her throat was dry.

But damn if she didn't feel good about every last bit of it.

"Now…" Ino was struck surprised by just how hoarse her voice was to her own ears. And horrified by how her hair had come undone from her perfect ponytail to fall around her face as she bent over with a hand on her knee. Yet still, she didn't lower the bokken any more than necessary as she pointed it threateningly at Naruto's sprawled body, "Stay down, ya blond dimwit, or else I'll knock ya back into the dirt!"

"Uhh…" Naruto groaned, rubbing at his back, but Ino had the feeling that he was just being over-dramatic despite how hard she had hit him. Naruto always gave her that feeling. Like anything he did was either way more or way less than he let on. "I'm down, I'm down. But you… you're blonde yourself, Ino. Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black, dattebayo…?"

She couldn't help it. Couldn't help herself. She kicked him. Repeatedly. He just got under her skin so easy. Easier than Shikamaru. Easier than Sakura. Easier even than Kiba. Naruto just somehow knew how to needle her nerves with the smallest of effort. She was sure he wasn't aware of the ability, but dammit if she cared. He was always like this, and if he was never going to change, then neither was she.

And she refused to believe what her mother said about the annoying ones being the perfect ones. If she started having feelings for this blond jackass, Ino was sure she'd take a kunai to the neck immediately afterward by choice.

She realized that she was now kicking him so hard and so much that dust was starting to fly. So she kicked more dirt at him for good measure. Not at his face or anything, she wasn't trying to be insulting or anything, she just wanted to get her message across not to piss her off again today. The dirt flew over him and disbursed into the air around them. Choji and Shikamaru were standing off to the side watching her and Naruto with mixed expressions.

Choji looked sad for Naruto's plight, but reluctant to come to his aid and earn her wrath. That big fat chicken!

Shikamaru looked vaguely annoyed by both of them, as though they were taking too long to have a lover's spat or something. When she glared at him though it wiped the look from his face as he raised his hands in surrender. The wimp.

And she came to the realization that she had completely lost track of Kiba, the true target of her initial assault. He was nowhere to be found, and had left poor Naruto as the punching bag first chance he got. That total coward!

At least Naruto took his lumps without running away and head on. He barely even complained about things afterward. His three friends, however, were more mice than ninja as they left him to suffer alone. The wusses!

As the dust began to settle around them, there was still bits and pieces swirling through the air. Choji fanned some of it away from himself and Shikamaru.

"Well, that sure was something flashy. Never expected Ino to get the better of Naruto like that. Especially after the last few weeks we've been at this. But I wonder… what should I do?" Choji asked the air, but it was a voice behind him that gave the answer.

"You shouldn't even move," came Kiba's voice behind him as Choji and Shikamaru's eyes widened in surprise and shock. They had completely forgotten about Kiba when they began seeing Ino beat the everlasting crap out of Naruto in a show of rage. The bokken slipped skillfully to his neck was a great touch as well. Kiba had gotten better at subtlety, it seemed.

Ino, seeing Kiba reemerge from behind the wider Akimichi boy, was again seething in rage. How had he even gotten over there!? And when?! Ugh, these dorks were actually making her think they might turn out as good ninja, because that kind of stealth and tact took at least half a brain to execute.

"Ugh! What game are you dolts playing at here!?" Ino yelled, startling the prone Naruto at her feet. He scrambled away and to his feet a few meters from Ino before he started babbling about some books or something like she hadn't just thoroughly beaten him to the ground. Kami, how resilient was he? He often brushed off rough sparring matches at the Academy, but Ino knew that in her fury she had pulled no punches—or kicks as it were.

As he went on and on and on about bleach or cleansing or something about a Deathberry, Ino was too worked up to listen anymore to him blabber like he was. She conked him on the head so fast he had no chance to do anything but drop to the ground and whine about it, rolling around as he cursed her with every colorful word he knew.

And apparently he knew plenty. Far more than she did.

She'd have to use a few of those sometime.

Shikamaru was walking up to them now, a book in his hand instead of a wooden sword as he approached. His expression was back to that lazy unenthusiastic look he gave everything when he felt too bothered to do anything about anything. Slowly but surely the excitement drained from Ino too, as it must have from Shika. She became more aware of the dirt on her clothes and in her hair as well as the matted condition of both.

"Here," Shikamaru said with a long suffering sigh as he handed her the book, "see for yourself. This is the reason we're out here."

Ino snatched the book away and threw the bokken back at Choji, who caught it with a little difficulty. Flipping through the pages, Ino was initially disgusted that they were reading manga like a bunch of street urchins. Then she remembered Naruto was a street urchin, and figured it was his bad habits rubbing off on them. However, she cared very little at this point who was rubbing off on who. All she cared about was the fact that she noticed one thing.

Naruto was finally off the ground, and got a book to the face as Ino threw it away over her shoulder in utter disgust.

"Dattebayo! Ow, ow, ouch!"

He was back on the ground with an injured face.

Ino had her hands on her hips, lips set in a thin scowl, "What is this trash? No wonder you're all a bunch of losers reading and acting out garbage like this! There aren't any strong female leads in there! It's just a bunch of sweaty hairy guys hacking each other to pieces with swords! Where are the women? Where is the art? Where is the romance?"

Shikamaru appeared to be at the end of his rope, "I can't say much for romance, because there is none in the series as far as we've read. However, there is a cast of female personalities in the books. Not in the volume I just gave you, but we have plenty with different women showcased in them. If you want strong women, then you're looking for Yoruichi Shihōin and Sui-Feng of the Stealth Force."

Choji came rushing over with another volume for her to look at. She went through this one more carefully as it displayed a woman who looked to be from Kumogakure. She liked the woman's character in the story, easy-going and casual as she fought against another woman who looked like an older form of her friend Naoko.

Ino had to read the next volume in order to find out what happened in the actual fight itself, this volume cover displaying the petite woman, Sui-Feng, in a fierce and deadly pose unlike her dark-skinned counterpart, who had been on display in a sexy and flexible position of a sprawled low cat-crouch.

It wasn't until Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Seven that Ino finally was able to read the fight between this Yoruichi and Sui-Feng characters.

And it was epic.

The women threw around their martial skill and power like it was no one's business. Ino was honestly impressed that female characters were handled so well in such a clearly man-majority manga series.

"I like it," Ino declared, tossing the book at Shikamaru, who caught it before it could impact with his face. "They're strong, but also beautiful. Tough, yet elegant. They're clearly the Hokage of the series. That old man was strong in his showing against his two students, but the two women are clearly just as strong. I mean, they even run the ninja from what I read."

She knew she was probably way off base with her assumptions, but she didn't care. It was obvious the two ladies of the Deathberry series manga were top-tier fighters. Captain and commanders they had been called.

She hoped she'd get to that kind of authority one day. Or at least be able to retire without missing an arm, or having some ugly scars on her face or something.

Naruto was off the ground again by this time, having brushed the dirt off his clothes and from his eyes. His cerulean blue eyes weren't even red from the dirt. They were still perfectly clear and deep with light dancing in them as Naruto stared at her.

Ino shook her head as she forced herself to scowl lightly at him. His eyes were always so nice and bright, but she'd never let him know that.

"They're not the Hokage, dattebayo. The old man is. Old Man Yamamoto, he's called. Yoruichi and Sui-Feng, well, they're in charge of the ninja, but Old Man Yama commands everyone." Naruto was saying, but Ino was ignoring him for the most part whilst Shikamaru and Choji tried to shut him up to keep her content. She scoffed at them. Boys were so stupid. As if she needed them handling her with kid gloves. If she wanted to scream and yell at them for being the knuckle-dragging nimrods they clearly were, then it was her prerogative as a woman to do so. Her mother had taught her that much.

No matter, she was not her mother's daughter for just any reason. If they wanted to handle her with kid gloves, then she'd make them regret it.

"You idiots clearly need a woman's touch around here if you're going to keep this up!" Ino pointed a finger at Naruto dramatically. She shoved her way in between the three boys as Kiba was preoccupied with feeding Akamaru before getting in Naruto's face, elbowing Choji and Shikamaru away from him. Poking her fellow blond in the chest, Ino continued on with her tirade. "You dopes are all brawn and no finesse! Those women were clearly on par—if not stronger—than the men in those books. And I just showed you that I can take any of you on any day of the week. Clearly you need me to help mold you hulking bricks into fine specimens of fashion and battle. The only guy I saw worth my attention in those books looked prettier than me, dammit!"

"You mean Yumichika?" Naruto asked before Ino once again got in his personal space.

She poked his chest again before grabbing a hold of his white haori. She felt the material between her fingers. It was thin and scratchy. Ugh, they needed so much work. "And what the hell is this? Cotton? No, I don't want to know. It's all wrong! And why is it only the one layer with no internal fabric of color? This piece of crap is bland and tasteless! Urr, you men have no sense of style or even dress! It's a wonder you four can dress yourselves each morning!"

Ino shot a look of loathing at all of them before turning back to Naruto, the clear ring leader of their merry band of misfits. "You, Naruto Uzumaki, are going to show me where you morons bought these travesties before I vomit. Then I'm going to smack the tailor who had the audacity to not only let you leave their store with this, but to actually charge you money for this poor-ass bed sheet design I could have made you at my own kitchen table in less than thirty minutes."

Naruto gulped in fear as she glared daggers up at him. Was he actually taller than her now? When had that happened? The last time she was this close to him, he had barely been able to meet eye to eye with her. Jeez, her irk was rising higher and higher with everything today.

"And for my expert eye and help in transforming you rejects into decent appearing members of society, you Naruto Uzumaki are going to buy me a very specific tailor-made exact replica of Yoruichi Shihōin's outfit from that book. I could not take my eye off it."

"What?!" Naruto yelped, but Ino was ignoring him.

"No, no. That's wrong of me." Ino decided, waving a hand dismissively, "I want my outfit with a purple top instead of orange. Orange is just… no. Purple suits me much better." Ino said with a shake of her head, even as she cast a nauseated look at Naruto's orange jumpsuit under his sheet-thin white haori.

"What the—!? Hey! What's wrong with orange, dattebayo!?"

Did everyone like Ino's entrance into the slowly forming Divisions? Her starting contribution is that she's going to make them actually look like the Gotei 13 instead of a poor imitation of them.

REVIEW or PM if you have anything to say about the story so far, or if you have any ideas for the future.

The next chapter is already written, it just needs to be edited. It will be up next week.

Until Next Time, See Ya!