Pandabot: Well, I'm getting some reviews for this thing. This is very good news. Divine Psyche brought up the naming conventions thing about Japanese naming (in which the last name is spoken first). My rebuttal to that is that I'm an anime baby. It just naturally comes to me that the first name comes first. Also, if you aren't caught up with the manga, it might be a good idea to do that because I'm using stuff from the advanced mangaverse (up until about Chapter 600 I think). Anyway, here comes another one, heavy on the fighting and stuff so read, review and I'll keep writing. Thanks y'all!


Chapter 4: Training Redux

"Ok. Let's try this again."

Ino eyed her team carefully, ensuring that they didn't jump her while she was still talking.

"So, to change the rules a bit, you have until 12 o'clock to land a hit on me," she explained, motioning behind her to the clock set on top of training post, "That gives you...three hours." She grinned in anticipation - this was going to be fun.

"Ready?" Her team readied themselves with little shuffling movements.

"Go!"

Ino span gracefully out of the path of three kunai, almost token attempts, as they jumped into the surrounding trees, hiding themselves well. Ino smiled as she extended her chakra out and followed their signatures as they grouped together to her left.

Planning this time, good, she thought appreciatively, slipping a hand into her shuriken holster and leaving it there; nothing like a little uncertainty. With any luck, it would slow Kazuki down when he inevitably went for her.

She stood patiently, waiting for her team to make a move; she knew Kazuki was too impatient to wait for long. As she waited, she let her mind wander to the day before, taking her team to go and visit the graves of her former teammates. She had been surprised at their attitude at dinner that night, particularly Kana. She had actually joined in conversation, made an effort to make herself a part of the team.

It had been later on that night that Ino had properly looked through their Academy notes, taking what she already knew and adding the observations of Iruka. She hadn't known that Kana had been bullied in her first year, probably due to her family's connection to Sunakagure. It explained her attitude.

She also hadn't known that Yomiko suffered from disabling headaches when she overused her chakra or that Kazuki struggled to control his chakra at all. It was all good information, the kind of thing she really needed to know if she was going to protect her team.

She came back to herself as she noticed the three chakra signatures split apart, two moving carefully to the very edge of the trees while the other circled around slowly to her other side, ensuring to stay well within the cover of the trees.

She expected them to do the same as before, Kazuki lead the charge and Yomiko backing him up while Kana would sit tight and wait for her opportunity. All she had to do was keep ready for Kazuki and she could probably handle anything they tried.

She spun as Yomiko leapt from the trees, hair streaming behind her; she flew through a quick series of seals.

"Fire-style! Phoenix Bloom Jutsu!"

A group of small fireballs exploded from her mouth and split apart over a wide area; Ino frowned as Yomiko threw her hands out, face creasing with concentration. The fireballs turned in mid-air, twisting towards the ready Jōnin as Yomiko impacted with the dirt.

Ino kicked off the ground, dancing away from the flames as they impacted around her; with a flash of motion, Kazuki was suddenly there, using the attack to shield his approach. He swung a kick towards Ino's head, she easily managed to duck under his foot and sweep his foot out from under him.

"Wind-style! Razor Gust Jutsu!"

What?! Ino's eyes widened, even as she flipped backwards away from the downed Kazuki. From above, a small scythe of air cut through the space where Ino had been; it splashed against the ground harmlessly.

Kana continued her flip, landing just behind Kazuki her hand fan open and ready. Ino considered hitting one of them with her jutsu but it wasn't necessary. Not yet, at least. Instead, she reached into her pouch and removed two smoke bombs.

She disappeared behind the puff of smoke, focusing her chakra into one of her newest jutsu.

"Water-style," she whispered, "Water Clone Jutsu." She threw two kunai and, while her team were preoccupied with dodging or blocking her weapons, she leapt out of the smoke screen and hid among the trees. At the same time, she directed her clone to go on the attack.

She watched carefully as her clone engaged Kazuki, swaying around his punch and catching his arm. She noticed Yomiko readying an attack and watched as her clone threw Kazuki at her, sending them both to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

With a yell, Kana slid under the water clone's kick and came to her feet with a twist, turning her elbow into the clone's head. It exploded in a rush of water and Ino had to smirk at the astonished expressions on her team's faces.

"Water clone!" Kana shouted warningly, "She's watching us!"

Smart girl, Ino thought appreciatively, eyeing her target as he scrambled to his feet, eyes flying all around. She settled her back firmly onto the trunk and quickly tied her legs to the branch she was on.

"Alright," she whispered, "Let's see how you handle this." She quickly ran through a string of familiar hand seals, ending by staring through her hands at Kazuki. She felt the familiar empty feeling as she left her body and sped across the intervening space to Kazuki's body.

She felt the usual jolt as she took control of Kazuki's mind, looking through his eyes at Yomiko and Kana, the wind-style user soaked with water. Kana was still ordering them to gather together and Yomiko was just placing her back to Kana's.

No need to give them a warning, Ino thought. She sent Kazuki sprinting forward, grinning at his pace; he really was fast. Kana turned and Ino practically saw the wheels turning in her head, saw the realisation take place.

Too late, she thought grimly, sliding to a stop next to Yomiko and throwing her leg up as fast as Kazuki's body could handle. Yomiko saw the leg come up, attempted to duck out of the way; too slow.

Ino felt a slap on Kazuki's leg, throwing his balance completely as his leg was pushed too high to connect with Yomiko's head. Kana, instead of trying to block or catch Kazuki's leg, had merely pushed his leg up with a quick strike.

Ino kept Kazuki's body in motion, using his swinging leg to twist his whole body and bring his other foot off the ground in a sweeping back kick, aimed at Yomiko's head.

In her own body, Ino would have connected, but Yomiko had just enough time to duck under the blow, leaving Ino swiping at thin air. Ino span and twisted away as Kana flicked her hand fan at her; she barely managed to avoid the burst of wind that erupted. Ino shot Kazuki's hand out and grasped Kana's wrist, squeezing expertly to force the hand open.

Aiming to take Kana out first, as the fan clattered to the ground, Ino sent Kazuki leaping after her, readying his fist to finish her off; Kana grinned and twisted. Her other hand shot out and Kazuki's eyes widened in suprise; Two?!

The second hand fan, that Kana had kept concealed until that moment, shot out and Ino, unable to move Kazuki's body out of the way, released the jutsu. She returned to herself just in time to see Kazuki landing awkwardly ten feet away from the wind kunoichi.

How clever, Ino considered thoughtfully, measuring her next few moves carefully. She had apparently underestimated Kana; just like Temari had been, she was a step above her compatriots. She didn't really want to get caught up in an extended battle out in the open. Eventually one of them would get her.

She watched as Yomiko and Kana conferred on something, Kazuki moving slowly and carefully back over to his teammates, trying in vain to spot her. There was no warning as Kana spun, wielding both of her fans and shouting out.

"Wind-style! Razor Whirlwind Jutsu!" She swung her fans together and twisted them just before they touched, sweeping them across each other. A tunnel of wind, like the one she had unleashed two days ago, exploded outwards, aiming at Ino's hiding place.

Dammit! She leapt away, sensing the jutsu miss her by a fraction as it tore the trees to pieces. She landed cautiously on another tree branch and looked back at them; Yomiko's eyes were following her every move.

Sensory ninjutsu, huh? Ino smiled ruefully. No point hiding then. She flipped out into the open, a kunai held lazily in one hand,

"Not bad, you three. Especially you, Kana. Very impressive." Ino could hear them conferring with each other, planning their next move; it was a good job she wasn't a real enemy, she mused. She certainly wouldn't stand there patiently while they planned.

To their credit, it only took them a few seconds to come up with the next attack. Kazuki leapt forward, Kana and Yomiko circling around to either side. Ino dropped into a more ready stance as Kazuki threw his hands together, forming a chakra-focusing seal as he ran. Yomiko and Kana threw a kunai and this time Ino didn't move, keeping her eyes on the approaching Kazuki. She snatched the kunai out of the air with a lightning fast movement and threw them at Kazuki.

He slid under the weapons and came to his feet next to the ready Ino, hands still together and body crouched low. He grinned.

"Lightning Barrage!"

Kazuki disappeared from sight for a split second then reappeared at head height, his whole body leaking blue chakra, leg already drawn back to kick. Ino barely managed to get her arms up in time, blocking the impossibly fast kick with her crossed forearms. She was sent sliding back from the force of the kick as Kazuki disappeared from view again.

"The hell?!" she grunted as Kazuki appeared behind her, arm already drawn back in a punch. She half-span, throwing a hand out and deflecting the punch past her head. Kazuki disappeared again and Ino, off-balance, was forced to spin away from the two kunai launched at her by Yomiko and Kana.

Dammit!

Kazuki was suddenly above her, leg raised and ready to drop on her head with devastating force. Ino managed to half-catch the kick and turn it away to the side, rolling away from another pair of kunai that stuck into the dirt where Kazuki had been moments before. He reappeared above Ino again, hand cocked and ready to strike.

She backflipped away, barely dodging the attack as he slammed his fist into the dirt, causing a wave of dust to blow out from the impact point, momentarily blinding her. Ino leapt away from Kazuki's last position and slid to a stop, arms raised and ready.

There was a long pause as she waited for the next attack but, when the dust cleared, Kazuki was crouched in the crater, panting heavily. Kana and Yomiko leapt to his side, taking up defensive positions as he caught his breath, hand planted on the dirt to steady himself.

Ino shook her head in admiration of Kazuki's technique and stood up straight, reaching back behind her head to tug at her ponytail. She smiled at the uncertain looks her team gave her.

"Well, I call that a win," she said casually, stretching her arms out above her head. Her team practically growled at her and she threw her hands out defensively, realising what she had actually said.

"Oh, right, sorry. I meant that you guys passed," she said with an embarrassed grin. Her team looked uncertainly at each other.

"But, Ino-sensei," Yomiko spoke up, "We didn't manage to hit you". Ino shrugged.

"Well, I didn't expect you to. I am a Jōnin, you know?" she said casually. She rolled her shoulders and glanced ruefully over at the genin that were relaxing cautiously,

"I'm surprised I actually had to put that much effort into staying ahead," she admitted. She turned to the trees and shouted out,

"And don't think I didn't notice you in there! Get your butt out here!" With a flash, Naruto leapt from the trees and landed in front of Ino with an apologetic grin and a soft thud.

"Heh, sorry. Granny Tsunade said that you haven't given any indication if you're passing your team or not so she sent me out here to watch". Ino shook her head with a short laugh,

"Well you can tell the Hokage," she said, stressing the title, "that Team Four has officially passed!" She glanced around to her team as Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly; the genin were still stood uncertainly were she had left them.

"Oh for the love of-," she muttered in annoyance, "Oi! Will you relax! You. Have. Passed". She threw her hands up in the air as the team glanced at each other, uncertainly lowering their guards.

"This is not an elaborate trap!" she cried, "Just go home already!". Kazuki scratched his head and said something quietly to Yomiko and Kana; they nodded and shrugged indifferently respectively. Naruto shouted out just as they looked to leave,

"Wait!".They paused and glanced over,

"You have to meet at the Hokage's office at nine thirty tomorrow morning," he said quickly. Ino turned to them,

"Don't be late." she said sweetly, ushering them away with a flick of her hands. As they leapt away, she turned back to Naruto with a raised eyebrow,

"I highly doubt that the Hokage told you to come and watch us train," she accused, poking his chest with a finger, "so spill it." He shrugged and looked over her head.

"I'm meant to be checking on Kana Sunia's progress. It's very important that she does well." Ino frowned as she turned around and began to make her way back to the training posts where she had left the timer clock,

"Because of the alliance?"

"Yeah. We can't afford to screw this up," Naruto answered, his tone deadly serious. Ino knew what he meant; though most of the lands were at peace after the end of the shinobi war, for a lasting peace to work they had to integrate the lands together as much as possible. Of course, Gaara was the first to agree to a 'shinobi exchange', as it were; his and Naruto's friendship was the real driving force behind the call for permanent peace.

"Well, if it answers your question, she's the most capable of team four," Ino said slowly, turning to the blonde-haired Hokage-Elect, "and she's way better than we were at their age." Naruto nodded slowly,

"I thought as much. Just gotta check, you know?" Ino nodded and reached up behind her head to release her ponytail; it had gotten loose and uncomfortable in Kazuki's last attack. She rearranged her ponytail again and glanced up to see Naruto looking at her with a strange expression,

"What?" He shook his head,

"I've never seen you with your hair down before. It's weird," he said vacantly, glancing up at the sky. He shot his gaze back down to the blonde-haired Jōnin.

"Hey, what are you doing right now?" he demanded sharply. Ino shrugged, shoving the clock into her pouch and adjusting her ponytail,

"Nothing, I guess. I was just gonna go home and re-read my team file". Naruto nodded,

"Let's go get something to eat," he said quickly, seeming distracted, fidgeting awkwardly. Ino tilted her head to the side, allowing a languid smirk to cross her face.

"Why, Naruto," she purred with practised ease, "Are you asking me out on a date?" She winked and put her hands on her hips, subtly throwing her chest out. That move always had the boys drooling; Too easy.

Except that it didn't work.

"Na," he said easily, "but I'm meeting Sakura and Sai for lunch and it's really weird with just them." Ino shook her head with an understanding expression; that particular pair had caught everybody by surprise. She wasn't even aware that Sai was capable of emotion.

"So basically," she began, faking a look of hurt, "you're just using me to avoid being the third wheel?" She pouted, half-turning away so that her bangs covered the majority of her face; this has to get him.

"Oh, uh, no. I mean, uh, I'll...buy you lunch?" Naruto interjected uncertainly, one hand flapping around madly. Ino hid a smile; got him.

"Ok, I'll come and be your fourth wheel, you baby," she said brightly, grabbing his wrist and pulling him away from the training posts; he barely had time to protest at being yanked around like a doll.