Chapter 4

Ino was living her dream adventure with Sasuke, the ever popular dark boy. They have been crawling in the mud, attacked by skunks and tricked by genjutsu. The sky darkened by imposing clouds and waterfalls splashed them. The powerful wind pushed them backwards.

"It's just another illusion," Sasuke said simply.

Ino was not convinced. She was still shivering and out of breath, so Sasuke finally had to drag her with one arm.

"Which direction?" she asked distractedly. His heart will open as we face adversity together. Our love will grow deep as the misery we encounter will push us to rely on each other...

" Someone is behind this, someone who knows what he's doing. This is the person we must interrogate." Perfect. Genjutsu is used to mess up the mind. Its goal is similar to that of Kakashi's sharingan technique. This is a great opportunity to gain experience... He remembered what happened to him and his partners back in the forest during the exam. The enemy would appear when they would be exhausted.

"Arrgh! My feet!" Ino was being sucked down into the muddy earth.

She threw herself flat on the stomach and gripped some roots. The tree whose roots she was clinging to moved itself over onto her unguarded body. She was squished by its weight and the rain water was already up to her nostrils. Meanwhile, Sasuke who was standing still, meditating, flung his arms towards the tree trunk to pull it upwards, but it was no use: his arms went through as if it was only a ghost. He struggled to get his knees out of the quicksand, then pretended to stagger from exhaustion. He dropped down, face first, screaming in agony. His partner gasped in horror and jerked upright into the tree trunk that vanished from her mind. She soon realized she made a wrong move. Sasuke's finger was moving. He was telling her to get back down and stay still.

A few minutes later, the genjutsu's activity stopped. Ino and Sasuke's bodies were propulsed by a phenomenal blow and landed fifteen meters further.

"Now! Run!" They both stood up and sprinted towards their attacker.

Ino plunged her kunei into the enemy's stomach. Gone. He had appeared behind Sasuke. Predictable. Sasuke was already spinning around and pushed the man down on his back and pinned him with several kunei.

"Possession technique!" Ino exclaimed, aiming the immobilized man.

The man in the dark cloak with a hood was laughing loudly, his mouth wide open.

"You thought you got me! It has been fun guarding the base all by myself. Now get lost! Go call backup. Tell all your elite force to come this way. I'll be waiting..."

Sasuke was really annoyed that he could not defy the enemy. Moreover, he did not get any information, except for the fact that his opponent was strong and was alone. They had walked away from the enemey's territory because the genjutsu was getting worse and worse. The pair of sharingan caught sight of some living beings close by. They arrived at the hermit's house and Ino saw Sakura clinging on Naruto.

"Oh, Sakura! You never told me you had a change of heart! I'm glad! I'm glad!"

"His name is Naruto," Sakura announced proudly.

"Uh huh..."

"Hi! My name is Ino! This is my boyfriend Sasuke."

She was in heaven. Nice! Naruto! Thanks for whatever you did to her.

Sasuke sighed. Sakura hardly noticed her dream boy, now not looking his best. He still had flour in his hair, he was dirty with mud and grass stains.

"Once we get back, I'll treat you to the finest ramen in the world, then I'll tell you all the great stories you forgot," Naruto said to his new girlfriend.

"Don't..." Sasuke was going to say 'Don't brainwash her'.

"Sasuke! You jealous!" Naruto yelled.

Some constant whispering disturbed Shikamaru's peace. It came from a nearby bush. The voices sounded familiar.

"No... This can't be..."

"What are we going to do?"

"Ahh! Don't make that face! It's embarrassing!"

After some hesitation, Shikamaru popped in the bushes.

"Hi there... what uh... are you two doing there... together..." the lazy boy said, scratching his head.

"Ahhh!" Neji and Hinata screamed as Shikamaru discovered them. They looked awkward. Hinata started running away from the astonished intruder.

"Wait! Don't... don't leave me!" Neji called after his cousin.

It freaked Shikamaru out.

"Stop it! You're embarrassing me again! Now run!" Hinata urged.

"Hey hey! You two, it's just me: Shikamaru. And by the way don't go there..."

Hinata kept tripping and falling and Neji caught up, but bumped into her and they both were caught in the roots Shikamaru had set up. The dangled upside down, face to face, exasperated. As Shikamaru detached them, he noticed that Neji was always whimpering and Hinata was kept silent in frustration.

"Ok. What's up with you."

Damn, I'm going to regret asking this.

"Uh... you can tell me if you have a uh problem. I'm not someone who criticizes."

There is something extremely wrong here: Neji never blushed before!

The three of them sat down in a small circle, sighing. Surprisingly, Hinata spoke first, firmly, but stuttering a bit: "This must be kept extremely confidential."

Obviously, it's a big deal that they're going out together. Is there something else too? Oh man, I feel I'm going to be threatened.

"This is serious!" she added loudly.

"You can speak, Hinata."

Neji's muscles contracted, his teeth clenched as he threw a sideways glance at the girl with cute short hair.

"I'm Neji. I'm stuck in her body," Hinata declared.

Shikamaru felt he was in a situation as delicate as theirs, so he shut up.