Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I am not profiting in any way from this.

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Big Fan: Thank you for your review! Ino and Gai only met for a week or two before he taught TenTen and Lee. Ino heard of them in passing, but has never met them.

Part 6: Teammates

Sarutobi Asuma knew his team was special. Well, obviously his team was special. It was his team. So, of course the kids were special.

They passed his test with outstanding performance. They were already good friends and had an idea of each other's strengths and weaknesses. Their teamwork had already started developing. There was pretty much no chance of this team failing.

He found out after one team training that Shikamaru naturally assumed position as leader while Ino and Chouji followed his orders carefully.

He found out after four team trainings that Shikamaru fell back on his teammates for second opinions when he wasn't too confident in his chances.

He found out after eleven team trainings that Shikamaru sometimes relied on Ino's planning when his original plans didn't work out properly.

He found out after one chance encounter that Ino had no qualms about fighting low and dirty.

Perhaps, he should've been worried. Perhaps, he should've talked to Inoichi.

But he didn't. Not right then.

Three times Asuma asked the question, "If you had to choose between the mission and your teammates, which would you pick?"

Two times the answer was "teammates."

"Ino, if you had to choose between the mission and your teammates, which would you pick?"

He'd assumed she would say "teammates" with no hesitance. But he was wrong.

The girl, she looked up at him with wide wide eyes. As if she couldn't believe what she had just heard. As if she couldn't believe what he had just said.

In contrast, the man couldn't believe what he wasn't hearing.

One time was hesitance, doubt, then "teammates."

When it really did come down to it, all three of his students acted accordingly. Missions were failed. Lives were saved.

Asuma was a proud proud teacher.

"...And then he just disappears without saying anything else. Isn't that kinda rude?" Sakura told her friend. After being assigned to teams, their times together had decreased significantly.

"I guess he's not very good with children or having students," Ino replied. She wasn't sure. She had never met a Hatake Kakashi in her life.

"I guess so. Anyway, Sasuke being on my team is great and all, but he's not really a team player. Wish he'd make an effort to at least talk to us as teammates, ya know? You're so lucky Shikamaru and Chouji actually acts like a real team."

"That's not good. Teammates need strong methods of communication, trust, and honesty. It's not going to work well if someone's not talking at all," Ino frowned. While her desire to crush his face had disappeared after a few weeks, Sasuke was not the easiest person to like in her opinion. He also made it difficult by not making any attempts to befriend anyone.

"He does talk. Sometimes. But it's usually to say something mean. Like to Naruto. And me. And even Kakashi-sensei, sometimes," Sakura managed out. Now that she actually said that outloud, Sasuke sounded like a big ol' jerk.

"That's… mean."

"Yeah…"

"Hey, you know what? Maybe he needs more reasons to smile and laugh and be happy."

"Mmm, maybe."

"It's worth a try."

"You're right, it is. We'll make sure to keep smiling for him. Naruto and I. And maybe, one day, he'll really talk to us."

"Ino, what's this one mean?" asked Chouji, holding up a flower.

"Daffodil means respect," she answered.

"What about this one?" Shikamaru lazily held up another flower.

"Zinnia means loyalty."

"This one?"

"Sakura means kindness and gentleness."

"This?"

"Red poppy means sleep, peace, and death."

"How about this-"

"Wait, no. No, no, no. That's not right."

"Ino?"

"But it's- it's right. Right? It's history. But what's…"

"Ino!"

"Huh? Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah! I'm okay. Just made a mistake with this one, hehe."

"...If you say so."

"Red poppy means fun-loving."

"...And this one?"

"Sweet pea means goodbye."

"Daddy, am I a bad person?"

"Why do you say that, honey?"

"Because when Asuma-sensei asked whether I'd choose the mission or my teammates, I couldn't answer right away. And when one of our missions sort of turned out that way, all I could think about was how I failed."

"But, Ino, think of it this way. When it mattered the most, you chose your teammates over the mission. Over your failure."

"But I hesitated and-"

"That doesn't make you a bad person. You still chose your teammates, your friends. Next time, will you hesitate?"

"I- I don't know. Maybe. What if I take too long in deciding and-"

"You won't. I know this."

"Can you promise this?"

"I can't, but I know this, and I hope, one day, you will too."

"...Thanks for believing in me."

"No problem at all, dearest. That's the least I can do for you."