Title: Heart and Mind
Summary: He hated it when she used that technique.
Pairing: ShikaIno
Rating: K+
Notes: Post time-skip, post manga; I picture them as about nineteen in this.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Her body collapsed limply against his own, head with its light gold hair lolling against his shoulder as the Yamanaka clan's most prominent jutsu took effect.

Shikamaru cursed.

His chakra was depleted; the Kagemane had long since worn off. There was no time to tell which of the new enemies was really Ino, and which still sported their own mind and will.

In the chaos, no matter how Shikamaru looked around, increasingly frantic, he couldn't see Choji. There was no Choji to cover him as he protected Ino's body, no Choji to swipe the enemy away, no Choji to keep them safe.

Shikamaru ran.

It was perfectly acceptable procedure for a nin with a helpless comrade in tow. Tearing across the branches of trees, Shikamaru lugged Ino's body with him, arms around her waits, her long arms and legs flailing out behind him, blonde ponytail rippling almost constantly.

Finally, Shikamaru found a safe place, and hunkered down, waiting for Ino—who had managed to increase the range of her Shintensin exponentially over the years—to return and to fill him in on what she learned in the mind of the enemy.

Shikamaru stared intently at Ino's inert face and winced as a small cut appeared on her cheek. A thin laceration bled suddenly on her arm. The body she was in was sustaining injury; silently, Shikamaru willed Ino to be more careful.

Deep down, Shikamaru hated it when Ino used this technique. Yes, he knew it was a highly useful and versatile jutsu, and yes he knew that the bulk of Ino's ninjutsu skill centered around her mastery of the Shintensin no jutsu and that she'd be crippled without it, but frankly, he hated to see her like this.

When her body was left behind, it was helpless. Shikamaru wasn't sure Ino realized how vulnerable this jutsu made her, and he often wondered what happened to her soul if her physical body sustained mortal wounds. Wondered if her soul would extinguish in a puff of smoke or if she'd be trapped, marooned in a strange body for the rest of her natural life.

"Shikamaru?" Ino was awake. "Good God, man, get your hands off me! What the hell?" Ino was very much awake.

Shikamaru raised his hands, palms pushing against the air, in an appeasing gesture. "I was just making sure you wouldn't have to come back and find a mangled corpse, Ino; get a grip."

Pale sapphire eyes glared accusingly at him. "Why were your hands around my waist?"

Shikamaru glared back. "Because I'd just been carrying you through these damn trees, that's why!" He was shouting. Shikamaru wasn't entirely sure why he was angry enough to shout.

Ino rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Whatever." She tottered to her feet, still unsteady after coming back to her own so abruptly. "Fight's over; I need to attend to the wounded."

At this, Shikamaru plopped down where the branch met the crook of the tree. As Ino was leaving, Shikamaru called after her, "Ino, would you mind warning me the next time you plan on using Shintensin?"

She looked back only briefly, with a brisk, monosyllabic response. "Sure."