Chapter 6

The next day was like torture. It was hot. Shikamaru found that training with his shirt on would be far too unbearable in the burning sun. He secretly hoped Ino would do the same. But of course she didn't.

Ino on the other hand had to muster all of her will power to keep from staring at the attractively muscled boy. She noticed Shikamaru's pale skin had begun to tan slightly making him even more desirable. He started setting up logs for her training exercises, his arms easily handling the wood. Sweat appeared to glisten on his body and he looked up at her, wiping his brow with the back of his hand, signaling he was ready.

"Yo, Ino! You ready to start?"

"Yes," she called back as she finished wrapping her hands with tape and walked over to him.

"Okay, today we will work on increasing your strength, so you get to punch and kick a log today." Ino groaned.

"Now, now, I won't make you go to the extreme like Rock Lee. That's suicide." Just thinking about all of the training that boy goes through was enough to make him exhausted.

"I want you to focus on the critical areas of your opponent. For example, the face," and he punched the upper part of the log to demonstrate. "Straight and forceful, locking your arm upon impact. You try."

Ino repeated his action.

"Good, Ino," he smiled at her.

"Now another critical area, the stomach," he said touching his own. "The stomach area is a good hit because it houses many other organs. Doing damage to any of your opponent's internal organs will most likely result in a win."

"Now you want your first two knuckles to deliver most of the impact," he said taking her hand and showing her. "So you would hit me like this." He thrust her fist against his tight stomach. She blushed, not hearing his words as he talked to her about the punch. She stared at her hand as he kept it there against him. The tape on her knuckles prevented her from feeling his skin. I want to feel him. She bit her lip and unclenched her fist.

His flesh felt hot and sticky against her finger tips. Her fingers moved curiously across his skin, tracing a path down to his navel where they paused. She noticed he had stopped talking and was looking at her.

She jerked her hand away and tried to act like nothing just happened. "Oh, yeah...so about making contact and stuff..." She laughed sheepishly. Dope!

He slyly smiled at her, took her hand and closed it back into a fist. "....Anyways...yes, it is important to make CONTACT with your enemy because if you miss---"

In a flash he wrapped his left hand around the back of her waist drawing her against him hard while at the same time diverting her clenched fist just to the right of his stomach, illustrating a missed punch. She gasped and looked up at him as he began to speak.

"---if you miss...like you did just now..." he continued looking deep into her blue eyes, "....you'll find yourself in a situation much worse than this."

She wanted to kiss him now. Ino closed her eyes and leaned into him.

He saw what she was suggesting. Control yourself, Shikamaru, now is not the time, he thought. I know she wants me to, but no, not now, let's get through training first.

He cleared his throat and released her.

"So as I was saying....there are several critical areas... " he glanced at her, noting her definite look of disappointment at his decision.

"For guys a good place to aim is the...uhh...the lower part of the...uhh....well, you know the spot," he quickly finished, flushing with embarrassment upon bringing THAT subject up.

"Shall we practice punching that area??" She said with fire in her eyes, and with a tone that sent Shikamaru backing up a few steps.

"Heheh....no, no that's alright, you can practice on someone else." Geez.

The rest of the morning went smoothly, Shikamaru decided to use the log for the rest of the demonstrations. Ino complied with full cooperation during the drills.

At noon they decided to take a break.

Shikamaru lay down in the grass and stared up at the slowly moving clouds. A cool breeze swept over his sweaty body that sent him into a deep relaxation. He folded his arms behind his head as a lazy expression covered his face. Kumo aii na. The clouds are nice.

"Why do you always look at the clouds?"

"Because...they're nice...I dunno..."

She stared at him with a puzzled look.

"Here, lay down and look at them for while," he said, patting the ground next to him.

She joined him on the grass, focusing her attention on the sky.

"See how they just float by...completely at the mercy of the wind. They don't care where they're going or how long they will last before disappearing. They just go. Clouds don't argue. They don't get into fights or kill one another. If their paths meet, they just blend together as one. Their particles mixing together like lovers. Nothing else in the world matters....." he trailed off, realizing he was speaking out loud and closed his eyes. "Sorry for my idiotic rambling."

Ino was taken aback by his poetic analysis. She turned her head to look at him softly. "No...no, not idiotic," she paused thinking of what to say to the genius, "You have a beautiful mind, Shikamaru."

Her words seeped through him. It was the first time anyone told him he had a beautiful mind. His genius was something he always inwardly prided himself in, but never showed it. Asuma-sensei was the only other person to realize his intellect underneath his lazy guise.

He half-opened his eyes, feeling her gaze upon him. "Well if you're saying I have a beautiful mind, then you have a beautiful perception of things. I thought you only liked me for my sexy body," he teased, stealing a look at her.

She punched him lightly on the arm, "I don't care about that kind of stuff," she said smiling, but her flirty eyes told him otherwise.

"Oh, no?" he replied, raising his eyebrows and propping himself up on his elbow to face her. "You mean to tell me that this..." he ran his hand down his bare chest, "...doesn't turn you on?" Shikamaru smirked at her.

Ino flushed a deep red and lowered her eyes. Of course it does, you idiot.

"Hmph! You're not going to distract me from my training. Let's get back to work, SENSEI!" she jumped up and marched over to the logs.

Sweet, sweet, temptation...he thought with a smile as he lifted himself off the ground.