Ino breathed hard as she darted through the forest, she could hear Shikamaru's footsteps behind her. She pushed herself more.
His shadow possession jutsu threatening to catch her if she stayed on the ground too long. if she could just stay that far ahead of him she would be safe. She needed to think of a fast way to escape him.
But knowing her luck he was probably ten moves ahead of her.
She had to think of something fast.
Something that Ino would never do, something that he didn't think she would do. Then she saw it.
The lake.
She used to always complain to him about how nasty the water was and how the algae gave her the creeps.
She jumped down from the trees quickly and continued her sprint towards the lake.
Shikamaru landed behind her and then she heard another set of heavy foot steps.
Chouji had been waiting there all along.
Damn it, Shikamaru was always ten moves ahead of her.
They thought they had her cornered, they knew that she didn't like the lake.
She mentally prepared herself. OK Ino you've got this. Don't let your vanity get in the way. If you are going to become a chunin you have to get over this
She inwardly squealed as she leapt into the water and quickly swam down towards the bottom of the lake. She looked up at the surface to see the silhouettes of Shikamaru and Chouji waiting at the top.
This is it.
She swam beneath the trees and hid in among the roots of a willow tree.
She quickly preformed the hand signs of her mind transfer jutsu and aimed for Chouji.
She entered the boy's mind easily and turned towards Shikamaru.
"Give up, Shika" she said through Chouji's body as she reached for the shadow user.
Instead she caught a shadow clone.
Shit. Where is he?
"Ino" Shikamaru's voice rang out from above.
She looked up to see the boy standing in the tree branches above her. Her dripping wet body in his arms.
Always ten steps ahead.
"Release the jutsu. We win" Shikamaru stated.
Ino sighed and preformed the hand signs to release the jutsu.
She opened her eyes still in Shikamaru's arms.
"Put me down" she demanded.
The boy did as he was told.
"You threw me for a quick trip when you dove into the lake. Unfortunate for you, I created shadow clones while you were hiding underwater and sent them all out to find you. Chouji stayed here as bait, knowing that he would be the one who's mind you would take over" Shikamaru explained.
Ino groaned.
Always at least 10 steps ahead her inner self reminded.
"You lasted longer than expected if it makes you feel any better" Chouji stated as he reached into his pocket for a bag of chips.
Ino rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated noise before turning and storming away.
Shikamaru and Chouji exchanged glances before the two of them following at a leisurely pace.
"How long did she last?" Asuma asked when Shikamaru and Chouji arrived. Ino was currently beating her frustration out of a training dummy.
Shikamaru couldn't help but wince when he saw her kick the dummy in a rather sensitive area for men.
"Forty minutes" Chouji answered.
Asuma turned towards the girl. "She's getting better. Did she do anything impressive? Why is she wet-did you two throw her in the lake?"
"She actually had a pretty good plan. She jumped in the lake to throw us off and then she hid her body in one of the willow trees before possessing me. But Shikamaru had a plan already. He split up into shadow clones and found Ino's body" Chouji explained.
"It was a stupid plan. She left her body" Shikamaru stated putting his hands in his pockets.
"That was how she won the chunin exams" Asuma pointed out.
"No she won because she was too damn stubborn to give up" Shikamaru replied.
Asuma smirked before lighting a cigarette.
"This guy who she is up against is the one who figured out the entire Ino-Shika-Cho formation in a matter of minutes. When Ino possessed his teammate, the girl who I fought in the preliminaries, he didn't hesitate to take her out. This man feels nothing" Shikamaru argued.
Asuma nodded before blowing a stream of smoke in the air "Ino."
Shikamaru watched as Ino walked towards them. She had removed her arm warmers that were currently drying in a tree. The cover she wore to hide her hair was missing from her swim in the lake, revealing her short spikey ponytail, the usually silver blond strands now a darker gold due to being wet.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Go and take a lunch break. Be back here at 2:00 with Shikamaru. Chouji, you and are going to do a few more things then you are free to go" Asuma said to the round faced boy.
"Awww…you mean I can't eat yet? I'm so hungry" Chouji complained.
"How are you hungry?" Ino demanded incrediously
"I'm a growing boy!" Chouji snapped back.
"What a drag" Shikamaru found himself saying "Leave him alone troublesome woman" he muttered.
"What did you say!" she demanded her anger now focused on him.
"Let's go eat" he said as he turned to walk away.
Ino glared after the boy before walking off in the opposite direction towards her home. She wanted to get out of these wet clothes and take a nap. Maybe she would eat an apple or something. She needed to lose those three pounds.
She walked to her home and waved to her dad when she walked past the flower shop. When she got to her room she stripped off her wet clothes and toweled herself dry with a fluffy purple towel before pulling on a pair of short black spandex shorts and a Konoha t-shirt with the fire emblem on the front.
She winced when she saw her ugly hair in the mirror. She sighed before setting her alarm and laying down on her bed.
An hour later, the blond kunochi arrived at the training grounds. Shikamaru was already waiting for her, his arms behind his head as he gazed skywards.
"Looks like rain, what a drag" Shikamaru stated.
"A little rain never hurt anyone. Besides it makes the flowers grow" Ino stated with a smile as she inhaled the scent of rain heavy in the air. The blond loved the rain, the smell, the sound, the way that the world seemed to be refreshed after each shower.
Shikamaru rolled his deep brown eyes.
Ino let out an annoyed sigh.
"OK you two, let's do a spar. Everything goes except your kekki genkai" Asuma stated.
"What?" Ino screeched the same time Shikamaru muttered "What a drag"
"Odds are neither of you will be able to preform your kekki genkai. Shikamaru you need shadows and if your battle is at high noon, you could be screwed against Temari. And Ino you know the risk of your kekki genkai if you miss" Asuma stated simply.
Ino and Shikamaru found themselves unable to argue with their sensai.
"Loser buys dinner?" Shikamaru stated with a smirk.
He noticed the doubt flash through Ino's beautiful sapphire eyes. She knew that she didn't really stand a chance against him. He was a genius after all. Ino may have graduated top in the class at the academy but that was only because Shikamaru was honestly too bored and lazy to pick up a pencil.
She must have noticed the cocky look that appeared on his face because before he knew it he received a punch in the face that sent him sprawling to the ground.
"You may be smarter, Shika. But I'm not going to go down without a fight" Ino stated as Shikamaru climbed back to his feet and touched his bleeding lip.
"That's because you're too stubborn and troublesome to know when to quit. You don't know when to back down Ino. You will get a squad killed one day if you don't learn when retreat is the best option" Shimaru stated as he began to form a strategy in his head.
He squatted down into his usual thinking position but his thoughts were cut short when a barrage of sebon needles came flying at him, causing him to duck and roll out of the way.
Damn, she knows everything about me. She's not going to let me think Shikamaru thought.
"What a drag" he muttered to himself before making five shadow clones.
About thirty feet away Ino was deep in thought, trying to figure out the best way to defeat Shikamaru. This boy was a genius there was no way she would stand a chance and she knew that. But she had to try. Her best bet was to not let him get into his thinking pose. If he did that, he would have time to formulate a plan and she would definitely be screwed.
The five shadow clones that Shikamaru created started running towards her. She knew what he was doing, creating a distraction so that he could vanish and think.
"Oh no you don't" she stated as she ran thorough the barrage of Shikamaru clones towards the real one.
Shikamaru quickly drew a kunai to block her attack.
Damn it where the hell are my shadow clones? Shikamaru thought.
Then he saw them, fighting with Ino shadow clones.
"When did you make those?" he demanded as she sliced at him before he jumped out of the way.
"When you were on the ground" Ino replied this time trying to kick him.
Shikamaru couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face. "Looks like you might know a thing or two about strategy after all" he stated.