Ino awoke early that morning, the sun had yet to rise, the sky still shaded by blue and the gray light was just beginning to stain the heavens above.
She put on a pair of shorts and a tank top, opting out of her typical purple outfit and bandages. She silently slipped out the door and began her run around the still sleeping village; the only sign of life was the baker pulling the loaves of bread out of the oven. She gave him a little wave as she ran past him, the baker raised his hand shyly.
When her run concluded, the sun had risen in the sky and she stopped in the training grounds to wait for the rest of team 10. An hour later Chouji and Asuma met her, following shortly after by Shikamaru.
Asuma turned to Shikamaru "We are going to see what your shadow possession jutsu can really do"
"What a drag" he muttered before turning towards his teammates and beginning to form the now familiar hand signs that both Chouji and Ino noticed immediately.
Ino and Chouji quickly jumped out of the way.
Ino made sure to stay in the direct sunlight and at least 30 feet away from the trees, knowing that the shadow user's range was about 30 feet without another shadow to increase his range.
She saw Chouji in a similar position she was in and smiled. Chouji also knew a lot about strategy although he was just too shy to show off his abilities.
When Shikamaru went into his thinking position to think, Ino drew three sebon needles, Chouji saw her movements and mimicked her. They nodded to one another and with a silent count of three threw their weapons at the same time.
Both ninja then jumped back 6 feet, knowing that Shikamaru would spread his shadow in one of their 3 needles reading 3-5 feet.
But Shikamaru was already 10 steps ahead, grabbing the shadows from both Ino's and Chouji's weapons before throwing his now 10 foot long shadow at Chouji.
The boy's body was engulfed in shadow before it turned and leaped towards Ino.
"Shit" she said before jumping back another five feet as Shikamaru's shadow tried to reach her only to land a foot short.
She looked up noticing the clouds that were beginning to move in the wind. If they moved any closer than she would definitely be caught in Shikamaru's shadow.
Shikamaru noticed too by the smirk that he gave her.
She sighed. She had one shot, she held her hands out in front of her and prepared to perform the hand signs necessary to perform the Mind possession jutsu, only to find that her body couldn't move.
She looked down with her eyes only to see that she was caught by the shadow of her arms held out before her right as she was about to preform her jutsu.
Always ten steps ahead.
She felt herself involuntarily walk up to Shikamaru until they were only a foot apart.
"I won" he said before dropping the jutsu.
Ino's pretty eyes glared at him as he dropped the jutsu. If she couldn't beat him, how the hell was she going to beat that Dosu guy? It was true that compared to Dosu, Shikamaru was a genius but he had been working with Ino long enough to figure out a strategy.
Then again so had she. She figured out his range and with the combined efforts of her and Couji, they could have taken him down with her sebon move, but Shikamaru was trying to make a point. Ino needed to drop out of the final exam. He and she both knew that she had run out of options though. The clouds were moving in, the forest surrounded her, and his shadow was only a foot away from her.
Her only option was to use the mind possession, and Shikamaru had figured out that this was her only option. He patiently waited for her to put her arms out in front of her before he let his shadow rest in the shadow of her slender arms.
She was caught.
He had won.
Asuma came up to Ino and Shikamaru and patted him on the shoulder. "Nice work kid" he said as he patted the shadow-user on the back.
"Ino, you were backed up in a corner and did the only thing that you could do" Asuma said.
The girl nodded. She felt weak once again. Stupid Shikarmaru she thought.
Shikamaru gave her a successful look. Maybe her hard head would figure out that she couldn't win, especially against a guy like Dosu. That man was so logical and great at assessing situations.
Ino was too brash and rushed into things.
He would destroy her. If she got hit with his sound waves, she definitely wouldn't be able to beat the Sound Nin. That attack caused disorientation, vertigo, and nausea. Those things would keep her from being able to perform her jutsu, she would definitely miss Dosu if she used her kekki genkai.
"Oi, Shikamaru are you listening?" her voice broke through his thoughts.
Shikamaru broke away from his thoughts and looked at the blond woman, "What?"
Ino rolled her eyes before walking to the padded training matts and started throwing punches and kicks at it.
"She's not going to stand a chance" Shikamaru deadpanned.
Asuma lit a cigarette "You never know with that one"
"If she gets hit by Dosu's attack she will definitely be taken out. Not to mention he knows exactly what she can do and the limits of her attack"
"She knows that same about him" Asuma said blowing smoke into the air.
"Sensai…" the young genius trailed off.
Asuma sighed and instead of responding walked over to Ino and lightly corrected her stance.
A crunching sound was heard behind him and Shikamaru didn't even have to turn around to see Chouji.
"She's going to get killed"
Munch. Munch. The boy didn't reply.
"You agree with me, don't you?" Shikamaru asked.
Chouji gave him the exact same response "You never know. Ino is as stubborn as they come, if anything she won't go down without a fight"
The round boy did have a point.
Ino had fought tooth and nail to defeat Sakura, despite their former friendship. He could tell that she was holding back in the beginning but towards the end, Sakura had stepped it up.
"Sakura doesn't have a kekki gekai…what a drag" Shikamaru muttered as he rested his hands behind his head and looked up at the clouds.
Ino beat against the padded tree until her hands were blistered and bleeding and her long slender legs were covered in bruises.
The sun was setting and she heard the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Oi, Ino" a voice called from behind her.
She turned to see Kiba running towards her with Akamaru following behind.
"Hi, Kiba" she said with a smile.
"I just wanted to say thanks for helping Hinata yesterday. She really shouldn't be out there training…with the injuries that Neji inflicted on her" Kiba mused.
"Shit, is she OK? I have been so caught up in myself…" she said quickly as she apologized to the Inuzuka boy.
"Just worn out, she needs to be taking it easy, but you know her"
Ino nodded, indeed knowing that the Hyuuga girl was one of the hardest working kunochi that she had ever seen. Watching her battle Neji was one of the bravest things that Ino had ever seen.
"Are you sure she is OK?" Ino asked.
Kiba nodded.
The blond released a sigh, realizing how worried about the timid girl that she had been.
"You really care about her huh?" she said softly.
Kiba blushed slightly "Well of course, she is my teammate after all" Kiba managed to stutter out.
Ino chuckled but pretended not to notice the Inuzuka boy's obvious interest in the byukagan user.
"If you ever told her not to do something because she would lose, would you?" she asked.
Kiba looked surprised at the question but instead said softly "I said that to Hinata the day she fought Neji"
"But she fought him anyway"
"Well yeah, but look at what happened to her. Neji literally almost killed her, if it had been two minutes longer…" he let the words die on his tongue.
Ino opened her mouth to protest but Kiba beat her to it.
"Every part of me screams that it was beyond stupid of her to fight Neji, that he would kill her. And I was right… he just about did. But there is a sliver inside my heart somewhere that is beyond proud of her, for facing her fear. For finally standing up to her cousin and proving to everyone how strong she can really be"
Ino nodded at a loss for words. I highly doubt Shikamaru cares that much. He is too logical to think about anything outside of his big pineapple head.
"Why?" Kiba inquired.
Ino shrugged. "Shikamaru doesn't want me to compete in the finals"
She could see the look of agreement that flashed through Kiba's silted eyes. The boy quickly hid it before responding "The Dosu guy is pretty terrifying…you are going to have to train your ass off before you fight him"
Safe answer Ino thought.
"Well thanks, Kiba!" she said pasting a smile on her face before waving to the boy as she walked by.
She felt Kiba's eyes on her as she walked away from the training grounds.
He doesn't think that I am strong enough either Ino mused to herself as she wandered back home.
She ran into Shikamaru standing outside of her house. "Are you going to withdraw?" he asked.
Ino bristled at his question. "Of course not."
"You have been defeated by me three times in the past two days, how is this not enough evidence that you are not ready?" he demanded.
"I have 27 more days, Shikamaru. Even if I lose I am not going down without a fight"
"He'll kill you. He didn't hesitate to attack his own teammate, that troublesome brunette that you used your kekki genkai on"
Ino glared at the boy. "I am not afraid of him"
"You should be. You are too pig-headed for your own good, troublesome" he muttered as he turned and walked away.
"I am not withdrawing, Shikamaru. Don't you forget it!" she cried after him.