Ino was panting hard as she stared across the training grounds at Shikamaru. Her hands were up in a defensive position and her knees were bent ready to leap out of the way at any given minute. Shikamaru charged at her and the two met in a hand to hand battle, punches and kicks flying at one another. Ino knew that between the two of them, she was the better fighter, but Shikamaru's powers of deduction were something to be reckoned with. She knew that at his very moment he was probably 10 steps ahead of her.
Shikamaru watched Ino's movements with narrowed eyes. Her punches were more controlled, her balance was better. He was hoping that he would be able to defeat her with that, by bounding into the trees and forcing her to walk on narrow branches, Ino did not have a good sense of balance. She was and earth user through and through, that and she had potential to master some water type jutzu. He continued to watch her as they fought trying to find something, anything that would be a weakness. He looked around before noticing the training matts and the exposed roots behind her. If he could drive her back…
Ino was surprised when Shikamaru's hits became harder and faster. Since when did he care, about hard and fast hits? He is all about strategy. Not confrontation. She thought to herself as she was pushed back. Shikamaru continued to attack her and she blocked his hits the best she could as she staggered back. She was so preoccupied in dodging his attacks that she didn't notice the exposed tree roots behind her. She tripped and fell backwards, before she knew it Shikamaru was on top of her, straddling her waist as he pinned both her hands above her head. Ino struggled against his grasp, but stopped when she felt Shikamaru's fingers find the pressure points on her wrists.
Ino's sapphire eyes glared up at him as he pinned her to the ground. Dear Kami, she is almost strong enough to knock me off. Shikamaru thought to himself before sliding his fingers to the pressure point on her thin wrists. They were both breathing hard by the time she stopped struggling, and Shikamaru realized the position that they were in. He gazed down at Ino again and found himself slowly leaning down towards her. He noticed her eyes widen slightly and her full lips part, as she looked up at him puzzled. He stopped himself before he got too close and climbed off of her, a blush staining his cheeks.
"I win." he said simply.
Ino huffed and crossed her arms.
"You need to be more aware of your surroundings." he said simply.
Ino groaned and turned to walk away. "Whatever. See ya." she said not bothering to turn towards him.
"Asshole, pineapple headed genius." Ino muttered to herself as she walked through the training grounds. "You need to watch your surroundings." she mimicked his voice as she walked along. He had better watch his gods damn surrounds. She angrily ran a hand through her short blond hair. Shit. I hate my hair she thought to herself as she marched down the dusty roads of Konoha. She paused when she noticed the dango stand. "Damn I am hungry." she muttered. She mentally counted the calories in the dango and sighed.
"You know you are t-t-thin enough that y-you could probably afford to eat one d-d-dango." a voice said softly behind her.
Ino turned and smiled to see Hinata standing behind her. She giggled slightly. "Thanks Hinata, it's always nice to hear a compliment. I forgot my money at home, so looks like I will be making something." she trailed off making a mental check of the few items that resided in the refrigerator. She and her father were awful about buying groceries, with both of them either on missions or working at the flower shop they both typically decided to eat out as opposed to trying to scrounge up something to eat around the house.
"I-I c-can cover y-you this time." Hinata replied.
Ino smiled brightly at the Hyuuga heiress. "Really? Thank you Hinata!" Ino cried out with a smile.
Hinata smiled and nodded before leading the way into the dango shop. Ino watched as the pretty Hyuuga heiress looked around the small building as if looking for someone. When Hinata didn't see who she was looking for, she seemed a little disappointed, but she quickly hid it.
"Who are you looking for?" Ino asked.
"N-n- no one!" Hinata stuttered her face changing from its usual pale complexion to a lovely shade of red.
"Are you looking for Naruto?" Ino whispered as she nudged Hinata playfully.
Hinata's blush only darkened. "W-what?" she demanded trying to stay casual.
"It's okay, I won't tell anyone." Ino replied with a small laugh before sitting down at the bar and motioning for Hinata to sit beside her.
HInata sighed and sat next to Ino before ordering her meal, Ino followed suit.
"H-how is training g-going?" Hinata inquired breaking the silence. Ino was surprised that Hinata had been the one to initiate the conversation, the Hyuuga heiress was not a talkative girl. In fact, it was usually Ino who had to practically beat the words out of Hinata.
Ino groaned. "It's going. Shikamaru is driving me up the wall. He is such a cocky bastard and he is convinced that I am not going to survive the chunin exams." she complained.
Hinata looked at Ino with understanding eyes.
"I just wish that everyone would look at me as more than just a vain kunochi. I mean I admit that I do worry about my appearance, probably more than most kunochi…but I want to be able to do this." Ino confessed.
Hinata nodded once again. "That is why I wanted to become a ninja and join the chunin exams. I wanted to prove to everyone that I wasn't weak." Hinata replied.
Ino smiled at Hinata. "I think that you did that, during your fight against Neji. You just proved that you were shy, not weak."
Hinata blushed at the compliment and reverted to her habit of twirling her fingers together.
"Now all you need to do is work up the courage to talk to you know who." Ino giggled as their food was placed before them.
Hinata's blush only turned a deeper shade of red before she quickly began eating in an attempt to hide her embarrassment.
The two ate together and exchanged small talk with one another. Ino doing most of the talking while Hinata nodded politely and even managed to get a few words in between Ino's rants about the latest fashions and the most handsome ninja in Konoha.
"I mean Genma is definitely an attractive man" Ino was in the middle of her rant, she was currently counting down her list of who she thought were the sexiest shinobi in Konoha, she was currently on number 2. Although I am considering rearranging my top three. After his peptalk, Iruka is looking pretty sexy. But Genma and that sebon needle could make him an excellent kisser…then there's Kakashi. She about to open her mouth to explain her thoughts when a cold voice spoke.
"Hinata-sama."
Ino jumped and looked behind her to see Neji Hyuuga with his arms crossed and his pearlescent eyes so like Hinata's but so different narrowed and staring at the two girls. Beside her, Ino felt Hinata's body tense and saw all of the color that was once in her face drain.
"N-N-Neji nisan." Hinata managed to stutter out.
"Come. It is time to go home." He said simply.
"But we just got here." Ino complained. She was about to open her mouth to say more before Neji's cold eyes landed on her.
"I was sent by Hiashi, taken away from my training and my own schedule to come and retrieve the heiress of this clan. The fact that you two just sat down to stuff your faces instead of training, especially you, Yamanaka is something that does not concern me."
Ino suddenly felt self conscious of the half eaten dango sitting before her. She felt bloated. Now it was her turn to glare at the Hyuuga boy.
"Ino, it's okay. I w-w-will see y-you s-soon." Hinata stuttered as she slid out of her chair.
"Why does she have to go?" Ino demanded as she too slid from her chair.
"Because Hiashi-sama has summoned her." Neji replied simply.
Ino rolled her eyes. "It's barely one o' clock and you are dragging her away? What is there some type of Hyuuga curfew?" she asked.
"Ino, please." Hinata said from beside her.
"The affairs of our clan have nothing to do with you, Yamanaka. If you had any common sense in that stubborn head of yours, you would stay out of it. And Hinata- sama." Neji turned his attention to the still shaking heiress "You need to find better friends. Someone like this weak kunochi will just hold you back." he stated.
"Who the hell do you think you are? Last time I checked, you and I both got into the same exam. We both took the written test, we both made it through the forest of death, and we both are now fighting in the final tournament. You are not so high and mighty." Ino stated as she walked up to the Hyuuga boy, she realized a hair too late that she was too close, easily within striking distance of the byukagan. Damn I sound just like Shikamaru. And I am definitely too close.
"The difference is that I earned my place." Neji stated.
"And I didn't?" Ino demanded.
"Ino." Hinata said softly behind her, but Ino chose to ignore the girl.
"I saw you and your opponent. You almost lost the exam. And you are the top graduate of your class. Pathetic." Neji stated looking into her sapphire eyes.
Ino let out a sarcastic laugh. "And you did so much better? Hinata is no where near as strong as you. None of the rookies are, and yet you think that because you almost killed your own cousin that makes you better than me? If you had fought someone like Lee or those Sand genin maybe I would believe you." she said her hands on her hips.
Neji's byukagan instantly flared to life.
Gods damn, I need to keep my fucking mouth shut. Ino thought to herself as she quickly stepped back and out of Neji's reach. She watched as Neji raised his palms, but her view was partially blocked by a petite form that placed itself between her and him.
"C-come, N-Neji ni. I w-w-will accompany y-you home." Hinata said.
Neji chuckled before deactivating his byukagan. "Very well, Hinata-sama." He turned an amused glance at Ino, who had yet to shift out of her fighting stance. She really was beautiful with her eyes narrowed and the feeling of determination radiating off of her. She knew that she stood no chance against him, and yet she kept goading him on. He couldn't help but admire and scoff at her foolishness. With her temper and looks, she was the only kunochi who managed to break through his typically controlled demeanor. It irked him, and yet he couldn't help but egg her on.
Ino continued to glare at the other ninja as Hinata quickly gathered her things and giving Ino a slight wave quickly followed her cousin out the door.
Ino groaned and shoved her half eaten dango away from her.
She walked slowly home from the dango shop, thoughts of what a sexy asshole Neji was running through her head that she almost didn't see the figure standing before her home. She paused and narrowed her eyes trying to figure out who it was. Whoever it was had horrible posture and something on their back that made them look like a monster. Her eyes widened when she put two and two together. Shit how the hell did he figure out where I live? Has he been tailing me this entire time? Has he seen me yet?
Ino quickly ducked behind her neighbor's bushes and looked at the man who was waiting before her home. She took a deep calming breath and looked at the Dosu man. Well this is my one shot. She quickly began to weave the hand signs to attempt the hypnosis jutzu, she didn't have the time to waste to attempt to hold a conversation. Instantly the man's mind became visible, she watched the complex weavings of his neurons that were firing at a startling rate. She probed through his mind trying to figure out what he was thinking. She froze when she saw his thoughts. An image of her bloody body laying on the ground with him standing above.
Shit. He is going to really try to kill me.
She didn't bother trying to be subtle this time. She worked to change the image of herself into someone, anyone different from her. She changed the eye color of the bloody version of herself from sapphire blue to a dark brown color. The hair grew longer but instead was changed from platinum blond to black. Slowly the headband that was once worn around her waist was moved to the forehead and the insignia changed from that of a Konoha nin to that of a Sound Nin. She felt resistance from him as if he was trying to shake the image of Kin from his mind, obviously trying to figure out whey the hell the Yamanaka girl that he obviously wanted to kill was changing into his teammates. A girl that didn't even make it past the second round.
Ino shoved harder, not caring that she was wasting precious chakara. She just wanted him to go away. She fought against him keeping the image of his teammate present in his mind. The resistance slowly eased away. She felt sweat dripping down her brow as she continued to weave through his mind. I just hope that he doesn't turn around and kill his teammate she thought to herself as she planted the idea of just sparring with her in his mind instead of killing the sound kunochi.
She almost gasped when she saw him turn away and begin to walk down the street away from her home. She tensed, holding her breath and praying to whatever god would listen that her jutzu had worked and that he was really walking away. She watched as his shadow vanished and stayed in her hiding place. Her head felt heavy and she knew that her chakara was dangrously low from using it all to get the man to walk away. Slowly she felt her body lower itself to the ground and her eyes drift closed.
"Ino?" a voice asked. She opened her eyes slowly, she was still laying in the bushes. The outline of a pineapple was above her.
"Shikamaru?" she asked.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Nothing." Ino lied.
"Nothing caused you to pass out in my front yard?" he asked.
Ino blushed, and was suddenly thankful for the darkness. "Yeah, well you know." she said using the worst lie she had ever heard. She felt like Hinata.
"Ino. What happened?" Shikamaru demanded softly.
Ino remained silent. "I just over did it, okay." Ino replied.
"You're shaking." he said gently.
Ino sighed and yanked her hand from his grasp before climbing to her feet. "I have to get home, Shika." she replied. There is no way in hell that I am telling Shikamaru about that. He will only think that I am too weak to fight against Dosu. That or even worse he will get someone else involved. Things like this happen all the time. she thought to herself as she looked at her friend.
"Thanks, Shika. I'm going to head home." she replied tiredly.
"Ino" he began but she cut him off.
"It's fine. I'm fine. Don't worry." she said simply before turning and walking to her home. She managed to keep her pace slow and normal, feeling Shikamaru's eyes on her the entire time. She inserted her key into the lock and opened the door.
As soon as the door slammed shut, she slid to the ground and cried.