Crouching low on a large tree branch, Ino surveiled the surrounding forest. She was tucked away in its lush canopy of leaves, feeling secluded enough to begin her sensory training. Closing her eyes, the determined kunoichi focused her mind and chakra, seeking out her opponents. She had been steadily improving her abilities for the last two years, but she continuously tested herself, striving only for excellence. She needed to increase her speed, and that included pressuring herself with a multitude of challengers to ensure she would be well adept to handle the task, no matter the situation. Having fought through the war that ended a year ago, Ino realized that she needed to widen her training regimen, wanting to be exceptionally adaptable in any situation.
Kneeling along the craggy moss covered branch, she focused, brows pinching and lips pressed into a firm line. She was a stern vision of concentration as she focused on her surroundings, the buzzing hum of grasshoppers and cicadas along with the occasional shuffle of the tree leaves as the wind whipped through the foliage were the only sounds she immediately picked up on. Granted, it was rather tranquil and relaxing, but ultimately offered nothing in terms of training. She needed a challenge.
Since Choji was on leave to spend some time with his beloved Karui in Kumogakure, it left her and Shikamaru looking for another two man team to spar with. Luckily for them, Rock Lee and Gai Sensei liked spending most of their days off challenging each other in exhaustive, and downright ludicrous, ways. So when they bumped into a bored Neji and Tenten, they were more than happy to accept her invitation to train.
Choosing to backtrack closer to where the teams initially set off, she at least hoped that would increase the likeliness of picking up on one of their chakra signatures, since there were only two of them she and Shikamaru had to contend with today. Along her way, the distant sound of running water caught her attention. Taking a hard right, Ino diverted her steps toward the river that bisected the landscape of the training ground.
Upon reaching the largest tree along the riverbank, she once again began to focus, taking in the new surroundings, monitoring for any disturbances. With the rushing waters flowing beneath her, it was a new obstacle to overcome, but she was able to hone in on a few chirping birds in their nest about 150 yards west of her position. As she couldn't pick up on much else, it was quickly becoming an uneventful training session, but a ninja endures. All she had to do was wait, and listen.
Since she was unable to sense anyone around for quite some time, she honed back in on the bird family to the west. Making the seals she needed to signal her Mind Transfer jutsu, she locked onto her target of the adult bird in the nest. Hopefully, the use of its wings would give her the bird's eye view of the training ground, and a sneak peak at where everyone else was hiding. Much to her surprise, she was so focused she missed the flash of movement from above, and found herself seeing a whirlwind of color as she was knocked into a field of blue.
Suddenly, she was swimming... fast. Her fins carrying her through the water effortlessly, slicing through the currents at top speed. Gliding over brilliant corals, swirling under arches of glittering rock through the azure water that sparkled so brightly in the sunshine. The warmth percolated down through the churning sea, making her skin tingle, as she thirsted for the crisp relief of the sea breeze at the surface. She raced upwards, breaching the surface with ease and grace as she arched up and over the waves. That's when she noticed it.
A ship.
Wanting to get closer, she swam over towards where the ship was docked on the coast. It was rough and jagged with large rocks, a place so unkind, she could hardly understand why anyone would choose to dock their ship here. Using the swelling tide to bring her closer with each wave, she approached curiously, using the large rock to hide herself. From her view point, the ship appeared empty, no sign of any one or anything.
"Gotcha!" a deep voice shouted from above.
Following the sudden sound, she could only make out an outline of a man hovering above her, the sun blinding her as she tried to make out his face. She must've flinched from the surprise because she felt her grip slip, crying out as she fell back into the water. Upon falling, she slammed into the rocks that dotted the coastline beneath the tides, immediately feeling a crippling pain along the side of her head as she gasped in shock. Her head was spinning and throbbing as she felt the water swallow her sinking body. The light dimmed around her slowly as she felt the air leave her lungs, a trail of tiny bubbles floating above her towards the surface. Instinctively, her arms shot out in one last attempt to grasp anything to hold onto as she was carried away by the current.
Then she felt it.
Hands.
Hands that seemed to grab onto her and squeeze, warm arms wrapping around her and pulling her close to their body. She felt her head fall back against their chest, briefly thinking how pleasant this feeling was. Settling against the warm body that had wrapped itself around her, she let her eyes drift shut. But before the darkness could claim her, she felt her body being hurled through the air, her back hitting the ground with a jarring thud. At the sudden impact, she felt the choking return of air to her lungs, as she coughed up enough water to fill a canteen. Catching her breath, she rolled onto her back, squinting as she tried to make out the face of her savior looming over her. The sun was still behind him, but as his dark shadow slowly came into focus as he knelt beside her, she could make out his pale, glowing eyes.
"What's your name, handsome?" she pondered aloud, her hand running along the line of his jaw.
"You can't be serious," the man chastised, disbelief apparent in his tone as he stood and walked past two other shadowy figures behind him.
"Neji, take it easy. She just needs a minute to acclimate," one of their voices echoed.
It was so bright when she was finally able to open her eyes completely, but the blurry picture was vaguely familiar. Faces were crowded around her sprawled form on the ground. Trying to focus on each face, she quickly recognized her teammate and friends, but they looked concerned, well, at least two of them did.
"What just happened?" Ino questioned, looking around in confusion, "I was just swimming and saw a ship."
"Oh great, you're concussed."
"Calm down, Shikamaru," Tenten soothed, "She'll be alright soon enough. Just give her some time."
"Why'd you have to hit her so hard, Neji?"
"Isn't this training? What good would it do to hold back, Nara?"
"Doesn't mean you get to be as rough as you want. She's our medic and you split her head open."
"Shut it, both of you!" Tenten scolded, hating the fact that Rock Lee and Gai were off somewhere having fun walking on their hands while she was stuck with the brooding Mr. Fussy Britches.
"What's going on?" Ino asked, grabbing her head as it throbbed in pain.
"Ino-chan, you took a hit to the head and went down pretty hard. You fell out of the tree and into the river. Luckily, Neji was able to find you and pull you out. How are you feeling?"
"My head... it feels kind of funny," she admitted, wiping the tickle at her temple. "Am I bleeding?"
"Come on, let's get you standing. Tsunade definitely needs to take a look at that gash. Neji and Shikamaru, gather our supplies. We need to head back. Now."
At the feeling of being suddenly vertical, Ino slumped over, hands falling to prop herself up on her knees. Her head was still spinning and she was currently fighting the urge to be sick. The high pitched ringing in her ear was getting louder, but she had to push through it. Taking a deep breath, Ino lifted up and nodded to Tenten.
"Let's go. I'll be fine," the determined blonde reassured, falling into step beside Tenten as the group headed back towards town.
As she walked in front of him, Neji couldn't help but notice how her soaked clothing clung to her body. He also couldn't help notice how the small skirt she wore was pushed up and skewed by the rough river waters, slightly exposing the bottom of her fish net covered ass cheeks. Each step, each sway of her hips, taunted him as he was mesmerized by the alternating glimpses of flesh. He couldn't keep his eyes off her. Why did she have to rub up against him like that while he was pulling her to shore? Now he just wanted to take her roughly against the nearest tree. But that thought, however amusing, was cut off prematurely as he watched her body slump forward.
"Ahhh!" Ino screamed, gripping the sides of her head.
The high pitched ringing was suddenly louder, sharp pain radiating through her head as her mind began to feel fuzzy. Ino felt her body go limp as she was consumed in complete darkness. After a few seconds, a small picture emerged from the pitch black surrounding her. There in front of her, was her own body, face down on the ground.
Oh no... I transferred...
She knew all too well what the sensation of mind transference felt like, she just couldn't figure out why it was happening now. She didn't even make the seals to perform this jutsu, it should not have been physically possible. But here she was, stuck inside someone's mind. But whose?
Looking around, she pulled the last few memories out of the short term bank, and flipped through them. Stunned by what she saw and heard, she was frozen in disbelief. After overhearing a rather intense three-word command, Ino quickly released the jutsu, popping back into her own body with a dizzy wave of nausea.
"Gah! Ino, what the fuck?!" Neji fumed, grabbing his head as her presence left his mind.
Still reeling from what she found, she turned and pointed an accusatory finger at the Hyuga heir, narrowing her gaze on the man. "Y-you!"
"Ino..." Neji hissed, rubbing his temple, "Explain yourself."
"I think you should explain yourself."
Sure, she was a bit of a flirt and no stranger to lusting after someone, but the shit that went through that man's mind while he watched her was something else entirely. She had watched his eyes follow the curve of her breasts down to the mesh netting of her tiny purple top, lingering on the protruding nipple that was barely visible through the fabric. She had seen the way his eyes stayed glued to her ass as trekked back to the village, and heard what he wanted to do to it. It had initially made her blush, but the novelty of this experience was becoming increasingly hilarious to her. Never knowing the ol' stick-in-the-mud to even be capable of such lustful urges, Ino couldn't wait to spill the proverbial beans.
"What is she talking about?" Shikamaru interrupted, glancing between the two agitated shinobi currently staring each other down.
"Nothing," Neji answered quickly, grabbing the blonde by her elbow and pulling her off to the side away from the others.
"Stay out of my head, woman."
Ino gulped as his words were sharp enough to cut through the air between them. His usual diplomatic articulation was there, but the icy tone was a new touch.
"Wow, Neji. Never pegged you as a closet pervert. You're suddenly very interesting," she winked while biting on her bottom lip, teasing the man that had been caught red-handed.
"Classy, as always."
"You're just pissed I caught 'The Great Neji Hyuga' in a moment of instinctual perversity. You act all high and mighty, but on the inside… you're dying to do dirty, dirty things to me, aren't you?"
"Ino, think very carefully before making any accusations."
"I heard it Neji," she deadpanned, eyeing him with a raised brow. She wondered why he would even try to deny it, he obviously knew she was capable of finding the truth in his mind. That was kind of her thing.
Mercurial eyes met cerulean orbs as Neji closed the distance between them. Eyes narrowing, he leaned closer to her, his sneering face looming over her smug expression.
"And?" the Byakugan user interrogated from under his stern brow, as if he had done nothing wrong.
"And you, my dear, have a problem."
"Which is?"
"I'm telling everyone," Ino chuckled, rubbing her hands together with excitement. She thought this piece of juicy gossip would do just well for tonight.
It was Friday after all, which meant it was girls' night. She was bursting at the seams as it was, and she couldn't wait to gossip about their little mishap, and how revealing it had been. It would seem she and the girls had Neji all wrong. This sort of information was bound to cause a riot with her friends.
"You wouldn't dare..."
"Oh, Neji-kun," Ino chirped, "Who do you think you're talking to?"
"C'mon guys, let's go!" Tenten called over to them.
"This conversation isn't over," Neji promised, watching the infuriating woman walk away from him so jovially. Even with a head injury, she just couldn't help herself.
"We'll see," the smiling blonde called over her shoulder, she couldn't wait to see the frustrating man try to talk his way out of this one.
"It's to be expected," Tsunade clarified as she took her seat behind her desk to address everyone in the room. She paused to overlook the file that Shizune handed to her, nodding as she finished flipping through the charts and set it down on her desk.
"She took a hit of chakra and physical force to a very sensitive part of the brain, the part that is responsible for her mental jutsu connection. And for some reason, the blow caused a bit of a short circuit, causing the random misfire. These headaches are likely triggers, or precursors, for such a reaction. While it is unpleasant for both parties, it cannot be helped, and is only temporary. I'm not sure for how long, but it will eventually go away. I will say, the fact that she can pull the connection back after it has been randomly initiated is a good sign. This should likely dissipate in the next 24 hours, until then, someone needs to be with her at all times to watch after her if she does link in again. She almost drowned this time, let's not create a next time. Are we clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," the group replied collectively.
"You three know the most about her condition and will take turns staying by her side. Work out the schedule amongst yourselves. Ino, you and one other person will report back here in 24 hours, understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," she replied dispiritedly. She felt like a reprimanded child, now in need of having a babysitter.
I'm almost 19 for crying out loud, this is so unfair!
"Good. You are dismissed," Tsunade barked, waiving them off as she busied herself with more paperwork.
"C'mon," Tenten reassured, putting her hand on Ino's shoulders. "Let's go get ready for tonight at my place. We'll get you all cleaned up and then we'll go meet Hinata and Sakura-chan."
"Sounds good," Ino replied, smiling at the prospect of a hot shower.
She was soaked, starting to chafe, smelled of river water, and had something green tangled in her ponytail. On top of that, her head was still bothering her a little bit. Tsunade had healed the tear in her scalp, but the ache persisted. With everything that had happened today, she'd had almost no time to dissect her newfound knowledge. The fact that someone as uptight as Neji Hyuga was even capable of such thoughts, was a revelation. He was so surly and reserved, who knew he could have such a weakness?
After gathering a few items from her own apartment, Ino followed Tenten back to her place, where they both cleaned up and began to get ready for girls' night. It had been a long day, and they couldn't wait to meet up with their friends and indulge in food, drink, and gossip. They spent most days working and training hard, only to pick dirt from under their fingernails and out of wounds... but on Friday nights, they were picking out snacks and outfits. It was a simple pleasure, really, but one she very much looked forward to each week.
They usually met Hinata at the Hyuga manor, and started their evening in the private tea room. They would partake in the fanciest of treats and champagne drinks the manor had to offer, then they would go downtown and party their faces off. Sometimes it was just drinks at a bar, and other times, they wanted to dance until dawn. Some nights, they didn't even have to leave the Hyuga property to have fun. Part of the excitement was letting the evening plan itself, just letting go and enjoying a night out with your closest friends. They all stayed so busy these days, but at least they still had this one standing commitment. No head injury could keep her from attending, and neither could he.
Was she amused by the indecent comments from Neji? Yes. Was she thrilled at the prospect of seeing him again so soon afterward? Not particularly. She was still formulating a plan in regards to dealing with him, but she wouldn't need to worry about that tonight. Neji lived clear on the other side of the building, so she highly doubted they would run into each other tonight, much to her relief.