Shifted
by Rylarei

Summary: Lying had always come easy to her, but she never thought she'd have to lie about this. Life sure has a way of making the unlikely happen. A new spin on the Team 7 dynamic. Ino-centric. Ocean Ripples rewrite. "You're like the wind, gentle and soft one moment, then harsh and cutting the next."

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter Two

The sun shone brightly that morning, bringing with it the sweet song of birds. Ino yawned as she stretched. Downstairs, she could already hear her parents arguing. It was always about her, although she never knew why. She'd learned to tune them out long ago. Daddy would spoil her, and Mother would teach her womanly things with a strictness that directly countered her father's attempts at making her into a spoilt little brat. All in all, she didn't really mind. She loved both her parents and she knew they loved each other as well as her, so she ignored it. She cringed as she heard something crash downstairs. Well, she mostly ignored it. She sighed.

This was her last month as an Academy student. She stared at herself in the mirror. Her hands were unblemished, not even a single callous on her fingers. Her hair was long and silky, looking like molten gold when she stepped into the sun. Her figure, she admitted, was scrawny and not at all womanly. But she would grow in time. She was just a late bloomer!

Although others had ridiculed her for her appearance, saying it wasn't right for a ninja to be 'pretty,' she dismissed them. Tsunade-hime was attractive, and she was a revered kunoichi! Besides, if their kunoichi classes taught her anything, it was that her looks made it easier for her to blend into a civilian crowd. Who would think that a shallow looking girl like her could easily kill a grown man? She frowned, staring at a blemish on her forehead. Really? She'd have to cover that up later. She had to look good if she wanted to stay on top of the foodchain in the Academy. She sighed, such was her life now.

Ino quickly got ready and headed downstairs, where her parents were still fighting. She kissed her father on the cheek as she skipped out of the house, grabbing a piece of toast on the way out. "Ino!" her mother shouted after her. She was likely mad about her not staying for breakfast. Whatever, she'd get over it. Who'd want to sit with a bickering couple at seven in the morning?

Her skipping slowed to a light jog as she reached Sakura's street. All these years and she still hadn't gotten over the girl's betrayal. She should really find a new route to school. She shrugged, there was only a month left, anyway.

"What are you doing here?!" an annoying voice screeched. Ino felt her eye twitch. Wow, maybe she should've stayed to eat breakfast, it would probably be better than hearing Sakura yell obscenities at her. What the hell was the girl's problem anyway? Ino always walked this route, even when they were still best friends. Deciding that it was too much trouble to get into a catfight now, Ino stayed quiet, pulling ahead of the other girl.

Sakura being Sakura, thought it was a competition and so glared as she quickly tried to breeze past her. Ino rolled her eyes. Really? The pinkette could be really petty at times. Said pinkette then decided to push her as she ran full speed towards the Academy. Okay, really? Forget what she said. Sakura was petty. Period.

Ino growled as they reached Iruka-sensei's class. She was getting tired of this whole rivalry thing. Maybe she should just call it off? But then all those years of raining on Sakura's thunder would be for nothing. She sighed. One more month, she thought. That was it. After that, they'd have their ninja careers to focus on. Maybe Sakura would mature after that? She snorted. Unlikely.

Ino had lost control of the girls in their year to Sakura after their falling out. Don't ask her how, the pink-haired girl probably spun some sob story that made her seem like a villain or something. Not that it mattered to her. She was smarter, stronger, and generally better than the other girl at everything that mattered anyway. Besides, she still had Shikamaru and Choji. They'd never abandon or betray her. Unlike someone. Call her bitter, but she had the right to be.

"What are you brooding about now?" came Shikamaru's exasperated voice. She blinked sheepishly at him. Was she really that easy to read? He raised a brow at her. "So?"

"Nothing, just thinking about how this is our last month at the Academy," she bluffed.

"We'll finally get to be real ninja," Choji interjected.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at them. "What's so great about being a ninja, anyway?" He gave her a look that told her he clearly didn't believe her. She smiled brightly at him, trying to convince her that she was fine.

"Alright class," Iruka-sensei called. Everyone turned their attention to him. "Partner up, we're going to be doing class exercises based off of yesterday's lessons today."

Ino groaned. She hated pairwork. Shika and Choji would always pair up so she was stuck trying to look for some poor soul who had no partner. And usually, that was either Sasuke or Naruto. Naruto wasn't so bad, he listened to her instructions whenever they paired up, but he was generally clueless about everything since he didn't go to class much. She didn't know how he was going to graduate to be honest. But Sasuke, believe it or not, was the worst partner ever. He always hogged the exercises and would barely give her enough time to put in her own input. Who did he think he was? Seriously, what did Sakura see in this jerk?

Unluckily for her, it seemed like Naruto and Hinata had somehow gotten paired so she was stuck with the broody Uchiha this time. Ugh. "Hi, Sasuke," she said cheerily. "Guess we're partners again, huh?" All she got was a grunt in response. She rolled her eyes at him. She thought that maybe after all the years they'd been classmates and partners, he'd be able to say more than just a small 'hn' at her, but sadly it seemed like it would never happen.

Sasuke was already answering the exercises when she sat down and peered at the paper. It was basic stuff, just questions about what they should do given a certain scenario. But Iruka-sensei liked to incorporate all their lessons into their exercises so the answers wouldn't be simple 'I'll hide in the alleyway in a corner until the enemy nin pass' but more like 'I'll henge into a dumpster and lay traps while I wait for the enemy nin to either discover me or pass by me.'

There was a question about what they would do if all they had was a needle and thread and they were caught as a spy in enemy territory. She frowned at Sasuke's obvious answer of using jutsu to dispose of the enemy nin.

"You could use the needle like a senbon and hit him in his neck to induce a blackout. Then you could arrange the room to make it look like he was drunk and had taken his anger out on you, effectively faking your death. Don't you think that would be something more fitting for an espionage mission?" she said, and he looked up at her in surprise. He narrowed his eyes at the exercise sheet, contemplating her answer before sighing and letting her add it below his. She grinned triumphantly. This was only the sixth time he'd let her put in her answers on the sheet. Usually he'd acknowledge she'd spoken and then dismiss her as if her answers bothered him. Sure, she was unconventional, but that was her strength! Who said you weren't allowed to henge yourself into money to fool bandits?

He stood up and submitted their answer sheet. "Did you let Ino-chan put her answers in this time, Sasuke-kun?" Iruka-sensei chuckled. He smiled her above the sheet. "You guys can go."

"Great!" she exclaimed as she eyed Sakura. "I get Sasuke-kun all to myself now." Sasuke shot her a glare at that.

Once they reached the hall outside, she dropped her cheery disposition. Sasuke eyed her warily. "Say, Sasuke," she started. "Do you want to train with me?" He narrowed his eyes at her again. They stood in silence for a while as they stared at one another. It was getting to the point of being awkward before he grunted and motioned for her to lead on. She grinned. "Yay!" she squealed.

They headed towards Training Field Two, her favorite spot since it had a lake next to it. Something about the watery depths always seemed calming to her.

"Spar?" she offered. He raised a brow at her before nodding. She grinned. "No weapons, no jutsu. Just plain taijutsu," she laid out the rules as she stretched. She watched him do his own stretching. His stretched seemed to focus a lot more on his legs, while she made sure to stretch to keep her body flexible.

"You say when," he said softly. His voice had a nice ring to it, if Ino had to liken it to something, she'd say it would be like honey. She nodded in response. She settled into a low stance, one that allowed for her to bend and weave, yet run at a moment's notice.

"Begin!"

Sasuke rushed her, intent on using his superior speed then take her out with force. She smiled. Sure, he was faster, but she was crafty. She'd never let him take her down easily. So when he tried for a low sweep, she back-flipped out of the way, making sure to hit him in the face with her long ponytail. Suppressing a giggle at his incredulous expression, she let off a low kick of her own. If he thought she'd be easy, he had another thing coming for him.

The sun bore on them as the afternoon progressed. Soon enough, the two teens were panting from the sparring session. "Enough," Ino groaned. It was clear to her why Sasuke was named the Rookie of the Year. He was leagues ahead of their class. "You fight pretty well," she complimented.

He sent her a sidelong glance as he wiped the sweat off his brow. "You're not so bad yourself," he admitted begrudgingly. She grinned. Of course she wasn't! While he was Rookie of the Year, she was still Kunoichi of the Year. That wasn't just a title, you know!

"Thanks for this," she said. "I really appreciate it. Shika's too lazy to spar with me and Choji doesn't want to hit me."

He stared at her for a bit before shrugging. "We could do it again," he offered. She blinked owlishly at him. Had Sasuke actually offered to spend time with her? "There aren't many people who can make me work at winning," he explained.

She grinned. "Sure!"

Author's Note:

Hi guys, hope you like this chapter. We're finally getting to see some SasuIno. Please review. Did I do the characters justice? Is it too OOC? Let me know!