Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Glee. So, more team 7 and team 10 shenanigans this chapter, so I hope you all enjoy.
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xXx-Chapter 19-xXx
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"You seem to be in a very good mood." Megumi says with a smile to her daughter.
"I believe fantastic is the word you're looking for, I'm in a fantastic mood." Quinn laughs, "It just feels so good to be out of that cast." The mother and daughter had just left the hospital where Quinn had just had the cast on her arm removed as well as being cleared physically for active duty.
"I hate casts." Quinn sighs, gently rubbing her now free arm. "I always have."
"Always? I wasn't aware you'd been hurt before this?" Megumi asks, amused.
Quinn however felt her heart stop for a moment. Back in her old world she'd broken both of her arms, once each, as well as her left femur. The pain sucked, sure, but it was those damn casts that had really made it miserable. They had itched and smelled and were extremely uncomfortable. Luckily here, the medical jutsu that the doctors had helped speed up her recovery at a remarkable rate, however she had still been stuck in a cast for almost two weeks.
In her old world, the fastest one of her broken limbs had ever healed was four weeks and that was with just a single clean break. Her arm here had been subjected to two clean breaks and more than a few hairline fractures from the force of Mizuki's chakra enhanced kick. But with the help of medical ninjutsu her arm had been healed in less than two. Unfortunately, in-spite of having access to medical jutsu, she still had to wear a cast and she had hated every second of it.
"I… uh… I just, I hated the idea of them before all of this happened." Quinn mumbles, trying to hide her nerves. She was always so careful to never mention her other world or any experience she had back there, and while what she had said wasn't enough to worry too much about in and of itself, if she wasn't careful it could lead to some very awkward questions that Quinn would never, ever, want to answer. "It's very claustrophobic don't you think? Being restrained like that? Plus, you know, I just felt so clumsy with it on, kind of like a bull in a china shop."
"I could see that. I remember this time your father broke his leg, this was back when we were just starting to date mind you, you'd think he'd had it amputated for how much he whined and moaned about it. It was very hard to be a sympathetic girlfriend by the end of it, I'm not sure which of us was more relieved when he finally had it removed." Megumi chuckles and Quinn does too, because she could just imagine her father in that situation.
"Yeah daddy can be a little…"
"Goofy at times." Megumi says with a laugh.
"I really didn't want to be the one to say it." Quinn with a grin.
"Yes, he's the love of my life and he loves me and you girls with all of his heart but he certainly has his quirks. We all do I guess, except for me of course, I'm completely normal." Megumi says with a wink.
"…"
"You brat." Megumi laughs as she bumps shoulders with her daughter, Quinn giggles as well.
"How do you think Ino's doing?" Quinn asks after a moment of silence had settled on them. Right now Ino was with her team doing some kind of test to see if she'd actually graduated or was going to be sent back to the academy.
"Oh, I suspect that she's doing just fine." Megumi answers. "She and your father were up late last night talking about it, Ino was worried about her team placement."
Quinn nods her head, indicating that she was aware.
"Anyway, I think it helped because she looked like she was feeling much better by the time they were done. And besides, even if she is a little nervous about her placement, I've never known your sister to let anything stand in her way, when she wants something she goes for it and failure has never been an option for her, for either of you really."
"Yeah, that sound like Ino." Quinn says softly, "I just know she was disappointed that we weren't on a team together, so am I to be honest."
"This is going to be a very interesting time in your lives. Both you and your sister have always done everything together, but now with you entering the shinobi forces that's not always going to be possible. It's okay for you and your sister to miss one another and you should take every opportunity you can to spend time with each other and your friends as well, but you should also embrace this change. You both are going to meet so many new and different kinds of people, and I'll admit, some of them you'll wish you hadn't, but as for the others…" Here Megumi wraps an arm around her daughter, "They'll be the start of the kinds of friendships that will last a life time."
Quinn smiles up at her mother and squeezes in just a little closer. She can tell her mother is still really worried for her and her sister but that she was trying to stay positive for the both of them. She had worried for the both of them before, but now that the time was here and they were about to start their careers for real it seemed that her worry had multiplied. The fight with Mizuki certainly hadn't helped with that either.
On the other hand Quinn had noticed the almost physical shift Ino, Naruto, and Sakura after her encounter with Mizuki and it seemed to have really driven home to them that this wasn't a game. Not that they had taken this lightly before but it was different now, more real to them and anything that helped them survive was a good thing in Quinn's book.
They reach the flower shop that her family owned and that her mother ran. It did fairly good business, but it wasn't a huge money maker. Most of their money came through the clan and even from cuts from the pay received by Yamanaka shinobi, but it did alright and her mother loved it. Quinn didn't even bother to pretend to try and understand the nuances of inter and intra clan politics or economics. Luckily for her she was born second so all of that was going to be Ino's headache someday not hers. Quinn enjoyed the flower shop though, as did Ino, it was an easy paced and peaceful place to work where the two of them would spend a couple hours a week helping out for their allowances.
Quinn flips the closed sign to open as they step inside and then begins to go around and water the flowers, meanwhile her mother takes care of the other opening duties. Quinn had volunteered to use her last day of freedom, so to speak, helping out at the shop. Tomorrow she had her meeting with the psychologist to check on her mental state and she wanted to use the rest of the day to start training again. Thursday, she would be meeting with whoever her sensei was going to be. So she wanted to spend today doing something easy and mindless as well as spending time with her mother.
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xXx-Scene Break-xXx
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"Welcome to our shop, my name is Rin how can I- Naruto, Sakura! Hey guys, so how'd it go?" Quinn asks excitedly as Naruto and Sakura enter the shop, she goes out from behind the counter to great them properly.
"We did it!" Naruto cheers as he runs up to her and hugs her. "We kicked Kakashi sensei's ass, completed the test and passed!"
Sakura smiles as she comes up to them at a more sedate pace. "I wouldn't say we kicked his ass, but we did pretty good."
"Well, tell me everything." Quinn beams as she wraps an arm around both of her friends, and leads them back to the break room. "Mom, Naruto and Sakura are here, I'll be in the back with them for a bit!" She calls out.
"Alright, don't take too long though!" Her mother calls back.
Once the three of them are all seated Quinn gets right to the point, "Alright, tell me everything, what happened, how did it go?"
Naruto leans forward eagerly but pauses for a moment before looking at Sakura, "Well… it was because of you that we passed, do you want to tell the story?"
Sakura grins at him, knowing that saying that took all of Naruto's self-control, "We did it together, go ahead, I'm just here to keep you honest."
Naruto sticks his tongue out at her before looking back at Quinn. "Alright so here's what happened-"
Quinn listened attentively as Naruto recounted their story, enjoying her friend's enthusiasm and excitement, occasionally glancing at Sakura who would roll her eyes indulgently whenever Naruto was obviously exaggerating. Although there were a couple of times when Quinn would glance over at her, sure that Naruto was exaggerating but Sakura would be nodding along. When Naruto finally got to the part where he and Sasuke distracted Kakashi one last time Quinn got a bit of surprise. She glances over at Sakura when she hears that the other girl had learned how to open the first gate and actually use it.
"Sakura, that's incredible."
"I know, right!" Naruto cheers, "She was so fast I could barely even see her move!"
"It's no big deal…" Sakura says, blushing furiously.
"Yes, it is. I haven't even been able to do it and believe me I've tried. Opening the gates is a difficult task, most shinobi never even bother to try to learn how. I'm so proud of you."
Sakura ducks her head and offers a quiet, "Thanks." Although on the inside she was screaming. Rin was proud of her!
"Better watch out Rin, we've only been on a team for like a day and already Sakura is doing awesome stuff, pretty soon we'll be stronger than you." Naruto teases.
Quinn just rolls her eyes, but she honestly hoped so. "So you got the bells, then what happened?"
Naruto rushes over to Sakura who is slowly making her way off the water. Kakashi has a surprised and appraising look in his visible eye as he watches them. The three of them were much more skilled than he had initially given them credit for and the fact that they actually managed to grab the bells off of him was impressive. None of the other teams had ever managed that before, at least not both of them. Still, getting the bells wasn't the real test.
"Alright Sakura, you have both the bells, who's passing and who's going back to the academy?" Kakashi asks.
Sakura looks down at the bells and smiles a soft, sad sort of smile before nodding her head resolutely. She then turns to Naruto who has reached her and hands him a bell before tossing the other bell to Sasuke. "Naruto and Sasuke pass, I'll be the one going back to the academy."
"Very well-"
"No!" Naruto shouts. "No, this isn't fair, we never would have gotten the bells without you Sakura!"
"It's okay Naruto, really." Sakura says. "So I spend another year at the academy, yeah, it kind of sucks but I'll be fine, really."
Naruto shakes his head. "No, Kakashi sensei, Sakura gets my bell I'll be the one going back to the academy."
"Naruto, no."
"Yes, besides it's not like I couldn't use it. I'll spend the time picking up where I kind of slacked off at and when I graduate again I'll be even stronger than ever, believe it!" Naruto says with a grin giving Sakura back the bell.
"But Naruto, what about your dream? You want to be Hokage someday and I can't just stand here and let you be held back."
Naruto just shakes his head, "Forget it, I'll become Hokage one day no matter what, a little set back like this is no big deal, believe it! Besides, what kind of Hokage would I be if I let you make a sacrifice like this for me? You worked really hard Sakura, you deserve to graduate and to pass this test."
"But so do you." Sakura says, feeling both touched and frustrated by her friend.
Naruto shrugs his shoulders, "Yeah, maybe, but of the two of us I'm the one who would get the most out of another year at the academy."
"Not really, that's just a lot of book study, you learn best by doing, I'm the one who would get more out of it, this is a chance for you to really jump in and learn. You'll grow so much stronger now that you're on a team and-"
Naruto shakes his head furiously, "No, I won't pass if you don't. You earned this Sakura, please."
"No way, I'm not going to let you fail, I couldn't live with myself if I ever held you back."
"Would you stop being so stubborn!"
"I'm not the one who's being stubborn!"
"Oh my god, would you both shut up! Here!" Sasuke shouts, grabbing their attention and tossing his bell to Naruto. "We passed because of Naruto's seal and Sakura's plan. They pass, I'll go back to the academy, if only to escape being on a team with only one of them and having to listen the other whine about it for the rest of eternity."
"Sasuke, that wasn't part of our deal, we agreed you would get one of the bells, you earned it." Sakura says.
"Besides, I may have made the seal but you're the one who placed it… I couldn't have done that. Keep the bell." Naruto says, although the look on his face as he says this looks as if he's swallowed a mouthful of straight vinegar.
"Look, would you two just keep them, I honestly couldn't care less about who I'm on a team with and it obviously means a lot to the two of you to be on a team. I only have one goal, being at the academy for another year won't affect it one way or the other."
Sakura and Naruto share a look, an entire conversation passing in just a glance and the two of them nod their heads in agreement. "Kakashi-sensei, I can't in good conscience accept a bell or pass if it means one of these two don't. Send me back to the academy." Sakura says.
Naruto shakes his head and grins, "I thought I was going to be free of that place and become a full-fledged ninja but… I can't accept a bell either if it means one of these two don't pass. Yeah, I want to pass but not if I don't like who I'm going to be if I do. I know ninjas sometimes have to do bad things, but I won't ever screw over my friends or teammates to get ahead."
Kakashi looks at Naruto and Sakura and then to Sasuke who doesn't say anything but he nods his head, indicating that he's not going to accept a pass at the expense of the others, either. Kakashi gives them all a big grin, not that they could actually see his smile with his mask on. "Well then, it seems I have no choice…"
Kakashi felt like he was flying high, counting these three he had tested a total of seven teams, that's a total of twenty one people. And this, this right here with these three were only ones who got it, who put each other first. Naruto and Sakura got it instinctually, Sasuke would take a little more work but even he was leaps and bounds above everyone else he had tested. "You all pass." Kakashi had to hold back a chuckle at the looks of shock on each of their faces.
"We pass?" Naruto cocks his head to the side in confusion, "We pass!" He cheers before wrapping Sakura in a huge bear hug and spinning her around, "We pass, we pass, we pass!"
"Are you serious sensei, do we really pass?" Sakura asks, hopeful, after Naruto sets her down.
"Yes. The point of this test was to pit you all against each other, I wanted to see if you would look past your own selfish desires and work together to get those bells, even if it meant that one of you would have to be sacrificed for the others. And you did, you all worked together, and not only that, but not one of you was willing to let another person fail in your place, you put each other first. Even if you had gotten the bells but hadn't done that, if you had all willingly sacrificed a teammate for your own gain, I would have still failed you."
"So the whole point of this was to test our… teamwork?" Sasuke asks, confused, not quite believing it.
Kakashi nods his head. "Whether you got the bells or not was irrelevant, it was whether or not you could all put aside your differences and your friendships to come together as a team. And you all did just that, so, you pass. Remember as a ninja the mission comes first and there may come a day when one of you must sacrifice yourselves for the good of the mission. Those who abandon their mission are considered trash of the lowest sort, however, I believe… that those who abandon their comrades are even lower than that."
"So that's what happened." Naruto finishes with a grin.
"I like that," Quinn says, "I think that Kakashi has the right idea of it. Work together and that your team comes first, even before the mission."
"It's not exactly what we were taught in the academy is it, but you know, I like it a lot better. It feels right." Sakura says. "You were right about Kakashi-sensei too, he is strong and after today, I know Naruto and I are going to learn a lot from him."
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xXx-Scene Break-xXx
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"I'm home." Ino calls out, it was early in the evening before she was released for the day. After the test, and after she had given the antidote to Asuma-sensei he had taken them out to lunch to get to know them better, as well as to give them their work schedules.
"Ino!" Quinn shouts as she rushes over to her sister and wraps her in a big hug, "you're home! How did it go, did you pass! How were Shikamaru and Chouji, do I need to pay them a visit? I've been waiting to hear from you all day!"
Ino laughs, "It's good to see you too Rin, and of course I passed, was there ever any doubt?" Ino says with cheeky grin.
Quinn gives her a confident smile, "Of course not. So tell me what happened?"
"Sure, sure, but first, where are mom and dad?"
"Dad's still at work, and mom is closing up the shop so it's just me here right now. I was actually going to start dinner as a surprise for everyone."
"Great, I'll help."
"And you can tell me everything." Quinn adds.
"Yes, and I'll tell you everything."
The two sisters head into the kitchen and begin to prepare dinner Ino begins her story.
"Okay, so you were right when you said Daddy would know how to handle Shikamaru and Chouji. He said he had similar trouble when he first started out on a team with Uncle Shikaku and Uncle Chouza."
"Really, so what did you do?"
"Well Chouji was the easiest to handle, but Shikamaru was the most fun." Ino giggles.
It was two hours before Ino and her team were supposed to meet up with Asuma-sensei and have their test. Her father had told her how to handle the two boys and so Ino went to Chouji's first. She knocks on the door and bows and smiles pleasantly when her aunt Miso answers the door.
"Oh! Ino, how wonderful to see you dear. Are you here to see Chouji?"
"Yes ma'am. And you too actually, I was hoping I could speak to the both of you. Uncle Chouza as well if he's here."
"Of course dear, unfortunately Chouza has left already but please come on in. What's this all about?"
"Well, as you are probably aware, Chouji and I are on a team and-"
"Oh yes, little Chouji is so excited about that."
"Really?"
"Oh yes, he has such a… never mind. He's just excited." Miso says with a giggle and a blush.
"I'm excited too, but I'm also a little nervous and so I'm afraid I may have started things off on the wrong foot with him. So I wanted to clear the air between us as well as help him so that he can excel and be the very best that he can be."
"That's very kind of you Ino. Why don't you have a seat here and I'll go grab him, he's probably still sleeping." Miso says with an exasperated sigh.
About a minute later Chouji comes downstairs with his mother, he's still in his pajamas. "Ino!? What are you doing here so early?" Chouji asks nervously.
"I came to clear the air between us and to work things out. We're on a team and so we need to work together to be the best that we can, don't you agree?"
"Um… uh, yes?"
"Great." Ino says as Chouji and her Aunt Miso both take seats across from her. "Well then let me start this off by saying I'm glad you and I can be on a team together."
"Really?" Chouji asks, looking both surprised and hopeful.
"Yes."
"Because you seemed kind of upset yesterday…"
"That had more to do with Shikamaru than anything, I was frustrated and disappointed that I couldn't be on a team with my sister or friends and Shikamaru and I are like oil and water on the best of days, but that doesn't mean I was disappointed to be with you Chouji. I just let my frustration get the better of me and for that I apologize."
Chouji chuckles, his tone friendly and forgiving. "No worries Ino. I mean I know I'd be disappointed if I couldn't be on Shikamaru's team."
"Thank you. And now for the part that you might not like so much and why I wanted you to be here Aunt Miso."
Chouji gulps nervously, knowing exactly what Ino was going to bring up while Aunt Miso looks politely curious. "Yes dear, what is it?"
"It's about Chouji's diet. It needs to change from nothing but junk food to something that is going to be much more beneficial for him. But I freely acknowledge and respect that as a member of the Yamanaka clan I don't have a first hand knowledge of what an Akimichi needs to be able to perform his clan techniques. I just know that what I see him usually eat and snack on is not something that is conducive to a regular Shinobi's career, let alone a Shinobi who uses such calorie intensive techniques like Chouji does."
Aunt Miso looks troubled, "What do you mean dear, I make sure he has plenty of things to eat for the day and that they are packed with proteins and healthy carbs. Why do you think there is something wrong with them?"
Ino looks curiously over at Chouji and Aunt Miso follows her gaze over to Chouji who sinks into his chair with a guilty look on his face.
"Chouji, what's happening to the food I prepare for you?" Aunt Miso asks, her voice gentle but firm enough to show that she wanted the truth and would know if he was lying.
"I… I toss it out and usually snack on… other stuff…"
"What kind of other stuff?" Aunt Miso asks, starting to sound a little annoyed.
"Um… you know, snack stuff?"
"Chouji."
Chouji lets out a defeated sigh. "Potato chips, small cakes, deep fried meats, candy bars, and… I'm sorry mom."
"Chouji, you know better than that." Aunt Miso scolds him. "You're a shinobi now, you need to be at your best and how can that happen when you're filling up on nothing but garbage. And to lie about it as well-"
Ino chooses this moment to intercede. "I think the important thing at this point is to get Chouji back on track."
"Oh, he'll be getting back on track alright. There will be no more sweets for you young man you can be sure of that, and just you wait until I tell your father. I spend every morning making you delicious healthy snacks and you toss them out to gorge on junk food-"
"Aunt Miso, perhaps this is a good opportunity for Chouji to learn." Ino interjects, she didn't want Chouji to get in trouble, that was counterproductive to her being here.
"Oh?"
"Well… instead of you making meals and snacks for him, have him help you. The two of you can work out a meal plan together, that way you can oversee that he is eating healthier and he still gets to eat what he likes." Here Ino decides to throw Chouji a bone. "And you know, instead of having him quit eating sweets cold turkey why don't we wean him off. Slowly remove the junk and replace it with more nutritional options, that way it's not so hard for him."
Aunt Miso nods her head approvingly. "Yes, I think that sounds doable. What do you say Chouji, does this sound fair."
Chouji nods his head, "Yeah, it does. I'm sorry mom."
"Chouji, dear this is about you. Our clan's techniques require massive amounts of chakra and calories to perform, if you aren't eating enough and if you aren't eating healthy enough you could seriously hurt yourself, or you could not have the energy to sustain a technique, or it might not have enough power behind it. A healthy diet is important for all shinobi but it is absolutely vital for you."
"Chouji, this isn't a bad thing or a punishment, this is so you can be the very best you can be. We're a team now and we have to look out for each other. I'm not here to get you in trouble or make your life miserable, I'm here to help you and I will. Whatever you need, whatever I can do to help, I will." Ino says.
Chouji nods his head and gives Ino a shy and appreciative smile, "I know, thanks Ino. And you're right, I do need to work harder and… you had every right to be upset to be placed on a team with me, but… I'll try harder okay, I promise."
"I know you will, I'm not worried." Ino says with a smile. "Aunt Miso, would it be okay if Chouji and I headed out, I still need to speak to Shikamaru and I'd like Chouji to be there as well?"
Aunt Miso chuckles, "Well you're certainly making rounds this morning. Of course it's okay dear, and Chouji when you get home we'll start working out a new diet for you alright. One that you can enjoy and that will also give you what you need."
Quinn bumps shoulders with her sister affectionately as the two of them chop vegetables. "Alright, so you won Chouji over. Good job on that one sis."
Ino giggles, "Chouji's alright, he's got a good heart, he just needed a push in the right direction."
"And what about Shikamaru, how did you win him over?"
Ino grins at her. "Blackmail."
Ino felt like her birthday had come early this year. When she and Chouji had reached Shikamaru's house and she had knocked on the door it was her Aunt Yoshino who answered the door and she looked pissed.
"Good morning Aunt Yoshino." both Ino and Chouji chorus together with a polite bow.
The scowl on her face disappears and is replaced with a genuine smile. "Good morning Chouji, and you too Ino. It's been a while."
"Yes ma'am it has."
"How are you and how's your family? Is Rin feeling better?"
"I'm doing well and so is my family, and Rin is recovering nicely, thank you for asking. Um, Aunt Yoshino, is Shikamaru available. We have our genin test today and Chouji and I wanted to spend the morning preparing, we thought we would invite Shikamaru along as well. It's an important day for us and so we can't slack off."
Aunt Yoshino looks upstairs and scowls when Ino says 'slack off,' "Oh, he's available. Please come in, I'll grab him for you." She says before heading upstairs.
"I think you're enjoying this a little too much." Chouji says with a quiet chuckle. "And it's really not fare of you to sick Aunt Yoshino onto Shikamaru."
"I'm a ninja, since when do I have to play fair. Also, what's wrong with enjoying your work?" Ino giggles.
They hear a crash upstairs. "I'm up! I'm up!"
Ino lets out a content sigh and Chouji rolls his eyes, their families spent most major holidays together and while they weren't the best of friends they had all grown up together so he was used to Ino and Shikamaru's antics. Usually he hung out with Rin who refereed the other two before they could ever take anything too far. Rin said that they enjoyed the fighting more than they let on and Chouji was inclined to agree.
"Great, what are you doing here?" Shikamaru scowls, "Hey Chouji." He adds after the fact.
Instead of snapping back though Ino adopts a look of contrition and hurt that even Shikamaru might have thought was real if he hadn't caught the dangerous glint in her eyes before she did it.
"Excuse you young man?" Aunt Yoshino growls coming up behind him. Shikamaru's back stiffens and he slightly pails as he can sense the anger radiating off of his mother, "What did you just say to a guest in MY home?"
"Shikamaru… todays the day of the test, you know… and… and I thought that maybe if we got together and worked out plan that maybe we could pass. It's just that if we fail this we'll go back to the academy and we… we all worked so hard. I just want us to succeed, all of us." Ino's eyes water up, and she looks close to tears.
Shikamaru and Chouji both think the same thing though with very different tones, 'Evil.'
"It's okay, don't cry dear. I think it's a wonderful idea you had and I know for a fact my son is going to do everything in his power to help you all pass today."
"Agh, but… she-" Shikamaru stutters, aghast that his normally shrewd mother was falling for this.
"She and Chouji took the effort to come over here and offer to help you succeed at something you should want to do on your own, you are not going ignore that, especially after you were so rude. So go get dressed, now. If you're not out the door in ten minutes, gods help me I swear I'll-"
"I'm going, I'm going!" Shikamaru yelps, taking off upstairs to get dressed.
"That boy, it's the most motivated I've seen him all year." Aunt Yoshino sighs, "I don't know what we're going to do with him."
"Don't worry Aunt Yoshino, Chouji and I will look after him."
"Thank you, both of you. And Ino, great job on the tears, they felt so real." Aunt Yoshino laughs.
Ino perks up, "Really, they weren't too much? I thought it might have been a bit much."
"No, not at all. It really sold it. You're certainly coming along as a kunoichi. Hopefully your good habits will rub off on him."
"Thank you Aunt Yoshino, that means a lot coming from you." And it did, her Aunt Yoshino had been a very powerful Kunoichi in her day.
"Wait… I'm confused?" Chouji says.
"Aunt Yoshino is a fully trained kunoichi, I knew I wouldn't fool her for a second. And since Shikamaru has… such a poor work ethic-"
"That's diplomatic." Chouji laughs.
"Shut up," Ino scowls playfully, "Since he has such a poor work ethic, I figured a little fear to motivate him won't do him any harm."
"Certainly not. His father was never like this." Aunt Yoshino says.
"And so he doesn't need to know Aunt Yoshino is in on it, plus I have one more card up my sleeve to ensure that he gives this one hundred percent."
"Well then, I better let you get to it." Aunt Yoshino laughs before shouting upstairs. "Shikamaru! You better be down here in ten seconds or I'm coming up!"
Ino and Chouji both chuckle as they hear an increase of scampering and scurrying upstairs. "You two have a great day, and please look after Shikamaru. I'm really worried about him."
"We will." Both Chouji and Ino respond.
Aunt Yoshino gives them both a grateful smile before she leaves them be.
"Wait, hold up a second, how did you know Aunt Yoshino would play along?" Quinn asks curiously.
"Daddy. He told me that Aunt Yoshino was furious that Shikamaru finished dead last in the entire academy and that even Uncle Shikaku was really disappointed. I figured that if I showed up eager to work and get Shikamaru to come along, Aunt Yoshino would back me. I was right."
Quinn stirs the vegetables in the boiling pot. "Alright so what happened next?"
"Well-"
"Man, what a drag. I can't believe my mom fell for your little act." Shikamaru growls at her. The three of them having arrived at the training field an hour ahead of schedule.
"Oh, it's about to get worse, your days of being lazy are over." Ino smirks, "Now I have a plan to take out Asuma-sensei and you are going to follow it."
"Ha! Fat chance. This is way too troublesome to worry about now. Besides we don't even know what the test will be so how can we plan for it?"
"Really Shikamaru, you can't think of what our test might be, really? I mean they only recreated our parent's team, gee I wonder what Asuma-sensei could possibly want to test us on? It sure is a mystery, I mean the Ino-Shika-Chou team were capture and interrogation specialists known throughout all the Elemental Nations, but no, seriously, I wonder what we'll be tested on."
"Tch." Shikamaru scoffs, because he had no real retort. She was right, it was the only possible test they could have that would make any sense. He just refused to acknowledge that she was right.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Anyway, I have a plan."
"And why should Chouji and I listen to any plan you come up with. You've never once beaten me in a game of Shogi."
Ino scoffs, "Wow, your better than me at a board game, you must be so proud."
Shikamaru scowls at the slight against his favorite game, "It's more than a board game, it's about thinking ahead, it's about predicting your opponent's moves, you know, that little thing called strategy. Kind of important. If I have to be out here then I'm going to come up with the plan."
"No thanks. I'd actually like to pass this test. Now shut up and listen."
"Why you-"
"I- I'd like to hear what Ino has to say." Chouji interrupts softly. Ino was second in their class after all and she seemed to have a good idea of what needed to happen.
"Thank you Chouji," Ino says warmly causing the boy to blush, "and as I was saying, I have plan and you're going to do what I say or else I'll tell Aunt Yoshino that you purposely sabotaged our test so you wouldn't have to graduate and so you could spend another year goofing off at the academy."
Chouji's eyes widen and he lets out a whistle, because damn, Ino wasn't playing around. He was glad to be on her good side. Shikamaru turns pale white. Both of his parents, not just his mom, were on his case about his academy graduation scores. If Ino told his mother that she might actually, literally, kill him and his father would help. "Y-you wouldn't."
"Oh, in a heartbeat, and I would enjoy every second of it too, you lazy bastard. This is the real world we're entering, not the academy." Ino's mind flashes to her sister lying in a hospital bed after her fight with Mizuki, her face pale, body broken. Nobody took this as seriously as Rin and she had still been hurt. This wasn't a game, this was real and she wasn't going to be a part of a team that didn't take this deathly serious. "You want to slack off on your free time, fine, that's on you. But you won't do that on mine or Chouji's time and you sure as hell won't do it if it's going to be detrimental to us in anyway. This isn't a game, this is life and death. Once Chouji and I are Chunin and they split us off from you, go ahead and goof off to your hearts content. But until then, your ass is mine and it's going to work. I'm not going to let you put me and Chouji in danger because you're an asshole with no motivation."
"Chouji?" Shikamaru asks, looking to his friend for support.
Chouji shrugs apologetically, "Sorry, I've already disappointed my mom once today, I don't want to do it again and… Ino's kind of right. I mean we need to do better, don't we?"
Shikamaru lets out a defeated sigh. So much for his plan to coast along till Chunin and then finding a cushy desk job. "Alright, fine, what's your plan?"
"After that it was easy." Ino says with a shrug. "We went to the training field, and I explained my plan to Shikamaru and Chouji and where they needed to hide once the test began. I would create an opening for Chouji and Shikamaru to knock Sensei off balance and then I would strike him with one of my poisoned blade. Once Asuma-sensei showed up, it was just like I thought, it was a capture and interrogation test against sensei and my plan worked perfectly.
I faked a fight with Shikamaru, the two of them pretended to retreat into the forest while they secretly got into position. I engaged sensei and got him into position and when the opening was available we acted. Chouji forced him into Shikamaru's shadow and that gave me the opening I needed. I got a cut in on sensei with one of my poisoned blades and didn't give up the antidote until he gave up the information we were supposed to collect."
"Ino!" Quinn laughs, both amused and slightly scandalized that she would poison her own sensei.
"What?" Ino laughs, "It wasn't a real poison, just a numbing agent. Pretty convincing though. Especially when he thought he had seen me just use the Poison Mist Jutsu."
"Wait, I thought you hadn't learned that technique yet. Too chakra intensive for you right now."
"Oh it is, however I found this really cool genjutsu a while back where all you have to do is use the snake and the rat sign before doing the seal sequence of the actual technique, and it creates an illusion of the technique. It's pretty convincing too, you just call out the name of the jutsu and if they aren't paying super close attention they'll think your actually doing the jutsu. Asuma-sensei moved pretty fast when he thought a cloud of miasma was making its way towards him."
"I'll bet. I'm really proud of you Ino."
"Thanks Rin, and you know what?"
"What?"
"I'm proud of me too. I've kind of had my doubts lately, like maybe I wasn't completely cut out to be a ninja but today I think I proved that I have what it takes."
"Definitely."
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Author's Note: Poor Shikamaru, I feel a little bad for him lol. He just wants a nice, easy, and simple life with a cushy desk job. Unfortunately for him though, the Ino in this story has absolutely no patience for laziness. On the plus side, Ino's desire to be as strong as she can is only going to help Shikamaru and Chouji in the long run. They really will end up being a force to be reckoned with in this story. As for team 7, Sasuke is discovering that working with Sakura and Naruto is a lot easier than he thought it would be. Because, while he is a more well-rounded ninja than Sakura, she is, when it's all said and done, stronger than he is and so he does respect her. And as for Naruto, he isn't the dead last in this story. Sasuke and Naruto might not get along or even like each other, but there is a grudging respect there that in my opinion didn't exist in the earlier part of the anime. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the next one will be up next week.
