disclaimer: don't own naruto

Chapter 5: Brain Rot

"What is your problem?" Ino confronted him. "What's Naruto going to think after hearing such an out of context declaration? There are even rumors that we're dating!"

"You're my problem." Shikamaru shot back.

"No. You're the problem, Shikamaru." Ino got in his face, finger stabbing his chest with each ennuciationed syllable of his name.

"Don't." Shikamaru warned her.

"Or what?" Ino mocked him.

"Whatever." Shikamaru backed off. I'm going upstairs. Activate the jutsu, Ino."

"No."

"What?" Shikamaru turned back around, glaring at her. "I'm not playing games with you, woman. Activate now."

Ino stood her ground, "Make me."

There was a live wire between them, the tension so palpable you could cut it with a knife. The electrifying current between the two rising to a catastrophic level. Something was about to give. And it wasnt going to be her. She didnt know who kissed who first, but somehow they were smashing their lips together. Then crushing their bodies together in a fight for dominace over another right on top of her living room couch. It was a battle of wills to see who could rip the others clothes off first. Shikamaru, tore into her dress, ripping it clean off her. Hardly giving her a reprieve as he set upon her body in a whirlwind of bites and kisses from her neck down to her abdomen. Ino's nails raked across his bare chest, drawing blood before snaking around his back. She freely groped his biceps, back muscles and toned abs. Shikamaru bit onto her nipple hard enough for her to gasp and then moan from him massaging her breasts. She reached down into his pants and freed his boner from his waistband. She grabbed hold of his dick, attempting to stroke him. Shikamaru grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head with one hand. Ino gasped and felt heat rush down to core. He wasnt going to let her touch him? That wasnt fair! She tried to break free of his grip but he just held her tighter. He pressed his lips to hers again. She shoved her tongue into his, dueling against his tongue. She wasnt going to go down without a fight. He pressed his full weight onto her, pinning her to the couch. He used his other hand to firmly grope her full breasts, wide hips and well sized ass. He pulled her panties down. Then with one hand she saw him make the motion for a complicated jutsu she didnt recognize.

"Are you casting a jutsu on me?" She demanded. The jutsu whatever it was, was completed. Ino found that after he removed his hand from pinning her, she still couldn't move her arms. "What did you do to me? I cant move Shikamaru!"

"You told me to make you." Shikamaru said matter of factly.

"What exactly are you trying to do?" She asked him. "Get off me right now."

Shikamaru stopped what he was doing. "What were you doing with Naruto earlier?"

"Nothing!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "You expect me to believe that."

"Im telling the truth!"

"Prove it." Shikamaru said to her.

"How? I cant move my arms!"

"You can still move your hands."

"Fine!" She made the hand signs for the Telepathy Transfer. "Telepathy Transfer."

Ino first cast it on herself, then Shikamaru.

"There you are."

At the familiar voice, Ino opened her eyes but she didn't recognize where she was. Shikamaru was standing in front of her. She was in a man's room now. "Where am I?" Ino asked Shikamaru. Shikamaru looked down at her, his expression predatory.

"My psyche."

Ino sat up from where she was lying on the bed that she now recognized to be Shikamaru's. "How?" Ino asked.

Shikamaru walked closer to her. "You talk too much." He kissed her open mouth.

Ino found herself kissing him back. What was going on right now? How the hell did she get in his psyche? Shikamaru began to undress her, and touch her naked body.

"Hold on Shikamaru. What is going on?"

"Ugh, fucking?" He said progressing to biting her nipples and nibbling on them.

"Ahh that feels good."

"Do you want to be finger fucked?" He asked her. "Yes." Ino replied without thinking. Yes? What do I mean yes? No! I dont like Shikamaru!

Yes you do.

For the first time Ino became aware of another voice in her head. It sounded like her but not quite. No I dont like him. Ino said to the voice.

Yes you do.

The voice corrected her.

Who are you? Ino called out to the voice.

Just then Ino's attention was called back to the slow strokes of Shikamaru's fingers. He started with one finger then slowly progressed to two which she gladly started riding. "Ahh!" Ino moaned at his touch.

"You like that?" Shikamaru praised her.

"Y-yes. Ahh..." She moaned again when he curled and uncurled his fingers inside her.

"I-I want more... Shika."

"You finally said my name."

"I've been saying your name the entire time." Ino breathed, she was so turned on by him.

"You said Shika."

"Shika? But that's short for Shikamaru."

"No. I'm Shika. Not Shikamaru."

Huh?

"Dont you get it, woman? There's two of me. Just like there's two of you." Shikamaru pressed her into the bed, spreading her legs and performed cunninglingus on her, taking her breath away.

"Ah. Im gunna..." Ino gasped.

"Not yet." Shika said.

"Pl-please... Shika I want to." Ino begged.

"Not until you scream my name."

"I can't..." She whined. Its so embarassing.

There's nobody here.

The voice reminded her.

You can scream. Only he'll hear it.

N-no! Ino argued with the voice. I cant do something so embarassing.

God you're so fucking annoying. No wonder guys get bored after they fuck you.

The voice taunted her. What? Ino said. Thats not true! Take that back! Im not screaming his name out and that's final! She yelled into the abyss. There was a high pitch ringing that caused Ino and Shikamaru to wince and both cover their ears to block the noise. Then suddenly, there was a crack in the center of Shikamaru's room. What the hell is that? Ino thought. The crack continued to fragment, in a spiral pattern before it splintered into a million pieces. Shikamaru's psyche apparently breaking down? There was a sinking feeling in the pit of Ino's stomach as she spotted this cloud of darkness hidden within the fractured genjutsu. The genjutsu as if it heaved its final breath, completely shattered and a black murky liquid that reminded her of ink spattered out of it. Ino and Shikamaru were back in her living room right where they left off, sitting on the couch. Only except they both still had their clothes on. Ino's hair was a disheveled mess, with hickies blooming all over her chest. Shikamaru hair was down and fell chaotically over his achingly brown eyes. He firmly knotted it into a messy man bun. Ino copied his actions and straightened her clothes again and yanked her mangey hair into a ponytail. Shikamaru was the first to break the silence, steadily meeting Ino's probing gaze. Ino felt her heart skip a beat.

"Interesting." Shikamaru said.

"What?" Ino questioned him.

So did none of that just happen? I still have my clothes on. So we just kissed and that was it? Ino was struggling to remember all the details but it was like when you wake up from a dream and cant remember it.

"You broke the Shadow Imitation I placed on you."

Ino arched a single brow in confusion. "Is that why the genjutsu ended?" She asked.

Shikamaru nodded his head. "Yeah. I was testing the limits of my Shadow Imitation on your Telepathy Transfer."

Ino was interested in this theory Shikamaru was forming. "How'd I break the genjutsu?"

"Im not telling you that. Then you'll break it to go get high."

Shikamaru turned his attention back to the television. Martha the stalker screams at Donny's girlfriend, "YOU LOOK LIKE A MAAAAN!!!" Donny the protagonist jumps in to defend his girlfriend, "Right get the FUCK out of here Martha! YOURE FUCKING INSANE!!! Shut your fucking mouth and listen to me! There isnt a fuckiNG PARALLEL WORLD WHERE I WOULD WANT YOU!!!"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, when the Netflix logo flashes across the screen as he shuts the television off. "Brain rot. This is why I dont have Netflix."

Ino bristled up a little, "That's my favorite show right now. It's based on a true story."

Shikamaru looked at her as if heavily exhausted. "Right. I gotta take a leak." As he heads toward the toilet.

"Hey! Dont change the subject! What else did you figure out about the jutsu?"

Yeah, she was insulted Shikamaru had beat her at her own game but it wasnt fair that he doesnt share deets with her! It is her jutsu after all!

"Im not telling." He said from the other side of the door. Ino could hear his steady stream of pee. She blushed and backed away from the door. She went to the kitchen. There was the sound of the toilet flushing and then the sink running as Shikamaru washed his hands before joining Ino at the kitchen table. He opened a bag of cereal and poured it into a bowl. Then went to get some milk from her fridge. He sighed in frustration.

"No milk? Tsk. Figures... what a drag."

"What?" Ino got up and went to the fridge. There was multiple brands of sake, plum wine, cranberry juice, no bake dairy free key lime pie she made from scratch, an array of local produce, 4 kinds of siracha, leftover onigiri from last night and Oatly in the back of the fridge.

"The milk's right here." Ino snagged the oatmilk. Shikamaru groaned in despair.

"That's not milk!" Shikamaru complained.

"Yes it is Shikamaru! It's cruelty free."

Shikamaru sighed and sunk into his chair again. "If only you could be cruelty free."

Ino hit him reflexively with the oatmilk carton. "It's the same thing, Shika. You cant even tell the difference." She poured it into his bowl of cereal. He begrudgingly ate his cereal, grimacing every now and again.

"I can see why you're miserable all the time." Shikamaru grumbled between bites. You're hardly taking in any calories!

"I am not miserable! Not everyone wants to drink the blood of baby calves!!!" Ino threw back it him.

Shikamaru shook his head, trying not to spit out his cereal. Was she trying to make him laugh? "I very much prefer the blood of baby calves." He said sourly. Ino smacked him upside the head again. "Ow." Shikamaru rubbed his head.

"Serves you right." Ino gloated.

"What's your reasoning for the 12 sirachas?" Shikamaru asked, humorless.

"Its not 12. Theres only Cha!, Yellow Bird, Ninja Squirrel and Huy Fong." Ino listed off to him.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he carefully swallowed the rest of his cereal. "Squirrel Bei Fong? Ninja Turd? You sure that's siracha you got in there?"

"Very funny. That's not what I said and you know it." Ino took his dishes and began to wash them in the sink. "You still didnt answer my question." Shikamaru loved to annoy her. "Sometimes a girl needs a little spice in her life." Ino said mysteriously.

Shikamaru burst out laughing. "Whatever you say, princess." Ino turned a threatening eye to Shikamaru, telepathically telling him not to call her the sarcastic nickname anymore. Stop calling me a princess! She thought angrily at him.

"Fine. I wont call you that anymore." Shikamaru conceded, throwing his hands up in mock surrender.

"Wait did you hear what I said?" Ino asked him. Shikamaru froze for a couple seconds, before answering hesitantly, "Yeah... I did."

Ino returned to the table again. "How is that possible? I didn't cast the jutsu again after it broke." Shikamaru looked just as confused as her before his face hardened back into that unreadable mask he liked to wear.

"I dont know." Shikamaru said.

"How can you not know? You're the smartest shinobi in the Hidden Village." Shikamaru was definetly hiding something. Ino could tell.

"Is that a compliment?" He asked dryly.

"Don't change the subject! How could you hear me just now?"

Shikamaru shook his head at her. He didnt know what it was yet but he had a bad feeling about what it might be. "How did you learn that jutsu, Ino?"

"No. Dont answer my question with another question! I asked first! How did you hear my thoughts just now?" Shikamaru shrugged while backing off, "I dont know Ino. And if I did, trust me you'd be the last to know."

Ino threw her hands up. "Fine! Dont tell me! But the least you can do is tell me what it was that you did to me earlier though when we kiss- er had that tussel on the couch earlier!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her choice of words. "I'll tell you if you cast the jutsu again before we go to sleep. No tricks this time. Promise." Shikamaru crossed his fingers.

"Deal." Ino agreed.

"Alright." Shikamaru explained, "I cast a partial Shadow Imitation jutsu on you-"

"How's that work?" Ino butted in. Shikamaru ignored her rude interruption and continued, "As I was saying... a partial Shadow Imitation is still a fairly fast acting jutsu. It can only control parts of the body before quickly immobilizing the rest of the victim. In this situation, you, Ino. I figured out the timing of it and you walked straight into my trap."

Ino narrowed her eyes. "When?" She asked.

"I'm telling you, woman. Stop interrupting me." Shikamaru lectured her.

Ino sat back in her chair plugging her ears while humming to drown him out, annoying Shikamaru even further.

"Do you want to know what I did or not?" Shikamaru snapped.

"I do! But just get to the point, Shika! I'm getting tired!"

"Then go to bed woman!"

"You can walk and talk, cant you?" Ino pleaded at him with adorable piglet eyes.

"Augh. Fine. Come on then."

He went to her bedroom with Ino close behind him. He sat on her bed about to continue the story. "Wait Shika! You're still in your outside clothes!" She pouted at him. Why was this woman so irritatingly cute?

"I don't have a change of clothes. I don't live here remember."

Ino dug through her dresser and pulled out his old christmas pajama set. It was that stupid matching set Ino forced her and Choji to wear for christmas photos when they were kids.

"I'm going to pretend I don't see that right now." Shikamaru shook his head, closing his eyes in embarassment. "Why do you still have that?" He asked her, his composure struggling to stay on his face. Was she trying to get on his nerves all day today?

"Why wouldn't I, Shika? Come on please! It'll be like old times!" She jumped up in down in place.

Shikamaru slowly tried to back away from her and the offensive JC Penny pajama set.

"I'm 19 years old, Ino."

"So am I." Ino said to him still trying to pressure him into the stupid set.

"Whatever. Just give me the damn thing." Shikamaru snatched it from her. "But you're taking a bath first. So I can keep an eye on you." He said bossily.

"Hai." Ino said happily. She grabbed her matching reindeer set, hopped in the shower and yanked the curtain behind her. "Continue!" She practically sang from behind the curtain. Shikamaru was sitting on the closed toilet in the bathroom.

"After you took the bait and cast Telepathy transfer on yourself. The rest of my partial Shadow Imitation fully paralyzed you. You were under my complete control so you never cast Telepathy Transfer on me."

"Okay... So I never cast my jutsu on you. So what?" Ino said behind the shower curtain.

"You being at the mercy of my subsconscious without your own consciousness to serve as a buffer against my raw psyche was too much for your own subconscious to fight against."

"So you're saying that my subconscious was somehow brought into your subconscious without me knowing?"

"Exactly."

"If that's the case where was my conscious?"

"Now that part I haven't figured out yet. But I am 99% sure your subconcious was at the forefront of your psyche whether your conscious was present or not. Notice how easy going you were? You didn't have your conscious inhibiting you from your desires."

The shower curtain swung open with Ino stepping out in nothing but a towel. "Yeah right. Those weren't my desires. You were behind everything even my own thoughts."

Shikamaru shook his head, eyeing her body up and down, drawing a blush from Ino. "On the contrary, I would say that they way you were behaving is in alignment with what your subconscious wants. And it wants young kunai dick."

Ino couldn't help, but laugh at that one. "You're an old man in a 19 year old body."

Shikamaru stripped down, Ino turned around blushing furiously. Why was this happening? She was used to seeing him naked, but this time it was different. As if she were anticipating something to happen. After he stepped into the shower and drew the curtain shut is when Ino finally turned around. She put on her reindeer pajamas and began to get ready for bed by brushing her teeth.

"That's all you'll tell me about my own jutsu?"

"That's not your jutsu. That's a forbidden jutsu which you stole. How in the world did you accomplish that?"

Ino ignored his questions. "Whatever. I just have to keep casting the jutsu on test subjects and I'll be able to accomplish what I want."

"Which is what? Beg Sai to take you back?"

"No. Even though Sai is not apart of the equation anymore, I have something much more important to protect now."

"And that is?" Shikamaru asked.

"My pride."

"Feh. What's pride got to do with this? I say swallow that pride and return the damn scroll before Tsunade notices its missing!"

"She's not going to find out!"

"Why is it from another village?"

Ino hesitated, prompting Shikamaru to groan. "Really? You stole it from another village? You really are a stupid woman! That's a felony, Ino!"

"I'm not going to have it for long! Just until I figure out how the jutsu works and then I'll return it exactly where I found it!"

Shikamaru shut off the tap and came out. He grabbed another towel to dry his hair after shaking it out. Ino found herself distracted by his shirtless torso. Had he also been so fit?

"Like the fucking anbu are going to let you return to the spot of a stolen forbidden scroll a second time. What are you even going to tell them? Hey, I had to figure out this forbidden justu but I couldn't so I brought it back. They're not going to let you walk free! Like I said you commited a felony!"

"That's not true! I will figure out the jutsu!"

"Is that all you latch onto? You really are annoying." Shikamaru shook his head. "Are you going to leave so I can get dressed?"

"Yes. S-sorry." Ino left the bathroom and made her way to her bedroom. She crawled into her bed. Not long after, Shikamaru laid beside her, but above the covers.

"You can use the blanket too."

"No thanks."

"Here take some. It gets chilly..."

Shikamaru groaned aloud. "Jesus Christ woman do I have to spell it out for you? I'm a man! A man! What man can control themselves being next to a woman they like without doing something to her?"

"You like me?" Ino gasps, shocked.

"What no. Of course not. Why would I like a pig headed woman like you I meant in general! I am still a man regardless. I am staying above the comforter and that's final."

Ino couldn't help, but feel insulted. What on earth was he talking about? He's a man but he cant lay next to her cause he doesnt like her? And not only does not like her but "of course he doesnt like her?" What an ass. He didn't have to go so far to prove a point.

"I am not pigheaded." Ino mumbled, before drifting off to sleep.

The call of a mourning dove, woke Ino from her sleep. She glanced at her clock. 6 am. Ino tried to sit up, but a crushing headache kept her glued in place. God this withdrawal hurt like hell. Kill me now. She glanced down at Shikamaru's sleeping form. He had one arm draped around her waist. So that's why she felt so stiff. The lazy ninja had her pinned. Ino cleared her throat "Ahem!" When Shikamaru still didn't answer Ino raised her voice.

"Get off me, Shikamaru." Her voice hostile.

Shikamaru finally stirred, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Tsk. Troublesome... What time is it?"

"6 in the morning."

Shikamaru rolled over, falling back asleep.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!"

"What."

Get your lazy ass off me! Ino thinks.

"Fine. I'm going. I'm going."

"You did it again Shikamaru!"

Ino accused him.

"Did what?"

"Read my mind!"

"I did?"

"Yes!"

Shikamaru opened his eyes, he looked concerned.

It's happening faster than I thought.

"What are you talking about?!" Ino asked.

Shikamaru shook his head.

"Let's just get out of bed."

"That's what I've been trying to do!"

Ino cast her Telepathy Transfer on her and Shikamaru. After freshening up, Ino cooked a breakfast of tofu scramble and pineberry waffles. "Want creamer with your coffee?"

"Is it real creamer?"

"No, but-"

"Black then."

Ino served Shikamaru a plate of food. "What is this?" He poked the tofu with his chopsticks.

"It's scrambled eggs." Ino said.

"This is not eggs."

"If you don't like my food then make your own." Ino shrugged, fed up with him.

Shikamaru grumpily ate his food. As much as he hated tofu, he hated the effort it took to cook an entirely new dish. Ino tried not to smile, pleased he cleaned his plate.

After breakfast was over, Ino got ready for the day, donning a sheer lilac set from I Am Gia. Shikamaru merely put on his clothes from yesterday. She at least got to wash them the night before. Did he really need 10 of the same black shirts? She shook her head.

"Alright. I'm headed to Sakura's. We have plans today." Ino said.

"Alright. I'll walk you then."

"It's only a few blocks. I don't need you."

"That's not what we agreed on."

Ino became angry with Shikamaru. He was taking this situation way too seriously. Yes, she was detoxing but she can't even walk a few blocks without Shikamaru breathing down her back?

"This is so ridiculous. I'm not a child."

"Then stop acting like one."