Sky on Fire: Slow Burn - Chapter Five Part 1
Title: Slow Burn
Chapter: 05 Revelations (Part I)
Author/Artist: Skylar Inari
Pairing: Yamanaka Ino/Nara Shikamaru
Theme: 04 - inner demons
Word Count: 9244
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 5 of ? Unbeta’d.
Chouji wondered when, exactly, it had fallen to him to be the only sane member of Team 10. Both Ino and Shikamaru did a good job at pretending but the moment you put them around each other everything became obvious.
He'd asked his dad for advice, explaining the situation in the vaguest possible terms - not wanting to betray any confidences - it had helped that his dad had been there for the fight at the party and wasn't completely in the dark. Chouji's younger brother, Choumaru, had suggested they lock them together in a room until they worked it out.
The fact that that was rapidly becoming the most viable sounding solution bothered Chouji. Both of them had firmly rebuffed his every attempt to talk to them about the situation, even while being friendly enough on all other topics. Chouji though wasn't ready to give up on them solving this by talking to each other.
Which was why, after another failed attempt for them to all manage to work together, Chouji didn’t head off with Shikamaru. Instead he trailed after Ino, unsure of how to say what he wanted to - and have her keep talking to him at the same time.
He was glad that Ino had managed to be in a fairly good mood though - even if that mood had come about from an ‘accident’ in knocking Shikamaru to the ground. Chouji didn’t think that anyone had believed her for an instant, but Shikamaru had told them to drop it and get back to work.
Thinking on what Sakura had said, and more importantly what she hadn’t said, he’d come to several conclusions about the whole mess. Chouji doubted that they were quite the same as Sakura’s conclusions because they had different sides of the same story to work with and there was also the not insignificant fact that he knew Shikamaru far better than she did.
Chouji was well aware that compared to his teammates his thought processes were slower. He considered this to be an advantage though, because sometimes there were things that they missed. After talking to Sakura, who Chouji reminded himself, he had to track down to thank her for her help, he’d begun watching how Ino and Shikamaru managed to relate to each other and those around them.
Ino treated everyone the same as always - except for Shikamaru. That had been about what he’d expected. Ino could generally be counted on to keep her displeasure focused on one person.
Shikamaru though… it had been an interesting thing to watch. His friend was royally irritated with the whole argument - whether or not he had cause, Chouji didn’t care. He was staying far out of that whole bit.
He’d noticed though, the way that Shikamaru had been treating her as the weaker party member and holding her back even during simple teamwork exercises. His friend didn’t have any problems when Chouji worked with Ino.
When Neji had come up and asked her for a word though - Ino had said it was something to do with Hinata and Chouji had shrugged it off - Shikamaru had gotten cranky. Chouji wasn’t sure what to think of that yet.
He should be grateful, Chouji supposed, that Shikamaru considered him ‘safe’ for Ino to hang around with. Otherwise things would be even uglier than they were now.
Ino stopped, on the roof top that they generally parted at - her house was in one direction, his in another - and put her hands on her hips. “What did you want to talk about?”
The hip thing, he knew, wasn’t a good sign. She was already on the defensive about this conversation and Chouji didn’t want that at all. Long experience told him that it was the worst way ever to try and explain things to her.
“I just wanted to know how you’re doing.” He said with a shrug, pleased to see that her stance softened slightly, “I mean, it’s obvious you’ve been training. Guess I just wanted to know a bit more about what you’re doing.”
“If it’s so obvious then why hasn’t he - “ Ino shook her head, “Don’t answer that. I don’t care.”
She did care though. Chouji thought that Ino probably cared about that more than she’d admit to - Ino was never very good when confronted with her emotions by other people. Though from what he understood from talking to his dad, Ino would have to be honest with herself.
“Self deception is dangerous when you dabble with the mind.” His dad had said seriously, “The Yamanaka Clan might not let other people know exactly what they’re thinking and feeling - but keep in mind that they have to know their own feelings.”
Chouji had promised his dad that he’d do his best to remember that. Thinking on it, Chouji could remember several times in the past when Ino had flown off the handle at someone making assumptions about her feelings.
“I’m doing fine.” Ino said firmly, “A heavy load of training - Father’s not going easy on me, you know? - and my own studies. What about you?”
Taking a long look at her and realizing that it would do neither of them any good if he broached the subject right this moment, Chouji let her drag out of him some details of his own training. Ino wasn’t the only one with a father actively involved after all.
They talked for a good half an hour, stepping to the side when another shinobi darted across the roof they were on, before Ino took a look at the sun. “I’ve got to get going.” She said with some reluctance, “Training and all that.”
He let her go, with a wave and a promise to see her tomorrow at training. As Chouji headed towards his house though he wondered why she’d been heading away from her place.
What was Ino up to?
---
Shikaku prided himself on knowing his son. As such, he was well aware of Shikamaru’s powerful distaste of getting up even a minute before he had to - a thing which happened often in the busy Nara compound. The daily hustle and bustle of running a thriving business based on their deer coupled with the challenges of nearly half of the Clan being shinobi on active duty at any one time meant that sleeping in was a rare treat. Shikaku found all the fuss soothing.
There was something to be said, after all, about being woken by the sounds of a good natured argument over something trivial instead of another call to battle. Shikaku figured it was the difference in the times they’d grown up in that gave him more tolerance for the routine noise of the Nara going about their business. Shikamaru hadn’t had to grow up amidst a war the way he had.
Knowing his son though meant that Shikaku was more than a little surprised to find Shikamaru downstairs just before five and nursing a cup of coffee. Nodding his head in greeting, he went and poured himself a cup, popping a few slices of bread into the toaster, then sat across from his son. “Don’t let your mother see you drinking that.”
Shikamaru shook his head, looking annoyed at the reminder. “I know that.”
Taking a sip of his own coffee, Shikaku concealed a smile. If you knew him, it was easy to wind his son up. “Just making sure.” He said mildly, “What’s got you up so early? Another training session with your team?”
Though how much training was happening these days was a bit suspect. Shikaku knew he didn’t have the full story about what was going on between his son and Inoichi’s girl, and Inoichi - that bastard, he thought calmly - was being infuriatingly close-mouthed about it. The fight at the party had been more than a good hint though that there was something wrong with the team dynamics.
Wrinkling his nose Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head, “Training’s not until eleven. I wanted to talk to you, actually.”
Getting up just as the toast was done, Shikaku buttered the slices absently, as he thought about that. Even at thirteen, Shikamaru preferred to be as independent as possible - claiming that it was too ‘troublesome’ to go to his parents for every little thing - and Shikaku respected that for the most part. For his son to actively seek him out then meant that all other possible solutions had been exhausted.
“Hmm?” Shikaku deftly split the toast onto two plates and set one down in front of his son. Yoshino would kill him if he didn’t at least try to make sure Shikamaru ate enough. Shikamaru always went off food when he was stressed out about something. “Anything in particular? Or is this just a check in?”
True to form, his son made a face at the toast, but with a sigh picked up a piece. “Asuma-sensei ordered me to fix what’s going on between me and Ino.”
Swallowing a bit of his own toast Shikaku considered what he knew of his son’s sensei. Good man, a generalist, and rather laid back. Sarutobi Asuma hadn’t struck him as the sort to hand out meaningless orders. Following that train of thought meant that it was necessary, and that Shikamaru’s sensei was getting sick of having to deal with it. “Just how badly is training going anyway?”
The slow flush that spread across Shikamaru’s face was answer enough.
“Right,” Shikaku said firmly, finishing off his toast and downing the rest of his coffee, “You finish eating and we’ll talk about it while inspecting the deer.”
Not even fifteen minutes later they were heading out the door. He’d left a quick note about where they were going and their probable topic of conversation for Yoshino on the fridge when Shikamaru hadn’t been looking. He knew that his son didn’t like the way Yoshino fussed over him - it was just her way though, to be strict - but Shikaku knew she’d worry if they left without a note. It was easier just to humor her when it came to small things like that.
They walked in comfortable silence until they’d left the Compound and headed out into the woods and fields that were just the very start of what the Nara Clan owned. “Now, what specifically is the problem between you and Ino?” She was an intelligent girl, from what he’d observed at the party, if a bit high strung.
“I don’t know!” Shikamaru said, gesturing violently with his hands, “I mean, I thought she’d be mad about that mission - and she didn’t say anything. But then the next thing I know she’s avoiding me, and when I do see her the first thing I say makes her mad at me. And she’s still mad about it - months after the fact.”
Shikaku couldn’t help the faint smile on his face. It was rare to see his son so animated about anything. “And the party? What about that?” He asked when it looked like Shikamaru wasn’t going to say anything further.
“… that was mostly my fault.” Shikamaru admitted as they walked through the woods slowly, “I was mad that she was ignoring me and said some things that I shouldn’t have.”
He didn’t point out that Inoichi’s girl had said a few things of her own that were beyond the pale. That wasn’t the point here and Shikaku didn’t want to get diverted from the subject - not while his son actually felt like talking about it. In that, Shikamaru was much like Yoshino. Neither of them were fond of talking about what was troubling them. Shikamaru would try and ignore the problem, until it either resolved itself or he had to face it, and Yoshino would take out her stress by coming down harder on everyone around her. Over the years though Shikaku had picked up ways of dealing with it. By taking his son out of the house - away from other possibly prying ears - Shikamaru would be more likely to elaborate on the problem.
Watching as his son rubbed his eyes wearily Shikaku was hit by sudden inspiration, “Have you been sleeping well?” He asked, looking the other way.
He could still feel Shikamaru’s eyes on him. “No.” His son said finally in a voice much subdued, “Not really.”
Sighing, Shikaku took a seat on the soft earth of the woods, gesturing for his son to do the same. He probably should have found a way to talk about this earlier with Shikamaru… the first failed mission was always the hardest after all. Even as he thought that though, Shikaku knew that it wouldn’t have done any good. Shikamaru did things in his own time. Had even as a baby.
“Nightmares?” Shikaku asked casually while fishing in his pockets for a bit of wood and a carving knife. It would give him something to occupy his hands while his mind worked. “About the mission?”
He saw, out of the corner of his eye, Shikamaru swallow and look away. His son, when he spoke, was mostly toneless, “It’s always the same at first. I’m in this room and Ino’s there, only older, and she tells me to go and look through a window. Then I’m back to leading the mission - only instead of Chouji, it’s Ino with me instead. Then,” Shikamaru shook his head, “it’s different. Sometimes I have to split the team up, and she never comes back. Or, or she’s with me and that freaky bitch takes her out. Rips her apart, right in front of me, and I can’t do anything.”
Standard nightmares then, Shikaku mused, not that he was going to say as such to Shikamaru. Tact wasn’t always his strong point and he didn’t believe in coddling his son, but he knew well enough how bad even simple nightmares could be. He’d been dealing with his own for years - and was grateful beyond words that Yoshino had resigned from active duty, though she was still on call if Konoha really needed her.
“The nightmares,” Shikaku said after a few moments thought on how best to say it, “are something the Nara Clan’s been dealing with since we were founded. Having a tendency towards higher level thinking and powerful imaginations isn’t always a good thing. Ino-chan’s the closest girl to you, right?”
Shikamaru made a face at that, but nodded. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“It’s a commonly known fact that physically men are stronger than women - though statistically you’re almost fifty percent more likely to survive capture if you’re female so I suppose it works out - that, coupled with our conscious tendency to imagine the worst… well, most Nara men suffer from chronic nightmares. It’s linked to the shadow jutsu somehow,“ Shikaku shrugged, “An ancestor did a fair bit of research on the topic. You can look it up if you’d like.”
“You have nightmares?” There was a faintly incredulous note in his son’s voice.
“Almost every night.” Shikaku admitted freely, “Your mother plays a starring role in them.” He’d let Shikamaru draw his own conclusions from that, even as Shikaku made note to go and find a few books on dealing with the dreams that he’d found helpful back when they’d first started for him.
And on the other topic… “Have you talked to Inoichi?” Shikaku couldn’t say that he knew Inoichi’s little girl well enough to give well informed advice on the fight.
Shikamaru shrugged uneasily, “I was hoping you’d have a better suggestion. I just want to keep her safe.”
“The best way to keep her safe,” Shikaku said as they started to head back to the compound, “is to help her be the best she can be.”
The frown on Shikamaru’s face was more than enough to tell him that hadn’t been the answer his son had been looking for.
---
Sakura checked her medical kit once more then strapped it to her back. Tsunade-shishou had told her that the kit would become largely unnecessary once she had been studying for another year or two, but that for now she was required to take it along on all missions.
Going over her kunai pouches was next on her mental list of things to do - Sakura was glad that she kept all of her tools neatly organized. If she hadn't then getting ready for this mission would have been a pain. As it was... so far so good.
Packing a change of clothing, the mission scroll hadn't said how long she'd be gone, Sakura adjusted her hitae-ite and headed down the stairs. If she was lucky, she’d make it out before her mother realized just where she was going. Sakura didn’t want another fight with her mother.
"Sakura?"
She cringed at her mother's voice, even as she paused on the bottom step and automatically calculated the number of seconds it would take her to get out the door. Sakura thought she could do it before her mother came in the hall - but if she did that then there’d really be a fight when she got home. Putting on a smile that felt fake, Sakura subdued her irritation at the realization that she could have gone out the window came to her. That would have spared her this. "Yes, Mom?"
Haruno Sayako came from the kitchen, her pink hair cropped short against her face and wearing a frilly apron with vines embroidered on it. In one hand she held an egg beater.
"Where are you going?"
When she’d been younger, Sakura had idolized her mother. Told her everything and had been secure in the knowledge that her mother really understood her even when no one else did.
Years later, she was learning that they might look a great deal alike but there were some things that Sakura was never going to be able to explain some things well enough and have her understand. And now that she was a Genin there were things she wasn’t allowed to explain to a civilian.
She envied Ino and her father at times.
“What’s with the bag?” Her mother asked, “It’s a bit early for a sleepover if you’re heading over to Ino-chan’s. Does she know you’re coming this early?”
Sakura stiffened, her hands reaching up to straighten her hitae-ite. It would be so easy to let her think that a sleepover was all that was going on. For a moment she was tempted to take the easy way out. In the end though, honesty won. It was another thing that she’d learned from her mother.
“No, mom.” Sakura said seriously, hating the way that her mother’s eyes narrowed, “It’s not a sleepover.”
“Oh, Sakura,” Her mother sighed and Sakura fought the urge to hunch her shoulder’s against the disappointment in her voice, “You know your father and I don’t want you going on missions anymore.”
“You didn’t mind before - “ Sakura started to retort, tired of this worn argument that only made all of them upset, but her mother cut her off.
“Of course not!” Sayako snapped, her voice beginning to rise, “When Konoha was the most powerful nation it was safe for you to be a ninja. Can’t you see now that you’re likely to get hurt? I thought it would be alright, what with you apprenticing to Tsunade-sama, and that you’d be kept inside the walls but…”
Sakura watched in silence as tears welled up and spilled down her mother’s cheeks. After weeks and months of dealing with the same argument she knew that it was no good trying to explain to her that being a ninja was never safe.
There were always missions that claimed the lives of loyal shinobi, no matter that it was during times of peace or war. They’d been taught that in the Academy, one of the first things that the
sensei had started reinforcing through constant reminders and lessons.
After seven years of training and then almost another full year in active duty, Sakura knew the basic dangers of her profession. It was in her blood now, her way of thinking. Her head, her heart. There was no way that she could stop being a shinobi now.
Not when she was just getting started.
The danger, the fear, the uncertainty and the knowledge that there would undoubtedly be times when she would barely make it home coupled with the fact that statistically unlikely to make it to her forties only added to the job.
Sakura hadn’t been able to find the words to explain the connections she’d formed. The bonds that came about after having been in life risking battle, the knowledge that she would have these bonds for life. How the good times managed to make up for the bad ones - at least so far - and that made it all worth it. She couldn’t explain that she liked her job.
Not and have her parents understand.
It was a problem, Sakura had been told repeatedly in the Academy, that frequently plagued the first generation students. She hadn’t thought to think it through, apply it to herself. Now she had to.
Taking that last step down onto the main floor, Sakura tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t only further upset her mother. Her mission was a fairly routine one - and she was with another team for the duration of it - but none of that was permitted to be told.
“I’m going, mom.”
“We just want you safe, Sakura.” Her mother’s voice stopped her near the door, “Why can’t you see that? If you’d just quit…”
“I’ll do my best.” She half promised, knowing that it would be foolish to promise anything more even on a routine C rank mission, “Quitting though?” Sakura smiled grimly to herself as she opened the door, adjusting her outfit one more time, before tossing a single question over her shoulder as she headed out.
“How can you quit something that’s in your blood? I can’t stop, Mom.”
Her mother had no answer that Sakura heard for that.
---
Inoichi had been expecting a visit since Shikaku had told him that it was likely. So when he looked up from his careful repainting of their storefront sign at the sound of bells ringing, he wasn’t particularly surprised to see Shikaku’s boy there looking severely uncomfortable.
Idly wondering if it was their surroundings - flowers, he’d found, made some men uncomfortable - or the topic that Shikamaru had come to discuss Inoichi gestured for him to take a seat. They were in one of the greenhouses, Mui couldn’t stand the smell of fresh pain in the store, and though Ino had been helping him out a bit earlier she’d headed off for her medical training.
“Stop lingering over there like a shadow and come sit down.” Inoichi ordered blandly, not really in the mood to dance around the Nara sensibilities. Besides, more than once, he’d had to hold his daughter while she’d cried furious tears over what was happening with her team. Shikaku’s boy had a bit of explaining to be doing from his point of view. Making him uncomfortable was a small revenge - and Inoichi had never pretended that he was above being petty when it came to his daughter. “Anything I can help you with?”
Watching Shikamaru flush under his steady gaze as the boy took a seat on another of the stools they kept stashed in the greenhouses, Inoichi wondered what it was exactly that Shikaku’s boy wanted to get out of this conversation. It would be interesting, at least, and he’d been getting board of repainting anyway. This would be at least a minor distraction. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
He’d never been good at beating around the bush, a tendency that Ino had inherited from him, and he watched Shikamaru wince at the bluntness of the question. There was no point, Inoichi figured, in pretending that the boy had come for anything else - if he’d been looking for Ino then the shop would have been a better bet.
“I wanted to ask you what was up with Ino.” Shikamaru said at last.
“Shouldn’t you be asking her that?” Inoichi asked him with a quirked brow, faintly amused that the boy had decided to be so blunt - wasn’t much of a Nara thing that. So far, he was finding this entire conversation dreadfully amusing - had he been so awkward as a teenager? Inoichi couldn’t remember. He hoped not.
“The last time I tried she attempted to nail me with a Katon Jutsu.” Shikamaru said sourly, Inoichi was mildly surprised at that, as Ino didn’t normally work that way, having a tendency to express herself more through her voice. “She never used to have a problem with me.” The last bit was said almost plaintively.
“Hmm.” Inoichi fussed with his paints as he thought about that. Ino hadn’t told him all that much about her current situation, but he’d been able to glean a fair bit about it nonetheless. “Well… I went through something similar when I was about her age, and I’ll tell you that Ino’s facing a few of her own inner demons right now. Thing’s aren’t likely to settle down at all for the next while. Only thing that’s likely to help right now is to give her a bit of space and let her be as active as possible while on missions…”
Those had been the major complaints that Ino had told him. The way that Shikamaru’s lips tightened told him that the boy had no intentions of doing so. Inoichi inwardly sighed - why did the young have to make things so much more difficult for themselves?
“She’ll just get hurt.” Shikaku’s boy objected furiously, “Chouji and I are supposed to look out for her.”
“So that’s how it is,” Inoichi mused, “I’d wondered given how irate she’s been lately.” Taking a sip of water from the canteen he’d brought out with him, Inoichi watched as Shikamaru tried to figure out what he meant by that. He doubted that the boy would have much luck.
There were, however, a few things that Inoichi wanted to say. “Ino can take care of herself.” Inoichi said firmly, “You want to protect her from getting hurt? Well, here’s the cold truth - you can’t. Ino wanted to be a ninja, and she sure as hell knows that risks that it entails. Treating her like a bit of breakable glass is just insulting.”
“I don’t accept that.” Shikamaru said stiffly. “As her teammate I’m supposed to look out for her.”
“Look out for her, yes.” Inoichi said in a gentler tone of voice, “But you can’t protect an active kunoichi from all harm - you can’t do that to any ninja. You have no right to shield Ino from her chosen profession - besides, she’s been working hard since the exam and I have no doubts that she’ll make an excellent Jounin in a few years time.”
Watching his daughter work so hard had made him doubly proud of her. When she put her mind to it Ino was nigh unstoppable. Inoichi enjoyed watching the waves she was making as her improvements became more marked. He believed entirely in what he was saying, Ino already had the necessary strength of mind of be cold when she had to be - a trait absolutely essential for a Jounin. Bleeding hearts generally didn’t last long at that level.
Shikamaru bit his lips and glowered. The boy didn’t look like he enjoyed the thought of that one bit, not if the expression on his face was anything to go by. Inoichi wondered if Shikamaru had thought of it like that before. “She doesn’t have to make Jounin - “
“And what if she wants to?” Inoichi asked him seriously, setting down his paintbrush to flex his hand and fixing his eyes on the Nara boy. “Have you even bothered to ask Ino what she wants? From the way she’s been talking about you… you haven’t been. You’ll be at odds with her until you give her the room to grow into what she wants to be.“
Watching the boy scowl at him again Inoichi sighed, “Look, why don’t you go and talk with Ino - and I mean really talk with her, don’t let her walk off. Maybe that will help you figure things out.”
Shikamaru looked thoughtful, though still unhappy, “If you say so.”
“Go on,” Inoichi told him, already heading back to his painting, “Have a good talk with her and see what she says. Just don’t forget to listen to her.”
---
Leaving Yamanaka Inoichi more disgruntled than he’d come - wasn’t any adult going to actually be helpful in this situation? The way Shikamaru saw it, he could have just skipped the parents and gone and found Ino anyway. Not that he was looking forward to it - he’d told Ino’s father the truth after all. Ino had been getting quite vehement about not talking to him. Talking to the parents hadn’t solved that problem at all.
…though that wasn’t really fair to his father. Shikamaru had gotten some good advice about the dreams from him, and the books that he’d found on his bed a few days ago seemed to be more of the same from what little he’d managed to find the time to read. It was a bit disquieting though to be told that he’d likely always have the dreams, and even worse to find out that his father had dreams of his own.
His father was an experienced Jounin after all, Shikamaru didn’t want to think about the level of detail his dreams came painted in. Not when Shikamaru was having a hard enough time coping with his. And what had his father been on about, that it was because Ino was the closest girl to him? Of course she was - she was his teammate after all, and it wasn’t like he bothered to hang around other girls.
It took him longer than he’d thought it would to track Ino down. She wasn’t at any of her usual hangouts, or at the training grounds. When Shikamaru finally found her trail and followed it to the hospital he wasn’t pleased. What, had she hurt herself while training? She’d just gotten better from his crashing into her! Ino wasn’t usually that accident prone.
Slipping inside place, and moving quickly so that he wouldn’t be blocking anybody’s way should someone come barreling past, Shikamaru casually leaned against the pale cool wall. Narrowing his eyes as he concentrated, Shikamaru sent his chakra out as light as a feather’s touch to seek Ino’s chakra pattern. It was something that his father had taught him a while ago, and he hadn’t found much time to practise with it. There wasn’t much need of it while they were stuck in Konoha after all.
Finding her, Shikamaru pulled his chakra back to his body and confidently headed up the hallways and stairs. She wasn’t hurt - they didn’t treat injuries in the area he’d found her. Rather it was one of the research and practice wings of the hospital, he’d been there a few times himself after that mission to talk to Hokage-sama.
Probably visiting Haruno, Shikamaru thought, wondering why that hadn’t occurred to him before. By now it was common knowledge that Haruno had managed to be taken on as the Hokage’s apprentice after all, and Ino was good friends with her. Shrugging at this oversight, which wasn’t a big deal really, he continued on his way.
Being careful to make sure he wasn’t caught - not hard when all he had to do was keep a close eye out for medical-nin, the civilian doctors and nurses were easy to avoid - he found himself in short order on the same floor as Ino. Stopping to do a quick check to make sure she hadn’t left, it would be beyond irritating if he had to track her down all over again, he was glad to see she hadn’t moved. After all, Haruno was no friend of his and had made it quite clear that she sided with Ino in this whole mess.
Stepping to the side just in time to not be seen by… wasn’t that the Hokage’s other student? Shi-something or other? She walked past him with a body slung over her shoulder. Shikamaru decided that he didn’t want to know. It was probably some research or something.
It was with dismay that he realized that she was heading for the same room he was. Great he thought sourly, yet another person to see Ino get mad at me. Again. He had no idea how exactly he was supposed to follow Yamanaka Inoichi’s advice about really talking to Ino, especially when he had an audience that he’d have to pry her away from first.
Maybe they’d kick her out of the room? Shikamaru was mildly hopeful at that - surely they wouldn’t want to be working on medical jutsu with Ino watching every move they made. His hopes were dashed though when the woman he was trailing entered the room and locked the door behind her.
Giving the idea of getting to Ino alone up as a lost cause Shikamaru broke from his cover and headed for the door. It was best to get it over with quickly then. His hand paused, mere centimeters from the door at the sound of Ino’s voice. Huh, the room wasn’t sound-proofed then.
“That’s one of the dummies you told me about last week, Shizune-sensei?” Ino’s voice, while polite, had an excited lilt to it. He could imagine her staring at the body he’d seen with eyes that gleamed.
For his part Shikamaru’s brain had stopped on the word ‘sensei’. What was Ino on about? Asuma-sensei was their teacher… he stopped and listened to what the woman, Shizune, said in reply.
“That’s right, Ino-kun. Tsunade-sama was pleased to hear that you’d progressed so far - she’ll probably be coming to one of our sessions in the next few weeks to see for herself.” There was a pause and Shikamaru could hear some rustling, then Shizune continued, “I think she wanted to come today, but a matter came up with a few of the older Genin teams that she couldn’t foist off onto anyone else.”
As Ino laughed at that, he thought she also sounded a bit relieved as well. Shikamaru was busy wondering just how long she’d been coming here and learning… medical jutsu? The idea of Ino being a medical-nin was laughable really - not her thing at all…and yet, he had to go from the facts.
Did Yamanaka Inoichi know? Shikamaru found it hard to accept that he’d let the sole heir to their family techniques just walk away from their specialty. It wasn’t like the Nara Clan - where they had many people to train - the Yamanaka Clan had always been small and the last thirty years, a great deal of it war stricken, had only made the situation worse.
“You’re going to try today to heal several cuts, all without stopping.” Shizune was saying clearly, “As this is your first ‘marathon’ session, I want you to take it slowly and remember to keep the flow of chakra steady. You know what happens if you don’t.”
“Yes, Shizune-sensei.”
“You’re eager, good. First inflict several surface wounds - hardly more than scrapes, Ino-kun. Going too deep is beyond what you’d be able to handle right now.” There was a long pause and then, “Yes, just like that one, make seven or eight more of them in total.”
As his listened to Ino’s other sensei talk her through the exercise he couldn’t help but to think - and when had this all happened? Shikamaru didn’t know much about healing, beyond the very basic first aid they taught at the Academy, but all the same he was pretty sure that healing even minor wounds was something that wasn’t covered in medical training without a through grounding in anatomy first. Too dangerous otherwise.
Did Asuma-sensei know? His eyes narrowed at the door, had Ino even been planning on telling him what she was doing with her time? This was something that he needed to know when setting up battle plans… their fight notwithstanding. How was he supposed to be able to make plans when she was keeping information from him?
“Damn it, Ino.” He grumbled, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to hear him, “You’re not normally this stupid. Troublesome woman.”
Still he stayed, hoping to hear something - anything - that would give him a better idea of what he was working with. Medical nin were tricky to place at the best of times with the situations on the field changed so quickly. When Ino and her sensei started talking about the differences between two different branches of medicine, Shikamaru left.
He needed to get to a library and see what he was working with. Post-haste.
---
"That's good, Ino-kun. Keep the flow of chakra to your hands steady - any irregularity in the flow can have lasting marks on the quality of the healing."
Ino nodded absently, most of her attention caught up in healing the 'person' in front of her. Shizune-sensei had qualified her work, just the week before, as good enough to start practicing on the dummies that Hokage-sama had created. Formed from chakra to mimic the body of a human down to the fine details they were invaluable for practise.
At the start of the lesson Shizune-sensei had had her inflict several injuries on the placid body, surface cuts only and none of them were to be deeper than an inch, and then she had to heal them all. The most disturbing part of the dummy, in Ino's opinion, was the fact that even while bleeding it kept the same blank expression. People didn’t do that.
She was on the last wound now and Ino could feel exhaustion sapping at her concentration. Narrowing her eyes, Ino focused on her hands and the flesh that was slowly knitting back together under them.
When she was done, panting from exertion and feeling like she’d been put through the wringer, Ino leaned against the table the dummy was on and closed her eyes. The sounds of Shizune-sensei moving to check her work was comforting as she tried to catch her breath back.
It was nice to know that if she’d made a mistake there was someone to catch it almost immediately. The fact that the dummy wasn’t a real person wasn’t the point, if Ino started getting sloppy now then she’d never be able to manage on another shinobi in the heat of battle.
“Not bad at all, Ino-kun.” Shizune-sensei said at last, green chakra lighting up her hands as Ino looked up at her sensei, “You missed a layer in this wound here, and one here.” She traced her hands along the line of where the cuts had been. One on the upper chest and another on the side. “Still, for your first attempt at a ‘marathon’ session, very nice work.”
Ino flushed, both with pride and irritation that she’d not managed to do it perfectly - she’d tried so hard to focus on the healing. “It’s another one of those practise makes perfect things isn’t it?”
Shizune-sensei laughed softly, “Everything in medicine is practise makes perfect, Ino-kun. Don’t be discouraged.”
“Yes, Shizune-sensei.” Ino bowed her head, unsurprised that her teacher had read her so well. It was almost inevitable after working for so many hours together in the last few months.
“Go sit down.” Shizune-sensei ordered, even as she began to clean up the body and ready it for storage. “I can tell you’re about to fall over.”
Grateful for the chance, the table hadn’t been the best thing to lean on while it was still covered with blood, Ino stumbled over to the nearest chair and slumped down in it. One day, she promised herself, one day she’d not get so exhausted over every little thing.
The only thing though that would improve that was practise. Ino shrugged her shoulders lightly, knowing that she wasn’t going to stop it - not when the results of her training meant that she’d increased her chakra capacity quite nicely already from what it had been before.
Even her father had commented on it when they’d been practicing Hypnosis no Jutsu a week ago during a breather. He’d been pleased and had mentioned something about another jutsu for her to learn. Of course, then he’d been called out on a mission, and she hadn’t seen him for a few days. Ino had heard him get in late last night though, so she had no doubts that he’d be resuming training soon enough. She’d been guiltily glad that he had been busy though, her work load was beginning to get to her and coupled with the training exercises that Asuma-sensei had them attempting (exercises in frustration really) she was starting to feel wrung out.
There was no time for her to take a break though, not when Ino wanted to make sure that next time she’d be strong enough to come along on a mission. Ino guessed that with Shikamaru a Chuunin that they’d be assigned harder missions than they’d done before his promotion. Once they managed to start taking missions again that was.
“How about we go over your reading from last night on the varied reactions to chakra healing versus natural healing?” Shizune-sensei said in a way that wasn’t really a question at all. “Ask me any questions you had and I’ll do my best to answer them. Then I’ll explain how you missed two layers even while keeping your chakra steady.”
Ino tugged a folded piece of paper out from under her arm bandages. She’d taken to writing down her questions once realizing that there were too many of them for her to remember after having been healing. The chakra drain always made her a feel a bit stupid and writing her questions down made it so she wouldn’t forget them.
And she did want to know the answers to her thoughts. The reading had been interesting enough to almost make her miss supper - her mother though had dragged her down and given her an impromptu lecture on how proper nutrition was important at her age. Ino hadn’t been aware of how much history there was concerning the two types of medicine. The limitations of each one and their strong points had been fascinating.
She’d have to talk about it with Sakura when she got a chance. But not until she’d checked with her sensei to see if Sakura had covered the topic yet, already Ino had realized that their training was proceeding at an entirely different rate. Sakura was learning about common and not so common ailments, and mostly seemed more concerned at the moment with learning how to make certain salves and unguents.
Handing over the paper to Shizune-sensei, to her teacher could connect her answers and make sure that she didn’t cover the same thing more than once, Ino sat up straighter as they settled down to work.
Half an hour later Shizune cocked her head at the door for a moment before saying, “I thought he’d never leave.”
“Who?” Ino asked curiously - she hadn’t noticed anyone outside the door, but then her control wasn’t fine enough to tell chakra signatures apart unless she was in a quieter place. Or if the signature was forceful, Hokage-sama’s was one that Ino didn’t think she’d ever have trouble locating.
“We’ve got to work on fine tuning your control some more I see,” Shizune-sensei softened the criticism with a smile, “It was your teammate - the Nara one. He was there for nearly an hour.”
“Shikamaru!” Ino squeaked, horrified at the thought even as her heart sank. Now that he knew Ino doubted that he’d ever let her take on a more proactive role in the team.
No matter that she was still the fastest of the bunch, had been even before the Exam, and after months more of training had only gotten faster. Ino doubted that he’d think of it that way, not if their current training flops were anything to go by. She wanted to go on missions, not watch other people go ahead into danger.
“Looks like you’ll have to talk to him then.” Her sensei said making Ino wince at the tone of voice Shizune-sensei used. Shizune-sensei never had really been pleased with the idea of keeping her training a secret from her team.
“Yeah,” Ino said miserably, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at her lap, “Looks like.”
---
Ino frowned at Shikamaru’s back as Asuma-sensei finished explaining what they had to do to pass this teamwork exercise. Shikamaru hadn’t said anything to her about the medical training - and she knew that he’d been there. Shizune-sensei wouldn’t lie about something like that.
She’d been up half the night fretting about it, Shizune-sensei had ended up sending her home early the night before because Ino hadn’t been able to regain her focus once she’d been told that he knew. Flushing slightly at that, she really did have to work more on her emotional control, Ino wondered what she was supposed to do. Knowing that Shizune-sensei would want her to talk to him about it, Ino grimaced. Talking to Shikamaru about her training was likely to be an exercise in frustration, but his ignoring her was almost as bad. Didn’t he have anything to say about it?
“Come on, Ino.” Chouji tugged her sleeve, sounding slightly impatient, “We’re supposed to be working on the exercise.”
Narrowing her eyes at the stream, and the fluttering ribbon on the other half that was their objective, Ino let Chouji drag her over to where Shikamaru was standing. He turned as she approached and Ino stiffened at the darkly speculative look in his eyes. What on earth was he thinking about?
“Right,” Chouji said firmly, frowning at the both of them when it became obvious that Shikamaru wasn’t going to take command the way he was supposed to. Ino ripped her gaze away from Shikamaru and focused on Chouji, “Asuma-sensei wants us to cross the river together without using chakra walking, swimming, or jumping across. Any ideas?” It wasn’t that wide of a river after all, and all three of them could leap across it without breaking a sweat.
Both of them looked at Shikamaru.
He sighed and rubbed his head, “Don’t do that.” Shikamaru muttered, “It’s really creepy when you both do the same thing.”
“Are you feeling alright?” Chouji asked with a frown, “You don’t look that great.”
Shikamaru’s lips twisted slightly, not quite a smile, “Thanks Chouji. I’m fine, just didn’t get enough sleep.”
Ino frowned even as Chouji berated Shikamaru. It was a rare thing when Shikamaru didn’t get enough rest - some days all he seemed to do was lay about and stare at the clouds. Maybe he really was sick? “If you’re not feeling well you should go home.” Ino told him sharply.
“I’m fine.” He snapped back, “Just because you - “ Shikamaru shook his head, “Let’s just get this over with. What should we do?”
Openly glowering at him - he’d almost spilled everything in front of Chouji! - Ino put her hands on her hips and said the first thing that came to her mind, “Asuma-sensei never said we can’t throw each other across.”
Chouji looked at the river, thoughtful, “That would work for you, Ino - Shikamaru too - but how would we get all three of us across that way? I can’t throw myself and neither of you have the strength.”
Examining the idea in greater detail, now that she was actually paying attention to what they were supposed to be doing, Ino was quickly warming to it. The fact that Asuma-sensei was watching them with despair from where the timer sat had only a little to do with it. “Can you,” she asked Shikamaru, ignoring the way his eyes followed her hands, “lift solid objects?”
He looked startled at the idea, “I’ve never tried.” Shikamaru said after a few moments, “Even if I could, it’s unlikely that I’d even be able to lift you across the water. I don’t have that much chakra, you know.”
Ino bit her lip. There was a way that she might be able to take care of that - Shizune-sensei had taught her how to transfer chakra during medical surgeries and as long as she was careful about regulating the flow… Ino didn’t see why it wouldn’t work. It would just take a bit of tricky timing. Shizune-sensei would kill her if she sent Shikamaru into Chakra Shock.
While she’d thought the boys had gone on talking about the logistics of it. Ino stomped her foot to get their attention. “What if you suddenly had more chakra?” The look on her face defied him to ask how she’d be able to do that.
“You offering yours?” He asked drawlingly, “Sure you can handle that?”
Ino bristled and Chouji stepped between the two of them.
It was another half an hour of muttered arguments and Chouji’s careful negotiating before they were able to put the plan into action. That they didn’t know if it would work or not, Ino was past caring. She’d do her part. They’d have to do theirs. All of them were getting sick of doing nothing but pointless exercises like this, but Asuma-sensei had been firm about it.
Heading back thirty paces away from the river, Shikamaru trailing her, Ino did a few light stretches and resolutely didn’t look in his direction. Chouji was doing a few stretches of his own before he assumed position and let his right hand drop.
She bolted.
Chouji grabbed her arm less than two strides away from the river, and using her own momentum as well as his strength flung her across. Ino spun, in midair and landed in a half crouch on the other side. She smirked at the ribbon even as Shikamaru began his run.
Soon he was right beside her, looking dubious and tugging off his Chuunin vest and mesh shirt underneath. “You’re certain you know what you’re doing?” Shikamaru asked even as he brought his hands flashing through the seals to activate his shadow.
Ino cuffed him over the top of his head, before pulling her hands back and concentrating on drawing up the chakra she’d need. “I wouldn’t have offered otherwise, moron.”
He snorted, “Another thing you learned from Shizune-sensei?”
“Shut up and start.” Ino growled, having no patience for this conversation in the middle of an exercise. If he wanted to talk about it later, fine. Fine, but she wasn’t going to mess up now.
To her surprise, he did. Watching carefully as his shadow inched across the river, Ino held her hands over his back but didn’t start feeding him chakra yet. Her hands glowed faintly green in the bright daylight. Shikamaru’s shadow carefully wrapped itself around Chouji’s torso.
Sweat was starting to bead along Shikamaru’s forehead as the shadow slowly, ever so slowly, left the ground taking Chouji with it. “Now,” he panted when Chouji was about a foot in the air, “I can’t hold this much longer.”
Ino didn’t need further urging. Pressing her hands to his bare back - Ino didn’t have the skill to do it through clothing yet - she narrowed her focus until all of it was on feeding Shikamaru just enough chakra to move Chouji while making sure she didn’t let any leak over that his body couldn’t handle.
She was dimly aware that they were making progress even as sweat trembled down her face and shirt. But for this, she had to place her faith in her teammates - there was no way she’d have been able to keep an eye out on Chouji as well. Her knees started to tremble from the stress of it, chakra transfer was exhausting, and Ino narrowed her focus further.
There was no way she was going to be the one to mess this up.
When the shadow jutsu went slack it came almost as a physical blow to her, Ino immediately pulling her hands away and letting the chakra gathered in them dissipate. Catching sight of Chouji on their side of the shore, with the ribbon in hand and beaming, she smiled. They’d done it! Then, even as Shikamaru turned around to look at her, Ino sank to the ground. Her arms were trembling violently from the strain and she bowed her head and concentrated on just breathing. She was so tired.
A canteen was shoved under her nose. Ino blinked at it wearily, then up at Shikamaru.
“Drink it,” he muttered pressing the canteen into her hands, “you look like you need it.”
“Congratulations.” Asuma-sensei said appearing on their side of the shore in a burst of white smoke, with a cigarette in one hand, “You three pass - and it took you long enough.”
Ino snorted with laughter even as Shikamaru sank to the ground beside her, Chouji beaming at the rest of them. Maybe, she thought wearily, things were looking up. As Asuma-sensei turned to quiz Chouji about his role in the exercise Ino handed the canteen back to Shikamaru.
He took it and frowned at her, “We need to talk.”
Rats, Ino thought, her pleasure at their passing fading at the prospect of an ugly confrontation, Why couldn’t he just forget about it?
---
The gates of Konohagakure were a welcome sight. After a few weeks of nothing but quick icy baths in springs and rivers Yuuhi Kurenai was looking forward to a long, hot bath and some sake to wash it down. For all that they were returning home dusty and tired, she was glad that their patrol had gone so well. A quick check behind her confirmed that, although their expressions had brightened, her Genin hadn’t ceased their careful watch on the countryside.
Take that, Asuma. She thought cheerfully, as Hinata moved ahead of her to do a quick scan with her Byakugan. After a few moments, Hinata fell back with a shake of her head. Kurenai nodded her understanding. All clear, then. Her team had, even from the very beginning, been more inclined to take her seriously and follow her orders religiously though. Kurenai wondered what had happened with Asuma’s team while they’d been gone - had they managed to work out their differences? Which reminded her…
“Once we get home,” she said watching as Kiba’s attention focused on her, “Sarutobi-sensei and his Team 10 have requested a general spar and joint training session.”
“While our general purpose is similar, your colleague must know that his team will have to operate under a significant disadvantage.” Shino observed with a small shake of his head, “Chouji lost a great deal of time training, and the Yamanaka girl is severely under-skilled in comparison. Even Shikamaru’s skill with planning will be stressed under such a situation.”
“A - ano,” Hinata looked mildly distressed, “Ino-san’s been working really hard lately.”
“I understand you are friends,” Shino said, a faint crease appearing on his forehead, “but facts must be acknowledged.”
“It’s true that the three of you are better suited for straight combat than Team 10,” Kurenai allowed with a faint smile, “I encourage you all to take advantage of that.”
The grin Kiba gave her was more than a little feral and his words matched, “This is going to be fun.”
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Chapter: 05 Revelations (Part I)
Author/Artist: Skylar Inari
Pairing: Yamanaka Ino/Nara Shikamaru
Theme: 04 - inner demons
Word Count: 9244
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 5 of ? Unbeta’d.
Chouji wondered when, exactly, it had fallen to him to be the only sane member of Team 10. Both Ino and Shikamaru did a good job at pretending but the moment you put them around each other everything became obvious.
He'd asked his dad for advice, explaining the situation in the vaguest possible terms - not wanting to betray any confidences - it had helped that his dad had been there for the fight at the party and wasn't completely in the dark. Chouji's younger brother, Choumaru, had suggested they lock them together in a room until they worked it out.
The fact that that was rapidly becoming the most viable sounding solution bothered Chouji. Both of them had firmly rebuffed his every attempt to talk to them about the situation, even while being friendly enough on all other topics. Chouji though wasn't ready to give up on them solving this by talking to each other.
Which was why, after another failed attempt for them to all manage to work together, Chouji didn’t head off with Shikamaru. Instead he trailed after Ino, unsure of how to say what he wanted to - and have her keep talking to him at the same time.
He was glad that Ino had managed to be in a fairly good mood though - even if that mood had come about from an ‘accident’ in knocking Shikamaru to the ground. Chouji didn’t think that anyone had believed her for an instant, but Shikamaru had told them to drop it and get back to work.
Thinking on what Sakura had said, and more importantly what she hadn’t said, he’d come to several conclusions about the whole mess. Chouji doubted that they were quite the same as Sakura’s conclusions because they had different sides of the same story to work with and there was also the not insignificant fact that he knew Shikamaru far better than she did.
Chouji was well aware that compared to his teammates his thought processes were slower. He considered this to be an advantage though, because sometimes there were things that they missed. After talking to Sakura, who Chouji reminded himself, he had to track down to thank her for her help, he’d begun watching how Ino and Shikamaru managed to relate to each other and those around them.
Ino treated everyone the same as always - except for Shikamaru. That had been about what he’d expected. Ino could generally be counted on to keep her displeasure focused on one person.
Shikamaru though… it had been an interesting thing to watch. His friend was royally irritated with the whole argument - whether or not he had cause, Chouji didn’t care. He was staying far out of that whole bit.
He’d noticed though, the way that Shikamaru had been treating her as the weaker party member and holding her back even during simple teamwork exercises. His friend didn’t have any problems when Chouji worked with Ino.
When Neji had come up and asked her for a word though - Ino had said it was something to do with Hinata and Chouji had shrugged it off - Shikamaru had gotten cranky. Chouji wasn’t sure what to think of that yet.
He should be grateful, Chouji supposed, that Shikamaru considered him ‘safe’ for Ino to hang around with. Otherwise things would be even uglier than they were now.
Ino stopped, on the roof top that they generally parted at - her house was in one direction, his in another - and put her hands on her hips. “What did you want to talk about?”
The hip thing, he knew, wasn’t a good sign. She was already on the defensive about this conversation and Chouji didn’t want that at all. Long experience told him that it was the worst way ever to try and explain things to her.
“I just wanted to know how you’re doing.” He said with a shrug, pleased to see that her stance softened slightly, “I mean, it’s obvious you’ve been training. Guess I just wanted to know a bit more about what you’re doing.”
“If it’s so obvious then why hasn’t he - “ Ino shook her head, “Don’t answer that. I don’t care.”
She did care though. Chouji thought that Ino probably cared about that more than she’d admit to - Ino was never very good when confronted with her emotions by other people. Though from what he understood from talking to his dad, Ino would have to be honest with herself.
“Self deception is dangerous when you dabble with the mind.” His dad had said seriously, “The Yamanaka Clan might not let other people know exactly what they’re thinking and feeling - but keep in mind that they have to know their own feelings.”
Chouji had promised his dad that he’d do his best to remember that. Thinking on it, Chouji could remember several times in the past when Ino had flown off the handle at someone making assumptions about her feelings.
“I’m doing fine.” Ino said firmly, “A heavy load of training - Father’s not going easy on me, you know? - and my own studies. What about you?”
Taking a long look at her and realizing that it would do neither of them any good if he broached the subject right this moment, Chouji let her drag out of him some details of his own training. Ino wasn’t the only one with a father actively involved after all.
They talked for a good half an hour, stepping to the side when another shinobi darted across the roof they were on, before Ino took a look at the sun. “I’ve got to get going.” She said with some reluctance, “Training and all that.”
He let her go, with a wave and a promise to see her tomorrow at training. As Chouji headed towards his house though he wondered why she’d been heading away from her place.
What was Ino up to?
---
Shikaku prided himself on knowing his son. As such, he was well aware of Shikamaru’s powerful distaste of getting up even a minute before he had to - a thing which happened often in the busy Nara compound. The daily hustle and bustle of running a thriving business based on their deer coupled with the challenges of nearly half of the Clan being shinobi on active duty at any one time meant that sleeping in was a rare treat. Shikaku found all the fuss soothing.
There was something to be said, after all, about being woken by the sounds of a good natured argument over something trivial instead of another call to battle. Shikaku figured it was the difference in the times they’d grown up in that gave him more tolerance for the routine noise of the Nara going about their business. Shikamaru hadn’t had to grow up amidst a war the way he had.
Knowing his son though meant that Shikaku was more than a little surprised to find Shikamaru downstairs just before five and nursing a cup of coffee. Nodding his head in greeting, he went and poured himself a cup, popping a few slices of bread into the toaster, then sat across from his son. “Don’t let your mother see you drinking that.”
Shikamaru shook his head, looking annoyed at the reminder. “I know that.”
Taking a sip of his own coffee, Shikaku concealed a smile. If you knew him, it was easy to wind his son up. “Just making sure.” He said mildly, “What’s got you up so early? Another training session with your team?”
Though how much training was happening these days was a bit suspect. Shikaku knew he didn’t have the full story about what was going on between his son and Inoichi’s girl, and Inoichi - that bastard, he thought calmly - was being infuriatingly close-mouthed about it. The fight at the party had been more than a good hint though that there was something wrong with the team dynamics.
Wrinkling his nose Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head, “Training’s not until eleven. I wanted to talk to you, actually.”
Getting up just as the toast was done, Shikaku buttered the slices absently, as he thought about that. Even at thirteen, Shikamaru preferred to be as independent as possible - claiming that it was too ‘troublesome’ to go to his parents for every little thing - and Shikaku respected that for the most part. For his son to actively seek him out then meant that all other possible solutions had been exhausted.
“Hmm?” Shikaku deftly split the toast onto two plates and set one down in front of his son. Yoshino would kill him if he didn’t at least try to make sure Shikamaru ate enough. Shikamaru always went off food when he was stressed out about something. “Anything in particular? Or is this just a check in?”
True to form, his son made a face at the toast, but with a sigh picked up a piece. “Asuma-sensei ordered me to fix what’s going on between me and Ino.”
Swallowing a bit of his own toast Shikaku considered what he knew of his son’s sensei. Good man, a generalist, and rather laid back. Sarutobi Asuma hadn’t struck him as the sort to hand out meaningless orders. Following that train of thought meant that it was necessary, and that Shikamaru’s sensei was getting sick of having to deal with it. “Just how badly is training going anyway?”
The slow flush that spread across Shikamaru’s face was answer enough.
“Right,” Shikaku said firmly, finishing off his toast and downing the rest of his coffee, “You finish eating and we’ll talk about it while inspecting the deer.”
Not even fifteen minutes later they were heading out the door. He’d left a quick note about where they were going and their probable topic of conversation for Yoshino on the fridge when Shikamaru hadn’t been looking. He knew that his son didn’t like the way Yoshino fussed over him - it was just her way though, to be strict - but Shikaku knew she’d worry if they left without a note. It was easier just to humor her when it came to small things like that.
They walked in comfortable silence until they’d left the Compound and headed out into the woods and fields that were just the very start of what the Nara Clan owned. “Now, what specifically is the problem between you and Ino?” She was an intelligent girl, from what he’d observed at the party, if a bit high strung.
“I don’t know!” Shikamaru said, gesturing violently with his hands, “I mean, I thought she’d be mad about that mission - and she didn’t say anything. But then the next thing I know she’s avoiding me, and when I do see her the first thing I say makes her mad at me. And she’s still mad about it - months after the fact.”
Shikaku couldn’t help the faint smile on his face. It was rare to see his son so animated about anything. “And the party? What about that?” He asked when it looked like Shikamaru wasn’t going to say anything further.
“… that was mostly my fault.” Shikamaru admitted as they walked through the woods slowly, “I was mad that she was ignoring me and said some things that I shouldn’t have.”
He didn’t point out that Inoichi’s girl had said a few things of her own that were beyond the pale. That wasn’t the point here and Shikaku didn’t want to get diverted from the subject - not while his son actually felt like talking about it. In that, Shikamaru was much like Yoshino. Neither of them were fond of talking about what was troubling them. Shikamaru would try and ignore the problem, until it either resolved itself or he had to face it, and Yoshino would take out her stress by coming down harder on everyone around her. Over the years though Shikaku had picked up ways of dealing with it. By taking his son out of the house - away from other possibly prying ears - Shikamaru would be more likely to elaborate on the problem.
Watching as his son rubbed his eyes wearily Shikaku was hit by sudden inspiration, “Have you been sleeping well?” He asked, looking the other way.
He could still feel Shikamaru’s eyes on him. “No.” His son said finally in a voice much subdued, “Not really.”
Sighing, Shikaku took a seat on the soft earth of the woods, gesturing for his son to do the same. He probably should have found a way to talk about this earlier with Shikamaru… the first failed mission was always the hardest after all. Even as he thought that though, Shikaku knew that it wouldn’t have done any good. Shikamaru did things in his own time. Had even as a baby.
“Nightmares?” Shikaku asked casually while fishing in his pockets for a bit of wood and a carving knife. It would give him something to occupy his hands while his mind worked. “About the mission?”
He saw, out of the corner of his eye, Shikamaru swallow and look away. His son, when he spoke, was mostly toneless, “It’s always the same at first. I’m in this room and Ino’s there, only older, and she tells me to go and look through a window. Then I’m back to leading the mission - only instead of Chouji, it’s Ino with me instead. Then,” Shikamaru shook his head, “it’s different. Sometimes I have to split the team up, and she never comes back. Or, or she’s with me and that freaky bitch takes her out. Rips her apart, right in front of me, and I can’t do anything.”
Standard nightmares then, Shikaku mused, not that he was going to say as such to Shikamaru. Tact wasn’t always his strong point and he didn’t believe in coddling his son, but he knew well enough how bad even simple nightmares could be. He’d been dealing with his own for years - and was grateful beyond words that Yoshino had resigned from active duty, though she was still on call if Konoha really needed her.
“The nightmares,” Shikaku said after a few moments thought on how best to say it, “are something the Nara Clan’s been dealing with since we were founded. Having a tendency towards higher level thinking and powerful imaginations isn’t always a good thing. Ino-chan’s the closest girl to you, right?”
Shikamaru made a face at that, but nodded. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
“It’s a commonly known fact that physically men are stronger than women - though statistically you’re almost fifty percent more likely to survive capture if you’re female so I suppose it works out - that, coupled with our conscious tendency to imagine the worst… well, most Nara men suffer from chronic nightmares. It’s linked to the shadow jutsu somehow,“ Shikaku shrugged, “An ancestor did a fair bit of research on the topic. You can look it up if you’d like.”
“You have nightmares?” There was a faintly incredulous note in his son’s voice.
“Almost every night.” Shikaku admitted freely, “Your mother plays a starring role in them.” He’d let Shikamaru draw his own conclusions from that, even as Shikaku made note to go and find a few books on dealing with the dreams that he’d found helpful back when they’d first started for him.
And on the other topic… “Have you talked to Inoichi?” Shikaku couldn’t say that he knew Inoichi’s little girl well enough to give well informed advice on the fight.
Shikamaru shrugged uneasily, “I was hoping you’d have a better suggestion. I just want to keep her safe.”
“The best way to keep her safe,” Shikaku said as they started to head back to the compound, “is to help her be the best she can be.”
The frown on Shikamaru’s face was more than enough to tell him that hadn’t been the answer his son had been looking for.
---
Sakura checked her medical kit once more then strapped it to her back. Tsunade-shishou had told her that the kit would become largely unnecessary once she had been studying for another year or two, but that for now she was required to take it along on all missions.
Going over her kunai pouches was next on her mental list of things to do - Sakura was glad that she kept all of her tools neatly organized. If she hadn't then getting ready for this mission would have been a pain. As it was... so far so good.
Packing a change of clothing, the mission scroll hadn't said how long she'd be gone, Sakura adjusted her hitae-ite and headed down the stairs. If she was lucky, she’d make it out before her mother realized just where she was going. Sakura didn’t want another fight with her mother.
"Sakura?"
She cringed at her mother's voice, even as she paused on the bottom step and automatically calculated the number of seconds it would take her to get out the door. Sakura thought she could do it before her mother came in the hall - but if she did that then there’d really be a fight when she got home. Putting on a smile that felt fake, Sakura subdued her irritation at the realization that she could have gone out the window came to her. That would have spared her this. "Yes, Mom?"
Haruno Sayako came from the kitchen, her pink hair cropped short against her face and wearing a frilly apron with vines embroidered on it. In one hand she held an egg beater.
"Where are you going?"
When she’d been younger, Sakura had idolized her mother. Told her everything and had been secure in the knowledge that her mother really understood her even when no one else did.
Years later, she was learning that they might look a great deal alike but there were some things that Sakura was never going to be able to explain some things well enough and have her understand. And now that she was a Genin there were things she wasn’t allowed to explain to a civilian.
She envied Ino and her father at times.
“What’s with the bag?” Her mother asked, “It’s a bit early for a sleepover if you’re heading over to Ino-chan’s. Does she know you’re coming this early?”
Sakura stiffened, her hands reaching up to straighten her hitae-ite. It would be so easy to let her think that a sleepover was all that was going on. For a moment she was tempted to take the easy way out. In the end though, honesty won. It was another thing that she’d learned from her mother.
“No, mom.” Sakura said seriously, hating the way that her mother’s eyes narrowed, “It’s not a sleepover.”
“Oh, Sakura,” Her mother sighed and Sakura fought the urge to hunch her shoulder’s against the disappointment in her voice, “You know your father and I don’t want you going on missions anymore.”
“You didn’t mind before - “ Sakura started to retort, tired of this worn argument that only made all of them upset, but her mother cut her off.
“Of course not!” Sayako snapped, her voice beginning to rise, “When Konoha was the most powerful nation it was safe for you to be a ninja. Can’t you see now that you’re likely to get hurt? I thought it would be alright, what with you apprenticing to Tsunade-sama, and that you’d be kept inside the walls but…”
Sakura watched in silence as tears welled up and spilled down her mother’s cheeks. After weeks and months of dealing with the same argument she knew that it was no good trying to explain to her that being a ninja was never safe.
There were always missions that claimed the lives of loyal shinobi, no matter that it was during times of peace or war. They’d been taught that in the Academy, one of the first things that the
sensei had started reinforcing through constant reminders and lessons.
After seven years of training and then almost another full year in active duty, Sakura knew the basic dangers of her profession. It was in her blood now, her way of thinking. Her head, her heart. There was no way that she could stop being a shinobi now.
Not when she was just getting started.
The danger, the fear, the uncertainty and the knowledge that there would undoubtedly be times when she would barely make it home coupled with the fact that statistically unlikely to make it to her forties only added to the job.
Sakura hadn’t been able to find the words to explain the connections she’d formed. The bonds that came about after having been in life risking battle, the knowledge that she would have these bonds for life. How the good times managed to make up for the bad ones - at least so far - and that made it all worth it. She couldn’t explain that she liked her job.
Not and have her parents understand.
It was a problem, Sakura had been told repeatedly in the Academy, that frequently plagued the first generation students. She hadn’t thought to think it through, apply it to herself. Now she had to.
Taking that last step down onto the main floor, Sakura tried to think of something to say that wouldn’t only further upset her mother. Her mission was a fairly routine one - and she was with another team for the duration of it - but none of that was permitted to be told.
“I’m going, mom.”
“We just want you safe, Sakura.” Her mother’s voice stopped her near the door, “Why can’t you see that? If you’d just quit…”
“I’ll do my best.” She half promised, knowing that it would be foolish to promise anything more even on a routine C rank mission, “Quitting though?” Sakura smiled grimly to herself as she opened the door, adjusting her outfit one more time, before tossing a single question over her shoulder as she headed out.
“How can you quit something that’s in your blood? I can’t stop, Mom.”
Her mother had no answer that Sakura heard for that.
---
Inoichi had been expecting a visit since Shikaku had told him that it was likely. So when he looked up from his careful repainting of their storefront sign at the sound of bells ringing, he wasn’t particularly surprised to see Shikaku’s boy there looking severely uncomfortable.
Idly wondering if it was their surroundings - flowers, he’d found, made some men uncomfortable - or the topic that Shikamaru had come to discuss Inoichi gestured for him to take a seat. They were in one of the greenhouses, Mui couldn’t stand the smell of fresh pain in the store, and though Ino had been helping him out a bit earlier she’d headed off for her medical training.
“Stop lingering over there like a shadow and come sit down.” Inoichi ordered blandly, not really in the mood to dance around the Nara sensibilities. Besides, more than once, he’d had to hold his daughter while she’d cried furious tears over what was happening with her team. Shikaku’s boy had a bit of explaining to be doing from his point of view. Making him uncomfortable was a small revenge - and Inoichi had never pretended that he was above being petty when it came to his daughter. “Anything I can help you with?”
Watching Shikamaru flush under his steady gaze as the boy took a seat on another of the stools they kept stashed in the greenhouses, Inoichi wondered what it was exactly that Shikaku’s boy wanted to get out of this conversation. It would be interesting, at least, and he’d been getting board of repainting anyway. This would be at least a minor distraction. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
He’d never been good at beating around the bush, a tendency that Ino had inherited from him, and he watched Shikamaru wince at the bluntness of the question. There was no point, Inoichi figured, in pretending that the boy had come for anything else - if he’d been looking for Ino then the shop would have been a better bet.
“I wanted to ask you what was up with Ino.” Shikamaru said at last.
“Shouldn’t you be asking her that?” Inoichi asked him with a quirked brow, faintly amused that the boy had decided to be so blunt - wasn’t much of a Nara thing that. So far, he was finding this entire conversation dreadfully amusing - had he been so awkward as a teenager? Inoichi couldn’t remember. He hoped not.
“The last time I tried she attempted to nail me with a Katon Jutsu.” Shikamaru said sourly, Inoichi was mildly surprised at that, as Ino didn’t normally work that way, having a tendency to express herself more through her voice. “She never used to have a problem with me.” The last bit was said almost plaintively.
“Hmm.” Inoichi fussed with his paints as he thought about that. Ino hadn’t told him all that much about her current situation, but he’d been able to glean a fair bit about it nonetheless. “Well… I went through something similar when I was about her age, and I’ll tell you that Ino’s facing a few of her own inner demons right now. Thing’s aren’t likely to settle down at all for the next while. Only thing that’s likely to help right now is to give her a bit of space and let her be as active as possible while on missions…”
Those had been the major complaints that Ino had told him. The way that Shikamaru’s lips tightened told him that the boy had no intentions of doing so. Inoichi inwardly sighed - why did the young have to make things so much more difficult for themselves?
“She’ll just get hurt.” Shikaku’s boy objected furiously, “Chouji and I are supposed to look out for her.”
“So that’s how it is,” Inoichi mused, “I’d wondered given how irate she’s been lately.” Taking a sip of water from the canteen he’d brought out with him, Inoichi watched as Shikamaru tried to figure out what he meant by that. He doubted that the boy would have much luck.
There were, however, a few things that Inoichi wanted to say. “Ino can take care of herself.” Inoichi said firmly, “You want to protect her from getting hurt? Well, here’s the cold truth - you can’t. Ino wanted to be a ninja, and she sure as hell knows that risks that it entails. Treating her like a bit of breakable glass is just insulting.”
“I don’t accept that.” Shikamaru said stiffly. “As her teammate I’m supposed to look out for her.”
“Look out for her, yes.” Inoichi said in a gentler tone of voice, “But you can’t protect an active kunoichi from all harm - you can’t do that to any ninja. You have no right to shield Ino from her chosen profession - besides, she’s been working hard since the exam and I have no doubts that she’ll make an excellent Jounin in a few years time.”
Watching his daughter work so hard had made him doubly proud of her. When she put her mind to it Ino was nigh unstoppable. Inoichi enjoyed watching the waves she was making as her improvements became more marked. He believed entirely in what he was saying, Ino already had the necessary strength of mind of be cold when she had to be - a trait absolutely essential for a Jounin. Bleeding hearts generally didn’t last long at that level.
Shikamaru bit his lips and glowered. The boy didn’t look like he enjoyed the thought of that one bit, not if the expression on his face was anything to go by. Inoichi wondered if Shikamaru had thought of it like that before. “She doesn’t have to make Jounin - “
“And what if she wants to?” Inoichi asked him seriously, setting down his paintbrush to flex his hand and fixing his eyes on the Nara boy. “Have you even bothered to ask Ino what she wants? From the way she’s been talking about you… you haven’t been. You’ll be at odds with her until you give her the room to grow into what she wants to be.“
Watching the boy scowl at him again Inoichi sighed, “Look, why don’t you go and talk with Ino - and I mean really talk with her, don’t let her walk off. Maybe that will help you figure things out.”
Shikamaru looked thoughtful, though still unhappy, “If you say so.”
“Go on,” Inoichi told him, already heading back to his painting, “Have a good talk with her and see what she says. Just don’t forget to listen to her.”
---
Leaving Yamanaka Inoichi more disgruntled than he’d come - wasn’t any adult going to actually be helpful in this situation? The way Shikamaru saw it, he could have just skipped the parents and gone and found Ino anyway. Not that he was looking forward to it - he’d told Ino’s father the truth after all. Ino had been getting quite vehement about not talking to him. Talking to the parents hadn’t solved that problem at all.
…though that wasn’t really fair to his father. Shikamaru had gotten some good advice about the dreams from him, and the books that he’d found on his bed a few days ago seemed to be more of the same from what little he’d managed to find the time to read. It was a bit disquieting though to be told that he’d likely always have the dreams, and even worse to find out that his father had dreams of his own.
His father was an experienced Jounin after all, Shikamaru didn’t want to think about the level of detail his dreams came painted in. Not when Shikamaru was having a hard enough time coping with his. And what had his father been on about, that it was because Ino was the closest girl to him? Of course she was - she was his teammate after all, and it wasn’t like he bothered to hang around other girls.
It took him longer than he’d thought it would to track Ino down. She wasn’t at any of her usual hangouts, or at the training grounds. When Shikamaru finally found her trail and followed it to the hospital he wasn’t pleased. What, had she hurt herself while training? She’d just gotten better from his crashing into her! Ino wasn’t usually that accident prone.
Slipping inside place, and moving quickly so that he wouldn’t be blocking anybody’s way should someone come barreling past, Shikamaru casually leaned against the pale cool wall. Narrowing his eyes as he concentrated, Shikamaru sent his chakra out as light as a feather’s touch to seek Ino’s chakra pattern. It was something that his father had taught him a while ago, and he hadn’t found much time to practise with it. There wasn’t much need of it while they were stuck in Konoha after all.
Finding her, Shikamaru pulled his chakra back to his body and confidently headed up the hallways and stairs. She wasn’t hurt - they didn’t treat injuries in the area he’d found her. Rather it was one of the research and practice wings of the hospital, he’d been there a few times himself after that mission to talk to Hokage-sama.
Probably visiting Haruno, Shikamaru thought, wondering why that hadn’t occurred to him before. By now it was common knowledge that Haruno had managed to be taken on as the Hokage’s apprentice after all, and Ino was good friends with her. Shrugging at this oversight, which wasn’t a big deal really, he continued on his way.
Being careful to make sure he wasn’t caught - not hard when all he had to do was keep a close eye out for medical-nin, the civilian doctors and nurses were easy to avoid - he found himself in short order on the same floor as Ino. Stopping to do a quick check to make sure she hadn’t left, it would be beyond irritating if he had to track her down all over again, he was glad to see she hadn’t moved. After all, Haruno was no friend of his and had made it quite clear that she sided with Ino in this whole mess.
Stepping to the side just in time to not be seen by… wasn’t that the Hokage’s other student? Shi-something or other? She walked past him with a body slung over her shoulder. Shikamaru decided that he didn’t want to know. It was probably some research or something.
It was with dismay that he realized that she was heading for the same room he was. Great he thought sourly, yet another person to see Ino get mad at me. Again. He had no idea how exactly he was supposed to follow Yamanaka Inoichi’s advice about really talking to Ino, especially when he had an audience that he’d have to pry her away from first.
Maybe they’d kick her out of the room? Shikamaru was mildly hopeful at that - surely they wouldn’t want to be working on medical jutsu with Ino watching every move they made. His hopes were dashed though when the woman he was trailing entered the room and locked the door behind her.
Giving the idea of getting to Ino alone up as a lost cause Shikamaru broke from his cover and headed for the door. It was best to get it over with quickly then. His hand paused, mere centimeters from the door at the sound of Ino’s voice. Huh, the room wasn’t sound-proofed then.
“That’s one of the dummies you told me about last week, Shizune-sensei?” Ino’s voice, while polite, had an excited lilt to it. He could imagine her staring at the body he’d seen with eyes that gleamed.
For his part Shikamaru’s brain had stopped on the word ‘sensei’. What was Ino on about? Asuma-sensei was their teacher… he stopped and listened to what the woman, Shizune, said in reply.
“That’s right, Ino-kun. Tsunade-sama was pleased to hear that you’d progressed so far - she’ll probably be coming to one of our sessions in the next few weeks to see for herself.” There was a pause and Shikamaru could hear some rustling, then Shizune continued, “I think she wanted to come today, but a matter came up with a few of the older Genin teams that she couldn’t foist off onto anyone else.”
As Ino laughed at that, he thought she also sounded a bit relieved as well. Shikamaru was busy wondering just how long she’d been coming here and learning… medical jutsu? The idea of Ino being a medical-nin was laughable really - not her thing at all…and yet, he had to go from the facts.
Did Yamanaka Inoichi know? Shikamaru found it hard to accept that he’d let the sole heir to their family techniques just walk away from their specialty. It wasn’t like the Nara Clan - where they had many people to train - the Yamanaka Clan had always been small and the last thirty years, a great deal of it war stricken, had only made the situation worse.
“You’re going to try today to heal several cuts, all without stopping.” Shizune was saying clearly, “As this is your first ‘marathon’ session, I want you to take it slowly and remember to keep the flow of chakra steady. You know what happens if you don’t.”
“Yes, Shizune-sensei.”
“You’re eager, good. First inflict several surface wounds - hardly more than scrapes, Ino-kun. Going too deep is beyond what you’d be able to handle right now.” There was a long pause and then, “Yes, just like that one, make seven or eight more of them in total.”
As his listened to Ino’s other sensei talk her through the exercise he couldn’t help but to think - and when had this all happened? Shikamaru didn’t know much about healing, beyond the very basic first aid they taught at the Academy, but all the same he was pretty sure that healing even minor wounds was something that wasn’t covered in medical training without a through grounding in anatomy first. Too dangerous otherwise.
Did Asuma-sensei know? His eyes narrowed at the door, had Ino even been planning on telling him what she was doing with her time? This was something that he needed to know when setting up battle plans… their fight notwithstanding. How was he supposed to be able to make plans when she was keeping information from him?
“Damn it, Ino.” He grumbled, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to hear him, “You’re not normally this stupid. Troublesome woman.”
Still he stayed, hoping to hear something - anything - that would give him a better idea of what he was working with. Medical nin were tricky to place at the best of times with the situations on the field changed so quickly. When Ino and her sensei started talking about the differences between two different branches of medicine, Shikamaru left.
He needed to get to a library and see what he was working with. Post-haste.
---
"That's good, Ino-kun. Keep the flow of chakra to your hands steady - any irregularity in the flow can have lasting marks on the quality of the healing."
Ino nodded absently, most of her attention caught up in healing the 'person' in front of her. Shizune-sensei had qualified her work, just the week before, as good enough to start practicing on the dummies that Hokage-sama had created. Formed from chakra to mimic the body of a human down to the fine details they were invaluable for practise.
At the start of the lesson Shizune-sensei had had her inflict several injuries on the placid body, surface cuts only and none of them were to be deeper than an inch, and then she had to heal them all. The most disturbing part of the dummy, in Ino's opinion, was the fact that even while bleeding it kept the same blank expression. People didn’t do that.
She was on the last wound now and Ino could feel exhaustion sapping at her concentration. Narrowing her eyes, Ino focused on her hands and the flesh that was slowly knitting back together under them.
When she was done, panting from exertion and feeling like she’d been put through the wringer, Ino leaned against the table the dummy was on and closed her eyes. The sounds of Shizune-sensei moving to check her work was comforting as she tried to catch her breath back.
It was nice to know that if she’d made a mistake there was someone to catch it almost immediately. The fact that the dummy wasn’t a real person wasn’t the point, if Ino started getting sloppy now then she’d never be able to manage on another shinobi in the heat of battle.
“Not bad at all, Ino-kun.” Shizune-sensei said at last, green chakra lighting up her hands as Ino looked up at her sensei, “You missed a layer in this wound here, and one here.” She traced her hands along the line of where the cuts had been. One on the upper chest and another on the side. “Still, for your first attempt at a ‘marathon’ session, very nice work.”
Ino flushed, both with pride and irritation that she’d not managed to do it perfectly - she’d tried so hard to focus on the healing. “It’s another one of those practise makes perfect things isn’t it?”
Shizune-sensei laughed softly, “Everything in medicine is practise makes perfect, Ino-kun. Don’t be discouraged.”
“Yes, Shizune-sensei.” Ino bowed her head, unsurprised that her teacher had read her so well. It was almost inevitable after working for so many hours together in the last few months.
“Go sit down.” Shizune-sensei ordered, even as she began to clean up the body and ready it for storage. “I can tell you’re about to fall over.”
Grateful for the chance, the table hadn’t been the best thing to lean on while it was still covered with blood, Ino stumbled over to the nearest chair and slumped down in it. One day, she promised herself, one day she’d not get so exhausted over every little thing.
The only thing though that would improve that was practise. Ino shrugged her shoulders lightly, knowing that she wasn’t going to stop it - not when the results of her training meant that she’d increased her chakra capacity quite nicely already from what it had been before.
Even her father had commented on it when they’d been practicing Hypnosis no Jutsu a week ago during a breather. He’d been pleased and had mentioned something about another jutsu for her to learn. Of course, then he’d been called out on a mission, and she hadn’t seen him for a few days. Ino had heard him get in late last night though, so she had no doubts that he’d be resuming training soon enough. She’d been guiltily glad that he had been busy though, her work load was beginning to get to her and coupled with the training exercises that Asuma-sensei had them attempting (exercises in frustration really) she was starting to feel wrung out.
There was no time for her to take a break though, not when Ino wanted to make sure that next time she’d be strong enough to come along on a mission. Ino guessed that with Shikamaru a Chuunin that they’d be assigned harder missions than they’d done before his promotion. Once they managed to start taking missions again that was.
“How about we go over your reading from last night on the varied reactions to chakra healing versus natural healing?” Shizune-sensei said in a way that wasn’t really a question at all. “Ask me any questions you had and I’ll do my best to answer them. Then I’ll explain how you missed two layers even while keeping your chakra steady.”
Ino tugged a folded piece of paper out from under her arm bandages. She’d taken to writing down her questions once realizing that there were too many of them for her to remember after having been healing. The chakra drain always made her a feel a bit stupid and writing her questions down made it so she wouldn’t forget them.
And she did want to know the answers to her thoughts. The reading had been interesting enough to almost make her miss supper - her mother though had dragged her down and given her an impromptu lecture on how proper nutrition was important at her age. Ino hadn’t been aware of how much history there was concerning the two types of medicine. The limitations of each one and their strong points had been fascinating.
She’d have to talk about it with Sakura when she got a chance. But not until she’d checked with her sensei to see if Sakura had covered the topic yet, already Ino had realized that their training was proceeding at an entirely different rate. Sakura was learning about common and not so common ailments, and mostly seemed more concerned at the moment with learning how to make certain salves and unguents.
Handing over the paper to Shizune-sensei, to her teacher could connect her answers and make sure that she didn’t cover the same thing more than once, Ino sat up straighter as they settled down to work.
Half an hour later Shizune cocked her head at the door for a moment before saying, “I thought he’d never leave.”
“Who?” Ino asked curiously - she hadn’t noticed anyone outside the door, but then her control wasn’t fine enough to tell chakra signatures apart unless she was in a quieter place. Or if the signature was forceful, Hokage-sama’s was one that Ino didn’t think she’d ever have trouble locating.
“We’ve got to work on fine tuning your control some more I see,” Shizune-sensei softened the criticism with a smile, “It was your teammate - the Nara one. He was there for nearly an hour.”
“Shikamaru!” Ino squeaked, horrified at the thought even as her heart sank. Now that he knew Ino doubted that he’d ever let her take on a more proactive role in the team.
No matter that she was still the fastest of the bunch, had been even before the Exam, and after months more of training had only gotten faster. Ino doubted that he’d think of it that way, not if their current training flops were anything to go by. She wanted to go on missions, not watch other people go ahead into danger.
“Looks like you’ll have to talk to him then.” Her sensei said making Ino wince at the tone of voice Shizune-sensei used. Shizune-sensei never had really been pleased with the idea of keeping her training a secret from her team.
“Yeah,” Ino said miserably, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at her lap, “Looks like.”
---
Ino frowned at Shikamaru’s back as Asuma-sensei finished explaining what they had to do to pass this teamwork exercise. Shikamaru hadn’t said anything to her about the medical training - and she knew that he’d been there. Shizune-sensei wouldn’t lie about something like that.
She’d been up half the night fretting about it, Shizune-sensei had ended up sending her home early the night before because Ino hadn’t been able to regain her focus once she’d been told that he knew. Flushing slightly at that, she really did have to work more on her emotional control, Ino wondered what she was supposed to do. Knowing that Shizune-sensei would want her to talk to him about it, Ino grimaced. Talking to Shikamaru about her training was likely to be an exercise in frustration, but his ignoring her was almost as bad. Didn’t he have anything to say about it?
“Come on, Ino.” Chouji tugged her sleeve, sounding slightly impatient, “We’re supposed to be working on the exercise.”
Narrowing her eyes at the stream, and the fluttering ribbon on the other half that was their objective, Ino let Chouji drag her over to where Shikamaru was standing. He turned as she approached and Ino stiffened at the darkly speculative look in his eyes. What on earth was he thinking about?
“Right,” Chouji said firmly, frowning at the both of them when it became obvious that Shikamaru wasn’t going to take command the way he was supposed to. Ino ripped her gaze away from Shikamaru and focused on Chouji, “Asuma-sensei wants us to cross the river together without using chakra walking, swimming, or jumping across. Any ideas?” It wasn’t that wide of a river after all, and all three of them could leap across it without breaking a sweat.
Both of them looked at Shikamaru.
He sighed and rubbed his head, “Don’t do that.” Shikamaru muttered, “It’s really creepy when you both do the same thing.”
“Are you feeling alright?” Chouji asked with a frown, “You don’t look that great.”
Shikamaru’s lips twisted slightly, not quite a smile, “Thanks Chouji. I’m fine, just didn’t get enough sleep.”
Ino frowned even as Chouji berated Shikamaru. It was a rare thing when Shikamaru didn’t get enough rest - some days all he seemed to do was lay about and stare at the clouds. Maybe he really was sick? “If you’re not feeling well you should go home.” Ino told him sharply.
“I’m fine.” He snapped back, “Just because you - “ Shikamaru shook his head, “Let’s just get this over with. What should we do?”
Openly glowering at him - he’d almost spilled everything in front of Chouji! - Ino put her hands on her hips and said the first thing that came to her mind, “Asuma-sensei never said we can’t throw each other across.”
Chouji looked at the river, thoughtful, “That would work for you, Ino - Shikamaru too - but how would we get all three of us across that way? I can’t throw myself and neither of you have the strength.”
Examining the idea in greater detail, now that she was actually paying attention to what they were supposed to be doing, Ino was quickly warming to it. The fact that Asuma-sensei was watching them with despair from where the timer sat had only a little to do with it. “Can you,” she asked Shikamaru, ignoring the way his eyes followed her hands, “lift solid objects?”
He looked startled at the idea, “I’ve never tried.” Shikamaru said after a few moments, “Even if I could, it’s unlikely that I’d even be able to lift you across the water. I don’t have that much chakra, you know.”
Ino bit her lip. There was a way that she might be able to take care of that - Shizune-sensei had taught her how to transfer chakra during medical surgeries and as long as she was careful about regulating the flow… Ino didn’t see why it wouldn’t work. It would just take a bit of tricky timing. Shizune-sensei would kill her if she sent Shikamaru into Chakra Shock.
While she’d thought the boys had gone on talking about the logistics of it. Ino stomped her foot to get their attention. “What if you suddenly had more chakra?” The look on her face defied him to ask how she’d be able to do that.
“You offering yours?” He asked drawlingly, “Sure you can handle that?”
Ino bristled and Chouji stepped between the two of them.
It was another half an hour of muttered arguments and Chouji’s careful negotiating before they were able to put the plan into action. That they didn’t know if it would work or not, Ino was past caring. She’d do her part. They’d have to do theirs. All of them were getting sick of doing nothing but pointless exercises like this, but Asuma-sensei had been firm about it.
Heading back thirty paces away from the river, Shikamaru trailing her, Ino did a few light stretches and resolutely didn’t look in his direction. Chouji was doing a few stretches of his own before he assumed position and let his right hand drop.
She bolted.
Chouji grabbed her arm less than two strides away from the river, and using her own momentum as well as his strength flung her across. Ino spun, in midair and landed in a half crouch on the other side. She smirked at the ribbon even as Shikamaru began his run.
Soon he was right beside her, looking dubious and tugging off his Chuunin vest and mesh shirt underneath. “You’re certain you know what you’re doing?” Shikamaru asked even as he brought his hands flashing through the seals to activate his shadow.
Ino cuffed him over the top of his head, before pulling her hands back and concentrating on drawing up the chakra she’d need. “I wouldn’t have offered otherwise, moron.”
He snorted, “Another thing you learned from Shizune-sensei?”
“Shut up and start.” Ino growled, having no patience for this conversation in the middle of an exercise. If he wanted to talk about it later, fine. Fine, but she wasn’t going to mess up now.
To her surprise, he did. Watching carefully as his shadow inched across the river, Ino held her hands over his back but didn’t start feeding him chakra yet. Her hands glowed faintly green in the bright daylight. Shikamaru’s shadow carefully wrapped itself around Chouji’s torso.
Sweat was starting to bead along Shikamaru’s forehead as the shadow slowly, ever so slowly, left the ground taking Chouji with it. “Now,” he panted when Chouji was about a foot in the air, “I can’t hold this much longer.”
Ino didn’t need further urging. Pressing her hands to his bare back - Ino didn’t have the skill to do it through clothing yet - she narrowed her focus until all of it was on feeding Shikamaru just enough chakra to move Chouji while making sure she didn’t let any leak over that his body couldn’t handle.
She was dimly aware that they were making progress even as sweat trembled down her face and shirt. But for this, she had to place her faith in her teammates - there was no way she’d have been able to keep an eye out on Chouji as well. Her knees started to tremble from the stress of it, chakra transfer was exhausting, and Ino narrowed her focus further.
There was no way she was going to be the one to mess this up.
When the shadow jutsu went slack it came almost as a physical blow to her, Ino immediately pulling her hands away and letting the chakra gathered in them dissipate. Catching sight of Chouji on their side of the shore, with the ribbon in hand and beaming, she smiled. They’d done it! Then, even as Shikamaru turned around to look at her, Ino sank to the ground. Her arms were trembling violently from the strain and she bowed her head and concentrated on just breathing. She was so tired.
A canteen was shoved under her nose. Ino blinked at it wearily, then up at Shikamaru.
“Drink it,” he muttered pressing the canteen into her hands, “you look like you need it.”
“Congratulations.” Asuma-sensei said appearing on their side of the shore in a burst of white smoke, with a cigarette in one hand, “You three pass - and it took you long enough.”
Ino snorted with laughter even as Shikamaru sank to the ground beside her, Chouji beaming at the rest of them. Maybe, she thought wearily, things were looking up. As Asuma-sensei turned to quiz Chouji about his role in the exercise Ino handed the canteen back to Shikamaru.
He took it and frowned at her, “We need to talk.”
Rats, Ino thought, her pleasure at their passing fading at the prospect of an ugly confrontation, Why couldn’t he just forget about it?
---
The gates of Konohagakure were a welcome sight. After a few weeks of nothing but quick icy baths in springs and rivers Yuuhi Kurenai was looking forward to a long, hot bath and some sake to wash it down. For all that they were returning home dusty and tired, she was glad that their patrol had gone so well. A quick check behind her confirmed that, although their expressions had brightened, her Genin hadn’t ceased their careful watch on the countryside.
Take that, Asuma. She thought cheerfully, as Hinata moved ahead of her to do a quick scan with her Byakugan. After a few moments, Hinata fell back with a shake of her head. Kurenai nodded her understanding. All clear, then. Her team had, even from the very beginning, been more inclined to take her seriously and follow her orders religiously though. Kurenai wondered what had happened with Asuma’s team while they’d been gone - had they managed to work out their differences? Which reminded her…
“Once we get home,” she said watching as Kiba’s attention focused on her, “Sarutobi-sensei and his Team 10 have requested a general spar and joint training session.”
“While our general purpose is similar, your colleague must know that his team will have to operate under a significant disadvantage.” Shino observed with a small shake of his head, “Chouji lost a great deal of time training, and the Yamanaka girl is severely under-skilled in comparison. Even Shikamaru’s skill with planning will be stressed under such a situation.”
“A - ano,” Hinata looked mildly distressed, “Ino-san’s been working really hard lately.”
“I understand you are friends,” Shino said, a faint crease appearing on his forehead, “but facts must be acknowledged.”
“It’s true that the three of you are better suited for straight combat than Team 10,” Kurenai allowed with a faint smile, “I encourage you all to take advantage of that.”
The grin Kiba gave her was more than a little feral and his words matched, “This is going to be fun.”
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