CYNOSURE

Summary: So...reincarnation turned out to be much, much more than just a plausible theory where people worried over whether or not they would get turned into a bug to spend the rest of their lives. SI/OC as Ino

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Warnings: OC-Insert

A/N: Special thanks to Enny, DarkDust27 and Bee for reviewing. You guys are amazing :D

Chapter 2

Pre-Academy Days

There was a muffled sound.

Ino let out a disgruntled groan as she slowly crawled onto her back. She glanced at the contents of her breakfast with a grim frown.

Well, that could've gone better.

She's still lying on the ground. Half-dazed and just all too miffed with what had transpired. Her eyes lazily scanned the skies for the culprit, narrowing as it flew around in a wide sweeping arc, deliberately hovering just out of reach, before disappearing as a black dot in the horizon.

Her fingers were massaging the sore spot in her head as she tried to ease the pounding that was making her blood boil. The wind was nudging her hair, whispering soft words as she managed to sit up. She did a half shuffle, sliding move that sort of looked like a slug as she leaned back against the tree trunk and let out a sigh. Grimacing, as she felt the bark dig into her skin through her shirt.

There were still a few dark spots in her vision, but at least the world was no longer spinning with a million and one birds flapping their wings and making the most obnoxious squawks. She shook her head a few more times, eyes squinting as a tall figure came into sight.

"I thought I would find you here."

Ah, it's Papa. She tried to smile at him, but then she felt sick again so she thought it was best to just pretend her facial muscles were temporarily paralysed as well. Though she did try to convey the message that she was fine through sheer staring alone. Which somehow managed to get across the general idea. How? Ino really didn't know, but let's just say that it's Inoichi and leave it at that.

"You're clearly not fine," he said, a frown crossing his features.

He stepped forward, moving to pick up the tumbled heap that Ino had become. Brushing away all the matted hair, his hand moved to cover her forehead. It was burning.

Ino thought that he may have seemed a bit angry or just horrendously worried in general. Though she was just so tired. She blinked at all the right places as he started to mumble reprimands, all the while holding her closely as he carried her back to the house.

"What did I say to you about practicing last time? It's all good if you actually know your own limits, but working yourself to exhaustion is not going to help you improve," he said, hand swatting away any protests aside. "Your mind and body cannot stand the effects of the Mind Body Switch Technique so many times. Reservation, Ino, practice in reservation."

His voice sounded a bit exasperated. Kind of like when Mama got distressed whenever someone does what she sees as 'waste of energy, time, resources and life', except probably quite a lot worse. As always, she's only mildly concerned with the reprimands she was sure to succeed and her own inability to convey her views to words, or at least not nicely.

They passed by quite a few concerned people. Ino just closed her eyes and pretended to be unconscious, quietly counting, as the seconds passed by.

"So..." She managed when she had been sat down in a chair after her impromptu bath before she wisely shut her mouth and took the sugared drink offered.

"You know Ino, I do understand that you want to improve the speed of your technique," Inoichi began, giving her another look as if sensing that she was about to speak up again. "You're bright. We've had this conversation before."

They did, but this time, he just seemed tired. Inoichi ran a hand through his hair and pushed up his headband. He seemed to be mentally mapping out the best way to go about this. Though what 'this' composed of still remained to be seen.

"You were born with abnormal amounts of spiritual chakra," he said, pausing to tighten the towel wrapped around her.

Ino's hair was still wet from the wash when she had been unceremoniously dumped into a tub of hot water, clothes and all. She stared at the droplets on the blonde locks, eyes following as they narrowly missed her knees and fell to the wooden floor with a wet flop.

"Ino. Ino, sweetie," he insisted louder. "Look at me," he said.

She glanced up briefly, before sweeping her gaze back down to study the growing puddle.

"I'm not mad at you, okay." Inoichi finally managed, rather unconvincingly if you asked Ino. Though she relented when she realised the pointlessness of her actions and muttered something that hopefully came across as "I'm sorry". It might have worked because Inoichi had continued on with his talk.

"The nature of your chakra has made it easy for you to perform our clan techniques. And it was easy for you to just copy it after it was shown to you a few times," he continued. "But you don't really understand the mechanics of it. Sure, you may know the history and all the facts behind it creation, but do you really understand what happens when you infuse chakra and shape it? What happens at that precise moment your mind is projected?"

Inoichi seemed to let out a sigh as he sensed the literal droop in the air. He reached out again, this time, his hand landing in a firm pat on her head, before giving her hair a good ruffle.

"It's not your fault and I want you to know that I am very, very proud of how far you've come. This is just going to have be another hurdle to cross. One that we'll cross together."

Ino ducked her head, placing down the mug as her hand reached out to smooth out her hair. The water trickled down her fingers like tiny waterfalls. She seemed confused.

"I haven't been home often these last few years. And most of the other qualified adults in the clan are busy as the village is still recuperating. You've been learning mostly just from scrolls and instructions from the other kids. Which is great, but even when I was home and ran through the technique with you, I didn't ever think to explain it deeper," he ran his hand through his hair again, this time removing his headband and letting the stray strands fall.

"There's no point in perfecting a technique that you don't quite understand. So, we're going to go through this bit by bit, even if you already know how to perform the technique. You won't always be able to just 'know' how to use a jutsu after seeing it. This will get you into good habits."

Ino nodded. Finally finding the strength to smile, just a small one that bloomed when Papa smiled back. Her hair was still sticking to her back uncomfortably, but she shuffled forward as she leaned in to listen to his next words.

"...the mind is complicated in this way. This is why the Mind Body Switch Technique which is meant to build a base for when you learn future techniques is limited in the way it is," he said, eyes looking at her expectantly.

Catching on, Ino obediently listed all the dangers of the technique as she discreetly plucked a few leaves of the potted plant that had been poking into her side. "It can only travel in a straight line, it's slow and if you miss..." Here, she paused, frowning as she tried to recall the vague wording from the scroll that she had read.

Inoichi carried on, even as he removed the plant from her grabby hands while giving her tap on the nose to tell her to concentrate.

"Usually when you're moulding chakra, you combine both your physical and spiritual chakra, which is why you had to go through so much physical training before you could get a good hold on feeling it."

Inoichi stood up to pour a cup of hot tea, fingers dipping in before drawing on the table.

"Now, if we look at chakra as two parts. Yin," he drew a semi-circle in the centre of a quick body outline, "and Yang."

Ino's eyes followed the drawings carefully, hands dutifully passing over a tissue to dry his hands after double checking that she hadn't handed over a leaf by accident.

"Yin can be described as many things, dark, but here we will visualise it as the complementary to life force, which can be simplified to be a combination of the physical chakra we use on a daily basis and a person's natural aura. It's 'light' in a sense," he said as he held up an empty cup, letting it reflect off the sunlight, before flipping it over. "Yin is the opposite. It is the spiritual chakra and while Yang represents the potent forces of the body, Yin comprises of the powers of the mind."

Something seemed to click in Ino's mind as she put her hand in her father's watching as a soft blue glow wrapped itself around her skin. She held up her hand experimentally and tried to remember the feeling. She closed her eyes for a bit, before she started to mould her chakra. There was the tugging feeling coming from somewhere deep inside her abdomen as she physically felt something move into place when the glow started to emit from her hand once more, this time of her own merits. It seemed brighter that what she had done before.

Time trickled by as she moulded her chakra over and over again under the gentle tones of Inoichi's voice. Soon, she had worked through most of her chakra reserve and might have also killed a few plants in the process. She was sure that they could still survive without leaves to photosynthesise, though she did feel a little guilty. There was a distinct probing thought that Mama wouldn't be pleased as she turned her attention back to the lesson.

The water drawings had long since dried out as Inoichi continued. His voice speaking in the mystical tone that Ino had inherited.

"It is common practice to use animals as the first target for beginners when applying the Mind Body Switch Technique."

"Like goldfish," Ino put in softly, lips twisting into a mirthful grin.

Inoichi let out a low chuckle as well. Amused as he recalled the image of a very irritated Akira-san exploding and setting a bunch of mind-controlled nin-dogs that he had temporarily swiped on a sweating Yamanaka Santa. Which had just led to even more trouble – the joys of a typical Yamanaka day.

"Yes, like...goldfish, animals that have a short memory or aren't quite as developed as the human mind. Though, animals such as the Inuzuka dogs are an exception, as well as summons, which are just a whole other story," Inoichi said, before rolling his eyes, recalling a memory from his youth. Let's just say that Yamanaka Santa's personality wasn't exactly a sudden mutation that had popped up in the clan.

"I've already explained what could happen if you 'miss' your target, but there's also something that comes when taking over the mind of animals. Consequences, that aren't just the physical strain on your mind."

Inoichi gave a pointed look in her direction.

"You don't just become 'lost' like when you miss," he paused, voice getting softer, "you forget."

Ino had stilled, having contemplated the meaning behind those words. The night air was starting to feel a bit chilly as she recalled stories told at sleepovers and over candle lights, and suddenly they didn't seem like stories anymore.

"You mean the mind can get-," she tried to find a word for it, "confused?"

She phrased it as a question, but despite the undetectable shake in her voice, she seemed certain. There had been words here and there, of Yamanaka's attempting to control great beasts. She thought of Riko-san. Santa's mother. Of stories scratched in at the very end of scrolls.

Of men trying to tame nature, trying to invade the minds of bijuu. There had been many who had tried to stop the Kyuubi. They had been desperate then. People were dying and the red chakra had been absolutely terrifying. Choking, restricting and drowning in despair.

And in the end, every single one...

Every single one of them had gone mad. Absolutely mad.

Ino looked up at her father with wide eyes. She tried to say something as she sensed the sadness in his eyes. Though he beat her to it.

"Ino, promise me that you will be more careful from now on. It may just seem like a little bird right now, but I know you, soon you will start to get reckless, it might be a dog the next or a just a friend or another clan member, but it grows," Inoichi said, his blue eyes seemed piercing as he looked her in the eye. "You're still so very young, your mind hasn't even fully developed. Promise me this.

"Not just as Ino, but as a fellow Yamanaka and the next clan head."

"I promise," she whispered, voice solemn as she held her hand to her chest.

Then, it seemed as if the previous heavy tone in the air had just been a figment of her imagination when Inoichi smiled and patted her on the head.

"Now, that doesn't mean you can just start to slack off. Keep practicing and I might just teach you the Mind Clone Technique before you become chunin."

"Eh, but that's ages away. I haven't even started the academy yet."

"Well, you better start working hard now. Oh and no graduating early."

Ino pouted, as with how their father-daughter conversations usually ended. Though her fingers still fiddled around with the leaves in her hand, as they stuck to her skin in a circular pattern, half-covered and half-empty.

Today was a lazy, lazy day.

Chouji was just as she remembered. All kind and gentle as he muttered a polite greeting when he had arrived at her doorstep this morning. Nara Shikamaru was at his side, hands stuffed into pockets and already slouching in the blatant rays of an early morning.

They seemed a bit flustered, probably having been pestered by all her overprotective clan siblings. There was always fun in watching them poke fun at every foreign face that made their way to the clan compound, even more so when they were self-appointed as their 'guide'. They were all smart enough to avoid the right people, the ones who had an important purpose, or rather just grown-ups who looked like they could beat them up with a single finger.

Mama seemed to agree with her that Chouji really was the most adorable thing as she gave him an extra large helping of the Korean barbecue that had been made today. Ino had dropped by the Akimichi compound the other day when she had been out running errands for the flower shop, though it seemed that Chouji's dad had taken him out for a special trip, though she had the loveliest time talking with the Akimichi matriarch.

Ino had offered to help with preparing the meal this morning, though Mama had just given her one sceptical look before ushering her out faster than you could say "Kai".

Her wonderful mother had already left the house, seemingly confident in her daughter's ability to not burn the house down which left the three children all on their lonesome. There was a moment of silence where everyone just stared at each other, having already given introductions when they had first arrived.

Ino was good at making conversation to pass by the day, or small talk as you call it. But instead, she just gave a secretive smile before she led the two out to a clearing deep inside the heart of the shared forest.

The two boys were following along and she asked a couple of questions every now and then. Mostly on the subject of food or shogi and soon she's dropped the '-kun' of Shikamaru's name as they basked in a comfortable silence.

She bent back a protruding branch from a tree near the entrance of a narrow well-walked out path, taking care not to snap it as she held it out for the two behind her.

They arrived at the clearing, where Ino pointed at the tree in the middle. Not that there was any need to.

It was a tall tree, taller than all the others in the forest. Papa had told her that it was different from all the other chakra-grown ones in the forest. This one had been rumoured to have been personally planted by the Shodaime himself, and grown carefully from seed to tree. A sign of goodwill, or perhaps a symbol for new beginnings. No one really knew, but from the words of the few who were allowed access - it was old.

Ino walked up to the tree, placing a hand on its surface as she felt the thrumming life force beneath. There was a similar effect at the clan monument, but this was much, much stronger.

She turned around smiling and walked back. After a moment of hesitation and making sure that she was met with no resistance she grabbed the wrist of her future teammates and guided their palm to the trunk, just as she had done before.

"Tou-chan said that you probably haven't seen this place yet, so I was allowed to be the one to show you," Ino said. "We weren't actually supposed to be come here till we became genin, but I found this place one day when I was wondering around and well..." She trailed off.

"It's amazing," Shikamaru said, eyes widened as he looked over the tree.

He seemed to be more awake as well. The tree tended to have that effect on people.

"What do you think, Chouji?" Ino asked, as she let go of their hands and sat down on the grass underneath the protective shade of the tree.

He seemed awed as well, similar to how she had been when she had first discovered this place. Ino remembered having spent weeks and weeks just lying down and training with the warm force of chakra being emitted in waves. Personally, Ino thought that the tree appeared to be much older than Konoha, so old that it almost seemed to be semi-sentient.

"Ino, thanks for bringing us here," Chouji said as he tore his gaze away from the tree and its thrumming life force.

She waved away his thanks with a half-exasperated chuckle.

"We've all known each other since we're babies and it's obvious that we're going to be put on the same team once we pass, so you guys can relax more," she said, eyes curving into a light smile. "We're friends, right?"

Her smile grew as she got a shy smile from Chouji and she is only slightly surprised when she gets a surprisingly firm nod from Shikamaru as well.

Shikamaru was quiet, a different kind of quiet. Ino herself had often been told that she was a quiet person, though not shy. Never shy. Shikamaru seemed more subdued, less...'flighty' and more collected.

He was also lazy, just as Chouji had told her. Though his eyes held the cool, calm intelligence that Ino had always been told to watch out for. He made clever comments and she had cracked quite a few smiles out of him, so she counted that as a success.

Ino's mother had told her stories. One particular one was about two men. One, who could move armies and win wars with a sharp mind and another, who had the strength that even gods might envy, but fought as a soldier. One more among millions, billions, just another in the entirety of the war.

("There's no such thing as a one-man army," she had said. "At least no human can achieve such a feat, not even with clones or time-bending jutsu. Physical strength is limited. But what the human mind can achieve...the possibilities are endless.")

Then she had added with a laugh. "People already think the Nara are intimidating, but just imagine what they could do with the right motivation."

Shikamaru was clever.

She watched as he brought out a shogi board. The three of them were lying in a haphazard triangle. She was weaving a flower crown, though she doubted that Shikamaru would bear the dignity of wearing her wonderful creation. She added some red flowers. Chouji seemed to like that colour the most from what she had seen.

She let out a giggle when Chouji was beaten for the tenth time, though she did offer him the flower crown and a packet of chips that she had taken to buying recently.

"It's barbecue flavoured."

Watching as Chouji munched on the chips happily, she turned to Shikamaru. Ino held out her hand, revealing a four-leaved clover that she had hunted down amongst the many that were growing in a wild patch.

"It's a Yotsuba no Kurōbā. For good luck," she said. "I figured you would appreciate this more. Though I wouldn't mind making you a flower crown as well," she added with a cheeky grin. "I think pink would suit you well."

He rolled his eyes at her, before taking the clover. She noticed that he seemed to take care not to crush it as he tucked into his pocket.

"Thanks," he said. "You know, the offer to play is still up. I'm getting bored of versing Chouji anyways." Then as if realising something, he spoke up again. "I could always teach you if you don't know how to play."

Ino smiled, feeling the familiar excitement of a new challenge as she shuffled over to where Chouji had been sitting, before he moved over.

"Sure, but Chouji's on my side, right?"

Chouji nodded as he grabbed another handful of chips. Though he did give her a look that basically said "good luck and you'll need this" as they both watched Shikamaru reset up the board. She answered by handing him a drinking can and telling him to drink some water, nicely.

Shikamaru was a good teacher, though he had the habit of not repeating anything twice. He was going easy on her, she could tell. Nevertheless, she still lost horribly. She asked for another game, despite her best interests.

"Well, I'll get you this time, or at least once I've completely figured out how to play," she mumbled under her breath as she lost for the tenth time in a row.

She was starting to beat Chouji's record, his losing streak that was. Ino had never had time for board games in the past. Or rather as Shikamaru called it "an intellectual conversation by battling with the pieces on the board". Needless to say, she was quite saddened to find that she was absolutely average at the game. She wasn't bad at it. Just not great, which was something she wasn't quite used to. Sadly it seemed that her list of things to accept as impossible tasks was starting to grow from cooking, sewing and eating spicy food to beating Shikamaru at shogi.

Ino pouted at the slow drawl of "Checkmate" again.

"How are you doing this? I thought I had you when your bishop was- and urgh," she said as she tugged on her hair, letting out a mock mournful cry.

"Whatever happened to beginner's luck?" She mumbled.

"Well, at least you're getting better. No longer making any illegal moves, like moving your bishop orthogonally," he offered, eyes amused as he set up the board again. "But, you still rush too much. You need to be patient you're moving your pieces. Especially when you're moving your gold general."

She huffed, taking a chip from the offered packet and accepted Chouji's sympathetic look with grace.

"Well then, can we play again?" She asked, ignoring the bewildered glance that Chouji was shooting her. "If I'm improving and all, huh?"

Shikamaru simply took her request in stride. Though he did seem awfully smug when he won...again.

Ino was smiling.

Nothing unusual, apart from the fact that it was slightly different from her usual reserved ones. This particular smile stretched from ear to ear, painting her pale cheeks rosy with excitement.

Mama was combing through her hair, which had grown out of its habitual blonde pixie cut to tickle her neck. Her hands were gentle as she moved the wooden comb down slowly at a rhythmic pace.

"You're a big girl now Ino, aren't you," she said as she clipped her hair back with a clip.

Ino looked at the mirror, catching her mother's reflection behind her as she moved to get something. She was holding a flower, a lespedeza. Ino tilted her head as she watched her weave the purple flower into her hair. She stared at herself in the mirror, an unreadable look crossed her face as she looked at the girl in the mirror. There were similarities, though the sharp edges of the aristocratic features that she had born a long, long time ago were replaced by the softer features that she used to associate with Orientals.

"It suits you."

Ino turned around, hand lightly touching the purple petals embedded in her hair as she faced her mother.

"It's a bit impractical for training, though," she started. The slight cheekiness in her eyes soon pulled apart the serious expression that she had tried to put on.

"Yes, yes. But, just for today. Let a mother dress up her daughter for once," she said, letting out a sigh as she eyed Ino's dark-coloured outfit. "You really should wear more bright colours, maybe some light blue – it will bring out your eyes."

Ino nodded along, tugging on the edges of her dark purple shirt as her mother continued to fluster about trying to think of anything else she might need for the academy. Though Mama seemed to realise that Ino was only going out for school and not a year-long mission as she calmed her fraying nerves a little and handed Ino her bento with one last kiss before she waved her out the door.

The brown-eyed woman stood at the doorway, hair for once not tied into a bun (having been too pre-occupied with the realisation that her daughter had long since grown from the tiny baby that she could hold in one arm).

She watched, eyes half-sad and half-proud until even the blonde dot in the distance had disappeared. She shook her head once and then again, before closing the door with an slightly empty feeling.

"Time sure flies by."

Ino let out a slight yell. The closest that she was probably ever going to get to a screech.

"Chouji!"

She jumped through the window of the classroom that had been helpfully left open with a single leap as she made her way to the desk of her childhood friend with a slight frown.

"I thought that we were supposed to go to the market today," she said, casually grabbing the chair on the row in front and turning it around to face him, ignoring the gaping looks from the other two boys in her class that she vaguely recognised.

"I even skipped out on kunoichi classes today, just for you."

Chouji was doing a fine job of not meeting her in the eye as he tugged on his muffler nervously. He did seem rather guilty.

"You're always skipping out on kunoichi classes, so why does it even matter?"

Shikamaru had apparently woke up from his nap as he pitched in with a yawn.

"It's too troublesome to explain, so just blame Iruka-sensei."

Ino raised a brow, though she did relent on her impromptu questioning. Instead, she poked Chouji's cheek a couple of times for good measure, before breaking out into a smile.

"Fine, I should have known," she said, letting out an overly dramatic sigh as she rocked on her chair. "You're lucky I'm such a nice person."

Reaching out to her belt, she grabbed a storage scroll, before wiping her thumb over the seal with a touch of chakra. Chouji seemed to visibly perk up as the smoke cleared, revealing containers of various food ranging from udon to tempura.

"Enjoy, Yamanaka deliveries at your service," Ino muttered. "Eat up while it's still warm."

Chouji seemed to take it as a sign that all was clear, once Shikamaru added in that Mizuki-sensei, who was meant to be supervising them, had probably just left them to their own devices again, so there was nothing to worry about. He dug into the food with a cheery gusto as Ino turned her attention to the other two 'delinquents'.

She sent a sliding glance at Shikamaru, before relaxing a bit when he nodded.

"Hey, I'm Yamanaka Ino," she chirped. "You're Kiba-kun, Akamaru and..."

She tried to recall the name of the previously quiet blonde boy in her class that had suddenly morphed into this orange thing and had taken to yelling at the top of his lungs at every chance. He also had the most ridiculous chakra signature that she had ever sensed.

"Naruto-kun, right?"

Ino didn't offer out a hand, being too busy fiddling with the chakra coin that Mama had gotten her once she had been tired of her "devastating all my hard work and the poor, poor plants". She did give a smile though as she pushed some of the containers towards the two. Giving a light pat on the white puppy that had slipped out of its usual place, after getting permission from his Inuzuka partner, she spoke again.

"Dig in, even Chouji can't eat all of this," she added, a fond look in her eyes as she raked over the already growing pile of empty containers.

Somehow, Ino felt like she had done a good deed when she saw the way that Naruto's face had lit up with the brightest grin that she had ever seen. All teeth and gums. It seemed to light up the entire room when he yelled a thanks, before getting into a tug-of-war competition and a three-way eating contest that had somehow resulted between him, Chouji and Kiba.

Some people tended to have that effect, she mused. Almost like they were made of an entirely different personality.

She still shuffled away from the group though. Ino didn't exactly appreciate being hit by bits of crumbs and such as an aftermath of their excitement. Grabbing a few containers in the few holes that their wildly waving arms had created, she headed over to the side where Shikamaru had wisely moved before the racket had even started.

"Well, they seem like they're having fun," he commented dryly as he greeted her.

Ino just smiled, holding out the container that she had managed to grab.

"It's mackarel," she said, as she opened the container and handed it forward with a pair of chopsticks.

She felt somewhat pleased, when Shikamaru had looked up and was no longer hiding from the world in the pits of his own arms, for some strange reason or another. Small achievements in a sense.

Ino was fiddling with the coin in her hand, injecting a bit of chakra in it, before she tried to expel it just a couple of millimetres above the back of her hand. It successfully took her mind off the background yells of "Hey, that was mine" as she carefully turned her hand around trying to keep the coin floating just above her skin as she hovered it over the palm of her hand.

She looked up from spinning the coin. The silver blur skating around the rink of her palm like a figurine.

"Not going to eat?" Shikamaru asked.

"Nah, I figured I should eat beforehand," she said, casting a glance to the scraps of food left where the three boys and one dog were all leaning back against their chair with a couple of satisfied pats on their stomach. She let the coin flop over onto the wooden desk with a soft ting as she muttered, "...and, it turns out that, that had probably been a very good idea."

Shikamaru followed the line of her gaze, before letting out a sigh that somehow managed to condense all his exasperation into a single let out breath.

"It's troublesome. And they're going to fall if they keep leaning back that way."

Ino flicked the coin across the desk that that were huddled at, avoiding the now empty container of mackerel and watched as it spun in a great big arc before hitting Shikamaru on the arm.

"Oh cheer up a little, well you? You could at least pretend that you're glad to see me," she said, hiding a smile behind her hand as she heard a great big clash in the room.

He gave her a look, before promptly deciding that it would take too much effort to react and just muttered a quiet "troublesome" under his breath.

Ino quietly tapped on the desk, before replying.

"You know you're smiling too, right?"

She had heard the story before.

Except Chouji had told it slightly differently. It wasn't till he was halfway through the whole legend that she realised with a startling oh, that this was some sort of variant of the Thousand Paper Cranes, that she had once heard, back in another lifetime. It had all seemed horribly romantic, in that innocent childish hope that she found difficult to shed.

Though it seemed that like with Sadako of Hiroshima, Sadako the kunoichi had also come to a sad end. It was a tragedy. Yet, it was told as a symbol of hope. One of the favourites among times of war, though Ino had no idea where Chouji had heard it from.

He had hunted her down at the flower shop today. She had been begging Mama for a note to excuse her from kunoichi classes for good when he had arrived, all huffing and panting.

"Hey Chouji."

He was slightly bent over, cheeks red, but eyes shiny as he raised one arm in a wave, before it flopped back down to hit his knee with a smack.

Setting down the flower that she had been moving into another vase, she got up and dusted her hands on the makeshift apron that she had been using, depositing the washed-out blanket next to a pile by the back door. She looked back at Mama, who was already waving her out the door. Though Ino was quite disappointed when she saw her lips form the word "No" to her previous request.

Though before she could protest further, Chouji had already dragged her out the door. She was half-tempted to ask if there was a barbecue sale going on or something, until he had started leading her towards the Nara compound. A rather disgruntled Shikamaru had greeted them at the door. Ino flickered her eyes toward a nearby clock in surprise.

"You're up early," she said, giving a slight bow as she removed her shoes at the porch. "Where's Yoshino and Shikaku-san?"

"Out," he mumbled, stifling a yawn with one hand as the other made a beckoning motion towards the living room. "And I wouldn't be up, if Chouji didn't come to visit at this insane hour in the morning."

Ino raised a brow. Well, that didn't quite sound right. Though she held her tongue as Chouji, who was still dragging her along, pulled her down to a seat on the tatami mat in the middle. There were a few empty plates lying around, which she carefully stacked on the side, taking them, before Shikamaru could just shove him to the side sloppily.

She got down, not bothering to keep up with pretences as she lied down, leaning against one elbow as she pressed her face into the soft cushion that had been chucked at her, in a lazy throw. It had been kind of pathetic, landing only half-way to where it had been aimed at, just barely within reach.

Sensing that Shikamaru had gone into a half-dormant mode in the time that it had taken her to lie down, Ino decided to speak.

"So Chouji, what's got you so worked up this morning?"

"There's a new stand opening, you know when that travelling merchant group arrived at the village the other day," he said, eyes already widening in an all too familiar look "One of my cousins had the mission to help with escorting them here and he said they made the best food."

Ino nodded, as if she completely understood what he was saying. She didn't, not really. But she nodded anyways. Mostly because it was Chouji, so she was fine with going along on whatever he had in mind.

"That still doesn't explain why you barged into my house before the sun even rose this morning," Shikamaru pointed out, swatting away her hand while she was trying to discretely tuck leaves into his hair.

"Shikamaru! You've never heard of the phrase, that a satisfying meal is worth moving mountains over?"

Ino was sure that she had a blank expression on her face at the moment, but she nodded for Chouji to carry on. Who for all that mattered, didn't seem too concerned about their current lack of enthusiasm. He seemed somehow convinced that they would become just as excited when he finally delivered the news.

Chouji had finished explaining the great revelation of this absolutely amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and Ino still wasn't all that pumped up for it. Though she did manage a somewhat indulging smile, one eerily reminiscent of her mother's whenever she offered to help out with a meal.

Shikamaru just looked outright bored, though he did get up, after complaining about "What a drag" this entire revenue was. Ino was half-tempted to agree, but Chouji seemed happy, so instead she helped him drag the half-asleep Nara all the way till where the 'amazing stand' was waiting to be set at.

It was on the way there that Chouji retold the legend. Apparently, the owner of the stand, Hiroshima Nanato was a descendent of the Sadako in the story. Chouji upon hearing about his amazing culinary skills had somehow managed to wrangle out that if he managed to help him fold a thousand paper cranes in preparation for the presentation that he wanted to hold in the middle of the village, he would allow Chouji one all-you-can-eat meal for free.

Ino's not exactly sure how to react, but Chouji seemed quite proud of his achievement. She was quite glad that he seemed to be coming out of his shell more, even if it always seemed to come with food as a motive. Nevertheless, she did manage to nod and hum along as they walked down the dirt path to a more sedated area of the village.

"That sounds great," she said.

Shikamaru somehow managed to give her an incredulous look which turned back into an impassive yawn the moment Chouji turned to gage his reaction.

She sat down on a smooth log that was acting as a bench under a tree (she idly wondered if it was the same tree that said log had been gotten from in the first place), when they had arrived, idly tugging on the streamers that had been weaved amidst its branches, eyes looking over what had previously been a rather drably piece of land that was often hired out to travelling circus groups or large numbers of merchants who wanted to set up foreign markets. She had spoken to a traveller once, when she had been younger. And from what she had learnt, it took a lot more effort than she would ever like to put in to set up such an event. It seemed much easier to just negotiate with the Market Council to borrow one or two stands for a couple of days.

Chouji was speaking with Nanato-san asking if they could come along from the looks of it as he pointed in her direction. She wrangled her fingers a little, giving a polite nod in reply. Shikamaru had hung around Chouji for a bit, making sure that things were okay, before walking about aimlessly after getting a good grasp of the situation.

She looked up when she felt a hand land on her shoulder, as she narrowly caught a origami flower dropped in her lap.

"Thanks," she said, scooching over on the log to make room for Shikamaru who had wondered back from looking at the stands that had already been set up.

"Early birthday present," he mumbled. "Figured you would like it."

Ino decided to be grateful and just ignore the undertone of "despite it being all too troublesome and flimsy, all the while not even being a real flower".

"Chouji wanted to come here to celebrate when it's your birthday, the free meal was supposed to be the present, but then he realised this morning that it would be impossible for him to finish the task on his own. Which is why he decided to just make it a group thing," he said as he leaned back, eyes lazily scanning over the sky.

It was a cloudless day, pity.

"Should have known it was something like that. Though you do realise, it's going to be your birthday as well. At least the day before mine, old man."

It was a while until he spoke up again. Chouji seemed to be busy, having been waved away by a fresh platter of pastries by one of the woman who seemed to have really taken a shine on him.

"He gets all these ideas, because you always help and egg him on, you know," he sighed, one hand gesturing at said boy.

Ino opened her mouth to answer, "I think it's great."

"You think everything's great. You even helped him hide that stray cat he picked up when he was at that new ice-cream shop when you found out that his mum was allergic. And we all know how that ended," he said, this time not even bothering to finish with another sigh.

She looked slightly sheepish for a second, before trying to justify herself.

"Well...it was a cute cat and it didn't really mean to mess up and..." She trailed off weakly at the look she was given.

"You don't even like cats."

Ino stayed quiet and just tugged on the streamers, nearly falling off the log when she pulled down a branch with it. She steadied herself again, pouting as she brushed off the twigs that had landed in her hair. Enviously eying the fact that Shikamaru had once again come out of the entire situation with a speck, still slouching as he raised a brow at her actions before lending a helping hand.

In the end, she just settled with a somewhat childish huff, before announcing.

"Well, you always end up helping in the end, so you're at fault too."

And that was the end of that conversation.

She was sure he heard him mumble something like "troublesome", though by that time Chouji had already jogged back with a bright smile on his face. He was also carrying a bunch of coloured paper in his arms and Ino had to grab some of his pile, because she was sure that he was going to either trip or drop the entire pile if she didn't.

Shikamaru ended up folding the most paper cranes though. Since, both she and Chouji turned out to be somewhat useless at the task. No one really minded though as they all ended up in a giant heap, lying underneath the streamer-covered tree when the sun sank down to mark the coming of dusk.

(So the legend goes that your wish will be granted when you fold one thousand paper cranes...)

A/N: School starts tomorrow, so I'll be slaving through all my exams instead of watching anime and writing fanfiction TT_TT

Chouji is one of my favourite characters, but I find him really, really hard to write. He's amazing though. That will become more obvious, especially after they become genin ;)

Anyways, review please?