Contagious
"It's too early!" red swirls elongated as round cheeks stretched in a yawn. "Look! Shikamaru's asleep, sensei! It's way too early!" Asuma's slowly closing eyes snapped open as he grabbed some meaning from Choji's words through the mist of sleep clouding his brain.
"What? Oh," he glanced down at Shikamaru sleeping standing up. "He sleeps all day regardless of time. Shikamaru! Wake up!" He slapped his pupil's shoulder.
"…..meh."
"Come on now."
"I'm awake already!" Shikamaru groaned. He looked around the gray and dewy morning through heavily lidded eyes. He looked meaningfully at his sensei and then his teammate and then yawned and said, "My feet are cold." Asuma blinked in confusion, but Choji, who was a practiced translator of Shikamaru Body Language (SBL), voiced his friend's inquiry.
"Where's Ino?" He and Asuma's heads turned in search.
"Probably hung up on some hair trouble or what to wear," Shikamaru sagely contributed.
"There!" Two heads snapped in the direction of Choji's finger. "Heeey, Ino!" he called and waved. She bowed her head and hurried forward, stopping with her head still down. "What's up?" Choji's squinted eyes opened in concern. Ino's head turned to the side. "Huh?" She bowed her head further.
"I got it…" Shikamaru said slowly, a grin spreading across his face. "Ino," he leaned back and stretched his arms behind his head, a common explanation position, "you've lost your voice, haven't you?" His grin intensified as she snapped her head up and mouthed something. All she could manage was a frail, scratchy noise so she was forced to shut her mouth.
"You've got a cold?" Asuma asked sympathetically. "That's too bad," he put a consoling hand on the fiercely glaring kunoichi's shoulder. "We'll take it easy today, okay?" She coughed in response, focusing all her being into a death glare directed at the still smirking Shikamaru.
"So begins the greatest day of training in my life."
Choji stood, hands on head, panting, Shikamaru leaned forward, arms braced on a tree, breathing heavily, and Ino was doubled over, hands on knees, gasping desperately for air and still glaring viciously at Shikamaru.
"That was good guys, excellent really," Asuma stood in front of them. "I've never seen you spar this enthusiastically." Ino coughed and bared her teeth at Shikamaru, who was smirking and avoiding eye contact with her. He had teased her mercilessly throughout training and her fury had made her fighting quite impractical and useless, which naturally increased her anger. Asuma glanced between the thoroughly vexed Ino, indiscreetly smug Shikamaru, and Choji, holding his stomach, which grumbled pitifully. "Let's call it a day then," he nodded. "Go home and get better Ino, okay?" His words fell on deaf ears as the trio retreated across the training field. "Shikamaru better watch his back."
"It must be pretty hard for you, the town's biggest loud mouth and not able to say a word! Not a single," Shikamaru leaned towards Ino, "solitary," he leaned closer, "word." He leaned back, grinning as she smoldered. "Poor, poor Ino," he cried dramatically. "Poor, poor," he leaned closer again, "silent," he leaned back, "Ino." He laughed a little. "What? Don't you have some retort? Any backtalk? Can't come up with an insult?" He laughed again. "Speechless?" The final straw. Choji knew Shikamaru'd crossed a big and dangerous line. Ino stopped, arms quivering from the effort of restraining them. She seized the back of Shikamaru's shirt and spun him around, bringing their faces within inches of each other and then, very gently, pressing her lips to his. Choji gaped as the kiss deepened and the seconds stretched infinitely. Ino jerked her head back and released his collar, smugly flouncing towards her house. Shikamaru wiped his mouth and shouted, "What the heck was that for?" Ino ignored him and vanished in the crowd of the main road. "She's got to be the most troublesome…" Shikamaru's grumbling dwindled to muttering as he wiped his mouth again, shoved his hands in his pockets, and trudged onto the crowded street, Choji following behind in a state of mental paralysis.
"You're here early today," Asuma noted, "good for you, Ino." He was a bit apprehensive about communicating or interacting with his hotheaded pupil, but he was pleasantly surprised to see her happy despite yesterday's conflicts. She smiled up at him and crossed her arms, a satisfied smile on her face. Choji came blundering towards them, yawning profusely with a bag of dry cereal.
"Huh?" he said blearily, "Shikamaru's not here yet?" Asuma shrugged and blew a cloud of smoke into the brisk autumn air.
"Not yet." Ino twitched slightly at the mention of their third team member and shifted her weight to her other hip. "Here he comes." The sluggish moving slumped figure solidified into Shikamaru as he slowly neared them.
"Hey, Shikamaru!" Choji called and after a pause, "What's up?" He opened his squinted eyes in concern. Shikamaru glowered at Ino whose grin widened. He coughed and mouthed one word.
"Troublesome."