Disclaimer: I only own the circumstances that have inflicted change.

Summary: Something goes horribly wrong during the fight between Ino and Sakura, triggering behavioral differences and changing the outcome of events fated to come. Unnerved by this newfound mystery, Shikamaru sets out to unravel the enigma that is his own teammate.

Conundrum

By intoxicatedasphyxiation

.01

For the second time after the fourth match was called, he wondered if the system was rigged.

In the grand scheme of things, a trivial rivalry between two genin that had festered since their academy days was not so paramount or exclusive in the armed forces of the village that it required an early intervention by a higher authority, but Shikamaru couldn't help but pander to the pooling suspicion in his gut.

The chances of this match being called, after all, had been as statistically likely as Chōji selecting a different outlet for their team dinners.

If he had been more superstitious, he may have chalked it up as fate instead, but the gears of his mind were not created to cater to such thinking. Conventional thinking would dismiss it as mere coincidence, but there was no doubt in his mind that certain advantages were tilted in the general direction of the home team. After all, this reigned true for every Chūnin Selection Exam in every country.

As always, the home ground advantage lay predominately in the number of in-village candidates who signed up for the exam. Through the sheer mechanics of quantity alone, this increased the likelihood of local shinobi reaching the finish line. Teams from the same village were also more likely to form alliances against foreigners in order to decrease the likelihood of unknown entities and threats, and if anything, Konohagakure no Sato was particularly renowned for its emphasis on camaraderie and teamwork.

Only a visually impaired moron wouldn't have noticed the wonderful coincidence that arrived gift wrapped in the form of the first match of the preliminaries. Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akadō Yoroi. All rumors of favoritism were never completely groundless and Shikamaru had been there in the dark forest when two-thirds of Team Seven were down for the count. All who were present had seen the strange revival of the fallen Uchiha and it didn't take an idiot to know that something had gone terribly wrong on a scale that went beyond mere genin.

The fact that Sasuke had been spirited away by his teacher immediately after the match spoke volumes about the so-called coincidences of the match-ups of the preliminaries.

"Do you think she'll win?" Chōji whispered, drawing his attention back to the match below.

"With every minute that passes, the likelihood of that decreases," he replied, "they'll probably tie."

Wanting their teammate to win went without saying, but realism often stood in the way of wishful thinking. Judging by the postures of the referee and some of the other senior spectators, it seemed that they too didn't expect the match to turn out any other way.

It had been ten minutes already without either party gaining a significant advantage. There had been no flashy techniques either, which made it a lousy showing. Shikamaru would have considered it meaningless too, had he not attended the same classes as the girls below. For a boring match, the tension reeked like unmasked subtext in a civilian drama.

He winced when Ino hurled her newly-butchered hair at Sakura's feet.

Well, for every plot, there had to be a climax at some point. If anything, it wasn't uncharacteristic of her to let her temper get the best of her. Out of all the girls whose names he knew, Ino was the only one who lived up to her undisputed title of queen-bee drama-queen. In the forest, they had seen Sakura mutilating her long hair to escape the grasp of the Oto kunoichi and understood the sacrifice it took to make that decision. Simply mirroring that gesture was more than childish—it revealed all of Ino's deep seeded desires to catch up to a girl she had once thought she left behind.

Pride and desperation are a terrible mix, he mused when her fingers formed her trademark technique.

"How useless," taunted her pink-haired rival, who proceeded to clinically dissect Ino's Ninpou: Shintenshin no Jutsu by announcing its weaknesses. Shikamaru's eyes flickered towards the foreign shinobi in the room as the security breach of the clan-specific jutsu took place and filed the moment into his mind palace for future reference. Had this been a deliberate revelation on Sakura's behalf? By revealing the Shintenshin's weaknesses, she had effectively massacred Ino's chances of using it against anyone else in the room who didn't already know the technique. On the other hand, if it had been done out of sheer arrogance and ignorance…

Had Ino favored a more highly classified infiltration technique, someone would have had to intervene.

He didn't need to look at his team to guess the state of their thoughts. Having a key technique exposed through discussion was the least of their problems when all that Sakura recited came out as truth. Espionage techniques were not suited for combat, much less one-on-one duels. It only worked in the Ino-Shika-Chō formation, as their team specialized in backing her up and guarding her inanimate body.

He sighed in disapproval as the shouting match continued below. For exam conditions, the two girls had it easy. Had the odds been stacked against them, either one could have been paired against a more ruthless opponent, if not their own teammates. He wondered who would serve as the sacrificial lamb against the kohl-eyed shinobi from Suna.

Unlike Chōji, Shikamaru didn't hold his breath when Ino faked the launch of her technique to ensnare her opponent's ankles with the scattered remnants of her hair. A moment's reconsideration and a modicum of faith in his teammate's skills had been all he needed to piece together Ino's plan. After all, since Ino and Sakura matched in strength, intelligence would have to determine the winner.

The tension in the room had shifted to one of greater excitement in anticipation of the denouement.

"Checkmate," he whispered as Ino projected her mind into her opponent's. Knowledge of the technique and academy-taught strategic skills wouldn't aid the pinkette now. In a battle of wills, the dominant personality always triumphed and Ino wasn't the type to lose in a contest of barking dogs.

"I, Haruno Sakura," said the body that housed two souls, "would like to for—"

"DON'T DO IT, SAKURA-CHAN!" screamed Naruto, who had cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his volume. Shikamaru grimaced. If only moral support could be officially categorized as interference…

All hell broke loose when Ino's inanimate body began to convulse, followed shortly by Sakura's.

For a match that thrived on stalemate fighting, this was as tense as it would ever get, as Shikamaru didn't think that Sakura was capable of harming herself in order to force Ino out.

Sakura's hands were clutching at her hair as though her head was in physical pain while Ino bent forward, both palms pressing against the ground so that she wouldn't double over. For supposed kunoichi, their groans could have been mistaken as screams.

Seconds passed like minutes and Shikamaru's eyes drifted back and forth between the two. Had Naruto's screams broken Ino's hold? The host's mind was never fully suppressed, but rather kicked to the curb, making it possible for the victim to regain a solid foothold if they had enough awareness and willpower to do so. Had he underestimated Sakura?

Had Ino underestimated her childhood friend?

Ino pushed herself up, sitting back on her heels, as though adjusting to the shock of waking from her body's temporary slumber. Sakura, on the other hand, was staring in horror at the blonde.

A frightening silence descended upon the hall as their gazes met.

"What… is this?" Ino demanded, her voice low and surging with an underlying fury. Her body shook as she stared up in outrage at Sakura. Never before had Shikamaru ever seen his teammate this angry.

"You tell me!" shrieked Sakura, her voice lilted in fear. Her fingers were still intertwined in the Shintenshin's release position. It wasn't long before she let out another scream, her head snapping backwards and her arms outstretching as her body arched. She fell backwards onto the floor, thrashing around amidst the blonde hair that littered the area.

"What did you do?" she cried hoarsely, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stared aimlessly at the ceiling of the hall.

Ino, on the other hand, looked equally as shaken as she sat there, unmoving, on her knees. She looked pale, as though she had seen a ghost.

Shikamaru turned to Chōji, who was already glancing over at him as though he was some guidance prophet who could decipher the situation below. A blanket of muted chatter enveloped the balconies where all the teams rested, no doubt speculating about the occurrence below.

"Can you continue?" asked the referee, who coughed into his fist.

Ino merely stared blankly ahead at Sakura's weeping form, as though shell-shocked. The pink-haired kunoichi, on the other hand, shook her head in response to the question.

"I need verbal confirmation," he said, crouching down beside her, "can you continue?"

Sakura's response, though unheard, was clear the moment Gekkō Hayate called the match in Ino's favor.

Shikamaru barely registered his teacher's movement as both jōnin-sensei ventured below to retrieve their respective students. His hand tightened around the railing as he saw Asuma-sensei reaching out to Ino, who violently slapped his arm away.

"Don't you dare touch me," she snarled, pulling herself up and away from their teacher's grasp. Her eyes flickered back and forth, reflecting her turbulent trains of thought, before she finally expanded her outlook to the world around her. Her eyes narrowed when she looked up, catching him off guard with a glare. A blink later and the moment passed, her short hair flipping as she spun on her heels, leaving their baffled teacher behind. She slipped away through the double doors that led out of the hall.

Sakura, on the other hand, had been carried up by Kakashi-sensei, who placed her on the floor, aligning her so that she rested with her back up against the wall. Almost immediately, she opted for an inward fetal curl, sinking sideways against the hardened ground as her short hair pooled around her face like a curtain. As various teams gathered around for a closer look, she withdrew further into herself, whimpering softly as her teacher shooed the masses away.

From a respectful distance, Shikamaru let his mind sift through the mess that had occurred under a minute ago. Had Sakura underestimated the effect of Ino's mind transfer? He'd never seen anyone react this badly to the Shintenshin before, but then again, there was always a first to everything. Perhaps Ino had been privy to some unsavory thoughts? Who knew what she found in there? The clan jutsu wasn't publically shared with outsiders for a reason—it allowed the user unrestrained access to not only their victims' minds, but by extension their nerve functions, and thus their bodies. The amount of havoc the user could unleash both psychologically and physically went unsaid, and in the hands of a preteen with a dangerous temper and vindictive streak, the amount of callous damage could undoubtedly be multiplied tenfold.

To even imagine that Ino would do such a thing… what did that say about him?

Or even their team, as a whole?

The famed Copy Nin crouched by his student, moving her hair out of her face as he voiced soft assurances and queries alike. The girl kept shaking her head, turning away to draw further into her own bubble. Naruto stood a short distance away, watchful and concerned, looking helpless in light of this new crisis. He looked like he wanted to scoop up his fallen teammate and comfort her closely, but was at the same time aware of the glass wall that isolated them both and kept his desired actions as mere thoughts. It was hardly uncharacteristic—his crush on the girl was well known.

Shikamaru empathized with the blond's helplessness and looked away.

This mess was something better left to the medics and their teachers.

"What happened?" Chōji asked, glancing back and forth between Shikamaru and Asuma-sensei, whose attention was equally focused on the mewling kunoichi and the set of double doors Ino had escaped through.

"I'm not sure," their teacher said, "but Sakura should be taken to the medics. For sedation, at the very least."

"I agree." Kakashi concurred, picking the girl up. She looked fragile in his arms. "Rest is probably best for now. You going to find yours?"

"Yeah," replied Asuma, "hopefully Ino will cool down by then." He turned to his remaining students. "You two able to hold out?"

"Sure." Shikamaru shrugged, while Chōji nodded.

"I'll treat you if you win," their teacher reminded before leaving.

As Chōji didn't announce it, he knew that the next match wasn't his. Resting lethargically against the railing, he tilted his head back to stare up at the ceiling. Unlike clouds, ceiling panels were far too constrictive in encouraging contemplative thought.

"Tenten's in trouble," remarked Chōji, the ever astute observer, "that Suna-nin is strong."

As if the cooling blasts of wind weren't dead giveaways. It didn't take a genius to know that this would be a one-way massacre. Konoha's weapon specialist would have to learn about weakness exploitation the hard way.

"Hey Chōji," he called out, "what do you think the odds are of two chicks having to fight, followed by another pair?"

His best friend merely furrowed his brow in deep thought, coming up with nothing.

"To break the pattern," he continued, studying the wall, "they'll pair the last two chicks against guys."

"If you say so," replied Chōji, "you're usually right about these things."

Finding no patterns of interest in the concrete, he glanced over at Naruto. The blond was leaning against the same railing some distance away, staring dejectedly at the fight below. The absence of his team and the considerable lack of outbursts amplified his isolation. Shikamaru remembered a time when all children were advised by their parents to stay away from the orange eyesore and he couldn't figure out why. He had made plenty of deductions since then, but even his father had refused to confirm any of them, and on top of that, heavily advised him to stop delving so deeply into it.

That order alone had given him more information than he expected. After all, his father had taught him that sometimes the most informative statements came from those who refused to say anything. More was less, and so on. His father was always the type who enjoyed listening to his various deductions and poking holes in his theories, but such banter stopped whenever he brought up Naruto, the social outcast of his generation.

For his father, the Jōnin Commander of the village, to make such a statement… the implications of that were huge.

Hands shoved into his pockets, he sauntered over to the underrated class enigma.

The lack of attention he received piqued his own. For Naruto, an absence of histrionics indicated thoughtfulness or depression, and judging by his earlier expression of helplessness, Shikamaru was inclined to consider both.

"She'll be in good hands," he said, "the medics are supposed to be trained for every situation."

A long silence followed, permeated only by the sound of combat below.

"Why did Ino use a technique like that?" the blond asked, after a while. Shikamaru could hear the confusion in his voice, though it was twisted with something else he couldn't quite name. "I thought they were friends."

"Once." He corrected. "They haven't been for a while."

"It doesn't make sense."

"No. It doesn't."

His mind reeled back to the fight. Even though Sakura appeared the greater victim, Ino had been no less affected by the event. Her anger was telling—if an underhanded victory had been her sole intention, she would have been complacent and blasé, justifying her actions with the finesse of an attorney. After all, hadn't she always evened the score with girls who dared to cross her?

Or was she simply a better actress than he knew?

He quickly cleared his head of the assumption. It wouldn't do to doubt his teammate now during this milestone of their careers. He wondered if others perceived the fight's outcome the way Naruto did and blamed Ino for the whole thing.

He wondered if they only did so in passing.

Either way, a fixed perception was bad enough if one person believed it to be true.

"I don't think she did it deliberately." Shikamaru stated confidently. It would be bad if team rivalry extended beyond the two girls and he liked Naruto enough that a developing impasse between their teams would be more troublesome than it was worth. "Something happened to Ino too. She's pushy and annoying, but she'd never speak to Asuma-sensei like that."

"Then what happened?" Naruto asked imploringly, his face brimming with unfeigned confusion. He looked as eager to listen as he would ever get.

Shikamaru was almost sorry that he didn't have an answer to give.

"I don't know," he replied, as the referee called the match below and the electronic board lit up with his name, signaling his match. "I really don't know."

Neither Ino nor Asuma-sensei returned by the time the matchups for the finals were announced.

Naruto had perked up by then, empowered by his own victory. The idea of being overwhelmed by an abundance of orange was a daunting thought—how Kiba had handled it, Shikamaru would never know. His own match had taken place before that, against the same girl from Oto that his team had battled in the forest. The advantage had been hers to begin with, as she had seen his Kagemane at work in the forest and knew how to plan around it.

He, on the other hand, had to work from scratch.

Boy, did she make him work.

He only wished Ino had been around. While scavenging the girl's brain, she ought to have picked up a few of the girl's techniques or gotten a good gauge of the girl's fighting inclinations. A warning beforehand would have given him an even start. The needles and bells were a creative combo and might've worked if the girl had paid more attention to every shadow in sight.

She had called him a one-trick pony.

But being a one-trick pony was only a drawback if one lacked the ability to adapt accordingly.

Out of the ten finalists, six were from Konoha. Sixty percent meant that they still held the home ground advantage, though only by a narrow margin. The team from Suna was the major foreign factor to look out for, formidable in all the ways that embodied their home country, while Shikamaru had seen the remaining Oto-nin's favored technique so many times that it barely fazed him anymore.

The matches were drawn randomly via numbers from a box. There honestly weren't any opponents that he was eager to face. His only consolation had been the fact that neither Naruto nor Ino would face him. At least for the first round. He had, however, been paired against quite an unsavory character…

He wasn't looking forward to the showdown.

Gaining entry to the hospital had been a challenging feat once the staff caught sight of Naruto, who refused to tone down the minute they arrived. Though lacking in social skills, Shikamaru wasn't unfamiliar with the concept of negotiation and policy recitation, so hustling the blond in without incident went over more smoothly than he expected. It was, however, still a tedious affair, so he made a mental reminder to come alone in the future.

He found Chōji amidst food baskets, sleeping soundly in the comfort of a private room. Finding Sakura had been much harder, as she was placed in the psychiatric ward under stricter surveillance. There were fewer adornments in her room and she looked almost pale against her backdrop of pink hair.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto exclaimed, with a voice that could wake the dead.

"She's under sedation," he replied in irritation, waving the chart that hung by her bed, "so tone down before they kick us out."

He left the blond by her bedside as he moved on to find his other teammate. It took him three verifications with various hospital admin before he was assured that she hadn't been checked in.

Where had Asuma-sensei taken her? Had he even found her to begin with?

Where was their teacher, anyway?

Finding his way back to Chōji's room, he let himself in and took a seat by the bed. He didn't know how long his best friend would be in for, but he definitely deserved his rest. Taking their teacher's incentive to heart, Chōji had unleashed his amplified body mass at the Oto-nin.

Shikamaru blamed himself for not foreseeing the Oto-nin's counter long before the matchup.

The earplugs, however, had been Chōji's own idea, and for that, he was proud of his friend. Against his own opponent, he had been even less prepared. Was it the result of laziness? Or did it constitute as arrogance? Had the encounter not been limited to one-on-one combat, he would've been slaughtered the moment the girl used her bells to mess with his mind. It was only her general wariness and caution that kept her at a distance. Fixed matchups seldom appeared in their line of work—real enemy shinobi wouldn't stand around analysing his Kagemane in a war of attrition. They'd find the quickest way to dispatch him and move on.

Being the smartest shinobi on the field didn't translate to being the wisest.

He couldn't imagine having to learn that lesson the hard way.

The food baskets by Chōji's bedside were doubtlessly gifted by his family. The multi-tiered faux lacquer bento boxes bore lightly hued animal motifs all over their polished black surfaces. The Akimichi clan not only ate well, but they also ate in style.

When the smell finally overwhelmed him, he got up for a quick peek. Spotting a brightly labeled mackerel onigiri, he devoured it without a second thought. Chōji's mother must have predicted that he would visit. He smiled at the thought. Thanks to Chōji, she could list his favorite dishes in alphabetical order and cook them better than his own mother.

"Your mum makes the best onigiri," he said, replacing the lid, "so you'd better wake up soon or you'll waste all this food."

The food enthusiast merely slumbered on.

"Ino's still missing." Shikamaru continued, speaking to no-one. "Knowing her, she's probably gone home or found someone to rage at."

Or not. For the first time ever, he truly had no idea what she would do. Ino's anger was the type that required an outlet—she wasn't the type who screamed at walls in the middle of nowhere. There was always the need to make her rage known and ever since they had been put on a team together, every single one of them had fallen victim to her tantrum spells.

Once upon a time, Sakura had been one of those outlets, along with all her friends who never made genin.

Now Sakura lay subdued under sedation due to a mess that also sent Ino into a spiraling rage that caused her to push away even her own teacher.

Neither would Shikamaru forget the glare she had thrown in his direction.

Sitting alone with his thoughts, he pondered over the newfound conundrum that was his teammate.

How troublesome, he mused, retreating into his mind palace to revisit the events of the day.

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