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A Kunoichi At Heart by Chloryl

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Chapter notes: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

"Shikamaru," you decided, hoping the genius would be willing to part with his lazy ways for at least the duration of the mission.

"Troublesome…" he sighed.

You glanced at him out of the corner of your eye. "If you want, you could always go with Ino."

"You're less troublesome," he admitted, sighing. "Let's get this over with…"

"Yeah, alright," you agreed amiably.

Ino gazed at Asuma pitifully, trying to spark his sympathy by giving him desperate, puppy dog eyes. "Sensei, why couldn't you have just paired me up with [Name]? I'm sure we would do loads better, and at least two of your students would pass."

He smiled, not swayed in the least. "That's the point. When we assign missions and teams, we need to distribute skills as evenly as we are able. And you'll be surprised. Chouji and Shikamaru aren't as useless as you seem to think they are."

"Bah, whatever," Ino grumbled in annoyance, dropping her pretences. "C'mon Chouji, let's go."

She half-dragged him into their section of the forest, Chouji complaining loudly all the way until they disappeared into the trees.

Shikamaru looked at you apprehensively. "You're not going to do something like that, right?"

"No, what makes you think so?" you asked, amused.

He shrugged. "I don't know. You're not like that, but it's hard to tell with women. It's such a pain, really."

"I see." You contemplated for a moment, then grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him the other way.

"What are you doing?" Shikamaru spluttered, frantically digging his heels into the forest floor as Asuma gave a hearty chuckle.

"Being troublesome," you responded mischievously, still dragging him alongside you. Shikamaru groaned and covered his face with his free hand.

"Okay, so what's our strategy?" you asked jokingly, only half-expecting him to answer. You released his arm, but he was still silent, so you turned to look at him.

"Um, what are you doing?" your curious eyes flickering over to where he was.

Shikamaru was squatting on the floor, his hand forming an unrecognizable seal where his fingertips touched, closing off a distinct, circular shape. He ignored your question, continuing to crouch there in the same position for another minute or so. Finally, he got to his feet and opened his eyes.

"Can I see the map?"

You handed it to over and he took it wordlessly.

"So what was that you were doing?" you asked. "A hand seal?"

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed, but he looked more concerned than suspicious. "[Name], you've been hanging around me long enough to be able to recognize that. It's how I think."

"Really?" Bewildered, you could only stare as he nodded sheepishly. "How could I forget?"

"Exactly, how could you forget?" he asked in mock hurt before sobering up and reverting to a more serious tone. He pointed to the 'x' marking where the knife was in your section. "It isn't Asuma's style, making this mission this easy. He's either expecting us to come across troublesome snags along the way, or he's counting on conflict between us and Ino and Chouji. Either way, this mission isn't as easy as it looks."

"Got it," you said, saluting. He rolled his eyes.

"So we have a couple of options," Shikamaru continued, yawning. "The first, we somehow find our knife without getting into too much trouble, and then steal theirs. Next, we could voluntarily give up –"

"Like that'd happen," you interrupted.

"Shush, you," he said irritably. "As I was saying, we could give up our knife willingly to Ino and Chouji, which would be a noble act of chivalry."

"But not the act of a ninja," you argued. "'A shinobi must always put their mission first' and this is a mission after all."

"True." Shikamaru folded his arms over his chest thoughtfully, his eyes glazed over.

"Or we convince the other team to work together with us," you suggested. "As Asuma-sensei never really specified that one team must end up with both knives. He merely told us that we must collect both to pass. So if we combine our efforts and retrieve the knives among the four of us–"

His eyes widened. "– then we'd all pass. That was what Asuma wanted us to realize all along! [Name], you're pretty darn smart…for a girl," he added shrewdly, his lips twitching in amusement.

You smacked him good-naturedly. "And you have a pretty good sense of humour…for a lazy lump." He let the comment slide and you continued after a short pause. "Though, unless sensei wants us to look underneath the underneath, which is to say, the purpose of this mission is for us not to fall into the trick of working together."

Shikamaru scowled. "My brain hurts just thinking about this, can we just stick with the first plan? At least it made some sense."

"No? Okay, but it's in your nature to plan at least ten moves ahead of time, right? What if Ino and Chouji don't agree to work with us?" you asked.

He gave you a devilish grin. "Oh, don't worry about that, troublesome woman. I've got it covered." He held up a bag of chips, looking very proud of himself. "Blackmail."

He really had thought of everything.

-:-

"Can't you take this mission serious, Chouji?" Ino wailed, stomping her feet. "All you ever think about is food. At this rate, we'll never successfully complete this mission!"

"Hadn't you thought about how Shikamaru is going to fare in this situation?" Chouji asked with his mouth full. "Most likely he'll just give up and drive [Name] crazy."

Ino laughed humourlessly and flipped her bangs out of her eyes. At this rate, they would never pass this test. "But how about us, huh?"

He pointed at the 'x' located on the map. "We'll be able to find it, no problem."

"And the other one?" Ino asked sarcastically.

Chouji shrugged and went back to munching thoughtfully on his chips. He hadn't really given much thought to how he was going to get the second knife, especially if Shikamaru and [Name] had gotten their hands on it first. He didn't feel like fighting his best friend if it came down to that. "I suppose we could peek at their map somehow and locate where their map is before they find it," he mumbled.

"Good idea," Ino said, straightening up wearily. "Let's go."

"Hey, hold on!"

Ino and Chouji swivelled around just in time to see you and Shikamaru emerging into the clearing. Ino stiffened, but on the inside, she was immensely relieved.

"Hey Shikamaru, [Name]," Chouji called good-naturedly, looking at Ino to gauge her reaction. He wondered if she was going to go with the original plan.

"Hey, what's up?" Shikamaru asked casually. Ino's eyes narrowed, flickering over the hand behind his back and his semi-aggressive stance. She snuck a peek at you, whose hands were empty of weapons, map, knife, or otherwise. What a strange ambush…then again, Shikamaru and [Name] never exactly come up with the most normal ideas, Ino thought to herself.

"So guys, we were wondering –" you began, but Shikmaru cut you off and held out a trench knife. Ino's eyes widened.

"We have ours, and we're not looking to take yours by force. We would if we had to, but I have another suggestion, a much more agreeable one for both of us," he said, twirling the knife idly between his fingers.

"What do you want?" Ino asked. "Don't bother prolonging it any more than it should. I'm not in the mood to listen to you ramble."

"Aw man, I had a whole speech prepared," Shikamaru grumbled. "This is such a drag. Fine, I'll keep it short. [Name] and I propose that our teams work together."

"Good idea!" Chouji said instantly. "I'm in."

"I'm the team leader, and I make the decisions," Ino fumed. "Fine, I agree. We'll work together. But what does it entail, exactly?"

Shikamaru looked thoroughly annoyed. "Really guys, you should at least put up more of a fight or something. I had my all arguments and tactics organized too." He held out the chips to Chouji, who took it gleefully. "So all this planning was for nothing. Oh man, this mission is such a drag."

You frowned at him. "You wanted to get this over with quickly, didn't you? So let's get this over with."

Ino held up her map, blushing slightly. "We didn't actually start looking for it yet, but it's supposed to be around here somewhere."

You examined it carefully. "Yeah, looks like it."

"C'mon, let's go find that knife," Shikamaru muttered resignedly.

"Maybe we should let Ino and Chouji retrieve it themselves, to prove that we're not trying to double-cross them or anything," you suggested.

"Sure, sure," he said agreeably, already sprawled out on the ground. "Wake me when you guys get it, I'm done with this troublesome business."

-:-

"I see," Asuma's voice was soft, and he sounded disappointed. "But that wasn't the point of this examination, do you understand? I specifically told you to gather both knives, but this – this teamwork you've got here doesn't quite fulfill that requirement."

"But sensei," you interrupted, crestfallen. "You did tell us that all four of us could potentially pass. How can all of us possibly pass without working together?"

He shrugged. "That was for you to discover on your own."

"Which we did," Ino retorted hotly, tear tracks still glistening on her cheeks. Of the entire team, she took the failure announcement the hardest. Then again, she might've been faking it – you couldn't tell with Ino.

Asuma sighed and sat down on the bench, puffing on his cigarette. "I won't give you another chance, even if you insist on it. But remember in the future, a shinobi must always put their mission first. This time –"

That was it! "Asuma-sensei," you interrupted. "That was exactly what we were doing. Even if it meant trusting the enemy, what we did was the only way to complete the mission successfully."

"Yeah, that's right!" Ino chimed, wiping her eyes with her arm warmers. "Chouji and I knew we'd never stand a chance if we didn't work together. It wasn't just to allow all of us to pass, it was the only possible way!"

"'A ninja must see through deception,'" Shikamaru quoted, throwing you a meaningful glance. "We needed to look underneath the underneath. You wanted us to work together all along."

"Besides, we weren't enemy shinobi," Chouji added, nodding his head vigorously. "We're comrades, and that's what comrades are for. To help each other out."

Asuma gazed your matching determined expressions, his lips locked tightly together. You held your breath, waiting for his verdict. Finally, his lips curved upwards in a tight smile. "This is precisely the response I was looking for."

The four of you exhaled, and Ino closed her eyes in relief.

"So, can we…please have another chance, sensei?" she pleaded, looking at him with wide, azure eyes.

"I already told you," he said firmly. "You will not be given another chance…"

Tears welled up in Ino's eyes again, confirming your suspicions that they were probably fake.

Asuma's smile widened. "…because there is no need to give you one. Defending your teamwork…your undisputable unanimity…that is the true purpose that lies behind this mission. You needed to realize that you were a team, and act accordingly. Which you have demonstrated nicely. Well done."

Ino was teary-eyed again as she gaped at your sensei. "So…we pass?"

Asuma nodded. "Congratulations, you're the third and final genin team to make it to rookie status."

"That's great!" Ino cheered triumphantly, glancing at the rest of her teammates and annoyed that none of you looked remotely thrilled at the news. "What, guys?"

"I'm just in shock, that's all," you muttered, forcing a smile on your face. Ino looked satisfied and turned to Chouji.

"I'm happy too," he replied, gulping visibly. He forced a strained smile on his face as well when Ino glared at his sullen expression.

"Shikamaru?" she said threateningly.

"…"

Ino growled under her breath and you grinned, despite yourself. "Loosen up, Ino. We passed the mission, and that's all that matters right now, right?" Then you froze, feeling suddenly drained of all your energy for no apparent reason. What…was going on?

Read Chapter 23, then return to this page.

"Name!" Shikamaru yelped, prodding you in the shoulder.

"That's not going to work," Ino said crossly, pushing him aside. "Someone get a bucket of water!"

Your eyes fluttered open. "N-no, I'm fine," you said weakly. "I don't feel like getting water dumped on my head, thanks."

Ino sighed in obvious relief. "Good, are you okay? You just randomly passed out."

"I'm fine. I just feel tired, for no reason," you admitted, flushing. "I didn't even use any jutsu…that's odd. But I'm good now."

Asuma spared you a concerned glance, then said, "The rest of the day is yours to rest up, or train, whatever tickles your fancy. We'll start doing missions tomorrow."

Team 10 nodded in synchronization and proceeded to disperse. You immediately headed home, feeling energized. From the dango shop, there were two possible routes. One was faster, and the other took at least twice as long. But you weren't exactly in a hurry, and could afford some sightseeing if you wish.

If you decide to take the shorter route, go to Chapter 40.

If you decide to take the longer route, go to Chapter 41.

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