Mind (Jutsu) Games

There were two of them, and they were tag-teaming her. It took Ino only a day to realize this. One of them would be in control, then the other would come in, doubly secure her prison and signal the other, who would then withdraw. So her first plan, waiting until the person was tired and thought she was asleep, wouldn’t work. They did let her have some modicum of control for about an hour every evening, if she was home alone, but that seemed more for their amusement than anything else. She spent that hour writing in her journal, since they also didn’t seem to care what she put in there, as it was so well-guarded that no one could gain access to it without risking its destruction from minor explosives.

She might be a prisoner in her own mind, but she was not going to make this easy for them. When several days went past without sign of relenting, she began to loose hope of ever being herself again. Still she wracked her brain, trying to think of a way to break free. She knew it wouldn’t be easy, but there had to be a way.

There just had to be.

The problem was, she’d never discussed methods of breaking out before. Sakura was, as far as she knew, the first to ever do it, and that was only because she had a secondary personality she kept so well hidden that not even Ino, her best friend, knew it existed. Ino had no such recourse, and was forced to admit that all she could do for the time being was wait, watch, and try to figure out why they were doing this to her.

She had ruled out sheer embarrassment and public humiliation. If that was all they wanted, they should have been encouraging Shika’s desire to make their relationship public, instead of squirreling it away.

So, she queried herself logically, why would they want to get me together with Shikamaru, but keep it secret?

She was really starting to wish that she’d taken her boyfriend up on his offer of strategy lessons, back when they’d been in the academy. She hadn’t thought she was well-suited to it and, quite frankly, she’d been too busy trying to secure her position of popularity. Asuma-sensei would probably be proud if he knew how much she longed to improve herself now, both as a ninja and as a person. But unless she could figure out a reasonable solution to this situation fast, he’d never have the chance.

There was little hope that they’d just give up and go away. She had no clue what their plan might be, but whatever it was, it seemed to be right on track. Everything they’d prodded her into doing, she’d done. And Shikamaru was reacting to her.

That thought seemed to strike a chord within, and she examined it more carefully. Shika-kun is reacting to me. Ok, so what the hell does that mean?

Ino was a selfish person by nature. Though she did have her altruistic moments, for the most part she was too self-absorbed to see how anything that affected her could not be aimed at her. But, as she slowly picked the pieces apart, she had to admit that there was no way she was the primary objective of this attack. If she had been, they could easily have made her jump off a cliff, or something equally final by now.

Having her spy on the village was also a ridiculous prospect. She was hardly in a position to receive sensitive information. In fact, she rarely got any more data than was absolutely required to complete her missions. There were others just as susceptible to a mental attack in much better positions for intelligence gathering. She was a mere genin, and not even a very good genin at that. Had it not been for her one jutsu – and her genius teammate – she would have flunked the chuunin exam’s first test, instead of making it all the way to the third.

So that meant that she was not the intended target, after all. And, looking at all of the facts, the only other possibilities were her teammates. She simply wasn’t close enough to anyone else in the village for them to be effected, except her parents. They couldn’t be the targets, though. Her father was hardly more important to the affairs of the village than she, and her mother ran a flower shop. Oh yeah, hibiscus is a huge threat, and must be eliminated. Riiiight.

Now the question was: which teammate? Asuma-sensei, Shika-kun, or Chouji? She didn’t really have that much to do with Chouji, though she supposed her teammate trusted her enough that she could stab him in the back, if the moment were right. Asuma-sensei might be a bit protective of his students, but he also believed in letting them take their own falls. Not to mention that he was rather lazy. So, while she didn’t doubt he’d help her should she need it, he’d hardly make it a rush job.

Shikamaru, though, she wasn’t quite sure about. He didn’t have any enemies that she knew of, but then the obvious came to mind. Of course he had enemies, now. He was the only one to pass the chuunin exam. That must have made somebody mad. But he wasn’t the sort to allow himself any exploitable weakness. “If he doesn’t have a weakness, give him one.”

That was one of the first lessons in tactics that she’d learned at the academy, and it was pounded into every kunoichi during her female-specific training that a man’s weakest point was his woman. Oh, no.

They were dating now, and everyone knew what a weakness having a boy or girlfriend was for a ninja. That had to be what this was all about. Ino felt ill, and once again tried with all her might to break free of the prison her mind had become. She had to warn Shika. She just had to.

It was no use. All she succeeded in doing was giving her body the most splitting headache she’d ever experienced, which only served to make both her and her captors more grouchy and upset. Ino couldn’t think of a way to warn Shikamaru of his danger from her current position. Her only hope was that he’d be his usual, lazy self and the relationship would disintegrate.

Unfortunately, the people who were now controlling her body were far more patient than she, and were fully expecting his laziness and factoring it into their plans. They made it the easiest, most convenient thing for him to spend time with Ino, and when they managed to get time alone with the boy, took just enough control of the situation for him to lay back and be lazy while still being pleasured, and letting him think he was pleasuring her with only the most minor amount of work.

There was no way this was going to fall apart unless her captors made a mistake, and, to Ino at least, that seemed to be less likely with each passing day.

Shika, you’re supposed to be a genius. Can’t you tell that isn’t me?

~~~~*~~~~

Shikamaru had finally made up his mind. He was going to share his secret with her, and hope that she didn’t dislike it. He’d returned the day before from a long mission without her, and was sorely in need of her company. When he finally located her, she’d been out in the woods picking greenery for her mother’s shop. He helped her carry it all back, claimed he needed her for a mission, and led her away. Taking a very circuitous route to throw off anyone who might have decided to follow them, it took a while to get to their destination.

He knew she probably recognized the motif of the area, but it was the only place he felt certain they wouldn’t be interrupted. No one entered the Uchiha district if they could help it. Some people thought it had a curse on it, and others claimed it was haunted by the ghosts of those Itachi slaughtered. Shikamaru didn’t believe either rumor, and had spent the night here several times since he’d talked Sasuke into letting him use one of the houses for a get-away, back when they were in school.

Arriving at the house Sasuke had given him the keys to, although he doubted the Uchiha even remembered, let alone thought about it, Shikamaru ushered Ino inside. He bypassed the main rooms, which he rarely used anyway, and led her by the hand back to his room. It wasn’t the master bedroom – he didn’t see the point in being so obvious – but it was a large room, and it contained, in addition to the furnishings left by it’s previous tenant, everything Shikamaru considered precious. Well, it did now that Ino was there.

She stood in the doorway, looking around the room blankly for a minute as he released her and sat on the edge of the bed, then explained the reasons behind his bringing her here. “I’m sorry,” he finished at last. “I guess it was stupid to drag you all the way out here.”

At long last, she smiled and slipped over to sit beside him. Putting a hand on his knee, she sighed. “I could stay here forever.”

“That’s what I hoped you’d say,” he replied a little sheepishly. “I’ve been thinking about bringing you here for ages, but I wasn’t sure you’d want to, and I’ve never brought anyone else.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I’m honored that you’d let me be the first. Arigato, Shika-kun.”

Wrapping his arm around her, he tried to find a way to ask what he’d worried about for weeks now. Finally, he decided to just go for it, and let the chips fall where they may. “Ino, what do you think about sex?”

No! No, no no no no!

An evil laugh was her only answer before the voice turned outward, making her head tilt up to look at him inquiringly. “Was that in invitation, or just a random question?”

He blushed. “I was just wondering. I mean, I know we’re a bit young to worry about things like that, and I can understand that you probably don’t want to. I was just wondering.” His gaze shifted to the drawer of the bed-side table, and felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him. He shouldn’t have gotten those. He’d gotten his hopes up, and he couldn’t blame her for dashing them.

She followed his gaze and went to the table, opening the drawer before he could stop her. Seeing the box of condoms, she smirked. “Entertain much?” she asked with a hint of a chuckle.

“No!” he protested. “I told you, you’re the first person I’ve ever brought here. I shouldn’t have gotten those. I’m an idiot.”

“How did you get those? They don’t sell them to minors, do they?”

He looked at his toes. “I used henge no jutsu. No one even thought to question why Asuma-sensei needed condoms.”

Pulling one individually wrapped package out of the box, she looked it over carefully before handing it to him. He took it gingerly, but was still confused. With a sigh, she helped him open the package.

“Ino, what…?”

“I am not getting pregnant, so you’d better put that thing on.”

“You mean…” he stared at her, dumfounded.

“I mean that I want to have sex. With you, Nara Shikamaru. So, get that where it needs to be quick, before I jump you right here and now.”

It was wonderful, and every bit as amazing as he’d dreamed. He knew she was a virgin – he’d felt her barrier once or twice before with his fingers – and he knew that it would hurt for him to break that, but she only winced for a moment before continuing with their most intimate dance.

He’d picked her up just after lunch, and they stayed together until well-past dinner, loving each other until he was exhausted, then taking a short nap in each other’s arms before starting all over again. Shikamaru slept more soundly than he could remember ever having done before and woke after half-an-hour feeling as though he’d gotten a full night’s sleep. He attributed it to the wonder and comfort of sleeping next to someone, skin-on-skin.

When they finally acknowledged themselves worn-out, they dressed slowly, and he couldn’t help pouncing her one last time as she stretched, wearing only her bra. He released her quickly, and they helped each other arrange their clothes. He felt strangely honored that she let him wrap her bindings, but he figured it was only fair that he should have to, since he was the one who kept disturbing their placement.

At last, they made their way slowly through the streets of Konoha. Shikamaru didn’t want the moment to end, and he felt sure that she agreed with him. They separated in the alley beside her mother’s shop, exchanging farewell kisses in the shadows, prolonging the inevitable moment of parting, when the entity that was Ino-and-Shika would become two separate individuals once again.

Ino was the one who finally ended the cycle, breaking off the kiss and pulling away from his arms. “I love you, Nara Shikamaru,” she whispered to the shadowy figure in front of her before slipping away, not waiting for his reply.

“And I love you, Yamanaka Ino, wherever you are,” he whispered to the darkness.

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Yay, another chapter! I'd be interested to see what you all think is going on, and what you think Shikamaru, Kakashi, or anyone else has figured out.
Also, if any of you want to comment, but don't wish to post on the site, for one reason or another, feel free to send me an email: crimson_iris@live.com
An a rather unrelated note, I'm looking for a beta. If anyone's interested, please e-mail me.
Have a great day and good reading!

Crimson Iris