CHAPTER 19(INO-SHIKA-CHO)

Read auxiliary chapter World Info before starting the story.

Please read the author's notes. (Examples and explanation of moves and changes etc)

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CHAPTER START---

Sitting on a tree branch, Jin can be seen at the team 8 training ground. Aside from the trees, no grass can be seen however as the entire area is completely flooded. Many clones are currently training their water style, a simple workaround to the backlash of having multiple clones active really, have them all practice in sync.

'The chunin exams are in a few months and my water style is almost perfect. Just a few more seals. Oh, I feel someone coming this way.'

Immediately Jin's clones stop practicing and all disappear. Leaving a completely flooded field and Jin with a scroll of sealing in his hand.

"Hey Jin, figured I'd find you here," Asuma greets the young man.

"Hey sensei, yeah I'm just taking a break to study how to make storage scrolls. Seals kinda aren't my thing," He responds with a scowl.

"Haha, I guess you can't be good at everything huh, how about you come over to our training grounds for a bit, we're practicing for a mission we've got later this week."

"Uh, sure. What kind of practice?" Jin asks wearily.

"Just a light spar, my team is used to my strategies, and this gives me a chance to see just what gives you a bounty almost as high as mine, can't say I haven't been curious."

"So... combat training exercise huh" A wide grin spreads across Jin's face. "Sure but you're buying me lunch"

As they walk over toward training ground 10 Jin can't help but take verbal pokes at Asuma.

"Soo, how serious are things with you and sensei?" He bluntly asks.

"I, I don't know what you're talking about," The man says, tripping over his words as he is caught off-guard.

"Uh-huh, I thought ninja are supposed to be good liars" Jin replies with a smirk toward Asuma.

"We, we're just getting started really alright so don't go blabbing," Asuma says in a serious tone.

"Yeah don't worry, you guys look good together, so what are you trying to gauge in this exercise really?"

"Team strategy, you don't need to fight them just kind of play tag, from your bounty I have no doubt you could fight them so try not to go overboard."

"Yeah, only light bruises, got it. Actually, I've got a fun idea, you wait here." Jin tells the senior ninja as he transforms into one of the men he killed in Kunigakure. "Let's see how they react in a real situation" As a wide grin appears on Jin's face he takes a position in a tree at the edge of the field.

'Alright, this should be easy since I've seen how they fight against Hidan and Kakazu. Ino and Choji are gonna be useless but Shikamaru is a genius. If I keep him occupied trying not to get hit then they fall apart.' Jin thinks to himself as he formulates a plan.

As Shikamaru, Ino and Choji were sitting around the training ground. None of them were particularly excited about today's training. Though Ino does seem much more focused on training lately. 'Something feels off, sensei is never late.' As he is about to rise to his feet, suddenly.

"GREAT FIREBALL JUTSU!" They all hear from behind Shikamaru.

From the treeline, a slightly smaller than usual Great Fireball is hurled toward the genin team. Reacting quickly they all leap to the left of the fireball to provide themselves more space while avoiding the attack.

'So this is what today's training is, combat training,' Shikamaru thinks to himself as his mind raced to find ways to deal with Asuma.

As Asuma runs out of the treeline with a kunai in hand the genin are prepared for their usual training. Choji immediately takes the front of their formation while Shikamaru and Ino begin kneading chakra for their instant capture combo.

As Choji moves forward he draws a kunai and engages Asuma to stall for his teammates. To everyone's horror, instead of the usual close combat evaluation they are used to, Asuma savagely kicks Choji in the face, sending him tumbling back almost fifty feet.

As his teammates see this the boy is barely able to raise his body off the floor as he struggles to focus his mind. The pain of the kick and the shock it delivered by being from his sensei throwing him for a loop. 'Ok this is more like a final exam' Shikamaru thinks to himself as he begins throwing kunai while backing up to Choji's position.

As they arrived back at the now kneeling Choji Asuma never stops pushing them. He immediately throws a kunai with great force toward Choji's chest before the boy can get his bearings. Seeing this Ino makes to block it. As their blades meet a shock flows up her arm as she deflects the weapon into the ground. 'Damn, why did he throw that so hard?' she thinks as she throws her own kunai at him.

Rising to his feet Choji takes stock of the surroundings as looks toward Shikamaru. Seeing the grimace on his friend's face Choji begins focusing his chakra to prepare the counter-attack.

"Choji, we need to distance ourselves from him, Ino you need to hold him for Choji to knock him back." Seeing the hesitation in Choji's face Shikamaru reassured the boy. "This isn't just regular training Choji, we could really get hurt here, you need to take the chance when we hold him down."

As Asuma rushes toward them, none of the genin move as they bide their time. "Now!" Shikamaru commands, immediately Ino uses her mind transfer jutsu and attacks her target. As she invades his mind his body stops for a second before she is harshly kicked back into her own body. By the time Asuma opens his eyes a massive human boulder is spiraling toward him. Trying to leap out of the way, his body is paralyzed by shadow possession.

"Choji stop!" Asuma commands, immediately causing the young boy to deactivate his jutsu, but the shadow possession stays.

"Sensei, Shikamaru we won, we captured him," Choji says to his friend.

"No, something isn't right here. Ino are you ok?" He asks the girl as she rises to her feet.

"Yeah just, he kicked me out of his head somehow." She groggily replied.

"Yeah I noticed, Asuma sensei can't do that so quickly, Transformation jutsu then," Shikamaru says as he grabs a shuriken from his pouch. Throwing the weapon it barely cuts into Asuma's cheek as it passes by.

*POOF*

Suddenly in a puff of smoke, replacing Asuma is a rogue ninja none of them recognize. 'Shit, I expected maybe someone like Kakashi or Iruka sensei, what's going on here,' Shikamaru questions as he stares at the man.

"Ino can you knock him out?"

"I can barely stay in there for a second,"

"What a drag, then we need to restrain him until sensei get's here," Shikamaru says.

"Yeah, Asuma sensei will handle this guy no problem!" Choji says excitedly.

"The guys with the beard and knuckle blades? No dead man is gonna save you FATTY" The man taunts the boy.

"You, wh- WHAT DID YOU SAY!" Choji says with his face getting red.

"I said no DEAD man is gonna save you FATTY, you're gonna ransom me good money"

"Why you! HUMAN BOULDER JUTSU!" Suddenly enraged by the man's words Choji rushes forward and attacks the man. With no way to stop their friend Ino and Shikamaru watch as he rolls over the man. 'Shit, he broke the shadow possession Shikamaru thinks to himself.

*POOF*

Immediately as the shadow possession is broken Choji disappears. As Shikamaru and Ino stand on guard waiting for the smoke to clear, they eventually see their teammate buried up to his neck in the ground.

"Guys get me out of here!" Choji cries out.

"I'm coming!" Ino shouts as he makes to help her friend.

"Nope!" A voice calls out from behind her as she just barely dodges a kunai, as the man then disappears in a puff of smoke, enveloping her. She looks on in horror as she turns around to see her ponytail falling on its own to the floor.

"..." She is shocked into complete silence. As her face becomes red with anger, a murderous aura expands around her.

As the man appears 10ft from their position he looks on as Ino slowly breaks.

"AAAAHHHH!" She screams as she rushes forward with a kunai in hand, a shadow quietly following behind her. In one swift motion as she charges forward the man backhands her across the face, sending her rolling across the field for almost fifteen feet.

"Alright, last man standing Nara brat," He says in a cold voice as he draws a kunai.

As he approaches the final target, to everyone's surprise, Shikamaru rushes the man, apparently lost in his emotions he charges forward holding onto his kunai.

Seeing this the man begins to back away from the young man, away from the treeling and away from all the long shadows it provides.

'He's leading me somewhere, but there aren't any shadows in the middle of the field and there isn't any backup coming, maybe he has a trap set. No that's impossible.'

As Shikamaru keeps missing every strike he is slowly being whittled away by his superior opponent.

'Good, he's trying to play with me, just a little bit further away, NOW!' Shikamaru thinks to himself as he executes his plan.

Waking up just in time to see the end of the fight, Ino rests on her knees as her entire team looks on in horror as Shikamaru feints an attack and grapples his target, completely confused by this action. Nobody understands what's going on until a spark can be seen between their bodies.

'EXPLOSIVE TAGS!' everyone thinks simultaneously.

"Gakido!" the enemy yells as he reaches down and grabs the tags, extinguishing them and making them fall apart.

As he leaps backward suddenly Asuma appears between his team and the enemy.

"Alright Jin that's enough, what the hell Shikamaru?" the man questions.

"JIN!" Ino yells furiously.

After getting Choji out of the ground everyone gathered in the shade to discuss the fight.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU CUT MY HAIR. JUST WHEN I START LIKING YOU THEN YOU RUIN EVERYTHING!" Ino yells at the top of her voice.

'Release' Jin commands and in a poof of smoke, her ponytail in her hand disappears and becomes a strip of cloth and a similar strip appears on her still attached ponytail on her head.

"Transformation jutsu," Jin says with a bored look, "So you like me huh?"

"Transformation..." The girl says, face completely red from embarrassment as she realizes what she just said.

"Sorry about what I said Choji, but you need to work on your temper, you put everyone at risk because you couldn't control your anger."

"Mmm," Choji just looks at the ground in shame.

"So would you three like to tell me what you did wrong in that fight?" Asuma then questions.

"I, hesitated, then lost control," Choji says as he hangs his head.

"I let my anger blind me" Ino follows by saying.

"I..." Shikamaru trails off, unsure what to say.

"You lost control of your team, a good brain is useless without a body to obey it, I purposefully pulled you all apart. Listening to orders is hard when you're emotional." Jin explains for him.

"Shikamaru, what was that last move, why'd you resort to that?" Asuma then questions in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

"I... I couldn't, think of a way out. So I made a choice. Get away from my friends and take him out with me..." The boy says as he looks at the floor, unable to meet his teams' eyes.

"I don't like that kind of thing, but. It was an admirable effort. You showed your devotion to your team. We'll have to work on giving you more variety in jutsu so you aren't so reliant on only shadows. Jin do you have anything to add?"

"Mmm, I think Ino needs to work on sensing, Choji needs better taijutsu and maybe partial expansion jutsu because human boulder is too easy to exploit. That's all really." he quickly adds.

"How did you break my mind transfer jutsu so quickly?" Ino quickly questions.

'Preta path chakra absorption, damn can't say that'

"My chakra control is basically perfect remember" Jin quickly adds brushing off the question.

"Well everyone ready for lunch, since Jin won he gets to pick, my treat."

"Alright let's have some curry!"

END CHAPTER---