The Cute reign supreme

-Chouji POV-

It has been four hours since the test began, currently, we're having our lunch, and we already have solved the meaning of "They're placed not far from what you are". It's pretty easy actually, it's Boar for Ino, Deer for Shika, and Butterfly for Cho. The literal meaning of our name is not that hard to understand, and Shikamaru was able to solve it in less than a minute. As for our specialty, we can only assume a few things -Shadow, illusion, body- even then, we're not sure yet.

As for the problem that makes us still confused and yet to find a single scroll let alone retrieve it, it is not because we're not able to find the three creatures mentioned above, but it's because there are too many of them.

This is Nara Forest for Dango Sake! hundreds if not thousands of deer live here. In the valley nearby is a nest of thousands of butterflies of various kinds. And in both places, there are at least dozens of boar nested. But unlike the two previous beasts, which mostly stayed in a group, the boars are mostly a loner and they're scattered around the forest.

"How are we supposed to find these scrolls again?" It was clear that Ino started to feel frustrated at our slow progress.

"If we combine the two clues given to us, then it could be the shadow of deer, the illusion of boar, and the body of the butterfly. That is if we connect it based on each of our names and clan specialties." Shikamaru said while rubbing his non-existent beard.

"It could be the body of a boar, the shadow of a butterfly, or the illusion of a deer."

"There are way too many of these creatures..."

Thus, another hour passed without us being able to find another clue about the scroll whereabouts until...

---

-Third POV-

*Grrrr*

A snarling sound reverberated in the forest, the leaves fluttered and the wind whistled around. Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji quickly jumped into their hiding position.

Shikamaru signaled for Ino to do reconnaissance, Ino quickly formed a hand seal to perform her sensing technique. The Sensing Technique allows sensor-type shinobi to mold chakra and change it to the sensor type. This enables them to detect and track down targets through their chakra signatures.

A few seconds passed and Ino was finally able to detect the source of the disturbance earlier.

"Um, guys, I think I don't know the relationship between the Boar and our test, but you guys are probably able to figure something out..." Ino used another one of her clan techniques to transmit her probing result directly onto her team-mate, the [Kanchi Denden] no jutsu or Sense transmission technique.

By making physical contact with another individual, the user is able to transmit what they are currently sensing directly into the target's mind. The user's perception can then be further transferred to another individual that person is connected to, such as by physical contact.

Inside both Shikamaru's and Chouji's minds, an image of a huge silver-colored boar was approximately 10 feet high and 30 feet long seven or six feet wide. For a chakra beast, its size was considered average. But besides its size, its current attributes and abilities were yet to be known.

The silver boar's snout was sturdy-looking, it was as if the snout was covered by a steel plate, coupled with its menacing long tusks, it certainly was not an opponent a genin could handle. Around it was three corpses of wolves with another five of those wolves that were still around, was surrounding that boar.

'We're kind of lucky the wolves are attacking that boar, else we'll have no other clue to continue our progress...' thought Shikamaru.

"Hm? Ino, zoom in a bit into the cliff wall behind the boar." Shikamaru creased his eyebrows and told Ino to do as he told.

"So that's it, that boar is protecting something behind her. I bet those wolves smell something, most likely blood, and attack her. Most likely that boar was just giving birth and still in a weakened state, I can bet five-pack of my potato chips, her newborn is inside that cliff wall. Most likely it is covered by a layer of ILLUSION or some sort..." Chouji explained with an unhurried tone and emphasized the word 'illusion' to signal something to his teammates.

"So, that's mean..." Ino held her words and turned to Shikamaru for confirmation.

"Yes, maybe it is one of the contents of the tests. And it's highly possible that one of the scrolls is inside that boar's nest." With a nod, Shikamaru affirmed her doubt.

"It's only a possibility, but it's our best shot so far..." Shikamaru continued and gave an order for the team to sneak into the boar nest search for the scroll and retreat immediately at any moment's notice.

"And if its push comes to shove, Chouji, do you think you can fight that silver-boar?"

"Hehe, not a problem!" Chouji grinned and flexed his biceps for both Ino and Shikamaru to see.

"Then if that's come to it, we'll do it just like our training, Any problem?" Shikamaru eyed Chouji and Shikamaru, who replied with a grin from Chouji and a small nod from Ino.

"Then, engage!"

---

Inside the calm Nara forest, among the rustling leaves, three shadows could be seen hidden among the tree shades. Two of the three could be seen sneaking around nearing the cliff wall with each step they took.

If you zoom in, you can see their features, one of them was a man while the other was a woman. The man had spiky black-colored hair while the woman had long platinum blonde hair tied in a ponytail, The man was Shikamaru Nara and the woman was Ino Yamanaka.

Using the moment when the big boar was distracted by the wolf's assault, both Shikamaru and Ino sneaked inside the 'wall' behind the boar. Just as they dashed onto the wall and braced for the impact, the wall flickered and they passed through it.

'Bingo!'

Shikamaru signaled with his hand for Ino to search from the right side while he searched from the left side. He remembered his father's 'wise words', "Men to the left because women are always Right."

Back to the topic, minutes passed and Shikamaru managed to find a scroll placed between a stalactite and a stalagmite. Immediately, he went to look for Ino to get out of this place and continue their mission.

Shikamaru went to the right side of the cave and his mouth twitched seeing the sight before him. In front of him, Ino could be seen carrying a pair of piglets with her eyes turned into a heart shape. The pair of piglets was one white and one black, with square-shaped bodies, dots for eyes, a snout, and a curly tail at the back.

"She's not trapped in genjutsu, is she?" Again, Shikamaru was not sure, it could be her love for cute things flared up. He did admit though that the piglets were cute. In spite of their cute appearance, Shikamaru had a foreboding, that something bad was going to happen.

Shikamaru approached Ino, tapped her shoulder, and disrupted her chakra flow. "Kai!"

His attempt was answered by a roundhouse kick to his ribs, courtesy of Ino. Well, at least he tried to help...

"Shikamaru, I'll bring them with me!" Ino said with a firm tone and a sentence that clearly did not leave any gap to negotiate.

"Troublesome indeed..." Shikamaru whispered under his breath, he hated it when his gut feeling was right in these kinds of things.