Naruto: Ren the Sealmaster

Shikamaru had woken up and almost moaned in comfort, his eyes still happily closed as his cheek lay on the soft pillow, not intending to leave it anytime soon.

It was his favorite one.

He was finally home. No bothersome exams. No troublesome training. No bossy blonde females. No bossy blonde troublesome females!

Wasn't this just heaven?

The small smile on Shikamaru's face grew into a grin as he peacefully sighed. To think he once considered Ino cute. Truly, how naively misguided of him.

He had already sworn off pursuing brunettes because they were troublesome. Just look at his mom. She was the prime example. But after meeting Ino? Shikamaru realized that blondes were way worse!

A shiver went down his spine, and he clutched his pillow closer.

Right. From now on, his preference was firmly set on redheads. Maybe they would be better? Surely, they could not be worse. He just wanted a nice girl, neither too pretty nor too ugly. Somebody who wouldn't be troublesome.

Was that too much to ask for?

Why must every girl he interacted with be crazy?

Sakura, Hinata, Ino, his mother... hell, even that Tenten girl was a brunette and therefore batshit insane!

Ah! Who cared anymore? There were better things to think about during such a nice morning, as he was dozing off for another morning nap after waking up.

Like clouds. Nice. White. Fluffy. Clouds were the best thing ever. And they could not be troublesome.

Suddenly, the half-asleep Shikamaru had a wistful desire to do some cloud-watching, but when he lazily flipped on his back after a few seconds of sluggish shuffling on his bed, he opened his eyes with a reluctant groan, only to see the ceiling of his room.

Cue another groan as he realized he was acting silly.

Closing his eyes again, he relaxed into the mattress. Yes. This was the life.

He had a month to res-

"Hello, Shika!" Ino's voice suddenly came from next to him, and his eyes snapped open in horror, his head abruptly turned in her direction, only to see that yes, Ino was in his room and she was grinning!

Shikamaru shrieked like a little girl and almost started hyperventilating as his idyllic morning was starting to turn into a nightmare.

"How did you get in here?" He asked in a high-pitched tone, completely horrified as he put his hand on his pounding heart that almost gave out from fright. But then he realized he was overreacting and forcefully calmed down his breathing, trying to regain his composure.

Ino, however, just gave him an infuriating smile and playfully rolled her eyes. "Your mother let me in, silly. How else?" She sat down on the edge of his bed, breaching his sanctuary and dirtying it with her troublesomeness.

He idly realized he was going to have to change his bedsheets after she left. There was no need to risk some of that troublesomeness sticking around.

But then her words registered, making him cringe.

"Of course, she did." Shikamaru discontentedly complained under his nose, suddenly tired enough that he wanted to fall asleep again. "Why are you here, Ino?" He reluctantly asked, not bothering to rise from his bed as he looked at the troublesome blonde.

They were friends. But not the kind that would usually barge into each other's rooms. She clearly had a purpose in being here. Something bothersome. Something he wouldn't like, no doubt.

"I missed the end of the second phase, and Daddy told me you can tell me who will face who." Ino stated, and Shikamaru involuntarily relaxed. 

So she wasn't here for him! That was good. 

He let out a relieved sigh, his mood brightening a bit. If it were only that much, he could tell her. The sooner she left, the better.

"The first match will be Shino versus that Suna chick, Temari. Next will be Choji against that Kumo guy." Shikamaru said in an uncaring tone, but then his eye twitched, and his tone turned into a deadpan one. "I will fight the other troublesome blonde from our village during the third fight."

Sigh. Fighting a horde of dumb clones was not going to be fun. He was still trying to come up with a strategy on how to deal with Naruto.

Maybe he could just forf-

"Hmmm." Ino hummed and narrowed her eyes at him, causing Shikamaru to stiffen.

Right. He could forfeit, but he doubted he would enjoy the consequences. Between his mother and Ino... better not think about it. 

Clearing his throat, Shikamaru decided to pretend nothing had happened as he continued speaking. "You and Hinata were not present, so they decided to pit you against each other while Sasuke will face Gaara, who won the last match." Shikamaru grimaced.

Well, better the Uchiha than him.

Hearing him, Ino inwardly snorted. She had no illusions. She was pretty certain they pitted her against Hinata on purpose. 

Then again, she did leave before the preliminary rounds concluded, and while it was nowhere stated she had to stay until the end, it was a tad bit rude to the Hokage and her Jonin Instructor.

She only realized that after the fact, so she decided she wouldn't make a fuss about being deliberately matched against Hinata. They could not hide their abilities for much longer anyway. The cat was already out of the bag. Just this morning, Ino had a mental showdown against her father, who wanted to test her proficiency with their clan techniques, only to miserably lose within the first minute.

It's why she was not currently training in her clan compound with her father. After that showing, he had to admit there was nothing he could teach her anymore.

Thinking about his dismayed expression, an amused smile stretched on Ino's lips. In that moment, all of her effort, all of her training... it was all worth it.

Hinata also beat the Kumo dudes, and it will throw suspicion on her prowess. Publicly showing off was the better option than trying to keep hiding when people were onto them.

"How was the last match?" Ino asked, not missing the fact that the unhinged redhead from Suna apparently won. She didn't know Hinata's cousin's team, but she still hoped the loudmouthed, green fashion disaster didn't get himself killed.

"Brutal." Shikamaru grunted out, his forehead creasing. "Gaara is no joke. Lee showed remarkable taijutsu prowess, but he still crushed him with no fuss." He helplessly admitted.

Honestly, Shikamaru thought a lot about a plan against Gaara, but it was futile. He couldn't come up with one. Anything he thought of, and some of it was a real convoluted mess, Gaara should be able to counter.

Again, he couldn't help but think, better Uchiha than him.

"Is Lee..." Ino asked, her smile turning into a frown.

But Shikamaru lazily shook his head, "Last I heard, he is in the hospital and will stay there for a long time. His Jonin Instructor-"

"The other fashion disaster on their team?" Ino jokingly interjected, making Shikamaru roll his eyes at her.

Yamanaka and their manipulations.

But the dour atmosphere in the room definitely lightened.

"Yeah, that one. He saved Lee at the last moment. I still think he should have jumped in sooner, but it is not my place to comment." He casually shrugged.

He had already decided to visit the spandex-wearing kid in the hospital during the month. Even he didn't know why he felt like it. The guy reminded him of Choji a bit.

All awkward and with no idea how to properly befriend others. Or so was his impression.

It was troublesome, but Shikamaru decided to put in a bit of effort to get to know Lee. Not today. Not even tomorrow. But he will get to it when he gets to it. He needed to sleep on it. For a while.

Speaking of sleep...

"Well, that should answer all your questions, Ino. The Exams are done for now. There is still a month for the next part. Let me sleep. Go 'way." With that, Shikamaru huffed and didn't wait for Ino's answer as he put his pillow over his face after he rolled over, turning his back on the girl.

Ino raised an eyebrow at him, but she knew he was not going to reply to anything anymore. He was most likely already counting deer in his head, lulling himself to sleep.

Well, the problem was...

"There is one other thing I came here for, Shika." Ino started, and slowly, a grin started to appear on her face. "I have nothing pressing to do during this month, so I have decided to help you with your training. Your mom was very happy hearing that!" A deep sense of schadenfreude entered Ino's mind as she watched Shikamaru stiffen.

Dread flushed through Shikamaru's body, but nevertheless, he powered through it. He knew he couldn't just silently take this bullying!

Lazily half-turning around, he half-opened one eye and glanced at Ino, "No." 

With everything he wanted to say already spoken, he once again turned around and closed his eyes. There, that should make her go away.

"Yes." Alas, Ino was not having it. Shikamaru suddenly felt his ankle being grabbed, and before he could react, he was dragged out of his bed, his body abruptly hitting the floor as he was dragged out of his room.

Flailing around, he tried to regain his balance and avoid bumping his head on the door frame, when he noticed the mad blonde was dragging him toward...

"Ino! Wait! Stairs! No! Wait! Stop! There are stai-aaaaaah!"

...

Yoshino, Shikamaru's mother, who was cooking in the kitchen, suddenly heard Shikamaru's yell, followed by a series of loud thumping noises, followed by loud complaints and multiple unkind words aimed at Ino, who was ignoring it and babbling something about a color-coded training schedule.

Yoshino smiled and let out a small contented sigh.

That lazy boy. He so loved to complain. He was just lucky he had such a friend willing to drag him to training.

She shook her head, wishing that her son would become a bit more like Ino. The girl was so cheerful, energetic, and kind all the time! Spending time with her could only help Shika.

Humming, she turned back to her cooking, ignoring the pleas and screams of her son as he was, unknowingly to her, literally dragged by his ankle out of the house, followed by another series of bumping noises and loud curses coming from the stairs on the porch.