Ino had always been told she was good-looking. It was something that was weaved into her head from the minute she was born.

"Oh my, Yamanaka-san, it's such a pretty baby girl!" The doctor announced as she handed newborn Ino to her mother.

"Oi, Ino-chan! You look so cute with all of those flowers!" A childhood Sakura would beam as they played during the academy days.

"You're growing up to be such a beautiful girl…" Ino heard her father mumble under his breath one day, probably coming to the realization that both he and his daughter were getting older.

And after hearing something so many times, one begins to believe it. Such is the case for Ino. She began to care and indulge into her looks, trying to achieve perfection. She didn't want to disappoint anyone. She didn't want people to start believing she wasn't beautiful, even if she found it hard for herself to buy it at times.

But right now, she only wished she was the least appealing person to roam the earth.

It was her second time at the Chūnin exams, and Naruto had just left the village for training with Jiraiya. Because Shikamaru was already a Chūnin, only she and Chouji had entered, and Shikamaru was forced to work as a proctor.

They had already passed the second test, and the remaining group of Genin, which was a considerably smaller group then last year's, were all asked to sit in a large room together and wait for the third portion. Ino noticed Sakura and a large portion of the Konoha 11 waving over at her. She politely waved back, but continued walking towards a tiny corridor leading to the bathroom. A terrible feeling had suddenly come over her, and she couldn't quite shake it, much less pinpoint exactly what it was.

After washing her face and stepping out of the restroom, she finally figured out what it was.

"Hey there, cutie." A group of three boys around her age greeted her at the bathroom door, the leader of the threesome doing all the talking. "I saw you walk into there and I just couldn't wait for you to come back out. You're real nice to look at, y'know."

Ino's eyebrows furrowed at the boy's smirks. She recognized their headbands as Sunagakure ninjas. She shot them a glare before forcefully shoving herself through their huddle and stomping away, making her disinterest quite clear.

As soon as she heard the slap of another hand hit her wrist, she realized it wouldn't be quite that easy.

"Aw, c'mon girl, where are you going?" The group leader pulled her back, leaving the two face to face. His teammates snickered from behind them. "Where are you running off to in such a hurry? I really wanna get to know you."

"I don't care!" Ino snapped back, sliding her thin wrist from his grip.

The boy frowned, and quickly grabbed both of Ino's wrists this time, leaving her stuck within his grasp. "I don't think so blondie. You're not going anywhere yet."

Ino struggled to break free with to avail. She shot her leg up to kick him, but the boy quickly dodged it, chuckling all the while. "Leave me alone, you creep!" Ino called out in an act of pure desperation.

"I don't think so. Actually, I bet you're enjoying this. You have such soft hair and nice skin, and I bet you have to work for it." The boy leaned in closer, turning her face towards his so they were exactly eye-to-eye. "You like when boys do this, don't you? Why else would you put looks before training? You're so easy."

Ino could feel tears forming and couldn't find the strength to hold them back. "Please stop!"

The boy grabbed her chin, leaning in for a kiss. "I don't think so-"

And with that, he froze.

"Wha- What the hell? I can't move!" He screamed in a rather frightened tone, much different from the tough guy demeanor he had demonstrated moments earlier.

"That's right." A voice cooed from the shadows, obviously quite angry with the boy. "You're under the control of my jutsu now. Leave Ino alone. She said stop."

Ino choked back her tears as a tiny smile began to form. "Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru opened his arms, causing the Suna nin to do so as well, releasing Ino. The blonde girl quickly ran over to her teammate, who greeted her with open arms. Although the embrace wasn't exactly natural for the two, neither was complaining.

"Thank you, Shikamaru!" Ino screamed out in one breath, gripping tightly onto Shikamaru's Chūnin jacket. The boy could see the despair on Ino's face, and a sense of protectiveness fell over him.

Shikamaru attached a hand to her waist. "I got you now, it's okay." He tried to reassure her.

As silence filed the room, Ino's harasser became impatient. "Hey! I let her go, now let me go." He screamed, still under the possession of Shikamaru.

Shikamaru hesitated, not sure whether he should just allow the boy to be free or not with no further punishment. But as a proctor, he knew better than to start unnecessary trouble. He looked down to the girl tightly holding onto him, a look of distress still plastered on her face. "Fine." Shikamaru released the jutsu, giving the boy control of his body once again. "Don't bother Ino anymore, got it? You're lucky you don't disqualified for something like this."

The boy snarled under his breath while his two teammates rushed to his side to comfort him. "Whatever!" A rage had come over the boy, as his friends were now holding him back in an effort to stop him from charging at Shikamaru. "I wouldn't go near her anymore if you paid me! I don't fool around with ugly bitches like that!"

Ino's head bounced up, in disbelief of what she just heard. A mix of sadness and anger fell over her as the boy began to repeatedly insult her, moments after he had tried to take advantage of her. She tightened her grip on Shikamaru's arm, trying to channel all of her rage into something other then murdering this boy.

The chubbier of the boy's teammates gave the leader an odd look. "But wait, you were just hitting on h-." He was quickly silenced by the other teammate with a smack across the head.

The leader smirked, pulling something out of his pockets. "Doesn't matter. This girl is nothing and she's well aware of it. I bet under all that hair product and nice clothing she's just hideous." He slowly stood up and dusted his clothing off.

Shikamaru glared at him. "Where do you think you're going? You can't just say all of those things and leave!"

The boy seemed unfazed by Shikamaru's yelling. "Yeah, sure. See you later, blondie." He threw a small object onto the ground, much to his amusement.

"Wait a mintute, I'm not done with you!" Shikamaru yelled out, still holding onto his female teammate. Wait a minute. His eyes narrowed. What is that thing? As soon as the tiny object hit he grown, Shikamaru knew. How troublesome. A bomb.

Within seconds, smoke engulfed the corridor they were in, leaving Shikamaru and Ino coughing and gasping for air. The two waited for the smoke to clear to restore their vision.

And like that, the Suna shinobi had vanished.

Shikamaru released a long, drawn-out sigh. "Geez." He turned his attention back to Ino, who was beginning to release her grip on him. The look on her face was beginning to sting Shikamaru. He had never seen so much grief on her face before.

"Ino..."

"I'm fine. He was right anyway." She slowly stood up on shaky knees, flashing her teammate the fakest smile she could muster up.

"Ino, how could you even say that?"

"Because it's true."

"Ino?" Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the girl. She was always so confident and sure, seeing her as self-hating mess almost made him believe he was dreaming.

"Thank you for helping me out. I have to go now and I'm sure you do to. Goodbye, Shikamaru." She began to walk away, slowly lugging her body with every step.

Something in the back of Shikamaru's mind told him it shouldn't end like this. It told him to stop her, to grab her in his arms and comfort her. I can't just do that... He sighed to himself as he watched her slowly walking away, getting father away from him every second. It wasn't in his nature to be a prince charming, and he never aspired to be the hero. However, Ino made him question that average-loving side of his. He wanted to be extraordinary for her, just like she was to him. But there's something I can do...

"Wait!"

The blonde turned around to face her teammate, the heavy look on her face still painted on. "Yes, Shikamaru?"

"Forget about them, Ino." A large grin crept onto his face. "If it means anything at all, you're the most gorgeous girl I've ever seen."

After that day, Ino never once doubted herself again.

I feel like this could be slightly ooc, but oh well. I've been on this huge shikaino kick lately because THEY'RE PERFECT. I'm actually really content with story, which is always nice.

I'd love some feedback :)