acclimation; o1.) beginning—

It was right after they were assigned their genin teams that Ino finally retired her belly-baring outfit and donned a more conservative ensemble.

"If I didn't know any better," Shikamaru wryly commented one day, "I'd think you'd finally grown up."

Ino huffed, and chucked the nearest item on hand in his direction. It was a notebook, purple, as was her favorite color, and scribbled with notes, names, and doodles (one which aptly included a crude drawing of Shika being impaled with his own shadow hands, complete with X's for eyes). It hit him squarely in the face, less because of Ino's good aim and more because of Shikamaru's apathetic tendencies that kept him tied to the couch he lazed upon.

He groaned, the notebook still covering his face, and wondered what was wrong with her that day.

"I am mature! I have a genin team now!" she screeched from across the room, hands on her shapely hips, eyes narrowed. "And what about you? You're still as lazy as when we were genins. It's a wonder you ever made jounin."

He rolled his eyes. Not this again. He flicked the notebook off his face, letting it fall easily to the floor.

Ino strolled over to where he lay, hovering over him, blond tendrils falling over her shoulder to tickle his face. "We're not children anymore, Shika," she spoke gently.

Oh, how he knew that, especially when the evidence was staring him in the face. Ino's breasts were mere inches from his face, and he turned as to hide his obvious staring. He coughed, sitting up sharply, and said, "Yeah, yeah." Then, to deflect from the current situation, he added, "You coming to meet up with us later? With all the junk you put on your face and hair, it's a wonder you actually show up on time."

She huffed, swiping her notebook off the floor. "Beauty is an art! You can't rush it!"

"I seem to recall an incident where your hair turned orange for a whole week because you were in a hurry. Let's hope it doesn't happen again, yeah?"

"You wipe that smirk off your face, Nara!" Ino glared at him, her cheeks starting to burn.

"I know nothing about style, but even I knew it looked bad. Scared off your boyfriend, didn't it?"

Ino's eyes widened for a moment at the reminder, then she narrowed her eyes and rushed forward, shoving Shikamaru towards the door.

"Please! Homaru was a jerk anyway! Now get out, I have to get ready!"

Shikamaru stumbled out of Ino's apartment, barely catching himself in time. A smile graced his features as the door slammed behind him, and he gave a small chuckle. Making his way down the flight of stairs, he noticed someone staring up at him.

"Oi! Takuza! You remember our meeting later, right?"

"Yes, Shikamaru-sensei!" announced the boy when Shikamaru landed at the bottom of the stairs. The green-eyed genin stared at Shikamaru, a frown on his face. "Is everything alright with Ino-sensei?"

"Yeah, she's fine," Shikamaru answered. He looked up at Ino's apartment, and grinned.

Author Note: So I've planned a drabble series for the month of January. One chapter a day—let's hope I can keep up. Updates might be sporadic on FFnet, so check out my Tumblr (found on my profile). The chapters will be posted with the tag fanfic: acclimation. Enjoy, and Happy New Years.