Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Teacher's Pet ❯ Teacher's Pet ( Chapter 1 )

Enter standard disclaimer here. Nope, not mine, not mine at all…damn…

for lynnxlady at livejournal, the Asuma/Ino challenge

Teacher's Pet

By: Wicked_Innuendo

She wasn't as young as she use to be and she had a feeling he noticed that too. Three years had passed since she first found herself under his tutelage, two years since boyish hips gave way to feminine curves, and one year since she bid farewell to childhood crushes and realized how handsome he truly was.

It was the little things that caught her attention in the beginning; his intense expression as played Shouji, the way he treated her as equally as he treated the boys even though she could tell it pained him at times to do so at times, his happy go lucky outlook on life, his persuasiveness, she could go on and on about her Sensei. He was a good man.

At first, she would push herself for his recognition; a nod, a smile, his rich baritone congratulating a mission well done. She craved his approval and went out of her way to receive his attention. She would sweet talk him into private practices and corner him into one on one discussions about how much genjutso techniques have advanced between now and the turn of the century.

Ino's interests in Asuma kept her on her game both physically and mentally. Her attraction to her teacher made the Shintenshin user one of Konoha's best Chuunin kunoichi.

But as time went by and her skill improved, she valued his teachings. He taught her to have pride in her trade. She was damn good at what she did and she developed a secret love affair for her vocation and for the man that helped her progress so much in providing her higher education.

Ino had been looking for Asuma that morning, she didn't have to look far, he was exactly where he should have been on that early Friday morning. He exited the entrance of the Jounin headquarters with Kurenai, an unlit cigarette dangled between his lip and his hands were in his vest searching for his lighter.

He was handsome as ever, chocolate eyes complimented tousled chestnut locks; his sweet smile was framed with his trimmed beard. He was unforgivably adorable, completely unaware of his rugged good looks, he reminded her of her favorite childhood teddy bear.

Kurenai snatched the smoke away from Asuma before he had the opportunity to light it, breaking the tobacco filled paper into three pieces.

"Kur, what did you go and have to that for," he frowned, "that was my last one."

"I thought we agreed that you were going to quit," she looked at him, narrowing her crimson eyes.

"I..well.." he was unsure how to begin. The Jounin had no intentions of giving up his smoking habit. Asuma had long since accepted his oral fixation and nicotine addiction. There was nothing more soothing than a long a drag on a filtered Marlboro; it provided instantaneous satisfaction, a proverbial nirvana for his agitated shinobi nerves. He liked to smoke and would no sooner quit if the Godaime commanded it herself.

"Asuma-sensei!" she boisterously called. The slim blonde raced to her Sensei's side, squeezing between him and Kurenai, Ino linked her arm through his. "I've been looking for you," she sweetly spoke, fluttering heavy lashed baby blues at him.

"Have you?" he half grinned, looking down at the young beauty draped on his arm.

"That's what I said, huh? I wanted to talk to you about something." Ino turned her attention from Asuma to Kurenai, adding: "In private." She returned her cornflower azure gaze back to her teacher, smacking Kurenai in the face with her long blonde ponytail in the process. "It'svery important Sensei."

Ino gave her best puppy dog eyes and stuck out her bottom lip for emphasis. "Will you excuse us, Kurenai?"

Kurenai looked at his student and shrugged. "We're still on for dinner?"

"Yes," he confirmed.

"See you then." She walked away from the pair, oblivious of Ino's crush on her on and off again beau.

"So, in private, eh? Have you come to quiz me on proper etiquette while escorting royalty in foreign territories or maybe the benefits of mandatory incorporation of camouflaged pants for standard shinobi uniforms? What's up Ino?" He pulled his arm from hers, absently searching his pockets for any forgotten cigarette packs.

"Tsk, tsk..so business minded. First I wanted to give you this," she shook her head side to side and handed him a long narrow wooden box, "I saw it when I was shopping with Sakura yesterday and it screamed Asuma-sensei, I had to buy it for you. I hope you don't mind."

He accepted the gift from her, opening the carved wooden box.

"They're imported," she stated matter-of-factly, pointing to the cigars, "from the southern borders of Water Country. They're supposed to have a sweet flavor."

"Thank you, Ino that was really nice of you."

He wasted no time sampling his student's gift. Zippo in hand, he brought the curved wooded tip to his lips and lit the cut end. Mmm… instant gratification.

"Asuma-sensei?" She began uncharacteristically shy then blurted: "I was hoping you'd sponsor me for the upcoming Jounin exams."

"Sponsor you?" he repeated, scratching his beard. "I don't think you're eligible yet."

"I'm not, there's a minimum six months time in rank rule before I can apply for the Jounin exams on my own but…there is a waiver, my sensei would have to complete it though." She was colorful as she talked, her excitement reaching her fingertips as she expressed her eagerness with meaningless flips of her hands.

"Ino this is a big step to take, it's a huge career advancement. Are you ready to take your career in that direction? Have you completely thought this through?" He asked calmly, locking eyes with her.

"Yes, I have. And I've even discussed it with Daddy. He thinks it's an excellent idea, he's been telling me about the abundance of infiltration missions available for shinobi, especially kunoichi with our family's special abilities. He even says that they've been asking about me." She was proud of this and smiled. Her name had been thrown around in the Jounin espionage department; she was walking the path to becoming a great ninja.

"So… Yamanaka-san believes this is a good idea, but how do you feel about becoming Jounin." He watched her carefully, trying to read the young woman's expression.

"This is what I want. I know the risks and I understand more than you think. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a big girl now."

He took another drag from the sweet cigar, letting the flavorful smoke linger in his mouth as he contemplated her request and exhaled. He carefully considered her words and sighed: "Ino... Anytime, anyplace, no rules, any weapon, your terms all you have to do is best me once and I'll sign your waiver. When's the deadline for it?"

"A week," she was shaking with enthusiasm. If she did manage to best him..no..when she did mange to best him, he'd surely personally train her as he did when Shikamaru was the only member of their team to advance to the last round of the Chuunin exams. The excitement sent a thrill of adrenaline throughout her body.

"It looks like you have week's time to show me that you're ready for me to sign that paper of yours."

"You promise you'll sign it once I kick you ass?"

He held his hand up as if swearing an oath, "I promise."

"I won't need a week," she poked him teasingly in the side.

"I'm not that easy."

"That's what you say; I'll have my paper signed before tomorrow and the day after you'll be spending all your waking hours helping me prepare for that exam." She skipped ahead of him a few paces, and spun around with kunai in hand striking a Gai like ninja pose.

"All my waking hours?" he chuckled at her silliness.

"Did I stutter?" she countered, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Ino, take the day off and come up with a strategy."

"I already have one. I'm a quick thinker, y'know." She waved goodbye to him and ran off towards Konoha's marketplace.

"Hey Ino," he called after her, "thanks again for the cigars."

~*~*~*~

They weren't exclusive. Asuma and Kurenai had been dating on and off for the past six months. He refused to quit smoking and she thought his kisses tasted like wet ashtray, so there they stood, neither willing to give an inch. She thought that if really wanted to take their on and off again relationship to the next level than he'd have to quit his unbecoming habit and he believed that if she truly cared for him than she would accept him as he was and stop trying to change him.

Asuma and Kurenai left the small restaurant together, walking closely besides one other, yet reframing from touching at all.

Asuma was taking inventory of surroundings as if he were expecting something; he chuckled to himself and shook his head in disbelief.

"Penny for your thoughts," she took his hand, entwining her slim fingers in his.

"I was just thinking about Ino, we had an interesting little chat this morning and ever since then she's been leaping out from behind trees and rooftops trying to ambush me all day long. It's cute really, I was just hoping for a little more creativity from her. She's never been one to jump head first into a situation. Ino usually stands back and assesses the situation before making her move. It's really confusing, if I'd known better, I'd say-"

Kurenai staggered, leaning her weight on Asuma.

"You 'kay?" he asked, his arm wrapped around her waist, supporting her small frame.

"I just felt a little lightheaded for a moment, weird…"

"Maybe it was that half bowl of leafy greens minus the salad dressing you had for dinner, you need to add some meat and starch to that diet of yours. You must be starving." He waited for her to slap him on the arm just like she always did whenever mocked the nutritional content of her meals, but the hit never came.

"Kur?" he asked, concern in his voice. She had moved to stand in front of him, one hand reached into his vest to rest over his heart, the other snaked around to the back of his neck.

"Asuma," she looked at him through half lidded eyes, "shut up and kiss me." She didn't give him time to respond. Kurenai pulled his lips to hers and boldly tasted his mouth. The dark whiskers brushed against her chin and she deepened the kiss, before he pulled away.

"What was that abou-"he started to ask, but she pressed her lips to his again, silencing him. Her body was pressed so close to his, he could feel the warmth radiating off her pale skin.

"About Ino, maybe she was trying to make you lower your expectations of her." Her lips were on his for a third time and he felt like he was drowning in her touch. He couldn't think clearly and he didn't want to. He liked the new Kurenai; she had always been so shy and quick to blush, but this new Kurenai had his pulse racing. She pulled away again; her hands gripped the collar of his Jounin vest, "So that when she came at you with real killer intent, you wouldn't know what hit you."

Her lips were over his pulse; her warm tongue lapped the sensitive skin on his neck. She was like a different person, pushy and demanding. It felt nice, a pleasant change from her shy flirting. In less than a minute she changed their roles; she was now the aggressor and he sat back and let her predatorily ways dictate the direction of the date.

Alarms went off in his mind; this was wrong, too wrong. But it was too late. Gentle kisses were replaced with the cold bite of steel. He let too good to be true overrule common sense and now he felt like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Asuma sensei, I think this means I won. Hmm?" Kurenai sweetly spoke in his ear, schoolgirl lilt coloring her usually calm voice.

"Ino?"

"Yes." She replaced the kunai into the folds of Kurenai white dress. "I left the paperwork on the coffee table at your house. I was hoping that you'd return it for me when you go to the Jounin headquarters in the morning?"

He sighed and nodded. Ino was conniving and underhanded, but wasn't that the nature of the ninja? She had bested him and promise was a promise regardless of how sheepishly he felt.

"I'm going to release my Shintenshin on Kurenai. She'll be disorientated; you might want to catch her." Ino smoothed Kurenai's hands over the short outfit, preparing to release the jutso. "Oh…Sensei, one more thing."

"What is it?"

She jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her thighs around his midsection. He caught and held her, her lips were on his in an immediately. She stole one last kiss as Kurenai, savoring what could very well be the final time he'd ever let that familiarity pass between them again.

"I've just wanted to kiss you like that for a long time now. Maybe you'll let me kiss you again, some other time with my own lips."

She slid down his body, righting herself on legs that weren't her own and released the Jutso.

Ino was gone.

Kurenai stumbled into Asuma; he supported her while she regained her bearings "Oh my...what just happened?"

"I think you fainted. I've been telling you Kur, you need to add more protein and starch to your diet. All that fancy genjutso eats away at your chackra resources and then you barely have the energy to stand."

"But-"

"Let me walk you home, Kurenai."

He walked her to her apartment in silence. Kurenai's body felt weak from the invasion of Ino's spirit and Asuma kept replaying his conversation with Ino as Kurenai in his mind, realizing three things.

First, his student of the last three years, Ino Yamanaka, was more than a little attracted to him. Second, the time he spent with Kurenai when he wasn't aware that she wasn't herself was the most fun he'd ever had with her. And third, earlier this morning he promised his feisty blonde student that he would spend all his waking hours with her to help her prepare for the Jounin exam if she was able to best.

The next few weeks were going to be very interesting, Asuma reflected.

Teacher's pet, I wanna be teacher's pet. So I can be teacher's pet, long after school is through. - Teacher's Pet - Doris Day