Ino's Curiosity

On the first day of extra training, Uchiha Ling knew Iruka was serious.

So-called control training had nothing flashy about it.

It was nothing more than the most basic, most tedious repetition.

He had to make chakra adhere to leaves, stone surfaces, and kunai, then pull it away bit by bit. He had to keep the chakra in his palms stable while running. He had to perform taijutsu movements while ensuring the energy in his legs and arms did not clash with each other.

None of it was hard to understand, but taking it to the extreme was difficult.

Ling trained for an hour until his palms were numb and burning before Iruka finally let him stop. The sky had already been stained by dusk, and nearly everyone around the training grounds had dispersed, leaving only the sound of wind stirring the grass.

"That's enough for today." Iruka glanced at his condition. "Remember, don't blindly pursue power. What you lack most right now isn't strength, but stability."

Ling nodded and committed those words to memory.

After his teacher left, he packed up the training equipment alone. Just as he was about to head back, a set of light footsteps suddenly sounded behind him.

"So you really are here."

Ling turned and saw Ino Yamanaka standing beneath a tree. She held a book in her arms, her blond hair swaying slightly in the evening breeze. Her expression carried unabashed curiosity and an undisguised smile.

"You were following me?" Ling asked.

"Don't make it sound so weird." Ino huffed. "I was just passing by, and I happened to want to see whether a certain person who's been getting famous lately was really secretly training extra every day."

As she spoke, she walked over without the slightest hesitation. Her gaze swept from Ling's arms to his palms, then to the practice board beside him, its corner cracked.

When she came close, she did not avoid contact at all. She simply raised a hand and brushed a bit of wood dust from his shoulder. The motion was as natural as if they had long been close, and even she did not seem to find anything odd about it.

"So it's true." Ino blinked. "You look as cold as a block of wood normally, but you work harder than anyone."

Ling put his kunai into his ninja tool pouch and did not respond to that assessment.

Ino seemed to have expected that he would not start a conversation. She crouched down on her own and looked at the cut marks and scorch marks on the ground. "Did you make all these?"

"Yeah."

"That's impressive." She looked up at him, her eyes bright. "And it's not impressive in the way Sasuke is, where anyone can tell at a glance that he'll become strong. You're more like..."

She thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "More like the kind that suddenly gives people a fright."

Ling was silent for two breaths. He actually felt that description suited him well.

Seeing that he did not deny it, Ino's smile deepened. She was naturally good at breaking down barriers, and seeing that he did not chase her away, she naturally grew bolder. She reached out and picked up a burnt wood chip. "I heard about yesterday's Fire Release class."

"Everyone's saying you almost burned yourself."

"It wasn't that exaggerated."

"But the wooden target cracked." Ino deliberately stepped closer. "I went to look. It cracked worse than Sasuke's."

Ling glanced at her.

The girl was very close, close enough that he could smell the faint floral scent on her. It was not like Hinata's restrained gentleness. It was bright, open, and almost aggressively proactive. Strangely, though, he did not dislike her closeness.

"What are you trying to say?" he asked.

"I'm a little curious," Ino said frankly. "Are you really cold, or are you pretending to be?"

As she spoke, she took another half-step forward and looked up at him, her gaze carrying obvious scrutiny and teasing. "Or do you just not know how to talk to girls?"

Ling answered even more frankly. "I can't be bothered to talk."

Ino froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"So it's not that you can't talk, it's that you don't want to." She deliberately drew out her words. "Uchiha Ling, you're much more interesting than I thought."

After saying that, she seemed to think of something, and her eyes curved slightly. "Then do you find me annoying?"

Ling looked at her. "You're okay."

"Okay?" Ino raised a brow. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"For you, it is."

Ino paused for half a breath, then smiled even more brightly, the corners of her eyes gleaming. "Fine. When you do talk, you're actually pretty good at it."

Ling turned and headed toward the school gate, and Ino naturally followed after him. The two walked side by side beneath the evening glow. They were clearly not close, yet the atmosphere was not awkward. As they walked, Ino asked him all sorts of questions, from what time he usually trained to whether the Uchiha Clan compound was really always so quiet, then whether he never played with anyone else.

Ling mostly answered with only one or two words.

Yet those brief replies only made Ino find him more novel. She could tell he was not brushing her off. He was genuinely just that sparing with words. That was precisely why every answer he was willing to give her felt especially significant.

When they reached the school gate, Ino suddenly stopped and tilted her head at him. "Want to eat lunch together tomorrow?"

Ling halted. "Why?"

"Because I want to keep observing you," Ino said as if it were only natural. "Besides, if you're always alone, it'll make my taste seem weird."

Ling looked at her without agreeing or refusing.

But Ino seemed to have already received some satisfactory reaction. Smiling, she backed away two steps and waved. "Then I'll take that as a yes."

Before turning around, she suddenly reached out again. Her fingertips hooked very lightly at his sleeve, as if reminding him, or deliberately leaving behind a trace of her presence.

"If you don't come tomorrow, I'll drag you over from your desk." She smiled sweetly.

Then she turned and ran away, moving as lightly as a gust of wind.

Ling stood where he was and frowned slightly.

That girl moved too fast, as if she did not understand caution or restraint at all. Yet precisely because of that, she had a rare sense of ease about her that made it difficult to truly reject her with a cold face.

"So you like that type."

A cold voice suddenly came from nearby.

Ling turned his head and saw Sasuke standing some distance away at some point, training equipment held in his arms. His expression revealed neither joy nor anger.

"What are you trying to say?" Ling asked in return.

Sasuke's gaze lingered for a moment in the direction Ino had left before returning to Ling's face. "Don't waste your time on unnecessary things."

With that, he walked straight past Ling and headed toward the clan compound.

Ling watched his back, his gaze darkening slightly.

This was not the first time.

Sasuke's attention toward him was growing stronger and stronger. It was not ordinary hostility between classmates, but more like an instinctive comparison between fellow Uchiha.

The final ray of sunset fell across the ground.

Ling slowly withdrew his gaze, but another layer of wariness rose in his heart.

Someone had begun approaching him of their own accord.

And someone else had already begun treating him as an opponent who had to be taken seriously.