The Golden Fox And The Crimson Dragon Blade

Chapter 9: Gaara Of The Desert

It had almost been almost 3 months since team 7 and 10 came home from their mission to the land of waves and their progress both as individuals and teams were coming along greatly.
Dom had been keeping up with all of the training that he had put himself under, and with his guidance along with Asuma's, Ino and eventually also Shikamaru had gotten a lot sharper and stronger as well.

They had gotten a lot better at teamwork and could all handle themselves in a lot of fights.
Dom had gotten Ino and Shikamaru to wear weights just like him after a while so that they could better increase strength and speed which in case of combat ability was heavily needed.
To say that they were ready for the chunin exams was an understatement, Asuma had already given them the form after they almost handed his ass to him in a sparring match last week.
It was like his final test to see if they were ready for what was to come their way and they impressed him thoroughly enough for him to not only enroll them in the exams but also place bets on them all during all three competitions.

Currently Dom is just walking down the streets of Konoha not really caring to do anything at all, suddenly he heard rapidly approaching footsteps but didn't turn around since he knew who it was.
He felt the two feminine arms wrap around his neck as Ino landed on his back in a sort of mixture between a hug and a chokehold.

(Ino enthusiastic) "Hey there Dom, what're you doing?"

(Dom) "Just wandering around I guess, there is still some time before we have to meet with Asuma sensei for the team meeting and since I've already completed my morning training then I have nothing else to do."

(Ino) "In that case, why don't you take me to the shopping district as I have some grocery shopping to do before the meeting?"

(Dom) "I guess I could do that but I'm pretty sure you're the last genin kunoichi that would need to be escorted, I saw to that myself remember?"

(Ino pouting) "Gee Dom, even though I'm not a weakling anymore that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate having company when I'm out of the house."

(Dom) "Well I guess you're right... fine lets go then."

(Ino) "Yay!"

People around them gave the two a strange look along with a slight disgusted when looking at Dom, after all he was still the same little monster in their eyes as he was many years ago.
Instead of returning the glares Dom just ignored them and pulled Ino off of his back before letting her lead the way to the shopping district, she eagerly did so and practically pulled him along by his wrist.

Their first stop as a women's clothing store where Ino quickly pulled him inside much to his displeasure, but he knew better than to complain about it.
They ended up spending almost half an hour inside where Ino would try out different outfits and then have Dom evaluate them all.
It seemed important to her so Dom just went along for the ride and tried to enjoy it as much as he possibly could, after stepping out of the store Dom was now carrying four bags of full set clothes.
It was still springtime, so she was mostly focused on getting summer outfits and even a bikini which Dom almost choked on his own spit when he saw it.
All he could say was that it fitted her very well and was perhaps even a little too small for her, but she hadn't hit puberty yet, so he didn't know if it was a cleaver choice to get it that small.
Though he wouldn't complain even the least bit seeing as she was already now setting out to become an absolute beauty when she grew a little older thanks to her takling her training seriously.

Next on Ino's shopping list was Konoha's most famous shop for shinobi gear and it was run by the father of Tenten who a girl on Lee's team which Dom had gotten acquainted with on his first day of training with Lee.
Immediately she pitied him and allowed him to get the weights he so desired for free, after that it had become the place where he would do his shopping before any missions were to be done and after showing the place to Ino and Shikamaru they too had become regular customers there.
Ino walked in through the front door and a bell above the door sounded to let anyone inside know of her arrival, she didn't pay it much mind though and just went straight for the weapon section.
Dom walked in right after her and noticed that the shop was almost full today, he saw many genin squads that were properly out to prepare for the exams which was only in a couple of days now.
The meeting later that day was actually the time where team 10 would get the application forms for entering the exams so this was likely also the reason for Ino to be here as well.
Since Ino and Dom were still rookies, many of the older genin didn't pay any attention to them which was good for now, it meant that they wouldn't expect much from them when they entered the exams.