This takes places right after the Chuunin exams, well—not quite since it was never completed. And Pakkun led Sakura, Naruto and Shikamaru out to search for Sasuke.
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Meanwhile...
As the audience woke up from their seats from watching the Chuunin exams, everyone became confused as to what just happened. Ino amongst them, gathered to leave the stadium and found Konoha in a mess from all the fighting. This sight caused uproar and the civilians fled back to their homes as quickly as possible.
Ino soon made her way back home and luckily, there wasn't much destruction. However, when entering the Yamanaka Flower Shop, Ino's mother was frantically trying to close up shop. "Kaa-san, I'm back.., what's happening?" asked Ino. Soon enough, Ino's mother filled her on the news of war breaking out. She then began helping her mom close shop, but remembered as she left the stadium, Ino recalled not seeing the others on their way out---that of which, included Sasuke. Assuring her own safety, Ino left the flower shop and locked its door on the way out, carrying a set of kunai and shurikens in her pockets. And headed towards the hospital. "I just hope Sasuke-kun's alright," clenching her fists tightly, one hand holding a lily as she's determined to bring him a flower although he may not even be there.
The hospital itself was in one piece, aside from the crumbling corners of the building. Just as Ino made her way in, most of the nurses and medic nins immediately came out and guarded the doors. At this chaotic time, the entire medic staff ran around to calm the patients and seeing Ino, immediately escorted her inside wanting since they recognized her from earlier visits with Sakura. Her safety was just as important as the patients. Of course, they would have locked the doors for their own safety but if there was a medical emergency from a shinobi, this was not possible. Having rushed her way towards the receptionist's desk, no one was there at the moment and this forced Ino to wait much longer than expected. No more than a few minutes had passed and she grew restless, "Oh..no one would mind. Besides, it's just a peek." Ino flipped through the catalog of the listed patients' names, searching intently for Uchiha Sasuke. "He's..not here...," a worried look grows on Ino's face as she refuses to believe this and started off searching each room individually.
Amidst the soon settling chaos, the emergency rooms is at its busiest hour. Soon enough, Aburame Shino was admitted by his father after his encounter with the sand nin known as Kankurou. His father did get most of the poison out using his kikai but Shino still needed rest above all else. And at this time, the hospital was the best place for care and protection. By now, Ino had already terrified all the elderly patients by storming in abruptly, nearly giving them a heart attack or stroke. Finally giving up and knowing that Sasuke had not been on the premises, she made her way out by checking on the new admittances' rooms. Lee panicked and pulled his sheets up high to his neck while shrieking from Ino's abrupt entrance like a girl. "You're not Sakura-san!!" A sweatdrop soon formed from the side of Ino's head and didn't bother to say anything, just pretending that didn't happen.
The doorknob turned, Ino's bangs were the first to step inside the room, peering in. There laid Shino, his shades were off and lain neatly aside. He was no longer in that longer overcoat which covered his face entirely so Ino wasn't even sure who that was. Curiosity soon got to her and paced over to have a better look. Shino kept his eyes closed at the moment, rest was what he needed and he was in no position to argue, besides that, he accomplished what he wanted to do—to beat Kankurou. Without the aid of sight, Shino already knew who came in from what his kikai had informed him—"the one with the flowery scent". However, Ino was still clueless as to who this boy was and wondered, "How come I never seen this guy before? Hey—he looks cute though..." As she drew closer, Shino remained still, unwavered. Stopping just by the side of the bed, Ino turned to see the circular shades set aside and immediately recognized them, "Shino..? Is that you??" He decided to just act asleep now. It's always the best technique to be rid of unwanted nuisance. Normally, he'd given a warning by telling her to stay away or send some of his kikai her way to scare her off, knowing how girls are naturally afraid of insects.
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6 years ago
"Sakura, here if you use this red ribbon as a headband your forehead won't appear as big."
"Really? Thanks Ino!"
Just as the two headed home together, they stopped along the way upon hearing some boys along the side of the grassy area, just the opposite end where Ino had given Sakura the headband.
Boy #1, "Ha ha—let's start plucking its wings off now!"
Boy #2, 3, 4, "Yeah! Hahaha!"
A smaller boy, much smaller than the rest hesitated somewhat and murmured from underneath his collar covering his mouth, "no...don't." The rest of the boys didn't comply and edged over towards Shino with much dissatisfaction, surrounding him. "What's the matter? Did I hurt your little buggy friend? You can't tell us what to do, you freak!" and with that, the boys began to push Shino around, laughing out even more. A bunch of flowers were hurled into each of the boys' faces except Shino's. Ino stood there, arms on her hips and just as pissed as she could ever be, though this is a much more suppressed level than that of her older version. "I've had enough of bullies in one day!" growled Ino. Sakura stood behind in the path and watched along, just amazed at Ino's bravery for confronting any bully, boy or girl. The boys are already aware of Ino's pre-growing wrath that will forever haunt Shikamaru in the future and fled for their lives. She then turned to Shino and looked at him the same way she did for Sakura when she helped her out earlier, "Hey---don't let them pick on you like that! You should toughen up!" Raising her hand into the air and waved, Ino turned and made her way back to Sakura. Just as Sakura and Ino headed home together, Shino looked on, never forgetting this favor Ino did for him. As for Ino, she never made a big deal about it and soon enough forgotten about this event.
He remained in the hospital bed silent and unmoving. Ino didn't dare touch Shino, any girl would be freaked about his kikai. Instead, she stood there, just looking down at him both in awe and in amazement for she had never gotten a chance to see Shino's full face. A medic nin entered and Ino turned around in surprise, "What are you doing here? This patient needs rest." Ino panicked and flustered about, but then realized she still had that lily in her hand. "Oh—I'm just here to bring him a flower, see?" Only the quick thinking of a top ranking female genin could ever pull this off or was it just mere luck? The medic nin let it pass and went on to check on the incoming patients for that was more important and Shino wasn't in critical condition at all. Ino sighed in relief and placed the lily in a glass of water next to his shades. She didn't want to get into more trouble and assumed it was her time to leave and made her way towards the door. Shino turned his head on the side and opened his eyes the first time without the need of his shades, looking out at Ino, then at the lily beside his shades. He murmured quietly to himself as soon as she was out of sight, "I did toughen up—thanks to you."
On her way out, Ino was held back by the hospital staff. They were given orders not to let any Konoha residents out on their own but were able to accept new patients just for safety's sake. Asuma-sensei entered in along with Shikamaru who looked dirtier than usual from his fight against the group of Sound Nins. The same grumpy face remained. Asuma-sensei called in for a medic nin to escort Shikamaru to a room to be checked for any injuries. Shikamaru didn't fight it, he was too lazy and tired out from the fight to even bother but noticed Ino there; a smirk grew knowing that she was safe. "Shikamaru..? What happened?" she followed along just as Asuma-sensei immediately left to aid in Konoha's defense. Ino waited inside the room with Shikamaru as the medic nin searched for internal injuries. After his diagnosis was complete, he too, just needed some rest and was escorted to share the same room as Shino.
"Shikamaruuu! Oi! Since I can't leave this hospital, you're just gonna have to tell me all about it or I won't let you sleep!" threatened Ino as she was about to tear the mattress in half. "Mendoukusae na....," Shikamaru cracked open one eye, that was all the energy he could muster up and told Ino what happened to him. Shino heard this as he was still lying there, pretending to sleep. By the time Shikamaru finished, Ino questioned him, "Where's Sasuke-kun now?" but it was too late, he had fallen asleep. The irritation grew worse on Ino as she couldn't stop worrying for Sasuke. Raising her arms out, Ino was about to snatch Shikamaru's pillow when Shino's voice distinctly cut through, "He's tired enough. Let him sleep." Shocked above all else Ino didn't realize Shino was awake, he looked the same as he was just earlier, "Shino....you, you were awake this whole time? Then—"and began to blush embarrassingly. Truth was partly that Shino wanted some peace and quiet, he knew how Ino was whenever she got frustrated with Shikamaru. The wrath of Ino was not an appealing one, but at least she never hid her feelings. Through that honesty is where Ino's courage came through and that differentiated herself from Sakura. Shino managed to draw Ino's attention and buy some time for Shikamaru to sleep, "I'm sure Sasuke is safe. He was the top ranking male genin after all."
"I guess you're right...," having caught her attention, Ino pulled up a chair and sat by Shino. She looked down on his bare face, it was still a new sight to her. Naturally, she could not resist from anything Sasuke-related. Yet it was Shino's "cute" face that managed to revive the old Ino within to emerge, setting aside the Sasuke obsession persona. It was her rivalry between herself and Sakura that caused Ino to become blind toward others and no longer viewed as that caring person she once was. Instead, she would be easily labeled as a 'Sasuke-freak' instead. "Shino—um, are you okay? Want anything to drink?" Ino assumed that since his eyes were closed, he couldn't see her expressions, but that was far from the truth. His kikai were his eyes and had informed him of her every move and facial feature.
"I'm fine. Just needed the rest." Ino nodded, got up from her seat and excused herself for the bathroom.
Although Shikamaru was a master of sleeping, he wasn't fully asleep either! Fact was, he couldn't bring himself to sleep entirely while noticing the interaction between Ino and Shino. He turned his head over to the side to face Shino and his eyes widened temporarily when spotting the lily, "Eh...Shino, where did that lily come from?" Shikamaru wasn't much to make conversation, but his impression of Shino was just like that of any other. To him, he was just a living vessel, a host for bugs, nothing more. Shino didn't respond and Shikamaru just returned his head back to face the ceiling, just assuming that he was being his normal stoic self. But his aggravation only grew worse, not just because of the suspicion of the lily alone, but also because he actually held a small conversation with Ino. A delayed response from Shino finally came, "I didn't see for my own eyes, but my kikai informed me it was from Ino for she carries the same scent."
Shikamaru's shock only heightened now. Ino? Ino..gave Sasuke's flower to Shino?! Impossible! The frown returned soon enough, only this time more drastic, "Huh...I thought she only brought flowers for Sasuke." Shikamaru sank deeper into the pillow while grumbling, he was agitated and even a part of himself wanted to just snatch that lily from Shino for himself. Asuma-sensei happened to find Aburame father-son duo in the forest earlier and thanks to Shino, managed to find Shikamaru in his gravest hour. Shikamaru felt that Shino didn't deserve that lily. Shino got himself in trouble while Shikamaru had trouble handed to him, thanks to Kakashi-sensei assigning him to follow Pakkun in the first place.
Upon Ino's return, she noticed Shikamaru awakening already, "Huh, I'm surprised to see the lazyass up so fast!" Shikamaru grumbled in response.
"What's the matter now, Shikamaru?"
"....did you give Shino that flower?"
"Huh?" Ino turned over and saw that lily sitting inside a glass full of water, "Oh yeah—Sasuke-kun wasn't here and the nurse was about to throw me out without a good excuse for sneaking in. I had to act fast."
At this point, Shino's brows twitched slightly. He felt that he would always be second to Sasuke, especially in academics. Now knowing that this flower was not given out of pity, instead was used as an excuse. This had upset Shino as much as when Kankurou chose to forfeit in the preliminary chuunin exams, if not more. From the looks of it, Ino didn't do that because it seems as if her feelings shifted towards Shino from Sasuke, and Shikamaru felt at ease.
Some of the medic nins made their rounds and announced that it was safe to return home at this point. The damage to Konoha was devastating. Ino immediately left the room and out the hospital in hopes of checking on her mom.
"Tch—didn't even say bye..," grunted Shikamaru.
"Then follow her home," stated Shino.
Shikamaru turned his head with a confused look, "What?"
"She's on her way there right now. I've planted my konchuu on her."
Another shocking look suddenly appeared on Shikamaru's face, "Why would you—" tossing off his sheets and sprang off the bed. Gritting his teeth, Shikamaru assumed Shino was after Ino in his own subtle way for insulting him with that lily that was originally meant for Sasuke. Just as Shikamaru headed for the door to warn Ino, he was stopped by Shino's remark, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt her. Although it is personal, if you wish, consider me as your rival." What felt like sparks of needles attacking Shikamaru's back was realized soon enough that it was anger. He narrowed his eyes while turning at the door, lowering his voice and letting out a troublesome sigh, gripping his right hand against the doorframe on the side, "What you do is your own problem, I have no right to interfere but Ino deserves to know."
Shikamaru left the hospital, that grumpy frown returned, "...tch...I should practice what I preach." He had thought of every possible way of telling Ino but each one resulted in either him getting in trouble with Ino or that konchuu reporting Shino every detail of him telling Ino and then getting in trouble with Shino, or both. "Mendoukusae..na!," heaved Shikamaru while stopping just a bit in his path, even in that slouching position with his pockets in his pants, he tilted his head up, facing the skies. The only thing he did to seek comfort was to stare at the clouds, but even now, the thought of gaining another rival could not calm him in any means possible.