Ino woke up with a groan. It was a Monday which meant the start of a crowded week. She could never catch a break during it. She had at least one activity every day but couldn't bear to part with any of them. She knew she was spreading herself thin. She did almost every activity there was at her school. Yet having a crammed schedule meant she got to spend the least amount of her day at her home, which was a good thing to her.

Today she had to tutor some freshman before school. After school she had volleyball and then cheerleading practice. At least soccer season wasn't until second semester. She had to stay late to finish a set for the school play and she had to run lines as she was the star of that play that next day. She only did that stupid play because it gave her a chance to spend times with her best friend Sakura because they shared no classes.

Except now even their friendship was giving Ino stress. Sakura had wanted the star role and Ino had spent the entire summer helping her so she could get it. But then she ended up getting it while Sakura played a supporting role. It still had tons of lines and was in nearly every scene but it still made Sakura jealous to no end. Ino had tried to get the parts switched but the stupid director had refused. Now she was stuck with a best friend who wanted to stab her eyeball but still go with her to the mall. It was different every day. Some days she'd completely ignore the blonde and other times she'd call her out of the blue for an hour long talk about the latest gossip. Yet Sakura was still her best friend and she couldn't bear to lose her. Especially with the hell she called her life at the moment.

Then there was the academic aspect of her stress. School had always been so easy for her, she could pass tests without studying and could be done with homework in an hour. But then junior year came around and her classes hit her like a ton of bricks. She was thankful for taking calculus at the second level of difficulty instead of the highest or else every night would be filled with frustrated tears. Well more than usual. The rest of her classes had quizzes weekly with plenty of homework. They were hard but somehow Ino managed to get A's in the majority of them. It was just the sheer quantity of work she had to work with on top of her extracurriculars.

Sakura always questioned how Ino managed to balance her life so well. Any other student would have been driven mad with the multitasking. Sometimes she wanted to just walk into the principal's office and quit everything and drop down to the lowest difficulty classes. Everything would be so much easier if that happened. But she had university to think about. All the best ones were far away which were exactly what she wanted. But to get in meant being the most stellar student in not only her high school but in her entire city. Even then her chances weren't guaranteed. All Ino wanted was to get out of Konoha and her old life and start a new one anywhere else.

She begrudgingly pushed off her blankets and walked over to her closet. At least she didn't have to think about what to wear because her school required a uniform. She slipped into her school uniform and pulled her platinum blonde hair into a high ponytail. She packed her bag and ran out the door. Ino didn't have time to eat breakfast anymore, it was becoming a problem and Ino knew that. She hated that she had to start her days so early, The sun hadn't even risen yet and she still had to walk through the streets to get to her high school. The streets were still well lit so she didn't have to worry much at least. That still didn't slow her quick pace and remove the pepper spray from her bag, her mother had always warned her to always be alert. Everything was going according to plan until she crashed into someone.

"Hey watch it!" Ino yelled as she hit the ground. It was like smacking into a stone wall, had she spaced out that much?

"You hit me!" A rough voice yelled back. Ino looked up and recognized the spiky ponytail that belonged to Shikamaru Nara. He hadn't fallen smack on his ass like she had.

"You talk?" Ino asked jokingly. Shikamaru's dark eyes rolled as he turned to leave. That guy was no fun. He was a loner that lurked in the shadows. Apparently he had moved to town their freshman year but Ino had never spoke to him. They had a few classes together but he never participated in class discussions of debates. She never saw him in the hallways or during lunch. The only person she had ever seen him talk to was Chouji Akimichi, the most welcoming guy in their school so it made sense. Still the two seemed like opposites. Chouji always was smiling and cheerful while Shikamaru never seemed to enjoy anything. Ino thought he was mute because he never spoke. He could've helped her stand up or at least apologize for standing in the middle of the road.

Ino realized that she was going go be late if she didn't hurry so she ran. Running that early in the morning had put her in an even poorer mood. Shikamaru saw blonde hair whip in front of him as she sprinted away from him. He sighed as he stared after her. Miss Popular actually spoke to him. Ino was the kind of girl that everyone admired. She was the most popular girl to enter the hidden leaf village. Girls wanted to be her and boys wanted to be with her. She had the idolized Sasuke as her boyfriend and she was an amazing student. She wore a smile on her face everyday that could brighten up the room. She was perfect in every way, Shikamaru wasn't. The only thing he had was an IQ of over 200, but he never showed it because he diddnt talk much. It was too troublesome. He didn't mind observing, but he did mind being overlooked. He especially didn't want to be overlooked by Ino.

He had gotten one last glimpse of her before she turned the corner and disappeared towards their school. He wanted this year to be different for him, well mostly his mother wanted it for him but he'd do it for her. His father would've wanted him to as well. He just needed a push, one nicer than the shoves from his mother.


Ino finally rested her back against the lockers after final period. Her blue eyes scanned the crowd making their way to the double doors and wished she was part of it. Her physicis test had drained her energy, which wouldn't be helpful for cheerleading practice. She had to lead the chants and stand proudly on the top of the pyramid as the captain. But all she wanted was to put in her earbuds and be in complete silence in her bedroom.

Her "boyfriend" Sasuke had walked straight past her. His hand barely not holding the hand of the redhead beside him. Ino knew she wasn't the only girl he had his eye on, she had known from before they had started dating six months ago. She thought she could've changed him but a month in and she found out how wrong she was. Dumping him would hurt her reputation in some aspect it another and the stress of thinking about it made her stay silent on the matter. It made her feel both in control and completely helpless. It was a combination that made her feel like she was on a seesaw.

Ino's list of issues was just about as long as her list of activities. Both of them caused an equal amount of stressful torment.

Ino finally was finished with her day of activities and all she wanted was to sleep. Cartwheeling and cheering made her fake smile being pain to her face. She had to keep it during volleyball practice as well even when the ball hit her in the back of the head. Thankfully she was able to cancel line reading by exaggerating her homework. It wasn't as much of an exaggeration as Ino had hoped however.

She fell onto her bed and closed her eyes and then she heard her mother yell at one of boyfriends. Ino couldn't remember this one's name, she didn't have to since he'd be gone soon enough. After her father died Ino's mother threw herself into relationship after relationship to cope. She had the most boring men to rich snobs to humble workers to actually married men to complete scumbags and everywhere in between. Ino had given up on the prospect on having one of them as a father figure after the third one within a month.

Now most of them fell into that scumbag category. They wanted sex and nothing else. It make Ino sick to the very bottom of her stomach as she watched them stare at her mother like she was their prey. Sometimes their eyes fell on her instead which sent chills down her spine. Nothing had ever happened to her at their hands but enough of them had too close. Her mother had been able to snap out of her estranged mindest in those moments but never anything else. She wished they could just give one day of peace She hid behind their bedroom door.

"Why was there lipstick on your shirt?" Her mom questioned. Probably because you're not his only lover.

"For the last time that isn't lipstick!" The man shouted back. I doubt that.

"What is it?" Her mom asked loudly. Lipstick most likely.

"It's ketchup, you can smell it if you want." He answered. Ino heard a thud that seemed like cotton being thrown down. Then she heard a slap. She knew it was her mom's because Ino herself had heard that slap herself. It hurt like a bitch. Then her mother's now probably ex-boyfriend burst through the door, livid. The door hit Ino square in the face.

"Ino go to your room." Her mother ordered from inside the doorframe as he shoved her aside to storm out of the house.

Ino scurried into her room where her blankets were her only sanctuary. Her face felt hot and wet as her pillow moistened with her tears. It muffled her bottled up sobs of that past year. She want sure why that one confrontation pushed all her emotions out of her. Her mother had slammed the door shut hard enough to make Ino's own room rattle. There she cried herself to sleep like she has been for the past year.