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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
There are two sides to a mirror.
The first is the person who looks into a mirror. That being is flesh-and-blood, a thing with a soul. But what they see when they look into the clear glass surface may not be what all else see.
The reflection in the mirror is how they see themselves. The reflection is one's true self, stripped of all the conventions of daily life, such as "Love", "Vanity", "Hatred", "Friendship", and "Rank". The mirror's reflection is peculiar. As a soulless thing, it shows who we truly are with more clarity then our reflection in the eyes of another ever could.
The problem is, when Ino looks into the eyes of another and when she looks into a mirror, she sees the same thing every time. She sees Sakura, but translucent.
Everything Ino has always aspired to be, Sakura has overshadowed and outdone. Better kunoichi, better med nin, better person, better friend…
Even when they were children and Ino was outgoing and Sakura shy, it was Ino who was forgotten and discarded.
Ino was pretty, yes, but Sakura was prettier.
Ino had personality, but it was Sakura's gentle nature that turned heads and drew soft remarks.
Ino was smart, but Sakura was smarter.
Ino had potential, but Sakura had more.
When Ino was looked at, she was identified by comparisons to Sakura. Sakura's friend. Pretty, but not as pretty. Smart, but not as smart. And meaner by half.
She was compared to Sakura, and she never measured up.
Ino was never judged for her own accomplishments. She wanted to hear someone describe her for her own merits and faults, to see herself reflected for what she truly was. But she never got that from anyone. She wasn't a person. She was just Sakura, a pale reflection of Sakura.
So Ino works to prove herself an individual person, free of all comparisons to Sakura.
She becomes a med nin. She applies herself more rigorously to her studies. She improves her relationships with her friends.
But even when Ino is moving forward, she is moving backwards. True, her reflection is now of herself, but she is even paler than before.
Tsunade must have seen this, because she refused to teach Ino the medical arts, coolly and unequivocally stating that she didn't have the time to teach more than one person the medical ninjutsu from scratch. Sakura pleaded similar indisposition. Ino had her way eventually in the form of Shizune taking pity and offering to teach her herself.
Ino becomes her own person, but she fades away even more than ever. Everything she's done, Sakura has done better. Sakura is no longer gentle, but her strong personality now attracts more attention than Ino's faintly vampish style. Ino has more the figure of a woman, but it is Sakura that is spoken of for beauty. And Sakura, perfect Sakura, is a far better med nin and kunoichi than Ino will ever be.
It all comes back down to the mirror. The mirror shows Ino her true self, but she doesn't like what she sees.
Because at best she is a cheap imitation of the real thing, and at worst she is invisible. That is never going to change. Ino will always be a pale shadow of Sakura, milk to her fire, a daisy compared to a rose. She will never shine in the spotlight, but instead skulk in the shadows. Sakura has taken center stage, and Ino is simply yesterday's news.
She will always be invisible when compared to vibrant, shining Sakura. Because that's just the way it is.