Chapter 3: Love Is Blind, but the One Being Loved Is Blinder

At a table in Yakiniku Q, Chōji, Ino and Asuma sat eating barbecue, uncomfortably conscious of Shikamaru's absence. Chōji was eating more slowly than usual, and Ino was hardly eating at all. They had just completed a mission with Kiba, Shino, and another chūnin, but not Shikamaru or Hinata; none of them were much in the mood to celebrate. According to Shikaku, Shikamaru had not returned home the previous night, and no one had seen him or Hinata since they left the teahouse. Even Neji had failed to find them after Kakashi stopped him a second time. And judging by the fact that Sakura was still holed up lovesick in her room, the love potions were nowhere near the end of their course.

With her elbow on the table and her face in her cupped hand, Ino sat picking at her barbecue with her chopsticks. There was a distant look in her eyes that did not go unnoticed.

"What are you thinking about, Ino?" asked Asuma, though he guessed the answer was probably Shikamaru.

"That hunk," said Ino dreamily. Asuma and Chōji paused, staring at her. She blinked, realized what she had said, and hastily added, "The meat! That hunk of meat!"

"If you want it that badly, you can have it," said Chōji, pulling his chopsticks away from the large piece of meat cooking on the table.

"N-no, it's fine, you take it," said Ino, smiling and waving her hands dismissively.

"Are you sure?" asked Chōji. Ino nodded vigorously, and he took the meat with a grin.

Just then, Kiba and Shino approached the table with Akamaru at their heels.

"Hinata still isn't home," said Kiba, sitting down across from Chōji. "Her family's probably starting to think she was kidnapped. We've searched everywhere, but it's weird—even with my sense of smell and Shino's bugs, we can't find her. What about Shikamaru?"

"No one's seen him," said Chōji, lowering his chopsticks in slight worry. "Do you think they might've left the village?"

"Where would they go? I doubt they'd run that far," said Kiba as Shino sat next to him. "Maybe we shouldn't be so worried. They're not gonna hurt each other, and it's not like we have an antidote to give them. Even if we found them, how would we keep them apart? Tie them up? We should probably just let the potion wear off, and they'll come home."

Shino said nothing, but in his silence he seemed to disagree. While Ino, also mute, was gazing at Kiba with rapt attention, she did not seem to be listening to the conversation.

"Uh, Ino?" said Chōji. "Are you all right?"

"Of course I am," said Ino.

"You haven't seemed right since breakfast," said Chōji.

"What's up with her?" asked Kiba.

"I'm fine," said Ino.

They looked skeptical but switched their attention to food when someone came to take the newcomers' orders. Kiba ordered some meat, Shino a simple salad, but the others had finished eating by the time their food was served. Before either could start eating, Kurenai appeared and stepped up to the table. Asuma stood up so fast that he hit his knee on the edge of the table, but he managed to conceal the pain behind an exaggerated smile.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I want to talk to Kiba and Shino," said Kurenai. The worry was evident on her face.

"Is something wrong?" asked Shino.

"Could you both come over here for a minute?"

"Oh, don't mind us, we were just leaving," said Asuma. All of them except Ino stood up.

"Ino, are you coming?" asked Chōji.

"Just a moment," said Ino, smiling. "I want to finish my tea."

"We'll be outside," said Asuma. He glanced at Kurenai as he and Chōji passed. Kiba and Shino walked a short distance away with their jōnin-sensei, leaving Ino alone at the table.

Ino watched them for a moment to make sure they were not looking her way. Then she pulled out a vial of love potion and leaned over the table towards Kiba's food. Her fingers gripped the stopper of the vial and gave it a tug, only to find it stuck. She pulled harder, and after a few seconds, she finally succeeded in opening the vial—only to spill the potion out over the table and Shino's salad instead. Holding her breath, Ino shot a quick glance at Shino. He and Kiba were still talking with Kurenai. Ino snatched up her napkin and mopped up the potion on the table, but there was no removing it from the salad.

"Ino? You okay?" asked Kiba.

Ino sat up straight as a board and looked over as Kiba and Shino returned. There was sweat glistening on her forehead, but she gave them a huge, fake smile and said, "I'm great! So, uh, what did she want to talk about?"

"Hinata," said Kiba, as he and Shino sat back down. Ino glanced at the salad while Kiba continued. "She's worried about her, but she'll turn up soon enough. Finally, we can eat! I'm starving!"

Kiba started placing his meat on the charcoal brazier built into the table. Shino lifted his chopsticks, and Ino panicked.

"No!" she cried, and both of them froze, looking at her. "Don't eat that!"

"Why not?" asked Shino.

Ino hesitated. She could not let them find out what she had been trying to do, but neither could she allow Shino to ingest the potion.

"I—I think there's something weird in that salad," she said.

"…Something weird?" Shino's expression did not change.

"Like what?" asked Kiba. "Poison?"

"Maybe," said Ino.

"Why would someone try to poison him?" asked Kiba.

"Why would I know? Just don't eat it, Shino!" hissed Ino.

"Even if it were poisoned, it would not do me any harm," said Shino. "Why? Because if I ingest poison, my insects will break it down for me."

"What makes you think it's poisoned, anyway?" asked Kiba.

If what Shino said was true, maybe the love potion would not affect him. Maybe it would be fine to let him eat the salad. It was that or make a scene by smashing his bowl on the floor.

"You're right," she said with an artificial laugh. "It makes no sense. I'm sure it's fine!"

Shino stared at her, not speaking, not moving.

"What's wrong?" asked Kiba, grinning at his teammate. "Are you scared now? You can have some of my barbecue."

"I'll be fine," said Shino, and he began to eat.

Ino got to her feet (a little too quickly) and said, "I'll see you guys later!"

She headed for the door, but not before Shino looked back at her face and faltered. Kiba looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Shino?"

He did not reply, but Akamaru turned and barked at Ino's retreating figure and the bit of the empty vial just visible between her fingers.

Shino finally stepped into the flower shop and looked over at the counter. Just as Chōji had told him, Ino was working here for a few hours today. She was talking to a customer, but her mind seemed miles away. Shino walked over to some flowers and watched Ino out of the corner of his eye. He waited for the customer to leave, but even when she did, Shino stayed where he was.

Resting her elbows on the counter, Ino placed her chin in her hands and sighed dreamily at the ceiling. Shino shuffled his feet and stepped a little closer, continuing to pretend that he was looking at the flowers. He crossed his arms and urged himself to just do it, but his legs would hardly budge, and it was difficult enough to keep them from shaking. While he was fine with bugs living under his skin every day, he could not stand the feeling of butterflies in his stomach. He had to get this over with.

Shino stepped over to the counter and stopped to face Ino. She did not immediately realize he was there. When she did, she gave a little jump and straightened up.

"Shino! I didn't see you there," said Ino. He was silent. "What are you doing here?" Shino still said nothing. Ino stared at him uncomfortably. "Uh, Shino?"

"…Good afternoon," he said.

"Um… Yeah." Ino glanced away, but then her face lit up. "Hey, have you seen Kiba?"

"Not since lunch," said Shino. Ino looked disappointed.

"Oh… Well… Are you here to buy some flowers?" she asked.

"No. I have no need for flowers. Why, you ask?"

There was an awkward stretch of silence. Ino blinked, and Shino sweated beneath his forehead protector.

"Because I already have flowers," he finished. Shino reached inside his coat and pulled out a bouquet of violets, which he held out to Ino. She screamed and leapt back; the violets were crawling with Shino's parasitic insects.

"I'm sorry," said Shino, and the insects began crawling back up his arm. Ino was breathing heavily. "These are for you…for working so hard."

"That's…very sweet, but no thank you," said Ino, faking a smile. "You know, it's almost time for me to close up the shop…"

Shino lowered the violets, watching Ino. "I see."

"I'll see you," said Ino. "Say hello to Kiba for me, would you?"

Shino paused before nodding shortly. Then he turned and left the shop, holding the bouquet limply in his hand. When he made it outside, he walked down the street, but he stopped not too far away. Lifting the bouquet to his face, he saw the last few insects crawling down his wrist and under his sleeve. He had thought the violets would be perfect. He had been wrong. Letting his hand drop back to his side, the bouquet slipped from his fingers, and the violets landed in a messy heap in the dirt. Shino walked on, dragging his feet with his head hanging low.

He passed the customer who had left the flower shop a while ago: she was trying to force the bouquet she had bought into the hands of an older man. The man looked disturbed and refused to accept the flowers, saying, "Look what that potion's done to you! Flirting with your husband's father—"

"It's obvious where he got his good looks," said the woman, batting her eyelashes. "He's a pretty good kisser, too, but I bet you have more experience… Would you show me?"

She puckered up, and the man ran for it. The woman watched him leave. Then she sighed and, like Shino, let the bouquet in her hand fall. Having watched all this, Shino wondered if he should be more assertive with Ino. Then again, it hadn't helped this woman much.

A man was strolling down a street, a little bored, when a woman's voice called out to him.

"You look like you could use a little romance in your life!"

His head whipped around, but it was only an old woman standing behind a table strewn with vials of some pink-red liquid. Nevertheless, he came to take a closer look.

"What are these?" he asked. The woman grinned.

"These are my love potions," she said. "Guaranteed to make whoever drinks them fall for the first person they see."

"So these are the love potions I've been hearing about!" He looked excited at the prospect.

"Only two hundred ryō a vial," said the woman.

He stared at the vials in thought. Slowly, a smile spread across his face. Then he grabbed his wallet and looked inside.

"I'll take all these!"

He shoved the money into the woman's greedy hands, scooped up a bunch of vials, and bounded off down the street. What should he do with these potions first? The possibilities pranced through his vivid imagination, and Jiraiya cackled with delight.