Throughout her lifetime, Ino had been called many things, not the least of which was high-strung. It had begun with her parents, remarking in hushed tones that their daughter, though ultimately sweet and lovable, had a tendency toward exaggeration where emotions were concerned. In her school years, peers had quickly become aware of the fact that their adorable, round-cheeked classmate had a tendency to go off on anyone who did something she found displeasing. It was a fact most had learned to live with, and that, with time, Ino had learned to control, but it didn't stop her, occasionally from being an anxious person.

The self-awareness that came with growing up made her slower to anger. When Choji insisted on bringing an extra bag to accommodate his snacks, she tried to let it roll off her back. When Shikamaru made up some completely phony excuse about how he couldn't go to the market with her, that he was just too busy – when she knew damn well that lazy bastard was just sleeping – she just shrugged and passed it off as another circumstance she couldn't control. When Asuma-sensei insisted he'd quit smoking, and came to training two days later wreaking of smoke, Ino did her best to keep her words of admonishment inside.

But occasionally, her anxious nature did have a tendency to spill over.

Recently, it had taken the form of twisting her hair, and today, it was worse than ever. What had started as a normal training session had quickly devolved into a flat-out disaster. For one thing, Asuma-sensei had failed to show up, leaving Ino with the task of trying to corral her two uncooperative teammates and convince that they should at least attempt some semblance of training. Then, after she'd finally convinced Shikamaru, albeit with no small amount of frustration, that he needed to remove himself from the grass and actually do something, Choji had begun to complain of an aching stomach. Had Ino been making less of an effort to control herself, she might have pointed out that the three bags of chips he'd eaten since they arrived an hour ago probably weren't helping matters.

But she was trying to stay calm.

Needless to say, it wasn't working.

After half an hour of unsuccessful attempts at team formations, Ino had plopped down in the spot she currently occupied. Within a few seconds, she had twisted a stray golden wave around her index finger; at present, she appeared to be attempting the creation of small tornado on the side of her head.

Her teammates, to their credit, had thought better than to ask her what was wrong. Shortly after Ino had given up on them, Shikamaru had reclined in the grass, feigning a nap. Choji had been the last to sit, eventually succumbing to peer pressure and sinking down next to one of the training posts. Now, he alternated between munching on chips and gazing nervously over at where his blonde teammate sat, silently fuming away.

Choji, though quiet, was not stupid. He knew the warning signs when he saw them, and Ino was nothing if not a ticking bomb, biding her time before the inevitable explosion.

When Asuma arrived, two hours past the time he'd arranged to meet with his team, he immediately knew that something was wrong.

"So," he boomed, gazing down at his team apprehensively. Shikamaru didn't move; Choji stared at him, looking for all the world like a trapped rabbit. Ino continued to twist.

"Are we ready to get to work?"

From where he lay on the ground, Shikamaru stiffened.

Asuma cleared his throat.

"Well?"

Choji's gaze shifted nervously.

"You three are awfully quiet today."

"Are we… ready to get to… work?"

At the sound of his student's voice, Asuma had to suppress the urge to shiver. Though her voice was low, each word was clearly outlined in dagger of ice that accosted him with each syllable.

Slowly, her head turned.

"Ready to get to work?" Green eyes flashed as she fixed her teacher with her coldest glare. Choji had begun to back up, but finding himself leant against the post, he had nowhere to go.

"We have been…" She paused. "I have been ready to get to work since I got here, at seven in the morning when you told us to be here."

By this point, Ino had begun to raise herself to her feet.

"My teammates, however," She practically spat the word, and Shikamaru raised an arm to his face; whether this was to ward off flying precipitation or to vainly guard against Ino's verbal assault was unclear.

"My teammates have been more than happy to sit around and not get anything done. We might as well not have had practice at all today! Wouldn't that be nice?! We could all just have taken the day off, and nobody would have worried about coming to this stupid training ground in the first place."

By now, she was practically screeching. But at the very same instant that she was about to do her worst and go into a full-on rant, something clicked in her head. Her teacher and teammates watched as slowly, the bomb receded, swallowed with great difficulty.

"Excuse me."

Ino didn't give them a chance to remark, just stalked off into the woods. She didn't care how much noise she made as she crashed through the underbrush, twigs and leaves falling beneath her heavy footfall. She felt like she had walked a mile by the time she came to a stop, standing stock still in the middle of the forest.

In the silence, she leaned against the nearest tree and tried to breathe deeply.

When she heard footsteps crashing after her, she didn't bother to turn around. She should have been more careful, but at the same time, some latent part of her brain reminded her that anyone coming after her likely wouldn't announce their presence in such a deafening manner.

Twisting the golden strand of hair around her finger, she didn't turn around, even when a hand fell on her shoulder.

"You know, it's a pain to have to come all this way to find you."

Ino gave an indelicate snort.

"Then why'd you come, lazy-ass? You could've just…" She bit off her statement, trying to curb the retort that so badly wanted to spill from her lips.

"Eh, it's troublesome, but Asuma-sensei sent me." Shikamaru's hand slid off her shoulder, and he rounded the tree to look her in the eye.

"So, are you planning to stand there all day or are you going to come back to train?"

Ino glanced up at her teammate, who had fixed her with a lazy stare, then glanced back down.

"I'll come back when I damn well please." She mumbled. Her index finger made another nervous loop around the strand of hair.

For a moment, she thought her response might have deterred Shikamaru – after all, he was not exactly known for his great feats of effort. But after a moment of silence, she looked back to find him still there, and staring at her.

"What?" She inquired petulantly, trying to force the blood in her cheeks to stop rising under the force of his unnerving gaze.

Not saying anything, Shikamaru moved forward.

"W-what are you…" Ino stumbled backwards, unsure of quite what was going on.

In one swift motion, Shikamaru grabbed her left hand, stopping its motion. Frowning, he gestured lazily to her hair.

"That's a good way to pull your hair out, you know."

Ino frowned. "It's… it's just a nervous habit. Keeps me from getting mad."

Shikamaru fixed her with a skeptical stare, his brown eyes boring into hers.

"Yeah, that seems to be working well."

Ino had nothing to say to that.

Gently, Shikamaru extricated the curling piece of hair from her finger and lowered her hand back to her side.

Removing his hand from hers, he reached into the pocket of his flak jacket and rummaged around. When he pulled something out, Ino couldn't tell what it was.

"Maybe this will make you stop."

Reaching up to where he'd just pulled the strand free, Ino felt something cool slide across her temple and click into the hair. When she raised her hand to her hairline, she felt the smooth surface of a simple clip beneath her fingers.

"Wouldn't want you damaging that perfect hair of yours," Shikamaru remarked dryly.

For a moment, Ino was speechless. Then, she frowned.

"Why are you just carrying around a clip?"

Shikamaru turned around.

"Che. Let's get back to the training ground."

Without any further ado, he began to stomp back through the brush.

Ino stared after him, dumbfounded. In all honesty, she wasn't sure whether to thank him or… well, she just didn't know. That comment about her hair had sounded sarcastic. But if it hadn't been…?

A slow warmth spread through her, despite her better instincts.

Of course, within a few seconds, reality had set in again, and it occurred to her that he hadn't answered her question.

"Shikamaru? Shikamaru, you answer me this minute!"

Without a second thought, she barreled after him.

Training was a spectacular failure, it rained on the way home, and Ino's parents had gone out for the evening, so she was left to fend for herself. On any other day, that particular series of circumstances might have made her temper flare. Some might have had good reason to call her high-strung.

But today – smiling slightly, she touched the clip in her hair – maybe today she could afford to let it go.

A/N: So I was doing some research on Narutopedia today for a different fic (two updates in one day, woot!), and it occurred to me that the origin of Ino's red clip from her part two appearance is never really explained. So I just gave it a bit of a backstory. This takes place in the interval between Parts I and II of the manga.

Also, if you're interested, I did a ShikaIno piece that I put up on my dA account (link on my profile) today. Geez, I was really productive today!

Hope you all enjoy! Review and let me know what you think please!