WOOT! I don't actually know if this is within a week of the last post - being on holiday messes up my sense of days - but I'm pretty sure it's not far off, right? Thank you all for bearing with me and this story, I'm working hard to get it back on track in terms of the time between each update. I think I may be getting somewhere! I couldn't do that without my beta reader ScarletEmber who is not only a fantastic proofreader but also super speedy! Also, I'd like to give my usual thanks to my regular reviewer(s), thanks in particular to Aiko of the Akatsuki who not only motivates me with her reviews but also with her amazing story. Okay, boring authors note over =P now get on and read the chapter!

Disclaimer:

I don't own Naruto. Sucks to be me. I do own this plot though!

Study In Contrasts

On my way out of school at the end of the day I managed to catch Sakura by the school gates.

"Hey, you remember where your old house was?" I asked.

She grinned mischievously at me, "What, the one just two streets away from yours?"

"Yeah, that one-"

"The one on Tenki Road?"

"Yes that's the-"

"The one with the broken doorbell and the duckpond in the back garden?"

I sighed irritably, "That's right Saku-"

"The one I still live in?"

"YES! Oh, hang on." I stopped and frowned at her.

"Didn't you know?" She giggled, "We moved away, but we moved back two years ago. My dads cousin was the one who bought it off us, so we basically swapped."

"Weird. How come I haven't seen you around then?"

Sakura blinked, suddenly seeming less lighthearted. "Well... I've seen you. A couple of times, anyway." She rushed on before I could say anything else, "But what was it you wanted to know?"

"No, wait, what do you mean you've seen me around?"

She looked uncomfortable, "Weeell, I've seen you with that Kin Tsuchi. And her friends. At the playground, for one thing. And sometimes just walking around late. But not often."

"And you didn't say anything to me because...?"

"I dunno," She was fidgeting now, and she seemed almost embarrassed. Ah. Maybe because of the first time I saw Kin. When Sakura and I were still best friends and walking back from our primary school together. I shook off the memory and decided to move on, before I forgot what I'd originally wanted to ask her.

"Fine, fine." I waved a hand dismissively in front of my face, "Well this should be even easier for you to answer if you're still living near me. Do you know what bus will take me between the school and my place?"

"Yeah! Of course!" She was smiling again now, "The number 200 bus goes from just down the road here to the corner of my road. I was just waiting for Sasuke actually, he'll be here in a minute and we can take the bus together!"

I looked around at the other students wandering past us, or waiting at the gates for their own friends. Over to my right Sakura started to scan the crowds for Sasuke's distinctive hair.

Within moments she'd seen him, waving enthusiastically to get his attention.

"Oh cool! He's here already! Looks like he's got Naruto with him too! HEY GUYS! WE'RE OVER HERE!"

I flinched slightly at the sheer volume, "Whoa, Sakura, that shout could almost put Naruto's bellow to shame!"

Ignoring me, she half skipped and half ran to the two guys, grinning all the way. I followed, a little more reluctantly.

Why reluctantly you ask? Well, the thing was that Sasuke didn't seem to like me all that much. As I got close, he shot me a brief look that I couldn't quite decode. Irritation? Boredom? Straight dislike? I couldn't tell, but I was pretty sure that it wasn't an 'Oh my gosh Ino you're so attractive let me just run away with you' look. Or anything like it.

Thankfully Naruto made up for it by practically jumping up and down when he saw me.

"INO! Are you taking the bus too? This is so cool, I didn't know you lived near Sakura!"

I raised an eyebrow coolly, "I can't say I'm that surprised. You forget, you only met me yesterday."

He laughed, "Good point – hey! You know what would be awesome?!"

Sakura turned away from Sasuke, rolling her eyes. "Let me guess," she said mock-thoughtfully, "ramen?"

"Exactly!" Naruto yelled, punching his fist into the air.

Sasuke shot the blond a mildly irritated glance – which got turned on me when I had the nerve to laugh. I mean really, how dare I find something amusing in the situation?

"Lighten up, Sasuke." I muttered, just loud enough for him to hear me.

"Hm." His irritated look was on its way to becoming a full-fledged glare, but as the tension started to rise Sakura decided to bring us back to safer territory.

"Well, I don't mind going for ramen I guess – I mean, we ought to celebrate Ino's first full day here somehow and I guess ramen is as good a way as any to do it, right? Right! Do you guys all have money?" She gabbled, grinning a little too cheerfully.

"I think I have my emergency ramen money with me..." Naruto said with his head buried in his bag. I wrinkled up my nose a little, and Sakura noticed.

"What's up? Don't you like ramen? We can do something else if you want." At least her voice was back to normal speed and pitch. I shook my head, "Ramen's fine. It's like noodles isn't it? No, I'm just..." I tailed off.

I wasn't about to announce to these rich kids that I couldn't really afford to eat out.

Not that I was poor exactly – mum had enough money to keep us in a decent house in a nice neighborhood. And obviously she could pull together funds for a heavily discounted private education. But after all the other expenses, I wasn't left with much in the way of an allowance. And since most of that went on clothes so that I wouldn't look like an idiot next to Kin and Temari, I definitely didn't have enough for expensive food!

"I don't have any money with me today." I said, praying they wouldn't suggest that I go home and get some.

Sakura looked a little surprised, "Hello, didn't I just say that this was a celebration? I'm paying for you. Duh."

I started to shake my head, mortified – had she figured me out? But Naruto interrupted, "Yeah, like a birthday or something!" He seemed to be warming to the idea, "We can all pitch in to pay for yours! Plus it's really cheap, so it's not like a big deal or anything! We should see if anyone else from the group can come!"

Sakura was nodding along, "That's actually a good idea!" Naruto looked a little offended at how surprised she sounded but she ignored him, "I'll text the others and get them to meet us there." She got her phone out immediately and turned around to compose the invitation.

"Right," I said, "Now that you guys have decided all of that, would somebody tell me where we're actually going?"

Naruto didn't hear me – he was too busy counting up the money in his little frog wallet – and since Mr. Unfriendly wasn't keen on speaking to me I opened my mouth to repeat the question. Until Sasuke spoke.

"Ichiraku's."

Well whaddya know! He was capable of talking to me after all!

"Right, we're getting somewhere." Why oh why was I so keen on antagonizing him? "And Ichi-whatsit's is where exactly?"

He narrowed his eyes at me, but answered the question anyway, "Ichiraku's is on the 200 bus route, where it crosses the 493 bus route. It's where Naruto and I need to change buses to get to our houses. That makes it convenient."

"Plus!" Interjected Naruto, "They serve the best ramen in the world! Plus! It's really cheap! Plus! It's convenient!"

"I already said that, idiot." Sasuke said blandly.

"WHAT?" Naruto screeched, "Don't call me an idiot, idiot!"

"Then don't act like an idiot, moron."

"MORON? I'll show YOU who's the moron! C'mon, let's fight!"

"Don't be stupid. Do you want to get expelled?"

Sakura came up beside me, and we both stood and watched the pantomime unfolding in front of us.

It was difficult not to laugh – as Naruto got louder and more high pitched, jumping around like a frog in a pot of boiling water, and Sasuke remained stoic as ever with only the occasional flash of annoyance.

Suddenly Sakura yelped, "Guys! Bus!"

Naruto jumped to attention, sprinting out of the school gates, and Sakura immediately relaxed.

I frowned, "Shouldn't we hurry up?"

"Nah," Sakura waved a hand impassively, "Naruto will hold the bus driver up for as long as we need."

"Who's meeting us there?" Sasuke asked.

"Hinata and Lee are definite yeses, Shikamaru didn't reply but chances are he'll be there if Choji is."

I straightened a little at the mention of Shikamaru. "Choji's the chubby one, right?" I asked as casually as I could manage.

Sakura sniggered, "Yeah, but you can't say that to his face."

I laughed with her, "Oh, because I'm that rude! What kind of a person do you think I am?"

Her laugh faded, and I knew what she was thinking about. Or who, more accurately.

Kin Tsuchi.

"Hey Sakura," I said on an impulse, "Do you remember that time we ran into Kin on the way back from school?"

She froze and weirdly, so did Sasuke. Did he know about this too?

"Huh," she said, "When was that?"

"Must've been year six. Near the end." I deliberately didn't specify 'the end of the school year'. Not when it was the end of so many other things too.

"Yeah, I vaguely remember." She muttered. Lying.

"What happened," I asked quietly, "after I ran away?"

I peered across at Sakura as she tilted her head backwards, exhaling quickly.

"Nothing much." She said abruptly, "She laughed at me for being a private school girl," true. "she pushed me around a bit," also true. Sakura paused, "And then... she got bored and wandered off." Lie. Lie lie lie.

But I pretended not to recognize it.

We were mere feet away from the bus stop, and my jaw literally dropped when I saw that the bus was still there. Sakura grinned at my expression.

"Told you so."

We got to the door of the bus, and I saw Naruto with one foot on and one foot off, chatting merrily with the driver.

"'So,' he says to me, 'what are you planning on doing to pass the next test?' And I just shrug and say 'study, sir?' and he stands up really tall and says 'Right. I'm glad you've learned your lesson young man.' And then there's this pause, and I just say 'yeah, but if you'd taught me my lesson before the first test then I wouldn't have needed to study at all!'"

The bus driver roared with laughter, then noticed the three of us standing behind Naruto.

"Oh? Are these your friends then?"

"Yup! Thanks a lot ma'am."

The driver shook her head, wiping an eye surreptitiously. "No problem kiddo. Oh man... you need to go into comedy or something."

"Nah," Naruto grinned, "I don't think I'm suited to it. Anyways, have a great day!" he headed off to find a seat, and we bought tickets and followed him down the bus.

"I thought you didn't have money." Sasuke muttered, and I blushed instantly.

"I meant that I didn't have enough to buy food. I'm not an idiot – how was I going to get home without a bus fare?"

"Hm."

And what can you say to a comeback like that? I sat next to Naruto with an irritated sigh. I should have remembered this from primary school – never get on the wrong side of an Uchiha.

/\/\/\/\

Ichiraku's barely had enough seats for all of us – the place was tiny – and they were all in a row. Sakura pulled me over to a seat, and I called Hinata over to sit on my other side.

It looked like everyone had shown up, and yes that does include Shikamaru. The layout of the chairs made it difficult to see him unless I leaned backwards or forwards to see around all the other people. But the seating arrangement had an advantage as well – it was very hard to hear what anyone was saying except for the people on either side of you.

And I intended to make full use of that!

"Hinata, you know Shikamaru?"

She nodded with a slight smile, "Of course I do Ino. Why?"

I shifted in my chair, pretending to be more embarrassed than I actually was. That was a bit of a habit of mine – I felt it gave me an advantage if people underestimated my ability to deal with embarrassing situations, "Well... I was wondering if you knew if he... had a... y'know."

The blush creeping across my cheeks was completely genuine, but at least I knew that my averted eyes and hesitant voice were under my control. It was just the general face area that had a mind of its own.

"A girlfriend?" Hinata asked quietly, and I nodded. She looked thoughtful, "I don't think he does. He's never said anything about one anyway. Do you like him?"

I nodded again. "What else can you tell me about him?"

She considered the question. "He's very intelligent, but also quite lazy. He likes board games..." She was floundering a bit at that point, "He doesn't talk about himself much. Actually, he doesn't talk much at all."

"Do you know what type of girl he likes?"

"Who are you talking about?"

I whirled around to face Sakura, trying to figure out how much she'd heard.

She was grinning like a Cheshire cat. I had to assume the worst.

"Er, we were, I was..." I looked back at Hinata for guidance, and she shrugged helplessly.

"Ino, I'm sure you can tell Sakura."

"Tell me what?"

I closed my eyes, "IhaveacrushonShikamaru." I cracked one eye open to gauge Sakura's reaction. Eyes wide, mouth open, eyebrows trying to join the hairline. Would that sound like a reaction indicating shock to you?

"I was just asking Hinata for advice."

Sakura looked a little put out, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

I rolled my eyes, "Maybe because I only found out myself at school today, and haven't had a good moment to say anything until now?" I held up a hand to stop her from interrupting again, "And as soon as we sat down you started talking to Sasuke, so don't try to say I could have told you then."

She smiled sheepishly, "Ok, ok, fair enough. Now." Her tone became business-like. "What are we going to do about it?"

"We?" I asked weakly.

"Yes. Definitely we. Who knows this guy better, you or Hinata and me?" I'm assuming that was a rhetorical question since she moved straight on, "And therefore what gives you a better chance of getting together with him, going it alone or relying on our expert advice?"

"Enough with the drama Sakura, you've made your point." I teased.

My phone buzzed, indicating another text.

"Hey, free to talk yet? Can't wait to hear why you couldn't make it to the cinema =P

-Kiba"

Sakura started rummaging around in her own bag, "That reminds me! Crap! I completely forgot to tell my mum I'd be late!" She reeled off a quick text and then held her phone out to me, "You may as well put your number in, while I remember!"

I pressed the numbers on auto pilot, and then wrote a text on my own phone.

"Just out with friends from Konoha High, back by six thirty.

-Ino"

Menu, send message, search address book... mum mobile, ok, ok. I'd never noticed before how long that went on for – why does it have to be such an ordeal sending a text message?

But it's not so difficult. And if it stops her from worrying, I guess I can take half a minute to let her know what I'm up to.

"Right." Sakura said as soon as my phone was back in my bag, "Let's get thinking. What are Shikamaru's A levels?"

"Psychology, art, English language and chemistry." Hinata recited, turning bright red as I looked at her in amazement. "Ah, I have, um, a talent for... remembering things" she stuttered.

"We're getting somewhere now. I have art with him, I know that already. Chemistry... I had that today but he wasn't in my class. Is there anything I can do about that?"

"I don't think so," Sakura replied, "But I know he sometimes goes to the art club after school on Fridays."

I was a little skeptical of this, "I thought he was supposed to be lazy."

"Oh he is," she affirmed, "he sleeps through the club. But if he does that then his dad can pick him up on his way back from work, so he doesn't have to bother walking home."

I laughed, "Figures. Right, so how do I get him to stay awake long enough to talk to me?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "That, my friend, is up to you."

/\/\/\/\

I let myself in when I got home and went straight through to the kitchen.

"Hi Ino, did you have a good day?" mum was sitting at the kitchen table, nose in a file as per usual.

"Uh, yeah not bad."

"Did you have fun with your friends?"

For a moment I internally objected to the term 'friends', but then I remembered that that's what I'd said in my text. I went over to the sink to get myself a glass of water.

Strange, I hadn't realized that I thought of them as friends. But then, thinking about the conversation I'd had with Sakura and Hinata over ramen – sharing secrets, gossiping, even giggling a little. What else could I call them?

"Ino?"

"Oh, yeah. I did thanks. We had ramen."

"I guess you're not hungry then?" I looked around to see if she was having a go at me, but she seemed more amused than anything else.

"I don't know. I might be going out later anyway – I think Kiba wants to see me."

"When doesn't he want to see you? It's ok, I don't have a problem if you want to meet up with him. Just let me know if you're going to want dinner."

I smiled quickly, wandering out of the kitchen to fetch my phone.

"Oh, and thank you for texting me!" mum called from the kitchen.

I smiled again, and meandered up to my room. Time to talk to Kiba.

"Ok, free to talk – do you want to call me or shall I call you?

-Ino"

I sent the text off, and then tipped my bag out onto the bed.

I had a couple of notebooks, some pens, a set of coloured pencils and the dreaded homework planner. Hidden inside was a terrible thing – a piece of work I was supposed to do for my next chemistry lesson. I scowled at the book, about to shove it to one side until a thought struck me.

Shikamaru = posh boy at private school. Shikamaru = intelligent and well behaved.

Ino = not not, not not not.

Therefore, for Shikamaru + Ino to = a relationship, I'd have to change some of my habits.

Who said I was bad at maths?

I set to work on the chemistry assignment, Googling as much as possible – I may have turned over a new leaf but that didn't mean I wanted to have to think!

I was starting to get kind of into it when I heard a tap at my bedroom window.

I leaned out to investigate, and saw a bemused looking Kiba staring back at me, Akamaru hovering round his feet as usual.

"Hey Ino, what's up with earlier?"

Oh gawd, I knew this was going to be an issue.