Section 7: No One Likes Me!

Ino busted through her bedroom door and shut it behind her violently. Then she leaned against it, and slid down its surface to the floor in a sitting position. She clinched her forehead, and closed her eyes tightly. "No one likes me at all. Not Sasuke-kun, not Neji, not even Shikamaru... They all hate me." Tears seeped out through her tightly closed lids, and she sniffed and huffed trying to hold them in. She was suddenly interrupted, when she heard a banging on the window. She looked up quickly, to see Choji tapping on her window, with a super size bag of potato crisps in his other arm.

Yelling through the window and looking through the cracks of the wooden shutters, "Open up Ino! I'm bored!"

She smiled; company was just what she needed. She unlocked the shutters and pulled them open, letting Choji through. "Thanks, want some?" he said holding out the bag of crisps.

Sniffling and chuckling, "No thanks Choji..." He froze when he noticed her facial expression, which seemed a little grief stricken.

Leaning forward to her, "You ok there Ino?" She looked down to the ground silently, and turned away from him. "Ino?"

She looked down again, in the opposite direction from Choji, and uttered, "I have a... question for you."

Choji stood behind her, a little bewildered at her behavior. "Question...?"

"Yea..." She clinched her fists, trying to build up the nerve to ask him what she wanted to know. "Would... would you ever like me...?" A large exclamation point busted out over his head, and his mouth dropped open.

"...huh?"

She turned back with her eyes short from tears. "You'd like me right?! Right, Choji?" Choji just started eating faster and faster. He was looking left and right nervously.

"Uh... sure?" Ino was frozen. She looked at him shocked, because she knew what he was really thinking, or so she assumed.

"Him too... I'm not good enough. Not even for Choji..." She collapsed into a W sitting position on the floor, and sobbed subtly. Choji looked down at her, and felt terrible about what he told her, even if he was unsure what exactly he said that was wrong. He thought about how she was acting... and made his assumptions.

"It's Shikamaru and Sasuke, eh?" She stopped crying, and her eyes widened. She looked up surprised, with the left over tears on her face. "Why do girls like you always like the most difficult guys?" He leaned down to her with a smirk on his face. "I know you don't really like me, and it's ok. I'm big boned, and not as smart as Shikamaru anyways."

"Does that make me a bad person...?"

Smiling, "No, it's just how you feel. No one can change that, even if they want to!" Choji's expression suddenly changed all of a sudden, when he looked as if he just thought of something. "Oh, and I wasn't supposed to tell you, but I should probably tell you anyways." She looked up curiously. "Shikamaru really does like you."

Ino's tears halted and her eyes gaped open. She couldn't really express how she felt, or even understand how she felt either. "Sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

"He...likes me? Really?" She closed her eyes and started crying again.

"Ino?! I'm sorry. You aren't happy?"

She wiped her eyes clean of tears, "No, I am happy." She smiled, and looked up to Choji, "Thank you Choji." He smiled, and shoved a handful of crisps into his face.

"You know what?" He grabbed her arm and pulled her up from the ground. "We should go tell him how you feel.... Yes...!" Choji laughed at his ingenious plan. Ino panicked at the thought.

"No! I CAN'T!" Ino screamed while being pulled away by Choji's superior strength, "NOOOO!"