In Which Ino Makes a Kind Gesture
Ino thrust the bouquet roughly into Chouji's arms.
"Hold those," she commanded. "I have to do something." Chouji watched as she fixed her ponytail, brushed away strands of hair that had come loose, smoothed down her clothes. When she decided that she was sufficiently primped, she took the flowers back.
"Why are you making yourself look nice for Shikamaru?" asked Chouji.
"What?" Ino cried, indignant. "Are you crazy? I just want to look good in case Sasuke comes by!"
"Oh, of course," Chouji agreed. "Never mind my silly ideas."
"That's right," Ino said, not catching the sarcasm. "Now, knock on the door."
Chouji sighed and obeyed. The door was opened by Shikamaru's father.
"Oh…hi, kids," he said. "Uh…Shikamaru's not feeling well today…"
"We know!" Ino said cheerfully. Chouji marveled at the way she could change her personality the instant an adult came around. "Asuma-sensei told us. That's why we came."
"Well, in that case." Shikamaru's father stepped back from the doorway so that the genin could enter. He led them to Shikamaru's room and opened the door, ushering them inside.
"Just stay quiet," he said as he shut the bedroom door behind them.
"Hey, Shikamaru…?" called Ino tentatively.
Shikamaru was little more than a bundle of blankets piled on a bed by the window on the far side of the room. At the sound of Ino's voice, he peeked hesitantly out of the blankets.
And groaned.
"Even when I'm sick, you have to come and bother me?" he mumbled, pulling the blanket back over his head.
"Hey!" Ino exclaimed. "I resent that!"
"You resent everything," Chouji murmured.
"You shut up!" Ino cried, rounding on him. "And you, Shikamaru – I come all the way over here to see you when you're sick, and you say that?"
Shikamaru sighed and sat up a little. "Whatever." He noticed the bouquet in her arms. "What's with those?" he asked, pointing.
"Yeah, I thought it was strangely nice of her to bring you flowers, too," Chouji said with a nod.
"I wasn't bringing him flowers," Ino protested. "These are just what was left over from yesterday's flowers at the shop, and I thought this would be a good way to get rid of them." She stomped over to the bed and pushed the flowers into Shikamaru's hands. "You're such an ungrateful good-for-nothing that you don't even deserve this," she told him. "And I worked so hard to make a kind gesture."
"Thought they were yesterday's flowers," Shikamaru drawled, raising his eyebrows.
"They are!"
"…Well, if it was so troublesome, why did you bother?" he asked.
"To show that I'm better than you!" Ino said matter-of-factly. "I know that if I were the sick one, you wouldn't bother."
Upon closer inspection, Shikamaru noticed that the flowers were fresh, and that Ino looked a lot nicer than she usually did.
Oblivious to his studies, Ino continued her rant. "But you…you never care about anything anyone does. You never notice when someone takes the time to do something for you, and you never bother to thank them afterward."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes at how off-target she was. "Well, you know what, Ino?"
"What?" she snapped.
"I'm glad you bothered," he said.
Ino turned red. "Oh! Well…it's nothing…like I said, they're just leftovers…"
"Then these are awfully new leftovers," Shikamaru said with a grin.
Ino scoffed. "Oh, whatever," she said, grinning as well, though hers was a grin of embarrassment. "I'll see you guys later." With a wave, she strode out the door, leaving it to crash shut behind her.
"I do not understand her," Chouji said.
Shikamaru sighed. "And that, my friend, is why females are troublesome."