Ino was out shopping for groceries the next day when she noticed Shikamaru walking together with Temari with his arm around her shoulders.
What's going on? Ino decided to tail them, but safely. She sat down on a bench nearby and used Mind Transfer Jutsu on a nearby bird.
In the bird's body, Ino followed Shikamaru and Temari, listening to their conversation.
Come on, Shikamaru. Why should you feel bad about rejecting a jade* like her?
I wouldn't call her a jade, Temari...but really, I don't know why I feel bad. Maybe it's just something I ate.
Ino's stomach plummeted. What was going on?
I mean, come on. Who needs that prima donna when you've got me?
Ugh...sh-she's stroking his cheek...
Yeah, I guess you're right...
Oh my god...no, no, no, nononononononono...th-they're...k-kissing...
Ino released her jutsu, ran to the nearest alley, and gagged, hard.
"A-A jade? How mean...I never did anything to-wait a second. She knew about last night...so he told her. So...what? Is she his girlfriend? I thought you weren't interested in romance, Shikamaru. What, I'm not good enough for you to just tell that you're taken?" She pounded the wall. "Dammit!" She winced in pain as the skin on her knuckles split. "Agh...stupid." She went back to the bench she had been sitting on, then pulled some bandages out of her bag and wrapped up her knuckles.
Then, she heard one of the two voices she least wanted to hear right now: Shikamaru's.
"Ino! Hey!"
Ino's head snapped up. She saw Shikamaru walking towards her, sans Temari.
She pretended not to hear him and started to quickly gather herself. Dontcomeoverheredontcomeoverheredontcome-
Shikamaru clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Ino, hey, listen. About last night, I-"
Ino swatted his hand away. "Get your filthy hands off me!"
Shikamaru was shocked by the outburst. "Wha...Ino, I didn't think you would be so mad-"
"Get away from me, you fucking LIAR!" She pushed him, then about-faced and ran away, tears rolling down her face.
"Wha...hey, Ino, wait up!" Shikamaru chased after her.
Ino ran for a long, long time, out of the village and out into the country. She eventually came to a field, where she tripped on a root and fell down, skinning her knee, elbow, and chin.
Shikamaru caught up to her. "Ino, what was that all about? Here, let me help you up-"
She slapped his hand away again. "You're a LIAR! You ripped out my heart and ground it into the dirt! I don't want to-"
"Ino, calm down!" Shikamaru put his hands on her shoulders. "Look, if you just physically and verbally assault me, I'll never know what's wrong. Please, just calm down and tell me."
Ino was unable to speak for a while, being either a sobbing mess or seething with rage. Finally, she calmed down enough to speak coherently.
"I saw you with Temari."
"That's why you're so mad? Ino, we-"
"You kissed her. And I heard your conversation before that, too."
Shikamaru was stunned. "How? I didn't-"
"A little birdie told me," Ino said caustically. "So, what, am I not good enough to even be told you're taken? That's low, Shikamaru. Really low."
"Ino, I-"
"And you're fine with her calling me a jade? What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Hold on, I-"
"I bet she was in your fucking house last night. She was in your house while you told me you were uninterested in romance. I don't fucking believe you. You're a scumbag. I don't ever want to see you again."
"Ino, wait-"
"No, Shikamaru. You had your chance with me and you blew it off. Stay with your hateful bitch of a girlfriend. I don't care anymore. Now get off me."
"Hold it, I-"
"OFF. NOW." When Shikamaru still didn't comply, Ino planted a foot in his chest and forced him off. She got up, dusted herself off, and walked away.
"Ino, wait! Just let me...stop, please!"
Ino paused for a second. She turned to look at him with dead eyes and a humorless smile. "Oh, hello. I don't believe we've met before." Then she kept walking.
Shikamaru was floored. "I lost a friend so quickly..." He stood up. "Though she wasn't exactly nice about it...I guess she's right, at least a little."
Later that night, after tucking in her little sister, Ino went to her bedroom. For a long time she stood there, holding a kunai.
"No amount of pain I inflict on myself could surpass that which he put me through today. I guess that's good...maybe I should just die."
Ino drew the knife close to her wrist. "Just cut my veins and-" She gasped as her mind was suddenly filled with a vision of the deer. And another time, when something terrible happened to her...
Poachers are a very rare occurrence in the Land of Fire.
So nobody looks for traps when they're walking.
Ino was biting back her screams of pain the best she could, but it was hard. She couldn't even look at her leg; just the look of the bloody mass was enough to make her gag, and hard.
A bear trap. Who would put a bear trap in the middle of a forest where kids play with their friends?
The teeth were buried deep in her leg, and the wounds were bleeding uncomfortably freely.
Ino wobbled a bit. "Sh-Shikamaru, I can't...stay awake..."
Shikamaru was calmly trying to disengage the trap. "Ino, please, stay with me. You...you're special to me...and if you died..."
Ino had been far too consumed by pain and blood loss to catch that line the first time around. Only now did she remember that once, over a year ago, he had said that to her.
"Ino...you're special to me."
Ino pulled the knife away from her wrist. "...not today. I don't die today."
*Author's Note: One of the translations of the word "jade" in Japanese is 浮気女 (Uwaki on'na), which translates to something along the lines of "bimbo", "slut", or "hussy". This is the "jade" referred to in this chapter.