Welcome to Chapter 2 of Ino's Heart in the Messenger series!

In this chapter, the rivalry between Ino and Sakura, and their past friendship is examined a bit. (But from Ino's Pov)

Please enjoy!~

"Sakura, you did great. Fantastic job," the teacher again passed another student. The girl, Sakura, smiled and thanked the teacher. "Intelligent essay from such a polite girl; your parents should be proud," the teacher added before moving on. Ino glanced back to see the girl and received a gloating smirk added with a show of the grade on her paper, it was a 100%.

"Fantastic and INTELLIGENT," the girl mouthed to Ino.

Ino rolled her eyes and showed her paper back to Sakura. It read 103%. "EXTRA CREDIT," Ino mouthed back before facing forward again. She could feel the daggers thrown with eyes from Sakura. Knowing that she got a better grade than that girl wasn't really a surprise to Ino, but to know that the girl was seething with jealousy and embarrassment was always an amusing plus. There was no way she would ever allow herself to be out done by Sakura, not that it was possible. It didn't matter how hard that girl tried; it wouldn't happen.

But Sakura had always tried. From the day they broke up as friends, she tried, head on, unrelenting.

...

The truth was, not only were they friends, they were best friends. Their first year of elementary school, kindergarten, Ino and Sakura shared the same class. Ino didn't pay too much mind to Sakura at first. She was too busy drawing pictures and learning how to read and write, but eventually an unpleasant noise caught her attention during their recesses. Almost every single day that the children went out to play, a group of older girls found it fun to pick on Sakura.

"Wooooooow! Sakura, did your forehead grow MORE overnight?! It's so big you could put a whole 'nother face on there!" was one of the things the girls would say. And they'd chant horrible things like, "Forehead! Bill-board brow! Two Face! What a waste!" Often time, they would start it off by "playing tag" or "hide-n-go seek" with Sakura, to keep the prying eyes of the teachers away. Sakura, as Ino found, had utterly no confidence in herself. Never once did she stand up for herself, and she didn't even try to tell the teachers. Instead, Sakura would just run and hide in a place she'd hope they wouldn't find her in, crying. Ino was getting pretty sick of it.

And so, one day after school, Ino went home and ranted on about it to her father. "Seriously, dad. Sakura doesn't even try to say anything. When the teachers are around, she just pretends it's all okay. I don't understand what's wrong with her."

Ino's father took a long serious look at his daughter, making Ino squirm in her chair for fear of saying something wrong. "I mean-it's not like I'm trying to be mean… I just don't get why she doesn't do anything. If it was me, I wouldn't stand for it."

Finally her father spoke up. "So why do you stand for it when it's someone else?"

"Excuse me?" Ino asked, confused.

"Ino, not everyone is as strong as you are. There are people out there that have different skills. Just like you have things that you aren't as strong in as someone else," he explained, brushing the hair out of Ino's face, "sounds to me like what Sakura needs is some confidence, but more importantly a friend."

"So what? Am I supposed to get involved in that? What if they start bothering me?" Ino began to complain again, but her father cut her off sternly.

"Because it is the right thing to do, Ino," he said, Ino quickly turned her motor mouth silent. Any more words from her could certainly earn her father's yelling, and possibly a spank.

"Ino, we raised you better than that. Putting others before yourself is the right thing to do- especially when that someone needs the help. That includes Sakura," he scolded and added warmly, "Besides, isn't it a sad thing when a flower doesn't bloom?"

The next day the girls harassed Sakura, and, predictably, caused her to cry again. This time Ino wasn't going to let it end in Sakura's tears. Ino watched as the girls towered over Sakura, who, by now, was on the floor bawling. "Hey Billboard brow! Ya know, that mess you call hair really doesn't do ANY good in hiding your second face! You should really tr-"

"Hey!" Ino interrupted, "Think fast!"

The girls' attention was grabbed, but not soon enough. Ino had thrown flowers into the eldest girl's mouth, and out of surprise, the girl toppled back into the sand. "You know, you should really should keep that big mouth closed. Don't want any flies going in," Ino giggled.

The girls fell back to see if the eldest girl was okay. "What the heck?!"the smallest cried out to Ino.

"What? I said, 'Think fast'," Ino shrugged and stepped between Sakura and the bullies.

"I said 'think fast' and you didn't. And now you have poisonous flowers stuck in your mouth," Ino chided the girls, and waved her index finger in the air. "Ah well. At least there is something pretty in that mouth of yours besides the trash that comes out."

The girls looked befuddled at Ino and stood engrossed in her words. "Why you!" the eldest yelled out, regaining some awareness of what had just occurred. "You think a cheap trick like that will fool me! Poisonous? PLEASE!"She growled.

Ino giggled at the girl's response. "My family owns the local flower shop in town. You honestly don't think I know exactly what I'm talking about?" Ino smirked.

The eldest glared at Ino in the eyes, trying to call her bluff, but Ino was unmoving and confident. After a few moments, the girls scampered off, crying, "I'm telling!"

Ino sighed and shot at the girls with her finger as they disappeared from sight. "Did I forget to mention it's the roots that are poisonous, not the stems?" Ino giggled and turned to a dumbfounded Sakura.

"'Billboard brow, huh? You sure do get picked on," Ino said, turning to the girl.

Sakura shriveled up from the attention Ino gave her and tried to stifle her tears and look Ino in the eyes. "W-who're you?" Sakura asked.

"I'm Ino Yamanaka. And you?" Ino asked.

Sakura looked down. "Sakura," she whispered.

"Huuh?!" Ino whined, "I can't hear you! Be louder!"

Sakura closed her eyes and yelled suddenly. "SAKURA HARUNO!"

Ino stared for a second with a smirk on her face before leaning down and poking Sakura in the forehead.

"You have a pretty wide forehead, I see," Ino stated. Sakura closed her eyes even tighter. "Billboard brow," Ino said, flicked Sakura's forehead back slightly with her index finger. Sakura drew into herself more. "That's why your hair covers your face so much, right?" Ino giggled, "Just like a ghost!" Sakura began to cry again, and Ino stood there for momentarily her palm on the girl's forehead.

"Sakura, was it?" Ino asked. Sakura managed to murmur a "yes" through her tears. "Make sure you meet me here on the play ground tomorrow," Ino smiled brightly, "I'll give you something super nice." Sakura let out a hiccup in surprise and looked up as Ino walked away.

The next day, Ino presented Sakura with a red ribbon and used it to tie back Sakura's hair. "There. You have a cute face, don't hide it," Ino mentioned, "they'll only make even more fun of you." After that, Ino introduced Sakura to her own friends, and the two grew to become best friends.

"Why did you even bother helping me?" Sakura asked one time, while they were busy helping Ino's mother arrange some flowers for the shop.

Ino thought for a moment. "Well… Because you're a bud," Ino finally said. Sakura looked puzzled for a moment.

"But we weren't friends before..," Sakura began before realizing Ino meant flower buds.

"It's too sad when a flower doesn't bloom. For all I know, you could be the prettiest flower out there!" Ino exclaimed proudly. Sakura's face flushed, but she smiled as well.

"Thanks, Ino."

Throughout the years of their friendship, Sakura grew more and more confident, and later on, towards the middle of the spring semester in third grade, Sakura ran excitedly to Ino and the rest of their small group. "Hey! Guess what! I have someone I like!" Sakura cried eagerly.

"Oh?" one of the boys in the group asked.

Sakura smiled mischievously. "I bet you'll never guess who!"

The boy laughed whole-heartedly. "Sasuke!"

Sakura gasped. "How'd you figure it out?!"

"Sasuke is super popular. He's like, the best at everything. Practically all the girls like him, and all the guys are jealous of him-specially with that cool new 'tude he's been sporting. Guy's hard not to notice," the boy snickered.

Sakura blushed. "Heh, really? Ah, what to do?! I guess I'll have a lot of rivals now, huh?" she giggled.

Ino turned bitterly. She wasn't sure if she was more annoyed that Sakura had decided to like the same guy as her, or if she was annoyed at the two's lack of care when they spoke about Sasuke. Still she didn't say anything aloud. "Sakura's just in a reckless and frisky mood. She's just a kid. This'll pass," Ino decided amongst herself, "Besides, Sakura's my friend. She's my sweet little sister, and I need to take care of her."

And so, for the next year, Ino continued her goal to be the best she could be, and not to be outdone by anyone safe Sasuke. She kept quiet that she liked Sasuke when she was around Sakura-not that it was hard. When Sasuke ever did come up, Sakura was too engrossed talking about him that Ino was never asked if she liked him. Sakura would say things like, "Ino! I heard Sasuke likes girls with long hair!" Ino thought it ironic that just second grade, Ino was the same way about Sasuke. Talking about him every chance she could. She thought it even more ironic that Sakura never remembered this.

At the end of their fourth-grade year, Sakura called Ino outside of her house to talk. They sat on a bench in silence for the longest time. "Geez, Sakura. What're you doing? What's the deal, Sakura?" Ino groaned at last, trying to break the tension. Sakura didn't even look Ino in the eyes. Ino's friend just kept staring at the ground.

"I found out..," Sakura paused for a moment.

"What-what?" Ino giggled at her friend in anticipation.

"… that you like Sasuke," Sakura said at last. Ino was taken aback.

"Huh?" Ino trying to utter more words, but she couldn't speak. She had never intended on mentioning that detail to Sakura, but since it never came up, she never had to worry about it. She didn't think it'd be so hard to explain, let alone talk about.

"Then from now on, Ino," Sakura stood, still not looking Ino in the eyes she began to walk away, "from now on that means we're rivals."

It broke Ino's heart.

It turned out, Sakura was serious about the rivalry, because Sakura never spoke to Ino on less than business terms again. For a while, Ino didn't know what to do. When her father asked where Sakura was hiding, Ino burst into tears, trying to explain what happened. Her father cradled her and hummed softly. "There, there, flower," he sang.

"Dad!" she gasped through her tears, "What do I do?"

Her father stroked her hair. "Love her, but give her some space. If this is what she decided, what else can you do but go on with your life?"

And so, Ino went on with her life, and little Sakura became her rival.

Not that Ino ever really considered Sakura to be much of one. To her, Sakura was still the little girl she saved from bullies oh so long ago. But if it was a rival she wanted, Ino would give her a goal instead and act the part of rival Sakura so insisted she be. When things were said and done, this pushed Ino to work even harder; now, not only for Sasuke, but for Sakura as well.

"Where have the days gone," Ino blew on the bangs that covered half her face as her teacher finished handing back the papers. At last, he returned to the front.

"Alright class. If you'll copy tonight's reading, you may be on your way," he instructed.

Ino already had it copied, so she packed her things and headed out the door. "Ah, a whole minute early. What a nice teacher," she said sarcastically, waiting for Sasuke to leave the room.

Sasuke filed out first, just as she expected. "Sasuke! Looks like we're the few who actually caught the extra credit," she said, following him as he walked along. He didn't say a word to her, but kept walking. It didn't matter though, she was used to that when she would try to talk to him now and again.

"Ha! I bet if I hadn't missed just a couple of things, I would have gotten the same score as you, ya know?" she laughed sheepishly, before adding, "Great job, by the way."

He let out an amused laugh, but otherwise ignored her still.

"Well," Ino smiled, unfazed by his lack of conversation, "I've got to go home and take care of the shop for a bit- give my mom a bit of a break. I'll see you later!"

With that, Ino gave a quick hug to Sasuke, who paused, somewhat irritated, and went on her way.

She didn't look back, but she could hear Sakura gasp in the distance. Although she had left Sakura back with Sasuke, she wasn't worried. After all, Sakura still wasn't loud enough to even grab the boy's attention, politeness be disregarded.

Trivia?

-In the (first I believe) Naruto Handbook it says that Ino has the best overall grades.

- Had Ino missed the extra credit in this chapter, she would have gotten a lower score than Sakura. The reason being is Ino forgot to mention one of the smaller points in the essay.

-In the original series, Ino had actually befriended Sakura first before confronting Sakura's bullies, not at the same time. She actually says that she had mistaken the leader of the bullies as a vase, thus desiring to throw flowers in her mouth. (I thought that was lame though, so I changed what she said. c: )

- Sakura and Ino had only been friends for a couple months shy of a school year before Ino met Sasuke.

- During the first year that Ino had met Sasuke, Sakura was too busy building up new friendships and confidence to notice or remember Ino's crush on Sasuke. (Too busy in her own world- which was challenging enough at the time. )