Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. That is all.

Dinner passed by smoothly enough. Ino ate as much as she could stomach, then made polite conversation with some of Choji's cousins while everyone else finished dinner.

Shikamaru was seated at the far end of the table, sandwiched between his mother and father as the hosts of the party. Ino tried to keep her gaze focused on the plate in front of her, but occasionally, she could feel her gaze slipping over to the other side of the room.

What had he been about to say?

She let that thought carry her through the rest of the meal, but by the end, she had no more of an answer than she had been able to discover at the beginning.

With dinner concluded, most of the guests moved outside, but Ino stayed behind to help Mrs. Nara clean. The rhythmic clink of the plates was almost enough to wash a little of the worry out of her mind. Perhaps she had been overreacting. It was only natural that Shikamaru might want to talk, though why he had waited so long, she truly couldn't even guess at.

But regardless, images of what he might want to discuss played across her thoughts.

Her vision was blurred from overuse of chakra and her legs swayed uneasily under her weight, but she still managed to remain upright. She used her left hand to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun on the horizon; beyond the blur, dark shapes moved with slow, measured steps. She couldn't see well enough to discern any identity from the figures. It was too soon to tell, too soon to hope…

There. There just at the edge, she saw a familiar shock of spiky, jet-black hair. He moved toward her in a slow, hobbling fashion.

'He's injured…' she realized, her eyes adjusting enough to see that he was favoring his leg, the same one that had been broken only a few months before in the invasion of Konoha.

But he was alive.

"Ino?"

"Ino?"

Ino almost dropped the plates in surprise. "Yes?"

Mrs. Nara set down the dishes she had just been clearing. "Is everything alright?"

Ino could have smacked herself. How had she been stupid enough to zone out in the presence of Mrs. Nara? She was a nice woman, but if she thought something might concern her son, she wouldn't stop until she figured out what it was and Ino had had quite enough of inquiring parents today.

"Oh, everything is fine. I was just thinking about the old days." Ino smiled wistfully, clearing up the last of the china and moving it to the sink. "It's still kind of strange to me that Choji is getting married."

Mrs. Nara smiled knowingly. "You think it's strange for you? I've known you and Choji since you were just infants. It just doesn't seem possible that my little boy and his friends are old enough to be starting families of their own."

Ino blanched at that thought.

Just imagine a little Choji running around… or even worse… a little Shikamaru!

Mrs. Nara chuckled. "Not that I'm sure that lazy boy of mine ever will get married. It seemed for a while like he might have an interest in that Temari of the Sand…"

Ino bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from making a remark. Fortunately, Mrs. Nara didn't seem inclined to continue, so Ino simply continued cleaning, wishing she could clear those thoughts from her mind like residue from a plate.

Mrs. Nara stacked the last of the dishes and wiped her hands on her apron. She smiled approvingly at Ino.

"If only he could find someone as kind as you, dear. I appreciate all of your help today."

Ino managed to return the smile and give a brief "you're welcome", but only that. She didn't trust herself to say anything more over the lump that was forming in her throat.

Mrs. Nara motioned outside. "Well, now that everything is cleared away, care to go join the festivities?"

Ino nodded, ignoring the plummeting feeling in her stomach. "Sure."

The Akimichi clan had no shortage of stories to tell about Choji, and an hour later, Ino had laughed so much that it made her stomach hurt, almost enough to forget the tears from earlier in the day. Her father, on the other hand, sat at her side with a pained and distant look on his face; occasionally, he glanced around, as though searching for something.

"Daddy…" Ino said quietly.

Inoichi looked over at her; his expression went blank, showing none of the pain that she had seen just mere moments before. "What is it, dear?"

Ino kept her voice at a level only her father would be able to hear. "You need to get home to take your medicine."

She knew how he felt about his injury. Despite the fact that Inoichi did his best to hide his pain from his wife and daughter, Ino knew that it was more than simply the physical pain of the injury that got to him – it was a matter of pride. Her father detested the idea of looking weak, and nursing a permanently crippling injury only served to worsen his unvoiced fears of becoming a burden.

Consequently, that also had a tendency to mean that if he was showing even the slightest signs of his pain, what he actually felt was probably excruciating. He simply wouldn't say anything.

Inoichi frowned just slightly, sitting up all the straighter as he turned his attention back to the anecdote that Choza was relaying, as Choji sunk deeper into his embarrassment and his fiancée looked on smilingly.

"I'll be fine." Inoichi said matter of factly, but only moments later, Ino saw pure pain flash across his vision.

She stared him down skeptically. "Father. You need to take your medicine. If I have to fake an illness to make you go home, I will."

Inoichi turned back to look at her, his gaze hard as a rock. "Ino…"

"Father." She met his gaze defiantly, daring him to challenge her.

"I'm not going." He muttered, crossing his arms as he turned back once more.

Ino, resisting the urge to yell at him in front of the entire party for his stubborn pig-headedness, stood before her father could protest and moved over to where Choji and his bride-to-be sat.

She couldn't help but smile at the two of them. Her long-time teammate occasionally gave a nervous sidelong glance over at the slender, pale girl at his side. She responded with an equally nervous smile, but her eyes sparkled with happiness.

Ino touched Choji's shoulder lightly and he looked up, eager for a distraction from another of his childhood stories.

Ino smiled apologetically. "I hate to leave so soon, Choji, but I'm not feeling too well. I don't want to be sick for the wedding, after all."

Choji looked up at her, nodding knowingly. "Thanks for coming, Ino."

His fiancée, Mai, gave her a smile as well, one which was entirely genuine. "It was nice to see you again, Ino."

Ino returned the smile. This really was the kind of girl Choji deserved. "You as well, Mai. I'll see you at the wedding!"

As soon as she had spoken to Choji's mother and Mrs. Nara again to inform them of her leave-taking and thank them for the invitation, Ino walked back to her father. She rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I told them I wasn't feeling well. We can go now."

Her father gave her an irritated look, but said nothing to argue and stood, waving to Choza and Shikaku on his way out.

Inoichi didn't speak on the way back home. Ino followed him in silence, not daring to say anything that might further provoke his anger. Of course now, she thought wryly, she would rather have him yell than deal with this awful silence.

She looked sadly at his back.

I only did it to help him…

When they got back home, her father walked to the back of the house without saying a word.

Ino stood in the main room for a few moments more, waiting to see if his anger would cool and he would return to at least tell her goodnight. A few moments passed, and then a few more.

He didn't return.

Wearily, Ino trudged up the stairs, each step precise and measured. Now that she was home, there was no need to hurry. She paused at the top of the stairs, to listen a moment longer. No sound echoed up from below.

She held a sigh in until she had reached her room and shut the door, then she let it slowly slip out, barely filling the silent room.

Despite her earlier rush, her room remained orderly. She moved her shopping bags off of her bed and into the closet and almost sat down, then remembered the brush she had tossed aside earlier. She moved it to the dresser, pausing as she noted that the hyacinths she had been tending for the past few weeks were beginning to look a little dry. Grabbing a spray bottle from her bathroom, she misted water over them, admiring the delicate purple-hued blossoms.

She couldn't quite remember now why it was that she had chosen these particular flowers. Every now and then, she would pick a small group of flowers to cultivate and bring them to her room, watching their growth until they reached the proper size to be sold in arrangements.

But these… she really didn't know why they had these. They generally didn't keep hyacinths around the shop; they were pretty, but difficult to incorporate into arrangements, so she couldn't imagine why her mother might have purchased these.

Leaning closer, Ino remembered her own reason for picking them. The closer you got, the more you could detect their wonderful scent, one that overwhelmed the senses in rapture. She took a moment to inhale it, but then stepped away.

She had suddenly remembered something else about hyacinths.

They are beautiful, maybe, she mused, but their true meaning is no more than games and rashness.

Not even bothering to change, Ino crawled into bed, drawing the sheet up around her shoulders.

Maybe, at least, tomorrow would be better.

A/N: I'd like to start this out by saying thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to all my wonderful reviewers. Fifteen reviews over three chapters... That may not be much to some people, but for me, it is astounding and wonderful and I couldn't be happier about it. It's a joy to know that someone is enjoying my work. In any case, I hope I continue to meet your expectations and I hope you all enjoy the new chapter! :)

- Senka Hitomi