Inoichi was worried about his daughter. She had a naturally cheerful personality and a tendency to speak her mind, even if it wasn't the right thing to say. But for her to shut herself in her room for days on end…for her to keep so abnormally quiet even though he could tell she was distressed…there was definitely something very wrong. He tried to confide in his wife about his revelation but she refused to say anything. It was as if she already knew, and like him, was trying to convince herself otherwise.
"She'll be fine," she had assured him. "It's just a phase."
…Just a phase.
Inoichi wasn't so sure. But one thing he was certain. It had something to do with that Uchiha kid.
"Dad, it's not about Sasuke, I swear," Ino told him when he accidentally let slip his assumption.
There goes his theory.
"Then, that Haruno Sakura that used to come over every day?" he persisted.
His wife shot him a warning look, but it was too late. Ino bit her lip, shaking her head slowly. Nevertheless, she turned away from her parents so they couldn't see her face. And naturally, Inoichi assumed that she was crying. This, of all his assumptions, was the only one closest to the truth.
Ino didn't show up for dinner that evening.
"She's overreacting!" he bellowed finally, not directing his words at anyone in particular. "Girls her age go through friends all the time. She had to learn that friendship doesn't last forever!"
He though he could hear a choked sob coming from her room.
"Inoichi!" his wife gasped, dropping the pan of noodles she holding. He was about to turn to her to apologize, but she smashed headfirst into him as she rushed to Ino's room.
She didn't show up to dinner that evening either.
"What is it with kunoichi and their problems?" he muttered to himself, stabbing moodily at his meal. That was something he would never understand. He'll leave it to Ino's mother to sort things out. She was better at those kinds of things.
-:-
Meanwhile, she was having a difficult time based on Inoichi's standards.
"Ino?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"But –"
"Please, just go away."
Ino's mother sighed in frustration. She had thought she understood Ino better than anyone. And now every question she asked, every move she tried to make was being blocked. She would never be able to get anything out of her daughter at this rate.
"You can tell me what's wrong, you know," she tried again.
"There's nothing wrong."
"Yes there is!" she reverted to the annoying, persistent approach that she knew Ino hated. To her satisfaction, Ino looked up from the flowers she was clutching and glared at her.
"Finally I've got some sort of a reaction from you," she said, pleased. "It's no good being cooped up in your room all the time, Ino. You know moping around like this is affecting me and your father as well. Don't be selfish."
"I'm not!" Ino yelled, covering her face with her hands.
Her mother's expression softened. She was being too harsh on her daughter. "Just please understand that we're worried about you, that's all. Be considerate of our feelings too, it's all we're asking."
Ino remained silent, her face still buried in a handful of flowers. With a flicker of recognition, her mother realized that they were the cosmos Sakura had given her. They were all wilted now, turning brown and dry with age. Yet Ino insisted on keeping them. And now…
Lost in thought, Ino's mother rose and left the room, quietly closing the door behind her. She stayed standing outside of Ino's room just long enough to hear her begin to sob quietly.