A week had passed and still Shikamaru hadn't apologised or explained what he meant by that last comment.
Ino had asked the other guys if they knew what he was talking about, but they claimed they didn't. Ino knew they were on Shikamaru's side, anyway, even if they didn't understand his logic. The only one who stuck by her was Kiba.
Ino sat down at the lunch table next to Kiba. She looked as if she hadn't slept in quite a while. "How are you feeling?" Kiba asked. Ino turned and smiled wearily at him. "As good as I could possibly be."
Sakura, Tenten and Hinata sat down at the table too. Tenten looked furious. Hinata looked at Ino with growing concern. She hadn't seen her eat lately. At lunchtime, all Ino did was push her food around her plate, and Hinata doubted she was eating at home, either. The shy girl jolted back to reality when she heard Ino ask Tenten a question.
"What's up?" Tenten's face darkened and she muttered, "Neji."
"Neji? What about Neji?" Ino was wrapped up in her own problems, but she still wanted to know why Tenten's crush was making her so angry.
Tenten was too angry to explain, so she left it up to Sakura. "Neji asked Tenten out."
"He did? That's great," Ino said happily, before taking another glance at Tenten's face. "…Or not…"
The pink haired girl continued, "Tenten said yes, of course, but then she started to ask about Shikamaru…" she trailed off forebodingly.
"Oh? And then what happened?"
"Well… Neji started saying some things about you, and Tenten defended you, and said stuff about Shikamaru, and they had a huge fight."
Ino gasped. "So this is all my fault?" She clasped Tenten's hands, "I'm so sorry Tenten!"
"It's alright; it's not your fault."
"Neji's an idiot," said Kiba with vehemence, "in fact, all those guys are idiots, right? Especially Shikamaru…" He descended into mutterings about how "he doesn't deserve her", "how could he do that?" and other things along those lines.
Ino turned to Kiba and smiled at him. "Thanks for sticking by me. You're a great friend."
The boy slowly began to turn scarlet. He quickly picked up his lunch things and practically ran from the table and the cafeteria. Ino blinked and the other girls began to get knowing looks on their faces. "Ooh…" said Sakura, "This could stir up quite a bit of drama."
"What was that?" Ino looked up and asked.
"Ah! Nothing, nothing, don't worry about it."
The girls drifted into their Physics class, and made to sit in their respective seats. Ino didn't even look at Shikamaru as she sat next to him. He did likewise.
Their teacher picked up a metre stick and pointed it at the board. "We're going to be doing this experiment today. You can see how to set it up, and the instructions are on the board. You'll be working with the person next to you," Shikamaru groaned and Ino stiffened, "Get to it."
Ino stood up, took one step, froze, and collapsed.
"Ino!" Shikamaru dived and caught her just before her head hit the floor. Everyone crowded round them, and the teacher said, "Shikamaru, take her to the nurses office! Quickly!"
Shikamaru nodded and picked her up bridal-style.
"Is she going to be okay?" Kiba asked Shizune, the nurse, frantically. "She'll be fine," the nurse responded, "it was just lack of food. You can go in and see her, if you want." Before she had even finished the sentence, he was in there.
Ino was reading a book. "Ino!" Kiba strode over to her bedside, and sat down, his head down.
"Oh, hello Kiba." She put the book down and turned to him. Sighing, he said, "Don't ever do that to me again." Confused, Ino asked, "Do what?"
"Worry me like that."
"Oh…right."
Kiba held her hand, "Look, Ino, I really care about you, and, um…well…wouldyouliketogoonadatewithmesometime?"
Ino blinked rapidly. Was Kiba asking her out on a date?
"Well, just think about it okay? You can let me know later." He left the room as quickly as he had entered it.
Ino was on the sofa watching TV when a maid entered to say she had a guest. Shikamaru stepped into the room. "What do you want?" the blonde girl asked coldly. "I…I think it's time I explained everything to you."
"You bet it is."
Shikamaru fidgeted, Ino sighed, "You can sit down." When he had sat, she said, "Go on."
"Well…I know who attacked you."
"Yes, we established that. How do you know?"
"…I saw it happen." He began to squirm even more.
"You…you did? And you didn't do anything?"
"I froze and…I'm a coward, and I couldn't move…when I could they were gone, it was me that took you to the hospital… I'm sorry."
Ino stood up, shaking with anger. "I don't care! It's too late to say sorry or do anything now."
Shikamaru stood too. "Ino…"
"Get out." Ino said softly. "Get out now."
Shikamaru hung his head and wanted to say more, but left all the same.
Ino fell onto the sofa, dazed. Then she picked up the phone. A few moments later, Kiba answered. Ino faltered, but then she told herself that she had, and would, do anything to get over that cowardly bastard. Starting with this. "Kiba…yes."
AN: Well... I feel bad for leaving you on this note after all that time, but... this is the end. Sorry for suddenly springing it on you! I wasn't planning this to be the end...but it is. Not to worry, though! There WILL be a sequel (we can't leave it like that, can we? I don't particularly like KibaIno), although it won't be up for a while (I'm going to update my other stories a whole lot before I begin it). I hope you enjoyed the story. Now, I'm away to celebrate my first finished chaptered fic XD Please review!