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“i just wished she would look at me..” ino muttered to herself as she glued pictures of her and sakura in her diary, making a collage of the two and their pictures together. she heard a knock at her door and quickly jumped up, closing the diary and shoving the pictures in her back pocket. “ino-chan, are you done getting ready for the day? you have school!” inos mother lovingly answered. “yes mom, give me a second!!” ino said as she tied her hair and looked in the mirror one last time. remembering how she has to act towards her best friend/crush sakura. competitive, against her will. she shook off the feeling and opened her door, rushing downstairs to eat her breakfast. “mom, you know i dont like eggs..” ino said as she sat in her chair and took a big gulp of her orange juice. “it gives kids like you lots of energy, so be sure to eat it!” inos mother yelled from the kitchen, while ino herself unwillingly ate it, before rushing out of the door, and out of the ‘yamanaka flowers’ flower shop. on her way towards school, she reached sakuras house, in which sakura was rushing out of. “ino pig.. huh..” sakura said as she crossed her arms, walking next to ino. “hey there billboard brow!” ino said, snickering to herself, while looking off to the side. making eye contact with sakura warmed her heart so much, she could never express it. but the more she thought about it, ino thought how sakura would only look that way towards stupid sasuke. he has all the girls in the world, he even has dumb naruto?! then why would he need sakura too? she brushed that thought away, the ache in her heart increasing as she brushes her feelings away once again, knowing that sakura believes in her facade of liking sasuke too. as they stepped into their class side by side, they parted their ways. ino doubtfully sat between shikamaru and choji. “did you guys see the new chip flavor that came to the supermarket yesterday?!” choji rambled as ino skimmed the classroom, her eyes drifting to sakura admiring sasuke as he muttered something about his clan. who even cares?! ino thought, before she was brought back to earth by choji, pressing a chip into her cheek. “ino-chan, ino-chan!!” he said, waiting for her to respond. ino frustratedly turned towards him and broke the chip into his hand. “shut it, choji!” her shouting made shikamaru lift his head up, with a bored expression. “stop making such a ruckus. and stop always staring at sasuke, ino.” ino stared at shikamaru, like he just insulted her, but she blushed in embarrassment and annoyance. she wasnt even staring at him!! she thought to herself, covering her face with her hand. “ino-chan.. why did you break my chip..?”choji looked at the desk with the broken chip, wiping his tears of overreaction off his face, before he ate the crumbs off of it. iruka-sensei walked into class and began talking about going with their squad leaders for the day, for training and further improvements. their teachers walked into their class, a couple teachers ino didnt recognize, kakashi sensei, kurenai sensei, and asuma sensei. ino watched as iruka called out team names, watching sakuras team rise and walk towards kakashi sensei, sakura walking behind sasuke, like a lost puppy. ino thought to herself, sakura used to walk behind me like that when we were younger. sasuke could wish he was me! ino drifted off as she didnt realize that her team name was being called. shikamaru sighed and stood up nonchalantly, and choji stood up after, as ino drowned in her thoughts staring at sakura. “ino, get up you dummy..” shikamaru nudged her shoulder. all the other kids were staring at them, and other senseis. ino, embarrassed, stood up. “s..sorry..” ino embarrassingly said. kurenai nudged asuma, and they both giggled quietly together as team 10 scurried over to asuma quickly, the three genin and their sensei heading out together. “can we get barbecue again today?!” choji exclaimed excitedly. asuma sensei opened his wallet, and smirked back at him. “a little bit later, choji.” choji smiled and started daydreaming about what he would eat. ino rolled her eyes as the team walked to get their missions for the day. a bunch of missions filled with grabbing pets from trees, cleaning the hokage statue, and helping old people cross the streets of konoha. the team headed to their usual barbecue spot and asuma spotted kurenai’s team around there, and made his way over to invite them to eat (he just wanted a date with kurenai but still). the team stared at the senseis talking when kakashi sensei had walked to the restaurant with his team following him. “oh why isnt it team 10 and team 8, with their senseis flirting with each other. we should all get barbecue together, wouldnt that be nice.” he said as he tucked his perverted book into his back pocket, as kurenai and asuma stopped their banter and went back to their teams, leading the way into the restaurant as they somehow managed to get a table for twelve. asuma and kurenai sat together, and kakashi sensei sat next to asuma. naruto sat next to kakashi, and sasuke unwillingly sat next to naruto. sakura leaped over to sit next to him, while ino chased behind her to sit next to her. “ino pig, i wont let you sit next to my sasuke!!” ino stared at sakura as she grinned ear to ear as she settled next to sasuke. ino’s expression saddened as she saw sakura believe she still liked sasuke. she brightened up though because she got to sit on the other side of her. choji, shikamaru, hinata, shino, and kiba sat on the other side as kiba begged the server to count akamaru as a person at the table and insisting for him to have a seat. ino watched as kurenai and asuma flirted and fed eachother food, and naruto stole sasuke’s. choji basically vacuumed off of hinata and shikamarus plates, shikamaru could care less. sakura, next to ino, gawked at asuma and kurenai and tried to feed sasuke, but sasuke was fighting naruto for his food. ino, on the other hand, held up a piece of barbecue at sakura nervously, as sakura focused on sasuke, trying to feed him instead of looking towards her other side. ino sadly shoved the beef in her mouth. sakura ate her barbecue sadly, as her food had been declined from sasuke too. Sakura looked at ino’s sad mood, and feeling bad for her, came up with an idea. “ino, im gonna come over today, alright?!” sakura exclaimed. ino’s whole mood brightened from those few words, before she blushed and looked away. “d-do what you want.. billboard brow.” sakura smiled as she chewed her food, waiting for everyone to finish their food. as everyone finished, they parted their ways. sasuke headed off as naruto teased him with kiba and akamaru walking behind them, shikamaru and choji walking together, asuma and kurenai flirting with each other once again, kakashi walking alone, and hinata and shino exchanging small talk. ino walked with a brightened mood and brand new confidence while sakura walked beside her.