While Sakura was holding the "First Hokage's" secret martial arts manual, preparing to practice tree climbing, attempting to use this method for breast enhancement and beauty, and incidentally increasing her Chakra control, Ino was resting at home.
Having received a donation from a kind-hearted person, her meager wallet finally saw a recovery.
The battle with Sasuke had utterly exhausted her.
It was too damaging!
She had used five Exploding Tags from Mantendou, and countless Kunai, Shuriken, and senbon! Aside from the Fuma Shuriken, which opens like a large fan and was not carried due to inconvenience for school, she had used almost all of her other Ninja tools.
Ninja tools could be recovered, but she lacked experience and was too tired at the time. It was her first battle, and as a transmigrator from a peaceful era, fighting to the death with Kunai, even with mental preparation, she was very nervous. Sasuke, wanting to save face, didn't pick up the Ninja tools, and she, feeling dazed, didn't remember it either. No one reminded her, so Naruto ended up getting all of them.
Today, she went out to mail a letter for someone and stopped by Mantendou to replenish her Ninja tools.
After some haggling, the excitement of defeating Sasuke completely vanished.
I got stronger, and I got poorer!
This was Ino's true thought.
Now, the five thousand Ryo from the kind-hearted person finally pulled her back from the brink of bankruptcy.
It wasn't until the third day, with most of her Chakra recovered, that Ino finally emerged from her slump.
"Ino, don't just lie around at home. Want to go shopping with Mom?" Yamanaka Rino, dressed like a lady, asked Ino gently.
Shopping meant spending money, and Ino didn't want to spend any money right now. She almost didn't hesitate: "My head still hurts a bit, I want to rest another day."
Before she finished speaking, Yamanaka Rino raised a finger, revealing a somewhat childish smile: "One thousand Ryo, oh. You'll get a one thousand Ryo reward for going shopping with Mom."
Ino immediately hesitated. The headache caused by the massive Chakra depletion seemed to suddenly alleviate by more than half. How truly magical.
"This..."
"Two thousand Ryo."
"..."
"Three thousand Ryo!"
"Deal! I'll go change now!"
It wasn't that Ino didn't want to summarize and reflect on the battle process at home, but rather that her stepmother was offering too much.
When Yamanaka Rino said "shopping," she truly embodied the word "browse." She looked here, asked there. Ino asked her what she wanted to buy, but she didn't say, seemingly just wandering aimlessly.
What did this mean? Ino was utterly confused by her stepmother's actions.
As they wandered, Yamanaka Rino's eyes suddenly lit up, and she pulled Ino with an undeniable force towards a middle-aged woman.
"Yoshino!" Yamanaka Rino smiled very warmly, as if she had spotted a good friend on the street.
The other person was surprised at first, then also showed a brilliant smile: "Rino? What a coincidence, oh, Xiao Jing is here too."
Ino had seen this middle-aged woman before. This was the "troublesome woman" who had caused Shikamaru a lot of childhood trauma and was often mentioned by Shikamaru.
This woman was Shikaku's wife, Shikamaru's mother, Nara Yoshino!
Afterwards, Ino witnessed what was called "friendship." Yamanaka Rino took three steps in two, seemingly slow but actually fast, and dragged Choji's mother, who was hiding in a general store, trying to conceal herself, out. The three exchanged pleasantries about their families and then walked together.
Ino secretly sighed, Choji's mother's reaction speed wasn't slow, but where could such a plump figure hide? And she underestimated the Yamanaka Clan's sensory abilities!
Yamanaka Rino, Shikamaru's mother, and Choji's mother began to shop. Ino faithfully performed her duty, which was to be a good tool, showing either a shy or surprised expression according to the context whenever her name was mentioned by the three.
Yamanaka Rino asked, "How is your Shikamaru doing in his studies recently?"
"No good! That unlucky child, it's always 'troublesome,' 'troublesome,' every day! He's driving me crazy! Your Ino is so much better! Smart, cute, and obedient, she's wonderful."
"Ino isn't perfect either. Her father criticized her just yesterday. This child struggled to even defeat Uchiha Sasuke. It really makes us parents worry."
Shikamaru's mother: "..."
Choji's mother: "..."
Uchiha Mikoto in the afterlife: "..."
"Shikamaru is smart, Choji is kind, they are both good children."
"I've long noticed that among our three families, Ino is the most outstanding child! Rino, you'll enjoy a happy life in the future."
"Not at all, you don't know, educating girls is much more troublesome than boys."
Ino stood like a wooden dummy, silently listening to her stepmother boast.
They had lunch, and it wasn't until evening, when the sun was about to set, that this joint shopping trip finally concluded.
Ino wiped the sweat from her forehead. This three thousand Ryo was really hard-earned. Sakura's money was much easier to trick out of her.
As she was pondering Sakura, she suddenly looked up and saw Wide Forehead, Sakura, wearing a pink high-slit cheongsam, standing at her doorstep, clearly waiting for someone.
Standing at her doorstep, she must be waiting for her. She couldn't possibly come to the Yamanaka Clan to look for Sasuke, could she?
Had the First Hokage's secret been exposed? It shouldn't be! Ino felt she had been very discreet. Besides, the tree-climbing Chakra training method for civilian Ninja was genuinely not expensive at five thousand Ryo. That was definitely a friendship price.
Her movements were a bit hesitant, and her steps unconsciously slowed.
Yamanaka Rino, who had been out all day, was very happy and said cheerfully, "That girl must be looking for you, right? Go play."
Ino slowly walked over and found that Sakura's expression today was very strange, a complex mix of strength, apprehension, and hesitation.
What exactly was this person here for?
"Can you walk with me?" Sakura whispered.
Ino wasn't afraid of her, she just felt that she hadn't done anything all day but walk around with people. She nodded, "Okay."
Both were very silent. They gradually moved away from the crowd and entered the park. As they passed a sea of flowers, Sakura stopped.
Sakura stood with her back to Ino and softly said, "Ino."
Confused by her actions, Ino was a little bewildered: "Is something wrong?"
Sakura was silent for a few seconds: "There were some things I originally planned to say after graduation."
Ino stared at her back, then shifted her gaze to the distance: "Then say them after graduation."
"Ino is beautiful and cute, knows a lot, and her Shurikenjutsu is very strong. Now you're even so good at Ninjutsu that even Sasuke is no match for you." Sakura paused: "Do you remember what we once said here back then?"
What did they say? Ino looked left and right, and the original owner's memories quickly surfaced.