Chapter 22: Summer Break

As summer began the puzzle pieces of life seemed to be fitting together perfectly. She and Sakura got to have a couple playdates with Sasuke, although Naruto had been correct that either her parents or the Uchihas thought it best to keep it to just the three of them. Ino wasn’t really sure why. Sasuke’s brother critiqued their throwing form which was overwhelmingly exciting and not helpful at all in the heat of the moment, but later Ino was able to think back and put his suggestions into practice. 

When Ino asked her mom why the Yamanaka families only had one child unlike the rest of the clans she got a sad look on her face and said that it wasn’t a rule, and that actually cousin Inoyama had an older brother growing up but that something had happened and that she shouldn’t ask anyone about it. 

School would run until the winter holidays, and Ino felt wonderfully busy. She worked at the flower store and learned lots more about plants. Hush would sometimes help her when trying to remember which plants were which if she spoke out loud about what she wanted. Ino wasn’t really sure how it was possible for a bug to be so smart, especially since in Shino’s letter he’d said they couldn’t really interpret their kikaichu’s actions usually. 

Ino continued cooking lessons with Chōji and Chiharu whenever she had time. The Akimichi were a delightful clan and she felt good that she didn’t make fun of Chōji like Sakura had dreamed she did once. Fuyumi let Ino start cooking with her some nights, and even let Ino be the chef-in-charge one evening, commanding her parents around the kitchen. It wasn’t the best pasta they had ever had but Ino loved seeing her parents laughing together as she made a mess of the recipe. 

When they all had time, she still was forced to attend the Ino-Shika-Cho playdates, but she didn’t mind them that much as she used to. Knowing that they at least did something with their free time made her less anxious. Shikamaru told them they should start meditating to find their chakra, whatever that meant. Ino decided she didn’t like meditating very much, but when her parents found out that Shikamaru and Chōji were starting it they insisted she keep going. Ugh. Freakin Shikamaru. Only he would be able to find a way to convince adults that cloud-gazing was a secret training activity. 

Inoyama ran out of bad words to teach her but volunteered to help Ino and her friends with throwing practice, and he didn’t even charge her one of her ‘High-quality shinobi lesson’ coupons! Ino was pretty sure she had won Inoyama over. He even let her try with his real sharp kunai a couple times after she promised she wouldn’t tell anyone. Sakura was super jealous. 

Ino used one of her training coupons on meditation since she just could not seem to ever sit still for long enough. Inoyama had immediately sent her to Inosuki who had her light a candle and try meditating while watching the flame. It worked soooo much better! Just having something to focus on was great. 

Lastly Ino had finally gotten good enough at reading to read through the Yamanaka Family History scroll and was supremely disappointed. 

The Yamanaka are famed for their botany, a tradition spanning many generations. They also are experts on the mind and have a signature clan technique revolving around it! 

It had no real information and was clearly there for guests to read if they were bored. Still, her childhood in the Yamanaka compound had taught her the value of hidden information and so the world of reading felt like a brand-new treasure chest of secrets. Sakura was also reading and the two would exchange scrolls and books and even got to go to the library with Sakura’s parents twice. Mebuki and Kizashi were very serious about learning, especially stuff from books. 

On the second trip to the library she found Botany: The Dark Side. It was kind of cheesy and clearly made to try to get kids, boys in particular, excited about plants. Still, it had some new revelations for Ino. She knew lots of plants were useful for medicine, but she hadn’t known that there were lots of plants that could be used for poisons or powder bombs. The book didn’t actually go into detail about anything but still… 

The books she’d gotten last year from Shika and Chōji were a lot more in depth and she had to get help reading them, but over time she got to try some of it out when she cooked with Chiharu or while working in the flower store. The Akimichis even showed her how to make a fake volcano eruption with baking soda and vinegar! When Ino got home that night she used all the vinegar in the house and made a huge mess in the kitchen and got grounded for three days. 

Worth it.  

 

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