Quite excellent. I can't speak for whether the tone is too different from last chapter's end, but this is angst the way I like it; the hurty parts are interspersed with comedy and Ino being herself.

And thanks for including Gaara, for he is awesome.

Oh, and I also liked the Temari-Ino-Shika foreshadowing. I still say Chouji should get in on that somehow, but that's neither here nor there.

-- Guile