Yamanaka Ino

Yamanaka Ino (山中いの, Yamanaka Ino) is a major supporting character of the series. She is a chunin-level kunoichi of Konohagakure's Yamanaka clan and a member of Team Asuma. Along with her team-mates, Ino makes up the new generation of Ino–Shika–Cho, just like their fathers were before them. In Part II, Ino has also expanded her repertoire of skills and is now a medical-nin.

Background
From a young age, her father,raised her to embody the meaning of the violet flower, which symbolises a blunt, candid love. She was raised to treasure the bonds that she has with her friends, which led her to become good friends with Haruno Sakura.

In the Ninja Academy, Ino was considerably more popular and self-confident than Sakura when they met. She convinced Sakura that hiding the size of her forehead was pointless, saying that it only made her look worse. Ino gave Sakura a red ribbon to draw attention elsewhere, suggesting that Sakura had great potential, but had yet to reach it. In the anime, around this time, Ino along with Choji and Shikamaru went searching for a set of kunai Choji lost. During their search, they met a mysterious boy named Yota. They soon learned to their amazement that Yota had the ability to manipulate weather, especially through his emotional state. Fearing how the village would respond to an outsider considering how turmoil it had with the other nations, Ino and the others decided to hide Yota's existence, giving him shelter in a treehouse and regularly bringing him food.

Later Naruto, Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru also learned of Yota's existance and soon join Shikamaru and the others in secretly being his the stranger's friend. Naruto then realised this boy must be Yota. One day while playing, Yota became very sad from a misunderstanding with Naruto and caused it to rain, which alerted the ANBU. As they took Yota captive, Naruto and the others tried to stop the ANBU, but to no success. Determined to save Naruto's first ever friend, Shikamaru and the others staged a plan with Naruto acting as a diversion. Despite finding Yota, the ANBU easily foiled their plan. Seeing how much Naruto and the others cared for him, Yota summoned bolts of lightning to knock the ANBU out. Greatly weakened by the act, Yota was carried out of the village, determined to bring him to freedom. Upon reaching a river, unable to walk over it yet, they chose to swim. Their attempts proved futile and nearly drowned, only to be saved by Yota. Having overtaxed himself, Yota felt his life fading. Happy to have had friends, Yota didn't want them to suffer with this sad memory and erased all knowledge of him from their minds.

Some time later, she would defend Sakura against her would be bullies Ami, Fuki, and Kasumi, pretending that the flowers she had launched into Ami's mouth which she said reminded her of a vase, were poisoned. This lead to ongoing arguments about Sakura's "Billboard Brow" and Ino's nickname "Ino-pig" (due to her name, Ino, meaning 'boar'). Despite all these arguments, she helped Sakura gain her confidence. When Sakura became attracted to Sasuke, and found out that Ino was attracted to him as well, Sakura ended their friendship hurting Ino in the process so she could compete with Ino for his affection. Ino later made friends with Sakura again during the Chunin Exams, but they are still considered rivals by many.

Personality
Ino is often thinking about boys and takes a great deal of pride in her appearance, which was seen even during her younger days in kunoichi training. She also takes great effort to keep up as well as improve her appearance, as seen from her constant dieting to lose weight in the belief it will make her more attractive. Ino can also be very confident, kind, and outspoken, not afraid to speak her mind, and sometimes suggests that Chōji should lose weight. She is attracted to Sasuke and she cried when Sasuke was declared an international criminal, showing that she still cares for him despite his descent into darkness. It is confirmed that she loves him during the Fourth Shinobi War, where she pictures Sasuke as the "love" that the violet flower symbolises. She also seems to be attracted to Sai because he looks just like Sasuke. Ino is described as relatively cheerful and can be bossy to people, especially to her team-mates if they get in her way or their behaviour annoys her.

Ino tends to take charge of her team-mates due to their lazy and nonchalant natures. She however clearly cares for them, as shown by her relief when Choji survived near fatal injuries. Shikamaru, despite thinking of most girls as "troublesome", typically offers no resistance, being unwilling to deal with how she reacts if she is unable to have her way. Asuma recognised the control she has over the others, and, while dying, told her to look after Choji and Shikamaru, and ensure that they didn't get into trouble.

By the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Ino has demonstrated more bravery and confidence so much so that Ino was unfazed when told by Shikamaru how powerful the Gold and Silver Brothers were and even told her team-mates to man-up when they began to waver. Keeping to the promise she made to Asuma, Ino has resolved to put her life on the line, to protect her team-mates and her village no matter what. By the time Inoichi died in the Fourth Shinobi War, he believed that she had truly blossomed into the violet of the Yamanaka family, and is proud of her bonds with her friends.

Appearance
Ino is a fair-skinned girl of average height with green eyes (blue in the anime). Her most noticeable trait in her appearance is her long, blonde hair, which is always seen in a high-ponytail with bangs covering the right side of her face. In Part I, her hair reached down to her waist until she cut it during her fight with Sakura, and after, she wore a bun. In later Part I appearances, Ino's hair had grown to shoulder-length. By Part II, it grows to hip-length and Ino also sports a red clip in the left side of her hair.

In terms of attire, Ino is more often seen wearing a pair of small silver hoop-earrings and purple, fairly revealing clothing. During Part I, she wore a short purple vest like blouse with a raised collar, a purple apron skirt that is cut off on the sides and bandages on her stomach and legs. She also wore purple and white elbow warmers with this, and her forehead protector around her waist as a belt. During the anime filler, she stopped wearing the elbow warmers. At the Chūnin Exams finals, Ino sported an orange t-shirt that had the stylised kanji for the word "boar" (猪, inoshishi) inside a light green circle on the upper-left side of the chest, brown shorts, and cream-coloured elbow guards.

In Part II, Ino has gone through noticeable changes. Her formerly protruding bang has now flattened against her face and the bandages around her waist have been removed, revealing her bare stomach. She also replaces the warmers on her elbows with fishnet ones and wears a pair of the same over her knees. Along with these, she wears a short, purple, sleeveless blouse, an open-front purple apron-skirt over a shorter, black skirt, with short, fishnet shorts underneath. She has stopped wearing her forehead protector. While on missions she carries a tanto just above her medical pouch. She has also changed her hoop earring to the studs given to her by her former sensei after they passed the Chūnin Exams as a long-standing tradition.

The purple colouring of her outfit seems to be a reference to the embodiment of the violet flower that Inoichi wanted her to be. During the Fourth Shinobi War, she dons the standard uniform of the Alliance and a Konohagakure flak jacket.

Inner Ino
Ino briefly revealed an "Inner Ino" (内なるいの, Uchi Naru Ino) due to her anger, similar to Sakura's "Inner Sakura", during the Chubby Paradise episode.

Abilities
In Part I, Ino was noted to be an exceptional kunoichi by Asuma. During her fight with Sakura in the Chūnin Exams, she was able to turn the battle in her favour through the simple act of cutting her hair, overcoming her technique's inherit weakness and mimicking the Shadow Imitation Technique at once. For this reason, Sakura notes that Ino probably would have beaten her if Naruto had not interfered.

Sensory Perception
Ino, like most members of the Yamanaka clan, is a sensor type, showing signs as early as during the second stage of the Chūnin Exams in Part I when she noted the change in Sasuke's chakra under the influences of Orochimaru's juinjutsu.[10] In the battle against Kakuzu, Ino commented the masks emitted foul chakra.[11] During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Ino's aptitude as sensory type is shown to a greater extent as she is able to sense the chakra of all enemies in the area and lock onto them, before guiding her allies accordingly.

Yamanaka Clan Techniques
Ino excels in the techniques of her clan, which are primarily focused around mind-affecting techniques such as the Mind Body Switch Technique, a technique predominantly used for reconnaissance and espionage, that allows the user to briefly possess someone and control that person's actions. Her body however, is left vulnerable until she cancels the technique. Despite many people thinking that this technique is unbeatable, she can still be forced out of the body if her opponent has a strong enough will. She has also been shown to be able to use the technique on animals, such as a hawk to act as a spy.[13] The anime takes her skills a bit further by giving her the Mind Body Disturbance Technique, which causes the body of the person affected to attack those nearest to them, or immobilising their body.

By the time of the Fourth Shinobi World War, her timing with the Mind Body Switch Technique has improved to a point that she only needs a target to be briefly immobilised in order to invade their mind. According to Inoichi, her use and releasing of the technique has improved drastically. She was able to quickly transfer her mind into a paralysed Chōji to block a point-blank range attack from Asuma Sarutobi, and then fight skilfully inside Chōji's body, as well as momentarily take control of Obito Uchiha in order to send the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball attack off course, and save her comrades' lives. Ino has also displayed skill with her clan's Mind Clone Switch Technique, which allows her to clone her consciousness and transfer it into multiple targets at once.[19] She is also adept at communicating telepathically. Her skills in this were such that she was able to broadcast a message to the entire Allied Shinobi Forces in a short period of time. She can combine her telepathy with her sensory ability to pass on what she senses to an ally so that they can react accordingly. This technique makes up part of Formation E for her generation of Ino-Shika-Chō.

Medical Ninjutsu
Ino learned medical ninjutsu during the gap in time between Parts I and II. The anime shows that Ino trained in medical ninjutsu alongside Sakura under Tsunade's supervision. While her abilities in this field have not been explored in depth, Ino has proven to be skilled enough to be able to diagnose the severity of an attack with just a glance or during healing.[22] [23] In the anime, with her chakra control, she was able to assist Sakura, Hinata, and Shizune in sealing the Three-Tails with the Four-Corner Sealing Barrier. The anime also shows her control improved enough to transfer her chakra into multiple people at once.

Nature Transformation

Ino has shown some skill with Earth Release nature transformation. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, after being taught the hand-seals by Kitsuchi, Ino and the rest of the Allied Shinobi created several earth walls, in an attempt to slow down the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball.

Taijutsu
She has also shown somewhat considerable skills in taijutsu. During the Chūnin Exams, these skills were on par with Sakura's causing their battle to drag on. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, her taijutsu skills had improved greatly, to such an extent that when she took over Chōji's body she was able to hold her own against her sensei, a close-range expert, when they clashed. She could even control the mind of two separate targets and still coordinate the two targets skilfully enough to force Asuma on the defensive. She was also shown to have good reflexes coupled with speed and strength, as she was able to tackle Chōji out of the way of Asuma's Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique, which is straight forward and fast.

Intelligence
Ino has shown to possess a great level of intelligence and perception, graduating the top of her class while in the Academy alongside Sasuke Uchiha and Shino Aburame. This was displayed in the Chūnin Exams and cleverly used her hair to make a chakra rope to bind Sakura. In fact in the anime, she was able to tell a person's occupation by glancing at the condition of their hands, a skill proven useful when Ino went to identify Gennō's body and noticed immediately that the corpse wasn't a carpenter or a ninja. She has great deal of knowledge with flowers along with their meaning. Also, during Pain's invasion, she was able to conclude that Pain's real body must be around the village for his technique to work, since it was similar to her clan's.

Chunin Exam Arc
Though making a few brief appearances earlier in the anime, Ino made her début during the Chūnin Exams. She used her Mind Body Switch Technique to enter Sakura's mind and memorise all her test answers, then sent her mind into Chōji and Shikamaru's minds to give them the answers. In the Forest of Death, Ino had many flashbacks of her childhood when they saw Sakura was in danger, she and her team helped Sakura and Rock Lee fight off the Otogakure genin, until Sasuke forced the Oto genin to retreat.

Ino's first match in the Chūnin Exams was against Sakura. The two did not battle seriously at first since Ino still cared about Sakura, until Sakura, unwilling to have Ino pity her, denounced her even though she didn't want to hurt Sakura. Ino and Sakura battled seriously afterwards, and used up most of their energy in the process. Ino then attempted to enter Sakura's mind after cutting her hair and sending chakra into it to immobilise her. She succeeded, but was expelled by Inner Sakura. Low on chakra, Ino and Sakura charged at each other for one last attack, and knocked each other out, resulting in both of them being eliminated. When they regained consciousness, they started becoming friends again, but still maintained their rivalry over Sasuke.

Ino accompanied Sakura to visit Sasuke in the month between the preliminaries and the finals, but found that he was gone. She went to the finals with Sakura, and noted that Sakura's team was extraordinary, after seeing Naruto defeat Neji. She also cheered on Shikamaru when he fought Temari, but was visibly shocked when he chose to give up and quit the match. When the invasion started, she was rendered unconscious by Kabuto's genjutsu.

Invasion of Konoha Arc
Ino can be seen at the Third Hokage's funeral alongside the other villagers, mourning his death.

Search for Tsunade arc
Ino was seen in a vision by Shikamaru when he asked his father about Women. Ino was also seen their the celebration of Tsunade becoming the fifth Hokage.

Sasuke Retrieval Arc
Ino was seen when she informed Sakura that Naruto,and the other were alive from their fail mission to bring Sasuke back.She told Sakura that she was going to visit Choji, and was happy that Tsunade healed the Unconscious Choji.

Pre-Shippuden Filler Arcs
When Mizuki escaped from jail, Ino along with her team-mates saved Naruto from the Legendary Stupid Brothers and took over the battle so Naruto could aid Iruka. Ino tried to possess one of them and was knocked out. She then used her new technique, gaining the advantage. Then Ino and her team-mates used their new formation. Soon they realised they couldn't defeat the brothers, but they were able to resist until Tsunade showed up and defeated the escapees easily.

In episode 158, Academy students were divided into teams of three and were assigned to a genin who would lead them on a mission against the other teams. Ino was assigned to lead a team of three academy students: Sō, Kiri, and Shimo. Her time with them was not covered much except that she was doing better than Naruto.

She later accompanied Naruto, Shino and Anko to the Land of the Sea, and helped defeat Misumi Tsurugi, by possessing him and tying his arms to pillars, leaving him trapped in a collapsing room. Ino then used Mind Body Disturbance Technique on Yoroi as he attempted to attack Shino, allowing Shino to punch Yoroi away. When Yoroi attempted to attack Ino, Shino sent his bugs after him, thus defeating him.

She later appeared in a mission with Naruto, in which she tried to replace Princess Fuku who had grown overweight in an attempt to woo her suitor Chikara, the daimyō of The Land of Noodles. Ino was barely able to stand the man, but the mission succeeded after Naruto accidentally exposed the real princess. Ino briefly revealed an "Inner Ino" (内なるいの, Uchi Naru Ino) due to her anger, similar to Sakura's "Inner Sakura", during this episode.

Ino and Sakura were sent to examine a corpse that was believed to be that of Gennō. Ino hesitated, but eventually entered the room, and concluded, from the condition of the hands, that the corpse was not a ninja or a carpenter, and that Gennō was still alive. After the group found Gennō, she attempted to possess him when he tried to make his escape on a summoned bird; while he let go of the bird, Ino was unable to maintain the technique, as she noted that he had been suffering terrible pain the entire time.

When the Four Celestial Symbols Men kidnapped Gaara's student and Sunagakure asked Konoha for aid, Ino accompanied Shikamaru to help Temari in her battle. Ino's attempt at immobilising their opponent, Kujaku, failed, leaving her at risk. Kujaku later was defeated by Shikamaru and Temari's combined efforts. Feeling guilty that she did not contribute much to the mission, she asked Sakura to ask Tsunade to add her as a second apprentice. Sakura agreed, but added that she would be Ino's senior apprentice, resulting in Ino refusing (which led to yet another fight).

Kazekage Rescue arc
Shikamaru mention to Naruto,she became a Chunin after the Chunin Exams.

Sasuke and Sai arc
Ino made her first reappearance shortly after Team Kakashi and Team Guy returned from the successful saving of Gaara, having come to retrieve Chōji for their mission with Asuma. She appeared again after Naruto and his team returned from their failed attempt to retrieve Sasuke. Upon meeting Sai, she quickly became interested in him, also noting that he resembled Sasuke.

When they all went out to dinner, Ino attempted to get Sai's attention with some subtle flirting. When Sai tried to befriend Ino and Chōji, having earlier come to the conclusion that women (specifically Sakura), didn't like to hear how they really looked, Sai tried the opposite approach by calling Ino "gorgeous", of which is the opposite of what he wanted to say. This resulted in Ino blushing, and enraging Sakura, who Sai had previously called "ugly".

Twele Guardians Arc
Yamato, Sakura, Kiba, Lee, Ino, Chōji and Shikamaru also turn up. Enraged, Sora wants to destroy everything, and turns into the three-tailed form of the demon fox. However, Yamato is unable to restrain him, because he does not have the First's necklace on him.

The chakra of the Nine-Tails rages out of control within Sora, preventing Naruto and the others from subduing him. Asuma and Kazuma resume their old battle. Naruto is repeatedly knocked down in his attempts to restrain Sora, and the chakra seeps into him and transforms him as well. Yamato is unable to suppress the Nine-Tails' chakra in both jinchūriki, being prevented by an unknown outside force. Sora's fourth tail emerges, causing the Nine-Tails' cloak to envelop his body. He temporarily gains his own consciousness when he witnesses Naruto stab himself in the leg and successfully prevent the original Nine-Tails' cloak from emerging.

The struggle between Naruto and Sora continues. Asuma and Kazuma fight. Sai arrives, having snuck out of hospital, and binds Kazuma with an ink snake. Kazuma breaks out of Sai's technique and charges Asuma, but is killed. Naruto eventually reaches Sora, who manages to release the Nine-Tails' chakra. However the Nine-Tails' chakra that is released begins to become a miniature Nine-Tails. This provokes Tsunade to head out to engage the beast. It soon became clear that the miniature Nine-Tails could not form without a human host so it dissipated. Sora then leaves the village to travel the world. Asuma and Shikamaru play shogi and discuss who the king of Konoha is. Elsewhere, two Akatsuki members, Hidan and Kakuzu, appear chasing the Two-Tails' jinchūriki.

Hidan and Kakuzu arc
When Tsunade decided to make a move against Akatsuki, Ino was assigned, along with Chōji, to a Nijū Shōtai team, led by Raidō Namiashi and Aoba Yamashiro. Ino and Chōji arrived as back-up for Shikamaru and Asuma in their fight with Akatsuki members Hidan and Kakuzu. When the duo retreated, Ino tried to tend to Asuma's injuries, but the damage to his body was beyond repair. The team then had nothing to do but listen to Asuma's last words. Before dying, Asuma said that Ino is strong-willed and a reliable child, so she should take care of Chōji and Shikamaru. Asuma also told Ino not to lose to Sakura in ninjutsu or romance. Ino then reminisces about her memories with Asuma especially her first days with him as a student, and when she noticed that the bouquet of flowers that Asuma bought were for Kurenai. After the death of her sensei, Ino screamed out loud with grief. She was later seen at Asuma's funeral, mourning his loss.

Shikamaru, Ino, and Chōji all agreed to avenge Asuma. Under the guidance of Kakashi, Team 10 later set out to face Kakuzu and Hidan. By using her Mind Body Switch Technique on a hawk, Ino was able to quickly find the Akatsuki duo so Shikamaru's plan could begin but doing this nearly backfired after Kakuzu attacked the hawk forcing her to return. During Team 10's fight with Hidan and Kakuzu, Ino largely played the role of an observer, her Mind Body Switch Technique being too much of a risk to use in battle stated by Shikamaru. In the anime, she saved Chōji from a fatal blow by Kakuzu before getting captured by him and almost choked to death along with Chōji, but was saved by Kakashi and Shikamaru. After Naruto arrived and defeated Kakuzu, she healed him.

Three-tails Arc
Ino was placed on Team Three to seal away the Three-Tails. To join her was Sakura, Hinata Hyūga, and Shizune. This sealing process took proficient chakra control and since Ino trained as a medical-nin, explains why she was put on the team. When her team practised the sealing technique, she had difficulty withstanding it. But after a short speech from Sakura she stood back up, more determined than ever to complete the task.

When her team located the Three-Tails, they started the actual sealing. As the sealing begin to work on the tailed beast, Guren closed in to disrupt the sealing. Ino begin to get nervous and was losing concentration. She was instructed by Shizune to relax and focus. Soon enough Rock Lee and Tenten arrived to protect her team. This comforted her until Rinji arrived to aid Guren. The battle begin to balance out with Tenten and Lee. This again got Ino unfocused and this time she broke hold from the seal and disrupted it. When the beast awakes he emerges from the water bringing forth a tidal wave and breaking the whole seal.

Later, Ino is found unconscious on Lee's back who carries her from the water and lays her on the beach. Waking up she felt frustrated of how useless she was. She was also seen helping Sakura heal a ill Yūkimaru. Not long after the Konoha tried sealing the beast again. Yet Ino is knocked out once again and with that the mission fails. So the sealing is left to the ANBU members.

Invasion of Pain arc
When Pain began his invasion, Ino rushed to her father's location to inform him and all those present of the attack. Having learned something about Pain's identity, they tried to escape, to avoid capture. Despite their attempt, Pain arrived and captured Shizune, finding out what she knew, before killing her. She had mourned for a while. After he destroyed the village, Ino tried to revive Shizune, but could do nothing to help her, and regrouped with her father and the others. After the death of Nagato, she was shocked to see that Shizune was brought back to life. She was then present at Naruto's return, and celebrated with the villagers for his victory. In the anime, she even says that she could almost fall for Naruto, surprising Chōji and Shikamaru

Konoha History arc
Ino was first seen in a flashback when Iruka became her academy Sensei.She was later seen when Sasuke show Iruka the Clone Technique, and yelled at Naruto for making Sasuke lose his confidence. She then laughed at Naruto for failing the Clone Technique, and went back to class.Then she was again as Sasuke did the Shuriken Technique. She was later seen when Iruka asked the student if the saw Naruto,because he was absent from class. Later she was confuse when Iruka told her and the others to have study hall.

Lee arrives at Tsunade's tent and asks Sakura how she is feeling though Sakura nods her head no. Lee brought a bottle of medicine Guy made for her to get well and has a flashback of when Tsunade told him he could no longer become a ninja. Naruto and Sakura find Ino Yamanaka at the hospital who tells them they have a mission together. They say their hellos to Lee in his room. Lee accidentally drops his youth drink bottle that Guy made for him but Naruto catches it and drinks it all, putting Lee is dismay. Lee explains that, with the drink, he would be able to recover a little faster. Naruto decides to go see Guy and have him make another drink. Guy appoints Naruto to a mission to go to Mount Jofuku to retrieve the Jofuku Flower, a medicinal herb said to cure any illness, which is the missing ingredient in the medicine he is making. Before setting off, Naruto puts on the green jumpsuit that Guy gave him.

Naruto meets Sakura and Ino at the village gate who were waiting to leave with Naruto to their mission. Naruto tells them of his mission at Mount Jofuku which is also the place of his team's mission. The team takes a break at a small tea soup where the old lady there warns them of Jofuku Forest that has ghosts of dead ninja wandering about. The team head to Jofuku Forest where they find a large sign blocking a path. Naruto decides to go through it with Sakura and Ino following him, having no choice. Naruto finds the Jofuku Flowers but upon pulling them causes some sand appearing that forms into Gaara after the mention of him from Ino. The team are shocked to see "Gaara" and decide to retreat but suddenly the Gaara impostor starts attacking Naruto, having the same abilities as the real Gaara. Ino tries her Mind Body Switch Technique on the impostor but cannot sense a consciousness in it. Naruto destroys the Gaara impostor with the Naruto Uzumaki Combo and a Rasengan. Suddenly they are approached by an old medical ninja from Konoha named Furofuki who is doing research in the forest.

Sakura asks Furofuki who or what was the Gaara impostor. They are then answered that it was a Jofuku Flower, which assumes the form of the nemesis of whoever pulls it. They give Furofuki the letter that they were assigned to do and are given another mission by her to take loads of Jofuku Flowers back to Konoha. With the final ingredient at hand, Guy is able to finish the medicine and makes a bowl full of medicine balls for Lee. Lee is shocked to hear that Sakura and her team did this and decides to recover as soon as possible. While Lee starts devouring the horribly tasting medicine balls, Guy does 1000 push-ups, not wanting Lee to be the only one to suffer, and the flashback ends.

Team 10 tries to round up some hogs for the villagers to eat. Noticing their teamwork, Shikamaru remembers a time where the team also worked closely together in order to complete a mission. After a Village Headman's granddaughter was kidnapped by Baji, he hired Konohagakure's Team 7 and Team 10 for assistance. When the teams accepted the mission to stop Baji and rescue the girl, an ex-bandit named Tōfu acted as their guide. Shikamaru then instructed Asuma and Kakashi to find an alternate route to the Baji's fortress. Tofu later gets captured and is revealed to be a double agent working for the gang leader. When the six genin infiltrated the fortress, Shikamaru agreed to a hostage exchange between him and Tofu in order to find out the location of the Headman's granddaughter. Ino and Chōji managed to find the tower where the hostages were held, and later, helped defeat Baji. The mission ended with a success, the bandit group were captured, and the Headman's granddaughter was rescued. The scene then shifts back to present time, where Ino and Shikamaru leave Chōji the arduous task of carrying all the hogs back to the village.

Five Kage Summit arc
When news of Sasuke's affiliation with Akatsuki reaches Konoha, the Konoha 11 gather to discuss what should be done with him. The others suggest that they should personally eliminate Sasuke to prevent him from implicating Konoha in a war with another village. Ino is upset by this and she starts crying. Kiba demanded she stop, but she was defended by Tenten. Ino was later seen with the rest of the Konoha 11, hearing Naruto's decision about Sasuke when he returns to the village. He later promises to tell them everything when the time was right.

Chikara Arc
The rest of Konoha 11 arrive. Team Asuma helps Sakura and Kakashi and Team Kurenai helps Naruto. Tenten and Neji arrive, but are cornered by the reincarnated puppets. Kakashi chases Kabuto. The beast grabs Naruto to absorb chakra, which the Nine-Tails gladly shares. Hinata tries to defend Naruto, but is sent flying. After the beast absorbs Naruto's chakra, it grows in size and starts to devastate the Hachō Village, even firing a Tailed Beast Ball in far away, missing Yamato, Sai, Deidara and Hidan who are fighting outside the village. Dokku tries to save Naruto, who is still unconscious. Moments before the beast tramples them, Kabuto summons a snake to swallow both of them alive and retreats. While inside the underground hall in the Tonika Village, Naruto, unconscious and strangled by snakes, meets the Nine-Tails again in his subconscious.

The Konoha-nin investigates Kabuto's intention in the meanwhile. Shiseru remembers an earlier conversation between her and Dokku about the pros and cons of them adopting the kids. While the Nine-Tails tries to control Naruto, Dokku calls him, but gets shouted instead. Dokku asks Naruto what burden a powerful person carries and made Naruto choose the reason why he desires to be powerful, seeing flashbacks of his comrades of Konoha and also Sasuke, leading to the seal inside Naruto to gain strength again. Dokku gives Naruto his forehead protector, stating that he believes in him. Meanwhile, Leo decides to save their teacher by giving the mysterious iron bars which were mentioned earlier by the Tonika Village Head. While inside the hall, Kabuto, along with two reincarnated puppets, approaches with Disonasu, revealed to have engineered Tonika's destruction. Disonasu pulls out a scroll from which emerges the item that he desired: the Saezuri.

While the Saezuri is revealed, learning that Disonasu employed Kabuto Yakushi to wipe out the residents of Tonika Village, Dokku tried to attack Disonasu, but stopped by a reincarnated puppet and restrained by a resurrected Takigakure shinobi. Disonasu also praised Naruto about defeating Pain, the one who scarred him and left him powerless, before kicking the boy repeatedly. Miina and the orphans came to The Hole to give the iron bars, but Kabuto's clone intercepted them. Meanwhile, the rest of Konoha 11, along with Kakashi, Shiseru, Yamato and Sai moved out to the area. Disonasu prepares the summoning of the "power" by putting the remaining iron bars while Naruto enters Sage Mode. Miina hums to the sound as the Saezuri is activated, causing the area Naruto is on, the Ama no Hoko, to rise above ground. Kakashi arrived on the scene, revealing Disonasu's past as a bloodthirsty murderer and former Akatsuki subordinate whose speciality is the field of Summoning Technique, having researched Impure World Reincarnation with Orochimaru. Kabuto summons his puppets, the Nine-Tailed Naruto Clone, Hidan, and Deidara. Naruto faces off with the clone, while Deidara uses Explosive Clay to create a diversion and chase Naruto.

Disonasu escapes and Hidan faces Shikamaru. Deidara activates the Explosive Clay on the bodies of the resurrected individuals, as Hidan uses his ritual against Team Asuma, and Sakura got restrained by Hayate and the others. While Naruto relentlessly attacked the clone, he learned there is more than power. As Yamato restrained Disonasu, he activated the Saezuri, opening the area where Naruto faces the clone, draining the lake as an obelisk rises and creates a storm. After Hidan's clone body breaks down due to the shorten life spans of the snakes composing his body, Deidara is controlled by Kabuto to escape Kakashi. A lightning hit the area where the orphans are running, Miina pointing to the obelisk. When the storm expands towards Konoha, Tsunade goes out as the storm engulfs the Land of Fire. Naruto tried to stop Disonasu from ascending the tower, only to face his clone after he absorbed some of the tower's power and transformed a Hydra-tailed fox monster.

Absorbing the power within the Ama no Hoko, the Nine-Tailed Naruto Clone mutated into a hydra-tailed version of the Nine-Tails while sending Disonasu to his death. Overpowered, Naruto almost gave in to the Nine-Tails' offer for power when Minato's voice urges the boy to control the tailed beast as Naruto is engulfed in a six-tailed chakra cloak in the Nine-Tails' image. Over time, as he starts to lose against the clone, the Nine-Tails starts to take control over Naruto's body and assumes a seven-tailed jinchūriki state with Yamato trying to restrain it. At the same time, though followed by Kakashi Hatake, Kabuto Yakushi manages to take his leave in midst of the ensuing chaos. Dokku and Shiseru decide to deactivate the Ama no Hoko and say good-bye to the children. On their way there, they confess their love for each other and decide to get married if they survive before portions of the ground start to sink, with Dokku keeping Shiseru from falling.

By that time, Miina is able to get through Naruto, regaining control as he assumed a new form to save Shiseru after telling Dokku to go forward and stop the Ama no Hoko. As Dokku recalls the tune Miina hummed to change the sounds in the Saezuri to deactivate the tower, Naruto uses his new power to destroy his clone as the Ama no Hoko recedes into the ground. The children, and the rst of the Konoha 11 celebrate the victory with Naruto.

Adventures at Sea arc
While on the way to the Land of Lightning, Naruto and his bodyguards stop off at a nearby island, due to all his bodyguards becoming seasick, Guy in particular. While there, they see Sakura, Ino and Chōji picking up medicinal herbs on the orders of Tsunade and Naruto decides to help them, although he does not fare well, from eating poisonous herbs to being paralysed on a bridge. As Chōji spots one of the medicinal herbs, some ninja from the Benisu Island appear and make the Konoha ninja waste their time, while collecting the exact same herbs. However, they have a change of heart and give Sakura, Ino and Chōji all the herbs they picked up, as Naruto saved them from a monster protecting the Elixir Mud. With Guy feeling better, they head off towards the Land of Lightning and Tsunade's team back to Konoha happily, unaware that the Benisu ninja just gave them the herbs, so they could collect the debt owed after the war.

At a meeting held by the Hyūga clan regarding the impending war, Neji is appointed as the commander of the clan on the frontlines by Hiashi which shocked some of the members. Hinata later meets with Kurenai where she is told by Shikamaru that he and quite a few of the other members of the Konoha 11 had seen Naruto since he left the village and that Tsunade was looking for her.

Hopeful that Tsunade had in fact requested her to go on a mission so she could see Naruto she goes in search of her only to be disappointed. She along with the other females of the Konoha 11 and Shiho are later invited by Tenten to a girls night out at Yakiniku Q. Somewhat saddened that he wasn't invited, Chōji comes up with the idea of a guys night out at the same place. The two groups talk about Naruto and the past, reminiscing about the first Chūnin Exams. The girls are later joined by Shizune and a moderately intoxicated Tsunade. Tsunade attempts to apologise for how she dismissed Hinata earlier but Hinata tells her it was fine as she knew what she had to do. The next day during her training with Neji she tells him that she bore no ill will towards him for her father's decision and that he was the right person to lead them in the war.

As Team Asuma considers the impending war, they encounter Kosuke Maruboshi who reminds them of the time that they rescued him while they were still genin. With this, Kosuke retells the tale of the time their fathers saved him during the Invasion of Konoha with their Formation Ino–Shika–Chō. Somewhat rattled by this story, Kosuke reminds them that great shinobi weren't made in a day. As the team contemplates everything, they decide to perfect their own formation, insisting that they'd be fine because they were not alone.

Road to Sakura
While on a stroll during her day off, Ino pondered how to spend the day before finding Sakura falling from the sky after a flash of bright light. Helping her out of a tree and taking her to Tsunade for medical attention, Ino is shocked to find Sakura with amnesia as she tries to keep Tsunade and Shizune from killing Sakura for pointing out their bust sizes. In her attempt to help jog Sakura's memory, she and the rest of the Konoha 11 present themselves in the way she remembers them: By acting the complete opposite of themselves. After the attempt failed, Ino helps Sakura look for her necklace until they encounter Sakura's parents as they have found the item in question. After Sakura strangely cries as she embraces her parents before they leave, Ino learns that the Sakura she has been with all day came from an alternate reality. When the other Sakura fades away, Ino is left severely confused as she wondered where the Sakura she knows is.

Fourth Shinobi arc
When the Fourth Shinobi World War begins, Ino is placed in the Fifth Division. Ino and other members of her division are later sent to provide support for the First Division. Ino meets up with Shikamaru and Chōji - sent as backup from their own division - and they team up to help Darui fight Kinkaku. Shikamaru restrains Kinkaku with his shadow. Kinkaku almost breaks free but Ino is able to use the Mind Body Switch Technique to transfer her consciousness into his body, saving Shikamaru. In order to capture Kinkaku with the Kohaku no Jōhei, Darui says Kinkaku's name and Ino forces him to respond. As Kinkaku is sucked into the Kohaku no Jōhei, Ino returns to her body. Her watching father compliments her on this improved timing.

The trio next prepares to engage the reincarnated Kakuzu. Shikaku instructs them to leave Kakuzu to others and instead focus on Asuma, who had also been reincarnated. Chōji is reluctant to fight their late teacher, so Ino reminds him of Asuma's final words to all of them. They confront Asuma and he comments on how much they have grown before they start fighting. Despite Ino's attempts to encourage him, Chōji still has difficulty fighting Asuma. As Asuma is about to attack Chōji, Ino pushes him out of the way. She then uses the Mind Body Switch Technique on Chōji and spars with Asuma, all the while reminding Chōji of their duty. Chōji eventually pulls himself together and Ino returns to her body. As Chōji goes on the offensive, Ino uses her Mind Clone Switch Technique on two White Zetsu to use against Asuma. Asuma is defeated, and before being sealed he congratulates them on their perfect team-work.

The battle continues into the night and Ino assists Chōji in defeating the rest of the reincarnated ninja. When the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path attacks she takes cover with her team. After that attack subsides, Ino is seen planning with the rest of her team and Tenten. The next morning, Ino and the rest of the shinobi present are seen standing in circles. This was a countermeasure against the White Zetsu Army clones that had invaded their ranks until Naruto could come and differentiate them. Ino asks Shikamaru if they couldn't simply ask each other personal questions but he says no as there was a possibility that the enemy could guess the answers. In the anime, the silence it quickly halted by the reincarnated Sound Four, Orochimaru's personal guard. Shikamaru tells Ino and the others to stay behind as they still can't be certain of who to trust with the White Zetsu still looming. Shikamaru and Chōji then head off to confront their old enemies. Familiar with the Oto ninja's skills, Shikamaru and Chōji quickly defeat them. However, their victory is short-lived when Shikamaru, Chōji, and the Sound ninja are engulfed in a strange technique. Ino then found her team-mates unconscious and with no chakra flow. Knowing that they wouldn't last long like that, Ino began to transfer her chakra to them, despite the danger of doing it simultaneously between two other people. After contacting her father, Inoichi deduces the truth of the technique, that it removes the victims soul and transports it to another location. He then explains it can be dispelled like genjutsu, by pouring chakra into the actual technique. However, it has a seal that prevents even Inoichi, equipped with special enhancement tools, from being able to detect or communicate with them. Eventually, Naruto found the barrier and destroyed it, allowing Inoichi, telepathically, to dispel the technique and free the Konoha ninja. Upon Shikamaru and Chōji awakening, Ino tearfully hugged them in relieve.

The battle continues on as when they spotted White Zetsu clones and fought them off. It suddenly starts to rain while it is sunny that's when Shikamaru spots a crying boy then huge amount wall of rain falls on Shikamaru that is preventing him from moving. Chōji uses is Multi-Size Technique to block it and while Ino helped Shikamaru up. Shikamaru then uses his Shadow Neck Bind Technique to bind him and as he does so the rain starts getting worse making them not move and their technique weakening. As that happens the boy started calling their names as then Ino question how does he know them as Chōji doesn't know him and neither does Shikamaru. The boy then came up to them and plucked their foreheads after that happened they realise that its Yota. Shikamaru questions is he reincarnated the boy started to cry the rain stopped then a big wave of it washed them away that made them know that he can't control his actions just like Asuma. Yota then started shooting rain bullets that's pushing the trio back and thinking do they have to fight him. Ino contacted her father and asked to link her to Sakura and found out that she was also fighting Yota along with Kiba and Akumaru. She also found out that Naruto was fighting him and was told that those were not him just White Zetsu clones so she helped Chōji and Shikamaru defeated him and it revert to a clone.

She then calls out and waves at Naruto when he arrives. After being informed by her father at HQ that Naruto and B were fighting the "masked Madara", Ino and the rest of the Konoha 11 rush to his aid. As she runs, she thanks her father for relaying Naruto's feelings to everyone and promises that she'd make his foretelling of their victory a reality.

Arriving just in the nick of time, Ino with Hinata's guidance was able to take control of Obito in time to veer the Ten-Tails' would-be fatal attack off course. Though she laments that he was able to break a perfect Mind Body Switch Technique in only a matter of seconds, Hiashi Hyūga told her she did a great job, having managed to shift the attack. She stood alongside the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces to face their opposition. With their attempt to immobilise the Ten-Tails ended in failure, Ino listened on, crying, as Shikaku imparted what would be his final battle strategy via her father as a Tailed Beast Ball was sent hurtling towards HQ. Ino listened to her father's last words to her, which stated that she had truly blossomed and her bonds with her friends reflect the meaning of the violet flower which she was raised to embody. After, Shikamaru reminded her that they were still in the midst of battle, and that they didn't have time to grieve. She later learns of Neji's death.

After Kurama had gathered enough chakra, Naruto sent shadow clones to Ino, and the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces to distribute Kurama's chakra to them. Upon receiving the chakra, Ino is enveloped in it, and after the Akimichi clan stops the Ten-Tails' movements, she quickly used her Mind Body Switch Technique on Obito again and after taking control of his body, she was able to alter the course of an attack that was headed for Chōji. Later, when Shikamaru and the other Nara clan members captured the Ten-Tails with their Shadow Imitation Technique, Ino released her technique and returned to her body.

Later on, as the Ten-Tails once again prepared to obliterate the Alliance, Shikamaru requested that Ino use her telepathic skills to link him to Kitsuchi, to which she obliged, grateful that Shikamaru had finally devised a strategy. With his plan being to teach the entire army the seals to the simple Earth Release wall technique and then using it to block the Ten-Tails' attack, he then asked Ino if she was able to relay this telepathically to the other shinobi on the battlefield. She responded bluntly that it wasn't a question of was she able to do it, as she would do it no matter what. With some strain, Ino is able to contact all the shinobi and relay the seals necessary to the Alliance for the technique before performing it herself alongside her comrades. Though the situation still looks dire as their feeble earthen defences are destroyed by the Ten-Tails' massive Tailed Beast Ball, and even a transformed Killer B proves incapable of stopping the attack, the Alliance shinobi are shocked when the attack simply disappears, unbeknownst to them that the Fourth Hokage had arrived on the battlefield.

With Sasuke soon appearing on the scene too, Ino is shocked to see him, and rushes over to inquire as to why he is there, much to the concern of Shikamaru and Chōji. Sasuke notes that she is still as loud as ever. Ino is then, along with the rest of her peers, completely bemused upon Sasuke's revelation that he will become Hokage. As Team 7 reunites, Ino smiles at Shikamaru, noting how nostalgic it feels, what with the Rookie Nine being together again, just like in the Chūnin Exams. She then charges at the Ten-Tails with her friends. With Teams 7 and 8 leading the assault, Ino looks on in disgust as Shino summons a giant parasitic insect to devour one of the Ten-Tails' clones. She then rallies her own team together, for them to perform Formation E. While Chōji uses his Multi-Size Technique, and Shikamaru uses the Shadow Clutch Technique on him, Ino uses her sensory abilities to lock onto all of the clones in the surrounding area, before using the Sensing Transmission technique on Shikamaru. With Ino acting as the mind, Shikamaru as the body and Chōji as the yo-yo, the trio perform the Human Bullet Yo-Yo technique, obliterating all of the surrounding clones. As Chōji prepares to double in size to strengthen his assault, Shikamaru states that the team has a lot more to show, with Ino then berating him for his sudden competitiveness with the other teams. She then urges Naruto and Sasuke on as she bears witness to their attack on the Ten-Tails. During this time, Ino questioned Shikamaru about whether or not something was troubling him, but he dismissed her.

As the battle against Obito continues, Ino once more telepathically links Shikamaru to the rest of the Alliance in order to boost their morale. With the situation looking grim as the Alliance was trapped in a barrier with a Tailed Beast Ball-firing tree, Ino and the other shinobi soon found themselves shrouded in the previous Version 1 mantles again. She and the other subsequently found themselves on the outside of the barrier, escaping the near-fatal attack thanks to Naruto and Minato's action. When the God Tree, the Ten-Tails' true form, launches a ravaging attack against the Alliance, Ino manages to successfully avoid having her chakra drained from her. Shikamaru, however, is not so lucky, and Ino and Chōji support their failing comrade. During this time, Hashirama calls out for a member of the Yamanaka clan to telepathically connect him to the whole Alliance, to which Ino complied. Realising that the five Kage were also within range of her technique, she then listened on as Hashirama's clone conveyed what the original had heard about the Eye of the Moon Plan from Madara. With the technique still in effect, Ino was shocked when Naruto's feelings and memories began being conveyed to the entire Alliance via the telepathic link. As the young man remembered the loss he had experienced, Ino sympathised with the loss of Asuma.

As Naruto joined Sasuke in a senjutsu-enhanced clash against Obito, Naruto's chakra begins forming around Shikamaru once again. While Sakura is amazed that Naruto is splitting his focus between fighting and aiding them, Ino corrected her. Ino explains that through her telepathy, she can tell that Naruto was focused purely on his battle, but subconsciously still desired to save his allies. From this strong will, Naruto's chakra was reacting to those it is infused with. She then watched in concern as Shikamaru struggled back to consciousness, and relievedly thanked Sakura for her efforts once he returned to full strength. When Tsunade, with Sakura's assistance, summons one tenth of Katsuyu's body to the battlefield, the Hokage orders Ino to relay this to alliance, an action she promptly carries out.

Obito manifested a gigantic Yin–Yang shield and Hagoromo's legendary holy weapon and in order for it to be destroyed, Naruto created nine Rasengan in Kurama's tail and contacted Ino and the rest of Konoha 11 plus Sai to join in on it. Once near Kurama's tails, Ino and the others are enveloped in even more chakra which resulted them with the Tailed Beast Mode much to their shock. Naruto tells them to break down through Obito's defences with the Rasengan so he and Sasuke could have a direct shot at attacking him. Ino and the others launched their attack and Naruto and Sasuke were able to deal a devastating blow to him. Once again instructed by Shikamaru, Ino and the rest of the Alliance lent their strength in wresting the tailed beasts' chakra from Obito.

Naruto Shippuden Movie l
Ino made a small cameo before Team 7 was being called up, she, Shikamaru, and Chōji were seen running through the streets.

Naruto Shippuden movie lll
Ino was first seen when they celebrated for Naruto and Sai's recovery and ate barbecue. Ino was seen again when Hiruko appeared on the sky and said he was starting the Fourth Shinobi World War. Later, Ino was sent with the rest of Konoha 11 to retrieve back Naruto and Sakura. Ino's team caught up with Naruto and Sakura, but Sai came and took the two with him to catch up with Kakashi. They were left behind to take down Hiruko's henchmen, San. They used Ino–Shika–Chō combination and easily took down the enemy. Shikamaru had Ino tell San that they aren't here to fight but to bring back Naruto and the others, after Ino used Mind Body Switch Technique and told San, he refused and said that he understands but he can't just pass the information on, forcing Team 10 to fight him. He then summoned his two team-mates, Ichi and Ni, and used Chimera Technique, which made them turn into a beast, Team 10 was defeated quickly. The rest of Konoha 11 comes to back up Team 10 and while Tenten summoned out chains everyone grabs onto one and as Shikamaru was about to use a technique to bind the beast Ino urges Shikamaru to go on and that the rest of them can handle it. Ino is later seen at Hiruko's temple saving Sakura from a collapsing building while the other members of the Konoha 11 defeated the beast.

Naruto Shippuden movie lllll
Ino appears along with the other members of the Konoha 11 to help save Naruto from prison and help defeat Satori.

Naruto Shippuden movie llllll
The movie starts with a flashback of the Nine-Tails' Attack on Konoha, which then flashes forward to the present timeline where the eight members of Akatsuki who are meant to be dead, are actually alive and are battling the Konoha shinobi and this in-turn unsettles Sakura. Shikamaru states there is no point in wondering why the dead are back alive and quickly comes up with a counter plan, but Naruto quickly attacks Akatsuki head on, forcing the rest of the Konoha 11 plus Sai, Kakashi and Guy to attack. The battle continues until Naruto is caught by Kakuzu, Sai frees Naruto by cutting part of Kakuzu's arm off, causing the Akatsuki to retreat. Naruto and his friends return home, where most of Naruto's peers are congratulated by their families, all of whom promise to write a recommendation letter for the promotion to becoming a jōnin although Sakura has a little fight with her family who embarrass her in front of the others. As Naruto returns home, he passes many families causing him to reminisce of his father and mother causing him to feel lonely. Later while eating at the Ichiraku Ramen, he meets Iruka. He then asks Iruka for a letter of recommendation of his own, but Iruka refuses as Naruto is only a genin and must become a chūnin and rise through the ranks just as Minato and all other jōnin did. Naruto is saddened by his lonely lifestyle and so storms off saying that no one seems to understand him, and also that he doesn't like the extra menma on his ramen (which adds to his present state of mind and causes him to feel lonely). He meets Sakura, who had an argument with her family and also stormed out, grabbing Naruto's hand and telling him to go on a date with her. While Sakura complains about her family, Tobi appears in front of them and after a small scuffle, he then activates the limited Tsukuyomi. Naruto and Sakura are absorbed in a flash of light, and later find themselves still in the same park they were before with no signs of a fight or Tobi himself.

They run into their friends including Sasuke, which surprises both Sakura and Naruto, but with different personalities, and to add to the confusion, no one knows who Tobi is. They realise they are in another world where Sakura's father was the Fourth Hokage, who saved the village instead of Minato, and in this world Naruto is named Menma instead. As Naruto and Sakura return home Sakura is happy for the new freedom she has, while Naruto hurries home to his apartment hoping to see his parents, only to find he does not live there.

Meanwhile, in the present, Tobi reveals that the dead Akatsuki members in the beginning were only Zetsu clones. In the Genjutsu World, a man in a mask meets Tobi and they agree to work together. Elsewhere, as Sakura is looking through her dresser, she sees the Fourth Hokage coat that Naruto's father once wore in the present causing her to once again realise that in this world, it was her father who was the hokage. She then meets Sasuke who gives her a flower and flirts with her. Naruto and Sakura meet in the morning to try to gather more information of their current world, although Sakura enjoys this world as she has more freedom and is well loved by the village thanks to her father's actions. Naruto, on the other hand, wants to return home as fast as possible.

Naruto and Sakura meet Tsunade and Shizune, who tell them that a masked man attacked Kumogakure, and killed their jinchūriki which Naruto and Sakura believe to have been Tobi. They then meet Naruto's parents, who are alive in this world. Minato says that Jiraiya died finding the Red Moon Scroll that was said to help save the world. Tsunade lets Naruto and Sakura join Minato and Kushina on their mission when Kakashi and Guy return. Sakura is shocked at finding out who Naruto's parents are, while Naruto is angry that Tobi would dare to make copies of his dead parents, and he swears to break the Genjutsu. While Sakura is still enjoying her life, she wonders how Naruto is doing. While Naruto attempts to ignore his parents, he sees an album showing him how his life would have been if his parents had been alive.

In the morning, Sakura notes that this world's Kakashi and Guy have switched personalities, while Naruto isolates himself from his parents at every turn. They soon locate where Jiraiya hid the scroll, but as the group stops to rest, Naruto charges ahead until he is confronted by the appearance of Gamabunta, Gamahiro and Gamaken. They refuse to listen to Naruto and the group who explains their reason for being there and attacks them with an army of frogs. Naruto attempts to enter Sage Mode, but while trying to gather enough energy, Kushina interferes and tries to protect him from Gamabunta but a shot of acid burns her leg. As a result, Naruto gets distracted and is unable to enter sage mode. Minato then saves both of them quickly and is able to get the scroll, dispelling the Summoning Technique.

As Sakura heals Kushina, Naruto still attempts to brush off his parents, causing Minato to say no matter what Naruto does, they will always try to save him as that's what they naturally tend to do as parents. Kushina then awakens and hugs Naruto, causing him to breakdown in tears and finally accept them as his parents. They return to Konoha, where Tsunade locks the scroll in the village's safe until the night when a red moon will appear, when they can use the scroll to fulfill the said prophecy. As Naruto and Sakura walk home together, Naruto quickly runs home saying he has something to do, leaving Sakura alone. Sakura now finds her home too lonely and wonders if Naruto's always felt this way. As she walks down town she sees happy families, only making her more sad. She then realises that this world's Sasuke is just a flirt as she sees him flirting with a group of girls and decides that Naruto was right on his decision to quickly break the genjutsu they're now trapped in and wishes to return to their own world. As she walks to Naruto's home to try to find a way to break the genjutsu, she see how happy Naruto is and wonders if they really should leave. Sakura later meets Naruto, and asks him if he wants to stay. Although he denies it, he later thinks to himself that he truly does not want to leave.

At that moment an explosion occurs at the Hokage's office, where the masked man from earlier asks for the scroll they brought back. He overpowers Minato, Kushina, and Tsunade, and then Naruto and Sakura arrive. They realise that this was the man Tsunade was talking about, and that he knows Tobi. He overpowers Naruto and Sakura, and kidnaps Sakura in exchange for the scroll. He then uses Great Spiralling Ring, destroying a large part of Konoha and leaves. Naruto tries to save Sakura, but Minato prevents him, showing that in the end this world's Minato is different from his father. He takes one of Minato's kunai and the scroll leaving with Sakura's father's Hokage coat. Sakura is tied up and meets Tobi who is a ghost saying they are in an old training ground that Minato and Jiraiya used. Naruto arrives but is attacked by the other masked man asking for the scroll. Naruto is unable to fight properly as his stomach acts up, the Masked Man then takes the time to summon the Nine Masked Beasts, and about to kill Naruto when the Akatsuki arrives and saved him.

This Akatsuki was hired by Tsunade to help Naruto, and they deal with the masked beasts when Naruto attacks the masked man. Itachi saves Sakura and Tobi decides to escape instead. The Akatsuki defeats the masked beasts that turn into nine fox kits, while Naruto chased the masked man into the training grounds. They then fight, Naruto uses Sage Mode and uses the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken to counter the Masked Man's Great Spiralling Ring. It ends in a draw, but the attack destroy the masked man's mask, showing that he is Menma, this world's Naruto. Menma informs Naruto that the pulsating inside his stomach must be Kurama's reaction to the Black Nine-Tails within Menma. Menma then called back the defeated masked beasts, and summoned Kurama's counterpart, the Black Nine-Tails. Naruto was unable to attack, while the Akatsuki retreat, taking Sakura with them. Not wanting to be manipulated by the Sharingan again, Kurama makes a truce with Naruto to work together, allowing him to summon Kurama out of his body. In the battle Naruto is barely able to win, but Tobi reveals that this was his plan, to have Naruto and Menma fight, as doing so would cause the two foxes to fight and weaken Kurama. As he possessed Menma, Kurama warned Naruto if he looked into Menma's Sharingan, it would be all over, for Tobi planned to extract Kurama out of Naruto the same way he extracted it from Kushina sixteen years ago. As Menma overpowers Naruto, the latter tries to use the scroll when he notices the moon had turned red, but Menma cuts the scroll, causing Naruto to look into Menma's eyes. Naruto's memories are erased, but Sakura rescues him before Kurama is extracted from him.

Naruto, in an amnesiac stupor, stares at the destroyed Red Moon Scroll, which brings back memories of his training to learn the Rasengan with Jiraiya, and how his father was the one who invented the technique. Naruto is able to break free of the genjutsu just in time to save Sakura, and then defeats Tobi the same way his father did, breaking the Limited Tsukuyomi. Tobi, using his ghost body, attacks again, until Minato and Kushina arrive. Tobi decides to give up and exits the genjutsu world just as Naruto and Sakura are enveloped in a bright light, preparing to return to their world as well, but beforehand Naruto thanks Minato and Kushina who quickly goes to assist Menma who is returning to his original state as their son. Naruto and Sakura returns to their world, where Naruto's Hokage coat breaks down since it was only part of the genjutsu world and not real. Naruto and Sakura tell Tsunade and Kakashi of what transpired and sets out more guard patrol since Tobi was easily able to enter further in the village than they imagined. Shizune also brings up the topic of the letters of recommendation from the beginning of the movie, to which Tsunade replies that she has no intention of promoting any of Naruto's friends to jōnin. As they both return home, Naruto watches Sakura as she meets her parents, happily hugging them. He approaches her, asking her out on a date, but Sakura tells him they just came back from the longest date ever, much to Naruto's shock. As Naruto goes home, he sees Iruka in his house, waiting to apologise to him. Afterwards, Naruto happily walks through the village while quoting that the road of a ninja is one who endures. After the credits, the sign in Ichikaru Ramen where it says "menma" is changed.

Video Games
Ino Yamanaka is a playable character in the following video games: Ino's moves typically include the use of genjutsu, flower-based attacks, and acrobatic physical attacks similar to the Musoh-Battoh-Ryu style of fighting.

Quotes

 * (To Sakura, when she asks her why she gave her a ribbon) "Because… I thought it would be a waste for you to wither away as a bud. There's no meaning to a flower unless it blooms. It might turn out to be… a flower more beautiful than a Cosmos."
 * (To Sakura) "Who're you calling "pig", you billboard brow?!"
 * (To Sakura) "You've bloomed into a beautiful flower."
 * (To Chōji about Asuma) "Listen, I know how you feel… the three of us, Team Ten… We went on a lot of missions with Asuma-sensei. Shikamaru and I don't want to fight him either. But it's because we know him so well that we can stop him with the least risk to the army. Don't you remember what those earrings are supposed to represent Choji?"
 * (To Shikamaru) "It's not a matter of can or can't, I'm doing it!"

Knownable Relatives

 * Yamanaka Inoichi (father/decreased)
 * Unamed Mother (mother)
 * Haruno Sakura (Childhood Best Friend/#1 Rival)
 * Uzumaki Naruto (Childhood Friend/Childhood Classmate and Ally)
 * Uchiha Sasuke (Childhood Classmate and Love Interest)
 * Hyuga Hinata (Childhood Classmate/Friend and Ally)
 * Nara Shikamaru (Childhood Friend and Teammate)
 * ]]Akimichi Choji]] (Childhood Friend and Teammate)
 * Umino Iruka (Childhood Sensei)
 * Sarutobi Asuma (Future Sensei/decreased)

Trivia
According to the databook(s):
 * Ino is short for inoshishi (猪), meaning "boar", hence Sakura calling her Ino-pig-chan (いのブタちゃん, Ino-buta-chan). Yamanaka (山中) means "among the mountains". Wild boar are heavily associated with mountains in Japan, and are even called the whales of the mountains (山鯨, yamakujira), because of the amount of meat they produce.
 * Her family owns a flower shop called Yamanaka Flowers, where she works part-time.
 * In the manga, it was never revealed how or why Ino became a medical-nin. Her choice to study under Tsunade was anime-exclusive.
 * Ino was ranked as the 29th most popular character in the seventh Naruto character popularity poll. She placed 14th in the fifth poll, 17th in the sixth poll and 23rd in the fourth poll. She finished 30th in the first poll.
 * According to the first Naruto fanbook, Ino had the best overall grades in the Ninja Academy. She had the highest grade in assertiveness and the second-highest grade in ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu, cooperation, and class attitude, being beat by Sasuke in ninjutsu, taijutsu and genjutsu.
 * In the seventh Naruto Shippūden opening, Ino was shown fighting Konan< with Hinata and Sakura, though in the manga, they did not fight her.
 * Ino's hobby is shopping.
 * Ino wishes for a rematch with Sakura.
 * Ino's favourite foods are cherry tomatoes and pudding, while her least favourite is sashimi.
 * Ino has completed 40 official missions in total: 23 D-rank, 9 C-rank, 6 B-rank, 2 A-rank, 0 S-rank.
 * Ino's favourite phrase is "The many meanings of flowers" (花言葉の数々, Hanakotoba no kazukazu).
 * Ino shares the same English voice actress as Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck from Bleach, Yoshino "Yoshi" Fujieda from Digimon Data Squad,Sora Takenouchi form Digimon Adventures and Jazz Fenton from Danny Phantom.

Voice Actresses

 * Japanese : Ryoka Yuzuki


 * English : Colleen O'Shaughnessey