#Ino The Mind Transfer Kunoichi

[luckyrave]

Dual Responsibilities of a Kunoichi: Ino Yamanaka

Being a kunoichi is never exactly an easy thing in the world of Naruto, and during their free time they usually take time to relax as much as possible. That is not the case when it pertains to mind-transfer ninja girl, Ino Yamanaka.  Many of us  know about her intelligence and prowess with the mind transfer jutsu whenever she’s out on the battlefield, but rarely ever is the other side talked about.  

We see as a young girl that Ino has another duty to fulfill which is to run The Yamanaka Flower Shop. This isn’t because she was forced to do out of like the family name, but more so because Ino wants to see people happy.  She knows the importance of having goals and understanding what somebody wants in the life they are living in.  Through these reasons we understand that Ino isn’t just some simple hopeless romantic girl thinking about love, and that there is a brighter picture to view in the world she lives in on a daily basis.  

Whether it’s being on the battlefield as kunoichi or a young woman selling flowers to the villagers; Ino understands the value of life and what’s worth living for. There may not have been a lot of focus we got in the series, but the instances that are shown to us of Ino demonstrates where her character stands as well as her personal values in life. 

A short rundown ver. tweet: https://twitter.com/7LuckyChi/status/1661011026224250887

That’s pretty much all I gotta say when it comes to the dual responsibilities Ino Yamanaka represents as a Kunoichi and a young girl running a flower ship  from yours truly, but I hope you all have an amazing day, night, etc. and remember show some love and appreciation for Ino Yamanaka!  .

[detectivestucks]

A Jealous Hokage X

18+ content, Minors do NOT interact

Pairing: Kakashi x F!Reader x Obito

Summary: Your project is over and now it's time to train. You are struggling to keep your training a secret from Kakashi and Obito re-enters the picture offering his help.

Warnings: NSFW, Fingering, Spanking, Biting, Nipple Play, Unprotected Penetration

Word Count: 5.7k

Part 9 New here? Check out Part 1

Your training with Ino was gratifying but grueling. For the first two weeks it was just the two of you honing your jutsu skills. She wanted to exercise your mind transfer and mind confusion jutsu before moving to combat training. 

It’s not that you weren’t proficient in both but it had been a very long time since you used them in the context of battle. Ino had you spar with her and practice a quick retreat while weaving hand signs so you could grab control of her as you landed. You were practicing with her everyday after work and weekends too. You saw changes in your body relatively early in your training. Your stomach was slimming down, your arms and forearms were gaining muscle and your personal favorite was that your lower body was filling out. 

In addition to your time with Ino, you did conditioning by yourself before work. In the mornings you were waking up two hours early to run to the training grounds. You subjected yourself to intense conditioning drills and always finished with a jog around the village. You’d return home a smelly sweaty mess and would shower before heading to work. 

You ran into Obito several mornings between his missions with a tense ‘hello’. It ate at you to know how hurt he was. You missed him. Romantic feelings aside, you had really grown to love his company. He made you happy, and now you couldn’t shake the guilt you felt around him. 

While you were caught up in your own head whenever you ran into him, Obito was staring at you, taking notes. He noticed how you seemed more tired than ever. He had heard rumors of you stepping back from high profile intel projects. He heard you requested to be a consultant rather than be involved in the projects themselves. It was unlike you. Furthermore you kept coming to work with wet hair. Another strange change in your behavior. Then on top of it all, he caught glimpses of bruises all over your body. New ones appearing every day. At first he thought they were the result of your activity with Kakashi but their placement didn’t make sense. Why would your neck be clean but your calves have purple welts on them? Why was your collarbone pristine but your forearms were battered? After two weeks of observation he figured it out.

One morning you were filling your cup when he looked over his newspaper and spoke.

“Does Kakashi know?”

You lifted your head surprised that he struck up conversation with you.

“Know what, exactly?”

“Know that you’re training.”

“No”

Ah, so it wasn’t all good in paradise.

“And why are you training?”

“Cause I intend on rejoining the field.”

“You want to go back out on missions?” He said it with a hint of sarcasm that you did not appreciate.

“Precisely”

“You’re going to get yourself killed.”

“And why do you think that?” you say, instantly feeling pissed. You turn around glaring at him with your arms crossed. 

“First, cause you’re doing it for the wrong reasons. Second, cause you’d be a liability.”

“I’m not weak!”

“You’re not strong either.”

You were seething. You didn’t work this hard just to be scoffed at. Your eyes narrowed as you spat with venom, “Watch me”

More determined than ever, you shoulder check Obito on your way out of the breakroom. You weren’t about to let him or anyone else get in your way.

********************************************

The more you trained the better you felt. The more muscle you built, the easier it was to handle their stares. The better your endurance, the less the words of all the jealous kunoichi’s bothered you. Knowing there was an expiration date to all of this helped you get through each day. 

The only truly hard part was hiding this all from Kakashi. You found yourself avoiding him quite a bit but he had been dropping by your office more than ever. Always bringing you flowers and wanting to get lunch. You kept a jacket nearby to conceal your bruises when he was around. The two of you only slept together once since your training began. He immediately grew concerned when he saw the bruise on your arm and you had to lie and say it came from falling off the bed in your sleep. He barely bought it and now that you’re covered in marks head to toe, there was no way he was seeing you naked. 

Occasionally you found yourself caught up in a heavy makeout session with him and you’ve had to pump on the breaks multiple times before he had the chance to peel off your layers. 

You knew it was selfish of you to keep stringing him along like you were. It was just so hard to push him away when he was seeking you out the way he did. He tugged at your feelings in an irresistible way and you’d be damned if you didn’t at least cash in on the reason everyone was treating you like shit. 

One afternoon after a heavy petting session, you step out of Kakashi’s office and run into Obito. He had just returned from a mission and was on his way to hand in his report. You stopped and looked up at him like you had just been caught doing something you shouldn’t. You were still annoyed with him for his remarks about your training but you couldn’t help but admire how handsome he looked in his jonin jacket.  You were about to keep walking when he grabbed your wrist. 

“Princess, wait.”

“What Obi?” You say irritated. You didn’t want to face the range of emotions he made you feel. The guilt, the anger, the longing. You just wanted to go do something to distract you from your own thoughts.

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“I’ve been thinking about it and I want to help.”

“Help with what Obi?”

“Help you train.”

“I can’t ask that of you Obito. I’ve used you too much already.”

“You’re not asking. I’m offering.”

“And last time you offered to help me I hurt your feelings. I don’t want to do that again.”

“Let me rephrase this then.” He says, his voice deeping, becoming thick with malice. He closes the gap between you and you can feel your breath falter as he towers over you. You look down, unable to hold his intense gaze. 

“I am not asking for your permission. I am telling you. I will train you till you break Princess. I’m not letting you go out into the world without making sure you are safe. If something happens to you, I couldn’t live with myself knowing I didn’t do everything in my power to keep you alive.”

You were barely able to breathe while he threatened you, placing a hand on his firm chest to stabilize yourself from the dizziness you felt. You weren’t sure if it was the way he was so mean when he cared for you or if it was the sexual frustration you were feeling with Kakashi, but the fire lit between your legs was impossible to hide.

“You will take everything I give you and I will be your sensei. Tell me you understand by saying ‘Yes Sensei’. “

You gulped before choking out, “Yes Sensei”

“That’s a good Princess.” he whispers in your ear. “I’ll see you at the training grounds.”

He returns your shoulder check from earlier as he lifts his head and walks away towards Kakashi’s office.  You stand there catching your breath, thankful no one else caught the confrontation. 

************************************************

“Looks like you have a visitor” Shiho says.

You look up to see Kakashi about to knock on the door to your office. 

“Yes Kakashi?”

He strides in and sits on your desk, hand lifting to cup your face. You place your own hand on top of his and lean into it. 

“Wanna grab dinner tonight?”

“I have plans with Ino.”

“You’ve seen Ino everyday for weeks. What’s going on with you two?”

“It’s nothing. She just has a big project going on and she wants my help with it.”

Kakashi didn’t quite buy it but his desperation to stay in your good graces made him resist the urge to pry further. 

A few weeks ago it felt like everything would go back to how it was. You had an amazing and passionate night together but recently you were pulling away again. He wanted to take you on a date. A real one. After nearly a year of sneaking around, everyone knew about you now. Yet the two of you were still sneaking around. He was tired of the passionate fucks in the closets and quickies in his office. He wanted to act like a real couple. One that went on dates and lived together. He wanted to share a bed with you but you were pushing him away. 

“What if I come see you after you’re done?”

“I guess I could do that. How about I come to you?”

“Sounds perfect.”

He gives you a peck on the nose before leaving, closing your office door on his way out. Once the door latches Shiho turns to you.

“It’s gonna destroy him when he finds out.”

You look down. “I know.”

“Why don’t you just talk to him about it?”

“Cause he’ll try to stop me and I’m tired of being nothing more than the Hokage’s girlfriend.”

“If only they knew you were barely even that.” 

Shiho didn’t approve of your plan but she understood. Watching how your life was completely upended by the untimely news that you had been Kakashi’s paramore for the better part of a year was painful. Every day there was a girl wanting to pick a fight with you. Most days there were men saying lewd things about you, and this Aoto guy was basically becoming your stalker. The past month had worn you down and she couldn’t blame you for feeling selfish. She knew you were training so intensely cause you wanted to speed up your timeline. She knew you were going to break the news to Kakashi in another 3 weeks and she wasn’t excited for you to leave her alone in your shared office.

“Please don’t lecture me Shiho. I already feel guilty enough as it is.”

“When do you start training with Obito?”

“Tomorrow”

“Why did he suddenly decide to help you?”

“He thinks I’m going to die.”

“He’s not the only one.”

“Thanks for the support.”

“Sorry, it’s just that you weren’t that impressive the first time around.”

“Cause the first time around my goal wasn’t to be out on missions fighting, it was to gather intel.”

You were feeling frustrated that out of the five people who knew about your plan, only Choji believed in you. Irritation getting the better of you, you stand up.

“I’m gonna go for a run.”

“Y/N, I didn’t mean it like that-”

“It’s fine, Shiho. I just need to blow off some steam.”

You walk out of your office and head for the stone faces. You decide to run up the stairs heading for the top of the cliff allowing the burn in your legs to calm you down. 

Shiho was right. It was going to crush Kakashi when you told him that you wanted to go on missions. It wasn’t like you were breaking off whatever it was that the two of you were doing. It’s just that you wanted some time away from the village. You didn’t want to be a sitting duck waiting for the next girl to pick a fight with you or the next boy make a pass at you. What bothered you more was that Kakashi seemed to be completely blind to it. He was too focused on trying to win you back to notice why you were pulling away to begin with. Sometimes you wondered if he was intentionally dumb to your troubles to avoid the guilt. 

You reach the summit and stare out over the village. It looked so beautiful from up here. Peaceful and harmonious. You wished it felt that way below. You take a seat at the cliff's edge and swing a leg over the side. You loved your village. You wanted to serve it but right now, you just needed a break from it. 

You hear someone step on a rock behind you and you leap up to your feet looking for the source of the sound.

“Your senses are much sharper than they used to be.”

“Obito!” 

“What are you doing up here?”

“Quelling a mix of guilt and angst.”

“Quelling, huh?” He walks towards you and sits down on the edge of the cliff beside you.

You let out a sigh and sit back down, legs dangling over the edge once more as you lean back on your hands, “Yeah”

“What’s going on?”

“No one believes in me. They all seem to think my only talent is my mind. Five of you know my intentions yet only one you thinks I can do it. But deep down I know even he’s just being nice.”

“Maybe it’s not cause we don’t believe in you but because we’re worried about you.”

“How can you be more worried about me on a mission surrounded by comrades than me in my office waiting for the next Kakashi fangirl to ambush me?”

“Cause a fangirl is a far less fierce opponent than an enemy shinobi.”

“And if that fangirl is a member of the Anbu?”

“Fair point.”

“The idea that it’s almost over is the only thing that’s helping me get through the day.”

“I didn’t realize it was still so bad.”

“It’s not as bad as it was at first. I don’t have people bring it up as much at work but all his little lovesick fans have been building their confidence and are slowly cropping up everywhere I go. They’re stalking me and will say anything they can to try and bring me down.”

“What does Kakashi have to say about all of this?”

“Nothing. He’s pretending like it’s not happening.” Obito clearly didn’t like this answer.

“Why don’t you talk to him about it?”

“Cause there’s nothing he can do to fix it. Plus it’s motivating my training. Without it I might be content to stay at a dead-end job.”

“You’re not at a dead-end job.”

“There’s no way for me to move higher in the department.”

“Because you were already as high as you could get without being department head. You should be proud to accomplish that so young. It’s not Kakashi’s fault you decided to back down and just consult.”

“I needed to back down so I could have time to train.”

“Princess… if being with him has made you so unhappy, why do you stay with him?”

You swallow hard at the question. You know Obito needed to know the answer but you had a hard time saying it to his face. You had feelings for him and you didn’t want to talk about your feelings for Kakashi in front of him. You look away, gazing over the rooftops of the village before you speak.

“Cause I’m in love with him and he’s in love with me.”

Obito is silent at your answer.

“I’m sorry Obito.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” he rasps, “You can’t help your feelings.”

“Then why does it make me feel like shit to say it to you?”

“Cause the part of you that loves me is overshadowed by the part of you that loves him.”

You feel your eyes water at his response. Life would be so much simpler if you would just choose him. What was stopping you? You reach out your hand and grab his. You hold it as the two of you look out over the village.

“Thank you Obito. For always being there.”

“Don’t thank me yet. We haven’t started our training.”

You look over at him with a smile

He grins back at you before he stands up. “Well it’s good to know what kind of headspace you’re in. I’ll see you tomorrow morning Princess.” he bows at you formally.

You bow your head back, “See you tomorrow Sensei”

He decides to leave you in peace as you continue your musings. 

Well that seems to make two out of the five. That’s progress.

**********************************************

At the end of your workday you head out to see Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru. Shikamaru wasn’t thrilled about hiding all of this from Lord Sixth but you had sworn him to secrecy and he could see the desperation you felt through how intensely you were training. Choji came at you with human boulder and you were able to use mind transfer on him despite how quickly he moved. Ino was impressed with your accuracy. After two hours of going at it you told them you needed to go home cause Kakashi wanted to spend the night with you. 

“He’s not even a little suspicious?”

“He is, but I think he’s trying to pretend all is well.”

Ino gives a look of disapproval before the two of you start to walk home. While on your way you come across a random girl who scoffs at you.

“The Hokage is seriously interested in you?”

She was scanning your body up and down, commenting on your sweaty and bruised appearance. Ino shot her a look of disgust that even frightened you. “Hag” she spat at the girl.

“It’s fine Ino, I should be used to it by now.”

“It’s not fine.”

“I know but I can’t get worked up over every jealous girl or I’ll never find a moment of peace.”

Ino was extremely concerned. It was the only reason she was going along with any of this. She dropped you off at home and headed to the flower shop to say hi to her family while you got ready to see Kakashi. 

You headed straight to the bathroom to take a shower. Upon undressing you scanned your body. You had several bruises on your legs.  Mostly on your calves and shins. Long pants can cover those. Your arms were worse. You had several marks on your triceps and forearms. You checked your back and chest as well. Your back was clear and your front was too. You decided to dress in a fishnet layered under a long sleeve crop top so it didn’t seem like you were hiding your body from Kakashi. 

You shower and change before heading over to Kakashi’s to meet him for a late dinner. He opens the door and immediately pulls down his mask to sweep you into a kiss. It was deep and romantic while his strong arms held you in a tight embrace that crushed your sore aching muscles. 

“Hi” you breathed after he released your lips

“Hi” he smiled back.

“So, where are we going?”

“I thought we could stay in.”

“Oh” Normally you’d prefer to stay away from the prying eyes of the village but being alone meant he’d try to strip you naked and it had been weeks since he’d been inside of you. Your hormones were driving you wild and you were starting to lose your resolve. 

“Is that okay?”

You swallow even though your mouth has gone dry before you nod yes. 

“Good cause I cooked.”

“You cooked?”

“Yes, since you seemed so busy, I wanted to make sure you had something to eat. You’ve been losing weight recently.”

You looked at him nervously. You were hoping that if you kept seeing him regularly enough he wouldn’t notice your body change. However the look of guilt on his face made you realize that he thinks you’re not eating from stress. 

“Well I appreciate it. Thank you Kashi.”

The smile that lit up his face melted your heart. How were you going to leave him behind when you go away on missions? He twisted his fingers between yours as he guided you over to the kitchen to grab your food. Naturally it was delicious. He was quite talented in the kitchen. He could’ve been a professional chef but you were glad he became a shinobi since you quite enjoyed his ninja’s physique. He shed some of his layers so that he was down to his black tank top and you felt drool dripping out of the corner of your mouth as you gawked at his muscles. You quick grabbed your napkin and dabbed your face but not before he caught what you were wiping away. 

After your meal you did the dishes together and he held your hand as you walked over to the couch. When you went to sit down he pushed you down on your back and pinned the hand he was holding over your head. Your other hand went straight to his face but he grabbed that wrist and pinned it over your head too. 

Your eyes were wide with lust as he stared back into them. You felt your breathing hitch when he fully positioned himself on top of you. 

“If you keep pulling away from me Angel, I’ll just pull you back by force.” he whispers.

You reach your lips up to his. Why were you so weak for him? You felt the pent up frustration steer your hips as you begin to grind up into him. He gives an approving groan as he begins to grind back, pushing his hips deeper into yours. You pant under him. He removes one of his hands from your wrists and uses it to lift your crop top up over your breasts. 

“Wait” you say trying to stop him from taking off your shirt. He quickly gathers the hem and puts it in your mouth stopping any further protests from reaching his ears. 

He leans back down, pulled up the fishnet and suckles on your teet causing your eyes to flutter closed with pleasure. You inhale sharply through the fabric in your mouth as his tongue plays with your peaks. You squirm beneath him continuing to rut up against his pants. He releases his other hand from your wrists so that both could sink their fingers around your exquisite tits. You arch your back pushing into him. Your hands in his hair.

“I knew you wanted me, Angel.” 

He flips you over to your stomach and pulls down your pants to your knees.

“Kashi, wait, stop!”

He slaps both of your checks with his palms. You let out a little yelp followed lustful by a moan.

“Why do you keep running from me?”

“Kashi”

“Are you punishing me?”

“No!”

He slams his hands down on your backside again.

“Then why do you keep denying me what I want?” 

He pushes his hand between your thighs and starts playing with your bud. You moan and roll your eyes while he drinks in the sight of your sex looking adorable trapped between your closed legs pinned together by your pants. He didn’t give you time to answer before he sunk his fingers into you, feeling how you gushed around him as he buried himself up to the third knuckle. 

You find yourself rocking back and forth on his fingers, aching to be pleasured by him. He smirks and soon adds another digit. He strokes in and out of you quickly. You wanted him. You always wanted him. He knows how to touch you in heavenly ways. He curved his fingers against your sweet spot, stroking fast, milking you till you crumble. His fingers stimulate you perfectly eliciting loud cries from your lungs. You holler as you feel yourself cum in his hand. 

He undoes his pants and pulls out his length, covering it in your slick with a few strokes of his hand before pushing it into you. You let out a scream as you finally get what you’ve been aching for. You nearly came a second time just from the intrusion alone. 

“You can’t hold out on me, Angel. I know you crave me as much as I crave you.”

He was right. In spite of whatever was going on with work, Obito, or the other villagers, you couldn’t deny how you were drawn to him like a magnet. Always wet and waiting to feel the next time your unstoppable passion had you wrapped around his manhood. 

He pulls out of you, making you whine. He sits down on the couch with his legs spread and pulls you into his lap so that your legs are between his. He lines himself up with your slit and you sink down on him. Your body weight shoving him deep inside of your cavern. You bob up and down on his shaft feeling the fullness everytime you sit back. His hands on your hips guide you through each stroke and you feel yourself unravel around him. 

“That’s it Angel. That’s what I want. I know you want it too.”

You were afraid to respond. You wanted to scream ‘Yes!’ but the situation was getting out of control and you were only a pant tug away from getting discovered. Kakashi lifted his hand off your hips to strike you again. You let out a pleasured groan. His hands began moving you faster. You went up and down on him till you reached a gallop. Craving more, he became impatient and held you still while his hips thrusted up inside of you with intense speed.

Pleasured wails are pulled from your lungs during his crusade until he pulls out and shoves you down on the couch to take you from behind. Before he does, he pushes himself against your back and reaches around to play with your nipples as he bites down on your shoulder. He rolls them between his fingers and then pulls them upwards, letting the weight of your breasts tugs at the sensitive tissue. You hate how much you love when he does this to you. Always the pain with the pleasure. It gets you everytime, especially as he bites down on your soft neck. As if your body needed another bruise. 

When he’s satisfied with the mark he buries his thickness back into you, making sure you are good and stuffed as he pounds away inside your walls. Your tired arms can barely hold you up as he expels weeks of precum into you, pushing it up against your cervix. You can feel your release come quickly and you grab a throw pillow to scream into. 

You knew he wasn’t going to be gentle when you came. You knew he was going to pound away chasing his own orgasm, not granting you a moment of reprieve till he spilled his white hot ropes inside of you. 

When he was done releasing his pent up sexual frustration, you quickly lifted your pants so that he didn’t try to take them the rest of the way off and lay with you naked. He follows your lead and pulls up his own pants as you go to rest your tired head against his shoulder.

“Stay.”

“What?”

“Stay the night with me. We can walk to work together in the morning.”

“Oh, I didn’t bring my stuff to spend the night.”

“We can stop by your place and come back.”

“No, that's okay Kashi. I’d rather spend the night at my place if you don’t mind.”

You hated the disappointment on his face but you had an early appointment with Obito tomorrow. You needed his help if you were going to be a serious threat in combat. He was the next best thing to being trained by Kakashi himself. If you weren’t so sure that he’d try to talk you out of it, you would’ve preferred to battle hot and heavy with Kashi every morning instead. It was his stubborn protectiveness over you that kept him in the dark.

You spent another hour with him before saying your goodbyes. He held you tight before letting you walk out the door. His affection was almost suffocating. You loathe yourself for deceiving him the way you were but if he had just kept his trap shut for a few more weeks you could’ve had your dream job instead of resorting to all this. At least that’s what you tell yourself to feel better.

*************************************************

“Good Morning Princess”

“Good Morning Sensei” you greet Obito as you meet him at the training grounds.

A greedy smile crosses Obito’s face as you refer to him by his new title. He was going to love having you call him that. 

“You ready to regret your decision to rejoin the field?”

You scoff. “Just shut up and let's do this.” 

Obito lunges at you and you jump, flying over him and landing softly on the ground where he once stood. 

“Very good.”

“Thanks”

He goes again but this time he’s quicker. You backflip away from him and he gives a grin.

“Why do you keep running? Afraid to fight me?”

“I’ve seen you fight, I know I can’t beat you.”

“Smart, but if you’re gonna survive out there you won’t always have the chance to run.”

You let out a sigh of defeat and take a fighting stance.

“That’s more like it.”

He comes at you with a barrage of fists. You block several of them but one catches you in the gut. He pulls back as your hand braces your side where he struck.

“Your stomach is more toned than it used to be. I didn’t realize how hard you were already training.”

“I don’t do my job half-assed.”

“It’s not your job.”

“Yet.”

Obito laughed before he came at you again. You ducked down and went for his chest. You smirked to yourself till you realized your hand was slipping right through him. 

What? How did I miss? 

You go again. You’re sure you were going to land a kick to his head when once again you fail to make contact and nearly fall down when you land. 

Obito looks at you with a huge grin on his face. Something was off but you hadn’t figured it out yet.  You go in again. This time blocking his punch with your forearms as you sweep your leg to trip him, only he was still standing. 

“How are you doing that?!”

“One of the many abilities that comes with these eyes, Princess.”

“It’s what I saw you do to Kakashi the night of the gala, isn’t it?”

It wasn’t his proudest moment, but it did satisfy him to know that you were impressed when you saw his ability used in the context of a real fight.

“Yes, it’s how I avoided his Lightning Blade.”

“Well that’s just the most annoying ability to ever exist.”

He gave out a mouthwateringly low chuckle that disarmed you. You looked up at him, exhausted by your futile attempts to strike him, with widened eyes. He looked down at you with a protective look that you hadn’t noticed before. You shake your head to clear your thoughts and get back to business.

“Again” you say.

He goes again but this time as he swings at you, you dodge him and drop low before hitting him with your mind transfer from beneath. He was tough to control. His mental fortitude was top tier. You felt him fighting with you as you steered his body away from yours. You took his hand and grabbed a kunai, flipping it to point at his abdomen. “Not so fast”, you hear him say in the space of his mind.

“Why? Afraid I’ll stab you?”

“Go ahead”

Feeling defyant you take the knife and plunge. It passed straight through his body. Frustrated, you release the jutsu and return to your own mind. He stands over you panting slightly.

“Not gonna lie, I didn’t expect that out of you.” He licked his lower lip before smiling down at you. You felt a small tingle along your spine as he brought your attention to his lips.

“Yeah but you still somehow made it pass through your body. Even with me in control.” 

You were annoyed by the outcome of the match but the way he was smiling down on you made it hard to stay mad. 

The two of you keep at it for a few more rounds before you had had enough.

You were winded and it caused him to feel powerful. The sound of your heavy breathing and the pride he felt at seeing how strong you had become in just a few weeks made him ache for you once more. 

“If this is what you’ve been able to accomplish in just 3 weeks, I might ask Kakashi to put you on my team.”

“Ah, so I’m not a liability after all.” 

He gave you a look of amusement. Not wanting to allow you to be overconfident, he antagonizes you.

“No, I just want you on my team so I can keep an eye on you.” You give him a glare. “Plus I’ll need someone to keep me warm in the winters”

You go to shove him and he allows you to fall through his body. 

“Would you stop doing that already?!”

“Why would I when it’s so fun?” You giggle as he helps pick you up off the ground. “Come on, let's finish with a run.”

“Gladly.” 

The two of you tread around the village border. It was nice having a companion to run with. It felt less lonely and it was reassuring that even though he could kick your ass in combat, at least you could keep up with him in a foot race. 

“Alright Princess, I’ll let you go for today but be prepared to step it up tomorrow.”

You bow, “Thank you Sensei.”

He smirks at the title. You glare at him and threaten, “Keep laughing at me and I’ll stop calling you Sensei.” 

“Stop calling me sensei and I’ll stop helping you Princess.”

You let out a huff of frustration and he laughs. “See you tomorrow Princess.”

You turn and walk away headed towards home “Stop calling me Princess.”

“Nope!”

You shake your head as you retreat, ready for a hot shower and some arnica cream for your bruised body before another day of work.

Part 11 Masterlist

[team7-headquarter]

Dropping the official teams for the first Konoha 12 come back mission. As a treat <3

Context:

The kunoichis of the Konoha 12 are back, but after so many years of working for Tsunade or spending time perfecting their clan techniques, they have to prove themselves.

The operation belongs to Konoha Police Force and is directed by Fugaku Uchiha. Since the whole goal is to prove that a) the kunoichis are capable of holding their on and b) they are loyal to Konoha, Tsunade can watch, but she cannot participate in any way.

Fugaku decided to separate the girls from their genins teams to truly test them.

Mission Status:

Konoha Police located a rogue nin base that they have been following for quite some time. The orders are to get in, neutralize the enemy, contain the situation, rescue any hostages and get out without casualties.

The Teams :

INFILTRATION TEAM — Kiba, Ino, Shino.

They're the first step. The "previously".

This team is full of deemed specialists in what one could call espionage. Be it shapeshifting, mind control or remote control of elements able to transfer information, they know how to get in, blend in, find the information they are looking for and get out as if they were never there to begin with.

Since they work mostly alone, they're some of the most in danger. There's also a myriad of unpleasant situations they'd have to participate in. Long range is preferable, either that or the type of subtle technique that can be used up close and leaves no evidence.

Unlike many other infiltration teams, this one focuses on details that no many would pick up on. Sound, smell, even your mind. No one is safe with them around.

EXTERNAL TEAM — Shikamaru, Tenten, Choji.

Once the infiltration team relies all the info they need, the external team sets in.

Their job is to prepare the operation so nothing would go wrong. They set a perimeter, fill the selected space with traps to avoid any enemy escaping, they lay the basics of the mission and connect everyone to the headquarters.

Although Fugaku is leading the operation, it's more of a supervision than anything else. The external team must control the scene with the parameters they were given.

Since they have to keep an eye on everything and everyone, there's often a specialist on every attack range (close combat, middle range and long range combat). They must be tricky and hard to evade, but also low-key enough that the enemy won't spot their exact location.

ATTACK TEAM — Sasuke, Hinata, Naruto.

They kick-start the real action!

( and cause everyone else a headache)

This team's job is to directly engage with the enemy, to both neutralize them and to provide a distraction for the retrieval team to act. They must be loud, they must be capable of being lethal, they must be capable of taking damage or at least capable of engaging for long periods of time.

In truth, the top requirement for anyone who wants to join an attack team is to be annoying and resilient. Attack teams don't really know what they'll find, for how long they'll have to fight or if the other teams would be available to give them any help.

Along with the unpredictability and endless energy of a jinchuuriki, the attention to detail and the battle IQ of an Uchiha, they have the high range vision and chakra blockage of a Hyuuga. Nothing screams Konoha like three of the best clans on the attack team.

RETRIEVAL TEAM — Neji, Sakura, Rock Lee.

The shifters. They can become any of the other teams if needed.

In a perfect scenario, they never engage with the enemy, follow the info provided by the infiltration team to get to the hostage, get the hostage out the place and into the protection perimeter set by the external team and repeat until everyone is safe.

In the real world, the retrieval team often fights their way to the hostage only to find one too many problems to fix at the second if they do want the hostage alive. They're the backup for every other team, they are the ones running in and out of the battlefield, as many times as it's needed. Although, while the hostage is alive and it's capable of being saved, they maintain their status and only the retrieval matters.

Long range is not really necessary, 'cause their mission is not to be noticed. They need to be fast as to not get caught and in case there's no way around it, close combat is a priority. They

[inosakutema]

↳ 𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐒𝐀𝐊𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐀 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝

Do you know about the signature techniques of Ino Yamanaka, Sakura Haruno and Temari? Each one has a distinctive jutsu that makes them special, from different ranges and utility in the battlefield, to family traditions and difficulty.

The three kunoichi are versatile in their own way and are experts of these techniques.

Learn everything about the Mind Body Switch, Cherry Blossom Impact and Sickle Weasel. All information comes from the official Naruto databooks, manga and official Wiki.

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⇨ INO YAMANAKA'S MIND BODY SWITCH: the heart and soul of the Yamanaka family.

The Mind Body Switch technique or Mind Transfer jutsu, is the signature technique of Ino Yamanaka and members from the Yamanaka family.

This technique is considered Hiden ninjutsu or Hijutsu, which are secret techniques that are transmitted from generation to generation from parents to children of the same family. This means that these techniques can be taught to anyone who is eligible to use them.

The Yamanaka family uses chakra and mental energy to perform it, which means that it falls into the category of Ninjutsu through Yin Release.

Using a special hand seal that binds the index and middle fingers together and the thumbs, Ino releases her own mind, forcing it into the subject thus usurping the opponents body.

Their consciousness moves slowly towards the target and travels in a straight line. If Ino misses her target, it will take her several minutes to regain consciousness. To prevent this from happening, the Mind Body Switch should only be used against targets that are stationary or have been restrained. 

However, the risk is great. Because it propels all of Ino's mental energy, the shooting range and number of hits are considerably limited without a source of external chakra. Should the jutsu succeed, the possessed body of the opponent is hers to manipulate as she pleases but that means her own body is left defenseless during its utilization and unsuited to face multiple opponents or without aid. On top of that, damage to the possessed body will be reflected on Ino's real body and therefore not suited to defeat enemies.

Shikamaru protects Ino's vulnerable body.

For this reason, it must be used in InoShikaCho formations when Shikamaru has immobilized the enemy. Otherwise, she needs someone to guard and protect her body when she uses her technique.

Originally, this technique was developed for intelligence-gathering missions rather than suited for battle. Ino can take advantage of the target's physical and sensory abilities, such as a bird's flight to recon an area to locate enemies or obtain information that would normally be inaccessible for her, such as copying Sakura Haruno's exam answers.

Ino uses Sakura to copy in the Chūnin Exams. Ino uses a bird to find the Akatsuki members.

Although her teammate Chōji Akimichi once said that it is very difficult to escape from Mind Body Switch, it is possible in some cases.

Generally, the technique lasts until Ino chooses to release it; however, if Ino is low on chakra or targets with strong wills, such as Sakura Haruno, or more powerful chakra such as Obito Uchiha, can force users from her control.

Inner-Sakura and Obito release Mind Body Switch.

Due to her low chakra, Ino could not fully control her opponent Sakura in the preliminaries. Inside her rival's mind, Ino fought for control, but it was Sakura's inner stronger will of her own what beat the jutsu. It must also be said that Sakura was low on chakra after her fight against three Sound ninja and had gone several days without sleep to protect her teammates.

Likewise, Obito's powerful chakra and strength prevented total control over his body to immobilize him. He quickly noticed Ino's presence in his body and shook her off without effort.

However, Ino was successful in controlling Obito for a few moments and cause him enough confusion to quickly to deflect a Tailed Beast bomb in a few seconds. She was also able to control Kinkaku who was using some of Kurama's chakra.

Ino controls Kinkaku.

These characteristics of Mind Body Switch make it a supplementary jutsu of short-mid range and C-rank or chūnin level. Ino has displayed the ability to perform it from long ranges with aid.

Additionally, the rest of the techniques of the Yamanaka family also derive from this particular technique and all belong to Yin Release energy, such as Inoichi Yamanaka's signature Mind Body Disturbance jutsu or Fū Yamanaka's signature Mind Puppet Switch Curse Seal jutsu, each member having their own technique.

Their Mind Body Transmission Technique and Psycho Mind Transmission is also based on projecting mental energy to others to access their minds and communicate telepathically or read their memories, such as Mind Body Switch and the like.

Ino's mastery, her reaction speed, the ability to control her enemy in seconds before they cancel her jutsu and the distance with which she can perform it currently make her the best user of Mind Body Switch of her family.

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⇨ SAKURA HARUNO'S CHERRY BLOSSOM IMPACT: A jutsu only for the strongest kunoichi.

The Cherry Blossom Impact technique, Cherry Blossom Clash jutsu or Sakura Strike, is the signature technique unique to Sakura Haruno and her daughter Sarada Uchiha.

This technique derives from chakra control applied to superhuman strength or monster strength, which complements ninjutsu and medical ninjutsu with taijutsu. This superhuman strength is the basis of Sakura's Cherry Blossom Impact and Tsunade's Heavenly Foot of Pain technique.

Superhuman strength is the application of refined chakra control used in medical ninjutsu for combat use. The chakra is accumulated in any part of the body, increasing its strength and durability, to perform deadly blows or self protection. In Sakura's case, she accumulates it in her fists for use in conjunction with her taijutsu.

The use of this chakra control technique is extremely difficult and only applies to the best medical ninja. This is why only Tsunade and her disciple Sakura Haruno can use this technique of superhuman strength. In Sarada's case, she inherited it directly from her mother.

The three kunoichi use chakra and taijutsu to perform it, which means that it falls into the category of Ninjutsu through Medical Ninjutsu and Taijutsu.

The Cherry Blossom Impact is an adaptation of medical ninjutsu that requires delicate chakra control and concentration on a greater level. Chakra of the greatest intensity kneaded instantaneously in the body is concentrated in its entirety in the right or left fist and released at once at the moment of impact with the target, which requires concentration and control.

Sakura defeats multiple Ten-Tail clones and defeats an enemy in one blow.

The ground struck by the fist is pulverized by the immense impact, sending minute particles scattering through the air like flower petals. One punch can easily pulverize even a boulder, unalive opponents with a single strike, knock down several targets at once and cause collateral damage to the surroundings.

She has easily smashed the ground several times for combat or look for targets, destroyed giant rocks, shatter puppets into pieces, punched giant cubes made of magnetic steel out of her way, broken Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's horn and cause her damage in the face and destroyed a target's internal organs in one blow.

With outstanding ability, Sakura dodges attacks from hundreds of enemies at once. The ability to evade enemy attacks was one of the most important things Sakura learned during her apprenticeship, Tsunade explained the importance of evasion skills and gave her pupil special trainig. The training for this application is quite arduous, as the Sannin and Hokage Tsunade repeatedly came at Sakura with full force to help her learn.

Sakura dodges and fights Sasori's puppets at the same time.

Dodging and continuing her attack with Cherry Blossom Impact is one of Sakura's specialties, like fighting the numerous puppets from Sasori and the dozens of Toneri Ōtsutsuki puppets powered by the Tenseigan.

To speak of the use of superhuman strength, we must also speak of the jutsu from which it derives: Medical Ninjutsu.

Mastering medical ninjutsu is extremely difficult since one must be able to delicately control chakra as well as have extensive knowledge and perseverance. This art is considered Yang Release.

In order to apply medical ninjutsu in the midst of battle, one must have considerable skills. For Sakura, being able to apply medical ninjutsu in battle and in her taijutsu is an easy task. A feat that even Shizune could not achieve with her seniority as Tsunade's other disciple.

Sakura self heals in battle. Sakura's chakra infused fist against Toneri's puppets.

These characteristics of Cherry Blossom Impact make it an offensive jutsu of short-mid range and C-rank or chūnin level. Because of the use of Medical Ninjutsu it can be considered an A-rank or beyond jōnin level technique.

Medical ninja of Sakura and Tsunade's level apply chakra control and Medical Ninjutsu to techniques freely, while other medical ninja would find it too difficult and opt to perform regular medical ninjutsu. The rest of taijutsu-applied Medical Ninjutsu techniques or chakra enhanced strength techniques like Tsunade's Heavenly Foot of Pain use the same method.

However, their Strength of a Hundred Seal and Summoning Technique: Katsuyu do derive from chakra control but with S-rank difficulty, as well as Sakura's sealing and sensory techniques.

Sakura's mastery, her application in different fields and her superior chakra control applied to strength make her the strongest kunoichi and the best medical ninja in the world, surpassing her master at 17 years old.

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⇨ TEMARI'S SICKLE WEASEL: the wind that blows the entire universe away.

The Sickle Weasel technique or Wind Scythe jutsu, is the signature technique of Temari and possibly Wind Release users of Sunagakure.

This technique is not officially considered Hiden ninjutsu, although only the native inhabitants of the Land of the Wind and Sunagakure use this technique in this special way.

Temari uses chakra and the element Wind to perform it, which means that it falls into the category of Ninjutsu through Wind Release.

Through the use of her Giant Folding Fan, Temari creates a whirlwind of blades.

Tessenjutsu is a skill generally taught in Sunagakure and it makes this jutsu fall into the category of Bukijutsu and Tessenjutsu.

Temari's Giant Folding Fan is a reference to the Japanese war fan, known as Tessen. The fan is made of metal and has three purple circles inside that she calls stars. The strength of the gusts of wind he creates is measured by how open the fan is and how many stars are shown at the moment he performs the jutsu: one star is the weakest, three the strongest.

Temari can use her fan to fly and glide for a few seconds.

The large size of the fan means that Temari can use it to protect her body against weapons or physical attacks, to glide in the air or as a club. It can also deflect kunai and shuriken when opened and can be lodged in the ground for balance or measure an area.

By freely manipulating the gale brought forth by her giant fan, the many air currents collide and create vacuum pockets. The person enveloped by this gale is assaulted by countless invisible blades, carving up their body. Also, the strong wind power will blow away any incoming projectile weapons and will even make the opponent unable to stay on their feet.

The intensity of the wind created by the fan.

This jutsu is adaptable and requires precise control.

Temari can control the form that the winds take, such as by making them into a tornado that lifts targets into the air. She can also alter the intensity of the wind's cutting power, such as by having them cut open a samurai's armor without harming the samurai inside and deflect genjutsu waves.

The invisible blades created by the air turbulence slash at the surface of a large tree, being able to destroy an entire forest within seconds. The sound echoes like an extremely sharp knife.

The strength of the wind can be increased substantially.

Temari can create hurricane winds and increase the range of her technique to a higher range. She can also join forces with other tessenjutsu users and deflect Ten-Tail bombs.

Additionally, the rest of the tessenjutsu techniques also derive from this particular technique, such as her other signature Great Sickle Weasel jutsu or Cast Net and Great Cast Net. Her Summoning Technique: Kamatari also uses this jutsu and its named after this yōkai.

These characteristics of Sickle Weasel make it an offensive jutsu of short-mid range and C-rank or chūnin level. Because of the vast range of the different stars of the Tessen it can be considered an all-ranges technique.

Temari's mastery, her proficiency in tessenjutsu and Wind Release techniques and her versatility make her the best Wind user of Sunagakure and possibly the world.

-

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[leportraitducadavre]

I’m not giving her Tsukuyomi or Domain Expansion, rather an ability works similar to them since Ino can transfer her mind.

I apologize if my response sounded like me trying to dictate what you can or can't, should or shouldn't do in your fanfic. It's your story and, after all, it must be done to fit your tastes, not mine.

With that taken out of the way, it truly depends on how you want Ino's character to be, I personally don't enjoy OP characters (but there's definitely a market that consumes them, as Sakura fandom is full of those), and Ino is a character that specifically doesn't need to fight even, as her importance within the system relies elsewhere. I have some posts about her and/or Team 10 and their dynamic, so you can check those if you'd like to read some things on the matter.

Moriarty - The infinite “who’s most powerful Kunoichi” debate...

Moriarty - You said in one of your post that shikamaru & ino...

Moriarty - Shikamaru being sexist was only shown as his own...

Moriarty - There aren’t Yamanaka clan techniques that...

Moriarty - I think canon did the Yamanaka, and thus Ino,... (this one might be of interest to your fanfic)

[primnroses]

your top 10 konoha kunoichi?

I don't know if you mean in Naruto or in Boruto so I'm gonna go with the former because there's more to choose from. Got me thinking about who to add from 6 to 10.

10. Moegi Kazamatsuri: I really didn't know who to add so I chose her because I don't know if Karui is still a kunoichi or if she retired too. Moegi is an okay character, she doesn't do anything great but she became a jōnin instructor so she might be good.

9. Sumire Kakei: There's nothing specific that attracts me about Sumire but she can fight and she has a cute summon. I happened to watch her arc because it was the first ones back in 2017 and I didn't particularly dislike it. She's kinda cute too and her pastel colors remind me of Sakura.

8. Ino Yamanaka: There's nothing outstanding but she's friends with Sakura and also Temari now so she gets the point. Her portrayal in Naruto was good; she's not the most powerful ninja but she's a great support with sensing and Mind Transfer, and her teamwork with Shikamaru and Chōji is really cool. But then came Boruto and her writing is one of the most disrespectful and random among female characters. She's either just there to be there or there to collect L's from the bad management of a unit she's supposed to lead. And the worst is that it's humiliated very often.

7. Mirai Sarutobi: I can't say much about her but I really love her story in Konoha Shinden in her bodyguard mission. I also like that she took after her mother in genjutsu even if it's just shown in fillers because for me it's one of the most interesting fighting styles. I wish there was more of her and her bond with Shikamaru too.

6. Sarada Uchiha: I've said before than I'm not the biggest Sarada fan but she's decent. She's the daughter of the strongest couple of Konoha so she's a brilliant student with a lot of potential. I only like how Kishimoto writes her, I have mixed feelings about her in Boruto because sometimes she says really weird stuff that really doesn't make sense. Also, she could be used much more better currently than she is.

5. Chōchō Akimichi: I don't need to say anything because this girl is amazing and it helps a lot that she looks just like her mother. An icon. She needs to learn kenjutsu

4. Tenten: Truly sad that she's the same background character as ever but I've always liked Tenten. For me, the real ninja of the show who became powerful because of her own hard work. Not enough credit for her when she's Konoha's master of bukijutsu (among hundreds of ninja that use bukijutsu too), and she's the best of them. This girl is the top of something despite being sidelined, yes! She even started her own business from zero and is a proctor for the Chūnin Exams so Tenten is one of the most accomplished kunoichis.

3. Hanabi Hyūga: I know seeing Hanabi in the top 3 is very random but she has become one of my favorites since Boruto started and I watched it from time to time. First of all, she really surpassed her sister despite being from the branch family (although she never got the curse) at just 5 years old. Starting with the fact that she was a determined Gentle Fist machine, as genin she had the Byakugan perception of an adult and she became the new heiress for the title of head. Those qualities made her a jōnin with her own genin team and she's now in charge of passing down all the jutsu of the clan. It's also described in novels that she still trains to succeed her father as the Head of the Hyūga Clan, one of the noble families with the Akimichi, Uchiha and Aburame; she's a promising character. If they don't show and write this great woman it's because they don't want to.

2. Temari Nara: She's my favorite Naruto girl but this time she gets the second spot because she's not very present in Boruto, although it's not important for me, and because compared to my top 1 she's a little bit behind. Shes's still fierce, powerful and beautiful; and one of my most favorite things is that she's close with Sakura and she makes a cute trio with her and Ino too. One of the best things for me was that she was the Kazekage's main pillar, but for obvious reasons she had to leave Sunagakure. Nonetheless, she's still their Ambassador and a jōnin of Konoha too, which is more powerful than the majority of girls in this list so she's an icon. I'm pretty sad that her involvement in the series is through fillers because she's one of the most useful female characters in my opinion, and with a lot of experience.

1. Sakura Haruno/Uchiha: She's my favorite character ever so of course she's my number one kunoichi. From zero to hero, she's the same as Tenten in terms of becoming powerful through hard work and dedication, but this girl only had intelligence and perfect chakra control that couldn't flourish by herself, so Tsunade helped and raised her to become the strongest kunoichi and best medic-ninja in the world. She rose to the top, was promoted to jōnin (the only kunoichi of her class to achieve this) and still completes difficult long-term missions, is a pioneer in mental health and opened new facilities dedicated to medicine like the Children's Therapy Center in her village and the others too, became the Head of Konoha's Medical Department, directs the main hospital, teaches medical ninjutsu and is considered the only female pillar of Konoha too (and is the Hokage's bodyguard too). My girl can multitask! All the while she raised the most brilliant new gen kid practically by herself. That's an accomplished female character. She might not be in Boruto these days, but to me she still remains the most useful and promising kunoichi that is sidelined because the writing is terrible. Being the face of medicine of Konoha and a scientist expert in many fields like poison, she's not written the way she should. She's in charge of the most important sub-division of the village, one that maintains the shinobi of the Konoha and the citizens in top condition to continue their job and takes care of the main cast after every fight. But despite the bad writing, Sakura grew to be an amazing woman.

[lunaneko14]

Gotta love how, in canon, Hinata manages to have three combination attacks: one with Neji (the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Wall Palm), one with Ino (the Byakugan-guided Mind Transfer), and one with Naruto (the Gentle Step Spiralling Twin Lion Fists). Guess how many combination attacks Sakura has with someone else in canon? You guessed it: absolutely none. 😏

NoOoooooOoooOOOOOO KweEn SaKuRa iS tHe sTronGesT KunOicHi!!!!!!!

[veenia]

Ino Being A Boss

[blacksunlover6]

Happy birthday to the Village Hidden in the Leaves’s, Shikadai Nara!

Happy birthday to the Village Hidden in the Leaves’s, Ino Yamanaka!

Member of the Ino-Shika-Cho Trio and rival kunoichi to Sakura. Uses medical jutsu and can also send her spirit out to possess others with her Mind Transfer Jutsu. She fills a support role within Team 10, the three-man cell led by Asuma.

Both were born under the Western zodiac sign of Libra ♎️. (Posted September 23, 2021)

[bushcloverprincess]

The Top 10 Best Ino Yamanaka Moments in Naruto and Naruto Shippuden Manga 🏆:

10🎖- Healing Naruto

Apart from Ino's Yamanaka Clan Techniques, Mind Reading Techniques and Sensory Perception, Ino is also a Medical Ninja. The Databook explains Ino learned medical ninjutsu with her thirsts for knowledge and good instincts. It also explains she is skilled enough to make immediate conclusions on a patient's condition and heal fatal wounds. However, her Medical Abilities were never really explored in the Manga, specifically. The manga has only two moments of Ino using her Medical Ninjutsu: One is her failed attempt to save Asuma from death, and second is her healing Naruto after his first use of Wind Release: Rasenshuriken against Kakuzu in Team 10's quest to take revenge for Asuma. As we all know, the Rasen-Shuriken was declared to be a dangerous poison by Tsunade, the Greatest Medical Ninja of all time, because it inflicts a severe damage to the user and hence it was forbidden. As such after Naruto's first use of this technique, he was in a serious condition, and without the medical aid from Ino, it was highly unlikely Naruto could have survived until they reached Konoha for further treatment. Eventhough not very noticeable, it was Ino's best moment with Medical ninjutsu in the manga.

9🎖- Her part in the Ino-Shika-Cho Formation-E (Human Bullet Yo-Yo) in the War

Formation Ino–Shika–Chō are formations used by the members of the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clan members designed to use each member's abilities in the best way possible that complements the others, as a result of their long history of working together. Shikamaru, Ino and Chōji represents the 16th generation of this legendary Ino-Shika-Chō trio, with each one of them being equally crucial for every formation. Their one of the most iconic moment is the formation E (Human Bullet Yo-Yo) they used in the War, against the Mini Ten-Tail Clones. In this formation, Chōji increases his size, while Shikamaru connects their two shadows. At the same time, Ino detects any enemies with her sensory ninjutsu and transmits this information directly to Shikamaru. As Chōji begins to attack with the Human Bullet Tank technique, Ino continues to track their opponents so that Shikamaru can direct Chōji's movement by manipulating the shadow. In the telepathic dimension of Ino and Shikamaru, this technique when shown as a silhouette looks similar to Ultraman. This is the moment Ino demonstrated her great sensory perception, as well as her new ability of combining her telepathy with her sensory perception to relay what she senses to her allies, being one of the best moments of Ino.

8🎖- Spying on the Akatsuki

In Team 10's quest to take revenge for Asuma's death from the monstrous Akatsuki Organization, their first task was to locate the Akatsuki duo who murdered their sensei. As mentioned by Kakashi, it was going to be quite a wide search, and of course, Ino, being a Yamanaka, was best suited for reconnaissance and espionage in the team. Ino used her Mind Transfer Jutsu on a Hawk to recon the entire desert to pinpoint the location of their target. This was the first and only time in the Manga Ino used the Mind Transfer Jutsu for what it is originally intended to: Spying. This also revealed that Ino gets access to all the abilities of the victim of her possession, such as being able to fly when she possessed a bird. Thus, Ino became the key to Team 10's fight against the Akatsuki, and eventhough Ino was not able to contribute much during the fight, due to her status as a medical ninja and her abilities not being suited for battles, Ino fulfilled her role as a spy, medical assistance and sensor for the team perfectly.

7🎖- Saving Choji's life twice from Edo-Asuma

In the Fourth Shinobi World War, the most challenging moment for Team 10 was having to fight against their reanimated late sensei, Asuma. Out of the three, Chōji was most hesitant at confronting his teacher while Ino and Shikamaru suppressed their emotions as they realized they are the only ones who can stop Asuma with the least risk to the Army. Throughout the fight Chōji failed to hit Asuma twice; Both of the times putting himself into risks. Both of these times, the one who saved his life was Ino. First time, Ino tackled Chōji away from Asuma's Dust Cloud Jutsu with her impressive strength and speed, while shikamaru failed to react so quickly to save him. Second time, when Chōji gets distracted midway before landing a blow, Asuma takes the advantage and attacks him. Chōji however stops Asuma's attack, much to everyone's shock to see Chōji reacting, before realising that it was Ino who had transferred her consciousness into him, saving his life once more which also lead Shikamaru to comment on Ino's quick thinking. Ino, while present in Chōji's body fought Asuma one-on-one with her surprisingly impressive Taijutsu. In this fight, Ino also demonstrated her new ability of taking control over more than one body at once. Being useful for the teammates, being able to fight side by side with them while saving their lives is indeed one of the greatest achievement for a female in Naruto.

6🎖- Catching Sakura in her Chakra Hair Trap

Ino's strategy against Sakura in the Chunin Exams Preliminarily match was objectively one of the most iconic and best moments of Ino in Naruto Part 1. While seemingly offended by Sakura's insults, Ino cut her hair off in the midst of the battle. Ino then got Sakura into lowering her guard by seemingly using the Mind Transfer Technique, despite Sakura being a moving target. While Sakura easily escaped the Jutsu and thought Ino lost her mind, Ino actually didn't use the technique and used her scattered hair to create a chakra rope to restrain Sakura's movements, and thus, guaranteed that her Mind Body Switch Technique won't miss. She then reveals her previous attempt of using the Mind Transfer Jutsu was all an act, to fool Sakura so that she'll run right into her trap. Not only she surprised Sakura with this strategy, but the entire Chūnin Exam audience including her own teammates and Jōnins like Asuma and Kakashi as well because no one could predict Ino's strategy and no one believed Ino could hit Sakura with her jutsu. It was a perfect portrayal of Ino's battle intelligence and the fact that she graduated top from her academy class and that she was an exceptional female among the rookie kunoichis.

5🏅- Striking 'poisonous' flowers into a bully's mouth

Ino's most admirable personality trait is that she radiates herself with self-love and confidence while pushing others to do the same. She loves nurturing flower buds and watching them bloom into beautiful flowers. As such, she took Sakura under her wings, saved her from loneliness, defended her from bullies, supported her and encouraged her to embrace her flaws rather than hiding them. Throughout the years Ino watched Sakura bloom into a beautiful flower, and according to Sakura, she was forever indebted. Once when they were kids, while collecting flowers for an academy lesson, Sakura was confronted by some bullies. Ino quickly chased them away by striking some flowers into one of the bully's mouth and claiming it to be 'poisonous'. Ino apologized for mistaking them for flower vases because their 'heads were so empty'. When the bullies escaped, Ino, the daughter of a botanist explains to Sakura that only the root-tip of that particular flower species is poisonous and hence it'll cause no harm to them. Sakura, like all of us couldn't help but admire Ino's skills, vast knowledge and maturity even as a little kid. This was certainly iconic coming from a 7-9 year old girl.

4🏅- Stepping in to save Team 7 in the Forest of Death

Ino's sweet friendship with Sakura did not end well. When Sakura was finally able to get a hold of herself, she found out Ino has a crush on the same boy she does. Not wanting to be under Ino's shadow anymore, Sakura took an end to their friendship, decalring Ino as her rival with an aim to surpass her. Ino accepted the rivalry resigned to the fate. While in the Forest of Death for the second phase of the Chūnin Exams, Ino and her teammates witnessed Sakura attempting to protect Naruto, Sasuke and Lee who were all unconscious from some dangerous Orochimaru's pawns. While Sakura was terribly getting beaten to death, Ino had to take a very tough decision; whether to save her and her teammates lives and escape or to step in to save Sakura and her teammates. Despite the rivalry with Sakura, Despite Team 10 being the weakest trio in the Chūnin Exams thus having no chance against those opponents, and despite being in a competition with one another, Ino's decision was to risk her and her teammates lives to help Sakura. An exemplary for Ino's bravery and the love she still has for Sakura. Ino's decision to help Sakura not only saved Sakura, but Sasuke, Naruto and Lee as well. Team 10 was able to put up a fight and buy enough time for Sasuke to wake up.

🥉- Shutting down Kinkaku

Kinkaku was a Pseudo-Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Beast as well as a descendant of the Sage of Six Paths, the God himself. He is well-known for his prowess, causing shinobis to tremble in fear when he saw him. Along with his brother, Kinkaku was able to defeat the Second Hokage, Tobirama, leaving him on the brink of death. When reanimated in the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kinkaku alone nearly demolished the entire First Division and inflicted massive casualties, nearly leading the Fourth Raikage to disregard his duties as leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces in order to personally confront him. No one was strong enough to even restrain him, he quickly got rid of Choji's Human Boulder and easily broke-off Shikamaru's Shadow Possession. However, Kinkaku was outdone by Ino's Mind Transfer Technique. Ino defeated him by taking the control over his body shutting him down, forcing him to respond to Darui, who had Kohaku no Jōhei, ultimately sealing him. This lead Ino's father Inoichi to compliment her strength and speed of the Mind Transfer Jutsu. Being able to defeat Kinkaku was undoubtedly one of the Ino's biggest feat which surprised us all.

🥈- Connecting everyone in the entire Shinobi Alliance with a telepathic link

In the Fourth Shinobi World War, after the Headquater of the Allied Shinobi Forces was annihilated by Ten-Tail's attack, Ino was bound to replace her father's role in the Headquarter. Right after her father's death, with no time to grieve, she became the Head of the Communications for the Allied Shinobi Forces. With the Yamanaka Clan's Telepathy technique, Ino surpassed her own limits and successfully managed to connect every single shinobi in the battlefield via a two-way telepathic link for all the communications made within the alliance, without using a head gear for her aid. She connected everyone together in multiple occasions, most significant moments include relaying the Hand Signs of an Earth-Style Jutsu to everyone in order to summon thousands of defensive walls to sheild against another Tailed Beast Bomb, connecting Hashirama to the approaching 5 Kages and the rest of the shinobi alliance to relay his plans, Connecting Shikamaru to the Alliance to motivate them, Transmitting Naruto and Hashirama's feelings and memories to everyone reuniting the Shinobi Alliance once more, etc. Some may argue this was her best moment.

🥇- Controlling the Ten-Tails twice

The Ten-Tails is said to be the progenitor of all that exists in the world. A God that created countries, it has the power to swallow oceans, split the land, and carry mountains. It was a combined form of a God, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki and the God Tree, the Origin of Chakra and all the Tailed Beasts. It was the strongest creature on Earth, utilising which Obito and Madara decalred a world war against the 5 Great Shinobi Nations. Ino, using her Mind Transfer Jutsu managed to control this Godly creature twice throughout the war. She achieved it by possessing Obito, and using him as a mean to control the Ten-Tails both the times. First time, she misdirected Ten-Tail's Beast Ball attack from the Shinobi Alliance, saving everyone's life, including Naruto's, low-key saving the world. Second time, amped with Kurama chakra, she managed to restrain the movements of Ten-Tails and redirect it's wooden spike attacks from a group of Ninjas saving their lives. Being able to control Ten-Tails twice is indeed the best feat of Ino in the entire series.

[luckyrave]

New Appreciation and Love: Ino Yamanaka

Ino Yamanaka was always a character that was really cool due to her ninjutsu ability with the mind transfer jutsu, but especially by Part 2 she became a pretty gorgeous and a real hottie. Nobody can deny how beautiful and sexy Ino Yamanaka is out of the rest of the Konoha girls.  In terms of characterization I did feel she was kind of underutilized from the middle portion of the timeskip, but in the War Arc she had a few highlighted moments that really stood out such as redirecting the Ten-Tails attack away from the battlefield. At the same time, also being able to channel all of her inner and connecting it to the Allied Shinobi Forces that was just so awesome. 

When it came to the series finale with the manga I definitely had my criticisms with how certain scenarios occurred, and felt there could have been more to make a truly satisfying conclusion. Fast forward to 2021-2022 when I decided to revisit the naruto series again and found a few new appreciation for things I didn’t really have before.  Last year, I came to realize that there was some level of fondness I have towards NaruHina. is it perfect? No of course not, but they’ve got moments that are nice for the most part.  This led me to reflect on other aspects of the series, and Ino Yamanaka is one of those aspects. < - no no no the “She’s so sexy  I could just bust right now!” lol! It’s actually far beyond a waifu fantasy notion many hold. I’ll be perfectly honest when I say it was a very simple aspect that really drew my attention about Ino Yamanaka after all these years.  

We are nearly a decade away removed since the Naruto manga and 6 years since Shippuden ended, and the one consistent topic people love to address are the same old pairing wars that’s been going on for years, or who is the better girl? Sakura Haruna?, or Hinata Hyuga? That is the conversation still going on to this very day in the Naruto fandom, and I’ve reached a point where I appreciate both Sakura & Hinata equally.  “Okay Lucky, where does Ino come into the picture?”  ->  This is exactly the point I’ve been building to and that is to me Ino Yamanaka is a really under appreciated character.

Only a small minority of the Naruto fandom these days showcase their support & love for Ino. Not to say that Ino isn’t exactly loved in the fanbase, but compared to Sakura and Hinata, I haven’t noticed a lot of love and appreciation for The Mind-Transfer Kunoichi. 

Finally,  Ino Yamanaka is great character because she’s very outspoken in speaking her mind about things that aren’t appealing to her,  but she’s also got an endearing personalty in showing kindess to her friends/family.  At the same time, She is very motivated in her drive when it pertains to the mission objective and running an amazing flower shop while being the head of the intelligence division. Unlike the other two Konoha girls, I really love that Ino was able to move on from her crush on Sasuke and really take things into perspective about the ninja world - > even if that part was breezed over in the main series. Yes, she is definitely quite the looker in being sexy, but the truth of the matter is Ino’s beauty simply compliments her character.  Was she underutilized during the run of the manga? Of course, but there is a lot more to her character beyond looks and people should recognize that about our beautiful flower girl ninja.  That is what makes her an underrated yet amazing kunoichi, Ino Yamanaka. 

A short tweet I made in support of Ino Yamanaka:  https://twitter.com/7LuckyChi/status/1660094283188248578?s=20

 That’s pretty much all I gotta for the time being but more support and love for Ino will be coming from yours truly, but until then I hope you all have an amazing day, night, etc. and remember show some love and appreciation for Ino Yamanaka! 

[oribeiratenten]

i get so mad thinking about the chuunin exams because like...

tenten was definitely the most prepared (if not powerful) konoha’s kunoichi in their age group at the time.

if tenten fought any other girl she would totally win, mostly because she was the only kohona girl who wasn’t clueless about what to do in a fight and went down to the battle ground confident and ready.

but they put her vs. temari (who was like the badass sand demon’s older sister) and she just looked helpless but damn... she could beat the shit out of several other characters so why not give her the chance!? man, the girl trained w/neji, lee and guy!! i mean...

ANYWAY in the end hinata loses to neji, tenten loses to temari and sakura vs. ino turned out a TIE (don’t even get me started on the perks of being in the main character’s team cause damn ino definitely got her with the hair & mind transfer move) and i’m just like...

... can’t a konoha girl just... win?

[kayparker20]

Inner Turmoil - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Unspeakable Plans Come Alight

FFN | AO3

                                ~Two Weeks Earlier~

“Sasuke…” Orochimaru hissed. “I hear your little blossom has become quite the kunoichi. Rumors say she rivals even the power of the great Tsunade.” He clicked his tongue thoughtfully.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the snake shinobi. “What about it? And she’s not my little blossom.” The raven hair man sneered.

Orochimaru chuckled softly. “The girl was willing to betray the village with you, perhaps you should consider her to be more of an asset, rather than an annoyance.” 

Sasuke continued to stare blankly at his current sensei, though he still refused to call him that. What could this man possibly want with Sakura? She was practically useless, and he had no wish to return to the Leaf village anytime soon. He had yet to kill Itachi, and he would not even begin to think of going back until then.

“And just how could some girl who cared more about her hair than being a proper ninja be an asset to me, Orochimaru?” 

Orochimaru watched the cold man before him. “She could be useful if she still harbors feelings for you. And it would seem she no longer cares for her hair. Did you not hear me the first time?” Orochimaru snapped. “She has incredible abilities she learned from Tsunade Senju, the fifth hokage and my old team mate.” He licked his lips. “I wonder if her medical abilities could fix these wretched arms, and then perhaps I wouldn’t need your pretty little face.” 

Sasuke glared at him in disgust. “That’s doubtful. I’ve already told you, I don’t care about my body as long as I get to kill Itachi and get my revenge.” He spat.

Orochimaru chuckled darkly. “But what if you could rebuild the Uchiha clan to its former glory? Lure that little apprentice into a trap. I bet with the right motivation, she would come running back to you.”

Sasuke thought for a moment, remembering the pride he used to feel for his clan. Really his need for revenge is based a little bit on pride, isn’t it? Not just the pain of watching his whole clan assassinated. And really, what good was revenge if you didn’t get to live with the accomplishment of getting it.

“What are your thoughts?” He sighed.

“We will kidnap that little Yamanaka girl,I have intel that tells me they are best friends. And she’s also an heir to one of the key clans in the village. I’m sure you’re aware of their mind control jutsus. Two birds with one stone, eh?”

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. “And just how do you plan to get into the village and kidnap her?”

“That will be your job.”

Sasuke looked at him again. “Is this just another test of my strength?” He growled.

Orochimaru grinned. “Oh, Sasuke, are you scared that you can’t get past them? Or maybe it’s Naruto you’re worried about.”

“I don’t care about Naruto. Or Sakura, or Kakashi. Not a single soul in that village matters to me more than my goal.” He said in a low tone. “I came to you for power, not to play your little games.”

The snake ninja shook his head. “Power comes in numbers. And what can I truly teach you when I can’t use my hands to teach you jutsu and hand signs?” He chuckled once more. “Besides, that little Haruno would make wonderful prodigies with your blood added into the mix. Tsunade’s strengths and healing abilities with your sharingan? It would be despicable power.” 

“You’re forgetting she tried to kill me.” He spat. “I’m pretty sure she’s lost interest.”

“Did she not hesitate in killing you?” Orochimaru inquired. “Love doesn’t die easy, especially in women. I almost had Tsunade in my grip at the thought of bringing back her deceased husband.”

Sasuke hated how he always seemed to have a new project, a new game, a new goal all the time. It seemed he only cared to prep him for the body transfer, as opposed to keeping his end of the deal, and he was about at his wit’s end with it. However, the thought of reviving his clan was something of interest. It hadn’t come to mind that he should continue his bloodline before the snake took over his body.

“What makes you think Sakura can fix your arms when Tsunade couldn’t?”

Orochimaru clicked his tongue in thought once again. “It was never found out if she could not, it was that she wouldn’t even try.”

Sasuke scoffed. “So let me get this straight. You want to kidnap the blonde annoyance, to lure think pink annoyance. Use me to entice her to come with us and then make her heal your arms?” 

Orochimari just smirked and licked his lips slowly. “That’s exactly my plan.”

                                     ~Present Time~

“Wherever you are, Sasuke, she’s moved on. Odd how she is attracted to the ones that are traumatized. Is it because she’s medic? Is there some kind of pull in the universe?” The once obnoxious and weak blonde shook his head. “No matter, at least Kakashi was willing to try…” 

Sasuke narrowed his eyes as Naruto looked in the direction of the woods where he stood, unaware the raven was actually there and hearing him. “We will still find you and we will bring you home one day.”

Sasuke was shocked to say the least. “Kakashi and Sakura…? That’s a bit… Weird?” He commented to no one but himself. He had to see this for himself, surely it had to be some sick joke. But why in the hell would Naruto sit out talking to the damn forest with some stupid sincerity towards me if it wasn’t real? 

Does the idiot do it often? Just stand on the damn wall and talk to the trees, as if he was talking to me? Has he cried his heart out with the pain of my departure? How pathetic, better to have spent that time training instead of pining after some astray team mate. No wonder he’s still a damned genin.

He made the hand signs to form a henge and approached the village entrance, feigning to be a traveler in need of shelter for the night. Just like he thought, they fell for it. He wandered through the village aimlessly, feeling out for any familiar chakra signatures. He’d run into Team Seven enough times over the years to still recognize their chakras.

He caught wind of Sakura and Kakashi’s chakra coming from one of the bars. He went into the Shuriken, vaguely remembering that many jounin liked this particular bar. And that when he saw it. 

Sakura was sitting awful close to Kakashi, their sides touching and Kakashi’s arm around her waist, his hand on her hip. Clearly they had gotten cozy. An unwelcome feeling of jealousy formed within him. How could she move on, claiming to have loved him? Why did he care that she moved on, didn’t he just claim he had no use for such a useless girl? 

He also saw Ino, sitting all cozy with Choji, which was a little surprising. Talk about a downgrade, Sasuke thought to himself. However, that feeling of possessiveness didn’t flow in his veins at the sight of Ino with someone else.

He moved closer wanting to hear what was being said. 

“Regardless, if he had laid a finger on you that night, I wouldn’t have given a damn about him being a civilian. Neither should you when you’re about to be assaulted. Granted you could barely walk 10 minutes later, your chakra control was probably already affected by then.”

“For being around Tsunade so much, you’d think she would handle her liquor better…” 

“Shame, you were an awful cute drunk.”

“Oh, Sai? Naruto and him get along great now. But he is still amused by antagonizing Naruto from time to time.”

Sasuke scowled at the conversation. Hearing Kakashi refer to her as being a cute drunk was fucking weird. What was he, fourteen years older than us? And he went after Sakura?

Odd how she is attracted to the ones that are traumatized…

Naruto’s words echoed in his mind, angered once again by the idea that she actually could have pursued Kakashi herself. What could have possibly gone wrong to suddenly make her have some change of heart and not love him anymore? They had counted on that very expectation that she was still infatuated with me, in order to get her to us. Now, what the hell are they going to do? Damnit. 

He continued watching them, his blood boiling as he watched Sakura whisper in his ear. Annoyed that Sakura and Ino seemed restless, looking around the bar but not quite pinpointing the cause of their distress. Were they really strong enough to sense an unwanted presence now? He had still been doubtful that Sakura had become a formidable shinobi, but now it seemed that it may be true, as she scanned the room with a nervous look in her eyes. 

She knew she was being watched, but she couldn’t tell by who. He smirked. He was still superior to her, of course he was. 

As he heard them begin to leave, warning of keeping Ino and Sakura under protection and other bullshit of the like, Sasuke felt the plan wasn’t totally screwed. It was obvious Ino and Sakura were close. Perhaps he could still kidnap Ino and she could just be held for ransom. He kidnaps her, and in exchange for her safety, Sakura has to come with him to Orochimaru. That could work, Sakura is probably some self sacrificing ninja now if she’s a medic. 

He decided to follow Kakashi and Sakura as they walked to his apartment, not even shocking to Sasuke it was the same one he had seven years ago. He perched on a roof and watched as she changed into Kakashi’s clothes. Taking notice of the more athletic build her body had now and even some scars, as opposed to the girlish, untouched skin in his memory. He watched as she laid in Kakashi's bed and he lay behind her and held her close to him, like he actually had something to lose again. 

“Awe, the Copy Nin finally let some emotions out, has he?” He chuckled darkly. “What will you do when she comes running back into my arms, Sensei?” 

And that when he sensed it. He had been careless, and now he had been spotted. He stared back at Kakashi lazily, uncaring. His former sensei’s gaze had been hard and he looked ready to kill as he brought his arms around Sakura even tighter.

“Tell the blossom I said hello, Sensei.” Sasuke smirked before disappearing into the darkness. 

Kakashi stiffened, having been staring out his window when he spotted the form on the room facing the direction of his apartment, and upon closer inspection, realized there were red eyes looking at them. Despite the obvious henge, that’s when he knew she and Ino were both being watched, and that it had to be far from good. Only two people that possessed those eyes were alive, and he was pretty sure the elder of the two had no interest in Sakura. His arms tightened around Sakura, now certain he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight.

He laid awake all night, trying to figure what to say to Sakura. He had to tell her, she had to be on her guard. He didn’t want her to leave his sight, but he already knew she wouldn’t stand to be stuck in the house or to not go to work. 

Then there was that tiny piece of that still feared that she still had feelings for Sasuke, that she would drop him in an instant. No matter how much he knew she was serious about him, especially after the talk with Tsunade, there was still part of him that couldn’t let go of that fear of losing her. 

And most importantly out of all this. Why was Sasuke here? Why was he lurking in the bar and watching them in his apartment? It just didn’t seem right. What was his motive? And why didn’t he notice his chakra signature? Had he slacked and let his guard down, being so happy around Sakura? Well it won’t be such anymore.

How would Naruto react to this situation? He still swears to bring Sasuke back. Will they fight again? That went rough for both of them last time that happened.

He stared up at the ceiling, contemplating what he would do. He needed to tell Naruto as soon as possible as well. As well as Tsunade, Choji, Asuma and Ino who should know this information as well. He couldn’t believe how easily Sasuke had gotten into the village, how was he not noticed? Even with the henge, the guards should have been able to see through that… Unless he used genjutsu on them. Kakashi sighed heavily

He looked over at Sakura, her pink tresses covering his pillows, her smaller form clinging to his side. The sun was beginning to come up and she would have to get up for work soon. He ran his fingers through her hair before kissing her forehead softly. “Sakura…” He said softly. 

He would protect her no matter what. He’d die before he let something happen to her. It was the cold hard truth. No one had meant this much to him before and he wasn’t going to lose her. 

“Sakura…” He called out a little louder and she groaned. “You need to get up for work.” He chuckled softly, her unwillingness to get up somehow making his heart squeeze.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” She grumbled before opening her eyes and rubbing them. She huffed a strand of her hair out of her face before sitting up. “Last night was still weird.”

He nodded and sighed. “Yeah, about that. We need to talk to Tsunade and make sure there is extra guard around the hospital for yours and Ino’s safety. And no missions.” 

Sakura frowned at his last statement but nodded solemnly. “It’s not like I’d been going on missions recently anyway…” She shrugged, seeming only slightly bothered.

“You’re not only our team’s medic, but one of the best medics in the village. We can’t afford to lose you because you’re stubborn.” He chuckled and kissed her cheek. “Now come on, before the gambling Hokage comes here looking for you.” 

Sakura smiled softly and hugged him tight before getting up and retrieving her clothes. She took a look at them and scowled. “This dress is a far cry from professional wear…” 

Kakashi slid out of bed. “I was well aware, I woke you up with enough time for us to go back to your place and get your normal clothing.”

He watched as she turned to look at the clock for the first time and her shoulders sagged. He quickly got ready and walked besides her. “Did you sleep okay? You look a little…” He wasn’t sure how to finish that without being hurtful.

She just shook her head silently before leaning into him. “Let’s just go. I need a shower.” He simply nodded in response, not quite sure how to comfort her.

Once he had dropped her off at the hospital for her shift, he went straight to the Hokage tower. He knocked on the door lightly and was surprised to hear an awake and sober voice come through the wood.

“Come in.”

He stepped inside. “We have an emergency and we will need to summon Naruto.” 

Tsunade instantly frowned before pointing at the ceiling. “Well that part is done, now what is the danger?”

Naruto dropped down from the ceiling, instantly sensing the killing distress coming off his team captain. “Kakashi, what’s the matter?” He asked seriously.

Kakashi looked at Naruto, not sure how to say the news other than getting straight to the point. “Sasuke was in the village last night. I don’t know how he got past the guards, but Ino and Sakura felt like they were being watched towards the end of the night last night.” He scowled at the memories. “Sakura barely slept. Just as she had fallen asleep, I spotted him in a henge sitting on a rooftop watching us. I was only able to tell it was him because he had his sharingan activated.”

“And you did nothing!” Tsunade stood up from her desk and yelled.

Naruto shook his head. “No.” He faced Tsunade. “What was he supposed to do? Wake Sakura and risk her panicking?” 

The tension in her body dissipated. “Does she know?” She asked.

Kakashi shook his head. “I couldn’t figure out how to tell her. She hadn’t slept good and didn’t feel well. She still felt wary and I didn’t want to tell her such news before she had to go into work.”

“We need to put ANBU all around the hospital.” Naruto said instantly. “And we need to tell Team 10 and Sakura somehow.”

Kakashi nodded in agreement. “That’s exactly why I’m here.”

“I am going to send them immediately.” Tsunade said fiercely. “Whatever is going on, it’s probably connected to Orochi-”

“Lady Tsunade!” Choji came barging into the office, Shikamaru and Asuma trailing behind him.

“Choji, you can’t just walk-”

“Asuma, he’s fine.” Tsunade assured, noticing the distress in the young man’s expression. “What is it?”

“Ino is gone! We can’t find her anywhere!” 

“What!” Naruto exclaimed.

“Damnit, it wasn’t soon enough!” Kakashi cursed.

“What is happening? What do you mean ‘not soon enough’, Kakashi?” Shikamaru raised an eyebrow.

Tsunade cursed under her breath. “Shizune, get Sakura here immediately!” She walked around her desk and leaned on the front of it, her eyebrows deeply furrowed. “When did you see her last?”

“I fell asleep on her couch last night after Asuma and I walked her home from the bar.” Choji was still frantic. “I woke up to her mother panicking that she was gone.” Choji’s bottom lip was trembling. “I was supposed to protect her.”

Asuma grabbed his shoulder. “Choji, it is not your fault.”

Kakashi shook his head. “It’s not. None of us sensed him last night.”

Asuma frowned. “Who..?”

Sakura walked into her office and ran a hand through her locks, letting out a heavy sigh. She set her patient charts on her desk and went over to start a cup of coffee. 

She still felt that feeling of being watched. She still couldn’t find anything that seemed out of the ordinary and it was getting on her last nerve. She hated this restless feeling. She sank down in her chair and flipped through the charts. Everything was minor meaning there was nothing that would require her full attention to distract her.

She tried to think about being in Kakashi’s arms, how safe it had felt to be in his embrace. She wished she could have just stayed there with him but she knew that was impossible. However despite that, she still hadn’t slept well at all. She had one of the recurring nightmares about the sharingan again. They had lessened ever since those months where Kakashi let her gaze into his own sharingan, in hopes that it would get her used to it again. It took weeks for her to not shed tears but he would always comfort and not let her push herself.

She hadn’t had those nightmares for months, almost a year now. She’s been healing his eye with no trepidation at all for so long, she had nearly forgotten this nightmare. It hadn’t bothered as much as it did so long ago, but it just didn’t make sense that it showed up again now, as things in her life were going really well.

And then she felt a chill run down her spine before she sensed a presence.

“Sakura…”

She knew that cold, plaintive tone like no other. She froze in place, wondering why he was here. How did he get into the village? Into the hospital and her office? Was he the one watching her since last night?

She turned to look at him, meeting onyx eyes.

“S-Sasuke..?” She stammered before standing back up from her chair, gathering chakra within herself. “What are you doing here?”

He smirked. “Come with me to Orochimaru.”

“What?” She sputtered in disbelief. Did he really just say that? “Hell, no!” She backed away from him. “I will not betray this village like you did!”

“Come on, Sakura. Can you imagine the strength you would have at being trained by not one, but two of the legendary Sannin?” He smirked and took a step closer. “And you’ll get to be with me. We could have a family. We’ll be together, like you’ve always wanted.”

Sakura stared at him in shock. “What did you just say?”

“Come with me. Orochimaru needs your healing ability, and I want to carry on my clan.” Sasuke said, his patience wavering. Why was she just standing there, looking at him?

“You think I’m going to help him?” She spat angrily. “I am not some naive, lovesick little genin anymore!” She growled. “Get away from me! You made you choice when we were 13 when you left me on a fucking bench, you prick!” 

Sasuke’s eyes widened at her words, but gave no response.

“You tried to kill me, twice.” She took a step forward. “And now you’re in my office claiming you want me to bear your children, as if that’s all I’m good for? At least Orochimaru recognized medical abilities!” 

Sasuke flashed towards, not standing inches from her face. “So, it’s true then.” He stated harshly. “You really did whore yourself didn’t you? What, were you not strong enough to make jonin? I knew he was a creep but I never thought he liked little children.” He laughed and shoved her. “I knew it was bullshit that you could have surpassed Tsunade.”

Sakura glared at him fiercely. “What the hell are you on about, now? Have you finally lost your mind?”

“Oh, no. I just never thought you’d stop loving me with all your little protests to be with me, let alone sink low enough to fuck our old sensei to make rank.”

Sakura’s jaw dropped. “How could you…” Her eyes darkened with her anger at the insult. “I was already jonin during the war, far before me and Kakashi had ever become involved. How do you even know about that?” She spat, summoning chakra to her fists and swinging for his jaw. He easily dodged her attack and it was only more infuriating.

Sasuke slapped her. “Look at you. You’re still just a weak little girl. You claim loyalty but you couldn’t even hang on for me! You were supposedly going to be saving grace, or was that some lie Naruto spat back then too!”

Sakura yelped in pain and stared up at him dumbfounded. “I’ll be damned if I spent my life waiting for you to find your team to suddenly be more important than your sick and twisted need for revenge! You showed us time and time again that you didn’t care, so why now! Why are you here!”

Sasuke glared at her, ignoring her question. “You will come to Orochimaru, one way or another. I could care less if you bear my children or not. I wouldn’t want them tainted with your lack of emotional control anyways. If you gave up on me then you never really did love me, anyways. Not that it matters at all.”

“Are you actually jealous?” She stared at him before laughing. “You couldn’t give me the time of day, but now that I moved on, you want me?” She shook her head sadly. “You’re too late. I love Kakashi, and I have for longer than I could even know myself.”

Sasuke’s eye twitched. He grabbed her up by her throat, activating his sharingan and catching her eyes before she could react. “You really think that another broken man is capable of love, let alone how disgusting it is for a student and sensei to be involved romantically? He’s kept everyone he’s ever known out of reach since the death of Fourth, you’re no different. He was probably just horny and you’re vulnerable.” 

Sakura trembled and tried to shut her eyes but she reacted too late, her eyes caught in the swirls of red and black. Not again. 

“You think you’ve grown up so much, but yet you still went after someone who can’t give you what you want. A 20 year old ninja, and yet you still can’t mature past your stupid and childish ideals, blossom.” He spat sarcastically. “And maybe, just maybe it is real, and  he let you in. It’ll be too bad, because I will kill him for ever thinking he could take what’s been mine since the academy days.” He spat. 

And then he put her in a Tsukuyomi, making her watch Kakashi die over and over again, by Sasuke’s hand. He only held for a few minutes but it would feel like days to her that she watched the horror over and over again.

He dropped her and left, leaving to handle her motivation in the case that that was not enough, the chatty blonde having already stretched his patience enough since he abducted her last night.

Sakura sat on the floor of her office, trembling. She tried to release, knowing it was just genjutsu. But she already knew you couldn’t get out of Tsukuyomi, it had been useless to try. She hugged her knees and cried into them, trying to gather her components. She remembered when Kakashi and Sasuke himself had suffered that jutsu from Itachi, and the damage that had been done. She tried to make herself breathe, trying to figure how she was conscious and not in a coma like they had been. It didn’t add up, even if she was resistant to genjutsu, the mangekyou abilities were far stronger than normal genjutsu…

She shook her head and wiped her tears. Tsunade needs to know right away. She grabbed her charts and gave them the front desk, telling her they needed to be reassigned before leaving. She was running up the road from the hospital to the Hokage tower when Ino’s mom came around the turn. 

“Sakura, have you seen Ino?!”

Sakura glanced at her best friend’s mother, just as she realized where Ino was.

 You will come to Orochimaru, one way or another.

“Sakura, come now!” She heard Shizune call. “Oh my god, what happened to you?”

“Sasuke just came into my office!” She called to her mentor, her voice trembling. “What the hell is going on!”

“Oh no, come on! I was coming to get you for an emergency.”

They ran up the stairs just as she heard a male voice ask “who” and many others murmuring. 

Sakura and Shizune entered the office briskly, Sakura struggling to catch her breath.

“My Lady… She was already halfway here.” Shizune started, holding Sakura tightly. “She...encountered Sasuke.”

Tsunade took one look at Sakura and could tell something was wrong, more than just seeing Sasuke. She frowned. She was pale and her eyes were bloodshot and she seemed to be just barely trembling.

“Sakura…?” Naruto tried, moving to her. “Hey, what happened? Did he hurt you?” He gently grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

Her eyes snapped and met his eyes and tears instantly forming, unable to hold them back. She held his gaze before shaking her head to answer his question. She turned to her side to look at Kakashi, meeting his  exposed eye, seeing his gaze full of concern and she frowned again.

“You knew, didn’t you? That’s why you’re here…” She moved towards him.

Kakashi nodded. “He was watching us last night.” He said blankly, unsure of what to say. “I didn’t know how to tell you… I hadn’t realized it was him until you fell asleep.”

The tears slowly flowed down her cheeks, glistening under the light in the room. “Kakashi, he took Ino, didn’t he!” And then she cried out and threw herself into him.

He instantly wrapped his arms around her body, unsure of what else to do. He held her tight in his arms. Tsunade watched them, seeing how unsure Kakashi looked and shook her head as she made a show of flipping her hair, hoping it was enough of a hint to get him to comfort her better.

“We will get her back.” She turned to Shizune. “Was she able to tell you what happened?”

Shizune shook her head. “I only just found her, she was on her way here, turning the corner.”

Sakura shook in Kakashi’s arms. “He wants me to go with him and Orochimaru. I-I refused and he got angry, and told me I-I would join them one or another…” 

“Absolutely not!” Naruto’s eyes flashed red for just a second. “That snake will not get her too!” 

Kakashi glared, stroking Sakura’s hair after noticing Tsunade making direct eye contact with him and flicking her hair across her shoulder. “She will not.” His grip tightened on her.

“Is he still in the village?” Shikamaru demanded.

“I had every shinobi on site spread to lockdown all entrances and to pass the message on behalf of Tsunade as soon as I left the room, and it had only been moments before.”

“This doesn’t explain how I didn’t know!” Choji flared.

“Genjutsu? Isn’t that the Uchiha’s thing with their eyes?” Shikamaru inquired.

Asuma nodded. “He very well could have put the entire household under one long enough to get her out, and made you stay in a dream state.”

Sakura sniffled softly, swallowing down her cries. “Apparently Orochimaru is convinced I can heal his wretched arms, as if I would want to.” She spat. “Oh, and I guess Sasuke wants to be sure his clan is continued on before he gives his body to a snake.” She scoffed.

Naruto looked perpetually confused. “He tried to make Tsunade heal him… But she said she couldn’t, but he was certain she could…”

“I never said I couldn’t…” Tsunade intervened. “I just wouldn’t be swayed by him, especially with the use of forbidden jutsu, no matter how much I miss Dan or my little brother…” Her shoulders went rigid at the topic coming up. “But I still doubt I could have. The Death Reaper Seal often kills the person who uses it, it is a more than powerful jutsu which killed not only the Third but…” Tsunade looked to meet Naruto’s eyes in a solemn gaze.

“My father…”  Naruto said flatly. “I’m aware.” 

“I don’t care if I could heal his stupid arms, I will not.” Sakura said spitefully. “But I have to go…” 

Kakashi looked at her. “No.” He said, his grip on her tightening even more. “I am not losing you, Sakura.”

Naruto shook his head. “We will get Ino back without losing you.” 

Choji nodded. “Neither one of you is more important than the other, no matter who loves who.” He affirmed, now calmed knowing the situation.

Sakura frowned, shifting slightly in Kakashi’s iron grip, and resting her forehead on his shoulder. “There’s something else…” Her voice trembled.

Everyone waited and listened while she seemed to build up her morality to speak again.

“I’m sure you figured out he was watching us last night, and was the cause of the unsettling feelings me and Ino had.” 

Sakura trembled. She didn’t know what to do. She just knew she felt safe in Kakashi’s arms but she knew what she was about to say was going to set everyone off. The simple idea that she would go back to him couldn’t even cross her mind. The aura of the Uchiha’s anger filling her office when she refused still left her shaking. 

Her grip tightened around Kakashi as she finally spoke again. “He told me he was going to kill Kakashi…” She choked back another sob.

“He couldn’t believe I was with him. He went off about how it was disgusting and wrong.” She glared at the wall in front of her. “And insinuated that Kakashi was a pedophile and when I went to hit him in response, he finally understood that it was real.” Her nails dug into Kakashi’s back as she tried to keep her composure. “Berated me about loyalty, telling me I never loved him. I betrayed him. Told me I was just a whore looking to get up the r-ranks… And that if I ever thought someone like Kakashi was capable of love than I’m no less of an idiot than I was when we were 13. But I didn’t know he took Ino until her mother found me...” She shook. “I just guessed because we both felt some unwanted presence last night and then he popped up in my office, and she had liked him back then too so I thought maybe he was finding a different medic that…” 

“Sakura, it’s not your fault.” Naruto said sternly. “And you are definitely none of the things he said.” His anger was beginning to flare again and it was all he could do to keep his emotions in check. “I will find him myself.” He looked at Team 10. “No better search party than us right?”

“No. Last time I sent a mission after Sasuke with emotional attachments involved you almost died.” Tsunade spat.

“Lady, they aren’t chunin and genin anymore.” Shizune cut in. “And I think if we send the right balance of experience it will be a good set up.” 

“I don’t think you’re going to be able to convince anyone in this room to not go after them. It’s personal for us all.” Asuma agreed.

The fifth just sighed. “You all act like you’re the boss around here.” She grumbled. “Fine, then. I want Sai and Yamato in your group as well, making three seasoned former ANBU in your ranks. A Hyuga as well. The more strength you have against Sasuke, the better. I’d say an Inuzuka for tracking, but you already have Kakashi.” She slouched against her desk. “And do not go against Orochimaru. Get to Sasuke before he returns to wherever the hell they are holed up. The more you have, the better.” She sighed. “Yamato is the mission lead.”

She hoped Kakashi and Asuma wouldn’t take offense to Yamato being lead, as they were far too invested in this mission emotionally. While Yamato was part of Team Seven, he was not involved with Sakura, nor did he have the same attachments to Sasuke that the three of them have. Asuma was her sensei, there was no way she could truly trust he could think logically at all times. 

Everyone nodded and left the office.

“Me and Kakashi will find Sai and Yamato.” Sakura affirmed.

“I’ll find Neji and Hinata, at least one should be able to go.” Naruto said fiercely.

“We will meet at the gates in half an hour, that should be ample time to pack and round everyone shouldn’t it?” Asuma stated, watching Choji and Shikamaru. The boys only nodded.

Temari came running up the steps to the tower. “I need to speak with the Hokage right away!” She exclaimed.

Shikamaru’s eyes widened. “Temari! What are you doing here? What’s wrong?”

She hesitated before looking at the group and her eyes landing on Sakura. “We have intel that Orochimaru is-”

“It’s too late.” Kakashi stated plainly. “Sasuke already has Ino…”

Temari's eyes widened before looking at her lover’s team. “I’m sorry, I got here as fast as I could. But we thought he was after Sakura…? Gaara sent me here, we weren’t sure how reliable the intel we got was but we didn’t want to risk it. ”

“They’re using her best friend as ransom…” Choji said, clearly bothered. “We just organized a resume squad and need to retrieve the rest of it.” 

“Let me come! I’m in order to do whatever I can to help.”

“Temari, I don’t think-” Shikamaru started.

“Please.” Sakura cut him off. “We need all the help we can get.”

Naruto nodded. “And there’s nothing like a little wind jutsu to help out!” He gave a smile before jumping to the rooftops, bounding from one to another towards the Hyuuga compound.

Temari nodded and glanced at Choji, who looked explicitly more distraught than Asuma and Shika. She walked up to him and pressed a hand to his arm. “I know you care about her, we’ll get her back.”

“Sasuke is such a drag.” Shikamaru groaned before shaking his head. “Choji and her just got together and he had to go and kidnap all because he’s jealous of Kakashi? He didn’t seem so interested before he left.” 

Asuma shook his head. “This isn’t about interest, it’s about opportunity. He wanted to carry on his bloodline, Sakura just seemed convenient because he assumed she’d still fall to his feet.” He sighed. 

Sakura scoffed. “It’s not even just that. Orochimaru wants me to heal his arms. I’m sure the revival of his clan was just some manipulation on the betraying sannin’s part.” She added bitterly. “I should have knocked him into the next decade but I was in shock…” She shamed herself.

“You can’t blame yourself, Sakura.” Shikamaru added. “We haven’t seen him since the war and he only sided with us then because he wants to be the one to destroy the village. It’s not like we expect to just walk into our town without making himself known.”

“Whatever the case, we need to go get ready to leave the village, and scout it out before. Chances he had already escaped before Shizune raised the alarm but we must be certain. This mission consists of some of the strongest shinobi, we cannot risk leaving if he is still here.” Kakasi said in usual laid back but firm demeanor. 

“He’s right.” 

The rest of the group departed to round up their things and fellow shinobi.

Naruto knocked as politely as possible on the door to the Hyuga complex in his urgent state. Hiashi answered as always with a smile, already sensing Naruto’s chakra. His expression changed when he noticed the serious aura around the usually cheerful young man. “Naruto, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Sasuke. He kidnapped Ino to try and make Sakura join him and Orochimaru.” Naruto said in an even tone. “Tsunade has commanded that at least one Hyuga goes on the rescue mission. I would like to ask for both Hinata and Neji.” 

Hiashi thought a moment before nodding. “I will also send Hanabi. She is quite fond of that one teammate of yours, the former ANBU that uses ink? I also think it would do her some good to go on a mission, it’s about time she is no longer stuck within the village walls. She has much to learn as the future head.” 

Naruto couldn’t help but smile. “You mean Sai.” Hinata had mentioned before that Hanabi was curious about Sai, but frowned in confusion. “I thought you didn’t like letting the clan heads get involved with village business.”

Hiashi thought for a moment about Naruto’s observation. “Neji and Hinata are technically branch members, which is why they went to the academy. Hanabi is the next clan head, but she must see danger and know what it means to protect someone.” He sighed softly. “Sasuke and Orochimaru are a danger to the village which is where we live. And it would also seem that while Hanabi wishes to follow most principles of the clan, she seems to want to be closer to the village.” 

He was never a fan of this, sticking well to the traditions of the Hyuga clan, not ever really close to anyone outside of it. However, that seemed to be where this generation of Hyuga had changed. Neji and Hinata have both fallen for someone outside of the clan, and it now seems that Hanabi will as well. As long as the Hyuga genes were kept pure for the next leader, perhaps he could learn to be okay with it, granted it would be a rather odd arrangement if his younger daughter married outside of the clan.

“She has expressed interest in being a genin team leader. I usually would not support this, but it has seemed that this generation has changed many things, and if she will lead the clan maybe she should experience being part of village relations before she makes such a fundamental decision for our clan.” 

Naruto had listened fully with all the respect he could have. It always bothered him that the clan never did anything unless there was a war, but he was glad to see them possibly beginning to change that.

“That sounds like a good idea when you explain all that then.” Naruto beamed, but it faltered. “We’re supposed to meet at the village gates soon. I don’t need to talk to them, we’re gonna fill everyone in on the run. I still need to get ready while Kakashi and Sakura find Sai and Yamato.”

Hiashi nodded. “I understand the urgency. Go on, I will inform them of the mission.” He watched as Naruto took back to the rooftops into the direction of his apartment, pride swelling in his heart that his daughter would find such a formidable shinobi to love.

Naruto bounded back to his apartment and quickly packed all his weapons and some dried food rations. Before leaving he grabbed his sage scroll and swung it around his shoulder to hang behind him. He sighed and left, running into the rest of the current Team Seven on his ways to the gates.

“Naruto.” Sai nodded towards him.

“Who is coming from the Hyuga?” Sakura asked.

“We are getting Hinata, Neji and her little sister Hanabi!” He smiled. “I had only requested Neji and Hinata. Hiashi had volunteered Hanabi, saying she needed to go outside of the village walls? That was kind of shocking.”

Kakashi and Yamato raised their eyebrows, knowing the history and ways of the Hyuga.

“It definitely is, but you have always inspired change in people.” Kakashi said with pride. 

As they ran to the gate, he thought more deeply about his statement. How this team was the reason he even opened up even a little bit again. How much Naruto reminded him of Obito, and Sakura reminds him of Rin more and more everyday. How much of himself he had seen in Sasuke, and how much he put into trying to stop him from taking the path of vengeance. How it was Naruto who had almost convinced him that letting himself be with Sakura was worth facing the fear of loss once again. Worth having something to lose, granted really he already had something to lose before he let himself fully love her. 

He looked to each member of his team, to Naruto in front of him and Sakura first. The determined yet angry aura that wavered of Naruto was nearly tangible. To  his right where Sakura was right beside him, her fear and perseverance to save her friend just as in reach. He watched Yamato and Sai, trailing behind on either side, the unwavering camaraderie and loyalty in their expressions as they trailed after the three towards the bridge.

He thought of the friends he had made that he had kept just out of reach for years, knowing deep down it would kill him inside if something happened to Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai. Even Genma, Shizune, Iruka, and Anko. He had always had something to lose even when he kept his distance, but the pain would be so much greater if he had ever let himself love. But the more he really admitted it to himself, he wasn’t far from feeling the pain he tried too hard to avoid the longer he had been around Naruto and Sakura. As for Sakura… The time they spent together just slowly became more and more, until they were just always together when she wasn’t at the hospital or with Ino or Naruto.

Reaching the gates, meeting everyone there, he smiled his usual eye crease.

“How many missions are we going to take that involve Sasuke?” Neji asked in his usual agitated tone.

“Neji!” Hinata chastised.

Naruto shook his head. “This time he’s gone after Sakura, again, and Ino. He’s crossed the line.”

“What are you saying, Naruto?” Yamato watched the jinchuriki carefully.

“I’m saying that from here on out, he’s not my brother. He’s not my best friend. He’s not my comrade. He’s an enemy.” He ground his teeth together. “I can’t keep watching him hurt the people I care about.”

“Naruto…” Sakura rested her hand on his shoulder. 

“Let’s not get hasty. The goal of the mission is to retrieve Ino, correct?” Yamato asked.

Kakashi nodded. “Sasuke is still under the influence of Orochimaru, remember.”

Sakura frowned. “He seemed perfectly well aware of what he was doing before.” 

Hinata watched the team with compassion, knowing how much Naruto struggles with the troubles surrounding Sasuke and his desire to bring him back from the darkness.

“We should go. Some Anbu reported here earlier saying there was no sign that they are still in the village.” Asuma stated softly, noticing how antsy his team was getting with all the talk. “Please remember the bonds between Ino and her team go further than just the academy and being genin together. Their clans have been comrades alongside each other for generations, and all three of my team are the next clan heads to take an oath to protect one another, and this is especially hard for Choji, as we all know his feelings for her.”

Shikamaru and Choji nodded, keeping silent but turning to start leaving towards the gates. 

The rest soon followed into the forest. Hinata kept close to Naruto as they leapt through the leaves. Kakashi and Sakura were together, Yamato jumping to the head to lead the envoy. The team leader stopped below the branches a moment, realizing they hadn’t even spoken of plans. “Wait a moment!”

Everyone stopped for a moment, staring at the captain of the mission confused.

“We need to discuss a formation and find a trail before we go high tailing to nowhere.” He gazed over at Kakashi expectantly.

The copy nin slid the scroll from his vest and performed the hand signs to summon his ninken before placing his hand on the ground. “Do any of you have something that could have Ino’s scent on it?” He looked pointedly at Choji.

Sakura shook her head and Choji looked nervous. 

“I don’t have anything…” He said solemnly.

Sakura smiled. “Choji, her scent is probably still all over you from last night. And you slept at her house.”

“Kakashi’s ninken can separate your own scent from hers.” Asuma nodded.

“Pakkun, Shiba, and Bisuke, find the scent of Ino. You’ve been around her once or twice. Follow it, and if you remember Sasuke’s scent still, follow that one as well. He kidnapped her. Report back to me if you find a trail.”

“You got it boss.” 

They went and sniffed Choji a few moments until they found the more feminine scent on his clothes. “You’re her boyfriend, aren’t you kid?” Pakkun asked bluntly.

Choji’s face turned red and he just nodded. 

His nose wiggled and nodded. “That’s it, let’s go.” 

And then the ninken were gone in a matter of blurs taking off.

Yamato nodded, clearly pleased with the success of finding a way to track them. “Okay. We have three Hyuga, so I want one in the front, one in the center and one in the back. Which of you three have the longest range?”

Neji and Hinata exchanged glances before silently agreeing on something.

“Captain, Hanabi does, but she cannot be in the front of line. Understand, she is the clan heirass and must be protected. Neji is further than mine.” She stated quietly but confidently.

Yamato nodded. “I understand. I am going to do a 2,3,2,3,2 formation. Neji, you will be in the front with me since you have the second superior sight range.” He paused a moment to think longer about his comrades abilities and strengths. “Shikamaru, Temari, and Choji you will be the next group behind me, two long range users to use on the enemies ahead, and Choji to give power hits I know the Akimichi have when they get close.”

 He thought about how to best protect Hanabi in an emergency with her in the center. “Hanabi in the center and Hinata in the back. Sai, because you have the super beast scroll and can summon anything, you will be with Hanabi, in the case that this gets too dangerous and a threat to her life, you are to form a beast and escape with her and protect her.” He took note of Hanabi turning just the slightest bit of pink and grinned and a knowing look passed over Hinata’s features, a grin crossing his face to hear no argument.

 Knowing Hinata would be the rear eyes, he glanced between the rest of the team. Sakura needed to be kept within the inner part of the formation as the medic nin and a target of the enemy. “Kakashi, Sakura, and Asuma, you will be between Hanabi and Hinata’s pairs as a group of three, because you all have close and strong combat skills. And we also want Sakura surrounded as our team's head medic and one of the targets of the enemy so she is to be in the center of you two.”

He glanced at Naruto, sure the ninja knew his place now but still stating it and the reason.“Naruto, you will be in the back with Hinata, as you have the most chakra and can handle an ambush attack with your shadow clones and toad summons, as well as your enhanced resilience from the nine tails. Hinata also has her protective trigrams to hold off an enemy use should it be needed.” 

Everyone moved into the formation given without much questioning to their captain. They were focused on saving their comrade, best friend, and or teammate. Sakura hated to be treated as if she were fragile but she knew she had to stay out of harm's way to be an effective medic. It didn’t mean she always had to like it though. She could still feel the fear slowly creeping into her mind again but she tried to keep watching for the next branch to land on, and the next and the next in hopes of distracting herself.

“Sakura…” Naruto called softly from behind.

Kakashi gave him a side glance, curious in what he had to say.

“What?” Sakura inquired.

“What happened?” Naruto asked directly. “You seem different, shaken. And not like you only seen Sasuke. I’ve seen that and this is different.” His eyebrows furrowed. “You’re shaky and torn up like you were traumatized, not just surprised…”

Sakura looked away from both Kakashi and Naruto. “Nothing…” She tried but her voice cracked, giving her away instantly that it was a lie.

“Sakura, did he do something else?” Kakashi asked, and she could hear the venomous threat meant toward the Uchiha lying in the tones of his voice.

“You’re acting like Sasuke after the time me and Jiraiya ran into Itachi and Kisame…” Naruto realized, his eyes widening with worry.

Sakura gulped. She didn’t want to make them worry more. If they found out she’s been through a tsukuyomi they might make her return to and stay in the village. 

“Sakura…” She could hear Kakashi try to steady his breathing.

“He… He didn’t just threaten to kill you.” She turned to face Kakashi. “He made me watch all the various ways he would have thought to do it…” She swallowed again. “It was only for a few mere moments…”

“Sakura! You shouldn’t be pushing yourself!” Hinata exclaimed.

“I’m fine!” The pinkette insisted.

Kakashi was doing everything he could to not lose his temper, not with her, but at the very thought he used any sort of that technique of the sharingan on her. He should have known by now that Sasuke was beyond redemption, but it still surprised just how low he could fall in how he treated his own teammates, let alone the conspiring against the village in such a way. They all should have learned by now.

The pangs of guilt he used to feel for believing he failed the raven kid were beginning to turn into contempt and revulsion.

Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. 

He tried so hard not to feel that way about Sasuke because he knew there could have been a chance he could have gone down a similar path, but the Uchiha chose over and over again to have revenge instead of camaraderie. How much more could he look the other way, as he watched him hurt his team over and over again, the two who still held hope for him until this particular betrayal?

That fact that he put Sakura through a tsukuyomi, not just a genjutsu. He still wondered how she was even conscious, let alone out of bed.

“Yamato, we need to stop. My ninken will be able to keep a trail and follow them to wherever they go.” Kakashi called out with a neutral tone, the same one he had used when he was the leader of missions. 

“Kakashi, I said I’m fine!” 

He gently grabbed her wrist as he stopped on the next branch, pulling her to a halt. “Sakura, even I was down after a tsukuyomi had been used on me.” He pressed. “Stop fighting  us on this.” His tone held a little more authority in the last statement. His grip was gentle but it was still firm.

She knew he was just trying to look out for her but it was annoying that he wouldn’t let it go. Annoyed at the tinge of authority in his voice, even though she knew he was considered second in command on this mission, even though he was technically her team leader. Her best friend was kidnapped and she did not plan on stopping until she found her.

Everyone else had stopped within yards of each other. Yamato came upon the back of the group, looking at his pink haired teammate. “Sakura, you should have been cleared by a medic.”

She huffed annoyed. “I am literally the medical director, and I said I’m fine.” She snapped. “My best friend is literally about to be at the hands of the two biggest rogue nin of our village, and we are stopping over some damn visions.” 

Naruto put a hand on his lifetime friend’s shoulder. “Sakura, even I know they aren’t just visions.”

“Ino’s safety is not worth trading for yours.” Asuma stated bluntly. 

“I am fine!” She tried to insist.

“Sakura, you’re barely holding it together.” Shikamaru pointed out. “Your best friend was just kidnapped by your revenge sick teammate that’s suddenly hellbent on having you, and he just used a forceful genjutsu on you. No one here is expecting you to be okay.”

“What if she needs medical attention, Sakura?” Hinata pleaded. “You have to have full stamina in case she has been severely injured…” Hinata knew that Sakura knew she was right but sometimes you needed to hear from someone else.

Sakura leaned against the tree, the exhaustion hitting her. “I’m fine. You know I’m resistant to genjutsu… I’m just tired and my head hurts. We don’t need to stop…” She trailed off, knowing she didn’t sound very convincing. 

“Sakura, you can’t push yourself to your limits and then expect to be of help when we get there. Or if anyone else gets hurt, you have to be able to be the medic, not one of the ones who needs a medic.”

Yamato looked at her. “You either need to rest and get a handle on your emotions, or I will have to send you back.” He said it in his usual tone of authority.

He knew Sakura would be angry but she was well aware that he did what was best for the mission and that he showed no sympathy. He treated them as ninja and wouldn’t ‘baby’ them. He’s made that clear since the first mission on Tenchi Bridge.

She frowned deeply at her captain’s words, but she knew he meant it. She just accepted it and slumped against the tree. “Fine. But we won’t rest a minute longer than it takes for my head to stop hurting.” She huffed.

Yamato nodded. “We’ll make camp below while we are still in fire country. Everyone dropped below besides the remaining Kakashi, Naruto, and Hinata.

Kakashi picked up Sakura with one hand supporting her back and his other hooked under her knees. “Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice came out harsher than he meant but it had bothered him.

“Because I knew Tsunade, or Shizune, wouldn’t have let me go if I mentioned it.” She stated tiredly. “And there was no way I wasn’t going on this mission when it’s my fault he took her in the first place…”

“What about after?” Naruto asked. 

“I told you when you asked…”

Hinata watched her, admiring her strength, but also worried. “Sakura, you know more than anyone that it’s not wise to go on a mission worn. And you are worn mentally…” She spoke softly, hoping to anger her friend.

Sakura looked at Hinata and smiled before resting her head on Kakashi’s shoulder and sighing. “I’ve never been a ninja that could keep my emotions from clouding my judgement Hinata…” Her expression turned into a bitter scowl as she thought to herself.]

“It’s my biggest downfall, and the reason we’re in this situation today, because it was my emotions that let that bastard live.” She mumbled vehemently, angry at herself.

“No.” Kakashi said sternly. “You and Naruto biggest strengths are the compassion and kindness you still hold in your hearts even after everything you’ve seen.” He looked from Naruto as he said and to Sakura. “Never forget that, either of you.” 

Naruto nodded, feeling some of the same feelings towards himself. “I’m done trying to save him. I meant it.”

Sakura nodded. “He really thought he could just swoop in after seven years, and that I’d just run right into his arms, ready to just be some baby maker and not an actual kunoichi.” 

Kakashi smiled then. “Well, you’ll show him, now won’t you?” His grip tightened around her body. “Only after you recuperate. And I would love to know how you are still conscious right now.” 

“I’m resistant, but I couldn’t avoid it like I can some others. I just kept telling myself it wasn’t real. And I just…” She shivered. “I’m not unaffected, trust me. I’m just…” She looked away. “I can’t let something happen to Ino…”

He nodded softly before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. “We will get her, I promise, but it will not be at your expense.” He nodded to Naruto before jumping down the base of the tree, joining the rest of their rescue squad. 

“Kakashi, you want to do the honors of starting the fire?” Asuma joked lightly.

“Maybe after I make our medic relax.” Kakashi said offhandedly.

“It better not be in out ear shot, that would be a drag…” Shikamaru groaned.

Sakura turned red as Kakashi laughed, thankful his mask covered the slight pinkish tint that showed up on his own skin. “I actually hadn’t meant it like that but I’ll keep that in mind.”  He gave his normal eye crease before gently setting Sakura against a tree. He grabbed both of their packs and began setting up the tents.

“Kakashi, you might as well only set one up to save on space.” Yamato commented neutrally. “She needs to have a guard anyways. “The less setup we have, the less it will draw attention and time saved in taking it down anyways.” 

The spiky haired nin nodded as he continued setting up.

Sakura had given up on trying to seem fine now that it was out in the open that she really was far from it. She watched Kakashi setting up the tent,trying to keep distracted when Choji sat next to her. 

“I think Ino would kick your ass if she ever found out you were going to risk yourself like that for her.” He commented quietly.

“She might have.” Sakura laughed softly. “Tsunade is gonna kill me when she finds out…”

“Just take care of yourself too, Sakura. I know it’s hard, but we have to remember to keep ourselves in check.” He chuckled a bit. “Not all of us are fortunate enough to have the crazy chakra reserves and healing capabilities Naruto has.”

She smiled genuinely then. “You’re right…”

He rested his hand on her back. “She would have done the same for you, I’m sure of it. But we need you most of all to be cautious and in control. Recover first, so we have the greatest chance of saving both of you.” He gave her a small smile before leaving her side to talk with Asuma, Shikamaru, and Temari.

Yamato came over to Sakura next. “I’m glad you decided to rest.” He said with a careful smile. “I thought you were going to pummel me like Naruto for a second.” He tried to joke a little.

Sakura smiled up at him. “I wanted to for a second, but I know you were right.” She sighed. “I wouldn’t have expected any different from you, Captain Yamato. We both know I let my emotions get the best of me at times, even with the improvement I’ve made.”

He nodded softly as Kakashi came back. “Alright, time to get your hard headed self in a bed. You need to sleep.” 

Sakura slowly stood up. “I don’t know if I want to do that.” She grumbled. She walked into the tent, crouching a bit as she entered. She smiled as she saw the two cots laid side by side, laying on the one closest to the door. 

Kakashi watched her as she went into the tent and laid down before sighing.

“So, you need to fill everyone who wasn’t in that office on all the details of what happened and of this mission.” He looked at Kakashi. “I’m aware I’m the Captain because I don’t have as much emotional tether to Ino as her team and Sakura, nor do I have any bonds with Sasuke.”

Kakashi scoffed. “I think this may be the one move that will make them give up on Sasuke.” He glared at the ground. “I never truly gave up on him, but after this. I can’t keep believing he’s still able to saved…”

Asuma came up, knowing his friend held an enormous amount of guilt for the Uchiha’s choices. It was unspoken between the circle of friends, but it was easy to know he blamed himself. He always did. “I have Sai, Neji, Hanabi, and Hinata gathered around the soon to be fire so that we could fill them and Yamato in on the details.” 

Kakashi nodded. “There’s no time like the present.” He said nonchalantly, before making his way to the pile of sticks the rest were gathered around. 

He performed the katon no jutsu, igniting the pile instantly. The irony in using that technique wasn’t absent from his mind, knowing it was one of the main jutsus of the Uchiha. It only made the bitterness growing towards Sasuke grow deeper.

Even Naruto had given up on him now… 

He sighed, starting at the beginning with the night at the bar when Sakura and Ino felt watched, explaining that he realized Sasuke’s presence watching him and Sakura as she slept in his bed. Ending with the events that passed in Tsunade’s office.

[miss-ingno]

Memory Baubles 1/3

Fandom: Naruto Characters: Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura Rating: Gen Words: 1.4k Tags: Time Travel, Yamanaka no Jutsu, Memory Transfer, pre-Genin

Summary: Ino is in the middle of kunoichi lessons, learning Ikebana, the art of flower arrangments, when she finds the unconscious stranger.

A/N: This is a story I've had in mind for almost a decade now and never wrote, but the plot device is still fascinating and I've gotten into a Naruto phase (again) recently so uh... When I got stuck on Replacement I ended up writing this instead :'D

Read here on Ao3 or here on Patreon.

***

There’s a body in the meadow.

Ino stops a wary distance away, squinting into the shadows thrown by the huge willow tree. Blonde hair and green-blue clothes blend into the grass and surrounding flowers, hiding the shape from further away. But since Ino needs a couple mustard flowers growing on the outskirts of the Academy’s teaching grounds, she came all the way here and close enough to notice the blonde hair trailing between her desired blooms.

A glance back over her shoulder shows the rest of her class spread out over the meadow and Tsubaki-sensei busy talking with Ami and Mei.

Ino frowns. She really, really wants to use mustard flower in today’s arrangement. It’s too perfect to leave it out of today’s assignment. Carefully, she inches closer. It’s a woman, she realizes, lying face-down in the dirt, limbs akimbo. The green vest looks exactly like any other Konoha uniform, though the white bandages up her arms and sleeveless shirt are far from regulation, and on closer inspection the pants were a dark purple rather than dark blue. Ino tilts her head, nose scrunching up in thought.

Purple really doesn’t go well with the green vest, she decides.

A groan startles her out of her contemplation, and Ino takes a hasty step back. The kunoichi (because that is what she has to be, uniform and all) stills at the noise, then slowly lifts her head. Blonde hair spills around her face like a curtain, but a blue eye pierces through the veil, pinning Ino in place with one intent look. Heart fluttering in her rib cage, Ino watches as the kunoichi sits up, brushing blonde hair back irritably, and-

“You’re a Yamanaka,” Ino blurts out, recognizing the familiar features. She’s never seen the kunoichi before, but she looks like she must be closely related to her dad. She could probably pass for his sister, if Ino didn’t know he doesn’t have any.

“I am,” the kunoichi agrees, her voice rough and hoarse. She clears her throat, glances over the meadow before her eyes land back on Ino. “So are you.”

Manners war with budding shinobi instincts and win. Ino sketches a quick bow. “Yamanaka Ino, pleased to meet you.”

A smile crinkles the kunoichi’s face, her blue eyes bright like a summer sky. “Nice to meet you, Ino-chan.”

She doesn’t introduce herself, and a trickle of unease slides down Ino’s spine. She glances back over her shoulder, but nobody is watching them. A moment of hesitation, but the kunoichi’s wearing a Konoha uniform, is clearly a Yamanaka, even if there’s a suspicious lack of a hitai-ate…

“Do you need help? I could call Tsubaki-sensei over...”

“No, that’s fine.” The kunoichi’s smile grows strained and her eyes shutter, like clouds blocking out the sun. She makes a come hither motion with the hand not pressed to the ground. “Come here for a second, Ino-chan.”

Ino bites her lip, glances back. Sakura-chan catches her eye and waves, so Ino waves back, relaxing. She gives herself a push, knowing Sakura-chan will call for help if she needs it, and besides, it’s silly to be wary of one of her own clan. The kunoichi isn’t even looking at her as Ino sidles up to her side, sitting down next to her. She’s smiling to herself, picking up a shion flower and twirling it between her fingers. Remembrance, Ino thinks, or something similar.

“I’ve got a little mission for you, if you’re up to it, Ino-chan,” the kunoichi says absently, stretching to pick several bluebells (gratefulness) to add to her small bouquet.

“Of course!” Ino declares, straightening up. Her very first mission!

The kunoichi chuckles, leaning back against the willow tree. While Ino’s been distracted she’s added red spider lily, making Ino frown down at the bouquet. Spider lily signifies… abandonment, she thinks? Or lost memory. Combined with the remembrance of the shion flower it makes for a very sad arrangement.

“Here, hold this for a moment,” the kunoichi says, pressing a pouch into Ino’s hands. It’s filled with several round objects, like smoke bombs. The kunoichi pulls the string open and picks up the topmost orb. It’s round and shiny like glass, filled with a blue-white gas twirling in complex patterns. The entire pouch seems full with more of the baubles. The kunoichi holds the orb up and it gleams as it catches the light.

“Pretty,” Ino murmurs, entranced. The kunoichi gives her a crooked smile.

“This won’t hurt much,” she promises and presses the orb against Ino’s forehead, who opens her mouth to protest. But before she can say anything, the orb lights up with a brilliant glow, and Ino closes her eyes with a gasp. Thoughts fill her mind, alien and yet… not. Familiar, even though she’s never had them before, and with a jolt she realizes they’re carving new paths between her neurons with ease.

Definitely a Yamanaka jutsu, if not one she knows. Or, well. Knew, because she remembers it now with startling clarity.

The kunoichi – Yamanaka Ino – didn’t lie, it barely stings. Because these memories used to be hers, are built in a pattern that’s based on her own brain’s, except hers is not yet as developed. Because they are her thoughts, her memories, even if she hasn’t thought them, lived them yet. Because that kunoichi is her, just older, powerful and desperate.

In the distance, she can hear Sakura-chan shout for Tsubaki-sensei in alarm.

Ino blinks the onslaught of images (not quite images, but it’s how her brain is interpreting the influx of new data) out of her eyes and looks up at the kunoichi (herself, she thinks giddily, how cool is that?). She knows what comes next, and it’s sad but… Ino-san is smiling at her, holding out the bouquet to her surrounded by yellow poppies (success) and… maybe it’s okay.

“There’s one more in there for you,” she says, even though Ino knows. “Better wait a week or two, though. Don’t want to overwhelm your big brain.”

“Yeah,” Ino agrees because she can feel the thoughts settling and it’s already giving her a headache. Her heart aches more, though, and she reaches out and squeezes the kunoichi’s hand. “I’ll fix everything. I promise.”

Ino-san smiles at her, gentle and fond. “Hell yeah you will.”

Tsubaki-sensei arrives in a whirl of leaves carried by a strong breeze just as her older self coughs, blood splattering over the fist she holds up in front of her mouth. Ino steps back, and the kunoichi crumbles. As she hits the ground she disperses into dust, including her clothes. Another strong breeze and soon nothing is left of Yamanaka Ino but her memory and the bouquet she gave to Ino.

“Ino-chan, are you alright? Do you know who that was?”

Ino shakes her head and lets Tsubaki-sensei herd her back to the rest of the class. While her teacher’s attention is drawn away by checking the perimeter, looking for more strangers potentially targeting the Academy students, Ino stealthily slips the bag of memory baubles into her backpack.

Once they’re all gathered in a group, Tsubaki-sensei shoos them back into the Academy building, and Sakura-chan sidles up next to her. She glances furtively around, checking everyone else is far enough away, whispering in groups, too busy themselves to eavesdrop. Still, Sakura-chan lowers her voice to a whisper.

“Ino-chan, who was-?” Ino interrupts her with a firm look. Flustered, Sakura-chan stops, before chancing a glance at Tsubaki-sensei, talking to two unfamiliar adults and gesturing sharply to their training ground. Sakura-chan swallows and squares up, a stubborn glint in her eyes as she turns back to Ino. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“I’m okay, and I’ll explain later.” Sakura-chan opens her mouth to protest, but Ino shakes her head and presses a finger to Sakura’s lips. “Later,” she insists with a pointed look at her classmates. “Maybe you can come over to my place after school?”

“Alright,” Sakura-chan caves, and Ino relaxes. Clearly looking for a new topic, Sakura-chan’s eyes drop to Ino’s hands. “That’s a pretty bouquet, Ino-chan. Did you gather it?”

Ino looks down, startled to realize she kept hold of the flowers her older self picked. Nestled between the shion flower and the spider lily is a single sweat pea.

Goodbye, Ino thinks and smiles sadly, brushing a finger over the pink petals.

“Yeah,” she says in answer to Sakura-chan’s question, and it isn’t a lie, not really. “Yeah, I did.”

[thegizka]

Inevitable Three (fic)

Idiots. If they were going to get kidnapped, they could at least let her get kidnapped with them!

Inspired by Ino Week 2019: Favorite Bond.

Read it on Ao3.

“There’s a cluster of chakra signatures up ahead!”

Ino signalled, and her squad descended from the trees to a clump of bushes on the forest floor.

“Where and how many?” she asked, turning to Hinata.

“I’m not sure about the exact number since they’re so close together, but at least twenty.”

“And Chouji and Shikamaru?” Tenten asked.

“They’re there.  Their chakra seems normal, if a little weak.”

Good.  They weren’t under any genjutsu.

“Anything else?”

“They’ve set up traps in the surrounding woods.  Nothing special, just paper bombs and tripwires.”

“Let’s go,” Temari said, already standing.

“Not yet.”  Ino grabbed her arm and pulled her down again.  “We need a plan.”

“Avoid the traps, take down the enemy, and get them out of there.  That’s the plan.”

“That’s not a plan,” Ino hissed.  “We need more details, which calls for reconnaissance.  Hinata, find me a squirrel or a mouse, something inconspicuous.  Then help Tenten find and disable the traps.  Temari, you’ll have to watch my back for a bit.”

She could see a protest starting to form on the Suna kunoichi’s lips, but she bit it back.  She wasn’t even supposed to be here.  She had just arrived from Suna that afternoon.  When Shikamaru hadn’t met her at the gates like he usually did, she had figured he’d been called to help with an emergency.  What she hadn’t expected was to walk into the Hokage’s office as Ino informed Kakashi that her teammates had been abducted that morning.

Ino was supposed to have met them for some training and lunch, but a clan emergency had delayed her.  It had been both good and bad.  She hadn’t been abducted with them, but she also hadn’t been there to help them fend off the kidnappers.  She knew it had been meant for all three of them from the traces of flash bombs and the spread of the damage.  The kidnappers had come prepared to counteract the Naras’ shadow jutsu and go toe-to-toe with the powerhouse that was Chouji.  Between the flash bombs and destructive combat, it would have been difficult to get a lock on someone for her mind transfer jutsu.

When Temari had burst in while she was recounting this information to Kakashi, she had been surprised at how anxious the Suna ambassador had become.  She and Shikamaru had been dancing around officially dating for months.  Still, she ought to know staying level-headed was the best way to help the abductees.  It was one of Shikamaru’s golden rules.

Ino couldn’t tell if this was a strike against the Leaf or their clans specifically.  With Naruto away on a mission with Sakura and Sai, and Sasuke journeying who knows where on his path of atonement, her team was one of the strongest lines of defense for the village.  Shinobi across the nations had learned to respect the InoShikaCho teams, maybe even fear them.  It was part of their fathers’ legacies.  That, and the responsibility of being the heads of their clans, giving them great influence within the village.  They could easily be leveraged as hostages and used to threaten the Leaf.

Within moments of learning about the abduction, Kakashi ordered her to assemble a team and go after them.  Hinata’s sensory jutsu and Tenten’s adaptability made them the ideal partners in this recovery mission.  Temari should have left it to them.  It was Leaf business, after all, and any interference by a Suna ninja could cause diplomatic rifts between nations.  From the handful of interactions they’d had, Ino knew the wind-style user was smart and could handle herself.  But she was a largely unknown variable, and her presence complicated this mission.

“There’s a squirrel in the tree to your left,” Hinata whispered, pointing.  Ino followed the trajectory of her finger with her eyes until she spotted the telltale twitch of its tail.

“Thanks.  Give me five minutes.”

In moments, she was running through the trees towards the enemy’s camp.  She preferred using birds for reconnaissance with their precise eyes and swift wings, but time was urgent and the squirrel would accomplish the task.  The mind transfer was always more disorienting when used on smaller creatures.  The world became different, distorted, strangely proportioned, and her body was suddenly small and simpler than the range of her mind.  It was uncomfortable, but she would endure a lifetime of discomfort to get her teammates back.

The kidnappers had chosen a small clearing for their camp and boldly lit two fires.  Were they that confident in their abilities to retain their captives, or were they looking to be found?  She slowed as she approached, carefully stalking along the branches to escape detection and take in the cluster of shinobi sharing dinner or standing guard.  She couldn’t see any village headbands or distinctive clan markings on any of them.  They were probably hired thugs paid to execute the kidnapping and make it difficult to trace the actual perpetrators.  It was frustrating not knowing who was after her team.

But figuring that out could wait.  Rescuing Shikamaru and Chouji came first.  She could see them at the edge of the camp tied to a large oak tree while four of the kidnappers stood guard.  Blood had crusted over a wound on Chouji’s forehead and his eyes were closed.  She hoped he was okay.  Shikamaru had a cut on his cheek but was scanning the encampment with narrowed eyes.  She could practically see the cogs of his brain spinning as he gathered information and extrapolated meaning.

She chose a perch in an oak next to the one where her friends were tied.  She had a clear view of Shikamaru between two of the guards, and she was high enough not to catch their notice unless they were deliberately looking up in the trees.  Like Shikamaru was.

She flicked the squirrel’s tail purposefully as his eyes passed over her and he paused.  He blinked once, slow and deliberate, tilting his head slightly to his right.  She flicked her tail once to confirm that yes, it was her.  The ghost of a grin pulled and her teammate’s lips.  He had understood.  Now they could start their discussion.

She cocked her head and flicked her tail twice.  Are you okay?

He blinked once.  Yes.

She cocked her head and flicked her tail three times.  Is Chouji okay?

He blinked once.  Yes.

That was a relief.  Chouji must be faking the gravity of his injuries to better catch the enemy off guard.  Or he was genuinely sleeping.  Her teammates had an annoying knack for rest and relaxation every chance they got.

She lifted her right paw and cocked her head again.  How many enemies?

He wrinkled his nose twice, then blinked twice.  Twenty-two.  He gave her a long wink with his left eye.  One warning.  He blinked three times.  Kekkei genkai.

That could make things tricky.  It was nearly impossible to communicate the nature of a kekkei genkai using their nonverbal code.  Nor would she be able to easily counteract it without knowing what it was.  Things could get tricky.

She cocked her head and raised her left paw, asking a final question.  What’s the level of danger?

The smile tugged at Shikamaru’s mouth again.  He blinked once and shook his head slightly.  Ino narrowed her eyes.  If they were a level one threat, meaning barely any danger at all, how the heck had they managed to capture Shikamaru and Chouji?  It didn’t make sense.  But if he claimed they were barely a threat, she had to trust him.  After all, he was the smartest person she knew.

She flicked her tail three times before scampering away.  Fifteen minutes.  That would be just enough time to get back to the rescue squad and come up with a plan.  There were a myriad of unknown factors that she couldn’t account for, so she focused on what she knew.  She had a team with wide-ranging skills, the best in the village.  She knew the number of their enemies and the layout of their camp.  She knew Shikamaru was confident in their victory, even with an unknown kekkei genkai in the mix.  Really, that was all the information she needed.

A moment later she was blinking up at Hinata and Tenten, Temari kneeling alertly next to them.  It was always momentarily disorienting to return to her body after being squished into a smaller being.  Her human body seemed so much larger, and her mind was no longer confined to the simplicity of a smaller animal.  A lot of early training had been dedicated to shortening the time of disorientation so she could bounce back quickly in a fight.

“Ino,” Hinata breathed.  “Were you able to find them?”

“Yeah.”  She sat up, mind working faster than it had moments before.  “They’re both fine.  Are the traps disabled?”

“Every one we could find,” Tenten reported,” and we were thorough.”

“Okay, good.”  She relayed what she had learned and the plan she had come up with.  Then they began creeping toward the camp, wasting none of the fifteen minutes she had given them to prepare and launch their rescue.

“Temari,” she whispered, dropping back a step to speak with the Suna kunoichi, “I need you to stay out of this fight no matter what.”

The wind user narrowed her eyes but remained silent.

“Shikamaru would never forgive me for increasing his workload if your involvement caused an international incident.  And no doubt the Kazekage would be hard-pressed to explain why his ambassador got tied up in an internal affair of the Leaf.”

“I know,” she growled.  “I understand the implications of my being here.  It’s my job.”

Ino pressed her lips together tightly.  Temari could be blunt and sharp, especially when her emotions were running high.  She was less tactful than usual.  But she was also rational, even under pressure.

“I won’t do anything to risk our peace,” she promised, “assuming your plan goes smoothly.”

“It will,” Ino insisted, a grim smile painting her face.  It has to.

They paused on the edge of the camp, giving Hinata time to better map their enemies’ positions with her Byakugan.  Ino also stretched her mind, using it to pinpoint the guards around her teammates.  She could feel the pressure building behind her eyes as she reached further, connecting with Shikamaru and Chouji.  Their minds were familiar and comforting.  She reached into their thoughts and was relieved to find Chouji alert and ready.  Shikamaru was steadily counting down the final seconds of the fifteen minutes she had promised.  She pushed her mind to reach Tenten and Hinata waiting beside her so they could all hear Shikamaru’s countdown and her quick summary of their plan.  Chouji focused on what he knew from their abduction--that the man near the far fire with the sword seemed to be their leader, and the brother-sister duo standing guard on the far side of the camp were the kekkei genkai users, able to turn their bodies to steel and withstand powerful physical attacks.  The details were communicated quickly and last-minute, but the information was vital to the success of their rescue, and she had known her captured teammates would be able to fill in the missing details of her plan.  They had prepared for situations like this.

Four...Three...Two...One.

Suddenly the camp was filled with smoke, the smoke bombs they’d thrown discharging and obscuring their surprise attack.  Ino felt Hinata race towards the kekkei genkai users, eager to block their chakra before they could join the fight.  Surprised shouts and groans signalled Tenten setting to work with her bo staff, using the element of surprise to mow down as many as she could before they got wise to what was happening.

Ino wasted no time making her way to her captive teammates, a kunai gripped in her hand.  She did her part in thinning the enemies’ number, taking down one guard with a stab behind the knee and another with a palm-strike to the nose and a knee in the gut.  Slipping past a third guard, she slashed through the ropes keeping her friends tied.  She threw Shikamaru’s knuckle knives into the tree near their owner before turning back to their adversaries, fending them off long enough for her friends to untangle themselves from their bonds.

Chouji let out a roar as he pulled free, and all of Ino’s worries disappeared.  The outcome of this fight was now inevitable, even if the odds were twenty-two to five.  She’d be confident if the odds were twenty-two to three.  The kidnappers may have rallied now that the element of surprise was gone, but they were no more of a threat now than they had been when they first sprung their rescue.  Nothing could stand against the perfect InoShikaCho formation.

The fight was over in less than ten minutes.  The full force of their team ravaged the kidnappers.  Hinata’s quick action had disabled the kekkei genkai users before they could pose a threat, and Tenten triumphed during a stellar bout of one-on-one combat to take down the group’s leader.  But the most impressive work was the newly freed prisoners and their teammate.  Without speaking, without even using a mental connection or nonverbal code, they moved totally in sync.  Ino knew how those boys were going to fight almost better than she knew what she herself would do.  She knew when to be the diversion and when to be the fatal strike.  They were a single organism, moving as one, rising as one, triumphing as one.  Everything was as it should be.

“See?” Shikamaru smiled as he finished binding the last of the kidnappers with some rope Tenten had brought, “I told you they weren’t a threat.”

Ino rolled her eyes, but she was too giddy with fading adrenaline to argue.  She pulled him toward her with an arm around his shoulders, using her other arm to bring in their partner.  “Next time you two decide to get kidnapped, remember to wait for me, okay?”

“You got it,” Chouji chuckled as they pressed their foreheads together in a group hug.  They held the hug for an extended moment, drinking in the relief of being back together, their breaths subconsciously syncing up.  This was comfortable, comforting, and as it should be.  Her friends--her brothers--were okay, and that was everything.

“Typical,” a voice behind them said, breaking the moment.  “I arrive in the village to find someone needs rescuing.  Again.”

“Temari.”  Shikamaru pulled away, a look of surprise morphing into a frown.  “What are you doing here?”

“Come on, let me take a look at that head wound,” Ino said, leading Chouji to sit on an exposed tree root far enough away to give their partner and his maybe-girlfriend some privacy.

“Here, I figured you might want this,” she began, pulling a bag of chips and half of a sandwich from the pouch at her waist.

“Aw yes!” Chouji cheered.  “Ino, you’re a lifesaver!”

“And don’t you forget it,” she huffed.  “Now let me see that thick head of yours.”

She cleaned away the dried blood while her teammate munched away happily.  She wanted to ask him what he knew about the kidnappers so she could begin piecing together the narrative and compile questions for interrogation.  Her work was just beginning.  For the safety of the village and their clans, she would get to the bottom of this abduction and make sure something like this never happened again.  But right now they were all exhausted.  Getting intel could wait for the night.  After all, the kidnappers weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

When a jounin team arrived twenty minutes later to help them escort their prisoners to the village, they were all sitting together on the tree root passing the bag of potato chips between them.  Ino was tucked between her teammates, head resting on Chouji’s shoulder with her leg pressed against Shikamaru’s.  He and Temari seemed to have come to some sort of mutual understanding because she was leaning against his other side, his arm casually wrapped around her.  Hinata rested against Ino’s knees, humming quietly to herself as she looked at the stars, and Tenten drew nonsensical patterns in the dirt with the tip of a kunai while she watched the prisoners out of the corner of her eye.

Tomorrow would bring numerous questions and--hopefully--much-needed answers.  There would be meetings with the Hokage and their clans and their friends.  This event was a stone that would cause ripples in their lives, but in this moment, exhausted and squished between two of the people she loved most, Ino knew they were unstoppable.  They would ride whatever waves were to come because nothing could stand against InoShikaCho.

[primnroses]

— every time ino is shown in the canon manga

In this post I will present every appearance of Ino Yamanaka in the canon manga of Naruto written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. This post is not directed towards Ino in a harmful or disrespectful way. This post is for information purposes only. I give my permission to use or share this list if you may consider it opportune. 

I will not count the anime in this list because I consider it over exaggerated and beyond biased. The fillers take advantage of certain characters, especially female, for profitable purposes and are, on occasions, rude. I also want to share that I do not support the anime or the work of Studio Pierrot in regards to Naruto. You can find the stats of the other kunoichis here. Please read the information about the stats in the masterpost before checking them.

I will divide Ino’s role in the manga in 8 parts: 1. Ino in the background with no prominent dialogue, either in a memory or a flashback. 2. Ino with prominent dialogue 3. Ino fighting or using her Yamanaka techniques. 4. Ino using medical ninjutsu. 5. Ino saying Sasuke Uchiha's name or in regards to him. 6. Ino crying. 7. Ino and Sakura Haruno's friendship 8. Ino in the most important moment of the series: Asuma's death.

Ino covers 134 chapters of the manga, from chapter 1 through chapter 700, which makes up for 19.14% of the total. This positions her in second place in the kunoichi statistics in the manga. This leaves 567 chapters without her active presence.

1st Sakura Haruno 2nd Ino Yamanaka 3rd Hinata Hyūga 4th Temari 5th Tenten 6th Karin Uzumaki

This leaves 566 chapters without her active presence.

Ino debuts in chapter 34 along with her team drinking tea from the dango shop before the Chūnin Exams. From this point and on this is her rate of appearance:

1. Ino is shown in the background and does not talk in chapters: 34, 40, 43, 44, 46, 66, 70, 83, 84, 85, 86, 100, 102, 113, 116, 117, 122, 139, 421, 450, 457, 469, 484, 505, 531, 541, 552, 592, 612, 613, 614, 615, 617, 628, 643, 652, 671, 677, 699

This represents 29.10% of her appearances in total.

The chapters in italics represent Ino in other characters’ memories or flashbacks.

2. Ino speaks/has a more active role in chapters: 39, 42, 45, 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 65, 67, 68, 71, 72, 74, 75, 76, 77, 80, 81, 87, 93, 96, 99, 101, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 114, 172, 174, 236, 238, 327, 328, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 341, 342, 420, 425, 428, 429, 435, 435, 436, 459, 515, 529, 530, 532, 534, 537, 538, 558, 573, 611, 616, 630, 631, 632, 633, 634, 635, 644, 647, 649, 650, 662, 678, 696, 700

This represents 64.17% of her appearances in total.

The chapters in italics represent Ino in other characters’ memories or flashbacks.

3. Ino fights or uses her Yamanaka techniques in chapters: 42, 55, 56, 71, 72, 73, 332, 529, 530*, 531*, 532*, 533, 611, 616, 630, 633, 633, 641, 647, 649*, 650, 651*, 652*, 654*, 662*

This represents 18.65% of her appearances in total.

The chapters in italics represent Ino fighting without using her Yamanaka techniques.

*530, 531 & 532 Ino is seen about to strike and also fighting but the whole battle happens off-screen.  *649 Ino says she felt these emotions through her jutsu. *651, 652 & 654 Ino fights Obito with Konoha 12 in the chakra cloak

4. Ino uses medical-ninjutsu in chapters: 327, 342 

This represents 1.49% of her appearances in total.

5. Ino says Sasuke’s name or in regards to him in chapters: 39, 52, 55, 56, 57, 65, 67, 68, 71, 94, 98, 99, 106, 109, 110, 111*, 174, 328*, 459, 538, 616, 631, 677

This represents 17.16% of her appearances in total.

*111 Ino hears about the mark of Sasuke’s neck.  *328 Asuma tells Ino to beat Sakura in love, referencing their rivalry over Sasuke.

6. Ino cries in chapters: 328, 428, 459, 613

This represents 2.98% of her appearances in total.

*328 Asuma tells Ino to beat Sakura in love and ninjutsu, referencing their rivalry.

7. Ino in regards to her friendship with Sakura Haruno or in the same panel as her: 39, 42, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 71, 72, 73, 93, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 328*, 337, 538, 612, 616 

This represents 23.13% of her appearances in total.

The chapters in italics represent Ino and Sakura about their friendship and development.

*328 Asuma tells Ino to beat Sakura in love and ninjutsu, referencing their rivalry.

8. Ino in the Asuma’s death Arc in chapters: 327, 328, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 341, 342 

This represents 10.44% of her appearances in total.