Ino Yamanaka

From a young age, Ino has been a confident, bold, and outspoken girl who had a mild-temper and occasionally lashed out at others if their personal habits bothered her. At the same time, she was by nature very friendly and loyal to her allies, usually more motivated than her team-mates, and tended to take charge of them, a characteristic she would later pass on to her son, Inojin. Shikamaru, despite finding most girls "troublesome", typically offers no resistance to Ino's forceful behaviour, being unwilling to deal with her reaction if things don't happen her way. She is also prideful in her appearance and often tries to lose weight by dieting in the hopes that it will make her more attractive to boys; she even jokingly suggests that Chōji should do the same to attract girls. Ino is quite knowledgeable about different types and meanings of flowers, sometimes making analogies to them when talking. Despite her assertiveness and uppity demeanour, Ino is a compassionate and kind person at heart, having been raised to embody the meaning of the bush clover: a blunt, candid love who treasures the bonds with her friends. It is these qualities that earned Sakura Haruno's friendship, defending Sakura from bullies who teased her and helping her become confident. Their warm friendship developed into a bitter rivalry over the following years, fuelled by competition for Sasuke's affections, ninjutsu and even trading insults, with Ino as "Ino-pig" (いのぶた, Ino-buta) and Sakura as "Forehead Girl" (デコリーン, Dekorīn, English TV: Billboard Brow). After the Chūnin Exams, Ino becomes impressed by Sakura's growth and they rekindle their friendship, while maintaining their rivalry on more amiable terms. She cares greatly for her teammates as well, being relieved that they survived after the failed Sasuke Recovery Mission, promising her sensei Asuma Sarutobi to look after them after he dies, and during the Fourth Shinobi World War, encouraging them to stay strong in the face

Appearance

Ino is a fair-skinned woman of average height with light blue eyes (green in the manga) and long, platinum blonde hair with bangs framing the right side of her face. As a young child, her hair was short. In the beginning of Part I, her hair grew to hip-length and is tied into a high ponytail. During the Chūnin Exams, Ino cropped her hair to shoulder-length, often keeping it up in a bun. By Part II, her hair grew back to hip-length ponytail with her bangs became thicker, hiding most of her right eye. In the Blank Period, her hair is hung loosely and extends to her calves; as an adult, her hairstyle returns to its shape in Part II, but her ponytail reaches her upper-back and sports a black clip. Ino regularly wears a purple outfit consisting of a high-collared blouse and matching apron skirt. In Part I, she sports this attire with bandages on her abdomen and legs, small hoop-earrings, her forehead protector worn as a belt, and for a time, white arm warmers. In Part II, Ino's outfit is slightly more revealing as she discards her forehead protector and bandages while exposing her midriff and wears mesh armour on her thighs, elbows and knees. She also replaces her hoop earrings with studs, a gift from Asuma, and sports a red hair clip on her left temple. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Ino dons the standard Konoha infantry flak jacket and assorted clothing. In the Blank Period, she wears a longer skirt that reaches her ankles, high-heeled sandals and pink lipstick. As an adult, Ino wears her purple outfit again exposing her midriff with one mesh warmer on her left arm and open-toed sandals. She also dons the standard Konoha uniform while on missions.

Abilities

As a genin, Ino was noted to be a kunoichi with the potential to become the strongest member of the Yamanaka clan. During the time-skip, she becomes a chūnin, and her improved skills ultimately earned further praise from her father in the Fourth Shinobi World War. Around the era of the Seventh Hokage, Ino's talents made her the head of the Konoha Barrier Team. Many shinobi in the village and of her own clan look up to her In the anime, she also works in the Analysis Team as an interrogator.

Chakra and Physical Prowess

While a genin, Ino showed to be skilled at chakra control, as seen when she used her own cut hair to bind a target. In Part II, her chakra control improved greatly, having been made a medical-nin, and being chosen to help seal the Three-Tails. She could also transfer her chakra to others. Although Ino rarely uses taijutsu, she has proven to be skilled enough in her battle against Sakura during the Chūnin Exams, and against a reincarnated Asuma in the Fourth Shinobi World War, a proficient taijutsu user himself. Ino has also shown to have strength and speed, able to tackle Chōji (with increased weight from his enlarged arm) away from Asuma's Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique. Two years after the war, while usually positioned near the back lines during close-ranged combat situations, her taijutsu has improved enough to support Sai in defeating multiple amounts of enemies.