Ino Yamanaka

Ino Yamanaka (山中いの, Yamanaka Ino) is a member of Konohagakure's Yamanaka clan. She and her fellow members of Team Asuma are their generation's Ino–Shika–Chō trio. From a young age, Ino has been confident, friendly, bold, and outspoken, sometimes lashing out at others if their personal habits bother her. She is generally more motivated than her team-mates Shikamaru Nara and Chōji Akimichi and tends to take charge of them. Shikamaru, despite finding most girls "troublesome", typically offers no resistance to Ino's forceful behavior, 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, 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, fueled by competition of Sasuke's affections. After the Chūnin Exams, Ino becomes impressed by Sakura's growth and they rekindle their friendship, while maintaining their rivalry on more amiable terms.