The Place Where I Belong

Across the Demon Desert, Ameno draws poison from a wounded Sunagakure comrade while Shishio scans for other shinobi nearby. Short on supplies after a clash with a rival team, Ino and Sakura bicker until a giant scorpion ambushes them. Chōji and Sakura bring the creature down, and Ino cannot help admiring how far the two have come. As she mends Sakura's hurt hand, her thoughts drift back to a visit with her father Inoichi to the clan memorial, where he hoped to ready her for the long years of training their Yamanaka hiden demands, a commitment she squirmed out of at the time.

Ino recalls that while celebrating Chōji's discharge after his brush with the Sound Five, she resolved to study under Tsunade just as Sakura had. Tsunade agreed to a three-month trial, during which Ino labored to revive an octopus, finally succeeding after grueling study sessions alongside Sakura. Through that effort she recognised where she truly belonged and chose to take up her clan's hiden after all, thanking Sakura for opening her eyes.

Back in the present, the three make a meal of the slain scorpion, unaware that Team Ameno has now detected them and is moving in their direction. A trivia note points out an animation slip: one of the Suna-nin was briefly drawn wearing a Konohagakure forehead protector during Ameno's medical ninjutsu, an error fixed in later shots.