The Place Where I Belong

Summary
In the Demon Desert, Ameno is extracting poison out of a wounded man from another Sunagakure team while Shishio is searching for nearby shinobi. Meanwhile, Chōji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno are in a need for supplies after a confrontation with another team, leading Sakura and Ino to bicker with each other. On their way, they are suddenly attacked by a giant scorpion, which gets defeated by Chōji and Sakura, to which Ino can't help but to admire their growth. While healing Sakura's injured hand, Ino recalls her past visit to the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi Clan Memorial alongside her father Inoichi, who wanted to prepare her for the lengthy training of their clan's hiden, forcing Ino to wriggle herself out of the situation, unwilling to undergo something that takes several years to accomplish. While celebrating Chōji leaving the hospital after his confrontation with the Sound Five, Ino decided to become Tsunade's subordinate like Sakura did before. Tsunade accepted to test her for three months, time Ino needed to learn how to revive an octopus, which she ultimately accomplished after hard study sessions alongside Sakura. Afterward, Ino finally realised her "own place" and decided to undergo the training in her clan's hiden after all, thanking Sakura for opening her eyes. While Sakura, Ino and Chōji eat the flesh of the recently killed scorpion, Team Ameno detects them and prepares to head towards them.

Trivia

 * While Ameno was about to perform her medical ninjutsu, one of the Suna-nin was mistakenly depicted with a Konohagakure forehead protector. This was corrected in later sequences.