In September of the 48th year of Konoha, on the 23rd, a child named "Ino" was born in Konoha Hospital. The name "Ino" was filled with the blessings of Inoichi Yamanaka and his wife—the wild boar of the mountains and forests is the most alert and clever; they possess an extraordinary sense of smell, allowing them to avoid many dangers and live comfortably in the peril-filled woods.
The Ninja World was not a peaceful or beautiful place. In the short 48 years since the establishment of the "One Country, One Village" system, three Great Ninja Wars had already broken out.
"Ino" was the best blessing!
To be as alert and clever as a wild boar in the mountains, to have the intuition to sniff out and avoid danger, and to live a happy life.
This was the greatest blessing and expectation Inoichi Yamanaka and his wife had for this little one... Opening her eyes, she saw a wooden ceiling. The log-colored ceiling was polished to a shine, reflecting the soft daylight.
"Am I still dreaming?"
Thinking of this possibility, she closed her eyes again and silently counted, "One, two, three, four, five..." until she reached "ten," then suggested to herself: "Wake up!" Upon opening her eyes, it was still the same log-colored, polished ceiling, reflecting the soft daylight... The light seemed a bit brighter than before.
"Why can't I wake up?" she wondered. Usually, when she encountered this half-asleep, half-awake state—knowing she was dreaming—a simple mental suggestion would wake her up the moment she opened her eyes. This time, it failed.
She counted again, "One, two, three..." but after ten, when she opened her eyes, it was still the wooden ceiling.
She tried again... and it was still the wooden ceiling.
She gave up struggling.
She might as well close her eyes and keep sleeping... Dreams eventually end! As long as she slept until she woke up naturally, the dream couldn't do anything about it!
"Ino! Ino... it's time to get up! Staying in bed isn't being a good girl..."
She had just closed her eyes.
She heard a gentle woman's voice speaking Japanese, yet she could clearly understand it. At the same time, a thought popped into her head: "Mom is here to wake me up." Memories began to surface naturally—they were "her" memories. Although fragmented, they felt harmonious and natural, as if they were meant to be. Just then, she heard the sound of a sliding door opening. She peeked and saw her mother.
Her mother wore a coffee-colored dress, and her pale, almost silver-blonde hair was tied back in a bun secured with a wooden hairpin.
"Mom... I was already awake, but I thought I was still dreaming—so I tried really hard to wake up a few more times!"
Listening to little Ino's "excuses," Mrs. Yamanaka knelt down, picked her up, and asked with a smile, "And then?"
Ino said, "Then I thought I was still dreaming and never woke up... I really tried hard to wake up..."
"Hehe... and are you awake now?" Mrs. Yamanaka gently scratched Ino's nose.
"I'm awake, I'm awake."
Mrs. Yamanaka put a sundress on Ino and then her socks. "Let's go, let's have breakfast. If we're any later, your father will have to leave..."
"Find Daddy!" Ino pulled Mrs. Yamanaka's hand and ran out. Mrs. Yamanaka held her hand, keeping the little one steady to prevent her from falling. Upon entering the dining room, she saw a handsome man wearing a standard green vest with the same hair color as Mrs. Yamanaka—Inoichi Yamanaka. A strange comparison popped into Ino's mind: "Daddy is so handsome, as handsome as Nicholas Tse!"
This comparison felt so "natural" that Ino didn't find it bizarre at all—it was simply part of her memory.
"Daddy!"
Ino broke free from her mother's hand and ran into her father's arms.
Inoichi Yamanaka carefully shifted his body to move the weapon pouches on his vest out of the way as Ino threw herself into his embrace.
Mrs. Yamanaka said jokingly, "The moment she opened her eyes, she told me she thought she wasn't awake yet. Now that she sees her father, she doesn't even want her mother anymore..."
"Mm, mm..." Inoichi Yamanaka replied happily, "A daughter is naturally closest to her father. Don't be too hard on her usually, and she'll be close to you too. Ino will definitely be a ninja in the future, and the Yamanaka Clan will flourish in her hands. Don't be too restrictive or overindulgent while she's young... That kid from the Nara family doesn't want to move a muscle all day; it's giving Shikaku a real headache..."
Mrs. Yamanaka complained, "The laziness of the Nara Clan is ancestral, isn't it? They wouldn't even pick up a spilled soy sauce bottle. If you ask me, marrying into that family is truly..."
Ino thought about it... One "memory" was of that black-haired, chubby kid who was as lazy as a turtle and would rather lie down than sit.
The second "memory" was of Shikamaru from a manga called 'Naruto'—Nara Shikamaru, who was lazy to the core.
The two sets of memories blended perfectly.
"Mom is right!"
Not to be outdone, Inoichi Yamanaka said, "My wife is right."
Inoichi Yamanaka held Ino, feeding her while he ate. After breakfast, he kissed Ino's cheek. "Ino, Daddy is going to work. Be good and listen at home..." He said a few words to Mrs. Yamanaka and then left.
"Come... Mom will take you to the yard to play..."
Mrs. Yamanaka took Ino to the yard to pick flowers and catch butterflies, and she also taught her various flower languages—different flowers have different meanings and can be combined to convey different messages. As an elegant young lady, she had to understand these things; noble temperament must be cultivated from early childhood.
After playing for the entire morning, Ino's "memories" finally shifted from a chaotic blend into an orderly state.
From a state of "Zhuangzi's Butterfly Dream," where the self jumped back and forth between the butterfly and Zhuangzi, things became clear:
"I" became defined—
I.
Am Ino Yamanaka.
3 years old.
One of the future Konoha 12.
I.
Am a "Transmigrator" who woke up and mysteriously crossed over.
I.
Am myself.
The "memories" naturally split into two parts: "the me from before transmigrating" and "Ino herself," forming the current "me."
A three-year-old body couldn't hold too much "mature" thought; it was mostly filled with Ino's own liveliness, cheerfulness, and playfulness.
Originating from the natural laws of human development, the objective physiological laws of hormones acting on the body's growth and development meant that rationality could not be overridden by maturity—so-called maturity is merely reaching a certain age where the effect of hormones on the body changes.
Although she really wanted to think about the "future" and prepare for a rainy day, as soon as these heavy thoughts appeared, they were replaced moments later by more attractive things.
Those beautiful flowers and pretty butterflies were more interesting than any "future"... Any thoughts of the so-called "future" were directly tossed back to the Ōtsutsuki Clan's hometown.