Ino did not need the same push that Sakura required to train hard and it was easier for Naruto to set up a training routine for her. Her family heritage made it easier for the blonde Uzumaki to push her to her limits and improve upon her weaknesses. His biggest challenge with Ino Yamanaka was that she was a spoilt child. Inoichi doted on his only daughter and treated her like a princess. Ino was very receptive to training but not without some sort of reward. At first, Naruto let her have her way in order to ease her into training. In order to show her that training was its own reward he used her own ego to teach her a lesson.

Flashback- one month prior

Ino stomped her foot childishly when Naruto refused to give into her materialistic demands. She was doing so well but her demands were starting to get on his nerves. Inoichi spoilt her rotten and it was not helping him one bit. He decided that he would teach her a valuable lesson on egocentric behavior.

"Alright Ino I will make a deal with you. You and a fellow female genin of my choosing will be given a set amount of time and funds to put together a proper kunoichi outfit. When the time limit is met, you will engage your peer in mock combat to see how well you have prepared. Should you win, I will finance every shopping spree from now until you become a chunin. If you are defeated, you will submit to my suggestions and you will meet with a jounin of my choice to partake in extra training on the weekends for a few hours. Are we agreed?"

They shook on the terms and Naruto gave her 500,000 ryo to purchase her equipment and set the time to meet up at training ground 11 the next morning at 9am sharp. He watched his young student skip through the streets to go shopping and shook his head. He already knew what she was going to do with the money he gave her but it would be a good wake up call for the young kunoichi.

He followed her across the rooftops, careful to avoid detection but she was too busy spending her newfound wealth to notice someone tailing her throughout the market district. He observed her visiting fashion shops and spending a good amount of her money there. Dresses, skirts, low cut shirts and bawdy outfits were bought with a sprinkling of ninja gear bought at the stores.

He shook his head when he saw the quality of the items she was buying. Most the gear was ornate and offered little protection, if any, to its wearer. Most of the items were meant to be for show only but Ino had no idea what kind of items to purchase and fell prey to the honeyed words of the salesperson. The last few ryo were spent getting done up and Naruto observed a well manicured Ino walking out of a well known salon. He knew she had was not prepared but tomorrow was her test and the lack of effort she put in would show in the spar.

"Good morning, Ino. I hope you are west rested and have eaten a good breakfast. Your sparring partner will be this young lady."

Tenten Higurashi stepped onto the field and bowed politely to

Ino before turning to speak to Naruto.

"Naruto-sensei, she is ill prepared and unsuited for actual combat. You still want me to spar with her?"

Naruto patted Tenten on the back and smiled at the young weapon mistress. She constantly trained and bought only the best equipment. Her father was a blacksmith and most of her high end equipment was hand crafted making her skill much more lethal.

"I want you to bruise her ego so to speak. You can resort to whatever tactic you like but keep her injuries to a minimal. Bruising and small cuts are fine but do not use excessive force. She relies heavily on her family techniques so it should be quite easy to best her."

Turning to face his prodigal student, he instructed her to give Tenten the proper bow to commence the spar. Both students bowed slightly to one another before settling into their defensive forms. On Naruto's command, they began to spar with each other.

"Wow Naruto-sensei was not kidding when he said you were a materialistic girl. You should quit now and go be some rich man's trophy wife. I'm sure they will treat you very well."

Tenten's caustic remark set a tiny seed of rage into place as Ino struggled to keep her swirling emotions in check. She was barely able to block most of Tenten's strikes but her rage began to make her sloppier. She began to rush her senior, arms swinging in futility, hoping to get a hit on her sparring partner. Tenten grinned and batted her uncoordinated attacks away and sunk her fist into Ino's abdomen. The blonde girl gasped as saliva flew from her mouth along with her breath.

"Oh yeah? The way you dress will only attract ugly boys and losers. The academy called and they want their training equipment back."

Tenten laughed at the blonde's shoddy insult and continued her systematic pummeling. Ino's rage was on full display and Naruto could only sigh in disappointment as he continued watching from the sidelines.

"Ino what I wear isn't fashionable to you but I am able to deflect well placed blows with just my armor and padding. You have nothing in place to absorb the force of my blows. Your entire body is slowing down due to the pain you are feeling now. How much longer can you last? You came ill prepared and have little skill to speak of. You can't fully utilize your family techniques because you haven't practiced them. You bring shame to able bodied kunoichi."

Ino was slowing down considerably and Tenten's strikes became more painful with every passing moment. When Ino collapsed with a slight groan of pain, Naruto called the spar in Tenten's favor and the young genin excused herself. Naruto gingerly pulled her bruised form into his arms and brought her to his residence, laying her down in one of the guest rooms.

'Well hopefully that opened your eyes a little and it will be a little easier. Now onto to part two.'

He stepped into his study for a brief moment to grab a small stack of neatly trimmed paper squares and returned to his battered student. He gently placed a square where they needed to be and healed her bruises with a pulse of his chakra. A sigh of relief escaped his student's lips and her bruising disappeared entirely. He used a few other sealing arrays to bring his blonde student back to a suitable condition. Her eyes slowly opened and Ino sat up quickly in the bed.

"I think it is safe to say I have won our little wager Ino-chan. Before I take you to visit a colleague of mine, let us review the decisions you made. You chose fashion and style over protection and durability and it did not save you from the bruises and lacerations you received."

Ino nodded slowly as she took in her sensei's words. She loved fashion and style but if she wanted to continue on the path she chose, she had to make some sacrifices for her protection. Had it been a hostile encounter she would could have been killed or worse, violated and sold as a pleasure worker.

"Since you are healed, let us first eat something. I know you like to eat light meals and abstain from calorie heavy foods but as a shinobi you will never have to worry as long as you train daily. You can pretty much eat what you like."

The two shinobi stopped in front of a familiar booth that Ino often saw Naruto eating at. Well it used to be a small booth restaurant. It was now a two story fine dining restaurant. Ichiraku Ramen was one of the most popular restaurants since Naruto ate there. His seal of approval brought many high tier ninja to the place, boosting the income of its owners and created the need for more seating.

"Ah Naruto-kun, my best customer! Come, come your favorite table is clean."

Naruto pulled out Ino's chair for her and pushed her in before seating himself. It had been a few weeks since he had eaten here and Ayame had come out from the kitchen to playfully scold him for not coming more often.

"Naruto, you need to come eat here more often. How are we going to make money otherwise?"

The two shared a laugh before she took their orders. Ino ordered a chicken ramen and steamed dumplings while Naruto ordered some oven roasted crab legs, boiled duck eggs and his usual order of miso ramen. Ino's eyes bulged in their sockets as she watched her sensei eat all ten bowls of ramen in addition to his appetizers and wash it all down with tea.

'Where does it all go? He must have a monsterous metabolism.'

"I eat what I want Ino because of my training regiment. Good food and drink are essential to a ninja if they are to perform at peak level without any handicaps. This is your first lesson. No need to diet as long as you train hard everyday."

He paid the bill and left a large tip before taking Ino to a derelict building in the market district.

"Alright Ino, we have arrived. What do you see in front of you? The answer is not as easy as you think. Take this time to analyze the building."

"It is a rundown building in a deserted corner of the market district. It is rather small and has no signage. Wait, we would not be here if it was just an abandoned building. There must be an illusion on the front of the building!"

She went to dispel it but Naruto shook his head before pulling her in behind him. As soon as they entered the building, Ino saw that the outside was to keep those who did not pay attention from entering and kept away civilians. A beautiful young lady emerged from the back to greet them. Her eyes seem to light up when she saw Naruto was present.

"Naruto-sama, I did not know you would be in today. It is so nice of you to stop by. What is the occasion?"

"Yayoi-chan, this young lady is a firm believer of your methods. I hope you can give her the number three special.*"

Ino looked back and forth as the two conversed a bit longer before Yayoi took her by the hand and led her to the back, with Naruto trailing behind. In the back room, Ino saw clothing that she had never seen in store windows before. Each outfit was alluring but held a subtle implication of its owner's shinobi background. Each outfit was unique in design and shape.

Yayoi giggled at the awe transfixed on Ino's face. The poor girl had never seen battle fashion before and if what Naruto said was right, she would have another minion -ahem fellow advocate- to her cause. No one said that battlewear could not be fashionable.

"Ino-kohai, was it? My name is Yayoi and I am the tailor and sole designer of what I call fashionable battle attire. My creed to provide maximum protection and comfort while maintaining proper fashionable standards. I believe in looking good at all times!"

Naruto had found her desk and was currently working on another side project while the two chatted. No point of wasting his time by idling if he could work on other things while he waited. He only looked up when he heard a loud noise coming from the ground and looked over the desk to see Ino prostrated on the floor in front of Yayoi.

"Teach me your ways, Senpai! Please this humble kohai of yours the magnificent ways!"

'Wow this is what I should have done first. I did not think it would work.'

"Naruto-sama, I am assuming she is to be my subordinate -ahem I mean my apprentice- then? Will she be training here after your lessons then?"

Naruto sighed as he gave her the schedule he worked out for Ino's extracurricular training. Yayoi would have her after his lessons and would put her to work. Ino would earn her outfit and would learn how to dress more appropriately.

"You also will work with a friend of mine in ANBU. She expressed a great interest in training you. She demands perfection so give your all."

Outwardly, Naruto was calm when speaking about his friend Neko but he knew she was a well known slave driver. Yayoi gave Ino a look of sympathy as she knew the woman Naruto spoke of.

'It's more like she demands your soul.'

A few hours after Ino's initial meeting with Yayoi, Neko made an appearance at training ground 11.

"Ino this is my friend Neko and she will be training you in kenjutsu. I noticed your lack of weapons training so I decided Neko should be your teacher. She will teach you on the weekends. She will instruct you in sword skills until you decide to pursue another type of kenjutsu."

The cat masked ANBU gave a short behind her mask as unseen eyes analyzed the Yamanaka heiress. A displeased sighed escaped from behind her mask.

"Naruto-senpai, you are asking me to train her? She doesn't look like she can handle herself. Why should I train her?"

Naruto must have shown her something good in the scroll she opened because she sighed again and nodded reluctantly.

"Fine, fine I'll do it if you make good on your half of the bargain."

Naruto snorted and crossed his arms before staring back at her.

"Alright girlie, meet me here on Saturday at 10 am. We will start with the basics. I hope you have enough stamina to keep up."

Neko was a genuine demon Ino decided. She had her swinging around a bokken until her arms were jelly and her legs no longer could support her. She barked commands and hit her with a switch if her form was off. Every weekend ended with her sore but Neko wasn't without compassion. Ino was sent home with herbal oils and balls to soothe the aches.

Flashback end

Naruto began to see Ino's attitude improve. Ino still loved to shop but she learned to shop for proper equipment and distinguish between genuine and imitation items. She developed an athletic figure and her spars with her teammates showcased her blossoming sword skills. Naruto was proud to say Ino Yamanaka was his student.

Hinata's transformation from shy girl to confident kunoichi would complete the trifecta