Seeing her fellow shinobi fighting and killing and dying used to make Ino think that if there was any god or gods out there, he, she or they weren't watching over Konoha. Now, she is not so sure. Even before she and Chouji became serious, she had wondered if there was something in what he and Shikamaru (who went through a faith crisis in his teens – being a rabbi's son probably does that to you, she reckons) and Tenten and Naruto – who is now Reverend Uzumaki - and all the other religious kids believed.
"You do believe it all, don't you?" Chouji asks her. "I mean, you're not just doing this to pacify my parents."
"A little of Column A, a little of Column B," says Ino. "But mainly Column A. If I wasn't comfortable with the idea of becoming a Jew, I wouldn't be doing this." And she means it. While she's still trying to get her head round the theological side of Judaism, the ritual side of it fascinates her, particularly the emphasis on food. She's always teased Chouji for liking his food, but now she's coming to understand that food isn't just fuel for Chouji, it's symbolism. During Yom Kippur, she had fasted alongside Chouji, and been surprised at how easily she had coped, while Chouji – despite having done the festival since he was a genin – was visibly miserable. She had joined him and his family and the Naras to break the fast, and Chouji's face at the sight of food, after twenty-six hours of going without, was one of the most adorable things she'd ever seen.