Posted 26 July 2013 - 03:37 AM
I don't remember if it was canon or filler, but Inoichi did say he expected Ino to be dating Shikamaru or Choji. Given the closeness of the clans, marriage between them would be inevitable.
Someone summed up Ino's love life like this.
The guy she seems most compatible with, and one that would please a lot of Ino fans, is very likely destined for another.
The other guy she has a connection with, hasn't had anything developed with her, and very few seem to like her with him anyway.
The guy she has a crush on, doesn't even care that she exists, is someone she really is clueless about, and is totally wrong for her.
The guy she liked based on him looking like the guy she has a crush on, thinks she is ugly, has no interest in her, and is probably asexual.
Sorry Asuma, but it looks like she is losing in love to Sakura who has Naruto.
I really thought Kishi was going to have Ino and Choji fall for each other during the war. But it didn't happen. Ironically, he has made Ino and Shikamaru seem more like a couple. With what happened to their fathers, how closely they have worked together, Ino acting all tsundere with him and than acting all warm. Choji seems more like the third wheel. Shika's dislike of Sasuke could even be because of Ino. It would be a very easy pairing to do. But it would basically kill Temari as a character beyond being Gaara's sister. I don't want Temari to lose her quasi-romance with Shikamaru. Even the anime and Kishi's assistant ships it. So I really don't know what will happen with Ino.