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Mangaka like Oda, Toriyama and Kishimoto have a similar style, and the   homosexuals ( "okama" ) are usually represented in a very stereotyped way .

Kishimoto, objectively, characterized Sai 100% as asexual before the ending. We have a clear proof in this scene

In both scenes he shows literally no reaction. If the author had wanted to give some clear hint, he would have done it here. Japanese manga has developed its own visual language or iconography for expressing emotion and other internal character states, one of this are the red cheek or hatchings, represent blushing, usually used when the character is embarrassed by strong feelings or romantic feelings. A nosebleed also indicates sexual excitation. He doesn't show any of these things. Not even when he looks at Naruto at the spa.

Obviously this is perfectly consistent with root's training: its members were not to be people, with identity, connections or interests, but machines without any emotions, whose the only focus was the mission.

We only saw Sai blush, in the manga, when he was trying to communicate genuinely with Team7.

The crop tops was not a stylistic choice, but the official uniform of the root. Fuu, Torume and Shin also wear it.

The only remarks he makes are all disparaging: “ugly” for Sakura and “no penis”, and small penis, for Naruto lol. Clearly rude claims.

So yes, clearly he had no specific sexual orientation before the end. But, since he’s married and has a son with Ino in the finale, this clearly makes him a  demisexual, a the person who does not experience sexual attraction until he has formed a strong emotional connection with a potential partner (male or female). This fits to his character.

I love this little parallelism 

1. Saved Sakura from loneliness, fought against bullies and helped her to build her own identity and confidence. Sakura was forever in her debt, she wouldn't be even half of what she is now without Ino.

2. Is smart asf, graduating top from the academy, helping her teammates to pass the written phase of chunin exams with her technique and coming up with strategies against her opponents as a genin which even Jōnins couldn't predict.

3. In the Forest of Death, while being in competition with one another, decided to risk her and her teammates' lives to save Sakura from Orochimaru's men, a decision which saved Sakura, Lee, Naruto and Sasuke's life.

4. Mastered Medical Ninjutsu and became a Medical Ninja during the time-skip. Was skilled enough to heal fatal wounds, perform surgeries, make immediate conclusions on patient's conditions and make anesthetic drugs/poisons.

5. After her sensei's death, risked her life to get revenge for him. Spied & located the Akatsuki on time before they attacked Konoha using a Hawk becoming the key to the fight. Fulfilled her role as the spy, healer & sensor perfectly during the fight. Healed Naruto after his first use of Rasen-Shuriken so he could survive until they reached Konoha.

6. Figured out Pain's mechanisms and how the six paths are being controlled by relating it with her Mind Transfer Technique, and figured out that the real body of Pain must be somewhere else but near the village in order for that to work during the Pain's Assault.

7. Defeated and completely shutdown the reincarnated Nine-Tails Chakra monster Kinkaku, who had previously killed Tobirama (the Second Hokage), and helped to seal him.

8. One third of the legendary Ino-Shika-Cho trio, the second strongest trio of the world, a compulsory individual for their every formation, fought side-by-side with the trio multiple times against powerful opponents during the war and etc. including the fight against their reincarnated sensei, Asuma.

9. Saved Chouji's life twice from Edo-Asuma, saved Chouji's life from Tentails, saved Shikamaru's life from Kinkaku, saved both of their lives God knows how many more times and kept them in line, motivated and supported them mentally and physically in every step they took.

10. Developed a new variation of the Mind Transfer Jutsu, a variation using which she can control more than one body at the same time and also send her spirit in curved lines, somethings which her father thought was impossible.

11. Possessed Obito using her Mind Transfer Jutsu, controlled the Tentails through him and sent a Tailed Beast Bomb off-target within just 2 seconds, saving Naruto, Kakashi, Guy, Killer Bee and the rest of the shinobi alliance behind them, hence saving the world.

12. Dealt with her father's death like a boss. Right after her father's death, with no time to cry, took over his role as the communication head of the alliance and regardless of her capability, connected the ninjas of 5 nation armies via with her jutsu for all the communication purposes without the use of a machine. Surpassed her father, who was the strongest member of the clan, big time in her teenages.

13. Again possessed Obito and controlled tentails, stopping it's movements and stopping it's wooden spike attacks, to which even KCM Naruto praised her for being faster than him.

14. According to Shikamaru's Plan, after learning the handsigns of an Earth Style defensive mud wall Technique from Kitsuchi, transmitted those handsigns to the entire alliance, summoning hundreds of huge walls to reduce the speed of a Tailed Beast Bomb by 1/3 of it's original speed so that Minato could arrive in time to teleport the attack, which otherwise would have wiped out the alliance.

15. Hashirama, the God himself called out for her, not to do something easy but to connect him to the approaching 5 kages and the entire shinobi alliance, something which she could do within mere seconds.

16. Motivated every single shinobi in the entire alliance by relaying Hashirama and Naruto's feelings and memories to everyone and making each one of them recall their memories and reminding them why they must win the war through her extremely advanced telepathy technique.

17. The strongest Sensory Ninja in the world who also developed a new sensory technique by combining her sensory ninjutsu with her telepathy, by which she could transmit her sensory perception to others, giving even non-sensors the ability to sense. Sensed the approaching mini tentail clones and transferred the information to her allies.

18. Was responsible for every communication made between Konoha and Tobishachimaru, and after going to the Blood Prison, captured the leader of the Ryuha Armament Alliance with her mind transfer jutsu and prevented him from escaping the prison.

19. Through her kindness and her Mind Transfer Jutsu, saved Sai from a very powerful genjutsu and saved him from darkness, completely bringing back feelings to him. This made Sai fall in love with her.

20. Risked her life to save Aoba's life after he was trapped in a mind trap during the exploding humans invasion on konoha.

21. Helped Sakura to open a Clinic for children with mental health issues, travelled to other nations to participate in medical conferences and became the assistant director of the Clinic.

22. Fought side-by-side with Sai against a Tailed-Beast level opponent Magire, came up with a plan to beat him, made poisons by herself, took control over an eagle and used the eagle to stab Magire with a posion coated kunai from behind his back, paralyzing and defeating him.

23. Connected everyone in the entire world during the meteor showers, a Kage Summit across the 5 great shinobi nations was held through her, Sensed all the incoming meteors towards the earth and informed about them to Hokage Kakashi, so he could manipulate the ninjas to destroy them.

24. Became the sixteenth head of the Yamanaka Clan hence the strongest member of the clan, also the only female to become head of a clan in her generation.

25. Became the Leader of Konoha Sensory Division who maintains the Sensory Barrier and keeps a secret watch over the entire village. In-charge of detecting every chakra nature that enters and leaves the village, and as soon as a foreign chakra/intruder is detected, is responsible to mobilise the the Police Force and inform the Hokage via her telepathic abilities.

26. Works in Konoha Torture and Interrogation force as their Mind-Reader like her father. Read the minds of the Village Gate Keepers due to the disappearance of Mitsuki and found out that Mitsuki left on his own will.

27. Despite her position and important responsibilities within the village, is also a Botanist who runs a Flower Shop as her personal business.

28. Has the responsibilities as a housewife too, is a loving and caring mother and a wife who takes care of her family. Teaches her son Medical Ninjutsu and her Clan mind-related techniques.

29. Still continues her ninja career and goes on missions regularly even in the peace era, eventhough some kunoichis gave up on their ninja careers after becoming mothers.

30. Infiltrated into a scientific institution along with Orochimaru and hacked the computers in order to steal the handsigns to undo the polar particle which is the cure for Naruto's chakra illness. Via her telepathy, transmitted those handsigns to Sai who was at a 20 days trip distance away at Redaku Country, which otherwise would have cost Sasuke's life to undo the polar particle.

She is and did all these and more. SO THINK AGAIN.

Lets give this Queen a big round of applause together 👏🏻 👸🏼 👑

Sadly, some people used this joyful,innocent greeting to accuse Ino of being a thot who flirts with Sasuke in front of Sakura. They forget  her character has always been like that, joyful and friendly (even with Naruto). 

They subvert a positive trait of her character just with the specific intent to make her the worst friend, wife and mother of the series.

Obviously for their attacks they always use their headcanon and never facts from the canon. The same Ino is the first sasusaku shipper in anime and novels

1- THE FLOWER AND THE ROOT

Sai and Ino represents "The Flower and the Root". Ino is a florist from a flower shop and Sai is an Anbu from the Root Division, making up the flower and a Root pair.

2- THE ICONIC CROP TOPS

Sai and Ino both wear crop tops, exposing their midriffs which is unique design to both of them only, making them them the Crop Top Couple or the Belly Button Couple.

3- "MRS. BEAUTIFUL"

In his attempt to come up with nicknames for his friends, Sai called Ino "Mrs. Beautiful" coincidentally despite thinking the opposite due to his lack of emotions, making her the only one who didn't get insulted by his nicknames. Later after Ino brought feelings back to him, Sai again calls her by the nickname he gave to her, "Mrs. Beautiful", but this time truly meaning it.

While Ino had no problem glomping over Sasuke, Sai calling her "Beautiful" makes her entirely blush, creating a huge difference. Ino has a shimmy move where she moves her shoulders in excitement which she does only when she is with Sai only.

4- THE INIFINITE TSUKUYOMI DREAMS

In Sai's Infinite Tsukuyomi dream, Ino compliments his smile, and in Ino's Inifinite Tsukyomi dream, Sai fights for her love.

5- PURPLE COLOUR

Ino is always commonly associated with the colour purple and Sai is too; his casual costume, underwear (Shippuden ep.98 Omake), swimsuit (Shippuden Ending 10) and filter (Shippuden Ending 5) are all purple. Sai's Casual outfit also shares the same button on the collar as Ino's outfit.

6- THEIR NAMES

Sai and Ino both has 3 letters in their names, and both of their name's origin is a wild animal. Ino means Boar and Sai means Rhino.

Also, Sai was Introduced as a character with no surname. For a purely narrative reason, Ino could only be paired with a guy with no surname so she could keep her surname to keep the ino-shika-cho unchanged with a Yamanaka member (Ultimately Sai became the only male character to take his wife's last name upon marriage).

7- THEIR CHEMISTRY, PHILOSOPHICALLY

In the Japanese culture it is an established belief that there has to be a yin and yang combination for all relationships to succeed. Sai and Ino perfectly fits into this dualism.

Ino represents Yang - She is boisterous, determined, exuberant and outgoing. Her design consists of a warm and light colour scheme and she recalls the sun, the day, the spring/summer.

Sai represents Yin - His personality is pretty much opposite to that of Ino's, he is calm, quiet, submissive and socially awkward. His design has a cold and dark colour scheme, and recalls the moon and the night.

Yin and yang are two words we frequently hear in connection with balance, and hence a relationship between yin and yang are a perfect match. "Sai is the roots that grow in the darkness and Ino is the flowers that bloom under the sun".

The naruto manga author, Kishimoto, has been heavily influenced by Taoist philosophy, and we can easily find tons of evidence throughout the entire manga.

COINCIDENCES? I DON'T THINK SO.

People really be jumping to Boruto series without knowing what has happened in the Naruto series after the war arc. Well, here is Sai and Ino's relationship throughout the entire Naruto canon timeline.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

First and foremost, Sai and Ino met in the very early episodes of Naruto Shippuden. Ino immediately had a crush on him because he was handsome, also noting that he looked like Sasuke. That is basically Ino, the flirty girl as we know. Just know that having a crush and falling in love is two very different things.

Sai was introduced as a character with no emotions and feelings whatsoever. The reason why he thought Ino is "ugly" in their first interaction was because he didn't know what a real beauty is back then. He had no emotion/feelings, how do u expect him to know beauty? Ironically, despite this, he said the opposite of what he thought at her, "Mrs. Beautiful" - building the foundation of SaiIno (Also Ino being the only person who didnt get insulted by Sai's nicknames.)

So, here Sai thought Ino was ugly and Ino only had a crush on Sai because he resembled Sasuke. Two flaws. Okay, cool. Most of the People know their relationship up to here. But that's not even close to the end of Sai and Ino's relationship before their marriage.

Moving on. As Sai and Ino are both side characters, they had almost no interactions on-screen afterwards, till the Fourth Shinobi World War Arc. In the War, both Ino and Sai had each other in their Infinite Tsukyomi dreams. Ino dreamed of Sasuke and Sai fighting over her and Sai dreamed of Ino, along with his other close friends acknowledging his smile. (Sai's dream was in anime-only).

This proves that both have had interactions off-screen to the point that they were already very close friends before the war began. Morever, their IT dreams reveal that by the war arc, Ino likes Sai as much as Sasuke, and Sai likes Ino complimenting him.

During the long timeskip after the war Ino and Sai eventually starts dating. This was revealed in a spin-off manga chapter written in Akamaru's point of view by Kishimoto, where he spotted Sai and Ino together on a date and described them as "A couple totally on fire". They were usually spotted on dates afterwards during the after-war timeskip.

A decade after, in the very last chapter of the Naruto Shippuden manga (Chapter 700), they were shown married with a son together.

That's the end of Naruto: Shippuden manga events for Sai and Ino's relationship.

BLANK PERIOD

Now, for those who wanted to know more about Sai and Ino's romance and the ship's further build up during the timeskip between the end of war and Boruto (Blank Period), there were Hiden Novels (Note: All Blank Period Hiden Novels are approved canon, illustrated and proof-read by Masashi Kishimoto, the author of the Manga himself). The Blank period is a part of the official canon timeline.

As mentioned above Novels are the stories of all the important events that took place during this blank period, including the romance between the characters. Get ready to hear one of the cutest love stories of Naruto series.

SHIKAMARU HIDEN NOVEL

Ino lost her crush on Sasuke long back. She is pretty much not into any relationship. This was until in Shikamaru Hiden events, Ino read a letter which describes Sai's tragedies. Since then Ino wanted to know even more about him than she already does. Ino was sent on a mission with her fellow ninjas to help Shikamaru and save Sai, who has been caught in a very strong genjutsu by some enemies. Her top priority after reading the letter was nothing but to save Sai.

As they confronted the genjutsu-controlled Sai, for some reason Ino believed that she is the only person who could save Sai. Ino risked her life and used her Shintenshin on Sai, in other words, Ino's soul entered Sai's body. Ino dived deep into his mind but all she could see was darkness and sadness. She didn't give up and tried to find his soul by diving even deeper into his mind, which could be a threat to her soul. Ino finally found Sai's soul crying deep inside, covered with his memories and darkness. Ino learnt about him, called out for him and showed his soul the path out of the darkness. Ino cleared his mind hence saving him from the genjutsu, also giving colors to his colorless soul. Ino's soul then hugged Sai's soul with a heartfelt smile ~ A hug between two souls.

This is the point where both of them fell deeply in love. The point Sai achieved his dream, the point where he got his emotions and feelings completely back. This is the first time he felt this much kindness from someone and learned what a true beauty is. When Sai is successfully saved by her, the two wake from Ino's jutsu and Sai finds himself resting on Ino's laps. Sai instinctively reaches for Ino's hands and he expresses his gratefulness to her, as her eyes begin to tear up, by affectionately calling her "Thankyou, Miss Beautiful". This time, he truly meaning this unlike the first time he called her beautiful. "Idiot" - replied Ino. And this time, Ino fell in love with Sai, not because he resembles Sasuke unlike the first time they met. This interaction was the complete opposite of the first time they met. This is how their love story began ladies and gentlemen. *Tears because how beautiful this is*

SAKURA HIDEN NOVEL

Later, while Ino and Sakura were on their way to Sand village to participate in a Medical Ninja Forum, Ino reveals her love to Sai after what has happened. She was thinking of confessing her love to him properly with a special flower (Flower Dogwood). However, when they returned Konoha, Ino finds out Kakashi has sent Sai alone on a mission. Ino gets worried and questions his safety, and is angry that Kakashi let him go alone. After Sai returned and Sakura got kidnapped, Ino ran to Sai's place to inform him about Sakura's disappearance. When she arrives, she becomes flustered to see Sai only in his underwear, as he was taking a shower right before she came.

Following the crisis, Sai and Ino together goes on a mission alone to save Sakura. They are the only couple besides Sakura and Sasuke who did a mission together alone in canon. Sai and Ino flew in the sky on a Choju Giga Bird, and Sai comforted Ino as she was scared and had a difficulty maintaining the balance, causing her to feel a sweet warm sensation well up within her heart. They both together infiltrated a hideout. The Saiino duo's teamwork was amazing and flawless.

After Sakura is saved, they had to fight the enemies. Ino, who has been usually positioned near the back lines during close ranged combat situations was now instead supporting Sai with her taijutsu and healing Sai's injuries with her medical ninjutsu. Sai and Ino confronted a very powerful enemy, but their flawless teamwork and bond strength lead to their victory. Sakura, and Sai himself compliments Ino on how well she works together as a duo with Sai, getting Ino blush even more. Later Sakura prompted Ino and Sai to have a date dinner together, where Ino possibily confessed him and they started dating.

KONOHA HIDEN NOVEL

As usual, Sakura and Ino keeps on fighting and competing, and now Ino takes a lot of pride with her blossoming relationship with Sai, claiming she has better love life than Sakura and that she will get married before her, much to Sakura's infuriation. After some days, Sai and Ino attended Naruto and Hinata's wedding ceremony as a dating couple holding hands, with everyone around them admiring their relationship. (Bonus: SaiIno is the only couple that was featured in The last opening of Naruto, Opening 20 (Karano Koroko).)

SASUKE SHINDEN: BOOK OF SUNRISE NOVEL

Later, after Ino was hospitalized due to the injuries she had after stopping an invasion, Sai was with her at the hospital all the time. Shikamaru and Chōji decide to visit Ino at the hospital and find that Sai is watching over her whilst she sleeps as he sketches a flower that Ino's mother brought her. Shikamaru and Chōji asks Sai to come with them for some investigation, but Sai remains, claiming that he will leave as soon as he has completed his drawing, however, Shikamaru notices several of Sai's already near-completed sketches in the trash as he exits. Sai intentionally made many half-complete drawings because he doesn't want to leave Ino. Shikamaru and Chōji realize that Sai did not want to leave Ino's side and begin discussing how much he has changed from the emotionless man they first met after Ino and Sai fell in love.

Ino and Sai then got married, and had a wonderful wedding ceremony where Shikamaru and Choji were both so happy for Ino that they cried and wished their sensei, Asuma was there to see Ino. Sai and Ino's wedding ceremony is the only ceremony to have been mentioned after Hinata and Naruto's wedding. Well, that's the end of their relationship's details in the Blank Period Novels. Sweet, right?

THE NEW ERA: BORUTO MANGA, ANIME AND NOVELS

Sai, now married to Ino is the only male known to have taken his spouse's surname upon marriage, being now a part of the great Yamanaka Clan, finally having a family of his own. This family confronted a lot of gossips and prejudice from villagers, and Ino's relationship with Sai was not well received by the Yamanaka Clan, all due to Sai's dark past in Anbu. Despite all this, they managed to be as happy as ever. It is when he married to Ino and got to hold Inojin in his arms, Sai finally felt free and got control over his own life after years of being a puppet to Danzo.

As Boruto series is the story of the new generation, it's main focus from the Yamanaka Family is obviously Ino and Sai's son, Inojin Yamanaka. (Trivia: It is believed that Inojin's name is a mixture of Yamanaka Clan's customary name prefix "Ino" and the suffix "jin" is reference to Sai's late brother Shin). Sai has already told his son Inojin how his mother, Ino saved him with her shintenshin and how they fell in love, and Sai uses the same method (a hug or an affection) to calm Ino down when she gets upset or angry now. Boruto notes that Sai's only weakness is when it comes to Aunt Ino. According to Ino, Sai has never forgotten their anniversary throughout more than a decade they have been together. Although Ino remains as boisterous as ever, Sai is the sole person that gets Ino to fluster despite how angry or upset she is since beginning and even now.

According to Kakashi, Sai and Ino is the most beautiful couple he could imagine, and they both are so close that it seems they are glued to each other, noting that they are like a peculiar picture. Sai and Ino also often gets teased by their friends because how close and affectionate they are even in the public. Ino is thankful that she didn't end up with Sasuke (Her childhood crush), because according to Boruto Manga, Ino now she feels bad for Sakura, whose husband, Sasuke visits her only very rarely. And she also notes that she would never want a husband who is hardly at home. She is thankful for Sai, so is Sai for Ino. In one of the Boruto Novel it is stated about Ino:

"Because her husband was the one she knew was the best in the world" ~ 💜

SO,

I do not think this much of content, especially for a side-couple is less at all. It's more than enough, It's explained perfectly well. Only people who aren't having an idea on Naruto complete series will question or doubt SaiIno's relationship. So "Random couple", "Ino likes Sasuke because he looks like Sasuke", "Sai is a Sasuke rebound" arguments are all nothing but total crap and bullshit ~ 💕

And for those who says Sai and Ino don't have Chemistry..

Sai was an emotionless and socially awkward boy who worked for the Root Section, meanwhile Ino was an emotional and lively sociable girl who workd at a flower Shop, what else do you see other than the raging chemistry between this root and flower? It has everything. They both wear crop tops with exposed midriff. As mentioned above Sai is the only man who can make Ino blush since beginning and even now! Ino had no problem with glomping on Sasuke and hugging him, but Sai calling her "Beautiful" makes her blush - See the difference? They both are perfect for each other. Ino gave colours to Sai's black & white life. Ino was a rainbow when Sai was colour blind. Not to mention Sai and Ino is the most affectionate couple who has shown most PDA (Public Display of Affection) content so far. I'd argue they have the most chemistry and couple symbolisms.

There, its done.

I hope its clear how they ended up together now 💕💓💖 Saying SaiIno is forced or random / Calling Sai a Sasuke Rebound / Saying Ino settled for Sai because she didn't get Sasuke as a plan B is making yourself a huge 🤡