For Ino and Chouji. Ty and please review!
Ino was busy carrying packages to and fro the new hospital when she heard her team mates talking nearby. She decided to push the two lazy asses back to work, but stopped as she heard her name being mentioned.
"So… me and Temari are already set up, what about you or Ino?" Shikamaru asked Chouji.
"Dunno. I'm not in a hurry, and I really don't know what kind of man would want someone like Ino pretends to be." Chouji answered.
"What do you mean? She's pretty." Shikamaru asked.
"Pretty doesn't cut it, tho. And it's not as if she made any effort to show she has more to offer. Pity, because she is a lot more than she looks like." Chouji answered.
"Yeah. I think you're the only one who really appreciates that… whatever really different, special thing you see in her besides her being a great team mate." Shikamaru drawled.
Ino felt a pang in her heart.
"She's the only woman that ever saw me as anything except a fucking VIP ticket into a respected clan. Fine, she thinks I'm a worthless scrub unworthy of her attention, not that I really want it to begin with, but at least she seems to wish me to be happy even if I physically disgust her. It shows more depth of character than many other girls have." Chouji said with an angry tone.
"True, that. Too bad she thinks that's not what men want." Shikamaru agreed.
"Too bad she thinks a good man would want the same crap she has been taught to want." Chouji sighed. "Who knows, maybe she'll luck out in the end and find an arrogant asshole with good looks that can actually appreciate her worth."
"Yeah, or at least one that's straight" Shikamaru laughed.
After that day, Ino felt her curiosity spark whenever she saw Chouji around the village by himself. And, sure enough, many girls flocked to her chubby team mate, forcing her to drop her belief that Chouji had no admirers at all because of his fat.
She also saw how much time Chouji spent at the science section of the library, and how his mother was the first person that Tsunade called when someone showed up with extreme metabolic imbalance at the hospital – and, by means of her jutsu, she found out that the medicines and scientific knowledge the portly woman had about physiology surpassed even the Godaime's.
One day, when Chouji had come into the flower shop with a shopping list, he timidly asked Ino if he could help with the ailing bonsai she was ready to give up on, and, after examining it and actually tasting the earth it was buried in, suggested a few nutrients, a change in watering frequency and trimming patterns. A week later, the bonsai was healthy again, and Ino thought Chouji was handsome for the first time in her life.
Ino's mother saw the twinkle in her daughter's eyes, and the next day she showered the statue of Hotei at the tiny shrine where she prayed every day for her daughter to find a good, reliable, kind and wise husband that would make her happy, with mochi balls.
And apparently Hotei enjoyed the gift, for a few months later, Ino and Chouji were dating.
A/N: Hotei (布袋) Best known in the Western world as the Laughing Buddha, Hotei is likely the most popular of the gods. His image graces many temples, restaurants, and amulets. Originally based on a Chinese Chan monk, Hotei has become a deity of contentment and abundance.