It is the first night of Passover, and Ino and Chouji have been invited to the Akimichi and Nara head families' joint seder. As clan head and Jounin Commander, Chouza and Rabbi Nara are leading the seder jointly, though everyone participates. Shikamaru, as the youngest Jewish person present, sings Mash Nishtana, and he, Temari, Ino and Chouji play the role of the four children; Shikamaru is the good one, Temari the wicked one, Chouji the stupid one, and Ino, the newcomer, the one who cannot speak. The others take her through the haggadah and the symbolism of the seder plate; the charoset – a sweet mush that tastes far nicer than it looks, made to an old Sunagakure recipe – for mortar, the salt water for tears, wasabi and lettuce for the bitterness of slavery, a roasted lamb bone and an egg for the old sacrifices in the Temple. She dips her finger in her glass of wine and spills drops to represent the ten plagues, dips her parsley in salt water and tries not to gurn as she eats a sandwich of wasabi and charoset.
The meal is a relaxed affair, the wine and conversation flowing freely. Temari is teasing Shikamaru about something and he and his father exchange a glance that says, "Women, what can you do with them?" Megumi and Ino talk Konoha Hospital, and the older woman seems genuinely interested in everything Ino says. She and Chouji, Ino thinks, could almost be two of a kind, with their wavy brown hair and round, open faces and spiral facial markings. Chouza says something inaudible to Ino, but presumably rude since Yoshino, the rabbi's wife, says, "So's your face," and Chouji goes bright red and groans, "Daaaad. Pack it in."
Tipsy on their four cups, Temari, the Naras and the Akimichis sing songs about freedom and Egyptians and something involving lots of animals and a shinigami, and Ino feels a little sad that her parents can't join in the fun.
Author's note:
Passover: festival celebrating the freedom of the Jews from Egyptian slavery
Seder: a ritual meal that takes place on the first night of Passover
Mah Nishtana: song traditionally sung by the youngest child – 'why is this night different from all other nights?'
Haggadah: book that sets out the Passover seder