Friday night, and Chouji, Ino, Megumi and Chouza are seated around the dinner table. Ino, as practice, has lit the candles, remembering to cover her eyes while she says the blessing.
They all join in with Shalom Aleichem – fortunately, Ino's singing voice is much more easy on the ear than her dad's, and the tune is easy enough for her to remember – and then Chouji and Chouza stand up and sing, "A woman of worth, who can find her? For her price is far above rubies..." Chouji is looking directly at Ino as he sings, and it doesn't take mindreading jutsu to realise he means every word. If it was anyone else, she'd laugh or groan inwardly, but Chouji is different. He's so sincere, so sweet, every gesture filled with love.
There is wine, there is challah, there is homemade yakiniku. Chouji splits his last piece of meat with Ino. She remembers how he always used to insist on grabbing the last piece whenever Asuma took them out for yakiniku, saying the last morsel was the sweetest of all and smiling smugly at Ino while she yelled at him. Now Chouji's stinginess is a thing of the past. She's glad she started eating meat again.
The wine continues to flow, Ino and Chouji begin to feel flushed and aroused, and both tcouples decide to make an early night of it. As is the tradition on Friday nights, Ino and Chouji make love all over his bedroom - on the floor, up against the door, on his bed with her legs wrapped around his neck.
Meanwhile, Chouza and Megumi untangle themselves from each other, and Chouza chews a postcoital piece of gum and lays his arm around Megumi's shoulders as she snuggles into him.
"You know," Megumi says sleepily, "I'll be glad to have Ino in the family."
"Me too, love," says Chouza. "Me too."
Author's note:
Shalom Aleichem: lit. 'peace be upon you', song traditionally sung on Friday nights, along with Eishet Chayil ('A Woman of Worth'), which Chouji and Chouza are singing
Challah: special bread eaten on Shabbat, often containing honey and/or poppy seeds
Yakiniku: barbecued meat