Naruto Shippuden 496 focuses on the whole gifts for Naruto and Hinata during their wedding thing put forward by Kakashi. We follow Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Sakura and Temari here as Shikamaru gets up to some weird and wonderful things when he gets to go on a date with Temari. The episode is a good filler episode, but not a lot happens.

I’ll keep this nice and sweet because Naruto Shippuden 496 isn’t really my cup of tea. So it begins with Ino meting with Shikamaru and Choji, she already has a gift in mind for Naruto and Hinata’s wedding present. Shikamaru and Choji go for a bbq to get some food, it seems like Choji already has a gift of his own, leaving Shikamaru to himself when it comes to looking for a gift.

He has some dinner certificates for a lovely place, he notices that this would be a great gift, but there are three certificates, thus he also plans on going, but not on their table because he also wants the great food. Shikamaru still has no idea what to get, from house gifts to money, they might think he’s lazy.

Shikamaru realises that he might want to give them a honeymoon for a present. They’re walking when they meet Temari, last time they talked was when they planned to meet up and go on a date. It seems like Shikamaru needs help here, Choji even forces them two together as Shikamaru leads Temari to believe that he’s looking for a honeymoon.

He doesn’t explain why, thus it seems like she is the one he’s looking a honeymoon for. On the top, Choji leaves them. They’re both together as they go through a few nervous moments, as well as play a few games here and there. Elsewhere, Ino found a frame as the perfect gift. Sakura also found the same gift, thus try to get it as a gift.

They somehow get on the topic of whose more feminine, and Choji shows up, he proposes that they should battle it out to make the best food pill. They battle it out using their own techniques and make their pills. Choji finds both of them extremely tasty that he gets a sugar rush and dreams of everyone getting big and fat. Sakura and Ino taste each others and find out that they’re both good, and somehow agree to stop fighting.

Elsewhere, we see Shikamaru and Temari find a inn for them. It seems like Temari is being taken by Shikamaru but she doesn’t realise that it’s for Naruto and Hinata’s wedding gift. However, when she tries to run, he approaches her close and reveals that it’s for a gift, then she gets angry and blows him away. Seems like they’re all back to square zero. Naruto Shippuden 496 ends here.

A pretty okay episode, seems like we’ll be getting more of these episodes for a while as we follow Rock Lee and Gaara in next week’s Naruto Shippuden 497, titled “The Kazekage’s Wedding Gift”, should be good.