Porkchop

An Akimichi Chouji Mini-Series

I licked my lips, a grin the size of a plump, ripe banana spreading out onto my lips. My fingers were stained red with barbeque sauce, which was soon licked clean.

I liked to savor things, don't get me wrong; taste meant everything to me. I mean, if there was no variety in life, everything would taste the same. But, the problem was, that I just didn't have the patience to wait for one bite to dissolve into pure bliss-- instead, I felt the need to keep forcing down the delicasies until their taste was continuous.

Perhaps that was why I was a bit bigger than the other girls my age, as much as I hated to admit it. The fact that I had been, and always will be, a bit more round than the others, even some of the boys (or, rather, most of the boys), had crushed my ego. Though, I never let it show on the outside; there, I kept my guard up and was always in a good mood. This made me fairly popular at the academy, despite my weight draw-back.

"Oh, come on," I heard Naruto whine from beside me. "Don't eat all the barbeque!" He snapped his chopsticks in half beside me with an angry air about him.

I laughed, taking yet another loin from the burner, located in the center of our table. "Mmm," I joked, closing my eyes in ecstasy as I popped the slice of meat into my mouth. "It's so . . . good!"

"Yeah, yeah," he fumed, snatching five slices of the barbeque chops off the burner, the food only almost escaping my greedy, messy fingers.

"Hmph," I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest defiantly. "You'll pay for that, Uzumaki. No one takes the last loin and gets away with it. No one." I glared at the blonde menacingly, nearly cackling with laughter as I noticed him drawing back in fear of my wrath which was soon to come, should he not give me another slice of meat.

"Okay, okay!" he surrendered after a moment, taking a piece of the barbeque from his plate and placing it on my own gingerly. "Geez, Porkchop-- for a second there, I thought you were really going to kill me!"

I giggled, chomping on the meat before gulping it down with extreme haste. "Licking my lips once again, I straightened up and laughed. "You know, Naruto, for a second there, I thought I was going to kill you, too."

The Kyuubi's host grinned cheesily at my joke. "Yeah, right," he mocked. "You couldn't hurt a fly!"

"Bet I could if I really wanted to," I mused, taking a sip of the ice water resting in the glass which had moments before been completely filled to the brim. "I mean, I've gotten just as much training to become a Genin as you have."

He pouted, seeing my point. "You make a good argument," he began, "but I don't feel like yelling at someone right now."

In unison, we crossed our arms behind our heads and leaned back, resting on the plush cushioning of our restaurant seats. Everything was calm; we had entered the shop just after the lunchtime rush, so there was hardly anyone occupying the booths of the restaurant. We liked it that way, as we both made time in our schedules to meet at this same place every Wednesday since the day I turned nine.

We made a real pair, Naruto and I. Friends since we were merely school children in the academy, just beginning our paths of becoming ninja. It was really a silent agreement we had, the two of us sticking together until we went our separate ways at age twelve and would inevitably be sorted onto different teams. There was no way anyone could be sure that we wouldn't end up lucky and get stuck together on a team, but the chances were slim to none, due to our graduating class being fairly large.

I yawned, stretching my arms above my head and shaking in delight. A grin appeared on my thin, pink lips as a ray of sunlight danced in through the window next to the booth in which Naruto and I sat.

"Hana," Naruto began, "I've gotta get back to the academy; Iruka-sensei told me that he could help me work on my transformation jutsu."

Nodding, I gave the whiskered boy a coy grin and chinned him. "All right," I said, understanding that he needed all the help he could get on that jutsu; it was his worst trait, the transformation technique. Every time he tried it, the jutsu always seemed to turn out wrong.

"Later!" he called, jogging out of the shop in a streak of orange.

A long, drawn-out sigh escaped from my lips as I soon realized just how sneaky that blonde kid was-- he didn't even give me a bit of cash to pay for lunch. Though, as I contemplated what he had done, it made sense. I mean, I did eat most of the food, so it only would be conceivable for me to pay the majority, or rather, the whole check.

"Are you all finished up?" came that sugary-sweet voice of the waitress, hovering over me with a notepad and pen in hand.

"Yeah," I murmured softly, reaching into my pocket to scrounge out enough yen to pay for the meal. I sighed, counting up just the right amount, with no change left over to pay for a bag of chips once I left.

I'll get you back, Naruto, I thought with a look on my face which showed just how desperate I felt at that moment.

I pushed the door to the restaurant open, and walked out into the warm, summery air; it whisked past my skin, as if giving me gentle kisses along every surface it touched. My sudden disposition of anger had changed almost immediately once I felt the mood of the outdoors. Soon, I had cooled off, and didn't care so much that I would be one chip bag short for the day. After all, I still had a leftover bag of barbeque chips from the day before, which I had stuck in my pocket for safe keeping.

And, it seemed as if fate was guiding me to never fall short in my pursuit to have my chips. I grinned toothily and popped the plastic bag open; almost immediately, my mouth was full of the crispy, flavorful treat. Perfect for an after-meal treat.

My ears perked up as the sound of someone chastising another rang out through the once calm summer afternoon. The corners of my lips turned downwards, and my mood soured a small portion. As I turned the street corner, my eyes locked upon the scene unraveling quickly and with extreme precision before me.

"Choji," the young Yamanaka chided, "you've gotta stop eating so much! Don't you know that's bad for your health?"

"But, Ino," he defended, "I gotta eat! There'd be no point in life if I didn't eat as much as I do now! I still don't understand how you can diet so long."

She giggled, sticking out her tongue; her fingers itched the back of her neck. "Aw, I have to! You know, so guys will think I'm pretty-- like Sasuke." She folded her hands, bringing them up towards her face and giggled once again.

"Hey!" I called, waving my hand in the air as both of their heads turned towards me with an air of surprise. "Ino! Choji!"

The blonde laughed, her smile large and her eyes wide. "Hey, Porkchop!" Porkchop was her nickname for me, due to my fixation with food; she had called me by the name once a long time ago, and it just kind of stuck.

"Hi, Hanazono," Choji grinned, waving his taped hand back at me. "Long time, no see."

"Hey, guys," I said, finally catching up with them. My big, green eyes were filled with delight at the sight of my two friends. Albeit, they might not have been good friends, I could still talk with them without feeling a bit self-conscious. "Heading off to train today?"

"No," Ino huffed, "I've gotta work the next shift at the shop. You know how it is."

"Yeah," I answered, hardly miffed by her unhappiness. "That's too bad. But," I added, "I'm sure you'll have fun. I mean, owning a flower shop's gotta be fun, right?"

"Not really," she groaned, her shoulders hunched. "I can hardly call i working /i any fun at all. I mean, unless it's got to do with my training."

I sighed happily. "I love flowers. They're so beautiful, and it's unbelievable that there's actually something that spectacular growing all on its own here, on Earth."

"They don't all grow by themselves," Ino reminded me, sticking out her pointer finger. "We have to do practically all the work ourselves, no help from them."

"Sure, sure," I replied nonchalantly, waving my hand through the air with a tone of insignificance. "Believe what you will, I still think they're great."

The sound of Choji, smacking his lips together as a chip from his own bag flew into his mouth was one of the few sounds heard, as the streets were unnaturally quiet and bare; his large, typical grin was taped to his lips as he gulped down the snack.

"Choji!" Ino snapped, her once calm look turning a bit angered as she flipped around, facing the stout boy. In one swift movement, she snatched the bag of chips from his hands and crossed her arms over her chest, while a triumphant grin glazed her lips.

The swirly-cheeked boy beside me stared at his friend in disbelief, his own eyes now wide in shock; although the shock soon turned to anger.

"Ino, give me back my chips, now!" he demanded, his hands balling up into fists at his sides. "They're mine, and you've got no right to take them from me!"

"He's right, Ino," I said, sighing defeatedly. "You really shouldn't have done that."

"No!" she argued. "He's got to watch his weight!"

"Here," I said to Choji after a moment of uncomfortable silence. "You can have mine." I handed him my bag of barbeque chips, and smiled genuinely at him. A glint of understanding hit my eyes, and watched as he thankfully took the bag from my dimpled grasp.

"Thanks, Hana," Choji told me, his usually closed eyes now opening to glance up into mine. They were honest and gentle, which suited his personality perfectly. Well, it suited him until you took his chips -- after that point, he's like a wild jungle animal.

"No problem; Ino, you can share with Choji if ya like." I grinned at her, motioning to the chips the boy beside her inhaled chips from.

She flipped her hair and gave a cocky grin. "Nah, I've got to watch my weight; chips are extremely unhealthy, you know. Fattening."

My lips turned downwards, and I felt like she was trying to slip in some non-verbal comment in the statement. Although I vowed not to let it get to me, there was still a bit of sadness clinging to my words from then on during our conversation.

"Oh, all right, then, Ino," I reasoned. "Though I don't think a few chips will really make a difference in your weight."

She laughed. "I'm not going to ruin my diet plan just because a few chips! No thank you, I'm fine without the extra snacks."

I nodded, then turned my back slightly to the two friends. "I suppose I'll see you two later; I should probably go train, or something."

They waved, and I walked away in silence. The only other thing I heard from either of them before turning down the street towards my house was Choji's deep, light-hearted call: "Goodbye, Hana!"

I smiled lightly to myself; he was a nice boy, Choji. I decided, then and there, that we should have been good friends. And I wasn't quite sure why I knew this, but it dawned on me in that moment a fact that changed the way my mind worked. Of course, this made me feel a bit uncomfortable; why was I suddenly feeling this way? Why was I making such a big deal about this one boy?

Shrugging, I tried focusing my mind on something else. . . .

. . . And just then, something landed on my shirt. I glanced down and found a small butterfly clinging to my shirt. It was light blue.

I stopped in the middle of the street and turned back around and made my way back to the end of the street. I peeked my head out from behind the brick wall and glanced back at Ino and Choji.

At first, neither of them noticed me. Not even in the slightest. But, after a moment of staring at the two, Choji turned his head around; his eyes roamed about in such a way that made it believable that he was looking for something.

When his eyes landed on mine, I could feel just the slightest bit of warmth landing on my cheeks almost as suddenly as the butterfly. But when I saw him smile, taking one last chip out of the bag and popping it in to his mouth, I couldn't help but mirror him. There was something about the guy that made him different from the other kids at the academy. I just couldn't seem to put my finger on it.

I stroked the butterfly's wing lightly and felt it fly away.

--

It wasn't until a few years later that I truly realised just how kind Choji was to me.