A few months before the coming of the chuunin exams, Asuma Cell #10 were given the opportunity to do a genuine Rank-C assignment. The task was to trek several miles to the neighboring village of Matsugakure ("Those Who Hide In Pine Trees"), so they could protect some men who were transporting a crate of plum wine to Konohagakure village. Because it was a low risk, slightly uneventful task, Asuma's students were given the pleasure of doing this job as opposed to rookie chuunin, at the request of Asuma to help his students improve their teamwork skills. And as a bonus for successfully completing the mission, they were all offered the chance to dine at the most expensive restaurant in all of Konoha - an offer that Chouji certainly looked forward to enjoying more than his teammates. When the day of their departure arrived, they got out all the supplies and provisions they'd need for their long journey and divided them up amongst themselves - both Ino and Shikamaru rudely making poor Chouji carry a lot of the gear. Asuma felt that it might toughen him up a bit and did nothing to stop them, despite the great amount of whining that Chouji was doing. The only comfort he had to keep himself from wanting to beat the crap out of his teammates for making him carry most of their stuff, was the thought of what gourmet delicacies he might get to eat upon returning home.
After about three hours or so of walking through the woods, Asuma decided to let his students get a much needed break and directed them towards a mossy bank near a little waterfall. He took the opportunity to teach them some useful survival skills on how to forage for food, and how to tell the difference between edible and poisonous mushrooms and berries. Once that was done with, he decided to spend some time relaxing near the waterfall's edge, happily puffing on a cigarette. Asuma removed his sandals and was glad to rest his achy feet in the cool water. Ino promptly went about combing out some knots in her hair which she'd gotten from brushing against branches, and Shikamaru was comfortably reclining against one of the backpacks they'd brought. Though as comfy as he was, however, Shikamaru was in a very fowl mood from feeling sick to his stomach all that morning. As for Chouji, who was extremely relieved to get to rest, he removed his sandals and the wrappings from his ankles so he might join his sensei in easing his tired feet. Upon feeling how cold the water was, Chouji gave a rather loud, girly squeal, to which the ailing Shikamaru rudely replied:
"Chouji, don't be such a big baby. It can't be that cold."
"It's as cold as ice, you idiot!" shot back Chouji, annoyed as hell.
"Sure, whatever. At least I wouldn't shriek like a little girl."
Chouji's face was beginning to turn a slight tinge of red as he gave a furious glance at Shikamaru, who had closed his eyes and now looked as though he were trying to fall asleep. Ino, who'd no interest in getting involved in their stupid quarrel, busied herself with re-adjusting the cloth strips that she wore around her waist and hips. Seeing that he'd get nowhere with Shikamaru taking a nap, Chouji gave up and tried his best to relax. Asuma, who'd been watching all that'd happened, just smiled - glad that it hadn't erupted into a mess for him to deal with. It bothered him that Chouji let his anger control him so often, and longed for the day that he'd be able to have restraint over himself. Perhaps this mission might help him out? Who knows...
Some while later, Asuma felt they'd all rested enough and that it was about time that they resumed their journey. Giving Shikamaru a "cold" waking by splashing a bit of water in his face (making him yelp in shock and his teammates snicker), Asuma went about getting everything packed up again and readying his team for the next part of their trip. Pulling out a bag of wasabi-flavored chips to eat, Chouji couldn't help but notice something was moving not far behind him amid the trees. Not sure what it could be, he asked Shikamaru what they should do about it. Shikamaru looked rather annoyed and then narrowed his eyes at him.
"You could probably be imagining things. I certainly don't sense any kind of threat right now, and no one in Matsugakure knows we've been summoned there for a mission - so no chance of ambush. But if you're so damn worried, then go tell Asuma-sensei...and leave me the hell alone!"
Ino, curious to know what the boys were heatedly discussing, blurted:
"You two keeping secrets? I'll tell sensei if you are keeping anything important from him that he ought to know...I mean it..."
Shikamaru (frowning): "Just butt out, Ino. This is between us. Shoo..."
Ino (making a fist): "Shoo? I'll shoo you, Nara Shikamaru..."
Chouji: "Would you both just quit it? I'm getting a big headache."
Wondering what was keeping his students so long in joining him on the main path, Asuma came to investigate. Finding Shikamaru and Ino looking as though they were about to tear each other to pieces, and poor Chouji holding his head, apparently in a lot of discomfort, Asuma frowned. Grabbing Ino and Shikamaru firmly by the back of their necks, he pulled them apart and glared at them. Sensing a major scolding, they quickly grew quiet and nervously awaited their sensei's next move. Fishing around inside the pockets of his jacket, Asuma pulled out a little plastic pouch, which contained aspirin tablets, and promptly tossed it to Chouji and instructed him to take two. That taken care of, he then focused his attention once more on the others, who were now fully afraid of what manner of punishment he might give them. With a great shock, all he did was give them a cold stare and suddenly...grinned.
"Usually I'd make you do something as punishment for such behavior, but, since we're practically in the middle of nowhere, no point in it. I just advise that you two quit harping on each other in the future. That's no way for a team to act! Quarreling like that will only lead to failing a mission, or even worser trouble. You need to cooperate. Now, forget whatever the heck it was you were fighting about and let's hurry up and get going - we're expected to reach Matsugakure by nightfall and I'll be damned if we manage to mess that up. If any of you wants dinner tonight, then you'd better get your rears in gear and move it!"
Ino and Shikamaru (in unison): "Yes, sensei."
Chouji desperately wanted to tell Asuma about what he'd seen, but with how annoyed the others had made their sensei, he feared getting yelled at as well and decided to keep it to himself. Not to mention the whole "If any of you wants dinner" thing really hitting him hard on keeping his mouth shut and obeying. So, with that out of the way, they resumed traveling and did their best to try and reach Matsugakure by dark... unaware of a lone shadow that seemed to creep after them as they went.
Making sport of it all, the other two tried to see who could reach the village the fastest, much to Chouji's utter displeasure. It was bad enough that he was carrying so much stuff, and to have to hurry to keep up with the others...agonizing. In his mind, Chouji hoped that there wasn't much mileage left for them to cover and that they'd find the village before he felt like collapsing. Even their sensei looked a tad bothered by how fast Ino and Shikamaru were going, but he didn't seem to want to halt them from doing it. Panting and nearly out of breath, Chouji quickly became far too worn-out to complain about how fast they'd been going. And as the last tiny rays of sunlight were burning the tops of the pines like little tongues of flame, the group finally managed to arrive at the gates to Matsugakure with plenty of time to spare - practically all of them quite exhausted and in need of rest. Warmly greeted by the village gatekeepers, they were hastily allowed in and began discussing their plans of where they would spend the night. As the large metal-plated doors that formed the gates of Matsugakure were closed for the evening, Asuma and his students were caught by surprise when an employee of their client appeared as if out of nowhere and asked them to follow him. The man then led them to a rather small though lavish-looking home and bade them to enter. Inside they were greeted by a large gold statue of dragon rearing on its hind legs and holding a golden plum in its mouth. With a big smile, their client soon appeared and welcomed them all to his home - inviting them to sit down in the dining hall and join him for dinner. Politely accepting with much showing of respect on Chouji's part (a little bit shocking to Ino and Shikamaru who thought that he had no manners at all), they all sat down at the table and waited for their food to arrive.
Their client introduced himself as Harudani Gokkai, renowned for making the finest plum wine in both Matsu no Kuni and Konoha combined. He was a short, slightly husky middle-aged man with long, black hair that he had tied high up on his head. And he had piercing blue eyes that seemed to set his face alight whenever he smiled. But there also was some sense of nervous foreboding that Ino could see in his eyes, which made her wonder if he was hiding something. When asked by Asuma as to why he didn't have Matsu's own ninja serve as escorts, Gokkai simply replied that they were far too busy with more important matters to take on a mediocre task such as this. And Konoha's price was a better deal, too. Time ticked on, and they were soon treated to a delicious meal of fried rice with teriyaki pork and some kind of humbow that was stuffed with mushrooms (Chouji was especially fond of that). While they ate, Asuma enjoyed questioning Gokkai about what kind of trouble they'd need to keep an eye out for on their journey and anything interesting about his business. He joked about having many rivals and the fear of them trying to ruin his business by stealing or destroying his shipment, then stated that just plain old thieves should be their only worry. Ino saw that same look in his eyes again, and seriously wondered if the man wasn't entirely joking. Then he went on to discuss the 'wonderful world of winemaking' (as he called it), making the kids get rather bored and hoping that it would soon be time for bed. After a while, to their joy, Gokkai asked them if they'd like to retire for the night, since they'd need to get up early to begin their task of escorting the wine crate to Konohagakure. They all happily agreed and he had a servant show them to a few guest rooms. Asuma was glad to have a room closeby in order to keep watch on his students, and hoped they got to bed quickly so as not to be weary the next morning. But for a few minutes, Ino and Shikamaru argued back and forth about who got what room, and it wasn't until Chouji pointed out how late that it was getting that they finally came to a decision. And as they all drifted off to sleep, each one wondered what adventure the next day might give to them...
