Disclaimer: Team 10 (c) Masashi Kishimoto. Amai and her father are my creations. The song is "Scream" by Slipknot.
Author's Note: Chouji needs love. This was inspired by Midori-chan's comment on my other Chouji fanfic, but I just made a girl up. I didn't want to totally butcher the other girl, since I don't know much about her, so I figured it was safer to make someone up myself. And the song has pretty much nothing to do with it. Please read and review, and I hope I did a good job on this!
My Sweet Amai by Mika Casey
All our lives
All we ever sacrificed has paid,
A boy walked down the main street of Konoha after a day at the ninja academy, on route to the ramen shop. His father had instructed him to purchase dinner for the family that afternoon, and he decided to get food from his favorite place. The sun was hidden by swirling gray clouds. It was cool out, just the right temperature for a hot bowl of ramen.
Once he got to the shop, he hopped up onto one of the stools. Peering over the bar, he spotted two people. One was the pleasant older man that owned the place, and the other was a girl, about his age.
"Excuse me?" He said, trying to get the man's attention.
The elderly man turned to the girl. "Could you get that, Amai?" After adressing her, the man returned to preparing the pot of ramen he had on a small stove.
Nodding, the girl bounced over the Chouji. Her night black hair fell in her face, shrouding one of her bright hazel eyes. "May I take your order?"
"Um..." His face flushed, and he felt heat rise in his cheeks. He spoke when he finally remembered what he was doing there. "Three bowls of ramen. To go, please." He dropped the coins on the table.
"Sure thing!" She said, scooping up the money and rushing back over to her father.
The boy hung his head a little, staring at the oak surface of the bar. She didn't even spare him a second glance. Why did everyone treat him that way?
After a few minutes of his brooding, the girl brought a brown paper bag over to him. It smelled delicious. He couldn't help but smile back when she beamed at him past the package.
Leaning on her side of the counter so her feet were no longer touching the ground, the girl whispered to him. "I put a little extra noodles in each bowl. Just for you." Her eyes gleamed when she winked at him. "What's your name?"
"Chouji." He smiled.
She spoke again, voice melodious to his ears. "I hope to see you around, Chouji-kun." And with that, she twirled away to continue helping her father.
Chouji left in higher spirits then before, and the extra ramen was not the only reason.
Everything!
Everything is possible to me,
Chouji was covered in cuts and bruises, and probably smelled worse than Kiba when the dog-nin didn't take a shower for a couple weeks. But a smile lingered on his face while he ran alongside his teammates. The sun was setting slowly over the blood red horizon.
He was returning from a mission in Waterfall country, and was looking forward to seeing a certain dark-haired, hazel-eyed girl. His best friend for six years, or perhaps something more, as he had realized on this trip. He had really missed her.
Once Team 10 got to the gates, a brunette boy turned to face Chouji. His sharp features expressed boredom as he spoke, and his head was slightly tilted to the side. "Ino and I are going to get some ice cream and hang out at my apartment. You want to come?" He offered. Their third teammate stood next to the boy, holding herself closer to him than she would if they were just friends.
"Nah. Thanks for the offer though, Shikamaru." Chouji said, suprising the other boy. Chouji wanted to visit somebody else, and he was sure that Shikamaru and Ino wanted some alone time. He thinks I don't know what they do when they're alone. He snorted inwardly.
Shikamaru shrugged. "Suit yourself." The blonde kunoichi grasped Shikamaru's arm and tugged him away from Chouji, and soon the two were walking away towards downtown.
Chouji walked in the same direction, but with a different destination. He paced quickly past brightly colored shops, the concrete beneath his feet a dull gray in comparison. Once he had passed the Yamanaka flower shop, the delicious aroma of ramen hit his nostrils.
Rushing more quickly now, he spotted the red lanterns that hung, unlit, over the ramen bar. A girl with black hair leaned over the counter, staring out into the street. The chairs were vacant, and she traced circles with her pointer finger on the oak counter.
"Amai!" Chouji called, finally approaching his friend.
The girl's head snapped around, and she smiled warmly. "Chouji! I haven't seen you for a few weeks!" She pretended to pout, crossing her arms over her chest. Chouji sat in the chair that faced her, and a smile glowed on his face.
"When do you get off work?" He asked her.
Her pout melted into a small smile. "Now." She turned away from him, removing her apron and hanging it on a hook nailed to the wall, and pulled back a white curtain that shielded an archway. She called into the back room. "Father, I'm leaving!" A muffled reply sounded from behind the wall, and she spun around to face Chouji again. Hopping up onto the bar and swinging her legs over, she slithered down onto the sidewalk next to Chouji.
"Where to now?" She asked Chouji, mischief glittering in her eyes.
Linking his arm in hers, he crowed. "The Hokage monument!" And so the two rushed away from the ramen shop as the sun's final rays lit their path.
Why not fight!
Found everything that I had to take away,
If anyone in Konoha were to look at the Hokage monument, they wouldn't have noticed two tiny shadows sitting atop the head of the first Hokage.
"Chouji?" Amai spoke, a bit more quiet than usual.
The boy turned his head to face her. "Yeah?"
"I missed you."
These words sent a shiver down his spine. A warm blush filled his cheeks, and he reassured her. "I missed you, too." He truly had missed her, more than anyone else he had left behind in Konoha. And now, seeing the way the moonlight flushed her skin to alabaster white and made her hazel eyes shine silver, he realized something else.
She had turned her face away to look up at the glittering stars. Chouji thought she was more beautiful than the stars she gazed at, and was envious of her love for the celestial bodies above their heads. "Amai?" He spoke, voice barely a whisper.
"Yeah?" She asked, eyes locking onto his.
Chouji knew the words were not going to come out. So he decided on the next best thing to express his feelings to her. Leaning close to her face and watching her eyes fly wide with suprise, he pressed his lips to hers for a few moments.
When he pulled away from her, she was grinning. "Chouji! How improper of you, assaulting a lady's lips in such a manner!" She put on an expression of fake horror.
"S-sorry..." He stuttered, but before he could continue apologizing, her face was a few inches from his. She ran her tongue over her own lips, teasing him.
Chouji was frozen. She smelled warm and delicious, like a fresh bowl of ramen, but better. Chouji hadn't known there had been a more entrancing smell, but he discovered it that night.
And she kissed him again, for a few brief seconds. Before he could complain when she pulled away, she leaned in again and gave him another short kiss. She did this over and over again, and Chouji loved it more and more every time her moist lips were pressed against his.
She was his, and he knew that his life had taken a turn for the better. And there was only one reason.
My sweet Amai... He thought to himself.
Save your life!
Save it all and make a better way.