Troublesome was a word he heard often. So often it had begun to lose meaning. He had never used it before meeting his lazy friend, but eventually he found it rolled off the tongue when something was boring or someone was annoying. When at first, being so young, Chouji heard Shikamaru murmur that Sakura was troublesome after watching her stumble and scrape her hands and knees on the road and begin to cry, he had gasped. That reaction was quickly lost though. It changed to a screwed up face, to a furrowed brow and frown, to an arched eyebrow, and then it lost its meaning. He'd just watch as Shikamaru shook his head, chewing calmly as embarrassment flashed on the accidental victim's face. Or as they waited in a long line. Or buried themselves in bushes and waited for the subject of their mission to rear its head.
But Shikamaru never said it to their faces. So Chouji didn't think much of it, if it wasn't hurting anyone. And venting could be good for a person. Troublesome wasn't a terrible word.
There were other words Chouji didn't like, and some he hated. Shikamaru never used the words he hated though, and he was thankful for that. He had a good friend, and knew it well. One that stuck up for him when possible, and was always ready to bash a condescending Ino behind her back. But that friend was also lazy.
Though technically he could have moved on to bigger and better things, Shikamaru was assigned a grunt mission with his two old teammates. Being a Chuunin among Genin, he was expected to assume the position of leader of the group. Instead he dragged his feet at a slow pace, a few steps behind even Chouji. Ino led the trio angrily, not happy with the mission or her forced authority figure. She pulled ahead so far that the two would have to sprint to catch up to her if they suddenly had a stroke of ambition to appear attentive. No such thing happened.
"Looks like she's in one of her moods again," Shikamaru whispered, smirking. Chouji grinned back.
"What do you mean, do they ever change?" Chouji did pick up his pace though, not excited about getting punished by the wrathful blonde later in the day. His friend sighed and matched him with longer, slower strides.
When they finally reached the other side of the village, Ino stopped and waited for her teammates. Impatience written all over her face, she growled, "So what exactly are we doing here, Shikamaru?"
"Some troublesome farm job that the old man can't do anymore apparently." Shikamaru didn't look much happier than Ino, and Chouji didn't like it. He grabbed a handful of fabric around his stomach. He still hadn't gained all of his weight back. On a normal day Ino probably would have spent a fair portion of the walk telling him that it suited him better with a few inches missing about the waistline, reminding him of her forever logical argument; who'd want that much chub?
Chouji's hand unclenched. He spread his fingers wide, sliding his palm to his side. He sucked a breath in, quietly let it out.
"Are you alright?" Shikamaru questioned, his face darkening with a slight concern that didn't show often. "Are you sick?"
"Yeah," Chouji answered quickly, "Yeah… I'm just-" he had been about to use his normal excuse, hungry. "I'm fine."
"Okay," his raven-haired friend's gaze lingered, suspicious. Then he turned away, cataloging the moment in his mind. "Ino, can you take your temper over to the front door? We need to greet them."
"Yeah yeah, you're funny!" This time Shikamaru led them and Ino took the rear. Perhaps her temper was a little harder to control than the shadow ninja had made it sound.
Shikamaru rapped on the door with his knuckles. A moment later a short, plump woman answered the door. Her hair was held up in a bun with two sticks, bringing Chouji's mind to his next meal. It would be nice if he could convince Shikamaru to go to lunch with him after the mission, but it would be impossible to do without Ino joining them. He didn't feel like he could sit through a single minute of her nagging today.
"Hello. I am Nara Shikamaru, Chuunin l-"
"Oh hello, dears!" the woman chirped, smiling wanly. Chouji decided he liked her instantly, even if she did cut off a shinobi mid-sentence when he was giving as formal an introduction as Shikamaru could on a morning like this. They all seemed a little off that day. "Why don't you come in, since it's so hot out there?"
It was cooler inside the quaint little home, but it almost made Chouji groan when the smell of her cooking wafted towards them.
Instead he focused on Shikamaru bowing to a grey-haired man sitting at the table in the centre of the room. He and Ino followed suit. Shikamaru finished his introduction and asked what exactly the group was to do.
"Just a few things, we don't mean to work you too hard," The man said. His face was lined and tan, the product of a long life working himself to the bone out in the sun. It didn't seem right to any of them that he should be minimalizing their work load for one day. "Our sons should be back in a couple days."
"Yes," his wife agreed cheerfully, "they went out on a trip to see some friends of theirs in River Country. When they return they will be able to take on the jobs my husband used to. We really hate to have to trouble you with this though-"
"It isn't a problem," Shikamaru said offhandedly, a hand resting on his hip. "We are here to do our job, that's all. Serving Konoha and all that. Helping you is more productive than some other missions we've had, anyway."
"That's right," Ino said. "You wouldn't believe how many people are too lazy to catch their own cat when it runs outside. If it were livestock I could see it as worthy, but prying prissy little Whiskers the Third from a tree doesn't seem worthy of Genin and Chuunin. Not to mention Asuma-sensei, a Jounin-"
"Ino, you're ranting again," Shikamaru drawled, smirking and closing his eyes. "All of Konoha is important, and no matter how troublesome the cat may be, even Mister Whiskers the Third is worthy of your precious time."
Shikamaru opened his eyes and locked gazes with Chouji. Ino had fire in her blood as she glared at her leader but kept it contained for the sake of her day, wanting to escape the foul smelling farm as soon as possible. A fight at this point would just take too long.
"Anyway," the woman of the house said, seemingly hoping to defuse the tension in the room. "My husband was injured a few days back. There's just no way he can do the work of three farmhands when he can barely get up from the floor."
"Hey!" the old man piped up. He had a smile on his lips, but it was a sad smile. He tried to joke, but Shikamaru could see what was going on in his mind. He couldn't do the thing he had used as motivation for all of his life, work and provide for his family. He couldn't do menial things either, or at the very least do them well. He had to call in a bunch of kids to do what meant everything for him. And his offspring weren't there to make it any easier. At least he had the comfort of his wife, whom still brought a smile to his face.
Shikamaru frowned.
"I'll show you!" the man teased. He did get up off the floor, but with an obvious repressed groan, an awkward amount of time and a bit of teetering. "Now, I'll show you three what a farmer does for a living."
They had nearly made it to the door when his wife cried out, "Wait!"
They turned around as a whole. "Don't go out there just yet. We're being a bother, Tadao. The least we could do is give them a small treat."
"We paid them, didn't we?" the man asked, though not as scathingly as expected. His words were harsh, but team ten could hardly blame him. He had good reason to be cranky, unlike Ino, who felt as if the world owed her a day for biting back. "Alright, alright. What were you making again Asami?"
"Eggs and rice. It may not sound like the most appetizing combination, but it's the best we have to off-" before she had finished her sentence Chouji's mouth had fallen open happily and he had placed himself at the table. Shikamaru placed a hand over his eyes.
It was a surprisingly pleasant meal; Ino made not the slightest comment towards Chouji the entire time, probably due to Asami being a little farther on the plump side. Chouji couldn't keep the smile off his face as he helped himself to seconds.
A chunk of rice landed on his plate. The occurrence caused his working jaw to falter. He looked up, to the dark haired leader of the group. It looked like he hadn't eaten much, but the yolk from his egg was pierced and slowly oozing out. And there was a slight indent in the small pile of rice, where he had subtly shot it from. After a second of gazing at the wall behind Tadao's back he looked at Chouji. The Genin gave him a confused look. Shikamaru just raised a corner of his mouth and brought his attention back to his plate. He raised a tiny morsel to his lips. Chouji watched the act in wonder. His friend moved in such fluid motions, but he never allowed himself much time to watch. Maybe it was because he moved so sluggishly, appearing bored and boring to anyone else, that he could get away with his new little trick. Again Shikamaru, in a single movement, shot a bit of rice perfectly onto his partner's plate. He smiled at Chouji and bowed his head slightly in a nod. Chouji smiled back.
"Is something wrong, Chouji-san?" Asami asked him, already picking up on his eating habits and inferring that a pause like that wasn't normal.
"Uh, no! Not at all." Chouji grinned, and then set about shoveling food into his mouth again.
Eventually Asami finally allowed them to go out back to the farm to begin their work. Tadao gave them orders. "Just clean out the barn, I guess. Feed the animals, and then clean the floors. You should know how to do that. Asami already got the eggs, so that should be done… oh damn it! He got out again!" Tadao yelled. The three jumped. They each slid into their fighting stances out of the instinct, though the old man just hobbled as quick as he could toward the fence. "That damn faulty gate again! Alright, I've got another job for you. Go draw in Itami."
"Itami?" Ino asked. She jogged up next to him. Her hand flew to her mouth. The boys followed her and Chouji's mouth fell open. They were supposed to catch that?
Sure, it was just a bull. They could do it. But that thing was ferocious looking. Its black fur bristled as it charged in circles, bucking its head up and down, tearing at the higher weeds and huffing. It happened to swing its giant head their way, and its fiery eyes seemed to bore into their souls.
Shikamaru scowled at the beast. He growled. It had become personal. Why, Chouji had no idea. He then began stomping toward the barn. The shadow ninja hopped up to get a grip, scaling up to the roof and striding to the other side. Shikamaru jumped off, landing on the top of the pole a few feet away. It was rather out of character, but it radiated a power and calm that Chouji had always associated with him.
Perched perfectly with an unwavering gaze, so high off the ground, the Chuunin seemed mighty intimidating. "I've got it, Chouji, Ino. You can go Tadao-san, we've got it under control. And it's best to get back."
Just the first chapter. Another will be coming very soon.