A/N: My declaration right here is that I really love Choji (probably because I'm pretty much Choji okay – imagine Choji as a short girl and that's literally me) and the fact that he's the only one of the original genin who doesn't rank in popularity polls pisses me off beyond belief. He is perfect and we all need to get down with some Akimichi lovin'.
You'll become a shinobi more powerful that anyone else.
Choji never wanted to see Asuma die. Certainly not in the way that he did.
He hoped that his sensei would be one who saw their students grow into capable ninja, got to see them do good in the world. He'd never imagined life without Asuma – life before he became a genin was fine, but Asuma believed in Choji when nobody else did. He was stern but never hurtful, and at times, he was all Choji had.
Shutting and resting his forehead against his bedroom door, Choji found he had no more tears to cry. The grief had stopped, if only for now, and he was thankful for the reprieve.
Reaching into his mass of hair, he tugged his forehead protector loose and pulled it off, setting it down on the table beside his bed and sighing.
It was all too much. Maybe he wasn't cut out to be a ninja.
The fact that he was to be the sixteenth head of the Akimichi clan was not all that drove Choji as a ninja. It had always been Asuma.
He shook his head. No. This was just going to motivate him. To make Asuma proud. He could only remember things that had happened back when he was younger – when Asuma helped himn find his feet.
Huffing and puffing, the young ninja literally fell down onto the ground, sprawling out and groaning.
"Asuma-sensei! I can't!" he whined.
"Get up, Choji."
"I don't want to!"
"Get up, Choji." he replied.
"Asuma-sensei, please-"
Choji felt Asuma grab his hand and yank him back onto his feet. He looked up at his sensei, stricken.
"I'm so tired!" he exclaimed.
"I know. Which is why you have to keep going." Asuma said, and Choji glanced down.
"Everyone wants me to be a good ninja. I'm not going to be a good ninja." he huffed, and Asuma sighed.
"Come on. You're an Akimichi." he stated, and Choji clenched his fists and frowned at Asuma.
"That's what they all say! Just 'cause the rest of my family are good doesn't mean I'm gonna be good!" he exclaimed, and Asuma laughed, which only made Choji more mad.
"Stop laughing!" he exclaimed.
"Choji. Stop. Think about what you're saying." Asuma explained, and Choji's eyebrows knitted together in thought.
"… I don't know!" he exclaimed, and Asuma sighed, shaking his head.
"Don't you think I understand where' you're coming from, kid?" Asuma asked. Choji's eyes widened and he realised. Of course – Asuma was the Third Hokage's son – he was a Sarutobi. Instead of speaking up, he crossed his arms and stared at the floor indignantly.
"Yeah. So?" he groaned, and Asuma sighed.
"The best ninja have days where they don't want to be ninja. I had it all the time." Asuma said, and Choji looked up.
"You're just a kid and you've got a dynasty sitting on your shoulders. It's tough, but kid, you've got to live with it. You were born an Akimichi, Shikamaru a Nara and Ino a Yamanaka. You've all got your fathers before you, who all worked together famously well. And you've got to suck it up." Asuma explained. Choji dropped his arms to his side.
"Ino and Shikamaru are better than me." he mumbled.
"Even if that's true – Shikamaru is lazy and Ino is preoccupied. You're neither." Asuma remarked, and Choji blinked.
"It might be even easier if you cut down on the chips." he slid the comment in, and Choji couldn't help but laugh.
"No way, sensei." he laughed, and Asuma sighed.
"You're a good kid, Choji. You're going to make a good ninja. But only if we keep working." Asuma remarked. Choji smiled and nodded.
"Okay." he relented.
Choji took off the coarse red over-shirt and attached armour he was wearing, leaving only the white t-shirt he wore underneath. Sitting on his bed and kicking off his shoes, he swung around and flopped back onto his pillow.
Remembering that Asuma was gone also made Choji realise that he was not out of tears at all.
Desperately trying to blink the tears from his eyes, he sat up. Once he had quelled the tears for a moment, he looked in the mirror across from him.
You could do with losing a few pounds, y'know?
An unexpected laugh escaped from Choji's lips and he sighed, pulling himself up from the bed and opening his cupboard.
Hiding behind a pile of papers and books, he pulled out a packet of chips. Even remembering anyone saying he should lose some weight made him hungry. His hidden chips were his port of call – though it was rare they were hidden for long. The particular packet in question had only been put there two days ago.
Pulling the packet open, the rustling of the foil brought back memories in and of itself. More often than not, he would hear calls of How many is that today, Choji or Aren't you gonna give your sensei some?
"Never." Choji murmured, a small smile on his face. Remembering the banter he had with his sensei did not make him grieve more – at least not at that moment.
The problem with chips was they made him reminisce – usually, if Choji didn't have a packet in his hands, something was going on. It had only been a few weeks ago where Choji had sat down with Asuma, chips absent from hand, and it was all Choji could think about.
Asuma had stumbled upon his student sitting alone in the training field one afternoon.
"Choji? What're you doing?" Asuma asked. Choji looked up and raised an eyebrow. Asuma was by himself.
"I could ask you the same thing, sensei." he remarked, and Asuma came to sit down beside Choji.
"I'm not sulking. I was actually looking for you." Asuma told him , and Choji raised an eyebrow.
"Why?" he asked, and Asuma smiled.
"Well, I wanted to tell you the news." he remarked ,and Choji glanced at him.
"Go on." he replied. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen his sensei smiling so much.
"Kurenai's pregnant." he finally said, and Choji managed a small smile.
"Cool, sensei." he said, half-heartedly, and Azusa raised an eyebrow.
"Geez, out of the three of you, I thought you'd be the excited one," Asuma scratched the back of his head, "what's wrong?" Choji shook his head.
"It's nothing. It seems stupid with your news." he remarked, and Asuma sighed.
"When has that stopped any of you kids?" Asuma asked, and Choji managed a small smile. Asuma sighed.
"Out with it, Choji." Asuma said, and Choji sighed. He looked ahead and Asuma crossed his arms.
"You in trouble with your parents?" he asked. Choji shook his head.
"Is someone giving you hell?" he asked. Choji shook his head again.
"Well, then, it must be a girl." he stated. Choji swallowed. Asuma smirked.
"Choji, Choji, Choji. Who is it?" he asked, and Choji looked at Asuma.
"It's nobody. That's the problem." he mumbled, and Asuma sighed. Choji clasped his hands with a heaving sigh.
"What does it matter? You're sixteen, kid." Asuma remarked, and Choji shrugged.
"I just…" he tried to speak, but no words would come.
"There's been sixteen-odd generations of Akimichi. You guys must have some charm or something." Asuma remarked, and it got Choji to laugh.
"What's brought this on?" Asuma asked. Choji looked at Asuma.
"I don't think I can tell you." he said. Asuma crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.
"Is it that Sand kunoichi who's exactly like Shikamaru's mother who he actually quite likes? The one he pretends to be indifferent to?" Asuma asked, and Choji's eyes widened.
"How did you find out?" he asked.
"What sort of sensei would I be if I couldn't read my students? Shikamaru's got it bad." he laughed, and Choji did the same in turn.
"Someday, you're gonna have it bad too. And I'll find someone to complain to that my little students are all grown up." Asuma remarked.
"But … you're going to have your own family." he remarked. Asuma shook his head.
"I've already got a family. Shikamaru, Ino, you… it's just going to grow." he remarked, and Choji sighed.
"Maybe if you lost a bit of weight all the ladies would come flocking." Asuma remarked, and Choji crossed his arms.
"I think you'll find this is all part of the Akimichi charm." Choji remarked, and Asuma laughed, as did Choji.
"You'll find someone. And I'm sure, someday, you'll find a girl and you're gonna have a seventeenth head of the Akimichi clan running around." Asuma told him, and he sighed.
"But don't even try to rope me into babysitting. I'll be too old." he remarked. Choji smiled.
"Thanks, Asuma-sensei." he remarked.
Digging his hand into the packet, Choji found that his memory had lasted longer than he had realised. A single chip remained, and he sighed.
He always vowed to never give anyone the pleasure of the last chip in the packet. That it would go to him and nobody else.
Choji did something her never did – he sat down the packet of chips, with only one left. He sighed and, not taking his eyes from the packet, he spoke.
"There you go, sensei. The last chip in the packet."
A/N: Okay, one thing - the conversation where Asuma tells Choji that Kurenai is pregnant is sort of OOC - we had all the vague mentions that Asuma knew before he died, and it was alwasy just that - vague. But I don't think he'd keep it from his students for long, so... yeah. That's all.