He wasn't sure how long he had spent staring down at the photo, completely lost in thoughts, or rather - memories. He looked around to see that Ami was long gone. He pressed a gnarled old fingertip to the side of his tea cup that was no longer producing steam.
Yup, cold.
He sighed, gruffly. He had been doing that a lot over the last few years, 'zoning out' as Ino had called it; he recalled a particular incident a few months back.
He had been reading a book about the more extensive and complex ways to manipulate chakra, out of pure interest, nothing more. He was already accomplished in as much as he could be where that was concerned, and there was no way his health would allow him to try performing any of it now. He was dearly wishing at least one of his sons would take note of doing the same, when he had stumbled upon a particular passage…
flashback
Those who are able to manipulate the wind style justus of old, are very gifted and are certainly a rarity in the shinobi world. As such, users are commonly self -taught, and therefore are often able to manipulate the chakra in much more inventive ways than is conventional. For example, pre-charging weapons with their wind infused chakra, instead of just channeling…
He thought of Asuma Sensei, he had been one of those, hadn't it?... He struggled for a moment; fighting to cling onto the thread … he would do 'that' sometimes too. The once perfect mind that he had inherited and honed, that had won wars, played and beaten the most seasoned of shogi players, even in his pre-teen days; and the mind that had dealt with the unpredictability of his wife on more than one occasion… he had to admit, was not what it used to be.
His thoughts drifted…
Asuma Sensei…Asuma Sensei smoking…Kurenai…Their daughter…Asuma Sensei lying in a pool of his own blood…
"How long have you been out here?!"
"I-"
"You silly old fool!" She snapped. "The cold is going to kill you one of these days!"
It would have been a nonchalant comment in a house hold like his, where death was something talked about in an offhand way nearly every day. Being who he was, highly respected with three older Jonin sons, four Chunin grandsons well on their way to taking the next step, and a Jonin granddaughter… he quirked an eyebrow, as tears began to splash down the front of her blouse. His wife was a hardened woman, so she wasn't crying just for the sake of it.
He managed to stand with an immeasurable amount of difficulty, the stiffness from his joints, and the stiffness from the chill. He placed a hand either side of her shoulders.
"I'm not going anywhere until you do, foolish woman."
He gently pressed his forehead to hers.
"Do you promise me that?"
"I promise you that."
XxX
"Grrrrrraaaannnnpppppaaaa!"
He glanced up, to see his 'hellion' of a three year old granddaughter running towards him, grinning.
"Careful, Hotaru." His youngest son Shikasan warned, not far behind her. "Don't jump too much on your poor Grandpa!"
"I'm not quite feeble enough yet that I can't entertain my own granddaughter!" He retorted back, not really meaning it.
Her greedy hands snatched for the box that rested between his crossed legs, but his shinobi senses of old were not so far gone, that he wasn't able to maneuver it out of her way in the blink of an eye.
She pouted up at him. So like your grandmother. She was after all, the only one of their children and grandchildren that had inherited her wonderful eyes. He smiled down at her fondly.
"I've been at the shop all morning!" She announced, placing her hands on her hips, in a perfected rendition of Ino. "It's soooo boring without Grandma, she tells me all sorts about the flowers there, but Mama has just been crying all morning instead for some reason!"
There was a moment of tense silence, shared between the adults. Of course she was a little girl, innocent, naive and not knowing exactly the implication of her words. He looked around at the saddened faces of his daughter in laws and the brave frowns of his sons. He'd be damned if he let this shadow fall over his family.
"Your Mama is an emotional woman."
He smirked at the collective intakes of breath at his comment.
"What does that mean?"
"You'll understand when you're older."
"As oppose to you, who is a cantankerous old man, you mean?" Offered his eldest son who had just stepped onto the porch, attempting to lighten the mood.
After having grown up in such a quiet household, his wife too for that matter – both products of being only children, he had grown used to the utility of comic relief to break up arguments and tension in his own. Unless of course, the things breaking up said argument, were the angry screams of his wife.
"Aye, son."
"Hotaru, what is that in your hand?" Asked her Aunt Narumi.
"N-nothing!"
The toddler looking guilty, attempted to stuff the item up her shirt but her aunt beat her to it, and plucked it from her fingers with ease.
The little devil. Shikamaru chuckled to himself. She is far too sneaky for such a young girl.
Narumi stared at the photo for a few seconds before snorting out loud.
"Weren't you just the cute one!"
"I want to see!" Protested Hotaru reaching for the image, her tongue poking out with the effort.
"Ok, but don't touch it anymore, your hands are sticky enough as it is." She held it at arms lengths, and pointed. "Look! There's your grandpa, and your grandma when they were younger, with their Sensei."
The girls bright eyes lit up, and the old man couldn't help the warm feeling that spread through his chest at the sight.
"And that's an Akimichi, right?" Offered another voice.
"Yes."
He knew which photo she was referring to now, as she passed it to him, making sure her finger prints didn't make an impact on the portrait.
It was a picture of team ten, of team Asuma.
"Whhhyyy?!" Her accusatory shrieks punctured the air, yet again. "Why am I on a team with you two…you two LOSERS!"
Shikamaru would have been lying if he said his heart hadn't skipped a beat when their names had been announced together in the class room, and that had had nothing to do with the smug satisfaction at her not being placed on the same team as her beloved 'Sasuke Uchiha', either.
"I passed with top marks, the best! I'm tied with Sasuke, that's why we're so well matched. We should be on the same team!"
"But Ino I thought we were fr-"
Shikamaru nudged Choji gently in the ribs. Not 'antagonising the beast' or 'provoking the dragon' as his Father would so often put it was a much safer option right now. Better to let her blow off some steam first.
His best friend looked up at him with expectancy before reading the look in his eyes, and agreeing with a nod; dipping his hand back in his bag of snacks.
"Instead, forehead gets to be the lucky one! And I get placed with you two." She jabbed a finger in their direction. "My life as a kunoichi is over before it's even begun! This is the absolute worst."
Why was Ino so dramatic?
Asuma Sensei slowly blew out a cloud of smoke that made their young eyes water, looking between the seething blond and her passive team mates, wearing pure bewilderment as an expression. He flicked his burning ash.
"I had it on good authority that you three got along well. And that you'd known each other for quite some time, prior to the Academy?"
Yes, before the Academy. Before Ino developed an obsession with boys, before Sasuke Uchiha. He hated Sasuke Uchiha... Not forgetting this was before her falling out with Sakura, too. It was the same thing he'd been trying to drum into Chouji for the past few years - that she had indeed changed, and not for the better.
Ino was very much 'superficial' now.
Once she would have been the first to jump into a puddle of mud with her newest pair of shoes on, or wade waist deep in the streams on the Nara compound, simply for the pleasure of being 'the boss'. Nowadays, she cared more for her painted nails, glossed lips, hair and dieting; all just to look good in front of a certain 'someone'.
"Yes I know them. That doesn't mean I like them!"
"But Ino-"
Again, he gave his best friend another swift nudge to the ribs.
She narrowed her eyes at them all, and Asuma looked taken aback, his cigarette hanging limply on his lip.
"Take him for example."
Shikamaru inwardly wince- just a little, her radar was trained on him now, and he was probably in for another unfair ear bashing. He was ready to bite down on whatever retort would undoubtedly form in his head at her words, though.
"He can't even be bothered to pick up a pencil, let alone take notes! How he passed the Genin exams I'll never know!"
Well I did pass…barely though, he thought to himself.
She flashed her eyes at him then, and he was quite certain she wanted him to argue back, but he wasn't intending to, he knew better.
"And him! All he ever does is eat! He's just f- I mean…urgh! They're both useless!"
"You shouldn't say that about your fellow team members, Ino."
The man didn't sound convinced of himself. He was far too laid back for a 'Sensei', and a Jonin one at that.
"That's just it though! They're not meant to be on my team! The red thread of fate was supposed to place me in the same team as Sasuke . We're supposed to fall in love, I'm supposed to get married in the most beautiful wedding dress that Konoha has ever seen, and have at least seven children!"
Asuma Sensei choked on his cigarette smoke.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes, he had heard this very speech repeated once too often.
Choji continued to munch nervously on his food, simply watching.
Their Sensei lowered his cigarette, and cleared his throat.
"Regardless, you are still a team, a unit, and you must learn to work together."
He stood up, throwing his finished cigarette on the sizzling ground and stamping on the butt, the atmosphere changing to a distinctly less laid back one. Shikamaru lifted an eyebrow at his new Sensei, it seemed this time he might actually be serious about something.
"In any case Ino, if that were true about the red thread of fate, surely it doesn't matter whether you're on the same team or not?" He coughed, perhaps on purpose. "Love always 'finds' a - err, way, doesn't it?"
Shikamaru was well aware that the older man was simply pandering to the dreams of a twelve year old girl, but her eyes sparkled none the less while she considered his words. She was weighing up the pros and cons of another's opinion…he could practically see the cogs and wheels churning and clicking into place in her mind.
"No…You're right Asuma Sensei! Maybe…maybe he was put into foreheads team, to show him the kind of woman he doesn't want to marry!"
This man was smarter than he initially thought.
"Yes that's why! Fate is showing him everything he doesn't want, so he'll eventually realise what he does want... Me!" She was staring down stupidly at her clenched fists, grinning erratically.
"Good." An amused smile graced the older man's lips. "Now that's sorted, let's get down to business, shall we? I did bring you three here for a reason."
He reached into the pouch he wore round his waist, that presumably contained his kunai, and all three Genin tensed, taking battle stances.
He looked around at them, blinking - then chuckled.
"I'm not going to attack you, I'd make for a pretty bad teacher if I was actually launching weapons at my students on the very same day I met them." Instead he pulled out a small camera. "Team photo." He added with another, wry smile.
"Well you could have warned me! It's a good job I make sure to bring some make up with me where ever I go!" Piped up his blond team mate, and she sauntered over to her bag under the nearby tree.
Shikamaru shook his head at her words. Yes, make up – the essential piece of equipment that all shinobi should not be without. Making sure she was well out of ear shot, he turned to his Sensei.
"There's no use arguing with Ino, Asuma Sensei, she's beyond troublesome."
"And you would know all about that, would you Shikamaru?"
He felt himself blushing at the suggestion.
"I thought so." Asuma japed, popping another cigarette in his mouth.
"They're bad for you, you know."
"Undoubtedly so, but I was never very good at doing as I was told, even more so when I was a Genin like you."
Shikamaru turned away to watch Ino - surveying herself in a small compact mirror. He didn't know why - but it annoyed him, really annoyed him. Everything about her annoyed him, and not being able to say why served to irritate him as well. It was this side of Ino he hated the most though. He could endure the mood swings, the bossiness, and the impatience - because that was just her. He'd had to put up with that since he was four years old. But to watch her plaster herself in greasepaint of various shades, unnecessarily, and vainly pout at her reflection…it made his skin crawl.
She snapped the mirror shut, and he immediately looked away.
"Right! So how are we doing this? You know in a flower arrangement the biggest, brightest, most beautiful flower always sits in the middle."
"You can be in the middle, Ino."
"Good!"
XxX
Snap.
"You'll have to wait until I can get the film developed to see the picture I'm afraid, but each of you will receive a copy of course."
As was customary, Shikamaru was already a few steps ahead of the game.
"You didn't bring us to a deserted training ground; just for a team photo though did you, Sensei?"
The older man grinned. "Very perceptive, Shikamaru. I did not just bring you here just to test out my new camera, no."
He took a prolonged drag on his cigarette, blowing the smoke upwards, then looked round at his three man cell - from the stern, calculating look on the young Nara's face, and the slightly confused ones of his two teammates.
"Today, you'll be undergoing 'the bell test'."
"The bell test?" The three chimed in unison.
"Yes, the bell test." He reached into his pocket. "The bell test is an examination given to all graduates of the academy. It's set to determine whether the Genin being tested are truly worthy of the title." He held the desired objects out for them all to see. "You must attempt to take these bells off me, I will not offer much resistance, but I want you to use everything you have learned, and mostly importantly establish team work while you do so."
"Sounds simple enough." Replied Shikamaru, though how the three of them were going to conceive any type of 'teamwork' what so ever, was proving a difficult outcome to predict.
"Oh, and if you fail the test well, you'll all be sent back to the academy of course."
"Whhhaaaattt?" Screeched Ino. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my entire life!"
"But, but you can't - surely that's not allowed?!"
"How troublesome. "
Asuma chuckled lightly at their reactions, before becoming serious once more.
"What's more, " He gestured to the three stakes on the other side of the field. "If you don't manage to take the bells off me before lunch, then you'll each be tied to a stake, while I eat mine."
This revelation stirred up the usually quiet, youngest Akimichi.
"N-no lunch, Asuma Sensei?" He stuttered, mortified at the prospect of an empty stomach.
"No lunch, Choji, so hand me your snacks please ."
He very begrudgingly gave them over.
"Well I don't care about skipping lunch; I'm on a diet anyway. But I never back down from a challenge! And I am not going back to the academy! You two better toe the line!"
"I'm with you, Ino! But we cannot skip lunch, it's one of the most important meals of the day!"
Trust Choji to be motivated by food.
Asuma turned to Shikamaru, clearly expecting a glowing declaration of some sort.
"It's troublesome, but whatever."
Their Sensei jiggled the bells with a true grin this time, and they were under way.
After a tense few moments of silence Ino decided to charge towards him first, making to knock them out of his hand with a well aimed round house. He simply moved them a fraction of an inch to his left, - she missed her target completely.
Next was Choji, he made a feeble attempt to jump up and reach for them while Asuma was very momentarily distracted, but all the Jonin had to do was lift them from the reach of his chubby hands.
"Surely you can do better than that? Where is your ninjitsu?"
Ino had already taken it upon herself to alleviate the situation, aiming a kunai at his feet, which he jumped and dodged with ease. Shikamaru performed the hand seals of his signature clan's move, anticipating where the body was heading to next. The shadows found their target with little effort. Shikamaru smirked, it was game over.
Until 'Asuma', exploded in a cloud of smoke to be replaced by a tell-tale log. A deep voice sounded behind him.
"Don't tell me none of you can recognise a simple substitution jutsu when you see one? I should just send you back to the academy now, for wasting my time if that's the case."
With a strangled and frustrated cry Ino leaped over Shikamaru. He watched her supple movements, and the way she could gracefully bend her body ... he tried to ignore that particular musing. She grabbed a kunai from her pouch, wrapping exploding tags around it's hilt mid-air, and throwing.
Shikamaru made sure his shadow followed, as he knew her aim was true. He felt a moment of panic when Asuma did not appear to try and dodge the assault, his shadows latched on as the exploding metal blade hit him squarely in the chest.
He promptly disintegrated into a mound of parched dirt.
"Tch."
"And you can't recognise am earth style clone either? Hmm, have you three not practiced reading chakra signals at all? Ino! You especially! You hail from a clan of very gifted sensors."
He materialised on the other side of the field then, jangling the bell again to sound where he was.
"You must work together, if you plan to take these from me!" He urged.
"The pair of you, get it together!" Screamed their blond teammate, "I am not going back to the academy because of you two!"
"It's not all about you, Ino." Shikamaru felt rage burning in the pit of his stomach. "We don't want to go back either."
"Well then Shikamaru, you better pull that genius head of yours out of your ass, and think of something, quick!"
Shikamaru's mouth opened automatically in retort, but he closed it again, this time in shock , was he hearing that right? Ino had called him a lot of things in the past. Lazy, idiotic, ignorant, but she'd never acknowledged... the rational part of his mind dismissed that particular trail of thought, now was not the time.
"Taking some time to form a strategy?" Asked Asuma leisurely, sitting down crossed legged now - swinging the bells around his index finger jovially. "Take all the time you need, I won't listen in. I'll even disperse my other clone, which you haven't realised is right behind you, by the way. Release."
There was a pop and a definite dissipation of chakra so, he had already been prepared for their next move before they'd even made it? Troublesome
Well Shikamaru, have you thought of anything?" Pleaded Choji, his best friend knowing how quickly his analytical mind could work.
"Well firstly, I need you two to provide a distraction." He told them plainly.
His plan was simply to dumb down his chakra signal and try to sneakily possess the bells, while Choji and Ino provided a distraction, and of course beat Asuma at his own game with a clone or two of his own.
He summoned the necessary chakra to make a clone, then immediately disguised it with a genjustu to look like an unassuming rock. While Asuma Sensei was busy lighting up another cigarette, he hid in the nearby bushes. He gave the signal to his two comrades, and directed his clone to appear again.
They began their assault.
Ducking, weaving, striking - he could not see an opening in which his shadow could dive in fast enough and retrieve the two bells. And although his I.Q and reaction time to potential outcomes, in certain situations were endless his chakra supply was not, especially with controlling a clone on top of that.
He began fanning out his shadow, slowly keeping it low to the ground, so as not to be noticed, he couldn't afford Asuma to sense it either, so he restrained from pumping too much chakra into for now.
Choji actually managed to nearly land a hit, one that Asuma was forced to block with his arm.
Nice one, Choji.
Ino aimed a punch on his opposite side, which left him having to counter that too- and leave the bells dangling helplessly without any thought to their safety.
Yes!
With lightning speed, he pushed more chakra into his shadow, it's hurled closer towards the group, as fleet as a deer.
He was so close now, his shadow snaked underneath Choji, a few more inches, a few more centimeters ... it clipped one of the bells, wrapping round, and it -
It -
It didn't work.
At the last moment Asuma had realised that another chakra signal, Shikamaru's shadow, was right under his nose, and had pulled away sharp enough that the genius nin, missed.
"Shit."
Some seconds later - filled with the sound of running feet along the grass, and he was aware of Ino and Choji, either side of him. They had fled the scene.
Shikamaru sighed. This was not going well.
After them taking a few moments to get their breath back, Ino finally spoke.
"There's only one thing left that we can try, " She said breathlessly. "I mean if our Father's - "
"No!" He immediately responded, he knew where she was going with that. "It's too risky and dangerous, and you two haven't-"
"Don't even go there, Shikamaru!" It was her to turn to cut him off. "You're not the only one who's been learning their clan's jutsus." She placed her hands on her hips. "Just because you've been able to do yours from the age of five, it does not give you a monopoly on the formation!"
She glared at him, daring him to argue back, and he had to admit she was right.
"If we attempt an Ino-Shika-Cho formation and it fails, how much chakra do you think we'll have wasted? As it stands, we can't even take the bells from him now, with half decent reserves. Do you honestly think we could attempt to take them with just physical force, and no chakra?"
"Well, it's better than standing around here talking and getting nothing done!"
"I say we wait, and look for an opportunity."
"And when will this mythical 'opportunity' present itself, huh? Because I don't see Asuma Sensei getting tired anytime soon, do you?!"
"I think Ino is right, Shikamaru." Choji said, finally. "I don't think there is any other way we have a chance of getting those bells."
"And if we fail? We get sent back to the academy, then what?"
He was directing his question towards Ino more than Choji, really. She seemed to enjoy getting on her high horse about these things, but even he couldn't see a way out of this yet. He didn't know enough about Asuma Sensei to find a potential weakness, and he didn't feel happy about it either. She looked down at the ground, for what seemed like a long time chewing on her lip, before finally looking up them.
"Then we get sent back the academy, don't we?"
"What!"
The two boys stared at their childhood friend come female team mate in disbelief.
"Ino, that's not a very funny joke."
"It is not a joke Choji, come on! What else do we have to lose? We are obviously the worst of the rookie nine. I mean even Sakura's team, which has Naruto in it, also has Sasuke! Which more than makes up for that, and although it annoys me to admit it, Sakura is still quite brainy. I don't know much about Kiba, Hinata and Shino as a team, but they get along well enough, and then...well, then there's us."
Shikamaru considered her words, and was surprised. Under her brash, unrestrained exterior, it seemed Ino did possess a logical mind, after all; one that wasn't just filled with thoughts of boys and vanity.
"And we're a team right?!" She continued. "Like Asuma Sensei said. I think if one of us goes down, then we all go down, and we take the rap together. Agreed?"
"That's a good way of looking at it, Ino."
"Alright." Replied Shikamaru, feeling he was allying himself with an inescapable death sentence, whichever way he looked at it. "Let's give it a try then."
They sent out Choji first. Now that Asuma was acquainted with Shikamaru's chakra signal, he had to be as discreet as he could, the success of this would ride on him managing to lock on to Asuma first.
He watched as Choji applied his human bullet technique, Ino making awed sounds next to him. Asuma without even trying, simply ducked and dodged, not bothering with the use of shadow clones. Choji was good, but also laboured as he was slow, fortunately they only needed the calorie converted chakra to last long enough for a hit with his own jutsu.
However, it seemed their Sensei was all too hyper aware, and Shikamaru could sense the depletion of chakra in his best friend, if they didn't pull something out of the hat soon, they were going to fail.
"Out here on your own, Choji?! What are your teammates up to, I wonder?!" Shouted Asuma, as he avoided another deadly would- be blow.
Shikamaru gritted his teeth.
"This is not working."
"I think I have an idea Call me crazy, this may just work."
"What?"
Ino pulled three small shuriken out of her pouch, holding them out to him in the palm of her small hands.
"If we both charge these with a bit of our chakra, and send them out different directions, then Asuma Sensei will have no choice but to sense the chakra and dodge them, hopefully if he's concentrating on those then that leaves you able to trap him with your kage mane no jutsu."
"Can you guarantee you can throw all three where they need to go?"
"Shikamaru! You're always underestimating me, you know. You should know by now, that I'm a pretty capable kunoichi, and cute to boot!"
She winked, and her hands formed the seals. Two clones appeared either side of her, wearing the same sarcastic smirk as the real Ino.
"Well?"
"Hmm, troublesome."
She actually giggled. "Are you ready?"
"Yup. No time like the present, I guess."
They made ready the charged stars and launched them without hesitation, as predicted he took the bait, dodging an attack from Choji, he saw that the blades were heading towards him.
"Nice try!"
Asuma lifted his hand, and seasoned in weaponry as he was, let two sail past, and caught the last securely between his thumb and forefinger, expertly avoiding any cuts from the blades.
"Really Ino, Shikamaru you- what?!"
"Kage mane no jutsu, complete!"
"Shintenshin no jutsu!"
It was instinct really, and he didn't know what compelled him to do it, perhaps he was more chivalrous than he thought, but as Ino's eyes glazed over, and her eyelids drooped, he reached out for her as her body began to sway, pulling her close. He was then, all too aware of her soft body against his own, and her flowery scent.
"Choji! Grab the bells, now! I don't know how long I can hold this for!" Asuma's voice sounded in Ino's inflection.
"Right!"
Ino Shika Cho, was triumphant.
XxX
"Fifteen minutes, fifty three seconds…" He slapped his palm to his forehead in disbelief. "As your Sensei, I don't know if I should be proud of you…or ashamed of myself that you were able to trick me so." The grin on his face revealed his true nature on the subject though. "God, I need another cigarette."
They were sitting on the cool grass, all three Genin, depleted of their chakra, and their energy, and the extremely proud Jonin instructor. They watched him fiddle with his lighter, finally managing to get his smoke to ignite.
"You should be very proud of yourselves, actually. Not only were you the fastest team this year, but you've also set an all-time record! Kakashi Sensei's team took eight hours, seven minutes and thirty three seconds to retrieve the bells. Kurenai sensei's team took three hours, fifty minutes and forty seven seconds."
"Ino eyes brightened. "Really!"
"Yes, and as such, Yakiniku is on me!"
Choji fist pumped the air. "Thank you Asuma Sensei!"
"However, you still have a lot to learn, so don't think I'll be going easy on you in the future." He looked down at his watch again. "Speaking of Yakiniku I say you three especially need some food in your system right about now." He stood. "I'll meet you there in half an hour."
"Where are you going Sensei?" Asked Ino.
Asuma tapped his nose with his index finger, grinning. "I have my bragging rights too, as much as you three do now. See you soon."
And he was gone in a puff of smoke.
"I can't believe Asuma Sensei is taking us to Yakiniku, it's all you can eat and only 1500 ryo, per table!" The very much thinner Choji said happily. "I'm just gonna grab my bag from under the tree, guys."
There was a slightly awkward, paused silence between him and his blond team mate now they were left alone.
"Say, Shikamaru…"
"What?"
"Thank you for catching me - before I mean. You didn't have to; you could have- you know? Let me fall on my face or something?"
He couldn't warrant that with an answer, as he face began to redden.
"Don't mention it…"
I only did it, because…it was the right thing to do. Nothing more...
"And that was a pretty good plan you came up with back there, too."
She beamed at him. "Thank you, Shikamaru."
It was in that one shining moment the boundaries and the foundations of the next Ino-Shika-Cho had been firmly laid.
And, somewhere along the way he had found a new shining respect, for Ino Yamanaka.
A/N; Thank you for reading. Reviews are motivating for me while I write the next chapter ;)
Is it Choji or Chouji? My British heart wanted to say 'Chouji', but I looked on Naruto Wiki and I went with Choji, instead.. Spelling is not my strong point. Speaking of which, this does contain British spellings, you know - s instead of z, the inclusion of 'u' etc. Until next time :)