Chouza

Chouza swore to himself he would never call his child something that begins with 'chou'.

He had gone through so much when he was young (before Inoichi and Shikato had found him and taken him in as their own), made fun of, becase in no way would he ever resemble the beautiful, graceful, kind butterfly.He was a caterpillar. Ugly and lazy and slow.

'Chou' was supposed to be pretty, 'Chou' was associated with butterflies. Chouza knows he is no butterfly. He is big and fat and ugly, and to be called 'Chou' anything was a cruelty worse then death. Chouza will never be a butterfly, and no child of his would ever be one either.

It was their family curse.

He swore to himself that he would never name his child 'Chou' anything, that he would never inflict that onto his cursed child.

Then, his wife's water broke.

He looks at his wife and gives her a smile, touching her hand softly. She smiles back at him, sweat on her brow and tears in her eyes to match his. She is breathing normally now, he is pleased to find. He kisses her head and turns at a polite cough.

He looks at the nurse as she holds him out to him. He looks down at the small bud in her arms, wrapped in protective layers of soft white, and takes him from her.

His son.

He touches the perfect hair, traces the perfect face, and touches the perfect stomach, staring into the blue, perfect, simply perfect eyes. He cannot believe that this beautiful creature came out of him, that this beautiful, gorgeous, perfect child is his. He cannot help it. He cries.

He lifts the child up into the sky and can see the wings coming out of his sides. He can see the baby becoming great and powerful and large, he can see him flying into the blue sky of victory.

Chouza can think only one word matches this beautiful, shining, glistening, rainbow boy.

"Chouji."