The Wanderers
Chapter 25 – Chouji – Coming Home
A/N: That's right, it's Chouji time. I feel like that needs to be a saying. He might not be the most popular character in the Konoha group, but he still has a place in my story.
And yay, people picked out Nakor from the last chapter. Easily one of the best characters in fantasy fiction, and one of my favourite characters of all time.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, not everything would end well.
***Previously-On***
After escaping the Hidden Village of Sound, the group was accosted by a warrior covered in white armour, bearing a frightening resemblance to the warrior from Kakashi's memories. After a short monologue, in which he confessed to compliance in the destruction of Konoha, the warrior dispersed the Konoha shinobi under orders from a mysterious leader, causing all of them to be sent to different parts of the world. Now, separated from their friends and comrades, each of the surviving Konoha shinobi are struggling to find each other again before they are found again by the group that had caused them so much grief.
Having nearly drowned in an unmapped part of the ocean, Naruto teleported to Hinata's seal, the two of them reunited with tired relief. Having only one tent, the two of them gave in to their instincts and consummated their relationship, ensuring that there were no more barriers between them. After finally moving on they found themselves in a strange country that neither of them recognised, a lush grassland country that seemed to have dead bodies buried just under the surface in some areas. A week of travel later and the couple find an old man under attack by several bandits, the two of them cleaning up the fight easily. The man, who called himself Magnus, offered them a ride in his wagon, having some strange abilities including being able to pull an uncanny amount of oranges from a small pouch. He revealed to them that no one in the country had the ability to use chakra, and instead they utilised physical and spiritual energy by themselves to fight, though not many have the capacity to do that either. Naruto expressed an interest in learning how to do such techniques, since he knew that he wasn't strong enough to combat the threat that had sent them there. Magnus kept cryptic about it, but told Naruto that to protect Hinata he would need to get stronger.
***End Summary***
***One Week after Separation***
Chouji opened his eyes slowly, stretching his arms sorely before taking in an account of his surroundings. The last thing he remembered was the terrified face of the Sound shinobi, one of two they had been fighting before he had collapsed. Chouji looked at his raised hands in front of his face, smiling as he saw the thin fingers and wrists.
Such a strange look for me. I wonder what the others will say.
He looked down to see he was still wearing his shinobi fatigues, the majority of his body covered by a light silk blanket. He tried to sit up but found he didn't have any strength in his lower body, feeling more tired than he had ever felt.
Is this a side effect of the technique?
A sound to his side caused him to turn awkwardly in the bed he was lying in, seeing a wooden door slowly open a few metres away. He winced momentarily as light came through the opening and struck him in the face.
"Oh, you're awake."
Chouji didn't recognise the voice, but something about the female voice told him there was nothing to fear, causing him to remove his hand from his face. In front of him stood a young girl, possibly a few years older than he was, carrying a wicker basket. Her long brown hair ended near her waist, and she wore worn-down farming clothes.
She smiled upon seeing Chouji's face, the Akimichi heir remarking quietly to himself at how oddly pretty she was, though not in the way he would have expected. She wasn't striking like Ino, or deceptively cute like Hinata. Chouji had to think about it for a second before realising that she was attractive to him because her smile was genuine. She actually seemed happy to see him.
The young girl placed her basket beside his bed and flicked her wrists to free them from her sleeves before placing a soft hand on top of his forehead. She smiled warmly at him while doing so, causing Chouji to blush slightly, feeling an odd sense of uncomfortableness. After a few seconds the girl sighed in relief and removed her hand, standing barely a foot away from him.
"Well your fever has gone, so that's a relief."
Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Chouji pulled up the blankets even further, despite being fully clothed. "Um…where am I?"
The girl gave him a confused look before pulling up a chair and sitting opposite him, crossing her legs beneath her long cream-coloured dress. There was a kind, yet amused look in her blue eyes, one that seemed to put him at ease.
She reached into her basket and pulled out a small bowl with a wet cloth and began to wring the liquid into the bowl. "It was quite a shock to see you fall out of the sky like that. Some of the younger ones think you were an angel."
Chouji laughed quietly, the idea of someone like him being considered angelic was comical at best. "I don't think I'm quite that good."
The young girl smiled before laughing softly into one of her hands. Chouji remarked on how young she sounded, but there was something about the smile on her face that told him that this was a girl who had far more on her agenda than someone her age was meant to have.
He looked back up at her and it occurred to him that he had been quite rude. "I'm sorry; I didn't ask your name before."
The girl waved a dismissal. "It's fine. The people around here call me Misa."
He gave her a slight bow from his lying position. "Nice to meet you. I'm Chouji."
He wasn't sure whether to extend a hand for her to shake or not, but the moment had already passed so he just smiled quietly. Without warning Misa reached out and placed the cloth across his forehead and gently lowered him down to the pillow.
"Wh…why are you helping me?" asked Chouji quietly. He didn't really question her motives, but he felt it would be unseemly to not at least ask.
Misa pulled the blanket up to cover him fully, and stood back up from the bed. "It's the right thing to do. I do what anyone would do."
Chouji could feel an urge to fall back asleep coming over him, but as his eyes began to droop a question came thundering into his head.
"Where…where are my friends? The others that came with me."
Wiping her wet hands on her dress to dry them, Misa turned back to him with a confused look.
"Others? Who are you talking about, Chouji-san?"
Ignoring his condition, the Akimichi heir shot up from the bed so fast that he felt the blood rush straight into his head. He pulled off the blanket and swung his legs over the bed.
"There were others with me, right? The people about my age that brought me here? They are here, right?"
She shook her head slowly, trying not to frighten him, but she saw that he was already on edge. "I'm sorry, Chouji-san. There's no-one else here but us."
The Akimichi heir feel his arms tensing at her response, his heart slowly started to beat faster in his chest, but with a not-so-inconsiderable effort he calmed himself down.
Breathing out slowly and deliberately he looked over at Misa, trying to hide his small panic attack. "One more question. Where am I?"
oOoOoOo
It appeared to be a small farming community; Chouji estimated that not more than fifty people lived in the sizeable village. He grimaced and clutched at his side, the throbbing pain had come back since he had gotten out of the bed and didn't look to be going anywhere.
He felt completely out of place in his shinobi clothing, which was now entirely too big for him, compared to the basic working clothes of the villagers around him. They didn't seem to pay him much heed, only the occasional glance indicated that he was an outsider in the village.
It had taken him two days to get out of bed, and that was without Misa's content. He wasn't sure what to make of the helpful girl. She displayed a level of kindness he had only ever seen in his mother or perhaps Hinata, and Misa didn't have the slight edge that the young Hyuuga girl had to her.
He looked around the village with cautious eyes. "The Land of Hot Water…that's not that far from The Land of Rice Fields" he said to himself.
What happened in the village? I can't remember anything after I collapsed in the fight. Did the others make it out?
Suddenly a young girl came running up to him from the fields, giggling as she grabbed his hand and tried to drag him along with her. Chouji couldn't do anything except follow the little girl dragging him along; he was still struggling to get his bearings.
As the excitable girl pulled him along, Chouji took a better look at the village he had ended up in. It seemed to be fairly similar structurally to the villages he had seen before, though on a smaller scale. There was a forge that seemed to have been cold for years, covered in dust and cobwebs, but other than that they were all small houses like the one he had just left.
The young girl continued to drag him along until they were just outside the village limits, to which Chouji came to an observation he felt he should have seen earlier.
"There are no adults here" he said quietly.
The little girl let go of his hand and looked up at him with giant brown eyes. He figured she could only be about seven or eight years old. "Nope. Just us kids and the old people."
"What about Misa?"
"She's really nice. We all like Misa."
Chouji figured that was all he was going to get out of her as the girl waved to a group of children in a distant field, whistling for them to come join her. Chouji watched as the mismatched group slowly came towards the two of them. There were about ten of them, all younger than Chouji was by a significant margin, a mix of boys and girls.
"Waa, is that the guy?"
"He's really tall!"
"I wonder if he would give me his shirt."
All of them turned to the young boy who had made the last comment, even Chouji thinking it was a strange thing to say to a stranger.
The boy flushed slightly and began fiddling with his fingers. "What? My grandmother said we need new sheets, and that would be about the right size."
Chouji couldn't help but smile, reminded of some of the crazier things he had asked his father over his childhood. The best had been when he had asked what had happened to the deceased Hokage, to which his father replied that they had turned to stone and that was why their faces were on the mountain. It hadn't occurred to Chouji until years later that his father might have been messing with him.
The children began to chat amongst themselves loudly below him, Chouji taking the opportunity to look over at the fields they had come from. In a village without adults it was an impressive setup, they seemed to have a variety of vegetables and fruits growing, though it wasn't without its problems. From the small glance he got he could see dozens of small problems, but three main ones. There was no way to effectively get rainfall on a majority of the crops, meaning a lot of the planted seeds would have gone to waste. There were also rampant weeds scattered between the crops, and they weren't spread out evenly enough so that the crops weren't fighting for the same patches of dirt.
Anyone else of the Konoha group might not have made those observations so quickly, but farming and botany were his hobbies outside of his work. In fact he had said to his father several times that if he hadn't become a shinobi and was expected to be the Akimichi clan head, he would have loved to own a small farm with a family to support.
That's a pipe dream if there ever was one.
He turned to the oldest of the group, a young boy who looked about eleven. "What happened to the adults?"
The boy shrugged, and the rest of the group replicated his movement. Chouji considered his situation for a moment before looking back at the village. "I guess I'll go ask someone else."
He took a step forward, but before he could take another he felt a slight tug on his pants. Looking down he saw the girl who had brought him there look at him with a thumb in her mouth.
"You are going to stay right? Please mister…"
The other children nodded in agreement, standing behind the young girl with wide smiles on their faces.
"Yeah, you should stay!"
"Yeah! Oyabin!" (Boss)
He couldn't help but smile, reaching down to rub the young girl's short hair affectionately.
These kids are trusting in a way that only little kids can be.
He gave them an open-ended response and began walking back to the village. It wasn't until he got there that he realised he had momentarily forgotten about the others.
A part of me knows what has probably happened, but I don't want to admit it.
I might be the only one left.
oOoOoOo
Chouji was surprised to see that when he returned to Misa's house, a hot meal was waiting on the table, the young girl busying herself in the kitchen. Upon hearing the door open she turned around with a warm smile she seemed to always display, indicating for him to eat. The smell of the meal nearly knocked Chouji off his feet, he suddenly realised he was absolutely starving.
"Are you sure?" he asked, half-heartedly. It seemed proper to ask, but he could barely keep from drooling onto the table as he sat down.
Misa removed her apron and placed it on the back of a chair, reaching out to steal a carrot before biting into it. "Of course."
Chouji dug in, and on his deathbed he would swear that it was the best meal he had ever eaten. The dish was a little too hot and the spices didn't complement each other, but it was so beautiful he almost felt like crying. Not that it would have been his first time crying about food though.
"I met some of the kids in the village" he said to her once they had both eaten their fill. She had informed him that he hadn't eaten at all in the days he had been in her care, but Chouji resisted the urge to eat more than what would be considered proper. He was a guest after all.
"They are good kids. Hard working" she said, placing their dishes on a nearby bench. "They mean well, but I don't know how much longer we can keep up."
"What happened here? Where are all the people?"
She handed him a glass of water before sitting down opposite him with a sigh, the first non-happy expression he had seen her display. "They all went off to fight in some war about eight years ago. No one returned."
"That sounds awful" said Chouji, a picture forming in his head. I did hear of a civil war in this land a long time ago, but to think that even the normal people got caught in the middle of it.
He frowned and put down his glass on the table. "Hang on; some of those kids couldn't have been older than six."
Misa nodded slowly. "Some of them wandered into our village, some of them are children that other villagers didn't want." Chouji could see how pained she was upon saying that, as if it was an anger that she couldn't express or didn't want to express. "I couldn't just leave them there."
Chouji smiled warmly at her, "I would have done the same. But you mentioned a problem?"
She shook herself out of it and stood up from the table. "What am I saying? You didn't come here to listen to our problems. I'm sure you want to be on your way as quickly as possible."
She turned around and lowered her voice to an almost imperceptible whisper. "Just like everyone else."
Chouji took a moment before pushing back his chair and standing up slowly. He moved over in front of her and looked Misa straight in the eyes, a feat he usually struggled with when it came to girls. "Tell me what's wrong, and I'll do my best to fix it. I'm a pretty resourceful person, when it comes down to it."
She looked up at him, a slight spark appearing as their eyes connected. "But why? Don't you have friends to get back to?"
Friends who are most likely dead. I might have to deal with the fact that that might be true.
"It's the right thing to do. Now, what do you need?"
***Two Weeks after Separation***
With a satisfied sigh Chouji stood back up from the ground and looked at their handiwork. It hadn't been too hard to convince the villagers to let him look at their crops, and after a few days they had made significant progress. Ideally he would have wanted to replant the entire field, but since they used many of the crops to feed themselves, that wasn't an option.
In the past few days he had gotten to know some of the elders who still resided in the village, people who were too old to work in the fields. Through them he had learnt more about the village itself, but primarily he had learnt more about Misa. She was the oldest person in the village who wasn't an elder, a year older than Chouji was. After talking with most of the villagers it was clear that Misa was the main reason most of them were still alive, though she resolved to take no credit at all for her actions. Chouji couldn't help but admire her efforts in helping the other villagers.
She worked harder than anyone else in the fields cultivating their food, spent time playing with the children and teaching them manners and basic skills, helping the elders do their daily tasks and negotiated with other villagers for the extra food they needed that they couldn't grow themselves.
It was a gargantuan effort, and one that she seemed to take in her stride. Chouji had offered to take up residence in one of the empty houses in the village, but Misa had dismissed his query instantly. She had said that he wasn't fully healed and she needed to keep an eye on him, but Chouji suspected that she simply liked his company.
In their private conversations she had mentioned how she missed talking to people her own age. When the adults had left for their war, she had been the odd one out in their generation. Too young to follow their parents but too old to be anything but an older sister to the others.
"Is that all of them?"
"Should be about it" he responded, turning to see the grinning face of his housemate. He smiled back and licked his thumb, reaching out and rubbing off a small bit of dirt that had caught itself on her cheek. She blushed slightly but thanking him for the action and turned to their working companions.
The children had initially just played around, but when Chouji had made a game of it they had taken to removing the weeds with gusto. He felt bad for manipulating them, but both he and Misa found themselves caught up in the game as well.
He turned to look at the village. "So there is nothing else you can trade? It sounds like that village is taking advantage of you guys."
Misa shrugged, "I don't know. We've been trading fairly for a while, but the prices of food just seem to keep going up. In a few months we won't be able to afford to feed everyone."
"I won't let that happen" said Chouji confidently. It wasn't bravado, he had worked out a way for the village to survive, though it required him to see how they did the trading with the other village.
Misa looked up at the setting sun for a moment before turning back to the Akimichi heir. "Are you coming home?"
Chouji smiled slightly, it was strange to admit but he had started to see their shared house as a kind of home. It was a place he wanted to return to, which was something he hadn't experienced in a long time.
"I've just got one more thing to do."
She gave him a dubious look. "You sure?"
He nodded slowly, handing her his gardening gloves. "I've got to try. I might need it."
She shook her head with a smile before turning around and 'herding' the children back to the village. Chouji watched them leave with a strange feeling in his stomach. It had been slow at first, but he had started to become attached to the people of the village. Not for the first time, he wondered what his father would have done in his place, though no answer came.
Breathing out slowly to calm himself, Chouji sat with his back to the crop field and crossed his legs, placing his hands into a basic handseal. He quieted his mind and concentrating, trying to mould chakra into his hands.
After twenty minutes he stood up and sighed, as he had every day for the past week. There were no indications in the Akimichi scroll of his condition, but Chouji knew that if after a week he couldn't do it, it wasn't going to change. He had completely lost the ability to mould chakra.
He felt like the concept should bother him a lot more than it did, but he found himself quite settled by the news. His father had said it, as had Asuma at several points, but Chouji had never quite felt that he was suited to the life of a shinobi. Unlike the others like Sasuke or Kiba, Chouji didn't have an interest in harming others. He felt that his lost ability was a sign that his time as a shinobi had passed.
He looked back to the field then down at his worn hands. Even wearing gloves it had been hard work, but every time he thought about it all he could do was smile.
I guess this is my place now. I…I can't think about the others. If they were still alive, they wouldn't still be in Otogakure, not after what we did. And if they aren't…that means we failed and the village is still going. Without chakra, I can't go there, even to check.
He began walking back to the village, noticing that some of the children were still running around in the streets. It was hard to swallow, but through the day Chouji had come to a decision.
He was going to stay here, and do what he can. He wanted to help these people, more than he wanted to travel with his old companions. He didn't know what he would do if presented with the option to accompany them again, but without the ability to fight as he once did, Chouji felt at home with the villagers.
***Six Months after Separation***
Chouji wiped his face with a cloth and stared up at the blaring sun. He saw the clear blue skies with the same smile he had expressed for months, one of slow acceptance of his surroundings. Feeling a tug on his pants, Chouji looked down with a smile to see little Kyoko staring at him with her giant brown eyes, the same ones as her older sister who was nine.
He smiled and rubbed her head affectionately. "Can I help you, young lady?"
The four year-old reached at him with both hands, "Up! Up!"
Chouji couldn't help but laugh, reaching down and hoisting the little girl up onto his shoulders, the young villager squealing in joy as he began to swing around. After a few minutes he put her down onto the ground, feeling a little dizzy himself though she appeared unaffected.
"More! More!"
"I'm sorry, Kyoko. But I was meant to be in the fields a few minutes ago."
She pouted and poked out her tongue, watching the ex-shinobi apologise again before moving towards the fields next to the village. He reached up and removed his shirt, tying the blue cloth around his waist before breathing out slowly and picking up a shovel from the ground. They had just started to cultivate the ground on this side of the village, Chouji recommending that they should be growing more of their own food rather than relying on other villages for supplies. He nodded wordlessly to the two young boys already digging up the fields, placing his shovel on the ground with a short breath before looking back up at the sky. Without making a sound he said the same prayer he had said every day since he had come to the village, that his old companions were happy where they were, like he was. Finishing the prayer with a slow smile, Chouji went about his daily duty.
Hours later Chouji returned to the epicentre of the village, moving to the well to splash cold water onto his face with a sigh.
"You work too hard, dear boy" came an elderly voice behind him.
Chouji wiped his face with his shirt before turning around and bowing respectfully to the elder of the village. "I just do my part, Hibuki-sama."
The village elder laughed lightly and tapped her walking stick on the ground. "Nonsense, dear boy. You don't realise how important you are to the rest of the village."
Chouji simply bowed again and let the elder move past him, offering to fill up the container in her basket with a smile. They had gone through the same routine for weeks now, Chouji happy to let the elder treat him like the son she had never had. He escorted her back to her house before walking back to the house he had come to love over the past six months.
Before reaching out to open the door to his home though, Chouji recognised an approaching young boy, one he had been working in the fields with earlier. The boy's name always seemed to escape the ex-shinobi, but regardless Chouji still acknowledged the twelve year-old with a smile.
"Are you coming tomorrow? We need your help with the traders again."
To properly cultivate their new fields, the villagers required a set amount of seeds, meaning they had to travel to the next village over to buy their crops. On his first trip Chouji discovered that the villagers had been being ripped off, and with a short exchange he secured a more reasonable exchange of products between the two villages.
"Of course. I have to get Misa that thing we mentioned, remember?"
The young boy appeared confused for a moment before nodding slowly, understanding that he was meant to keep it a secret from the young girl. Chouji winked at him and saw him run off; taking a moment to reflect on how different he was compared to how he used to be around his friends.
I bet Shikamaru would tell me I'm thinking too much and should just look at the clouds.
He opened the door and was immediately assaulted by the smell of fresh herbs, emanating from the small kitchen inside. Wearing a small apron and holding a wooden spoon lightly in her hand, Misa waved him over with a smile that Chouji was so used to seeing.
"Here, try this and tell me what you think" she said, holding the spoon up with a small amount of soup inside.
Chouji sipped at it and rolled the liquid around on his tongue, nodding slowly. "That's really good. I like the mix of herbs and vegetable stock."
Misa smiled and placed the spoon back into the large pot on the stove before removing her apron and hanging it on a nearby chair. "I thought you might. I've never heard you say anything bad about my cooking, even when it has been bad."
Chouji sat down on a chair opposite her and grinned with his chin in his hand. "I blame the chef, personally. It's hard to find fault with your cooking, Misa. You'll make a great wife someday."
The moment he said it Chouji realised it was a strange thing to say to her, considering their current disposition towards each other. Neither of them had spoken it out loud, but after six months living together it was difficult to think about anywhere else he would rather be. In Misa he had found a confidant, but also someone who was of a similar nature to him. Over the past few months they had caught each other occasionally staring just that little bit too long, though neither of them made a comment.
Chouji hoped to change that when he got back from tomorrow's trip, but that was the one thing he wanted to keep from Misa, though it was a constant internal battle.
"A…wife?" Misa blushed heavily and turned around, continuing to mix the soup on top of the stove.
Chouji went to change the subject but hesitated, standing up from table slowly. "I…uh…I'm going to have a shower. Because of…you know the fields…and…yeah…"
Misa just nodded slightly and concentrated on the food in front of her. Without another word Chouji left the kitchen, trying to think what he should say next to her.
After eating quietly after washing up, the two of them had gone back to how they were before, though Chouji couldn't help but notice a slight disquiet between the two of them, an unspoken feeling that neither of them wanted to talk about.
Later that night he sat at the desk in his small room, staring over the scroll he had carried since the destruction of his old home. As he knew, the scroll contained all of the Akimichi techniques, but there were also a variety of clan rituals and ideals that his father had taught him over the years. He thought about his current situation, a smile coming onto his face when he thought about what his father would say about his new home.
He always said the best thing someone can hope for is a happy home. I can't say I don't have that.
He turned at a knock on his door, standing up and quickly moving before opening it with a confused look on his face. In his doorway stood a slightly red Misa, wearing her long pyjamas with her hair un-tied behind her back.
"Misa? Is everything okay?"
She hesitated without saying a word, doing her best to avoid looking him in the eyes as she walked past him into the room and sat on his bed, placing her hands on her thighs. Chouji closed the door and sat down next to her with a concerned look on his face.
"What's wrong, Misa?"
The young girl stood up from the bed and slowly began to pace around the room, biting at her nails nervously. Chouji had never seen her like that; it was decidedly uncharacteristic for her to be so unsure about something. Even if she didn't know about something, Misa always had an aura of unselfish confidence about her.
After a few minutes without a response, Chouji stood back up and placed his hands carefully on her shoulders, turning her to face him. "Misa, you are acting really strange. What's wrong?"
He could tell she couldn't look him in the eyes, and that she was feeling bad about something that she wanted to talk about, but didn't know how.
"I…I'm a bad person." Her voice was barely audible, though Chouji heard it perfectly clear.
"What? No you're not." He moved her around and sat her down on the bed before pulling up a chair and sitting opposite her. "Misa, you are the nicest person I know."
She shook her head slowly, still staring at the ground. "No I'm not. I'm an awful human being."
Using as much care as he could, Chouji reached out and slowly moved her face up so that he could look at her face. She hadn't been crying, but Chouji could feel she was in pain about something.
"Misa. Tell me what's wrong."
"I…one of the girls came up to me a little while ago, after you went to your bedroom."
This didn't surprise Chouji. As much as the people talked to him, Misa was confided in with unparalleled trust. For someone so young, it was remarkable at how much she did for the village, another thing that Chouji admired her for.
Misa began fidgeting with her fingers, but was able to continue looking him in the face as she continued her story. "She asked me something, and I lied to her."
"What did she ask you?" asked Chouji carefully. He had never known Misa to lie, so it must have been something very important for her to be so wracked with guilt.
Misa hesitated again, moving her eyes down to the ground before muttering inaudibly. Chouji frowned and moved his face so that he could look her in the eyes.
"What was that? I didn't hear you."
"I don't want to say. It's too embarrassing."
Chouji let go of her hands and leant back into his chair. "I'm not going to make you tell me. But it's obvious that you are hurting, and I don't want you to be unhappy."
She looked up at him slowly, and broke out into the soft smile she was known for. The smile was like a punch in the gut to Chouji, who then immediately wished that tomorrow was already over so that he could do what he truly wanted to do.
"She asked me if you were available, because she wanted to ask you out."
Chouji gave her his best I-don't-get-it look. She motioned with her hands that she wasn't finished, breathing out slowly in a failed attempt to cover her nerves.
"I told her that you weren't single, and that she should drop the issue."
The Akimichi sat in his chair with a dumbfounded expression on his face. At first he didn't quite understand why she was so upset, and felt like he should be. But after thinking for a few seconds, he realised what had happened, which only caused him to be even more confused.
"Wait…did you tell her…that you…what?" He tried to make a coherent sentence, but the words just kept coming out jumbled. It was the first time since meeting Misa that he'd struggled to talk to her, but for a very different reason this time.
Misa stood up very quickly and walked past his chair. "I couldn't help it! I don't know why, but I just felt so…jealous…" She leaned on the door with a sigh. "I've never done anything like that before. You must just think I'm the worst person ever."
Without hesitation Chouji stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders comfortingly. "Misa, as I say many times, you are the nicest person I've ever known. It's…" He hesitated and tried to think of how to frame what he wanted to say. "…it's not a crime to say you want something."
He felt like a hypocrite for saying it, considering his own feelings, but a part of him understood why Misa felt guilty. It never occurred to her that she could take something for herself.
She turned around and stared into his smiling face. Chouji could feel an unending flow of confidence as he saw the look in her eyes, though in the back of his mind for some unknown reason he could imagine Shikamaru standing behind him and just rolling his eyes.
A shift slowly came across her face, the young girl backing off slightly so that his hands fell to his sides. She moved quickly to the door, but before Chouji could feel any disappointment she closed it and held the knob in her hands for a few seconds. He wanted to ask what she was doing, but felt that it wouldn't be right to say anything, though he didn't know why that was wise.
She turned back around and took one of his hands into hers, holding it close to her chest. She looked straight into his eyes and all potential resistance in Chouji collapsed instantly. He watched as, with her free hand, she began unbuttoning her pyjama shirt, letting it hang open on her shoulders. She slowly led him to his bed before motioning for him to sit on it. Chouji did so without hesitation, his brain no longer thinking on anything except that moment.
With an agonisingly slow motion, she unshouldered her shirt and let it drop to the ground. She reached out and lightly touched the side of his cheek, with an affection that they had never shared before.
"I want to be selfish."
"You know, Chouji-oyabin…you've been smiling like that all day. It's kind of weird."
Chouji turned to the young boy at his side, hefting the large bag of supplies over his shoulder for the hundredth time since they had bought them. "Have I? I hadn't realised."
An old man walking beside the two of them on the road cackled with his characteristic coughing laugh. "That's because he and that young thing went bump-bump last night."
Chouji immediately glared at their companion, but the rest of the group gasped in surprise. It had been an hour since they had left the neighbouring town and Chouji was desperate to get back to Misa, but he had no idea how the old man had found out.
The young boy gave the ex-shinobi a confused look. "Huh? You mean you and Misa-senpai? Is that what that thing you were at the jeweller for so long was about?"
Chouji felt the box against his leg inside his pocket carefully, making sure that it was still secure. He turned to the young boy and motioned that it was nothing with his hands.
"Don't worry about it" he added, before turning to the old man. "How did you know?"
They continued down the unmarked road in a small group as the old man cough-laughed again. "It was inevitable. From the moment you came here, the two of you were doomed. But to answer your question…your house doesn't muffle that much sound."
In characteristic fashion Chouji blushed in response, but he couldn't hide the small amount of pride that he felt. They continued to move back to their village, with Chouji carrying the vast majority of supplies they had acquired. He might not have the ability to use chakra anymore, but he still had all the muscle mass he had accumulated from years of shinobi, and without the fat slowing him down Chouji had discovered a whole new level of stamina. Though he did have to do a lot of physical work to maintain his physique, despite not eating as much as he used to his body seemed programmed to try and balloon back out. Since he didn't need to store calories for techniques, Chouji saw no value in being that size again, and he found himself to be more useful at his current shape.
Just before they saw the village in the horizon, Chouji got a long shiver straight up his spine that actually caused him to stop for a few moments. He shook his head to try and dismiss the superstition, but couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen when they got back, though for good or bad he couldn't tell. It was something he remembered Naruto experienced quite a bit, though Chouji had often acknowledged that Naruto's instincts were frighteningly accurate.
They made surprisingly good time back to the village; the weather had been more accommodating than usual. Chouji couldn't help but continue to grin when he saw the collection of houses come into view. It was stronger than the one he used to get when they returned to Konoha before its destruction. This was his home.
He dropped the supplies at the small house near the outskirts of the village; there was a group of young women who would work out where everything needed to go. He turned a corner and began walking down the main portion of the village, pulling out the small box that he had acquired in the other village and fingering it nervously. He was not known for rash decisions, and he didn't consider this to be one either, but he knew what he wanted, and that was right here in this village. He wasn't going anywhere, and he was absolutely happy with that.
He looked back up at the road and saw a strange scene in the distance near the centre of the village proper. A small group of villagers was standing on the dirt path with odd looks on their faces, but that wasn't what put Chouji on edge. In front of the villagers stood five figures clad in plain black hooded robes with no markings on them. Three of the group were men of extreme height, easily standing a head taller than Chouji on his best day. The other two were clearly female, though he couldn't tell too much about them because of the hoods. None of the five appeared to be armed, at least not from Chouji's position, but he still moved quicker towards them, thankful that he didn't see Misa in the crowd. It was clear to him that the five were looking for something, since they appeared to be trying to intimidate the villagers with questions that he couldn't quite hear.
For the first time in months Chouji regretted his inability to mould chakra, even though that skill was gone he still had his shinobi instincts, and they told him that this situation would likely end in a fight. He skidded to a halt a few metres before the five of them, though they didn't seem to notice him.
"Who are you?" he asked politely but confidently, suspicious that the five of them might be bandits of some description, or perhaps bounty hunters.
The five of them stiffened before turning slowly to face him in a single motion. The shiver that had hit him earlier returned in force at the sight of the five intruders to the village. The men and one of the females wore blank masks with slits where their eyes were meant to be, and appeared to have none of the small motions that the average person would make when trying to stand still.
They are heavily trained. Maybe even shinobi.
It wasn't the four of them that unsettled him though. The last female had a distinct visual difference to her companions, and as she stood forward in front of the others it was clear that she was the leader. Instead of a blank mask she wore a strange helmet that appeared to be melded onto her head. Even with the hood on, Chouji could tell that it was covered her hair and all. Where the others had slits for eyes, the leader had two small orbs that glowed a menacing ice blue, eyes that stared directly at Chouji.
She removed a hand from her cloak and motioned towards him, the hair standing up on the back of his neck. There was an alien-like familiarity about her, but Chouji did his best to ignore the feeling, trying to remember whether there were any weapons in the village that he could use.
"A shinobi who has lost the ability to create chakra. Threat is within acceptable range."
If her appearance unsettled him, then her voice was enough to convince him that he was in serious trouble. He slowly balled a fist, but before his eyes she vanished into thin air. Chouji frowned and tried to look around to see where she had gone. Before he could move however, he felt a soft hand land on his shoulder behind him. The touch caused him to fall to his knees, the strength in his legs giving out like they weren't even there.
"Chakra generators unrecoverable. Termination unnecessary."
She removed her hand from him and reappeared next to her companions. The moment her hand had left him, Chouji found his strength returning, though he still took his time to stand up.
"Who are you people?" he asked cautiously, wary of the fact that he had just been an inch away from death. Without chakra he wasn't a threat to them in any capacity, but there was something about the woman's gravelly metallic voice that exuded power.
The masked leader turned to her companions. "Move onto the next village. Our pursuer has gained too much ground."
As quickly as they came, the hooded figures left the village, leaving the villagers dumbfounded as to what had just happened. Chouji looked around quickly before realising that he had been holding his breath, realising it with a long sigh. He nodded quietly to the villagers around before breaking out in a run.
A minute later he placed a hand on the door to his house, breathing out slowly. He wasn't winded, but inside his chest his heart was going racing. Before he could push on the door, it opened quickly. Misa stood in the doorway with a confused look on her face, a long apron covered her dress from the spills she often created when cooking.
"Chouji? You're back? Wh…"
He didn't let her finish the sentence, jumping forward and planting his lips on top of hers, pushing a hand up through her hair. Misa seemed surprised by his action, but wasn't complaining. After a few moments he pulled away from her and looked into her eyes with a warm smile.
"Wh…what was that for?" she asked, quietly readjusting her hair despite still staying in his hands.
Chouji shook his head and pecked her on the forehead affectionately, feeling like he had nothing to lose by such an action.
"No reason. I'm just happy to be here. That's all."
Misa smiled back and indicated to the inside with her head. "Welcome home."
Author's Note:
I wrote this chapter twice. At first, Chouji was killed by the group at the village at the end. But I realised that was both cliché and unnecessary. I wanted at least one character to have a 'happy' ending, at this point in time. I think he deserves it, since so many stories kill him off. And as with Asuma, Kurenai and Tenten, don't count him out just yet. Though give him a little time, the man deserves some peace.
Also just a little caveat, not all post-Separation stories are romances. Well…most of them are, but that's beside the point. The next one will be action-orientated. It'll either be Kiba, Sasuke or Ino. Haven't decided yet.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to reply to each review, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.