Naruto Primer: Lil' Chouji
Cookies
Chouji has always been great friends with Shikamaru. Out of everyone, the one person that Chouji could truly call his greatest friend is Shikamaru. And, since we used the phrase 'has always been', you KNOW we're going to use our Magic Crystal Ball of the Past again.
"Dad!" said eight-year-old Chouji as he sat with his face pressed against the window. "When is Shikamaru gonna get here?!"
"His father said he'd be here at two o'clock." Replied Chomaru, Chouji's crazy large father.
"It's almost two o'clock now." Said Chouji.
"That means that he's not late yet." Chomaru pointed out.
"But what if he doesn't come?" Chouji asked, looking distressed.
"He's going to, don't worry." Said Chomaru.
But the minutes ticked by until it was suddenly 2:05. Now Chouji was starting to get a little bit worried that maybe Shikamaru WASN'T going to show up, that he was above going over to Chouji's house or something like that. Just when Chouji was about to go crying to his mommy, he spotted Shikamaru and his father, Shikato, WAY off in the distance.
"SHIKAMARU'S HERE!!" Chouji yelled.
"See?" said Chomaru. "I TOLD you he was going to come!"
Of course, Shikamaru and Shikato were making their way quite slowly and lazily up to Chouji's house that it wasn't until 2:10 that they actually got there!
"Hi Shikamaru!" said Chouji. "I thought you weren't going to come but you DID! I'm sorry for thinking you weren't going to."
"Chouji, you know better than that." Said Shikamaru. "When I say that I'm going to be somewhere, I'll be there. Even if it takes me an extra long time."
"So what do you want to do?" asked Chouji.
Shikamaru only gave Chouji that look that SO said, 'You should know better, Chouji.'
"Right!" said Chouji, taking a hint. "How about we make cookies?"
"Okay." Said Shikamaru with a shrug. Chouji and Shikamaru both frolicked off to the kitchen.
"First we need one egg." Said Chouji, reading a label.
"How about I read the recipe?" Shikamaru said, taking the book away from Chouji.
"Okay!" said Chouji as he ran off to the refrigerator to retrieve the eggs and set them on the table. "What else do we need, Shikamaru?"
"Flour." Shikamaru read.
This continued until they had all the ingredients they needed. Then Chouji pulled out a big bowl and a spoon for mixing. "First we add one egg…" Chouji said as he cracked an egg and dropped it in the bowl.
He eventually got all the ingredients into the bowl as Shikamaru only sat and watched. "Now we mix it!" said Chouji. "Do you want to mix it?"
"No, you can." Said Shikamaru.
"But you look bored!" Chouji said.
"I'm not." Shikamaru assured him.
"Okay then…" said Chouji as he mixed the ingredients in the bowl. "You sure you don't want to, Shikamaru? My arm's getting tired!"
"You should try using your left arm." Shikamaru suggested.
"Good idea!" said Chouji as he switched hands.
"I'm full of 'em." Shikamaru said.
"Wow, I'm not as good at stirring with my left hand as I am with my right hand!" Chouji observed.
"That's because you're a righty, Chouji." Shikamaru said.
"Well I knew that!" laughed Chouji. "I was just making small talk."
"Oh, okay." Said Shikamaru. "I think you should add chocolate chips to the cookies. I really like chocolate chips."
"Me too!" Chouji said, putting the spoon down and pulling a big bag of chocolate chips. "I never would have even thought of putting chocolate chips in! Whenever I make cookies, I always get to the cooking part and that's when I remember the chocolate chips but by then it's too late."
"What kind of chocolate chips do you have?" Shikamaru asked, reaching his hand in the bag and pulling out a handful of chips.
"We have chocolate chips and peanut butter chips!" said Chouji. "Which one should we use?"
"Why not both?" Shikamaru said. "You like peanut butter cups, don't you?"
"That's a great idea!" said Chouji. "But how much of each should we put in?"
"Hm…" said Shikamaru. "Well, I like chocolate chips more, I think we should put a 3:1 ratio of chocolate to peanut butter chips."
"Wha?" said Chouji.
"I'LL do the measuring." Said Shikamaru as he pulled the two bags and measuring cup over closer to himself.
"You're so smart, Shikamaru!" marveled Chouji.
"You're smart too Chouji." Said Shikamaru.
"Not as smart as you!" Chouji said.
"Did you remember to preheat the oven?" Shikamaru asked, changing the subject.
"No, I forgot." Said Chouji. "I have to ask my mom, though."
Chouji ran to the bottom of his stairs. "MOM!!" he called. "I'M GOING TO USE THE OVEN!!!"
"OKAY!!" Chouji's mom called down from up the stairs.
Chouji ran back into the kitchen and turned the oven on. "Are the chocolate chips all measured out?" he asked Shikamaru.
"Yeah but now you have to mix them all in." Shikamaru said.
"That's okay because I haven't even finished mixing the batter yet anyway!" said Chouji as he took the measuring cup and poured it in with all the other fancy stuff. "I'll go and get a cookie sheet after I finish mixing the bowl."
"I'll get the cookie sheet." Said Shikamaru as he hopped off his seat at the table and went off to find a cookie sheet.
"Thanks, Shikamaru!" said Chouji. "Do you know where they are?"
"No, but that's half the fun." Said Shikamaru, opening a few cabinets and looking inside. He then opened the door to the pantry to find that it was even larger than the kitchen, filled with all sorts of delectable treats and fun things like that! "Actually, could you just tell me where they are?"
"Yeah, they're on the top shelf!" said Chouji.
Shikamaru sighed. "That's so troublesome." He said as he retrieved a chair from the kitchen and dragged it into the pantry. As he climbed up, he got a good look at all the shining gold that was inside. "Chouji, can I have a Rice Krispie Treat?" he asked.
"Sure!" said Chouji. "Take anything you want!"
Shikamaru took a Rice Krispie Treat and opened the wrapping. He enjoyed it greatly and then grabbed the cookie sheet off the top shelf and brought it back into the kitchen. Then, since he's such a great guest, he even put the chair back and threw the wrapper in the trashcan, no matter how troublesome both of those tasks proved to be.
"All right, here's the cookie sheet." Said Shikamaru as he lied the sheet down on the table.
Chouji began putting little blobs of dough on the sheet. Shikamaru even helped!! Then, when the oven was preheated, he slipped the sheet inside and set the timer for fifteen minutes.
"What should we do while we wait?" Chouji asked.
Shikamaru gave him one of those looks again.
"Okay, how about we play on my jungle gym in the back yard!" Chouji said.
"As long as it has a swing." Shikamaru said.
"It has TWO!" Chouji said, sounding ridiculously excited.
"Even better!" said Shikamaru. Then the two of them skipped outside and went to play on the jungle gym as they waited for their cookies to finish.