Part V
Author's note:
Hey, Kiel here again with part five. I received a few interesting ideas for the ending and I'm very pleased with the overall response to this fic, so keep the ideas coming in. I estimate the story will until a part 7 or 8, so get those ideas in soon!
Ja ne!
Another day, another adventure.
Another day where Shikamaru awoke from a restless sleep, thoughts of Ino on his mind. Another day were Ino slept in, exhausted from another night of gorging herself and trying to find new clothes that would accommodate her growing figure. Another day where Kotetsu woke up early to fetch the morning schedule for the Godaime.
Shops opened, people rose from their beds to go to work, school, or on shinobi missions.
An average, normal day in Konoha if there ever was one.
Just another day where Uzumaki Naruto ran to get his breakfast in the morning glow of the rising sun, his head protector tied tightly to his head and his spirit high.
"Almost there, almost there! Wait for me, my Ramen!" He chanted.
Ramen was Naruto's daily breakfast. Most mornings he made himself a cup of instant ramen, which was tasty and fast; perfect for days when he was on missions with team 7, but given the time, Naruto loved the ramen at Ichiraku's the best. Ikura-sensei often bought him dinner there as a reward, but Naruto often ate there when he had the money and the time.
"And Kakashi-sensei's off training that jerk Sasuke, so there aren't any missions this morning! This means there's plenty of time to eat a few bowls at Ichiraku ramen!"
Naruto couldn't be happier.
All of his pent up excitement about having the morning off and enjoying a leisurely breakfast came out as he marched through the streets of Konoha towards the ramen stand. Naruto felt the joy escape him as he sang as he ran:
"♪ Gyu ru ru!
Gyu ru ruuu!
Gyu ru ruuuuu!♪♫"
Naruto's little rhyme was cut short as he finally approached his destination.
"Yes! Finally!" He said.
Naruto ran up to the counter, brushing away the fabric overhang sign to see the owner.
"Yosh! Ohiyo gi-chan! One bowl of miso ramen on the double please!" He said, his fist outstretched in a thumbs up.
But the old man wasn't there.
The only one around was the owner's assistant and second cook, Ayame. Her brown hair pulled back by a white kerchief, she sat on the cutting board table in the back of the stand, folding something in her hands. A wide grin plastered on her charmingly cute face.
Naruto spoke up: "Oi! I said I'd like a bowl of miso ramen please!".
Ayame looked up to see the face of Ichiraku's best customer. "Oh, good morning! How can I help you?"
Naruto's face became cross. "I want a bowl of miso ramen! Are you deaf or something?!"
Ayame's grin faltered a bit. "Oh…I'm sorry. I can't get you anything this morning".
"Huh? Whaddya' mean? It's your job to get me food" Naruto said stupidly.
"Gomen, it's just that…well, we have no more ramen. Our stock of noodles and meat is empty" She said.
"I don't get it. Are you telling me you're all out of ramen?"
Ayame nodded.
Naruto stared blankly at the assistant cook for a moment, before bursting out laughing.
"Ah ha ha ha! That's a good one. Out of ramen, how could a ramen stand possibly have no ramen?" Naruto chuckled.
"I'm serious, were completely out of ingredients. The head cook left just a moment ago to buy more beef and noodle packs. Someone came before and bought ALL of our food!"
Ayame scooted away from the table to reveal a sink completely full of empty ramen bowls. She then showed Naruto a large wad of Ryou bills.
"We made our entire quota for the next three days in one morning!" Her smile widened.
Naruto, however, was not pleased. His face became stern.
"There's no ramen left at all?! What am I going to do for breakfast?!" He shouted.
Ayame moved to the side of the counter, stirring a pot. "Well, we've still got tonkotsu and miso broth if you'd like. I might even be able to scrounge up some swirl wontons if you'd like".
Naruto lowered his head, resting his chin on the counter, his face grim and depressed. His dream of a leisurely breakfast had been destroyed.
"No…it's okay…s'not the same without the noodles anyway" He sighed.
Ayame rustled his hair. "Don't worry; I'm sure the manager will be back with more ingredients soon. You're welcome to wait for him, if you'd like".
"Alright," Naruto sighed again. "I can't believe that a whole crowd of people were here before me. I'm usually the first here".
"Oh, it wasn't a crowd of people"
Naruto looked up a bit, curious.
"You mean that just one person ate all of this?" Naruto said, motioning towards the bowl filled sink.
"Yeah, it was this big fat girl with pink hair and green eyes. I swear, I've never seen anyone as big as her. She said she was just stopping in for a quick bit to eat before seeing her boyfriend, and the next thing you know, she's eaten almost everything! Good thing she was able to pay" Ayame snorted.
Naruto laughed.
"Wow, a big, pink haired fat girl, eh? Can't imagine how such a fatass could get a boyfriend, I mean, I'd never like someone like that" Naruto laughed again as he waited for his breakfast to return.
Shikamaru waited outside of Chouji's house. He had been waiting for almost a half hour for his friend to wake up. During that time Shikamaru had shouted, banged on the door and even thrown rocks at the house's windows. The Akamichi clan were heavy sleepers.
"Chouji, wake up!" He banged on the door again "Come on, we've got to go!"
There was still no answer.
Shikamaru sighed and unzipped his backpack. "Looks like I'll have to use my last resort" he muttered under his breath as removed a bag of barbeque potato chips. He opened the bag and began munching on the tangy fried potato snack. A few moments later, the small bag had been emptied, save for one last chip.
Shikamaru held the chip in his hand, hearing the telltale stomping from inside the Akamichi household.
Chouji burst forth from the front door wearing only his pyjamas. He rushed forward and snatched the chip out of Shikamaru's hand, shoving it in his mouth.
"No one but me will have the last potato chip!" He shouted, spraying bits of chip as he spoke.
"Chouji, c'mon. I need to speak with you".
Chouji rubbed his eyes. "This early in the morning? Asuma doesn't want us to do another training run again, does he?"
"Asuma's off with Kurenai, trying to track down Anko for their evaluation of the ANBU this morning. I just want to talk. Why don't you go get dressed, we'll take a walk".
Chouji grumbled. "Alright, but only if we can have breakfast on the way, your treat!"
"Fine, fine," Shikamaru sighed. "Let's just go…"
Moments later, the two friends found themselves at a tea house. Chouji ordered a large plate of sweet dumplings and a green tea. Shikamaru ordered nothing.
"Why are you so stressed out about this? It was your idea after all" Chouji said to Shikamaru. They seated facing each other at an outside table of the tea house.
"Listen Chouji, this prank was run for a whole two days. I'm just not sure if I can keep it up…or if she can keep it up as well" he said.
"Shikamaru, I told you before that she can't harm her body just by overeating. Ino's stomach can't hold a dangerous amount of food anyway. Besides, it's going great! Have you seen how she looks recently?"
Shikamaru looked away from Chouji. He remembered his meeting with her from the previous day. It made him uncomfortable just thinking about it.
"Yeah, I've seen her. Look, I think that you should take my place as Sasuke today. It's too…troublesome for m to do it, y'know?" He said.
"But Shikamaru, you're much better at 'henge no jutsu' than I am. I'd just screw it up and give us away. Do you know what Ino will do to me if she found out about this?!" Chouji shuddered.
"Yeah, well, we can't keep this up forever. Sasuke will eventually return to Konoha, which will spoil the whole thing. And I'd rather have just Ino to deal with than both her and Sasuke".
Chouji's face fell. Another thing the two of them hadn't thought about. How would Sasuke react if he found out they had pretended to be him to pull a prank? Not well, Shikamaru imagined.
He stood up, knocking his chair aside. "Alright, if you won't go, I guess I'll have to take care of it…better to get it out of the way anyhow," Shikamaru fished out 500 Ryou for Chouji's breakfast.
"I'll see you later, if I survive…" He mumbled as he made his way towards Ino's house.
Ino walked briskly down the path from her home, patting her stomach as she went. She'd just eaten a substantial breakfast and was feeling quite pleased with herself.
Today I'm going to see Sasuke, and I'm not going to let him shy his way out of being with me like he did last night.
Ino fondly remembered yesterday's meeting. Sasuke had seemed genuinely attracted to her. It was a major breakthrough! He knew he was shy, though. She'd have to make sure he couldn't get away this time.
Ino continued to walk at a quick pace, trying to dodge people as she went. It was morning and early shoppers made their way through the streets. Ino found it was much more difficult now to move out of people's ways when she was so rotund.
"Excuse me, oof, sorry, I'm in a hurry" She mumbled as she fought through a small crowd. It didn't help when her mind was completely elsewhere. Somewhere off in the clouds…with Sasuke-kun.
"Ino, I just love your big round body…make me want to just kiss you all over"
"Oh Sasuke…I can't tell you how long I've waited for thi-"
Ino's daydream was cut short as she crashed into someone. She felt her face hit something soft and warm, before being forced backwards, falling on her behind.
At least I've got more cushioning now Ino thought painfully as she got up.
"Surimase! I wasn't looking where I was going and…"
Ino stopped mid-sentence. She simply stopped and gaped at what she saw.
"Why Ino, what a surprise meeting you here"
Ino stared into the cool green eyes of Haruno Sakura. She felt the blood drain from her face as she saw what Sakura had become.
No longer a thin, flat-chested little girl, Sakura was immense. Her stomach pushed out in almost every direction. Looking as if she was almost pregnant with an innumerable amount of babies, Sakura was literally a walking blimp!
"Sssss…Ssssss" Ino stuttered. She saw a sly grin appear on Sakura's face.
"What's the matter Ino? Did I scare you?" She said slyly.
"Sakura! Wh-wh-what happened to you?" Ino blurted out.
"I simply followed your advice. You told me Sasuke like chubby girls, so I found a way to make that happen for me. Now I'm much bigger than you" Sakura said nastily, she turned away and continued walking "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a man to go see. Sasuke-kun will love me far more than you".
Ino felt the blood return to her face, only with ten times the intensity as it had left her. Her body burned with anger, every fibre of her being felt pulled apart at the seams.
How dare that bitch Sakura outdo me! How dare she! I'M the one who'll win Sasuke-kun over!!! Not that inflated bimbo, ME!!!
"How dare you!" Ino shouted, leaping at Sakura, her hands aimed for her throat. Sakura tried to grab Ino's hands as they advanced towards her, but she couldn't get them past her stomach. Ino's lunge sent her flying on top of Sakura, causing the two of them to fall on top of each other.
"Ooooph!" Sakura gasped as Ino's own girth fell flat onto her gigantic belly, forcing the air out of her lungs. Ino's eyes burned with intensity, she moved her hands to strangle her opponent-
They wouldn't move!
Ino looked down to see her fists-
What the?!
-were stuck in the folds of flab of Sakura's stomach! She was caught in fat!
People began to gather around the two cumbersome girls as they went at it.
"Oi! Neko fighto!" One man cheered.
"I've never seen girls so fat before!" Another said.
"Maybe some kind of new combat jutsu?" A woman said.
"A thousand Ryou on the fattest one!" One shouted.
"I'll take that! The chubby blonde'll beat her no problem!"
Only one person chose not to watch the fight. Shikamaru hid behind the wall of a side street building, just out of view of Sakura and Ino. Blood trickled down his face from his nose as he slouched against the wall.
Ino had told Sakura, and now she was gaining as well!
"This has become…very troublesome" He gasped.