Title; Needles in My Eyes
Shikamaru sighed to himself as he brushed the little pieces of crystal into a dustpan. He stood up when he finished and caught sight of Chouji strolling in his direction.
"Shikamaru!" said Chouji.
"Hey Chouji." Said Shikamaru.
"What are you doing out here?" Chouji asked.
"I had to clean up a mess that had supposedly been here all day." Shikamaru said, gesturing to the dustpan that had the shards on it.
Chouji looked at it. "Oh, that's too bad." Chouji said. "Whatever broke, it sure looked expensive."
"It was." Shikamaru said, rolling his eyes.
"Was it something of yours?" Chouji questioned.
"No." Shikamaru said. "Someone else must have dropped it. But I used to have something just like it."
"What happened to it?" Chouji asked.
"It…broke." Shikamaru said.
"Oh." Said Chouji. "Then those things have a tendency of breaking?"
"You could say that, Chouji." Said Shikamaru.
"Hm…" said Chouji, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Then he dug through his pockets and pulled out a round crystal with a butterfly on the inside. "Hey, this wouldn't be it, would it?"
"Chouji, you bought one of those too?" Shikamaru said, sounding surprised.
Chouji shrugged. "Well yeah…" he said.
"Why?" said Shikamaru with a sigh. "They're troublesome."
"The old man who sold it to me said that it could grant one wish to change my past." Chouji said as-a-matter-of-factly.
"I know that, Chouji." Said Shikamaru as he walked up his front steps and into his house. Chouji followed him. "My point is this; you don't really know what might end up happening."
"What do you mean, Shikamaru?" Chouji said.
"Do you know what the Butterfly Effect is?" Shikamaru said as he dropped the broken glass in the trashcan.
"Sort of, but not really entirely." Chouji said as the two of them sat down at the kitchen table.
"Well," Shikamaru said in his explaining voice as he put one finger up in the air, ready to show off how smart he was. "It's another name of the Chaos Theory. It is a chaotic effect created by something seemingly insignificant, the phenomenon whereby a small change in one part of a complex system can have a large effect somewhere else."
"?" was Chouji's response.
"Mainly…" Shikamaru said. "A butterfly flapping its wings could cause a tornado in another part of the world."
"How could a butterfly flapping its wings do something like that?" Chouji said.
"Just trust me and know that it could." Shikamaru said, leaning back in the chair.
"Well, okay, Shikamaru, I trust you." Said Chouji with a contented shrug. "But I still want to make a wish."
"Try not to make it TOO life-changing." Shikamaru said. "I did something foolish that completely altered the present."
"But, by your definition, Shikamaru, no matter how insignificant the wish seems, it will still cause a tornado!" Chouji said. "Metaphorically speaking, of course!"
"Of course." Shikamaru nodded.
"But still…" Chouji said, eyeing it curiously.
"Well, there's no harm in trying it." Shikamaru shrugged. "After all, there's fortunately an instantaneous way of fixing everything if it doesn't turn out the way you want it to be."
"Just by breaking it, right?" said Chouji.
Shikamaru nodded again. "Yup." He said.
"Oh!" said Chouji. "Is that why there was a broken crystal in your front yard?"
"Yeah…" said Shikamaru. "Someone was probably unhappy with their wish. Though, I have to wonder why they chose to smash it on MY front walk."
"Maybe YOU were part of their wish!" said Chouji.
Shikamaru forced a laugh. "Yeah right." He said.
"Anyway…" Chouji sighed. "What should I wish for…?"
"I think you're fine the way you are, Chouji." Said Shikamaru, standing up. "You don't have to change anything about yourself."
Chouji looked down at himself. "Well…I always thought it would be nice to be a little thinner…and better looking…"
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Why not?" he said. "Everyone deserves a bit of that. I doubt THAT would change much."
"You don't think that's a selfish wish?" Chouji said.
"What would you wish for instead?"' Shikamaru questioned.
"I don't know…" said Chouji. "To end world hunger?"
"I guess." Said Shikamaru. "But it has to be something to alter your own past. So obviously these things are made around a selfish basis. I'll be right back."
Shikamaru left Chouji there to ponder his words of wisdom. Chouji didn't know why he was making such a big deal about it, though, because he could always easily put everything back to normal if he didn't like they way they turned out. So why not take a whack at it?
Chouji put the crystal on the table and stared at it.
"Okay…" he said slowly. "I wish…I was thinner and better looking!"
"Hey Chouji!" came Shikamaru's voice from the other room. Chouji jumped and dropped the crystal, but caught it before it hit the ground.
"Yeah Shikamaru?" he responded.
"How long do you plan on staying here?" Shikamaru said as he walked back into the room and didn't even look at him.
"Uh…well…I just got here…" Chouji said slowly.
"I know." Said Shikamaru. "All the more reason for you to get ready to leave as soon as possible."
"What?" said Chouji, looking confused.
"Oh great…" Shikamaru said, going over to the window and looking out it. "Ino's here…"
"Ino's here?" Chouji said, even MORE confused, as he looked out the window and saw that Ino was, in fact, frolicking towards Shikamaru's house AND looking quite content with herself. That's when Chouji changed his focus and looked at his own reflection in the glass.
He gasped dramatically and got to his feet.
"I'm…SEXY!" Chouji exclaimed, looking down at himself to find that he was tall, thin and strapping. He touched his face and barely suppressed letting out a cheer of happiness. Then he pinched himself, blinked and then opened his eyes again. He was still sexy.
He looked at Shikamaru who was looking at him with that skeptical expression that we all love so much.
"Shikamaru!" he said happily, grabbing Shikamaru's shoulders. "Look at me! I'm sexy!"
"That's great, Chouji." Said Shikamaru, backing away from Chouji and putting his hands in his pockets.
"Shikamaru!" said Chouji. "You should be happy for me!"
"Oh, I am happy, Chouji." Said Shikamaru as the doorbell rang. "Can't you see how ecstatic I am?"
Chouji frowned. Anyone would be able to tell that Shikamaru was the opposite of ecstatic. While Shikamaru doesn't necessarily display his emotions for everyone to see on an hourly basis, it was still pretty obvious that he wasn't telling quite the entire truth.
Or any of the truth at all.
Shikamaru opened the door and Ino was there.
"Good afternoon, Chouji!" Ino sang as she welcomed herself in without making eye contact with Shikamaru.
Shikamaru stood at the doorway with his hand on the knob.
"Ino, Chouji was just leaving." Shikamaru said, swinging the door a little bit.
"Oh good!" said Ino. "He and I could leave together!"
Ino grabbed Chouji's arm and linked it with hers.
Chouji looked at Ino, then at their interlocked arms, then at Shikamaru who was looking at the ceiling to occupy his time.
"Uh…I guess!" Chouji said. He supposed that Ino must have noticed his dramatic change. "Let's go!"
Ino nodded happily as the two of them went through the door, only to have it immediately close behind them. Chouji whirled around to see that Shikamaru had shut the door…more like SLAMMED the door. But the thing that concerned him the most was Shikamaru was still inside.
"Oh wait," said Chouji as he stopped walking and turned back around to make a move for the door, but Ino pulled him a little.
"What is it?" she said impatiently.
"What about Shikamaru?" Chouji asked.
Ino made a face. "What about Shikamaru?" she said.
"We should invite him along!" Chouji answered as he knocked on the door.
Ino gave an exasperated sigh in response.
Instead of opening the door, the window slid open and Shikamaru as there behind the screen.
"What do you want?" Shikamaru said.
"Aren't you coming?" said Chouji, going over to the window.
"Me?" said Shikamaru, sounding almost disgusted with the thought.
"Yeah!" said Chouji. "Who else?"
"You want me to tag along with you as you go on one of your girl hunts? I think I'd rather stick needles in my eyes than hang out with you."
He stood up and shut the window.
And locked it.
Chouji was in shock and could not move for a good while.
"Forget him!" said Ino. "He would have spoiled everything anyway!" She grabbed his arm and nuzzled it. "How about you and me hang out together today instead of you playing hard to get?"
"Ino!" came the voice of an enraged female before Chouji could say anything or attempt to coax Shikamaru outside. He looked up to see Sakura coming towards them.
"Why, hello, Sakura." Said Ino, looking annoyed. "How nice of you to come in and take up space with that enormous forehead of yours."
"Shut up, Ino!" said Sakura as she ran to the other side of Chouji and grabbed his free arm. "I saw you shamelessly just throw yourself on Chouji and I won't allow it!"
"Ha!" said Ino. "What did YOU just do?"
"It's different because Chouji and I were destined to be together!" said Sakura definitively.
"Oh really, now?" said Ino. "If you two are so destined for each other then why was he put on my team?"
As the two of them continued to banter back and forth, Chouji couldn't help but be lifted up a bit. He was feeling pretty good about himself at this point, except he was a little confused and maybe even a bit offended concerning Shikamaru's response to his question.
I think I'd rather stick needles in my eyes than hang out with you.
Ow.
The thought of doing that made Chouji feel sick, so we won't even get started on how he felt just thinking that Shikamaru would rather do that before he hung out with him.
He was then jerked back into reality as Ino and Sakura engaged themselves in a game of 'Tug-O-Chouji'.
"Hey, hey!" Chouji yelled as they both promptly stopped. It felt good that people were actually listening to him, let alone FAWNING over him to the point in which they had started to get physical.
"Well, just tell her, Chouji!" said Ino. "Tell Sakura that you're not interested in her!"
"Don't LIE, Chouji!" urged Sakura. "Tell Ino that you're not interested in HER!"
"I'm not interested in EITHER of you!" said Chouji.
Their faces fell.
"I mean, seriously." Said Chouji, shaking his head. "Ino, you're my friend. I hardly even KNOW you, Sakura. Besides, don't you both like Sasuke."
"Pssht." Said Ino. "Sasuke is OLD news."
"Yeah, we definitely got over him when we were like… ten." Said Sakura.
"Nobody's going to spend their time going after some guy who is so uninterested in girls that he's probably gay." Ino sighed.
"A reality we were ALL forced to face." Sakura agreed.
"Uh…" Chouji swallowed.
"Besides, I've ALWAYS had a thing for YOU, Chouji!" said Ino. "I've already told you that!"
"Me too!" said Sakura. "I never faltered! Ever since I was a little girl!"
"I was littler!" Ino argued, grabbing Chouji tighter.
"My love is bigger!" Sakura said.
"I've known you longer, Chouji!" said Ino. "Besides, we're on the same team!"
"Wait—" Chouji began, but the door swung open.
"Could you all PLEASE move away from my house?" Shikamaru said, looking beyond annoyed to the point in which his angry scowl was almost at the point of being physically impossible. "I'm tired of having to listen to you all day and every day! It's bad enough have to be on the same team as you!"
"Me?" said Chouji, pointing to himself and looking behind him to make sure that Shikamaru wasn't talking to someone else that might be potentially offending him to this extent.
"Yeah." Said Shikamaru with a nod as he gestured at Ino was well. "And her."
"Don't say 'and her'." Said Ino, putting her hands on her hips. "I have a name, you know!"
"Whatever." Said Shikamaru as he closed the door again.
"Well, I didn't want to stay here anyway." Said Sakura as she started to pull Chouji away from the house.
"Who's more annoying?" Ino said. "Naruto or Shikamaru?"
"Oh definitely Naruto." Said Sakura. "At least Shikamaru isn't loudly in love with you!"
Chouji looked longingly back at Shikamaru's house that sat innocently in the place it had always sat. Shikamaru seemed fine before he walked into the other room, which was right before Chouji made the wish. But then when he had come back, he was suddenly acting strange, which was AFTER Chouji had made the wish.
Well, simply put, it didn't take a genius like Shikamaru to figure out what was going on.
"Shikamaru is jealous of my sexiness!" Chouji declared, not entirely meaning to say it out loud.
He looked at Sakura and Ino who were both looking at him with wide eyes.
"What I meant was…" Chouji began.
"With good reason!" agreed Ino. "Is there ANY better looking guy in the entire village?"
"And with such an unfortunate face as Shikamaru's, who could blame him from being so jealous?" Sakura said as she leaned her head against Chouji.
"I didn't mean it quite like that…" Chouji confessed.
Shikamaru had vaguely expressed some discontent with the wishes that could have been made using the Butterfly Crystal. Perhaps, after seeing the result of Chouji's wish, Shikamaru was angry with him for being better off than he was before. After all, Shikamaru had ALSO said that he had accidentally messed up HIS wish when HE had had a Butterfly Crystal, so he was probably even angrier because Chouji's had worked properly.
That wasn't Chouji's problem, was it?
Chouji sighed and wished that he had a secret crush on someone that he could now make public and open since he was sexy.
But it was rather awkward to have Ino and Sakura holding onto him.
Then he spotted Sasuke walking along by himself while looking wistfully up at the sky.
"Hey, there's Sasuke!" Chouji said.
Ino and Sakura indistinctly looked over at where Chouji was pointing. Then they looked at Chouji with the 'And…?' expression.
Chouji sighed as they continued walking. Sasuke had a glare fixated on Chouji, which scared him because Sasuke rarely ever LOOKED at him, let alone GLARED at him.
"What's with THAT face?" said Chouji.
Sasuke stopped walking and continued staring at Chouji.
"Hey, Sasuke, back off." Said Ino, getting in between Sasuke and Chouji. "Chouji's not interested in you."
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not gay?" said Sasuke, crossing his arms angrily.
"It's all right, Sasuke, we don't CARE." Said Sakura.
"The only thing that annoyed us about the fact that you were gay was that you didn't tell us sooner!" said Ino.
"But I'm NOT gay." Said Sasuke. "You only assume that because I don't like either of you that I must be gay."
"You don't like ANY girls!" said Sakura. "And the only time you're ever happy is when you're with boys!"
"That's when I'm fighting!" said Sasuke."
Chouji only watched them yell back and forth at each other. He gave a heavy sigh.
"This is all your fault, Chouji." Said Sasuke randomly, which made Chouji tune into the conversation.
"How is it MY fault?" said Chouji, sounding baffled.
Sasuke obviously didn't have a good answer for that because he only continued to glare. "One day, when I get you alone—"
"See!" Ino declared. "He wants to go out with you, Chouji! Don't listen to him though! I'm the only one who could ever make you happy!"
"I'm not gay…" Chouji said hesitantly.
"We know that." Said Sakura.
"Why do you believe him and not me?" said Sasuke.
"Because it's obvious that he likes girls." Said Ino with the 'DUH!' tone.
"Fine." Said Sasuke as he started walking away. But then he stopped and looked back at Chouji. "Watch your back." He threatened, and then left.
"See?" said Sakura with an annoyed sigh. "He totally wants you."
Chouji felt like he was going to soil his shorts with fear.
"You know what, girls?" Chouji said as he cleverly slinked away from them. "I have to have a little alone time!"
"I'll go with you!" Ino offered graciously.
"That's all right!" Chouji assured her as he started running away. He was certainly pleased with his sudden increase of speed, not to mention stamina that lasted more than a few minutes.
He rounded a corner and hid behind a building as Sakura and Ino foolishly ran by as if they didn't notice he had made a turn.
Chouji wiped the sweat from his forehead and decided to frolic on back over to Shikamaru's house and get this whole messy business cleared up. Shikamaru obviously had some kind of negative emotion about SOMETHING that concerned Chouji so he wanted to know what it was!
Chouji DID frolic back to Shikamaru's house, but through the back roads where he likely wouldn't be noticed because he had already run into a couple of girls who demanded dates with him and, as wonderful as that was, Chouji was currently on a mission… and friends are always more important than girls!
He hopped up Shikamaru's front steps and knocked on the door. He waited patiently there for a few minutes and quickly grew antsy. He peeked in the window but didn't see any sign of movement coming from inside. So, after knocking again and waiting some more, Chouji finally came to the conclusion that Shikamaru must be off at his favorite thinking spot!
So Chouji went THERE.
Sure enough, Shikamaru was lying in the spot he liked best, which also happened to be the spot where the two of them had became friends such a long time ago. Chouji would never forget how kind Shikamaru was to him that day.
"Hi Shikamaru!" said Chouji.
Shikamaru sat up faster than the speed of light and had a look of surprise that quickly turned to repugnance upon setting eyes on Chouji. "What are you doing here?"
"I figured you'd be here!" said Chouji as he walked over to Shikamaru and sat down next to him.
Shikamaru stared at him as if nothing Chouji could do would offend him more, so he scooted over.
Chouji looked at Shikamaru questioningly.
"Well?" said Shikamaru. "What do you want?"
"I was just wondering…" said Chouji. "Are you mad at me or something? You're acting really weird!"
Shikamaru didn't answer for a few seconds, his mouth only hung open like an ugly fish. A fish that looked like Shikamaru.
"Uh…" Chouji said, swinging his legs a little.
"How did you know to find me here?" Shikamaru said finally.
"This is where you always are!" said Chouji.
"How would you know something like that?" Shikamaru retorted.
"Because…well…you're always here whenever we're not training or something else like that!" Chouji said. "This is the place where you and me first became friends, remember?"
"No." said Shikamaru.
"No?" said Chouji, a little surprised. How could a memory that was so vivid in his own mind have completely escaped Shikamaru? "Remember how a bunch of kids were playing 'ninja' and no one let me play and then you came and comforted me and we were friends ever since then?"
He figured that vague description would be enough to jog Shikamaru's memory.
"Chouji, I don't know what you're gaining by bothering me other than getting the satisfaction of seeing my annoyed expression, but whatever reason you have for doing this can't be worth it."
"Are you saying that you don't remember the day we became friends?" Chouji demanded, standing up.
"That day doesn't exist." Shikamaru said. "We never became friends. We're not friends. In fact, I would have to say we are close to the opposite of friends and if you've been under the impression of another scenario then I feel sorry for you because this is the way it has always been! How unfortunate it was for me to be stuck on the most obnoxious, self-centered and pompous kid in the entire class!"
Chouji's face fell.
"You might have your good looks and a hundred girls after you, but something that you don't have and never will have is a friendship." Said Shikamaru. "And certainly not one with me."
Shikamaru crossed his arms and gave a heavy sigh, as if he had been waiting to get those words off his chest for a long time.
Chouji lowered his head, not knowing what to say in response to the confession Shikamaru had just made.
"Shikamaru…" he said sadly.
"Excuse me." Said Shikamaru as he stood up, walked by Chouji and departed.
Chouji watched him go. People had called him 'fat' and 'weak' before, but he had never been called 'self-centered', 'obnoxious' or 'pompous'. He exhaled audibly and slumped into the spot where Shikamaru had once been sitting.
Shikamaru wasn't the only one who felt this way about him.
What had good looks done to Chouji? His father had always told him when he was little that the biggest thing he had going for him was his kindness, and no one was nicer than he was. Had that changed? Had he had the ability as a younger child to play 'ninja' with everyone else?
If that was so, if he had played 'ninja' with the other kids, then that could only mean one thing; Shikamaru hadn't taken time out of his day to get to know him.
Chouji grew up KNOWING he was skilled, knowing that he was attractive and full of self-confidence.
Wasn't that a good thing? In a way, but it had certainly changed his relations with his friends.
For one, Ino was under the impression that Chouji was interested in pursuing her as more than just a friend. And THAT was most certainly awkward. While Ino was pretty and everything, Chouji had never imagined being anything more than friends with her.
And, while Chouji had never really been friends with Sasuke, he had definitely never been enemies with him. Now he was one of the unfortunate few that Sasuke had in his radar, which couldn't possibly be a good thing for anyone.
But most important of all; Shikamaru. Whatever Chouji had done in his past to wrong Shikamaru was affecting him to the present to the point in which he couldn't even stand to be in the same room as him.
Besides, if he was perceived as 'self-centered', 'obnoxious' and 'pompous' then perhaps all the friends he was under the impression he had weren't REAL friends, just weak bonds he had formed.
Chouji frowned.
If only he was a little smarter like Shikamaru…
He pulled out the Butterfly Crystal and looked at it intently. He could see his reflection in the glass; it should a face that made him happy. It wasn't his own face, but it looked better.
Chouji gave an exasperated sigh. He wished he knew what to do! Shikamaru had said that he could just smash the crystal if the wish didn't turn out to be the way he wanted it to be…so he guessed that was the only thing that was left to do.
He dropped the crystal and it shattered impact with the ground.
"What was that?"
Chouji turned his head to see Shikamaru sitting up. He had been lying down in the spot next to him.
Chouji blinked a few times. He could have sworn that Shikamaru had just left. Then he promptly looked down at himself to find that he had turned back to normal… he was just regular ol' Chouji again.
"What was that?" Shikamaru repeated as he looked at the ground. And, since he's Shikamaru, it took him a split second to sort everything out. "Hey, is that what I think it is?"
"If you think it's a Butterfly Crystal, then yes." Chouji answered.
"Well, would you look at that?" Shikamaru said. "You didn't like your wish?"
"Well…" Chouji led. "It WAS good, but there were a few problems."
"As there always will be." Shikamaru said as he lied back down. "I take it you had to evaluate which problems were worse… the ones in the alternate reality or the ones in this one."
"Yeah, pretty much." Chouji said with a smile. Shikamaru was so smart!
"So?" Shikamaru said after a moment's pause. "What did you wish for?"
"It's embarrassing." Said Chouji. "Besides, you never told me what YOU wished for!"
"You never asked." Shikamaru said with a raised eyebrow.
"Fine…what did you wish for?" Chouji asked.
"I wished that I hadn't become a ninja." Shikamaru answered.
"Oh…why?" Chouji said.
"It's troublesome, Chouji." Said Shikamaru. "I can't believe you even had to ask that question."
"Me either." Said Chouji.
"What did you wish for?" Shikamaru pressed.
"I wished that I was better looking…" Chouji replied.
"Oh right." Said Shikamaru. "You told me that."
"Yeah…" Chouji said.
"So what was the problem?" Shikamaru said. "What kind of Butterfly Effect came from you being better looking?"
"You'd be surprised, Shikamaru." Said Chouji.
"Try me." Shikamaru said.
Chouji shrugged and nodded. And then he told Shikamaru the whole story, not leaving out any details. He even remembered Shikamaru's exact words when he told Chouji that he would stick needles in his eyes before he would willingly hang out with him.
Shikamaru found it a little amusing.
"It's a good thing we can just smash them to make the troubles go away." Shikamaru said.
"But it's too bad that we can't break something in the real world to make our problems go away!" Chouji said.
"I don't know, Chouji…" said Shikamaru. "I find that if I'm mad enough, breaking things tend to alleviate my anger."
Chouji agreed. He was glad to be friends with Shikamaru, even if it meant he wasn't going to be thin and pretty. Perhaps he would buy another Butterfly Crystal and make a wish to be good looking AND friends with Shikamaru.
