Potato Chips
Akimichi Chouji loved Yamanaka Ino. Akimichi Chouji also loved potato chips.
Akimichi Chouji was away on a month-long mission when Yamanaka Ino killed herself, and was devastated when he returned.
He locked himself in his apartment, and only on the first day of the third week was Shikamaru able to break in and drag his friend out.
Unlike most people, Chouji did not emerge from his home thin as a rod from lack of eating. Chouji was an eater by nature- he ate when he was angry, he ate when he was happy.
He ate when he was sad. Depressed.
So, Akimichi Chouji was fat. Well, fatter than he was before he knew Ino'd died.
The only place he would allow Shikamaru to take him was barbeque, and in later weeks, Ichiraku's.
At first no-one worried because, well, it was Chouji. Eating was his way of coping.
Then, I overheard Neji telling Shikamaru, "Your friend is so fat now that his chakra paths have been cut off. Do something about it."
Akimichi Chouji, one of the nicest guys I ever knew, was killing himself with food.
It wasn't just coping for him, it wasn't just obsession; it was a necessity.
Akimichi Chouji at when he was angry, when he was happy, when he was sad or depressed. He ate when he was called fat. And Ino'd always called him fat.
So, when Ino died, all he could think about was her, and he kept stumbling on memory after memory of times when she'd called him fat, or a pig, or a porker. And every time he remembered her stinging words, another bag of chips disappeared.
Eventually, he got so fat he couldn't get up off his couch, and Shikamaru would stay with him whenever he could, handing Chouji bag after bag after bag of chips, trying helplessly to stop his friend from thinking of Ino.
"I thought I told you to do something about it," Neji spat one day at the market, "Not make it worse."
"You did," Shikamaru grimaced, "But I can't deny him his potato chips."
Neji glared at him, said that he would see to feeding the Akimichi. Shikamaru was speculative, but decided it was for the best.
The next day, Neji hung his head in defeat. From then on, Shikamaru was the only one to look in on Chouji. Hyuuga Neji couldn't deny Chouji his chips.
So Chouji remained on his couch, remembering Ino, his lost love, and stuffing chips while Shikamaru watched silently. Neji reported to Asuma that now not only Chouji's chakra ways were cut off, but also his blood vessels. Asuma went through two packs of cigarettes that evening.
When Shikamaru didn't show up when summoned, I was sent to find him. First place I looked was Chouji's.
I found him, seated on the coffee table, watching the unmoving Chouji, slowly working his way through a bag of barbeque potato chips. His eyes slid over to me and he said;
"These were Chouji's favorite."