Porkchop;
An Akimichi Chouji Mini-Series
Morning sunlight streamed in through the open window of my bedroom, cracked just enough to let in a short blow of the air's ice. The sun was just rising at the seemingly late time of nine-thirty. Winter had caused everything to slow down, even the sun which I had thought to be so consistent no matter how many rainy days life threw at it. A fine white dust covered everything just outside my room.
I let my eyelashes flutter open, then clench tightly down once I felt the frigid air hanging around me. I tugged the bed's comforter around me hastily, trying to soak up any heat it was possible for it to conjure up in that split second.
Groaning, my eyes finally opened calmly and swirled around my room like the snowflakes that buzzed in the winter morning's air. My teeth clenched and I flung myself out of the bed. But, obviously, I had clutched around me the blanket. My legs were bare except for the sleep shorts I had so stupidly worn to bed.
Once outside my bedroom, I realized just how cold it was in my quarters. The living room was much warmer and more comforting than my bedroom, and I was grateful for that.
"Hana," I heard my mother call from the kitchen. "Good morning."
"Morning, Mom," I said, stifling a yawn in the back of my throat. "What's for breakfast?"
She giggled childishly. "Oh, Hana, nearly every day since you were four you asked me that in the morning. Did you know?"
"Nope, didn't know," I said. "But you still didn't answer the question."
She knew I had said it in a joking tone, so her lip wasn't quite as stiff as I knew it could be. "What do you want? I could make you pancakes. Would you like that?"
I smiled. "Yeah, pancakes would be great."
After breakfast had commenced, I crawled back to my frozen room and slipped on some equally frigid clothes. Just a simple pant and shirt; today was an exception, meaning that I wouldn't have to train with my team for the entire course of the day.
You could probably guess what I'd be doing-- taking a trip to the new restaurant that had opened up in town. I was almost positive that it wouldn't do nearly as great as some of the other shops in the city-- take Ichiraku, for example-- but it would do fair. And I so obviously needed something to do to occupy myself for the day, so this taste-testing for me would be a fulfilling experience.
"Bye, Mom!" I called, walking out the front door while slipping on my winter jacket. "I'll be back later!"
She merely smiled and waved.
I closed the door behind me and took a deep breath; my lungs filled with the bitter, frosty air and I shivered. My footprints made small markings in the snow everywhere I walked, showing my trail from the house to the end of the walk.
Winter had to have been my least favorite season out of every option-- summer was warm and loving, spring was the beginning of everything, and fall was brisk and full of comfort. The way I saw it, winter pretty much sucked. That is, compared to the other seasons.
Once I reached town, I noticed the lack of people outside. I figured the population decrease must have been due to the sudden temperature drop. Only about half of the normal amount of people walking the streets was what the temperature had cut out of our city.
The shop's sign read "Nakimaru Steakhouse". I shrugged and pushed open the door. A rush of warm air slapped me in the face almost as fiercely as the winds raging just outside.
When I had gotten over the temperature shock of the restaurant, I opened my eyes to my surroundings. The entire shop was built off the color brown, which I found a naturally boring color for a new place in town. Still, I decided I wouldn't judge it completely until I had tried the food. That was what really mattered, anyways, wasn't it?
My eyes landed on the clock looming above the kitchen's entrance. The time read twelve thirty-seven; my lips subconsciously turned downwards when I realized what I would have been doing at this time two years ago.
Naruto and I had experienced a sort of falling out. We were the best of friends, but only up until the day we graduated. From that point on, we both were sorted in to different teams, and neither of us really spoke after that.
The real point for me that our friendship ended was the day after we were sorted to our teams. I arrived at our usual lunch spot, where we had met every day for lunch. A normal day.
But he never showed up to join me.
It hit me then that I had to grow up. He so obviously had; just a year later, he left the village to train with one of the sages. Still hasn't returned. Sometimes I wonder how he's doing. If he's all right, if he's learning any useful jutsus, if he's getting stronger every day. If he's happy.
"Hey, Hana!" I heard a voice call. "Over here!"
My head flipped around to meet the upturned lips of the youngest Akimichi-- the swirls on his cheeks were looking redder than ever today.
I waved, then walked towards him. "Long time, no see, Choji. How've you been?"
"I've been great!" he told me, taking a long sip of his drink. "You?"
"Same," I said absent-mindedly. "I got today off so I came here to see what this place has on the others in town."
"Me too," he agreed. "Want to eat with me? You don't have to if you don't want to, but I thought I'd ask. You're here alone, right?"
"Yeah," I said, "I'm here by myself. And I'd love to eat with you. If you don't mind."
He scooted over in the seat to let me have some room. The two of us together hardly fit on the plush cushion that covered the seat, but we made do with what we were given. I smiled once the waitress came and filled a glass of ice water and set it down in front of me.
"Thanks," I said politely, taking a small sip.
The woman took our orders and scribbled them down on her notepad with great haste. She gave a light grin and took off towards another table that was filled nearly as full as ours. Of course, there were at least three people sitting at the table across from us.
I shook my head lightly, clearing my thoughts.
My finger tapped Choji's arm confusedly, which was the same look he returned me with. I bit my lip.
"Where's your armor?" I asked. "I thought you always wore that now."
"Oh, that," he laughed, a small drop of sweat appearing on the side of his head. "No, I only wear it on days I train. Like you, I guess."
I let my eyes flash down at my own apparel and sighed in the sporadic way that I always seemed to do. "Aha, right. Sorry."
"No problem," he smiled. "Guess we're kind of similar."
I snorted. "We're practically twins."
After a moment, it seemed Choji had understood my meaning. He laughed, then took a swig of the drink sitting before him. "Yeah, we are."
When the food finally arrived, my eyes glazed over. The food resting on top of the plate looked oh-so delicious. Everything about it did. If I had to eat that meal with my eyes, it would be gone within a matter of minutes. Perhaps even seconds-- it looked so good.
But Choji was the first to find something wrong with the food.
His face became contorted into a grimace, something that did not fit Choji at all. "What happened to this?"
I took a bite, and my own face soon turned in to the same expression Choji's had only moments before. "Wow, that's not right."
Both of exchanged glances of extreme dislike and disgust, until he spoke again. "Come on; I'll pay for it and we'll go. I don't know about you, but something is definitely wrong with this food and I don't want to eat it. That's saying something, I think."
I shook my head with a small smile. "Me neither. But, come on, Choji; you shouldn't have to pay for it if you didn't even eat it."
"Don't worry about it, Hana," he said politely. "I'll do it to be courteous to the restaurant, but I'm not going to come here again. It's no problem."
After a moment of quiet, I said, "Well, then, at least let me pay for mine."
Maybe he saw the look in my eyes that said I wasn't going to let him win the battle, so he sighed and said I could pay for some of the meal. We left the shop together and didn't even look back.
"Wonder what happened to the food?" I asked. "Everyone else there seemed to like it."
Choji shrugged. "I don't know, maybe they just cooked ours wrong?"
"Maybe," I thought. "Oh well, it's not like it matters because I'm definitely not going back there. Are you?"
"Nope," he laughed. Soon, I was laughing too. I didn't really know why, but the two of us were just laughing so hard it was nearly impossible to stop. Nothing was even funny about the statement. Maybe we both were just enjoying the other's company, but I thought it was more than that. The two of us kind of needed each other in a way, because I know that I hadn't felt so good in a long time.
Come to think of it, I haven't seen Choji in a while, I thought to myself. Maybe that has something to do with it.
Either way, I was having a good day. And that was usually near impossible when I ate something as bad as that chicken. I sighed, and linked my arm in with Choji's.
"You know what?" I asked him.
"What?" he inquired back at me.
My lips curved up in to a smile. "You're an okay guy, Choji. I think I like you."
"I think I like you, too, Hana," he grinned.
And the snow was blowing outside, and the wind was fiercer than earlier, but I can't remember ever being so warm.
