A mini-series of [reader-insert] drabbles/ficlets of the Naruto babies being shown various Halloween traditions. Part 10. For ShadowVixxen's All Hallows Eve contest.

Reina looks over at the lonely child, once again excluded from the group activity. She frowns, unhappy that such a sweet child should be made to feel so low. With the flick of her wrist, she snaps her book shut and heads over to the boy sitting alone. She sits by him and smiles.

"Hi there! I'm Reina."

"My name is Chouji…" He seems almost surprised that she's talking to him.

"Nice to meet you! Mind if I sit here?"

He shakes his head shyly, and she happily remains in place. After a moment, she sighs and mutters to herself. "I just don't know how I'm going to get it all done. So much to do. If I had help, it'd be no problem…."

Chouji looks up, unable to help listening to her mutterings. "Is there something you need help with?"

"Hm?" She looks over with a smile and light laugh. "Oh, well… yes, as a matter of fact."

"Is there any way I can help?" He looks up rather hopefully.

"Do you know how to bake?"

"No…"

"That's okay. I'll teach you!"

Chouji's eyes are wide as he watches Reina measure out all of the ingredients and store them in little bowls. "How come it takes so many things to make stuff?"

"Well some are wet to make it soft. Some are dry to hold it together. And some are there to just make it taste good!" Reina smiles at him happily. "So, what's your favorite kind of cookie?"

His eyes widen, and he thinks about it for a moment. "I like chocolate chip."

"My favorite!" Reina cheerfully measures out a double scoop of chocolate chips then adds some more for good measure. "Alright, now let's start adding ingredients!"

She pushes a stool up to the counter for him. Chouji is surprised to see his own bowl and set of ingredients. But the grin on his face as he dumps the ingredients into the bowl is more than enough reward for Reina. They mix the ingredients with big wooden spoons until the plain dough is ready for the chocolate chips.

"Okay! Now we're going to mix in the chocolate chips by hand!" They busy themselves mixing in the chocolates, and Reina is ecstatic to see him looking so happy. They ball up the dough and add it to the pans before placing them in the oven, soon pulling out perfectly baked cookies. She smiles over to see Chouji staring at them in disappointment.

"What's the matter, Chouji?"

"I was hoping… they'd come out in neat shapes."

"Oh!" Reina's smile widens. "What kind of shapes do you want to make?"

Chouji thinks about it for a moment. "Well, it's almost Halloween…. Would it be hard to make ghosts or bats or pumpkins?"

"Nope!" Reina chirps as she pulls out Halloween themed cookie cutters. "Do you want to make different shapes for different flavors?"

"Yeah!" Chouji's smile returns, and Reina lets out her infectious laugh again.

"Well, alright then!"

Hours later, the counters are filled with various shapes and flavors of cookies: circles, stars, hearts, ghosts, bats, pumpkins, ninjas, vampires, cauldrons, witches on brooms, witches' hats, and even some arched cats… chocolate chip, peanut butter, sugar, snickerdoodle, lemon, ginger snap, macaroon, oatmeal, molasses, shortbread, white chocolate macadamia nut, and even some turtle ones. Chouji helps Reina clean up the kitchen before she takes him home with a bento box with a few of each type of cookie.

"Do you want to come back tomorrow and help me make more goodies? I still have fudge, brownies, and cakes to bake."

"Yeah! I'd love to make more tasty treats!"