Another year went by and Chōji and I were now four years old. Chōji was still putting on weight while I, on the other hand, wasn't, but I was eating a lot more than I did last year. Mother had started increasing my portions of food and even started teaching me about what exactly was edible outside of home… Because it turns out Mama has a bunch of survival skills and knowledge that are definitely quite useful to my predicament.
Mama got skills!
Why, I never bothered asking because something told me that I didn't want to know. That—and I keep forgetting to fucking ask because I have the shittiest memory ever.
Welcome to the ADHD life—we have auditory processing disorders, rejection sensitive dysphoria, and god help you if your comorbidities include anxiety and depression.
There wasn't a lot of room for me to be a picky eater, due to my fast metabolism. It was because of this that I even managed to get past my hatred of raw onions. Seriously, the things I do when I'm hungry—which is practically all the time. I even resorted to snatching Chōji's potato chips, which he shares with me, regardless of whether he wants to or not. It's when I eat the last potato chip when he actually gives a damn.
I'm starting to wonder if part of the reason I'm eating so much is because of boredom...
I honestly wouldn't be surprised, since not much has been happening and I'm still adjusting to a life without internet and videogames.
It's like that one time I went off the grid for an extra credit assignment—except there is no deadline and I'm not getting anything out of it.
Chōza had Chōji and me running a lot during this past year, so my speed improved while Chōji was still slow as ever. This was likely the effect our difference in build had on us (I'm not actually sure because physical fitness is not my area of expertise). Of course, the only reason my speed even improved was because I worked for it. The faster I finished my laps, the sooner I could sit down and eat (and stop running). Once again, the things I do when I'm hungry…and hate running.
Killing two birds with one stone!
Seriously, I hate this fast metabolism. I'm always hungry and sometimes, I end up scavenging around the area for anything edible, like roots—and YES, I eat roots. AGAIN, the things I do when I'm hungry. More often than not, I'm usually seen with something edible in my possession. It's a wonder I haven't resorted to actually stealing food—then again, that'd get me in trouble and I'd rather stay out of trouble. I get enough unwanted attention as is being the only member of the Akimichi clan without a heavyset build. One of these things is not like the other…and that just so happens to be me!
I don't even get picked on as much as Chōji because people keep forgetting I'm part of the Akimichi clan! Not that I don't mind not being picked on—I've had my fair share of bullying already and I prefer to keep it that way for the rest of this life. Still, I'd prefer it if people—mostly children—didn't badmouth my clan and insult Chōji right in front of my face! If I weren't so damn worried about getting in trouble with Father, I'd beat up anyone who badmouthed my clan and picked on Chōji. Of course, that would be bad, as I've inherited the Akimichi clan's physical strength, which means I REALLY gotta watch my strength, or else stuff will break…like sliding doors.
Let me tell you about accidentally breaking sliding doors—IT'S EMBARRASSING. One moment, you're just going to open a door and all of a sudden—BAM! There goes the rest of your evening just watching one of your relatives fix the door while you continue apologizing like there's no tomorrow.
"It's okay, Chōko-chan—it happens."
"I am SO sorry!"
Though, I guess there ARE some good things I can at least be happy about that don't involve my fast metabolism and people badmouthing my clan. One of those things is that parents are willing to let their children roam Konohagakure on their own—most likely due to the amount of shinobi guarding the village. Hey, I enjoy my sweet freedom after a day's worth of training.
Sweet, sweet freedom…
On the rare occasions when I'm NOT eating, I'm usually either playing games with Chōji and a group of children, who have been tolerable so far, or just sitting around, watching them play. I usually resort to the latter when there are an uneven number of children and the game requires us to split into teams. Rather than let everyone fight over who has to sit out, I do so voluntarily just so the game can get started…because I know those kids would want Chōji to sit out.
They haven't said anything yet, but I know they will eventually…because this is how Chōji and Shikamaru became friends. I'm still waiting for him, by the way.
Where the hell is he anyways?
…
Oh right, he's lazy as fuck…Is he even out here?! Or is he at home, being even MORE of a sloth than he is outside of home? Heh, sloths…sloths are cute. They're even cuter when they're just babies—and I'm getting distracted.
Growl.
Welp, looks like my stomach is growling again. I guess I better go find a comfortable spot to eat my snacks, then.
"You can't play ninja with us!" WHO THE FUCK SAID THAT?!
I quickly turned my attention to a boy with blocky purple tattoos on his cheek. I don't exactly know his name—hell, I haven't even bothered to learn any of these kids' names! I remember faces first before names, so I'm only limited to learning a few names at a time—and that's if I'm lucky!
To be honest, I don't want to know any of these guys' names...
"Why can't I play ninja?" I heard Chōji ask.
"'Cuz whichever team that's got you will definitely lose!" was the boy's response. "You're so slow!"
Must. Resist. Urge to maim…
"But we got odd numbers…Even games like shōgi are only fun when we play with equal numbers of pieces."
I had to suppress a squeal when I saw Shikamaru defending Chōji. I mean—about fucking time something actually happened!
What the hell took you so long, ya baby sloth?
I was worried that I was going to have to go find Shikamaru myself and physically drag his lazy ass to Chōji. To hell with waiting—my brother needs a friend who isn't me!
"Having useless pieces is just as good as having none at all!" the boy with the blocky purple tattoos retorted.
"You know, it's not nice to talk about yourself like that." I wasn't even thinking when I said that.
Shit!
"Chōko!" Chōji looked sternly at me.
"S-Sorry…" I seriously did not mean to say that…
"What'd you say, skinny bitch?!" Great, now I pissed off that boy—SKINNY BITCH?!
Oh, hell no.
…
If it hadn't been for Chōji, I would have gotten into a fight with that boy. I was pissed off, but at the same time, I was also happy that Chōji intervened when he did. I need to learn to control my anger…pfft, so much for those anger management classes I took in my past life. Then again, I've always been impulsive…still rather glad I have Chōji this time around.
I don't know where Shikamaru is, but at the current moment, Chōji and I were spending some quality time with Dad. He's always willing to listen to us.
"And they said that the Akimichi clan has only dumb fatasses…" Chōji recounted the insults aimed at our clan. "Everyone says that…"
"Hmm…" Chōza listened intently. "I see…"
"They also called me a skinny bitch…" I said before stuffing a handful of potato chips into my mouth. "I'm not that skinny, am I?"
"You're fine, Chōko," Chōza said softly as he ruffled my hair.
Chōza is the best father someone like me could ever have and I am extremely happy about that. It's just that I don't appreciate the freaking irony I'm experiencing. In my past life, excluding my family, no one ever picked on me for being overweight and the only reason my family even picked on me in the first place was as an incentive to fix it because health reasons that involved my mother being diabetic and the issue of it potentially being genetic. Be it, they weren't exactly picking on me, it's more that they wouldn't get off my case because I wasn't exactly living a healthy lifestyle and they had reasonable concerns. Regardless, I never let it get to me.
In my current life as Akimichi Chōko, the one time I get picked on is because I don't have the typical Akimichi build, it actually gets to me to a certain extent…I just hate this stupid irony.
I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!
I think I might have spaced out after that because the next thing I knew, Shikamaru showed up and both he and Chōji were getting along quite nicely, if I do say so myself…
"This is my sister," Chōji suddenly said as he gestured at me.
I blinked once, then twice before I realized that Shikamaru was looking at me. "Uh…Chōko—I'm Chōko…"
Shikamaru nodded. "In case you weren't paying attention, I'm Nara Shikamaru."
"O-Okay…" Fuuuck, I forgot how awkward I was at talking to people I have only just met when I wasn't yelling at them for making fun of my clan… I felt my face heat up as I held out my bag of potato chips to Shikamaru and asked, "C-Chip?"
…
Despite my lacking social skills, I managed to make friends with Shikamaru that day. I wasn't that close to him as Chōji was, but I at least felt comfortable around Shikamaru instead of shy and awkward as I had been when I first met him. So I considered Shikamaru a close friend after that…I'm not sure how he felt about me, because I'm pretty sure he considers just about everything "troublesome" and I can be annoying, but Chōji says Shikamaru doesn't find me annoying, so I'm fine knowing that…
So now that Chōji and Shikamaru were best friends for life, that meant I was back to waiting for something to happen. That something happened to be the Academy and I think they start accepting children once they were six years old? I have no fucking idea, but if that was the case, I had like two years to wait until then…
The Akimichi clan still does in fact believe in equal opportunity, so I already know I was going to be signed up for the Academy. Even if I couldn't use chakra (in the way it needed to be use for ninjutsu and genjutsu), they still had faith in my abilities. I mean, I'm physically strong (and accidentally breaking the occasional sliding door) and fast…and I could probably learn things over time that could compensate for my inability to use chakra, so there's that. I could be like Rock Lee 2.0…minus having Maito Gai as a sensei and having strong eyebrow game.
Speaking of chakra, I actually have no idea if I can or cannot use it. I mean, I don't feel anything out of the usual, and isn't chakra supposed to be a form of life energy that all individuals produce to some degree and require to survive?
Going by that logic, that meant I should also have chakra flowing through my body…so why aren't I feeling anything? Or maybe you can only feel chakra once you start using it or only when you're using it…?
…
Ugh, I'm gonna have to wait until they start teaching me how to use it to find out about that, aren't I? I just hope it doesn't hurt. Please, for the love of god, do NOT let using chakra hurt…
…
…
A few months before Chōji and I turned five years old, Chōza decided to teach us how to use chakra and the question of whether or not I could use it was finally answered: I can. And it didn't hurt—in fact, it kinda felt like petting a kitten…warm and soft, in that sense. It was a nice feeling—oh, and apparently, you can only feel chakra when you use it, so that explains why I haven't felt anything at all. I'm learning a lot of new things and I am totally okay with that.
I also learned that the minimum age to enter the Academy was five or turning five within the end of the year, meaning it was only a matter of time before Chōji and I entered the Academy. That probably explained why Chōza decided to start teaching Chōji and I how to use chakra…I have a feeling we're gonna be part of the group that is ahead of our class…
I hope I'm in the same class as Chōji and Shikamaru, if only because I am extremely afraid of being in a class full of strangers. I just feel more comfortable when I'm in a learning environment with friends. It just makes it easier on me…
Wait a second, I'm a girl…don't I have to take kunoichi classes…?
…
…
Fuck.
…
…
…
A/N 1-6-16 And that's about it for edits…for now. Expect more to come when I have the time, I just really wanted to clean up the first four chapters, since like, I'll be honest, I wrote the first four chapters months before I published this fic. So what I initially had planned then, turned into something else once I started continuing from there. Just thought I'd give a heads-up.
If you're wondering why Chōko reacted the way she did to taking kunoichi classes, it's because that means she has to be in a class full of girls she does not know…alone. Chōko is shy and awkward around people she doesn't know. It takes her time before she can act in her usual manner, so until she actually feels comfortable, she is like a completely different person. Yelling at people and actually socializing with them are two different things. And the reason Chōko was even able to play with the other kids is because, think of it this way…you know how you are sometimes assigned to work with others in a group project and you have to put up with it? It's like that with Chōko.
Chōko has literally been putting up with the kids, waiting patiently for the day that Shikamaru would stand up for Chōji when the other kids wouldn't let him play. Chōko can put up with people…socializing, on the other hand, is difficult for her, even more so, when she is prone to saying things on an impulse. Part of that impulse comes from the ADHD, which can in fact have an effect on people's social skills. As I have ADHD, I take the time to learn more about it and this is what I ended up finding out:
People with ADHD more often have difficulties with social skills, such as social interaction and forming and maintaining friendships. This is true for all subtypes. People with ADHD have attention deficits, which cause difficulty processing verbal and nonverbal language, which can negatively affect social interaction. They also may drift off during conversations, and miss social cues.
I can basically confirm this fact with my own experience (keep in mind, it could be different for other people with ADHD, everyone is different). What does this mean? It means Chōko is anything BUT a social butterfly (ahahaa, look at the irony there) because of that experience. This WILL have an effect on the story.
Also, fair warning to everyone: I take ADHD VERY seriously. Just putting that up there since I had a very bad experience with a reviewer who basically assumed everyone with ADHD was the same and just…it's a touchy subject. It involves someone who used information off people they knew with ADHD and using it as a basis for another's ADHD experience, which is something you should NEVER do, as that is something psychology would label as a case study and case studies are NOT representative. Normally, I would excuse something like that, but the reviewer had a pretty condescending tone, and that wasn't nice. There's a difference between making an honest mistake and being a jerk. That being said, I hope everyone understands that everyone is different…and that Chōko is not a completely accurate example of someone with a fast metabolism.
So seeing as this A/N has been going long enough, I'll stop for now. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I'll try to prioritize in making longer chapters, but I can't make promises! So until next time, readers! KD out! XD