Tears sprang.

This was the literal worst-case scenario for Akimichi Choji. Sure, the geniuses Sasuke and Neji were scary good, too, but Gaara was something straight out of his nightmares. Those creepy eyes! They looked like they'd never slept. Maybe demons didn't need to sleep!

The leader of Team 10, Sarutobi Asuma, had sleeves that were completely soaked with his young genin's tears. Choji seemed beyond reaching. Asuma had never found a situation so bad that he couldn't bribe Choji with the promise of BBQ. That is, before today.

"C'mon Choji, pull it together. This is for the pride of Team 10 that you're going out there," Asuma sighed. "Look, I can always step in to call it off the moment things start to get out of hand. So there's really no risk. And – and! BBQ, remember that! BBQ!"

"Asuma-sensei, this isn't real, right? Wait, you know more kanji than me - Was that really my name there? Maybe it was Akamichi Choji, some other poor guy who's up now to get destroyed by that sand demon!" His voice cracked in so many places it was likely hearing an earthquake hit puberty.

"Choji!" yelled Ino, Choji's spunky teammate. "You can't quit before you even try! Have some pride, go out there, and fight!"

Shikamaru, Choji's other teammate and laid-back best friend had just stooped down to pick up his friend's bag of potato chips. Shikamaru had never seen him drop a bag of potato chips before. Ever. He was clearly distraught.

"Ino's right, Choji. It's troublesome, but you don't want to walk away from this knowing you didn't try." Shikamaru agreed. "Besides, we'll look back on this one day and laugh, I'm sure of it!" Resting a hand behind his head he let loose a wild grin that he calculated would sway Choji to finally joining the field below.

From the balcony-view of the arena that Team 10 had, they noticed that Gaara had almost immediately appeared on the floor, materializing from a cloud of sand. His eyes had been trained on his plump opponent since and had been a definite part of Choji's panicked outbreak.

Choji took a big swallow of saliva, a huge sigh, and seemed to resign himself to his fate. "Alright, I'll do it."

Ino began wildly cheering as Choji descended the staircase toward the field below. Each footfall seemed to trigger a flashback to a moment from his life. So many good meals! Why did it have to end here!? No wait, that's quitter's talk. Ah! He's looking at me again, alright, look away, stay focused, remember your training under Asuma-sensei, and that he said BBQ would be on him, it's logical. He can't pay for my BBQ if I'm not alive, right!? Yeah, yeah, I'll survive this and have the best meal of my life! "Yeah! Suck it, sand demon!"

Damn! That last one he'd said out loud! He'd been trying to avoid Gaara's gaze, but looked up quickly to see if the sand demon had heard his outburst. They were about five or so meters away from each other at the moment. Gaara was sporting a devilish smirk on his face. Yeah, he heard.

The exam proctor approached the two contestants. Gaara hungrily running his tongue around the corners of his mouth, he looked like a starving man about to sink his teeth into a heaping plateful of grilled meat. Was this how food felt as it was being served to him?

"Please step forward," the proctor said. and both complied.

He'd have to do something, so he figured he should make his first attack his strongest. After all, it worked for Kiba.

"Please begin."

Choji smiled. At least, everyone would be able to see what a potato chip fuel could do in a ninja battle. He leapt backward to put some space between Gaara and himself, then yelled "Bubun Baika no Jutsu (Partial Body Expansion Technique)!" Choji's left hand curled into a fist and his arm rapidly expanded in size until it was about as wide as Gaara's height. As Gaara watched, Choji swung his huge hammerfist in an arc aimed directly at Gaara's body. It collided with an explosion of dust.

The dust – sand, really - partially obscured Gaara's form as it kicked up. As it began to settle, it first revealed his eyes – the same eyes, unchanged from before the fight began, still staring Choji down. Gaara made no offensive moves, and neither did Choji, who waited for the sand to dissipate and for more visibility. Gradually, a shield made of sand standing to Gaara's left side came into view. It looked like he was really good at defending himself.

Gaara still stood there with arms crossed, waiting for Choji to make a move. "Weak," was the only thing he said.

The sand. . .Choji remembered that backpack-like thing on Gaara's back was the source of the sand. If he could take it off of him maybe the sand demon wouldn't be so scary after all? If only he had Kiba's speed or Shikamaru's IQ!

Shikamaru's eyes were glued to the unfolding match, along with his teammate, Ino's. Shikamaru was proud of the aggressive start from Choji, thinking that he may have been paying more attention to strategy lately than he'd given him credit for. At the same time, he was more reserved than Ino, who was whooping and pumping her fists in the air. The match had barely begun.

Indeed, it was early in the fight, but Choji already knew he'd need more. He at least wanted to change that Sand Demon's expression. His preparation for the Chunin Exams demanded at least that.

FLASHBACK:

It was a beautiful night in Konoha. A cool breeze blew through the trees and across a nearly empty path, pushing along two green leaves, early pioneers of the newly arrived spring season. Choji and his father, Akimichi Choza, walked home from a satisfying meal of yakiniku with waists slightly more plump than before. They walked along for a while in the silence that good food and full bellies frequently brought.

In less than a week, Choji would officially begin the Chunin Exam. His father had been persistently trying to discuss it with him. So far, whenever Choza had mentioned the exam, Choji had been able to evade the conversation. Earlier tonight, when he attempted to bring the topic up while waiting to be served at the restaurant, Choji began talking about the weather with a passion he'd never shown before. Some of the monologues Shikamaru had given on clouds served him well. But he had a sinking feeling, just like indigestion, that this conversation would come back up later.

"Choji," Choza began.

Choji looked up at his father. It wasn't hard to see, with the serious expression on his face, that this was the moment of indigestion. Choji returned his gaze forward, focusing on the leaves being blown across the path, on the trees swaying softly in the distance, on the many things in his path and in his life that were allowed to exist without pressure for them to be something.

"Choji, I've wanted to talk to you about your upcoming exam for a while now. I've been asking you how you feel about it. But, then, maybe that's not the best way to prepare you anyway."

They went on walking. The silence was worse than any conversation would've been, almost ringing in his ears. Every moment was tense as he couldn't help but anticipate when his father would pick up the conversation next, what he would say when he did begin speaking.

"Hey," Choza threw back to Choji, as he opened the door for them both. "Take this." He stretched his arm toward Choji, handing him an empty segmented medicine container? Choji took it and rotated it around a few times. It looked like it was empty?

"I don't think I've ever explained our family heritage, and our secret jutsu, the way it deserves to be explained. I'm don't know everything you've been learning through Asuma. He's a great Jonin for the Leaf. But, if you want to take the depths of the power of the Akimichi with you to the Chunin Exam, let me know. And I'll show you what makes the Akimichi clan the mightiest clan of Konoha.

BACK TO PRESENT:

Choji reached into his back pocket and opened the first box of his container, taking out a green pill. Though he knew the effects, he had never actually taken one of the Colored Pills before. He popped it into his mouth, chewed and swallowed and shouted, "Bubun Baika no Jutsu!"

Choji's left arm again expanded in size, though this time he channeled chakra into his right arm as well. The two arms rapidly increased in length and width, followed by both fists expanding to about half the height and twice the width of Gaara. Each fist came to a rest just to the right and left of Gaara's position. Gaara's faced remained almost unchanged, though he was now looking from side to side, taking in this new change in his environment.

"Bongo no Jutsu!" Choji's fists rose high above Gaara, then stretched out until the palms were visible. Choji's left hand fell first, slamming down against Gaara with an incredible force.

Ino was beyond shock at the sheer force of this jutsu. Where was the Choji she liked to scold into being a better person and ninja? Beyond the emotional shock, though, was the physical shock. Ino, Shikamaru, and some other observers of the fight covered their ears to protect their eardrums from the explosive sound of the impact.

Choji's left hand rose up again, passing a quickly descending second hand that hit, the sound from the huge impact echoing throughout the arena. Choji continued this monstrous attack on Gaara, one percussive palm slap after another. He wasn't fully confident this would completely break the shield Gaara would put up, but he hoped that he could make a weak point in the defense and maybe break through. With each impact, a small cloud of sand would explode, raining down more light brown dust.

On the seventh palm strike, Choji thought he could feel the sand wall he'd been banging against weaken. Time to try his other technique. He brought both of his hands down to Gaara's level and extended them both toward the opposite wall. "Hakushu no Jutsu (Hand Clap Technique)!" Choji's hands came together like two bullet trains from both the left and right sides of Gaara's position. And, right before impact, Choji could just see a slight change in expression from Gaara, who was struggling to understand the bombardment his sand walls had been withstanding.

Asuma, Ino, and Shikamaru, along with much of the rest of the observers, covered their ears with their hands, guarding their eardrums like bunkers during acts of God. Whatever this new technique of Choji's was, Ino hoped that he'd quickly end this match with it. She felt guilty realizing that she hadn't had high hopes at all for her teammate winning this match, but with a move combo that sounded this devastating she had to look at the match in a new light. Would Choji be able to pull off possibly the biggest upset of the preliminaries?

Shikamaru would have chuckled if Choji's attacks weren't threatening the very concept of hearing. This was the first time a guy had left Ino speechless – not even Sasuke himself could stake that claim. Still, Shikamaru knew that for all the surprise of this tremendous attack, this attack alone wouldn't be enough to defeat this ninja from the Sand. He had heard from Kiba, whose team had seen the killing intent of Gaara firsthand. He continued to look on as the dust began to settle around Gaara.

Through gaps in the dust clouds, multiple sand barriers could be seen protecting the Demon of the Sand. Two large hands hovered near the opposite walls, ready to come together again for another sense-disabling handclap. Both hands rose and fell slightly, in rhythm with the rise and fall of Choji's chest as his body heaved oxygen into his lungs.

This was the first time Choji had used these techniques in an actual battle. For better or worse, the Team 10 didn't spar with legitimate killing intent. Choji was also beginning to experience the side effects of the first pill and of his offensive explosion . His Bubun Baika used a ton of chakra as it was, but combining this with his Bongo and Hakushu no Jutsu used a tremendous amount of chakra maintaining both ninjutsu and taijutsu. In short, Choji was feeling the effort. Hopefully, he had managed to penetrate Gaara's defense somewhat, if even a little bit.

"hahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

A maniacal spurt of laughter from Gaara interrupted Choji's thoughts. Didn't exactly sound like an injury. Instinctively, Choji sent both of his hands back toward Gaara. Time slowed. Feet planted. Two massive hands on trajectory. Teeth gritted. Visibility clouded with dust. Eyebrows narrowed. Veins pulsing.

Two sandy-brown arms shoot out, finding their targets. The hand on each arm gripped the inside of one of Choji's elbows. Gaara had, in one move, fully stopped the momentum of what Choji was hoping would somehow dismantle a largely unfazed opponent.

Targets acquired, Gaara's hands clamped down, tightening their grip. At this point, Choji felt the pain shoot up his arms. It was only then that Choji realized what had even happened – that something had shot out of Gaara's direction with amazing speed. In the next few seconds, he put those two things together: Gaara attacked me.

Gaara's arms began to push both of Choji's outward, widening the gap between Choji's giant hands. Choji quickly released his Bubun Baika no Jutsu to slip out of the completely defenseless position he found himself in. And as his arms shrunk to their original size, returning to his side, Choji watched as the landscape began to change dramatically.

Gaara's arms of sand collapsed, melting into a tidal wave that began rushing toward Choji. The wave of sand came up to at least Choji's stomach, maybe even as high as his chest, and it covered a wide slice of the arena. He didn't see any way to avoid this attack.

Asuma watched on with the other two genin of Team 10, getting a stronger understanding of Choji's intentions. For all the fear he felt before walking into the arena to face this Gaara of the Sand, Choji had decided not to escape. This Gaara had a landscape-changing jutsu at his command. It looked like time was almost up for Choji. And yet, Choji gave no indication that he wanted to forfeit this match.

He watched as Choji tossed something into the air. Asuma quickly glanced at the object as it spun in the air, reflecting lights from around the arena. It looked rectangular, possibly. Not a kunai or paper bomb. It was only after he noticed Choji chewing that he made the connection. Akimichi Choza must have taught Choji the Akimichi Clan's secret jutsu to prepare for the Chunin exam.

A small pang of pride hit Asuma as he realized the dedication his student carried. Team 10, it seemed, would continue to surprise him. Most of that pride, like Choji before him, was outweighed by a wave of worry as the sand continued to rush toward the young Leaf genin.

The first blow struck him right in the chest, launching him a few meters backward. Choji landed on his tailbone, his body dragged feet over head from the momentum until he came to a stop on his side. From his position, he could see a single eye of Gaara's overseeing the sand that was now gripping his ankles and calves. A single outstretched hand of Gaara's seemingly guiding the sand that had now completely covered his lower body, continuing its advance over Choji's midsection.

Asuma hesitated, wondering when the right moment to step in was. A little longer? Should I jump down and fetch him out of this mess regardless? Deliberation. But then came the moment when it was too late.

"Sabaku Sosou (Desert Burial)!"

FLASHBACK:

The smell of grilled meat pervaded the air, which normally put a smile on his face. But, Choji face was chiseled with determination on this particular night. He crossed over to the living room sofa to talk with his father about his decision.

Deep in thought, he didn't notice Choji's approach until he was right there. He looked up to see his son's face looking back at him. Choji, who had felt that he was all determination as he made his approach to his father, found himself without words. It was definitely nerves. He had made eye contact with his father, and didn't want to look weak by breaking it before even saying a word, but he also was at a loss for what words to put together now that he was at the moment where put-together words were kind of necessary.

Choza sighed, then noticed his son was motioning for him to look down. Following Choji's gaze, the elder Akimichi soon had to look away to avoid sprinkler malfunction. Tears fell down his cheeks and he was powerless to stop them. His son had processed their last conversation. The proof lay in the young Akimichi's extended hand – the empty pill container.

Choji cleared his throat. "Dad, I'd like to learn about the secrets of the Akimichi clan." He'd finally found his words.

"Wait right here, son," Choza managed to get out, between blubbering. He made a break for it before the tears started to really flood.

The smell of his wife's cooking caressed his nose with the touch of a masseuse. On any other day, his weakness. Instead of the kitchen, though, he journeyed up the stairs to his bedroom, emerging with the items he sought out in hand.

Choji's eyes were trained on his father as he returned to the sofa. He opened his hands to show. . .two pills. Pills?

"Vitamins?" Choji asked. His father chuckled.

"I guess I didn't really present this right, huh?" Choza admitted, laughing.

"These are the Akimichi Clan's food pills. Two things are important here: 1. Each of these pills can dramatically increase your power and 2. these pills are not equal to each other." He took in the view of his wide-eyed son, taking in all the new information like drink from a teacup. But, wait. To really do this correctly, he'd need to connect this power to the goal.

"Choji, the power of the Akimichi clan centers around protection. It does now and it always has. It can be nice to have power, but you will do this Clan a dishonor by not using this power as an expression of your values. The question is, 'What is it that you want to protect?' That is what will get you though every tight spot you find yourself in."

Choji's face scrunched itself up. His thinking face. He then felt his father softly pat his head.

"I remember, as a kid, I used to get picked on constantly because of how much I ate and how big I was. I wasn't always a happy person," Choza said, looking toward the ceiling as distant memories played in his head. "There'll be ups and downs, son, but as far as I've learned, happy people are people who've decided what's important to them."

Choji looked up at his father and wondered why he hadn't told him more about his past. This was the first time he'd heard him speak about bullying and not fitting in – things that he had started experiencing even before joining the academy.

Choza extended his hand to Choji and handed the food pills to his son. "Take the Spinach pill first, then the yellow Curry pill – IF you need to. The Curry pill will give you the most power out of the two…

END FLASHBACK

"Even if you have the power, it won't matter unless you use it."

As the world grew dark, Choji thought he finally understood what his father was saying. For a second, as the darkness surrounded him, as the sand enclosed his body, he realized that he'd passed the point of even being able to even say 'I forfeit!' to the proctor. He was now closed off from the world. His lungs immediately sucked in a longer breath, trying to stockpile the oxygen it needed for survival. He stopped short though, knowing that in this predicament, breaths were now a currency he was running out of. The main course was being delivered, and he was the one being served on a sand-dusted platter.

Why couldn't he have that fiery chakra that came out of Naruto in the first battle? Or have a dog to fight beside him like Kiba? Or Shikamaru's intellect? He could feel something very different from the Spinach pill coursing through his veins right now. But what he didn't know was whether it would be strong enough to break him out of this.

He was breathing in short, rapid breaths now. Eyes darting back and forth frantically, seeking the smallest sign of movement in the walls surrounding him. His thoughts were a wreck. Trainwreck, so many conflicting, contradictory trains of thoughts all converging, crashing, colliding. Shipwreck, because where was he? all alone, isolated from his friends, from the other ninja, from his family, reality, drowning? in some ocean current deep down and far away, lungs crushed, hope as well, and the world going on just as normal, huh?

Maybe Asuma-sensei would step in the stop the match, like he said, right? He'd save him! Then he'd have fought a great battle and be saved from whatever was happening to him now. He could go back safely to his regular life.

He heard what he thought was a loud yell. Then, without delay, the walls collapsed inward.