"Papa! I’m ready for training!” Choji said with a determined look in his eyes. 

“Heh. Here I come Choji!” Choza responded to his son’s excitement. 

Choji slowly ran his way towards his dad and brought his right arm back for a big punch. Choza easily readied himself for the punch with a jolly smile on his face. Choji’s tiny hand softly smacked against his father’s large hand. The young Akimichi then unleashed his super attack upon his father. A rapid onslaught of palm strikes that were so fast that a snail would barely be able to react to them!  

Choza couldn’t help himself from laughing at his adorable son. He doesn’t know what’s gotten in to him lately but he’s been asking for him to train him whenever he could. Since he had some time to spare today, he didn’t mind helping his son. Papa Akimichi was proud his son was taking his ninja training seriously.  

But as time went on, his son slowly started to change from the jolly young boy he always was into something different. It wasn’t a drastic change but a change that only a parent could notice in their child. Ever since he taught him their clan’s secret jutsu, he hasn’t been the same boy as before. He’s eating far more than before when he learned about how Calorie Control worked, his training has become a bit obsessive for a child his age, and everything has been about becoming the greatest ninja. 

Choza tried asking Choji what brought on this change and the boy didn’t want to speak. So, Choza did as any concerned parent would do and asked his little friends did anything happen recently. Shikaku’s boy told him that the other kids didn’t let Choji play ninja with them. They said whoever team got Choji would lose and told him he couldn’t play ninja with them.  

‘Kids sure are mean these days, huh?’ Choza gave Shikaku’s son some candy after telling him what happened. 

Choza didn’t think that was all that happened though. With the way, Choji has been lately, it can’t be something that simple. The boy was determined, driven. He was training with all his heart and soul into becoming the best ninja. His registration in the academy isn’t for a few years either!  

“I guess he’ll tell me when he’s ready. For now, I guess I better watch over him and make sure he doesn’t hurt himself.” Choza laughed to himself. Even if he couldn’t get his son to speak, the least he could do was support him with his goal. 

---

“Can’t you do that another time Choji?” Shikamaru complained. 

“Sorry, Shikamaru. I’m really close this time! I’ll be done in just a second!” Choji apologized. 

“Expansion Jutsu!” Choji’s entire torso expanded into a large ball. 

The round Akimichi member tucked himself into his clothes and began rapidly spinning as a destructive sphere. He noisily rolled around the grassy plain attempting with all his heart to control himself better while rolling. Shikamaru groaned at his workaholic best friend. All he wanted to do was do some cloud watching today and maybe play a quiet game or something. While Choji wanted to train his body and perfect his family’s jutsus. 

“Dang it! I almost had it that time too! Just you wait Shikamaru! I’ll be able to make myself turn on a dime soon and one of the weaknesses of the Human Boulder jutsu will be gone!” Choji told him. 

“Yeah... That’s nice and all but are you finished yet?” Shikamaru asked hopefully. 

“I’m out of chakra so, I have to take a small break.” Choji took a squat next to Shikamaru and pulled out a bag of chips from his pocket. 

“Are you excited to join the academy, Monday?” Choji asked. 

“Seems like it’s going to be a drag.” Shikamaru sighed. 

“You don’t seem like you want to be a ninja at all Shikamaru.” Choji pointed out. 

”I wouldn’t say that. Being a ninja does seem interesting, I guess.”  

“But you don’t wanna do any training?” 

“Nah. Training just ain’t for me. Way too much work.” 

“Shikamaru, I want to become a ninja and be the best ninja there is. That’s why I train so hard every day.” 

“Who said that training would be the only way of being a great ninja?” Shikamaru brought up. 

This stumped Choji momentarily. 

“I guess you’re right.” He agreed. 

“Hah... Let’s talk about something else, Choji.” 

“I heard that being a ninja isn’t all fun and games. If you’re going to be a ninja, you need to be ready to kill, die, and suffer hardships. You don’t seem like the type to want to take part in any of those three, Shikamaru.” 

“And you are, Choji? No kids our age is ready for stuff like that. We should be doing kiddy stuff like this. Watching clouds, eating snacks, playing with each other. Not learning the best way to kill other humans.” 

“I might not be ready but I'm not afraid to face it in my goal of becoming the greatest ninja.” 

“I still don’t get why you even want to do something so troublesome. Was it really because those jerks didn’t let you play Ninja?” 

“At first, I just wanted to prove that I wouldn’t be a burden to them. That I could be just as fast as them if I tried and wouldn’t bring anyone down. But even after I could catch one of them, they still didn’t let me play with them. That’s when I realized that just being good enough wasn’t always good enough. I needed to become more than good and become the best so that no one could ever doubt me.” 

“You went back to those guys after they were mean to you?” 

“I wanted to see what they would say after I got faster.” 

“Seems like a hassle to me. If someone doesn’t like me, then I'm not going to try and be nice to them. It’s a waste of time.” He yawned. 

“If there’s a chance, then there’s a way Shikamaru.” Choji finished his bag of chips and stood up. 

With a couple of stretches, Choji got back on the ground and started doing pushups. Shikamaru didn’t comment on this. He knew that his friend had a whole bunch of more exercises he planned to do while he watched clouds. Shikamaru already got used to this type of situation happening when they hung out together. 

“Want to join me?” Choji asked. 

“Nope.” Shikamaru responded as he always did. 

“Heh. One day, I’ll get you to say yes to that.” Choji laughed. 

“That’ll be the day the sky turns upside down.” Shikamaru said confidently. 

“Come on! A little exercise wouldn’t kill you Shikamaru. Just 10 jumping jacks.” Choji tried to motivate his friend. 

“No way.” His arms rested behind his head. 

“What if I...” Choji had trouble thinking of something that his lazy best friend could possibly want. 

“Not gonna happen.” He didn’t even let him think of something to grab his attention. 

“Okay but what if!” And interrupted again. 

“Not even if you tried to bribe me with a free meal at your uncle’s restaurant.” 

“I won’t give up Shikamaru.” A frightening glint was present in Choji’s eyes. 

“Please do. I’m too lazy for something that in the first place. In fact, you work too hard. I don’t see how you can do this every single day.” Shikamaru was genuinely curious. 

“It’s called having a goal, Shikamaru! I don’t plan to let a little pain stop me from reaching my goal.” 

“So, it does hurt.” 

“It hurts so bad...” Weakness filled his voice. “But progress can’t be made without it!” Choji pushed himself to work through the pain and continue to do more pushups. 

“Hah... What a troublesome friend I had to make.” Shikamaru smiled. 

“And what a lazy friend I had to find myself with.” Choji’s body has been pushed to its limits. 

“I’m not carrying you home by the way.” Shikamaru reminded him. 

“Shikamaru, please! I’ll die out here! I’m actually paralyzed in pain. I can’t move my muscles.” 

“Should’ve thought about that earlier.” He shrugged his shoulders as he stood up from the grass. 

“At least feed me something!” Choji soon regretted asking his friend anything. 

Shikamaru snatched some grass blades and held it in front of his mouth. 

“Open up pal. Here’s your dinner for tonight.” He snickered. 

“I’m not a cow!” Choji blew the grass out of the Nara clan heir’s hand. 

“And here I was trying to help you. Guess you're stuck here for tonight.” He turned his back on Choji and began to walk away. 

He wouldn’t actually leave him here, would he? No, that’s crazy. He’s just joking around. They’re friends, he wouldn’t do something like that. Especially when it was getting dark out and he couldn’t move anything below his neck without feeling horrible pain. 

Choji started to panic when the back of his best friend started to get smaller in the distance. 

“Shikamaru!!!” He cried. 

The pineapple head boy laughed loudly to himself as he came slowly walking back. Choji glared at the boy for the trick he pulled on him.  

“No need to start crying Choji, jeez. It was just a joke.” He dragged him along by the leg, knowing he couldn’t possibly bear all of Choji’s weight on his body. 

“I’ll show you a joke...” Choji promised for the future. 

---

Chapter 2: 

“Don’t you ever get tired of this Choji? You even do it in class.” Shikamaru complained. 

The two best friends were taking a stroll through the forest. Shikamaru suggested the idea as he thought it would be just as relaxing as cloud watching. Choji didn’t have anything better to do and didn’t mind spending some more time with his friend. Both of them were assigned homework from the Academy today and neither has started on it. Shikamaru didn’t plan to do it in the first place while Choji was going to do it later tonight before bedtime. 

“Yea, I get tired all the time. Why?” Choji responded. 

Choji was attempting to perform one of his clan’s secret jutsus that had a steep chakra requirement. He was finding it very hard to pull it off even the simplest form of the technique. The Partial Expansion Jutsu could enlarge specific body parts on the user’s body at fast speeds. So, since Choji couldn’t use this jutsu with his hand, foot, or head. He decided to start even smaller. Performing the jutsu on just his thumb. 

“Partial Expansion Jutsu!” His thumb grew big enough to squish someone’s head! “I did it Shikamaru! Look!” Choji shoved his enlarged finger towards his friend. 

“Congratulations.” Shikamaru replied in a monotone voice. 

“Haha! Now I have even more things to work on!” Choji happily laughed.  

His thumb shrunk back to its normal size immediately. His chakra was completely drained just after using that jutsu for a few seconds! He’ll have to work on increasing his chakra fast if he wants to master it anytime soon. Choji pulled out a bag of hot chips and started munching to regain his chakra. 

“Sounds like a bother.” 

“Oh! That reminds me! Have you started learning your family’s secret techniques yet?” Choji asked. 

“I’m not going to answer that.” Shikamaru refused to reply. 

He had a sneaky suspicious that his overworking best friend would suggest something very tiresome. A suggestion that he wouldn’t want to take part in no matter how much he begged. Shikamaru would keep this information a secret for as long as he could. Until he was forced to show that he has learned them, Choji would never know that he has. 

“So you have!”  

“Not telling.” Shikamaru wasn’t going to lie though. 

“Hmmmmmmm.” Choji grilled his friend with a thousand-yard stare. 

Sadly for him, Shikamaru did not break. He kept his composure as they walked past and in between the numerous trees in Konoha. Choji had to give up and wait for his chance to see if Shikamaru has started to learn his clan’s secret jutsu. But once he does find out, he’ll definitely make Shikamaru train with him!  

“What do you think our teacher’s deal is with giving us so much homework?” Shikamaru changed the subject. 

“It kind of sucks but maybe he wants to find out what we’re good at or if we’re responsible like ninja should be?” Choji gave his thoughts. 

“You would answer like that, wouldn’t you?” He said annoyed. 

“You asked.” Choji shrugged his shoulders with a smile. “And it's not like you do the homework in the first place Shikamaru. What are you even complaining about?”  

“Heh. I guess you’re right.” He chuckled. 

“Now that I think about it, you don’t really try at all in class.” 

“And you try too hard in class.” 

“I do what any good student is expected to do. Their best.” Choji retorted. 

“And I say doing your best is a drag.” 

The two reached an impasse once again in their core beliefs. An event that regularly happens when they hangout but they’ve come to accept it. Accept that their best friend holds a different view than them and they are okay with that. They may not completely agree or understand it but they do respect it. And with that, respect each other as well. 

“Hey Shikamaru, I was thinking about getting a weapon. I kind of already have an idea but what do you think would look cool?”  

“Weapon? Like a sword or something?” Shikamaru needed more information. 

“Yeah. Swords, chakra blades, staff, and other stuff like that.” 

“I don’t know.” He answered honestly. 

Shikamaru didn’t think of weapons at all or planned to use a main weapon in his ninja career. So, the fact that Choji was already thinking of this made him pretty surprised. He had no idea what would be best for Choji. Shikamaru wouldn’t even be able to guess what weapon would be best for himself. 

“I might have a surprise to show you this weekend then if my dad could put in the order at the blacksmith.” Choji smiled. 

“You already picked out the weapon you wanted? What was the point of asking me then?” 

“I was just curious on what you thought would be cool.” 

“Oh, alright then. Well like I said before, I don’t know. I never really thought about that stuff.” 

“I think I know what would fit you.” 

“What?” 

“I’m not gonna tell.” Choji grinned. 

“Whatever.” Shikamaru rolled his eyes at Choji’s attempt to get him interested. 

“You’ll just have to see me training with my new cool weapon this Saturday and be jealous.” Choji laughed. 

“Yeah, I’ll be real jealous. I can’t wait.” He sarcastically replied. 

“Remember that snark, Shikamaru. What I’ll show you this weekend will blow your socks off.” Choji boasted. 

“Anyway... Let’s head back to the village before it starts getting dark. I don’t wanna deal with any wolves or bears.” 

“I could probably deal with a bear or a wolf...” Choji wasn’t completely sure but had confidence. 

“Just because you think you can doesn’t mean I want to find out if you can or not.” 

“Yeah, it would be safer if we avoided it.” Choji agreed. 

“I’m glad you can see reason Choji. Now let’s get outta here.” Shikamaru led the way with his hands in his pockets. 

On their way back, Choji continued to practice with his Partial Expansion Jutsu and refueling up his chakra with chips of different varieties. He had spicy chips, potato chips, ranch-flavored chips, cheesy chips, and other types. Every day he would have a different flavoring of chips and every day Shikamaru would wonder just who were making all these different flavors and why were there so many kinds? Choji told him that he ate different flavors every day because he didn’t want to get burnt out on one flavor. 

“Ah, I can see that. But wait a minute, you are afraid of getting burnt out on chips but not training?” 

“Heh. I’ll never get burnt out on training. Don’t you worry about that.” Choji laughed. 

“Hah... I’m kind of wishing you would now.” 

“I’ll get tired of training when you get tired of cloud watching.”  

“Maybe, I’ll have to find a new hobby soon then.” Shikamaru lied. 

“Like I'd believe that.” 

“Just watch me.” 

“Tomorrow, you aren’t going to do anything different at all. We’re gonna go to our usual spot and do the same thing we do every day. You’re gonna watch clouds, I'm going to train, and that’s it.” 

“Nope. I’m gonna do something completely different that isn’t cloud watching.” 

“Quit lying bro. I’m not gonna believe you this time.” 

“I’m not lying. Just wait and see Choji.” 

“You’re going to act like you forgot when we get back in class tomorrow and make it seem like I'm crazy when I bring it up.” 

“You are acting crazy now by freaking out.” 

“Don’t say I'm freaking out when I'm not freaking out.” 

“Ahuh... And why is your giant finger is pointing at me like that then?” 

“I have an itchy thumb right now and you’re closer to it than me.” 

“So, what? Am I supposed to scratch your finger for you or something?” 

“What else are best friends for?” Choji smiled as he threateningly inched his finger closer and closer to Shikamaru. 

“Get that thing away from me.” Shikamaru slapped it away from his face. 

“Uh oh Shikamaru. You just made it even more itchy!” Choji’s thumb neared Shikamaru’s back with frightening speed. 

Forcing the lazy boy to pick up his pace unless he wanted to be jabbed by that large thing. 

“Hey, quit playing around! You could hurt someone with that thing!” His hands were still in his pocket as he speed walked. 

“Where are you going Shikamaru!? My finger is still itchy and I cannot reach it! Do your friend a favor and scratch my finger!” Choji slowly increased his speed, following right behind Shikamaru. 

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Why are you running now?! Cut it out Choji!” Shikamaru yelled. 

“Why are you running Shikamaru? I just want you to scratch my finger!” Choji laughed, enjoying his friend’s fright. 

Unfortunately, his teasing couldn’t continue for long. Choji ran out of chakra and couldn’t keep his thumb expanded anymore. But he couldn’t keep himself from laughing out loud. Seeing his lazy friend move like that, it had to be the first time. 

“I don’t think I ever seen you move that fast before, Shikamaru!” Choji laughed loudly. 

“I didn’t have a reason to until now.” He responded, not amused in the slightest. 

“Haha. Don’t look so upset. Remember all the times you tricked me before? This is just a little bit of payback.” Choji slung his arm around his friend’s shoulder. 

“Whatever, dude. Just don’t make me use that much energy ever again.” Shikamaru laughed with him. 

---

Chapter 3: 

“What brand of chips did you bring for lunch this time?” Shikamaru asked. 

“Are you crazy Shikamaru? Chips are snacks, not food! My mom made me a bento.” He answered logically. 

“Ah yeah, I'm the crazy one alright. When just a few days ago you had 4 or 5 bags of chips with flavors no one has ever seen before.”  

“That was a moment of curiosity! I never seen those in the store before and had to try em.”  

Choji and Shikamaru sat next to each other in class during their lunch break. Choji asked Sasuke if he could borrow his seat so that he could sit next to his friend and he told him no. Choji tried a few more times the day after and his answer was still no. So, he had to do try the only thing he could. Offer the Uchiha some great food in exchange for his seat. This still failed even after he took several bites of it, loving the taste of it. But Choji did not give up!  

“What will it take for you to let me borrow your seat?” He asked. 

“Choji just drop it. I’m sure that girl that sits next you wouldn’t mind letting me borrow her seat.” Shikamaru suggested. 

“I’m not taking the easy way out Shikamaru. Me and Sasuke are going to find a way to come to an understanding.” 

“Stop bothering Sasuke-kun!” 

“Why is someone like you even talking to him?” 

“Just leave Sasuke-kun alone!” The girls in the class turned on him. 

Choji had to raise his hands in defeat. If he was facing Sasuke himself, there was a chance they could come to an agreement. But with the girls on his side, Choji knew he would only lose. He turned away and started walking away. 

“In our taijutsu class, if you manage to beat me, I’ll let you borrow my seat.” Sasuke suddenly spoke. 

“You got yourself a deal, Sasuke!” Choji happily agreed. 

That day in class, they did not get paired up together but the day after they did. Since Sasuke didn’t say if he had only one chance or not to defeat him, Choji didn’t hold anything back in their spar. He’s been training since he was a little kid still being carried around on his father’s shoulders. If it was one thing he was confident in, it was his taijutsu skills! 

“Are you ready?” Sasuke asked, holding up the Seal of Confrontation. 

“You bet.” Choji answered, holding up the same symbol with his hand. 

“KICK HIS BUTT SASUKE-KUN!” 

“SHOW HIM TO NEVER MESS WITH YOU AGAIN!” 

“I guess I'm rooting for the underdog here.” Shikamaru lazily rubbed his head. 

“Learn to pick better sides then stupid Shikamaru.” Ino insulted with a pull of her lower eyelid, mocking him. 

“Yeah, I don’t see how someone as big as Choji can take on Sasuke. He’d run circles around him before he could even react.” Kiba believed. 

“I wouldn’t write him off before giving him a chance.” Shino spoke. 

“Do you really believe someone like Choji stands a chance?” Kiba asked surprised. 

“Hmph! I’d beat both of their butts!” Naruto claimed. 

“Shut up, Naruto!” Sakura yelled.  

“Begin!” Their sensei called. 

Choji hasn’t had many opportunities to use his body in a fight except with his father. He was excited to face off against Sasuke. Knowing that the dude was great in everything he did. This spar would great to see what he needs to work on later.  

Soon as their sensei started the match, Sasuke rushed towards him. Choji could see his movements! He caught his fist and pull back with his other arm to slug Sasuke in the gut. Sasuke tried freeing his hand but Choji’s grip was too strong, forcing him into nearly taking that powerful punching heading straight towards him. Since he couldn’t free his fist, there was only one thing he could do. The remaining Uchiha flipped over Choji and landed on his back before striking Choji’s wrist with his foot to get him to release it. 

But Choji didn’t release his hold on the boy’s fist just because of the kick, he jumped backwards and slammed the boy straight into the ground with enough force that it caused everyone watching to suck in their teeth. However, Sasuke was made of tougher stuff than that. The training he puts himself through after his brother’s betrayal, was something that could not be ignored! His body was hurting badly but he wasn’t out of the fight yet! He rolled over and got back to his feet before running straight towards Choji. 

Sasuke had his own reasons for making this bet with the Akimichi. He knew that there was something about him that made him different from the others. A type of drive similar to his own. It wasn’t on the same level but it wasn’t too far off. He had a goal he wanted to accomplish the same as he did. This guy was most likely the second strongest out of all of their classmates. It wasn’t until recently that he noticed the strength hidden inside him. 

Sasuke threw a punch with his right towards Choji’s face. Choji blocked with his palm and tried catching Sasuke’s fist again but he wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice. After striking out, he immediately brought his fist back and struck with his other arm towards Choji’s stomach. His hit landed and he saw a painful grimace on the round boy’s face, he wasn’t fast enough to avoid that second hit. Choji brought his head down to try and headbutt Sasuke so that he could get some space but he didn’t want to back off. 

The last Uchiha ducked and tripped Choji’s legs from under him with a leg sweep. Choji fell on his back hard and immediately rolled over to avoid Sasuke’s punch meant for his face. Once he got back up, they were preparing to start again. But their sensei had something to say about that... 

“That’s enough! With the way you two are going at it, no one else is going to get a chance for their spar. Sasuke, Choji, form the Seal of Reconciliation.” Iruka-sensei ordered. 

Sasuke and Choji dusted themselves off before linking their index and middle fingers together. A small grin formed on Sasuke’s face and a wide one was on Choji’s. 

“It was fun fighting you Sasuke.” Choji complimented. 

“You’re not bad.” He agreed. 

The two went their separate ways and the next day, Sasuke let him borrow his seat for lunch. Even though he didn’t win in their spar. Choji couldn’t accept this kind act without paying him back somehow. So, every day he asked to borrow the Uchiha’s seat, he made sure to bring him his favorite tomato-flavored chips. And if he didn’t have any, he asked his mom to make him a second bento to bring for Sasuke. The dude didn’t have anyone making any food for him anymore so, his mom didn’t mind making a bento for him. 

“So, are you ready to tell me if you learned your clan’s secret jutsu yet?” Choji asked once again. 

“Like I said the last 100 times. Who knows?” Shikamaru sighed with a faint smile on his face. 

“You have to have learned them! Even Ino is starting to learn about her clan jutsu’s and we both know she doesn’t care at all! There’s no way your dad wouldn’t have teach you by now!” Choji argued. 

“Listen Choji, even if I did learn them. What’s it to you?” 

“We could start thinking of combination jutsus with our clans’ secret techniques!” 

“Sounds troublesome. Why on earth would I ever want to do something like that?”  

“We’re gonna be ninjas soon. Ninjas do cool jutsus.”  

“Well I'm going to do boring jutsus that don’t need me to do combination techniques.” He answered. 

Choji scoffed at his friend’s laziness. 

“I can't see how you’re going to pass like this.” 

“I’ll be fine. Maybe they’ll have me as an Academy Student forever and I'll be able to sleep at these desks until I’m a 40-year-old man.” 

“No way. They’d kick you out or something by then.” 

“Academy Students are still ninjas. If there was a war right now then they could use us as a fighting force.” Shikamaru informed. 

“How’d you know that?” Choji knew that because he regularly did his history homework. Shikamaru never turned in his homework. 

“Someone told me.” He lied. 

“Yeah, right! So you look over the homework but you don’t do it?! I can’t understand that!” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I rip up all homework that makes it inside my home.” He lied again. 

“Like you’d go through the effort of ripping something up when you could just leave it in a ditch somewhere. So, the great lazy Shikmaru is not so lazy to read the homework but just lazy enough to not do it. I wonder what would happen if a certain mom learns of this...” Choji evilly chuckled. 

“You wouldn’t.” Shikamaru stared into his eyes. 

“Ah man. If only I had a best friend who was willing to practice clan jutsus with me sometime this weekend. If only! You know?”  

“Fine. But we’re not best friends anymore.” Shikamaru crumbled under the threat of telling his mother about his lack of doing any school work. 

“Shikamaru! I was just kidding! I wouldn’t actually blackmail my own friend. But you’re still hanging out with me on Saturday to see my awesome new weapon.”  

“Not cool bringing my mom up. You know how much of a drag she is.” 

“Your mom is awesome dude, shut up.”  

“She’d kill me if she knew how I acted in school.” 

“You better make sure you graduate then. If she finds out you failed and hears from Iruka-sensei about how you are in class, you aren’t not going to have any peaceful days ever again.” 

“Oh god... You’re right.”  

“Time to not be lazy in school?” Choji grinned. 

“Time to not be AS lazy in school.” Shikamaru clarified. 

“You can do it my friend! I’m here with you ever step of the way!” Choji supported just as lunch break ended. 

---

Chapter 4: 

“I don’t think we’re paired up by coincidence.” Choji laughed as he looked at his two teammates. 

“This isn’t funny Choji! I wanted to be on a team with Sasuke!” Ino whined. 

“What a drag...” Shikamaru complained about Ino’s loud voice. 

“I wonder who our sensei is going to be. I wonder how strong he’s going to be!” Choji exclaimed. 

“Is how strong someone the only thing you can think about?” Shikamaru asked. 

“I’m going to become the best shinobi. Of course.” He answered proudly. 

“Pfft. You are going to become the best shinobi?” Ino couldn’t help but doubt that claim on account for his size. 

“Yeah. What’s funny about that?” He asked. 

“Maybe you should try and lose a little bit of weight before trying to accomplish something so impossible.” She joked. 

“Losing weight would make me weaker.” He told her. 

“Huh? How does that work?” She was confused. 

“My clan’s secret jutsu turns calories into chakra. The less calories we eat, the weaker we are in a way.” He explained. 

“Oh, I didn’t know that. But I still don’t think you of all people can become hokage.” Ino stayed firm on her stance. 

“I’m not interested in becoming hokage. Just the strongest ninja.” Prompting another head tilt from Ino. 

“Well whatever! Just letting you guys know now, I’m going to be the leader of our team.” Ino claimed. 

“I’m fine with that.” Choji smiled as he ate his spicy ramen noodle flavored chips. 

“As long as you stop yelling, I'm fine with whatever.” Shikamaru picked his ear. He knew trying to argue with a woman like her would be trouble. 

“We should train sometime together! Think of some combination jutsus!” Choji suggested. 

“I’m the leader! I make the decisions!” Ino quickly berrated him. “And that idea doesn’t sound too bad.” 

“It sounds like a terrible idea.” Shikamaru quickly brought up. 

“Shut it you lazy bum!”  

‘What a pain...’ He thought. 

“Just to let you guys know, I don’t plan to let you two hold me back. I need to become a strong kunoichi to capture Sasuke’s love.” Ino declared. 

“That’s good. Sasuke likes strong people.” Choji supported her choice in becoming strong. Even if it was for something like love. 

“How would you know anything about Sasuke?” She interrogated. 

“We hung out a few times after school and trained together.” He answered. 

“You did what with Sasuke!?” Ino screamed. 

“Trained.” He repeated. 

“Are you like friends with Sasuke?” She felt troubled by this possible scenario. 

“Yeah. I’d say so.” Choji agreed. 

“He’s an annoying guy sometimes but he isn’t as bad as I thought he was.” Shikamaru added. 

“You too...?” She seemed distraught. 

The two people she’d never expect to have even talked to Sasuke are already friends with him! But as a young maiden in love, she quickly spun this in a way to help her in her journey of love. Ino slapped her cheeks decisively before intensively questioning the two on everything about Sasuke. Most of their break was spent being asked an onslaught of questions by Ino. 

By the time their break was over, Choji and Shikamaru couldn’t be happier to be in a classroom. It was the first time for them both in their entire career as Academy Students. Ino sat closer to Sasuke’s side of the room while they sat on the opposite side. Their sensei came for them and took them to a restaurant. Choji didn’t recognize his sensei and neither did Shikamaru. He did seem like a nice guy though. 

“Hey there. I’m Asuma Sarutobi. Let’s have a quick introduction with one another. You know, likes, dislikes, goals. I’ll start first since I'm the adult.” He ordered a meal for all of them. 

“I like playing shogi, my favorite foods are sasuge and soba with tororo, my least favorite food is asparagus, and my goal is to mold you all into respectable shinobi.” He smiled. 

“You like shogi too, don’t you Shikamaru? That’s something you both have in common.” Choji brought up. 

“Yeah, I guess.” He rubbed the back of his head. 

“I’ll go next! My name is Ino Yamanaka. I like flowers, I like Sasuke, I hate annoying people, and my goal is to become a strong kunoichi and marry Sasuke!” She proudly shared. 

“Sasuke...? That’s the Uchiha kid isn’t it?” Asuma asked. 

“The one and only.” Ino smiled. 

‘I guess the other jonin were right when they said girls her age were more interested in love than Shinobi Arts. At least she wants to get stronger because of that love. That’ll make it easier to teach and motivate her.’ Asuma thought. 

“Alright. You next.” He pointed at Shikamaru since he looked the least willing to go. 

“What a pain...” He complained. “I’m Shikamaru Nara. I like shogi. My hobby is cloud watching. I hate doing work. I hate training. And my goal is to live unremarkably, free of anything of noticeably good or bad, and then to die just as unremarkably as I lived.” 

“What a bum. You’re never going to accomplish anything as a ninja.” Ino mocked. 

“Sounds great to me.” He responded. 

“Alright. You’re the last one kid. Tell me about yourself.” He pointed to Choji as their food arrived. 

“I am Choji Akimichi. I like a lot of things and hate a few things. My favorite hobby is training and my goal is to be the best shinobi in the world.” Asuma’s eye twitched after hearing his serious response. 

‘I thought this kid would just go on about how he loved to eat or something... I guess his evaluation from his teacher was spot on. Teaching this kid will be pretty fun. The only issue is the lazy one... He’s unmotivated, grades were awful in the academy, and had a terrible attitude towards anything he thought was work.’ Asuma thought. 

“Happy to meet you three. There’s a mission that the four of us need to accomplish tomorrow.” He suddenly shared. 

“A mission already?” Shikamaru sighed. 

“I heard all D-rank missions were really easy though.” Choji brought up. 

“Oh yeah and where did you hear that from?” Ino attacked. 

“My dad. He said the real hard missions don’t start until we get a C or B-rank mission. D-rank missions are more like chores.” Choji shared. 

“I hate chores.” Shikamaru muttered. 

“I don’t wanna deal with any baby missions! How am I going to get any stronger for Sasuke if I'm doing stupid chores?!” Ino complained as well. 

“Now now, hold on a minute. Before we start talking about those types of missions, I think you’ll be more interested in hearing about this one coming up tomorrow first.” Asuma tried to take lead of the conversation again. 

“Alright then sensei, what’s the mission?” Ino asked. 

“It will be a Retrieval Exercise. You haven’t done anything like this at the Academy but I’ll explain it more in detail tomorrow.” 

“Retrieval?” Choji questioned. 

“So we’re supposed to get something.” Ino figured. 

“This isn’t like hide and seek, is it?” Shikamaru asked. He actually liked hide and seek. Most of the times he’d just find a good hiding spot and take a nap until someone found him or he woke up. 

“It’s going to be a bit harder than what you all are thinking.” Asuma said. 

“How hard can it be?” Ino didn’t believe him. 

“Don’t look down on this Retrieval Exercise. You all might not know this but only 9 of the graduating students will officially become rookie ninjas while the other 18 will be sent back to the Academy. I don’t think I need to tell you what will happen to you three if you don’t take this mission seriously, now do I?” Asuma grinned. 

“Then what was the graduation test for? Why’d we need to learn the Transformation, Substitution, and Clone jutsu?” Ino wanted to know, pissed for possible wasting her time learning them. 

“To see who had the potential of becoming Genin. If you couldn’t pull off those simple techniques, you wouldn’t serve any purpose as a ninja.” He answered. 

“Looks like you might have your chance to go back to the Academy, Shikamaru.” Choji joked with a teasing grin. 

“My mom would kill me if she found out I failed to become a genin and was sent back to the Academy. How troublesome...” He lamented. 

“Anyway. Bring your full set of ninja tools tomorrow. We’ll meet 7 in the morning. You’re all dismissed.” He tried walking away from the table but Choji and Ino grabbed his arms with surprising force. 

“Now Sensei... You weren’t planning on leaving without paying our bill, were you?” Ino glared. 

“Sensei... We haven’t even officially graduated from the Academy and you were planning to do something like this to us? Money? We don’t have anything like that. You’re the adult, aren’t you? You should pay for us like the responsible adult you are.” Choji supported. 

“You little gremlins ate more than 4 grown men! You think I make that kind of money?! Let me go!” He shouted trying to get away. 

Choji and Ino matched eyes and nodded to each other. They both grabbed hold of his arms and wrapped around him, stopping him from going anywhere. The waiter was coming towards their table with the bill. Asuma only had a few seconds before he could disappear before being forced into paying the bill for these kids. He flicked his arms with all his strength and only managed to force Ino into releasing him. Choji’s hands were stuck to him like glue! Was the little glutton using his chakra to stick to him?! They didn’t teach that exercise in the Academy! 

“Sir. Your bill.” The waiter placed the bill on the table and locked eyes with Asuma. His head dropped as he realized he failed. Choji let go once he heard the words of the waiter and held up his hand. Ino high fived him as they succeeded over their Sensei trying to trick them. Shikamaru only sighed. The future was gonna be a drag with teammates like these. 

‘I don’t hate it though.’ He faintly smiled.