Authors Note: So I've followed this series ever since it first aired on tv. It's had it's ups and downs but I've always enjoyed it. Then it finally happened, years of adventures, fights and friendship all accumulated in it's ending. And...admittedly it wasn't exactly the ending I was expecting and there were a few aspects that seemed so randomly slapped on solely just for the final chapter but one thing came right out of nowhere that I couldn't stop myself laughing, praising and talking about this one very brief aspect about it. Hope you enjoy.
It was a noticeably very beautiful day in Konohagakure; the village hidden in the leaves. The birds were singing, the sun was shining and a relaxing breeze swept through town. The villagers went all around town happy enjoying all the comforts of peace, home and tranquility.
At one such home was someone hoping to enjoy the same exact thing but only after a brief shopping spree. This woman exited her home, locking the door behind her. Although she had lived in this village for some time now she still stuck out like a sore thumb. She had long red air flowing in the wind, golden earrings hanging from her ears and a darker complexion than anyone else in the village. She walked away from her home and into the street with both hands clasping a basket.
"Hello, good morning" she greeted cheerfully as she walked down the street, heading towards the market place. She received no reply, only a disgruntled response and possibly a curse. The man tensed up when he saw her.
Stunned for only a moment she continued happily towards the marketplace, turning a lot of heads as she did. She didn't notice it but likely wouldn't have done anything if she had. She strolled through the market, the basket casually dangled and swayed in her hands. She peeked into shops through the windows but she must have taken too long to look because they would sporadically close once she found the perfect thing to get. She again brushed it off; she had a budget to work with after all. And that budget unsurprisingly went mostly to food. She had not one but two hungry mouths to feed. The food markets were always open and awaiting her arrival. She often mused that she was the only one who kept them in business. So when she got there she of course got the usual assortment of food.
Rice, beans, meat, watermelon, corn, bread, sauce for some extra flavor, water and some soda for her daughter that she like her mother loved so much. Her taste for almost everything else came from her father.
With all this food in a basket that was far too small for everything the walk home would be longer. She would receive no help from any of the villagers. Even after living among them for so long it was hard not to be reminded that she was an outsider; something even Shikamaru's wife had to deal with. That was a normal day for Karui.
On the other side of town was her beloved husband. A man who as she knew would always have a bigger chest and fatter ass than she did. Her father didn't take too kindly to him at first. "Boy did my daughter hit the jackpot with you" he said sarcastically at the dinner table one night. But her husband (then boyfriend) was too busy eating said dinner to have heard. Then again, his own father didn't seem to look on her in some high regard either.
At the training fields was Choji who stood alongside his teammates Ino and Shikamaru as they watched the next generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho work. Needless to say it wasn't going well. For whatever reason the kids just couldn't get the techniques down.
The three kids fell on top of each other. "Ah get, off!" "Off!" Inojin and Shikadai cried under the weight of hte much larger Chocho.
The former members of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation; their parents looked on, far from impressed with their children's progress.
"Ah, good try honey" Ino cringed.
"You fat bitch!" Inojin complained to Chocho.
"No it wasn't" Shikamaru commented. Ino and Choji turned to him in retaliation, just as their children did to each other.
"I don't even wanna do dis'" Chocho confessed to the other children.
"You don't do anything!" Shikadai shouted "You never want to do any work! You're just like your mother!"
"What's my mamma gotta do with dis?" she asked
Shikadai spoke up "My mother says your mother's just a lazy, worthless, stuck up bit-"
"Both of you shut up!" Inojin shouted.
The parents were busy talking among themselves that they didn't focus on the children arguing themselves.
"They're trying" Choji said
"They're failing" Shikamaru refuted
"Failure can be good. Without failure there can't be success". As they continued to talk Shikadai imitated a monkey before the other two.
"We had trouble too you know" Ino added.
"Well we didn't have.." Shikamaru paused to find the right word to describe their children who were worlds apart from them "differences"
Ino and Choji seemed confused "What? Of course we do, we still do" Ino said.
Shikamaru sighed "No I mean-"hard contact was heard by all three of them. They turned their heads to see Shikadai on the ground with Chocho trying to stomp on his head with only Inojin to stop her.
"Save me from this savage!" Shikadai cried as he covered his head and crawled away.
"Yeah, cry bitch, cry" Chocho gloated.
"HEY!" all three parents yelled as they raced over to them. Choji grabbed his daughter by the arms and picked her up.
"Damn, the feds" she muttered as her legs wiggled in the air.
"Ah, god your heavy" Choji said as he struggled to hold her up. Ino put her hands on her son's shoulders and Shikamaru picked up his son.
"Ah, what a drag" he grunted "You got beaten by a girl" he said having son face him.
"What happened?" all three of them asked simultaneously.
"Daddy he was steppin up" Chocho told Choji "Can't back hisself up fo shit"
"Watch your mouth" Choji grilled her down.
"They can't do anything right" Shikadai told his father.
"I didn't do anything!" Inojin pouted before his mother.
The three parents looked to each other and were thinking the same thing. Was it really this hard for them staring out?
No.
Shikamaru let out a sigh "Why don't you take the rest of the day off"
"No dad, you'll just encourage them" his son refuted.
"I like that idea, peace" Chocho said full of sass before walking away from them. But she stopped once her father put her hands on her shoulder.
"Why don't you take your friends with you?" he told more than suggested
"They ain't my fri-"
"Your teammates. You should get used to each other" he cut her off.
The young mulatto regarded her father. "Fine" she said under her breathe "But I pick da spot" she pointed to her face.
"It's gonna be the ice cream parlor" Shikadai complained
"What'd I tell you about questioning me" Chocho threatened.
"That sounds great" Shikamaru said "Go on kids, have fun" he pushed his son forward to join Chocho. Inojin separated from his mother to do the same.
The three children met up with each other with disgruntled and unpleasant looks on their faces. They turned their backs on their parents and walked off together.
"Have fun kids" Shikamaru said.
"Be back by dinner" Ino called "Don't ruin your appetite!" she yelled and Inojin flinched and started running ahead of the other two. Chocho started to lag far behind the other two which confirmed all of Shikadai's accusations. The parents watched their children run off together. Whatever kinks they had would be sorted out eventually. Maybe they weren't so different when they were younger.
Now it was only the three of them left, just like how it used to be.
"So" Ino exhaled "It looks like our afternoon's cleared up" A fire lit in Choji's eyes as she said that "You want to go get something to eat, like the good ol' days" Shikamaru shrugged but Choji started to walk off.
"Huh, Choji you don't want to hang out?"
"Oh eh, sorry" he stammered embarrassed rubbing the back of his head "There's something I gotta do back at home. Maybe some other time alright"
"Well I guess that-" Ino couldn't finish her sentence because Choji had sprinted away.
Karui had gotten home with the mountain load of food with her. She set it all down in the kitchen and looked around the place she called home; the Akimichi household. That got her lamenting on the past. It wasn't long after the war that she met Choji for the first time. Everyone else, even his own friends at times would only see a fat stumbling idiot. But she saw something else. He was compassionate, caring, and sweet. Sure he was still a little hefty and everyone only saw that. But to her there was just more to love (and more to love her). It was hard at first since they lived in two different villages and that was viewed as very odd and out of the norm by everyone else. But when they did meet he would exchange gifts. For her it was something dazzling and beautiful that would likely get stolen. For him it was food, usually the most popular in the Cloud village, something he may not eat all the time at the Leaf village.
But eventually he got tired of "shit". But of course it never stopped him from loving her.
Oh! And he had such a way with words! He would come to her and recite poetry he wrote himself.
Suddenly the door slammed open! She snapped out of her daydream and turned startled at the door.
There she saw the man who had just occupied her thoughts; Choji Akimichi. He stood in the doorway his hands still on the door as he planted it in the wall. There was a look of ferocity in his eyes and his breathing was heavy.
"Choji dear" she said taking a step forward "Is everything alright?"
"You bet your ass it is" he said slamming the door behind him "Chocho's out getting ice cream with her friends. That leaves YOU!" he pointed to her with and large pudgy finger "ME!" he slammed his chest like some savage animal "and this whole house!" he flung his hands in the air. His over enthusiasm started to frighten her "So what's say we get to the part where I mount your ass"
Case in point; everything she lamented about.
"Alright" she drooled "Let's go upstairs". She sprinted up the stairs and he wasn't far behind.