Edit Two: Fixed some grammar mistakes

Edit: I forgot the line breaks.

A/n: Holy hell it's been a long time hasn't it? I just basically got exhausted of writing and could never force myself to sit down and write for long. It was pretty much one of the worst cases of writer's block I've ever had. Thankfully, I've slowly crawled out of that funk and am ready to get started writing again! A lot has happened in my absence like I've recently moved which has put a halt on my writing (I wanted to get a story out sooner than this but things happen) but that's all been put aside for now. So, here I am! I missed you all. I'm so thankful for everyone who has stuck by my side during this absence and I hope I'm able to make stories again that kept you around before.

I debated for the longest time over what story I wanted to write first. I bounced back and forth between My Hero Academia, Naruto, and One Piece and finally settled on naruto as it's one of the stories I had the most fun writing and one of the stories you all enjoyed the most. I went through so many revisions of this story and juggled so many concept ideas - there's like twenty different versions of "Chouko" in my documents but in the end, I always came back to the original version of herself with a few improvements and added changes.

In this story, there will be things that are changed. Smalls things. One of the things at the moment I'm most confident in changing is Neji's death. I'm still bitter over the loss of Neji if you can't tell. Sakura also won't be reduced to a damsel in distress in this story - none of the girls will. Seriously, everyone female in the series was so bland and was only used to pump up the male characters, and where's the fun in that?

I want to write stories for the movies, too! I think that those could be a lot of fun and I even had an idea for my own movie spin-off eventually.

This first chapter is pretty long! There's new content, there's old content - you get the drill! Chapters won't always be this long. I just usually go overboard with the first chapter lol.

WARNING:The story will have gay relationships. I've said this before but if you read the words gay and think of some big, gay, orgy fetish fic, then you need some help, immediately. Go read a harem if that's what you want. Do something. I swear half the people on this site use gay/lesbian relationships like a fucking kink or fetish, and it's annoying. As someone who is a part of the LGBT+ community, it bugs me when people treat it this way. So let me repeat that this story will have gay relationships, gay, as in two people of the same sex who love each other. So if you don't agree with homosexual relationships, or only like homosexual relationships when they are fucking

This story is not for you.

I'll admit it right now that I hate the pairings in Naruto. They're incredibly bland. They could have been something if they were actually developed and weren't sloppily shoved together in the end.

As a sort of side not please understand that Shikamaru and Chouko's relationship isn't going to blossom in a day. It's pretty much going to non-existent for an extended time. The relationship between Shikamaru and Chouko is mutual friends, who connected through Choji. At the moment, there are no rotating feelings between either of them, not even a crush.

It's still early, and I don't want to rush these kids into a relationship in three chapters. I want to gradually build it up so that when it happens it makes sense and it's satisfying.

Also, there is for future reference there is no relationship between Chouko and Kakashi. You can read it as her having a crush on him or whatever, but there won't be anything like that. If anything, the two have a very playful and sibling-like relationship, with Kakashi being something akin to an annoying older brother in her eyes, that she begrudgingly admires. Just a lot of teasing moments that I can't help but write because I find it adorable. I like the banter between these two and I just don't want people to misinterpret that.

As a final warning, I am in no way a professional writer. I make a hell of a lot of mistakes and sometimes write weirdly, to me, at the very least. It's also been quite some time since I published anything or sat down to write, so I might be a little rusty. Please be kind as I am trying my best to give you a story to enjoy and take part in.

Lastly, please, please, don't badger me to update the story at every given chance. That's one of the worst things you can do as it makes me anxious and I feel like I have to rush the story and then I get sloppy.

Allow me to take my time, please. That's all I ask.

Story Summary: Chouko is ready to spread her wings and enter a new phase of life in which she has just become a ninja. Throughout her journey she'll go through the metamorphosis of life, going from a mere caterpillar to a soaring butterfly.

"The wings of transformation are born of patience and struggle." - Janet S. Dickens

"Chouko! Hey, Chouko! Get up, idiot!"

Eight-year-old Akimichi Chinaru stared impatiently at the unmoving lump of blanket that was his older sister. The young boy balled his hands into fists tapping his bare feet against the wooden floor. The boy let out a long, exaggerated sigh that had him pulling at his messy, spiky dark brown hair. His topaz narrowed dangerously at the fortitude of blankets and pillows that his older sister was currently buried inside. The boy stared a minute longer before a devious smile crawled its way on his face, hands rubbing together like a maniacal villain who just thought of the world's most sinister plan.

The boy reared backward and did a small hop-step before charging the bed fort with a loud battle cry that could wake anyone with the near vicinity. With all the might an eight-year-old child could must he rammed the mighty mountain that toppled over with a girly shriek as the fort came crashing down on the floor in a pile of tangled limbs.

Out from the pile rose a chubby-faced young girl with a head full of spiked, messy, light brown hair. The one with the bed-head groaned as the sudden intrusion of morning light filled her seafoam colored eyes forcing her to shut them tightly, and then slowly reopen them in a drunken sleep state. Tired eyes scanned the room for the one who dares interrupt her sleep, narrowing in on a chubby young boy laughing to the point he was red in the face and unable to make any other noise than drawn-out wheezes.

The girl grumbled under her breath and untangled herself from her bedding. "Ha-ha, you're hilarious, Chinaru." The girl spat sarcastically as she slowly pushed herself away from the floor and stood with a sleepy yawn. "Now knock the laughing off before I tear out your voice box."

Chinaru's laughter stuttered as he took in his sister's deadly, bleary eyes. He instead focused his attention on the cluttered mess of a floor as he whistles innocently, twiddling his fingers and bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"What are you doing in here anyway? What did I say about coming in my room uninvited, you little jerk."

Chinaru stared at his sister as if she had grown another head. "Huh, are you dumb? Have you seriously forgot what today is?" Her dumbfounded stare told him all that he needed to know. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Seriously, Chouko? You're pretty stupid for someone so smart."

"Are you going to answer me or not?!" Chouko snapped with a scowl to her words.

"You're a ninja now, stupid. Your team assignment is today, isn't it? It would suck to show up and find that your team abandoned you because you were too busy sleeping, huh?"

Chouko processed his words slowly for what felt like a long time but was only a moment. When the words finally seemed to click she walked over to her brother wordlessly and before he could ask what she was doing, she had roughly shoved him out of her room and onto his rear in the hallway, slamming the door in his face and walking away from his muffled screaming.

She walked to the center of her room, sucked in a breath, and then let out a yell of frustration as she hurried over to her closet and began to rip out her clothes in search of the outfit her mother had bought for her, specifically for this day. Chouko fought with her wardrobe before successfully pulling out the large box that contained all her new ninja gear that had been a present from her parents for passing the exam, which was fairly easy in her opinion.

Chouko gently pulled out the items and laid them on her bed and then began to dress. She changed from her shorts and oversized shirt into an orange, sleeveless cheongsam with red trimming that fell to her knee with high slits on the side that would allow her to move comfortably. The cheongsam had a pretty pattern on it made of white petal blossoms and small butterflies that her mother had said specifically reminded her of Chouko.

The thought made Chouko smile as she tugged on a pair of black spandex leggings that stopped just short of her ankles. She pulled her sandals from the box and plopped them on her feet. She rolled a bit of bandage over her thighs that were then covered by her new weapon pouches that she proudly wore on both of her legs. She then took the leftover bandage and applied them to her arms, purely for aesthetic reasons, finishing by tugging on a pair of black fingerless gloves.

All the coolest ninja did it.

Lastly, she pulled out the white obi with yellow ribbon and tied it around her waist, and finally, tying a giant yellow ribbon into her hair that had been gifted to her when she was a kid by a friend, or rather, a former friend.

Chouko sighed tying her forehead protector around her neck and sparing a glance in her bedroom mirror. A tan-skinned face marked by orange rectangles on her cheeks, and seafoam eyes stared back at her. She looked down at her outfit that fit her chubby body snuggly making her frown. Her mother and father had taken extra care to make sure the outfit fit her body just right, but Chouko still couldn't help but wonder if it was okay for her to wear something like this. Truthfully, the outfit fir her perfectly, but Chouko would always nitpick over the smallest details about herself.

No matter how perfect the outfit was, she would only ever see the flaws.

Chouko sighed and decided to leave her bedroom, not wanting to show up to the academy with a cloud floating over her head. She passed through the hallway and headed into the kitchen where she knew her family had gathered by now for breakfast. She ignored her brother glaring daggers at her while stuffing his face with egg, not even bothering to wipe away the flecks of rice plastered to his chubby cheeks.

She snickered grabbing a washcloth and aggressively rubbing the rice from his face as he cursed her under his breath, arms flailing around like a distressed wild animal.

"You're welcome!" She quipped taking her place at the table.

The boy angrily blew a raspberry at her while flicking a stray piece of rice straight at her forehead. Chouko hissed and reached out to strangle the small child when she sensed a deadly aura behind her. She slowly craned her neck to see eyes like her staring back in a scrutinized glare that had her body going to stiff. Chouko gulped as she felt her mother's chakra, normally even and calm, fluctuate in a warning.

Akimichi Chihagi smirked seeing her daughter back down and bow her head in apology. She laughed lightly under her breath, tossing her sandy blonde hair over her shoulder. Chihagi like her daughter has seafoam green eyes, and even shares the same rectangular markings on her cheeks as her daughter, though unlike her family she doesn't share their robust form. She leans towards being curvy with a little bit of extra, proudly showing even under the light dress she wore with an apron thrown casually over top, slippers poking out from beneath.

"There's my sleepy little caterpillar! We didn't think you were ever going to join us for breakfast."

Chouko groaned hearing the booming voice. "Dad, that's so lame!" Chouko sighed. "I'm a ninja now. Not some little kid." She grumbled, drawing shapes on the table.

She glanced over at a large, robust man with wild, long, spiked dark brown hair, and brightly lit topaz eyes that were crinkled in a smile. The man scratched at his rounded stomach and walked towards her mother, gently placing a kiss on her cheek before taking his seat at the head of the table. He casually leaned back in his seat greeting his children with morning pleasantries that they returned in kind.

"What time did you got to bed last night, Chou?" Her mother asked turning back to her cooking. "You're not one to carelessly sleep in on a day of importance." She glanced over her shoulder back at her daughter who let out a tired yawn.

"I'm not sure. I was woken up by the alarms." Chouko hummed remembering how the alarms had gone off the night before. "After that, I had a hard time falling back asleep because I couldn't stop thinking about today. We're being assigned our official teams and we're going to meet out Sensei, too. I kind of hope I get on Kurenai's team."

"That would be nice." Chihagi smiled. "She's practically like an aunt to you at this point."

Chihagi and Kurenai have been close friends since their youth. The bond between them has always been strong, and Kurenai has been in Chouko and Chinaru's lives since they were babies. However, Chihagi and Chousei had already met with Chouko's Sensei, and she knew he wouldn't quite be what her daughter expected, or hoped for.

"Kurenai's an amazing kunoichi! I'm going to be just like her one day!" Chouko grinned. "I would have minded being on Asuma-Sensei's team either, though."

"You're too lame for Asuma." Chinaru grumbled, still tenderly rubbing at his sore face.

Chouko stuck her tongue out at him and told him to shut his pie hole.

"Asuma is a fine shinobi and one the best the Leaf has to offer!" Chousei boomed proudly. "Though I've heard that he'll be leading this generation Ino-Shika-Cho formation..."

The Ino-Shika-Cho formation is a technique developed by members of the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi clans, developed after their long history of working together. It's a formation designed to bring out the abilities of each clan and bring them together in flawless unison. It would only make sense that the tradition is passed down to kids of the head of the clan.

Chouko snickered at her father's crestfallen face. He was only upset because he and Asuma like her mother and Kurenai are also friends, and her father takes great admiration in him. She would bet her life that her father had hoped she'd be placed on his team for bragging rights.

Her mother chided her father playfully before setting a plate of tamagoyaki and rice before her. Chouko's mouth salivated at the smell of the food as she eagerly dug in, finishing in record-breaking time as her mother handed her another dish, affectionately ruffling her hair. Chouko was incredibly biased when it came to her mother's cooking, finding it to be the best thing in the world and that nothing compared to it.

When Chouko had her fill she said her goodbyes to her family. She grabbed her lunch bento from her mother and rushed out the door towards the academy where a bundle of nerves danced around her stomach.

She wondered what her new team would be like.

Nara Shikamaru was in usual seat at the academy that had quickly become his favorite. It made it easy for him to nod off when class got too boring and was in a position situated from the rowdier and loudest of the bunch, minus one who sat opposite of him - the loud-mouthed Yamanaka Ino, while the other side was occupied by his best friend, Akimichi Choji, who was snacking away on his barbecue chips while listening to Ino ramble on about pointless nonsense that neither cared about. Shikamaru yawned scanning the classroom with the same tired expression he always wore on his face. They were going to be assigned their squads today and meet their Sensei for the time. It was all pointless to Shikamaru since he could easily tell who would be grouped. The most obvious of all was his team, who would carry on the Ino-Shika-Cho formation, while their Sensei would mostly likely hail from the Sarutobi clan. It wouldn't be too burdensome if they didn't have Ino's loudmouth to deal with, no doubt bound to get them in trouble whenever given the chance.

Anyone who knew Shikamaru would know that he would rather be at home in bed, or even playing Shogi with his father, anywhere but here, listening to Ino and Haruno Sakura argue tirelessly back and forth about who would be paired with Uchiha Sasuke.

It was Sakura, that much Shikamaru could guarantee.

Ino wouldn't be happy about it.

What did the girls of their age even seen in that guy? He was cold to everyone and rude. In all the years they've attended the academy together he barely even acknowledges them and yet, every girl in the vicinity wanted to marry him for reasons that were unknown even to someone like Shikamaru.

Well, maybe not everyone.

There were a few girls that ignored the boy. The Hyuuga girl, Hinata, was one but Shikamaru felt it hardly counted since everyone with eyes could see she was head over heels in love with Uzumaki Naruto. Shikamaru felt some form of pity for the girl, knowing someone like Naruto had no real interest in her, and that her feelings would go unrequited. Maybe in an alternate timeline. Shikamaru puffed out a sigh and looked elsewhere around the room for someone of interest and found them as they came rushing into the room out of breath and singing a song of curses. He ignored the chorus of laughter aimed at the girl as his head tilted, watching her scurry over to an unoccupied seat with her head ducked and a blush set on her tanned face.

When she made it to her seat she slouched down and cradled her chubby cheeks in her hands, looking around the class as if waiting for someone. Shikamaru knew the girl. Akimichi Chouko, the distant cousin of Chouko and one of the quieter girls of their class...sometimes, she did have her moments when she was around a certain blond-haired ball of hyperactivity.

Chouko to Shikamaru was one of the cuter girls in the class. She wasn't too pretty and wasn't too ugly, which to Shikamaru was good enough when it came to his taste in girls, not that he considered the idea of dating at the moment. From what he knew about Chouko was that she mostly kept to herself. She wasn't shy, she just didn't interact with many, except for one obnoxious blonde that everyone else went out of their way to avoid. She didn't bother anyone and in return, no one bothered her (minus two annoying fangirls) and she seemed happy that way, even now as she looked out the window, watching the clouds pass by. It was a habit she most likely picked up spending time with him and Choji back when they were kids, though she slowly drifted from the two in recent years.

Chouko was a wild card to Shikamaru. He never knew what to expect from her. She was someone who always tried to stay calm and collected, someone who brought balance and a sense of calm where she went, and then she had her moments where that would crumble, and she would let loose and let everything she had been holding in out in a spur of the moment frenzy, that she always seemed to regret and mull over later.

She was complicated, but it was far from a bad thing.

It was almost as if she could feel him staring at her as she turned around and looked directly into his eyes. Shikamaru froze. What did he do now? She had already caught him so looking away would be pointless, but he didn't feel like making awkward and pointless conversation, either.

What a drag.

He mulled over his choices in his head only snapping from his thoughts when he heard a quiet laugh from her. She gave him a smile and a wave and she quickly turned back to what she was doing with a pleasant smile on her face. Shikamaru blinked. If that had been any other girl like Ino or Sakura they would have gotten mad at him for staring or called him out on it. Then again, Chouko wasn't like that.

She wasn't one for stirring up drama or one who got a kick out of it.

She was just...different, somehow.

Shikamaru's lips curled into a smile and he turned his attention back the front of the room.

He liked different.

Chouko had arrived to class later than she would have liked out of breath from rushing to get to the academy. Little beads of sweat threaded her eyebrows as she scurried to an empty desk while ignoring the taunting jabs of people who had nothing better to do with their time. She sighed slumping down in her desk, resting her face in her hands as she looked around the room for her source of entertainment who had yet to show.

Chouko pouted turning her attention to the outside view. The sky was the perfect shade of blue with the puffiest clouds they had seen in days. Chouko spent her passing time making them into shapes, sometimes games if she were bored enough. In truth, she was just giving herself a distraction from the anxieties she was beginning to feel.

She was a ninja now. After today her life was officially going to change forever...for better, or worse. All morning she had been thinking about the team she'd be placed on and the Sensei they'd be given. She had been praying she wouldn't be put on a team with Sasuke's biggest fangirls being Sakura and Ino. She and Sakura didn't get along at all and while her relationship with Ino was tolerable, she didn't think she'd be able to stand listening to her nagging all the time while also having to deal with her bossy attitude.

Chouko sighed and found herself being lured away from the comfort of the window. She froze when she felt her neck stiffen and her body tense. A tingle of a sensation pricked at her skin telling her that something wasn't right. It wasn't necessarily unpleasant this feeling, no, there was no sense of foreboding or threat of danger.

It felt rather relaxing in fact.

A feeling that put her at ease and made her body relax.

The feel of someone...lackadaisical.

Shikamaru.

Chouko turned around in her seat and locked eyes with the Nara boy who looked like a deer caught in the middle of the woods. His expression of being caught off guard was cute and Chouko had to stifle a laugh. Shikamaru was no doubt the smartest kid in the whole academy, and the laziest one too. He had the brains to do anything he put his mind to, but no energy to do it. Still, she liked Shikamaru, she guessed. They used to play as kids, or lounge around on any grass hill they could find with a view of the clouds. Choji had introduced the two. It's been a while since she spent time with him or Choji. Everyone seemed to have drifted apart as they got older and started focusing more on their ninja studies.

She wouldn't mind being placed on a team with him but knew there was no chance of it happening. Choji would be the one to go on to create the newest generation of the 'Ino-Shika-Cho', as he was next to be seated as clan head and really, that suited her just fine.

When he didn't look away Chouko smiled, waved, and turned back to continue her cloud gazing.

"Chouko! Hey Chouko!"

Chouko let out a loud squeak and nearly jumped out of her skin as her arm was sucked into a vice grip, and the feeling of warmth bathed her as the seat next to her was taken. She found herself smiling as the savory scent of tangy ramen filled her nose and hair bright as sunshine blinded her version.

Naruto.

Chouko smiled, happily leaning into the over bubbly blonde as he babbled on to her at a thousand miles per minute about anything and everything that came to his mind. Uzumaki Naruto, her very best friend. He was a radiant beam of human-sunshine in her dreary life. They had met when they were small. Chouko had always been warned to stay away from him, but his chakra was so warm and inviting that she couldn't help but be curious. How could a boy with such a warm chakra be evil? Against the better wishes of her elders, she had approached the boy and learned more about him and decided, that the adults were stupid and that there was nothing evil or scary about Uzumaki Naruto.

He was only a child, scared, and lonely, who needed a friend.

Chouko didn't have many friends before she met Naruto. There were only a few people who ever played with her that weren't Choji which never really counted in her mind because he's family - family is supposed to do that, right? And by extension, Shikamaru, his best friend. They were always kind to her but Chouko always felt out of place. More often than not she felt more like a tag-along that they felt obligated to let join in. Of course, now, she knows that's not the case, but it's hard to get those feelings out of your mind when you're young and impressionable.

Naruto, on the other hand, has always been dead last of the class. The kid who always got in trouble did poorly in school and spent his time pulling pranks. The village hated him and nobody liked him, nobody played with him, nobody respected him. He was all alone. It was as if that entire village had come together one day and decided to shun him, and Chouko never understood how someone could look at Naruto - look into those innocent baby blues - and say such hurtful things about such a kind and caring soul.

People looked at Chouko differently when she started to be friends with Naruto, but that was fine with her. Naruto was her friend, and the opinion of some snot-nosed adults and bratty kids with a stick up there ass would never change that, ever.

Naruto had such a warmth to him that made her want to believe that anything was possible and that everything would be alright.

"You seem more excited than usual today. What's got you in such high spirits, Naruto?" Chouko turned to face her friend with a palm pressed to her chubby face. "Are you that excited to be assigned a squad?"

Naruto grinned and bobbled his head excitedly. Chouko laughed at him.

"Believe it! I hope I get to be put on a team with Sakura!" Naruto said, a dreamy smile coiling onto his face.

Chouko and the blond glanced down to the first row where a raven-haired boy sits glaring into space before him. Standing beside him was a pink-haired girl who fidgeted nervously as she looks from the boy and to the seat next to him. She seemed to have an inner debate with herself and when she finally settled on taking the seat she was interrupted by a loud, blonde-haired girl which immediately sparked a fight between the two of them. A verbal clash occurred between the two in a battle of who would get to sit next to the angst-ridden boy who could care less about either of them.

The grandest of prizes in a room full of hormonal teenage girls with no self-respect.

Chouko rolled her eyes. Sasuke's fangirls were the worst...but Sakura and Ino, they were on a whole different level. All they ever talked about was Sasuke this and Sasuke that, and frankly, she was sick of hearing it...but, the idea of being attacked by a mass of hormonal teenage girls, didn't appeal to her.

"What does Sakura see in that Uchiha bastard?!" Naruto pouted.

"A pretty face packed with depression." Chouko sighed. "How do I explain this?" Chouko hummed, leaning forward some. "Sakura is still young and immature which is a nice way of saying 'dumb'. Right now she doesn't fully grasp the concept of romance and only sees a pretty face. Ino, as well as all the other girls, play a part in it too." She pointed Naruto to the crowd of squealing girls. "It's like a race, you see, all of them are fighting to see who will be the one to claim Sasuke's heart, and in doing so some have even managed to trick themselves into believing that they love him, like Sakura and Ino. But they don't. None of them do. They'll realize this, eventually. Right now they're just young, competitive, and incredibly stupid and questioning themselves."

She looked to Sakura's face that looked a little too pink "glaring" at the blonde.

Chouko cast a glance at Naruto to see if he had heard anything she said and of course, he didn't. He continued to stare love-struck at the pink-haired girl. Chouko rolled her eyes with a small shake of her head. She leaned back in her seat and folded her hands in her lap. It was funny because, in many ways, Naruto was the same as Sakura and Ino. He never really had a crush on Sakura, until he found out that she had a crush on Sasuke, and suddenly he was head-over-heels in love with her.

It was ridiculous.

None of them knew was love was. They were all too young and had much more important things to focus on - like trying to survive, in a world filled with a killer ninja who will jump at the chance to add you to their body count.

Morbid, but true.

Chouko jumped as the earlier feeling struck her like a truck. She turned around in her seat to find that Choji and Shikamaru had moved up and were now sitting behind her and Naruto. Shikamaru was leaned forward on the desk lazily holding his head while Choji was munching on a bag of potato chips next to him - barbecue, Chouko was sure.

"That's a better explanation than what I was thinking." The Nara boy said staring at the arguing girls.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

Shikamaru glanced at the horde of fangirls and then back to Chouko.

"About that." He said nodding towards them. "That's it's just a big game that no one's aware of, or they aren't acknowledging it. I figured they were all drawn to his cool mysterious facade he's always putting on. Girls like that kind of stuff, don't they?" Shikamaru shrugged.

He never understood the appeal of the lone Uchiha, but then again, he never really cared all that much to look more into it, either.

"Don't look at me for the answer. Girls are complicated - coming from a girl. I mean I kind of get it but at the same time I don't." Chouko laughed. "It's pretty rude though to go and assume that all girls are the same, Shikamaru."

"Don't tell me you're going to start nagging me too." The Nara boy sighed. "You girls are so troublesome." He smirked, reaching into Choji's bag of chips and grabbing one for himself and tossing the other to Chouko. "I guess you're not as bothersome, sometimes. You can get pretty loud when you're around Naruto though."

Chouko snatched the chip with a smile and tossed it into her mouth. "Wow, I'm so flattered." She rolled her eyes playfully as she turned back around in her seat feeling her anxieties from earlier disperse as she idly traded banter back and forth with the group of boys.

It reminded her of when they were kids, and they would all play together. It was usually herself, Choji, Shikamaru, Kiba with the addition of Akamaru, and Naruto, who she would drag along with her. It made her nervous at first how the others would react to him, but they never treated him badly or pushed him away - Kiba and Naruto would argue over dumb things, but he was far from malicious to him - and she could see how happy it made Naruto, to be able to play with the others kids without having to worry about getting beat up or bullied.

Chouko smiled thinking about the past and before she knew it time had flown by and Iruka-Sensei had strolled into the classroom. Chouko had fallen asleep during this time and was awoken by Choji giving her a poke in the back. She woke with a jolt, and drool dribbling down her chin. She was snapped awake hearing the laughter from her classmates, and quickly wiped the drool from her face and ducked her head from their vision to hide the rosy blush on her chubby cheeks.

She would remember to go to bed extra early tonight.

Chouko only half-listened to everything Iruka-Sensei was telling them. All she cared about was learning about who she'd be grouped with, and she prayed to every God above that she wouldn't get stuck with someone like Sasuke. She didn't hate Sasuke. She wouldn't say she didn't like him, either, she didn't know how she felt him anymore. As a kid, he was cheerful and innocent but after everything that happened, he became cold and cruel and looked down on everyone. His chakra used to be so calm, like that of a river flowing perfectly through him but now, it was more like a rushing torrent waiting to burst through him at any given moment.

She would admit that Sasuke would make a powerful ally. He was incredibly skilled and the best in their class for a reason. He was someone you wanted on your side and didn't want to make an enemy out of.

"We tried our best to make sure the teams were balanced however due to an error in student counting there will be one team with an uneven amount of students." Said Iruka. "Okay, the next team is Team Seven..." Iruka-sensei continued to read trailing off as he went over the names.

Chouko perked up slightly.

"Haruno Sakura."

Haruno Sakura was one of Sasuke's biggest fangirls and supporters. Her obsession with the boy was annoying, even if it was just a stupid game she wouldn't admit to with her dying breath. Chouko didn't like her all that much anymore. That and Sakura had never really excelled in much, that she has seen in recent years. She was pretty much average though when she thought hard about it, she was pretty smart, and picked up on things quickly. She knew Sakura had potential. She had seen it, and it's being wasted on something as petty as a pretty boy.

Sakura wouldn't be a bad comrade to have if you distanced her from Sasuke and forced her to work on improving.

Chouko was someone that Sakura liked to put down to build herself up. Chouko tried to excuse it thinking that perhaps Sakura had her deep-rooted issues and it was easier to take it out on her, but whenever she started to put down Naruto, that's when Chouko stepped in.

Make fun of her all you want but never Naruto. She wouldn't stand around and let him be bullied if she could help in some way.

Even if the whole village was against him she would always remain by his side.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Chouko had to plug her ears when Naruto let out a horrendous scream of excitement. Once he had calmed down she removed her hands from her ears with a frown on her face. There was no chance of her being paired with Naruto now since the squads were always three-man cells with one female and two males. It was rare that a four-man cell was established, and even then there was usually only one female. So knowing that she wouldn't be able to grow as a ninja with her best friend had damaged her mood greatly. The idea of being teamed with Naruto was one of the main selling points of her wanting to become a ninja.

They're supposed to be ninja buddies, damn it!

'Now what? Naruto and I promised to become ninja together.' Chouko thought to herself.

She would have been ashamed of the pouty face she was making, had not her ninja dreams just been crushed.

Naruto frowned when he saw how crestfallen Chouko looked. He was excited to be on a team with Sakura, but it wouldn't be the same without Chouko. Naruto sighed and leaned against Chouko, something he had grown accustomed to doing since they were kids. Chouko always said his chakra was warm even if he didn't know what that meant, and Naruto thought Chouko had the perfect bod for cuddling.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura was the one cheering now. Chouko felt sorry for Naruto. He was paired with his biggest quote-on-quote "rival", and the girl of his delusional little daydream who hated his guts with a burning passion.

Poor Naruto.

Chouko consoled her friend by running her chubby fingers through his thick, blond hair that was always so soft, and warm. It was like running her fingers through actual sunshine. She smiled lightly, ignoring those who stared at the two of them.

"And finally, Akimichi Chouko. The four of you will make a four-man cell. While it is uncommon, it's not unheard of." Iruka-sensei told them. "You'll have your work cut out for you and have to work hard while minding your Sensei, ya hear? Lord Hokage was very confident in this decision so don't go messing it up!"

They all gave some form of acknowledgment to which Iruka nodded. He looked back down at his clipboard with a frown. He was opposed to the odd team combination but knew better than to question the judgment of the Hokage. Four-Man cells were all but non-existent for a reason but when Iruka had tried to argue this the Hokage had silenced him, adamant in his decision of the odd team.

None of their personalities clicked together, but academically wise, they all perfectly balanced each other out, and that lead to the decision for them to be the four-man squad, Iruka figured.

He wished Kakashi the best of luck.

He sure as hell was going to need it.

"Eh, say that again?"

Chouko couldn't believe her ears.

She glanced at Naruto who was beaming at her, and then over at Sakura who was glaring, probably upset that she wasn't the only female on Sasuke's team anymore, not that Chouko was interested in him. And then Sasuke offered her a meek glare before going back to ignoring her and the rest of their team.

"Oh boy, this is going to be an absolute disaster," Chouko said though she was smiling. "I just may have the work luck ever!" She laughed not sure if she should be excited or fearful of her current situation.

"Hey, hey, Chouko! Looks like we're teammates after all!" Naruto grinned sticking his thumbs up. "Let's do our best, okay?"

"Okay, Naruto, I'll do my best." Chouko smiled at him, returning the gesture.

One smile was all it took to reassure her that everything would be fine.

When lunchtime had rolled its head around the group of Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru had all gone out to the balcony to eat their lunches. Shikamaru was sitting against the outside of the rail with one leg crossed over the other and his arm hanging limply over the rail. He was chewing on one of the riceballs that Choji's mother, Amaiko, had made for them while simultaneously listening to Ino rant and rave at the same time.

The girl was such a headache.

Ino deciding she had enough of the silence, jumped up from her seat and glared condescendingly at the two boys who paid no mind to her as they ate their lunches.

"Alright! If we are going to be in the same group then you two are going to have to follow my lead. It's the only way this mess will ever work." She said in a bossy way that only Ino seemed to know how to do.

Shikamaru scoffed. "Yeah, yeah." He shook her off choosing to focus on his riceball instead. 'It's the only way it will work because she'll throw a murderous fit if she doesn't get her way.' Shikamaru thought to himself.

"Why don't you lead us to some barbeque Ino!" Chouji said with a mouthful of food.

"Hopeless!" The blonde cried.

Shikamaru would have fired back at her had the sight of a familiar chubby girl caught his attention. It was Chouko. She looked exhausted and annoyed and Shikamaru bet it had to do with her new team. Throughout the class, she had to keep Naruto from mauling Sasuke and then had to deal with Ino and Sakura glaring at her the whole time and raising hell.

Chouko grumbled to herself while idly tossing an apple up and down. Her seafoam eyes looked around everywhere in search of something but came up empty.

Suddenly she came to a halt and sighed. "I take back everything I said. I have the worst luck." She said and took a small bite of the apple. "Some team we're shaping up to be. Can't even do something as simple as have lunch together." She groaned looking at the sky for a minute before her gaze fell back down onto the apple she had been previously eating.

A sour look crossed her face as she tossed it into a nearby trash can. She's not a fan of sour flavors the Nara boy noted to the part of his brain that was reserved for the odd Akimichi girl.

"Shikamaru! Have you heard anything I've said just now?!" Ino demanded with hands on her hips. She peered over his shoulder wondering just what had caused him to become so distracted. "What are you looking at?" She asked. "Is that Chouko? Why are you always staring at her?"

"None of your business. Don't you have someone else to annoy?

Shikamaru sighed and rolled his eyes. Why the hell did she care to know? It wasn't like it was any of her business to know such trivial things anyway.

Ino smirked leaning over the rail to yell at the girl.

"Chouko! Hey! Up here!" Ino yelled while waving her arms around in a comedic fashion.

"What the hell are you doing?" Shikamaru glared at her.

Chouko jumped a little and cursed, startled by Ino's yelling. She spun around and caught sight of the trio that eased her worry into a smile.

"Ah, Ino, Choji, Shikamaru!" She greeted all of them in kindness.

"Wanna have lunch with us?" Ino asked.

What the heck was she planning in that thick skull of hers? He wouldn't admit it, but Shikamaru was a bit curious.

Chouko seemed to look around for a minute before shrugging. "Not like my team is showing up anytime soon..." She grumbled and walked towards a tree near the balcony. "Sure, hang on a minute!"

She wiped the apple juice from her hand and leaped upwards grabbing onto a sturdy branch that was sticking out. She looked at the balcony with a focused gaze, her body started to rock back and forth and before anyone could ask what she was doing she swung forward, grabbing onto the rail and hoisting herself over, landing with a surprisingly, delicate flip.

They all stared at her.

"What?" She blinked as her face drained of color. "Do I...have something on my face?!" Chouko asked panicking at the thought of her lunch being smeared all over her face - that would be so embarrassing!

It wasn't that. No one expected her...to be so nimble. The Akimichi family weren't exactly known for their grace.

The only one who didn't seem surprised at all was Choji, who smiled and complimented her on her landing.

"You could have just come in through the door like a normal person." Ino sighed and pointed to the door behind her.

"We're ninja Ino," She said with a bashful laugh. "Nothing we do is normal."

"She got you there." Choji laughed stuffing another riceball in his mouth. Chouko grinned and at him and plopped down beside him. She leaned against him and rested her head against his shoulder as Choji leaned his head against her own. "Want one?" He offered.

"Riceballs? Did Aunt Amaiko make these? Hell yeah!" Chouko grinned and greedily stuffed one of the delicious riceballs in her mouth. "So good! So much better than mine! I always make them too sticky or I always make them too sweet." Chouko gagged. "Aunt Amaiko's are always just right!"

'She can't cook.' Shikamaru added to his list of growing notes.

"I think your riceballs are pretty good, Chou" Choji said thoughtfully.

"You're too kind, Cho." Chouko sighed. "Never change."

"Rodger!" Choji saluted, before panicking as he almost let his riceball fall, making Chouko laugh.

Shikamaru smiled watching the cousins interact. One would think they were brother and sister with how close they were. It always amused Shikamaru with how different the two were, and yet, how alike they were. Maybe that's why he found her to be so interesting?

That was probably it.

Ino spun around and faced the girl with a mischievous smile on her face.

This could only spell disaster.

"So, Chouko, how is your team doing? Mine is awesome as you can tell!" She spoke through gritted teeth. "Are you all getting along with one another?"

Chouko didn't answer right away.

Instead, she ate her riceball, extra slow, to annoy the prodding blonde. When she finished she cocked her head to the side and smiled.

"You want answers? Well, that all depends on what you have inside your bento." Chouko smirked at the irritating blonde.

Ino cocked a hip out and smirked down at her.

"Show me yours and I'll show you mine!"

"Oh, come on Ino! You didn't have to say it like that!"

The blonde giggled as the two exchanged bento boxes. The only thing of interest Chouko found in Ino's were the dorayaki cakes that she eagerly snatched up. Ino, on the other hand, had zeroed in on Chouko's cherry tomatoes and pudding. The two exchanged bento boxes again, pleased with their new treats.

"Chihaga always makes the best pudding!" Ino sighed happily. "If I ate delicious food like this all the time I'd get super fat!"

Chouko rolled her eyes. "It's practically in an Akimichi's blood to know how to cook, well, most of us, anyway," Chouko grumbled bitterly as she had taken after her father's inability to cook.

She would burn water.

"What did you want to know?" Chouko asked biting into her newfound dorayaki.

Ino took a minute to swallow down her food before answering.

"How close is billboard brow getting to Sasuke?"

"I should have known." Chouko scuffed. "You have nothing to worry about. Sasuke, like always, isn't interested. So you don't need to worry about losing the game anytime soon, huh?"

Shikamaru and Choji laughed.

Ino's face turned red and her brows angrily knitted together. "I don't know what you're talking about!" Ino tried to deny it but Chouko wasn't buying it. "And my feelings are not a game!" She fervently denied though they all knew the truth.

"Neither is Sasuke's," Chouko said. "What you all are doing is wrong. Sasuke is human. Not a toy for you to play with until you get bored."

Chouko glared at the blonde who fell silent.

"If you want to know so bad Ino you can just ask! He's right over there."

Choji pointed to the building across from them breaking the tense moment. Sure enough, there was Sasuke with his back to them, eating what looked like a rice ball stuffed with tomatoes.

Gross. Chouko didn't care for tomatoes, at all.

Shikamaru glanced over at Chouko. She was glaring at the back of the Uchiha's head with needles made of piercing venom. The sight of such a harsh glare on her chubby face was...adorable, and almost made him laugh, but instead, he shook his head and went back to minding his own business.

Ino could learn a thing or two about that.

"Well, one idiot down, one fangirl to go, and one loveable knucklehead yet to be seen."

Chouko cursed her teammates in her head and was ready to dig into another of Amaiko's riceballs when she suddenly sensed a familiar warm chakra. She couldn't see him yet but she could feel him. Her eyes fell shut as she searched for him. She found him, creeping along the alleys until he finally came creeping along the open road and silently crawled through the open window that Sasuke had his back to.

"What the hell are you up to, Naru?" Chouko eyes snapped open as she turned towards the open window. She could practically feel it coming when Naruto suddenly tackled Sasuke to the ground out of their vision.

Chouko sighed heavily while the others seemed taken back.

It wasn't unlike Naruto to do something this dumb. One day he was going to take his pranks too far and somehow, she knew he would involve her in it like always. She couldn't complain too much though since they were pretty fun sometimes.

"Naruto! If you so much as scratch him you are on my enemy list forever!" Ino shouted though he hadn't heard.

"Wouldn't want your prize getting damaged, huh?" Chouko snorted.

It was a minute later when 'Sasuke' clumsily leaped out of the window leading the others to believe had won the fight. Chouko wasn't so sure. There was something off about 'Sasuke' that had her narrowing her eyes in suspicion. His chakra was all different. It didn't flow like a river and it wasn't cool.

It was warm, like a certain ninja she knew all too well.

"He beat Naruto without even breaking a sweat," Shikamaru said leaning away from the railing.

"What did you expect? Naruto against my boy Sasuke? No contest." Ino stretched her arms out and smirked.

"You're wrong," Chouko said making them all turn and look at her. "That's not Sasuke." She groaned.

"What are you talking about? Of course, that's Sasuke!" Ino scowled at her, "You think Naruto could beat Sasuke?! Get real, Chouko! There's no way that deadbeat could put a scratch on Sasuke!"

Chouko shot Ino a glare and waited for 'Sasuke' to leave. When he was out of sight she leaped the distance from the building to the other that Sasuke had been eating his lunch in. Of course instead of finding a beaten Naruto like the others had been expecting, she instead found Sasuke on the floor, all tied up and looking extremely annoyed that he had been tricked by Kohona's number one knuckle-headed ninja: Uzumaki Naruto.

Chouko blinked. "This...isn't what I was expecting." She said trying to bite back a snicker. "Your little fanbase would had a field day if they found out you were into this kind of thing, Sasuke-Kun~"

Sasuke was always acting too cocky and arrogant and the fact that he had fallen victim to Naruto's little prank tickled her funny bone.

Sasuke glared at her and seemed to say with his eyes 'untie me now!' behind a murderous gaze.

"Geez, at least say please." Chouko rolled her eyes and pulled a kunai out from one of her weapon pouches. She crouched down low beside the Uchiha and gently slid her kunai beneath the rope. "Stop struggling so much! You'll make me cut you." She scolded the squirming worm who calmed, allowing her to gently cut through the rope. "So...how did he do this?" Chouko motioned to the rope that now lay slashed on the ground.

Sasuke was momentarily mute. He rubbed at his wrists with an almost thoughtful expression.

"Shadow Clones..." Sasuke admitted reluctantly.

Shadow Clones?

What?

The other day Naruto didn't even know how to make a single clone! Now he was making clones? When had this happened and why hadn't he told her?

She felt hurt.

"Let me help you find him." She offered. "I know Naruto better than anyone else, and it beats sitting around here doing nothing."

She didn't mind having lunch with Team Ten though, even if it was just a way for Ino to weasel information about Sasuke out her, they were still kind of fun to be around.

"I don't need your help." Sasuke hissed at her. "I can find that loser on my own."

"Oh, can you, Sasuke? Let's not forget if it weren't for me you would still be tied up right now." Chouko folded her arms over her chest with a challenging smirk. "Not only that, I just happened to see Naruto run by disguised as you. Where do you think he'd be going like that, Sasuke? Perhaps to visit a pink-haired girl head over heels in love -" She snickered as she held up air quotations " - with you, disguised as you?"

Sasuke twitched and seemed to think for a minute.

"Whatever. Just don't slow me down." He scoffed and took the lead.

"Aye-aye!" Chouko saluted. "Yes, Sir, Uchiha Sir!"

Sasuke scowled already regretting his decision of letting the idiot girl help him.

She was just like Naruto.

"Chouko is crazy if she thinks that Naruto could actually beat Sasuke. He can't even make a proper clone!" Ino laughed and stared at the window waiting for Chouko to come out and announce she was wrong.

Chouko did come out, but not with the dejected face that she had been expecting but instead a cocky smirk that screamed 'I told you so!' that Ino wanted to smack off her fat face.

Sasuke was right behind her looking more annoyed than ever.

"S-Sasuke?!" Ino puttered.

"No way! Naruto beat him?" Shikamaru blinked back his disbelief.

'Observant', he added to the list that seemed to be steadily growing today. 'Or maybe just has special senses when it comes to Naruto...'

"I believed her." Choji said eating his last riceball, "No one knows Naruto better than Chouko."

Chouko waved to them as she grabbed Sasuke by the wrist dragging him away. "Come on, Sir Grump! I'm pretty sure Naruto went this way!" She yelled pulling him along.

When Sasuke and Chouko were out of sight Ino let out a frustrated scream. "I hate her!" She yelled stamping her foot angrily, "She thinks she's so smart! How the hell was I supposed to know that wasn't Sasuke!"

Shikamaru sighed, "What a drag."

It had taken some time but they were eventually able to track down Sakura who was sitting on a bench looking lovesick. Chouko took it as a sign that Naruto had been there. She called out to the pink-haired girl who frowned when seeing her, and then twisting her frown into a scowl when she noticed Sasuke walking alongside her.

"Sasuke you're back!" Sakura beamed ignoring Chouko in favor of Sasuke. "Come on now, don't be so shy, you bad, bad, boy! So are you ready now? You know, mentally prepared? Because I am! I, uh, mean that I'm raring to go!..."

'This is...so pathetic. Better move along to make this less awkward for her.' Chouko cringed.

Sakura's face fell as Sasuke and Chouko walked right past her. "H-Hey! Wait a minute!" She yelled desperately.

Chouk nudged Sasuke who stopped and glared at her. Chouko rolled her eyes and pointed back at Sakura. She wasn't going to tell her anything.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke asked slightly annoyed by Sakura's persistence and Chouko's general presence.

"Oh, see, there you go changing subjects again!" Sakura smirked coyly. "You know why he is so annoying? It's because he wasn't raised right." Sakura said.

Chouko stiffened and glared coldly at her. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She didn't like the direction this conversation was going.

Sakura knew just as well as Chouko that Naruto didn't have any family.

"He doesn't have a mother or father. There's no one to teach him wrong from right. Think about it! All he ever does is just do whatever comes right into his head." She wagged her finger around. "If I did things as Naruto does then I'd get in big trouble! My parents would be furious, so of course, I don't do it. But if you don't have parents to tell you how would you know? He's selfish and bratty and he's all alone!"

Chouko felt rage fill her veins as she stomped towards the pinkette.

Talk shit about her? That's fine.

Talk shit about Naruto? May the gates of hell have mercy on your soul.

"Of all the horrible and nasty things to ever come out your mouth - this is the worst!" Chouko shouted grabbing Sakura by the front of her dress. "Not everyone has the luxury of having their parents as you do, Sakura! What the in the actual hell is wrong with you to say something so horrible?! You should know by now that this world is unpredictable and that anything can happen at any given moment, then how would you feel? And just who the hell do you think you are you judge Naruto!? You don't know anything about him or the things he has been through!"

Sakura's eyes widened. "G-Get off of me!" She shouted shoving Chouko away.

The normally calm Akimichi girl looked like a wild animal at the moment and it terrified Sakura.

"Alone? I still hate it. It's not about your parents scolding you. You have no idea what it means to be alone." Sasuke said through clenched teeth and balled fists.

It was like someone tossed a stone into the river as it rippled in a warning. Chouko frowned, calming herself down as a drifting wind passed by distracting her for a moment as she watched leaves harmlessly float past them.

"What? Why are you saying that?" Sakura almost looked offended as if Sasuke had said something wrong to her.

"Because," Sasuke turned and glared at her, "You're annoying." And with that Sasuke walked away leaving Sakura wide-eyed and broken.

Chouko sighed and stepped up to the girl while fighting down her feelings of anger.

"You don't know anything about Sasuke, do you? If you did you wouldn't have just said all that. All you've done is angered him and me. Do you even hear what comes out of your mouth, Sakura? Maybe you should try and think about other people's feelings for once instead of your own. Is this stupid game you're playing that important that you're willing to put other people's feelings to the side, for your selfish desires?"

And like Sasuke, Chouko walked away leaving the pinkette to think about what she said.

Chouko and the rest of Team Seven met up back at the academy after lunch. Things had calmed down since then and Sakura was thankfully being quiet for the time being. Chouko slumped in her seat on the far side of the room nearest to the window. She gazed longingly outside at the fat puffy clouds. She'd much rather be out there, blissfully watching the clouds roll by and listening to the humming of the while the grass danced around her skin .

Anything was better than this.

Chouko looks away from the sky as she caught sight of Team Ten and Asuma-Sensei. She was very familiar with Sarutobi Asuma, a sort of uncle-figure to her. She saw him and Kurenai quite a bit since they were friends with her parents. It was no surprise that he ended up being the leader of Squad Ten. He was the perfect fit, and honestly, she was a little jealous. Chouko hummed knocking loudly on the glass. It took a minute but eventually, the outside group stopped and looked around for the source of the noise. It was Choji who spotted her, waving his arms around in the air and shouting something that she couldn't hear while Shikamaru gave a lazy wave and Ino huffed, turning away and pretending she didn't exist.

Asuma-sensei gave a nod of acknowledgment and a small smile. Chouko grinned and waved them away as she felt a sense of dread fill her. Sure enough, as she turned around she found half of the team causing trouble, again.

"Naruto! Sit down!"

Chouko sighed loudly.

What were they arguing about now?

Naruto stood in front of the door looking rather impatient with their Sensei's tardiness and Sasuke and Sakura looked annoyed in general.

She couldn't blame them she guessed, their Sensei was three hours late.

Didn't Iruka-Sensei say their Sensei was a Jonin? Shouldn't they more...punctual?

"I don't want to!" Naruto whined. "How come our Sensei is the only one who's late? I'm ready to role, believe it! The other students have already met their Sensei and took off on some cool adventure, or something! Iruka-sensei is gone too!"

"We already know that, Naru." Chouko frowned. "But there isn't much we can do. It's not like we can just leave, ya know? Hey, Naruto, are you even listening to me?!"

Chouko groaned watching Naruto attempting to pull another of his pranks. Hadn't he learned by now? He always got caught, and always got into trouble. Sighing, she crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. He was going to have to learn one day that his actions had consequences.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Sakura demanded with hands pressed against her hips. "Naruto!"

"This is what he gets for coming late - surprise!" Naruto grinned and jumped from the chair he was standing on.

Chouko didn't think their Sensei would fall for a simple trick like that.

"You're asking for trouble. You know you shouldn't do that!" Miss-Goody-Two-Shoes scolded, but it was clear that she was just as excited as Naruto.

That was another thing that Chouko couldn't stand about Sakura, is that she was always putting Naruto down. It didn't matter how kind he was to her, she always brushed him aside and treated him as a lower-class citizen, and went out of her way to humiliate him.

"Our teacher is a Jonin, an Elite Ninja. You think he'd fall for that?" Sasuke's hands were folded in front of his face, and his eyes were closed.

"Yeah! Sasuke's right, Naruto! You're so clueless."

"Why are you like this? You're just as excited as Naruto is about this. Stop trying to act like you're better than we are." Chouko frowned with folded arms. "Is this really how you want people to see you, Sakura?"

Chouko let her shoulders slump as a feeling of nostalgia washed over her. What happened to the girl who used to be so determined to become a strong kunoichi?

Sakura's face turned as pink as her hair. "No one asked you, tubby!" She yelled and pointed an angry finger her way.

Chouko winced causing Sakura to smirk. A fat joke. Really? Cheap shot. Chouko scoffed and looked away with puffed cheeks. She glared at Sasuke who she was sitting by her and jabbed a thumb towards Sakura.

"Oi, Sasuke, control your dog. She's getting out of control. If you don't I just might have to put her down."

Sakura let out a horrifying screech as her face once again turned red. She looked from a snickering Chouko to Sasuke, who seemed to be amused, but of course, wouldn't let them see it.

Instead, he scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Not my problem." He said with a click of his tongue.

Sakura wanted to curl into a ball and die. Her inner-self was screaming at her to fight back, but she was too heartbroken by Sasuke's blatant rejection to do anything.

Chouko looked towards the door as she caught a sense of a chakra signature outside. It was strong, and buzzed, like the low thrum of a thunderstorm. She sat up a little straighter as she waited with bated breath for them to enter. The door suddenly cracked opened and everyone froze while holding their breaths. As a masked man with silver hair popped his head inside of the room, the eraser that Naruto had placed on top of the door fell and smacked him on the head in a cloud of chalk dust.

Naruto was rolling on the ground with laughter.

"Hahaha! I got him! He totally fell for it!" He chortled pointing at the masked man.

"I'm so sorry Sensei! I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen! I'd never do something like that!" Sakura said.

"Suck up." Chouko rolled her eyes.

Sasuke bobbed his head in agreement.

The man cleared his throat and gathered their attention. "Hm, how can I put this?" The man mused, picking the fallen eraser up from the ground. "My first impression of this group? You're all a bunch of idiots."

Chouko felt a stabbing jab towards the little pride she carried and shamefully hung her head.

Things couldn't possibly get any worse

Chouko and her merry band of teammates sat on the roof of the academy, Chouko being squished between Sasuke and Naruto, while Sakura sat on the opposite side of Sasuke. Their Sensei was casually leaning against the rail before them with a look of complete and utter boredom on his surprisingly youthful face. Chouko honestly thought their Sensei looked to be rather young for a Jonin but knew better than to judge someone based on age. None of those things mattered in the world of a ninja as ninja come in all different shapes, sizes, colors, and ages, and each could prove to be more deadly than the next.

"Alright. Why don't you introduce yourself? One at a time." The silver-haired man said in a lazy draw.

"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura repeated. "How so? Like, what should we say?"

The man shrugged. "Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies, things like that." He said with a flourish of his hand.

"Doesn't sound too hard," Sakura said.

Chouko was interested in learning more about her team. She knew a lot about Naruto, obviously, at least what he was willing to tell her. There were some things he hid from her, and it did hurt a little, but she knew he'd tell her when he was ready. What she did know is that he liked to cause pranks, and that trouble clung to him like a magnet and that for some reason, everyone in the village hated him. Chouko found this to be odd. Naruto was a goofball, but a harmless one.

He'd never do anything to intentionally hurt someone or make them feel bad about themselves...so why did the village go out of their way to make him feel like an outcast?

What made Uzumaki Naruto so different from everyone else?

Sakura she knew like the back of her hand. Chouko, Ino, and Sakura all used to be close friends when they were younger. Ino and Chouko had been forced together at birth by their mother's but they naturally grew as friends which still holds to this day, even if Ino does annoy Chouko with her childish games and an attitude problem. Sakura was introduced to Chouko by Ino, and they quickly adjusted to one another. Chouko liked Sakura and thought she was pretty, and Sakura was kind to her unlike some of the other girls.

Chouko knew she and Ino would grow up to become ninja but it had surprised her when Sakura expressed her dreams of becoming a ninja too, a strong one who could look after herself and make her parents proud. Everything had been going well between the three of them until Sakura decided that she's "hopelessly" in "love" with Sasuke. It was funny since she never really showed any interest in Sasuke until Ino announced her crush on him. Then again, Ino never bothered announcing her crush on Sasuke until she heard the word, that Sakura liked him.

Ability wise, Sakura is freakishly strong. It's not normal, downright scary. Not only that but she has great control over chakra and learns things quickly, and she knows a little bit about medical ninjutsu, too. The freakish strength comes from her mother no doubt, but her father was the one who taught her basic medical ninjutsu since he was always worried when it came to his daughter.

Sakura had potential, a lot of it.

To see her throwing it away to chase after a boy with absolutely no interest in her pissed Chouko off.

Chouko envied Sakura in many aspects. She was smart, beautiful, and always did better than her in just about everything, and it's in many ways one of the reasons she gets so annoyed when she sees her wasting her potential on a pointless feud.

...Or maybe, she just thinks back to when they were young, and the times they would play together and weren't constantly at each other's throats like rabid animals.

Chouko frowned and shook her head. People grow and change all the time.

Sometimes though, it is for the worst.

'Way to bum yourself out Chouko.' She thought with a sigh.

She glanced over at Sasuke who always had his fist tucked under his chin and a glare on his face. Chouko knew as much about Sasuke as everyone else did, but everyone knew of his sad tale. She was aware of his Clan's massacre and figured this is why Sasuke was so cold to everyone and why he kept his distance.

She couldn't even begin to imagine what it fell like to be entirely all alone.

"Why don't you go first, Sensei?" Sakura said, drawing Chouko back to reality.

Chouko bobbed her head in agreement. "You should give us a demonstration, Sensei. We'll be able to understand what you're saying better." She finished with a smile. She just wanted to learn something - anything - about their Sensei.

The man raised a challenging brow at them. "Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi." He said. "Things I like, and things I hate...I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future? I never really thought about it. As for hobbies, I have lots of hobbies."

Chouko's brow twitched.

He was one of those types, huh?

"Well, that was totally useless." Sakura scoffed. "All he really told us was his name," Sakura whispered to the three of them.

Chouko reluctantly agreed with the pinkette.

"Your turn," Kakashi said. "You on the right, you first," Kakashi said to the blond-haired boy dressed in orange.

Chouko smiled encouragingly at Naruto and stuck up a thumb. He seemed to be excited to talk about himself, and honestly, it was too stinking adorable.

"Believe it!" Naruto said adjusting his headband. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen that Iruka-Sensei got me at the Ichiraku Noddle Shop! But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water into the ramen cup..."

Chouko snorted. If there was one thing Naruto loved more than anything else it the world, it was ramen. It was pretty much the only thing he ever ate. She had once tried to get him to eat vegetables and he acted as if he were going to die.

"My hobbies include pulling pranks on all the village geezers with Chouko!"

Chouko blanched. He could have left that part out. She noticed Kakashi-Sensei's side glare and chuckled nervously as she mumbled out a half-excuse of an apology while frantically waving her arms around.

"And my future dream...is to be the greatest Hokage! Then, the whole village will stop disrespecting me, and start treating me like I'm somebody, somebody important!"

A smile stretched across her face when she looked at Naruto. The determination was burning brightly in his baby blue eyes and his chakra was pulsating.

Hokage Naruto...she liked the sound of it.

She smiled at him and refocused her attention on Kakashi-sensei. She couldn't help but wonder what kind of dreams Sasuke and Sakura had.

"Alright, next." Kakashi nodded at Sakura.

'Someday I'm going to become a super-strong kunoichi, Chouko! I'll become super famous, just you wait and see!'

"I'm Sakura Haruno! What I like, uh I mean the person I like...mmmm!" Oh, God. "Um, my hobby is, uh, my dream for the future!..." Sakura looked over at Sasuke and started giggling behind her fist.

Chouko frowned deeply.

"And what do you hate?" Kakashi asked.

"NARUTO!"

"WHAT?!"

Chouko whipped around to face Sakura with a glare. "That was uncalled for, Sakura! You don't have any right to act like such a righteous bitch towards Naruto! He's only ever been nice to you which is something someone as self-centered as you don't deserve!" Chouko scowled at Sakura.

"Shut up, Chouko! You're only friends with Naruto because he's the only one who likes you! No one else would be friends with the class fatty otherwise!" Sakura scowled back. "But you know that say about losers sticking together."

Kakashi sighed watching the two bickering girls. Chouko had turned red in the face and had balled her fist together. He half expected her to pounce, but she kept her composure - somewhat - it was obvious that the comment about her weight had upset her, but she didn't say anything, but her expression showed it all.

Lord Hokage has said that she could be the backbone his team needed, but Kakashi has yet to see it. So far, she seemed no different than the other brats sitting before him.

"Enough!" Kakashi yelled making the girls jump and end their bickering. "You now." Kakashi pointed at Sasuke.

Like always he had his hands folded so they covered his mouth, and his eyes were fixed in a glare.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything." He said making the Haruno's face fall. "What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone."

Sakura almost seemed turned on by Sasuke, while Naruto looked completely terrified.

He probably thought Sasuke was talking about him.

Chouko felt sympathetic. Sasuke long ago was a nice kid who never stopped smiling, but everything changed after his clan was slaughtered in cold blood by none other than his brother.

Was revenge worth it though? What happened when it was over?

The act of revenge wouldn't magically bring his clan back to life.

"I see." Kakashi nodded thoughtfully. "Lastly, you there, girl."

Kakashi nodded to Chouko, who swallowed a lump in her throat as she straightened her posture and calmed herself, steadily looking into his eyes. He lazily watched her go from panic to a state of calmness that took him a bit by surprise.

He was curious to learn about the Akimichi girl that Lord Hokage was so persistent about.

"My name is Akimichi Chouko! My favorite thing to do is watch the clouds, especially with Choji and Shikamaru, and I especially like spending time with my best friend, Uzumaki Naruto!"

'She knows and understands Naruto better than anyone else in this village. I believe she'll be able to help him better mature.'

Naruto grinned widely.

"I dislike selfish people who have no regard for other people's feelings." Chouko's eyes flickered to Sakura. "People have boundaries for a reason."

'She's able to pick up on the emotions of people around her and uses that to help understand them better. Sasuke will have the most trouble coming into the team, but I believe she'll be the right person to nudge him out of his shell without being too overbearing.'

"The kind of people who throw away their dreams without trying are the people I can't stand the most."

'Sakura has the potential to become a good kunoichi. I have no doubt seeing Chouko pushing herself will motivate her to work harder. A strong sense of rivalry will help the two mature.'

"My goal isn't anything special, honestly. I'm not even sure if I have a goal right now. I guess I just want to break out of my cocoon and spread my wings, ya know?" Chouko grinned. "Maybe become someone that people will look up to one day! I'd like to lead my own squad, or maybe I'll become Naruto's assistant when he's Hokage..." Chouko trailed off thoughtfully.

It would be nice, but she didn't know if she could handle all the work that came hand-in-hand with such a powerful position. It seemed like a position better for someone of Shikamaru's caliber.

"As long as I can keep my friends and family safe then that's all that matters to me," Chouko said locking eyes with Kakashi. "I want to protect the village so that my little brother has a safe place to grow up."

Naruto stared at her with wide eyes, Sakura pretended to not care as she held a far-off look in her eyes, and Sasuke said nothing, only stared at her out of the corner of his eye.

In the words of Lord Hokage, he believed that Chouko could be a safety net that Team Seven needed, the glue that held her teammates together and kept them composed.

Kakashi wasn't exactly keen on the idea of adding another brat to his watch, but he couldn't very well oppose the Hokage's will, either.

However, he was beginning to see what the Hokage was on about.

Kakashi stared at thoughtfully before giving a small nod.

"Good. You are each unique and you have your own ideas." He said with a clap of his hands. "We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

"Already?" Chouko asked. "It seems too soon to have one." She tilted her head. "Are you we're really prepared for that kind of thing?"

"What kind of mission are we going to have, Sensei?" Naruto asked with a tilt of his head.

"It's a task that the five of us will do together," Kakashi-sensei answered simplistically.

"Can you be less vague?" Chouko asked, "That doesn't tell us much."

"A survival exercise," Kakashi answered.

The group collectively groaned. Well, Sasuke grunted, but it still counted in Chouko's book.

"I thought we were supposed to have a real mission, not more practice." Sakura glared, "We already did this stuff at the academy. That's how we got here."

"This is not like your previous training." Kakashi hummed.

There was an edge to his voice that sent shivers down Chouko's spine.

"What do you mean?" She asked with narrowed eyes.

"So what kind of training is it then?" Naruto asked.

Instead of reply Kakashi started chuckling.

"Why are you laugh? That was a serious question." Chouko frowned.

"If I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it~," Kakashi said in a sing-song tone.

"Oh yeah? Why is that?" Chouko challenged with a smirk of her own.

"Of the thirty-one graduates who just came here, only ten will be accepted as Genin. The others will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it pass-fail-test, and the chance that you'll fail is at least sixty-six percent."

Her breathe caught in her throat. Sixty-six percent chance of failure? Chouko felt her dreams ending before they even began.

"See? Didn't I tell say you wouldn't like it?" Kakashi said, with a closed-eyed smile.

Cheeky bastard.

"That's crazy! We worked hard to get here! What was that graduation test for anyway?!" Naruto yelled.

"Oh, that? That was just to select candidates who might become Genin, or not." Kakashi shrugged. "The lot of you especially have a higher chance of failing. You're the odd ones out this year."

"That's not fair!" Sakura scowled, "We worked hard to get here, Sensei!"

Again, Chouko found herself agreeing with Sakura.

How annoying.

"That's how it is." Kakashi said, "I decided whether you pass, or fail. Be at the designated training spot at five in the morning, and bring your ninja gear. Oh, and tomorrow, you might want to skip breakfast - or else you'll puke."

Chouko groaned. This was not going to be easy.

This was never going to be easy.

The first official meeting of Team Seven had ended and Chouko felt exhausted of all her energy. All she wanted to do was go home and get some rest, and mentally prepare for whatever hell Kakashi-sensei planned to put them through. She had even denied getting ramen with Naruto, and when seeing his heartbroken face, had promised to make it up to him in some way later.

Maybe she'd invite him over for dinner? Surely her mother's cooking could convince him that vegetables weren't poisonous.

As she walked the streets of Kohona her mind kept wandering back to what Kakashi-sensei had told them earlier. Ten. Only ten of them would become Genin. There was a very high chance that she could fail. Then what? This is what she had set her mind to doing. If she failed now after coming so far, then she would surely disappoint the people who believed in her, and that's the last thing she wanted.

She wanted people to be proud of her.

Chouko sighed and like always when she found herself in deep thought she looked to the sky.

The swirling clouds of pink and orange brought her an odd sense of comfort.

She found herself wondering if Shikamaru ever watched the sunset.

Maybe sometime she'd invite him.

The thought oddly made her happy as she made her way back home, ready to face whatever Kakashi-sensei through in their face tomorrow.

She decided to spread her wings and against everything the world threw at her...

She was going to soar high above the clouds.

EndNote: I. Did. It. I haven't written anything in so long, guys! I feel like my writing has changed much and yet I'm worried that I'm going to let every down lol. Chouko is fun to write for! She's such an easy character to write and playing with the interactions of Team Seven is entertaining as all hell.

Hopefully, this was worth the wait.

Thank you all for waiting for me.

I'm tired now lol. I think I'll work on this story for a while before reintroducing my other stories. I would like to know which one you guys would like to see next though. My Hero Academia? One Piece? HunterxHunter? Let me know!