16autumnroad | [Voice / Action : Forest, 3/17] Arrival

Kai! [Sudden absence from the battlefield prompts Chouji's immediate attempt to dispel an illusion.]

Why won't the genjutsu break? It must be too strong. [Not to mention that genjutsu and fine chakra control are not his strongest skills. Pain should also work. It's hardly the preferred method for breaking illusions, but it's more reliable for anyone whose chakra control isn't near perfect. He reaches for a kunai, but none is available. Unarmed and unarmored in a genjutsu that could be used to do pretty much anything to him; somehow that isn't surprising. Chouji is starting to worry though. He crouches down, snatches a jagged rock, and slices open his left palm. Still nothing.

Unwilling to simply sit and wait, he pushes off lightly, leaping into the trees. Chouji conceals himself as well as he can among the branches, only now noticing the journal lying open on the ground below. Shivering from the cold, a twinge of pain between his shoulder blades makes Chouji twitch, wondering if the attack he's been braced for is finally coming. His eyes widen as he looks over his shoulder to see a pair of feathered wings. A little desperate now, Chouji makes one final attempt at breaking free. He stabs his thigh with the rock. Still trapped, he resigns himself to staying here until someone manages to free him, letting the stone fall back to the ground. Chouji keeps watch for any further signs of danger on the off chance the genjutsu's caster slips and gives something away.]

[Chouji can heard over the journal; he will pick it up as soon as he receives an answer. He can also be found in the forest or anywhere in the common areas of town after he eventually makes it there.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Asuma had set out earlier in the day to pick up a few things for his new, incredibly bare apartment. All the stuff he'd managed to accumulate during his last stay had vanished when he had, and so it was as though he were back at square one on the home front. Part of him hoped he would be able to find the few meaningful things he'd collected to commemorate certain events, but so far he wasn't having much luck and had resigned himself to gathering the essentials.

Whenever Chouji finds himself in town, there's a good chance he'll spot Asuma as he walks out of a shop. He's carrying a few bags of miscellaneous goods, double checking to be sure he hadn't forgotten anything. When he looks up he seems somewhat surprised to see Chouji. He should probably be used to people appearing like they did here, but alas.

"Chouji?" The surprise gives way to a smile. Because despite the situation, it was good to see his former student again. "Hey, looks like you're here too, huh?"

For the second time that day, Chouji hears a voice he never expected to hear again. Sakura told him, but Chouji hardly dared hope it might be true. Asuma's first reappearance, under the influence of the Edo Tensei technique, was a nightmare. This? Seeing Asuma whole and alive? It's the opposite. Too good to be true.

"Asuma-sensei," Chouji says softly, a smile breaking across his face. "I just got here today." The words aren't enough, nowhere near enough, but Chouji says them anyway. "It's so good to see you."

He knows words could never really express what Chouji was no doubt feeling. But he understands, and he gives a small nod. "It's good to see you, too."

There's a moments pause. Chouji had arrived today, but he wonders just how much he had learned during his short time here. Did he know the basics of Luceti? Does he know how many others from their world are here?

"Have Shikamaru or Ino gotten ahold of you yet? I imagine they'll be happy to see you." Because he knows for a fact the two of them have been in Luceti a long, long while.

"They came to find me right away." He smiles at that. They were definitely glad to see him, even if there's something jarring about the missed time on both sides of the equation. Chouji remembers things from home that they don't, and both of his teammates are now older than he is. None of that is enough to change the connection he has with his teammates.

"I thought this was all a genjutsu at first," Chouji admits ruefully. "It took a couple people to convince me otherwise, and by then I had Ino and Tenten scolding me for what I did to myself trying to break it." Chouji flips over his hand to look at his unblemished palm. Ino healed it easily enough when she reached him.

When he looks back at Asuma, Chouji hesitates for a minute. Then he adds softly, "It was even harder to believe you were here, though." Quiet happiness practically radiates from him with this comment.

"I wouldn't expect any less from them." He would have been concerned if the hadn't gone to find him the moment they realized Chouji was in Luceti. Because Asuma understood their bond was a strong one, that they were a team no matter the distance or time apart. And he couldn't be more proud of them for that.

Asuma frowns when Chouji looks to his hand, though he doesn't lecture him ( He imagines Chouji got an earful from the others already. ) Besides, he can't really blame him for thinking it was a genjutsu. Waking up in Luceti? It was a difficult thing to believe, and the wings didn't really help that along at all. "Yeah, this place is a little far-fetched. I probably would have thought the same, had the circumstances been different."

There's a short pause, but he can't help but smile, proud. "It's a little hard to believe I'm here, sometimes, but I don't think I'd give it up." As frustrating as Luceti could be sometimes, Asuma will always be happy to have this second chance at life, to have another chance to see the people he cares about--no matter how many times they might disappear and return again.

"Farfetched..." And because it's Asuma, Chouji fails to keep as silent as he ought to. The words come tumbling out almost without his permission. "There was a war going on, and I should still be on the battlefield. I thought this was just another enemy technique. It would have made more sense." Especially given who they were fighting and the nature of their enemy's end goal.

It hasn't sunk in, really, that he's not still there. He's braced for an attack that isn't coming, temporarily numb to the deaths so frequent that they're only numbers right now, and estimated ones at that. Except, of course, for the three names echoing in his head. Neji. Shikaku. Inoichi.

His next words are muttered, almost a whisper. "Ino and Shikamaru don't know." And Chouji has no idea how much to tell them.

Chouji shakes his head and manages a smile. "Sorry, Sensei. I'm not exactly giving us the happy reunion we should have." The expression grows more genuine when he adds, "You being here makes it all a lot better, really."

Edited (now with a slash in the end tag on those italics!) 2013-04-10 03:56 (UTC)

He listens to Chouji, the scenario not entirely new to him. He remembers hearing something similar, about the war and fighting, a year ago. "I heard a little about the war during my first stay. Not much, but we'd had some unpleasant company back then, and me and a few others had be be brought up to speed."

But it's alright. If you hadn't been a little on edge I would have called you out on being rusty." There's a short pause, and he nearly asks what Ino and Shikamaru don't know. It couldn't be good, but...

Asuma returns the smile. "Hey, don't worry about it. There's plenty of time for a happy reunion later, once you're more used to this place." Because any kind of happy reunion would be hard, coming straight from a war. Especially when suddenly faced with someone who should be dead.

Chouji shakes his head. "That's right. I'm not rusty, at least." He managed his techniques without even using the pills yesterday, after all. But since Asuma's reanimated body was the source of that resolve, Chouji refrains from mentioning it.

"Ino and Shikamaru are both living up to what you wanted for them." Chouji is doing his best to do the same, but it isn't in his nature to brag. "Ino supported us both, especially me, and Shikamaru knows what he's fighting for. They were amazing, even if they don't remember being there." And Chouji doesn't really want them to. He doesn't want them to know that their fathers are gone, doesn't want them having to fight Asuma. He can't protect them from the events through which they've already stood by his side and supported him. Not forever. For now, though, he'll wait as long as he can.

"Seeing you is happy," Chouji insists, mustering up some of his usual cheer in order to smile. Even with Asuma-sensei here in front of him, close enough to touch, he can't fully believe it. And unless Asuma stops him, Chouji is giving his sensei a hug now. Maybe it will finally feel real after that.

[Voice / Action : Forest, 3/17] Arrival

Action;

Action;

Action;

Action;

Action;

Action;

Action;

Action;