Chouji appreciates the lack of questions. Shikamaru never pushes him, and Chouji doubts he would manage to keep anything secret if he ever did. Everything is still so fresh that Chouji doesn't know how to separate out the one most important fact from the events surrounding it. All of it is tinged with grief on his friends' behalf, and on his own for two of the men he's looked up to his entire life. The confusion upon arriving was a welcome distraction, but there's enough time to think now and it isn't helping.

"Let me see the bandages. I'll take care of my leg." As he does, wrapping them around his thigh, he asks, "When are you from, back home? How much have you heard about the war so far?" He doesn't want to keep Shikamaru completely in the dark, he just isn't sure how to say what eventually needs to be said. Besides, if Shikamaru has been here for years, he deserves at least a little time to be happy over a reunion first.

Once both of his self-inflicted injuries have been taken care of, Chouji stands up and takes one or two steps in the direction from which Shikamaru came. He can understand the desire to put off answering difficult questions all too well, but he is ready for an answer to at least one. Chouji feels bad pushing Shikamaru on this when his friend has given him the space he needs. As far as Chouji is concerned, though, the sooner the question is answered, the sooner it isn't sitting there between them anymore. "Sakura said years, Shikamaru. How many?"

Chouji's immediate questions are going to be about his team rather than the situation, and this shouldn't surprise Shikamaru a bit.