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

[16autumnroad]

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.]

Comments

[16autumnroad]

Chouji doesn't say anything, because he's sure that Temari knows better than anyone how scary Gaara was at their first meeting. The smile that lights up her face at the compliment to her brother tells him he definitely made the right choice in mentioning it. He returns her smile with his own.

"So they claim it's entirely random?" He does not seem very eager to buy into this story, but it isn't that important right now.

"How different is it from battles at home?" Because while war is nightmarish, fighting is their job, and it's what they've trained for. Chouji has no desire to fight for a cause and an organization that mean nothing to him, but if his friends fight, he wouldn't willingly be anywhere else.

[dangerouswind]

Temari shrugs one shoulder and holds her hands out in a sort of "hell if I actually know" gesture. "They claim a lot." She'll be one of the first to admit that there's a lot going on behind the scenes that they don't know about and she tends to take every declaration with a few grains of salt.

She hums under her breath at his second question. "As far as the actual battles go, it's not so different. You go, you fight." Her expression hardens. "We aren't given much of a choice, though. They tell us who's going, send us there, and, if we give a damn about surviving, we'll fight the soldiers attacking us." She sighs; Temari doesn't have it in her to back down from a fight, but she hates feeling as if she's forced into it. "For the most part, we fight for them because we'll be killed if we don't."

[16autumnroad]

A silent nod is the only answer to that. Chouji will have his own doubts about any information they're given. Misinformation is a valid tactic. He's always been the muscle on a team with intelligence gathering capabilities, and he knows how much knowledge can be currency, can save or lose lives.

"It's not the same when it's not to protect your village," Chouji sums up. "We didn't sign up for this."

He adds thoughtfully, speaking quietly in case of passerby, "I have to protect my teammates and the village. With the number of Konoha shinobi here, I haven't been released from any oath I swore just because I'm in a different place. But it isn't the same." All of Chouji's vows still apply, and he is determined not to need another reminder of that.

[dangerouswind]

Temari's hum of assent is quiet; no, they didn't sign up for this and, yes, it was very different than fighting to protect something one believes in. She would fight any day -- anywhere and with everything she had -- to protect her village and her family. (And they were, oftentimes, one and the same.)

She nodds at his declaration, though when she speaks her voice isn't pitched as carefully as his. (Doing so would have been difficult, if she'd even caught that he'd lowered his voice.) "Konoha is an ally," is all she says but she means so much than that. Here, in Luceti, she would fight for them as she would Suna.

[16autumnroad]

Chouji takes Temari's meaning well enough, and a grateful smile is his answer. He appreciates anyone who will fight for his friends, as he knows Temari will and has. She's already moved beyond ally and into friendship territory herself. Knowing how long his teammates have been here without him, seeing them safe, leaves Chouji wanting to thank anyone who may have helped keep them that way.

"So is Suna," he tells her, the implication that he'll watch her back if she ever needs it. "Konoha may not be your village, but you have friends there."

[dangerouswind]

Ah, good. He figured out what she's trying to say without actually saying it. Temari nods once, taking his implication for what it is. She knows full well that at least a couple Konoha ninja here will watch her back and she wonders how much of that is Shikamaru's influence. She'll take it, though, regardless of what prompts it -- even if she's still learning to accept it.

"I do know that." She has had it pounded into her thick head a few times.

[16autumnroad]

Shikamaru's influence would be enough, but that isn't the reason Chouji will look out for Temari. She's earned it in her own right, several times over. She saved Shikamaru years ago, she's fought by their side since, and today she reached out to him immediately, made sure she was available for questions and reassurance. That kind of consideration doesn't go unnoticed.

He grins. "Good."

Chouji wrinkles his nose, still smiling, as he asks, "Is there anything good to make up for being trapped here?"

[dangerouswind]

She shrugs one shoulder, at ease with the question -- and with Chouji, which surprises her a bit. Despite the fact that she doesn't know him well at all, it's been a fairly comfortable conversation.

"Everything you need is free to claim," she says.

[16autumnroad]

He raises his eyebrows at that. All the things he's taken so far have been his own. He didn't realize the courtesy extended past that.

"...Everything?" Most people know Chouji well enough to know the first thought that jumps into his head at this assertion. After all, he wears the kanji for it on his chest. "Including food? Is it rationed?" If it's free, it must be strictly rationed. That would make sense, given the war going on and their status within it.

[dangerouswind]

She nods. "Including food," she says, almost indulgently. She's noticed the kanji; it's hard to miss. "It's not rationed," she continues, "and there is a farm to supplement what the Malnosso provide us with. There have been times, few and far between, when there have shortages but by and large, you'll find it pretty accessible."

[16autumnroad]

That tone is one he's come to identify over the years with acceptance, albeit occasionally reluctant. No one who uses it comes back later to taunt him about his weight or his eating habits. He only ever hears it from friends. Chouji's grin is as much for that as for the food.

"I have even more reason to look forward to a team dinner, then," he muses, his expression softening. Chouji's been hoping for barbecue with Team 10, whole and including their sensei again, since the second he found out it was a possibility.

Shortages are an acceptable risk, especially if they come as rarely as Temari says.

[dangerouswind]

She feels like she's somehow just made his day that much brighter -- and she's not entirely sure how to feel about that. She's a little more accustomed to tearing people down. But it's a good feeling; Chouji's good people.

"You should," she says. Her expression grows a little distant before it's quickly covered with her own smirk. "Shikamaru could use some meat on his bones."

[16autumnroad]

Chouji chuckles. "I think he's actually managed to do a little of that without me here, but I'll do what I can." Shikamaru put on muscle and height in the time Chouji missed. Not much, but it's there. Between that and the subtle changes in his face that might not be noticeable if they'd happened over time, he looks even more like his father. Chouji can't think about that right now.

"Not every dinner will be a team dinner," he says slowly. Temari can't enjoy being the only Suna nin here, and cooking for an extra person isn't really any extra work. "You're always welcome to join me otherwise."

[dangerouswind]

Her eyes narrow at the invitation and she wonders if she had been that obvious in her half-formed (and stupidly insecure) thoughts. She opens her mouth, ready to dismiss it as nothing -- and probably share dinner with him sometimes anyway -- but reconsiders mid-thought.

It truly is a nice gesture. "I wouldn't mind that."

[16autumnroad]

It isn't that Temari was obvious. It's more that Chouji is grateful for the talk and her friendship. He catches the aborted initial response and smiles at Temari when she accepts the offer rather than brushing it off.

"It's a shared kitchen anyway. I might as well cook for friends instead of just myself." There are plenty of reasons for Chouji to cook for Temari. Cooking for friends gives him more time to spend with them, keeps everyone from fighting for space in the kitchen at once, and lets Chouji do something nice for the people around him. It's a small gesture, but he likes making it.

[dangerouswind]

"Well," she says a little wryly, "after some of my disastrous attempts in the kitchen, I'd appreciate the offer." She's serious about that; she's managed to blow spaghetti sauce. It's not a lack of skill so much as it's a lack of wanting to try.

Cooking is just so domestic and mundane. (And she knows that taking care of plants could also be considered as such; there's no rationalization for it.)

[16autumnroad]

Chouji chuckles at the confession. "Then you're definitely welcome to join me. Members of my clan have to learn to cook, otherwise we don't properly appreciate food. Cooking it poorly is a waste." And appreciating food is important, obviously. Just look at the emblem on Chouji's armor.

"I admit I'm a little curious, but you don't have to share details." Temari didn't say she disliked cooking, or that her food wasn't good. She mentioned disasters. More than one of them.

[dangerouswind]

Temari looks a little chagrined. She reaches up and rubs the back of her neck; the expression turns completely sheepish. "I have a tendency to lose focus," she admits. She drops her hand, then shrugs, hands palm up and open. "It's just so... mundane. Boring."

She pauses for a second, then admits: "Boring enough that I sometimes manage to completely ruin whatever I'm trying to cook."

[16autumnroad]

"So your perfect focus is reserved for when you're on duty?" Because Temari would never lose her concentration on a mission. Only in the kitchen. He is grinning at Temari's trials and tribulations, but it's obvious Chouji doesn't mean any harm by it.

Still smiling, he concludes almost gallantly, "I'll be glad to save you from boredom and your food from ruin, then. Are there any dishes you particularly like?" Chouji does try to keep track of his friends' favorite foods, especially friends he has any intention of cooking for.

[dangerouswind]

She shakes her head, somewhere between amused at his teasing and chagrined. She doesn't quite ever get to mad, though; she's not sure that Chouji could be purposefully mean to anyone.

"My hero," she says dryly, then grins a bit. "I'm fond of most soups and stews." She chucks her thumb back in the general direction of her apartment building. "I've a herb garden on a roof back that way and a vegetable patch not far. They're not ready for picking yet, but when they are, you can take what you need."

[16autumnroad]

Chouji raises his eyebrows just a little, slightly amazed Temari is letting him get away with the teasing. He beams at her, smile even wider.

However sarcastically, the words 'my hero' out of Temari's mouth startle laughter from him. "It's only fair trade that I cook for you, then, if you're providing ingredients! I'll definitely keep that in mind, about the gardens and the soup and stew. You'll have to show me where the vegetable patch is."