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

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[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.]

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Chouji sighs, shaking his head. "I wouldn't hold it against you, Shikamaru, and no one else should either."

With the mention of Edo Tensei, Chouji makes up his mind. Shikamaru would see the possibility coming, even if confirming it may be hard on him. If he knew nothing and didn't want to know, Chouji would stay silent. He could force himself to do that much. Shikamaru knows enough already that Chouji will give himself permission burden his friend with one more thing.

"You already know the big problems with Edo Tensei. How many... and who." Chouji looks pained. "I froze for too long. I could have gotten us all killed if Ino and my dad hadn't intervened. Ino took over my body, and you controlled hers. My father left his own battle to remind me of my vows." He meets Shikamaru's gaze straight on, admitting, "I kept the two of you waiting at home, too." Never for years, but they were a very long and very important few minutes. He won't let that happen again.

After a brief pause, Chouji asks his teammate, because somehow hearing it from Shikamaru will make it more real than hearing from Sakura or Lee, "Asuma-sensei... he's here? Alive?" Only a fool could miss the connection between this question and what came before it. Chouji asks for his own sake, knowing Shikamaru doesn't need help making deductions.

Almost imperceptible, Shikamaru tensed at those words, skin and posture tightening to match his insides.

He'd wondered at it, about Asuma. Had even taken Chouji's behavior to be confirmation that their teacher was among those resurrected, and that they may have had to fight him.

Having it spelled out still stings.

It would have been worse on the battlefield; ten times that for Chouji. Shikamaru would think better of him had he not just described what happened. Oh, Chouji. It took that much to motivate you?

He speaks with such conviction about it in hindsight though that Shikamaru knows at some point though, it did finally click for him. Is that where this new confidence came from?

"Y-Yeah." He reacts a second too late to the question, caught up in his thoughts. They're sorted quickly and his posture relaxes. Unflinchingly, now. "Just a week ago, though this is the second time."

Chouji can see the pain, and he hates having caused it. At the same time, he can feel every one of his muscles relaxing just a little. He isn't wound quite so tightly now that someone else knows. Some of the knots have to stay tied, but even one makes a difference. He reaches out to put a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder when his voice falters, unless his friend moves away.

Chouji doesn't like his own selfishness, but telling his teammate feels like absolution. Shikamaru has always known Chouji's weakest moments, and there's a new entry to be made in that list. Chouji always did his best to follow any weak moment with a strong one, though. "I didn't need the pills after that. My resolve was enough on its own, I guess." After all the people he cared about lent him their strength, it would be unforgivable to fail to find his own.

He nods, a slow smile spreading across his face. "That's good." Before the war, he couldn't imagine seeing Asuma again. Their brief reunion was painful. The prospect of a better one, even here, means too much to put into words.

One question at a time, and it's time to get the question Chouji is dreading most over with. "Shikamaru, how many years have you been here?"

Whether it's frightening to think of or not, Shikamaru is more than willing to take a little of those future secrets into confidence. It's on Chouji's behalf, so it's worth it.

There is visible relief about him when it's explained that he achieved that power without the Akimichi Clan's pills. Not much more needs to be said about that, or Asuma, probably. It speaks for itself, so he's not surprised when Chouji moves on to the next subject. He bottles up his thoughts and likewise moves on with it.

"Aa..." He wasn't avoiding this question before, but it's difficult not to expect a certain reaction. "It's been two and a half years, now."

He was braced for this. After all, 'years', plural, means that two is the best scenario he could hope for. Hearing confirmation from Shikamaru himself, putting an exact length of time to things, is still hard.

A mute nod is Chouji's only response for the time being. He closes his eyes, a frown on his face, and stays like that for a few seconds. Finally he sighs, looking at Shikamaru again with the best smile he can muster. "Ino's been here awhile too, right? I guess it's my turn to be the youngest member of the team." It's a poor attempt at a joke, but there are worse ways Chouji could take the news.

His tone is still light, but Chouji looks a little lost when he continues. "That's a lot to cover. It'll be more troublesome than any mission briefing, getting me caught up."

If Chouji is looking for it, the passage of time is written more obviously across him. He's aged; a little taller, a little more muscle, and features sharper or at least less-rounded than they were before. He's gotta be nineteen physically, by now, even if he doesn't count it until his birthday.

And Shikamaru can tell, just from the joke's existence and not necessarily how it was told, that it bothers Chouji. He reaches out to grab his friend by the shoulders again.

"So troublesome." A grin. "Don't worry, though. For you it's worth it."

He can see the differences in Shikamaru now that he is looking for them. The only thing that keeps this from bothering him more are Shikamaru's actions and words. They're just as familiar as ever. He may look a little different, be a little older, but who Shikamaru is at his core hasn't changed, and the way he treats Chouji hasn't either.

The physical comfort is appreciated. Between it and Shikamaru's next words, Chouji doesn't even have to try to summon up a smile. Being worth the trouble is one of the highest compliments Shikamaru gives, and he knows it.

"I don't really have my other questions planned," Chouji admits, knowing he really should care more about the situation past where his teammates are involved. "What do I most need to know? Lee told me to make sure I protect my wings." Plus a little bit about the enclosure. Shikamaru already knows he's aware of time differences and of the presence of those who have died in their own world.

"That's a big one. The next logical point would be the Malnosso... Maah, that's a lot of messy politics."

Chouji's probably at least heard them mentioned by now, though Shikamaru doesn't know for sure. He put his journal away once he gathered Chouji's location, to get here faster.

"Politics?" Chouji sounds as unenthused as Shikamaru at the prospect. "I suppose they must have reasons for bringing us here, and politics is always a likely reason."

No one has mentioned the Malnosso by name, but Chouji did find time to read a little of the guide Lee told him about while he waited for his teammates.

Shikamaru shakes his head.

"That's a common misunderstanding. It's not the Malnosso that bring us here, but the world itself. There's just a lot they aren't telling us."

He frowns heavily, brooding again over the things the General told him. "They've been here longer than most. Infinitely longer than anyone in this enclosure."

"The world itself? Did someone do something, or did it just start happening?" Shikamaru may not have the answers, given the lack of information shared, but Chouji asks anyway.

As for the second part, he nods, knowing that Shikamaru is probably figuring out which pieces of information are the most important. "Mm." Chouji will just take note of everything mentioned. 'This enclosure' means there are others, but that can wait.

"The way they make it sound, it's the planet itself. Many of the people here are like us, and wanting to get home."

"Got it. Where do the politics come into things, then?"

He folds his hands on his knees. "They're an organization that's been around for centuries. They've expanded constantly over time, like a tree growing away from its root. Because of that, they've branched into many things." He starts counting them off on his fingers. "Military, science, agriculture... Heh. I've even met a Malnosso dentist, if you can believe it."

He nods, taking it all in. A lighthearted quip gives him a minute longer to consider things. Chouji smiles as he assures Shikamaru, "I believe it. Unless they don't have teeth, then it makes no sense."

Back to the actual business at hand, Chouji asks, "What effect does each of these branches have on us while we're here?"

"Some, nothing. You won't hear about them unless you get out of the village and realize how big the world is outside of here."

Shikamaru's been outside on enough draft and missions now that that shouldn't be such a surprise anymore. It is constantly.

"Others, though? They can impact our entire way of life. Even civilians interact with the Malnosso military thanks to drafts. If you volunteer for missions you'll see more of them. The scientists are always experimenting on the villagers. There's rogues among them that kidnap people sometimes for individual experiments or tortures on top of that. There's farmers who grow our food, pencil-pushers who act as our PR... The list goes on."

Those are just examples. The point of it Shikamaru gets to now, steepling his fingers.

"There's internal problems as you can guess, from what I mentioned about the Rogues. Big tree keeps growing away from it's roots like that, eventually you can't see all the branches."

"How far from self-sustaining are we here, when they're not interfering?" Chouji assumes the answer is 'very.' He wouldn't mind being part of a village dependent on imports and such, but he and his comrades aren't involved in the system here. The idea of enclosure and utter dependence upon a foreign government makes him uneasy. Especially given the political unrest Shikamaru is telling him about.

Nodding again at the explanation of corruption, Chouji ventures, "Or like roots grow out of sight under the ground, where the leaves can't see them." Considering events in their own village, this twist on the metaphor is all too apt.

He nods. Chouji is hitting the nail on the head, as he expected.

"To answer your first question... nowhere near as much as we should be. The village can pull together in a crisis remarkably well, but we have no council. If you're looking for people to defend us, we're fine, but if our food and water were cut off we'd be toast in a matter of months, if not sooner. You couldn't get enough from the farmlands and orchard to feed the whole village for long as things are currently."

In a way, it's ironic. Most of the village loathes the Malnosso, but they've yet to move on from being dependent on them.

Food supply is one thing Chouji has always grasped, and it's impossible to avoid politics entirely in their profession. "I can dig holes well enough if you're worried about a future water shortage. I don't think wells are the solution we're looking for, though," he says with a rueful smile. "Otherwise there are probably people here who could already have managed the same."

"So there are farmlands, but they're small scale, designed as a supplemental food source rather than a primary one." The information about a fighting force and the collective ability to handle a crisis is reassuring, at least. The rest of it? Chouji will take that as it comes, and he's already calmer about the prospect than he was initially. The familiarity of Shikamaru's analysis neatly balances out the unfamiliarity of the situation.

"How concerned are you about that possibility?" Chouji wonders whether there have been any previous food or water shortages, or any signs more specific than an unstable government.

"Fairly so. It's not the highest on my list, but it happened for the duration of one week before. It could happen again."

Agriculture has never been his field of expertise, however. With all the problems in Luceti, he felt the need to pick something he's more suited for.

Chouji nods. "Wells, then, as a start. I'll look for somewhere that makes sense to put them." As for food, he is less help, to his own dismay. Chouji knows enough to help plan, and to help work, but he has no desire manage the food supply for an entire village. If he meets whoever currently maintains their farmlands, maybe they can figure out a plan for expanding. "We can worry about the farms a little later."

He needs to settle into this place first, learn more about it.

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

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