[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

[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."