[open] Not where expected

[16autumnroad]

When Chouji awoke after a short and fitful sleep to face the second day of war, there was no war. There were no tents, no battlefield, no soldiers, whether Shinobi Alliance or the clones and corpses that opposed them. Just hard ground under his back and an unfamiliar village around him when he sat up.

It didn't feel like a genjutsu, but what else could it be? Chouji tried to dispel it, a burst of chakra and a muttered, "Kai!" but no luck.

Where were his teammates? And where was he? It had to be a genjutsu. What else could it be? The afterlife? He didn't remember fighting; he had to be alive still.

((I promised this, so here you go, but tags will be slooooooow. /unintentional rhyme))

Comments

OMG! IT'S A CHOUJI!!!!!

[sarutobiskid]

Asuma had just stepped out of the shop with the intent to get Ino some things to make dinner for him and the other Ino when he was floored by the sight of his other student, looking a little thinner, harder, dirtier, than he had the last time they'd seen each other.

Of course, that could have been the rain and the blood loss, but who knew?

"Chouji, I didn't think I'd see you here."

QUICK, THROW A POKEBALL!!!!! Maybe you can catch him.

[16autumnroad]

Seeing Asuma was bittersweet at best. With a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, Chouji tried to smile. He saw Asuma just yesterday, and to have another reunion so soon was both unexpected and unfortunate.

"This place is the afterlife after all, then," he said softly, still trying to smile. "It's... good to see you, Asuma-sensei." If anyone had to greet him in the afterlife, he'd rather it be his sensei. He didn't want to leave Shikamaru and Ino. The war was still going on, and of all the ways to lose his life, Chouji had assumed he'd die fighting if he went. Not in his sleep in an ambush during the night. That's what must have happened, right? He needed to be with his teammates, with the rest of the army, not here. And after the fighting? If they won, his teammates would have to move on without him. The clan would need a new heir.

He couldn't accept it, and his forced smile faded entirely as Chouji looked down at himself. He had a lot of weight to gain back. He failed to inject any anticipation into his voice even when he asked, "Does the afterlife have food, at least?"

*Asuma throws a pokeball. It doesn't work. Wild Chouji was not caught.*

[sarutobiskid]

Asuma had been in Michi no Sato long enough to have expected that reaction. Hadn't Ino-chan and Shikamaru both cried out of sadness when they'd first seen him? Hadn't he spent some time with both of his students when he'd come back? Why would it be any different with Chouji.

"Yeah, there's plenty of food here, Chouji, but this isn't the afterlife." He reached out and put a hand on the Akimichi's shoulder. "How about I take you for barbeque and explain some things to you?"

Bribing him with yakiniku is probably easier than pokeballs anyway.

[16autumnroad]

Barbecue with his sensei. There is absolutely no world, afterlife or not, where Chouji could turn down that particular offer. He never thought he'd get to eat yakiniku with Asuma-sensei again. The explanation, frankly, seems like the least important thing right now.

Too choked up to say anything immediately, he nods mutely. Eventually, Chouji manages a reply, a smile spreading over his face. "I'd really like that, sensei."

Probably cheaper too. ~~;;;

[sarutobiskid]

"I thought you would," Asuma said as he led his student towards the yakiniku place that Kakashi had told him about when he first arrived. He waited until they were seated and had ordered before speaking again. "You look a lot thinner than I remember, but no so thin that you could be sick.

"I met both an Ino and a Shikamaru from a war, so I'm gonna guess you're from around then, right?"

For your wallet's sake, never underestimate Chouji's love for barbecue.

[16autumnroad]

Chouji looked down at himself, then back at Asuma. Seeing an Akimichi like this was usually a very bad sign. Chouji had only been this thin once before, and the toll taken on his body by the technique that caused it was huge. "I'm alright. I didn't... it's not the same as last time."

"An Ino and a Shikamaru? Why are you talking about them like that?" He shook his head, knowing that wasn't the part he was supposed to latch onto. "That's right. The war started yesterday." Yesterday. Had it really only been one day?

Chouji was less comforted than usual by the idea that his teammates would be nearby. He still was not entirely convinced that all of this wasn't the afterlife. If it were, Shikamaru and Ino's presence would be anything but cause for celebration.

Asuma is used to it!

[sarutobiskid]

"Well, it's good to hear that you haven't damaged yourself since your sensei left you and your teammates to look after each other. I regret that happening, but you three have always watched out for one another, so I didn't worry too much." Asuma took a drink of the water the waitress brought to the table before he decided to begin the explanation. He couldn't just bluff his way through it this time. He needed to really explain things to Chouji this time.

"Alright, let's start at the beginning. Don't interrupt me until I'm done, okay? This place... It's called Michi no Sato. We're not in the Elemental Nations anymore, so you can forget that. We're not dead, even though I should be. It picks people from Konoha or those associated with Konoha at random. They could be from when they're kids, dead, from where you remember them, from different realities.

"There're females of Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi. There's an Uchiha Itachi that was Hokage of his place, if you can believe that. There's two version of Kakashi. Three of Hinata-chan. Two of Ino-chan, at least. Two Shikamaru's that I've seen. The list goes on, of course, but I don't want to bore you with the details.

"Suffice it to say, you're the first Chouji I've seen around here, and I'm damn glad to see you. I've been here before, and then I went home and after I died, I came back.

"The village is surrounded by a strange genjutsu that not even Hinata-chan and Neji can see through, so... Yeah, for now, you're kinda stuck here with the rest of us." Asuma gave the boy a kind of weak laugh. "But, the good news is that the weather's finally calmed down."

[perfectcosmos]

She hadn't gotten away from the weather issues unscathed, though hers seemed to be one of the gentler ones, with snowfall constantly falling from overhead, only to melt before it ever touched her. It meant that she was out and about without any of the gear some unfortunates had taken to, which was good, because her attention was thoroughly caught by a flash of red and brown, causing her to pivot on her heel and focus on it properly.

Chouji.

Yep. She was too happy to see him to bother with formalities, and taking three strides from his left, she threw her arms around him in a hug. "Chouji!"

[16autumnroad]

"Ino!" He recognized the voice before he felt her plowing into him, and Chouji's arms are around his teammate on instinct before he even stops to think about it. He doesn't let go right away, holding onto Ino and saying the first thing that comes to mind. "Why is it snowing suddenly?" And only around them, not in the rest of the village as far as Chouji can tell.

Considering the blood (not his) on his green vest, the shinobi alliance headband, and Chouji's distinct lack of a good amount of his usual weight, Ino may have a few things to notice too once the initial shock wears off.

[perfectcosmos]

It may have taken a few beats, but she did finally pull back, looking him over before her eyes widened ans she hunted for the hitai-ate... Oh. Oh he was one of those too? Her own attire was far more casual, daywear for shopkeeping more than anything, though with her usual weapons on her.

And her Konoha Hitai-ate. She'd start with his question though, because she wasn't sure how to tackle the rest. "Best guess is that the village seal matrix is on the fritz again. It does things like this from time to time."

[16autumnroad]

"Asuma-sensei found me first. He explained a lot." Like the fact that Chouji wasn't dead, for instance. "He didn't say much about the seal matrix though. There are seals over the village, and they malfunction?" That's a little worrying.

Asuma also explained that people came from different times. Ino's hitai-ate certainly suggests that. In consideration of his teammate, Chouji immediately blurts out an assurance. "I didn't use the pills, Ino. I'm fine."

Because the last time he used the final pill nearly killed him.

[perfectcosmos]

The words let her relax some, because that had been a definite worry of hers, seeing him like this. Last time hadn't been good at all and she didn't have any desire to see him like that again. So, relaxing that she didn't have to explain Sensei or worry about Chouji, her smile brightened back up.

"They're strange and people have been trying to work them out as long as I've been here, but I think they're buried into the bedrock of the mountains under the village. I don't think anyone realized how extensive they were until the week of the red sky. They sort of... caused a mountain overtop of the whole village, solid on the outside, but passable from the inside."

[16autumnroad]

Watching his teammate closely enough to catch the shift in her expression, the tension replaced by a smile, Chouji smiled back at her. Good. Ino didn't need to worry about him.

"Overtop of the village? So the village was on the inside of the mountain? Did it seem like being in caves, or..." Chouji had very little idea what Ino was talking about right now. Anything that manipulated the the sky or entire mountains was powerful enough to be a legitimate concern, though, so he listened.

[perfectcosmos]

"No, the sky was just... red and dark. It was really disturbing. It didn't do anything to us, nothing bad that is, but it was still unnerving to live under it, even for a little while." She quickly shook her head and flashed him a grin.

"I'll tell you all about the craziness that happens around here, but first a couple warnings. Don't pick up any papers on the ground without checking them first, and don't sniff any flowers without asking a local if they're safe. Both are serious culprits for things that happen in the village sometimes. Have you been told about the entire... alternate timeline situations?"

[itachi_san]

Well, if Choji thought this was the afterlife, then seeing someone that was known to be dead wouldn't be that much of a surprise... Or perhaps, maybe it was.

The figure in front of him was clearly Itachi Uchiha. Akatsuki cloak, sharingan. It couldn't be anyone else. But he looked so much thinner, so uncharacteristically frail. He was sitting in a wheelchair, and doing something as placidly innocent as feeding a small flock of crows.

[16autumnroad]

Even after the explanations he'd heard of the village here, Chouji flinched a little at the sight of the Akatsuki cloak. He associated nothing good with that cloak, and it put him on edge immediately. His hands twitched as if they were about to form seals, but he lowered them deliberately.

Chouji wasn't about to attack unprovoked, especially when the person in question appeared quite this fragile. He could see the wheelchair easily enough. "Hello," Chouji said slowly, still hesitant to fully extend his trust. He didn't meet Itachi's eyes yet.

[itachi_san]

"Good day..." Itachi glanced up, and the crows did the same. Sharingan appeared in their eyes as Itachi willed them to stand their ground. (They were trained to attack first and foremost, after all. They were a primary line of defense for Itachi now.)

The chakra was different than he'd seen around the village.

"An... Akimichi?"