Yakiniku-Q

[Ino-pig]

[[Aagh, please don't destroy me~~ I really wanted to write this post, and as there was no Yakinku-Q thread, I made this one...aaah...umm...sorry? D: I'll take fifty lashes or clean your floors or tap dance or clean your shoes for WEEKS ;.; But uh, ahehehe, you wouldn't want to destroy me anyways, r-right? I'm super dooper cute and nice and AWESOME : D;;
</Ino's desperate pleas to the moderators, admin, anyone with power, etc. etc.>]]

The Yakiniku-Q was bustling with life, patrons engaged in earnest conversation, the scent of barbecue wafting through the air, as Ino dragged her teammate into the restaurant. The blonde pig was feeling considerably better–she had stopped off at home first and changed into more suitable clothes for training later on (shorts, a simple orange shirt, sweatbands, sandals and holsters) and had quickly applied her makeup. Ino breathed in deeply, smiling easily.

There. She felt...less...
Less hideous. Less like a little girl that wanted to hide away from the world and just disappear. She felt confident, attractive, like she was the girl that everyone admired, wanted to be.
It was horribly easy to disappear behind her foundation and gloss, and keep her heart separated from the outside world. Ino, after all, was a born liar.

Releasing Chouji (satisfied that he would not flee back to Shikamaru, now that he was faced with Yakiniku), she seated herself in Team 10's usual booth, tucking her hair behind her ear. The waiter came, and Ino ordered the usual (Galbi on the bone, with kimchi and rice). Leaning back in her seat as she waited for the ingredients to arrive, Ino glanced to Chouji, quirking a brow.

"So, what was this mission of yours anyways?"

[Chouji]

The pudgy boy inhaled another large gasp as Ino let go of him. His eyes glanced about the place. Chouji's eyes glittered with childish pleasure. The food's arouma surrounding the gawking boy. Chouji took in a deep whiff and let a large goofy smile be plastered to his large face.

"Awhhh!" He murmed with pleasure and clapped his large hands together in excitement. "Fooooodddd" He hummed as a bit of drool threatened to drip from the left corner of his mouth.

He followed the blond Yamanaka like a well trained puppy to their usual seats. The seat he hadn't sat in since his mission. He squashed himself in and ordered with excitment. "Wow" He muttered with glee. He looked at Ino with bright eyes a child would hae if they were to recieve a new toy.

"I really missed this place" Chouji commented before bitting his bottom lip. "Eh?" He silently thought of how to tell what the mission was about. "It was a family mission..." He reported in a dull manner despite his concetration.

[Ino-pig]

Ino fiddled with the provided chopsticks absentmindedly, spinning the pair about her fingers like they were finely crafted weapons...which they could be, really. She had always been resourceful like that. Dabbling in everything, specializing in nothing, she was a jack of all trades, ever eager to add another trick to her repertoire. But she was bored easily, too easily distracted by her own hobbies to develop those tricks into something further, something entirely her own.
She was a swordsmen, an aspiring medic, a weaver of illusions, a geisha, a chef, a diviner, and a thousand other professions that she could latch onto her name.
Each trade was another mask to hide behind, and another lie to tell.

That was why Ino, who could speak the language of flowers better than her own native tongue, never showed her real flower arrangements to people. Oh, she showed the ones that were aesthetically pleasing, sure. She showed people what they wanted to see. She showed them her perfectly executed act.

No one ever saw the arrangements of weeds or dead flowers. No one ever saw the failed buds that made up the arrangements of her heart. Because Ino was a thousand different things, a thousand different masks, but Ino was a little girl that craved to be acknowledged. A little girl that preferred flowers to people.
No one ever saw the arrangements that told Ino's story, because Ino always burned them up.

Ino never let this weaker Ino show herself. And seated at the Yakinku, this mistress of lies never faltered in her simple smile and never let on any of Ino's fear or heartache.
No. She just kept smiling blithely, mask in place, and prodded Chouji's large hand with her chopsticks.

"Ne, I know that. 'tou-chan wouldn't stop bitching about how your dad couldn't go on border patrol with him and Shikaku. Where'd you go? What'd you do? Kick any ass? Learn any new jutsus?"

Ino was painfully bored with life, after all. Dad was never home anymore, that damnable ANBU having recalled him back into service, and mother was still in Wind country. Someone had to run the shop.
That meant Ino was stuck in Konoha. No missions. Nothing. Therefore, she is living through her teammates and their exciting missions.

...she really needs to look into hiring someone to help out at the shoppe. (doit. doitnow. doitritenow. plzdoitritenow. srslyplzdoitritenow. Ino's subconscious whined)

[Chouji]

Chouji watched his teamate whirl her chopsticks around gracefully. Paying close attention Chouji tilted his head slightly to the right much like a curious puppy would. And curious, Chouji was. His silly grin grew. Ino had been so talented at so many things. It would have been a complete lie if Chouji had said or admitted he wasn't a little jelous of her and her numerous talents. Hell, to some extent he was jelous of Shikamaru.

Chouji tilted his head downward to look dully at own unsplit chopsticks. His smile twitched ever so slightly. Finally he looked back to Ino and gave a pathetic chuckle. Chouji's broad shoulders moved up and down as he his chuckles grew to warm laughter. "I forgot to break my chopsticks. And...I always forget...likem I forget everything else..." He joked. That was Chouji always so friendly. Yet, always so ignored and insulted.

He never did fully understand why he was picked on. Now, he leaned heavily on Ino's and Shikamaru's shoulders for support. Without them he might have never been wanted on a tea, let alone he would never be respected or have made friends in the first place. This is where Chouji's jelousy sprung up. He, of course, wasn't proud to admit his jelousy. Chouji would often sit down in the grass that sprung up about the training ground. Looking about with a chip bag in his lap and a random blue buttefly on his shoulder. He would so often sit there and wonder if he really mattered, if he wasn't really a thorn in their sides. The constant eating and the lack of strength without his family specialties seemed to only cause their team to step backwards instead of foreward.

Chouji blinked and pulled his hand away like a scolded puppy. however, his features remained soft as he grinned larger. "Nah. Dad kicked most of the ass...I only stuck about to learn more family methods and so on. Research so we can handle the soldier pill even better than we do with Shikaku-sama's has! we had to travel to the Waterfall though" He shrugged "I don't like water much...and no...no new jutsus..." he muttered and shook his head.

[Ino-pig]

Ino frowned at Chouji's joke, eyes momentarily softening. Truthfully, those words worried her. Because if Chouji wasn't her pillar of support, Ino knew every lie she told, every fabrication would shatter. Team Ten was her solace, where sometimes, she could stop lying. She pretended to lead them, pretended to be untouchable and perfect, but she knew they could see through her act. And with them, she didn't care. As long as they didn't let her weaken and crumble, she would be fine.
As long as Shikamaru and Chouji didn't change, or didn't stop letting her draw her strength from them, everything would be fine.

And Chouji had always been happy to comply with her skewed dependence. He never stopped smiling when she complained about his weight (ever since Sakura had told her most Akimichi were dead by thirty, hearts failing them...). She was a cold and cruel teammate, selfish, and he still kept being her friend.
Really, he was too kind for someone like her.

And so, seeing him speak those words so easily, bothered her. The gentleness in her eyes was quickly cloaked by friendly exasperation, and she chuckled lightly.
"So break them then." She said simply, rolling her eyes. She lacked her usual malice, Ino noted with pride, and she couldn't help the slight grin that tugged at her lips.

She wasn't satisfied with his answers, and she was prepared to drill him for more information (Kami she needed to get out of this village), but the meat arrived. Simple baskets, with a few bowls of kimchi and rice. Placing several pieces of meat from her basket onto the grill, Ino sighed. There was no point in trying to get information out of Chouji now. She'd have to wait until after the meal.

Watching the scant pieces of meat she had selected, she glanced to Chouji's portion of the grill, completely covered in meat.
The vain Yamanaka envied that Akimichi. At least he didn't have to half-starve himself for everyone's approval. But, sitting back, she set her chopsticks down resolutely, waiting for her pieces to cook. She wouldn't break this diet, Ino mused.

Ino Yamanaka did not give up anything she did in life, even if she hated it with every fibre of her being. She would get the results she wanted. Even if it killed her.

At least she would die, being remembered as a proud Yamanaka. A true Yamanaka. Strong. Beautiful.
Everything she wanted people to remember her as.[/s]

[tenten]

(this is fine, it can stay up...plus it already seems popular! Good Idea ino-pig!)

[Ino-pig]

[[Huzzah! Thank you, Tenten-san! :3]]

[Chouji]

Chouji Akimichi, like every other Akimichi loved to eat. Without food their clan wouldn't have much strength, if at all. Chouji loaded his grill with huge chunks of meat. Looking over to Ino he blinked numerous times. "Ino-chan?" Came his simple question. "Why such scimpy pieces?" He pointed to her meat with his still unbroken chopsticks.

Licking his lips Chouji moved his eyes from her grill to her own eyes. Dark met with aqua blue and his grin grew. "I know...I'll give you some of my meat." He offered her.

Ino and Shikamaru were different then everyone else. Spare Asuma-sensei as well.They were the only three to accept him. They spoke differently to him. They didn't doubt his strength or what he could or could not do as everybody else had. Their quips about his weight weren't from the same malice others words were. They cared about him. And such the only thing Chouji thought he could do to repay them was by letting them be the only people to get away with picking about his weight or giving him some of his precious food. So,mething he would never let anyone else do.

He tilted his head and laughed gently. "Cha, I should." He bowed his head and broke the chopsticks through the center. Perfectly split, Chouji beamed and held them up for Ino to see how well he had broke them.

[Chouji]

((>.<> That post was so short for my Chouji -wobbles- Sorry Ino-chan~~))

[Ino-pig]

The dictionary describes the word diet as;
di'et [dahy-it]noun, verb, -et'ed, -et'ing
-verb[/color]
to select or limit the food one eats to improve one's physical condition or to lose weight[/i]

She resented this definition, really. It was too clinical. Too...simple. It didn't tell how hard it was to go to these restaurants, to be teammates with an Akimichi, to live with the eternal temptation to just stop. But Ino was a Yamanaka, and she would not quit.
She was made of stronger stuff.

So, even though her eyes lingered on Chouji's meat, when she looked up and locked eyes with him, she shook her head resolutely.
"I can't. I'm on a diet." She heard herself saying. She managed to keep bitterness and resentment out of her voice, which was remarkably even. Internally, she was screaming in injustice, but she just smiled in half exasperation.

It wasn't that she didn't understand what Chou-kun was offering was monumental. She knew that he had never offered that to her, that it meant she was important to him. Hell, she had always known that, really. After all, she had known him since the cradle; she would have been surprised if they had ended up anything but close friends.

She also knew that people found the sight of an Akimichi and Yamanaka together without their Nara, rather strange. And diet issues aside, they would talk.
Ino didn't care so much about the rumors of dating Chou-kun (hell, Ino constantly entertained that notion), but rather, what Daddy would do if he heard such rumors.

She could kiss hanging out with her boys goodbye (Good idea--Shut up!).

She heard the familiar crack of breaking chopsticks. Snapping out of her reverie (they were so common nowadays), she looked at the extended chopsticks, and grinned lightly. She spun her chopsticks about her finger, before fanning them out.
Her own center was uneven and ragged.

The irony wasn't lost on her.

[Chouji]

"On a diet...?" He repated her statement in question form. Raising his head a little Chouji's eyes found the ceilling and were glued to it for several silent minutes. He bit down on his bottom lip as he began to think. He switched his chopsticks to one hand while the now empty hand lifted to the right cheek of his pudgy face. Letting his index finger absentmindely trace the swirl upon it.

He let his head lower once more. Setting his chopstickes down for the time being Chouji glanced at her. His smile faltered. Confusion fluttered into Chouji's eyes as he leaned forward to whisper to his blond counterpart.

"Ino-chan, you don't need to be on a diet~~" He whined in a low tone. "You aren't like me. You arren't over weight." His eyes lookd through her own with a bit of pleading his bottom lip began to quiver ever so slightly. "Ino-chan you aren't gonna starve yourself are you?" His question came with a whimper. "Don't starve and die Ino-chan!" He begged as he wobbled back and forth in his seat like an animated cartoon would.

He looked at her fanned out chopsticks and leaned further to snatch the uneven wooden tools from her small hands. "I'll take these for you Ino-chan!" He smiled and shoved his perfectly split ones to her from across the table. "Have mine instead. Besides, the perfectly split ones fit you better and the uneven ones fit me" He nodded and grinned like a young child. Gasping and chuckling with glee he shoved some cooked meat onto his plate.

[Inugami]

Shikamaru walked into the restuarant with his hands in his pockets. He looked lazily around the place and heard familiar voices. He decided on searching for Chouji since he hadn't seen him in awhile. The first two places he would look was the ramen shop. Or the place he stood in now.

He turned his head to the voices and walked over to the group. Now adding him, team 10 was all together excluding Asuma-sensei. He raised on hand up to wave, as he sat down at their table.

"Oi Chouji, Ino. Sorry I didn't get here sooner. I've been busy with something bothersome."

He spoke lazily as he sat back in the seat, putting his arms behind his head. He looked up at the ceiling in thought and then looked back at the group. He arrived at an akward time. All this talk about dieting had nothing to do with him. He had nothing to say at all; however he was slightly curious why Chouji would trade Ino-chan for her odd shaped food.

(Stupid keyboard.. keeps screwing up on me. I hate it so much. I would kill it. If it were alive.)

[Chouji]

A lazy drawl of a voice reached Chouji's ear and his grin grew more, if it were possible. Chouji turned his head to see the pinapple head shaped teamate of his."Shika? Shikamaru!" Gleefully greated his lazy teamate with a warming grin.

Chouji then let his gaze fall back on Ino then let it rest once more on Shikamaru. "We are all here now." He chirped up with a playfull smile. He picked up some meat and stuffed it in his mouth. Chewing he began to speak letting peaces of meat fly from his mouth.

"Oy, Shika you should order something yah?" He looked over to Ino as if hoping for a confirmation of such an action.

((Sorry its short, And Nara....Kakuzu is the religous member not Hidan.))

[Inugami]

(whatchu talkin bout art rival. Did I.. NARA SHIKAMARU make a mistake.. I must check this out. BrB I'll modify this to a post. Whatchu talkin about Jam. Look at this page of ultimate resources. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akatsuki_%28Naruto%29#Kakuzu)

[Chouji]

((I know that it says that in Wikipedia...and Wikipedia has been wrong at least once. But in the manga Hidan says the F bomb gawd knows how many times. Kakuzu said 'I will sacrafice you to my lord' in one chapter. Proving Kakuzu is the religous one))