Re: Akimichi

-Chouji POV-

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!"

I can't help but sigh, they even forget their own birthday. Well, I won't blame them though, I saw they were trained with all of their heart and soul. In the past month, they really gave their all especially every time the Jounins praised my achievement.

Shikamaru opened the storage scroll I gave him and took a book wrapped with papers from it, on the paper was written [Open when you're alone, this book is the limited edition of your favorite stuff with Jigeiya-sama sign that even Kakashi-san did not have. And you know that he's a maniac.]

Shikamaru readily put it back inside the scroll and gave me a fist bump to express his gratitude.

The others did not even bother to ask him as their attention was pulled with the thing on Ino's hand. It was a transparent sphere crystal with three small stalks of flowers inside it.

"This... this is a rainbow ranunculus..."

Seeing her dazed, I let out a chuckle. And the others hearing me chuckling gave a weird stare towards me.

"A-are you sure that's THE rainbow ranunculus?" Sakura gasped, she was in disbelief. Rainbow ranunculus was a very rare and very expensive flower that only grows in a special environment in the land of flower country. "But that's expensive... like very expensive..."

"For you, yes it's expensive. For me? I need to use my allowance for three months in advance, but that's it."

Sakura and Lee gave me even more weird stares. "What? I'm rich."

Sakura gulped, she knew the price of this flower. It's a half-million Ryo per stalk, that's to say, one and a half-millions for the three of them. It means that Chouji's monthly allowance was at least a half-million at least.

Meanwhile, Ino stared lovingly at the flowers. These colorful, swirly flowers, also called "buttercups", they symbolize luxury, charm, attraction, and radiance. Give a bouquet of these beauties and you'll be letting the recipient know, "I am dazzled by your charms," [1]

"I love it, thank you Chouji..." Ino tilted her head and smiled in happiness.

Worth it, totally worth it to allocate half a month of the profit from pizza sales to buy these. What? Yes, I lied to them. I did not receive any allowance again ever since I gave the clan the pizza recipe since the twenty percent of the profit from it were mine. That's an internal matter of the clan, so I just made up some excuse. But of course, Ino and Shikamaru knew that since I brag about it in the past to them.

"Okay, enough with this. Let's go to the arena, that foxy blondie should be fighting against that Neji." I clapped and invite everyone to watch the match together.

Remembering Neji's circ.u.mstance, I saw Ino sighed as she recalled her attempt to help him.

---

Meanwhile, inside Gaara's ward.

A special unit of Anbu appeared a few minutes after Kabuto tweaked with Gaara. They immediately took him to the abandoned district on the outer area of the Konoha where all the citizens already evacuated from there. This way, they can let him rampage all he wants while helping them demolished all of the abandoned buildings there.

After that, Konoha would be able to righteously claimed more benefits from the Suna since a part of their village was destroyed by their Jinchuriki.

'Your Jinchuriki destroyed a part of our village, so pay up.'

'What? You don't want to pay? then We'll take some of your territories.'

That's the gist of the Hokage's plan, of course, there were more to it but too complicated to be listed.

---

Inside Sasuke's ward.

Sasuke was knocked unconscious by Kabuto, no long after, a man wearing Anbu uniform appeared and approached while stepping on the unconscious body of the Anbu guard that was attacked by Kabuto.

Unfortunately for him, before he was able to reach for Sasuke, his tenketsus point was hit. Thus, it made him unable to do anything including using his chakra. From his back, Hyuga Ko was seen after he took his mask off, he was among the attacked by Kabuto and play dead when attacked by him.

"The rat already has taken care of, operation possum finished."

Ko then saw the downed Anbu hit several of their own tenketsu points, not long after, they were back on their feet. Although it's true that they were attacked by Kabuto, they hit their own tenketsu points to show that they're dead while still able to move at a moment notice.

Not hesitating in the slightest, Ko took the mask of the one he called a rat and pulled his tongue out.

"The root, as expected. Thank you for standing guard for us, Yamato-san."

The wall then flashed before a few seals appeared and disappeared on the sidewall of the ward, from there, Yamato surfaced then nodded. He checked on Sasuke and applied more seal on his cursed seal. "Please take him to the bunker along with the other and stand guard there."

"Yes!"

---

-Chouji POV-

We're on our way onto the arena, everyone was chatting happily along the way. Ino was so happy and she's skipping instead of walking normally and Sakura looked at her enviously.

Shikamaru was also apparently was giddy to read the book that I gave him and he kept held the scroll in his hand as he gazed at it from time to time, though I knew that what Jigeiya-sama write cannot even be compared to the ill.u.s.trious "art" in my past life.

*Pu*

"Kya!"

Just then, a man rushed toward our direction. From his attire and the sign he wore, it was clear that he was from Sunagakure. In her carelessness, Ino skipped in front of him and they both clashed, which made Shikamaru who was behind her also fell on his b.u.t.t.

On the far side of the room, I saw a man wearing an Anbu uniform ran toward here, which I concluded maybe he chased this person that bumped with us.

As I want to stall him, I saw Ino took a scroll from the floor and opened it. And to everyone surprise, Ino suddenly vanished just like that leaving a poof of smokes behind. Then a humongous snake appeared a few feet apart from us, the others were startled, apart from me which still trying to sense Ino's whereabout.

'Ino... where are you...?'

"Snap out of it Chouji, she was probably reverse-summoned to where this snake was before."

This sudden event threw me into disarray, usually, I tried to reign and control my emotion as I knew that the teenager phase was the most unstable phase in life. But, for now...

I let the anger take over me...

And fueled by my worry,

I let it out,

I let it take over me as I stared hatefully at the snake and the man from Suna.

The first two gates of the eight gates were released, and I entered the flame body state once again. In my fit of rage, I concentrated all of the flames at one point on my right index finger. I double jumped towards the head of the giant snake.

*Boom*

It swayed its head back and forth as it destroyed the wards building and tried to break free. The snake has quickly concentrated its attention toward one heat source that it felt threatening, Me.

I stabbed my finger into space between its eyes on its head and my finger pierced through its thick skin and reached its skull which instantly burnt. I let the flame loose inside the snake and burn it from inside out.

A little more than a second later, the snake giant figure was turned into ashes and blew by the wind as the building already destroyed. Shikamaru which was protecting Sakura and Lee was agape but he quickly snapped back into his sense.

"Shikamaru, do you know how we can take Ino back?"

Shikamaru quickly processed all the information he had and frowned, "I'm not sure, but maybe we can ask someone with a snake contract and go there ourselves. As far as I know, Orochimaru of the Sennin and Anko-san were the only ones known to have the snake contract."

"Anko-san is it? Okay..."

As I was thinking, I decided to just look for Anko-san. It was impossible to ask Orochimaru to cooperate, so she's the only silver lining I had.

"Shikamaru, you take Sakura and Lee to the safety, from this we knew that something bound to happen. Maybe an invasion of some sort."

Thus I leave without looking back, leaving my three friends and an unassuming Anbu behind.

---

*Boom*

Many Sand and Sound operatives were scattered and attacked Konoha Shinobi, chaos ensued as neither side was ready as it was out of their script.

On the far side of the Konoha, Shukaku was let loose as it started to take over Gaara's body. Yamato along with several Anbu squads was stood guard on the scene to control the Bijuu when needed.

In the Arena, several sound and sand genins and chunins were immediately neutralized by the Anbu and taken as captive. The Jounins also quickly ganged by the several Konoha Anbu which quickly devolved into a disadvantaged situation for the Sound and Sand.

Four peoples from the spectator area appeared surrounding the platform where the Hokage and the Kazekage seated, They were forming several hand seals before they erected the [Shishienjin], or the Four Violet Flames Formation.

A barrier made from purple flames erected surrounding the place and those four forming extend secondary barriers around themselves, making breaking out even more difficult and protecting themselves at the same time.

Four Jounins of Konoha immediately rushed to attack the four peoples that erected the barrier, cracking it on the process. Asuma, Kakashi, Guy, and Hayate launched their own attack to destroy the barrier.

Inside the barrier, Hiruzen was confronted by Orochimaru which already took his disguise off. Hiruzen, which already in his battle gear was seen holding a black colored staff on his hand, was staring menacingly at his former student.

"Now, what is your ploy this time, kid? If you can't explain it properly then don't expect me to hold my fist back again like the before."

"Kukuku, you're still in a high spirit I see, Sensei..."

The two stared at each other in silence, no one moving as the battle went on in their surrounding.

---

"[Chidori]!"

"[Hien]!"

"[Dainamikku Akushyon]!"

"[Hiken: Tsukikage]!"

Various attacks were launched and finally, the outer barrier was cracked not long after it was erected. The four peoples from the sound that erected the barrier were known as the sound four, and they quickly manipulated the violet flame barrier to cover them from the incoming attack.

The barrage of attacks was continued, alas the attacks were all swallowed by the violet flames then vanishes just like that.

From the far horizon, a bright dot quickly zoomed in into the arena where the main battle proceeds. After it was close enough, peoples could tell that it was one of the chunin exams participant, Chouji.

He was looking for Anko to ask for a way to look for Ino, and it's crystal clear that he was in no mood for any delay. So, seeing a barrier erected inside the arena and covered a sizeable portion of it, Chouji thought of the possibility of Anko was inside it.

With a quick flash, he rushed toward it, and just like that he passed the barrier. Surprising friends and foes alike.

"How?!"

"That's the violet flame!"

"Impossible!"

Chuoji who was ignorant of what the violet flame formation was just continued to look for Anko while thinking in his head. 'You call that a flame?'

---

Meanwhile, Anko was assigned in the outer wall of the village as one of the guards that keep the Yamanaka that maintains the village barrier safe.

---

[1] Ranunculus is a real flower, the rainbow one though is a made-up one.