thefinaljedi | Appointments

"Hi, Luke." Chouji looks around for a minute, noting differences between the home (not home, home is the clan compound in Konoha) he remembers and the way the farms really are.

He scratches his head as he tries to figure out what to say to the man who is not his brother but still feels like one. What comes out is his best attempt at nonchalance: "I was wondering if you could still use a farm hand."

Of course, any pretense of not caring is ruined when he rushes to clarify, "I don't expect anything else! I mean, I'd like to be friends if you were interested, but I'm not asking you to--" --keep being my brother hurts too much to say, so he stops midsentence to let Luke speak.

Luke regards the young man for a moment, finally setting down his tools and wiping off his hands. Approaching he offers his right hand, gloved all in black with it's impossibly strong grip. And nods.

"I can always use more help around the place. It's a bit more difficult, with so many of the people who worked up here gone." Luke ignores the rushed clarification for a moment, slamming down hard on the wave of discomfort coming off of Chouji. It's impossible for him not to be able to empathize, and the emotions are really strong, assailing his Force senses relentlessly.

"It's alright, Chouji. I don't really have a brother at home, so I wouldn't know where to begin with that. Han, my brother-in-law, doesn't really count I guess." Because let's face it, Han's a jerkface. "but I'm more than happy to be your friend. You seem like a good guy, and I think I've got a good read on you. So it'd be a pleasure, getting to know the real you."

He takes Luke's hand, a little surprised by how strong the handshake is, but not minding. Chouji's relief at Luke's calm and considerate response does a lot to ease that discomfort.

Considering his existing schedule, Chouji nods; his other job was similarly needed in light of the absence of previous workers. "I've promised to cook at Seventh Heaven during the school day so Rin is free to attend. I'm available before or after, though."

He laughs a little at the second part of what Luke says. "I wouldn't know either. I'm an only child, unless you count Shikamaru and Ino, my teammates." If they're getting to know each other, he should start with something basic. The realization that Luke doesn't know something as fundamental as Chouji's name is a jarring one, and he begins with that. "My actual surname is Akimichi." There is still a mild impulse to introduce himself as Chouji Skywalker, but the name that really resonates as his own isn't that one.

"Akimichi," Luke tests the word, rolling the syllables around for a second. "Akimichi." He actually manages to say it correctly the first time, his own familiarity with Japanese through Ami and his skill as a linguist. Hey, he can speak Shriiwook, why not Naruto-Japanese? "I take it that means you're a Shinobi from Konoha as well? I know Shikamaru and Ino, and a few others. Itachi, Hinata and Asuma."

And then, he figures it's polite to introduce himself too. "And as for me, I'm Luke Skywalker, son of Anakin Skywalker. I am a Jedi, which...as I understand it...is similar to a Shinobi in a lot of ways."

He grins at the correct assumption, although it falters a little at the mention of Asuma. "I am! Hinata graduated the Academy with my team, so we grew up with her too." He frowns. Anyone else from his world going home, Chouji could accept. Asuma and Neji are the hardest because he knows what's waiting for them there. "Asuma-sensei is no longer in Luceti, though." No longer anywhere, if he's not here. Familiarity with Japanese will probably give Luke at least a tiny bit of an idea how important Asuma was to Chouji.

Chouji nods. "So you kept your full name, and the rest of us borrowed part of it." He still feels caught between the two names, memories jumbled enough that neither one is entirely his, because both are.

Luke notices the faltering changes in Chouji's speech but he doesn't pry. It's already tough enough on him with everything going on as a result of the shift. He does get the importance, though. Sensei is also a term used in Echani martial arts, so he's quite familiar with it.

"I did. I'm not entirely sure why, but I'm sorry about that. It doesn't seem quite fair."

Grateful for the space, Chouji chooses not to elaborate. However many times he loses Asuma (this is the third), it never gets easier. And it shouldn't. He doesn't want to talk about it though. Sharing pain with his teammates is fine. They all know without explanations. It's the explanations he doesn't want to make.

He moves back to lighter topics with a smile to mark the shift in focus. "I don't mind. It still feels a little strange to say my own name, but I didn't mind being part of your family for a few days." It felt like longer. "And farming's pretty appropriate, given how much appreciation my clan has for food."

"You might not be so quick to say that, if you knew my family life," Luke says with a sardonic smile. "but thanks. Though, heh, farming where I'm from is a little different. We farm moisture, and grow our crops underground."

Edited 2013-09-12 04:37 (UTC)

Chouji shoots Luke a look of mild concern, but he doesn't say anything. Luke didn't push him, and the least he can do is return the favor.

"I don't know anything about farming moisture exactly, but if you need wells or irrigation here I can manage them. I'm good at digging. It's a clan talent, I suppose, with our specific set of techniques. That, and very heavy lifting."

He taps his chin in confusion then, adding almost as an afterthought, "How do you get sunlight to them underground, though? Just about every crop I know needs that as much as water." And he's familiar with a lot of them, at least once they reach the food stage.

"Well that's something that does get to be a problem, during droughts. If you know a good way to move a lot of dirt quickly, that'd be really helpful."

And he responds to that after thought.

"Sunlamps. Nothing too complicated."

Chouji glances over at Luke, then down at his hands. This is the first time he's used ninjutsu after remembering his life and identity. The last time, it was an accident, a betrayal of his body that he couldn't understand. He grins. Some feelings may linger, but discomfort with his own abilities isn't one of them. Chouji's hands flip through a couple of seals quickly, with the ease of long practice. Once they've completed the seals both hands and the arms attached to them expand to many times their previous size.

It feels like coming home, a connection that ties him to Konoha, to his clan and to his real life rather than the one dreamed up under the influence of a Shift. Chouji takes a deep breath, feeling far more secure and grounded than he has since rediscovering who he is.

"Dirt should be easy enough to move." He doesn't usually brag, but it's such a relief to mold his chakra again. "I can change the size of my body, and I have another jutsu that's even better for making wells." Truthfully, Chouji likes digging holes in part because it's a use for the meat tank that doesn't involve crushing enemy soldiers. There's more to it than that, but for now he'll gladly focus on a peaceful and useful application for his family techniques. It's almost like being back on D-rank missions, except this one is self-assigned and Chouji is a lot more efficient.

Luke watches with interest. He's seen Shikamaru use his shadow-powers and he knows firsthand what Hinata's chakra can do, but this is different. It doesn't feel different, not through his Force-sight, but the effect is a lot more direct and overt.

"That's...certainly different. I don't think I've seen anyone or anything who can do that sort of thing before. It certainly would make getting some ditches and wells dug easier. Is it just your hands and arms, or can you enlarge the rest of yourself too?"

"My whole body. I can also become a sort of human boulder and roll in that form." Chouji leaves out the fact that he can harden his hair into spikes to combine with that technique.

He spreads his hands, now back to their usual size, and says, "We convert calories into chakra, and then use that to manipulate our bodies. That's where all the respect for food comes in. My clan is more dependent on it than most." When he's in uniform, Chouji actually wears the kanji for it on his chest. Out of uniform today, the symbol isn't present.

"Definitely...different. A lot of the things people from your world are able to do a Jedi can duplicate, but not that. Growing and such are just not things I think that could be done with the Force. But body manipulation is pretty easy and handy." He grins and laughs.

"I'd wondered where all that energy goes." Because Chouji isn't fat or anything, he's just...big.

"It's pretty unusual even in my world. I've never seen anyone but an Akimichi towering over a battlefield. Unless you count summons, which aren't human." Chouji does less towering than his father does, shifting between sizes more frequently. He's been borrowing more and more of Chouza's fighting style since arriving in Luceti and becoming more dependent on weapons to supplement jutsu, though.

"That's where most of it goes, yes." Some of it stays around to be broken down later, as rarely as possible. The last resort technique of the clan, the one that Chouji managed without organ-damaging pills, to everyone's amazement, would be impossible without some spare body weight.

"I don't think I realized how much I missed being able to use chakra until just now." It wasn't all that long in actual time, but it felt like an entire other lifetime without it. "I couldn't miss it then, I guess, because I didn't remember. Is," he pauses to remember which word Luke used, "the Force like that for you?"

"The Force is a little different. It's less something I use, and more something I sense. When it came back the other day, it was really confusing. I just couldn't process all the information it was giving me. And I did things on reflex. Even manipulating it is more like sensing it and feeling it do something. I guess though, you could say I missed feeling it. It's good...being connected like this again."

But honestly? He's not sure.

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