Trip to the Village Hidden In The Sand

Time was ticking and Chojusen was happy with his life. He didn't have a care in the world, and could just talk endlessly with Karin and his brother as they trained. Even though Choji was putting on some weight, Chojusen made sure that it wouldn't affect his staff art skills.

One time, Choji gained five more kilograms than he should have, and had a miserable experience getting constantly beaten by his brother in their staff sparring match. Thereafter, he took great care to not be more than ten or so kilograms overweight; the beating made him traumatized... Now, while Choji still looked a bit chubby, it wasn't out of control.

Today was Sunday, and Choza was currently looking at his two sons training. As he saw the way Karin looked at Chojusen, a glint of cunning appeared in his eye before vanishing, as if it was never there. Choza got up and told his kids to come see him. He took on a serious expression and said "Both of you make me the proudest father alive. I never see you slack off from your training and I can tell you are serious about being ninjas."

His face then relaxed into a smile and he said "I think you've earned a break, so we'll do something special today." He looked at Chojusen and said "Here, take this money and go have some fun around the city… You should take Karin with you and have a good time."

Choji was a bit sad that he didn't get any money and he thought it was because he didn't have as many improvements as his brother. But then, he saw his father turn to him and say "You and I will go to the all-you-can-eat barbecue." and his face lit up; nothing was greater than food in his eyes, except for maybe his friends and family.

Chojusen didn't need to be told to take Karin with him; she would probably follow him on her own accord. Besides, he had no one else to have a good time with; all his friends were still training. Chojusen didn't really know where to start, so Karin said "Why don't we explore the village?"

Chojusen had never actively explored the village since he felt no need to do so; the entire village could fit hundreds of times over in his teleportation range so he knew where everything in the village was located. But, this was a good opportunity to find new things to talk about. He told Karin to lead the way, and the two began to walk all over the village.

They went to the Hokage Monument, then they watched a movie, and finally ended their day with a picnic near one of the training grounds the village had for general ninjas. Chojusen was also a fan of good food, but not to his brother's level, and with his experience having to survive in the wilderness with no money he learned how to cook the beasts he killed.

For a long time he possessed a cooking skill, which had been used so often that he even evolved it to the Master level.

[Cooking (Master | 16/100): The user has mastered all the basics for cooking, and can use even the most basic ingredients to create delicious meals. The more the user cooks, the better the results of his meal.]

For their picnic, Chojusen cooked some sandwiches, tacos, and salads. The food was good enough to be sold in fancy restaurants, so both Karin and Chojusen were satisfied. They spent the rest of the day cloud gazing. At one point Karin fell asleep on top of Chojusen, but he didn't want to disturb her, so he stayed still; he would only move if night came. Fortunately, she woke up before the sun went down and the two went back to their houses after the picnic.

After today's little date, Chojusen noticed that he had started to see Karin more as family, as he started to develop feeling of care for her. He didn't love her romantically. As a four-year-old, such feeling were impossible to manifest. But, if anything happened to her, he would be more than worried; kind of like his feelings for his father and brother.

More time passed with Chojusen, Choji, and Karin training at the Akimichi compound. But every other week, Choza would suddenly feel like treating his children for their hard work. Whenever this occurred, Chojusen would go on a date with Karin, and Choji would get a trip to the barbecue.

After the first couple dates around the Hidden Leaf Village, Chojusen and Karin started to get bored, so he began to take Karin with him to other Hidden Villages to tour. Karin got to choose which villages they would be touring, so they first went to the Hidden Sand Village.

It was completely different than the Hidden Leaf Village. The people were different, the buildings were different, even the weather and environment was different. The village was made up of buildings that were created from rocks; it looked primitive when compared to the Hidden Leaf Village. The village was also situated in such a way, that mountainsides surrounded the village with only the entrance not blocked by precipitous walls.

Chojusen and Karin teleported just outside the entrance to the village, and Chojusen transformed into his twenty-year-old form. He walked up to the village guards and asked if he could enter as a tourist. The guards thought it was odd for tourists to visit the hidden sand village; usually it was just relatives who wanted to see their family that lived within the village. However, they didn't interrogate Chojusen as it wasn't part of their job.

One of the sand village guards said "Hmm? Are you a ninja?"

"Yes." In Chojusen's current form, he couldn't say he was a ninja in training, as no one would believe him. Everyone knew that ninjas were trained since they were young kids, with most graduating to be official ninjas before they became thirteen. If a twenty-year-old-looking Chojusen said he was not a ninja, the guards would immediately doubt his credibility.

"In that case, we need to check if you are a rogue ninja or an enemy of the state. If you are not, you just have to pay 1,500 ryo."

Chojusen and Karin waited for the guards to do their check and they were allowed entry into the Sand Village. They were each given an identification scroll that they could show other Sand Ninja if they were stopped in the village. Chojusen undid his transformation in front of the Sand Village Guards, but to them it look like transformed into a child, for several reasons.

First and foremost it was inconceivable to think that two kids could travel through the desert and reach the Hidden Sand Village by themselves. Secondly, Chojusen's Transformation skill used actual shape shifting, so it wasn't like the Transformation Jutsus of the ninja world. His transformation could not be see through, unless his enemies were highly skilled sensors; and even then, they would only see that his entire body was covered in energy, and not his true form.

The Sand Village Guards didn't care about his transformation either and just attributed this display as one of eccentricity. There were plenty of insane ninjas running around in the world, if they bothered to stop someone every time they did something eccentric, their lives as guards would be miserable.

Before leaving the guards, Chojusen asked them what were some nice sightseeing locations around the village. The guards recommended several restaurants and places of interest they could go see. Chojusen thanked the guards, and went on his way with Karin to explore this new village.

Since they had the whole day to themselves, the two first went to one of the restaurants the guards recommended and had a nice lunch. There were many cuisines that Chojusen had never seen or tried, so he enjoyed his time in the restaurant; he would make sure to learn how these dishes were made, so that he can make them back home for his brother and father to try.

After the two left the restaurant, they started going to what little sightseeing locations there were in the Hidden Sand Village. They visited the commercial district, and bought some souvenirs, before looking at the Sand Village's academy. Before going back home, the last important place they wanted to see was the Kazekage's Office. They weren't going to enter it, but it was nice to admire it from afar; kind of like the tourists in the Hidden Leaf Village who admired the Hokage Tower.

As they were talking and admiring the Kazekage's office, Chojusen picked up a familiar energy signature. He panicked and thought that someone he knew from the Hidden Leaf was also in the Sand Village, but they he quickly realized it was probably not the case. The energy signature he picked up, had appeared suddenly, and while it was familiar, Chojusen couldn't say exactly who it belonged to; this had never happened before, so something must be up.

Chojusen concentrated his teleportation sensing abilities and instantly pinpointed who the energy signature was coming from. Oddly enough, the energy signature was coming from a boy around his and Karin's age; the boy had had auburn hair, jade-colored eyes, and the kanji for "love" written above his left eye.

Chojusen had never met this boy, so he had no idea why his energy signature was familiar. He thought about approaching the boy. Since they were about the same age, it wouldn't be weird to try and make friends. Chojusen's curiosity had been piqued, so he walked over to the boy with a smile on his face.