A small, skinny brunet ran up to a woman with dark hair and black eyes.

"Kaa-san, I can't finish my food!" Chōji said, sniffling.

His plate was huge, even for a fully grown adult. Moreover, it was piled with food. It was an amount that none would be able to finish. Unless they were an Akimichi, of course. If it were an Akimichi, it would barely be enough for a child. However, Chōji had eaten a normal portion of food for a normal child.

On the other hand, wastage of food is strictly prohibited within the Akimichi clan. It is a crime comparable to blasphemy. As such, Chōji was trembling in fear of his mother's wrath. Although his mother was usually a kind lady, she was still scary when she was angered.

On the other hand, Chōji was different from the rest of the children of the clan. He ate much less. He had no interest in eating constantly. He was much smaller than the other children.

As an Akimichi, his bones were naturally bigger than an average human's. This is because members of the Akimichi clan were all on the heavier side, requiring a high-calorie diet to perform their clan jutsu properly. Despite that, he was slim. Although not merely skin and bones, he had minimal fat deposits on his body. He only the baby fat that was present in all children. Chōji's metabolism was also rather high as he preferred to be more active, often playing with the Yamanaka and Nara clan heirs, the children of his father's best friends.

Even though Chōji was unable to finish his food, his mother did not look angry. She looked worried.

"You eat too little! It is unhealthy. Look at you, so skinny! You need to eat more to grow!" Chōji's mother coaxed, scooping up another spoonful of food from the plate.

"I'm already very full, kaa-san. I cannot eat more!" the four-year-old tried to tell his mother as he inched away from her outstretched arm.

"Please? Just one mouthful more. It will make kaa-san very happy. You are much too skinny!" his mother pleaded.

Chōji hesitantly ate the spoonful of food, doing his best to swallow it and keep it there without vomiting. He had already eaten as much as he could, not wanting to disappoint his mother. He truly was unable to take another scoop more. However, his mother had given him no choice.

Chōji noticed his mother scooping up another spoonful and could only shake his head frantically, turning slightly green and backing out of the dining room as quickly as his short little legs would allow. He ran away from his mother and onto the porch, stopping abruptly and falling to the ground in a sprawl.

"Hello, Chōji," a voice said with an amused tone near where his head was planted in the ground.

Chōji tilted his head up slightly, wearily to face the familiar voice.

"Shikamaru!" Chōji shouted with glee, embracing his friend warmly.

"Your mother forced you to eat too much again?" Shikamaru guessed.

Chōji groaned, giving the Nara his answer. Shikamaru shook his head. His friend was an anomaly within the Akimichi clan. However, Shikamaru himself was no different. He had no right to talk.

"What happened this time?" Shikamaru sighed as he seated himself beside his friend.

Chōji groaned and flipped himself over such that he was facing the ceiling. This gave Shikamaru his answer.

Shikamaru rubbed his chin with a thumb, seeming to become lost in thought as he pondered over the issue that his best friend was facing.

Chōji bit his lip, sweat dripping off his brow as he stared at Shikamaru in anticipation.

"Maybe use a henge to seem fat? The additional food you can hide away and distribute to the homeless children as well as those in the orphanage," Shikamaru suggested.

Chōji jumped up, his eyes seeming to sparkle as he bounced around.

"That's a brilliant idea! I should have thought of it sooner! We did learn the three basic academy ninjutsu together last year along with Ino-chan!" Chōji exclaimed as he shook his best friend back and forth, his face shining with exuberance.

Shikamaru merely smiled.

Chōji suddenly stopped jumping around, plonking himself back down on the ground and curling up in a ball. He mumbled aloud, "But that would be lying to kaa-san and tou-san. They will be sad..."

"Then you don't let them find out. They are so worried that you aren't eating as much as an average member of your clan. It would lessen their worries if they saw you finish your food," Shikamaru said softly, his voice soothing Chōji significantly.

Chōji buried his face into his arms further, before looking up hopefully. The smallest trickle of tears fell down his cheek as his eyes began to show a glint of hopefulness.

"You think so?" Chōji asked, his voice quivering.

Chōji sniffled and friend the tears away with the back of his hand. He uncurled himself and sat up straight, leaning closer to his friend who kneeled next to him with a hand on his shoulder. He stopped with his nose barely an inch from Shikamaru's.

"Do you really think so?" Chōji repeated, his tone deadly serious as his expression of guilt faded.

"Of course," Shikamaru replied with equal seriousness, his voice laced with conviction.

Shikamaru pushed away any doubts he had about his suggestion, staring right back at Chōji while hiding all traces of unsureness he may have felt. They did not break their gaze for a full minute when Chōji suddenly jumped to his feet.

Shikamaru looked up to see a wide grin stretching over the face of one of his only two friends.

"That's great! How do we make sure kaa-san and tou-san don't find out..." Chōji exclaimed in glee before his voice lowered to a whisper.

"That's..." Shikamaru mumbled, rubbing his chin in thought.

Neither of them had the skills to do an undetectable Henge or any form of high-level genjutsu.

"That's where I come in," the two boys flinched and almost screamed in terror as a silky voice cut in.

Both boys gaped at the intruder. 'How did he enter the compound?! He's no Akimichi!' both boys thought in shock.

'Moreover, his voice is so smooth and his words so well articulated. It is almost as though he is much older than us... though his voice was that of a child..." Shikamaru noted to himself, analysing the new arrival.

'He has weapon pouches! They are real, not like those that tou-san gave me for training!' Chōji thought with his eyes wide.

"Who are you? How do we know whether you can be trusted?" Shikamaru asked suspiciously.

The boy smiled, revealing pearly white teeth as he pulled off his hoodie. Shikamaru and Chōji saw a mop of messy obsidian black hair with a single lock of red and twinkling cerulean blue eyes.

"I am Menma. I see no reason for you to trust me, other than the fact that I know the Hokage well," the boy now known as Menma said in amusement.

"Hokage? As in the really important village head of Konoha?" Chōji asked distrustfully.

"Who else? My grandmother?" Menma asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Who knows?" Chōji muttered.

Shikamaru withheld his snicker, causing Menma to shake his head in mock disapproval. This only caused both Chōji and Shikamaru to burst into giggles. Menma smiled slightly once more.

"Do you accept my help?" Menma asked placidly, a smile still firmly in place.

"Well, why not?" Chōji said cheerfully before Shikamaru could react, having forgotten that Menma was a total stranger.

Shikamaru felt his eyebrow twitch as he elbowed his friend in the side, hissing under his breath, "Did you forget already that he is a stranger whose name may not even be what he told us?!"

"He seems trustworthy enough! He's our age! How bad could he be?!" Chōji hissed back.

"How would I know? He seems powerful... If he wanted to, he could probably kill us!" Shikamaru whispered to Chōji, worry creasing his brow.

"Which means he doesn't want to kill us," Chōji said back evenly.

Menma chuckled at their exchange, making both boys swing toward him in shock. 'How did he overhear us?! He's so far away and we were trying our best to keep quiet!' Shikamaru and Chōji thought at the same time with their eyes widened in surprise.

"I have better hearing than the average human," Menma replied to their unsaid question, almost as though reading their minds.

The two began to gape at Menma, 'Now we find out that he's a mind-reader?!'

This made Menma laugh, "No, I did not read your minds. I was watching your facial expressions, and you'll have to admit that they are very funny..."

Menma showed them a photo he had taken of the two of them when he first entered the clearing. It was made with an image-capturing seal that worked better than the best high-definition camera available in the Elemental Nations. The two could only stare at him wide-eyed at how brilliant the photo angle was as well as the quality of the image.

"You managed to adjust the photo angle so well... You're an excellent photographer!" Chōji gushed after he got over his own impressive imitation of a dying chicken.

Shikamaru could not help but nod dumbly, his ears flushed in embarrassment that such a humiliating moment of his was captured. Despite that, he was also left in awe of the other boy's photography skills.

"How do you do it? Is it a hobby or something? Can you teach me?" Chōji began asking his questions at the speed of a bullet train, never stopping for breath, leaving Menma without enough time to reply.

"Slow down! I cannot answer so many questions at once!" Menma said with amusement shining in his eyes, chuckling softly in good humour.

Chōji nodded quickly and snapped his mouth shut, looking up at the taller boy pleadingly while doing his best puppy-eyes.

"I just snapped a picture quickly without thinking much of it. I swear that the good photo angle was a coincidence! The quality is just a trait of the seal I used. No, I don't have photography as my hobby or anything. If anything, my skills are quite unpolished. I cannot teach you what I don't even know myself," Menma listed off before asking Chōji, who was now pouting at the unfairness of how Menma had naturally good photographing skills, "Did I miss out anything or do you have more questions?"

Shikamaru, having gotten over his embarrassment, only shook his head fondly at the boy he knew as his childhood friend, relaxing the guard that he had kept up ever since he noticed the new boy entered their conversation. He drew out a scroll from one of the many pockets in his cargo pants and leaned back to study the contents as he waited patiently for Chōji to finish with his questions.

"I know you are still young but are you a shinobi?"

The mood suddenly took a 180-degree flip as Chōji asked a seemingly personal question.

"Of course not. It is not wartime. Besides, no shinobi can be below the age of eight. It is so even in times of war. Exceptions are the black-ops, those who do secret missions too dangerous for normal shinobi. Even then, the younger ones do not really go into service until they at least hit seven. They train before that if they enter early," Menma explained, stunning the two boys with his knowledge of what had to be secret data that a child was not supposed to be able to access.

Noticing the two boys begin to look at him doubtfully again, he supplied, "This information is easily found in the shinobi library if you know where to look."

"Oh," Chōji said while Shikamaru murmured at the same time, "I see..."

Both boys stared at each other again, seeming to communicate without words before nodding at each other. Chōji and Shikamaru turned to Naruto at the same time, speaking in unison, "If that's the case, we will accept your help."

Menma smiled slightly at that, saying dramatically, "Then your wish is my command!"

Menma lifted an arm and seemed to materialise a pair of bangles from thin air when he flicked his wrist. These bangles were seemingly made of solid gold, with matching dragon and phoenix designs. They were also very reflective, catching the light with ease as Naruto lowered his arm. Thin seams were barely visible on the bracelets.

Chōji and Shikamaru felt their breaths hitch. Regardless of whether or not these pretty things were made of real gold, they had to be ridiculously expensive! The craftsmanship was impeccable!

Menma caught their gaze and smirked at the dumbfounded looks on their faces.

"I made them. I used golden ingots, a rather easily obtained resource -- for me at least. I melted them and crafted these bangles. I did not have anything to do with them as I only made them for fun. This does serve as a good opportunity for me to get rid of them," Menma said nonchalantly at their stunned expressions.

The other boys could only nod dumbly in response.

"Now for the important bit..." Menma muttered, setting the bangles on the floor.

The raven seemed to concentrate his eyes on the pieces of matching jewellery, causing small silvery-blue kanji to dance across the inner surface as the beautiful bracelets unclasped. As Menma seemed to pour in more concentration, the mass of kanji on each of the bangles separated into two separate sealing matrices which shrunk even further. They eventually became small enough that they looked like tiny circles, one under the dragon, the other under the phoenix. The light died down, revealing what seemed to be small circular indentations in the otherwise flawless bangles.

Menma picked them up from where they rested on the floor, holding up the open bangles as he motioned to Chōji's wrists.

"I'll help you put them on," Menma told him patiently while fingering the intricate bracelet.

Chōji placed his wrist in Menma's open hand and watched in awe as Menma snapped the bangles shut, the seams sealing shut with the same silvery-blue light. The bracelets could no longer be removed.

"These bangles cannot be removed," Menma explained, "unless they are spliced open by me."

"They cannot be seen by anyone unless you allow them to. They will, at first, make you seem as though you are quickly gaining weight. They are equipped with gravity seals that make it seem as though you weigh more than you really do. They also come with energy storage seals. These allow you to eat more than most Akimichi while almost instantly digesting it and storing the energy in these seals instead of in the form of fat. This way, you can easily perform your clan jutsu even without the fat stored in your body. You can deactivate the gravity and transformation seals by channelling chakra into the bracelets. The energy storage seals cannot be deactivated," Menma elucidated.

"You should increase your food intake slowly. Start by finishing a third of your plate for three meals or so before gradually increasing the amount to make it seem more believable. At some point, you would have finished your food. This is when you start asking for seconds," Menma suggested.

His words made Chōji widen his eyes in alarm, "That's not possible! I can never eat that much! I'll burst!"

Menma laughed, "Don't worry, once you feel full, the food will be converted into calories and sent straight into the bangles. You will not feel any more full after a certain point. Just watch the amount of food you eat. You should also probably start constantly eating chips or something once your mother sees you asking for seconds. This will instantly go straight to the bangles as most unhealthy foods will. That way, you can actually eat when it comes to your actual meals."

"That's great and all, but it only affects sight, right? I will seem to weigh more, but anyone who touches me will be able to tell that I'm not as fat as I look," Chōji questioned worriedly.

"It physically transforms your body, though the seals that I used were too complicated to include the increase of weight, which is the reason behind the gravity seals. No one will notice as long as you do not want anyone to. Not even the most clear-sighted of Hyūga and Uchiha can see past it," Menma explained.

The frowns on the faces of Shikamaru and Chōji smoothened out.

"That's genius!" Chōji shouted in awe as he began bouncing around gleefully.

Shikamaru, however, had a different train of thought. "I have to learn fūinjutsu..." he muttered to himself, idly creating a shadow clone that melted into his shadow instantly with a single handsign. It went straight to the fūinjutsu section of the shinobi library.

Menma chuckled at that, saying amusedly, "Don't try to run before you learn how to crawl. Start from the basics. It will do you no good to attempt high-level fūinjutsu before you even manage the basics."

Chōji turned to Shikamaru, a confused tilt to his head as Shikamaru felt his ears burn.

"I was not going to skip the basics!" Shikamaru defended himself weakly as he discreetly made another shadow clone to help the first in studying the books and practising the art, mentally commanding them to go to the beginner's section.

"Oh really?" Menma said knowingly while Chōji merely glanced up at his friend before going back to admiring the intricate bangles.

Shikamaru seemed to shrink under the knowing look cast upon him by none other than Menma.

"Really!" Shikamaru squeaked, cheeks also tinted pink in embarrassment.

"Whatever you say, Shikamaru-san," Menma finally said, putting the poor boy out of his misery as he abruptly dropped the topic.

"Arigatō, Menma-san," Chōji and Shikamaru chorused as Menma smiled and spun on his heel, stalking in the direction of the trees.

"Ja ne!" Menma called out as he seemed to vanish into thin air.

The two clan heirs did not dare to move, feeling as though the raven was not real. As though he was but an illusion in the heat of summer.

A gentle breeze made the branches of an overhanging tree sway, causing a beam of light to reflect off the surface of the golden bangles, temporarily blinding them both. As they blinked the dark spots from their eyes, Shikamaru sighed and Chōji began to finger the exquisite designs on the bracelet subconsciously.

Both boys hoped that they would see the mysterious raven again, deciding not to approach the hokage about it. Menma would return. But only when the time came for it. They knew it.

>•<

It would be a long time before either found out that the stupid blond in their future class at the academy was the mysterious boy who had helped them so long ago.

>•<

Chōji was laying flat on his bed, the Henge that he had somehow gotten used to over the years off. He had recently been enrolled in the shinobi academy, which did not come to him as a surprise. Being a clan heir, he did not even need to pass the entrance exam to be able to attend the academy. All those who were in the shinobi council, which his father is part of, did know how useless the new curriculum was, after all.

Chōji twitched as he heard banging on the main door into his house. He extended his senses, surprised at the chakra he sensed outside the door.

"Shikamaru? Why would he knock? He can come in on his own. He has the keys and doesn't even need to enter through the door..." Chōji mused, confusion settling over his features.

Chōji heard his mother walk quickly to the door before noticing a weak presence near Shikamaru. Chōji strained his senses further only to realise with a start that the person was Ino.

Chōji bit his lip in worry at how the girl's chakra signature was so faint and only felt the feeling intensify as he noticed Shikamaru's natural chakra output much higher than usual. This meant that Shikamaru had lost control of his tightly restrained chakra, not caring even if people found out that he was much stronger than he let on. This made Chōji extremely reluctant to find out about Ino's condition.

Chōji heard his mother hustle Shikamaru into a guest room and activated the transformation seals quickly, forcing himself to walk down the stairs without running. As he descended the last flight, he only grew more worried as he heard the sounds of his mother rushing back and forth.

Chōji then heard the voices of the three people who were in the room, which caused him to release a breath he did not notice he was holding.

Chōji collected himself, carefully arranging his features into a small frown as he peeked through the slightly ajar door.

"Kaa-chan? What's all the commotion about?" Chōji asked his mother, sounding puzzled as he walked into the room.

"Shikamaru? Ino-chan? What did I miss?" Chōji questioned, tilting his head to the side while sounding confused.

"Ino's parents turned out to be homophobic and have been trying to beat it out of her. She ran away and ended up here," Shikamaru summarised quickly to inform his friend of the situation.

"Oh. Then pretend to be straight. Just act like you have a crush on a guy you know will never fall for you and go with it," Chōji said as though it was the most simple thing in the world.

"Eh? But I don't want to make her sad..." Ino told them sadly.

"It's okay if you stay as friends for now, no?" Chōji's mother asked gently.

Ino nodded, "I'll be happy as long as I will see her and can talk to her."

"Then stick with that. Tell your parents that you were just confused and had found out that you like some guy," Shikamaru suggested when he noticed Ino's hesitation.

"Uh... I'll go with Uchiha Sasuke. He seems utterly infatuated with his older brother and will probably never fall for anyone," Ino concluded reluctantly as Chōji smiled slightly at the smart choice, unnoticed by all but Shikamaru.

"That's a good choice. Many of the girls have been eyeing him so it would not be suspicious if you suddenly found him attractive," Shikamaru said with a nod of approval.

"But what if-" Ino started in a panicky voice before she was cut off.

"You will cross that bridge when you come to it," Chōji's mother told her sternly.

"Okay, now I should get back..." Ino murmured, trying to get up.

"No! You will stay until tomorrow morning. That's final," Chōji's mother scolded, pushing her back down gently.

"Fine," Ino mumbled, yawning before quickly falling asleep.

The other three people in the room snuck out as quietly as possible, trying not to disrupt the sleep of the girl in the bed. They found themselves in the living room, sitting on the comfy sofa.

"I'll help Ino-chan by telling her parents that we managed to convince her that she did not like a girl if they come to ask," Chōji's mother volunteered when she noticed the awkward tension.

"I'll help her out if she stumbles through her act at school!" Chōji said excitedly, having forgotten to bring along the packet of chips that he had grabbed on the way down, only to leave it in the guest room.

Thankfully, his mother did not notice.

"How troublesome... I guess I will do the same," Shikamaru stated with a sigh as he scratched his head.

The three nodded, before Shikamaru muttered, "Gotta run."

"See you soon!" Chōji called out as Shikamaru melted into the shadows.

Shikamaru gave him a playful one-handed salute before fully disappearing.

>•<

Chōji walked into the classroom, subconsciously fingering the invisible bangle on his wrist as he nervously glanced around the room. He could not help but scan the room for the raven-haired boy who had helped him a few years back. Even though he had already checked during the entrance ceremony, he had to check again, if only to settle his racing mind.

Chōji never did have the chance to properly thank Menma. He had looked for him around the village but never did come across the other boy. The only thing that convinced Chōji that Menma was real was the golden bracelets on his wrists.

Chōji sunk into the seat beside Shikamaru, marvelling at how the chair squeaked under the added weight. He could not help but marvel at how the bangles did such an effective job that no one would suspect him of not being as heavy as he seemed. Shikamaru nodded at his friend before laying his head on the table again as he read a book under the desk that was just out of sight.

"That's 'cause I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm gonna be Hokage, dattebayo!" Chōji suddenly heard a loud, scratchy and incredibly childish voice yell from outside the classroom.

"No, you will not! Sasuke-kun is the best! He will become Hokage!" Chōji had to cover his ears as a shrill voice screeched this out.

Chōji raised an eyebrow as he watched a tanned blond boy enter the classroom with a brunette with plain dark eyes. 'A fangirl... Of course,' Chōji sighed at his misfortune for having to be in the same class as the popular Uchiha Sasuke.

Said boy frowned at the girl before walking towards the blond who entered the room with the fangirl. The fangirl swooned as the raven neared her, only to begin speaking to the blond idiot instead.

Chōji strained to hear what the Uchiha said, but it was too soft for him to hear. He deduced that it was not important when he heard Naruto speak again.

"What is that?" Naruto said loudly, frowning in confusion.

"...Nevermind... I asked the wrong person..." Sasuke walked away, a deep frown marring his features.

Naruto approached Shikamaru whispering loudly, "Psst... You look smart. What's an Abu?"

Shikamaru looked up with a bored expression, "You mean ANBU?"

"I don't know what that is, ya' know? Just tell meh!" Naruto shouted in frustration.

"The Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai [暗殺戦術特殊部隊], also known as ANBU [暗部]. It is a black ops faction of the shinobi forces. Their activities are top secret," Shikamaru explained with a sigh.

Naruto's mouth formed a perfect 'o', "Ohhhh... I didn't know that, dattebayo!"

"Now you do," Shikamaru stated before going back to his book.

"Naruto-san? You are an Uzumaki, right? What do you know of your clan?" Chōji asked, hoping to glean information about Menma.

"Ehhh??! I have a clan!!?" Naruto shouted excitedly, his cerulean blue eyes seeming to twinkle as he pumped his fists in the air.

"I'm awesome, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered.

"Yes, yes, whatever. Do you, by any chance, know anyone from your clan?" Chōji asked, begging to kami that Naruto knew Menma.

"...I don't think so..." Naruto mumbled after seeming to wrack his brain to find an Uzumaki in his memory.

"Sorry..." Naruto apologised sheepishly as he scratched his head, which appeared to be one of his nervous habits. 

"It's okay, do you know someone by the name of Menma?" Chōji asked again, hoping for even the smallest clue that Menma existed.

"...Bamboo shoots? Why would someone call themself that?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Like you're any better, fishcake," Kiba, who had been listening in, snarked.

"Hey! It means maelstrom, dog-breath!" Naruto shouted at the Inuzuka angrily.

"Relax, he's just messing with you" Shikamaru sighed, holding Naruto back from his angry assault on Kiba with a surprisingly strong grip despite his lazy expression.

"Hmph!"

Naruto and Kiba turned their backs on each other to sulk alone and complain to a civilian-born student respectively.

"What are they? Children?" Sasuke muttered as he propped up his head and read a book about shinobi techniques, ignoring the group of girls swooning over how "hot" he was.

Chōji shook his head sadly, disappointed at the dead end he ended up in.

"We will meet again, Menma. I promise," Chōji muttered quietly under his breath, too soft for even Kiba to make out.

Naruto, however, heard it from where he "sulked" in a dark depressing corner. He smirked.

"I will hold you to that, Akimichi Chōji," Naruto murmured barely audibly in his usual voice, dropping his act for but an instant.

A look of determination crossed Chōji's face at the same moment.

'I will find you, Uzumaki Menma. To do that, I need to continue to get stronger!' Chōji thought with conviction.