Shikamaru: Choji Did Me Dirty

"Then..."

"Choji Akimichi, would you be willing to become friends with me, Naruto Uzumaki?"

Naruto selectively ignored Choji Akimichi's complaints and looked at him lying on the ground with a smile.

Seeing Naruto's smile, Choji Akimichi shuddered inwardly. Why did he suddenly feel like danger was hidden within that smile? Without hesitation, he chose to follow his heart. "Of course. I'd be very willing to become friends with Naruto."

"Also, there's really no need to make it so complicated. Food is enough. No... as long as we don't have to spar, we can be friends even without food."

Naruto laughed heartily, walked over, and kindly helped Choji Akimichi up. He even enthusiastically dusted him off, without looking at how his already baby-fat face had swollen even more, one eye even bruised black-and-blue.

"Haha, Choji, that's just the procedure. Procedures are essential. Otherwise, how would I know whether you sincerely wanted to be friends with me?" Naruto patiently explained.

Choji Akimichi: "..."

Choji Akimichi was utterly speechless, but he did not dare say anything, afraid of getting beaten up again. He could only take out some snacks and continue eating. Maybe that would make him feel better.

Sure enough, as he ate his snacks, Choji felt his mood brighten again!

"Choji, do you really like eating?" Naruto asked curiously. This new friend of his seemed to either be in the middle of eating or on his way to eat.

"Mhm, mhm..." Choji Akimichi's cheeks were stuffed full of food, puffed out as he answered indistinctly.

"How about this? I'll treat you to some grilled skewers. Grilled Lamb Skewers. They'll be from goats I raised myself, and Sasuke just happened to make a whole lot of charcoal."

Speaking of Sasuke, Naruto felt a little regretful. For the next few days, he might not be able to leave school with Sasuke, because Sasuke was going to ask his older brother Itachi to teach him the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

"Grilled Lamb Skewers? Great! I love meat!" Choji Akimichi's eyes instantly lit up, and even the snacks in his hands no longer seemed that appealing.

"Alright, let's go."

Naruto then brought Choji to the Breeding Farm on Back Mountain, choosing a goat that had suffered heatstroke to use for Grilled Lamb Skewers.

It was strange, though. Summer had not even arrived yet, and Back Mountain was full of trees and shade. The temperature was not particularly high either, so why did goats keep getting heatstroke?

Ah, whatever!

Unable to figure it out, Naruto and Choji started burning charcoal together, then began grilling and eating skewers.

Watching Naruto eat ten skewers in one bite and more than half a goat in one meal—

Choji Akimichi suddenly found himself envying Naruto. If only he had such a powerful stomach. Then he could eat all the delicious food he wanted in one go.

Most importantly, he could eat without getting fat!

"Wow, that was so satisfying!" After eating his fill, Choji Akimichi contentedly rubbed his round belly and let out a comfortable sigh.

He suddenly felt that beating had been completely worth it.

With a thought, Choji Akimichi suddenly said, "Naruto, I have a really good friend. He's really outstanding. I want to introduce him to you, so he can become friends with you too. Then the three of us can eat skewers together."

Hearing that, Naruto immediately grew excited. "Oh, that's great! You don't know this, Choji, but my dream is to have lots and lots of friends. I even want the whole world to be my friends."

"Oh, right, what's your friend's name?"

"Shikamaru Nara. He's in your class too, and he's my best friend." Choji Akimichi suddenly pictured Shikamaru Nara's gloomy face. Since he had become friends with Naruto, Shikamaru would surely be happy to as well, right?

"Sure. Bring him here tomorrow, and we'll grill skewers together," Naruto replied with a smile.

He had never expected making friends with Choji to bring such an unexpected bonus. Choji had even proactively introduced a friend to him. Choji really knew how to be a friend.

Naruto secretly gave Choji a thumbs-up in his heart.

"Ring, ring, ring..."

After school the next day, Naruto and Sasuke parted at the school gate.

"Naruto, my brother has already started teaching me the Shadow Clone Jutsu. In another ten days or so, I'll learn it. Then I can use clones to attend class for us."

"That'll free up more time for training."

"Keep it up, Sasuke. I have high hopes for you." Naruto encouraged Sasuke. Then he suddenly remembered that he had made a new friend and wanted to share that happiness with Sasuke.

"Sasuke, did you know? I made another friend yesterday."

"Choji Akimichi, right?" Sasuke's mouth twitched when he heard Naruto.

"Huh? How did you know?" Naruto asked in surprise.

Ahem... One look at Choji Akimichi's face today had been enough. Those familiar fist marks... Just thinking about them made Sasuke's face ache. He did not want to say more. He simply said, "See you, Naruto," then left.

After parting ways, Naruto came to the entrance of Back Mountain. This was the place he had agreed to meet Choji Akimichi. Choji would bring Shikamaru here and introduce them so they could become friends.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru Nara, looking lazy and dejected, walked behind Choji Akimichi with his hands behind his head, his face full of impatience. "Choji, where are you taking me?"

"You'll know when we get there. It's a good thing." Choji turned around in front of him and answered mysteriously.

Looking at the fist marks all over Choji's face, Shikamaru asked again, "Choji, you still haven't told me what happened to your face."

"This... ah, it's nothing." Choji did not take the bait, thinking to himself, You'll find out soon enough, Shikamaru.

After walking for a while, Shikamaru saw a sturdy child over five feet tall ahead of them, wearing a pink backpack and quietly waiting at the crossroads.

Naruto Uzumaki? What was he doing here?

Shikamaru was full of confusion when Choji's delighted voice rang out. "Naruto, we're here!"

Naruto had already seen them. As Choji greeted him, Naruto strode quickly toward them. Feeling the gust of wind he brought with him, Shikamaru took a step back. Since when had Choji become so close to Naruto?

For some reason, Shikamaru had a dangerous feeling in his gut.

"Shikamaru, Naruto is my friend now. I brought you here because I want to introduce you to Naruto and have you become friends too," Choji said to Shikamaru with a smile.

Shikamaru looked up at Naruto, who was two heads taller than him, then lowered his eyes to Choji, who was half a head shorter than him. Since Naruto was Choji's friend, Shikamaru casually said, "Well, alright then. Naruto, we're friends now."

"Not so fast, Shikamaru. There's still a procedure we haven't completed. Only after we finish the procedure will you truly count as friends," Choji patiently explained to Shikamaru.

"A procedure?"

Shikamaru looked utterly bewildered. There was a procedure for making friends? What, were they going to slaughter a rooster and drink blood wine?

Wasn't that a bit excessive?

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