บท 197: Meeting Concludes
"The Akimichi Clan's Apocalypse food vault?" Ino asked.
"…"
"Chōji?" Shikamaru tried to wake up Chōji by calling his name.
"You guys…" Chōji woke up from his stupor, like a person getting up from deep sleep with drool.
"The…Akimichi Clan's…Apocalypse…food..vault," Chōji panted deeply every time as he said these words.
Even Naruto, who was a few meters away, couldn't remember coming across this name.
("What is this Apocalypse food vault thing?") Naruto thought.
"What is it, Chōji?" Shikamaru asked with concern.
"It is a secret passed down in the Akimichi clan…"
"The food vault is something that is prepared by the Akimichi clan if we were ever forced to go into hiding," Chōji said.
"…" Shikamaru and the others listened silently.
"It is said that for this one purpose, the clan stops at nothing to hire the best chefs and food ninjas to prepare a vault full of food,"
"Delicious food that can be stored for a long time,"
"It can recover chakra so quickly that it is on par with food pills and ninjas can fight for days,"
"Also, there are no side effects from eating the food from this vault," Chōji said.
…
("Whoah,")
("There was something as cool as that?")
("Why didn't I get to hear anything about that…") Naruto thought.
*gulp*
Shikamaru knew what was about to come his way.
Chōji's eyes suddenly widened and turned towards Shikamaru with a blazing gaze.
"Shikamaru, Ino,"
"We must win that prize no matter what!" Chōji said.
("Why does it always end up with something troublesome…") Shikamaru thought, however, he could never complain to Chōji about this, As this was one of those rare instances Chōji ever demanded something of him.
"But Chōji,"
"Think about the Fi-"
"Hm?" Chōji glared at Ino.
("WHAT?")
("HE DARES TO GLARE AT ME?") Ino was fuming on the inside.
"You always get to eat…" Ino said in a low voice.
"This is different,"
"The value of this prize is more than that money," Chōji explained.
"I…"
"…" Ino hesitated.
Chōji had a sly smile.
"I've heard that it is the type of food that provides pure energy and no fats,"
"Which means, you get to stay slim," Chōji said.
Shikamaru's jaw dropped at this moment, and so did Ino's.
For Shikamaru, it was one of those rare instances he had ever seen Chōji exploit a weakness brilliantly.
"No fat?" Ino was stunned too.
("Every time I go on a diet, it's painful,")
("There are nights I skip dinners just to eat as less and possible to maintain my weight,")
In Ino's mind, a vision flashed where she used to check her weight on the weighing machine, only to see the scale show an extra pound or so, over her usual weight.
("There was that incident too…")
("Even now,") Ino looked at her slim figure.
("I didn't eat that one slice, but now I am hungry…") Ino thought.
("SCREW THIS!")
"Shikamaru, Chōji,"
"We are getting that Second Prize, no matter what!" Ino declared.
"hehe," Chōji snickered.
"Hmph,"
"You guys fight for the second,"
"Akamaru and I will claw away the First Prize!" Kiba declared.
"Woof!" Akamaru barked in agreement.
"Hah? You think our team will just sit and watch on the sidelines?"
"Tough luck, We are going for that prize money as well, Isn't that right Sasuke-kun, Naruto?" Sakura asked.
"Hmph,"
"Yeah, We'll get the first prize, Ya Know!" Naruto answered.
"Hmph, Sorry to burst your bubble, but we were specially trained for this," Neji said.
"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, Kiba-kun,"
"We shall fight honorably for the top prize," Lee said.
"Kiba?"
"Haha, I already beat him in the Exam ya know, and same goes for Neji, bushy brows," Naruto said.
"Naruto, I have learned a lot from that battle,"
"If we fight again, I will win," Neji declared.
Sasuke's eyes became serious.
"Guys, guys, calm down," Tenten mediated.
"Hahaha,"
"Nice to see you all enthusiastic for the prize,"
"However, you haven't heard the other prizes just yet," Hiruzen said.
"Huh?"
"Other prizes?" Kiba asked.
"Indeed,"
"One of the prizes include two days, two nights special Hot Springs Vacation, Where everything from food to massage is paid for,"
"Other than that there are prizes for every category and not just the competition as a whole,"
"Which means even if you don't win overall, you can still win the smaller prizes,"
"There also competitions for Jōnins," Hiruzen explained.
"Eh, Kakashi-sensei and the others are also participating?" Naruto asked.
"Mm," Kakashi and the rest nodded from behind Hiruzen.
Hiruzen looked at the genins,
"Also, don't start planning to compete within yourselves,"
"After all, there is a reason why this is held in the Sand Village," Hiruzen said, following which there were surprised faces.
"Looks like there are genins from the sand as well," Shikamaru said.
"Not just those three from the Chūnin exam,"
"The Hidden Sand has recruited more Genins into their ranks in the past few days," Hiruzen explained
"What a drag…" Shikamaru could only sigh from hearing the competition for the second prize is going to get only tougher from this point on.
"All Right, then,"
"Now that I have briefed you all on the Sports Festival, I'll leave you to your senseis," Following which Hiruzen stepped away from the lead.
Kakashi, Yamato, Asuma, Guy and Kurenai stepped forth.
"All right,"
"Let's all split into our groups," Guy said, following which the five teams split across five different spots to have their discussion.
Yamato looked at his group.
"Let's all head over to a different place,"
"Since this is our first time meeting each other, I'd like for us to have a proper introduction," Yamato said.
"Mm," Karin, Jūgo, and Sai nodded at the same time, following which the group departed. However, before doing so, Karin took a moment to glance at Naruto, having a discussion with his group, following which she left.
Deidara, on the other hand, patiently waited until the meetings ended.
"You're all dismissed," Guy said to his team.
"Mm," Neji and Tenten nodded, however, Lee stared at Guy.
"What is it, Lee?" Guy asked.
"I wanted to see you talking to senpai, Sensei," Lee said in a straightforward manner.
Guy having remembered the Deidara's request to compare notes, he felt sweat from the sides of his head.
("Ah, Lee,")
("How can I tell you, that I don't even have an inkling of what art is…")
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