Chou still couldn’t believe how things had been going recently. She had long ago got used to staying in the orphanage, bullied and in a state of constant hunger - something which was neither comfortable nor wanted for the young Akimichi. She had resigned herself to that fate, assuming and figuring she would never escape it until she had essentially done some aging. Yet, in such a short span of time she had grown used to having a father once more, having someone she could rely upon and turn to for help. Of course, this man was one of the people who had brought about the destruction of Sunagakure: a village she had never seen in all ten years of her life except for the short trip they had made there, and a place she would likely never seen again. Even still young Chou had made some friends, and had begun to weave some bonds that would hopefully last a lifetime.


Syekren was not the only person who had become involved in her life of course - Izumi now was as well, or ‘boob lady’ as Chou had begun to call her after their very first meeting in which Izumi had purposely enhanced her assets towards Chou’s father. It was a nickname that Chou meant well with, of course, the child not really having a mean bone in her body. And it was this woman they were now traveling with - or rather, that her father was traveling with.

Chou herself had found a comfortable spot in one of the wagons, and feeling safe and sound, and with her stomach content and full, she had quickly been claimed by sleep - missing quite a bit of the trip as they made their way across the desert and than out of it. Even with some of the bumping and jostling of the wagon she remained peacefully unconscious, pleasant and happy dreams claiming her sleeping mind. For most of the trip she only awoke to eat or drink, slipping so quickly back to sleep - the results of a growth spurt the young Akimichi was going through.

During each bought of sleep her usual nightmares escaped her, leaving nothing but peaceful dreams behind - some of which she remembered, and some of which she wasn’t even aware had occured. Either way it left the child in a good mood as they went, making their way to their next destination.


However, it didn’t seem long before she was finally awoken for the last time, emerging from the wagon while in the process of wiping and rubbing sleep from her eyes, only to blink and look upon the first glance of Kirigakure she had ever seen. Just as Sungakure had been different than anything the Akimichi had seen before, so too was Kirigakure. It got her inner adventurous spirit up, and caused a quick grin to spread across her face. She was curious and excited to get a look around, and hoped to maybe even get a chance to make another new friend in the process.

Just as these thoughts consumed her mind she found her stomach growling and gurgling once more and couldn’t help but to giggle. As much as she wanted to have a look around, explore some new places, and make some new friends, she knew that she had to feed her almost ever constantly hungry stomach: a hungry Akimichi wasn’t a happy Akimichi after all.