I’m in the middle of reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.  So far, I am loving every page of it.  Having scoured the net, I discovered that another addition to the Austen monster mash-up series is being released later this fall:

If PPZ turns out to be as funny and thought-provoking overall as it has been so far, I’m definitely going to pick S&S&SM later on.

Perspective is an ongoing fanfiction project that takes place in the Naruto universe.  In it, Ino and Shino are sent on a mission to prevent a coup from taking place in an enemy village.  In a twist of fate, Shino is stricken with a cursed seal that prevents him from using his body as a host; thus, it is up to Ino to take on his insects, and gain his powers.  In this, she gradually learns more about Shino, and begins to fall for the mysterious shinobi.

Table of Contents

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

In my arms, I held the top half of Shino’s body close to my chest, and I couldn’t shake off the bittersweet memory of Asuma. Sensei’s shoulders were slightly broader than Shino’s, and at the time, he suffered more wounds than Shino. I could feel the rise and fall of Shino’s chest, and the gentleness of it all assured me that at least he would survive.

As I caught my breath from the previous encounter with the other bug-nin, I reined my emotions back in. Just in time for the last of the surviving kikai to return as well. The vibrations were weak as they settled back in, almost as if they had regretted the fight.

Guys, I’m sorry. I wasn’t skilled enough.

I was responded to with temporary silence, but a murmur of agreement amongst the kikai buzzed from within.

“It’s okay, Ino-hime. You did well considering the circumstances.”

Circumstance. I came to hate that very word as soon as it crossed my mind. What kind of crummy circumstance brought the two of us into this place? By accident, I had suddenly gone from medical ninja to scout-based tactical fighter with a novel yet volatile weapon at my disposal. By accident, I had gone from love fool to potential matriarch to the Aburame clan.

Such was the life of a shinobi. From birth, one would emerge from the womb a ninja, and be raised in the high-velocity lifestyle of a deadly assassin. I wondered how I managed to mature from childhood given the circumstances, if I had matured at all.

Shino groaned as he tossed and turned his body while I held him. Gently breaking out from my grasp, he rolled awkwardly onto the dirt, slowly getting back onto his knees, kneeling upright and staring back at me with his eyes, which had since lost its glimmer slightly.

“Shino, how are you feeling?”

“We should have died. This is unexpected.”

“Huh?”

“The Kamizuru are ruthless. What happened?”

Suddenly, I remembered the hermit who had appeared at the very last moment of battle to save us from peril. I turned my head as back and forth as I could with my remaining energy. He was now nowhere to be seen, which made the situation even more pressing and awkward.

“How-“ Shino coughed hoarsely, “how did you know about the bug sage?”

I hesitated. I didn’t want to tell him about the dream I had, but what choice did I have?

“I was told in a dream.”

“…”

He pondered to himself for a moment, leaving an awkward lingering silence.

“I see,” he said calmly, “so you went on your gut instinct.”

“Yes.”

“Even though you could have completely wrong about your dream.”

“Yes.”

“And you supported my reasoning to come here based on that dream.”

“…”

I lowered my head in shame. He was clearly scolding me for my way of thinking. Shino grimaced in disapproval, and sighed.

“I suppose what counts is that we survived, and that we found him- wait, was it him who saved us?”

I nodded. And just as quickly, he appeared right behind me, emerging from the ground, as if he were a part of the dirt itself. He laughed as he revealed himself.

“Well, well, well!” He smirked, crouching down to match Shino’s eye level.

Shino’s eyes narrowed, almost disapprovingly. As he stared back at the hermit, the space between them brewed with unnerving tension. The two of them looked quite similar as a whole; the older was similarly built like the younger, but with a hunched back, and less defined arm musculature. His age clearly showed, but there was gruffness in his demeanour that belied the happy-go-lucky attitude he revealed to the two of us when he spoke.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Shino uncharacteristically said, breaking the silence between the two of them.

The old man guffawed. “I should be saying the same to you. What brings you, a leaf ninja, all the way out here?”

He had a point, but neither Shino nor me were in a position to openly share mission information with a stranger, even one that saved our lives. Shino sighed.

“We were looking for Kamizuru.”

The old man’s crooked smile straightened to more serious expression. “And somehow, having fought them here years before would lead you to that conclusion? Seriously, for an Aburame, you are terrible with logic.”

I expected that jab to set Shino off, but like me, he was more confused than anything.

“How do you know who I am?” He asked, “And how do you know about the battle before?”

The old man sighed, “I am the eyes and ears of this valley. And frankly, you’ve done very little to win my support on your war against the Bee users.”

“Eyes and ears?” I interjected. “Who exactly are you?”

The geezer turned his head and eyed me in a curious manner, his mouth turning upwards back into a smile.

“Ah, you’re a cutie. Blonde too. I like blondes.”

He stood straight up from his crouching position. He jumped backwards and struck a flourishing pose, flexing his right bicep and pointing his left index finger towards the sky.

“I am Takasu, the legendary bug sage!”

As silly as his pose was, the kikai’s approving buzz under my skin suggested that he was the real deal, the very sage that Asuma told me to search for in my dream, which now felt like a prophecy.

Shino, however, was less than impressed. He crossed his arms in scepticism, making an intimidating pose of his own. Had he been wearing his signature shades, he would have been the classic stoic Shino that he became reputed for.

“I don’t believe you. Why? Because you could simply be an outcast from a clan that I wouldn’t know or care about.”

Takasu relaxed his pose, dropping his arms back to his sides, and then slowly approached Shino with a menacing walk. He shot a sharp stare back at Shino with an equally imposing pose.

“You’re right. I’m the last surviving member of the Kumiro clan.”

The words that escaped Takasu’s mouth struck Shino with a sudden wave of intimidation, making him flinch fearfully. He turned to me, and dragged me aside, away from the bug sage.

“This man is deluded. The Kumiro clan is extinct.”

“Excuse me,” I added, “but what exactly is the Kumiro clan?”

My dermal vibrations intensified as if my bugs were shocked by my ignorance.

“Ino, the Kumiro clan was once the greatest clan of bug-users in the history of these lands!”

I paused to think, sending my thoughts back to them. A silence formed between Shino and I, and he immediately knew I was talking back to the kikai. Realizing this, he turned back to the elderly Takasu to further interrogate him.

Bug-users? You mean, those fire ants from before-

“Yes. The Kumiro knew how to control them, but-“

Their explanation was cut short by a sudden outburst from Shino.

“WHAT? My ancestors?”

Shino’s eyes were wider than I had ever seen them. They were filled with fright, and I couldn’t help but feel the same.

“Yes. The Kumiro are the ancestors to both the Aburame and Kamizuru clans. In fact, we gave rise to almost all of the bug-using clans in existence today.”

I was now the one who was genuinely shocked. I gaped at both individuals in front of me. One was the sole survivor of the first clan of bug users in history, and the other was the heir to perhaps the last great bug-using clan. I could see the resemblance between the two of them, and was convinced of the possibility that Shino could be loosely related to the bug sage.

Takasu chortled. “I can see that revealing myself is quite a shock to the both of you, so please, perhaps we can discuss this further in a more formal setting?”

I had no idea what he meant by this, but as he said, the sudden outburst of information was indeed overwhelming. I nodded in acceptance of his offer, and I prodded Shino with a sharp glance to ensure he would do the same.

“Good. Let’s move away from this place, to somewhere more…suitable for discussion.”

Shino and I nodded in agreement, and we quickly made our way out of the valley, back onto a dirt road that meandered through a wide plain. We headed in the direction of the Stone Village, but were several days walk away from there.

The sky was clear, tinged with a weak orange from the imminent sunset. Takasu spoke hardly anything, insisting that we wait until we reach his desired destination for him to provide any further details regarding his identity, and his potential involvement with the mission.

I realized to myself that there was a possibility that the sage would train me in the arts of bug-based ninjutsu; after all, it was the visage of Asuma in my dream that correctly predicted that I would run into Takasu in the first place.

Also, Asuma stated that I would also learn to win Shino’s heart. While my personal romantic conquest was already underway, I was troubled by the fact that I would need help at all with regards to winning Shino’s affection. After all, due to my appearance and personality, I was a prime candidate for covert missions where one would have to use her feminine wiles to complete the objective, whether it is assassination, interrogation, or retrieval of important items.

But Shino, he was different from any “target.” He was not the obstacle in the way of my objective; from the viewpoint of the kikai that had taken over my body, he was the objective, and somewhere along the way, I accepted the challenge of becoming worthy of gaining the title of matriarch of the Aburame clan sometime in the future.

This was a complicated game; I wanted to prove myself as a shinobi (and more importantly, as a woman), but at the same time, I didn’t want to fully commit myself into this unique Aburame tradition of marriage. It was a delicate balance that I had to make; one wrong move, and not only would I be viewed as a whore, but I would ruin whatever relationship I currently had with Shino, whether it be platonic or otherwise.

As for the status of that relationship, not even the kikai were sure.

“Ino-sama. How are you doing?”

I’ve been better, guys.

“Please don’t take today’s defeat personally. It has little effect on your ‘standing’ with the clan.”

You mean, the Aburame clan?

“Yes.”

I looked to my side at Shino, who was also in deep in his self-reflection. He hardly noticed me staring at him intently, if at all.

I’m still unsure of whether or not I want to commit myself to this tradition.

“The circumstances are strange, we understand. We don’t want to rush you.”

But you still want me to be his wife, yet at the same time, you see me as not yet worthy of his partnership.

“If you put it that way,”

What an unfair situation! I’m even surprised that I’ve been considering your offer at all!

“And you know damn well why.”

This was voiced in my head in a much harsher tone than usual. It was a harsh scolding, and I cringed internally, thinking I would have been eaten alive at that moment. I thought that I was like a queen to them, but even royalty can be the victim of revolt.

Much like Iwagakure, the Hidden Stone.

Either way, in truth, they were right. If I wasn’t admitting to myself that I had already fallen for him, I knew that at least I was beginning to.

“We’re sorry for being cold, Ino-sama, but you will need our help if you want to earn his affection. He’s not like other people.”

Where do I begin?

A hand came down onto my shoulder. I jerked awkwardly from the sudden shock of it. It was old man Takasu.

“Ino, we’re here.”

I had been lost in my own thoughts and with the kikai’s as well, I didn’t notice that we had stopped over at a quaint building of sorts on the outskirts of a small town barely visible on the horizon.

I looked up at the sign hanging over the main entrance.

Flirty Paradise Hostess Bar

My jaw dropped at Takasu, whose cheeky grin for a moment reminded me of Jiraiya-sensei.

“You can’t be serious.”

“I need to relax!” He said. “It’s clear that you want information from me, so in essence you have two options: deal with it, or go along with it!”

His grin immediately grew wider, spreading to his ears, and just as quickly, he was already inside.

I turned to Shino, whose cheeks were already flushed red.

“Shino. It’s for the mission.”

“I know,” he said silently, “it’s…just been a while.”

“Since you’ve last been to a hostess bar?”

Shino shook his head. From his uncomfortable look, it was clear he had forgotten about his defeat earlier today, at least for the moment. Instead, he had other things to worry about. I was glad.

“No. I mean, Kurenai-sensei, she would…and…never mind.”

He cleared his throat, and followed Takasu into the bar. I stood alone outside in the twilight overlooking the bar and the not-too-distant town. Kurenai-sensei? What did he mean by that? I couldn’t help but let out a girlish giggle at his reaction to strong-willed women like Kurenai.

Perhaps I ought to try a different approach.

“Yes,” the kikai replied, “and after tonight, you’ll know how.”

“Ino-sama, be on your guard. The enemy is a formidable opponent!”

A trickle of sweat rolled down my bare neck, and evaporated into mist before it reached my purple top. I zoned out the ambience of the surrounding thicket, and all I heard was silence, waiting for the foe to make their move.

I never fought a Kamizuru before, but Shino did. I left it to him to devise a fitting battle strategy.

“Shino! What do we do?”

“Be calm. We need to find out how many we’re up against.”

This was the first time I fought alongside Shino when he was without his glasses. In the afternoon sun, I could see his face clearly through the pair of shades that I was wearing, which up to this point felt naturally a part of me.

His expression was serious, as usual. His brows were drenched in sweat. His eyes were narrowed to near slits, but I could still see the sparkle of onyx coming through. His nostrils flared wildly. His lips crooked to the side in disgust, perhaps inconvenienced by his minion-less situation. He was in a position of weakness, but he didn’t look the part at all.

“I’ll send a few scouts,” I said.

“Don’t. They will die. All we can do is brace the initial onslaught.”

I nodded. I remained in my defensive stance. The kikai fluttered underneath with a murderous intent like I have never seen.

What’s your plan, guys? I thought, reaching out to them.

“Ino-sama, we’ve fought the Kamizurus before, just follow our cues and dodge accordingly, and we’ll handle the rest.”

My body remained stiff, save for my face, which turned back and forth trying to visually scan the canopies above me. The bark of the trees seemed weak, so I remained careful of possible falling debris as a result of the upcoming battle.

My left leg vibrated.

“Shino! From the left!”

A violent buzzing appeared from nowhere, and a squad of bees nearly a hundred strong swooped in from the left. I jumped backwards to dodge, while Shino rolled forward and to the right, separating the two of us by several meters.

“Shit!” I yelled. “They’re trying to isolate us!”

“Stay calm. Keep dodging.”

More groups swooped in one at a time from different angles. I quickly judged the angle of their attacks, and rolled accordingly, each successive time drawing me further away from my partner.

Guys, we can’t get too far away from Shino! He’s vulnerable!

“Don’t worry about him, Ino-sama. He’s very strong, even without us.”

I dropped my focus a small bit to peek over at Shino’s side of the battle. He dodged each swarm gracefully, fending off the enemy with quick sequences of jumps and lightning-fast swipes with his kunai. His lips pursed into a more confident grin, as if he enjoyed the thrill of the battle.

This time, multiple squads started coming in at once. A cloud of bees about ten meters wide encroached on my position, then surrounding me on all sides. Their movements were coordinated, tight, and ruthless. There was no escape from the cloud until I killed each and every one of them. There were perhaps five or six thousand in all.

“We’ll watch your back. Kill as many as you can! Use your chakra blades!”

The kikai learned of my ability to wield chakra blades while I mentally cycled through my available repertoire as I dodged the incoming waves. They surrounded fully now, so all that was left was use my trump card right away.

I stood still in the middle of the cloud, reaching into a hidden pocket for a pair of brass knuckles. As I slid them onto my hands, the swarms began attacking from all angles. My kikai intercepted each individual offender gracefully, taking each of them down one by one.

I diverted the flow of chakra to my fists, and concentrated the flow into thin points jutting out from the brass knuckles, Asuma’s brass knuckles. They started to glow a bright blue, until its surrounding aura began to stretch out in one direction, forming a thin point approximately the same length of a standard-issue kunai.

Almost there guys, keep watching my back!

“Got it, Ino-sama!”

The kikai swarmed even faster around my body, creating a dense barrier of their collective masses. Numerous stingers attempted to breach the barrier, but the momentum of the kikai swarm blocked their entry, killing many at once.

As I gripped hard on the brass handle, I infused the chakra with as much wind element as I could. The bluish blade that stretched out blended into a pale aqua-green transition, then finally ending in a deep emerald hue. The energy of the knife-like shapes intensified, causing the blades to protrude even further, reaching out nearly three times as far as before, but half as thick. What started off looking like knives turned into a pair of wind katanas.

Ready. Let’s do this!

“We’ll protect you!”

As soon as the kikai barrier loosened, I broke out through the weak point and honed my blades at the airspace through which the bees swarmed. I brought each katana down one at a time with a speed that ripped through impeding swarmers as if I were cutting through air. I brought both up at once in a pair of upward slashes that eliminated a few hundred at once in the same arc. I twisted and turned throughout the cloud like a choreographed dance, slicing in every angle, bringing down their numbers rapidly.

With each bee that fell, more took its place, ready to calculatedly strike at my blind spot. I felt the vibrations in air of a backside attack, but a squad of kikai flew in and intercepted the swoop, dive bombing most of them simultaneously. Their interception broke up the incoming formation, leaving me free to continue striking at all angles.

They began falling faster, and the pile of miniature corpses grew centimetres at a time. The enemy swarm cloud thinned, and my vision beyond the cloud became clear. I immediately looked for Shino in my periphery as I continued finishing off the remnants of the bee offensive.

I saw Shino a split second later, already fighting with a Kamizuru ninja. They exchanged swift strikes that were blocked and parried by the other, creating a tactical stalemate between the two.

We got to help Shino!

“Understood, Ino-sama! Run out, we’ll cover you!”

The remaining swarm was evenly matched by the kikai in numbers, and an aerial dogfight formed between them, giving me safe passage out of the cloud. I took two steps out and escaped.

Or at least, for the moment. A pair of shuriken darted at me as I exited the cloud. I reacted with a deft cartwheel through the two projectiles, one of them barely slicing through the threads on my left fishnet sleeve. Landing on both feet, I turned my head around in the direction from where the shuriken were thrown. Standing on a high branch on one of the taller trees was a female ninja.

“Odd. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a female Aburame before!” She cackled.

The woman was slightly older than me, but had a similarly slender body. She was draped in a jet black silk dress-skirt that looked like a kimono due to the honey-yellow obi tied at the waist, forming a bow at the back. The skirt was short, matched with dark thigh-highs, and the top had wrist-length, wide sleeves, and was open and exposed at the shoulders. Her chestnut brown hair was split evenly, leaving stray strands hanging in front. It was an attractive uniform for a kunoichi, but her peach-shaped head didn’t fit the ensemble at all.

Scoffing at her snide remark, I took a half-step before a kunai struck the ground where my foot would have landed. Tied to it was a rectangular parchment with writing on it.

Shit, an explosive tag!

The detonation was instant, and sent me flying back a few metres.

“Nuh-uh~hh!” She teased. “You’re my opponent now. And the great Suzumebachi never loses!”

Kamizuru Suzumebachi, heir to the Kamizuru clan.

“Little girl, I don’t know who you are, but just stay there, my brother is just about finished dealing with your fellow clansman.”

“You…got it wrong.” I stood up, groaning from the impact of the explosion.

“Your lover then? Don’t make me laugh! A girl as weak as you could never win the heart of an Kamizuru, let alone an Aburame!”

Her taunt worked. I was filled with hot-blooded rage at that moment. I just wanted to rip the hair off her ugly misshapen head. Instantly, I darted upwards at the branch. The instant shock on her face before I slashed at her torso with my katanas suggested she did not expect it.

She dodged at the last second, leaping off the branch. The follow-through on the slash ripped the entire cross-section of the tree like flimsy paper. I planted my feet at the trunk that remained after the attempt. So much for falling debris; I was the one creating it now.

“Fast and powerful! But unfortunately I’m done playing with you now.”

I didn’t even see it coming, but from what I could see, she shot something out of her sleeve. It wasn’t until it hit my right in the neck when I realized it was a bee’s stinger.

I felt slightly hazy. I lost control of balance, and fell several stories right to the ground. The blades of the wind-infused katanas disippated as well, leaving behind a measly pair of brass knuckles loosely gripped by my hands. I hit the ground with a hard smack, fortunately landing sideways, absorbing most of the shock. The impact was excruciating at first, but my body suddenly went numb from whatever it was that was shot at me.

“Good. Sleep tight for now, little girl. Suzume-chan needs to tend to Shino-kun!”

The kunoichi casually walked towards the fight between Shino and the other shinobi, which long since ended. Shino, unfortunately, was defeated. How he was defeated, I wasn’t sure. All I know was that I was able to see what was going on, despite losing motor control of my extremities.

Suzume peeked down at Shino’s defeated body, battered and bruised. She picked him up with her left arm, and raised the back of his shirt with her right, revealing the Spider Seal that still remained on his back.

“Looks like the seal worked. How is he, Jibachi?”

The male ninja, Jibachi, nodded in puzzlement. He wore what I could only describe as a male-appropriate version of what Suzumebachi wore. He draped a short cloak over his shoulders. I couldn’t see his face, but I could see blonde hair and a pair of glasses.

“He put up quite a fight. Didn’t use a single bug jutsu, as expected, Suzume-hime.”

The cocky-eyed Suzume crooked her smile as she stared back at Shino. “Time to finish what I started, then.”

She placed her free hand on Shino’s back, where the seal was. Her palm was held only a centimetre away from the skin, and it glowed a sinister red. Shino growled in pain.

“Argghhh!” He said, writed in agony.

“Now, now, dear. Just be thankful you only have to suffer now. Had I the time before, I would have completed the jutsu and took control of your bugs completely! Wait a minute…”

Her palm stopped glowing, despite her strained efforts to maintain the technique. Back to normal, she couldn’t do anything further, and shoved Shino back to the ground.

“This boy, his nest is empty! There are no kikai to be found! I thought you fought him, Jibachi! Why didn’t you tell me his hive was gone?”

Jibachi still stood there with a pathetic gawk on his face. “I’m sorry, Suzume-sama. I didn’t know either, I simply thought that he was unable to use his bugs because of the low-level seal you placed on him.”

“Of course I know that!” She rudely retorted, showing no class to a fellow member of her clan. “Unless his hive is actually…Ah, the girl!”

She turned her head back at me, still motionless on the ground several meters away from her and Jibachi. She instantly appeared above my body, looking down at me with malcontent.

“So you were the one who stole the nest, that which was rightfully mine? I see now. I hoped that Shino-kun would at least survive until the Stone Village’s invasion of the Hidden Leaf.”

“In-Invasion?” I managed to respond, in shock.

A hand slapped me across the cheek. I heard a fearsome buzzing above me; it was the swarm of bees returning to Suzume.

“Yes, you impetuous child!” She said. “Once I gain control of the Stone Village, I will reclaim the rightful position of Tsuchikage in the name of the Kamizuru clan! Then I will order my village’s shinobi to invade your pathetic little leaf village and wipe out the entire Aburame clan, starting with Shino-kun over there, their prodigy and heir!”

So the rumours of the coup-d’état were true. The Kamizurus were going to take over the village and end their feud with the Aburames once and for all!

I struggled in my spot, knowing that eventually, a killing blow would land, ending my pathetic life. I cried inside, regretting that I wasn’t strong enough to save myself, or protect Shino. Even if I got out of this spot alive, I wouldn’t forgive myself if something happened to Shino.

“So,” Suzume postulated, raising her right heel high above my head, “I suppose I don’t need Shino’s kikai anyways. My plan of personally infiltrating the village disguised as an Aburame was needlessly complicated anyways. Using the Bikochu to find grandfather’s scrolls was only useful to gain support for the coup. At least it led us to you. I’m going to enjoy ending you!”

I felt the air above me as it was pushed aside by the falling heel. I squealed as it was brought down at a fatal velocity towards my skull.

A thwack of a projectile knocked the heel slightly off, driving the foot down at the ground barely a few millimetres away from my face. I exhaled in relief. In my peripheral vision, a thumb-sized stone landed haphazardly a meter or so away from my body. Then I heard an unfamiliar voice.

“I think not, outsider!” The stranger’s voice was booming loud and charismatic, almost like Guy or Rock Lee.

Suzumebachi looked up at where the projectile came from, in a state of temporary confusion. I also heard Jibachi gasp out loud, wondering where the rock had come from.

“Who the hell was that?”

Jumping down from a hidden branch in the canopy, a mysterious figure landed with effortless grace in front of Suzume and I. I couldn’t see his full figure, but I could only make out the bottom of what appeared to be a jungle-green robe and open-toed sandals.

“I believe that is enough, vile offender! You will leave the gorgeous Aburame girl alone!”

With an unseen gesture made by the man, the ground shook. From underneath, a seemingly endless army of fire ants emerged from the shifted dirt, Crawling past me, and towards Suzumebachi’s feet. She immediately jumped in retreat to a distant position.

“Shit. Looks like I won’t be able to kill them today. No matter, the Kamizurus continue as planned. You better prepare yourself, Shino and the girl. I’m giving you a month, exact. Jibachi, we’re leaving.”

Jibachi appeared behind Suzume, and their bodies dissolved into a cloud of bees, flying off into the atmosphere beyond the canopy.

I exhaled in relief, only to hear the man laughing heartily. He looked down at me from his standing height, still chuckling.

“Good thing I came just in time, eh? Oh, but where are my manners? Let me help you out, young lady!”

The fire ants that had previously passed my body to attack Suzumebachi crawled back to me, climbing over my skin and engulfing it nearly completely. I let out a scream, feeling an excruciating pain at the process.

“Settle down! You women are a lot less cute when you’re yelling in pain.”

I held back my voice as I continued to writhe in the temporary discomfort, but the sharp pain quickly was replaced by a familiar ache, caused by my previous fall.

“That should get rid of the poison. Now get up, Kikai-chan~!”

“My name’s Ino, you damn pervert!”

I grunted as I helped myself get to my feet. Everything ached all over, but it didn’t feel like I suffered any major injuries. Hopefully Shino was the same. Suddenly reminding myself of him, I turned to the battered Shino lying face-first on the ground.

“Shino!”

I ran to his limp body. His bruises looked as if he had the snot beat out of him. I was worried, since he seemed as if he had the upper hand when I last saw him during that fight. I propped him to an upright sitting position, and waved a hand in front of his face.

“Hey. Are you okay?”

“…Ugh. Did we win?”

I let out a half-hearted chuckle. Once again, he had failed to secure a victory in combat, even though it was against a formidable opponent. I stood there, even more guilty that I was responsible. If that bee-woman was right, then it was my fault that things turned out this way.

“No, Shino.” I sighed. “But we were saved by someone. Someone who I was looking for. He should help us on our mission.”

The man, who I concluded was the sage mentioned in my dream, stood there, concerned at the scene he saw.

Shino groaned. “You should have told me sooner.” Then he collapsed from exhaustion.

I frowned. As I knelt down before his unconscious form, I conceded that he was right. As the few surviving kikai made their way back inside through a pore in the back of my neck, I couldn’t help but feel that they were just as disappointed.

As we crossed the tree line, towards Bikochu Valley, the mood was silent between Shino and I. I distracted myself as I looked around at the dense, almost dead foliage of the trees surrounding the two of us.

We continued like this for a few hours, but somehow, it seemed more like days than anything else, because my mind raced back and forth trying to piece together what the Asuma-sensei in my dream told me.

“In the valley of the Bikochu, there lives a sage who may help you and Shino in your mission.”

That is what he told me that night, in my dream. He seemed so real; it was as if I had relived that dreadful moment again. A part of me wished that I wouldn’t have to experience it, but out of necessity, I hoped that perhaps Asuma-sensei could give me more information.

Of course, it was just a dream. But it was the vividness of it all and the clarity of the vision of Shino’s seal that convinced me that I had to be mindful of it. Sensei once told me to follow my instincts, no matter how vague it seemed.

“Ino. You’re one of the most passionate girls I’ve ever known,” he would say. “Your strength as a ninja lies in your heart, and you should listen to it, and let it help guide you.”

Right now, I wasn’t sure what my heart was telling me. And it wasn’t just about the mission either. But if it tried to reach out to me in my dream, I would follow without question. That’s how I knew that Asuma-sensei taught me well.

“Ino.”

I snapped out of my personal trance. It was Shino. He stared intently at my eyes as we hiked, as if he were trying to read my thoughts. I wasn’t sure how much time I had spent pondering about the situation.

“Y-yes? I’m sorry, I was just thinking.”

“Thinking about what?”

He asked so calmly, so confidently. Had I been in his position, I probably would have cracked by now, trying to cope with the loss of my insects.

“W…well,” I stammered, “What exactly are we looking for in Bikochu Valley?”

Shino let out an exhale as if he were unsure of himself.

“I’m…” He trailed, finally sitting down on a nearby log. “I’m not sure exactly. My instinct says that if we search for the Bikochu, it might lead us to the Kamiziru Clan.”

I was convinced by his words, even though he spoke with uncharacteristically less confidence. It seemed as if he was not used to following his gut, since he was more of a thinking type. The lackeys we fought yesterday supported his theory, since it was unlikely that they were guarding the valley for no reason. His reasoning made sense.

“And,” he continued, “I know first-hand that the Kamizirus are, or at least, were, trying to obtain the Bikochu beetle for themselves.”

“What?” This was new information to me.

“Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this before, but before this mission, the last time I encountered the Kamiziru clan was at Bikochu Valley.”

“Hmm,” I said, somewhat familiar with this information, “you mean the mission with Naruto?”

Shino nodded.

“Yes. We wanted to use the beetle’s tracking ability to help us find Sasuke, so I went to Bikochu Valley with Naruto, Hinata, and Kiba.”

I cringed at the mention of Sasuke. I wondered at how I ever managed to fall childishly in love with him before. He became the focal point of my rivalry with Sakura, but she became so serious, and gradually, I lost the will to compete with her. She truly cared about him.

Shino continued, and as he spoke, my heart let go of Sasuke completely.

“We encountered the Kamiziru clan, who were also trying to use the Bikochu to find a scroll containing forbidden bug-user techniques. They ambushed us when we found one of the Bikochu, and kidnapped Hinata in the process. They tried to ransom her in exchange for our Bikochu, but she managed to escape and defeated them with a new technique she learned, the Eight Trigrams sixty-four palm technique!”

Shino pumped his fist in excitement at the mention of the sixty-four-palm technique. It was the first time ever that I saw him drop his calm, collected guard like that. Could it be that he admired Hinata’s strength as a kunoichi? I suddenly felt jealous of her skill, and wished that Shino could get excited over my abilities.

Thus, it was important that I seek training from the sage mentioned in my dream. Hinata felt like a rival, and I wasn’t going to lose to her!

“But,” Shino said, this time more seriously, “they were only defeated. Whether or not they died in that battle is unknown. We need to keep an eye out, since they could strike at any time.”

“Got it.”

Shino continued providing information regarding the mission at Bikochu Valley, and he did so with such astonishing detail. It was almost as if he went on that mission merely a week ago. His recollection abilities were admirable, and I could not help but concede that he was definitely a thinking type.

“Ah, looks like we’re here.”

I hadn’t noticed, but the forest disappeared behind us, and we arrived suddenly at a peak overlooking Bikochu Valley.

It was a lively basin, greener than the woods that we had passed, and more bustling with life. The northern part of the valley was on a higher tier of elevation. A river with a width of ten to twenty meters ran from the one half to the other, marked by a waterfall where the north half met the south.

The collective scampers and calls of its inhabitants echoed off the surrounding walls to create a unique ambience, highlighted by the crashing of the lone waterfall in the middle of the valley. The air smelled fresh, and was slightly moist, due to the mist created by the waterfall. It was cold, and my bare shoulders and midsection formed goose bumps. I knew the risks of my choice of shinobi uniform, but I was confident in my tasteful, yet sultry appearance. Being the most attractive kunoichi amongst my peers was important when I was younger, and it remained true even now, while on a mission with the opposite sex.

“Careful now,” Shino said, as he began to descend from the peak. As I climbed down, the kikai began to chirp with excitement from within. It was the first response I got from them all day, and I was relieved that they had done so. I began to worry that there may have been something wrong, but it seemed that they were eager to explore the natural surroundings.

We quickly reached the bottom of the valley, and unlike the vantage point from the top, we were covered in foliage. The trees towered over the two of us like wooden giants, and their roots for legs were scattered everywhere, making the trek through the valley slightly tedious. As we wandered through, we passed a wide variety of exotic plants and insects. But so far, no Bikochu.

We continued wandering around for the next hour, examining the various flora and fauna, and looking for the Bikochu, all the while keeping an eye out for possible ambushes. I was personally keeping my eye out for the sage from my dream, even though I had no idea what he or she may look like. Up to this point, I still did not reveal the details of my dream to Shino. Perhaps it wasn’t necessary, but I let him take the lead in this mission for now.

I turned over a log that lay dead in the middle of the valley’s undergrowth, and it revealed a massive, half-exposed nest of fire ants. They scattered quickly, and with an intense reaction, began to swarm towards my feet.

“Look out!”

Before I got a chance to retreat, a number of kikai burst out through holes near my wrists and counterattacked. The battle was one-sided, since my personal protectors had a clear advantage in numbers, but the effort seemed unnecessary.

“Ino-hime!” They relayed telepathically. “You must watch out for natural predators!”

Hime. Their staunch defence was fitting for the honorific they used. It was as if I were an actual princess.

I’m sorry everyone. I’ll be more careful!

The wasteful gesture of protection cost me a bit of my chakra, but I was already used to their consumption at by now. It was important, therefore, that I conserve my use of bug jutsu, so that I can last longer in battle. Or instead, I could simply use my own personal repertoire of techniques.

It definitely had been a while since I last used my chakra knives in a combat situation. They, combined with the insects, would make a formidable combination indeed.

Perhaps, I may not have needed them at all for this mission.

“Ino! Quickly! I found one!”

I triangulated the source of Shino’s voice based on the squad of tracker bugs I already had out, and he was calling from a position half a kilometre south south east of my own. I ran as fast as I could to him, leaping over numerous large roots at a time, and recalling my scouts along the way. When I arrived, Shino was in a crawling position, trailing behind the insect in question.

“Sh,” he said. His hush was so short, it almost sounded as if he was sounding out his own name. In his left hand was a clear plastic box, probably a container for catching insects. He crept quietly and intently, and with one fell swoop, he pounced on his target.

SLAM!

He covered the container, and successfully contained within was a very rare specimen of Bikochu.

“Nice catch, Shino!” I pumped my left fist in celebration, my right palm outstretched and letting in the last of the returning scouts. “You did it!”

Shino nodded appreciatively, but not enthusiastically.

“Something’s…not right.”

I tilted my head rightwards in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“It was too easy. How do I know? It took us more than three times as long to find it last time.”

“So what’s the matter then?”

“To find this Bikochu so soon is too convenient. It was almost as if- Ino! Your scouts! How many do you have left?”

I didn’t think of it at first, since I was returning them as I ran back to him. But I internally took an estimate of my forces. There were a few missing.

“Shino! Two are missing! They were sent to scout a few meters north of our position!”

I readied my kunai automatically. Chances are, we were dealing with an unseen enemy. Shino prepared likewise.

The woods fell eerily silent, as if its denizens were actively watching a battle about to unfold. The hidden stalker was about to strike at any time.

I waited…

…

Nothing. I sent out another pair to the location where the first two disappeared. I traced their vision.

A dead log.

A tangled brush of roots and other vines.

A high-rise tree with numerous branches.

A swarm of killer Bees.

“Bee-users!” The scouts relayed. “The Kamiziru are he-!”

The transmission was cut off.

“Shino!” I warned. “The Kamizirus! Be on your guard!”

Shino shifted to a Taijutsu stance. “Hn.”

This was going to be a serious fight, unlike yesterday. But somehow, I couldn’t help but melt a bit inside at Shino’s response. If we survived this ordeal, I would definitely fall for him.

But first, all I needed to do was survive.

I groaned as I helped myself up from the ground. I looked back down at the helpless corpse close by and shoved the notion of having killed someone to the back of my mind, as I had done my entire life as a shinobi. The faint sounds of the man’s neck cracking under me were drowned out by the incessant buzzing coming from within.

The kikai were excited. As connected as I was to them mentally, they were still organisms with instincts, and this recent bout with what I initially believed to be bandits had aroused a primal sort of mob mentality amongst the swarm. They lingered for the kill, and I shivered in response to my understanding of them.

Sitting myself down on a nearby rock, I surveyed my surroundings again, scanning for any possible lingering threats. I also looked out for Shino. From my recollection, he had been captured, but from the relative ease of the fight, I wondered how he would leave himself open for such an easy ambush.

Then it dawned on me, suddenly.

“Shino. Are you injured?”

The presence that I felt behind me remained silent. I resisted the urge to turn my head, thinking that he was testing me, or perhaps was playing some sort of game.

“I am unharmed.” He said. “You’re getting better.”

I grinned, but it was hidden from his view. “You were trying to test me. How do I know this? Simple, you could have easily escaped from your position.”

I heard him chuckle. “How would you know? I was held at knifepoint. If I had my bugs, I probably could.”

I turned to face him. Like always, he was calm and collected, as if he were never captured at all.

“Exactly!” I concluded. “But I have the kikai now, meaning that I was fully capable.”

Shino shot a smirk at me. I suddenly realized again that he wasn’t wearing his glasses. I had taken this fact for granted, as I was always used to him wearing them, almost to the point of assuming that he always had them regardless of the situation. But I saw his eyes, and they glazed with a reflection of the sunset in front of him. They were enthralling, and I let myself get lost in them for just a slight moment.

“Excellent.” Shino said, pulling me out of my moment. “Then I don’t need to explain any further.”

He darted back to the camp, leaving me to my thoughts, possibly quite aware of what I was thinking and what I had seen. I may have beaten him in wit, but that time, he completely defeated me in romance.

I cursed myself. Bah! You let your guard down, Ino! Idiot, idiot! Don’t lose again!

The kikai buzzed again in excitement within.

“Excellent. You’re falling for him quite easily!”

They spoke to me with even greater clarity before. I responded in kind.

Don’t listen to my thoughts, you pests! They’re private!

I felt a wave of chittering creep through the length of my neck. I cringed due to its slight tickle.

“We have no choice, Ino. You’re letting us hear it. Your thoughts are becoming easier to broadcast to us, it’s become almost second-nature.”

I didn’t know what to say at this, I was caught between some sort of excitement and annoyance: excitement at the prospect of becoming better as a bug-user, and annoyed at the sudden loss of my privacy.

“You can trust us, Ino. We’re a part of you now. Your secret is our secret.”

I smiled, convinced of the sincerity of their words. I stood up from my rock, and inhaled the cool air of dusk. Stars began to appear amidst a slowly darkening sky above me.

Sounds good, guys. Does that mean you know a lot about Shino’s secrets?

My body paused, expecting some form of internal physical response. It vibrated in agreement, but I felt a slight sharpness that felt like that they didn’t want to reveal any further.

Don’t worry, I won’t pry. I was just curious.

They buzzed agreeably as I walked back to camp, turning my thoughts to other random subjects like animals and nature, and the pleasantness of it all seemed to settle well with the kikai inside me. When I arrived, Shino had already started the fire, but was already asleep in his rolled out sleeping bag. It was a light shade of blue, flirting with bright orange and red accents created by the soothing embers in front of him.

I took out my own sleeping bag from a backpack nearby. I waxed nostalgic of previous missions with Asuma-sensei and the others, and was comforted by it. The kikai murmured approvingly as they all gradually fell asleep one by one. It wasn’t too long before I felt complete calmness in my body, and drifted off to welcoming images of my friends.

It was a vivid dream, a recurring vision that I had soon after Asuma’s death. It was still all a blur to me whenever I tried to think about it, but only my dreams could depict it so realistically. It came again tonight, but I was not saddened by it, it was always a memory. Yet somehow, there was something different about this dream than usual. It was almost like an omen of sorts.

He laid there, nearly lifeless in Shikamaru’s knee, blood slowly pouring out from his mouth. I laid my hands down on his vest, infusing them with chakra. I scanned his body, and he was struck at four vital points. Chouji spoke to me with panicked words, but I was too shocked at the sight of my sensei at his last moments before death. I couldn’t do anything, and I let my head drop down in defeat.

I heard him struggle out a few words. I wiped away tear-soaked eyes, and stared down at Asuma as he opened up narrow slits to look at us one more time.

“I think I finally understand…” he gasped, “why the sandaime…did what he did…I’m always too late.”

He coughed, spewing out blood. It was slightly hard and clumpy, hinting that his circulatory was beyond repair.

“Ino…Chouji…Shikamaru. There’s something I want to tell you.”

These were to be his final words. He spoke to me first.

“Ino…”

“…Yes…” I struggled through tears.

“…In the valley of the Bikochu, there lives a sage who may help you and Shino in your mission.”

I stared down, confused.

“…He will teach you not only how to master your bugs, but win Shino’s heart as well.”

With his last ounce of strength, he stretched out his hand, and drew a symbol on the dirt below him. He died shortly after.

I struggled for clarity, as the dream seemed to slip away from me. I cursed in my sleep, agonizing over what had transpired. The kikai began to rumble violently, further obscuring the vision.

The surrounding landscape dissolved to nothingness. Chouji and Shikamaru faded away. All was left was my sensei, dead by my side. I willed myself to look at the symbol he had left.

A spider, enveloped in familiar formations of circles and insignias.

“Shino’s mark!” I gasped.

And I woke up. It was morning, and the sun beamed down relentlessly upon me. My…Shino’s glasses had slipped off and landed on the ground a few inches from me. I frantically grabbed them and shoved the pair onto my face. I groaned in discomfort.

Shino stood by the fire, staring down at me with intent. He reached out with his left hand towards me. “You had a dream,” he said.

“No kidding,” I grimaced, “It was strange.”

Shino nodded. I looked up at him from my sleeping bag, resisting the urge to look directly into his eyes. Thankfully, the sun made doing so nearly impossible.

“We should make our way to Bikochu Valley soon,” He said, pulling me up to my feet. “I think there’s something there that could help us.”

I nodded. If that dream was any indication, he was probably right. The kikai felt the same way.

I unsheathed a kunai and held it tightly in anticipation of a possible attack. The bugs said that there were intruders, so I readied myself into a defensive stance. I scanned the landmarks around me, only to see nothing in sight.

“Where are they?”

The kikai buzzed inside me with excitement. This was their first battle with me as their vessel, and perhaps their first combat experience since the incident with Shino. I surely didn’t want to disappoint them, so I readied my mindset to follow their orders.

“Sentries. The scouts have reported a band of four setting up camp from within the tree line.”

“What do we do?”

“Wait.” The buzzing paused for a moment. A few seconds later, a small squad of kikai scouts emerged from the distance, floating in a formation in front of me.

“They do not appear to be a threat, but should we proceed any further, they will be provoked and attack us.”

I certainly preferred to not get into confrontations so early into the mission, but it occurred to me that Shino and I had no other choice but to follow our only lead. Eventually, we would have to find a way past them. In my condition, the only way to do so was with Shino’s help.

I ordered the scout group to relay a visual of the enemy. They concurred, and flew off.

I closed my eyes in anticipation of their mental transmission. A vision of the landscape appeared in my mind. It was of them. The trees drew closer and closer, while the ground flew underneath the perspective with great speed. Past the tree line, the view weaved in and out of the foliage above, eventually settling on a branch. It panned downwards, revealing a trio of sleeping bags. Leftwards, it panned again towards a pair of ninja squatting alertly.

“Ino! On your guard! One of them is missing!”

Shit! What if they had found out that we were nearby? My legs reacted faster than I could think. I jumped down from the top of the hill back to where Shino’s tent was, sticking my head inside to discover that it was empty.

“Shino? Where’d he-”

“Over here!” A gruff voice interrupted. I flinched into a battle stance, and saw Shino on the floor, tied up with a dagger held to his neck. The third ninja sat on top of his body, giggling with a sadistic tone.

“Little ninja girl, were you looking for this boy? Tee hee!”

The enemy was draped by a dark brown cloak, and a hood covering the top of his head, save for the metal-engraved insignia tied around his forehead. The symbol was a pair of rocks, the smaller one layered on top of the other.

He continued, “We don’t know why you come this far, but if you truly value your life, you will turn away!”

I grasped the kunai already in my hand even harder. “Let go of him!”

He laughed again. Soon, the other two suddenly appeared behind him.

“Guests, we have?” Snarled one of the ones that joined.

“Yes, brother!” exclaimed the other.

Shit, I thought. Guys, we need to come up with a plan.

“We agree. There are enough of us to take care of the one holding Shino hostage. You will have to distract the other two.”

Agreed.

The bugs began to vibrate in synch at different parts of my body, finally centralizing on my left hip, underneath a small container where I kept my shuriken.

“Use these, Ino! Throw them at the middle one, then try and distract the other two.”

I nodded. I reached in quickly and conjured up two stars and tossed them at the face of Shino’s captor. The ninja vanished quickly, reappearing at a spot where the shuriken landed just a few steps from his feet.

“Too slow, ninja girl!”

I sighed, but saw the projectiles dissolve into a small swarm of bugs. They began swarming the ninja, attempting to find an opportune moment to strike and absorb his chakra.

“Whoa! Bug user! Zaki! Tetso! Don’t just stand there!”

The other two, presumably Zaki and Tetso, clenched their fist, and darted towards me. I rolled sideways, dodging their attack. I jumped into the air, throwing a pair of kunai at them.

“Don’t dodge her projectiles!” The ringleader shouted, still struggling with a swarm of kikai. “They might be bugs!”

The leftmost ninja threw his kunai at one of my own, knocking it into the other. I landed a few feet away from my opponents.

“Ino,” my left arm vibrated, “Give us a try!”

I raised my left hand, revealing an opening hole near my wrist. A squadron of bugs flew out and raced towards the ninja on the right. The other parried through the swarm and aimed a quickly withdrawn blade at me. I flipped backwards to avoid his thrust.

The squad of bugs that came from my left arm flew towards their target. The ninja grinned and performed a seal. The ground shook, and a pair of square pillars emerged from the rocks, slamming against each other as the swarm got caught in the middle. The attack was nullified.

I landed back on my feet, readying an uppercut on the other ninja attacking me. My right fist connected with his jaw, sending him flying off to my right. I charged at the remaining foe, unsheathing a kunai from a compartment tied to my ankle.

The upright one grinned, manipulating his pillars to dissolve into smaller rocks, and sent them flying towards me. I weaved through them carefully, slicing through a few of them with my kunai. I lunged at him as fast as I could, driving my blade into his chest. He gasped, letting out a few drops of blood from his mouth.

“NO! Brother!” the other ninja exclaimed through a broken jaw. He ran towards me from behind with a blinding speed that I could not react to. He landed a flying kick at my right shoulder blade, sending me tumbling a few feet away from his now-dead brother’s body.

Stunned, I tried to get back up to my feet, but the pressure placed on my right arm caused me to wince and collapse back onto the ground. My opponent removed my kunai from his brother’s chest and walked slowly towards my weakened form.

“You are going to pay for your treachery- GAH!”

He twitched and then doubled over onto the floor. Raising my head back up at him, he didn’t look like he was hit by anything, but I saw the cause of his injury.

“Don’t worry Ino! We got you!”

The scouting squad returned just in time to protect me from the vengeful ninja. His chakra was drained to the point of unconsciousness. I stood up and wandered over to Shino’s tied-up body.

“Shino! Are you okay?”

“…Yes.” He said, writhing inside the ropes wrapped around him securely. “What about the third guy?”

I looked over to see the ringleader, still struggling against the swarm of bugs that emerged from the decoy shuriken. I leaped at his body as he rolled around trying to fend off the bugs from absorbing his chakra. I landed on his back with a damaging impact, wrapping my arm around his head unbreakable submission maneuver.

“Kill me if you like! But you your kind will never take over Iwagakure!”

I tightened my hold on him, “Tell me what you know about- wait, what?”

“You heard me! We know about your clan’s goal to overthrow the Tsuchikage! We’ll never back down from you Kamiziru cowards!”

What? I relaxed my grip on his head, but still maintained control. One false move, and I would snap his spine easily. But did he really think of me as a Bee-user?

“I’m not a Kamiziru. I’m a Leaf ninja.”

The ninja scoffed at my remark. “Konoha? You’re just as despicable as well! Go ahead and kill me now! I’m of no use to either side.”

“No. I need to know more about your village’s situation.”

I twisted his head to the side, putting enough pressure to almost paralyze him. He writhed with pain.

“Argh! Okay, okay! Let go already! I’ll tell you everything!”

I untwisted his head, but pinned it down to the floor. The remaining straggling squads of kikai retreated back to my body, entering through holes scattered across the lower back area of my neck. A sudden wave of fatigue swept through my body. My arms felt numb for an unbearably long moment, and my vision started going black.

“Tell me…Ugh…Now…”

My grip loosened, but I could no longer support the weight of my upper body, so I haphazardly leaned into the hold, putting pressure on his neck anyways.

“AARGHH!! OKAY FINE!”

He struggled to breathe, but managed to begin his story.

“Two…ugghhh…two months ago, there was an attempt on the Tsuchikage’s life. A poisonous bee entered his sleeping quarters and attempted to sting him, but the village’s covert ops intercepted it and studied it. Of course, the Kamiziru were the suspected culprits. When the Tsuchikage was made aware of who was behind his assassination attempt, he decreed to the village to regard the clan with distrust. He couldn’t simply banish them from the village because of the lack of definitive proof…”

He groaned. “Augh, dammit! You’re going to paralyze me!”

I panted, struggling to maintain some semblance of control over my foe’s body. “No. If you die, you die. You might as well tell me the rest, if you want to be spared in the afterlife…”

He sighed. “Very well then. For weeks after the decree, rumors spread about a coup d’état. One of the village’s internal spies managed to confirm this, and reported the information to the Tsuchikage. He ordered all of the village’s ninjas to wipe out the clan, but as it turned out, many of them were secretly allied to the Kamiziru, and betrayed the Tsuchikage. He tried to send out messengers to alert our allied villages, but the Kamiziru sealed the village shut. Nobody could get in or out of the village without facing dire consequences, and it’s been like that ever since. I heard that even a squad from your village came too close earlier this week, and paid the price for it.”

I sighed heavily. So that’s what happened to Shino and his clan…

He groaned with pain under the increasing weight put on his neck. “Kunoichi, you’re a strong one. Especially for an Aburame. As much as I loathe you leaf ninja, I wouldn’t mind if you did me a favor and destroy every last one of those blasted Kamiziru…”

His neck stopped bearing my weight, and snapped. I rolled off of his body and onto the floor, and once again, my vision hazed away into nothingness.

I got home later that night, after a lengthy discussion with Shino over a nice ramen dinner. He was quite forward in his speech, somewhat uncharacteristic of his usual reserved demeanor. Not that I didn’t mind it; I love the challenge of out-flirting a guy who thinks he can simply woo his way into my heart. No way. A real man has to be able to woo a girl with his hands, and not with his mouth. I’ve only been on a few missions with Shino back in the Genin days, but never as a Chunin. I speculated about Shino’s condition for this mission, and wondered how he would fight without his bugs if the situation required it, and more importantly, how I would fight with them.

As I showered, I pictured myself performing a variety of complex bug techniques against a hapless, faceless opponent. The excitement of potentially kicking ass with the bugs excited me even more, to the point where I decided then and there, as I was scrubbing my feet, that I prove my worth as a ninja, and adapt to my situation by becoming a respectable bug-user. The thought sent a shiver of excitement down my body. The kikai felt it, and little by little, I took more careful notice of them, trying to listen to them.

Good…

…She’s accepted us…

…Pass the test she will…

…Prove worthy no problem.

I stepped out of the shower and patted myself down with a clean, dry towel. As I got dressed in sleeping clothes, I scrounged around for all the equipment that I would need tomorrow. They weren’t scattered everywhere in a disorganized mess more characteristic of Naruto’s nightmare apartment, but were lazily left in strategic spots of my room where I knew they could be found without much effort. All this time, I kept thinking of the mission, even as I retired to my bed and slept.

The following morning, I woke up feeling groggier than usual, probably because I had spent most of the night tossing and turning in anxiousness for today. Thanks to that, I thought that I may have slightly made myself worse off for today’s mission. I shrugged, and hoped that it wouldn’t be such a problem.

I put on my trademark shinobi attire as well as a backpack filled with the equipment that I had gathered the night before. I hugged my parents on my way out the door, and before I knew it, I was already at the entrance gate of the Hidden Leaf.

Last night, Shino proposed we meet at sunrise before we would leave for the mission. I managed to arrive at the meeting place a few minutes after daylight had begun spreading across the village, and the Aburame prodigy was nowhere to be seen. I waited a little while longer, and by the time the nearby markets began opening up to its daily hustle and bustle, I grew a little concerned. Was he always this tardy? I was aware of shinobi who were notorious for their need to make people wait, particularly Kakashi-sensei. But he had good reason to, because I would always see him in the morning, when I would open up the shop, just to buy the same white flower each and every day. I knew he had his reasons for his delays, so I was concerned about what was making Shino late.

Perhaps I should go look for him? I thought.

Nah, if he gets here while I’m gone, I’ll look like the late one. If there was only some way-

The kikai buzzed inside me with excitement, which I had immediately felt. Right! I could do ‘that.’

I giggled at myself for feeling really goofy at the gesture that I was about to do. I quashed my amusement, and tightened my body in utter seriousness. I reached my arm out into the blank space in front of me, spreading out the fingers of my hands, palms facing towards the floor.

“Search.”

Immediately, a surge of pressure shot through my arm, and a hole ripped through the skin just before my wrist. With my intense focus on the task at hand, I didn’t feel the sting of the opening hole. A few hundred kikai squirmed through the opening, and scattered off in all directions. Behind Shino’s glasses, I closed my eyes.

I visualized the formations that the search party made as they swept through the entire village. They relayed back the information that they had obtained. Scores of mental scenes flashed through my mind as I tried to identify Shino’s form within those images.

Children in the Park.

Naruto and Hinata at the ramen stand.

Kakashi laying out a white flower at a gravestone.

Tsunade-sama writing some documents at her desk.

Shino sitting intently on a branch.

“There he is!”

The mental barrage of images stopped at his visage, no longer a screenshot, but a freely flowing scene in full motion, as if in real time. I tried to determine the location of the bug that picked him up, but had difficulty connecting to him specifically. I won’t give up; there must be some other way I can figure out where he is. I studied the image carefully, noting specific details about his surroundings, and hoping that they familiar enough to point out his general location. A few thoughts from my head prompted the view to shift closer to him, and a little closer still.

His countenance had taken up the entire view at this point, and there was no way I could determine his whereabouts. But he looked right back at me through that view. It was like that one time at the hospital…

He disappeared from view. Just in an instant, he was already gone, and revealed his vantage point from the trees. I saw myself standing on the ground below.

I opened my eyes, and turned overhead into a nearby tree. Was he standing over there on that branch the whole time?

Poke.

GAH!

I turned around. “Shino! What the hell!”

He just stood there with his usual nonchalant stature, but with a slightly mischievous grin. Not as wide and loud like Naruto, but subtle and arrogant like Kiba. I was annoyed all the same either way.

“Gomen,” he chuckled. “I didn’t think it would take you this long to find me.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I meant by that.”

He pointed into blank space above my head. A bunch of kikai that I had sent out remained gathered in mid-air, mindlessly flying about within a small area above me.

Shino’s face turned serious. “You should order them to return. Otherwise, they’ll take more chakra from you.”

I didn’t know what that meant, but at the very least I understood that they should go back to where they came from. I raised my arm up into the air. “Return.”

The swarm flew towards my outreached hand, looking like a cloud funneling down to the earth in the form of a tornado. Several hundreds had gone back in at once, and I could feel the sensation of pressure surging throughout my body as they continued gathering. When none was left, I felt weak right away. My knees buckled, and I nearly collapsed by my own weight. Thankfully, Shino caught me at the last second. My body lay limp against his chest for a moment.

“Easy there, see what I told you?” He chided.

“I guess so.”

He explained in detail.

“Lesson number one: the most important thing that a bug ninja should know is Balance. You and your insects live in a symbiotic relationship. You use them as tools, they use you for sustenance. They cannot function without your chakra, and the more you use them, the more chakra they will take from you. Your limits essentially become theirs.”

I caught my breath, regaining back the strength that I had temporarily lost. I helped myself up from Shino’s grip, and stood there in contemplation.

“So what you’re saying is that I shouldn’t waste my techniques like what I did just now.”

“Precisely. Micromanagement of your insects is of utmost importance.”

Micro-what? He began to lose me afterwards, but I mentally vowed to figure all this out along the way.

Shino gave me a few more moments to regain some of my energy before we headed out. Shortly after, we were on our way. I wasn’t sure where we were to go, but he seemed to have an idea of where to start. We just walked down one of the main roads leading out of the Village, and kept going in that direction for a while, and I just had to ask him about it.

“Shino, do you have any idea where we should start?”

“Yes. The first thing we need to do is to find out more about the Kamizuru Clan. Since I do not know anything about them first-hand except for that one time…we should head there first.”

“Where first?”

“Bikochu Valley.”

The Bikochu, as Shino later described, was a rare species of beetles that had a unique, yet effective ability to track down targets from large distances away. They were once used widely to find missing-nin as well as important individuals from the Hokage’s “bingo book.” After a period of over-use, the species was reduced to endangered population sizes.

Shino and I continued traveling at a modest pace. All the while, I was absorbing the information that Shino had given. If the Kamizuru clan were still trying to find the Bikochu to further their agenda, then they may still be in the area. After all, Bikochu Valley was located in the outer region of Fire Country; it may be in our own territory, but it was actually close enough to the Earth Country that if there was a war going on, then Bikochu Valley would be one of the territories in conflict. This was definitely the best place to start.

The sun hung low on the horizon. We spent most of the day traversing through an extended stretch of flat, dry land. Far off into the distance, I could see an endless range of mountains, flanked by lush forestry. We probably could have made it to the tree line before night fell, but Shino decided to stop walking.

“We’ll set up camp here. Why? If we go out any farther, we’ll potentially be in hostile territory. Here, we’ll only have to worry about bandits.”

I nodded. There was plenty of time tomorrow to investigate.

“But most importantly, there’s enough time before tomorrow for me to teach you a bug technique.”

I clenched my fist in excitement and nodded. The bugs clattered inside me with agreement.

By tonight, I’ll be one step closer to becoming a stronger shinobi!

“Good. Let’s get started right away.”

We sat down on the dull grass and took an eating break. I pulled out a bento from my backpack. I didn’t have enough time yesterday to prepare anything overly elaborate, so I just had a few rice balls packed for the initial trip. Shino conjured up a box from his own belongings and set it on his lap. After removing the lid, the box revealed a colorful display of a wide variety of food. Rice, vegetables, beef, pork, sushi, sashimi, everything namable was there in some way or form. My eyes widened with awe.

“You must be a pretty good cook, Shino!” I said, giddily, almost like a schoolgirl.

Shino chuckled nervously. “Actually, my sister made this. I’m actually quite terrible with cooking, heh heh.”

We continued to make small talk as we ate. Even when I finished my food before Shino did (which I never do, since it’s rather unwomanly), I continued to tell stories to him about the missions that I had been on; one in particular, involved sneaking into the hidden mist, and acting as a hostess to try and get information about Akatsuki. Shino accidentally laughed with rice still in his mouth when I told him I accidentally ran into Jiraiya at the club, and having to kick him out for being a total pervert. It seemed to go by so smoothly, and I felt so at ease that the kikai responded in kind.

As it turned out, we never ended up training for my new technique. We just talked until it got dark, and I volunteered to take watch first. Shino receded into his makeshift tent, and dozed off in no time at all.

I took a seat on a medium-sized rock, and surveyed the landscape around us. Despite walking along flatlands all day, we chose a small, slightly hilly transition area a small distance from the tree line. Just in case though, I tried sending out a small search party of bugs to scan the area. I remembered Shino’s previous advice, so I only summoned a few dozen out of my body. Overall, it didn’t stress my body too much. As I let the sentry squad fly around, I slouched in place, and thought of the mission, oftentimes drifting my focus onto Shino’s tent.

“Seems like you’re beginning to like him.”

I heard the voice clearly, but saw no signs of anyone around us. That only left me with one possibility.

“Are you guys talking to me?” I whispered to myself. “…Shino’s bugs?”

“Good. You can hear us clearly. It took some time, but our connection is complete.”

I didn’t even have to focus on their thoughts the last time. It was as if I had walked into a foreign land and instantly picked the natives’ language.

“What do you guys want?”

“We are pleased with your progress with Shino. You are definitely fit to be his wife.”

Again I was reminded of the ‘Aburame tradition’

“But you are still not yet ready.”

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be ‘ready’ at all, whatever that meant. All I knew was that my top priority was the mission and our current ‘condition’.

“Yes, you’ll be able to do it no problem. We are aware of Shino-sama’s seal, and we appreciate your generosity for lending us your body as our hive.”

I was slightly angered by this. “Generosity? I didn’t choose to give my body to you!”

“This is why we’re even more thankful. Normally, under other conditions, a foreign body would immediately reject us as a hive. We would have died immediately. But you, YOU…we took a risk, and you were the exception.”

I frowned. I didn’t want them to die. Nor did I want Shino to die either.

“The truth is we and Shino are one and the same. We’re in symbiosis. When one dies, the other follows.”

I let out a gasp. “Shino? Dead?”

“Yes. But you wanted him to live. You saved him unknowingly by accepting us. And for that we owe you our lives. We are your servants, Ino-sama.”

“Ino-sama.” I chuckled. That name had a very attractive ring to it.

“Yes. So for now, we are one and the same, but only for now. We must remove Shino-sama’s seal so that things can return to normal.”

“How do we do that?”

“We’ll have to do this one step at a time. But for now, it looks like we’ve got company.”

The Hokage’s building was in sight once we had reached the main roads of the village. We walked together, Shino keeping a subtle distance behind me. He was only a few inches taller than me, but his stride was noticeably longer. I could see him from the corner of my eye, off of the reflection of the inside part of my glasses. He remained silent for most of the trip, as if he were pondering something, probably related to our situation.

If he was, I was thinking the same thing. Maybe Tsunade-sama would know what we can do about it. At first, it was simply – is ‘simply’ really the right word for it? – a problem of me mysteriously housing Shino’s destruction bugs, but now it had escalated to his kikai literally choosing me as Shino’s future spouse. I was shocked to hear about it from Shino’s dad, but from the way Shibi-san was so serious talking about it, it seemed as if there wasn’t anything that I could do about it. I’ve heard stories from the rain country of dekichatta kekkon, where the head of a noble clan forced a young shinobi to marry his kunoichi daughter due to pregnancy.

But the problem was that I wasn’t even pregnant. Just out of the blue, the kikai moved into my body, and somehow concluded that I was “worthy” of being an Aburame bride. I may have saved Shino’s life by unintentionally inheriting his swarm, but that didn’t mean that I was in any way interested in him, particularly as a husband. This was all too confusing for me, and Shino’s silence didn’t help that fact. He just remained to my left and a bit behind, and continued to pace casually with his hands in his pockets, like he always had.

Finally, we arrived at the Hokage’s office, and we were in her office, in her presence. Shino eyed the Fifth with a bold expression, the latter staring back with an equally intense glance. After a short moment, she sighed.

“Good to see that you’re alright, Shino,” She said. “The other shinobi from your team are still in critical condition. Our medic-nin are still working nonstop.”

“Good to know.” Shino said briefly.

“The mission was a failure then, I presume.”

Shino regretfully nodded. “But now I’m facing a different situation.”

The Fifth turned her head at me, and then back to Shino. “Ino too? Is there something you need to tell me?” Her eyes sharply narrowed as she shot a serious glance at him.

I immediately jumped in, explaining everything to her. I mentioned how it was around this time yesterday when I was pulled from my mundane duties at the hospital to help the medical staff deal with a large number of injured leaf ninja that had been brought in at once.

I then told Tsunade that my duties were to look after Shino, one of the victims of the incident. He was in stable condition initially, but his low levels of chakra caused his insects to eat away at his own body. In an attempt to restore him to normal levels, I tried to infuse some of my own chakra into him.

Then I went on to mention that I, as a result of trying to rescue Shino from his own bugs, inherited his entire nest of kikai in the process. As a related consequence, Shino was left without his bugs, and thus, more vulnerable as a ninja. I chose to finish my explanation with that main point, consciously omitting details about the kikai choosing me as Shino’s wife, as that was less important than actually housing the bugs themselves.

Shino nodded in agreement to all the points that I had explained to the Hokage, finally speaking when I had reached the end of my explanation.

“I fear it may be related to the mission.”

There was a dreadful silence that hung afterward between the two of them.

“I don’t receive the mission report until later this evening,” the Hokage said sternly, “but I trust that you have adequate details about what happened.”

I stared quizzically back at them. Since when was I involved?

“Hai,” Shino said, and turned to me. “Ino. Better you know about this now than later.”

He began.

“Two weeks ago, we were sent to Earth Country to investigate a reported rumor regarding an invasion of the Leaf Village. Sometime during the third great Ninja war, the Kamiziru Clan, a clan of shinobi from the Hidden Stone Village, attempted to invade Konoha, but were repelled by the Aburames. The Kamizuru are best known as bee-users, much like the kikai-users of my clan.”

He spoke with such seriousness; I was enthralled by the tone of his deep voice.

“According to the mission reports in the archives, the Kamizuru clan was significantly reduced in number as a result of that war. Their clan leader, the Tsuchikage, stepped down due to the shame the clan brought to the village as well. When our team met with an informant from the village, we were told that the Kamizuru had secretly grown in numbers over the years, and have re-emerged recently with the intent of reclaiming the title of Tsuchikage, possibly resorting to a coup d’état if necessary. That was as much information as we were able to get, as we were ambushed by Kamizuru immediately afterwards. We were able to retreat and meet up with a backup force, but the bee-users quickly caught up and simply overwhelmed both groups.”

Shino began to sweat.

“They targeted me specifically, because I was a rival clan. They didn’t injure me, but instead performed a jutsu that put a seal on my back.”

He lowered the hood of his jacket, took it off, and lifted the back of his jacket and shirt, revealing a pattern drawn onto his lower left back. It was spider-like design enveloped by numerous circles and insignias. He lowered his shirt and jacket again, leaving his hood down. He turned to me.

“I am not sure if your situation is related to my own, and I’m sorry for not telling you this sooner, but I had to report to the Hokage about this.”

He sighed. I wasn’t angry at him for withholding that information, but I was content knowing exactly what was going on.

Tsunade nodded, and began to think. “Hrm…” After a moment of contemplation, she decided on a course of action.

“If what you say is true, Shino, then you need to find out a way to dispel the seal. Otherwise, Ino will have to live with her condition until this problem is solved.”

We both nodded.

“Ino, Shino,” Tsunade continued, “the strongest skill any shinobi needs to have is the ability to adapt. It may take days, months, even years, before the two of you return to your usual condition. But we don’t have the time to wait for this situation to resolve. As Shino has already said, the uprising in the Hidden Stone may have dire consequences for our village in the future. We need as many shinobi as possible to help prevent a coup!”

She paused. She pondered with serious intentions in her mind.

“That is why,” She concluded, “the two of you will be sent on a mission to gather intelligence about the Kamizuru clan. You might figure out how to dispel the seal that way, and we’ll have enough information to properly stop their rebellion.”

A real mission, eh? Sounds kick-ass!

The bugs vibrated inside me, and I felt that perhaps maybe they were just as excited about the mission as I was. It was about time that we were able to agree on something!

Shino grinned. He turned to me and said, “Ino. Let’s go then.” We both turned to leave the office, but were interrupted by the Hokage.

“Wait! One more thing.” She said, “Shino, I’m not sure if it’s against your clan’s rules, but it would be in your best interest to teach Ino as much as much about the bug-using shinobi arts.”

“Hai, Tsunade-sama.”

“Good. And besides, it’s probably not against the rules of the clan if she’s going to marry into it anyways, am I right?”

She cackled. We both blushed, and disappeared from the room as fast as humanly possible. How the hell did she know?

I escaped into the hall, fuming. Shino trailed not too far behind me.

“Ino, wait up!” He reached out to my shoulder and held on to it with his masculine grip. I paused for a moment, fearing that I may clumsily fall over trying to resist his pull.

“What? Didn’t you hear what Tsunade-sama said? Aren’t you embarrassed as I am?”

Shino dryly chuckled, something that I’d never seen until now. He was calm, smiling in a sly manner that nearly reminded me of myself somehow. I couldn’t help but smile back at him; somehow he had an immediate calming effect. Maybe it was his influence on the bugs inside me, which had not reacted too kindly to my internal mood swings.

“Yeah, it’s awkward. But I don’t feel bad at all. A bit flattered, even.”

I looked back at him with narrower eyes, somewhat confused by his words. Flattered? Eh? Really?

“Hear me out.”

We finally exited the building, and continued walking randomly throughout the village, eventually stopping at the Ichiraku stand.

“With all of us growing up together learning the ways of the shinobi,” he said, poking his chopsticks into a bowl of pork ramen, “You’ve always stood out. Why? Because you’re a skilled kunoichi. Definitely the most naturally talented one in our class.”

I grinned like a childish girl. I always enjoyed praise from others, particularly Choji and Shikamaru back in the day. It had been such a long time since then, so I savored Shino’s compliment, as well as those that followed.

“You’re trying too hard to flatter me, Shino!” I squee’d, “But please, do go on!”

He laughed again. I’ve never felt more excited about a mission than now.

“Hmm…well…”

He became silent, contemplating with an alluring intensity.

“Just to let you know, Ino. It’s true what they say, my dad and Tsunade, about the insects and marriage and stuff.”

A drop of sweat ran down from the top of his forehead onto the bridge of his nose. Whether it was from the heat of the ramen in front of him or something else, I wasn’t so sure.

“Well, I have to follow the clan tradition. But I’ll do whatever it takes to see that you don’t have to do something you don’t want to do.”

“Thanks Shino.” I let out a heartwarming smile. Not the other kind that I used when I was younger to get Shika to do troublesome tasks for me. This was genuine happiness that I felt.

“No problem. Either way, with your looks and talent, you’re definitely a girl worth marrying.”

I felt an intense warmth surge through my cheeks. Slightly embarrassed, I looked around to make sure nobody could see my face as I heard those words. It felt nice. Even the bugs inside me began to scurry around in agreement. For some reason, I suddenly got used to the sensation of them as they moved about inside me. With or without them, I would have felt the shivers from under my skin either way.

“That’s quite enough Shino,” I said, grinning back, “save your flattery for later. You don’t want to waste all your best moves on me when we haven’t even started the mission yet!”

I was completely aware of what I was doing. I knew the game he was playing, and I was just as eager to play along. Maybe this arranged marriage thing isn’t such a bad idea after all.

The next morning, I woke up to loud thuds from a room down the hall. Shouts of anger and frustration were audible, highlighted by the spirited arguing of Rock Lee and an unidentifiable nurse. Having worked early shifts before, I was used to Lee’s morning exercise routines. A thousand pushups on his uninjured hand. A thousand squats on his uninjured leg. A thousand sit-ups if his back wasn’t sore. If he failed any of these, or was stopped by a nurse, he would loudly proclaim to do even more repetitions than before. Difficult as he was, it was a comforting environment, reminding me of better days when life wasn’t so complicated.

As the insects began to move inside me, I immediately accepted that those days were long over.

Oh crap, Shino! He might be waiting for me!

Shino was right when he said I’d be able to move when I woke up, since I had automatically sprung from my bed. I gathered my belongings and quickly left the hospital without leaving any notice to the other nurses.

I was on my way, briskly walking down one of the roads leading to the Aburame clan’s neighborhood, when I suddenly felt stiffness in my muscles, likely from not being able to move yesterday. I mentally brushed off the soreness as best as I could. I focused my eyes on the giant yellow orb that began to rise up in the sky. The brightness of dawn was comfortably shaded by Shino’s glasses, which were beginning to feel like a part of me. Distracted by numerous thoughts, I almost didn’t notice that I had already arrived at my destination.

The Aburame clan houses grouped up in their own district in the village, much like the Uchiha and Hyuga clans. The Aburames lived in a more secluded sector, neighboring a large patch of forest, where they raised their seemingly endless army of insects. I went to that forest a few times before to borrow some bugs. Kikaichu were considered as helpful pollinators for some of the rare flowers back at the shop, so I made myself familiar with this place as the years passed.

I managed to find Shino’s home. He lived in a nice two-floor temple-esque building that nearly dwarfed the others in the neighborhood. I passed through the outer gates, and found a path lined with light-brown tinted granite stones traced a way from the front gates to their front door. Walking up to it, I noticed on the left side of the path an immaculately designed garden, filled with many rare species of flowers, their colors spanning the entire spectrum of the rainbow. They were arranged with an inspiring artistry that reminded me that the ninja arts were not my only passion in life. I thanked the heavens for that, and rang the doorbell.

The wait was lengthy, but not too long as to try my patience. Soon enough, the door opened, revealing the visage of a peculiar girl in civilian clothing.

“Yes?” She said.

“I, uh…”

Is that Shino’s sister?

The girl stood in front of me, timid and unassuming, but carried an aura of confidence and mystery that I immediately associated with Shino. She wore glasses as well, but they weren’t tinted like Shino’s. She stared up at me, my eyes at least a foot higher from the ground than hers. She must have been quite young.

“Are you looking for Shino? He’s in the backyard.”

Soon after, she closed the door on my face without a care. What a bitch! I thought, but figured that she was young and immature, much like I was when I was around her age. At least show some respect for your elders!

I peered out from the front porch, looking for a path that led to the backyard of Shino’s house. To my right was a smaller trail of granite steps that slipped off to the side of the house through a narrow corridor between the side of the house and the outer gate. I paced myself through the trail with habitual stealth, peering into the backyard carefully once I neared the corner of the house.

If the beauty of the garden in front of the house was day, then the backyard would be considered as night. A polar opposite scene, the backyard was completely barren, save for a mid-sized oak that stood in the far corner opposite to me. I could see marks on its bark, made by thrown kunai and shuriken. Demolished practice dummies lay scattered on the ground around it.

Shino was undeniably the centerpiece of the scene in front of me, as he stood in the middle of the backyard with his eyes closed. He was in his usual hooded attire, in an unorthodox fighting stance. His left hand was stretched out in front of him palm up, his right hand drawn back to his waist, clenched in his fist. His legs were spread like the Hyuga’s Juken stance, but his front leg was raised slightly, leaving only the ball of his foot in contact with the ground. He opened his eyes, and turned his head towards me.

“Ah. Just in time. Hold on a moment.”

Then he began his kata.

He sent out a pair of punches to the empty space in front of him, followed by a pair of high reaching side kicks. He ran a few steps and did a spinning jump kick almost twice his height, landing with fluid momentum into a low sweep with the other leg. Still low on the ground, he somersaulted to his front and left, capping it off with a rising punch in the air.

He continued on for a few minutes, rounding out the sequence by throwing three kunai at the nearby tree while in mid-air from a twisting double back flip. Such precision was standard at the Jonin level, but his movements were fluid and elegant, as if he were performing a dance. It captivated me.

He relaxed his final stance, and then walked up to the tree, pulling out his kunai from the worn-out bark. He turned around to face me, and walked up to me while pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket. He wiped himself as he spoke.

“I appreciate your patience, Ino. We have much to discuss.”

I nodded.

“Why am I here, you ask? A grave situation has occurred. I’m sure you can feel it from within.”

I felt the crawling from under my skin. It didn’t hurt anymore, but I was still uncomfortable. I let out a slight cringe.

“It’s enough of a situation that you have bugs in you, but what’s worse is…well…”

He frowned slightly, somewhat unsure of himself. I cast a look of concern on him.

“What is it?” I asked.

He stared back at me, able to see through my– his glasses. “Use your mind-transfer on me, then you’ll see.”

Without hesitation, I performed the standard seals for the technique, and then formed a loop with my hands aiming at his face.

Mind-transfer jutsu!

My consciousness shot out from my body onto his. Instantly, I could see through his eyes, and I saw my own body collapse onto the ground. I controlled his movements, and turned around to scan the backyard around me. I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, I just felt normal.

Normal. That was the problem.

At that moment, I was Shino. I was supposed to feel the squirming of kikai inside my body, but I couldn’t. I was supposed to be distraught by the brightness of the morning sun, but wasn’t. I was supposed to feel my chakra drained by army of bugs, but I felt more energetic than ever. I knew that I was in a very strange situation.

I released the technique.

My thoughts were recovered by my body, and soon I felt the awkwardness again of Shino’s bugs. The ones inside me were his, and now we both knew it. This was a weird situation for the both of us.

“What do we do, then?” I asked.

Shino regained his own senses, and shrugged.

“We don’t have much of a choice, Ino. We have to report to Tsunade-sama about the situation.”

Somehow, I felt ashamed by this unfortunate accident, as if I didn’t want to reveal my condition to anybody, let alone the Hokage.

“Shino, there’s no way we can tell Tsunade-sama about this.”

He nodded with sympathetic agreement. For a fleeting moment, I felt the sadness in his deep, dark eyes, instantly mirrored by my own. He quickly shrugged off his worry with hard-headed resolve.

“Don’t worry, Ino-chan. We’ll find a way. Besides, you look pretty good in glasses.”

I felt my cheeks warm up, but couldn’t tell if I blushed, but I felt like I did. It was a charming thing to say, and in the right moment too. I beamed immediately. The kikai felt it too, as they clattered together in agreement. Set to go to the Hokage’s office, which was halfway across town, I was motivated. Shino used his handkerchief to wipe a few beads of sweat from his forehead.

“We’ll leave soon, but first I need you to talk to someone while I prepare my things.”

He turned his head back at the house, directing his attention to a balcony overlooking the backyard. Standing alone was an older man, Shino’s father. Shibi was a veteran of the clan, gushing with experience from the endless battles he had fought over the course of his life: the second great ninja war against the Kamizuru clan, the attack of the nine-tailed demon fox, the sound invasion, and countless others. I was immediately humbled by his presence, and froze in place as I watched the two of them jump towards each other’s respective spots, effectively switching places. Now, the senior Aburame was right in front of me, staring at me through emptiness of his own pair of intimidating shades. I was afraid at first, but to save face, I vowed myself not to back down from a scary guy like him. We ended up glaring at each other for a few minutes. Had an outsider watched the scene, it would have looked like something out of a dramatic movie.

The silent stalemate was broken as he began to chuckle, which then grew into a hearty laugh that exposed the whiteness of his teeth.

“Har-har! You’ve got guts kiddo! No wonder they like you so much!”

He patted me on the shoulder quite hard, which caused me to instinctively yelp out upon impact.

“Ittai!” Owwwww!

“You really got gusto, Yamanaka-san! You’ll make a perfect fit with the Aburame Clan!”

What did he mean by that?

“Not the talking type, eh? No worries, Shino makes everyone around him a little quieter; if only he got out of his shell a little bit more, then maybe he’d be more respected as a ninja…maybe he could even be the next Hokage!”

I cracked a smile, thinking that if this man were my father, I’d have punched him in the shoulder, screaming ‘Dad! Stop embarrassing myself in front of my friend!’

He smiled as well, then gave a lighthearted, and continued to speak:

“Now listen, Ino. Despite his quiet demeanor, Shino tells me everything that bothers him, and I try to console him because I’m his father. But you, on the other hand, are quite a cause for concern for my son. You’ve got his insects. And in the Aburame clan, that means marriage.”

Marriage…

“…Marriage!” My eyes opened widely and alertly. My chest felt as if it had jumped out of my body in panic. The kikai skittered around quickly with great excitement. I wasn’t ready for marriage! Not yet, at least!

“Whoa, calm down, Ino-san! I didn’t mean now, but later! It’s an Aburame tradition. You see, Aburame clan members are infused with a pact at birth to lend their bodies to the kikaichu at birth, in return for their services as tools of ninja warfare.”

I nodded, intrigued. That was the public spin on the Aburame clan; they were pretty mysterious like that, scary at times as well.

“But everyone knows that. What people don’t usually know is that this pact is for life, there’s no getting around it. That means that the kikai are always involved with all the different aspects of ninja’s life, even the personal ones. That’s why they have a strong influence in their host’s life decisions, even marriage.”

I eased the tension off my shoulders and slouched; my body felt deflated. These damned insects were probably inside me, as if they took me as their hostage. Marry Shino, or else we will eat you up alive…from the inside. I felt as if I were a living time bomb. My eyes welled up, almost in tears; luckily they were hidden behind Shino’s glasses.

“But there’s something special about you, Ino. Shino’s bugs wouldn’t choose just anybody. You should try hard and listen to the voices inside of you. They’re trying to call out to you. Good luck dealing with your situation, you’ll make a fantastic daughter-in-law!”

He smiled as he patted me on the shoulder. He vanished before he was able to see the reddening of my cheeks.

Mrs. Ino Aburame. I giggled at the thought of me ever getting married, but I still felt that I wasn’t ready to commit to something like this.

Maybe I should try listening to them, like Shibi-san said.

I made a deep breath, closed my eyes, and focused on my own body. I tried to listen…

…

…Ino…

…Ino, you are the one…

…the only one worthy…

…for our master…

…Yes…

I freaked out. I thought I was going crazy, but there I was, listening to the voices inside my head.

…but first, you must prove your worth…

…yes, prove your worth…

…and we’ll accept you, Ino…

…Ino…

“…Ino?”

I opened my eyes, seeing Shino suddenly appear in front of me. I jumped back, startled.

“…sorry for scaring you.”

I took deep calming breaths, “It’s ok, Shino.”

He was silent for a few moments, and stared downwards into space, deep in his own thoughts.

“So you heard them?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Then I don’t have to explain further. We must hurry to the Hokage.”