“Wow, I really am pale…” you noticed as you peered into the mirror. You finished washing your face and brushing your teeth. After scarfing down some breakfast, you took off towards the training field.
“Good morning, Kurenai – sensei! Morning, Shino!” you yawned.
“Good morning, Ai. For today’s training, I’d like you to focus on attacking Shino from a distance. I’m more of a mid-range fighter, but I will do my best to aid you. Now, move into fighting positions.”
Everyone jumped back a few meters.
“Begin!”
Extending your Neko Toboe, you slashed at Shino with your blades. Kurenai began using her genjutsu, making Shino attack a tree.
“Clear your mind, Shino!” Kurenai commanded. A fresh gash split open on Shino’s arm from one of your blades. The pain seemed to help him break the genjutsu spell, and his insects broke into four swarms, two for each of you. Dancing around them, you launched another attack at Shino. He dodged you fairly easily, focusing mostly on Kurenai. She seemed to disappear every time his insects even came close.
“Kurenai!”
Everyone stopped and looked around. Asuma appeared beside Kurenai.
“What is it?” she asked, on edge.
“Lord Hokage has summoned us.”
She turned towards you and Shino.
“Continue your training. This could take a while, so I’ll see you here tomorrow, same time. Stay safe.” She and Asuma disappeared. Your ears twitched when Shino’s beetles flew too closely.
“So, should we resume?” you asked. When he nodded, the two swarms that were stalking Kurenai came straight for you. You ducked, twirled, and flipped away from the shower of beetles.
“Shadow Clone Jutsu!”
You felt a sudden flux in your chakra, and control of it went haywire. Far too much chakra was burned to create your seven clones.
‘I’ve always had awesome chakra control…what’s wrong with me?’ you asked yourself as you and your clones surrounded Shino. 80 razor sharp, diamond hard blades flew at Shino. He began to retreat, but the blades came from all sides. You almost freaked out when he appeared to be skewered, but he suddenly disappeared, leaving a cloud of falling bugs behind.
‘Thank God…it was a Substitution Jutsu.’
You and your clones all retracted your claws and began to search the grounds. ‘He must be hiding in a tree somewhere.’ Spotting him quickly after focusing on his scent, you noticed he was in the shadows.
“Shadow Capture Jutsu!” you yelled in unison with your twins. You felt a sharp pain in your chest as your chakra fluctuated again. A slight dizziness began to set in as your shadows wrapped around Shino. The eight of you extended your claws, 80 blades aimed at Shino’s defenseless body.
“Parasitic Insects Jutsu: Typhoon!”
A vortex of black beetles appeared out of no where, swarming you and quickly draining the remnants of your chakra. The sharp pain in your chest exploded.
“Aaaaaraaahhh!!” you screamed, clutching your dress. The bugs disappeared, and you hit the ground with a loud THUD. Your whole body was numb and tingly, aside from the throbbing pain fading from your chest. You tried to move, but your limbs were too heavy.
“Ai?” The voice was faint, distant…and frightened. You opened your eyes – all you could see was grass.
‘I must be lying on my side…’ you hazily realized.
“Ai! Can you move?” called Shino, his voice steadily getting louder.
“Shh…Shhi…” was all you could manage. He was beside you in a heartbeat. After turning you onto your back, he propped you up on his knee.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you…I merely wanted to siphon your chakra with my parasitic insects. They should not have caused such pain.”
You closed your eyes and breathed deeply. ‘What’s wrong with me?’ you wondered, trying to build up enough strength to speak. Suddenly, you were lifted into the air.
“I’m taking you to the hospital. You're not well.” stated Shino as he took off, holding you tight.
“No!”
Startled, Shino stopped and peered at you.
‘I don’t want Kurenai – sensei to have to pay another hospital bill for me!’
Slowly, you lifted your arm and weakly grasped Shino’s jacket. You took another series of deep breaths.
“Home…my home…”
He looked like he was about to disagree, but he just nodded his head. “Home it is, then.” On the way to your home, he started talking about the sparring session.
“I distracted you with a cloud of beetles when I was actually attaching a female to you. I knew it was only a matter of time before you used your clones, since it was originally supposed to be two-on-two. I then hid so I could separate the male beetles into a large swarm, then attacked. I wasn’t expecting to hit you head on. I warned you about your illness…”
You laughed weakly. “Never...heard you…speak so much…”
Shino arrived at your apartment.
“You’re…easy to talk to.”
He slid open the shoji screen, wandered in, then deposited you on your bed.
“Thank you, Shino...” you told him, turning to face him. He started making some tea, walking around the small apartment before settling upon a cushion at the dining table. Shino's gaze made it's way to you after viewing the small room.
“Feeling better now that you're in bed?” he asked. Nodding, you pulled the blankets over you, chilled. “You have a fever...” He rose from the cushion and approached you, watching you intently behind his shades. His hand reached across, hovering over your body, then rested upon your forehead.
Blushing, you peered up at him, trying to catch a glimpse of his eyes. They hid well behind their dark lenses. “Sh-Shino...?” His mouth opened to reply, but the tea kettle whistled. He turned and walked away, pouring some tea. Sighing, you struggled to sit up, peeling away the covers from your sweaty body.
“Ai, careful. Don't fall out of bed. You're dizzy.” mumbled Shino, pausing to help you into a sitting position. He took your pillows and placed them against the cool wall, propping you against them before bringing you a cup of green tea.
“Drink. Before you get dehydrated.”
'He's taking care of me...' you thought to yourself, sipping your tea. He watched your every move, as if you were strapped with explosives and ready to detonate. Trying to assure him you were okay, you smiled gently for him, but he continued to frown behind his collar.
After finishing your tea, he took your cup and washed it, then returned to your bedside and put your pillows back. “You need rest now.” he said as he gently laid you back against your pillows and tucked you in. “Thank you...” was all you could manage before falling asleep.
Your rest was utterly dreamless, but you were certain you could hear voices fading in and out. One of them was a woman’s, and the other two were male, but you couldn’t quite grasp your consciousness long enough to see who it was. Feeling as if a dark curtain had finally lifted, you awoke. After yawning and stretching, you sat on the edge of your bed and rubbed your eyes.
“Sigh…I feel a lot better now…I gotta go apologize to Shino today. Hope he didn’t worry too much…” you mumbled.
“He was quite worried, but I’m sure he’ll forgive you…” issued a soft voice across the room.
“EEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!!”
BANG! Startled, you jumped backwards and smashed your head against the wall.
“Ai!”
A strange boy appeared to your right, holding you with his right arm and examining your head. He brushed away your hands with his left and felt your skull.
“I-I’m okay…” you told him, touching the arm across your collarbone. He let out a sigh of relief. “Not even a bump. Good…”
The boy went and sat down on one of your dining table cushions. You examined him closely. His brown eyes were beautiful, and his black shirt was taught across his broad shoulders. Sniffing at the air, you began to realize that you knew this tall boy.
“Shino?” you asked politely. He frowned.
“You had to sniff me out?”
“Sorry, you just…look so different without your sunglasses on…and you’re not wearing your jacket…” You stared at him intently, trying to memorize his features before he hid them again. He turned and leaned his head on his left fist, his arm propped on your table.
“Having fun?” he asked, the corners of his mouth struggling with what seemed to be a smile.
“Omigosh! I’m so sorry, I’m being so rude!!”
He held up his hand to silence you.
“It’s fine...I’d like to take you out for lunch, if that’s okay…you must be hungry after sleeping for almost two weeks…”
“TWO WEEKS?!?!” As if on cue, your tummy growled. “Oh, hehe…I guess I am hungry. Could you give me an hour to get ready? I’d really like to bathe…”
He nodded his head. “I’ll be back around one. Until then…”
Shino disappeared.
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