Disclaimer: Same as always, don't own….leave me now so I can go off and cry….
"Come out, come out, wherever you are." The sing-song voice rang out around the abandoned complex. It consisted of two acres of run down and decrepit buildings. Previously they were houses and a small hospital. But after the fox's attack, they were left to crumble. The main reason for the abandonment was that many people were afraid of the forest, which was where the beast came out of after all. Even the walls were empty and devoid of life. Shinobi guards rarely patrolled that part of the wall. They were covered by trees from the encroaching forest, and wild animals were often seen running around the complex. It was considered condemned, causing it to be illegal for any humans to live in the area.
But very few people in the village consider the only occupant of the district as human.
"Where are you? I'll find you eventually, I always do." The sing-song voice was heard again. The noise caused the object of the hunt to crawl farther into its hiding place. Suddenly, the lid of the trashcan was taken away, and a hand pulled the yellow bundle out. "Found you!" The bundle struggled for a minute, before resigning to its fate. "Come on! The rest of the hive has been looking for you!"
The larger than normal wasp got out of the boy's grasp and flew near his head. They headed towards the boy's home, which sense the boy was the wasp's home; it was the wasp's home as well. "Yenma, why do you hide when I want to go to sleep? It's hard to find you in the dark and it's hard for me to sleep without the full hive."
The wasp's flight lowered a little bit before it zoomed up to rest on his head. The boy, Naruto, laughed. "I'm not mad, just tired. Better get with the rest, someone's in my house." The wasp seemed to hug his head before it shrunk and entered a small hole behind Naruto's ear. Naruto quickly pulled his hair out from the pony tail he sported and used it to cover the hole. It was almost long enough to fall to his mid-back when he didn't pull it back.
'Whoever it is, I don't think I'll need the Saimyosho.' He quickly entered one of the nicer buildings, it still looked as if it would collapse at any second, that he called home. In the main room, he saw a person that had their back to him. He ran forward and tackled the person…or he tried to. A hand grabbed him before he could reach his target. "How?"
"I'm not Hokage for nothing Naru-kun." The man chuckled at the thought of being defeated by a seven-year-old. Hearing his answer, Naruto wriggled out of the man's grip and bowed to the powerful shinobi.
"I am humbled by your unexpected visit, Lord Hokage." The chuckling stopped.
"Naruto, you are seven years old, you are not expected to be so formal."
"Yes sir." The old man sighed.
"Naruto, the academy starts in two weeks. Do you wish to attend?"
"What would I learn? I can already cook for myself. I can even hunt and skin animals!"
"To be a ninja of course. And those are very good qualities to have as a ninja."
"Do you want me to be a ninja?" The old man sighed again. He didn't want to decide things for the boy, he needed to make his own choices.
"Does it really matter?"
"Yes!"
"Fine. I would like it very much if you were to become a ninja."
"Then I'll go."
Yet another sign. "I will arrange it. Be at the academy on the 23rd at eight sharp. You will be shown your classroom." Then the Hokage kneeled down until he was level with the boy. "Be sure to take care of yourself, Naruto. I worry you're growing up too fast." Then he got up and started for the door. Before he walked out, he spoke once more. "Be sure to make some friends." Saratobi watched as the boy bowed to him again.
As he headed home, he motioned for his ANBU to check for anyone in the area.
"None sir. Any further orders?"
"Yes. See if you can find out what Naruto was looking for earlier."
"Yes sir."
"One more thing, find out in there is anyone named Yenma in this village." The ANBU nodded and was off.
--
"That was close…sigh…I don't want to be a ninja." As a hopeless feeling came over him, a loud buzzing sound filled the room. Many of the hive were crawling out of their openings, one behind each ear and on at the junction of his throat and his chest. The wasps soon grew to their full size of eight inches, which included their inch long stingers. Their constant sound calmed him down a lot. The hive never completely emptied, the queen lived near his heart, he would die if she left and he didn't have a queen.
Their buzzing roughly translated into, "What could go wrong?"
"A lot! I could um…I could ah…..um….someone could find out about the hive!"
"You are good about keeping secrets."
"Well, someone could-"
"Want to be your friend?"
"People always betray. I can't survive another 'friend' try to kill me."
"We will watch over you. We will tell you who will make a good friend."
"Promise?" He sounded so desperate. The insects couldn't stand to see their home and master in such a state.
"Yes. Now sleep." The skinny boy fell asleep to the sound of the hives buzzing.
--
'What about him? The one with the black hair and eyes?'
'No. His father is glaring at you.'
'All of them are. Hey look, on that tree! Is that a Stone Stag Beetle?' Naruto ran over to a tree at the edge of the school grounds. Reaching the rare bug, he pulled out a small scratch pad and started to sketch. He was so engrossed in his find that he didn't notice one of the parents walk up behind him. The person picked up a rock and hit Naruto over the head with it. With a cry, he fell the ground, dropping the book in the process. The crazed parent then to came towards him, intending to finish the job. Naruto saw this and started to yell for help. The hive answered his call. A solder wasp crawled through his hair before taking to the air.
The man ignored the sense of danger he was feeling and kept advancing on the boy. Without warning, the man felt pain in his back. Turning his head as far as it would go, he saw a humongous wasp stinging him. Its stinger was embedded into his shoulder blade and even went far enough to scrape the bone. The pain multiplied when the stinger was pulled out. The sting just caused him to drop the rock and pull out a knife with the other hand. Biting back the scream that welled up from his throat, he watched as the demon brat grabbed the wasp and held it close. He took two steps before he felt all of his energy leave him and he toppled over.
"Attacking a Konoha citizen is punishable by prison and is some cases, death." The attacker's head felt as if it was filled with lead, but he managed to turn it until he could see who was defending the demon boy. It was Shibi Aburame. The jonin walked over to the victim and kneeled down next to him. He wasn't on duty today and he was only in the area because he was walking his son to class. He had followed the cries for help when he saw that everyone else was avoiding the area like it was a graveyard. In fact, everyone seemed to disappear when Shibi had walked over. 'What was that wasp? I have not seen such a species before.'
"Thank you." Shibi was snapped out of his thoughts by a small voice. Looking down, he saw that the beaten boy was bowing to him. He was sickened by the fact that he could plainly see the boy's spine through his too small shirt. His disgust with the boy's condition changed to wonder when he saw that the wasp was no longer in his hands.
'Why did it help him? Could he be like us?' Out loud, he said, "That is my job. Why were you so far from the school?" He helped Naruto stand, but stayed kneeling so he could look the short boy in the eyes.
"I saw a Stone Stag Beetle. It's native to Iwa and really rare around here! I was drawing it when he hit me…Sorry."
"That is fine. That beetle is very rare. So where is your sketch?"
"I keep the book in my-Where is it?!" Shibi saw the pained look in his eyes as he widely moved around, looking for the book.
"Are you looking for this?" another soft voice asked. Naruto and Shibi turned to see a boy in a green coat holding out a notebook. Recognizing it, Naruto brightened and walked over to the boy. He meekly took the book and dipped his head to him.
"Thank you, it is very special to me. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Can I know your name please?" The small boy was obviously taken back by the other's formality and gratitude. Seeing his son's discomfort, Shibi introduced himself.
"I am Shibi Aburame. This is my son Shino. You should both get to class now." Shibi walked both to class, for Naruto's safety as much as Shino's. People may try to hurt him in an effort to harm Naruto.
Shino and Naruto sat next to each other in class, but no one else would. They wouldn't go anywhere near the 'creepy bug dude' and the person their parents seemed to hate. They had the row in front and behind theirs to themselves. Naruto was frightened by all the people, in his complex, he was mostly alone. Unconsciously, he moved closer to Shino, who didn't mind at all.
"Does this mean we're friends?" At Shino's question, Naruto turned to face him.
"Are you saying that so you can hurt me later?"
"If I wanted to hurt you, my dad wouldn't have saved you."
"Oh…I've never had a true friend before."
"Well, then it is a new experience for both of us." Both of the boys felt content at finally meeting someone willing to be their friend. Naruto felt truly happy, even the Saimyosho were happy.
"Teams will be a little different this year. Since everyone passed with high grades, there will be no dead last named this year. Team members are chosen based on how well they will work together."
Shino and Naruto were the only ones who were not surprised by his words. They were eating dinner at Shino's house when Shibi can home and said that the jonin were arguing over which genin they wanted. A fight had come to blows, and two jonin were hospitalized while three others suffered minor injuries.
"Hey Shino, Who do you think we'll be teamed with?"
"Well, you and I work very well together. If the Hyuuga was more agreeable, she would work with us." Naruto looked at the heiress. She was sitting by herself because she thought everyone was worthless to her. "The Uchiha is quiet like us."
"I have a bad feeling about him. No one else would work with us would they?"
"I have my doubts about the others."
"We both do. Shino, what teacher would we have if we got the Uchiha?"
"Someone connected to the Uchiha clan in some way."
"Team 6 will consist of Uzumaki Naruto, Aburame Shino, and…." All of the students held their breaths, no one ever went around those two and one was rarely seen without the other. "…Nara Shikamaru." Everyone waited for some kind of reaction, but all they got was a groan from Chouji. All three of the members didn't seem to care. "You three are to meet your teacher at the ramen stand ASAP. You may leave now." They stood and left.
They headed down the main road toward the ramen shop with Shikamaru and Shino walking side-by-side, while Naruto stood behind them. On their way, Shikamaru was painfully aware of how the village people saw Naruto. The civilian population was either glaring or ignoring the boy. On the other hand, the jonin and older chunin had a mix of respect and pity in their eyes. 'What secret do they know about Naruto that I don't? Damn, I have a feeling my lazy image will change soon.' "Hey Naruto, why do they look at you like that?"
When he saw Naruto flinch Shikamaru's curiosity soared. He was about to question him again but stopped when he felt Shino glare at him.
"A team is only as strong as their bonds, the strongest bonds are only formed out of trust, trust comes from the truth. Naruto and I have agreed to share our secrets with the team and hope you will follow our example. The secrets should not be discussed in public though."
Shikamaru could see how the truth would make them strong. He could also see himself become a little less lazy. "I understand. Does he not like crowds?"
"Naruto lives in an abandoned section of the village, the only human contact he gets is in class or when he comes to my house. Seeing the glares, can you blame him?"
"No. Damn, I feel like he'll change me."
"Naruto has that effect on people, he has even changed my most of my clan. The first time he came over, the elders tried to hurt him and kick him out. My father stopped them that time, but when they saw how starved he was, they let him stay. Now, they treat him as part of the clan."
"He was starved?!"
"Be quiet. I don't want Naruto know I'm talking about him. Yes, we gave him a new shirt after it ripped at our house. You could see his ribs and spine through his skin. Even now, his growth is stunted because of his previous malnutrition. He is getting better though."
"I think we're here." Naruto's small voice stopped Shikamaru from asking yet another question. Turning, they saw that they were indeed there. They into the stand and looked around.
"Well, about time you got here. I finished my pack waiting for you."
AN: I almost never do these, do I? I don't read them on stories so I never really write one, oh well, this one is important, but I won't be making this a habit…..hopefully……
I really wanted to read a Naruto & Shino story, but could find exactly what I wanted…so I made my own. I'm still doing my others and have up to chapter 6 of Liar's Place. If you have any suggestions for any of my stories I'll read them, but I can't guarantee anything else. I want to thank Dark Orb for giving me the boot in the ass to post it. I was going to wait….not. Well, I will only babble from here on out so I'll end it.
-Ax