Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Comfort From Death

A young man stood in an open field surrounded by trees. In front of him was a cubic stone slab of unusual size. The object seemed somehow…edgy as it sat there motionless.

The man scowled behind his high-collared trench coat. His sunglasses hid the sorrow that was obvious in his eyes. He couldn't believe something like this could happen. He wouldn't believe it…

Yet somehow, the names were right there. He bent down and ran his eyes through the list on the monument. Sure enough, at the end of that list were the names of his teammates, Hyuuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba.

Shino scowled again. How could this happen? They had only split up for a few minutes. The painful memory ran through his head once more.

0o0o0o0oFlashback0o0o0o0o

Shino leapt from tree to tree, returning to the rendezvous point. His short search had proven absolutely pointless, even though it was only reconnaissance. He hoped his teammates had found something more fruitful.

Then, he heard a loud cry of pain that sounded oddly like Hinata, coming from in front of him. Worried, he picked up his pace.

He landed in the small clearing, only for his mouth to drop open at the horror before him. Bodies of enemy ninja lay scattered about, most dead. As he scanned, his eyes landed on his white-eyed teammate. She lay face up with a bleeding hole through her chest, eyes wide open with horror.

The sight paralyzed him. Her whole body was covered in minor cuts, though none were fatal. Her marred face showed the exertion she had been forced to use before the death blow.

The bug user's eyes slowly left the corpse, too shocked to feel emotion. Almost immediately, he found another white blob flecked with the red of blood. He looked at its face, which had a large gash between the eyes, to find a man-sized dog-face staring blankly at him…It was Akamaru.

A yell of rage sounded in the field, drawing Shino's gaze. He watched in petrified shock as the only two standing figures, besides himself, charged one another, one with a sword, the other with claws. The clawed one, Kiba, flung himself through the air at his opponent, blinded by anger.

The swordsman merely sidestepped the swipe before jabbing Kiba through the back. A gasp of pain reached Shino's ears as the wild-nin dropped forward to the ground. The obvious murderer of his three friends turned toward Shino calmly.

0o0o0o0oEnd Flashback0o0o0o0o

The kikai host clenched his fists, recalling the fury that had followed, the look of calm in the man's eyes, then the bones that had been all that was left of that same man.

He dropped his gaze to the ground in front of him. His sorrow was being compounded by the shame he felt for not helping his friend when he could and for dishonoring his own name by causing such a gruesome death. He brought his eyes back to the monument, grinding his teeth.

Then, a realization hit him. That ninja had been wearing a cloud hitai-ate! And so had the rest of the ninja in the field! He could go to Kumogakure and seek the retribution that the cloud deserved! He could redeem the names of his friends by taking out as much of the village as his limits would allow!

He quickly untied his headband and held the leaf symbol in front of his shaded eyes. He stared at it hesitantly. All he had to do was drop it and walk away, and he could go to Kumo to do as he willed.

He would be his own boss, his own Kage…

He would be a ninja to whom all that mattered was revenge, an avenger, as the old Sasuke had been…

He would be…a nukenin.

But it wasn't for this that he hesitated. Nor was it for love of his village or clan, though he indeed loved both. It was for one word…

Why?

Why had the cloud sent so many after them? And for that matter, why just one so skilled? Sure, they were after the Byaakugan, but would they really risk the lives of so many ninja to attain such a goal? If it was that important, surely they had a few more deft shinobi they could send instead of such numbers at such low ranks. It didn't make sense.

And why should he, Shino of the Aburame, go after them? What was the point? Sure, revenge is sweet, but why chase something there is no way of obtaining? He couldn't take on all of Kumogakure; not even his father could do that. At his best, he could only take out a dozen or so ninja. He would be throwing his life away.

And for what?

To attain something unnecessary? Of course, the retribution of the cloud village would suit his feeling perfectly right now, but would that bring honor back to the names they had damaged? No. If anything, it would merely shame his own as well as his clan's.

"No…" he concluded, "I can't leave…"

His thoughts went blank as he was absorbed in his sullen mental darkness. He felt so alone. Though he had always acted stoic, he was very fond of his friends. It felt so terrible to be the single remaining member of a team.

His mind traveled to the happy times he had spent with them. He remembered Hinata's fight in their first chuunin exam. How he had watched in awe (though no one else noticed) of the determination he hadn't thought his teammate possessed. Then, there were the times when he would make her laugh by sending a butterfly to flutter around her head. Such a lighthearted, shy laugh. It was wonderful.

And there was Kiba…The idiot, arrogant as he was, had always been Shino's best friend. He realized this now that the dog-nin was gone. He recalled watching amusedly as Kiba hit on various young women, trying to get a date, usually ending up getting hit himself. It was even more enjoyable when the wild-nin was drunk. Needless to say, he would always wake up the next day with a headache and a swollen, sometimes bruised, face.

Suddenly, Shino found himself smiling behind his collar with tears streaming down his face. He shook his head lightly and wiped the tears away on the sleeve of his trench coat before tying his hitai-ate back around his forehead. Without thinking, he took off into the nearby trees, trying to clear his head.

He had no idea how long he ran in circles through the forest near the memorial, but he would do anything to keep his mind off the sorrow. By the time he stopped next to the monument again, the sun was well on its way to its peak.

He sat down, staring at the stone slab, confirming one final time that his teammates were really gone. Tears appeared in his eyes once more.

Suddenly, some leaves rustled behind him. He wanted to spin around and prepare for whoever or whatever was coming, but his frayed nerves refused to allow it. Instead, he settled with composing himself, wiping away the tears behind his shades.

More rustling followed as whoever, as no animal would do such a thing, had walked into the clearing and stopped a few feet behind the sitting young man. What followed came in a quiet strained voice, as though holding back tears.

"I'm sorry, Shino-san. I didn't know you were here."

The bug-user recognized the voice, but it didn't make him any happier. Couldn't she tell that he wanted to be left alone to sort out his thoughts? "Shouldn't you be comforting Neji?" he asked icily.

The weapons' mistress gave a short pained laugh. "Neji has thrown himself into his training, giving 'destiny' speeches every time he wins in a spar." There was a short pause before she continued in a whisper, more to herself than the figure in front of her. "It's depressing me even more…"

Shino turned his head slightly to glare out of the corner of his eyes at Tenten. All he wanted was to be left alone!

The gaze was not lost to the brunette, even through his sunglasses. Irritation grew inside of her. First, the news of Hinata's, her only real 'girl'friend's, death; then, Neji's stupid rants; and now, this! She wasn't going to take it any more.

"Look, teme, don't think that just because you were on her team, you're the only one who's in sorrow! She was my friend, too! Sure, she was shy, but once Neji introduced me to her, we had no problem becoming friends. We went shopping every weekend since I have no family to go with, and she was willing. She would even comfort me anytime I felt lonely, and I would help her when she thought of her 'Naruto-kun'. She showed me a kindness I had only seen from my teammates! She virtually became my little sister!"

She narrowed a glare at the young man, who had taken the time during her rant to stand up…and blinked. He was…shaking? A soft sob reached her ears…He was crying! "Oh no…" she muttered. Had she gone too far?

She took a hesitant step forward, reaching out slightly with one hand. "Shino, I…" She stopped, unsure how to treat the normally stoic bug user. Then, her body moved without her knowledge. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his back in a hug. "I'm sorry…I forgot she was a sister to you, too."

His eyes were wide in shock, and his weeping stopped. He opened his mouth to respond, but sound refused to come out. Instead, he nodded mechanically.

A short silence ensued before Shino reopened his mouth to speak softly. "I miss them…both Hinata and Kiba." Tenten nodded, vaguely remembering Neji mentioning something about a teammate that had died as well. She had been too distracted by the loss of Hinata to pay much attention.

She slowly began to sob into the back of his trench coat. He reached down and lightly loosened the girl's arms around his waist. Then, to her surprise, he spun in her arms so that they were face to face. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her back into the hug. She tightened her grip around his waist and cried quietly into his shoulder.

As they stood there, a strange sensation rippled through the brunette. It was a tingling feeling that seemed to originate from where she touched the bug host. It was weird and yet, oddly…comforting. She pulled him closer so that their midsections touched and shivered as the sensation spread over her. Almost immediately, the tingling increased in pace.

Shino attempted to calm his kikai bugs down with some chakra to feed on but found their instinct to reproduce outweighed their instinct to eat. He looked out of the corner of his eyes at the young woman with a her chin on his shoulder, barely managing to keep a blush from creeping onto his face. She seemed so peaceful with her eyes closed, resting on his body. She looked really cute like that.

This time, there was no stopping the shade of red that took control of his cheeks. Another realization followed shortly that caused that shade to deepen. This was the first time he had been this close to a woman aside from his mother when he was young, and even she didn't hold him this long. He mentally beat down his instincts to take advantage of the situation with a stick. This was not the time to think like that! He should be mourning!

He glanced at the young woman in his arms. She was just too darn cute! And she looked like she was really enjoying just holding him. He resisted a sigh. This would be a long battle with his instincts…

Tenten let out a soft, happy sigh. This felt so good. She wished she could just stay like this all day. The tingling was just so nice to the touch. She pondered what could cause the sensation. She threw out the idea that all boys were like this because she had touched Neji while they sparred. Then, a startling idea hit her, almost causing her to step away from the Aburame. It was his kikai bugs!

At first, it disgusted her…but she reluctantly accepted that it wasn't all that bad. In fact, it was still quite nice, even with that knowledge. She sighed comfortably once more. A blush crept onto her face as a thought crossed her mind. She spoke without moving from her spot on his shoulder. "Shino-kun…are you…single?"

The bug user's eyes widened behind his glasses. In his arms, the brunette withdrew so that they were face to face with only a few inches between them. Apparently, his mouth was agape enough for her to see even over his collar because she proceeded to explain as the blush grew on her face. "I mean, it would help us keep our minds off the more negative of recent events."

Sino considered the option. It was true; it would help keep his mind off his teammates. In fact, often times when he was irritated, he would occupy himself with his bugs. He assumed this was a similar instance. Thus, he nodded to her.

She smiled back, her blush disappearing. She pulled him back into the hug. "Thank you…" A short silence reigned until the brunette pulled back for a second time. Hesitantly, she released his waist and reached up to lay her fingers on the edge of his sunglasses. She paused before quietly asking, "May I?"

He paused. He really didn't like taking his shades off…but what harm could there be? He slowly nodded in acquiescence. She lifted the glasses up and slid them off, folding them up once she had them. Shino recoiled from the bright light around him, squinting his eyes. He shaded his eyes with a hand, trying to slowly adjust to the change. The girl in front of him giggled at his reaction. He let out a grunt of irritation as he dropped his hand back to his side.

The brunette watched as his lids gradually opened to reveal deep turquoise eyes staring back into her own. They held a knowledgeable aspect that showed his calculating personality. Yet, his shrinking pupils showed the sorrow he currently felt clearly.

He began to glance at his surroundings, seeing them in their true colors for one of the few times in his life. He swept his eyes over the girl-no!-woman in front of him. She wasn't just cute; she was gorgeous! Her smooth, tanned skin looked so soft, almost making him want to reach out and touch it. Her bunned hair reflected the light in awe-inspiring fashion. And her perfectly formed face, without a single strand of hair in front of it, obstructing the view of her kind and determined eyes that held a hint of melancholy.

He must have blushed because the brunette giggled again and his bugs picked up their pace inside of him. He dropped his gaze to the ground out of embarrassment-

-Only to have two arms wrap around his neck, pushing down his high collar, and two lips connect to his own immediately thereafter. He opened his mouth out of shock, which allowed a tongue to sweep into it. Unconsciously, he reached down and grabbed the side of Tenten's hips, pulling her closer. His bugs were now running rampant inside of him, along with his hormones. He didn't even bother trying to stop them as he ran his tongue over the invading one. The brunette shivered happily in his arms, drawing him into an even deeper kiss, which he eagerly returned.

When they finally retracted from the lip lock, the weapons' mistress rested her entire body against the Aburame with her chin once more on his shoulder. Both breathed heavily from lack of oxygen. Shino took a deep calming breath before whispering into the young woman's ear. "Tenten-chan…thank you."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

A/N: Whew. That was fun! It was my first one shot, and I really branched out from what I normally write (action/adventure). But I thought it worked out fairly well in the end. Now before anyone says 'but Shino was OOC!', I have a reason for that. Two actually. 1) How would you react if your two best friends died? Not like your normal self. 2) I have never actually seen Shino in any sort of romantic circumstance aside from other fics, and I refuse to portray him as a 'pimp'. Anyway, I would really appreciate it if you tell me what you think! SSF out.

Editted: April 12, 2007