Ok. Shino. I LOVE HIM!!! NO SHINO-BASHING ALLOWED!
I'm not THAT protective, but Shino is one of my favorite characters. My heart goes out to the poor guy. Everybody says he's creepy, but he's just quiet. No. No Shino-bashing allowed.
Disclaimer: I own the plotline, and I own Aki. I DON'T own Naruto (the show OR the character). That's about it!
HERE WE GO!
Aki sighed in contentment as she readjusted her caramel-colored ponytail in the warm summer sun. "Well, you guys, mission complete. I don't know about you two, but I'm ready to head home after that one."
Neji nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I like guarding a funeral as much as the next guy, but..."
Aki laughed, her smile spreading the whole way into her dark green eyes. "Same here. What about you, Shino? You ready to go home?"
Shino shrugged. "I guess."
Aki dropped her hair with another sigh, letting it swing out behind her. "Well, two more days until we're home. At least the hardest part of the mission's over, huh?"
Neither answered her.
'Jeeze. What spoil-sports. They're no fun.' Aki looked around for something to amuse herself with, but, finding nothing, retreated back into her thoughts. 'Well...I guess they both have their reasons. Neji's the genius of the Hyuuga clan, and I know it's hard for him to deal with the fact that the main branch holds power over him. And Shino...he's so alone all the time. Poor guy...he really needs a friend.'
Aki's thoughts trailed. 'Well...look at that. Here I am, talking about someone needing a friend and being all alone...' Then, she smiled. 'Maybe it's because of my past that I understand just how hard it is to be alone.'
Flashback
A young girl, looking about five years old, was sitting calmly in a meadow, picking up flowers that caught her eye. The girl had short brown hair with natural gold streaking through it. Her eyes were deep green and filled with tears, and her arms were streaked with dirt, her fingernails chipped and torn from catching on rocks. The younger version of Aki had recently done some digging; that much was obvious.
With her small arms full of flowers, she headed up the hill to a freshly dug pile of earth sitting side-by-side with another that looked just the same. The tears overflowed, and she laid a pile of flowers on each dirt pile. Tears dripped onto the flowers quickly, and she sank down to her knees in between her parents' graves.
'It's so quiet here...' Thought her five-year-old self. 'I do not like this. Nobody is here any more...I'm all alone. Mommy and daddy...they're gone too! How come they left me here? That bad man hurt them...he killed my mommy and daddy!'
Although the thoughts should have upset her more, they didn't. Instead, she went into her house, grabbed her parent's ninja gear, and sat down between their graves to wait. Her father had been training her to be a ninja since she was three years old, and she was nearly six. He hadn't gone easy on her, though he was her father and she was rather young to be trained as a shinobi, and she knew that she could handle what she was about to do. She knew that the man that had killed her parents would be back for their bodies and their secrets, but she also knew that she would be waiting when he did.
Two hours later, a ninja patrol passed by on their way home from a mission. They were surprised to see a small girl covered in blood sitting between two freshly dug graves.
"Hey, kid, are you okay?! Where are you hurt?!"
Aki looked up, blood splatters trailed across her face. Her green eyes were amazingly clear, however, when she finally spoke.
"It's not my blood."
She pointed behind her to the mutilated form of what may have once been a human.
"It's his."
End Flashback
Aki's ninja senses snapped her out of her memories. She launched herself backwards in surprise, grabbing both Shino and Neji by an arm and pulling them with her. A kunai flashed past them, followed by an exploding tag. When the smoke cleared, Neji, Aki, and Shino were in attack formation with Neji in front and Shino and Aki in the back.
"Defense triangle." Ordered Neji.
Aki and Shino turned so that their backs created a triangle with Neji's. Aki felt a warmth emanating from Shino's shoulder against her back, but she ignored it, knowing that it was important that whoever was their opponent didn't know she had a soft spot for him.
"Be on your guard, Aki...you're the weakest of us. They'll likely go for you first."
"What the-" Started Aki angrily. Then, she stopped, deciding to play along. "Ok, Neji. You guys will watch out for me, right?"
He and Shino nodded.
Aki knew that Shino was, physically, the weakest in the group. She also knew, however, that she was physically the strongest. She had also figured out Neji's plan. He was tricking their opponent into attacking her first so he could gauge the opponent's strength and possibly figure out a weakness or two.
Just as the realization hit her, so did her opponent. Well, he tried to. Aki, however, had other ideas. She dodged his punch and kicked him in the chin, sending him spinning away. Then, she ran after him in hot pursuit. Just then, her sharp hearing caught a voice coming from the guy's ear. "If that one's the weak one, be on your guard. Two of you to each of them."
"Neji!"
Neji turned towards her.
"It backfired just a little bit! There's a group of them, apparently a big one of at least eight! At any rate, there's two of them for each of us." A quick punch to the temple knocked her opponent out, and she reassumed her position against Shino and Neji without even breaking a sweat. Her next words, she muttered softly. "They think I'm the weakest, so they'll give the stronger ninjas to you guys. Be careful."
Her teammates nodded solemnly.
"Shino." said Neji softly. "Take extra precaution. You're physically the weakest."
Neji's sentence was spoken in contempt, and Aki didn't like it. She felt Shino tense and thought about how bad she would feel if someone had said that to her, and she decided she'd have to do something about it. As she concentrated on trying to look weak, she muttered, "He might not be as strong as you or me, Neji, but his bugs make him a force that's definitely not to be trifled with. You might want to think about that next time you go to call him weak."
She felt Shino relax slightly.
Neji looked a bit taken aback. "Are you backtalking the leader?"
"No, sir. I was only pointing out the obvious. As seen by your subordinate, I mean." Said Aki in a sarcastic tone of voice. Then, she muttered, "Let's hope they didn't hear us...otherwise they'll know who the leader is."
Just then, six ninja swooped down and attacked. Thinking quickly and with Shino's protection in mind, Aki screamed a little and pressed her back against Shino's. "You said you'd help Neji protect me! Those guys are coming, fast!"
Shino nodded quietly. "Don't worry. I'll protect you."
Aki wasn't sure if she was imagining it or not, but it seemed to her that there was hidden meaning behind those words. At any rate, she turned and cowered against Shino, who ducked around her to take her opponents. "Rule one of combat: never leave your back open."
She looked over at Shino as if she were uncertain, but she set her expression to look at her opponents. She dodged underneath an attacker's kunai attack and somehow 'accidentally' managed to throw him into one of Shino's attackers.
She toyed around with the other one for a little while, making it seem like she actually was the weak one of the group. Once Shino had taken care of his guy, she finally 'managed' to kill hers. As she killed him, however, an exploding tag on a tree went off and sent a limb tumbling down onto Shino. Neji was busy fighting his two enemies, so he paid no mind when Aki screamed, "Shino! Oh, Jesus!"
Shino had been cracked in the head and was, from what Aki could tell, unconscious. When his glasses fell off, she knew that he was. Quickly, she ran over to him, hoisted him onto her back, and jumped away, just as three kunai thunked into the ground where his head had been. She had surprised herself and involuntarily picked up his glasses.
Aki glimpsed the other guys leaving and felt their presence disappear. She ran up to a body and grabbed an earpiece, putting it in her ear as she knelt on one knee.
"---there in two minutes."
"Right. Guard them until then."
"Right."
Aki looked up. "Neji...we'll be surrounded in two minutes."
He looked down at her, gauging her strength, and then at Shino's unconscious form lying heavily on her back, his head resting against her shoulder. Neji's forehead creased as he frowned in concentration. "...how many?"
Aki listened and turned pale. "A lot...a whole lot. More than you and I can handle while protecting Shino."
He sat down silently and sighed.
Aki let him think for about ten minutes. Then, softly, she said, "Neji? If you don't have a plan...I do."
He looked at her mutely and unfathomably. After a long pause, he said, "I'm listening..."
"Well...I think you'll have to go to Konoha to get help without us."
"What?! Are you crazy?! You two will die!"
"Not necessarily. The guard will follow you for a little while, but then he'll alert the rogues. They'll come after you too, but if you can evade them for a day or so, they'll give up and come back here to us. I'll handle it from there. Hopefully Shino will be ok by then."
"And what if he's not? What will you do then, Aki?"
Her eyes flashed with determination. "I'll fight. Look, Neji, if you don't do this, we'll die for sure. I'd go myself, but they'll catch me. You're faster than me, and you have the Byakugan. You're our best chance for survival, Neji. Please."
"Aki-"
"Please! Shino can't go anywhere, Neji, and I don't want to leave him-" She broke off. "Uh...all alone."
He looked at her slyly. "You sure you don't just want some alone time with Shino?"
She blushed. "Neji! He's unconscious, and he's hurt! Besides that-"
He cut her off before she could really get started on a rant. "Ok, ok. I get it. I'll go...but if you or Shino gets hurt or even dies, don't blame-"
"I won't." She said solemnly. "But I'm not going to let him die."
He raised an eyebrow.
She paused, then blushed. "Or me! I won't let me die either!"
He smiled slyly. "Yeah. That's what I thought."
Then, he was off.
THERE IT GOES!!!
Yeah, I know that was pretty bad for a first chapter, but don't be hatin'! lol
Review me PLEASE!!!!
BlackDragon333, out.
