Of Birds And Bugs
by Angels-Gift
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Summary: It seems that everyone in the Rookie Nine and Team Gai are paired off. With the exception of a certain Aburame Shino. Not that he minds of course. His teammates, on the other hand, are a different story. ShinoOC
Author's Note: Hello everyone and welcome to my first posted Naruto fic! This is a sort of side story to a new fic I'm planning to post but this one can be read as a stand-alone. An important note, all my OC's are based on actual people I have met or known in my life and all 'stupid' or 'crazy' actions and/or things that they do are based off of real experiences. NOT KIDDING THERE!
Many thanks to Anna for reading my story and coming up with most of these ideas! And also thanks to her for being my OC, Sala!
Aburame Shino was normally a well composed, calm, orderly and a tad creepy ninja, but a good ninja none-the-less. Being a member of the Aburame Clan, and its heir, at birth, he was infused with a special breed of bugs called kikaichu, or destruction bugs. The bond between the bugs and shinobi worked in complete symbiosis. The kikaichu feed on the Aburame's chakra and in return, the bugs do the shinobi's bidding, ranging from attacking to spying. Given this bond, and his acute ability to understand and speak to bugs, Shino was well prepared for any danger that came his way.
Except this one.
The one danger that he could not, and would never be able to prepare for. The danger came in the form of a human, a shinobi and his previous teammate to be exact. It was not Hinata. That is, unless Hinata suddenly changed gender, name, apperance, adopted a large dog named Akamaru, suddenly because a member of the Inuzuka Clan, adopted a very annoying personality and horrid table manners.
No, the danger was and always will be, one Inuzuka Kiba.
Dodging bits of ramen coming from said shinobi, Shino glared silently at the dog-nin behind his black sunglasses while Hinata sighed beside him. "I-I'm sure Kiba-kun didn't do that on purpose, Shino-kun," assured the Hyuuga, patting Shino gently on the shoulder as he flicked a piece of stray ramen off his shoulder.
The bug user nodded at his once teammate and resolved to observe his surroundings rather than focus of his badly mannered tablemate. His protected eyes scanned the Ichiraku Ramen Bar where, currently, held a small reunion of the Rookie Nine and Team Gai. Apparently, they were celebrating the anniversary that Orochimaru and all of Sound had fallen, mainly, to the hands of Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, who had slayen his elder brother a few months prior. It had been one year ago and since then, many things had changed.
One by one, or rather two by two, his fellow rookies and, more or less, trusted shinobi fellows had fallen in love. Hard. If what a certain Hyuuga Neji had believed, that fate controlled their lives, then fate had certainly enjoyed playing games with their love lives. It started out a few monthes before the fall of the Sound, that Tsunade had sent all 12 of them to a hidden country buried deep in the Forest of Chaos. It was an S-classed mission.
The country, which they later found to be the Land of the Wings, had once had deep ties with Konoha, as well as the rest of the shinobi world, but broke them when they found themselves belittled and mocked by all larger and more powerful lands. Hiding themselves in the large, dangerous forest, they kept to themselves for many years until Tsunade decided that more allies would be for better in their persuit to destroy the Sound once and for all. Ironically, for 12 supposedly well trained and powerful shinobi, they were ambused by a pack of untrained, and equally powerful creatures.
When they awoke, they were in the country they spent weeks to find. The leader of the lands, Tsubasa Kuzusu, had regarded them with the utmost respect, for able to fend themselves from the dangerous creatures for longer a period of time than any have and accepted them with open arms. Matters led to matters and they were introduced to his family, his clan. Shino had only supposed that Kuzusu's name was irony for what he was for his name ment 'Wings of Destruction' although he managed a large land of peace and prosperity for almost all of his life and a family as large as any's.
Glancing at the female shinobi speaking quietly to the Uchiha, Shino gave a mental smirk. It was she who had started the domino chain of love confessions and relationships. Tsubasa Setsuna was her name. The eldest daughter of Kuzusu's two children, with a younger sister by the name of Eternity, she was the one who convinced her fellow shinobi to save them from the pack of creatures. It was her that convinced her father to allow her fellow cousins to leave the Land of the Wings and ally themselves with Konoha. It was also her that convinced her entire land to reveal themselves to the rest of the world.
However, it was not only convincing her fellows to leave and fight that she did, she had also managed to capture the attention of the survivor of the Uchiha Clan. Since the downfall of the Sound, she and Sasuke had hit it off quite well, and it was their blossoming relationship that eventually led to Hinata to store up her courage and ask Naruto out. It was that date that led to Hyuuga Neji to go berserk and Tenten to calm him down, leading to a date between the two. Following the two was Yamanaka Ino and her loud complaining to Nara Shikamaru that they didn't go anywhere, eventually leading to a new relationship between the loudmouth and lazy genius.
It also seemed, that with the appearence of Setsuna, her rather overprotective cousins came into the scene as well, to assure the heir's safety and to make sure ties with Konoha were well. However, their appearence did much more than look good for politics. Tsubasa Owen, the smartest of Setsuna's cousin at the ripe age of 18, a member of the second house, or branch, of the Tsubasa Clan, had manged to catch the eye of a certain Haruno Sakura. Regretebly, his messy teammate's relationship had started with the appearence of a Tsubasa also. Tsubasa Sin-Lin to be exact. A member of the fourth house and the owner to three dogs of her own, after much arguing and fighting with the Inuzuka, the two managed to push aside some hateful feelings and go out.
Akimichi Choji and Rock Lee were not to be forgotten either, although they did not end up with any Tsubasa's themselves. They met up with a few fellow Konoha ninja, by the names of Mitsuno Hana and Noka Natsumi, and the quartet hit it off rather well.
Even the Sand Siblings were paired off as well, not that anybody could predict it. Sabaku no Gaara, the number one most untouchable guy in the ninja world, had somehow gotten entangled in the traps of Tsubasa Yuri, a member of the fifth house of Tsubasa and Setsuna's more violet tempered and easily to set off cousin. Her twin brothers, who were surpisingly even tempered and practical jokesters that could pull off any joke or prank better than Naruto could, had become attracted to Gaara's sister, Temari. Leo and Tauro, they were named, after the constillations, chased after the Sand Sibling and often fought with each other for her attention, had often amused Temari with their antics and pleas to notice them. The last he was informed, Tauro had the luck to bring her to the movies while Leo began with his flirting attemps with Kiba's elder sister Hana.
Apparently, it seemed, all three Sand Sibs had attracted members of fifth house of Tsubasa because somehow, Kankuro had ended up with Tsubasa Sala, a bad tempered girl with physical strength that could be compared to the that of five fully grown men. He somewhat pitied the man when Sala became pissed with him and set his puppets on fire. Then again, the shoe ended up on the other foot when the puppeteer set Sala's most prized puppet in return. He, like many mentally stable people, honestly wondered how the two could end up dating when they fought like and old married couple every 5 seconds.
Well, it was best not to question the mystery of life.
That left him.
Lonely Shino.
Not that he minded. He enjoyed the peace, the quiet he recieved and the little pressure he had of not having to support a female's feelings.
"SHINO!"
He said he didn't mind. That didn't mean that his 'friends' didn't.
He glanced at his dog obsessed teammate for a moment. "Yes?"
"You have a girlfriend?" asked the dog-nin curiously. The rest of the ninjas looked up from their ramen at the mention of this question. Shino gave a mental sigh at how quickly their attention can shift when it came to his love life.
"Why?" He asked as a reply, not quite understanding why his previous teammate would want to know if he had a girlfriend or not. He would rot in hell before he would admit not understanding something to Kiba though.
Said ninja shrugged. "It's just that all of us are going out with someone and you don't seem to be mentioning going out with anyone."
This reply caught the attention of most of the females in the ramen stand. "Yeah, Shino! Do you have a girlfriend?" asked Ino, eyeing at the nin interestedly.
"Is she pretty?" questioned Sakura, following Ino's gaze.
"Is she a ninja?" wondered Tenten, looking at the quiet bug-user.
"Is she nice?" asked Hinata from beside him. She seemed genuinely interested in her friend's love life, seeing as Shino barely mentioned anything about him other than his father on very rare occations.
Shino raised his eyebrow at the explosion of questions. "No, I do not have a girlfriend."
"Then you should get one," shouted Uzumaki Naruto. Throughout the stand, Uchiha Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru and Hyuuga Neji shook their heads while Choji ate his ramen with loud slurps, barely aware of the conversation held. Rock Lee merely grinned at Naruto's comment and supported getting a girlfriend with loud proclamations of 'youth'. Kiba nodded.
"Baka. Finding a girlfriend isn't an easy thing," said Sasuke, rolling his eyes.
"But Shino-san didn't even mention that he wanted a girlfriend in the first place," pointed out Setsuna, glancing at him with an amused glint shining him her eyes. "Do you, Shino-san?"
Shino's eyebrow rose slightly. "No, I don't."
It seemed that only Setsuna, Sasuke, Neji, Shikamaru and Shino were the only ones who didn't make a big commotion about his comment. Loud screams and shouts of 'You don't want a girlfriend?!' and 'Why don't you?!' rang though the streets of Konoha. While the shouts and screams gradually died, Shino gently patted his ears, trying to dull the ringing sound in his head from having so many females and a few men yell in them.
"No, I do not have a girlfriend nor do I want one," he repeated calmly, regaining his calm, distant posture. Before another round of shouting occured, he held up his hand. "Can you think of one good reason why a female would want me as they're boyfriend besides the fact I am a shinobi?"
"W-Well, Shino-san. You're, you're," Sakura ended her sentence there, ideas racing in her head of what Shino had that might make him a good boyfriend.
"Because, Shino-san. YOU ARE FULL OF YOUTH!" shouted Rock Lee, in a 'Good Guy' pose, teeth pinging.
The ramen stand grew quiet as its customers either sweatdropped or face-faulted at the idea of Shino being 'full of youth' and acting like Lee. "N-No, Lee!" shouted Tenten, regaining her composure. "Well, Shino-san, you're quiet and a good listener, a girl could talk to you easier," she suggested, smiling.
"Don't take that bait, Shino," called out Shikamaru lazily. He pointed a thumb at Ino. "Otherwise you'll end up with a girl like her."
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN?!" demanded Ino into Shikamaru's ear.
The shadow-nin winced and nearly fell out of his seat at Ino's sudden shout. "I mean that, troublesome woman," he said, holding his ears.
Which wasn't a really smart thing to say or do for a lazy genius. That comment resulted in another shouting rampage from the blond while their spectators tried to think of a good reason why Shino would make a good boyfriend.
"W-Well. S-Shino-kun's smart and a good friend," commented Hinata, smiling at her friend shyly.
"But Hinata-chan, we're aiming for more than friends! And besides, if a person's smart, they'll either end up like Sasuke-teme, that lazy-ass Shikamaru or an ice cube like Neji," said Naruto, oblivious to the looks said prodigies gave them with the exception of Shikamaru, who fell asleep.
Sakura gave a loud growl from beside the soon-to-be Hokage. "And what about Owen-kun then? Do you have a problem with him?" she forced out, clawing at the table.
Naruto scratched his head, thinking. "Well, Owen-kun's smart but he's kinda stupid when it comes to romance, don't you think, Sakura-chan? It took him that long for him to realize that you liked him and that he liked you back."
Sasuke scoffed from beside him. "At least Owen took less time than you did for realizing Hinata's feelings for you and your feelings for her."
Setsuna and Sakura sweatdropped as the two started arguing and quite loudly. "Now, now," interrupted Setsuna, placing a hand on both Team 7 boy's shoulders. "Granted, Owen is naturally very smart but it's in his nature to be incredibly dunce in the way of feelings and liking someone. And besides, we were talking about Shino-san?"
"Well, Shino's. . .Shino's. . .well, you could say he's sort of kind of cute in a bug liking sort of way, right?" spoke Ino, glancing at the girls who seemed to give the bug-user a second glance before thinking things out in their own minds. Certain boys in the room, however, became very, very jealous that their girlfriends were looking at the Aburame and not them, which Shino noted with mental amusement.
Setsuna opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she heard something. "Did you hear that?" she asked, glancing at the Konoha shinobi with sudden sharp eyes. Several of them nodded while others readied themselves for a possible attack. The sound rang again, this time louder. Gradually, Setsuna inched out of her seat and placed a hand on her kunai holder.
"SETSUNA-SAMA!"
The Tsubasa was immediatly thrown back into her seat as a purple and black blur charged against her stuck to her, shaking occationaly. The group glanced at the blur with sharp eyes, examining it but was stopped as Setsuna raised a hand.
She sighed with a look of quiet torture as she began patting the thing gently. She winced a little as the thing wrapped its arms around her waist and tightened its grip on her. "Now, now Sohlum (Sol-um)-chan. Calm down and tell me what's wrong," whispered the Tsubasian ninja with a tone of motherness and quiet patience.
The thing mumbled something in a different language, which the spectators guessed was Tsubasian, the Land of the Wing's native language. They didn't count on Setsuna sighing, shaking her head. "Sohlum, this is the second time this month you lost it."
All the Konoha shinobi sent her a questioning glance, which she ignored. Suddenly, the thing's head shot up, revealing a face. At the sight of it, Ino, Sakura, Tenten and Hinata gave squeals. The thing, or rather the girl, was staring up at Setsuna with large, purple eyes filled with tears. It was at that moment that Shino recognized her as one of the Tsubasians that he had previouly met, perhaps a member of the third house judging by her hair, eyes and clothing choice.
Setsuna sighed and helped the young girl stand up, which was an amazing feat considering that the girl was clinging onto her for dear life. When she did manage to let go, however, it was revealed that she was several inches shorter than the elder looking Tsubasa, possibly half a foot shorter than Shino himself. Like the members of the third house of Tsubasa, her eyes were purple, tinted with blue and black. Her hair, like all those of the third house, was black, straight and most likely uncut for many years. Similar to Setsuna's cousin Manni, who also belonged to the third house, her hair contained streaks of purple and blue, although her's was tied in a low ponytail that she threw over her left shoulder, two locks falling out to frame her face. Following the traditions of those in her house, she wore a traditional Chinese-style dress, lavender in color with black designs that split open in the center in her mid-thigh to reveal a pair of black shorts.
At first glance, she was very innocent looking, gentle and very cute like a 5 year old child. However, none of the shinobi could deny that she was, to some extent, a ninja in her own right seeing her headband, a pair of miniature wings etched into the stainless metal. The kunai holders strapped around her waist was also a dead give-away but what really drew their eyes was the beautiful looking longbow that the girl held in her hand.
Lavender in color, the tips, along with the string, was dyed black, fading as it reached the center. Dark purple designs of feathers were etched into the bow and a pair of miniature wings were etched purple beside the bow hold on each side. On the hold, in black, bold letters, was the word 'Natsumi' that occationally shimmered in the given light from the stand. All in all, it was a beautiful bow, rich in color and well taken care of. The proof was the shine it gave when in the correct light.
The girl, or Solum which Setsuna called her, looked at the Tsubasa Clan heir with big eyes. "I-I know, Setsuna-sama, but I really can't find her this time," the girl whimpered, her voice causing most shinobi's eyes to soften. At the end of her sentence, she gave a loud cry and buried her face in Setsuna's shoulder and cried.
"Now, now Sohlum-chan. Don't worry, we'll find her. We always do, don't we?" Gently, she patted the crying nin on the back, throwing Sasuke a pleading look to help her. The Uchiha glanced from his girlfriend to the other girl before holding his hands up as if to give up.
"B-But what if we don't, this time, Setsuna-sama? W-What if we don't?" the girl gave a tremble, nearly falling on the floor had it not been for Setsuna, who managed to hold her up with one hand, the other clutching onto Sasuke. Barely managing to balance herself, Setsuna threw Sasuke a glare before letting go and went back to trying to tame Sohlum and her loud cries.
"Don't think those thoughts, Sohlum-chan. We'll find her, don't worry."
Slowly, Sohlum lifted her head and nodded. "H-Hai, Setsuna-sama." She gently wiped her tears with the long sleves of her robes and smiled cutely. "Hai!"
"You're so cute!" chirped Ino from her seat.
Two spots of pink appeared on Sohlum's cheeks as she took note of her audience and smiled shyly. "A-Arigato." She looked up at the Tsubasa heir, who merely motioned for her to introduce herself. Slowly, the younger Tsubasa nodded, clutching onto her longbow a bit tighter. "O-Ohayo, mina-san. I am Tsubasa Sohlum. I'm a member of the third house of Tsubasa and I'm distantly related to Setsuna-sama and a distant cousin of Manni-sama and Riku-sama." She gave a slightly confident smile and bowed.
Sakura smiled. "Hello, Tsubasa-san."
Sohlum quickly interrupted. "Oh no, Sohlum is fine with me."
"Alright then, Sohlum," said Sakura. She squealed loudly when Sohlum gave another chibi smile. "I'm Haruno Sakura."
A look of remembrence appeared on the young ninja's face. "I know you. Owen-nii-kun told me about you before! Are you Owen-nii-kun's girlfriend?" she asked innocently. The blush of Sakura's face seemed to answer her question immediatly.
"Y-yes. That's Uchiha Sasuke," pointing to the boy sitting next to Setsuna. Sohlum looked like she was about to say something but stopped. "That is Uzumaki Naruto." The blond gave the girl a wave, too busy slurping up his ramen to say anything. " Right over there is Inuzuka Kiba and his dog Akamaru" Both dog and nin gave waves, which Sohlum returned. "Beside him is Hyuuga Hinata." Said Hyuuga gave a smile, which Sohlum returned. "Next to me is Yamanaka Ino and beside her is Nara Shikamaru. The boy eating ramen is Akimichi Choji. The guy wearing spandex is Rock Lee."
"YOSH! HELLO MY BEAUTIFUL FLOWER!" Lee shouted. Sohlum stared at him before she blushed chibi-like and bowed.
"Next to him is Tenten."
Tenten stood up and bowed politely to the younger girl. "Ohayo, Sohlum-san," she greeted.
"Ohayo, Tenten-san," replied Sohlum, bowing as well.
Tenten squealed slightly and wrapped the cute girl in a warm hug. "You're so cute," she complimented, looking at the girl.
The chibi-blush on the girl's cheeks grew a bit as she returned the hug. "Arigato, Tenten-san. And you're very pretty."
This comment caused Tenten to tighten her hug, not that the younger girl minded. Sakura and Ino glared at the weapon mistress with envy as Sohlum's blush grew a bit more. Finally, Tenten let the girl go, returning to her seat with a motherly smile. "This is Hyuuga Neji," she informed the girl, motioning to the quiet boy beside him.
"Hello," he greeted Sohlum. Said girl returned the greeting with a bow. Straightening herself, Sohlum's eyes widened at the sight of the Hyuuga prodigy.
"You look like Riku-nii-san!" she exclaimed, examining at the 18 year old closer. "May I hug you?" she asked innocently, causing all of the shinobi to glance at the ice cube with wide eyes. On one hand, Neji was known to be devoid of emotions, except for the ones of hate and annoyance and the occational ones of love for Tenten. Therefore, it would be logical for him to decline, causing the girl to cry. On the other hand, Sohlum was very innocent and cute looking, giving the prodigy puppy-dog eyes that no one would ever want to face.
(A.N. So true. . . I'm speaking from personal experience here, ya don't wanna see 'em, ever!)
"Just let the girl hug you, Neji-kun and I won't kill you," said Tenten, tugging at Neji's sleeve.
Faced with one very cute looking nin and a very dangerous girlfriend, Neji gave a defeated sigh and gave the barest of nodds. Sohlum gave a wide smile and immediatly wrapped her arms around the elder boy's neck. Tenten smiled in approval and gave her boyfriend a light kiss on the cheek. A line of red appeared on the Hyuuga prodigy's face as he took note that Sohlum wasn't about to let go any time soon.
After a few moment, Sohlum let go, giving Neji a very bright smile. "May I call you Neji-nii-san, Neji-san?"
Neji was about to say no when he took note of the threatning look in Tenten's eyes that screamed 'Say no and I'll kill you Hyuuga Neji' along with the ones that promised a painful death from Ino and Sakura. Setsuna gave him a hard glare while Hinata looked at him as if to dare him to say no. The looks on the male occupent's faces were of pure sympathy and pity which he felt that he deserved at the moment. Now, what would a smart man do at the moment, faced with a chibi cute girl and 5 very dangerous girls armed with weapons of murder?
"Fine."
The occupents looked, with amusement, as Sohlum clapped her hands in delight and gave Neji a tight hug which he was not able to squeeze out of. "Yay!" she cried, tightning her grip on her.
Tenten took note of the slight blue color on Neji's face after a few minutes of hugging and smiled. "Now, Sohlum, I think you should let go of Neji-nii-san. He needs to breathe."
Sohlum let go and bowed. "Gomen, Neji-nii-san. I guess I got carried away," she mumbled. 'Neji-nii-san' nodded in reply, taking deep breaths of air while massaging his sore neck.
"Where's Shino-kun?" asked Hinata, looking around.
The others looked at the blank seat beside Hinata and Kiba and began looking around the ramen stand for the missing bug user. "Where could he have gone?" wondered Kiba, looking around.
"Did anyone even notice him gone?" asked Shikamaru, suddenly awake.
"W-Well, when Sohlum asked Neji-nii-san if she could call him Neji-nii-san, I turned around to ask Shino-kun something but he was gone," explained Hinata, worry etched on her face.
"Don't worry, Hinata-chan, we'll find him," assured Naruto.
"Find who?"
The group turned to see Shino, eyebrow raised, holding something in his hands.
"You, Shino! Where were you?" demanded Ino.
"I went to go to the bathroom and on my way back, I found this on the window of a shop," he answered, holding his hand out to reveal a purple shelled beetle around the size of glue stick cap with a pair of corkscrew like antennae.
"Saki-chan!" chirped Sohlum. She ran up to Shino and placed her hand before the purple bug. Slowly, its antennae straightened and probed the girl's hand as it watched patiently. Gradually, the bug's antennae returned to its original corkscrew form and crawled onto the smiling girl's hand. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"
"I told you that you would find her," said Setsuna, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.
Looking at the heir with a smile on her face, she nodded. "Hai, Setsuna-sama. You were right!"
"S-Sohlum-chan. What is that thing?" asked Ino, pointing to the bug with an expression of fright.
A questioning glance was sent the Yamanaka's way. "You mean Saki-chan?" Ino nodded, still shocked. "This is a special, very rare breed of bug found in the Forest of Chaos. Manni-sama and Riku-sama gave her to me for my birthday when they found I was interested in them!"
"And since then, Sohlum has lost Saki more times than there are people in Konoha," explained Setsuna, glancing at the bug with an expression of mock hate. "It's only because that bug means more to Sohlum than most material possesions that she was able to keep her. And it's only because Sohlum would cry if Saki were to ever die that Sala had not killed off the bug yet."
"Would she really do that, Setsuna-sama?" asked Sohlum, eyes filled with tears.
"Of course not," said Setsuna quickly. "Of course not, Sala-chan would never do that."
Sohlum immediatly perked up and nodded, facing Shino with a look of awe. "Arigato," she stopped, not knowing the Aburame's name.
"Aburame Shino," filled in the bug user.
The Tsubasa's look of awe didn't once change. "Arigato, Aburame-san! Arigato, arigato, arigato!"
What Shino, nor anyone, expected was for Sohlum to wrap her arms around Shino's waist and cling onto him as if he was her life line, bug safely perched on Sohlum's shoulder. Shino looked down at the girl with a look of slight surpise but Sohlum didn't budge, only tightened her hold. Had he had less control over his emotions, he would have blushed, but he was an Aburame and therefore, he had control over his blush, even though it was very, very little control.
Before anyone could stop her, however, her grip tightened to a point where Shino began to twitch. Sohlum opened her mouth and started talking in an nonunderstandable language that only Setsuna seemed to be able to translate. The language the girl was speaking in, Tsubasain it seemed to be, started out slow but as Sohlum began talking more, her pace began faster to a point where everything she said was a large clump.
The shinobi turned to Setsuna, who was unconsciously twitching at a few words that she could make out from Sohlum's rant. Her mouth was open and her left eye gave off an occational twitch as she stared at her younger relative. Her face practically screamed 'What the hell' as Sohlum began pronunciating certain words at various times, making Setsuna's jaw drop lower.
After a few more minutes, Setsuna managed to snap out of her trance and close her mouth, although she gave one more twitch of her eye before stopping. Regaining her composure, she took in a large breath and let it out. "S-Sohlum-chan, I don't think Shino-san wants you to hug him right now," said Setsuna, staring at the sight of the bug-nin being hugged by her sweet innocent relative with wide eyes.
Sohlum let go immediatly and blushed, looking at the ground, ashamed. "G-Gomen, Aburame-san."
"Shino," he said, glancing at the girl, who looked at him with a questioning look. "Call me Shino."
The younger Tsubasa smiled brightly and nodded. "Hai, Shino-san!"
"Sohlum-chan, do you wanna sit with me?" asked Tenten, motioning to the stool next to her, smiling innocently at the glaring Hyuuga on the floor.
"But won't Neji-nii-san be upset that I took his seat?" asked the girl, clutching onto her bow nervously. Shino raised an eye at the new name for the stoic Hyuuga. "I-I don't wanna upset Neji-nii-san."
"Of course it won't upset Neji-nii-san, would it?" asked Tenten, glaring at Neji with a look that dared him to say no.
The Hyuuga sweatdropped and sighed. "I'll be fine, Sohlum."
The Tsubasa squealed and jumped into the seat, hugging the Hyuuga, who was moving into the stool next to his previous one's. He, obviously unprepared, clenched on the wooden pole near him as Sohlum hugged his waist particularly hard, his knuckles turning a pasty white. "Arigato, Neji-nii-san," she said, letting go of her tight hold on the poor teen's waist and jumped into her new seat next to a very amused Tenten.
Neji nodded weakly and stumbled into his stool, rubbing his waist with a wince. "What's the matter, Hyuuga? A girl manage to kick your sorry ass without even trying?" mocked Sasuke, smirk on his face.
Said girl was very oblivious to the comment and merely glanced at the glaring Hyuuga boy with a questioning glance. "Neji-nii-san? Why are you glaring at Sasuke-nii-sama like Riku-nii-sama does when Longhi-baka-kun mistakes him for a girl?"
Setsuna raised an eyebrow and gave a soft laugh. "Now, now, Sohlum-chan. Neji did not chase after Sasuke with a glaive, yelling death threats, so it is not that similar."
The cute girl nodded. "Now that I think about it, Neji-nii-san and Riku-nii-sama not only act the same but they look the same too."
Sakura, wanting to know about the girl more, smiled. "How do they look the same to you, Sohlum-chan?"
It was a tad obvious how much they were similar, the same hair length, only different colors, the same choice in clothing and the same ice cube personality. It was only the fact that they belonged to different clans and that Riku was older and taller that was the real difference other than their eye and hair colors. That and that Riku had a younger sister and an extremely overprotective personality that brought anybody's to shame.
"Well, both Neji-nii-san and Riku-nii-sama have eyes a shade of purple. And also that their eyes always seem slanted and angry most of the time and for some reason, mostly angry when they see anyone besides close friends talking to Tenten-chan or Manni-sama." The group sweatdropped at this comment. "Also because both Neji-nii-san and Riku-nii-sama don't talk much and for some reason, both of them always seem to be clutching a pole or table whenever I hug them. It's kinda funny seeing their hands turn an intresting white color." The group sweatdropped even more at the chibi cute girl's innocent looks of explaining. "And finally, it's also because Neji-nii-sama and Riku-nii-sama both have pretty, long hair!"
Everyone stopped their motions at that comment. Sasuke and Neji blinking in the middle of their glaring contest to stare at the girl. Sasuke's face wore an expression of approval at the comment while Neji's held a look of quiet torture and pain. Choji and Naruto stopped their loud slurps of ramen to stare from Neji to Sohlum, who's face held a look of complete innocence and cuteness. Naruto because laughing, eventually falling face first into his ramen bowl, occational bubbles of air leaking from the soup as the muffled sounds of laughter rang though the stand. Rock Lee had a wide smile spread on his face while Kiba spit out his mouth of ramen onto the floor, cracking up. Sakura, Ino, Tenten, Hinata and Setsuna gave Neji a pitying look and held their hands over their mouths to prevent from giving the Hyuuga any more embarressment. Shikamaru had a lazy smile on his face, giving a soft chuckle here and there. Shino was as emotionless as ever although he was throwing a laughing fit in his head.
Sasuke's smirk eventually drew Neji out of his trance and he swiftly formed a plan in his head. Smirking slightly, he looked at the innocent looking girl, who, at the moment, was fiddling with her bow. "Sohlum," he said quietly. The girl looked up and glanced at him. "You know what, I think Sasuke-nii-sama wants a hug too. Why don't you give him one?"
Sohlum's face immediatly brightened and charged after the Uchiha prodigy, who was unprepared for the sudden attack. Therefore, all the air he had in his lungs escaped him as the girl's suprisingly strong arms surrounded his waist and crushed him bones with unnessesary strength added to it. His eyes gave a twitch as he glared at the smirking Hyuuga, clutching onto the side of the table, it being the closest thing near him besides the overactive Tsubasain attached to his waist.
"And you were saying about how a girl kicked my sorry ass, Uchiha?" mocked Neji, crossing his arms and raising a thin eyebrow.
The glare set his way was beyond that of a normal death glare that would have sent a normal man screaming. But, Hyuuga Neji was left uneffected. Setsuna decieded to take pity on her poor boyfriend and laid a hand on Sohlum. "I understand that you might like hugging people, Sohlum-chan, but I think you're a bit overdoing it for today."
Sohlum looked at the 17 year old for a moment before nodding and letting go. "Hai, Setsuna-sama!"
Sasuke took in a large breathe of air and rubbed his waist with a slight grimace. Throwing his girlfriend a thankful look, his gaze rest of the chibi looking girl before him, looking at him as if expecting something. "Sohlum-san," he regarded her. He grimaced a bit more when Sohlum gave a pout and tears started filling her eyes. "Sohlum-chan."
At the correction, the chibi girl clapped her hands and jumped up and down with glee. "Hai, hai, Sasuke-nii-sama?"
"Why don't you sit down for now?" asked Sasuke, motioning to the vacant seat she previously occupied.
Following his instructions, the girl bounced into her seat and began fiddling with her bow. "Sohlum-chan? Do you want some ramen?" offered Hinata politely.
"No thank you, Hinata-nee-chan," Sohlum declined. At the new suffix term, Neji threw her a curious glance. "Hinata-nii-chan looks a lot like Neji-nii-san and you both have the same last name so I suppose your related, so I wanna call Hinata-nee-chan Hinata-nee-chan. And also because Hinata-nee-chan called me Sohlum-chan and usually the people that call me Sohlum-chan let me call them nee-chan or nee-san."
Hinata smiled in a mother-like way. "You can call me that, Sohlum-chan. I'd like to be your sister."
"You can be our little sister too!" screamed Sakura and Ino. Both looked at the little chibi, who smiled brightly and nodded.
"Hai, Sakura-nee-san, Ino-nee-san!" she chirped.
Both girls gave loud squeals before rushing up to the younger girl and hugging her. The chibi blush on Sohlum's face returned, matching the cute smile on her face that made Tenten and Hinata join in on the hug as well. Behind then, many of the guys sweatdropped at th amount of affection their teammates were showing for the new chibi girl. Setsuna gave a few laughs, watching the four girls, her younger relative and their hug festival. "Guys, do you know how old Sohlum is?"
Sohlum nodded, the smile still intact. "I'm 16 years old."
"16?!" shouted most of the shinobi. The others remaining who didn't scream, including Sasuke, Neji, Shino, Shikamaru, stared at the girl with wide eyes. This cute, chibi and adorable girl was all but a year younger than the Rookie Nine and two younger than Team Gai.
"Hai, I am 16 years old. My birthday was around two monthes ago," informed the chibi girl, smiling obliviously.
"B-But Sohlum-chan! You're so cute and kawaii!" said Ino, examining the girl with newfound eyes.
Sohlum nodded in understanding. "Usually people who first meet me mistake me for a chibi toy or younger than my age by maybe 5 years. Really, I don't mind. I like people hugging me and caring about me, it makes me feel special!"
At that comment, Ino, Sakura, Tenten and Hinata immediatly put on smiles and hugged the girl, who blinked innocently and smiled. Setsuna laughed at Sohlum's comment before smiling as well. "Sohlum-chan, you have a lot of people that mistake you for a chibi toy."
"That means that I get more people to hug me!" chirped Sohlum.
Shaking her head, Setsuna's eyes laid on the four girls bombarding her relative. "Guys, I think Sohlum needs air and I think the guys have a few questions for her," she explained, motioning toward Shikamaru, Sasuke, Neji, Choji, Lee, Kiba and Shino.
Tenten, Ino, Sakura and Hinata gave defeated sighs before hugging the girl one more time and returned to their seats. "Setsuna-sama said you had questions for me? What are they?" asked Sohlum, taking in a deep breath of lost air and letting it out.
Shikamaru nodded and motioned toward the weapon in her hand. "Why do you have that with you?"
"Oh, nii-san said before to keep it with me just in case an emergency shows up or someone picks on me."
"But where are your arrows," asked Naruto inbetween a slurp of ramen.
Sohlum shook her head. "I don't need arrows, I use chakra!" The questioning gazes signaled for her to continue. "I form arrows out of chakra and the chakra arrows are more fast and efficiant than normal arrows any day! It's just too bad I have horrible aim."
"But, Sohlum-chan, aren't you a ninja?" questioned Kiba curiously.
Sohlum nodded and placed her longbow on the table. Slowly, she took off her headband and held it in her hand for the group to see. "I am. I'm a Tsubasain ninja, just like Setsuna-sama," she said, pointing to Setsuna's headband. "It's just that I'm a horrible nin and I'm just lucky I even get to wear the headband." At the end of it, Sohlum's eyes filled with slight tears as she retied the headband and held onto the bow handle tightly. "I'm not good like Setsuna-sama or a good medic-nin like Eternity-chan or smart like Owen-nii-kun or quiet like Manni-sama and Riku-nii-sama. Longhi-baka-kun is faster than me and I couldn't hope to be as strong as Sin-Lin-sensei or Yuri-nee-sama. Leo-sama and Tauro-sama are better than me and nee-chan is much better, stronger and smarter than me. I'm a lost cause."
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER?!"
All ninja's eyes shot up from the long haired Tsubasain to the newest arrival. There, standing at the doorway was a rather angry looking girl that all immediatly regognized. Large, red-violet eyes were narrowed and glared at every single shinobi in the room, anger radiating from each of them. Half of her long, midnight blue hair glittering with black shine and streaked with faded red was tied into two buns on the top of her head, the other half falling down to her hips in a slight wave. Two locks fell to frame her face, the one on the left, straight, while the right one was wavy, A choaker was tied around the girl's neck, a cat bell dangling down from it. The girl wore a blood red halter top, a black and grey jacket covering it. A long, red-violet sash was tied around her waist, each end containing a tinkingling bell. Below it was a black-blue dress that covered her knees, a pair of black combat boots completing the outfit.
With a slight flash of red, a large axe appeared in her hands, protected by a pair of black, finger-less gloves. Several of the shinobi twitched at the appearance of the deadly looking weapon for the blade had a tint of red which many of them guessed was blood. To tell you the truth, even with the death glare, the girl didn't appear to be a threat in any means, however, the Tsubasian headband settled on the girl's forehead told everyone otherwise.
"Nee-chan!" shouted Sohlum, hurrying from her seat to the angry looking girl at the opening of the stand.
The cute girl's arms surrounded the deadly looking girl's neck. Sohlum smiled brightly and tightened her grip once she felt the older girl's hand on her back, patting her gently. The glaring girl raised an eyebrow at Neji and Sasuke, who stared at her with expressions of awe at how she could handle the chibi girl's powerful hug. "Sala-chan, what brings you here?" asked Setsuna, glancing at the axe-holding her with curious eyes.
Sala waved a hand, smiling slightly at her relative. "I'm fine, Setsuna-sama. I was helping Sohlum-chan look for her pet bug but we got separated. Now, we get back to our original topic," she said, her smile turning into a dark frown. Her aura darkened immediatly as she hugged Sohlum back, glaring at every Konoha shinobi in the stand. "What the hell did you do to her?"
The shinobi looked at the deadly looking girl with fright as she pointed it at their general direction. Sohlum looked up at Sala with wide eyes and shook her head. "Oh no, Sala-nee-chan. They didn't do anything to me. I was just thinking of something that made me sad, don't be angry, nee-chan!"
Sala looked at the chibi girl for a second, taking in the image of the girl with puffed out cheeks and innocent looking purple eyes. She blinked for a moment before smiling widely. The axe in her hand dissapeared with a flash of light as her gloved hands moved to pinch the younger girl's cheeks. "How could I be mad at my imouto-chan?" she said, smiling as the chibi girl perked up at the sudden attention.
"Sala, you have a little sister?" asked Ino curiously. "Kankuro never mentioned that to us."
Red-violet eyes rolled at the comment. "Puppet boy doesn't know the difference between ramen and a garden hose. Besides, Sohlum isn't my sister by blood, she's my chibi cute sister by bond."
Sohlum nodded excitedly. "Yeah! Sala-nee-chan is my big sister, the closest thing I have to one at least! I've known her all my life! She protects me a lot and whenever I'm around her for some reason, most boys sorta runs away from me for some reason."
The shinobi sent Sala a glance that clearly read 'What did you do to them?'. Sala blinked innocently and sheated her axe, looking as much an innocent school girl as she did when they had previously met in the Land of the Wings. Of course, Sala was the complete opposite of everything she looked, innocent and fragile. The Konoha group and Sand Sibs figured that out when they found Kankuro in a dead faint 20 feet away from where he previously stood 5 seconds ago. It turned out that after he had critisized Sala, calling her a 'fragile' looking girl that was obviously too weak to even hold an axe, much less use it, Kankuro was hurled straight through the air and onto the had floor, knocking him out. Her large, red-violet eyes looked at them with an innocent expression. "I don't know what you are talking about," she said airly.
Sala shifted her attention from the skeptical looking group to Sohlum, who let go and was fiddling with her bow again, playing with the string and outlining the carvings with her finger. Glancing at the purple bug on the girl's head, Sala rose an eyebrow. "Sohlum-chan, I see you found your bug."
Said chibi nodded. "Hai! Shino-san found her! Isn't that great?!"
The girl gave a defeated sigh and nodded at Sohlum's obvious happiness. "Sure it is. And did any of these people hurt you in any way, shape or form? Did anything happen that I should need to know?" She motioned toward the gathering of ninja, who looked from Sohlum, to Sala's axe to Sala and back.
Lucky for them, Sohlum shook her head. "No, they didn't, Sala-nii-san. But I have Sasuke-nii-sama and Neji-nii-san a hug! Neji-nii-san looks a lot like Riku-nii-sama, does he not?" Sala nodded, glancing at the two boys with a quick look of warning. "Both Neji-nii-san and Riku-nii-sama have long, pretty hair!"
At this, Sala gave Neji a slight smirk. "Yes, they both do, Sohlum-chan. Do you have anything else to say?"
Sohlum thought for a moment. "Well, Ino-nii-san, Sakura-nee-san, Hinata-nee-chan and Tenten-nee-chan gave me hugs! I like hugs!"
Sala smiled at her. "And people like giving you hugs as well, Sohlum-chan. Now, we have to go now." She raised an eyebrow at Sohlum's pout and returned it with a stern glance. "I know it isn't fun, Sohlum-chan, but Manni-sama said that we have some stuff to deal with. How about after it, we'll go play a game?"
"Actually, Sala-chan. We were having a sleepover remember?" informed Sakura.
"Oh yeah, where's it gonna be at?" asked Sala, curious.
"We don't know yet," admitted Kiba, scratching his head.
"How about our place?" suggested Setsuna. "It's big enough for all of us."
She stopped when Sala threw herself into a fake coughing fit. " cough It cough has cough to be cough to cough fit cough 12 crazy people cough cough cough"
Setsuna's cheeks reddened slightly as she threw Sala a slight glare. "Otou-san is out doing some stuff and we'll be alone to do anything me want. " Glancing around, she saw the looks of doubt on Naruto's, Choji's and Shikamaru's faces. Thinking for a moment, she flashed an evil smile in her mind. "And Naruto, we have a lot of ramen."
"I SAY GO!" shouted Naruto immediatly after the mention of ramen. The look of doubt dissappeared as quickly as food did with Choji.
'One down, two to go,' though Setsuna, cackling evilly in her head. On the outside, of course, she put on a smile that spoke of innocent happiness. Beside her, however, Sasuke regognized the smile and raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend's scheming.
"And we just stocked up on chips, Choji," said Setsuna, glancing at the Akimichi.
Slurping up his 25th bowl of ramen, the muscular boy thought for a moment. "Sure, why not," replied Choji, shrugging.
"And we also have an open courtyard to look at the sky, Shikamaru. And if you wanna take a nap, we have gigantic, fluffy pillows," baited the Tsubasa Clan heir.
The shadow-nin looked up from his nap and shugged. "Troublesome but okay."
"Who's invited?" asked Sala, wondering how many people she can prank scare in one night.
"Rookie Nine, Team Gai, Sand Sibs and you guys," listed Ino. "Anyone else?"
"No, don't think so," commented Sakura. She turned toward Sala. "Guess that's everyone. You two in?"
Sala nodded and smiled. "Of course, how could I pass up a chance to torture puppet boy?"
The group sweatdropped while Sohlum blinked at them, oblivious to what was going on. "I wanna come too!"
Setsuna smiled. "It wouldn't be a sleepover without Sohlum-chan," she said, ruffling Sohlum's hair slightly. She threw Sala a smirk. "Wonder who our little chibi's gonna whoop ass in this time."
Sala grinned in reply. "She's too good in that game! Even my Tsubasian standards."
"Yeah, well, we all have something we're good at. Let Sohlum-chan be good at that ," said Setsuna, folding her arms.
Sala pouted cutely and shook her head. "Whatever, we'll see you tonight. Ja, mina-san," she said, bowing politely.
"Ja ne, mina-san!" copied Sohlum, bowing as well. She waved with a innocent smile on her face as Sala dragged her out of the ramen bar, bow and all.
"Yosh, Setsuna-san," started Rock Lee, suddenly remembering something. Setsuna turned around and gave the spandex loving taijutsu user a questioning glance. "What was it that the lovely youth was saying before. I am afraid I could not understand."
The Tsubasain heir's black eyes, tinted with blue and silver, blinked. Slowly, they widened as she remember what Sohlum had said and winced slightly. "W-Well, uhhh," she stuttered, staring at every point of the room except for the occupents. She twirled a lock of black hair, streaked with black and blue, nervously and tried to find the right words to say. "It's kinda long and very, very detailed but to put it in more correct terms, uh, Shino-san."
The bug user stared at her. "Yes?"
"It seems you have a new fangirl."
Author's Ending Notes: Well, that's the first chapter to my new story. Review if you like and I'll see ya people again! Message me if you want the descriptions for my OC's instead of reading paragraphs and paragraphs of it. Ja people!