On Winged Lens

Author's Notes: So, my next Naruto project begins, and possibly my most ambitious one to date. This story is set during the timeskip and will feature Aburame Shino as the protagonist. Also, in my ever ongoing attempt to further detail the universe of Naruto, extensive appearances by ninja from Hidden Stone can be expected. Thank you for reading and please, reviews, whether positive or negative, short or long, are always greatly appreciated.

Opening Notes: As this story begins during the timeskip it presumes on certain inferences I, the author, have made regarding the events of Naruto. First, an assumption about time. I assume that the chunin exam was held at about midsummer (so that the two exams are held during the extremes of the year). Estimating the time that passed between that event and the beginning of the timeskip I place the beginning of the timeskip in mid-fall. This story begins approximately six months later, in the spring. Second, an assumption about advancement. We know from Shikamaru's explanation post-timeskip that certain character's ranks advanced during that time. I have chosen to have Hyuga Neji and Aburame Shino become chunin at the first opportunity, while all others remain genin. Third, an assumption about operations. I'm generally assuming that while some groups, like the legendary Sannin and Gai's students, might work together throughout their careers, most ninja work with their original genin teammates less and less as time passes (this is supported by Shikamaru's distancing from his team after becoming a chunin).

A note on terminology: In most translations of the anime or manga Shino's ability is linked to 'bugs.' However, 'bugs' is a highly inaccurate term in any biological sense (properly it refers only to insects of the order Hemiptera). It's unclear whether, 'bugs' in reference to Shino's abilities refers to insects only, or all the creatures that generally fall under the label 'bugs' (I have a strange feeling that Japanese doesn't have quite this linguistic problem, but I don't speak Japanese so I don't know what's intended). In any case I will use the terms 'bug' and 'bugs' only to refer to Shino's internal kikai bugs, and not anything else

To previous readers: for those who have read Forged In Water, yes, this story takes place after that one, and does function as if the events of that fanfic occurred. They will obviously not be central to this as Shino only had a bit role in that story, but there may be the occasional reference.

Chapter 1 – Buzzing Days

(Konoha – Spring)

At almost exactly one hour before dawn Aburame Shino awoke with his common jerking suddenness. It was always like that, no matter how much he tried to avoid it the bugs' preparation for the coming dawn brought enough of a shift inside him to jolt him awake. It was something he had accepted a long time ago, but there was still something discomforting about never quite waking up when you wanted to.

Shino's morning ritual was simple enough, pull clothes on, munch down a quick dry breakfast, grab the net, bottles, and bag, and head outdoors. It was only when he was outside that the real day began.

His father met him at the door, with his own net and bag, and Shino stepped back to allow his parent to go first. They went different directions once they were outside, for though Shino had no objections to his father's company, having another person nearby simply interfered with this exercise.

The Aburame clan homes lay on the edge of forest and meadow in a relatively little settled part of Konoha. From the first glimmers of sunlight peeking hesitantly over the walls about the hidden village till the sun's heat penetrated down to the forest floor all the ninja of the clan who lacked pressing business where performing the same ritualistic activity. They were collecting insects.

To an outsider it might have seemed like a strange idle hobby for the members of this family to engage in, but it was far more serious. Though the Aburame clan ninja did generally enjoy insect collecting, and Shino certainly found it one of the most pleasant ways to spend his time, there was a deadly serious purpose to this activity. For a clan whose power was built on insects and related creatures the study, collection, and recognition of as many different insects as possible was of tremendous importance. Collecting an insect with your own hands was an essential step for any Aburame ninja hoping to utilize that insect's powers or summon its kind in battle.

It was still early in the spring, and this was the first day Shino had been free since returning to Konoha, so he took his time to look about diligently and patiently. He would not have to rush the end of his collecting as he usually did to meet for training on this, a rare day off.

By this point in his ninja career Shino knew well all the insects common to Konoha, and he rarely found anything new, but the spring always holds surprises. As the sun warmed away cold lingering dew in the evening shadow of a great oak tree Shino glimpsed the flutter of wings from beneath a leaf, slowly twitching back and forth as they tried to warm up.

The Aburame ninja dropped down to the ground immediately, brining his eyes down to the level of this find. Light glimmered on crystalline wings, spread tenuously in the dawn. It was a dragonfly, rare this early in spring, and moreover, it was one Shino had never seen before. That was a real surprise, for dragonflies are conspicuous, and Shino knew all those that could be found in Konoha by heart, and almost all those in the entire Fire Country. He ran through them quickly in his memory, but that only confirmed what he already knew, that this was a find from far away.

Crystal clear all through was the dragonfly's wings, and its body was three colors, banded in pattern. A soft green and brown formed the base, and these were decidedly unremarkable, but it was the third color, a shining gold that fascinated Shino. He had never seen a color like that on a dragonfly, glossy and metallic, but truly golden, not simply a yellow or orange that caught the light well. He suspected that he might, at last, have found an insect no one in his family knew, an achievement that marked each Aburame with their own place in the family.

Shino's net came down swiftly, trapping the still chilled dragonfly. With carefully practiced motions he took out his largest jar and dropped the dragonfly unharmed from net to jar, and then sealed it off tightly with a swift twist.

Long moments passed as Shino watched the dragonfly slowly spread its wings and fly about the jar as well as it might in a confined space. Those golden bands caught the light even more as it moved, flickering as a coin flung through the air illuminated by a candle. Gazing from behind his black sunglasses Shino fixated the image in his mind, so that he would be able to recall it clearly whenever he might wish, something he had long learned to do with the profiles and patterns of insects. Now, he would always recognize a dragonfly of this kind should he see it again. Then he prepared to add the creature to his collection.

Aburame ninja do not collect insects in the same way others do. They treasure insect life, and would not harm it frivolously. So, Shino opened the jar, and then plugged the mouth with his palm. This was the first step, for the next he spoke to the colony of kikai bugs that lived perpetually inside his own body. They crawled out from the holes in his palm then, into the jar and to the dragonfly. The trapped insect tried to evade them, but it had nowhere to flee, and the destruction bugs crawled over it. Gently they sucked free its chakra, leaving the dragonfly paralyzed. Then Shino took it out of the jar and held it in his hand. Balancing the dragonfly motionless on his forefinger he formed a single seal. With that Shino absorbed the chakra his kikai bugs had taken from the dragonfly even as he held its image in his own mind. He felt the imprinting complete then, as the dragonfly accepted him, and he added it to the many forms of insect whose powers he might draw upon in battle. "I appreciate the gift," he said formally to the dragonfly.

Normally Shino would simply release the insect at this point; having observed its motion and bonded with its kind, but this dragonfly was different. It was a specimen new to him, new to his whole clan perhaps, so it would need to be formally catalogued. Still, even this would not permanently harm it. Shino set the dragonfly down on the top of his jar and focused his chakra. He passed his hands through a complex series of hand seals and then finished by drawing a seal in the air over the dragonfly. "Quiet Stasis no Jutsu," he almost whispered the technique.

There was no visible change, for the dragonfly was already paralyzed, but Shino knew that he had stopped its body in mid-function, preserving it against time and decay. Now the dragonfly could safely be placed among the collections of the clan, there to remain for anyone to examine it as needed until a suitable dead specimen could be found and this one released. It was a complex method simply to preserve an insect life, but Shino, like most of the members of the meticulous and diligent Aburame clan, did not see it as a waste, but only a proper duty.

With the dragonfly preserved and placed in a secure jar Shino decided to end his collecting for the morning. He reasoned that this was almost certainly the best thing he would find, and any further searching would only be a waste of time. Besides, dragonflies were auspicious insects, and collecting one was an excellent sign. Shino thought it might well turn out to be a good day.

With a find of the significance as this morning's most ninja would have run home shouting with glee, positively ecstatic at their good luck. However, Shino was not emotional like that. He was always controlled and logical. The find would remain, whether he hurried home or not. That being the case there was no need to charge foolishly through the forest and make a ruckus at home. Such an event would only disturb and inhibit things. The young Aburame would instead simply go home as usual and mention what he had found to his father at the regular moment when asked about how the morning's collection had gone. To Shino that was the best way, keeping the normal flow of things as intact as possible made it all more enjoyable.

Unfortunately the normal flow of things would be interrupted. When he return to the house his father was sitting at the table, sorting through the morning's news, reports from yesterday and the various other business a leaf jounin was responsible to keep. He turned to Shino when he came through the door, his own dark glasses might be of a different shape from Shino's but they were equally masking of everything behind them. "There's a message for you son," his father told him, pointing to a letter on the table. "Looks like orders."

"Hmm…" Shino muttered. This was unexpected, he was supposed to have the day off, and he had hoped for a break between missions, but things could change rapidly in the world of the ninja. He pulled a chair back carefully and sat down to read the note.

"How did it go this morning?" Shino's father asked.

"Good," Shino remarked, not looking up from the letter. It was marked with the seal of the ANBU he noticed. "I found an unusual dragonfly."

"Oh?" his father looked up for a moment. "It's awfully early."

"I didn't recognize the specimen," Shino answered, tearing open the letter carefully, leaving only a minimal mark on the envelop. "It had a golden color I'd never seen before."

"Golden? That is unusual," Shino could detect the interest in his father's voice, though any observer would have suspected that they were both making completely idle, forced conversation. Like his son, Aburame Shibi had muted emotions, and his long career as a ninja had taught him well to keep them completely covered. "I don't know any dragonflies with a golden color. You kept the specimen I assume?"

"In stasis," Shino casually took out the jar and placed it on the table, without once looking at it. After all, that wasn't necessary. He could recall the dragonfly's image whenever he wished. Instead, he read through the short letter. Chunin Aburame Shino, it was addressed. You are to meet with Uzuki Yuugao by 10 am this morning at the ANBU headquarters. Bring all necessary field equipment. When he was finished reading the letter Shino pushed the chair back and stood up.

"So, it is orders then?" his father asked.

"Yes, and with limited time," Shino replied. He turned to head back to his room, to get together his only recently packed away travel gear. Annoyingly, he recalled that not everything had yet been cleaned. "If Kurenai-sensei or my teammates stop by tell them I've been called away."

"Of course," his father answered. "Oh, and this is a very interesting dragonfly, I'm almost certain it's a new record. I'll have someone check the collection formally later."

"Thank you father," Shino called back from halfway up the stairs.

When Shino headed out only a few minutes later his father was already gone. Their meeting that morning had been their first conversation in over three weeks, and with the current situation in Konoha the way it was there was a good chance it would be at least that long before they spoke again. That might have bothered some people, but to Shino it was simply a fact of life. He paused at the table, took a breath, and moved on.

When he picked up the letter on the way out Shino noted his father had added a simple message: stay focused, come back. That was all. It was enough to bring a twinge of a smile to Shino's impenetrable face.

The headquarters of Konoha's ANBU was merely an un-intimidating little training hall, one actually smaller than those maintained by many of the larger clans, and a small suite of offices. It was not what one expected from the powerful and important ANBU who dealt with all the gravest threats to Konoha's security and future, a fact that continually surprised those who visited it for the first time.

Shino, however, understood that it was all a deception. The ANBU headquarters was a fake, simply a dummy front base designed to provide a false objective in case of enemy attack. The actual ANBU base was buried under a large warehouse in the far south of Konoha. That facility was indeed a fairly fearsome base, filled with traps, imposing training rooms, and other dark and hidden chambers. Of course, Shino, as merely a youthful chunin, wasn't supposed to know that, but it was almost impossible to keep any secrets from an Aburame within his home village. When your body is literally crawling with extraordinarily unobtrusive and accurate spies there is little you do not know about the goings on of your home base. Not that Shino would ever tell anyone that he knew such things, it was not necessary for a ninja to trumpet his abilities so that everyone knew them. The bug-wielding ninja preferred the quiet accumulation of useful knowledge instead.

Even if the office was a deception, it was not unguarded. Shino acknowledged that this was both a wise measure and a necessary one to carry off the deception properly. Therefore, a solitary member of the ANBU, in full battle gear and masked, stood outside the entrance at all times. On his first visit Shino had discovered that the guard was not watching too diligently and in fact that this duty was commonly given to ANBU recovering from wounds or otherwise unable to carry out more strenuous duties. It had only taken a few minutes of observation using a mirror positioned by his bugs while he stood far out of sight around a corner to determine that fact.

However, Shino had passed by that guard several times since, and now he simply walked up easily, his hands in the pocket of his long coat as always.

"You're expected chunin," the guard told him in the quiet voice ANBU always seemed to use when wearing those masks. "Go ahead in."

Shino never even paused.

The offices inside the building were a cramped little assembly of desks and chairs, with light pouring through a few small windows and from several poorly placed desk lamps. It was a failure of organization stemming from increased use of a structure never really intended for any use at all, and it was somewhat annoying to Shino, especially as the multiple directions of light had a tendency to cause glare even on his specially crafted sunglasses.

Uzuki Yuugao, instantly recognizable by her long purple hair, sat behind a desk in a cramped alcove. She gestured for Shino to come over the moment she walked in. The young chunin noted that she was somewhat tense, but that was to be expected, the young ANBU captain had labored at great responsibilities since Orochimaru's raid last summer, and like many of the ANBU had been extensively overworked in the past months. Still, that tenseness was not a good sign. Spring had only just begun, the slight reduction in ninja operations brought on by winter would now cease, and the coming summer looked to be long and hard.

"Aburame Shino," Yuugao gestured for him to sit, though there was no chair in front of her desk. "I'm glad you made it on time."

Reluctantly Shino grabbed a chair from behind him and pulled it over to stand in front of Yuugao's desk. He sat down in the borrowed chair somewhat awkwardly; it was designed for someone rather taller than he was. Not much of a conversationalist, Shino did not reply to Yuugao's greeting, but simply waited for her to begin.

"We have a mission for you," Yuugao informed Shino.

Without any comment Shino nodded to indicate acceptance. This made four missions assigned to him directly from the ANBU, and it was somewhat suspicious. Most ninja had their missions assigned to them by their sensei or by the Hokage herself. Being given a mission from the ANBU was unusual; it meant performing a task normally within the elite unit's purview. As this process continued Shino had begun to wonder if the ANBU intended to recruit him. The group had taken losses in the assault on Konoha and the intrigue leading up to it, and few of those had been replaced. It would have been awfully early in his career for the young Aburame to receive an invitation into the ANBU, but he was quite aware that of all Konoha's new chunins he was the only one suited to the task. Regardless, the speculation was academic anyway. Shino didn't really care what his position as a ninja was, just like he didn't much consider becoming a ninja a significant life choice. After all, when your family bonds you to chakra eating bugs as an infant things are pretty much laid out from that point. ANBU or not Shino would calmly do his missions and demonstrate his abilities with a quiet pride and nothing more.

"This task will begin immediately once I finish this briefing," Yuugao continued. "You will leave Konoha immediately following this briefing, without speaking to anyone else until you are gone. I hope you are prepared."

Once more Shino merely nodded.

"Good," Yuugao seemed pleased. "It is a simple enough task, but secrecy is important. You must acquire a scroll from Kodori Tokimitsu, possibly the most important banker in the countries between Fire country and Lightning Country. His banking operations as used by all the important lords and businesses in those countries, and he keeps dedicated account books on them all. We are certain he has a secret scroll denoting the various ninja dealings that have been paid for by lords and businesses his bank has an interest in. That is the scroll you must retrieve."

"Location?" Shino asked.

Yuugao handed him a scroll. "His mansion is located outside a major town in the northwest Clay country (this name is applied to the otherwise unnamed country northeast of Fire country). I've marked the town on this map."

"Do we know the defenses?" Shino questioned.

"Tokimitsu employs a number of samurai and mercenary guards, and probably has traps about his estate as well," Yuugao replied. "Likewise the scroll will surely be well hidden. However, it is not known if there are enemy ninja involved. Tokimitsu is certainly rich enough to employ a ninja in his guard, but he does not employ one from either Fire country or Waterfall, and it is doubtful he would bother with the local clans. Lightning ninja remain a possibility." Looking sternly at Shino, Yuugao admonished. "This is not intended to be a combat assignment. It is most important that the scroll be stolen without anyone except Tokimitsu learning of it, avoid conflicts if at all possible, but make sure to bring back the scroll."

"Understood," Shino replied.

"Good, this mission is considered rank B, don't fail," Yuugao tossed her head, causing her purple hair to flow back over her shoulder. "Oh, and Shino," she caused the rising chunin to stop in mid-motion. "We do not have any information on Tokimitsu's estate, so be sure to map your intrusion carefully for the records."

Shino nodded, and then continued, quietly putting the borrowed chair back and walking out, his hands still in his pockets.

As he walked out of Konoha Shino did not bother to look at the map he had been given, knowing that it was better if he did not know his precise destination until at least the Clay country border, that way a potential tracker could not discern his destination from his route.

It would be a journey of at least five days to the right area in Clay country, so Shino did not hurry overmuch, simply walking at his usual calm and steady pace. He calmly enjoyed the time to himself, away from the rather loud and boisterous presences of his teammates and classmates. Shino appreciated them as comrades, certainly, but he sometimes wondered if people like Inuzuka Kiba could ever understand him at all. Yet like most things this was simply a passing musing of minimal disturbance to the Aburame ninja. He needn't let such thoughts unbalance him.

Insect Stuff: (this is a short feature that I intend to place at the end of chapters to briefly explain some of the entomological questions that may arise in this work) For this chapter there's not much, except to note that insect collecting is generally performed somewhat as described, though the jars used are called 'killing jars' and have a lethal chemical mix inside so as to kill the insect but leave it preserved and not rotting.