Beetles and Bats
Written by Kairi (Twilight PhoenixFyre)
Summary: Something didn't go according to plan. Now, Shizuko is ready for her chance to show her father just what she can do. But, will he let her? And what will her twin brother do in the meantime? 'T' for cursing, violence, etc.
So, this is the first Naruto fanfiction I'm posting. This particular storyline is one that came to me and doesn't seem to want to leave, so I figured I might as well just do it. Um... I suppose I should put some warnings up here.
1) There will be a Canon/Original Character pairing eventually! (Like, way into the story.)
2) Yes, the OC is supposed to be the twin sister of a canon character who, according to canon, is an only child. This will be explained! (Again, later. But not as 'later' as the OC's eventual love life.)
3) ...This kinda starts off in the middle of nowhere. And it's probably crap, because I have only half an idea what I'm doing here in the beginning. So yeah. You've been warned.
Anyway... I should probably stop rambling now, since there's more at the bottom. If you guys like this, let me know in a review, because otherwise, this story will go the same way that many of them have. (AKA, I'll post about five chapters and then pretty much abandon it.) Now then... Nope, I think I'm done.
Disclaimer: I own only my OCs. Many are mentioned this chapter, but only one is relevant to this story. You can ignore the rest, they're just in here as filler names.
Enjoy the first chapter!
Chapter 1
Shino and Shizuko
"Now, we ended up having an odd number of students graduating this year, including six privately-tutored students," Iruka began. "So, one of these teams will end up being a group of four as opposed to the other groups of three."
"Uh, Iruka-sensei? I'm only counting thirty-six people. We'd have to have thirty-seven for it to be the odd number you're saying graduated," Shikamaru commented from the back of the classroom. Iruka blinked and looked around before frowning.
"Well, the student missing is the one who's going to get to choose her team, so I suppose it's not such a big deal that she's late..." he muttered.
"What?! She gets to pick?!" one of the girls in the front cried. Iruka sighed.
"Her score matches up perfectly with the class's average, and since each team is built to balance every member's strengths, it only made sense that she be allowed to choose," he replied. "Now then... Team 1... Ichigo Tsukihana, Itami Kyomen, and Aikibo Kori," he started, listing off the teams.
A certain blonde-haired boy was about to fall asleep when he heard his name called.
"Team 7... Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha."
Naruto cheered after the first two names, while Sakura pouted. After Sasuke was announced as being the third member of their team, however, the two roles were reversed. Iruka couldn't help but crack a smile at that before he continued.
"Team 8... Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuuga. Team 9... Zero Kotone, Arashi Sakkaku, and Kurai Iroyume," he stated. He noticed the look of disgust on the face of the girl in the front, and sighed. Kurai and Zero hated each other with a passion... "Team 10, Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Choji Akimichi."
Two more teams later, and Iruka finally placed the paper down on his desk, and looked around with a frown. "And our missing student still appears to be... missing..." he muttered. He looked up toward the back of the classroom, where Shino was staring at the ceiling.
Naruto yawned. "Come on! I know I have a tendency to be late but—Gah!"
Everyone's attention was diverted to where Naruto sat, or rather, had been sitting before being startled out of his chair. Sitting on the desk between where he had been and where Sakura was sitting was someone else, a body about the same size as the rest of them that was concealed by black pants and a very pale red hooded jacket.
"What the—? When did you get here?!" Naruto yelled, finally getting back to his feet and pointing at the figure on the desk.
"She's been here since before most of us arrived," Shino stated. "And she also has a habit of hanging out on ceilings," he added, probably a bit late. Iruka sighed.
"I'm going to assume that your decision to drop in on Team 7 is your way of informing me which team you'll be joining," he stated, giving the now-identified as a girl a pointed look.
The girl just nodded, while Sasuke looked at her, then back at Shino. "You know her?" he asked.
"Shizuko is my twin sister," he replied. Iruka nodded.
"Now then... you're all dismissed for lunch. Be back here in an hour to meet your jounin teachers," he ordered.
The classroom cleared out quickly, though Shizuko didn't move at first. Shino, who had paused next to the door, looked back at her before sighing and walking over. After one final check to make sure they were alone, he sat on the desk across the aisle from the one his sister sat on.
"How'd you do it?"
The hood shifted slightly. "What do you mean?" a very similar voice asked. Shino frowned.
"How did you convince them that you passed the exam?" he expanded. Shizuko's hood shifted again.
"I didn't, because I did. Uncle Muta has been teaching me, remember? But Father... Father doesn't know yet, though. Or maybe he does now... Either way..." she trailed off. Shino sighed.
"You know he's not going to be happy about this," he said. Shizuko shrugged.
"I wonder if he'll even let me go through with the second part of the exam," she mumbled. Shino raised an eyebrow.
"Second part?"
"To make sure we're actual genin material. Our jounin instructors are supposed to test us. Apparently, only about a third or so of the 'graduating' ninjas really make genin. This is a relatively big class, so for us, it'd be closer to a fourth," she stated. Shino's expression became grave.
"That means only three teams are going to make it," he stated. Shizuko nodded.
"Yes. More could make it, but it's unlikely. Three is the normal number," she replied. Then her hood shifted again. "So... Since I really don't feel like going home for an hour, shall we go to Ichiraku's? It's been a while since I've had ramen," she asked. Shino sighed and slipped off the desk.
"Count on you to change the subject like that. Still... He probably won't object to you taking part in the second test. If only three teams are going to make it, the chances of yours being one of them are slim," he stated. Shizuko shrugged again and hopped off of the desk, following her brother out of the room.
The two of them, when standing side by side, were obviously the same height, something that had always amused Shino to no end. Shizuko had a habit, when sitting, of making herself as tiny as possible, creating the illusion of her being smaller than him. She never hunched herself over when she stood or walked, however.
"So... Ichiraku's, huh?" Shino asked. Shizuko nodded.
"It's been a while."
The two were silent as they wandered down the street. They had just sat down and ordered when Shino broke the silence again.
"Why Team 7?"
Shizuko sighed. "Because Uncle Muta asked nicely. Apparently, he's going to try to make Father think I've got the worst odds possible stacked against me, and then we're hoping I can make it past the second part of the exam. He thinks that maybe if I can show Father how good I've gotten, he'll let me keep at it," she explained.
"So you're throwing yourself in with Naruto to help stack the odds against yourself," Shino muttered. His sister nodded, but didn't reply, instead choosing to focus on her bowl of ramen. Shino picked around at his, mind miles away and yet right next to him at the same time.
Even after their ramen was finished, the two sat in silence for a bit. Teuchi didn't bother them. It wasn't the first time the two had simply come in to sit around.
"We should get back. Our jounin instructors should be arriving soon," Shino stated. Shizuko just nodded, pulling money out of her pocket to pay for the ramen. The twins stood and left without another word, arriving back at the school within a few minutes. Most of the class was already there, so almost everyone saw this time when Shizuko literally jumped up and bounced off of the wall before coming to rest upside-down on the ceiling, right above where Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were sitting.
A number of jounin arrived all at once and started calling out team numbers, leaving only three teams in the room. A few minutes later, two more came in, one male and one female.
"Team 10?" the male called. Shikamaru sighed and stood up, being the first to follow the man out. The female frowned, looking over the remaining two teams.
"Alright, which group of three is Team 8?" she asked. Shino smirked.
"That would be the group of three," he replied, pointing to the ceiling. The woman looked up and blinked. Then she sighed.
"Alright, come on," she mumbled. Kiba and Hinata followed her happily, though Shino paused in the doorway to look up at his sister one last time.
Then the wait began for Team Seven. About an hour in, Naruto started drawing on the chalkboard, while Sakura watched on. Sasuke took a moment to glance up at Shizuko and frowned. "Are you sleeping?"
Baffled looks from Sakura and Naruto were the only responses he received.
Sometime in the afternoon, Naruto finished erasing the blackboard and ran over toward the door with a stool. He hopped up onto it and wedged the eraser in the door.
Sasuke sighed. "Naruto, our teacher is an elite jounin. There is no way that he is going to fall for that," he stated. Sakura looked angry.
"Naruto! You're going to get all of us in trouble!" she added.
"It'll be an improvement on being bored out of our minds."
Three utterly confused teens looked around at each other at the unfamiliar voice before finally directing their gaze towards the ceiling. Shizuko hadn't appeared to have moved, though.
"Of course, being bored out of our minds does have its advantages... Unless, of course, you're trying to avoid thinking about something," she continued, confirming that she had, in fact, been the one to speak.
THONK!
All attention was immediately re-directed toward the door, where a white-haired man had his head stuck in the door. Naruto grinned at the successful prank, while Sasuke silently groaned.
The man stepped into the classroom and assumed a thoughtful position. "Hmm... Based on my first impressions of you three... You're annoying," he grumbled. Sasuke shook his head and pointed straight up.
"Four, sensei. And honestly, Naruto was the only one involved in that," he said. The man blinked and looked up at the ceiling, where Shizuko still sat quietly. He stuffed his hands in his pockets.
"How long have you been up there?" he asked.
"With the exception of about an hour around lunch time? Five hours, give or take," she replied. The jounin nodded.
"Impressive chakra control. It gives me the impression that you do this a lot," he stated. Shizuko's smirk was barely visible, but it was there.
"At least four hours a day, usually closer to six."
The man nodded, then looked around over the rest of them. "Alright. Since you're the only ones in here, I'm going to assume that you're Team 7. Let's go somewhere else," he suggested before walking off. Naruto and Sakura followed almost immediately, with Sasuke standing to do the same after a moment.
He paused for a second, intending to look up at Shizuko, only to have her land next to him before walking out after the other three.
Their jounin instructor brought them to the roof of a building, where they sat down relatively in a line, with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura in a row from left to right and Shizuko to the right and behind Sasuke.
"So, let's start with introductions," their sensei stated.
"What do you want to know?" Sakura asked.
The jounin looked a bit uncomfortable. "How about your likes, dislikes... Dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that?" he replied. Naruto blinked.
"Hey, why don't you introduce yourself to us first? Show us how it's done, huh?" he suggested. The man sighed.
"Alright. Well, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future...? Hmm... Well, I have lots of hobbies..." he stated. The three teens whose faces he could see deadpanned. "Now it's your turn."
"So, all we learned was his name?" Sakura muttered. Naruto shrugged.
"Okay, my turn! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like cup ramen, but I really like the ramen at Ichiraku's when Iruka-sensei takes me out to eat! What I don't like is waiting three minutes after you pour the hot water into the cup ramen," he rambled happily. Shizuko smirked, something that caught Sasuke's attention, despite her being behind him.
"Something funny?" he asked, interrupting Naruto. Shizuko shook her head, gesturing for Naruto to continue.
"Anyway..." the semi-dejected blonde re-started. Then he grinned. "My dream is to surpass the Hokage, and then everyone will have to acknowledge and respect me! As for hobbies... pranks, I guess."
Kakashi was quiet for a moment before he looked at Sasuke. "Next?"
The dark-haired boy sighed. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are plenty of things I dislike, and I don't especially like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I am going to restore my clan... and kill a certain someone," he stated.
All was silent for a moment before Kakashi looked at Sakura and Shizuko. "Ladies? Any volunteers?"
"I'm Sakura Haruno, and the thing I like is... Well, the person I like is..." Sakura started, almost constantly blushing and looking in Sasuke's direction. "Umm... My dream is... Ah..."
Shizuko's hood shifted, and Kakashi got the impression that she was giving him a look that said 'seriously?' Kakashi didn't blame her.
"The thing I hate is Naruto!" Sakura added, finally getting a sentence out without stumbling over it. Naruto over-dramatically fell over, leaving Sakura to start again. "My hobby is..." she trailed off. Kakashi sighed as she went back to staring as Sasuke. Then he glanced back at the final member of their group.
"Well?" he prompted.
Shizuko was silent for a moment. "My name is Shizuko Aburame. I like my brother and uncle, and I'll admit to having a fondness for Ichiraku Ramen. I don't especially care for my father, but that ties in with my dreams for the future. I want him to notice and support me like he does Shino," she replied. "I also dislike anything bright in regards to light or color, which makes looking at Naruto a bit of an eyesore..."
Naruto, who had finally picked himself back up and had been thrilled to hear that Shizuko liked ramen, deflated quickly.
"Fortunately for what's left of his pride, I also pride myself on reserving my judgments," she added. "As for hobbies and other dreams... Well... I like bats too. I wouldn't mind training a few as companions. And I suppose my habit of hanging around on the ceiling could be called a hobby."
Kakashi blinked. "You do know that most species of bats eat the insects your family is infamous for study, right?" he asked. Shizuko nodded.
"Yes. A properly-trained bat can also survive off of eating about a dozen kikaichu, the beetles they carry, every day. And since the kikaichu only live a few hours and feed on chakra, it makes sense to me to come up with something that will at least somewhat relate back to my clan," she replied.
"Wait... 'They?'" Kakashi asked. Shizuko's shoulders slumped and she seemed much smaller all of a sudden. "You mean you don't have a colony of your own?"
The girl was silent for a long while before she stood up. "Where and when are we meeting up tomorrow morning?"
Kakashi blinked for a moment, half-tempted to tell her to sit back down and explain. Then he sighed. "Out by the KIA monument, five o' clock," he told her. She nodded and then took off. Once she was gone, Sakura turned to Kakashi.
"Sensei... You're just going to let her run off like that?" she asked. Kakashi sighed.
"I obviously hit a sore spot with my question regarding her lack of a kikaichu colony. Let's just... leave that subject be in the future, agreed?" he stated. Naruto frowned.
"But... Hmm... Alright. I guess, whatever's bothering her, she'll tell us when she's ready. Right?" he agreed. Kakashi nodded.
"I certainly hope so, Naruto."
Now, before you all start yelling at me, I want to mention a few more things. First off... Kakashi says that there are 27 people in their graduating class, and that only 9 will actually become genin. Except, aren't Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji Team 10? If each team is a group of three, that means there would only be nine teams. And I'm fairly sure there are four groups of three desks, although I could be wrong. So, we'll just assume that theirs was a really large class.
Second... Yes, Shino is a bit OOC, for two reasons. One, he's seen talking a lot, and two, his facial expression range beyond just his usual stoic face. I have my reasons for this. One, I figure that he'll be a bit more open with his sister than others. Remember that he checked to make sure they were alone before he started taking in the classroom? Also, how many sentences did he speak when not alone (or relatively alone) with her? The answer (for those of you too lazy to go look) is four. So... yeah.
So... Shizuko! Mary-sue? Yes, no? How about people being OOC? (Other than Shino, of course. Or you could tell me how much over-OOC he is, if you feel the need.) Any opinions on her would be wonderful, since I really haven't explored her character much yet.
Drop me a line if you want more. That's really all there is to it. In the meantime, I'm outta here.