A/N: I've always thought this would make for an interesting story, but I'm not sure how it will turn out. The Aburame clan is one of the more powerful clans in Konoha, but what happens when one of its key members can't stand the very creatures that give them power?

That being said, this is set in the transitional period between Help Needed 1 and 2, my other stories. You don't have to read them to understand everything, but it will probably help in later chapters when shit starts to hit the fan. This is also my first story that's not M-rated, and will also be the first to not have a lemon, and not be yuri.

Enough talk, let's roll.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, the series would be a lot more screwed up than it is now.

Please Help Me

Chapter 1

The Aburame Coward

Every day I have to try not to kill. Not anyone in particular, just me. My own existence is repulsive enough for me to hate my life. The entire clan was repulsive.

The village itself is indifferent. They could care less about the struggles of one kid who can't handle the Aburame clan's burden. And the clan didn't help, being secluded and secretive.

Today was no different. As I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself in a towel, I regarded my reflection in the mirror. My hair was short and brown, slicked down onto my scalp from the hot water.

I flicked an insect off of my chest and suppressed a shudder. It still repulsed me, even after almost ten years of knowing about their existence. The kikai bugs that gave the Aburame clan its power were also the primary reason I never seemed to be on the same level as my teammates.

I finished drying myself and got dressed, pulling on black shorts and a tee-shirt. I tied my headband onto my forehead and slid the Aburame clan's signature sunglasses onto my face.

Our mission today was simple; we were going to investigate a nearby cave, where the village's newest hero had killed the serial murderer that had been plaguing the area. We were doing a follow-up to make sure the task had been finished.

I met my team outside the ninja academy. I absentmindedly twirled a kunai between my fingers as I walked, not really caring about the mission itself. My teammates were Sayo Inuzuka, a ninja-hound aided tracker, and Mina Minase, a genjutsu specialist.

Our jonin teacher was late, as usual. Sasuke Uchiha was always late. He said he had gotten the habit from his mentor, Kakashi Hatake. His twin daughters had stopped their ninja training over a month ago, in favor of a safer life where they could be with their friends. I had a bit of a crush on Serenity, but never said anything because I thought Sasuke would slaughter me.

"Hey Katsu," Mina said as I entered their field of view. "Still afraid of your own shadow?"

"Its not the shadows I fear, unless the Nara clan is involved," I said. "Still crushing on old men?"

Mina flushed a shade of pink. The only person too dense to realize her feelings was the target of those feelings, Sasuke Uchiha himself. Although, he had picked up Kakashi's other habit of reading Jiraiya's erotic novels, albeit more secretively than his mentor. His own daughters didn't know about it, although I suspected there were a few things that our mentor didn't know about his daughters. The seemingly innocent way they held hands when they thought no one was looking, or the fact that they were friends with the well-known pair of Kiora Haruno and Natsuko Yamanaka.

Kiora was the daughter of Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuuga, and it appeared that the parents' preferences had passed on to their daughter. She was the village's celebrated hero now, her defeat of the bingo-book level criminal Kohana securing her place.

I sighed as I mulled over the information, regretting my existence once again. The kikai beetles fed on chakra, and I already didn't have a lot. If I ever went more than a day without sleep I would die from chakra depletion. The beetles limited my jutsu use to transformation techniques, rudimentary doppelgangers, and the substitution technique. I couldn't use any elemental techniques, and any higher powered attack techniques were beyond my grasp.

And the beetles. Every member of my clan uses the beetles as their primary forms of attack and defense. But I was deathly terrified of insects of any shape or form. Whenever my beetles showed their faces, I passed out from the panic. The clan's gift was my curse.

Sasuke didn't show up for another hour and a half, hastily stowing his book back in his tool pouch.

"Sorry about that," he said. "I lost track of time."

"More likely having a wank to your pervy books," Sayo said. His ninja dog barked in agreement from atop his head. I never bothered to learn the mutt's name, instead watching as the pair made a fine mess of whatever they got into.

"Okay team, it looks like we're headed to the cavern complex to the west of the village. We're to investigate the area and report anything suspicious back to village officials. Ready to go?"

My teammates nodded eagerly, and I gave my usual resigned sigh of do-not-give-a-shit. We took off, heading into the woods at a fairly relaxed pace.

While we leapt from branch to branch, we made our usual small talk. Well, my teammates did, while I kept myself removed. No need to interrupt their lives with the kind of thoughts I had. Normal teenagers gossiped and laughed, joking with each other. The Aburame clan was already considered a little odd by most standards, and I was odd by Aburame standards.

It was often during these missions that I wondered why I still tried to be somewhat normal. I supposed it was out of a fear of what the afterlife held, if it indeed held anything. But I guess the real reason was that I always felt that fate had something more in store for me than this puny little life.

"Katsu?" Sasuke asked, jerking me out of my thoughts. "I asked what you thought about the Hokage's decision."

"What decision?" I asked honestly. I never cared much for the politics of the village, as much as I admired the position of Hokage.

"Lady Tsunade is considering granting Kiora Haruno status as a shinobi," he said. "I wondered how you felt about that, considering she has never set foot in the academy."

"If she beat this bingo-book criminal, I don't see why not," I said. "It's not like I care. She's just a piece of off-limit eye candy to me."

Sasuke frowned. He sent the other two ahead, lagging behind with me.

"What's wrong," he asked. "Talk to me."

"The same thing that's been wrong since I was born into the most disturbing clan in the village," I said. "The same thing that will continue to be wrong until the day I die."

Sasuke shook his head, unable to whatever words he was looking for. "You should find a hobby," he said finally. "Something to take your mind off things. Maybe find a pretty girl and have some fun."

"I'll pass," I said, speeding up. "I can barely handle my own angst, let alone some other girl's."

Sasuke simply shook his head again as we rejoined our team. The sun was growing low in the sky, and we still had another full day's travel ahead of us tomorrow before we'd reach the caverns.

"We'll make camp here," he said as we reached a clearing. "We'll get up early and be ready to leave at dawn."

We nodded to our teacher and began the preparations.

-----

We reached the cavern complex with an hour to spare until sunset the next day. We used the remaining daylight to search the closest cave to the surface.

I was the first to enter, and promptly backed back out just as quickly. My heart thumped against my ribcage as I hugged the cliff wall just outside the entrance.

"What is it?" Mina whispered. I shook my head.

"It's big," I said. I took several deep breaths to calm myself and entered the cave again. The beast inside had red scales and was easily a hundred feet long. Its wings were folded serenely behind its back, and it looked asleep. I led the way inside, moving as silently as possible. It wasn't until I had circled all the way around the dragon's head that I saw the gaping wound in its side. It looked like something had literally punched through its scales.

"Chidori," Sasuke said, running his hand over the edge of the wound. "This is definitely Kiora's work."

"Sensei, I thought you were the only one who knew that technique," I said. Sasuke shook his head.

"There are now five people who can use that attack. Me, my daughters, my mentor, and Kiora. Although how she learned the damned thing is beyond me."

I nodded silently. Everyone seemed to be praising the prodigy. I envied her, not having to deal with the hassles of the Aburame clan, in addition to having the amount of power she had. No doubt she would one day become the most powerful ninja in the village.

We made camp inside the cave that night, hoping to explore the rest of the system the next day and be back in Konoha before the weekend. We deemed the area safe enough that we didn't need to take turns keeping watch during the night.

We rolled out our sleeping bags and fell asleep in silence. I just wanted this mission to be over.

-----

"Ooh, this is a fascinating creature," said a voice. I was still mostly asleep, and wasn't sure if it was part of a dream or reality. But it didn't seem to fit the context of my dream, so I opened my eyes.

I heard footsteps coming from the entrance of the cavern, on the other side of the dragon's body. I tensed, not wanting to make a sound. Sweat began beading up under my headband as I drew a kunai.

"It'll make a fabulous puppet, don't you think?" the voice asked. It sounded like a woman, probably in her late teens or early twenties. "I don't get why Nejimaru wants us to do this recon on Konohagakure, it's not like they even know the Akatsuki still exists."

"It is not our duty to question orders, merely to follow them," a man said. "Besides, it's just recon, there's no real danger, is there?"

"I guess not," the woman said. "I need to get to work gutting this creature and preserving its abilities. It looks recently deceased, so I should be able to keep most of its power."

I swallowed, biting back fear. It sounded like these people were not exactly Konoha's friends, and my teammates were still sound asleep.

Until I heard a very familiar high-pitched chirping. The entire cave lit up with Sasuke's Chidori, the lightning casting an eerie glow around the cavern.

"So, the Akatsuki are still around, huh?" he asked, his red and black Sharingan eyes active. "Katsu, get Sayo and Mina out of here."

I nodded and ran back to our camp and hurriedly dragged my friends out of their sleeping bags. "Let's go," I said, pulling them along. Sayo hesitated, looking back at our teacher.

"Shouldn't we help him?" he asked.

"Do you really want to get in Sasuke Uchiha's way during a fight?" I asked. Sayo shook his head and we ran towards the exit.

"Going somewhere?" asked the man I had heard before. He was freakishly tall, at least six foot nine, but thin and lanky. A black robe with red clouds adorned his frame, and he wore a broad straw hat. We doubled back and headed through a wooden door into the next cave. We found ourselves in a carved hallway, lined with doors on each side. There was a door open halfway down the left wall, so we ran inside.

There was an elegant bed here, piled high with blankets and pillows. On the floor at the foot of the bed was a pile of ash and a dried pool of blood. I suppressed another shudder and quietly shut and locked the door, praying that this was all part of a horrible nightmare.

A/N: Well, there's the first chapter, hope you liked it. This story is going to be more action based, and it's also a bit of an experiment for me working in the first person point of view as opposed to my usual third. I hope to see you all in chapter two, please read and review!