A/N: An alarming lack of Team 8 wholesomeness is on this website. I've always loved their dynamic, and thought they all deserved more screen time. Plus, I always related to Shino, my personality being pretty similar to his sometimes! He's also a BAMF who deserves more love.
This series will be mostly short snippets of different characters reacting/discussing Shino's glasses over time. Hope you enjoy!
"Have you ever wondered what was under Bug Boy's glasses?" Kiba whispered to Shikamaru, watching said boy complete a problem quickly on the chalkboard for Iruka, then make his way back to his seat, passing the two bored boys on the way.
Shikamaru tried not to look curious but his fingers tapped the desk as Iruka complemented the boy in question and continued explaining to the bored class the rest of the problem. Kiba knew Shikamaru was super smart, even though he was lazy, and figured if anybody could devise a plan to see Bug Boy's eyes it would be the Nara heir. Eventually Shikamaru just shrugged, "Seems like too much of a bother, honestly," and seemed to drift off to sleep.
Slightly annoyed, Kiba resisted the urge to glance back at the creepy boy with the glasses who's name he kept forgetting. He had heard the rumors: his eyes were crawling with bugs, he didn't even have eyes, and Kiba's personal favorite (the one he'd created): he could shoot bugs out of his eyes. Which actually sounded pretty cool, causing Kiba to become even more curious.
Glancing back at the Nara, Kiba decided he would have to come up with an idea himself.
Nobody close to him in his clan wore glasses, so Kiba didn't know much about situations where you would have to take them off. He figured the most common reason would be to clean them off. Kiba assumed if the dude didn't have any eyes, he wouldn't care about stuff on his glasses, and thus wouldn't try to clean them.
So that day, during their outdoor time, Kiba decided to mention it to Shikamaru and Choji, who were lying under a tree towards the edge of the grounds. Stomping up to them and crossing his arms, Akamaru perched on his head, Kiba looked down on them, grinning.
"Oh great," Shikamaru mumbled, squinting up at him. "You're not going to leave this alone, are you?"
"Leave what alone?" Choji asked, sitting up. Putting his hands on his hips and bending down over them, Kiba grinned wider.
"I have a plan!"
Shikamaru groaned and threw his arm over his eyes the same time as Choji excitedly asked "A plan for what?"
Deciding that convincing Choji might be easier, Kiba looked around, making sure nobody was near enough to hear them, then sat on the ground next to Choji and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially to him.
"I have a plan to get that creepy bug boy's glasses off."
Looking mildly concerned, Choji glanced around too before looking back at Kiba. "I don't know about that. There's probably a reason he wears them. Their whole clan does, you know."
Nodding excitedly, Kiba continued, "Yeah, something weird, I'll bet! Come on, don't you want to try? Aren't you a bit curious?"
"Pfft," Shikamaru shifted on the ground. "I heard they're just sensitive to sunlight, dumbass. We meet with them all the time; I've never seen one of 'em without those glasses." He yawned. "Not gonna happen."
Now Kiba was bummed. His clan also met with the bug clan from time to time as well, but he'd never heard about the light thing. That was way more boring than shooting bugs out of your eyes.
He must have looked disappointed because Choji patted him on the arm sympathetically. "Maybe you could just ask him! He'd probably tell you if you asked nicely."
Only a couple weeks later did Kiba gather up the courage to ask the boy (who he'd finally remembered was named Shino) why he wore glasses, Choji, Shikamaru, and Naruto watching from behind a few trees nearby, silently cheering him on.
Stomping up to the lonely boy standing next to the bushes near the edge of the fields, the reassuring weight of Akamaru on his head, Kiba loudly cleared his throat when he got close, trying to get the boy to turn to him.
Nothing happened. Not even a slight twitch to indicate Shino had even heard him.
"Hey, dude!" Kiba tried again, wondering if the boy hadn't heard him. Once again, there was no indication Shino had noticed his presence. Scooting around so he could see what was so interesting in the bushes, Kiba noticed a few of his beetles crawling on his shoulder. With his advanced vision, Kiba thought they were looking straight at him, not moving.
Creepy, he thought, but decided to forge on. Taking a deep breath, he asked the question quickly.
"Hey, so, uh...what do you have under your glasses-" Noticing he hadn't asked what he'd originally intended, Kiba slapped a hand over his mouth, cringing as the bug user slowly turned his head towards him expression hidden behind his high collar and glasses. He'd meant to ask the question the boys had agreed was the simplest to answer, Why do you wear glasses? Apparently his nervousness made it come out wrong.
Shino didn't say anything for a few seconds, then turned back towards the bush, the beetles on his shoulder buzzing at Kiba. He still didn't say anything.
Prepared to admit defeat, Kiba half turned away before the boy started talking, stopping Kiba in his tracks. Shino still didn't turn from the bush, but said it loud enough for Kiba's sensitive ears to discern the words.
"I have eyes. Why? Because I am human, too."
He said without any feeling, but Kiba couldn't help a pang of guilt from invading his heart, and quickly turned around, hurrying back to the group of boys hiding behind the trees, demanding what he'd found out.
In response to their questions, Kiba just shrugged, thinking about what Shino had said to him. Because I am human, too.
A/N: Short and sweet, I hope you enjoyed it! This is officially my first Naruto fanfiction, so I'm trying to just get my feet a bit wet. Thanks for reading!