Disclaimer: I own nothing except the Idea of this story, duh.
Summary: When Lee discovers a photo album of him and Shino as best friends since childhood, he decides to give Bug Boy a ring, to receive an unexpectedly paranoid father. ONESHOT, NOT YAOI, R&R, Flames are used to warm my toes.
AN: Thanks so much to Strudel Ninja for being the beta-reader for this! Thanks to you this one-shot has indeed improved vastly!
Lee sat in his kitchen going through some of his photo albums, while drinking a healthy special Inui juice, version 6.3. His beloved idol, Gai-sensei, was currently completing a mission, thus giving his three students a day off. Lee had invited Neji and Tenten over to join him for the day, but both had declined—Tenten politely told him she was busy, and Neji just plain rejected his invitation.
Flipping through the album, he found various photos of Team Gai. The first picture he saw was of the team standing in front of the gates of Konoha. Lee and Gai were embracing each other while Tenten and Neji attempted to escape from the situation. The photograph was of their first mission outside of the village.
Lee continued browsing through the album, and noticed the next two pages were dedicated to Neji. The first image was of him sitting on a tree branch, arms crossed and his eyes closed. His right leg dangled off the branch. Sunlight filtered through the leaves of the tree, leaving patches of light on the dark brown bark of the tree and Neji's body. His pale face was illuminated nicely. The breeze caught strands of his long hair that had escaped his hair band during training. It was a beautiful scene, and Lee was extremely proud of himself for being able to capture it without the prodigy noticing.
In the second photo, Neji was sitting in the same position as the first, his eyes open and a look of annoyance on his face as he stared right at the camera. Lee had accidentally yelled in joy after the previous image was taken, effectively giving away his location to Neji.
In the third, Neji had activated his Byakugan and also now gripped a kunai in his hand as he looked at the camera. He did not look happy.
The final photo of the series was the blurry close-up of Neji's left eye, with his Byakugan in all its deadly glory.
Lee sighed happily as if remembering a cherished memory from the past, which it sort of was to him. Another two pages of the album were dedicated to Neji. Some of them showed Neji in the middle of a conversation, and others with Neji looking aggressively at the photographer. It seemed Neji did not enjoy getting his picture taken.
The next section was dedicated to Tenten. There were pictures of her polishing her weapons, and even performing the Twin Rising Dragons technique. Lee's favorite however was an image of Tenten turning towards the camera, her hair unleashed and falling gracefully past her shoulders. A gasp had escaped her lips, and her eyes flashed in surprise. The setting sun behind her enhanced her features.
Lee placed the album of his teammates aside and then opened a different album. He blew away the layer of dust clinging to the front. The title of the album was now revealed: Gold letters printed over a dark green background read, "Friends4ever!!" There were even cartoon bugs drawn all over by hand.
Curiosity got the better of him, and Lee turned the page to reveal a photo of him at five years old. Next to him stood Shino.
"What in blazing youth?" Under the photo, childish scribbles were put together to form choppy sentences. Lee did his best to read aloud the words that he knew were written in his own hand all those years ago.
"Today I made a friend. His name is Shino. Shino dusnt make fun of my eyebrows. We met becuz of my eyebrows. It was resses and he cam up tu me. He sad 'wy r there katerpilers on my face'. We wer both confusd. He then poked my eyebrows. I reelized that he was talking abowt my eyebrows. My feelings was hert. He sad sorry n sad he like them. We then play until we need to go back to class. Shino is my first friend."
"Hm… I never was good at spelling back then…or with grammar in general…" said Lee as he read over the paragraph.
Lee smiled as he realized that almost the entire album consisted of Lee describing his new friend Shino. Shino's sense of style had not changed much over the years; He had the large sunglasses, oversized jacket and afro-styled hair, even at 5 years old. At that age, Shino seemed to have fewer inhibitions, and he wasn't afraid to smile widely while slinging an arm across Lee's shoulder.
Lee found that Shino smiled less heartily as the album progressed. There was still the occasional relaxed smile, but those did not hold the same childish happiness. The final picture in the album showed Lee and Shino at seven years old, sleeping under a tree side by side. Both boys held serene expressions as they slept. Under the photo was writing, much neater than Lee's used to be but still obviously a child's work.
'Even though we have grown apart, it was really fun to play with you, Lee. No matter what, we'll always be friends, even if one of us (or both of us) forgets. Good luck to you and your dream of being a ninja. I'll always be cheering for you to become the first ninja without ninjutsu. Maybe when things aren't so busy, we can hang out again.
From your best friend forever, Shino.'
Lee reread the letter several times. He sniffled dramatically. Oh, what could have caused them to grow apart? Perhaps time just wore down the friendship of two children with differing personalities and backgrounds? How could such a seemingly strong friendship perish so easily?
He closed the old album and put it away in a box along with all the other albums. He placed his empty mug in the sink, and then turned back to gaze at the box of albums.
"Maybe when things aren't so busy, we can hang out again."
He thought about the last sentence of the letter for a moment before an idea came to mind. He snatched the green album and pulled the book close to his face as he scanned through the pages.
"Ah ha!!" Grinning, Lee read the text on one of the pages near the beginning.
"Today me and Shino went firefly catching...—blah blah... Here it is—... and so me and Shino traded phone numbers.'" Lee glanced underneath the writing, and sure enough, a phone number was hastily written there.
Lee ran out into his living room and sat himself down on the couch. He picked up his phone and punched in the numbers. He then waited nervously as the sound of ringing filled his earpiece.
Their friendship wasn't broken; it was just merely on hold.
On the other side of town, Mr. Aburame was walking through his house when the phone rang. No one ever called the Aburame clan. Ever. So needless to say, it was a bit shocking that the phone was evidently ringing. Turning his body to fully face the phone, he leaned forward to exam it. Perhaps it was broken? Another ring startled him. This was an incredible event! It was to be handled with great care, the man decided. Of course, while all this happened, Mr. Aburame's son, Shino, was watching.
Shino stood by the entrance to the living room, leaning against the wall as he observed his father and his strange antics. "Father, what are you doing?"
Alarmed, the man in question jumped back and away from the phone, arms crossed in defensive mode. Mr. Aburame's head snapped to the side to stare at his son. "Shino… There's someone calling…"—another ring resounded in the room—"…someone calling us."
Raising a brow, Shino wondered if there was perhaps something wrong with his father's mental health. "Yes, father, maybe you should pick it up?" He suggested as he watched his father think it over.
"Hm… Indeed." Picking up the phone, Mr. Aburame hesitantly held it to his ear. He glanced over at his son for reassurance. Shino smacked his head against the wall. He motioned for his father to say something. Mr. Aburame opened his mouth and with a timid voice, he spoke into the phone. "H…Hello…?"
Shino smacked his head a little harder against the wall and wondered if his clan was a bit too anti-social.
On the other side of the line with Lee, the teen looked at the phone strangely in puzzlement. "Mr. Aburame?"
There was a squeak of panic, "It knows who I am! It knows who we are! It must be some spirit of a ninja our family killed!"
Another voice, presumably Shino, could be heard along side with Mr. Aburame in the background "… Father, perhaps you should give me the pho—"
"Don't be a hero, son! Who knows whom, or what, is on the other side!"
Sounds of a struggle started as the conversation on the other line continued,
"Just give me—"
"No, son! The spirit might try to take your soul through it!"
"Dad! I'm quite sure it's not the dead on the other side, now just hand over"—Someone grunted —"the phone!"
"No!! The spirit—"
Lee interrupted, fidgeting a bit "Uh…Hello?"
"IT SPEAKS!"
"Of course it speaks!" Shino's voice cried. "It's a phone!"
"We must purify it!! Holy water!!"
"No, dad!! That's not holy water! It's not even—"
A sudden sizzling and crashing sound could be heard before the line went dead.
Lee stared at the phone and gently set it down. "…Maybe I should call later…"
Thanks again to Strudel Ninja! Drop a review people!