Sweaty wet heat pressed down on Kiba as he made his way down the long winding path to his destination. Beside him Akamaru was steadily plodding along, long tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted. Kiba wished his tongue was long enough to just hang out comfortably too – he could really do with some way to cool down. He'd already opted to leave his jacket at home, but had kept his mesh shirt on for the sake of 'modesty'. Honestly, he would have liked to forgo that as well, but he'd be seeing Hinata at some point that day, and the last time she'd seen him shirtless and sweaty, well…suffice to say it was lucky she was on her period. Those two spare tampons in her jacket probably had saved her from bleeding out from that nosebleed.
Kiba sniggered to himself, and Akamaru made an inquisitive noise. Kiba barked back quietly and Akamaru just shook his head – it was too hot to bother about whatever nonsense his brother was thinking about.
Turning the last corner, Kiba came up to his destination – the Aburame compound, surrounded by a tall hedge that Kiba knew, from experience, was hiding a near lethal amount of spikes behind the deceptively calm foliage. While the other ninja clan compounds were surrounded by fences and walls, the Aburame clan originally had forgone such a measure for the sake of a more natural blending into the village. Unfortunately, only a few decades after joining Konoha, animosity and a rash of vandalism towards them had forced their hand. Various clan members had planted and tended this organic wall that now towered far over Kiba's head. He shielded his eyes and looked up, just in time to see a swallow on top of the hedge trill once before setting off.
Amidst the oily-dark leaves of the hedge was nestled a cherry-wood set of double doors, a plain knocker set into the middle. Made of good materials, but not ostentatious or arrogant, like the Aburame themselves.
Kiba skipped the knocking stage and simply pushed one of the doors open; the doors showed their maintenance in that there was no stick, and the hinges moved silently. Yet, despite his stealthy entrance, Kiba had barely stuck his nose into the compound when a figure popped up in front of him.
"Good evening, Kiba. Cousin is in the Upper Garden, if you are looking for him." The man announced without preamble; he didn't seem surprised at all to see Kiba there. Kiba, in turn, wasn't surprised by the man's appearance either.
He chuckled and scratched the sweat-damp hairs on his neck.
"Cheers, Muta. C'mon Akamaru." Muta nodded at Kiba as he went past, Akamaru pausing to momentarily nudge his leg with his nose before following Kiba.
The Aburame Clan was vastly different from the other clan grounds in Konoha. The Inuzuka compound was untamed and grew wildly in all directions, while the Nara fields were kept level by the deer eating the grass. The Hyuuga houses were always sparkling clean and the grounds were kept under strict control, probably down to a centimetre if Kiba was inclined to measure it (which he wasn't). The Uchiha compound, from what he could remember, had very little nature in it at all, instead mimicking a small village itself.
The Aburame compound was a perfect blend of home and wilderness. The housing was all interconnected, the family members all living in the same building, although different parts of the building were considered different 'houses'. The building itself was raised off the ground and surrounded at different points by a bamboo platform. Meanwhile, outside, nature grew in abundance. The grounds were divided up into different gardens – Aburame members seemed to have an instinctive green thumb, but instead of beauty, they cultivated these gardens as habitats for the different kinds of insects they bred. These also happened to include quite a few herbs, leading to a lot of medicines and poisons being made in-house, with some portion of these also going to Konoha hospital. For being a very reserved clan, they had quite a widespread, if subtle, presence in Konoha.
Kiba made his way through the long grass, hands brushing over the tips of the stalks as he moved, keeping one eye on Akamaru to make sure he didn't jump into any hives or beds…again. Normally, the grounds would be confusing to any newcomers, but he could probably navigate the place with his eyes closed at this point. It had taken surprisingly little effort to bully Shino into letting him come to his house once, which then turned into a second time and, well, Shino's family was nice, if a bit quiet. Hinata was very nervous around Kiba's family members, who could be on the wild side, so the Aburame house had become somewhat of a study/hangout place when they didn't have to train. The Hyuuga compound was obviously out of the question. Kiba scowled to himself at the thought.
His little walk eventually took him to the Upper Garden. While most of the Aburame gardens served a purpose of either growing food or providing for the insects, it was also traditional that the Head Family tend a garden of their own, growing an aesthetic garden as a sort of meditative exercise. Apparently one could tell a lot from what flowers someone planted (at least that's what Muzo Aburame had told him one day, but Kiba couldn't see it – he'd sort of gone off flowers after he'd eaten a dandelion as a kid just to find out he was severely allergic. It had put a sort of dampener on things).
Being mid-August, whatever flowers had been planted were in full bloom. Kiba could see waves of yellow interspersed with circles and waves of white and pink. There seemed to be a pattern of some sorts, but Kiba wasn't really the type of person to deeply appreciate this sort of thing.
Edging around the first thick bed of flowers, Kiba spotted Shino himself, kneeling with his knees planted firmly in the soil, moving the dirt around with a small trowel.
Again, he'd been sure he was silent, but almost as soon as he'd seen him, Shino turned and stood, acknowledging his friend.
"Kiba." He greeted. Shino locked his knees just in time as Akamaru barrelled into his legs, jumping up to put his paws on Shino's chest, nosing him in the chest. When they'd first become a genin team, Akamaru had tried licking Shino's face but had learned his lesson quickly when he'd ended up with a mouthful of kikaichu instead. Shino may have the patience of a saint, but apparently the line was drawn at 'allowing a dog to slobber all over y glasses'.
"What are you doing here?" He asked Kiba, carding a hand through Akamaru's fur absently as the nindog sat down on four legs again, to contently enjoy his ear-scratched from Shino.
Kiba considered his friend – he'd sounded tired, even though his tone of voice wouldn't have sounded any different to a stranger. Usually, inside the compound Shino was more upbeat – well, his own version of upbeat at least. He didn't look different, apart from his attire. Sure, the Aburame ran cold nearly all the time, but with the sun pounding heat down like today, even Shino had apparently made a concession; his feet were bare, toes brown from his digging into the soil. His heavy coat and full trousers had been exchanged for a pair of knee length shorts and an unravelling t-shirt, as well as a wide-brimmed hat. Without his hitai-ate, his hair was pushed forward and down by the hat, a few damp curls sticking to his sweating face. He looked more relaxed than usual, yet there was something, something that was making him unhappy. Kiba knew what it was, but how to approach this…
"I ran into Ino today-"
"That explains it." Shino said, his brows furrowing over his glasses – the same kind he'd worn as a genin instead of his mission-standard goggles. He abruptly turned and knelt back down by the flower bed, digging his trowel into the dirt again. Kiba floundered for a second and Akamaru whined, padding up next to Shino and settling himself down, resting his head against Shino's knee.
"Look man, I wanted to, I dunno, I just wanted to be here in case you wanted to talk? I mean, I know you have it worse, I mean at least my dad's probably alive somewhere, not like your mum-" He stopped as Shino laid down his trowel with a small sigh, sitting back on his heels.
"One shouldn't compare the pain of two people's absences. Why? Because it does a disservice to everyone involved." He said.
Kiba and Shino lapsed into silence for a moment. Kiba cleared his throat awkwardly.
"So…what kind of flowers are you growing?" He asked, casting about for a topic.
Shino ran his finger over one waxy petal.
"Chrysanthemums. They were my mother's favourite – father and I plant them so they bloom around this time every year."
Kiba frowned.
"Chrysanthemums…but aren't they an insect repellent?" A random bit of trivia that Hana had drilled into him. He'd brought their mum a vase of them for her birthday once at Ino's suggestion. Hana had stopped him from going to the Aburame house that day until he'd been thoroughly hosed down – it would just be like him to walk into an bug-clan's home doused in insect repellent flower scents.
Shino just shrugged. He reached for a pair of shears and carefully leaned down to cut a long flower at the stem. He took it and gently laid it on a small pile of beautiful flowers chrysanthemums beside him. There were a few more piles, separated by the species – Kiba recognised a few of the herb piles from some of the Lower gardens.
"She married into the clan. It was an unfortunate coincidence. Once she had married my father, she did not grow or buy them, out of respect of our family culture. However, father has grown them yearly since her death. They do not affect the clan's kikaichu. Why? Because this far up they are removed enough from the other habitat gardens to be harmless." He explained.
"Huh. Whatcha gonna do with the ones you cut up?"
Shino stood up and wiped his hands on his shorts.
"I will be visiting the Yamanakas later to donate them. Father told me mother had a close friendship with Inoichi-san, and that she would always give him a portion of the plants we grow. I have taken to doing the same, although Ino-san is more inclined towards the carnations." He nodded his head towards a small square of the flower-bed. Amongst the yellow heads of the chrysanthemums, the deep crimson of the carnations stood out like blood on satin. He'd obviously been growing the flowers specifically for Ino.
Kiba opened his mouth to make a rude innuendo, but, fortuitously, a shy voice interrupted him from behind.
"Ah. G-good evening, Kiba-kun, Sh-shino-kun."
Kiba turned with a grin.
"Hey 'nata!"
"Good evening, Hinata. May I ask why you are here?"
It didn't escape Kiba's notice that his greeting was a lot nicer to Hinata than himself. Hinata smiled at her friends.
"U-um, Kiba-kun suggested we could d-do something today?"
"Yeah! I got an idea. Hey 'nata wanna help Shino and me deliver some flowers?" He stuck his thumbs at the piles of flowers. There was silence from Shino, but by now both Kiba and Hinata were well-versed in Shino Silences. This was Silence Number 6 – 'You are doing something nice, but I have the emotional capacity of a kunai, so I'm not going to say anything and just let you do it, you goof'. Kiba may have been paraphrasing somewhat.
Hinata looked over at the flowers.
"Oh! Th-they're beautiful. You're very good at gardening, Shino-kun." She complemented. Shino inclined his head.
"Thank you, however, you should give your praise to others. Why? Because the majority of these plants were grown by my cousins." He explained.
As Hinata flushed in embarrassment, Shino moved from his spot, winding his way between the flower beds until he reached a specific place. Bending down, he did something Kiba and Hinata couldn't see. He returned, and silently put out his hand. Kiba and Hinata instinctively accepted the flowers, as Shino abruptly pulled away, already walking away as he spoke.
"Excuse me. I am going to change. Why? Because if we are to go to the Yamanaka's, this is not appropriate attire. I will only be a moment." He said as he briskly walked away.
Kiba frowned at his friend's sudden departure, exchanging a puzzled glance with Akamaru, who just cocked his head. He turned to Hinata, to see her looking down at the flower with a small smile on her face.
"Hina?"
"Peonies. Th-they represent nobility, respect and good fortune. It's very…Shino." She said gently.
Kiba looked down at the delicate pink petals in his hand, then back at the blooming garden around them. Chrysanthemums in honour and love for his mother. Carnations for his friend and the daughter of his mother's friend. Peonies representing Shino's deepest feelings of friendship for them.
Maybe Muzo Aburame was right after all – you really could tell a lot about a person and what they hold dear from the flowers they planted.