Chapter Two!

If you do not remember what happened in Chapter One, try reading the last paragraph or two to remember!

Thank you :3

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"Mai! Mai wake up!" Rika had snuck into the bug boy's room when he had left. She tried waking her sister, wanting to get her out of Konoha ASAP. She jumped into her battle stance when the door creaked open.

Shino pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes tightly shut. Opening them slowly, he still saw two of the same person in his room. "Twins...?" Rika clenched the kunai in her hands, "...What do you plan to do?" was the only thing that came from Shino's mouth. Rika was surprised by his sudden question, "I plan on getting my sister out of here!" she yelled in a low voice.

Rika paled when the larger Aburame entered the room, "So Mai is human? And the culprit? but who is the other?" Shino jumped away from his father, startled, "There were two of them. She is the flute user..." Shibi raised a brow, "Why are they in here...? Shino, you know that hiding the enemy is high treason." Shino could only stare at Mai and bite his lip.

She took a step toward Shino; both Aburames' raised their defenses, "If I turn myself into you... Will you let Mai go?" She knew Shibi's answer, "You both hurt shinobi of fire... You are both guilty--" Rika cut him off, "Mai only injured that Sai guy! I attacked everyone else! And it's not like I killed them anyways!" She dug herself a deeper grave with each word; Shibi's glare was proof of that.

"Where is the other?" the angered voice of Tsunade echoed through her office. Rika stood before her, Shibi behind her. ANBU surrounded the building, Rika sighed as Shibi spoke, "The other is at my house. Shino is watching her right now."

"Why didn't you bring her?"

"She's unconscious and I felt it would be a good lesson for my son. He needs to learn how to deal with the situation he's gotten himself in." was his confession. Rika looked at the Hokage, "May I interject?" she nodded, "Mai only attack Sai... I injured everyone else... I know that is not an excuse, but she doesn't deserve to be jailed!" Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "You are a missing nin from mist, are you not?" Rika gave her a look, "What? OH! Haha!" Rika laughed, "My sister and I can combine as one, and when we do our headbands are one as well and it hangs around our waist. When we were joined on a mission, we were attacked and got a slash through the metal."

After hours of interrogation, Tsunade and Rika finally came to a compromise. "What about Mai?" Rika asked the Hokage, "She will stay with Shino, seeing as she was given to him while she was as a cat. I know that may seem cruel, but it is the lightest punishment I could think of." Rika nodded, "Thank you very much."

"Why are you doing this to me...?" Shino sighed. "Shino... Your insects chose her. They could have revealed her true self before she even ended up in this house, but they chose not to." Shino was stunned at what his father was telling him. "Even if she hid her chakra, it wouldn't matter."

He was back in his room, staring at the girl on his bed. When she stirred in her slumber his face heated up and his clothing clung to his body. Mai let out a long moan. Shino fell back against the wall, his breath stuck in his throat. His hand gripped his stomach and his body felt like it was on fire. Shino fled from his room to the bathroom down the hall.

When Shino came back with a wet towelette he sat down at his desk, trying to calm himself. "Where am I?" he spun around, his chair screeching against the floor. Mai was sitting up in his bed, the cloth band aids that covered the mesh around her chest loosening. "Mai?" before he knew what he was doing, Shino had jumped from his spot, dashed to the bed, and pinned Mai down when he saw her reaching for a kunai in her pouch.

They stared at each other for what seemed like eternity, Shino's face falling slowly toward Mai's. His lips hovered over hers, brushing lightly together. Without warning, Mai let out a scream, kicking Shino off of her and running away from him. She crouched in the corner to the left of his bed, a kunai in each hand while she rocked back and forth, breathing heavy. "Mai?" he barely questioned as she yelled back, "STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

A knock on his door caused Shino to cautiously sneak over, his eyes on her kunai. Once out of his room, he met his father, "By the way... Rika mentioned that Mai had a bad experience with a man... she's terrified of them." Shino wanted to jump his father, "Why couldn't you tell me this BEFORE SHE TRIED TO KILL ME!" he hissed. His father only laughed and walked away, leaving Shino to fume and carefully get back into his room.

Rika tensed, her heart palpitated roughly, "Mai?!" she whispered out worriedly. Rika took a few steps from her bed to the prison door, her hands wrapping around the cold metal. "If only I knew what was going on outside of this prison..." she rested her forehead against the bars, her head only lifting when she heard the chuckle of the guard."So we meet again... only this time you are restrained... No darts, no poisons..." Rika gave the man a blank stare, "Izumo... quit taunting me..." she demanded."I can still kill you..." he laughed, "how?"

Placing her thumb and middle finger to her lips, she gently blew, a high whistle coming forth. "Whistling? You plan on killing me by whistling?" he could've laughed again if it weren't for the lack of air in his lungs as Rika stole his breath. Remembering her pact with Tsunade, she lowered her fingers, Izumo left trying to regain his composure, "Okay... That sucked..." He tensed when she flashed him a smirk, "I can make you lose your breath in other ways too..." her eyes glazed over and lips shimmering from saliva. She pressed against the bars, running her tongue over her teeth with a seducing grin in her eyes.

Izumo swallowed. His throat dry. "Yo! Izumo!" he gave a sigh of relief when his partner appeared. "Kotetsu! Thank god..." Rika pouted, her brows knotted with anger. "Hey nose!" Kotetsu cringed when Rika called to him, "Why don't you go check on my sister!" it was much more of a demand than a question; the look in Rika's eyes frightening. "Err... How about no?" she figured he'd say that, "Don't you care about Shino?" the two friends were interested now, "Mai is with Shino... All alone, in his room... He'll be dead by dinner!" what she said was only half a lie. If Shino really did do anything to her, he'd already be dead. "But you both can't go... you gotta watch me too!" her tone of voice was playful.

Kotetsu gave in, leaving Izumo to deal with Rika while he went off to 'save' Shino.

She was giggling. Izumo was frightened. Before him was Rika, a powerful shinobi from Mist, possible connection to the late Zabuza... He wasn't frightened... he was petrified. "Izu! ...mo!" she recited his name in a flirtatious way. "What are you doing?" he demanded of her when her hands disappeared behind her back. When she didn't answer he grabbed a kunai, only to stop when the white cloth around her bosom loosened.

Now the only thing covering her upper half were the fishnet shirt and the long sleeve covering her entire right arm. She sauntered up to the bars, her expression that of lust. Beckoning her guard with her index finger, she clung to the bars as if trying to melt through them to get to the shinobi before her. "I'll take your breath away in ways you'd never imagine..." her low sultry voice broke Izumo, his body up against the bars. Their lips touched, only for a brief moment before Rika slid down the bars and took Izumo's breath away.

He normally enjoyed silence. But this time silence was killing him. "Do you want anything?" Shino heard himself ask. Whatever this girl has done to him, he doesn't like it. Ever since the whole cat incident, Shino lost his stoic. His brown eyes were locked on her quivering figure, "You are my guest... just tell me what you," he was cut off by her crude response, "I am your pet... I am not your guest! I am and intruder! Your Hokage had the greatest idea of punishment by making me your fucking PET!" her anger filled words hit him like stars. "If you're his pet... then you have to listen to what he tells you!" Both looked at the window, the sight of Kotetsu and Kiba causing both to tense, each for different reasons.

Kiba bounced in, his focus on Shino, "Shit man! You're sexy!" he chuckled, "I'd LOVE to be your pet!" Kotetsu rolled his eyes, ignoring them and sending all of his attention onto Mai. He reached down to grab her by the arm; the feeling of Shino's gaze on his back not causing him to falter.

Shibi burst into the room when the commotion was too much. Destruction bugs covered the walls and began to create a barrier between Mai and Kotetsu. The ANBU spun around to face the head of the clan, his eyes filled with rage, "What are you doing? Don't you realize that you are putting your son in danger by having this criminal in here?" his only response was a cold glare, "Get. Out."

Kotetsu grit his teeth, not wanting to leave, but not wanting to get on the Aburames' bad side. Without warning he lunged through the barrier, driving a kunai into chest. An abrupt pain in his intestines caused him to fall back onto Shino's bed. Mai grasped him by the throat and threw him outside, careful as to not break the window.

His eyes gazed up at the sky, the sun's light blinding him from seeing the features on Mai's face as she stood over him; her right foot pressed into his gut, the dirt mingling with the red blood cells. What he had struck was a water clone she had made the minute Shino left the room.

After gathering the strength to get away from the Mist Shinobi, Kotetsu stood confidently. Mai didn't move for the longest time. Each waited for an opening, and when Mai saw her opponent falter ever so slightly from the wound she gave him, she moved.

Before he could even put up his defenses, Kotetsu was knocked to the ground. The wound he had received prior was causing him great discomfort. He heard Shibi chuckling, this greatly unnerved him, but Shibi's next move allowed him to breath easier, "Shino! Stop her." The command was subtle and the young bug user hesitated for only a moment before entering the battle. Kiba followed, if only to save Kotetsu, but entered none the less.

"Mai!" her rage filled gaze fell to Kiba who had yelled her name. She looked past the canine to see Shino releasing his destruction bugs. The look on his face made her spine shiver and her face flush. Without thinking, she fled to the nearby forest.

Shino called off his bugs, causing Kiba to flip, "Why didn't you chase after her?" he practically shouted in his ear. "Earlier… I placed a female on her… So I can track her later… Right now we should tend to Kotetsu." Said ninja stood. Clearing his throat to speak, "Don't worry about me… What if she gets away?" Shino wanted to punch him, "I said I have a female bug on her, I'll let her calm down first. I'd rather her escape than risk my life while she is still riled up."

Kiba laughed, "Whatever man… If you need help, just call on me. Can you walk?" he directed the rest of his patience to Kotetsu, who nodded. "Later bug freaks!" Shino cringed at the oh so old pet name as Kiba and Kotetsu left the scene.

After running for what felt like an hour, Mai came to a stop at a nearby lake. The area was a vast clearing, the terrain was rocky and the water clear as the sky. The young Mist Ninja found a comfortable spot to rest and catch her throughts, her mind running wild with crazy images of what happened the past few days. Yule was barely a week away and yet the heavens seemed to have neglected that fact. Winter started in less than two days, their mission was taking longer than expected of them. Mai exhaled, her heart heavy with failure.

She drew her legs in, wrapping her arms around her knees and resting her chin upon them. Across her arm the female destruction bug walked. "A tracker..." yet again Mai exhaled, her heart acheing with failure once more. How could she have been so careless? Rika sacrificed herself for her, and what does she do? Fail. Mai was supposed to be the perfect one, the one without any flaws -- completely stoic... There was something about Konoha that caused her wall to break; or perhaps it was already broken from before.

Mai let her heavy lids fall shut, her lungs filled to the brim with crisp cool air; she began to reminince.

Sunagakure, The Land of Wind. Mai and Rika were instructed to meet with a client at the capital of the city there. Rika had and advantage on the mission, her power source that of wind. Due to the dry climate and desert like area, there was hardly any water Mai could manipulate; especially during battle. While on their mission, the two were able to have fun in the village. It just so happened that a festival was going on that week so the streets were filled with excited people. During the commotion, Mai went missing. Rika was on her own and didn't realize her sister was in danger. She only noticed Mai was missing later that night. Thinking she was just out and having fun, it didn't bother her too much. The next morning Rika was tense. Mai wasn't back and the two had a job to complete. When the two met up again, Mai's right sleeve was torn off, her body beaten, and her chakra drained. The culprit was never found and Mai has never been the same.

"Hey..." Mai didn't need to look at the boy as he sat down next to her. "...run off again and you'll have the whole military after you." Mai couldn't help but laugh at his words, "Why should I care? I've already lost..." She could feel his frown, "Shino..." her voice was steady. Mai turned to face the other, "...I hate you." Shino's heart twitched and his body moved on it's own, his lips pressing against his pet's. He pulled slowly away, his glasses shining from the sun, "Will you come back with me?" both swallowed, "...sure."

-end chapter 2-