The next day, the unthinkable happens.

Inuzuka realizes that they have study hall together.

"—Seriously Hinata you wouldn't believe the sort things they find in dog's stomachs! One time Hana—Whoa, whoa, whoa, Shino! You have Study hall too?"

It was yet another of those rare instances in which Shino regrets not being the type to curse.

"Unfortunately."

"I know right? It's so boring!" Inuzuka whines, dropping into the seat across the table from Shino. "Hey Hinata, don't just stand there looking gorgeous, take a seat and introduce yourself!"

The girl who Inuzuka had been speaking to before, presumably Hinata, turns a rather unhealthy looking shade of red at the comment, but sits hesitantly and stares down into her lap. "S-S-Sorry to int-trude…" She says near silently.

Oh. Shino thinks grimly. One of those types.

In the interest of not sending the girl into a baseless, guilt-induced emotional meltdown, Shino closes his book and tries to put up a pleasant front.

"Don't worry about it."

Silence pervades only as long as Inuzuka will allow it, sighing long-sufferingly.

"I should have expected this…" He leans over and grabs either side of Hinata's head, forcing her to look up at Shino. "Hinata, this is Shino. Shino, say hi."

"…Hi."

"Shino, this is Hinata. Hinata, say hi."

"H-Hello…?"

"Although, for recognition's sake, maybe I should introduce her like this." He laughs, turning her head back down, looking in her lap.

"K-Kiba!" Hinata stutters indignantly, struggling and managing to catch his chin solidly with her elbow, sending him off balance and tumbling backwards out of his chair. Laughter and scattered applause fill the room, accompanied shortly thereafter with the customary chorus of Ooooohs and some bizarre snapping gesture that Shino had never bothered to learn the mechanics of.

Inuzuka, meanwhile, recovers quickly with a sort of animalistic grace, and even takes a few exaggerated bows, meeting both praise and ridicule with an idiot's smile and staged humility.

The rest of the class returns to their business with remarkable speed as Kiba takes his seat again, still smiling, and Hinata bombards him with Are you okay?s and I'm so sorry!s.

"Easy there Hinata, I'm harder to kill than that! Besides I was practically asking for it." Inuzuka leans towards Shino in an exaggerated aside. "I think it goes without saying now, but despite her docile looks, she's got some kind of trippy, ancient Chinese kung-fu magic going for her so don't get on her bad side!"

Hinata gives him a very practiced, fondly exasperated look.

"Perhaps it would behoove you to take your own advice." Shino deadpans and Inuzuka just laughs.

"Nah man, Hinata and I are cool, right Hinata?"

She smiles indulgently and nods with a slight hum in acknowledgement.

"Hinata! Here you were. I was starting to get worried!"

Behind Hinata, two girls have appeared. Shino vaguely recalls that one of them is Sakura and the other is Ino, but can't for the life of him remember which is which.

The pink haired one, who had spoken before, seems to notice the other two for the first time, acknowledging them with a thinly pleasant smile that doesn't quite mask her discomfort.

The blond one is not so tactful.

"Geez Hinata! Why are you hanging out with these two? Come on, I brought that dress catalogue you asked for! Can you believe that Sakura thinks she'd look good in blue?" Ino (presumably) drags her off without any real chance to get in a word edgewise, Sakura following, and Hinata sends the boys an apologetic smile before trying to stem the imminent catfight between her friends.

"I'll never understand why she's friends with them." Inuzuka says after a moment of awed silence, turning to see Shino absorbed in his book again. He clicks his tongue irritably.

"Oh, so I'm getting the book treatment again, huh?"

Shino gives no response and he pouts slightly, propping his head up on his arm in the very image of boredom.

"What are you reading that's so interesting anyways?"

Shino holds up the intimidatingly thick book to reveal its title: The Encyclopedia of Flying Insects.

"Oh, it's bugs again— Hey wait! You were actually listening?"

Shino doesn't look up from the book. "Probably."

He hears Inuzuka snort after a moment. "You're an unexpectedly cheeky bastard, you know that?"

This time Shino looks up. "You have no obligation to socialize with me."

"No, no, cheeky is good. It means you're actually human."

Shino raises an eyebrow at that. "Sorry to have left you in suspense."

"I'm sure you are, but being the infinitely gracious sort of person I am, I'll try to put it behind me."

"I am forever indebted." He says sarcastically, and Inuzuka smiles.

"So you're real into bugs huh? You gonna be a bug scientist or something?"

"Entomologist."

"Gesundheit?"

Shino puts his book down again. "The term you're looking for is entomologist, someone who studies insects."

"Oh." Inuzuka pauses for a moment. "I like dogs, is there a fancy word for someone who studies dogs, too?"

Shino pauses, hand hovering near his mouth as he considers it. "I'm not familiar with a specific term, but there is most likely some variation, probably derived from a similar root as canine."

The look that Inuzuka is giving him is entirely too amused for Shino's tastes, smiling impishly into his palm in a poor attempt to be subtle. "What?"

"Oh nothing…" The other boy says mock innocently and quickly changes the subject. "So you know how you were forever indebted to me for my forgiveness? I know how we can make it even."

"Oh?"

"Call me Kiba, Inuzuka is so impersonal."

There might be a reason for that. Shino thinks bitterly. "I'll call you God if you'll shut up and let me read."

Oh wait… He remembers belatedly. That's right, I'm supposed to be being sociable so it will be easier to distract him for Sasuke…

To his surprise Inuzuka seems unfazed.

"Hah! Also tempting, but no, we wouldn't want my true identity getting out like that."

Shino continues gingerly. "Fine, may I continue reading in peace, Kiba?"

Kiba seems to consider it in an over exaggerated fashion. "Well… Alright I'll let you off the hook just this once, 'kay?"

Shino blinks. Wait, what?

"Hmm… Oh! I know, I'll go bother Tenten and Neji. They look bored." Kiba says aloud, wandering off just as abruptly as he had arrived.

Shino stares after him for a moment almost a little surprised that he actually left.

Good riddance. He tells himself firmly, and actually starts reading this time.


"—I backed down a little for even one second, and he's all over it like he's proved something and—"

Shino turns the page, finishing up a chapter about bot flies and finally turns more than half his attention to Sasuke's griping.

"In other words," Shino interjects, summarizing in one sentence what the other boy has been complaining about for the past half hour. "you've tried all manner of subtlety, showmanship, praise, and dismissal to get your intentions across to him, all to no avail."

Sasuke gives him a somewhat deadpan look. "Have I ever mentioned how freaky being able to read and listen to someone at the same time is?"

"Numerous times. Don't avoid the question."

Sasuke looks away vaguely irritably. "Yeah."

"Have you tried just being straight about it?"

He glares. "Say 'no pun intended' or I might have to punch you."

"What do you think?" Shino says shortly. "And don't avoid the question."

"…No." He mutters finally.

"So what's stopping you? Pride?"

Sasuke glares again, but looks away and doesn't say anything.

"Maybe that's your problem?"

His head snaps around again as if to say something, but stops short. Shino follows his gaze up to the front of the room, where Ms. Yuuhi is standing, arms crossing and foot tapping impatiently.

She gives them a faintly resigned pout. "Look you two, I know better than to think that you would wouldn't be able to ask any question I could ask right now, but if you simply must gossip, at least go do it outside." She uncrosses her arms and gestures towards the door, tilting her hips in a way that makes many boys in the class swoon.

Sasuke gives her a vaguely venomous look, grabbing his books and exiting quickly with an air of badass-ery that makes many girls in the class swoon.

Shino gathers his things quietly and far less moodily, giving Ms. Yuuhi a brief Excuse us. as he leaves, and not so surprisingly, no one swoons.

He joins Sasuke outside and they silently agree to wander the halls.

"You two again?" Officer Hagane says incredulously from behind them. "How badly must you two suck at biology that you get thrown out almost every other day?"

"On the contrary—" Shino starts.

"Yeah, yeah, you two have the highest grades in the class. I heard in from Kurenai herself and I still can believe it. I mean damn, stay for the view if nothing else. That lady's got one hell of a fine a—"

"Kotetsu, what has the principal said about chattering with students?" Officer Kamizuki says unmistakably crossly, rounding the corner just ahead of them. "I swear to god if I get chewed out one more time because you were fuc—…goofing off…"

"Alright, alright, I hear ya. Seriously though guys, make me an' Izumo's job easier an' be good, okay?" He says nonchalantly, the two school police officers turning down another hall saying something about the physics teacher and jealous boyfriends.

Sasuke, notably unimpressed by the near habitual exchange, begins walking again, brooding in his usual manner.

"Thinking about it?" Shino ventures, following unobtrusively.

"Yeah," The other boy says bitterly. "Thinking I must be some kind of idiot trying to get relationship advice from the school recluse."

"Wonderful, now you have something in common with Uzumaki." Shino says dryly, but sighs after a sharp glare and moment of contemplation. "Perhaps try approaching him somewhere where he'll be less likely to respond belligerently on principle alone. He most likely has his pride as well."

Sasuke considers it for a moment, but frowns. "And what kind of place would that be, Dr. Love?"

"Not my problem. You're the lovesick schoolboy."

They've both stopped at this point, glaring each other down.

"Whatever." Sasuke sneers finally, which is about the closest thing to a thank you that Shino is going to get.


female dragonfly lay eggs in or near water, often on floating or emergent plants. When laying eggs, some species will submerge themselves completely in order to lay their eggs on a more advantageous surface. The eggs then hatch into nymphs—

"—these assholes who where laughing the whole time because of Fuzzy Brows' Power of Youth spiel, and god, you should have seen their faces after he plowed them over for the winning touchdown. It was fucking priceless."

The majority of the dragonfly's life is spent in this naiad form, beneath the water's surface, using extendable jaws to catch other invertebrates or even vertebrates such as tadpoles, fish, etc. Some nymphs even hunt on land, an aptitude which could easily have been more common in ancient times when terrestrial predators were clumsier—

"Nonsense, Naruto! In a Battle of True Sportsmen, there is no winning or losing, merely the Spirit of Teamwork, the Joy of Competition, and—!"

The larval stage of large dragonflies may last as long as five years. In smaller species, this stage may last between two months and three years—

"The Sweet, Sweet Sting of Vengance!"

"No Kiba it's The—!"

When the larva is ready to metamorphose into an adult, it climbs up a reed or other emergent plant. Exposure to air causes the larvae to begin breathing. The skin splits at a weak spot behind the head and—

"Can I please interrupt this completely inane conversation and ask why the fuck you guys are sitting at our table again?"

"What do you mean your table? I don't see Arrogant Prick written on it anywhere!"

"What did you say you—?"

the adult dragonfly crawls out of its old larval skin, pumps up its wings, and flies off to feed on midges and flies. The adult stage of larger species of dragonfly can last as long as five or six months—

"Please Good Friends! Now is not The Time for Quarrel it—"

Damselflies (suborder Zygoptera) are often confused with newly moulted dragonflies but once a dragonfly molts it is fully grown. There are other distinct things that set them apart such as—

"Ugh you guys are so troubleso—"

most damselflies hold their wings at rest together above the torso or held slightly open above (such as in the family Lestidae), whereas most dragonflies at rest hold their wings horizontally or occasionally slightly down and forward—

"BASTARD!"

"DUMBASS!"

Also, the back wing of the dragonfly broadens near the base, caudal to the connecting point at the body, while the back wing of the damselfly is similar to the front wing—

"Look, I hate to interrupt your foreplay, but—"

"DAMN IT, IT'S NOT FOREPLAY!" "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU INUZUKA!"

The eyes on a damselfly are apart; in most dragonflies the eyes touch—

"Dude, holy shit, calm down Uchiha! HEEL! HEEL!"

Notable exceptions are the—

"GET BACK HERE YOU DUMB MUTT!"

Petaluridae (Petaltails) and—

"EEK! SHINO SAVE ME!"

And thus Shino finds himself suddenly burdened with a clingy lapful of panicked Inuzuka, all but smothering himself in his neck and using him as a human shield.

Nothing.

No indignant reaction. No shocked recoil. No sarcastic retort.

Just staring for about five seconds until he decides that Kiba looks amusing when he's blushes.

Shino finally looks away from Kiba and takes in the situation.

It looks like the boy's friends were in the middle of holding Sasuke back when their attention was directed towards himself, and are now gaping in an awed, somewhat fearful manner. Sasuke's expression is notably similar, although more dumb-struck and decidedly less fearful.

Right. Some form of reaction is most likely in order.

Kiba is still, by some bizarre coincidence of how Shino had been holding his book and Kiba's reckless dive into his lap, being held like a princess in his arms and blushing enough to complete the look.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Shino decides that a thin, vaguely irritated response would be fitting.

"Are you quite comfortable, Kiba?"

While this does manage to snap the boy out of whatever trance he had been in, it does not quite yield the desired response. Point of fact it yields rather the opposite response, seeing as Kiba only clings tighter to him and manages to knock the book that had been dangling in his hand to the ground.

"Quite. Man, I don't know if it's the massive jacket or what, but you're really warm."

Shino blinks.

And blinks.

And then blinks one more time for good measure before raising his arm to tip the boy backwards out of his lap, which (because he is sitting on the edge of the bench) sends him tumbling to the ground with a resounding thud.

"MOTHERFUCKER! What the hell was that for you asshole?"

Shino calmly bends over to retrieve his book, brushing some dirt from its cover. "…You made me lose my page."

Kiba actually laughs for reasons Shino may never understand, rolling his shoulders as he stands and looking towards the others.

"You're looking pretty comfy there yourself Naruto." He says jeeringly, referring to the way Naruto is still clinging to Sasuke's stomach to try and hold him back, while the rest had wandered back to their seats once Kiba's wellbeing was no longer in immediate danger.

The two tear away from each other at breakneck speed, doing their best not to look half as embarrassed as they are as the others laugh at their expense.


He's fidgeting.

Kiba is fidgeting in his seat, rubbing at his back, and not paying attention to the lesson at all and Shino has to keep reminding himself that he shouldn't care.

Or maybe I should, since he'll inevitably come to me for help when he doesn't get it.

Yeah, that sounds convincing enough.

Great. Now ignore the undisciplined idiot and focus on the lesson so you'll even understand it yourself.

...

...

...

He's fidgeting again...


"Kiba."

There are many possible follow ups to that statement that Kiba can honestly say he would have seen coming. ( "You have something in your hair.", "Stop bothering me.", "I hate your guts.", "If you die, I'll laugh at your funeral." )

But what he absolutely does not see coming is Shino's terse Hold still, as he pulls up the back of Kiba's shirt and run his hand over the abraded skin from his earlier tumble at lunch.

Fortunately, he manages to strangle down the moan, but unfortunately he is not so successful with the raging blush, and very deliberately does not look back.

"Sh-Shino! Wh-What the hell are you—?"

"It looks fine."

"What?"

"This." Shino lightly drags his finger down a long but shallow scratch running along Kiba's spine, completely ignorant to the shudder it causes. "It's not bad, but you need to stop scratching at it... Kiba are you listening?" Shino asks noting his unresponsiveness, finally taking his hand off Kiba's back and instead turning the other boy to face him. "You're face is somewhat red. Do you feel feverish? It could be a sign of infection. Make sure to have someone help you wash it out and apply some disinfecting ointment when you get home…What?" He questions, finally becoming aware of the Kiba's vacant staring.

"Oh! I er…" Kiba fumbles, scratching at his tattoo self-conciously. "I just… I've never heard you talk this much before..."

"Well in a manner of speaking, it is partially fault…" Shino mumbles, looking away and adjusting his sunglasses in a way that maybekindofalmost might be apologetic, and Kiba can't help the smile that breaks out on his face.

"Apology accepted." He jokes, taking off with a wave and a See ya later Shino! before the other boy can object.


"Oh Kiba, welcome home! How was your day pup?"

"Terrible, it's like I've become the butt of some cosmic joke and everyone's in on it. I got elbowed in the face in Study Hall, I flunked a lit. quiz, got chased around by a homicidal maniac during lunch, scraped up my back, absorbed absolutely nothing from Calculus..."

"That's a pretty shitty day kid, I'm not gonna lie, but if it was so awful then why are you grinning like an idiot?"

"No reason~"

"Oh really now?"

"Yep, I'll be in my room if you need me!"

"…"

"Hey Ma, where—"

"Hana."

"What?"

"Tread lightly tonight, I think your brother's finally lost it."

"Again?"


AN: Hello again everyone~ Sorry I took so long! (I actually have no idea how long it's been, but I can probably safely assume it was too long. D: ) At least it was a sort of longer chapter this time. I hope it wasn't disappointing...

Just to give credit where credit is due, the little excerpts from Shino's "book" are taken almost word for word from Wikipedia. Yes, I'm serious, yes, I'm lazy, and, no, I have no shame. Also how did you guys like Kotetsu and Izumo's cameo? For some reason the idea of them as school cops amuses me. And the physics teacher they were refering to is Asuma. I actually have a chart of who is who/what within the school. I was seriously that bored when first wrote this. (God why are AUs so fun?)

Anyways, you can go look up bot flies if you want, but trust me, you don't. They are some of the nastiest little sons-of-bitches nature has to offer. (Actually that's a total lie, nature totally has worse but just trust me on this one.) You can probably expect at least one or two more spotlights on other various bugs, some of which may or may not be ironic/amusing in context.

And for the record I have no idea if pink hair and green eyes would clash with a blue dress. I am color blind not by physical defect, but because I have got to be the most un-feminine female to ever walk the earth. For real.

Cutting off this long ass/rambling author's note, thanks again to anyone who reviewed or favorite-ed this story! :D I'm really starting to see why some people practically hold their stories ransom for these things, because they really do wonders for motivation. You guys are seriously awesome. :D I'll also go ahead and apologize for how incoherent half of this must be, because it's entirely too late and I should have been sleeping hours ago.

(PS: Does anyone one know of any particularly good SasuNaru/NaruSasu/whatever-the-hell-you-want-to-call-it fics? I'm hoping to include a little more of how their relationship develops too, but I seriously don't know how to handle them. I kind of suck with major characters. Not that I don't suck with minor characters too, just I just suck marginally less. )