Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters affiliated with Naruto.
Notes: This story takes place sometime after the Chuunin Exam saga. Also, for the sake of flexibility and originality, this story does not adhere strictly to the manga storyline.
CHAPTER BEGINS...
"Hinata! Hinataaa!"
Sakura stopped shouting, fearful that the approaching enemy would be able to figure out where they were hiding, lest she shout any more. Shino had already found them, and he was somewhat confused as he crouched down in the bushes next to them.
He whispered, "Why are you calling for Hinata?"
Sakura ignored Shino for now, as she realized Hinata was not answering. She had to try one last time: "Hinataaaaa!"
She waited breathlessly for almost half a minute, but there was still no answer. She then lowered her voice to a worried whisper. "She's not answering!"
Kiba growled, "I know that! Fuck, where is she?!" Akamaru then uttered a mix of barks and whines, and Kiba responded with a succint "Shit!"
Sakura nervously asked, "What did Akamaru just say?"
"He said that he can smell blood in the air."
"Oh my god. You mean - "
"Yeah." Kiba popped a soldier pill into his mouth. "I can smell the blood, too. And I think it's Hinata's blood."
"Can you smell the enemy?! How many are there?!"
"I don't know, but Akamaru says that the enemy is strong. Shino, can you hear anything?"
Sakura turned to see that Shino had his ear pressed to the ground. His eyes were closed shut behind the sunglasses, as he focused on whatever the heck he was listening to... ear still on the ground, he said, "At least three. Maybe four or five. They are approaching too fast for me to hear clearly - they've stopped. No, they're still moving. But they are moving away from us now."
"Huh?" Sakura was confused by Shino's contradictory words. "They were moving towards us, but now they're moving away?"
Kiba snarled, "Damn it, I bet they were after Hinata! Kidnapped!"
"Kidnapped?"
Kiba had no time to explain himself to the disconcerted Sakura, as he stood up with Shino. "We're going after them. Split up into pairs from here. You guys sweep left, we'll sweep right."
"Split up into pairs?" Sakura was fairly spinning from the dizzying turn of events, feeling a bit like a retard standing in the middle of a mensa meeting. "But there's only three of us - "
Kiba shouted, "Come on, Akamaru!" And the little pooch howled a battle cry, jumping down from Kiba's head to stand by his master. And before Sakura knew it, the two had blasted out of the bushes and into the trees above, disappearing in the blink of an eye...
Shino said in as urgent a voice as she had ever heard from him: "Come, Sakura-san. Follow me."
She put aside the questions for now, and she nodded in determination. "Right behind you!"
He nodded, then he too burst out of the bushes, promptly followed by a pink-haired flash. And in a matter of moments, they were flying through the lofty branches, eyes and ears scanning all around for any signs of mischief. Rapidly springing from tree to tree without hesitation, effortlessly negotiating their way through the haphazard network of leaves and woods, covering greater and greater distance with each passing second, moving in a way that only ninjas could.
As they silently moved through the forest, Sakura occasionally glanced at Shino, waiting for an opportunity to address him about what the hell was going on. He did not seem to be in the mood to talk, however. His face was clouded with an eerie fierce intensity, and his intense expression was so uncomfortable to look at, she was discouraged from asking. He did not seem to be anxious, however. He was just being serious. Almost like his normal serious self, except the intensity was magnified tenfold.
His steely nerve was a comforting sight indeed, smoothing down most of the doubts and fears swelling up inside her. Sakura really did want to help Hinata, but still, this was such the impromptu rescue mission. They barely had any idea where they were going. They had absolutely no idea who the enemies were. Just two minutes ago, they had been messing around. And now, Hinata's life was in danger. Possibly.
Afraid that her question would be frivolous and distracting, but too curious to hold it back, she finally asked, "Shino-san, who would want to kidnap Hinata?"
Shino promptly answered, allaying any fears that her question might be annoying to him: "Many wish to learn the secrets of the Byakugan, because it is probably the most unique and powerful bloodline ability of our village. Because of this, when Kiba and I became her teammates, the village leaders told us to keep an eye on her, in case someone made an attempt to extract the Byakugan secrets from her."
"Oh my god, poor Hinata... is this the first time anything has happened to her?"
"No, it is not. Someone once attempted to abduct her when she was five years old."
Sakura sincerely felt sick to her stomach. "They would do that to a little child?!"
"This is reality, Sakura-san. This is how a ninja lives."
Shino suddenly held up a hand, and he pulled up to a halt on the branch of a mighty oak tree. Sakura followed suit, as he unnecessarily made a hand gesture for her to stay silent. He then pressed an ear to the tree trunk, once again doing that strange listening thing of his -
A faint shrill scream sounded from the distance. Sakura didn't need any special listening abilities to hear that one, and she yanked out a kunai from her thigh holster. Shino kept his ear on the trunk for a moment longer, however, before he pulled away.
"One person is coming this way." The bugs were now flowing out from his sleeves. "Be ready."
She nodded, taking a deep breath as she surveyed her surroundings. She could see at least five possible escape routes that she could take, in case the enemy was recognizable as someone obscenely powerful (she feverishly hoped it wasn't that nightmare named Orochimaru). This position was a good one to mount an attack from (apparently Shino had picked this spot with that in mind), but she could see three other potential attack sites nearby, just in case they got split up -
She had no more time to think, as she sensed the enemies' presence. However, after a moment, she presumed that he had also sensed their presence, because he was motionless now, no longer moving through the trees. Everyone was effectively concealed, neither side sure of where the other was. Thus, no one made a move, afraid of revealing their location.
So they waited. Waiting for someone to make the first move or mistake.
The waiting did not bother Shino, of course, or at least not visibly. Sakura was also remarkably composed, because she was pretty sure that this waiting game was better for her and Shino than it was for the enemy. If that scream had been any indication, the abduction was not going smoothly for the bad guys. One of the village's numerous patrols had probably gotten a whiff of the trouble here, and had intercepted the enemy. They had probably clashed, and now the enemy was retreating, looking for another escape route. That had to be the scenario. There was no other reason for the enemy to loop back like he had just done.
Still looking out to the forest, Shino slowly made an open palm with his right hand, then closed to a fist. Standard Konoha ninja hand signals. He wanted to wait until the enemy made the first move, then they would intercept him. Sakura responded with an equally subtle thumbs up, showing that she understood. They were not the only ones pursuing the enemy (hopefully), and the enemy could not sit like this forever. He would be forced to reveal himself sooner or later.
It was sooner. A shadow flashed to their left, and the Konoha genin immediately pursued. Shino took a direct route to intercept. Sakura closely followed behind at a wider angle, assuming a support position behind him. She already had several more daggers interlaced within her right hand, ready to throw - her eyes widened at the sight of a swarm of daggers already hurtling towards them. No way! She was just beginning her throwing motions, but the enemy had already thrown god knows how many knives at them. The enemy had revealed himself first, and yet, he was also attacking first. He was terribly fast, she realized. Considerably faster than them. Uh oh, this could be bad...
She had to avoid those daggers, so she abruptly reached out for the nearest tree trunk. There were no nearby branches to grab on to, but that was okay. She was already channeling Chakra to the palm of her free hand and the soles of her feet. As she whizzed by the trunk, she reached out to place her hand and feet on the rough bark surface, using her Chakra to attach herself to the trunk - yoink! She jerked to a halt, clinging to the trunk like Spiderman and using its comforting solidness as a shield against the incoming hailstorm of enemy daggers. She breathed in relief as the daggers pounded forcibly into the other side of the trunk, and she readied her dagger-loaded right hand for a counter attack. Oh god, she hoped Shino had also escaped injury. He probably was okay, since he seemed to be pretty darned fast; but he had been closer to the enemy, thus giving him less time to react...
A rustle sounded high above, and she instinctively hurled her daggers upwards - cling clang! The shadow had deflected one of the daggers with the kunai he wielded, while he avoided the others. The shadow then hurled his kunai back at Sakura, but she dodged it, already on the move, seeking better cover so she could throw more daggers from a distance. Judging from his speed, she did not want to fight this guy face to face -
She had no choice, as the shadow abruptly changed course, dropping down through the branches to cut her off. She hurled another salvo of kunai at him, but he had another kunai out, and he expertly batted them aside - she stopped in her tracks, breathing hard and quick, clutching another kunai, trying to draw strength from the sturdy steel in her hands. For the enemy was standing on the tree branch in front of her, ready to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Now that the enemy had fully revealed himself to her, she immediately thought, "ANBU from foreign country." He wore a heavy cloak and a spooky mask, the mask adorned with a village symbol which was definitely not Konoha's symbol. She had no time to discern which village symbol it was, because the enemy was upon her and thrusting forward with a dagger.
The attack was much faster than what she could usually handle, but she somehow managed to parry it with a wild slash and a good dose of luck. She was already rolling off to the side, striving to get away, but the enemy was relentless in his pursuit. He hurled his kunai at her rolling form while he pulled another one out from the depths of his cloak, and his thrown kunai found its target, stabbing her deep into the thigh. She bit her lip, fighting off the pain as she got to her feet, facing the enemy as she sprung backwards and away. She had to get distance between her and him, she had to!
Painfully aware that her injured leg was hampering her attempt to create distance, she threw yet another salvo of daggers at him. Those were her last daggers, save for the one she had in her other hand. These would have to buy enough time so that Shino could come over and help, damn it, where the hell was he?!
The enemy had knocked aside her thrown daggers, and he leapt after her, boring down - a trio of daggers hurtled in from her right. The enemy audibly grunted as he twisted his body in mid-leap to fend off the daggers, then Sakura's eyes widened in surprise as Shino exploded in from her left, aiming to tackle the airborne enemy... wait, if Shino had been to her left, who had attacked from the right side?
The enemy barely had time to twist his body around to face the new incoming threat. But he had the time, Sakura realized. And her blood ran cold as she saw that the leaping airborne Shino was extremely vulnerable. Her fears were then justified, as the enemy thrust out with his dagger - Sakura's already wide eyes bulged even wider in horror, as the dagger stabbed into Shino's face, ripping completely through and exiting out the back of his head. Blood gushed out from the gaping mortal wounds, pouring all over the enemy's mask, coloring the white plastic with its own crimson red...
She opened her mouth to scream. But then she stopped, as Shino's body began to waver before her eyes. The body suddenly disintegrated, and she could only gape as it transformed into a huge pulsating swarm of those Kikai bugs.
She breathed in elation, "Kikai clone!", as the streams of blood that had splashed onto the enemy ninja, they now morphed into rivers of bugs. The bugs that had been the clone's head, they were already all over the enemy's arm. And when the clone's body had disintegrated, the rest of the bugs splashed down onto the prone enemy, immediately wrapping their writhing pseudopods around in a lethal embrace.
The enemy ninja landed on a tree branch just below Sakura, struggling to maintain his balance while he tried to rid himself of the parasitic horde upon him. But he never had a chance, as his limbs were already sagging in weakness. Bugs were swarming up his neck and all over his face, and he had time to emit an aborted scream before the bugs totally clogged up his nose, mouth, and even his eyes. Sakura could see that he was trying to reach up with his arms to scrape away whatever he could, but they failed to respond, all of their energy already transferred to the ravenous insects. His legs were buckling also, and the enemy dropped heavily to his knees with a muffled groan. With one final desperate effort, he managed to lift his head and raise a hand to the sky, perhaps beseeching for divine intervention. But if that was the case, his gods did not respond to the plea. The hand then fell back to his side, the head lolled off, and he catapulted onto his face...
"Sakura-san."
Sakura yelped and spun around, raising her kunai to skewer whoever the hell had snuck up behind her. But then her mind registered the quiet voice as that belonging to Shino, and she froze. "Shino-san!"
"Mmm." Shino nodded in acknowledgment as he stood beside her to watch his bugs feast upon the limp body.
Sakura looked down also. "Did we get him?"
"I'm not sure."
His response was rather cryptic, but Sakura didn't bother to ask about it, satisfied with the fact that they were both alive and well. While her thundering heart slowly returned to its normal throbbing pace, she started to look away from the body - poof! She blinked as the enemy's body vanished into smoke, the surprised bugs now falling onto the tree branch and the ground below.
She exclaimed, "He was a clone, too! A shadow clone!"
"So it would seem. Apparently he created this clone in an attempt to confuse his pursuers." Shino knelt down to examine her injured leg. "How bad is it?"
Somehow she had completely forgotten about her injury. She looked down at the dagger embedded inside her thigh, then growled as she yanked out the irritating thing. "It hurts like hell, but I don't think it's serious."
"Can you move? We need to move to a better hiding spot."
Sakura nodded as she stood up. "I can move."
"Make sure to keep pressure on the wound." Shino stood up and nodded to his right. "We'll take cover inside those bushes - "
A crisp and boisterous woman's voice called out, "Ahoy there!"
Shino and Sakura spun to see a woman in a trench overcoat, flanked by two Konoha ANBU ninjas. Sakura instantly recognized her as Anko Mitarashi, that crazy Special Jounin ninja who had overseen the 2nd part of the Chuunin exam. In a flash, Anko and the two ANBU were next to the genins, and Anko demanded, "Where is the intruder?!"
Shino replied, "It was a shadow clone, and we destroyed it."
The two ANBU members were busy scanning the forest, while Anko paused to rub her chin in thought. "You took out a clone of that guy? Not bad."
Sakura anxiously asked, "What about Hinata-san! Have you found her yet?!"
"We're still looking. Three other ANBU patrols are already out there, so I'm sure we'll get the bastard. You two get back to the main village, there's nothing more you can do here." She waved to the ANBUs. "Let's head back, this is a false trail!"
Sakura said, "Wait, did you - " Anko and the ANBU were already gone, and Sakura sighed in dismay. "They still haven't found Hinata. I sure hope she is okay..."
The two Genins had taken Anko's advice, and they were now heading back to the main village. They were not leaping from tree to tree any more, though. Rather, they were hobbling along on the ground: Sakura limping, with Shino plodding beside her...
As soon as they hit the ground, the first thing he did was look down at her bloodstained leg. And he asked: "Do you need any help?"
"No thanks, I'll be all right. Hey, what do you think that enemy was? Jounin-level? His clone alone was pretty tough."
"Definitely an elite Jounin," Shino agreed. "Only such a Jounin would have the abilities necessary to sneak into our village, kidnap Hinata, and escape unnoticed. It would be foolish for an enemy village to send anyone of a lower rank."
"Well, too bad he ran into two elite Genins!" Sakura then added, "Well, at least you are an elite Genin, Shino-san. I'm not sure if I am one just yet."
"I am sure you are an elite Genin, Sakura-san. And if not, you are very close."
The two then walked in silence, but Sakura remembered something that she had wanted to ask about: "Shino-san, I was just wondering, what are you doing when you listen to the ground and the trees? How can you hear all these things that happen so far away?"
"A ninja never reveals his secrets."
"Huh?" Sakura blinked in surprise. "Is it really that big of a secret?"
"Well..." Shino coughed into the upturned collar of his coat. "Sakura-san, I notice that your taijutsu and overall movement have improved since the Chuunin Exam."
Sakura grumbled to herself, "Gee, he really isn't going to tell me! What a meanie!" But she quickly warmed up to him, since his compliment seemed like an earnest one. "Yeah, I've been training pretty hard since the exam ended. After watching guys like Lee-san, Naruto, and Sasuke-kun, I was so inspired to try and do better!" She then added, "And Shino-san, you were awesome back there, too. That bug clone is pretty dangerous, huh?"
"Mmm." He nodded. "It can be handy in certain situations."
"Is that what you always do whenever you fight? Get your bugs onto the enemy, so they can eat all his Chakra?"
"Not really. I just defeat my opponent any way I can. The bugs are extremely useful tools, though. And if an enemy ever does get caught inside a swarm of bugs, it is over for him."
"I could tell," Sakura agreed with a shudder, remembering how the bugs had been stuffing themselves down the hapless clone's throat, let alone bleeding away all of the chakra inside. What a bad way to go, even if it was just a clone.
Shino again looked down at her bloodstained leg. "Are you sure you don't need any help?" Her limp wasn't getting any worse, but still, it was pretty noticeable...
Outer Sakura smiled sheepishly at his offer. "I'm fine, Shino-san, I'm fine! Don't worry about me!" However, underneath the smile, Inner Sakura was bellowing and stomping about in fury. "Don't pamper me just because I am a girl, damn it!"
To be fair, though, she wasn't quite sure if Shino was actually patronizing her. Perhaps he was just being thorough. Anyways, something else was tickling her in the back of her head. What was it... she snapped her fingers. "Oh! I wonder what's happened to Kiba!"
Shino grunted, "I'm sure Kiba is fine."
"Why do you say that?"
"Kiba is not the type of guy who can be easily killed, unfortunately."
"Oh, I see..."
Sakura then blinked. Did Shino just come up with a joke?! She looked up to study his face, wondering if he would be wearing a little telltale smile of amusement. But no, there was no such smile, as he looked back at her with that deadpan of his. Oh my goodness, had he really meant it, then?! Did he really hate Kiba that much?! Did he really want his own teammate to die?! No, he couldn't possibly want that! Could he?!
Shino's calmness interrupted her rambling thoughts: "Sakura-san."
"Yes?"
"That was a joke."
"Oh..." Sakura started to laugh. "Okay, I get it! Gee, Shino-san, that was pretty funny! I didn't know you made jokes like that!"
He nodded in confirmation. "I usually don't. Perhaps I should try more often?"
"It couldn't hurt." She looked back up at him again. No trace of amusement on his face whatsoever. And yet, somehow, he seemed to project an aura of contentment; instinctively, she could tell that, in his own way, he was amused.
She smiled to herself. "What a weirdo."
As the two Genins finally walked through the front gates of the village hospital, they had relaxed to the point where they were quite open to attack. And this was unfortunate, because danger did await them. More specifically, two predators were lying in wait, hiding in the shadows, ready to pounce upon their unsuspecting victims...
A familiar rude and rowdy voice shouted: "YAHOOEY! You guys are all right!"
Shino and Sakura turned to see Kiba and Akamaru already airborne, leaping right at the two Genins. Shino realized that, as Kiba closed in on his "prey", the dog boy's arms were spread wide open in an unmistakably affectionate gesture. And Shino's brow wrinkled in genuine horror as he shouted, "Kiba! What are you doing - "
Kiba abruptly crashed into Shino, his arms entangling the bug boy inside a mighty bear hug. "Man, Shino, I was worried about you!"
Sakura giggled at Shino's raised and apprehensive eyebrows, then bent down to pick up the bouncing and tail-wagging Akamaru. "Hiiii, cutie poochie!"
While Akamaru lathered Sakura's face with doggy kisses, Shino was looking quite rumpled from all of Kiba's hugging. And somehow, he managed to retain his dignity despite his coat being jerked this way and that. "Is Hinata okay?"
Kiba shouted, "Yeah, she's doing fine! She's got a couple bruises and scratches, but otherwise, no problem! She's asleep right now, and she'll be staying here overnight for observation, but still, better than being dead, right?!"
Sakura managed to push away Akamaru and his lapping tongue for a moment. "So, what exactly happened?"
Kiba said, "Well, the ANBU found Hinata - yaaah!" He abruptly let go of Shino, and he started to dance around, frantically dusting himself off. "Damn it, Shino, your bugs are all over me!"
Shino was fastidiously adjusting his coat. "Don't worry, Kiba. They will not feed upon your Chakra unless I tell them to do so - " He held out a hand. "Hey! Be more careful with my bugs. Don't jump around like that, you might step on them."
"Then tell them to get off me! Jump off, fly off, I don't care, tell them to GET OFF me!"
"Correction, Kiba. Kikai bugs can neither jump nor fly." And with that tidbit of information, Shino started to chase around the hopping Kiba, ordering the noncompliant dog boy to stay still. Akamaru thought they were playing now, and with an excited bark, he jumped out of Sakura's arms to join the fray, running back and forth between the two with his tail and tongue madly wagging...
As the two male members of Team 8 sorted things out between themselves, a heartily laughing Sakura felt someone walking up behind her, and she turned to see Anko Mitarashi once again. With a cheery flushed face, Sakura stopped laughing and quickly composed herself as best she could. "Anko-san! Can you tell me what happened to Hinata?"
The round-faced button-nosed Jounin brightened at the sight of Sakura. "Ah, you from the forest!" Anko could not quite remember this girl's name, unfortunately. "You're one of Kakashi's prized pupils, right? Well... uh..." Anko's reply died at her lips, as she stared at the antics of Team 8 minus Hinata. "What the hell are those boys doing?"
Shino had finally gotten Kiba to stay still by putting the dog boy into a headlock. He was trying to tell Kiba something, but Kiba would have none of it as he squirmed inside Shino's grip and yelled bloody murder. Meanwhile, Akamaru was running around them in circles, joyously barking at the horseplay, augmenting the racket even further...
An embarrassed Sakura smiled apologetically. "You'll have to excuse them, Anko-san. They are boys, after all."
"No kidding." Anko shook her head. "Anyway, about Hinata. We found Hinata lying on the ground about a mile away from Training Area #7, where she was under some sort of sleep paralysis jutsu. We couldn't find the guy who tried to abduct her, though. The perpetrator probably panicked and ditched her, so that he could flee unhindered."
"It was just one person?"
"That's what I think. Just one person, and maybe two or three of his shadow clones."
Kiba then stuck his nose into the conversation, rubbing his sore neck. "Hey Sakura, Anko-san said you and Shino took out one of the bad guy's shadow clones?!"
"Yup! Pretty cool, huh?"
"Aw, man! Akamaru and I didn't get to fight any of those shadow clones, damn it! We ran right into an ANBU patrol, and they made us go home! What a bunch of crap!"
Akamaru voiced his agreement: "Arf!"
Shino stepped up to stand by Sakura, calm once again now that all of his bugs had returned to him. "Kiba, we should be thankful for our safety. If any of us had stumbled upon the real kidnapper, he would have killed us."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever..."
Sakura frowned at Kiba's grouchiness. "Shino-san is right, Kiba. We should all be glad that no one got seriously hurt!"
Anko grimaced at the naivety of these Genins. "Sorry to burst your bubble, kids, but people did die today."
The three Genins promptly quieted down (except for Shino, who was already quiet), and their collective mood became sadly solemn. Kiba felt particularly foolish, as he kicked at the ground, unable to bring his eyes up to meet Anko's grey-eyed stare. Sakura had a hand over her mouth as she asked, "People died? Who?"
"The perpetrator killed all three members of a Chuunin patrol upon his initial penetration. And during his escape, he killed two ANBU members."
Sakura gasped, "Five people?!"
"Yeah, five. It could have been worse, though. If the perpetrator had wanted to, he could have killed Hinata instead of just leaving her behind." Anko sighed as she turned to walk off. "This is reality, kids. This is how ninjas live."
Sakura repeated to herself, "This is reality?"
The familiarity of those words were nagging her... yes, that's right. It was Shino who had said the exact same words earlier today. She looked to see that Shino had turned his back to everyone, and he was staring blankly at the nearest wall. She looked back at the receding image of the departing Anko. Then back to Shino. Back to Anko. Back to Shino...
Coincidence? Probably not. But then, how did those two come around to forming identical beliefs, which they happened to express in the same exact words? They could not have learned those words in the classroom, because Sakura could not think of any tenet in the ninja academy textbooks which sounded anything like their words. And she knew that she had not forgotten any of those tenets (one of the few benefits of having extremely large cranial capacity, she wryly thought to herself)...
"Shino-san? Are you okay?"
"Mmm." He turned to face Sakura. "I am fine. Why do you ask?"
"It's just that... you don't look very happy right now."
"Have I ever looked happy to you?"
Sakura blinked at his vaguely confrontational words. If someone lighthearted, like Naruto, had blabbed those words, she might have construed them as an attempt at humor. But with Shino and his deadpan, she couldn't tell if he was being funny, hostile, irritated, or hurt. She opened her mouth, then hesitated, not quite sure how to respond...
"That was supposed to be a joke, Sakura-san."
An inwardly sigh of relief. So she hadn't hurt his feelings after all. "Oh, okay. Haha, that was kinda funny! Sort of."
Her titter was not very convincing, and Shino grunted from behind his coat collar. "Hmm. My joke was not very funny, was it?"
For some reason, Sakura found his self-evaluation of being unfunny to be quite, well, funny. And a small smile involuntarily surfaced as she admitted, "Not really. But don't give up! You just need to work on your delivery, that's all."
"Hmm. I see - "
"Oi oi oi!" Kiba had thrust himself back into the limelight, Akamaru back on top of his head. "Helping out Shino with his pickup lines, Sakura?! Lord knows he needs the help!"
Shino warned, "Be quiet, Kiba, unless you want yourself in another headlock."
"Bah, you caught me off guard last time! I'm ready now!" Kiba jumped back to lower himself into a wrestling stance. "Bring it on, bug boy! I'll show you who's the leader of this pack!"
Shino refused to take the bait. "We should go see Hinata now. And Sakura-san should get her leg attended to."
"Good idea, Shino-san!" Sakura had completely forgotten about her injury yet again. "Geez, I keep forgetting about this darned leg..."
The two then walked towards the hospital's front doors, while Kiba danced around them, waving his arms about and clucking like a chicken. "Bawk bawk bawk bagaaawk! Shino, you big chicken, you should replace all your bugs with feathers! Bagaaawk!"
Akamaru attempted to cluck along with his master: "Awoo awoo awoo awoooooo!"
Shino simply shook his head at his teammate's dead-on impersonation of an angry fowl, while Sakura couldn't help but laugh. Kiba was encouraged by her response, and his eyes bulged dangerously now, almost popping out of their sockets, as he stuck out his head: "Bagaaaaawk!" Yet another laugh elicited from Sakura, which resulted in yet another "Bagaaaawk!", followed by some boot-clad feet scratching the ground...
However, despite the festive air about them, Sakura had not forgotten about Anko's/Shino's words. And someday, sometime, she wanted to ask Shino about those words. Ask about their origins. Ask about their meaning. Ask about their history.
For some reason, to her, it just seemed like he wanted to talk about them.
CHAPTER ENDS
Notes: I had to have Anko appear in this fic somewhere. She's just hilarious. Especially when she first makes her entrance during the Chuunin Exam and yells, "FOLLOW ME!"... some of you may be wondering about this listening ability that Shino has? Well, during the 2nd part of the Chuunin Exam, when Shino's team spies on Gaara's team, Shino puts his ear to the ground and somehow hears Gaara's team and that Rain team, who are one kilometer away. I don't know how the hell he does it, and I don't even want to try and explain it. Hence, in this chapter, Shino does not explain it to Sakura; he just chooses to not reveal his secret. :-)
RESPONSES TO CHAPTER 3 REVIEWS:
mai-v: I'm glad you like this fic! Happy holidays to you! And is this a SakuShino fic? Well...
ccslover: Well, as you can see, Hinata didn't get hurt! An early Christmas present for you... and as for your question. Will it end up Saku/Shino? Well...
ILUVSHINO-KUN: Haha, okay, okay, I guess Shino's hair is pretty cool. But still, it does look pretty unmanageable to me!
Alden Hawke: Hey, what's wrong with the "Ino likes you, Shino" part? You are not a fan of InoShino, I presume?
Nalanzu: Yeah, there's no yaoi in this fic. It's all het. I am straight, and I don't have the imagination to write about what goes on inside the minds of guys involved in a yaoi relationship. BTW, I'm new to Naruto fanfics, and I am boggled by the amount of yaoi in here!
Tasha3, Amy, Liika: Glad you like the fic so far!
Notes: This story takes place sometime after the Chuunin Exam saga. Also, for the sake of flexibility and originality, this story does not adhere strictly to the manga storyline.
CHAPTER BEGINS...
"Hinata! Hinataaa!"
Sakura stopped shouting, fearful that the approaching enemy would be able to figure out where they were hiding, lest she shout any more. Shino had already found them, and he was somewhat confused as he crouched down in the bushes next to them.
He whispered, "Why are you calling for Hinata?"
Sakura ignored Shino for now, as she realized Hinata was not answering. She had to try one last time: "Hinataaaaa!"
She waited breathlessly for almost half a minute, but there was still no answer. She then lowered her voice to a worried whisper. "She's not answering!"
Kiba growled, "I know that! Fuck, where is she?!" Akamaru then uttered a mix of barks and whines, and Kiba responded with a succint "Shit!"
Sakura nervously asked, "What did Akamaru just say?"
"He said that he can smell blood in the air."
"Oh my god. You mean - "
"Yeah." Kiba popped a soldier pill into his mouth. "I can smell the blood, too. And I think it's Hinata's blood."
"Can you smell the enemy?! How many are there?!"
"I don't know, but Akamaru says that the enemy is strong. Shino, can you hear anything?"
Sakura turned to see that Shino had his ear pressed to the ground. His eyes were closed shut behind the sunglasses, as he focused on whatever the heck he was listening to... ear still on the ground, he said, "At least three. Maybe four or five. They are approaching too fast for me to hear clearly - they've stopped. No, they're still moving. But they are moving away from us now."
"Huh?" Sakura was confused by Shino's contradictory words. "They were moving towards us, but now they're moving away?"
Kiba snarled, "Damn it, I bet they were after Hinata! Kidnapped!"
"Kidnapped?"
Kiba had no time to explain himself to the disconcerted Sakura, as he stood up with Shino. "We're going after them. Split up into pairs from here. You guys sweep left, we'll sweep right."
"Split up into pairs?" Sakura was fairly spinning from the dizzying turn of events, feeling a bit like a retard standing in the middle of a mensa meeting. "But there's only three of us - "
Kiba shouted, "Come on, Akamaru!" And the little pooch howled a battle cry, jumping down from Kiba's head to stand by his master. And before Sakura knew it, the two had blasted out of the bushes and into the trees above, disappearing in the blink of an eye...
Shino said in as urgent a voice as she had ever heard from him: "Come, Sakura-san. Follow me."
She put aside the questions for now, and she nodded in determination. "Right behind you!"
He nodded, then he too burst out of the bushes, promptly followed by a pink-haired flash. And in a matter of moments, they were flying through the lofty branches, eyes and ears scanning all around for any signs of mischief. Rapidly springing from tree to tree without hesitation, effortlessly negotiating their way through the haphazard network of leaves and woods, covering greater and greater distance with each passing second, moving in a way that only ninjas could.
As they silently moved through the forest, Sakura occasionally glanced at Shino, waiting for an opportunity to address him about what the hell was going on. He did not seem to be in the mood to talk, however. His face was clouded with an eerie fierce intensity, and his intense expression was so uncomfortable to look at, she was discouraged from asking. He did not seem to be anxious, however. He was just being serious. Almost like his normal serious self, except the intensity was magnified tenfold.
His steely nerve was a comforting sight indeed, smoothing down most of the doubts and fears swelling up inside her. Sakura really did want to help Hinata, but still, this was such the impromptu rescue mission. They barely had any idea where they were going. They had absolutely no idea who the enemies were. Just two minutes ago, they had been messing around. And now, Hinata's life was in danger. Possibly.
Afraid that her question would be frivolous and distracting, but too curious to hold it back, she finally asked, "Shino-san, who would want to kidnap Hinata?"
Shino promptly answered, allaying any fears that her question might be annoying to him: "Many wish to learn the secrets of the Byakugan, because it is probably the most unique and powerful bloodline ability of our village. Because of this, when Kiba and I became her teammates, the village leaders told us to keep an eye on her, in case someone made an attempt to extract the Byakugan secrets from her."
"Oh my god, poor Hinata... is this the first time anything has happened to her?"
"No, it is not. Someone once attempted to abduct her when she was five years old."
Sakura sincerely felt sick to her stomach. "They would do that to a little child?!"
"This is reality, Sakura-san. This is how a ninja lives."
Shino suddenly held up a hand, and he pulled up to a halt on the branch of a mighty oak tree. Sakura followed suit, as he unnecessarily made a hand gesture for her to stay silent. He then pressed an ear to the tree trunk, once again doing that strange listening thing of his -
A faint shrill scream sounded from the distance. Sakura didn't need any special listening abilities to hear that one, and she yanked out a kunai from her thigh holster. Shino kept his ear on the trunk for a moment longer, however, before he pulled away.
"One person is coming this way." The bugs were now flowing out from his sleeves. "Be ready."
She nodded, taking a deep breath as she surveyed her surroundings. She could see at least five possible escape routes that she could take, in case the enemy was recognizable as someone obscenely powerful (she feverishly hoped it wasn't that nightmare named Orochimaru). This position was a good one to mount an attack from (apparently Shino had picked this spot with that in mind), but she could see three other potential attack sites nearby, just in case they got split up -
She had no more time to think, as she sensed the enemies' presence. However, after a moment, she presumed that he had also sensed their presence, because he was motionless now, no longer moving through the trees. Everyone was effectively concealed, neither side sure of where the other was. Thus, no one made a move, afraid of revealing their location.
So they waited. Waiting for someone to make the first move or mistake.
The waiting did not bother Shino, of course, or at least not visibly. Sakura was also remarkably composed, because she was pretty sure that this waiting game was better for her and Shino than it was for the enemy. If that scream had been any indication, the abduction was not going smoothly for the bad guys. One of the village's numerous patrols had probably gotten a whiff of the trouble here, and had intercepted the enemy. They had probably clashed, and now the enemy was retreating, looking for another escape route. That had to be the scenario. There was no other reason for the enemy to loop back like he had just done.
Still looking out to the forest, Shino slowly made an open palm with his right hand, then closed to a fist. Standard Konoha ninja hand signals. He wanted to wait until the enemy made the first move, then they would intercept him. Sakura responded with an equally subtle thumbs up, showing that she understood. They were not the only ones pursuing the enemy (hopefully), and the enemy could not sit like this forever. He would be forced to reveal himself sooner or later.
It was sooner. A shadow flashed to their left, and the Konoha genin immediately pursued. Shino took a direct route to intercept. Sakura closely followed behind at a wider angle, assuming a support position behind him. She already had several more daggers interlaced within her right hand, ready to throw - her eyes widened at the sight of a swarm of daggers already hurtling towards them. No way! She was just beginning her throwing motions, but the enemy had already thrown god knows how many knives at them. The enemy had revealed himself first, and yet, he was also attacking first. He was terribly fast, she realized. Considerably faster than them. Uh oh, this could be bad...
She had to avoid those daggers, so she abruptly reached out for the nearest tree trunk. There were no nearby branches to grab on to, but that was okay. She was already channeling Chakra to the palm of her free hand and the soles of her feet. As she whizzed by the trunk, she reached out to place her hand and feet on the rough bark surface, using her Chakra to attach herself to the trunk - yoink! She jerked to a halt, clinging to the trunk like Spiderman and using its comforting solidness as a shield against the incoming hailstorm of enemy daggers. She breathed in relief as the daggers pounded forcibly into the other side of the trunk, and she readied her dagger-loaded right hand for a counter attack. Oh god, she hoped Shino had also escaped injury. He probably was okay, since he seemed to be pretty darned fast; but he had been closer to the enemy, thus giving him less time to react...
A rustle sounded high above, and she instinctively hurled her daggers upwards - cling clang! The shadow had deflected one of the daggers with the kunai he wielded, while he avoided the others. The shadow then hurled his kunai back at Sakura, but she dodged it, already on the move, seeking better cover so she could throw more daggers from a distance. Judging from his speed, she did not want to fight this guy face to face -
She had no choice, as the shadow abruptly changed course, dropping down through the branches to cut her off. She hurled another salvo of kunai at him, but he had another kunai out, and he expertly batted them aside - she stopped in her tracks, breathing hard and quick, clutching another kunai, trying to draw strength from the sturdy steel in her hands. For the enemy was standing on the tree branch in front of her, ready to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Now that the enemy had fully revealed himself to her, she immediately thought, "ANBU from foreign country." He wore a heavy cloak and a spooky mask, the mask adorned with a village symbol which was definitely not Konoha's symbol. She had no time to discern which village symbol it was, because the enemy was upon her and thrusting forward with a dagger.
The attack was much faster than what she could usually handle, but she somehow managed to parry it with a wild slash and a good dose of luck. She was already rolling off to the side, striving to get away, but the enemy was relentless in his pursuit. He hurled his kunai at her rolling form while he pulled another one out from the depths of his cloak, and his thrown kunai found its target, stabbing her deep into the thigh. She bit her lip, fighting off the pain as she got to her feet, facing the enemy as she sprung backwards and away. She had to get distance between her and him, she had to!
Painfully aware that her injured leg was hampering her attempt to create distance, she threw yet another salvo of daggers at him. Those were her last daggers, save for the one she had in her other hand. These would have to buy enough time so that Shino could come over and help, damn it, where the hell was he?!
The enemy had knocked aside her thrown daggers, and he leapt after her, boring down - a trio of daggers hurtled in from her right. The enemy audibly grunted as he twisted his body in mid-leap to fend off the daggers, then Sakura's eyes widened in surprise as Shino exploded in from her left, aiming to tackle the airborne enemy... wait, if Shino had been to her left, who had attacked from the right side?
The enemy barely had time to twist his body around to face the new incoming threat. But he had the time, Sakura realized. And her blood ran cold as she saw that the leaping airborne Shino was extremely vulnerable. Her fears were then justified, as the enemy thrust out with his dagger - Sakura's already wide eyes bulged even wider in horror, as the dagger stabbed into Shino's face, ripping completely through and exiting out the back of his head. Blood gushed out from the gaping mortal wounds, pouring all over the enemy's mask, coloring the white plastic with its own crimson red...
She opened her mouth to scream. But then she stopped, as Shino's body began to waver before her eyes. The body suddenly disintegrated, and she could only gape as it transformed into a huge pulsating swarm of those Kikai bugs.
She breathed in elation, "Kikai clone!", as the streams of blood that had splashed onto the enemy ninja, they now morphed into rivers of bugs. The bugs that had been the clone's head, they were already all over the enemy's arm. And when the clone's body had disintegrated, the rest of the bugs splashed down onto the prone enemy, immediately wrapping their writhing pseudopods around in a lethal embrace.
The enemy ninja landed on a tree branch just below Sakura, struggling to maintain his balance while he tried to rid himself of the parasitic horde upon him. But he never had a chance, as his limbs were already sagging in weakness. Bugs were swarming up his neck and all over his face, and he had time to emit an aborted scream before the bugs totally clogged up his nose, mouth, and even his eyes. Sakura could see that he was trying to reach up with his arms to scrape away whatever he could, but they failed to respond, all of their energy already transferred to the ravenous insects. His legs were buckling also, and the enemy dropped heavily to his knees with a muffled groan. With one final desperate effort, he managed to lift his head and raise a hand to the sky, perhaps beseeching for divine intervention. But if that was the case, his gods did not respond to the plea. The hand then fell back to his side, the head lolled off, and he catapulted onto his face...
"Sakura-san."
Sakura yelped and spun around, raising her kunai to skewer whoever the hell had snuck up behind her. But then her mind registered the quiet voice as that belonging to Shino, and she froze. "Shino-san!"
"Mmm." Shino nodded in acknowledgment as he stood beside her to watch his bugs feast upon the limp body.
Sakura looked down also. "Did we get him?"
"I'm not sure."
His response was rather cryptic, but Sakura didn't bother to ask about it, satisfied with the fact that they were both alive and well. While her thundering heart slowly returned to its normal throbbing pace, she started to look away from the body - poof! She blinked as the enemy's body vanished into smoke, the surprised bugs now falling onto the tree branch and the ground below.
She exclaimed, "He was a clone, too! A shadow clone!"
"So it would seem. Apparently he created this clone in an attempt to confuse his pursuers." Shino knelt down to examine her injured leg. "How bad is it?"
Somehow she had completely forgotten about her injury. She looked down at the dagger embedded inside her thigh, then growled as she yanked out the irritating thing. "It hurts like hell, but I don't think it's serious."
"Can you move? We need to move to a better hiding spot."
Sakura nodded as she stood up. "I can move."
"Make sure to keep pressure on the wound." Shino stood up and nodded to his right. "We'll take cover inside those bushes - "
A crisp and boisterous woman's voice called out, "Ahoy there!"
Shino and Sakura spun to see a woman in a trench overcoat, flanked by two Konoha ANBU ninjas. Sakura instantly recognized her as Anko Mitarashi, that crazy Special Jounin ninja who had overseen the 2nd part of the Chuunin exam. In a flash, Anko and the two ANBU were next to the genins, and Anko demanded, "Where is the intruder?!"
Shino replied, "It was a shadow clone, and we destroyed it."
The two ANBU members were busy scanning the forest, while Anko paused to rub her chin in thought. "You took out a clone of that guy? Not bad."
Sakura anxiously asked, "What about Hinata-san! Have you found her yet?!"
"We're still looking. Three other ANBU patrols are already out there, so I'm sure we'll get the bastard. You two get back to the main village, there's nothing more you can do here." She waved to the ANBUs. "Let's head back, this is a false trail!"
Sakura said, "Wait, did you - " Anko and the ANBU were already gone, and Sakura sighed in dismay. "They still haven't found Hinata. I sure hope she is okay..."
The two Genins had taken Anko's advice, and they were now heading back to the main village. They were not leaping from tree to tree any more, though. Rather, they were hobbling along on the ground: Sakura limping, with Shino plodding beside her...
As soon as they hit the ground, the first thing he did was look down at her bloodstained leg. And he asked: "Do you need any help?"
"No thanks, I'll be all right. Hey, what do you think that enemy was? Jounin-level? His clone alone was pretty tough."
"Definitely an elite Jounin," Shino agreed. "Only such a Jounin would have the abilities necessary to sneak into our village, kidnap Hinata, and escape unnoticed. It would be foolish for an enemy village to send anyone of a lower rank."
"Well, too bad he ran into two elite Genins!" Sakura then added, "Well, at least you are an elite Genin, Shino-san. I'm not sure if I am one just yet."
"I am sure you are an elite Genin, Sakura-san. And if not, you are very close."
The two then walked in silence, but Sakura remembered something that she had wanted to ask about: "Shino-san, I was just wondering, what are you doing when you listen to the ground and the trees? How can you hear all these things that happen so far away?"
"A ninja never reveals his secrets."
"Huh?" Sakura blinked in surprise. "Is it really that big of a secret?"
"Well..." Shino coughed into the upturned collar of his coat. "Sakura-san, I notice that your taijutsu and overall movement have improved since the Chuunin Exam."
Sakura grumbled to herself, "Gee, he really isn't going to tell me! What a meanie!" But she quickly warmed up to him, since his compliment seemed like an earnest one. "Yeah, I've been training pretty hard since the exam ended. After watching guys like Lee-san, Naruto, and Sasuke-kun, I was so inspired to try and do better!" She then added, "And Shino-san, you were awesome back there, too. That bug clone is pretty dangerous, huh?"
"Mmm." He nodded. "It can be handy in certain situations."
"Is that what you always do whenever you fight? Get your bugs onto the enemy, so they can eat all his Chakra?"
"Not really. I just defeat my opponent any way I can. The bugs are extremely useful tools, though. And if an enemy ever does get caught inside a swarm of bugs, it is over for him."
"I could tell," Sakura agreed with a shudder, remembering how the bugs had been stuffing themselves down the hapless clone's throat, let alone bleeding away all of the chakra inside. What a bad way to go, even if it was just a clone.
Shino again looked down at her bloodstained leg. "Are you sure you don't need any help?" Her limp wasn't getting any worse, but still, it was pretty noticeable...
Outer Sakura smiled sheepishly at his offer. "I'm fine, Shino-san, I'm fine! Don't worry about me!" However, underneath the smile, Inner Sakura was bellowing and stomping about in fury. "Don't pamper me just because I am a girl, damn it!"
To be fair, though, she wasn't quite sure if Shino was actually patronizing her. Perhaps he was just being thorough. Anyways, something else was tickling her in the back of her head. What was it... she snapped her fingers. "Oh! I wonder what's happened to Kiba!"
Shino grunted, "I'm sure Kiba is fine."
"Why do you say that?"
"Kiba is not the type of guy who can be easily killed, unfortunately."
"Oh, I see..."
Sakura then blinked. Did Shino just come up with a joke?! She looked up to study his face, wondering if he would be wearing a little telltale smile of amusement. But no, there was no such smile, as he looked back at her with that deadpan of his. Oh my goodness, had he really meant it, then?! Did he really hate Kiba that much?! Did he really want his own teammate to die?! No, he couldn't possibly want that! Could he?!
Shino's calmness interrupted her rambling thoughts: "Sakura-san."
"Yes?"
"That was a joke."
"Oh..." Sakura started to laugh. "Okay, I get it! Gee, Shino-san, that was pretty funny! I didn't know you made jokes like that!"
He nodded in confirmation. "I usually don't. Perhaps I should try more often?"
"It couldn't hurt." She looked back up at him again. No trace of amusement on his face whatsoever. And yet, somehow, he seemed to project an aura of contentment; instinctively, she could tell that, in his own way, he was amused.
She smiled to herself. "What a weirdo."
As the two Genins finally walked through the front gates of the village hospital, they had relaxed to the point where they were quite open to attack. And this was unfortunate, because danger did await them. More specifically, two predators were lying in wait, hiding in the shadows, ready to pounce upon their unsuspecting victims...
A familiar rude and rowdy voice shouted: "YAHOOEY! You guys are all right!"
Shino and Sakura turned to see Kiba and Akamaru already airborne, leaping right at the two Genins. Shino realized that, as Kiba closed in on his "prey", the dog boy's arms were spread wide open in an unmistakably affectionate gesture. And Shino's brow wrinkled in genuine horror as he shouted, "Kiba! What are you doing - "
Kiba abruptly crashed into Shino, his arms entangling the bug boy inside a mighty bear hug. "Man, Shino, I was worried about you!"
Sakura giggled at Shino's raised and apprehensive eyebrows, then bent down to pick up the bouncing and tail-wagging Akamaru. "Hiiii, cutie poochie!"
While Akamaru lathered Sakura's face with doggy kisses, Shino was looking quite rumpled from all of Kiba's hugging. And somehow, he managed to retain his dignity despite his coat being jerked this way and that. "Is Hinata okay?"
Kiba shouted, "Yeah, she's doing fine! She's got a couple bruises and scratches, but otherwise, no problem! She's asleep right now, and she'll be staying here overnight for observation, but still, better than being dead, right?!"
Sakura managed to push away Akamaru and his lapping tongue for a moment. "So, what exactly happened?"
Kiba said, "Well, the ANBU found Hinata - yaaah!" He abruptly let go of Shino, and he started to dance around, frantically dusting himself off. "Damn it, Shino, your bugs are all over me!"
Shino was fastidiously adjusting his coat. "Don't worry, Kiba. They will not feed upon your Chakra unless I tell them to do so - " He held out a hand. "Hey! Be more careful with my bugs. Don't jump around like that, you might step on them."
"Then tell them to get off me! Jump off, fly off, I don't care, tell them to GET OFF me!"
"Correction, Kiba. Kikai bugs can neither jump nor fly." And with that tidbit of information, Shino started to chase around the hopping Kiba, ordering the noncompliant dog boy to stay still. Akamaru thought they were playing now, and with an excited bark, he jumped out of Sakura's arms to join the fray, running back and forth between the two with his tail and tongue madly wagging...
As the two male members of Team 8 sorted things out between themselves, a heartily laughing Sakura felt someone walking up behind her, and she turned to see Anko Mitarashi once again. With a cheery flushed face, Sakura stopped laughing and quickly composed herself as best she could. "Anko-san! Can you tell me what happened to Hinata?"
The round-faced button-nosed Jounin brightened at the sight of Sakura. "Ah, you from the forest!" Anko could not quite remember this girl's name, unfortunately. "You're one of Kakashi's prized pupils, right? Well... uh..." Anko's reply died at her lips, as she stared at the antics of Team 8 minus Hinata. "What the hell are those boys doing?"
Shino had finally gotten Kiba to stay still by putting the dog boy into a headlock. He was trying to tell Kiba something, but Kiba would have none of it as he squirmed inside Shino's grip and yelled bloody murder. Meanwhile, Akamaru was running around them in circles, joyously barking at the horseplay, augmenting the racket even further...
An embarrassed Sakura smiled apologetically. "You'll have to excuse them, Anko-san. They are boys, after all."
"No kidding." Anko shook her head. "Anyway, about Hinata. We found Hinata lying on the ground about a mile away from Training Area #7, where she was under some sort of sleep paralysis jutsu. We couldn't find the guy who tried to abduct her, though. The perpetrator probably panicked and ditched her, so that he could flee unhindered."
"It was just one person?"
"That's what I think. Just one person, and maybe two or three of his shadow clones."
Kiba then stuck his nose into the conversation, rubbing his sore neck. "Hey Sakura, Anko-san said you and Shino took out one of the bad guy's shadow clones?!"
"Yup! Pretty cool, huh?"
"Aw, man! Akamaru and I didn't get to fight any of those shadow clones, damn it! We ran right into an ANBU patrol, and they made us go home! What a bunch of crap!"
Akamaru voiced his agreement: "Arf!"
Shino stepped up to stand by Sakura, calm once again now that all of his bugs had returned to him. "Kiba, we should be thankful for our safety. If any of us had stumbled upon the real kidnapper, he would have killed us."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever..."
Sakura frowned at Kiba's grouchiness. "Shino-san is right, Kiba. We should all be glad that no one got seriously hurt!"
Anko grimaced at the naivety of these Genins. "Sorry to burst your bubble, kids, but people did die today."
The three Genins promptly quieted down (except for Shino, who was already quiet), and their collective mood became sadly solemn. Kiba felt particularly foolish, as he kicked at the ground, unable to bring his eyes up to meet Anko's grey-eyed stare. Sakura had a hand over her mouth as she asked, "People died? Who?"
"The perpetrator killed all three members of a Chuunin patrol upon his initial penetration. And during his escape, he killed two ANBU members."
Sakura gasped, "Five people?!"
"Yeah, five. It could have been worse, though. If the perpetrator had wanted to, he could have killed Hinata instead of just leaving her behind." Anko sighed as she turned to walk off. "This is reality, kids. This is how ninjas live."
Sakura repeated to herself, "This is reality?"
The familiarity of those words were nagging her... yes, that's right. It was Shino who had said the exact same words earlier today. She looked to see that Shino had turned his back to everyone, and he was staring blankly at the nearest wall. She looked back at the receding image of the departing Anko. Then back to Shino. Back to Anko. Back to Shino...
Coincidence? Probably not. But then, how did those two come around to forming identical beliefs, which they happened to express in the same exact words? They could not have learned those words in the classroom, because Sakura could not think of any tenet in the ninja academy textbooks which sounded anything like their words. And she knew that she had not forgotten any of those tenets (one of the few benefits of having extremely large cranial capacity, she wryly thought to herself)...
"Shino-san? Are you okay?"
"Mmm." He turned to face Sakura. "I am fine. Why do you ask?"
"It's just that... you don't look very happy right now."
"Have I ever looked happy to you?"
Sakura blinked at his vaguely confrontational words. If someone lighthearted, like Naruto, had blabbed those words, she might have construed them as an attempt at humor. But with Shino and his deadpan, she couldn't tell if he was being funny, hostile, irritated, or hurt. She opened her mouth, then hesitated, not quite sure how to respond...
"That was supposed to be a joke, Sakura-san."
An inwardly sigh of relief. So she hadn't hurt his feelings after all. "Oh, okay. Haha, that was kinda funny! Sort of."
Her titter was not very convincing, and Shino grunted from behind his coat collar. "Hmm. My joke was not very funny, was it?"
For some reason, Sakura found his self-evaluation of being unfunny to be quite, well, funny. And a small smile involuntarily surfaced as she admitted, "Not really. But don't give up! You just need to work on your delivery, that's all."
"Hmm. I see - "
"Oi oi oi!" Kiba had thrust himself back into the limelight, Akamaru back on top of his head. "Helping out Shino with his pickup lines, Sakura?! Lord knows he needs the help!"
Shino warned, "Be quiet, Kiba, unless you want yourself in another headlock."
"Bah, you caught me off guard last time! I'm ready now!" Kiba jumped back to lower himself into a wrestling stance. "Bring it on, bug boy! I'll show you who's the leader of this pack!"
Shino refused to take the bait. "We should go see Hinata now. And Sakura-san should get her leg attended to."
"Good idea, Shino-san!" Sakura had completely forgotten about her injury yet again. "Geez, I keep forgetting about this darned leg..."
The two then walked towards the hospital's front doors, while Kiba danced around them, waving his arms about and clucking like a chicken. "Bawk bawk bawk bagaaawk! Shino, you big chicken, you should replace all your bugs with feathers! Bagaaawk!"
Akamaru attempted to cluck along with his master: "Awoo awoo awoo awoooooo!"
Shino simply shook his head at his teammate's dead-on impersonation of an angry fowl, while Sakura couldn't help but laugh. Kiba was encouraged by her response, and his eyes bulged dangerously now, almost popping out of their sockets, as he stuck out his head: "Bagaaaaawk!" Yet another laugh elicited from Sakura, which resulted in yet another "Bagaaaawk!", followed by some boot-clad feet scratching the ground...
However, despite the festive air about them, Sakura had not forgotten about Anko's/Shino's words. And someday, sometime, she wanted to ask Shino about those words. Ask about their origins. Ask about their meaning. Ask about their history.
For some reason, to her, it just seemed like he wanted to talk about them.
CHAPTER ENDS
Notes: I had to have Anko appear in this fic somewhere. She's just hilarious. Especially when she first makes her entrance during the Chuunin Exam and yells, "FOLLOW ME!"... some of you may be wondering about this listening ability that Shino has? Well, during the 2nd part of the Chuunin Exam, when Shino's team spies on Gaara's team, Shino puts his ear to the ground and somehow hears Gaara's team and that Rain team, who are one kilometer away. I don't know how the hell he does it, and I don't even want to try and explain it. Hence, in this chapter, Shino does not explain it to Sakura; he just chooses to not reveal his secret. :-)
RESPONSES TO CHAPTER 3 REVIEWS:
mai-v: I'm glad you like this fic! Happy holidays to you! And is this a SakuShino fic? Well...
ccslover: Well, as you can see, Hinata didn't get hurt! An early Christmas present for you... and as for your question. Will it end up Saku/Shino? Well...
ILUVSHINO-KUN: Haha, okay, okay, I guess Shino's hair is pretty cool. But still, it does look pretty unmanageable to me!
Alden Hawke: Hey, what's wrong with the "Ino likes you, Shino" part? You are not a fan of InoShino, I presume?
Nalanzu: Yeah, there's no yaoi in this fic. It's all het. I am straight, and I don't have the imagination to write about what goes on inside the minds of guys involved in a yaoi relationship. BTW, I'm new to Naruto fanfics, and I am boggled by the amount of yaoi in here!
Tasha3, Amy, Liika: Glad you like the fic so far!