Disclaimer – The Naruto franchise is the intellectual property of Masashi Kishimoto. This work is not intended for commercial distribution.

Author's Note – Sorry for the super long wait. Here's the next chapter.

Warning – Manga spoilers

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I groaned as I helped myself up from the ground. I looked back down at the helpless corpse close by and shoved the notion of having killed someone to the back of my mind, as I had done my entire life as a shinobi. The faint sounds of the man's neck cracking under me were drowned out by the incessant buzzing coming from within.

The kikai were excited. As connected as I was to them mentally, they were still organisms with instincts, and this recent bout with what I initially believed to be bandits had aroused a primal sort of mob mentality amongst the swarm. They lingered for the kill, and I shivered in response to my understanding of them.

Sitting myself down on a nearby rock, I surveyed my surroundings again, scanning for any possible lingering threats. I also looked out for Shino. From my recollection, he had been captured, but from the relative ease of the fight, I wondered how he would leave himself open for such an easy ambush.

Then it dawned on me, suddenly.

"Shino. Are you injured?"

The presence that I felt behind me remained silent. I resisted the urge to turn my head, thinking that he was testing me, or perhaps was playing some sort of game.

"I am unharmed." He said. "You're getting better."

I grinned, but it was hidden from his view. "You were trying to test me. How do I know this? Simple, you could have easily escaped from your position."

I heard him chuckle. "How would you know? I was held at knifepoint. If I had my bugs, I probably could."

I turned to face him. Like always, he was calm and collected, as if he were never captured at all.

"Exactly!" I concluded. "But I have the kikai now, meaning that I was fully capable."

Shino shot a smirk at me. I suddenly realized again that he wasn't wearing his glasses. I had taken this fact for granted, as I was always used to him wearing them, almost to the point of assuming that he always had them regardless of the situation. But I saw his eyes, and they glazed with a reflection of the sunset in front of him. They were enthralling, and I let myself get lost in them for just a slight moment.

"Excellent." Shino said, pulling me out of my moment. "Then I don't need to explain any further."

He darted back to the camp, leaving me to my thoughts, possibly quite aware of what I was thinking and what I had seen. I may have beaten him in wit, but that time, he completely defeated me in romance.

I cursed myself. Bah! You let your guard down, Ino! Idiot, idiot! Don't lose again!

The kikai buzzed again in excitement within.

"Excellent. You're falling for him quite easily!"

They spoke to me with even greater clarity before. I responded in kind.

Don't listen to my thoughts, you pests! They're private!

I felt a wave of chittering creep through the length of my neck. I cringed due to its slight tickle.

"We have no choice, Ino. You're letting us hear it. Your thoughts are becoming easier to broadcast to us, it's become almost second-nature."

I didn't know what to say at this, I was caught between some sort of excitement and annoyance: excitement at the prospect of becoming better as a bug-user, and annoyed at the sudden loss of my privacy.

"You can trust us, Ino. We're a part of you now. Your secret is our secret."

I smiled, convinced of the sincerity of their words. I stood up from my rock, and inhaled the cool air of dusk. Stars began to appear amidst a slowly darkening sky above me.

Sounds good, guys. Does that mean you know a lot about Shino's secrets?

My body paused, expecting some form of internal physical response. It vibrated in agreement, but I felt a slight sharpness that felt like that they didn't want to reveal any further.

Don't worry, I won't pry. I was just curious.

They buzzed agreeably as I walked back to camp, turning my thoughts to other random subjects like animals and nature, and the pleasantness of it all seemed to settle well with the kikai inside me. When I arrived, Shino had already started the fire, but was already asleep in his rolled out sleeping bag. It was a light shade of blue, flirting with bright orange and red accents created by the soothing embers in front of him.

I took out my own sleeping bag from a backpack nearby. I waxed nostalgic of previous missions with Asuma-sensei and the others, and was comforted by it. The kikai murmured approvingly as they all gradually fell asleep one by one. It wasn't too long before I felt complete calmness in my body, and drifted off to welcoming images of my friends.

It was a vivid dream, a recurring vision that I had soon after Asuma's death. It was still all a blur to me whenever I tried to think about it, but only my dreams could depict it so realistically. It came again tonight, but I was not saddened by it, it was always a memory. Yet somehow, there was something different about this dream than usual. It was almost like an omen of sorts.

He laid there, nearly lifeless in Shikamaru's knee, blood slowly pouring out from his mouth. I laid my hands down on his vest, infusing them with chakra. I scanned his body, and he was struck at four vital points. Chouji spoke to me with panicked words, but I was too shocked at the sight of my sensei at his last moments before death. I couldn't do anything, and I let my head drop down in defeat.

I heard him struggle out a few words. I wiped away tear-soaked eyes, and stared down at Asuma as he opened up narrow slits to look at us one more time.

"I think I finally understand…" he gasped, "why the sandaime…did what he did…I'm always too late."

He coughed, spewing out blood. It was slightly hard and clumpy, hinting that his circulatory was beyond repair.

"Ino…Chouji…Shikamaru. There's something I want to tell you."

These were to be his final words. He spoke to me first.

"Ino…"

"…Yes…" I struggled through tears.

"…In the valley of the Bikochu, there lives a sage who may help you and Shino in your mission."

I stared down, confused.

"…He will teach you not only how to master your bugs, but win Shino's heart as well."

With his last ounce of strength, he stretched out his hand, and drew a symbol on the dirt below him. He died shortly after.

I struggled for clarity, as the dream seemed to slip away from me. I cursed in my sleep, agonizing over what had transpired. The kikai began to rumble violently, further obscuring the vision.

The surrounding landscape dissolved to nothingness. Chouji and Shikamaru faded away. All was left was my sensei, dead by my side. I willed myself to look at the symbol he had left.

A spider, enveloped in familiar formations of circles and insignias.

"Shino's mark!" I gasped.

And I woke up. It was morning, and the sun beamed down relentlessly upon me. My…Shino's glasses had slipped off and landed on the ground a few inches from me. I frantically grabbed them and shoved the pair onto my face. I groaned in discomfort.

Shino stood by the fire, staring down at me with intent. He reached out with his left hand towards me. "You had a dream," he said.

"No kidding," I grimaced, "It was strange."

Shino nodded. I looked up at him from my sleeping bag, resisting the urge to look directly into his eyes. Thankfully, the sun made doing so nearly impossible.

"We should make our way to Bikochu Valley soon," He said, pulling me up to my feet. "I think there's something there that could help us."

I nodded. If that dream was any indication, he was probably right. The kikai felt the same way.

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Woot! I'm back! Sorry for the wait again. Be assured that this fic will hopefully be updated slightly more often. If anything, any sort of update within the next month would count as "more often," so consider yourself lucky. Ciao.