Chapter Eight
Bugs and Books


Chi Udai waved goodbye to the bookstore owner as she left, a new book grasped in her hand.

"Now, to find somewhere to sit and read." She said to herself. She decided to start at the park, knowing that hardly anyone ever went there except for kids, and classes were on at the moment.

She jaunted down the road enjoying the summer air. It was warm enough that she had removed her jacket and work only a shirt. She had taken her headband off her forehead and had it around her neck instead.

When she arrived at the park she was disappointed to see that some mothers were there with children too young for the academy. She paused to think.

'I'd go back home, but father is getting ready for the Festival of Fire so it will be too noisy… I wonder if perhaps Neji is around. He'd know somewhere quiet probably.'

Her mind made up, Chi turned on her heel and headed to the Hyuuga residence. She passed by the flower shop and made an effort to stick her head in and say hello to Ino.

"Hey Chi, what're you doing?"

"I was just on my way to see Neji actually. How's business?"

"Pretty good actually. I have been putting together bouquets all day… for some reason every guy in town has decided to give every girl in town flowers. Even Naruto was in here earlier."

"Wow… I wonder what the sudden appeal is…" Chi said thoughtfully.

"Beats me… but it's nice to know the guys are finally catching on."

Chi laughed, "It is nice getting flowers, but they die so quickly. It would be great if they would just live forever. Getting a potted plant would be the way to go with me."

Ino smiled. "Well, you better hope whoever takes a fancy to you figures it out."

Chi shook her head and laughed, "I doubt anyone around here will take a fancy to me, but if you think they do you could give them that tip."

"Of course."

"Well, I best be on my way. See you later Ino."

"See you Chi."

Chi continued down the road, pausing outside Ichiraku ramen to take in the sweet smell of Tonkotsu ramen. She looked in her pocket at what money she had left. When she had double checked she didn't have enough for a bowl she continued down the road, slightly less cheerfully.

Before long she found herself standing outside the Hyuuga residence. She knocked and the door was answered by a member of one of the branch families. She asked for Neji and was told to wait outside. She was very put out by this treatment and sulked against the doorframe until Neji appeared.

"No." he said before she even had a chance to say anything.

"I actually didn't intend to ask you to fight."

"What do you want then?" he said.

"I was wondering if you know of anywhere quiet I could go to read this." she said, holding up the book. "Since I went away all the quiet places seem to have become noisy so I thought you might know somewhere."

Neji was still looking at the book with a confused and slightly concerned face.

"Ah… I don't know…" he said, "Out in the forest is pretty quiet if you can find somewhere where no-one is training."

"Thanks heaps Neji." Chi said turning and walking away. Neji took a moment, then slowly shut the door, apparently in a state of shock.


"Hey Neji."

"What?"

"Why won't you fight me?"

Neji frowned, "Because I'd beat you."

"Oh yeah… how do you know til you try."

"You're pathetic."

"You're scared."


Chi jumped from tree to tree. She was surprised by the amount of ninja out training, even some jonin. She decided it was probably because the weather was so fine. However, it was making it very difficult to find somewhere quiet to read.

She closed her eyes and concentrated hard. As far as she could tell there was only a small area of the forest not currently being used for training. She quickly sped her way over to the spot and landed gently on the ground. She scanned the area and saw someone was lying on their back not far away

She sighed and smiled to herself. This would be ok. She walked over

"Morning Shino." She said sitting down next to the shinobe and looking at the jar he was examining. There were several small black beetles running around in the bottom. He looked at her, a frown forming on his features.

"Chi." He said lifting his head then sitting up.

"Sorry… did I interrupt?" She said, appearing cheery, despite the fact a small spurt of fear had engulfed her. She may have not let on but she worried Shino would get angry at her again.

He shook his head. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was actually looking for somewhere quiet to read and this is the only place in the village where it's quiet enough." Chi said, pulling out her book. Shino looked at the cover and frowned again.

"Why are you reading 'Make-Out Paradise'?" Shino said, obviously unsure how to react to the revelation.

"It's research." Chi said brightly, waving the book in the air

"For what?"

"Well, I saw Kakashi-sensei reading it the other day, so I am attempting to understand the male psyche via 'Make-Out Paradise'." Chi said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Shino didn't look convinced.

"You're not going to get a very good idea of the male psyche reading that."

"You read it?"

Shino shook his head, crinkling his nose as though the idea was unappealing. Chi thought it was kind of cute.

"Then how do you know it doesn't have everything to do with the male psyche."

Shino just shook his head at her.

"Anyway, what are you doing out here?"

"Finding Orino beetles. They prefer warm weather."

"Oh… that's them then." Chi said pointing at the jar. Shino nodded. Chi leant closer to the jar and watched the small beetles. She noticed that their wings glinted different colors in the sunlight. "What are you going to do with them?"

"I'll release them again soon."

"What was the point in catching them then?" Chi said smiling in Shino.

"I was able to observe them."

Chi leant her head slightly to one side, clearly not understanding the idea.

"Well… whatever you want." She said, leaning against a nearby tree and opening the book to the first page. "Make-Out Paradise, chapter One."


"Hey Chi."

"Yeah Ino?"

"Why were you talking to that weird kid during class?"

It was recess time at the academy and all the children were in the playground.

"You mean Shino?" Chi said, looking at the mentioned student sitting on a bench nearby, alone again.

"Yeah,"

"We're friends."

"Why?" Ino looked confused. After all, to her Shino was just a weird loner who never talked to anyone.

Chi shrugged, "I think he gets lonely."

"Well, he never tries to play with us. Why do you bother?" Ino said, frowning slightly.

"I think he's shy." Chi said, shrugging again, "Hey, your hair is getting a lot longer."

"Yeah, didn't you hear? Sasuke likes girls with long hair." Ino said, tossing her long blonde hair as a demonstration of its length

"Who cares? Sasuke is so up himself." Chi said, wrinkling one side of her nose.

"Don't say that! He has had a hard life." Ino said looking rather distraught.

"Well… that's no excuse to be a stuck-up idiot." Chi said, appearing to lose interest in the subject.

"You're weird Chi. Every girl likes Sasuke." Ino said, glancing over Chi's shoulder at the other kids in the playground.

"You're weird for liking him." Chi said, also turning to see what Ino was looking at.

"So… does that mean you like Shino?" Ino said with a half-joking smile.

"He's my friend. I don't think I really care much about boys at the moment. I'm too young."

"Ha, there may still be hope for you yet. Maybe one day you'll realise how hot Sasuke is."

"Whatever you say, Ino. I doubt it though."

"We'll see."

"Hey Ino… is it really worth giving up your best friend for a boy?"

"If it's true love."

Chi shook her head, her eyes following Sakura as she made her way across the playground to one of the swings.

"Then I don't want to fall in love." Chi said simply, "Nothing is worth giving up your friends for."


"This book is… disturbing." Chi said. She looked up and saw Shino was perched on the tree above her. He picked up a large beetle from the branch and put it in the jar in his hands and leapt down next to her.

"I don't doubt it."

"What's really disturbing is Kakashi-sensei reads this… all the time according to Naruto."

"No-one is perfect." Shino said, scanning the nearby trees, clearly not really paying much attention to Chi.

She took the opportunity to watch him. She realized that despite having spent so much time together when they were younger she didn't know much about him. Unlike Neji.

She had spent a lot of time, when she was younger, finding out everything she could about Neji just so that when she got around to fighting him she would be able to do it well. She had a sneaking suspicion that Neji had acted similarly, although he'd never admit it.

The problem with being away for so long was that she no longer had 'up to date' information and piecing together the past four years seemed such a large task Chi had done the only thing she could possible do in such a situation. She didn't do anything, she simply pretended there wasn't an issue and got on with life.

Hence why she had decided that buying a copy of 'Make-Out Paradise' and studying the male psyche was a good idea. Now she had finished chapter one she was beginning to rethink it.

Shino stopped scanning the clearing and looked at the insect he had just caught. Chi personally thought it looked like a larger version of the Orino beetle he had caught earlier. However, chances were she was wrong, so she hesitated to make a comment.

He had definitely grown up since she first met him. He had always been the tallest and he still was tall. He seemed to have decided that only one jacket wasn't going to cut it and had resorted to two. She had a feeling he was so self-conscious about his body because of the way his Kikaichu left it. As for his eyes, she couldn't imagine what he thought was wrong with them.

She smiled to herself thinking of how heavy he was to lift. She knew that most of that weight would be muscle but you'd never guess just by looking at him that he had that much. She wondered vaguely how hard he worked to be as strong as he was now. A certain amount of her clan strength was genetically inherited but the Aburames weren't exactly known for it.

Shino, his back still to Chi lifted his glasses to get a better look at the insect. Chi, never one to miss an opportunity, dog-eared her page and put the book down. Then in one swift movement she leapt and knocked Shino over.

He spun slightly so he landed on his back and broke his fall with his hand. Chi landed with a soft grunt on top of him and quickly looked up to see if she could catch a glimpse of his eyes. Unfortunately, either Shino was quick and managed to put his glasses back on, or they had fallen back into place when they had hit the ground. Either way, Chi missed her chance.

Shino sighed, frowned and shook his head at her.

"You never stop do you?"

"Ah… If I stopped I would never get to see them. Persistence is key." Chi said.

"Ah ha." He didn't sound convinced.

That moment Chi seemed to realize that she was still half-lying on Shino. She rolled off him, onto her back next to him.

"Your lack of enthusiasm is making me doubt myself. Stop it." Chi said with a laugh. "Some of us have something called near-perfection and we like to tell people about it."

"Maybe that is why you're only nearly perfect." Shino muttered.

"Possibly." Chi said, then she smiled, "Does this mean you think I'm near perfect, Shino?"

"No."

Chi looked put out.

"Nice." Chi said, with a slight frown, then added in a mutter. "You immature brat."

Shino shrugged and went back to looking at the bug in the jar.

"I'm the immature brat?"

"Sure are. What is it?" Chi said shuffling over next to him to look, instantly stopping her sulking.

"A Ko beetle."

"Looks like one of those Orino beetles that's eaten too many food pills." Chi said tapping the side of the jar.

"Its body is a different shape and it has yellow markings on its wings."

"Oh I see… yet further proof I'm not an Aburame… not that there was any doubt… but for the simple minded spectators to our boring lives who have yet to learn this fact… there is no doubt now."

Shino looked at her oddly then leapt back up into the tree to release the insect. Chi picked up her book and attempted to continue reading.

Suddenly she found herself thinking about her last mission. For whatever reason the conversation with Shino had got her thinking. She had arrived at a very good moment, like it had been rehearsed. Of course they hadn't but it was a sort of poetic justice, she decided. Unfortunately, although it was good timing it was also bad timing.

Good timing for Shino. Bad timing for her and Agatsu.

"Shino." She said, closing the book again. She didn't even have to dog ear it again, she had read the same line five times before closing the book.

"Mm." Shino said from up in the tree.

"You know when you asked me about my eyes after we fought Agatsu?" She said, staring down at her feet. A few moments later Shino was standing next to her, one hand in his pocket, the other holding the empty jar. From what she could see of his face he seemed to be trying to appear casual. For the most part he was successful.

"Yeah."

"Are you absolutely sure of what you saw?"