"Try to learn something about everything and everything about something."
- Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)
The villagers excitement for our return is an odd sight, almost festival like in that there are food vendors and decorations strewn across most of the residency section. Before we could really take in the scene we are quickly called into another clan counsel meeting.
"Our messenger summons have confirmed the fire Daimyo's intentions of supplying the village. Additionally there are rumours of the other daimyo trying to balance the offset of power by creating their own ninja military villages. In all likelihood our fellow ninja of the elemental countries will soon be too busy dealing with their unhappy daimyo to bother with our village for quite some time." The senju representative says excitedly to the room.
"I have seen this sort of situation before. It will take the Daimyo years before they can coerce their ninja clans into a unified force and even then such coalitions will only last at most a decade before the clans break into their constituent factions. We shall have little to fear from outside factors interfering with what we are trying to accomplish here."Kurama replies back smugly
"There are still threats out in the world that can level the village. What contingencies do we have if another bijuu attacks for instance? We can't become too confident of ourselves just yet." Shinomaru calmy retorts
"There are few things in this world that can stand the assault of a bijju, your contingency for such an occasion would be to run as far away as you can and let me handle it. Besides, my siblings have never much involved themselves with humanities affairs and they know not to mess with things within my territory." Kurama says unconcernedly
"So with that out of the way and our food shortage solved, what are the villages major concerns that need to be taken care of now?" I ask the group
A moment passes where the council give each other a glace before the Uchiha representative speaks.
"We had a few discussions while the two of you were away. After the incident with training ground 44 we-"
"Hold on, which training ground is that? I thought there were only around 35 training grounds scheduled for construction on Takadas schematics?" I Interrupt
"Ah right, training ground 44 also known as The Forest of Death. When Hashirama and Kyuubi performed that experiment the flora and fauna of the area began showing traits such as gigantism and murderous territorialism. If it weren't for the Kaguya clan making residence in the area we would have had a blood bath within the village." The Uchiha explains reluctantly
"Hold on a moment, you let the clan of bone wielding murderous sociopaths step foot into my village. Why exactly did you think that was a good idea?" Kurama responds dangerously
"You can blame me for that one. You were gone at the time and they were at our doorstep. There are rumors of a powerful Shikotsumyaku user within this generation and we were unprepared to fight them. Luckily their pride and barbaric traditions made it easy to trick them into accepting a test of strength. The challenge being that if they could kill all the beasts within the forest then they would be worthy to fight us. The thing is we were struggling to contain the area at the time. The Kaguya's archaic culture and inborn bloodlust made it impossible for them to refuse the challenge and so we thought to solve two problems with one solution. What we didn't expect was for the survivors to ask us for the rights of residency to that hellhole." Shinomaru states lazily
"I must admit your idea has worked far better than I imagined possible Shinomaru, turning that barbaric lot into useful members of society would never have occured to me. The chakra enriched animal skins that they have provided alone makes the whole venture worthwhile in my eyes. As I was saying though, after that incident the clan heirs came to us with a proposal for a new education system that they are referring to as 'The Academy'. Would you two be interested in hearing out their proposal?"
Kurama and I share a look before he sighs dramatically.
"Well since you lot seem to have the village handled at the moment I suppose we have time to ensure that the brats receive a proper education. We have been fairly neglectful of the them as of late." Kurama contemplates out loud
"Well let's hear what their proposal is, Im rather interested in what they came up with."
XxxxX XxxxX
The Academy turned out to be a fairly straightforward concept. The proposal would rely on the use of a greek style open-air amphitheater to allow Kurama and myself to give lectures and hold debates on our ideologies and knowledge. In the same vein a smaller building next to the amphitheater would provide a place for a more traditional school system that I was sadly already familiar with.
With our blessing the clan heirs ideas are approved, after which we decide to give the news directly to our students. Heading out into the village with me riding on top of Kurama's head we quickly bypass the normal array of gawking onlookers. With Kurama's sensing ability we travel toward one of the new training grounds where Hashirama and Madara seem to be discussing something with their fellow clan heirs.
"It's just not right, Tobirama's always been anti social but now he's spending all this time with my girlfriend and it just doesn't make sense to me. I mean sure revolutionary sealcraft is exciting but- Holy crap what are you doing here!" Hashirama yells while pointing a finger in our direction
"Show a little respect brat! We've made time from our busy schedules just for you pathetic bunch and this is how we are greeted." Kurama berates
"Don't mind Hashirama, he's still angry from the forest of death incident. He's had abysmal chakra control since then and wont stop complaining. What can we do for you senseis?" Madara tiredly responds
"We came to let you guys know that the Academy idea is approved and that construction will start soon. Until then we figured we'd ask what you all are most interested in learning." I say to the gathered heirs
A few seconds of contemplation passes through the group until finally someone speaks up.
"Everything," the Aburame named Shikuro proclaims resolutely
I hold their gaze for a moment and they hold my stare with a resolve that can be felt even through their sunglasses.
Kind of intense for such a mundane question. It seems like they've been waiting a while for this opportunity.
"I want to know everything you have to teach. Ninshu, Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Philosophy, entomology, physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, History both our own and yours Skitter. I want to know anything and everything you are willing to bestow upon us!" Shikuro says with the kind of determination and excitement that even jack slash would find admirable.
"Shikuro calm down you remember what happened last-" The Hyuuga starts to say
"I DON'T CARE HOHETO, how do none of you get just how fundamentally mind-blowing our situation is? Who else in the entire recording of history can say that they were taught by ancient entities of immeasurable power or people from other worlds! How can any of you be so calm about this when they are literally offering us whatever knowledge we want!" Shikuro yells fervently while insects begin pouring from their body.
In a flash Madara pins Shikuros arms behind their back and calmly asks them to recall their kikaichu. In startled realization Shikuro looks in my direction and flinches back in shock.
"What? I'm not going to freak out like before, Im perfectly capable of ignoring your-" I start to say before stopping as I notice the kikaichu gathering on my hand with no directive from me.
A connection forms that is different from my normal control. I can feel their curiosity, their need to gather knowledge and to bring that knowledge back to the hive. Somehow the insects connect with one another via a shared chakra source, creating a pseudo intelligent network that can transmit complex information. My analysis of the kikaichu cuts short when I recognize Kurama is speaking.
"This happened once before, but I'm not sure what causes it though."
"What what means? I just drifted off for a second, im fine now." I state a little shakily
"You positive about that? Because it's been like 5 minutes since you've moved." Hashirama asks skeptically
"Yes I'm fine. Now what were you talking about." I say mostly to reassure myself
"Maybe take a look at your eyes first." Hoheto says while cautiously handing me a small hand sized mirror
Curiously I take the mirror and look at my eyes. Instead of seeing my usual brown pupils there are black voids filled to the brim with motes of light, each its own star in a vast constellation.
"Well...that's...different." I state with trepidation
For some reason Kurama lets out a bark of laughter at my words.
I allow a brief connection to form between the kikaichu hurriedly ordering them back to their home/master. I watch my eyes fade back into normality as the insects fly off my skin, and I sigh in relief.
A gasp from Shikuro immediately turns my relief into trepidation. Looking up I find that the Aburame is on their knees with their hands holding onto their head in apparent pain.
"I- we- they shouldn't be- but-" The jumbled muttering of the Aburame barely reaches me as I watch tears fall from behind the protective tinted glasses.
"We need to get Shikuro to her clan compound, something is happening with her swarm and its disrupting chakra flow throughout her body." Hoheto quickly calls out while observing the Aburame with his eyes activated.
"It's never a dull day with you lot is it." Kurama says while scooping us all into a cupped hand and striding off into the direction of the Aburame clan compound.
XxxxX XxxxX
At the clan compound we are greeted with a startled looking Aburame guard. After informing the person about the situation they quickly take us to an empty building and gather the Aburame healers. A quick scan with oddly green glowing hand later seems to indicate that nothing is wrong but the healers also profess their confusion at the odd behavior of Shikuros Kikaichu. A little over half an hour later Shikuro finally becomes lucid enough to explain what was apparently happening to them.
"Kikaichu are selectively bred for both adaptability and intelligence gathering. They can memorize specific senses or even chakra signatures and impart that knowledge into their user as part of our symbiotic bond. It's part of the reason why the Aburame are excellent trackers and sensors. The information my swarm sent back to me was nothing like what they should be capable of though. There was just too much stimuli that I didn't know how to process. Even now there is just so much more I can feel from them, it's almost like they have their own will. It's like there's another person in here with me." Shikuro rasps out while staring at her uncovered arms.
I begin to panic a bit at the mention of a secondary intelligence living in their head.
Is it possible that my passenger found a way to bud without the need of a trigger?
"Can you tell us more about its intelligence? Like is it talking to you or…" The nara questions hesitantly
"Not really, it's hard to find the right words for it. They are mostly just inquisitive but I don't actually know if its them feeling that or if they are being directed by my subconscious." Shikuro mutters to themself.
The Aburame clan councilman enters into the room soon after and asks the clan heirs to return home for the day. There is little objection from the kids and I find myself mostly alone with the Aburame elder. Kurama having been too big to enter the building lay just outside, listening in on our conversations.
"You know it is Aburame policy not to believe any of Chara Inuzuka's rumors. Her most recent one states that you and the Kyuubi have the divine ability to unlock a clans hidden power, namely in the form of bloodline abilities. We observed that the incident with Hashirama and his unlocking of the mokuton was merely an accident. Still when I heard news of what happened I almost... well lets just say today is the closest i've been to believing. Could you please explain what happened so that I can convince myself that Chara isn't actually an Oracle like she proclaims to be?" The Aburame elder asks tiredly while trying and failing to lighten the mood.
"Of course I'll tell you, but I have to say that even I don't know exactly what happened here."
The next hours are filled with my idle theorising on what could have potentially occured. Eventually Shikuro falls asleep to the sound of our conversation all the while seemingly muttering to themselves.
XxxxX XxxxX
The next day the clan heirs meet Kurama and I at the entrance to our cove, including one slightly disheveled looking Shikuro.
"Well looks like your doing better than yesterday. Any problems with your kikaichu so far?" I ask worriedly
"None that I can't handle Skitter sensei, though my parents have forbid me from using jutsu for a few days to acclimate myself to the changes. Can we please start our lessons today, I'd really like something to take my mind off things if that's alright with you." Shikuro states neutrally
"Sure thing, I'll even teach whichever subject you want to learn first as an apology. We received chairs and paper if you want to use them."
For the remainder of the week I teach my students using the socratic method which involved them asking questions about everything I knew. Simple questions start becoming more complex ones as the kids realize just how far my depths of knowledge reaches. Questions like where stars come from or why the sky changes color at dawn and dusk turn into hour long lectures about Rayleigh Scattering and the astrophysics of celestial bodies. Shikuro seems to be the most curious of the bunch, always asking follow up questions and relentlessly dissecting each explanation. Whenever I felt the need to take a break Kurama would shift discussion towards historical events and the need to avoid repeating humanities past mistakes. Before and after each lesson I try experimenting with my powers hoping to figure out what caused my eyes to change and eventually come to some unsettling conclusions.
The first discovery is that excessive amounts of chakra exposure can trigger the shift and that while in that state I could sense nature energies around me in the form of a strange synesthetic blend of sight sound and strangely enough taste. Secondly I could force the change if I had a mixture of human and insect chakra, namely in the form of Kikaichu. This I discovered only after the Aburame offered me one of their queens as a show of both respect and as a method for protecting myself against ninja in the future. Queen Kikaichu have the strangest instics of any insect I've ever encountered before. Its first instinct is to burrow into human flesh so that it can run a network through the users chakra system. I am not overly happy with that instinct being directed at me, not just because of the pain that such a process would incur but also the reminder of bonesaws promises of turning me into a living hive. Plus I have no idea what the queen would do if there is no chakra system to guide the process. Lastly I found out that Kikaichu could resist my control depending on how much human chakra is suffusing them at the time, and while inside their hosts they are completely obscured to me.
"Are you ever afraid that your passenger will take control of you one day?" Shikuro asks me while I am experimenting with my kikaichu queen after the lessons for the day had been concluded.
Pausing I look at the Aburame with my shifted eyes observing the turbulence of their residual chakra before responding.
"Kyuubi has been talking behind my back again hasn't he? I didn't think he'd feel like sharing that part about my powers but I suppose it doesn't really matter. I imagine you are afraid of something similar happening to you since your kikaichu have changed?" I ask rhetorically
"I'm afraid to test their true limits, what if they become truly sentient? How do I know that these things living within me wont turn me into a monster?"
Giving out a hum of contemplation i give her my full attention. My kikaichu queen flies into a hidden compartment in my clothes, reverting my eyes back to their normal hue.
"I've seen so many different kinds of monsters in my life, I would hardly call the things living within us monsters though. For me my passenger is a part of who I am and in some odd way I think I am a part of it as well. Maybe Kyuubis experiment with ninshu affected my perceptions but I don't think I can be afraid of something that only ever wished to help me. Perhaps it might be different for you but I would do my best to work with my partner even if they truly became sentient."
"I'll take your perspective into consideration, have a good night Skitter sensei" Shikuro says before hastily leaving me to my experimenting
Without my direction the kikaichu queen flies onto my hand in a practiced manner.
How intelligent are you really, can you understand me? Do you feel the things that I feel or are you just an observer trapped watching from afar.
My thoughts trail off into random directions as I watch the hyper intelligent insect stare at me like a curious child might it's mother.
AN: I've had 2 days off since my last update, my sanity has slowly been oozing out of me so you'll likely see a dip in quality with reguards to this chapter. I'm posting this from a tablet at the moment so any edits will likely be later on in the week when I can access my home computer. Have a wonderful day everybody