The Wanderers
Chapter 26 – Shino – Insect Warfare
A/N: Okay I totally lied. Shino is next. I came up with a really fun way of doing his story, and had to get it down before I messed it up.
I'd also like to thank everyone who reads this story and has read and reviewed it. I never thought I would get to 200 reviews, and it delights me as a writer to see so many responses to my work.
If you don't like insects, this probably isn't the best chapter for you. I'm not kidding; some bits of this are messed up. But that's what makes it fun!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Shino would be more of a badass.
***Previously-On***
After escaping the Hidden Village of Sound, the group was accosted by a warrior covered in white armour, bearing a frightening resemblance to the warrior from Kakashi's memories. After a short monologue, in which he confessed to compliance in the destruction of Konoha, the warrior dispersed the Konoha shinobi under orders from a mysterious leader, causing all of them to be sent to different parts of the world. Now, separated from their friends and comrades, each of the surviving Konoha shinobi are struggling to find each other again before they are found again by the group that had caused them so much grief.
Waking up in a seemingly peaceful village, Chouji wasn't sure what to do with himself. He knew nothing of the greater plot, having been unconscious at the time, so eventually he came to the conclusion that his companions mustn't have made it out of their alive. He connected with a young girl called Misa from the village and slowly began to help them grow better crops and saved the village from slowly starving to death due to overpriced food from a nearby village. The day after starting his relationship with Misa, Chouji was accosted by five robed figures, a female of which was extremely unsettling. They confirmed that he was supposed to be their target, but since he lost the ability to mould chakra they had no need to kill him. The female leader cryptically mentioned a pursuer before the group left the village without another word. Counting his blessings, Chouji returned to his home with Misa and embraced his peaceful lifestyle.
***End Summary***
***Four Months after Separation***
A leaf fell onto the top of his hood slowly, but Shino kept his attention focused on the three intruders in the forest. They were the fourth such group in the past month, and the three of them had gotten further than the others, though he didn't expect them to get much further.
With barely perceivable finger movements he sent commands to the wilderness around him, watching as the three figures stepped over an invisible line he had marked on the forest floor. The forest had slowly been getting louder since the group arrived, and although they didn't appear affected by it Shino could see that they clearly didn't want to be there. They were twitchy and obviously on edge.
A leaf cracking under foot caused the three of them to turn around instantly with weapons raised, Shino immediately noticing that they were more heavily armed than the other groups.
They expect to get further in than their companions. They demonstrate an arrogance that is out of place with their movements. There is a greater plot somewhere here.
Looking up at the night sky through his dark sunglasses, Shino could see dozens of the forest's birds hovering above, waiting for their next meal. He looked back down to see the three intruders sheathing their weapons, looks of relief clear on their faces. He sent a small line of chakra down the tree he was perched on, an amount that was barely noticeable but still relayed his orders to the insects around him.
The buzzing of the forest began to reach deafening levels, and at the sight of the three of them holding their ears in pain, Shino struck. Hundreds of small insects erupted out of the ground beneath the three intruders, a maddening mixture of worms, scorpions, and blood red fire ants. The intruders leapt up instantly, two of them screaming as they tried to find a patch of group that wasn't writhing with insects.
Using their fear as a distraction, Shino indicated to the area above them with a small gesture. After a few seconds delay large white figures began to drop from the high trees onto the intruders. At first they tried to swipe off the large insects from their shoulders, but the white insects started to bite through their clothing straight into their skin.
They screamed for as long as they had energy, but once the leeches had sucked them dry they fell silent. Shino took note of how long they took to go down, mentally timing it as he dropped to the ground silently. He had found a substance in the forest to camouflage his Aburame clothing, to the point that even he occasionally struggled to find them when he washed himself.
He rummaged through the intruders belongings, taking special care not to touch any of the leeches' venom that was seeping out of their bite wounds. While he knew he probably could counter-attack the poison, he didn't want to take the risk. If it wasn't removed then other leeches would attempt to attack even him.
The three of them had no items on them to indicate who they were allied with, just as the other groups. Shino was grateful for the extra supplies, he had been self-sufficient for a while now but there were small comforts that made his living situation easier. Shaking his head in frustration the insect user stood back up from the bodies and looked over them again.
The distraction tactic is viable with most sizes, but it doesn't leave any prisoners for interrogation. If I'm to find out who is attacking this position and why, someone in the next group will need to be taken alive. There will certainly be another group.
He motioned to some of the larger animals that had started to gather, leaping back onto a high tree and turned away. He had no interest in watching the bodies be eaten by the denizens of the forest; it had its own way of dealing with intruders and rarely needed his help in dealing with 'undesirables'.
oOoOoOo
Shino landed on the ground smoothly and unravelled the wrapped weapons onto the pile with the others. He had a sizeable collection, but still no information on why he was being attacked. Shino didn't have an interest in using the weapons, but he was cautious nonetheless. At first Shino didn't understand why he had been sent to the wild forest by the white-armoured warrior, but after the first month of surviving he no longer thought about it. He, of course, knew where he was immediately. All insect-users in the shinobi world knew of the forest he resided in. It was a veritable oasis of insects and plant-life in the centre of the Land of Fire. The Aburame clan used to collect some of their more dangerous insects from this forest, and very rarely used it as a training ground and initiation stage for the more advanced insect-users.
He almost left the forest after the first month; it had taken him that long to get used to living in the harsh conditions. But the first group of intruders had changed his mind, and for the past three months he had kept a vigil over the forest with a stoic frenzy that he hadn't experienced before.
Shino would have been satisfied to just leave the intruders to their business, but it seemed clear that they were coming into the forest for a reason, and it wasn't to his benefit.
Something about this area has suddenly become important. The attacks have become more frequent.
He sat down and pulled out the small pack at his waist, pulling back his hood and sighing without a sound and looking up at the oddly clear moon. The nights in the forest were strangely humid, though Shino figured it was to accommodate some of more exotic residents.
After a swig from his water bottle, which Shino noted he would need to refill from a nearby reservoir, the Aburame heir moved to his set-up tent. As he went to enter his tent a small buzzing drew his attention. He turned around to see a small cluster of destruction bugs hovering in formation near his head. After a short conversation with his insects the shinobi swore under his breath and calmed himself. Another group had entered the forest, much larger than the others this time.
They've had enough of losing scouting parties. I need a prisoner. I've been in here for far too long.
Chewing on one of his last pieces of preserved meat, Shino indicated to the swarm near him. He had enhanced his communication skills with insects to the point that he only needed to think a command and they would obey. They were unruly at first, but Shino had realised that insects needed a hive mind like he needed food to survive. It had been a task at first to establish dominance over most of the more dangerous insects, and some of the larger ones flat out refused to cooperate with him, but Shino wasn't concerned.
It was a strange concept to think about, but Shino felt like he was in his element. He wasn't Kiba, relishing in surviving in harsh environments, or Hinata, using the surroundings as an opportunity to test out techniques. Shino had a task, one that he felt was important enough to justify his delay in re-establishing contact with his other companions.
There is something of value here that someone is willing to risk so many people on. They aren't shinobi either, that much is clear. What kind of power is making a move onto these lands?
A small swarm of bugs hovered above his head, causing Shino to nod in acknowledge and put up his hood again. He had cleaned up the invading forces only be ambush, and he noticed that each group was getting wearier. It was only a matter of time before he figured the invaders did what he was terrified they might do. If they did, there was no way for him to escape in time.
oOoOoOo
It was a much bigger group than Shino had expected, nearly a score of figures had entered the outside area of the forest. They moved cautiously, with forward sentries already moving in front of the group. They didn't notice Shino watching them, but he didn't hold that against them.
They wore light clothing, which made sense in the forest's humid environment, and had a variety of bladed weaponry in their hands. A man at the front of the group motioned for them to stop, reaching down to the ground and feeling the dead leaves at his feet.
He's clever. He hasn't seen the trap just yet, but he's more observant than most. He'll have information that I can use.
Shino didn't dare use chakra at that stage; he didn't want to be detected before implementing the plan that was forming in his mind. Luckily he didn't need to use chakra to command his insects. Shino watching the group slowly move forward through the forest through his dark sunglasses.
Fifty metres.
He kept a long vigil on the group, noticing key issues with the group's composition. While the leader seems competent enough, half the group seemed to have no interest in being there, not unlike the previous intruders. Shino could clearly read the fear on their faces, it virtually screamed out at him. He watched with a stoic expression as three of the group began to talk quietly to themselves, quietly enough that he couldn't hear from his position. The leader called for quiet and they complied, but once he turned back around they began to chat again.
He slowly raised the sound levels of the forest, but the moment he did the group froze in place and had their weapons out immediately. Shino had expected this, sitting in the high tree far above the group patiently. It was a technique he had learnt from his father before they had left for the Chuunin Exams.
The technique of patience.
By letting the group move at their own pace he was placing them in a false sense of fear. They had lost nearly a dozen groups of people to the forest already, so they knew how dangerous it was, but they had no idea how they were losing people. Most of them had been under Shino's direction, but the forest itself had a way of throwing around its weight. He let them move into a tree-covered area, one that was ill-suited to an ambush. But Shino didn't require an open area for the trap he had prepared, and he watched the group with a small measure of satisfaction.
Phase One.
The twenty intruders had stopped in place, as the first part of Shino's trap revealed itself. A dark blue Hercules beetle stood a short distance away from the group, clicking its pincers menacingly. Unlike normal beetles, this insect stood at an imposing twelve feet tall, and was extremely intimidating to the intruding group. It was amazing at how such a large creature could have been concealed for such a long time, but Shino had led the creature here for that exact reason.
With their attention focussed on the giant insect, Shino began to relay chakra through the tree down to the ground. Once his orders had been relayed Shino stood up and watched cautiously. There was little else he could do besides watch to see if his plan worked. No need to get his own hands dirty, though that was because he didn't want to reveal himself until the necessary moment.
Down on the ground the leader leapt at the giant beetle and drove an axe into its head. The weapon bit through the dark blue chitin, but didn't sink any further than a few inches in. The Hercules beetle roared in pain and tried to slash the leader in two with its huge pincers. The intruder leapt back and swore under his breath, seeing his axe stuck in the giant beetle's head.
Within the group of intruders, one of the younger girls in the group slapped at her exposed arm with a grimace. She looked at her palm and struggled not to dry heave at the green and brown sticky substance covering her skin. She slapped her arm again instinctively, looking over before letting out a blood-curdling scream. Attached to her arm was an oversized mosquito with blood red eyes and a giant long needle that it quickly drove straight into her arm.
Several of her companions shrieked as well and tried to swat at the mosquito, but were forced to defend themselves as a large silent swarm of mosquitos attacked from the tree shadows. Shino took note of how quickly the seemingly disciplined unit of intruders broke into a panic; the leader couldn't stop them from fleeing in every direction to escape the swarm of mosquitos.
Phase Two.
oOoOoOo
Three of the intruders fled towards the southern part of the forest. The air around them began to get more humid than a forest should have, but they didn't seem to notice, the three of them moving as quickly as possible to escape the monster mosquitos that weren't even pursuing them anymore. After almost a minute of running, one of them called for the other two to stop having felt a strange sensation at his feet. They all looking down and recoiled in disgust, seeing the dark brown bog that they had just entered.
They tried to pull their feet out, but once they tried to move the trap was sprung. Dozens of large figures began to appear beneath the murky water, but before they could call out the figures leapt out of the water. A dozen giant pale worms emerged from the water and dove at the intruders. Razor sharp teeth bit onto their arms and clung onto them, while identical creatures started to chew their way upwards from their legs. They were allowed two seconds of screaming before their heads were similarly attacked and they were dragged into the bog.
A small group of five insects took note of the situation before flying off into a distant part of the forest.
oOoOoOo
The largest group had fled back towards the entrance, flailing about wildly as they tried to fight off the giant flying insects. An insect clone of Shino followed the group at a short distance, watching as several of them had already fallen due to blood loss. The mosquitos had the capacity to drain their victims in a manner of moments, as Shino had found when he first encountered them. He knew those victims had no chance of recovery, the forest would likely absorb their bodies as it did with all the others in quick order. The clone counted nine intruders that were still moving, having left their three companions to die without so much as looking back.
He attempted to keep a loud buzzing around the group to continue the fear of being pursued, but once it became clear that the mosquitos were no longer attacking them the intruders skidded to a halt and caught their breath. Using their resting time to his advantage, the clone of Shino stared closely at the intruders, noticing the subtle differences between this group and those that came before them. The Destruction Bugs that made up the clone couldn't sense any chakra emanating from the intruders, which took shinobi out of the picture. However upon closer inspection he did notice a strange coincidence, every single one of them had a blood red eye and an ice blue eye.
The clone made special note and detached a small contingent of insects to inform Shino, but still focused its concentration on its original purpose. Drawing two small metal blades he threw them straight at a large tree at the centre of the group's resting place, causing the tree to shake wildly.
The intruders were immediately alert and looking around for an attacker, but by then the insect clone had already moved position silently to avoid detection. Even with just his insects imitating him, Shino's battle ideology came through like a hot knife through butter.
Maximise enemy casualties while minimising personal harm. Risk versus reward.
One of the intruders grimaced and felt at her neck, pulling it back with a frown. She couldn't see anything on her hand, simply shrugging and turning back to her companions. Her eyes widened when she saw they had done the same action, but after a few minutes none of them seemed to have any issues, so they began to discuss whether they should return to the others or leave the forest altogether. The clone watched the group come to a slow consensus, counting silently. He frowned and looked back up at the tree for a moment, the insects using their sensing abilities to see whether the plan had worked or not. Shrugging within his coat, the clone of Shino looked down at the group carefully.
One of the intruders dropped to one knee, coughing into his hand violently. The others stood back from him immediately, looking on as he continued to cough blood through his hand onto the ground. Several of the group pointed at him with a cry, the others mirroring their calls when they saw a small collection of lumps rapidly moving underneath the skin of his neck.
Another of the group fell to the ground clutching at her arm. She screamed out as a large lump moved around between her elbow and shoulder before disappearing completely. She tried to claw at her arm in a vain attempt to get rid of the invader of her body, but screamed again when she saw a similar lump on top of her other hand.
Similar to the original Shino, the insects that made up the Shino clone took no pleasure in the act of taking out the intruders. The bugs hadn't expressed displeasure at their orders, but unleashing the tree-dwelling ticks on the ticks seemed excessive even to them, despite the hive mind controlled by Shino.
The clone watched as the rest of the group fell to the ground with similar symptoms, they screamed for a short time before the miniscule arachnid swarm consumed them from the inside. He took his time to ensure that each one of them was dead before checking for any items of value. Having found nothing of interest the clone dispersed into a large swarm of bugs and spread out into the forest proper.
oOoOoOo
It was an impressive feat of strength to be able to kill the giant Hercules beetle in the manner he did, but Shino resented the fact that the intruder leader had essentially sacrificed his four companions to do so.
He doesn't understand the value of comrades in a battlefield. That is why he has lost.
The leader reached down and wrenched his axe out of the face of the giant beetle, flicking its gooey blood off the blade before looking at his fallen comrades with a look of disdain. He spat on the ground and sheathed his axe on his back, glanced around the area with a shake of his head.
It was clear to Shino that he had no idea where to go from there. Not because of indecision, but likely because he had little sense of direction, which showed clearly by his lack of action in a clearly hostile environment. Shino deduced he was the leader because of his combat abilities, which were considerable, particularly for a non-shinobi.
The Aburame heir tracked the leader for almost an hour afterwards as he moved through the forest jungle, finally coming to the conclusion that the leader wasn't searching for a certain area in particular.
It's almost as if…
He had just received the information from his insect swarm, and he had a theory that he needed to test out before capturing the leader. Four months of isolation hadn't increased his interest in interacting with other human beings, if anything he was more inspired to spend more time with the various hives he had established. They had a way of thinking that Shino admired and often replicated. He was weary of becoming too attached to the insects, an action that occasionally happened in his clan before their demise.
However if his theory was correct, he needed to interrogate the leader before killing him. It wasn't even a question in Shino's mind anymore, whether to kill or not. He had spent so long surviving in the harsh environment of the forest that he understood a key facet of life that being a shinobi hadn't taught him. Life existed to feed other life, and survival was everything.
Phase Three.
He threw a kunai down to the ground straight at the leader's feet. The intruder froze in place and already had his blade out, eyes scanning around for his attacker. Without a sound Shino dropped to the ground a short distance away from the intruder, glaring at him dispassionately behind his dark sunglasses. An outside observer might consider it a foolish move, but Shino never did things without considering all possibilities. He wasn't so much a genius tactician, but Shino didn't need to consider all possibilities, just identify the most viable plan and work around that.
"So you're the bastard that is killing my people. Damn shinobi scum." His anger wasn't veiled at all. Shino could tell how much the man hated him. But behind the statement there was a coldness that could only have been bred through years of hatred.
Or indoctrination. Those eyes…
The leader spat another line at Shino, but the insect user didn't respond. There was no point in corresponding with the leader; to speak would to show weakness before he was in a position of strength.
Seeing that Shino wasn't going to talk, the leader roared and brought down his axe with the speed Shino had observed earlier. The dark blade bit directly into his shoulder, but Shino had already replicated that area with insects so the axe passed through him like he wasn't there. Despite himself Shino was unable to keep a tiny grin from his face, though he controlled himself at the slight buzzing of his hive.
The intruder roared again and shifted the weight of the axe in his hands before slicing straight through Shino's stomach and out the other side. Again Shino exploded in insects; however instead of staying in place he floated away and reformed himself, standing opposite the intruder with the same expression he had worn for the whole battle.
The intruder seemed to get more and more agitated, hefting his axe onto his shoulder and glaring at the shinobi with disdain. "Enough of this charade. I'll show you what it means to face us, shinobi!"
He dropped his axe to the ground and slammed both feet into the ground, causing two small tremors beneath him as power seemed to build within him.
A wild grin came across his face. "You should have…"
He tried to continue talking, but found the words stuck in his throat. He tried to look down but his head seemed to ignore his commands, forcing him to continue to stare at the Aburame heir, who hadn't moved at all.
Seeing no point in keeping up appearances, Shino reached out a hand and motioned downwards, bringing the intruder to his knees. He couldn't feel a thing; Shino had pierced him twice in the shoulders with small stingers from a particular type of insect that he had only recently acquired.
"What the hell did you do to me?! Release me at once!"
The shinobi walked slowly and purposefully towards his prisoner, making sure that the intruder could see how unaffected he was by his angry tone. Reaching down he lightly pressed a finger into the forehead of the leader. His prisoner screamed out in agony at the contact, Shino holding it just long enough for the intruder to understand his position before releasing his hand.
It was a paralysing poison that would make puppeteers wet themselves. It disrupted all electrical signals to the brain, effectively removing physical function besides pain receptors. It was brutal, but had a very short afterlife, no longer than an hour.
But he didn't need to know that.
Pulling out one of the kunai he had thrown to the ground earlier, Shino began the interrogation.
Shino had expected him to last longer than he did, but with the information obtained he certainly wasn't complaining. The intruder, who was called Deon, had begged and pleaded, but once he realised what Shino was capable of, he gave away all the information he could. Once he had, he had asked Shino whether he was going to let him go or not. The Aburame had stood up and walked around to the other side, kunai in hand. With two quick motions he slit the hamstrings of the leader and vanished into a cloud of insects that dispersed amongst the trees.
If that information is correct…I need to get out of this forest and warn the others. Provided they survived.
The forest he resided in was surrounded on all sides by large mountain walls that served to contain the monsters inside, with but a single open point to the east. Shino hadn't been there in a long time, he had long since made the decision to stay in the forest, but that time had passed.
Within the cloud of insects Shino rapidly moved through the air towards the single entrance to the hazardous forest. It was a strange sensation, but one he had slowly become accustomed to after weeks of training the technique. If he had been alive, Shino knew his father would have been proud of his achievement. It was the most complex technique the Aburame clan had in their arsenal, and one that Shino had found accidently in a battle involving a giant insect he had no interest in recalling. It didn't take much chakra to maintain the fluid form, though it required a level of concentration that occasionally gave him a headache.
It didn't take the insect-user long to reach the entrance, his traps were mostly centred around the eastern area since that was where the forest was being invaded from. He reformed himself on top of a leafy tree and breathed out slowly. Shino felt a heavy burden at the information he had obtained from Deon, but was more concerned by the large collection of figures he saw grouped together below him.
Ten robed figures stood in formation with their arms crossed, Shino noticing that they didn't move at all, as if carved out of marble. From his high angle he couldn't see any of the figures faces, but something about them unsettled him.
Standing with their backs to the forest was a small group of five people dressed similar to the intruders Shino had just crushed. But Shino was more concerned with the woman standing between the two groups, her blood red hair and icy eyes caused the bugs residing in Shino to buzz in a fear he hadn't though the insects possible to experience. There was something about the woman, something he couldn't place, that stopped Shino from attacking the group to push his way through. His prisoner had told him that there were only the group of five remaining, so the additional forces came as a surprise, and Shino was nothing if not cautious.
Straining his senses with a trickle of chakra, Shino concentrated on listening to the argument that he saw between the group and the fiery-woman who seemed entirely out of place in the forest climate.
oOoOoOo
"You are the only ones left?"
The five intruders nodded quickly, they had no interest in incurring more wrath than they already had.
The red-haired woman sighed and placed a hand on her hip. She wasn't prone to angry outbursts, not to her own people, but her choler was rising quickly. "I sent a full contingent to this area. You may only be failed converts, but one would think with fifty people you can take care of ONE SHINOBI!"
The five of them winced at her dressing them down, while the ten robed figures behind her didn't move an inch.
One of the five coughed awkwardly, "The forest is a highly volatile environment. We haven't heard back from Colonel Deon, but no one that has entered the forest has returned."
"So the men sent here are lost. Fine." The woman took a single step forward and placed an open palm facing the ground. As if out of nowhere a long sword slowly appeared in her hand. It had a blood red hilt that matched her hair, but other than that it appeared like a regular long sword.
The five intruders' eyes widened, but they didn't move from their position, weary of how much respect she demanded from her subjects. Faster than one could clearly see, the woman flicked her wrist in front of the five before placing it back to her side, the sword slowly dissipating from her grip into thin air.
She turned around and looked over the ten robed figures with a cold stare. After a few seconds the five standing behind her fell to the ground, their heads having been relieved of their bodies.
"This is the last shinobi in this land. With his death, this area will be cleansed as it should be. Do any of you have a suggestion for how this needs to be achieved?"
None of the group seemed to have anything to say, causing the woman to sigh with a roll of her eyes. "Where is Shouri when you need him? This is hardly my area of expertise. That stupid brother of mine…"
"If you would permit, mistress."
The red-haired leader watched passively as a robed figure from the back strode through to square off in front of her, an intricate mask concealing her face completely. She acknowledged the woman's presence, she had been a commanding force amongst their warriors, but had yet to truly impress her.
"You have something to contribute, Iceheart? I have a new range of test subjects that require my attention."
It was miniscule, but all ten of the robed figures collectively stood a little straighter, all of them weary of their mistress' experimentations. The woman called Iceheart indicated to the forest behind the red-haired leader.
"If the target is within the forest limits, then the forest is an object that is in the way."
The leader crossed her arms with a frown. "Go on."
The masked woman turned slightly and nodded to a giant of a man standing beside her, a hood covering his blank masked face. With two hands raised, two streams of fire poured out of his palms into the bases of two of the trees arched at the entrance to the forest. The wooden forms instantly burst into flames, with large tongues of fire bouncing from one tree to the next.
The fire-using robed figure lowered his hands back into his robe while the red-haired woman turned around and watched the fire quickly spread. "Impressive. But this doesn't guarantee the insect-user's demise. This only destroys his hiding places, not killing the shinobi himself. Remember our goals."
"Then we shall seek him out inside the forest. With his world burning around him, he will be easy prey."
Placing a hand on the woman's shoulder, the red-haired leader gave no pretence to warmth. "You have your orders then. Once the Konoha shinobi had been slaughtered, you are to report to Kyoukou. He has some meaningless task that needs to be done."
Without another word the female leader moved past the robed warrior and walked back up the dirt path, leaving the others to convey between themselves before entering the burning forest.
oOoOoOo
From his vantage point, Shino knew he was in trouble.
They had to do it eventually. I didn't expect to be the target, but their tenacity borders on fanaticism.
Leaping from his tree to another that wasn't being consumed by flames; Shino ran several scenarios through his head.
I could easily fly from the trees over the mountainside and escape this area. Though it is likely they would pursue me out there too, and the red-haired woman seemed to be on the same level as the one that sent me here.
He found a smooth stone and landed on it quietly, watching as the flames spread rapidly around the forest. With such a wide area of connection to the denizens of the forest, Shino could almost feel the insects burning alive. He could feel a quick anger boiling within him, a hatred he had felt before, when his first hive had been destroyed by the Akatsuki creature.
If…if what she said is true…then the group that just entered the forest is likely responsible for killing a large amount of shinobi, perhaps even some of my comrades.
Running through the handseals quickly, Shino placed a hand on the stone beneath him. A small cloud of smoke appeared while Shino used his free hand to pull out a tiny scroll. A black and red dragonfly the size of his fist hovered just above his hand, staring at Shino through its insectoid eyes. With a quick motion he strung the scroll onto the dragonfly's back, making sure it didn't impede the insect's wings.
He indicated to the insect with the slightest of nods and watched it fly up out through the tree line. He moved to the side without looking as a giant burning branch slammed into the area he had just occupied.
That should reach the nearest of my companions, if they are anywhere in this country.
He couldn't sense any of the robed invaders, but that didn't concern him too much. There was an area of the forest he knew was a good place to hide, one that would survive a blaze of this magnitude. Shino knew there was no way to put out the fire; he had no water techniques like Hinata or Ino. A part of him was already mourning the extensive loss of life that the invaders had committed themselves to.
Once the fire dies out, thousands of species will have died. If nothing else, they will join the insects in their demise. The insects here deserve that much.
With an angry scowl that was uncharacteristic of him, Shino vanished in a cloud of destruction bugs, just as the area around him collapsed in on itself as fire burnt through the humid environment, trees crashing into the ground. The air itself seemed to burn with unnatural fury.
oOoOoOo
The dragonfly zipped across the moonlit sky, high above the flames that were systematically destroying its master's home. It had no set destination, but stored within its senses were the chakra signals of all the Konoha shinobi that had accompanied Shino since the destruction of Konoha. The information contained in the scroll on its back was all the data Shino had collected from the interrogation and what he had overheard. Moving past the mountain cliff, the dragonfly started to pick up speed, its wings barely making a sound.
A tiny flash appeared from the ground beside the forest, the dragonfly paying it no attention, to its demise.
It fell to the ground quickly; however just before it struck the ground a bare hand reached out and snatched it out of the air. The dragonfly was already dead, so the killer had no issues removing the small piece of metal that had pierced the dragonfly's head.
"Hmm…"
Picking off the scroll from the insects back, the red-haired leader dropped the flying insect to ground without a second thought. She unravelled the scroll and inspected the contents carefully.
"Encoded. He's more dedicated than we thought."
She crushed the paper in her hand and shoved it into a pocket attached to her belt. She wished she was wearing her loose fitting dress that she wore when she wasn't in her lab or in the field, but that wasn't an option at the present time.
The red-haired leader looked at the watch attached to her wrist. She sighed and looked down at the burning forest beneath her. "I wish I had time to watch this. Fire is so romantic, especially like this."
A large tear appeared behind her, pulling away the air to reveal a shadowy blue colour that was constantly changing. "Still, I suppose this'll be something to remember for a while."
With that, she disappeared into the tear, leaving the task of murdering the Aburame heir to her subordinates.
Even in his cloud-swarm form, Shino could see some of the larger insects of the forest trying and failing to escape the horrifying blaze. Despite covering a wide area, the nature of the leafy and humid forest meant that the fire spread quicker than the insect-user had anticipated. He had feared they would do this from the start, but he didn't guess that he himself was the target.
That Iceheart character is clever. Burn the forest to catch the bug. However entering the forest makes no sense. They should be just waiting for me to escape and cut me off at the edges.
At a place in the southern part of his vision, Shino saw a single robed foe standing perfectly still with her arms crossed. He saw that it wasn't the Iceheart character that had instigated the fire, but nonetheless he had been given an opportunity to kill one of the enemies likely responsible for so much death.
Turning into a long stream of bugs, Shino floated down to the burning forest and reformed into his original shape onto one of the few trees that hadn't been set on fire yet. The robed woman stood several feet away below him and had yet to notice his presence.
She is either extremely arrogant, or doesn't expect me to attack a woman.
Without a sound he dropped down right behind her, silently landing on the ground and pulling back a fist. Almost in an instant the woman spun around and swiped through his face with a bone-hilted dagger.
The blade passed through his insect form with ease, causing no damage to the shinobi whatsoever. The woman's eyes widened, she clearly hadn't been expected him to react that way, but before she could move her dagger to strike him again, Shino slammed his hands onto the ground.
He didn't have a name for the technique, he wasn't like the others, having a need to say the name of a technique to utilise its full effectiveness. He pushed a decent amount of chakra into the ground, causing the robed woman to fall into the ground up to her knees, immobilising her in place.
She struggled within the solid ground but was unable to move below her waist, flailing about with her dagger while spitting out profanities and insults at him. While usually Shino would leave her to her misery, letting the forest itself take care of his enemy, this was no longer an option.
Placing a hand back onto the ground while making sure he was out of range of her dagger strikes, he communicated to a large hive of insects underneath the ground, taking a few seconds to convey his orders before standing back up and staring at the robed figure.
Normally Shino took no pleasure in the act of killing another, besides the satisfaction of doing his duty. However, watching the woman scream in agony as she was consumed by a mountain of fire ants from underneath the ground seemed to sate a small portion of Shino's anger.
People always say that revenge is never satisfactory. But this…
He noted without moving that four robed figures had landed around him, he concentrated on watching the fire ants disperse back into the ground. He was impressed by how effectively the insects had dismembered and disintegrated the woman's body; there was virtually no trace of her at all.
Behind him he could feel the seething anger directed at him from the four robed men. It pleased him that they had taken the bait, but four at once was going to be a task, and he wasn't sure how long he could maintain his insect form, his head was already pounding in pain.
The enemy to his left snarled and pulled back a sleeve, revealing a bladed gauntlet on his right hand. "You brutal son of a bitch…"
Shino slowly looked around, seeing the others draw similar weapons and giving him the same look of intense hatred. He stared at the enemy that had spoken, placing his hands together slowly.
The gauntlet-wielding enemy nodded quickly to his companions, taking a single dramatic step forward towards Shino. "You'll pay for killing her!"
He swung at Shino's face with a similar level of speed to the previous enemy, but since he could read the attack Shino was prepared for it. He ducked underneath the strike whilst simultaneously clapping his hands together before tapping his right arm with his other hand. In a motion that clearly surprised the robed attacker, Shino dove forward and clutched his hand around the enemy's throat. With his chakra he had changed his arm into a large scorpion's pincer, from the elbow upwards.
Shino held the enemy hostage for a split second, making sure that he experienced the fear his companion had suffered through. With a clicking motion, Shino severed his head to the bone, turning his arm back to normal just in time to roll away from an axe strike to his back.
"Monster!"
"Shinobi-bastard!"
The insect-user jumped back several paces, taking an account of his three remaining foes. One had a long scimitar with a guard, another wielded the axe that had struck at him earlier, and the final robed figure had a barbed whip between his hands. They all looked particularly vicious, however Shino was undeterred.
He went to swarm them with insects from inside his body, but stopped himself before relaying the command. Without his hive inside his body, he wouldn't be able to turn into a swarm to avoid their attacks. He judged they were far quicker than he could dodge, so despite the thundering headache in his head Shino was forced to resort to close combat, since the blaze around them had bottled him in.
The axe-wielder roared out and swung at him again but instead of moving away, which would have put him in the path of the whip-user, Shino took the blow straight.
It passed through his blocking arms and into his chest, which had already exploded outwards into a swarm. Moving as quickly as possible, Shino flew around his attacker, reforming his hands in mid-air to pull down the man's hood. He still couldn't see the invader's face because of the blank mask, but Shino wasn't concerned about that. Once the hood was down he tapped two fingers on the man's exposed neck before turning into a swarm again to fall back from the other two robed invaders.
The axe-wielder stumbled slightly, dropping his axe with a groan as his companions moved to defend him. He reached back and felt at where Shino had attacked him, grunting as he pulled out two stingers and looked at them in his hand.
Shino counted quietly in his head, ducking under a whip strike and staring at the axe-wielder. He fell to the ground with a thump, the others seemingly unconcerned with their companion now that their target was in range.
How callous.
He didn't need to check to see that the axe-wielder was dead. He had struck him with extremely virulent scorpion venom, one that he had nearly been killed by himself. The barbed whip lashed out at him, but Shino was already moving to the side.
The trees around them had begun to crash to the ground, their bases having burnt through. While dodging both attacks from his enemies and falling branches, Shino remarked at how quickly the forest blaze had spread. It seemed like an unnatural occurrence, though not unlike the flames that Sasuke or Kiba could emit.
It still bothered him that he couldn't sense the robed figures beyond his normal senses, not like the other invaders.
They either shield their chakra outputs, or they don't have chakra at all. Either is troubling to say the least, and I'm running out of time.
The robed enemies stood next to each other, watching him with caution. Once they had exercised their anger, it appeared that they resolved to work together to take him down. Despite the blank masks and slits for eyes, Shino could sense their reservation in continuing their offensive.
They recognise that they can't do any physical damage to me, which will make them either hesitant or reckless.
Seeing that they weren't going to attack him, Shino used that time to gather as much information as he could about the surrounding area. The reports he got from his sensory insects was not positive in any respect.
A full third of the forest was uninhabitable; the air had become intolerable even for his destruction bugs. Hundreds of species had been wiped out, and those that could had evacuated deep into the ground. By Shino's calculation, the entire area would be burnt down in less than an hour.
I'll take out as many of them as I can, then escape.
A plan came to him like a bolt of lightning, one that he hadn't considered beforehand. The whip-user cracked his weapon with a snarl and moved in sync with his partner to strike at the insect user. Their movement patterns suggested they wanted to immobilise him, though he wasn't sure how they would go about it. However after jumping back from a scimitar strike, Shino wasn't going to let them dictate the flow of the battle. With a rapid set of handseals, Shino sank into the ground to duck under a whip strike.
He waited underground for just a little bit longer than necessary, using a small collection of insects to pinpoint the invader's exact location. They didn't seem to panic, and since they hadn't seen his previous Earth-based attack, Shino had the element of surprise.
With a pulse of chakra the Aburame heir slowly rose from the ground silently, having positioned himself in the single blind spot between the two robed enemies. Once he was above the ground the two of them seemed to notice his presence, but before they could do anything he clapped his hands together and placed them on their backs.
Using a large amount of chakra, Shino activated his planned technique and leapt back as far as possible. The two of them seemed unaffected for a moment, even turning around to face him. However they didn't last long, falling to their knees with silent screams, though Shino had to assume that since the masks concealed their expressions. After dozens of convulsions, which was haunting to watch even for Shino, the two of them fell to the ground dead. Leaning down Shino placed out an open hand, letting the tiny insects that had destroyed his foes from the inside out trickle back into his greater hive.
He took a look up at the sky. With the billowing smoke and burning tree tops it almost looked like the sky itself was on fire. Shino was not prone to dramatic assumption, but if there was ever a doomsday image, Shino couldn't think of a more appropriate picture.
Time is up.
He breathed out slowly, gauging how much chakra he had left. He had enough to escape the burning forest easily enough, perhaps even take on another group of invaders. But Shino didn't want to take that risk, better to survive to fight again than attempt a brazen attempt at exacting revenge.
Placing his hands together to conserve chakra, Shino regulated his breathing and attempted to reduce his choler, but was having a difficult time. He had the memories of many species deaths in his mind, and had tried to save as many as possible but it wasn't enough.
Through his sunglasses he could see a large collection of shapes moving rapidly towards him. In the corner of his eye he could see the masked Iceheart woman approaching him at a leisurely walk. A part of him knew that he should leave the area, considering the other four robed invaders were taking position around him quickly. But on seeing her complex mask and the sheer arrogance of her stride caused him to reconsider his plan.
He turned to face her, placing his hands together and gathering as much chakra as he could spare. He didn't want to summon the creature in the middle of a burning forest, but Shino took comfort in the knowledge that the giant preying-mantis would agree with his assessment of the situation.
A little vengeance is justifiable.
He sped through the five handseals, but before he could move to summon the giant insect he saw Iceheart vanish from sight. Beneath his sunglasses his eyes widened, the move was a chakra-based taijutsu move, one he hadn't expected from an enemy that wasn't a shinobi. He resolved to summon the creature nonetheless, but when he went to slam his hand on the ground the strength in his body vanished.
With an immense show of strength, Shino turned his head slightly to see the masked woman standing beside him with a hand on his shoulder.
How can she…with my…
All of his chakra seemed to vanish from within him. Every attempt at communicating with his hive for a defensive manoeuvre was met with deafening silence. Around him the other invaders moved to stand close around him, Iceheart's hand forcing him to the ground like a parent would a child.
"Aburame Shino. As the final shinobi in the Land of Fire, your execution will ring out within your world."
The four robed invaders drew long swords and faced the blades to his throat. Within his lifeless body Shino tried to struggle, but he had no strength to even move beside his head. The Iceheart woman released her hand and walked around to face him, drawing her own short sword.
Taking the longest breath of his life, Shino looked up at her masked face. In deference to his situation, a slow grin came across the Aburame survivor's normally stoic face. Summoning up all of his newly found rebellious nature, Shino spat straight into her face, the liquid planting itself between the orbs on her mask.
"I die for my friends. Do your worst."
Without even wiping the spit off of her face, the masked leader brought down her sword in a flash, her four companions echoing her motion.
oOoOoOo
Wiping her bloody sword on her light-coloured robe, the masked woman reached down and grasped the shinobi's head in a gloved hand. The others went about dismembering his body with their blades. She sheathed her blade and reached up, removing the insect-user's sunglasses.
"No look of fear. He was different from the other shinobi. Almost a shame."
She dropped the head to the ground, taking a moment before slamming a heeled boot into his face.
"Almost."
Author's Note:
And so ends Shino's story. Unlike Chouji and Neji, Shino was always going to die at this point, it was just a matter of how. It's a shame; I like Shino as a character. Efficient, undemanding, brutal when necessary but no overly so.
I'll admit I took a lot of things from other movies in this scene. But they were so fun, I couldn't help myself. And yes, his death was kind of messy and sudden. But not everyone gets a dramatic death. In fact most of them aren't dramatic at all. Anime doesn't seem to show those that often.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to reply to each review, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.
