Shino's a disciple of routine. He likes drawing up schedules and following them till all the tasks on his checklist are complete and he's silently thrumming with the satisfaction of achieving the goals he assigns himself.
He enjoys the planning part alot. It occupies his brain in ways other things don't. The mind maps, flow charts and spider webs visualised by his head keep him organized always. It's usually why he never misses a single assignment given to him, or gets late to any important meetings or scheduled trainings.
That's not to say that he lives his life robotically - it's just more systematic than any other eleven year old.
He removes three hours a day to dedicate to his hobbies. No one who looks at him can tell that he enjoys taking strolls in the park so he can subtly chase any butterflies that catch his eyes. The few close acquaintances he's had so far - because the level of familiarity calling them friends would suggest has never been there for him - will be astonished to know that he's a fan of art. He likes borrowing his mother's pointed brushes sometimes and snatch a random piece of paper to draw whatever comes to his mind. Most of the times it's all very geometric, stiff in a way that he thinks beautiful art isn't supposed to be.
Maybe it's the compartmentalizing of his brain that causes this. His thoughts are so complex yet so linear that what he produces on paper has the same systematic quality to it.
He doesn't like it one bit.
Instead, he loves the mess of colours that Aburame clan's shrine displays. It's centuries old art, drawn by the first few artists of Konoha. Most were Aburames but some were from outside their clan. Freelancers who were paid to decorate their praying quarters. It's a lovely place, Shino thinks. With beautiful murals embellishing the bare white walls - it's like seeing the art come to life.
The blues of hydrangeas and hyacinths and lobelias leaves him breathless sometimes, and the oranges of a sunset painted as a spectacle seen through the transparent petals of skeleton flowers after a shower send him in a state of peace that even his extensive planning can't. He goes to their shrine every weekend, usually alone, and sits inside with legs folded beneath himself. He never prays -- he doesn't see the point of it but just stares at all the exquisite artwork.
It's his muse and yet he never manges to replicate any of the happiness and cheer of floral paintings on his makeshift sketchbook. It's all sharp-edged triangles and unmalleable lines.
He despairs over it sometimes but it's never all-consuming because even though he may not consider himself a good artist - he knows he's an excellent insect farmer. It comes with the territory of being a member of his clan and with that, he's also a budding entomologist - a fact that burns pride within himself if he bothers with such emotions.
His kikachu are his family, plain and simple. They live, breathe, sleep with him. He protects them and they protect him. He may be their host but this is a symbiotic relationship - one where he benefits as much as they do and when he names each individual kikachu, he doesn't feel embarrassed by it.
It's upsetting when they die but he's aware of every time a new one's born too and it's a sensitive balance - the constant births and deaths - but as long Shino takes care of himself and his chakra, his insects will never completely die out. They'll be with him as long as he lives and they're the kind of companions he never wants to lose.
People...they think he's stoic. Unapproachable, silent, always assessing and judging. He's some of those things, he can honestly admit but Hinata tells him that he's actually a pretty friendly guy behind his too huge jacket and glasses. He doesn't really agree with her - he only interacts with her because she's someone who understands his need to remain silent - but he doesn't voice it out loud.
Neverthless, people's perceptions of him and their general, quite irrational fear of his insects usually prevent them from ever seeking him out and conversing with him. Atleast not in his close proximity. Only a few bold ones - or stupid ones, Shino muses in the safety of his head - come talk to him. Kiba's one such person, and another's Naruto. He usually stares at them coolly till they get embarrassed to be the only one's talking and exit their one-sided conversations with as much awkward dignity as they can.
That's how it goes until that weird day when Sakura Haruno calls him out. He accepts the duo's proposal because much like Shikamaru, he's a got an inquisitive streak as wide as the Kage monument. The task is quite easy, he finds. One frank conversation with his father grants him a summoning scroll for ants and he's content with how things turned out. His father, though, appears oddly intrigued by his request but like any other Aburame, he doesn't pry to get answers out of Shino.
He enters the academy a week after he makes the deal with Naruto, a small black scroll tucked securely in one of his numerous coat pockets. He's ready with his end of the bargain. Time to ask Naruto to deliver his.
"Ordering me to attend a get-together with your friends?" Shino echoes Naruto's words, for once feeling extremely out of his depth.
The boy gives him his signature grin, swinging his legs from atop the desk he's currently made his perch.
"Ofcourse," he says, like it's completely in his rights to order Shino around. "You're coming to our usual meet-up place, the dango shop in the market. Six in the evening -- don't be late."
Sakura raises her head, finally keeping the huge book she'd previously been buried under and looks at Shino with impatience painted as a tolerant smile.
"Just agree already. Naruto's not letting you go until you do."
Shino keeps staring at them but Naruto seems unfazed by it today.
"Well, weren't you the one who wanted to know what I'll use the scroll for?" the blond raises both his brows, in an attempt to make Shino feel stupid.
"Yes," he, says, "but I assumed our information-sharing talk would occur in a quiet area, or perhaps an empty classroom. Meeting your whole group of friends was never an option."
"Now it is," Naruto insists, jumping down the desk with a purposeful spring, and looks at Shino resolutely. "Whether you like it or not."
Oh, I don't. Shino thinks but doesn't protest any further. He knows the stubbornness that Naruto possesses. To reason with him is like trying to move a mountain with the strength of finger - futile and pointless. So Shino saves his energy and simply decides to never show up when the time comes. His lack of denial doesn't mean his automatic agreement afterall.
But Sakura's not taking any chances so she narrows her eyes at him.
"We're coming to pick you up at five thirty. Be ready."
Naruto is more than happy to jump on this train, "Absolutely! No need to dress formally, by the way."
"Why would I dress formally?" Shino asks, wondering whether he even owns such clothing. He's never really seen any Aburame in anything other than baggy jackets and pants.
"I don't know," Naruto scratches his head. "Those Hyugas seem to always wear very uptight clothing everywhere. I thought it's a clan thing and you're like from a major one, right?"
Shino feels a weird urge. A different, wholly unknown feeling.
He wants to...laugh.
It terrifies him.
He's experienced amusement before, plenty of times. Usually at the cost of someone else's stupidity. This situation is no different but the sheer absurdity of someone comparing a Hyuga and an Aburame? It's too much.
With some effort, he manages to conceal his reaction and says,
"I will be there. Do not come to get me. The insects aren't usually friendly towards strangers."
Naruto's face shows a sudden understanding - like the behaviour of insects is something he knows at an intimate level and nods.
"Cool, we'll see you at Denki's Dango Shop directly then!"
As Shino walks back to his desk, he acknowledges how stupid that shop's name sounds.
Tenten almost vibrates in her seat when Naruto arrives at their table, something small and matt-black held in his hand. She lunges for it and the blond let's go of his possession with a short laugh.
Sakura looks at her with twinkling eyes and persuades Lee into getting them all drinks. Chouji joins the enthusiastic boy towards the inside of the shop to place their orders and when they return, Shikamaru's already there - seated where Lee had previously sat.
Lee's too good to start quarrelling about a chair so he greets the Nara amicably before pulling another chair for himself. Chouji places the different juices on the wood before turning towards Naruto.
"Where's Shino? I hope he isn't going to be a no-show."
"He'll be here," Naruto states like a fact. "If he isn't, his questions will go unanswered and he definitely doesn't want that."
"So he's basically Shikamaru but less annoying?" Tenten quips, looking at the slumped figure of the Nara.
"Precisely," Chouji says, hiding a grin behind his glass.
Shikamaru throws Tenten a dry look, ignoring their comments altogether.
"Shino! Kiba!" it's Lee who spots them first and waves his hands in a beckoning motion despite the fact that the two boys are already approaching them anyway.
"Hello," Shino greets, sweeping his gaze across the table. He ignores his little discomfort when Kiba forcefully pulls him down onto a chair.
"Glad you showed up," Sakura tells him, and Shino nods at her in acknowledgement.
The other, older kunoichi leans onto her palms, elbows placed firmly on the table.
"You must be the mysterious Shino," she says. "Nice to meet you. I'm Tenten."
"This is the first time someone's described me as mysterious," he admits in a mutter. "But yes, it's nice to meet you too."
"I'm Rock Lee!" the other senior introduces with an overabundance of energy that sends Shino's kikachu buzzing. "Thank you for helping my dear friends out in their sealing journey!"
"It's no problem," Shino says before turning towards Naruto. "Now please tell me what's the scroll being used for."
"We're trying to decipher it," the blond says, taking the scroll from Tenten and unfurling it. "Trying to understand this particular sealing art and maybe recreate it. Mostly, we just want to try and make an object teleportation seal."
"Fascinating," Shino comments, scooting just a tad bit closer to Naruto to have a better look at the scroll's contents. "I do not understand any of these symbols drawn. They do not seem to be the ones we incorporate in our seals."
Naruto nods, holding the opened scrolls at different angles - as if deciding which is the right way to read it. He continues the process for a minute or two before he stops and firmly places the scroll down again, using his palms to flatten the creases in the paper.
"There," he says, pointing at a random two-way arrow at the top right. "That's the first command, and it's one we use too. It means this seal's actions are reversible - not permanent. Which is true, an ant summoned can be unsummoned using this seal. All the other chains originate from this focal point."
Tenten leans even further, almost standing now, chair forgotten as her eyes widen.
"You're right," she sounds awed, impressed and Shino doesn't know the significance of Naruto's assessment so he waits and observes. "We've found the start. We just need to follow the chain now and gauge what each sequence means."
Naruto chews the inside of his cheek but when he looks up, his eyes shine with unbridled determination -- a promise to fulfil this task the two amateur seal makers have undertaken. He takes a deep breath and picks up his glass of lemonade, completing it one go while Sakura scolds him to slow down and it's dripping on your shirt, you hooligan!
All of them eat dango in peace as Tenten and Naruto hunch over the scroll and several different pieces of parchments, drawing and arguing and debating which symbol does what. Shino can tell they're not making any more breakthroughs but the disappointment never shows on their features, and they don't look anywhere close to giving up. At some point, Naruto's eyes get fixated on a particular symbol and he seems lost in it. Hyper-focused on that one design and Shino thinks he's seeing some genius at play here -- that Naruto will break out of his trance and tell them he's figured the scroll out.
But when the blond blinks, he shakes his head at Tenten. He doesn't get insight out of thin air and Shino realises, with a small amount of that impressed outlook he'd seen in Tenten, that Naruto's conclusions are derived from his knowledge. Facts that he's spent time learning and practical experience from the seals he's already successfully made. It's funny how things shift into perspective in Shino's mind, but he's accustomed to his opinions changing time and again so he files this little piece about Naruto in one corner of his neatly organised head.
It's dark by the time Tenten and Naruto finally decide to stop and Shino's barely spoken a word. But he hadn't felt bored either. He'd sat and listened to Lee trying to get Sakura to count his push-ups and Chouji arguing with the chef about the consistency of the dango served. He'd briefly observed Kiba too, who was constantly trying to wake the Nara up by asking Akamaru to jump on the guy.
"Tomorrow, same time?" Naruto asks everyone, as he helps Tenten pack up.
"Fine by me," Sakura says, and Chouji nods too.
"I've got clan shogi tournament tomorrow," Shikamaru drawls. "Can't make it."
"Such a thing doesn't exist," Naruto says, bewildered that the Nara would make up such a stupid thing. "Quit lying."
Shikamaru shrugs, but he seems to have acquiesced already. "Worth a shot."
Then the blond turns to Shino and the bug-user hadn't expected it -- the deal ended here. He's got the information he wanted already and there's absolutely no reason for Naruto to expect his presence at any of their upcoming daily gatherings.
"You'll come too, right?"
"Why should I?"
"Because," Sakura turns towards him, clutching her book under her arm, "we want you to. Come on, you know you had fun with us."
"I wouldn't exactly call it fun," Shino says, "but it was indeed a new experience. I shall let you know whether I'll be attending any more of these sessions."
For some reason, Naruto smiles widely at him and pulls him by the elbow towards the street.
"Welcome to the gang!" he declares and Shino's not sure who's getting welcomed and which gang he's speaking of but his mind is too busy preventing his limbs from tripping over one another so he banishes the questions for the time being and focuses on Naruto's abrupt movements.
"He's pulled in another one," Shikamaru says, watching the two with suppressed mirth.
Sakura shakes her head in fondness, "That's what extroverts do, don't they? Adopt the introverts as their friends."
The Nara finds nothing wrong with that statement and simply continues to watch as Naruto laughs and drags Shino with him.
[Deactivating A Seal
I remember my master used to say that a one mustn't make a seal that one can't control.
Following this train of thought, it's important that we learn not only the art of making a seal but also activating and deactivating it. I've already provided instructions on seal-activation so let's focus on the other side of the coin in this chapter.
Deactivating a seal translates to different meanings depending on the type of seal. For a seal that performs a steadily continuous function, deactivation can be temporary - a pause, a break - or permanent. For a seal that carries out an instantaneous task after certain conditions are met, deactivation is like de-escalating the build-up and preventing the main result of the seal altogether.There are no changes or reverting the seal back to its former state in such a type of deactivation.
A smart person will be first to argue that damaging the medium that carries the seal should be sufficient to render it useless. Cutting the paper in half, or chipping away at a rock that holds the seal will ruin it, disrupting the chain.
However, this isn't the safest method, nor does it leave any room to salvage the seal drawn.
To deactivate a seal temporarily, we make another containment and release seal.
Yes, we essentially seal the seal.
It may sound like too much effort, or something that might not be a viable option when time's against us but I assure you that with enough practice, this seal can be designed under a few seconds. In any case, ripping the paper is always an option.
The deactivation seal is simple. A generic containment matrix goes around the main seal...]
Naruto tries his best to understand this new concept. He'd never realised how harmful some seals could be. But reading this - a method to control a seal that could be catastrophic, or volatile in a damaging way, it makes sense that honing deactivation techniques is so important.
He gets to work immediately, trying his best to not get distracted by the chatter around him. They've got a free lecture right now, a rare chance to enjoy some leisure time in the academy. But Naruto's already had his fun during the spars and target practice in the morning so he's decided to do some studying in class.
Sasuke sits beside him and Naruto can tell he's trying to peep into his work. The guy's too damn prideful to simply ask Naruto to keep the page in the middle so he can easily see his drawings. The blond side-eyes the Uchiha and raises his right arm purposely to cover his work, obstructing the Uchiha's already limited view. He can hear Sasuke make a funny noise and when Sasuke subtly shifts closer to him, Naruto lets him. It's kind of amusing how everyone's always interested in his seals when no one, except Tenten and Sakura can actually understand his designs.
Half an hour passes by in such a manner. Naruto follows the pointers in the chapter and is almost done drawing a deactivation seal around his Glue Storage and Release Seal. For that, he'd had to activate it in the first place but apart from his desk getting messy and sticky, no issues of real significance had arisen.
A flurry of movement near the entrance draws his and everyone's attention then, and Naruto quickly shoves his tome back into his bag, his newly made seal taking its place in a folder under his desk.
Iruka-sensei enters their class, seemingly pissed at something the students can't tell the reason for and hushes them till there's silence in the class.
"So students," Iruka begins, and Shikamaru wonders why their teacher looks so unwilling to speak. He's usually quite the orator and a generally enthusiastic teacher. "I've got some news for you all. One recent development has just been brought to my attention. As you may know, our academy has exclusively chunin instructors and I'd like to think we make good teachers."
Iruka pauses, looking towards the door again. He narrows his eyes at something or someone the other occupants of the room can't see and turns back towards them with a smile plastered on his face.
"But to provide further insight to you all, the Hokage has endeavoured to recruit a jounin to teach you one class per day. His name is Kakashi Hatake and he'll be another instructor for Grades five and six for the next year. Hatake-san," Iruka looks to his right again, "please do come in."
The man that walks in is easily the most nonchalant one Naruto's ever seen. His posture is oddly slumped - not in the way Shikamaru's is. Each step is relaxed yet alert and the one eye that isn't covered seems to penetrate everything it sees. It unnerves Naruto a little, right until he sees a little interaction between his sensei and this new instructor.
The Hatake guy pulls something out from his vest pocket, it's small and orange and looks decidedly like a novel. Sakura leans forward, intrigued by the prospect of her new instructor being a bookworm like her. But then Iruka - honest to Kami - pounces for the book, hand outstretched like menacing claws and Kakashi dodges by the width of a hair. Iruka whispers something then, too low for any of them to hear but they can tell the man's pissed, hell, he's downright murderous and Kakashi seems to have sensed it too, for he puts his book back in his pocket with elaborate actions.
Iruka glares for a moment longer before realising that everyone is staring at the two with way too much interest. He coughs, and pulls Kakashi by the elbow till he's standing firmly in the centre of the class.
"This is Hatake-san. He's a distinguished ninja of our village and I hope you all will behave when in his presence. He's a bit new to all this," Iruka says pointedly, as if relishing in the declaration of calling his senior a newbie. "So please do cooperate with him. I think that's all. He'll be taking your Shinobi theory session right now. I'll be in the staff room in case anyone needs my assistance."
With that, Iruka throws Kakashi a scrutiny-filled look before smoothly walking out the door.
It's then that the man finally turns his whole attention to the kids seated inside. He sighs exaggeratedly before his face adopts an eye-smile that looks very out of place on his usually bored features.
"Hey kids," he says faux-cheerfully. "Does any one of you think I'm going to teach you?"
Everyone contemplates an answer while Kakashi slowly walks to the teacher's chair and sits down, surprised by how comfortable the seat really is. Naruto frowns in thought, a little put off by the question. Why would he ask such a thing? Isn't the man being paid to teach them? It's a given, is it not?
After a minute, almost every hand in the class goes up in affirmation and Kakashi chuckles lowly. He removes his little orange book again, placing his legs onto the desk and slumps into his chair.
"Well," he says, "You all thought wrong. Except the Nara -- you're a smart one."
The rest of the lecture goes by in silence. All the students stare at their new, very shameless teacher and they're too baffled and astonished to actually voice out their offence. When the bell rings, Naruto is the first to get up. He walks up to Kakashi with purpose in each of his steps and the man straightens up just a tad.
"You!" he says, pointing a finger in the man's face. "You are a jerk!"
"I know," Kakashi's answer is automatic, "What are you gonna do about it, huh pipsqueak?"
Naruto narrows his eyes in irritation, but Sakura's already by his side. She places a calming hand on his shoulder and purses her lips at their teacher.
"We're all gonna do something about this, sensei," she says way too sweetly to be sincere. "If you won't teach us, we'll get you fired."
For some reason, the man looks kind of happy by that statement, before amusement overwhelms his face and he waves an encouraging hand in her direction.
"Go on," he says. "Show me what you all have got."
"Oh we will," Naruto says, stomping his feet as he walks towards the exit. "They don't call me the greatest prankster for nothing!"
Chouji - sweet, innocent, kind Chouji - leans towards Naruto and whispers,
"But no one calls you that, buddy."
He's had it ready for a whole week now. He really has made the Cluster of Chakra Detection Seal and it works, he's tried it in small scales already. Hovering it around a bunch of bushes makes the indicators go off due to the rise in nature chakra in that small area. But now he's going to test it out on other objects - check if it can detect any traps.
He starts just outside the gates of Konoha, still within the boundaries of the village's forests. He's certain there are some basic traps here - for wild animals and trespassers. He's careful to avoid areas he's sure host traps, they're in obvious locations afterall. No ninja worth their salt would travel via the ground when the branches are so much safer. So the traps for animals are usually tucked like land mines, going off when someone steps on it.
The complex traps are supposed to be more difficult to evade but his seal doesn't spot any so he wanders deeper into the forests. He's walking between two thick trees, an oak and a linden when his seal beeps again. He halts his walk and crouches to brush his fingers in the dirt below, feeling for any ridges that typical traps have made so far. There are no bumps in the ground, the soil's smooth and continuous but his seal doesn't lie. It's still releasing soft pops to tell him the area has got some chakra-work done here and his curiosity is already going through the roof.
It's then that he feels it. The minutest disturbance in his chakra. It's too subtle to guess its origin but it's there and Naruto knows what's causing the higher chakra density in the area.
A genjutsu.
Unfortunately, he doesn't know how to break out of it so he takes out a kunai and marks the bark of the tree that seems to the epicentre of this area-wide genjutsu. He'll come back to it later and bring Sakura along. He's sure she's capable of countering a genjutsu placed there.
Giving the dirt ground one final glance, he stands up and trudges back to the village proper. Adventurous sealing expeditions aside, he's got a lot of homework to do.
"You can break a genjutsu, can't you?"
Ino looks at Sakura with suspicion, finding it odd that the pinkhead would initiate a conversation when all their talks for the last month had been restricted to polite pleasantries.
"I can," she replies. "Why do you ask?"
Sakura gives her a small smile that seems to light up her face. Ino likes that smile - it's just how she remembers it. Sakura's smiles have always been bold even though most others might call it soft. Ino knows it's anything but soft. In that regard, Sakura really is a natural at deception. No one sees the thorns, just the pretty petals but Ino isn't a fool. She sees Sakura for who she is.
Sakura's no rose. She's a gladiolus.
"Naruto needs my help," she says. "But I've never practiced breaking out of genjutsu. I know you have. So will you accompany us to wherever it is that Naruto takes us?"
Ino considers before giving her response. It's not like the blond would take her to some cave filled with chakra beasts. It's not going to be a deadly situation and she can bet it's something fun and harmless. Maybe some silly seal shenanigans again and so far, she's not seen any of Sakura or Naruto's friends get injured.
So she shrugs, dragging her hand through her hair to smooth them out.
"I'm in," and maybe she agrees for none of the reasons she thinks she does. Maybe Ino just wants to talk to Sakura, to have this easy camraderie between them again. Maybe it isn't to have Sakura owe her one and only to have a few more moments of exchanging quips again. Maybe this will be her chance to show Sakura that she can help her without lording it all over the girl. That Ino's changed and she really, almost desperately wants Sakura to know that fact.
"Awesome," Sakura says, eyes lighting up and she's already turning towards Naruto, shouting how they've got themselves a third companion for their mission but Ino isn't paying attention. Her eyes are too busy watching the bright grin on Sakura's face.
Oh the wonders of crushes. Ino has just begun noticing them.
Author's Note:
Henceforth, updates will be slower but I hope you'll stay with me as I write this story out! Also, if there's any way I can show yall the doodles of seals I've been posting on ao3, do let me know! I'd love to share them with y'all even though they're decidedly crappy.
As always, thank you loads for reading!
Have a great day ahead! :)