I'm sorry that it's a bit later than I normally post. It's my day off which meant sleeping in and then catching up with all the chores.

Enough of my busy life. Back to fantasy. Please enjoy!

Chapter 5

Learning the Ropes

"Who was it that took your cane?" Shino asked once they began walking.

"My little brother Kaito-kun, he keeps insisting that we get a pet but Kaa-chan is allergic. He thinks he can talk us into getting a service dog if he makes it seem like I need one. He takes my cane and leaves things out for me to trip over." She scoffed. "It's been going on for weeks and he won't stop."

"There are hypoallergenic dogs. Have you considered one of them?"

"Well, even if Kaa-chan wouldn't sneeze up a storm from the dog I really don't need it. I know my way around the house and the bookstore. A cane is much easier to take care of than a dog."

"Have you ever thought of using chakra to sense your surroundings?"

"I don't know much about chakra. I thought it was just for fighting with all those special attacks."

"Chakra is used for ninjutsu, yes, but there are many other uses for it. Some use it to heighten their senses. My teammates use it to enhance their senses of smell and sight. What this means for you is using your chakra to sense your surroundings like expanding your sense of touch."

"Is it kind of like the feeling you are standing really close to someone but you can't tell with your other senses?"

"Yes. I could teach you if you'd like."

"Do you think I could actually do it?" she asked hopefully.

"It might take some work. Once you learn to control your chakra you can learn to cast it out to detect your surroundings. You seem to have a good idea about it already. If you could tell I was looking at you in the bookstore you may already be sensing things around you without knowing it. It may come more naturally to you than others."

"No, that wasn't feeling things with chakra. It was different, though. I could hear your insects buzzing and it was like I could sort of feel you based on the vibrations of the sound. It was clearer than hearing a footstep and guessing the general direction based on a mental map of the bookstore. I knew you were about halfway behind the bookshelf. I even knew you were facing me. It's probably similar to how bats use echolocation. I just heard where you were." She sighed softly. "It's great when you are around. It's like I can hear in more detail than ever. Does that make sense?"

"Somewhat."

"Anyway, can we start now?"

He sat on a bench and waited for her to follow. She sat and tucked her cane away in the large pocket in her jacket.

"You need to feel your chakra inside you like a life force swirling inside your torso."

"I think I can feel it," she said with only slight hesitation.

"Try to focus on moving the chakra to your hands. Hold your hands out and will some of your chakra to move up your torso, down your arms and into your hands."

She did as she was told, holding her hands out palms up and focusing on doing what he asked.

"What's it supposed to feel like?"

"Like an energetic tingling where ever you want it to go."

"Alright, my arms do kind of feel like that."

"Good. Anything uncomfortable should be too much chakra and anything less is not enough."

"I feel like my hands are really sensitive right now." Her fingers twitched slightly at the unfamiliar sensation.

"Good. I'm going to hold up my hand and I want you to tell me how many fingers I'm holding up. Push the chakra out of your hands slowly. Try to sense my hand. It should feel like an extension of your sense of touch."

She held her hands up and took a bracing breath. Sachi pushed the electric feeling from her torso to her hands again and tried to make it extend farther than her skin.

"I don't sense anything." Her disappointed tone did not faze Shino. He would have been very surprised if she had got it on the first try.

"Push your chakra farther," he suggested. "What you are trying to sense must not be in the range of your chakra."

Again she did as she was told and to her surprise, a shape began to make itself known. One she distinctly knew to be a hand.

"Uh-Are you holding up two fingers?"

"Yes very good."

Sachi gasped in surprise. "I really did it?! Yes!" She laughed and bounced in her seat excitedly. "Is it this easy for everyone?"

"Yes and no. What you are learning is a very crude and unrefined way to move chakra. This is what children learn to do first before they refine it into different jutsu. If you were just a child learning this fast they would call you a genius. But at our age, it is hard to say. There are not many people that begin to learn chakra control at our age. You can expect to control it over a longer distance and time with practice. You may even be able to sense things without using your hands. You must be careful not to overuse it or you will tire quickly."

He could tell she was incredibly excited to have made any progress so quickly. She became even more enthused after he told her what she may be able to learn.

"I'll practice. If I can really learn to do all that then I'll practice every day. This is even better than hearing your bugs."

"Does it bother you? Hearing the kikai?"

She seemed confused. "Why would you think it bothers me?"

His face tucked deeper into his hood and his hands buried themselves in his pockets. "Most people avoid my clan because we control insects. They say it's creepy and disgusting."

He was surprised at her hand on his arm. She gripped it tightly with a serious look on her face.

People did not just touch him. It wasn't so much that he minded. It was others that thought him repulsive and the equivalent of touching an insect rather than human flesh as he was.

"I don't think like that, actually, I think it's really cool. See, it's usually hard for me to tell things about someone; things that people that can see find important like height, where they are and things like that. To get an idea of what someone looks like I have to physically touch them and that is only comfortable with people I'm close to. Otherwise, they are just a voice and walking pace to me, but when I can feel your insects buzzing," She ran her thumb over his sleeve, "I can sort of see where you are. I can tell you are tall and thin and I can sort of tell which way you are facing and where your hands and feet are." Her already soft tone turned, even more, gentle. "You think most people don't like you because of your bugs but to me, that is what makes you so interesting. You are not creepy and you can trust me on that."

He was emboldened to hear her honesty. No one had ever said such kind words to him.

"Would you like to know what I look like?"

She sat back and hummed thoughtfully. "Actually," she began, "I would really like the challenge of being able to sense what you look like. It will give me something to work towards."

"You will have to practice often."

"I definitely will. Oh, and just so you know bugs and spiders don't bother me. It's a bit hard for me to find them, so I can't get rid of them if we are trapped in the same room. As long as they don't bother me I don't bother them." She perked up as an idea came to her. "Hey, can I try sensing your bugs next?"

"That's not a good idea."

"Why?" she asked.

"The kikai feed off of chakra and your chakra is particularly appetizing to them."

"Does that mean I can feed them?"

"It's not whether you can or can't. You shouldn't. They aren't pets. If they get a taste of your chakra they are unlikely to return to me."

"Right, sorry. What makes them like me so much?"

"You could think of it like food. You are like a rare delicacy to them."

She sighed in exasperation. "It seems like a lot of insects use me as a food source. Fleas and mosquitoes hunt me down where ever I am. I can hardly go anywhere in the warmer months. I'm eaten alive every time I try."

He nodded to himself knowingly. He was well aware that some individuals suffered the unwanted attentions from insects. It came to no surprise that she was one of these delectable individuals.

"Some people are more appealing to parasitic insects."

"Can we keep practicing?"

They worked for another hour in the same fashion. When Sachi could correctly guess how many fingers he held up they moved to identifying objects. She found it much more difficult to recognize blades of grass, twigs or bark by just her chakra sense. She managed a few correct guesses based solely on the rough shape of the object. He assured her with more practice she would improve.

As they reached the one hour mark her chakra was spent. With only intermittent and light use of it, he didn't expect much else.

"I really appreciate you teaching me this," she said as he walked her home. "Will you stop by again, sometime?"

"I would enjoy that."

"Good, 'till next time, Shino-san."

Neither knew as they parted at Sachi's door, that a single kikai had been lying in wait outside her home. This particular insect had escaped from its master earlier among the dozens that desperately sought out the blind woman. As the woman returned inside, it silently slipped through a crack and made its way into the house. The kikai remained in the corner of a room for some time, wiggling it's antennae to get a sense of the area. It crawled, not daring to fly and alert the sensitive ear of its target. The rogue's tiny legs made the short journey to the second floor a painstakingly slow process. By the time it made it to the woman's bedroom it was already night.

It could smell the woman all around the room. Her scent permeated everything. It could sense her delicious chakra and scampered off straight to her, climbing up the bedding and onto her forehead, where it deemed safe enough from any tossing and turning. It began feeding on her unrestrained chakra. Even nearly depleted as it was, such a singular insect could stuff itself fully without detection in her sleep. And that is exactly what it did. It ruffled its wings happily, not daring to make a sound to risk waking its new mistress. It perched itself contentedly in her hairline, antennae wiggling in the air. It sensed the immediate area and upon deeming it safe, settled down to rest.

What do you think about the direction of the story so far?