That arrogant cockroach-breeding fruit fly! How dare that jerk leave me like this?

Hotaru fiercely beat a bamboo stem with a dull rock, pretending it was Shino Aburame's bushy head instead.

In fact, she'd spent all afternoon beating "Shino Aburame" to a pulp, breaking bamboo limbs off to build a tent for herself before dark. But building a shelter was much harder to do without any ninja tools, and splitting branches with just one rock took literally hours!

How can that bug-kisser be so infuriating! Why didn't I just kill him when I had the chance! Every time I get close to doing it, something gets in my way. As if dealing with this Aburame ninja wasn't enough, now I gotta deal with queen bees summoning out nowhere too? What's with this place?...I've never seen the bees act this way...It's like everything in here is trying to kill me too...

Dirty, wet, and cold, Hotaru's numb fingers slipped again against the bamboo, crushing her hand underneath her rock.

Dammit!

Hotaru put pressure on her injured hand as the blood dripped from under her fingernail.

This bamboo is just too strong. And it's getting dark out here. If I don't finish this shelter, I'll freeze to death when it rains.

"If you don't find shelter soon, you'll freeze to death," Shino's voice came suddenly from behind her. "Why, you ask? My insects have detected a change in the air around here. The reason is because it will rain soon."

Ugh, and he's a know-it-all too?

Hotaru rolled her eyes.

I'm way ahead of you, bug boy. The bees flew back to their hives hours ago, so obviously it means rain. Your insects are nothing special.

"As for me, my insects will encase me in a cocoon for the night," Shino informed her, making Hotaru regret her last closing thought. "I guess now that your bees have returned to their hive, it will be hard for you to stay warm."

Hotaru's hand tightened around the rock in her palm.

That's because I'm not a sissy little larva creep who sleeps in cocoons!

And grabbing the closest bamboo stem to her, she took a swing at him.

Just leave me alone already!

Shino quickly blocked the bamboo stem with his arm, leaving her in stalemate with him.

There they stood toe-to-toe with each other, glaring back into each other's eyes.

"Are you ready to tell me your name now?" Shino asked her. "How do you know the beekeeper?"

Breaking their stalemate with surprising strength for a girl, Hotaru swung the bamboo stem around to attack him again, with the same graceful fluidity Shino had seen in Tenten during battle. Even with her ninjutsu being so weak, Shino had to respect her speed in close combat. Shino's arm shot out to block her next blow, hoping to pull her toward him to lock her out of attacking him with taijutsu, but Hotaru used the momentum in his speed like a dance to swing her body around his chest and land behind him. She took her chance then, jamming the sharp end of her bamboo stem through Shino's shoulder.

More frustrated than surprised when Shino's body dissolved into thousands of tiny kikaichū again.

Another bug clone? Stop running away from me, you coward!

"I see you're still not ready to talk," Shino stood right in front of her, as the storm cloud of his bugs faded away. "Survive the night, if you can. Why, you ask? Because once I find the beekeeper, I'm done with this promise."

Beekeeper? Is this guy insane?

Hotaru had wasted hours searching the grove for this so-called beekeeper, and still hadn't found anyone in this fog but her and Shino.

...Or am I the crazy one here? Why won't this nightmare I'm stuck with him in ever end?

But Hotaru had bigger problems to worry about that night.

Just as their insects predicted, the mist around them turned into rain.

And by that time, Hotaru had only managed to hammer 4 bamboo stems into the ground, before the storm took her by force.

Desperate to stay dry, Hotaru tacked on a large bamboo leaf to her 4 corners, holding it in place with her own hands as she crouched down to protect herself from the onslaught.

It did nothing to keep her clothes from getting soaked, but at least it protected her head from the violent tsunami mercilessly coming down on her.

Until not even her bamboo leaf could stand the assault, ripping out of her hands and tumbling away into the wind.

Hotaru blindly felt around her to find something else to take shelter under, but it was too dark and chaotic to see anything.

And without the bamboo leaf to keep her bamboo stems in place, the 4 corners of her hut started blowing away with the mud too.

"No, wait!"

Hotaru frantically scrambled to keep her sad little hut together, but all she was left with in the end was one thick bamboo limb with a a few leaves still attached.

Can't this one thing just go right for me for once?

Hotaru held onto the bamboo stem for dear life, using the leaves as a soggy umbrella wrapping around her whole body.

It wasn't enough.

Her clothes and hair were soaked with mud, and she couldn't stop shivering.

But she was exhausted, and didn't have the energy to keep fighting.

Even then, sleep felt more like slipping in and out of consciousness.

"Father, please look at me."

Her whole clan was watching, but Hotaru didn't care what she had to do to make him listen.

Bowing her head low in the dirt outside her village, Hotaru watched Daku through tearful eyes.

Exiled? Could he really mean that?

What was stopping him from just saying death? If murder was her crime, shouldn't dying be her punishment?

Why did it have to be exile? Did he really hate her so much now that condemning her to live outside the clan was her only sentence?

"Your father is no longer here. My daughter is dead," Daku answered, his back still turned on Hotaru. "I disown you. You are no longer family to me or the Kamizuru clan. Get out of my village."

"Father, please! You know I'd never do this to Kenji or our clan!" Hotaru sobbed. "An Aburame ninja attacked us, which means Kenji's murderer is still out there! You have to believe me!"

Hotaru flinched when a shuriken flew right at her, landing inches away.

"This was found near Kenji's body," Daku said. "Do you recognize it?"

"It's mine," Hotaru whispered shakily, knowing how this all looked to him. "We were training together that day, but I didn't kill him!"

"I've heard enough," Daku declared. "If you have something to confess, Hotaru, I suggest you do it now. You won't be given a second chance."

"I'm sorry," Hotaru replied. "I won't confess to a crime I didn't commit. I didn't kill Kenji."

"So be it. Because our evidence against you is merely circumstantial, I can not make you pay for your crime with your life. However, never set foot in this village again," Daku warned her. "If you ever come back, I'll kill you myself."

"Father," Hotaru whispered. "You're making a huge mistake. Please don't do this. Give me a chance to find Kenji's real killer and prove to you that I'm innocent."

"If you're willing to take it this far to prove me wrong," Daku finally answered. "Then you should hunt down Shibi Aburame's son and take revenge for Kenji's death. Only when you've brought back proof that Shino is dead can you return to this village.

"But, sir, Shino Aburame of the Leaf is at least a jonin level ninja. If she goes after him, it'll be a suici-"

"I'll do it," Hotaru spoke up again, interrupting her father's concerned police captain. "If this is what you need from me, father, I'll bring you back Shibi's son."

"Then until the day that you or Shino kills each other in battle, you are a traitor to this village," Daku declared. "Which means I have nothing else to do with you."

"I'm not a traitor," Hotaru whispered. "Please, father, just look at my face and see that I'm anything but that."

"You'd better go," Daku warned. "Before I change my mind about killing you."

"Father, please. Just look at me."

But Daku refused to turn around, grateful that his daughter couldn't see his own face and how much this was tearing him apart.

"Look at me!" Hotaru screamed at him.

"If you prefer to stay and die instead, then so be it," Daku said, drawing all the strength within him to form a hand seal of attack against her. "1000 Killer Bee Stings."

Hotaru shook out of her sleep, panting to catch her breath against her pounding heart.

Realizing that the 1000 pricks against her skin weren't bees. Only goosebumps.

She could hear the rain falling around her, but she couldn't feel it anymore.

Instead of an open sky above her, the bamboo stems and leaves of her hut were sealed together with an insect husk casing, shielding her with a waterproof roof.

A cocoon?...Did Shino make this for me?

But Hotaru couldn't keep her heavy eyes open long enough to find out. She was out cold again.

Dreaming of nothing this time but bugs and warmth and safety.

Shino waited nearby her hut for her to fall asleep again, making sure that his encasing would hold for her this time.

It seemed to work in calming her down.

He could no longer hear her fighting or sobbing for her father in her sleep.

"What happened to this girl?" Shino wondered. "Whatever her nightmares are, they must be the reason why she's so lost."