Disclaimer: As unfortunate as it may be, I do not own Naruto.
Key: "" is talking '' is thinking
Author's notes: Yeah, my bad this took frickin' forever to get out. In my defense, I did break my nose this last week and have been massively loaded down with tests and whatnot, so yeah. Hopefully I'll pop out a couple extra chapters in the next few weeks to make up for it ok? Haha, then again, I doubt that many people read this in the first place to care enough, but whatever. Oh yeah, this one has some blood just to tell you if any of you might be offended. And if you're Japanese, I'm not so I'm sorry if I butchered the language in the creation of a few new techniques. Everything I put is directly from some English-Japanese online dictionary.
Terimaru-- Thanks, I just figured their housing should somewhat match who they are and their connection to bugs and such. And yeah, after reading some comments from before, I figured that I didn't give Neji his due so I added that in there.
CellCloneBot-- What a guy this one. Updating so often, much appreciated cause I do read your fic whenever its updated. Now if I could just get myself motivated to write more...haha. But yeah, thanks for the comment. Always appreciative of another fic author's approval.
Chapter 4: Of Princes and Paupers
The woods rung with deafening silence as father and son trudged in auditory isolation. Words were an unnecessary distraction and a pointless use of attention. Every ounce of their unnaturally keen senses were completely and totally devoted to the imminent dangers as they neared their destination. There was an eerie chill engulfing the entire forest, Shino sensed it upon their entry, and his father undoubtedly felt it long before. The taste of the air was different, abnormal, perverted, no, tainted. It was all far too quiet, and the feel of the world, captured within this microcosm of wood and leaves, a forced silence, one unappreciable and uncomfortable even for the ever-hushed Aburame people. The faces and figures of the two remained pasted with unrelinquished calm, but their eyes, hidden behind the protective barriers of their black sunglasses, betrayed their anxiety. They darted speedily, ensnaring any and all information around them. Shino had already sent his scout bugs far ahead of him, yet nothing, even in their powerful gaze, could be found.
Sensing an increase in the silence, Shino glanced over to his side. His eyes returned to the path, his father had disappeared: Shino was to be the bait. A single walking figure was far less foreboding than two, and though their trackers must have realized his father's disappearance, sensing his movements were an impossibility and a bait of a single, solitary genin shinobi was far too great of a temptation. Shino walked on. 'It doesn't matter,' he thought, 'my power far surpasses my appearance, and even my father misjudges my strength.' His father's gamble proved correct; his bait was far too enticing. Within minutes they appeared, clad in hood and cloak, twenty figures materialized as if from nothing, creating a ring around the boy.
"You must be the shinobi sent by the the Hidden Village of Leaf to deal with us," a man, slightly larger than the rest, the obvious leader, noted, stepping forward. Shino studied the man. He had pushed back his hood, revealing a dark-haired grotesquery that was his face. His eyes were sheltered with a pair of dark sunglasses and surrounded by scars and cuts. "We've known of your coming, allow me to introduce myself. Hogosha Suzukaze." His deep, harsh voice echoed powerfully through the trees with force of its own. "I cannot allow you to halt or economic embargo, my master would be angered. So, prepare for battle, dark tool of the government!" With the cessation of his words the air was filled with the metallic glint of shurikens. Their force, some cutting deeply into the dirt earth below, raised a cloud of dirt and dust. The ring shrunk back within the safety of their hoods. Slowly the cloud cleared, revealing a floor of shimmering metal interspersed by Shino's familiar dark swarm. "What? An Aburam..."
"It seems that you have killed 20 of my bugs, such a crime cannot be left unpunished!" Shino's voice called from above, advancing with increasing intensity. The crowd looked above them to see the falling boy, towers of black bugs stretching from every limb, slowing his dissent. The insects remaining below the huddle of shurikens burst from their hiding, engulfing two of the unfortunate hooded attackers. Their screams were muffled by the unsightly horde pouring into their open mouths. "They do their work best from within, closer to your true supply of chakra." The others, finally regaining their composure, charged toward Shino, pulling katanas from within the folds of their cloaks. The first to reach Shino's fixed form felt the grasp of a great hand of bugs, materializing as an extension of his own hand. With a single movement, the man went hurling into the charging crowd, ultimately toppling three other men. With blinding speed he released, appearing suddenly directly before another man, fist firmly engraved into his shattered chest. With a powerful lift, he pulled the man off of the ground, over his head, and crunched him painfully into an attacker from behind. 'Enough of this. Bugs, to my hand! I'll finish them with a move I adapted from Neji. Kurogane Konchuu Mari Kaiten!' His hordes of black beasts scurried to his hands, hovering just above, packing their bodies together and compressing into two massive, metallic, balls, one above each hand. As his two balls of destruction formed, Shino dealt with his attackers with his legs, keeping them all a fair distance away. When the final bug was set in place, Shino's eyes gleamed, visible even through his dark shades. Arms extended to his sides he pulled in slightly, then released forcefully outward, propelling the two balls of heavily compressed bugs with shocking velocity toward his first two unfortunate victims. They screeched painfully, knocked fully back by the power of the strike. A long, thick chain of bugs connected ball to hand, like two living maces, harder and stronger than any true weapon. Upon the first strike Shino's body began to spin, increasing in speed, arms still extended. His bug balls followed this motion, slicing through the air with increasing speed and power, mowing down man and tree in its wake. Screams following sickening cracks as, with each revolution, the attack grew in strength, viciously crushing and shattering all within its radius of demolition. As the final hooded attacker fell, ribs crushed behind the impact of the blow, Shino's spinning form finally began to halt. Slowly the bug balls contracted, regaining its size as it pulled slowly in toward his hands. The bodies of his enemies littered the ground, alive, but groaning painfully at their shattered forms.
Unexpectedly, there was a blow from behind, a powerful strike to the back of his head. Disoriented by the speed of his spin, Shino couldn't possibly have sensed the attack. 'I missed one?' His body flew to the floor, buffeted only by the groaning form of one of his defeated foe. 'It must be that Hogosha Suzukaze.' Shino winced painfully. 'I lack the necessary control of my orientation provided by the Byakugan to fully regain my senses after that attack like Neji.' Shino noted, suddenly glimmering with new respect for his former opponent. 'If Suzukaze had been an equal adversary, I would not stand again.' Despite this, Shino struggled to his feet, using his bugs to right his position. Suzukaze had discarded his hood and cloak, revealing the gargantuan beast of a man beneath. His body was strapped with muscle and sinew and he stood a full foot above Shino. Two belts covered his otherwise bare chest. His dark blond hair hung scrounged in a ponytail behind his head, and his eyes seethed with a desire for battle. A heavy silver chain hung from his bulging neck, and it bounced before him as he moved.
The larger man circled him, Suzukaze, brandishing a heavy golden shield of sorts, seemingly melted around his fist before widening into a true shield above his forearm before decreasing to a point just above his shoulder, while Shino stood calmly, hands in pockets. As the sun disappeared and the sky darkened, hidden behind cloud and tree, Suzukaze vaulted into attack. With a screech, Suzukaze plunged his metallic fist toward his enemy, only to strike air and feel a smooth sweep dislodge his footing. The King of Bugs watched his young son battle below. He was firmly implanted at the top of the highest oak tree, watching as his son struggled below. 'Shino, you depend too much on your mimicry. You have not the specific strength of others to perform their attacks as your own.' A whistle through the trees below caught his attention and he lifted his eyes from the bout. 'This shall test you. Hurry Shino, a true enemy approaches, one not to be taken as lightly as this.' His eyes refocused on the battle, watching as his son was tossed easily aside by a single swipe of Suzukaze's fist.
Dirt and rock spewed from beneath his feet as Shino worked to regain his footing after the blow. The strength of his enemy's attacks were impressive, but they were nothing to his own abilities. His battling had shown the rust and dulling created by the long absence of bugs from his body. What he had successfully hidden from Neji through manipulation of Neji's drive and blind desire was revealed here in full: he was still weakened and uncomfortable in his control of his bugs. Shino cringed within, he had chosen far too many bugs the night before their departure. They overfilled his body and limited his control. He had managed to release some throughout his heavy bug emitting attacks in the battle, but they still slowed his movements and stunted his management.
"You can't daydream here boy! Jishin no Jutsu!" The man called, forming a few hand seals before powdering his golden fist into the earth. A powerful shockwave of chakra swept toward Shino, cracking the ground in its trail. Shino dodged easily, pushing off of the ground with a pillar of bugs and vaulting high into the air above. "It's over boy! You're finished!" The ape of a man called, slicing through the air himself, iron fist forward. 'Its over, he can't change directions or dodge my attack in midair.' "Experience the power of Hogosha!" His eyes altered here, uncomfortable with the calm silence of his enemy, he caught vision of Shino's right hand, partially hidden behind his body. Another large black ball had formed in his hand. 'Another Kurogane Konchuu Mari Kaiten?' "I see your attack!" He called confidently, switching his stance midair from attack to defense, covering his head and torso with his great shield.
'Kurogane Konchuu Mari Tsuppari.'
The destruction ball flew again, as before, with penetrating speed toward the man, but Shino entered no spin as he had before. The focus of this attack was the thrust, and all of the power came behind the strength of this thrust. The ball and the shield collided, shattering the shield and piercing through the man's forearm. His hand fell to the ground, completely severed from his arm. No drop of blood fell as Shino's ball dissipated into his bug chain, widening it and immediately lodging itself into the hole. Not even a scream could emit from the large man's form, so frozen in shock and pain was he.
"Your actions are detrimental to the livelihood of the entire fire country. This city is a critical economic center and the embargo you have placed on it hurts many people throughout its borders. I have stopped your bleeding, for now, tell me where I can find your master."
"Suzukaze you fool," a voice uttered from within the woods. "The eternal protectors of my clan huh? Pitiful, you're weaker than me!" Shino lifted his gaze to see another hooded and cloaked entity approached. But this one was different, smaller, slighter in build, but tainted by blood and death. She, for her voice betrayed her gender, was far more dangerous than the man cringing on the floor before him. "I should kill you myself for your weakness." The chain on Suzukaze's neck began to shrink, enclosing dangerously around his neck. But it was no silver chain at all, instead, white destruction bugs, connected together, slowly closing in. They halted temporarily. The men Shino had toppled earlier began to struggle to their feet in this girl's presence, she being obviously someone of importance and significance to them.
"Mistress Suzume! We apologize for our weakness. This is the shinobi sent from the Hidden Village of Leaf. He is powerful, we were no match for him." One man reported dutifully.
"Powerful? He is weak to be challenged so much by the likes of Suzukaze. However, this attack of his is quiet intriguing indeed. Using the iron- like exterior skeleton of the destruction bugs, compressed closely together to form mace-like attack weapons, quite impressive indeed. But it has one weakness." The girl taunted, walking closer to Shino and Suzukaze. "And I'm sure your father hidden on the top of this tree will agree with me Aburame Shino." At this, the King of Bugs was taken aback. 'Who is this girl to have sensed even me, and in such a specific description...?' "The chain!" With these words, Suzume's hand plunged into the iron-hard chain of bugs, severing it in two and dispersing all of its bugs back into Shino's large sleeves. Her face slid forward a little upon this strike, revealing a pair of sunglasses below. Suzukaze screamed in pain as blood gushed forward, but he and the other men were dismissed away, disappearing into the wooden depths. "They call you the Prince of Bugs master Shino, a genius of the art of destruction bug combat, yet this boy before me is weak: more of a pauper than a prince. You have no idea from what weakened roots you truly derive." She moved back, her face completely hidden within the shadows of her hood and her body immersed within the steel-like protection of her cloak. It covered her body so completely that not even her form could be determined beneath. It stood, draped from shoulder to floor, her dark mask. Even her movements seemed non-human, gliding across the forest floor with barely a swish of her long cloak. Behind opposing shades of darkness, two combatants eyed their adversaries.
Key: "" is talking '' is thinking
Author's notes: Yeah, my bad this took frickin' forever to get out. In my defense, I did break my nose this last week and have been massively loaded down with tests and whatnot, so yeah. Hopefully I'll pop out a couple extra chapters in the next few weeks to make up for it ok? Haha, then again, I doubt that many people read this in the first place to care enough, but whatever. Oh yeah, this one has some blood just to tell you if any of you might be offended. And if you're Japanese, I'm not so I'm sorry if I butchered the language in the creation of a few new techniques. Everything I put is directly from some English-Japanese online dictionary.
Terimaru-- Thanks, I just figured their housing should somewhat match who they are and their connection to bugs and such. And yeah, after reading some comments from before, I figured that I didn't give Neji his due so I added that in there.
CellCloneBot-- What a guy this one. Updating so often, much appreciated cause I do read your fic whenever its updated. Now if I could just get myself motivated to write more...haha. But yeah, thanks for the comment. Always appreciative of another fic author's approval.
Chapter 4: Of Princes and Paupers
The woods rung with deafening silence as father and son trudged in auditory isolation. Words were an unnecessary distraction and a pointless use of attention. Every ounce of their unnaturally keen senses were completely and totally devoted to the imminent dangers as they neared their destination. There was an eerie chill engulfing the entire forest, Shino sensed it upon their entry, and his father undoubtedly felt it long before. The taste of the air was different, abnormal, perverted, no, tainted. It was all far too quiet, and the feel of the world, captured within this microcosm of wood and leaves, a forced silence, one unappreciable and uncomfortable even for the ever-hushed Aburame people. The faces and figures of the two remained pasted with unrelinquished calm, but their eyes, hidden behind the protective barriers of their black sunglasses, betrayed their anxiety. They darted speedily, ensnaring any and all information around them. Shino had already sent his scout bugs far ahead of him, yet nothing, even in their powerful gaze, could be found.
Sensing an increase in the silence, Shino glanced over to his side. His eyes returned to the path, his father had disappeared: Shino was to be the bait. A single walking figure was far less foreboding than two, and though their trackers must have realized his father's disappearance, sensing his movements were an impossibility and a bait of a single, solitary genin shinobi was far too great of a temptation. Shino walked on. 'It doesn't matter,' he thought, 'my power far surpasses my appearance, and even my father misjudges my strength.' His father's gamble proved correct; his bait was far too enticing. Within minutes they appeared, clad in hood and cloak, twenty figures materialized as if from nothing, creating a ring around the boy.
"You must be the shinobi sent by the the Hidden Village of Leaf to deal with us," a man, slightly larger than the rest, the obvious leader, noted, stepping forward. Shino studied the man. He had pushed back his hood, revealing a dark-haired grotesquery that was his face. His eyes were sheltered with a pair of dark sunglasses and surrounded by scars and cuts. "We've known of your coming, allow me to introduce myself. Hogosha Suzukaze." His deep, harsh voice echoed powerfully through the trees with force of its own. "I cannot allow you to halt or economic embargo, my master would be angered. So, prepare for battle, dark tool of the government!" With the cessation of his words the air was filled with the metallic glint of shurikens. Their force, some cutting deeply into the dirt earth below, raised a cloud of dirt and dust. The ring shrunk back within the safety of their hoods. Slowly the cloud cleared, revealing a floor of shimmering metal interspersed by Shino's familiar dark swarm. "What? An Aburam..."
"It seems that you have killed 20 of my bugs, such a crime cannot be left unpunished!" Shino's voice called from above, advancing with increasing intensity. The crowd looked above them to see the falling boy, towers of black bugs stretching from every limb, slowing his dissent. The insects remaining below the huddle of shurikens burst from their hiding, engulfing two of the unfortunate hooded attackers. Their screams were muffled by the unsightly horde pouring into their open mouths. "They do their work best from within, closer to your true supply of chakra." The others, finally regaining their composure, charged toward Shino, pulling katanas from within the folds of their cloaks. The first to reach Shino's fixed form felt the grasp of a great hand of bugs, materializing as an extension of his own hand. With a single movement, the man went hurling into the charging crowd, ultimately toppling three other men. With blinding speed he released, appearing suddenly directly before another man, fist firmly engraved into his shattered chest. With a powerful lift, he pulled the man off of the ground, over his head, and crunched him painfully into an attacker from behind. 'Enough of this. Bugs, to my hand! I'll finish them with a move I adapted from Neji. Kurogane Konchuu Mari Kaiten!' His hordes of black beasts scurried to his hands, hovering just above, packing their bodies together and compressing into two massive, metallic, balls, one above each hand. As his two balls of destruction formed, Shino dealt with his attackers with his legs, keeping them all a fair distance away. When the final bug was set in place, Shino's eyes gleamed, visible even through his dark shades. Arms extended to his sides he pulled in slightly, then released forcefully outward, propelling the two balls of heavily compressed bugs with shocking velocity toward his first two unfortunate victims. They screeched painfully, knocked fully back by the power of the strike. A long, thick chain of bugs connected ball to hand, like two living maces, harder and stronger than any true weapon. Upon the first strike Shino's body began to spin, increasing in speed, arms still extended. His bug balls followed this motion, slicing through the air with increasing speed and power, mowing down man and tree in its wake. Screams following sickening cracks as, with each revolution, the attack grew in strength, viciously crushing and shattering all within its radius of demolition. As the final hooded attacker fell, ribs crushed behind the impact of the blow, Shino's spinning form finally began to halt. Slowly the bug balls contracted, regaining its size as it pulled slowly in toward his hands. The bodies of his enemies littered the ground, alive, but groaning painfully at their shattered forms.
Unexpectedly, there was a blow from behind, a powerful strike to the back of his head. Disoriented by the speed of his spin, Shino couldn't possibly have sensed the attack. 'I missed one?' His body flew to the floor, buffeted only by the groaning form of one of his defeated foe. 'It must be that Hogosha Suzukaze.' Shino winced painfully. 'I lack the necessary control of my orientation provided by the Byakugan to fully regain my senses after that attack like Neji.' Shino noted, suddenly glimmering with new respect for his former opponent. 'If Suzukaze had been an equal adversary, I would not stand again.' Despite this, Shino struggled to his feet, using his bugs to right his position. Suzukaze had discarded his hood and cloak, revealing the gargantuan beast of a man beneath. His body was strapped with muscle and sinew and he stood a full foot above Shino. Two belts covered his otherwise bare chest. His dark blond hair hung scrounged in a ponytail behind his head, and his eyes seethed with a desire for battle. A heavy silver chain hung from his bulging neck, and it bounced before him as he moved.
The larger man circled him, Suzukaze, brandishing a heavy golden shield of sorts, seemingly melted around his fist before widening into a true shield above his forearm before decreasing to a point just above his shoulder, while Shino stood calmly, hands in pockets. As the sun disappeared and the sky darkened, hidden behind cloud and tree, Suzukaze vaulted into attack. With a screech, Suzukaze plunged his metallic fist toward his enemy, only to strike air and feel a smooth sweep dislodge his footing. The King of Bugs watched his young son battle below. He was firmly implanted at the top of the highest oak tree, watching as his son struggled below. 'Shino, you depend too much on your mimicry. You have not the specific strength of others to perform their attacks as your own.' A whistle through the trees below caught his attention and he lifted his eyes from the bout. 'This shall test you. Hurry Shino, a true enemy approaches, one not to be taken as lightly as this.' His eyes refocused on the battle, watching as his son was tossed easily aside by a single swipe of Suzukaze's fist.
Dirt and rock spewed from beneath his feet as Shino worked to regain his footing after the blow. The strength of his enemy's attacks were impressive, but they were nothing to his own abilities. His battling had shown the rust and dulling created by the long absence of bugs from his body. What he had successfully hidden from Neji through manipulation of Neji's drive and blind desire was revealed here in full: he was still weakened and uncomfortable in his control of his bugs. Shino cringed within, he had chosen far too many bugs the night before their departure. They overfilled his body and limited his control. He had managed to release some throughout his heavy bug emitting attacks in the battle, but they still slowed his movements and stunted his management.
"You can't daydream here boy! Jishin no Jutsu!" The man called, forming a few hand seals before powdering his golden fist into the earth. A powerful shockwave of chakra swept toward Shino, cracking the ground in its trail. Shino dodged easily, pushing off of the ground with a pillar of bugs and vaulting high into the air above. "It's over boy! You're finished!" The ape of a man called, slicing through the air himself, iron fist forward. 'Its over, he can't change directions or dodge my attack in midair.' "Experience the power of Hogosha!" His eyes altered here, uncomfortable with the calm silence of his enemy, he caught vision of Shino's right hand, partially hidden behind his body. Another large black ball had formed in his hand. 'Another Kurogane Konchuu Mari Kaiten?' "I see your attack!" He called confidently, switching his stance midair from attack to defense, covering his head and torso with his great shield.
'Kurogane Konchuu Mari Tsuppari.'
The destruction ball flew again, as before, with penetrating speed toward the man, but Shino entered no spin as he had before. The focus of this attack was the thrust, and all of the power came behind the strength of this thrust. The ball and the shield collided, shattering the shield and piercing through the man's forearm. His hand fell to the ground, completely severed from his arm. No drop of blood fell as Shino's ball dissipated into his bug chain, widening it and immediately lodging itself into the hole. Not even a scream could emit from the large man's form, so frozen in shock and pain was he.
"Your actions are detrimental to the livelihood of the entire fire country. This city is a critical economic center and the embargo you have placed on it hurts many people throughout its borders. I have stopped your bleeding, for now, tell me where I can find your master."
"Suzukaze you fool," a voice uttered from within the woods. "The eternal protectors of my clan huh? Pitiful, you're weaker than me!" Shino lifted his gaze to see another hooded and cloaked entity approached. But this one was different, smaller, slighter in build, but tainted by blood and death. She, for her voice betrayed her gender, was far more dangerous than the man cringing on the floor before him. "I should kill you myself for your weakness." The chain on Suzukaze's neck began to shrink, enclosing dangerously around his neck. But it was no silver chain at all, instead, white destruction bugs, connected together, slowly closing in. They halted temporarily. The men Shino had toppled earlier began to struggle to their feet in this girl's presence, she being obviously someone of importance and significance to them.
"Mistress Suzume! We apologize for our weakness. This is the shinobi sent from the Hidden Village of Leaf. He is powerful, we were no match for him." One man reported dutifully.
"Powerful? He is weak to be challenged so much by the likes of Suzukaze. However, this attack of his is quiet intriguing indeed. Using the iron- like exterior skeleton of the destruction bugs, compressed closely together to form mace-like attack weapons, quite impressive indeed. But it has one weakness." The girl taunted, walking closer to Shino and Suzukaze. "And I'm sure your father hidden on the top of this tree will agree with me Aburame Shino." At this, the King of Bugs was taken aback. 'Who is this girl to have sensed even me, and in such a specific description...?' "The chain!" With these words, Suzume's hand plunged into the iron-hard chain of bugs, severing it in two and dispersing all of its bugs back into Shino's large sleeves. Her face slid forward a little upon this strike, revealing a pair of sunglasses below. Suzukaze screamed in pain as blood gushed forward, but he and the other men were dismissed away, disappearing into the wooden depths. "They call you the Prince of Bugs master Shino, a genius of the art of destruction bug combat, yet this boy before me is weak: more of a pauper than a prince. You have no idea from what weakened roots you truly derive." She moved back, her face completely hidden within the shadows of her hood and her body immersed within the steel-like protection of her cloak. It covered her body so completely that not even her form could be determined beneath. It stood, draped from shoulder to floor, her dark mask. Even her movements seemed non-human, gliding across the forest floor with barely a swish of her long cloak. Behind opposing shades of darkness, two combatants eyed their adversaries.