Aburame Shino; 6 Years Later

Age 18

-Disney Land-

"Hey Jason, you just became a jounin by passing your jounin exam! What are you going to do now!"

"I'm going to Disney Land!"

We were watching television.

At Tsuma's house.

More specifically, Tsuma and I were in her room watching television.

At her house.

I evaluated the commercial I had just seen.

'Jason' came running out of the Hokage's building with a jounin vest in his hand. A reporter then walked up to him holding a microphone. After stating the obvious about his recent promotion, the reporter then asked him what he was going to do next.

Obviously, he was going to train or go on a mission.

But no. He said he was going to go to this place called 'Disney Land'.

It didn't make any sense.

"I don't understand." I said after the commercial had ended.

"What's there not to understand?" said Tsuma.

"Why Disney Land?" I said.

"It's a commercial." Said Tsuma. "You're not SUPPOSED to understand."

Now that didn't make any sense AT ALL. I thought the point of commercials was to throw a quick advertisement at the viewer and hope they that'd go out and consume. But if commercials were made on the basis of the hope that the viewer would NOT understand, wouldn't the people who sent out the advertisements just be LOSING money since they had to pay money to set up the commercials?

Tsuma gave an exasperated sigh and mumbled under her breath something about this being one of the reasons why she hated people. Perhaps I was looking too much into the commercial, but I honestly couldn't even begin to comprehend who had thought up that idea.

"Disney Land does this stuff all the time." She explained. "When someone says, 'What are you going to do next?' they get a celebrity to endorse them by saying, 'I'm going to Disney Land.'"

I looked back at the television screen.

Perhaps it was because this was one of the first times I had ever watched television, but I still didn't understand.

Tsuma introduced me to the television when I first went to her house. Of course, I knew what a television was but I had never come to actually use one. And now that I have, I can't say I'm all that impressed with its performance.

But I kept thinking back to that commercial.

I certainly would not have gone to 'Disney Land' if I were promoted. I would have trained or gone on a mission.

Speaking of which, I was far overdue for my promotion.

I expected a ninja to come by and visit me to tell me to report to the Hokage's office to receive my jounin vest. But as long as I was at Tsuma's house, they weren't going to find me.

"I have to go home now." I said.

"Why?" said Tsuma. "Now? Right now?"

For someone who hated me, she certainly never was all that enthusiastic when I left.

"I'm expecting someone." I said. "I expect to be promoted today."

"Why do you want to be a jounin so bad?"

Was that a trick question?

"I have to go." I repeated as I left her room. She didn't chase after me or anything, but it's not like I expected her to.

I went downstairs where Kokyuu was cleaning dishes.

"Oh, leaving so soon, Shino?" she said.

"Yes." I answered, going to the door.

"Shino, I think it's really great that you've become friends with Tsuma." Said Kokyuu randomly. I got this speech from her a lot.

She never really had any friends…

"She never really had any friends."

She really is a sweet girl…

"She really is a sweet girl."

It's just that no one knows it...

"It's just that no one knows it."

Because she keeps to herself all the time…

"Because she keeps to herself all the time."

"I have to go." I interrupted her before she could continue.

Kokyuu nodded and I left.

I was not Tsuma's 'friend'. It's just that somehow we ended up in the same room at the same time on occasion. She hated me like she stated on numerous accounts and I was indifferent about her.

Our house was in walking distance so I got home in a timely fashion.

"Shino, where were you?" said my father when I entered.

"I was at Tsuma and Kokyuu's house." I answered. I was tempted to tell him that I had been training, but I never lie to my father. He would know if I tried.

"Oh." Said my father.

He continued to sit there.

"Did anybody come by here?" I asked.

"Anybody?" he said.

"A ninja." I said more specifically. It's not like we got a lot of visitors so I figured 'anybody' would have been sufficient.

"No." my father replied.

I paused.

"So no one came by here telling me that I was going to be promoted?" I said.

"No." my father said.

"No one even came by here to tell me that they were going to send someone to tell me I was going to be promoted?" I said.

"No." said my father.

This couldn't have been right.

"So no one—" I began.

"Shino, you're not going to be promoted." My father interrupted.

Well that did it. I guess that was it.

"Oh." I said.

I waited for my father to do something.

"Shino, your mother is missing in action." He said suddenly.

"What?" I said.

"No one can find her." He said. "She went on a mission with the rest of our ANBU Squad and when they returned, she suddenly wasn't there."

"That's odd." I said. "I'm sure she'll turn up."

I wasn't too worried. After all, if my mother was such a good ninja that I only got to see her in intervals of less than a day between her missions then she wasn't going to just up and disappear.

I figured now was a good time to either retire to my bedroom or go off and train.

I figured maybe I'd train.

"I'm going to go train." I told my father.

"Very well." Said my father.

I went into the back yard.

I'm not one to sulk, but I must admit I was reasonably troubled that I was not a jounin. My father became a jounin when he was seventeen and my mother became a jounin when she was fourteen.

Well, I guess that made me the failure of the family since I was now eighteen and I was still not a jounin.

It would be a matter of time. I could only hope that I would be promoted before I reached my twenties because if it got to that point, it would be shameful to continue to call myself the son of my parents.

"Shino."

It was my father.

I turned around. I hadn't even begun my training, but it was already being interrupted. If things went on like this then I wouldn't be able to ever train well enough to become a jounin like my parents.

"You have a visitor." He said.

"Is it Tsuma?" I said since she tended to come over unannounced.

My father glanced behind him and then back at me. "No." he replied finally.

I went back inside the house to see a ninja that I didn't know. Of the chuunin rank.

"A-A-Aburame Shino, sir!" he said, saluting me. "The Hokage requests your audience in her office for a short meeting immediately!"

He didn't have to tell me twice.

I followed the ninja through the Hokage's building to where the Hokage's actual office was. I could have been able to do this job of working close to the Hokage as a personal assistant and bodyguard but…no. That so did not work for me.

The ninja asked me to wait as he went inside to announce me.

I waited as he opened the door.

"Miss Hoka—" he said but then he paused. "Er…Mr. Shikamaru sir, Aburame Shino is here."

Shikamaru always seemed to be there instead of the Hokage. Whenever I was receiving a mission, it was from Shikamaru. Whenever I was receiving payment, it was always from Shikamaru. Whenever I needed to speak to the Hokage, I always spoke to Shikamaru.

The ninja turned to me.

"You can go in now." He said.

I nodded at him and walked by, into the office.

Shikamaru was standing behind the desk with a jounin vest in his hand. MY jounin vest.

"Congratulations Shino." Said Shikamaru, holding out the vest. "You are now a jounin."

A certain sense of satisfaction swept over me as I took the vest from him and held it in my hands. I knew it would feel even better once I put it on.

"What are you going to do now?" Shikamaru asked.

What am I going to do now?

I was just promoted to the jounin rank.

I was now a jounin.

I could do whatever I wanted.

I looked down at my vest.

What a nice vest it was.

What WAS I going to do now?

Probably wait for a mission.

Suddenly, something clicked in my head.

"Hey Jason, you just became a jounin by passing your jounin exam! What are you going to do now!"

"I'm going to Disney Land!"

It suddenly made perfect sense. After all the trouble of passing the exam and becoming a jounin, Jason really just wanted to go someplace to have fun and relax.

Someplace like Disney Land.

Now that I understood the commercial, what was I going to do now?

I looked back at Shikamaru who looked like he might have been waiting for something.

Now that I'm a jounin, what AM I going to do now?

"I'm going to Disney Land."