OF BUZZING AND CHIRPING
"Redeemers"
They've murdered him.
Purple in the nightly breeze just in time for the downpour to halt, scores of destruction bugs fluttered carelessly as moonbeams shed flickering ambience but struck by clouds nonetheless; stars have appeared just now, and somewhere along the terrains of Hidden Village of Sound, two sets of five-hundred fifty vermin's followed the tracks of a certain silver-haired, hurdling from one gravel to another. Aburame Shino stood impassive, composed amidst his veiled anxiety and rummaging something in his psyche to take further steps ahead in a scuffle like this. His body was alert but his mind did all the work, the concoction of arts of ninja and so much more; though his eyes are undecipherable, his hearing was as acute as any other and as more bugs trickle down his skin the medic ninja was no less than ten meters away. Kabuto had been learning long-range battles nonetheless. His hands, dyed with indigo chakra, swayed like flowering foliage across crisp winds and kikai bugs dissolved to avoid such damaging exploit, toiling as much as possible to protect their master, recovering, and Aburame Shino finally left his immobility, running now on the soft asphalt as more kikai bugs come out.
Shino's sight flinched however, seeing those lethargic segments of feathers – pallid but pale in hues – and stupor started running down his blood; his mind again traversed only to predict and end. That was it, he thought. A simple jutsu from his foe and he's done to death? How preposterous for Shino, but there his body was, flying unspoiled as Kabuto reached out, hands touching thighs and arms, chest and back, arching – and in matter of all seconds, destruction bugs swarmed at its master.
"It's called Nehanshoujo no Jutsu, for your information; your body will lay asleep and I can punch you to death with my mesuka combo." Shino lay on the damp ground, smudging his ashen coat, ears burned from arrogance. Kabuto's hands glowed once more.
It never occurred to the medic ninja however; as the moon got going to be a witness in Shino's defeat no more, bleak sunbeams – slight in warmth – have dropped its senses to be the spectator between two ninja's. Several holes on the ground that surrounded them have expanded so to speak, dark hues of collective destruction forming vortexes and splintering filth like tornadoes. "What the—how could you!"
"Mushihashira no Jutsu," the Aburame genius said, panting as electrical pulses started roaming on his neurons. And so whirlpools of bugs have started to close in on them, the sounds of buzzing deafening like hungry monsters eager to taste flesh. As the medic nin dodged attacks Shino's imperturbability meandered of solutions to such predicament. "Chakra Mesuka!" and Kabuto's hands, like Neji, have started to cuff meticulously as destruction bugs started to scatter like frightened cynics. Few more vortexes ran straight at him and Kabuto blew away, fingers crisscrossing as his aura shaded red in power.
Aburame Shino could not stand still; his will has been overwhelmed, his body outlawing the instructions of his mind. Several bugs have been paralyzed inside, too, but only some leached enough to protect their commandant. Soon enough Kabuto's hands were nothing but a weapon without projectiles, turning Shino's lips secretly into an impish smile.
"My chakra..." the medic wondered as he jumped high, resting himself by the brickwork entrance of Sound Village. "The bugs have been eating my chakra the whole time," he whispered. "What weapon..."
"But not good enough!" He shouted and leaped sturdily, aiming his fist at Shino.
The master of insecta feels like sleeping; he was tired though he knows he wasn't fighting at all – those destruction bugs, those miniature icons of warfare have been his redeemer. And Shino could only welcome the punch as it stroke on his stomach, his chest burning and trying to heap oxygen as destruction bugs swarmed against his adversary. Kabuto's glasses broke, channeling chakra and kikai bugs dispersed from such strength; his smile was devilish, readying his arms once again.
Rough amounts of particular kikai bugs fell from his body; those bugs were dead. "So you've been trying to swathe me with those minuscule pests of yours,"
Shino felt insulted.
"Well... channeling my chakra with poison killed them off."
"Tell me," he continued, "Why are you here?" Would Shino divulge such essential specifics? Of course not. "So you refuse to talk." A kawarimi appeared, and Shino's bugs journeyed to locate their adversary. Shino, too, with his eyes, looked for a certain silver haired and alas, his body is beginning to pulsate again from the electrical pulses of Kabuto's medic nin taijutsu.
Shino had to give credit. This fight has been tremendously melancholic in nature such that it was his first time to officially accept defeat. He is egoistic but not necessarily arrogant, almost impassive from all the pettiness of the world. His sentimentality is no less than voiced out, and that's because he believed that merit is mostly found on toiled actions, not spoken conceit. It seems that Aburame Shino is a stoic still, impassive of unnecessary phenomena; indicative of arguments and always cuts everything short. It is not because of insolence, but because emotional safety is straightforwardly earned with it, because acceptance is more rewarded in ways silently spoken of wealthy meanings.
Skin against skin and there Kabuto's hands were, traveling on Shino's body – back, thighs – and finally rested, holding his ankles. Electric thumps are much sore this time; Kabuto has burrowed in one of those holes and successfully seized Shino. Closing his eyes, his glasses falling off, he thought of faithful optimism.
"It's Shino; he's fighting!" Tenten has heard the noises and quite unimaginably chuunin Hinata has stopped her. "It's no use, Tenten, we must go on now,"
"What do you mean go on? Shino might be in danger!"
"This is no time to mull over emotions, Tenten; we've got to fulfill our mission. If I were Shino he'd probably mock you,"
"How do you know Hinata!"
"I'm his teammate."
Tenten was silent; all the while Sakura was just staring at them, her thoughts rambled and cannot congregate enough to utter a single word. "Shino-san told me before this mission starts that if any of us fail to flock we should continue on,"
"But—but that's preposterous! How could we let ourselves do that!"
"Tenten," Sakura finally spoke, "This is exam no more; we are shinobi's for the sake of venerable Konoha, we mustn't involve emotions in this,"
"Sakura!"
Disbelief was apparent on Tenten's face. "Tsunade-sama told me that,"
"From now on we're not separating again, we either work undercover together or I'm done with this," Tenten threatened, but chuunin Hinata was unflustered.
"Four shinobi's are coming; two from the east, one straight ahead and the other at west. We continue on or we'd get caught too," Hinata's byakugan veins got intense, signaling her chakra. "Let's go."
Orochimaru's guards leapt from one corner onto another, securing every place of espionage like they were supposed to; they sensed a skirmish, something to behold like Greel tournaments of ancient times, puckish little smiles on their lips. Tayuya has cursed once again. "Faster fat ass, you're only good at eating,"
Like smoke – black in hues – Shino's bugs scattered all over the ground. "A clone; impressive little one," and Kabuto roused up from the ground like philosophical zombie. There, on the entrance that promenaded such skirmish, the Aburame genius stood panting as more bugs come out from him. There were cracks in his spectacles. His will have overwhelmed Kabuto's attacks – fortunately – though his body isn't really the vessel of all his warfare tenacities. His destruction bugs roamed through him, crafting a buffer against Kabuto, who has been running, aiming his hands yet again to Shino. He still feels like sleeping though; feathers of pallor keep on haunting his sight, evoking lethargy and hence his defeat. A bullet of three hundred fifty nine bugs flew straight at the white haired ninja but it was easily dodged. Just a little bit more, Shino thought, and he'd be back to business again.
Kabuto's palm have etched on Shino and bugs dispersed yet again; and this time, six more Shino's started to attack. "I could not tell the real one; they're all the same life structure..." And Kabuto started shaking off taijutsu's from six Aburame genius, all the while trying to figure out the real one. Kabuto's cheeks and left ribcage procured a punch and a kick and this made him frustrated. "Mesuka Chakra!"
Shino's brows furrowed. Destruction bugs dispersed all over the arena. A kunai flew straight ahead, and Shino, mustering all his volitional faculties, soared to sidestep the wedge; Kabuto followed around and the Aburame genius has finally cursed. His Konoha cloth of honor fluttered in the air like leaves and Shino again plummeted fast on the now turning dry filth. It was already morning, those sunbeams that are lovely an onlooker of shinobi violence.
Shino now ran, away from the medic nin as his destruction bugs carry him; Kabuto followed and in such chase, the waterfalls seemed unnoticed. The Sound Village is surrounded with three waterfalls – Kabuto knew such topographical aspect while the other one could only guess. "You're not getting away!"
Aburame Shino never fancied escape. He believes that losing equates evasion; he believed that appraisal is worth death itself, but in this ideology he didn't know though why he had performed kaiten kikai no justu, a realignment of chakra from observing Neji and Hinata. As destruction bugs churned violently the white haired adversary has jumped just time to barely shirk that attack and slightly cutting his index finger. Never did Shino know of waterfalls; as his kikai bugs whirled his stance stepped further away from the foe and nearer the edge of the waterfalls. Thirty three meters were their distance from the entry Shino was supposed to infiltrate, and now, two meters more... "He didn't have the time to muster and master such technique..." Kabuto's smile was rascal but unseen from Shino as the chuunin fell like a pebble, heavy surges of waters cloaking him into oblivion. Or so the medic nin thought.
And at the end of it all, Kabuto was weary.
"Tayuya! Report this to Orochimaru-sama!"
"Why don't you little fag,"
The platinum-haired member of the self-styled legendary guards of Orochimaru stood at the left access of Sound Village, staring mockingly at those asleep pickets "Aren't these shitheads supposed to guard entry?"
"I'm responsible for it,"
"Kabuto... you're fucking dirty."
"I like to play game sometimes. Now do what Orochimaru-sama told you to do,"
"Capture Uchiha Sasuke? That'd be a piece of crap," the six-armed ninja said.
"But a lovely game to play," he continued, and within fractions of seconds they were already gone. "Bastards," Kabuto's hands scratched away dirt from his clothes.
"I'm getting worried about Shikamaru's team, I want to follow them,"
"That's all? You've wasted my time,"
"Hokage-sama, they've been away two years and counting,"
"The village needs you,"
"Jiraiya-san's here,"
"Shizune,"
"Yes, Tsunade-sama?" the apprentice walked towards her former teacher.
"Follow Hinata and Shino."
"You-" the fifth sighed heavy on anyone's mind, resolving questions on her psyche.
"Okay, but only a month and that's it,"