Silence
by kinokokichigai
---
He remembered the first time he met her, the harsh indoor lights arcing off of her dark hair, her blush pronounced as she shyly introduced herself as Hyuuga Hinata. She was on his genin team, she said, as he nodded once, quickly.
He hadn't bothered to introduce himself. Instead, he had allowed his Jounin instructor to voice his name, and watched as a small tremor of fear made the Hyuuga girl blush even deeper, and look away from him.
He didn't think about it too much. Many people reacted the same way---or worse---when they heard the name of the nearly-inhuman, bug-wielding clan. He was an Aburame---shielded by more than a simple collar and sunglasses.
-
She fell from the tree, a loud thwump making him and his canine-like teammate look towards her in pity and slight frustration. It was their first week of training, and already she had proved to be a rather incompetent fighter.
The Hyuuga girl stood up painfully, her brow furrowed in pain and anger. Not aware of their glances, she beat the ground angrily once, her mouth forming vehement words that went unsaid.
He was the first to move over to her, and planted himself in front of her. Her white eyes were a dark grey through his sunglasses. He shook his head slowly.
"We are done here," he said quietly, simply. "We can always train more tomorrow. Go home and rest, Hinata-san." He turned away from her, pushing up his sunglasses as Kiba stared at him for a second, his pup yipping softly on his head.
-
He stepped out of the Aburame home silently, as his father bid him a wordless farewell by nodding his head in acknowledgement of his son's absence.
The boy---no, young man, really---trudged along the once-worn path, enjoying the early morning silence, broken only by the sounds of insects humming gently in the misty autumn morning. He would have only an hour to train by himself before his teammates began their training.
There were no other shinobi at the training ground when he arrived. The heir to the Aburame clan began to practice simple taijutsu, until he heard the small noise of a throat being cleared behind him.
The insects stirred within him at the appearance of this new chakra source, finding the white-eyed girl standing behind him quite palatable---that is, until their master pulled them back quickly. The young man did not turn around, continuing his taijutsu practice.
The Hyuuga girl moved beside him, and began to practice an entirely different form of taijutsu than him, her movements soft and flowing, almost like the subtle fragility of a slow-moving mantis that is preparing to strike---unlike his own, hornet-like taijutsu style.
The pair practiced their styles side-by-side, the young man starting to make his movements softer and less obvious, the young woman modifying hers to make it quicker and more defined.
But eventually, the two stopped, both panting as she put her hands on her knees and crouched onto the dewy grass, smiling shyly. It had been roughly thirty minutes since the young Aburame man had arrived. He was still standing, his chest heaving a bit less now.
"Please, Hinata, look away," he said softly. She shut her white eyes as the Aburame heir began to do swift hand seals, a loud buzzing noise reaching her ears.
She shut her eyes tighter, but moved her hands behind her back and did lightning-fast hand seals as well, the veins around her eyes enlarging in order to capacitate the increased amount of chakra flow.
What she saw through her closed eyelids nearly made her gasp, her resolve to whimper as thin as a spider's thread. Hundreds---no, thousands of black bugs were flying out of her teammate's body. Bile launched up at the back of her throat, and she had to swallow hard to keep her breakfast down.
After a minute or so, the last bug had left his body, and he sat down weakly across from her. She hastily undid the Bakyugan, and opened her eyes hesitantly.
The Aburame heir was sweating, but his face was relaxed as he moved over to lean against one of the multiple wooden training posts in the field. He did not say anything to the white-eyed girl as she stared at him, half in fear, and half in pity.
Her mouth moved wordlessly, until she found her shaky voice.
"S-S-Shi---" she began, questing for an idea of what to say. Before she could fully get even a word out of her, however, he shook his head.
"Silence is best, Hinata-san." He was grateful for the brief respite of humming inside of his infested body. "I am fine."
She nodded, understanding his few words.
They sat there for a while, the silence perfectly natural. Not like the oppressive silence, like the silence before a storm, that was all too present in the Hyuuga household. Nor was it the sad, forsaken silence of the Aburame household, like the silence after many wars when everyone is too tired and careworn to fight anymore.
The young man stood up after a while, asking the Hyuuga girl to shut her eyes once more. She shut them once more, but kept her hands in her lap, still and calm as she waited for the mass exodus of bugs to migrate once more back into her teammate's body.
Opening her eyes once more, she saw the Aburame heir sitting against a training post once more. His body shook slightly as he attempted to stand.
She reached out a hand to him, blushing crimson.
Hidden behind his collar, he smiled slightly. And his hand met hers.
---
Fin
---
I hope you didn't object to the use of pronouns so much. Sorry.
-kinokokichigai