Chapter 4 – Sunrise

Aburame Shibi stood on top of the massive wall that surrounded the city of Konoha. His hands in the large pockets of his dusty tan, high-collared jacket. The wind caught the beads dangling from the left side of his dark glasses, causing them to jingle slightly. His clan, the Aburame clan of bug using shinobi, was located at the edge of the wall on the far east side of the city, specifically to have quick access to the dense, eastern forest. However, for Shibi, he personally enjoyed the location because of the unadulterated view of the rising sun you could get from the wall's top.

He had made it a weekly habit / promise to himself to wake up early enough to see the sun rise. Because he saw everything through the eyes of his kikaichu insects, whose eyes actually see the same as humans, except much keener and with the inclusion of the infrared and ultraviolet parts of the color spectrum, the sunrise was far more spectacular than when viewed by a normal human.

As the sunlight finally broke over the treetops, he smiled beneath his tall collar.

"An especially beautiful sunrise today, eh?" a deep, sensual women's voice said from next to him.

He looked over to see his wife, Aburame Kaho. She sat with one leg dangled over the wall's edge, and the other drawn up against her body with her hands clasped around it. Her long, light-earthen-red colored coat splayed out behind her. Her inner jacket's collar was not as large or tall as most Aburame's, as it was almost snug against her neck, rising to a flared top that came up over the tip of her chin. A large summon-jutsu scroll was clasped to her upper back by a small shoulder harnesses.

"Ah," Shibi agreed quietly in response, looking back to the view in front of them.

Kaho turned her head to look up at him; her slanted sunglasses, reminiscent of a praying mantis's eyes, catching a gleam off the sunlight, "Do you think they succeeded in their mission?" She asked.

"Doubtful, but I have faith in Shino and their team."

She looked back to the forest below. "I feel the same way."

After a few more minutes of silence, something rustling not too far off in the trees caught their attention. A figure was jumping through the branches. Kaho instantly stood, her tall, lithe figure standing 7 inches taller than her husband's.

"You see that?"

"Yes, it's a ninja," Shibi took his hands out of his pockets. He knew it was most likely an enemy spy, why else would a lone ninja be coming at the city from this far side? Shibi and Kaho both flexed their arms outwards, causing their sleeves to draw back slightly, preparing to release their kikaichu if necessary.

As the figure drew closer, they saw the familiar shape of an Aburame clan jacket. They lowered their hands and relaxed. It was Shino.

"Why is he alone?" Shibi questioned, furrowing his brow more than it usually was.

Kaho frowned slightly too, worried.

Shino jumped as high as he could off the last tree closest to the wall, and shot out two long strands of kikai bugs from his arms, grasping onto the top edge of the wall. Using his Chakra to stick his feet to the wall he climbed up to the top, where Shibi and Kaho backed away to give him room.

Head bowed and eyelids closed, he stood up, slightly out of breath. He wad not surprised to see them up on the wall, as it was a common hangout for many of the clan members, but he wished they had not been there that one morning. He just wanted to slink back to his room unnoticed and alone.

His parents instantly noticed his glasses were gone.

"Shino, what happened? Where is your team?" his father asked sternly. He was actually quite worried, worried about the unushal-nes of Shino's behavior enough for it to turn into a seeming form of anger.

"And where are your glasses?" Kaho said in the same tone, but with the expected hint of motherly worry.

Shino stood silent for a few long seconds, the last of his kikai bugs flying back into his sleeves, "The mission was a failure, but everyone is alright. I went on ahead, the others should be back this evening," he paused, looking up and opening his eyes to see his parents looming over him. The sight of a sunglass-less Aburame to another was nothing shocking, in fact many of the bug-using members of the clan didn't wear them around their homes.

"I am sorry," he shook his head, "Can I go lie down, I will explain everything later."

Shibi shook his head disapprovingly, his arms crossed, but you could tell he was going to let the tired boy go anyway. Kaho's frown softened, but still held, "Go, but we will be expecting a full explanation later."

Shino nodded, and jumped down into the Aburame clan stronghold below. He darted into the window of his room and flopped down on his bed. He felt drained, and wished he could just disappear.

Kaho sighed, "At least everyone is okay, but I still wonder what happened…"

"It must have been serious, he looks really shaken, and for him to run away from his team like that…"

"…yes, not like him at all."

Shibi turned his head to look at her, putting his hands back into his pockets, "I'll question him when he wants to talk."

"Are you sure? I bet he'd feel more relaxed talking to me, you can be a little stern at times with situations similar to this,"

"Are you calling me a bad father?" Shibi raised an eyebrow and smirked. The comment was in obvious jest.

Kaho smiled, knowing he was playing with her "Not at all dear, you're a wonderful father to our boy, just go easy on him, alright? I have never seen him like this."

Shibi nodded, and Kaho jumped back down below.

He stayed behind for a moment, taking one last look at the sun rising higher in the sky, the colors of the sunrise quickly fading.

((Author's Note: If you have ever seen the American dub of Digimon Tamers, I imagine her voice like Renamon's. X3 ))

((And yes, Kaho is MASSIVE. Since Shibi is 5' 11", that would make her 6' 6". I guess Shibi likes tall girls. :D And if you like how I portray Shino's mom and dad I strongly recommend my other fic: Aburame Ichizoku. (shameless self-plug laugh )))