Chapter Eleven
As Shino started feeling better, he began walking around the clan grounds and when he mentioned that to his team, they asked if they could accompany him on one of his bug catching missions into the surrounding woods, and that is how they came to be wandering through on a warm summer day, he with his bug catching net and carrying case, Hinata with food, Kiba and Akamaru with drinks, and Kurenai with Mirai.
"Hey Shino, how much of your time as a kid did you spend doing this?" asked Kiba.
"It was my favorite thing to do, as such I spent most of my free time searching, when I was not training or at the Academy."
"Yeah, Akamaru and me spent a lot of time walking around. We liked following the scent trails of different critters. Didn't we, boy!" Akamaru yipped in return, and Kiba continued, "So what, your dad went with you, or did you just come out here by yourself and look around?"
Shino paused. Most of the time he had come out here alone, but during the brief period of time Torune was in his life, he had accompanied him. He had never told his teammates about Torune. That incident was still painful and unsettling to him. But, today he felt like sharing.
"Mostly, but for a time there was someone in my clan who would come with me. His name is Torune."
"I don't recall you talking about a Torune. Have we met him before?" asked Hinata.
"No… He was recruited into ANBU Root when we were young. Actually, I was supposed to go, but he offered to go in my place. It's unknown what happened to him."
"That's heavy shit man. I've heard of 'em, but my clan isn't particularly well suited for that stuff. They didn't come knocking at our door."
"They did at the Hyuuga. Some of my relatives were recruited as well. I'm glad that branch was shut down. I'm sorry, Shino, it sounds like you were close. But… selfishly, I am glad, it was him, and not you. I thank him for his sacrifice."
"Yeah, cheers to you, Torune." said Kiba, holding up his bottle of soda.
"Hear, hear." replied Kurenai, with Mirai attempting to mimic her, earning a laugh from the rest of them.
Shino thought of Torune, and how important friendship was to him. To honor him, Shino had thought long and hard about what it meant, to be a friend, and for a long time he felt perturbed, because he couldn't figure it out when Torune had sacrificed so much.
He first thought it was about being a good fellow shinobi, but he had come to learn it was more than that. Taking today for example, they were simply enjoying one another's company, each on their own paths that sometimes ran parallel, as they had when he, Hinata, and Kiba were students at the Academy. They were aware of each other, but their paths did not truly cross, along with Kurenai-sensai's, until they were put together as Team Eight.
And sometimes their paths diverged, as his had, when he was captured, but today, in this particular section of the woods, in their corner of the world, their paths were running together, and he too was grateful to Torune, for this chance, and grateful to his teammates, for being here with him now, and hopefully, for whatever journey lay ahead.
Finito
Author's Note: I put Angst as the genre, and though there was a suspended, treading water feeling to this (which is what I wanted to get across with the title Limbo) I hope that the strength and perseverance of the characters also came through, along with the idea of support coming from both expected and unexpected places, and the impacts a whole group of interconnected people had on each other.