Shino solemnly led her through the gates of his compound and she tried to inconspicuously look around. Like all of the Noble Clans in the Konoha, the Aburame kept their home hidden behind high walls that surrounded traditional style houses. Unlike the rest of the Noble Clans, it was located at the far end of the village, close to the open fields and tall trees of the Nara forest. Sakura knew it was not usual for outsiders to be allowed entrance without prior permission, so kept close to Shino on the off-chance someone would call her out, but the main path seemed deserted.

He nodded at the largest of the houses. "My home."

"This is a beautiful area, Shino-kun. You must have had a good time growing up here."

"It was acceptable, though my clan does not have many children our age. I had a cousin who … left. He is the inspiration for this jutsu."

She touched his arm, surprising him. "Have you seen him since?"

"No. But I have been breeding his rinkaichu with my kikaichu. It's a part of him I will always have."

"That's sweet, if a little unusual. It definitely suits you." She smiled and hooked her arm through his again. "Well, let's get to work."

They had arrived at a small training area past the main houses, the ground packed with indications of heavy usage. Shino carefully disengaged his arm from hers and set down the jar of beetles.

"So tell me how far you've gotten with this technique and I will see if I can be useful!"

Shino nodded. "The first step is to call forth the kikaichu in a swarm. Once they are assembled, I can use the tiger seal to form the shunshin, moving them quickly toward my target. I have only been able to move both myself and the kikaichu, which is inefficient as I am attempting to create a quick, long-range weapon."

She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Can I see a demonstration? Since you have already done this part, could you use your actual kikaichu for it?"

"Yes." Suddenly his insects were just there, hovering around his left arm. Sakura watched him form the hand seal for a shunshin and then he was directly in front of her, kikaichu buzzing with frenetic energy. Even though she had sparred with him earlier, Sakura was still impressed by his speed and efficiency.

Why couldn't I have been put on his team? Kurenai-sensei would have been so much better than Kakashi-sensei! She thought in despair. Though I bet Kiba is just as bad as Naruto.

Shino was still close to her, waiting. He seemed to be anticipating a negative reaction to his proximity so she was happy to disappoint him and instead leaned forward toward his kikaichu. "Are these guys found in the natural world? Or are they bred specifically for the use in human bodies?"

"Those found in the Aburame Clan can no longer be considered what they once were. They have been bred extensively for our battle and espionage techniques."

"And they consume chakra?"

"Yes."

"Could they use chakra?"

"Perhaps. This is something I had not considered, though kikaichu lack the proper functionality to create seals."

"The research I've done on hand seals tells me that it is possible to perform techniques without using them. You just have to improve your control to get there and once you have control, they have control. It's a way to approach your problem from a different angle, at least." She raised a hand toward the kikaichu flitting about them. "May I?"

Shino had to hide his astonishment at her request, but still directed one of them to land on her open palm. She raised it to eye level and studied it carefully. He was curious, a feeling he did not frequently have about most people.

"Why were you researching hand seals?"

She laughed sheepishly, but kept her eyes on the kikaichu that was exploring her hand inquisitively. "Ah, well, research is a hobby. As soon as I graduated, I took my hitai-ate to the library and gained access to the genin section. It's what I have been doing every day after team training."

Or during, since Kakashi-sensei is too lazy to show up on time!

"It is unusual for a kunoichi our age to be so well-read."

Her eyes shot to his impassive face, annoyed. "Hey! Don't start sounding like Shikamaru now, Shino-kun. We only just became friends."

"I'm sorry, I did not intend to be offensive."

Sakura huffed, "I don't see how that statement could have been anything but offensive."

"I was only basing it on my observations. Your Academy ranking did not indicate a high interest in attaining the necessary skills we were learning and the other girls in our class were similar."

She was embarrassed at the way the conversation had turned, but answered him anyway. "My paper scores were always the top of the class. I was just mediocre to terrible at all the things a real shinobi would require, like accurate aim or taijutsu ability."

"Ah." They both fell silent. Sakura cursed her past self for being so hung up on Sasuke and Shino felt like he had made an error, but was unaware of how to fix it.

She tried to tamp down her insecurity and turned her attention back to the kikaichu that was making itself at home on her, having now crawled from her palm to her forearm. She looked up at Shino, wondering if he was controlling it, but he was staring at the ground forebodingly.

"How do you work with them? I mean, how do you control them? I never see you use anything that requires seals whenever they're around."

"They are attuned to our chakra, a process that starts when a colony is implanted into us as infants. We create a connection that is like a resonance or an awareness of will."

"So basically, they are an extension of your force of will? Very poetic, Shino-kun!" Amazingly, his cheeks tinged pink again as she teased him, her earlier embarrassment forgotten in her enjoyment of his embarrassment.

Who cares if I sucked at shinobi skills back then? I have potential, I will get better! And Shino is kind of cute when he gets all red like that.

The swarm surrounding his arm had slowly faded away, under the sleeves of his long jacket. Sakura's little friend eventually joined the others and she walked over to the jar of beetles, dangling it in front of his face.

"I have an idea, but it might not work with these guys. How is your control over non-kikaichu insects?"

"Excellent."

"So modest, Shino-kun!" She laughed delightedly, but refrained from poking at him again. "I think we could use some of that will of yours to work these guys into a tiger seal for the shunshin. If you can manage it with them, using your kikaichu will be a piece of cake."

"That is a satisfactory experiment."

"Good! I'll observe and see if I can't help somehow, though I bet some Byakugan eyes would be a big asset right now."

"You are correct, but Hinata-san is not allowed here."

Sakura was attempting to unstop the jar and nearly dropped it in surprise at his words. "What? Hinata is your teammate! Surely your parents can make an exception?"

"It is her father that made this rule, not mine." He looked vaguely disgruntled, but resigned. She noticed it was a common look for him, outside his normal impassive demeanor.

"I'm sorry, Shino-kun. Those Hyuugas have their noses so far up in the air they'd probably drown in a downpour." He snorted a laugh and looked surprised at himself. "Hah! There's that sense of humor again. I knew I could wrangle it out eventually."

"Perhaps. Hinata-san is an exception to your stuck up Hyuuga proclamation."

She had finally gotten the jar open and was gently tapping the beetles onto the firmly packed earth of the training ground. "This is true, Hinata is a nice girl. She's so shy, though, it's hard to get to know her. She reminds me of myself before Ino got a hold of me."

"So it is Ino-san we should all blame for your terrorizing fists."

"Shino-kun, was that a joke? Forget the jutsu, I think we've made real personal progress here today!" She sat down happily and stretched out her legs, ignoring the skittering insects in front of her.

He said nothing, but she saw the corner of his mouth twitch up into a vague smile.

It's a start!

"Okay, Aburame. Work your magic."