Blue Eyes and Butterflies Chapter 8, a naruto fanfic

Chapter 8: The Answers Begin with Bugs

Puffs of air dissipated into the cold morning mist. Konohagakure never got extremely cold nor stayed cold for long, even during the winter, but it did have a week or two of near freezing temperatures during the night and early morning. Every couple years some snow might even fall during spring and stick around for a few days. It was one of those years.

Naoko struggled to step onto the inches of snow without making any sound. Her hot breath sliced into the frozen air and billowed outward in a whitish cloud. The sun was just now rising out of the morning mist. The snow might melt today.

The rest of her class moved out through the trees covering training field 43. Funeno-sensei had booked the field for the weekend. They were going to learn how to survive out in the wild. Blue eyes looked over the snow encumbered trees, their leaves hanging dangerously low because of the added weight of snow. It wasn't supposed to snow for their survival training but sensei choose to add its presence into the plan instead of reschedule, though he had gotten a couple more chÅ«nin to help out alongside the academy teachers. If the snow melted today, they would get to enjoy surviving the weekend in mud. The little girl frowned up at the dull gold light just now peaking through the mist. This was going to suck.

At least next week they were finally beginning spars at school. They should be learning the kawarimi no jutsu soon, too. The entire class had finally learned to use the henge technique to an acceptable level. Half the class were even able to use the bunshin jutsu at a similar level. She wasn't one of them.

Naoko frowned as she thought about the bunshin technique. It was a pain to get right, but she could get it to work properly when she had the time to concentrate on pulling just the right amount of chakra. Sadly, that time was too long for such a simple jutsu. She was getting there, though.

"Everyone gather around." Called Funeno-sensei in the middle of the field, or approximately. Training field 43 was mainly forested, though it had a small stream that was a shoot off from part of the Mogami river that traveled through the village. "This weekend is the first and most basic survival training we will be doing. As I told you yesterday, training field 43 is one of the largest training fields. Everyone is going to be broken up into nine teams of five. Each team will have a chÅ«nin in charge. This chÅ«nin is your leader and will be helping out with training. You will do what they say. We academy teachers will be going from team to team to help train you all. Now listen carefully, I will not be repeating these teams twice."

The chÅ«nin stepped up besides Funeno-sensei as the teams were named off. A vaguely familiar red eyed, black haired woman was given the first team. She was, in Naruto's perhaps inexperienced five year old mind, a bombshell. Naoko firmly ignored the thoughts revolving around the woman. Naruto moments, as she had come to think of them as, were easily ignored now. It had been almost eight months since she came here and by now it was a simply thing to ignore the seemingly perverted, immature, or overly mature thoughts that popped into her head. Instead Naoko focused on the teams and found herself in the second group with Aburame Muta as her temporary chÅ«nin sensei. The young man was covered head to shin in a long tan trench coat and his eyes were obscured under a set of dark tinted glasses. His hair hung long and loose around his face. He was mysterious and almost, strangely, forgettable. Even with him being so forgettable, Naoko just knew that there was something about him she should know. Naoko sighed softly, her lips forming a slight pout. One day these nagging feelings would stop.

The Aburame guided the team of five over to one corner of the field, where the stream was just entering the area. Waving his hand around the small patch of land clear of trees, he finally spoke. "Is this a proper camping ground? For a basic camp, it is. Here we have fresh water, though the snow makes that a moot point today. We have large trees and thicket around this area allowing ample coverage, wood for fire, and hiding places for traps."

The rest of the day slowly went by with Muta-sensei teaching them how to recognize plants they had already read about but were near impossible to recognize with only buds for leaves and snow covering them. After a hour or so of staring at plants, Muta went on to other topics. He showed them how to pitch a tent, how to drink from the stream without disturbing the silt at the bottom and for reference when they found stale, unclean water that they had to use, what wood to use for the least amount of smoke, and so forth. By lunch time all the children, not just little Naoko, were exhausted.

Yet they couldn't rest. Funeno-sensei wanted them to try and fish in the surprisingly deep area of the stream. Naoko sighed as she dropped the wiggling worm into the stream. She couldn't see any fish and the stream wasn't that deep, even if it was the deepest area. Blue eyes slid up to regard Aburame Muta. The chÅ«nin were all lounging around one of the fires in view of the stream. He stood slight back from the rest, hands stuffed into his pockets.

"Hey Yorimi?" Asked Naoko as she moved her stick around a little to make the worm dance in the water.

Light gray eyes turned to regard her but the older girl didn't give any other indication for Naoko to continue. The three year old continued anyway, too used to Uchiha in general.

"Is Muta-sensei part of a clan? I get this feeling that the Aburame are but do you know anything about them?" Naoko continued to play with her stick. It was weird to get the odd feelings of knowing something but not getting actual memories no matter how many times this feeling happened. She should know this, she had known about this once. Why did she have to forget? Naoko sighed and watched her white clouded breath dissipate. How were Itachi and her supposed to help everyone when they've forgotten so much?

Yorimi didn't reply immediately. Blue eyes moved away from the group of chÅ«nin to find that Yorimi was still looking at her. The brunette finally answered, now that she got Naoko's full attention. "Aburame are a clan that specialize in using living weapons. They give their bodies up to bugs to be used as hives. These bugs can be controlled by them in return. No one knows how it works but the important part is that the bugs eat chakra. That is their main use."

"Oh." breathed Naoko. Her mind jumped to the butterflies. Maybe... maybe the Aburame could help her? But did she want the-

Naoko jerked forward as something hard pushed into her back. Then it was cold, so cold. Muffled splashes and shouts reached her ears. The sounds were coming from far away and seemed like a age ago. She couldn't breath.

Blue eyes blinked as suddenly the world seem to right itself. She was able to see trees and earth again. There, not far from the stream, was Yorimi beating the crap out of HÃµsei. A distant thought of where the chÅ«nin were flicked through her mind. A breathe of air brushed over her, reminding her of the cold. She moved her hand and blinked down at the water soaked coat. It was her coat. She pressed her hand against the wet fur. She couldn't feel it. Her fingers were numb. Another distant thought passed through her cold clouded mind. HÃµsei had pushed her into the stream.

It took being laid onto the ground by the fire to realize that someone had been carrying her. Within seconds she found her clothes pulled off and a very large coat pulled over her head before a number of blankets were wrapped around her. Blue eyes looked up to find Muta-sensei looking down at her. His coat was missing, leaving a long sleeve turtle neck and a long apron like cloth with multiple pockets tied around his waist. It was open in the front giving a faint appearance of a extremely long tool belt. The rest of his clothing were standard shinobi garb. Naoko stifled a giggle. Her mind lagged and things that weren't important seemed sharp and drew her attention, like Muta-sensei's clothes and the little bugs zooming agitatedly around HÃµsei. The crunchy tips of grass peaked through the snow, frozen like green gems. She had the sudden, implicit desire to pull them out and make a bouquet of grass.

"Are you alright? We will have to dry your hair. Most likely you will be getting a cold from this. Stay by the fire." Muta said to her as the other chÅ«nin stood around arguing in the background. HÃµsei and Yorimi were being held apart by two different shinobi in the group. The bugs only moved around HÃµsei though.

Naoko burrowed fully into the coat and blankets after a few minutes. The warmth finally penetrated her muddled mind and all thoughts of grass bouquets faded from it. The red eyed chÅ«nin, YÅ«hi Kurenai helped dry her hair. The little girl was surprised by the sudden image of the woman holding a baby. After the random Naruto thought she had expected something perverted revealed from her lost memories.

Naoko's last odd act before she was able to fully right herself was to ask about what hair products the woman used. Something scentless, Naoko couldn't remember the actual brand and wasn't about to ask her again. She was fully planning on forgetting the whole mess.

Funeno-sensei ended up deciding that it was a survival experience and she was to stay there. Her team would learn how to have a injured comrade in the wild. Naoko didn't care and decided that she really didn't like the cold.

At dinner time the children were ordered to try and catch some fish again. Naoko found Muta-sensei sitting besides her watching the lack of success. The other chÅ«nin were quietly preparing the real dinner at one of the fires just outside of easy view. Naoko was close enough to smell the cooking food.

"Are there actually any fish in there?" Asked Naoko suddenly.

"Fish in the stream? No, it is used for jutsu training too often for the habitat to be able to sustain them. This is simply an activity to keep them busy while we prepare the food. That way we do not have to listen to their whining for the food before it is ready." Came the prompt answer.

"Oh." Naoko scowled at the knowledge. She had known it was a waste of time earlier. Though, the little time traveler looked over at the Aburame, it had given her something useful. He might be able to help her with her butterflies after all. Maybe a simple question first, though. Naoko bite her bottom lip in thought.

Muta-sensei turned and regarded her in return. "You have a question, do you not? It is clear that you do by how you are looking at me."

Naoko frowned and squinted her eyes up at the man before finally speaking. "Well... I asked Yorimi-chan earlier today about you Aburame and she said you have bugs for weapons and all... but, well... Do you know much about other bugs?"

Aburame Muta tilted his head at her and his face seemed to lose what little emotion had been present. He seemed to almost grow guarded like he expected her to suddenly dislike him. "Yes, you are correct. Is there a specific bug you would like to know more about?" A heavy pause passed between them, "I can show you my bugs if you wish."

"Well." Naoko hesitated. She did want to see these chakra eating bugs but they were bugs. The three year old straightened with resolve. He had bugs. She had bugs too. It was about time she started getting used to the idea. "Alright, I'd like to see your bugs." At her response Muta lifted his hand and a couple tiny bugs crawled down out of his sleeve. Naoko shivered slightly at the sight but fought her instinctive shriek down to a simple squeak.

"Those are very nice bugs." She choked out, her voice higher then normal and her mind going back to the butterflies. Bugs: They were creepy, crawly things and they tickled and they should stay away and, and... Naoko mentally slapped herself. She had to figure this out and he might be able to help. Muta-sensei's bugs didn't seem that bad, even though they could eat her chakra. She hesitated for a second more before steeling her resolve, "Does it feel odd having bugs inside of you? Having them crawl all over you?"

Muta shook his head lightly, "No. Does it feel odd? I have not known any other feeling. We have the bugs within a few months of birth. It is as normal as breathing. It is how it should be."

"Really?" Naoko breathed. Silence fell over them for a few minutes. Muta quietly lowered his hand but continued to regard her. Naoko stared down at the bugs for those moments before she slowly pulled one of her hands out from under the blankets and slided her fingers over one of the bugs. "What do you know about butterflies?"

The bug she had just stroked zoomed up and around her. Muta spoke up as the bug landed on her nose. Naoko went cross eyed. "I know many things about butterflies. What is it you wish to know? Butterflies are varied by species. They come in many colors, many sizes, and live in many places."

Naoko stopped staring cross eyed, and choose to ignore the bug and her desire to smack it off her nose. "What is the most interesting thing you know about butterflies, then? And do you know of a good book I can find in the library on them?"

Muta leaned back in thought. "A good book on butterflies? Yes, come by the compound after the academy Monday and I will have a book for you."

An hour or so later Funeno-sensei walked over to the stream and called out, "Dinner! Enough fishing, we'll try this again tomorrow." Naoko's peers exploded out towards the food. Relief was written on all their faces. Funeno-sensei walked over to them and handed both Naoko and Muta large bowls of stew. "We don't want you getting sick now?" Smiled the beefy man.

"Stew for dinner, thank you. You do realize that this is not proper survival training, though? This stew is not something they will be able to make easily in the wild." Stated the Aburame matter of factly.

Funeno-sensei shrugged. "This is only the first survival weekend. The focus this weekend is the basics. They'll have to ruff it at some other weekend. Now you got to eat all of that Tano-san."

Naoko looked helplessly down at the giant bowl in her hands. Even if she did eat as much as Naruto, he couldn't possible eat this much at three years old. Muta distracted her by suddenly answering her question. "What is the most interesting thing about butterflies? It is the folklore behind them." Naoko looked up as she took a big bite of steaming meat. "Butterflies are our souls and the souls of the departed. They are souls leaving to the afterlife and souls coming to visit their living loved ones. When one comes into your home, they are considered good luck most of the time as they are considered to be your dead love one coming to check on you. If, of course, that loved one was not of the best disposition it may instead mean something bad is about to occur." Muta sipped some stew before continuing. "A swarm of butterflies are considered a bad omen because this can mean that many people are about to die and those butterflies are images of the future."

Naoko stared wide eyed, a faint memory of a pathway in the darkness lite by glowing butterflies filled her mind. The words of Inari-sama and Tou-chan whispered in the background,

"I went to the dear Shinigami and he gave me access to your father..."

"...dragged your soul with him as he fled to this other existence"

"Uzumaki Naruto is dead."

What did this mean? Was she dead? Naruto is dead, but she is Naruto. Their soul was one and the same, the only thing that made them different were their bodies. Her body was created by Inari and the Shinigami.

The Shinigami.

Butterflies are our souls.

Muta sudden whispered as he stared up at the clouded, darkening sky. "The journey will be long and very hard at times,
but the delicate butterfly will dance and sing to the chimes.

For the wind and songbirds who are its friends,
will gently guide it along its path until it reaches the end.
And its wings of strength will never let it fall,
because the butterfly is special and it will conquer all."

Naoko blinked up at him. Muta looked down at her as he shrugged, "what was that? It was simply part of a poem I had once read. It speaks of the path of the soul in the afterlife."

AUAU

The double doors were at least ten feet tall. A stylized bug was engraved across the doors making the bug split down the middle when the right door slid open. Naoko rubbed her hand across her thighs, rubbing the sweat from them. Yorimi silently stood behind her. The open door revealed a unfamiliar Aburame staring down at them.

"Hi I'm he-"

"Yes, this way Tano-san. Is this your guest? She may come also." Naoko glanced back at Yorimi. The Uchiha only raised a brow at her. The little girl turned back and followed the retreating Aburame, firmly ignoring her flaming face. She didn't need Yorimi's assurance! She could take care of herself and this wasn't a situation where she should even be uncertain.

The still nameless Aburame left them in a empty sitting room. Naoko looked over the wall of bug specimen being displayed. She couldn't even begin guessing at what most of them were. A number must have been beetles. She sniffed loudly in the quiet room as the minutes went by. Naoko had gotten a cold from her fall into the freezing stream. Naruto had never gotten sick before. She wished that she had the Kyuubi inside her now. Colds weren't fun.

"After this we are going to train, right?"

Naoko looked over to Yorimi to find the older girl surprisingly agitated. That was a first. Uchiha were annoyingly difficult to read. To be able to see that much emotion worried Naoko for a moment. At least, until she noticed Yorimi shiver whenever her eye glanced over at the bugs on the wall. Yorimi was scared of dead bugs! Naoko giggled softly.

The door slid open and the two girl came to attention. A small boy stared in at them. "What are you here for? I do not believe I was going to have anyone come for dinner so you must be here for something else. Why? Because dinner is not for another couple of hours and I don't know you so I could not have invited you to it."

Yorimi and Naoko looked at each other. Both were quiet taken aback by the little boy. The blue eyed girl finally stepped over to him, "We're here because I'm supposed to get a book on butterflies," Naoko paused for a second but couldn't help but feel that she should say something more. "But we can play if you like. We usually go play hide and seek after the academy and we're doing that after this." Naoko firmly ignored Yorimi's quiet, faintly outraged whisper that it was training, not playing.

"I do not know if I would like to play. Might I observe? I will be able to determine if I wish to play or not after seeing the game in action for a round or two. Why? Because I have not played hide and seek before."

Naoko blinked. Aburame must talk like this in general. Though Muta didn't seem to explain why all the time. He still answered his own questions. It was odd. "...Sure."

The little Aburame nodded sagely. Muta stepped into view soon after. With him standing besides the little boy, the similarities in clothing was crazy. The little boy was like a mini Muta except he had short, thick, spiky brown hair. Muta glanced down at the little boy before greeting Naoko and handing her a small leather bound book. "Is it about butterflies? Yes, it is a detailed journal summarizing our research on butterflies. It should have everything you would like to know. Please return it the instance you have finished it."

Muta turned to leave without any response from Naoko to only stop and stare. "Shino-sama what are you doing here still? You have many things you could be doing now."

The little boy, Shino, again nodded sagely. "I am aware. I am here because I am going to observe these two play hide and seek. Please inform Otou-san that I will be back later."

Muta nodded silently at the request before leaving. Shino, in similar silence, took them back to the entrance and followed them through the streets. Finally Yorimi stopped. "Right," Her gray eyes glance dubiously over at the little boy, "I'm it first so Naoko has to go hide. I count to twenty and then go find her. You should stay with me this round, alright Shino-san?"

The little boy tilted his head at her. It took a moment for the two girls to realize that that had been his response. At the realization the girls started their afternoon training. Shino never started playing with them but simply switch between following each of them either hide or seek throughout the afternoon.

Naoko carefully peeked her head around a corner, firmly ignoring Shino. She would catch Yorimi today! It couldn't be that hard to find her. Yorimi found her easily enough, no matter how good her hiding place was.

"Why do you not search for her chakra? She looks for your chakra and she also hides her chakra from you. I do not see why you do not do the same. Why? Because it is the most logical thing to do. I would think that it would be part of the game." Remarked Shino as Naoko turned back from the corner.

Naoko stared at the boy. What was he talking about? "You can do that?" Breathed Naoko before rubbing her nose on the back of her hand. It was starting to get runny. Hopefully the cold didn't get any worse than that.

Shino tilted his head, "Can I sense chakra? To an extent. I can easily sense and recognize my clan members around me. I can also recognize shinobi from civilians but I do not have the greatest skill in this. I can also find people with my bugs so it is not as important for me to master the technique as others. I cannot hide my chakra at this point either. That is a difficult skill to learn but Yorimi-san clearly is skilled in this area of the shinobi arts."

Blue eyes squinted at the Aburame, "How old are you?"

The little boy was some inches taller than Naoko but she had learned how little size actually indicated age. "How old am I? I am four. May I ask the same of you, Naoko-san?"

Naoko blinked, bemused. Shino didn't act like a four year old. Of course she didn't act like a three year old but she had a excuse. Though, thinking about the other Aburame Naoko had met, she could see why Shino was so mature. He was surrounded by bugs for one thing. Finally she remembered Shino's question. She quickly answered, her cheeks burning pink even though the older boy was patently watching her. It was like she had forgotten he was even there! "I'm three."

Shino nodded in his all knowing way and turned to Yorimi, who Naoko hadn't noticed before. "And you Yorimi-san?"

Yorimi folded her arms in front of her. "Five. I have to go." She looked over at Naoko, "Now that Shino-san has given you help I expect that you'll make these training sessions more challenging soon."

The three year old watch Yorimi leave, helplessly. Turning to the little Aburame, Naoko asked in some desperation, "How do I sense chakra?"

The boy stuffed his hands into his pocket, "It is getting late."

Naoko nodded before blushing at the growling of her stomach. It was diffidently late but she needed to learn how to sense chakra! "Ano, can you tell me how to do it?"

Shino shook his head, "Another time Naoko-san. I do not think I would be the best person to answer this question."

She sighed softly but nodded. "See you around Shino-kun." With that the little girl turned to leave. But Naoko's maturity decided to suddenly rear its head as she pulled out some pocket change before turning back to the boy. "It's dinner time and we're a good twenty minutes from the orphanage and your compound. Do you want to eat with me."

The little boy paused from leaving too and looked over at her hesitantly. Naoko could just make out a confused expression on the boy's face. Shino suddenly, quietly took her hand and started pulling her in the general direction of the Aburame compound. Naoko just barely heard Shino mutter, shyly, "Thank you, there is a good dango shop near my home."

It wasn't more than three minutes after that, that Muta and another Aburame, Shino's father Shibi, came and joined them on the walk there. She had a strange feeling, stemming from the fact that they didn't ask about why she was there, that the two had been watching their hide and seek training. It would explain why Shino, only four, was allowed to wonder alone.

Once they reached the dango shop, Naoko found more Aburame, including Shino's mother. And it was only after the meal that Naoko realized that their odd logic dictated and formal speech became informal and normal when surrounded by kin. And with the logic that only a three year old would make, she determined that it had to be the bugs. That was probably the answer to every question involving the Aburame.

AUAU

The soft sounds of paper being moved caught Itachi's attention. It was late, or perhaps early, and he had just woken from another nightmare. At least this time he had avoided throwing weapons in his sleep. The cold, frosted air of early morning began to freeze the sweat on his body. The dreams were getting worse. His memories were fading closer and closer to the massacre, making the memories more vivid.

It was even more dangerous with the end of the month coming closer and, with it, the required mental evaluations. He couldn't fake those with the Yamanaka clan in charge of them. He needed to do something, but what? Itachi couldn't fail the evaluations. He would not be allowed into the ANBU and that was nearly always a one time deal. The ten year old couldn't fail with so much at stake.

Dark gray eyes looked up and found a pair of mismatched ones staring at him from behind a little orange book. Kakashi seemed to always be there when he woke up this last month. His captain had seen nearly everything and it was worrisome. ANBU weren't the most mentally stable group of shinobi but they were still stable enough and it was the jobs taken as ANBU that led to their instability. His nightmares would be bringing to question his sanity and his ability to work in ANBU. Kakashi would have to bring them up in his evaluations if he had witnessed enough of them, which Itachi had little doubt that he had. That would be the icing on the cake so to speak, even if he didn't fail the mental evaluations. Itachi could only hope that the older genius would be sympathetic and make his report somewhat under-exaggerated.

After a few minutes of silence between the two, Kakashi closed his book. The silver haired man leaned towards the ten year old and handed the orange item to him. Itachi stared at him, a hint of bewilderment in his dark eyes. What was he supposed to do with it? Kakashi stared at Itachi for a moment more of silence before his eyes curled into smiles. Itachi could just make out the upward shift of his mask indicating a smile. "You look like you could use a distraction."

Itachi ignored his captain's retreating back to stare down at the worn and well loved book. One corner was folded and dog tagged from being pushed quickly back into Kakashi's utility pouch. The ten year old wasn't sure whether he needed to wash his hands after handling it or not.

As the boy began to put the book away, the authors name caught his eye. Jiraiya was a self proclaimed super pervert but he was also a major figure in Konoha's intelligence. What better way to get the information of the Akatsuki down than through his books? Itachi pulled out a pen and opened the book to the first page. A few minutes later he carefully circled a word and wrote the page number down on a small scrap of thick, decorative scroll paper.