Disclaimer – I do not own the Naruto franchise or its original story and plot. I wish I had a girl like Ino though. That wouldn't be too bad.
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CHAPTER 1
"Once the adult stage is reached, males and females are at their reproductive peak. Courtship rituals amongst male/female pairs are initiated by the recognition of excreted pheromones. Pheromones of this species are reputed to be strong aphrodisiacs." – Mating Rituals of S. saffronica
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I walk out of the Hokage's office. I look at the briefing paper in my hand, and can't help but feel the least bit relieved about the mission. It's most likely due to the fact that I had overexerted myself in the last mission with my father, and could use a breather. However, at the same time, I am disappointed once again that I am not able to work with Kiba and the others. I wasn't able to help them when Sasuke was kidnapped, and regret that I wasn't able to help them. Somehow, I feel responsible for not being able to bring Sasuke back. If I had helped, maybe, just maybe, the retrieval mission would have been a success.
I'm in no position to complain, though. Slightly defeated, I gather the cool, collected confidence that people associate me with, and walk down the streets of Konoha towards my house and begin planning out the steps to which I can complete this task.
Find a Male.
Find a Female.
Let them…do their thing…It seems reasonable enough, but perhaps the hardest part is finding them. I struggle with this part for a bit, until I see something rather peculiar land on my shoulder. It's round. It's yellow. It's spotted.
It's a female yellow ladybug!
I have no time to think. I reach out in an attempt to grab it, when yet another yellow insect flies right at my face.
It flies SMACK right into my forehead, barely missing my rounded shades. It seems as if it was flying at a hundred miles an hour, because I can't think of anything BUT how much it hurts. I fall to the floor, somewhat defeated. I almost believe that it was a male that hit me in defence for the female, and my suspicions are confirmed when the female flies off from my shoulder and flees. The male follows suit.
Wow. These guys are fast. I have no time to scold myself for not wearing my head protector, and proceed to run as fast as I can. I don't remember the last time I ran this fast, because it appears to be that my arms are flaying frantically.
I'm not known for my speed, but rather my cunning and unorthodox fighting style. Yet my deficiency in running form is apparent to all who I pass by, which includes Naruto and Hinata, who in the side of my peripheral vision seemed to be eating together at Iruka's ramen shop. I couldn't see them clearly due to the blur, but I know that they saw me, because I could definitely hear laughter from Naruto in the distance.
I remind myself to punch him the next time we meet.
The bugs are able to shake me off when they turn the corner onto a smaller street. When I get there, I lose sight of them, and I slam my hand onto my fist in rage. "Dammit! I lost them!" Shortly after looking around, I conclude that they might not have gone far. Naruto and Hinata appear behind me and begin to probe me with questions. I honestly can't hear what they're trying to ask me, because after so much running, I begin to struggle to catch my breath. In between pants, I blatantly reply with simple yes and no responses.
"Naruto-kun, you're way too curious about Shino! Weird boy!" Hinata giggles. She begins to blush, only to have Naruto blush back.
"But Hinata-chan! There's gotta be a reason why Aburamushi(1) is running so funny!" Naruto wholeheartedly laughs in response.
I catch my breath, only to lose it again when I realize why they were there in the first place. They were on a date. I guess I'm not surprised, Hinata's had a crush on Naruto for the longest time, and I was always there when she would cry on my shoulder whenever she felt bummed out about "a friend of hers who REALLY liked Naruto-kun." It was obvious to everyone except for Naruto. It took a while for me to knock some sense into Naruto about Hinata, and things couldn't have gone any better between them. In response to my slight jealousy creeping up on me, I decide with haste to leave them and continue my search.
"I'm sorry Hinata, I must go and find some ladybugs. I'm on a mission."
With those remarks, I run off again, but this time sans the awkward flailing of arms and legs. I'm not going to let Naruto laugh at me again and get away with it.
Moving through the village streets, several things cross my mind. First is Naruto. He's a great guy and all, but I never had the nerve to tell him that. He's strong, and I guess he deserves to be with Hinata. Despite that, I never really expected him to return those kinds of feelings. Was it really ok for him to do so? We all know the cardinal rule of being ninja, to not let feelings get in the way of your mission and such. Yet I don't understand why all my friends feel the need to get around the rules and do things like, well, dating.
Second is the ominously serenity of the cherry blossoms at this time of the year. Yes, it's spring. Yes, it's the mating season for bugs like the yellow lady. I guess it seems to bleed in with my first point, with all the romance and such. I even heard rumours about Hyuuga Neji and Tenten sneaking off at night to the neighbouring villages to go on their "exploits." I don't really expect that from Neji, because in my eyes, he's a really strong warrior. His heart could never be soft enough to make him go for a girl like Tenten. It's probably not just his heart that's causing all of this. I can't seem to put my finger on it; I don't really understand the complexity of it all. However, I can understand that girls can feel that way, because they are, well, girls. Take Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura for example. They can get all emotional over a guy like Uchiha Sasuke, and develop a girlish rivalry over his potentially unrequited love. But when Sakura and Sasuke got closer, to the extent that Sakura was almost able to single-handedly bring Sasuke back, it spelt bitter defeat for Ino. Ino's a strong girl for letting go of that, but I can definitely tell that it took all of her self-confidence to bounce back from simple things like that. Her cool and confident nature could win over any guy in my opinion.
Third, she's not that bad looking either.
With that last thought, I notice that I had come to a stop in front of the Yamanaka Flower Shop. In the corner of my eye, I see none other than her. I'd go in, but that wouldn't be me.
Unbelievably enough, I'm trying to find a reason to drop in to say hi.
I have to buy some flowers for my mother…um, no.
I'm looking for Shikamaru to confirm a training session…no.
I'm trying to ask her out on a date…hell no.
I'm stopping you from smashing the yellow insects on your counter…WHAT?
Oh crap! The bugs that I have spent all afternoon chasing have found their way into the shop, and are about to meet their timely end by the hand of a blonde ninja. I won't stand for that! I run in, and exclaim to her,
"STOP! I NEED TO BREED THOSE LADYBUGS FOR A MISSION!"
She catches my view on the corner of her eye and hesitates mid-swing, causing her blow to glance the tiny couple, the impact leaving a tiny crater in the middle of the counter.
"IDIOT! You almost killed them!"
"Excuse me?!?!?" She yells back in kind.
"They're Endangered! You can't kill them!"
"They're pests, and are trying to eat my flowers!"
"They're not! Just don't do anything! I don't have time to explain!"
She almost lets out further comments, but this time the two bugs are now in the air, and are flying around the store. I have to catch them before she kills them. I begin to run across the store, chasing them in the same manner that I previously revealed to Naruto and Hinata at the ramen shop. All I could hear is a femininely high-pitched laugh.
Great job Shino, she's definitely impressed.
I recall my embarrassment from earlier this afternoon. Distracted, I fail to notice the "Wet Floor" sign in the middle of the room. My feet lose their grip, but I manage to grab the ladybugs from the air as I fall. Somehow, I trip over a few flowerpots laid out on the floor, and crash over a rack of seed packets. I fly over the rack and land on the floor in a semi-tumbling motion with a bug in each hand. Momentum sustained, I finish by anti-acrobatics by colliding with Ino's legs while letting go of the bugs. She falls on top of me, and the two bugs land on top of us shortly after. They begin to spray something at each other. The impact of my fall is moderate, but somehow Ino and I are both okay…except that our lips are touching.
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Author's notes
(1)Aburamushi means "cockroach" in Japanese. Naruto is making fun of his Aburame Shino's name by calling him a bug. Coincidentally, both names sound very similar phonetically.
lol, harem much? I bet the kikaichu inside him are laughing their insect asses off.
So that's the first chapter, hope you like it! More coming soon!