For the next hour, Shino lead her through the enchanted forest that was the Aburame home. Nirika couldn't remember a time were she'd had more fun studying. Shino was more than happy to explain every detail about the foliage, including indulging her with some very weird facts (like which bugs liked to mate in which plants). She could tell he was having fun, too, because he was actually laughing at some of her jokes.

I can't believe he's smiling this much, thought Nirika. I thought he could only be funny around his father...have I gotten this much closer to him in such a short time? She smiled to herself as she followed him up the stairs and into a narrow hallway. This was much different than the rest of the house; there were no bugs or plants here, only wood paneling and a few doors leading to who knows where.

Shino stopped, his feet triggering some creaking noises from the floorboards, and turned around to face her. "Well, that was the downstairs floor. There's nothing up here except bedrooms, but…"

"But what?" Nirika asked.

"I…I thought you might be interested in some of the insects I have in my room."

Nirika hesitated before answering. Was he really…inviting her into his bedroom? She felt a little uncomfortable with the idea, and almost said no. But…it was just Shino, after all. He had the power to kill someone, but she had seen how much of a gentleman he was that night, and knew he wouldn't try anything dirty.

"Ah- alright. I'd love to see them." She had noticed her voice changing slowly over the course of the evening- she was stammering more and more now, as if she was embarrassed, or, heaven forbid, shy. Nirika knew she was never shy, and always voiced her opinions, especially around boys. So why was she...?

Shino started to walk down the hallway, but Nirika stood still.

"Shino?"

"Hmmm?" He turned around again to face her.

"I…I just wanted to say thank you, for doing all this. You didn't have to…"

Shino shrugged. "I thought you'd be mad at me."

"Well yeah, I was at first, but now…I see why you wanted to do this. You just wanted to help me out, right?"

She watched him as he shrugged again and turned away from her. "Yeah, that's it."

Nirika was confused. Why won't he look at me anymore? she wondered. There's got to be something big he's not telling me. She didn't have any more time to wonder, however, as Shino reached for his bedroom door and pulled it open.

Nirika gasped.

"Wow! They're so…beautiful!!"

All the bugs that most girls would love were covering the walls of Shino's room, including butterflies, ladybugs, caterpillars and daddy-long legs. Most were free to flutter and roam as they pleased, but Nirika noticed that many other unusual looking insects, ones that looked more vicious in nature, were being kept in bug boxes on his shelves.

"I don't like imprisoning them like that," said Shino, reading her mind, "but they're insects that my father and I haven't researched yet. Once we find out their properties, then they are free to stay with us or leave if they want."

"But…why all these pretty bugs? Why not…you know, more manly ones?"

Shino smiled. "These insects help me relax better. Trust me, they're the perfect thing to come home to after a mission- besides my father's salad, that is."

Nirika giggled and proceeded to examine the caged insects. Some were no bigger than her fingernail, with spots and stripes on the shells covering their delicate abdomens, and others were over a foot long, with horns powerful enough to lift things ten times their size. It wasn't until she got to the end of the bottom shelf that she saw something very familiar.

"Hey, you!" she beamed, lifting up a green covered bug box. "I didn't think I'd get a chance to see you again!"

"What are you talking about?" Shino said.

"Oh, just this!" grinned Nirika, showing him the box. Inside was the bright blue butterfly she had encountered that morning. Its wings were still shimmering in the pale moonlight filtering in from Shino's bedroom window.

"Oh…yeah, this little guy did get away from me yesterday. Maybe it heard me talking about you and…" He abruptly covered his mouth and turned away from her. "Please…forget I said that. I'm very sorry."

"Shino…" Nirika placed the butterfly back on its shelf and looked at him, concerned. "I have this feeling that you're not telling me something. Could you please explain it to me? Because I'd like to know…"

She heard him exhale a deep sigh. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes."

Shino sighed again and shuffled over to his bed, sitting down on the edge of it. He clasped his hands together, placing his elbows on his thighs and resting his forehead against his hands.

"I- It's like this," Shino stammered. "I used to have this…this thing for Hinata. I really thought I was in love with her, and I would try my hardest to make her happy. I always loved it when she smiled…so I wanted to make her smile. I wanted to be the sole reason she had a smile on her face."

He exhaled deeply again. "But…she was always talking about Naruto. How wonderful Naruto was. How hard Naruto worked. How, even though he was clumsy, and loud, and awkward, and brash…he was strong. Stronger than me, or Kiba, or anyone…She only had eyes for him. And I couldn't change that, no matter how hard I tried."

His hands involuntarily clenched his dark brown hair. "So I tried to forget. I spent more and more time in the forest, searching for rare and unusual insects. It was all I could do to attempt to keep her out of my mind. Then, one day, I was in the forest…and saw you training."

Nirika didn't say a word. He unclasped his hands and placed them both over his glasses-covered eyes. She could see his shoulders shaking. Was he…crying?

"Lee was there too…and as I watched you both, I couldn't get over how strong you were…You're the only person able to use Psyjutsu, and you wield it so well…Your power was amazing. And I realized…" He began to shake more. "This incredible feeling washed over me, and…I was so confused. I didn't know what to do…so I sent that ladybug to stay with you. I wanted to know more about you, but I was too shy…I was afraid of being rejected again.

"No one except Kiba and Hinata know the real me…everyone else calls me a freak. They think I'm creepy because I have bugs in my body…which is an okay thing to think, but…"

She watched, helpless, as the tears made tiny rivulets on both of his cheeks.

"No one ever wanted to know the real me. No one ever seemed to ca…"

He was cut off abruptly when he felt a pair of arms wrap gently around his torso. He gasped with surprise and turned his head around to find Nirika, holding him tightly against her, her nose buried in his hair.

He heard her murmur, "I never thought you were creepy."

"Wh…what?"

"I will admit though…I was scared of you. I always thought you were a lot stronger than me, but I guess that's not the case anymore, now is it?" She smiled sweetly and pulled herself into a sitting position beside him.

"There's just one thing...it's the only thing I've feared about you, actually...and now, I think it's the only way for me to completely accept you."

"What is it?" Shino asked tentatively.

Nirika cringed, then blurted, "Could you please take off your glasses?"

Shino stared at her, completely stunned. Had she really just asked him to do that? The one part of him that he never let anybody see…except his father, of course, but…this was so different. What would he do? He couldn't show her…no, he wasn't ready…

"You don't have to if you don't want to," he heard her say. She sounded a million miles away, even though she was sitting no more than two inches from him.

"No," he heard himself murmur, his words defying what his mind protested. "I…I want to. Please…take them off."

"What? You'd rather have me…"

"Please, Nirika-chan."

She gasped at the way he was acting. He was back to being deathly serious Shino, nothing like he had been before. Or was he simply putting up a front to disguise the pain he was really feeling? Those glasses were his crutch, his support. If she took them off...everything he had been hiding from the world all these years would be shattered. I shouldn't be doing this, Nirika thought. But...I have to know. I just have to...

Tentatively, she reached out her hand and grasped the frames, trying to be as delicate as possible. Sensing the tension in the air, and fearing that he might back out at the last possible second, she ripped the glasses off his face much more quickly than she intended.

They fell to the floor, making a resounding clattering noise. It echoed throughout the bedroom for what seemed like an eternity; the sound vibrations bouncing off the insects, the window, and the two forms sitting on the edge of the bed.

And there they were, exposed to the world. She watched him as he squinted a little at the change in brightness, then turned his head to face her.

She saw chocolate. The warmth and viscosity that was only found in the purest of milk chocolate. Poking through the porous surface, she found sadness. Sadness mixed with the tired eyes of a burdened soul. She wanted to dive into those warm brown pools, swim around for a bit. She wanted to flush out all the sadness, all the fatigue. But she couldn't. She was too overwhelmed by these eyes, these eyes that no one else had seen. The eyes he had only let her see.

They were her eyes. They were lonely eyes.

I can't pull myself away from this, she thought, placing a pale hand against his equally pale cheek. I can't…there must be something I can do. Anything. I just…

"I'm sorry, Shino!" she cried, tearing her hand away and burying her face in his shoulder. "I'm sorry…"

"For what?" he asked.

"I can't…I can't look at them anymore. They're so…" She couldn't describe them. The thoughts that were racing through her mind couldn't be put into words. But the thoughts that were coming from her heart…

"…lonely."

He was silent.

"They're the loneliest eyes I've ever seen, Shino."

"…I figured you'd say that," he said, turning away.

"But…but that doesn't mean that I don't want to do something about them!"

Now she was crying. Now she had a firm hold on his arm, and she was crying. Begging. Pleading. Whatever it was called. He didn't really care anymore. It was about her now…about what she wanted. He just didn't think that she wanted him.

"Please, Shino-kun…Please. I don't want your eyes to be lonely anymore. I…I love you, Shino."

He faced her again and stared, taking her in all at once. Her soft black hair, her sparkling blue eyes…Had she really just said…

"I love you…Shino Aburame."

The way she breathed his name sounded so perfect, so right. He closed his eyes and smiled, completely at bliss. He would've loved the moment even more if he had known what was coming next.

The kiss was awkward, yes, but it was warm, sweet and tender, the way a kiss should always be. She was breathing in the scent of pine trees and musk and moss, and he was inhaling the lavender bouquet that was completely Nirika. And she was wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her, and his hands were on her hips, wrapping around her middle and moving dangerously low and she didn't care. The moment was for them and them alone. They both savored their short time as a part of one another before Nirika gently pulled away. It wasn't until then that they noticed the insects in the room were going berserk with the sheer intensity of the romantic moment.

Nirika was laughing, and Shino was blushing.

And he no longer had lonely eyes.

NEXT DAY

"So, Nirika, how'd the date with Shino go last night?" Mitsuko was always the gossiper, and had somehow managed to find out about the 'problem' Shino had claimed to have the day before. Raian was walking with them, on his way to train some more. It was just another beautiful day in Konoha.

"Oh, it was just fine. The...umm...problem was solved," Nirika answered, smiling and letting a tint of pink cover her cheeks.

"Huh? Nirika, you're turning red!" Mitsuko exclaimed.

Just then, a tiny ladybug, no bigger than her fingernail, crawled out of Nirika's weapon pouch and onto her shoulder. She giggled and placed her index finger next to it, allowing it to crawl on.

Raian's face began to twitch eeeever so slightly…

"GAAAH!! BUUUUG!!!!" he screamed, stampeding down the dirt road to who knows where.

Nirika burst out laughing along with Mitsuko. Overhead, a lone blue butterfly twisted and turned in the sky above, floating along with the clouds.

THE END

So...how was it? Good? Bad? Should I write more? Please review...I'll give pie to those that do!! A big thank you to everyone that decided to read till the end!