Gabriel-Suo (crimson red) now for his hair color- hid in the alley where he'd been when people had begun to panic and run towards the Hokage monument. He'd hidden behind a dumpster, overlooked with all the people rushing past. He was terrified of the rage emitting from the very air, though the streets nearest him were silent now. Not too far away he could hear a battle raging. Earlier he'd heard screams about a 'Fox' but was confused as to why a small canine animal could be terrifying. If it was emitting that rage he could understand it now. With his eyes squeezed shut he was unaware of the fact that the air around him had begun to glow as red tendrils of chakra snaked towards him and began sinking beneath his skin, all he felt was an uncomfortable itchiness.
A sudden roar far above his head and the sound of feet running in his direction had him up and running. He'd only made it about half a block when a giant paw dropped down in front of him, blocking his way. Shaking in terror he looked straight up to find himself almost directly above what had to be the largest red fox he'd ever seen. It had to be at least twenty stories high. It was taller than the Hokage Tower! The air around it began to glow as something formed in its mouth and Suo stumbled backwards, trying to get away. The air around him seemed to twist faster as whatever it was grew. The air around him turned solid red as he finally noticed it attempting to sink into his body. He couldn't help it, he shrieked.
His yell caught the attention of Shinobi nearby, there was an outcry before a green clad figure, looking to be about 15 at most, darted to him and attempted to grab him. The teen wrenched his hand back in shock as the very air seemed to burn him. Suo's fear seemed to make the strange occurrence worse as it began moving faster, swirling at insane speeds and all but pouring into him. It hurt, oh kami did it hurt. His shriek turned into screams as the red seemed to boil, throwing the green clad teen back before it erupted upwards in a spire from his form. The giant fox yelled out in pain and rage as it jerked back in shock, backing away several steps until it was out of direct range, its steps taking it outside the village perimeter due to its sheer size.
Some part of Suo realized that it was the fox that was causing the pain. Even as the red aura continued to pour into him he held out a hand towards the giant beast. Red chakra, darker even than the foxes, shot from his palm and out towards the fox. It collided with the black ball forming in its mouth. The conflicting energies shoved Suo back into a wall and the fox back another few steps before the ball turned a near black crimson and erupted. There was a wrenching scream- from both Suo and the Fox- the Fox tore apart in a cloud of pure chakra that quickly dispersed across the sky. In its place was a crater six stories deep and over a mile wide just outside the village. Suo collapsed to the ground, body smoking as chakra burns appeared along his skin, depicting his entire chakra network. His eyes were the worst, starting from the pupil his entire iris slowly burned black before the whites followed, leaving them looking like one was staring into the abyss.
Whimpers poured continuously from his throat, it was the only sound aside from the fires that still raged in the forest surrounding the village, and pieces of the wall breaking away and falling to the ground. Finally, the red aura disipated from around him and his whimpers quieted slightly as the pain to his nerves lessened to an extent. A shaking hand reached down from a figure kneeling by his side and turned him over. He had no clue who did it as his world was entirely black. He only knew someone was there by the taste of the chakra on his throat, a sense he'd had since his 'birth' here even if he didn't know what it was exactly. Orphans didn't start the Academy until they turned six, and Shinobi didn't talk to Civilians about such things. All he knew was that he always knew when someone was near him, and if they were Shinobi or not, because Shinobi all felt different. Their 'taste' was more refined.
He felt a hand brush his hair from his eyes before there was a faint gasp. Someone else moved up to them before he felt a warmth on his skin. He was fine with that until their chakra touched his own chakra network. His scream was blood curdling. The hands jerked back as if the person had been slapped and he heard apology after rapid apology as hands hesitantly tried to sooth him with soft touches. Eventually the screams tapered off, but the pain from before had returned tenfold.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry little one. Hokage-sama. He's too sensitive, I can't, we'll have to wait and try to do something without healing techniques."
"Do whatever you can, Meyumi. We owe him."
Suo faded in and out as he was moved, the only constant was that first chakra signature and the cries of an infant. The infant confused him. Why was there an infant?

There was a beeping noise nearby. He could smell disinfectant. His memories of this life, and the one time he'd been in a muggle hospital in his past life, told him it was a hospital. He opened his eyes and then reached up only to brush the bare skin of his face. He frowned. He blinked his eyes, felt them move, but he didn't see anything. He sensed someone nearby and turned in that direction, knowing he was looking at someone, but he still saw nothing. The person moved and he followed it, head turning to keep it in front of him. It stopped and moved closer. He felt a breeze on his face and scowled.

Hawk waved his hand in front of the boy's face again, but there was still no reaction from the boy's eyes. He was facing him, but the black of his eyes, and the barely noticeable pupils, never reacted. The child could somehow see him without actually seeing him. Working off a hunch he pulled a senbon from his pocket and placed a chakra intensive genjutsu on it before setting it down on a table and masking his own chakra signature. The child frowned at the senbon, focused on it before he seemed to scan the room. He brushed over Hawk's place several times before stopping just to his side. Hawk sidestepped silently and the child slowly turned to follow the movement, still off by about a foot, but within his vicinity. So a strong sensitive then. Being blind would only magnify that. He made a mental note to let Minato-sama know that when he came in for his usual daily visit.

Suo was getting frustrated. The person who was in here with him kept 'fading' to little more than a ghost like sense before popping back up just to the side of where he thought they were. He was getting closer every time, but they still kept doing it. Like they were testing him or something. He'd gotten frustrated enough earlier to try and throw something at whoever it was. That was when he realized just how weak he was. The whine that had escaped his throat at the sudden dull pain from his protesting muscle had drawn a nurse. Said nurse had looked him over and given him a drink. He'd ignored her for the most part until she'd left. She hadn't so much as reacted to the other presence. He was starting to think that the guy was invisible somehow. Though the presence of the nurse had confirmed his belief that he was blind.
It was some time after lunch had been brought, and that had been quite the experience considering how difficult eating blind turned out to be, when a new person appeared. The figure paused just inside the doorway for a minute when the original became fully noticeable for all of a minute before disappearing. Then whoever it was came over to the chair next to his bed and sat down.
"Hello, little one. The Matron at the Orphanage tells me your name is Suo. That right?"
"Hai." Suo's voice was rough, and his throat hurt, but it wasn't as bad as it had been before the nurses last visit.
The man shifted forward in his seat.
"My name is Minato. I have a couple of questions if that's alright, Suo."
His tone was one you would use with a particularly young child. Suo frowned at him.
"I'm not stupid. Just ask already."
"Alright." The man's voice had just the slightest edge of amusement, as if he'd dealt with overly bright children before. "Tell me what you remember."
Suo reflexively looked in the direction of his hands, in his lap, as he usually did when he was thinking. It was habit whether he could see his hands or not. He took a deep breath as he organized his thoughts.
"I had been playing on the street. I like to sit on the tops of stairwells and stuff to guess about people."
"Guess?" Minato asked softly, as if unsure whether interrupting would upset him. Suo 'looked' back at him for a moment before answering, feeling nervous for some reason.
"If they're Shinobi." He twisted his hands together. "Some people feel different, different... I guess 'taste' works, even if I don't actually 'taste' people."
Minato made an understanding noise.
"Can you 'taste' the difference in everyone or just if they're Shinobi?"
Suo tilted his head in thought.
"Everyone tastes different," he began slowly, trying to put it into words. "Some people taste light, others heavy, there's a... aftertaste maybe? You taste like mint, light, like pine during winter. Guy over there is heavy, dark, like molasses and dirt. The one that's outside the door is dark too, warm, embers and ash."
Minato thought that over for a minute before speaking.
"What happened next?"
Suo let out a breath.
"I heard someone scream. Something about a fox. I was confused, stopped for a moment. Then the air got heavy and people started running. I was scared." His eyes closed involuntarily in remembrance. "It was so angry... I didn't understand how someone could be that angry, that... hurt... he was hurt, and angry because of it. I was terrified, so I ran into the alley, and I hid. I used to do it a lot, made it harder for the Academy kids in the Orphanage to find me. I'd just kind of... fade away, and they couldn't find me."
Suo's hands flexed as his sightless eyes darted around, images flickering past of fire, and fear, and rage like nothing he'd ever known before.
"My skin started feeling itchy, like when you get a sun burn and it starts to peel, like its too small. I heard a roar, and people running. When I opened my eyes everything had a red fog around it. I ran for it. Something big dropped in front of me, blocking the way. A paw. I looked up, and he was just there."
Suo's breathing was beginning to grow more rapid as he lost himself in the memory.
"I tried to back away, to run again. But then the air, it was like it was on fire, and trying to crawl inside me. It hurt, it hurt..." He shuddered in a deep breath before continuing. "The guy, in the green, he tried to grab me. He surprised me, and it got worse. It hurt before, but after... it was like being the log in the middle of the bonfire, the big one that is there almost to the end before it turns to ash. What couldn't pour into me poured out. Then he, the fox, he looked at me. And I knew... knew it was him that made it hurt. So I threw it back at him. I didn't want it, but it just kept pouring in, so I threw it back."
He startled when he felt a hand lightly grip his own, having been unaware of Minato moving to sit on the bed beside him. He took a deep breath and continued.
"I remember falling, and someone touching me, they did something, and it hurt like the red fog all over again. I don't remember much after that. Just your chakra, and a baby crying. Why was a baby out there?"
He was confused, why would a baby be in a battlefield? Minato tightened his grip for a moment before speaking.
"Thank you, Suo. What you did? It saved a lot of people. You stopped him from getting more than a street into the village, and abandoned street. A lot of my Shinobi are alive because of you."
Suo nodded tightly, exhausted all of a sudden. Minato brushed his bangs behind his ears before standing up.
"Why don't you get some sleep? I'll be back to check on you later. Alright?"
"Alright..."
Suo laid down and fell into an exhausted slumber interspersed with vivid nightmares of a red fog that tore at him again and again.

Suo held tightly to Minato's hand as the man led him to his new home. He'd been told a few days before that he was 'Chakra Sensitive' and was being placed with a Clan to be sure that he got proper training for it. Minato was taking him there now. Apparently, the Nara Clan was well known for their ability to sense chakra both with and without their Shadow Techniques. The Uchiha Clan also had a few well known Chakra Sensitives, but he wasn't being placed with either. Instead, he was being placed with a Clan who were also Chakra Sensitive, being that nearly all of them could sense Chakra even if no one knew about it.
He was being placed with the Aburame Clan. He had been surprised to learn that a set number of individuals of the Aburame Clan, a rare few with a type of insect that were bred with the ability to use echolocation, were blind. He was being placed with a user with that particular breed. The walk was quiet as Suo was taking the time to adjust to having to take someone else s lead so that he wouldn't run into anything. He ducked shyly as they were led into the Clan compound. He lifted his free hand closer to his face, staring at a small speck of chakra that was moving on his skin. He glanced up when someone moved closer and then jerked back into Minato in shock. The person, whoever they were, had millions of the little dots moving on and -inside- him. The man stayed completely still and waited.
Hesitantly, Suo moved forward and lightly touched the man's arm, finding cloth in the way. He frowned slightly before tracking a stray dot moving near the mans wrist, tracing its path with a finger. He released Minato's hand to reach for the dot on his own hand. The dot stilled so that he could touch it. It was smooth, but felt somewhat fragile. There was a slight pattern to it, like overlapping layers protected by an outer shell. His mind whirled as he put the information together and came up with only one answer.
"Bug." He said quietly, carefully lifting the small insect upon the tip of a finger. The man carefully, slowly, reached forward to take the bug and place it on his sleeve where it joined the rest.
"Hai." His voice was toneless, and blunt. Suo tilted his head slightly, angling his 'gaze' up to where the man's face would be.
"Arigato."
The man slowly reached out and moved his hand to in front of Suo's face. A bug settled onto his nose and skittered across his brow and eyelids for a moment before returning to the man.
"You are blind."
"Hai."
Suo was surprised to feel a hand softly pat his head before the man left with a soft goodbye. Suo let Minato take his hand and lead him onward again. Minato had been quiet throughout the exchange but 'tasted' happy with the way the conversation had went. Suo gave a mental eye roll and kept quiet.

Takeshi was waiting for them in the Clan Head's home. Minato made pleasentries with the Clan Head, Shibi, spoke quietly with Minato for a time before Suo was sent with Takeshi back to his new home, a small building not too far away. None of the buildings in the Clan Compound were far apart, being placed in spirals around the central building used for the main hives. Takeshi's home with his wife Tsuki was placed near a darker back corner of the building. Attached to it was a blacked out building that Suo was informed held Takeshi's own hive, as said hive was grown too large for his body alone. It was then when Suo was informed what his adoption into the Clan could entail with Suo's agreement.
"Most of the Kikaichu need to be placed within the body at birth as the Queens nest within the Chakra Core. However, the 'Hibiku' or 'Echo' hive Queens are much smaller than the other Kikaichu Queens. As such, they can be placed within the host up until the age of seven with little difficulty. It is also possible for them to be added into an already existing hive, but such instances are rare."
Suo bit his lip, he knew where this was going.
"You want me to form a hive."
"Hai."
Suo wrung his hands for a minute.
"What if I don't have enough Chakra to support them?"
Takeshi seemed to consider for a moment before speaking.
"Usually, children in your age range have very low Chakra reserves, with an Aburame's only being a bit higher due to the presence of the Hive. However, you have a very high Chakra Reserve. This may be due to having hosted so much of the Kyuubi's chakra, but it is also possible that you had a naturally high reserve to begin with. As it stands, your reserves are comparable to that of an Elite Jonin. You would easily be able to host a Hive and still be capable of using high level jutsu."
Suo blinked in shock. He had that much chakra? He gnawed on a lip in thought for a few more minutes before nodding.
"Okay. I'll do it."

Suo listened closely as his adoptive Father explained what would be happening. He was a bit nervous about having to be put to sleep for the procedure. Transferring the Queen and her Drones was a simple process, but it was quite painful for someone who had never had a Hive before. Tekashi explained softly that even though he would be sedated he may still be able to feel something as he wouldn t be completely under. It was dangerous to put someone under when doing this procedure. It was why it was usually done on babies rather than adults and older children.
He was scared, but he refused to back down from something that would help him both now and later on in life. Suo still hadn t adjusted to the Aburame way of speaking so bluntly. Takeshi s wife, Tsuki, who had married into the Clan tried explaining it in a way he would understand.
The Aburame had never known life without their Kikaichu. Their mind did not work the way other people would. Insects had no place for anything that was unnecessary. As such, aside from mandatory social necessities they did not hold to material things or to frivolities. Suo had trouble wrapping his mind around such thoughts and had grumbled that he doubted Kikaichu would change him all that much. Tsuki laughed and said that he may change more than he thought, but he had been alone in his mind too long to be completely like them.

Suo took a deep breath of the medicinal tasting air in the breathing mask placed over his place and felt the world around him dull. As he continued breathing it continued to fade away until he was barely even aware of his own body. He drifted for an interminable time before he felt a dull push against the skin just under his floating rib. When it faded away he became aware of something moving about in the vicinity of the area, moving upward.
It didn t hurt exactly, the anesthetic to strong to allow for pain, but it was the most comfortable feeling either. The feeling stopped near the center of his chest and stayed there for a while. Just when he thought it was over, a single dot seemed to decide to move higher. It burrowed deeper into him until it met his spine and then headed up. The higher it got the more he wanted to squirm, but the numbness of his limbs wouldn t allow for it. It became particularly uncomfortable when it reached the base of his skull. If he d been able to move he would have jerked at the sudden painful pinch when it burrowed beneath his skull and came to rest in the vicinity of his cerebellum.
All movement within him ceased immediately and he waited, hoping it was over. It could have been minutes, hours, days, he wasn t sure, before he noticed it. There was a soft buzzing in the back of his thoughts, weak and uncertain, but there. He cautiously reached for the sensation with his mind and was surprised when it seemed to reach out in return. He brushed against it and had a brief disorientation before he was swamped by the thoughts of half a dozen simpler minds, and one almost sentient one. That last, Queen he instinctually labeled, linked more fully with his. With that connection he was able to better understand the others.
'You. Us. We. Suo would have blinked if he could.'
'We?' He felt a smug superiority from the Queen before she turned her attention back to the Drones who had already set to work making his body into their home. Now that he was connected to them she was able to dull the sensations nearly completely, the numbing secretions of the Drones erasing what was left. Suo became lost for a time in their work, following it along, listening and learning as the Queens memories drifted with his own. There were so many that he became confused, surely, she hadn t lived so long?
'Previous. All before. Teach. All after.' Suo gave a mental frown to that. He considered it for a moment before the implication set in.
Genetic Memory. The Queen carried all the memories of the previous Queens, all the knowledge passed on by the Drones, everything this Hive and all the Hives it descended from had ever known. He was humbled by the amount of knowledge these tiny little beings were capable of containing.
'We. Teach. Learn. Together. Always.' Suo gave a mental smile and a feeling of acceptance, happy to have found someone or something that would be a constant in this new life. With that thought he sent a questioning thought to the Queen.
'My memories?'
'Queen. Only next. Only hatchling.' Suo breathed a sigh of relief, it would stay with him then. At least until he had a child of his own. The Queen brushed her thoughts against his own.
'Sleep. We work.'

Suo rose groggily to the surface of his mind and mentally reached out for the Queen. She sent back reassurance and a jumbled image of gray-scale impressions. When he frowned she pulled up memories of previous Hosts, overlaying them onto his own understanding of the images. The gray-scale suddenly made sense. It was the echolocation of the room around him. He sent a shaky thank you to her.
She gave him several minutes to adjust to being able to see before bringing his attention back to the Hive. He was surprised that it had grown while he slept. Where before it was less than a dozen, now it was almost four dozen and growing. The Queen turned her attention to him completely.
'Up. Grow. Colony. Kikaichu. Must. New.' It took him a minute to decipher the images that followed, but got the gist of it.
The Drones had already made burrows to the surface of his skin and the Queen required another type of Kikaichu to finish preparing the Host. He would need to go to the Central Hive, the central building of the compound. He sat up on the bed and followed the Queen's directions over to the table that held his clothes and carefully dressed. Still barefoot he left the room, being met at the door by another Aburame who simply nodded in greeting and followed along behind him as he made his way to the Central Hive. Their path was uninterrupted, and when he entered the building with his escort he found Takeshi and Shibi, the Clan Head already waiting.
Ignoring them for now, knowing that they wouldn t mind somehow, he moved to the center of the building and sat down. A full dozen of his Drones crawled out of his skin and spread out into the room, moving to different Colonies situated around the room. While they were gone a small number of Kikaichu flew over him from a Gourd held in Shibi s hand. A brief trade of thought with his Queen told him the swarm contained a pair of Kikaichu for each member of the Clan, a welcoming gift as all newborns were given such when they were first given Kikaichu. It would allow him to communicate with all other members of the Clan Hive.
Understanding now what was going on he didn't fight as the swarm settled on him and burrowed in having to widen the existing ones so that the larger insects could become a part of his Hive. They were mostly Kikaichu with a few other, random ones. Some were Hibiku, a single pair were Exploding bugs, and six were a type of long lived one that were metallic and had camouflage abilities. The Queen seemed happy with these and immediately began integrating them in. It wasn t too much later that the original Drones returned. With them were many more Kikaichu and several small swarms of various other varieties, including six wasp-like Kikaichu what settled on the surface of his skin and waited for the others to be integrated before attempting to gain the Queen s acceptance. The Queen turned her attention to Suo.
'Wasps. Poisonous. Larger. Pain. Control. No control. Death.' Suo frowned reaching mentally for the Queen and beyond to the wasps.
'Obey?' He got a strong affirmative and a jumble of images. The Queen deciphered them in a fraction of the time it would have taken him.
'Wasps. Alone. No Hive. No Host. Previous gone.' Suo gave a mental sigh before asking if the Queen was fine with them. She was quiet for a time before giving an affirmative and telling the wasps they could join, but would remain in the center of the Hive until she said otherwise. They quickly accepted and burrowed into him, widening the burrows located on the inside of his elbows to allow for their passage. Once settled in his chest they stilled.
The Queen finished integrating her new Drones and the lesser Queens for the new varieties before linking his mind to theirs. Almost 500 Kikaichu of various varieties. The majority were regular Kikaichu or Hibiku. The Exploding pair were the only of their kind and were integrated as part of the last line of defense for the Host. The wasps were regulated as messengers for now as they would do nothing else until Suo's control of them were certain. When he came back to proper awareness his Takeshi was standing to the right, just in front of him and behind Shibi who was standing directly in front of him. Suo stood up, one of his Drones moving to rest on Shibi s hand as it raised up for him to inspect it. He communicated with it for a bit before it returned to Suo.
'Clan Hive Queen.' His own Queen informed him. Shibi carried the Clan Hive Queen. Should he have a child, that child would carry the next Hive Queen. Now that Shibi had accepted Suo's Hive the small boy's awareness stretched out to brush against the warmth of every other Clan member within the compound. He was amazed by just how vast the cumulative Hive really was. It was far more minds than he would ever be able to handle and he had a new respect for Shibi who was at least subconsciously aware of every single bug and member in the Hive. He must have transmitted that thought somehow because the man nodded to him before letting his new Father move forward to collect him. Suo knew then, with how small his personal Hive was, that he had a long way to go.