Suo Aburame Years 7-10 Part 1/2

Suo frustratedly kicked at the training post. He'd been working with his Hive for months and been unable to get them completely spread through his system. It had been discovered earlier that day as to the reason why. A consequence of hosting so much of the Kyuubi's chakra was that his own Chakra was much heavier than normal and had a slight corrosive property to it that made it impossible for the insects to spread to the far reaches of his tenketsu where the chakra thinned out and the corrosive property became more evident. Because of this the insects were confined mainly to the center of his body. Their farthest reach was to his elbows and knees. Any farther and the insects would die out. The newer generations showed a strong resistance to the demonic-like chakra, but they were still unable to spread any farther. The final result was that Suo would always have the smallest Hive of the Clan. Even the younger children had larger Hives then his own.
He stilled as his Father's messenger reached him. He read the message with a sigh and a tired little smile. He picked up the tools he'd been using to work out his frustration and put them away. The bug his father had sent was one that had been bred out of his own. The small Hive had spread partially into his Father's Hive, a few moving out to join with the main Hive in the central building. The only upside to his rather specified Clan was that they tended to live slightly longer than average and were breeding their resistance into the other Hives. Shibi had requested that he take in small numbers of Insects from the other species and breed the resistance into them as well. As such, he was always carrying a Hive Gourd on his back that had been split into several chambers to house the different breeds he was cultivating. Once they showed a strong resistance half of the Hive would migrate back to the main Hives to be replaced. Eventually, all of the Hives would carry the resistance, minimal contact with Suo would make sure that the resistance didn't fade out over time. At seven years old, Suo was happy to have found a Clan that had taken him in and treated him as their own. He had thought it was obligation at first, but his own Hive informed him he was being stupid, the Hive protected and cared for the Hive. And even though the Clan was made of many, many Hives they were all one Hive.

Suo was sitting in front of the Memorial Stone, meditating, when he felt a familiar presence approach. He paused, wondering if he should zip his jacket back up. It was hanging slightly open on his chest as he d dropped it so that he could cool slightly in the heat. It revealed his undershirt and as such several of the burrow holes located on his shoulders and sternum. It hadn t dropped far enough to show the ones in his arms. His Queen quickly informed him of who it was.
Silver haired boy. Memorial Stone. Junta. Suo blinked and shifted his head in the other boy s direction. The other boy, young adult really as he registered as near 16 to the Hive senses. Paused for a second before stepping closer. Suo was surprised to hear the male speak.
Didn t you have gray eyes before? Suo blinked again and scratched his head. He shrugged.
Hai. They changed during the Kyuubi attack. The male paused at that before nodding.
I m Hatake Kakashi. Aburame Suo. He could taste the male s confusion.
Aburame? Adopted. Kakashi nodded before standing next to him. Suo zipped his jacket closed, knowing most people found it disturbing. Kakashi didn t speak again so Suo returned to his meditation.
He was working with his wasps. The half dozen had grown to three dozen since he d started working with them and were the most obedient of all his Hive. They understood instinctually that disobedience meant their death as the rest of the Hive would destroy them to protect the Host. Three of the Drones slid out of a burrow in his sternum and hovered in front of his face before shooting off in different directions on their appointed tasks. While they were gone he pulled several of his smaller Drones out and sent them in search of possible additions to his Hive. When the trio did finally return he had just finished incorporating a small set of moths into his main Hive. The wasps waited for him to finish before transferring their combined mental map of the village. Suo compared it to the one provided by the Queen before sending out acceptance to the wasps who returned to their place in the Hive.
Finished with his training exercise Suo made his goodbyes to Kakashi and headed for the Clan compound.

Suo had just entered the Clan Head house, requested by Shibi for their usual meeting to trade off part of his Hive, when a door opened just beside him and a small boy stumbled out and into him. They both jerked back immediately but the damage had already been done. When the boy had made contact, Torune, several of his nano sized Kikaichu had transferred to Suo s skin. There was a brief flare of Suo s chakra as his Hive immediately moved to defend him from the hostile foreign Kikaichu. Neither boy moved, waiting. Torune was already cringing into the wall expecting the worse.
When Suo didn t feel any different after several moments he turned his head to check his arm. His Queen spoke up.
'Immune. Corrosive Chakra. Poison neutralized. Kikaichu request admittance to Hive.' Suo blinked before sending one of his Drones to Shibi. The man appeared quickly, looking closely at both Suo and Torune before backing up and motioning them into the main part of the house. Suo had a brief conversation with his Queen before turning to Shibi.
"My Queen says that she can send several Drones to Torune to help him gain control of his Hive. As they are from the main Hive they carry a small portion of my chakra and will be able to survive long enough to integrate into the hive and gain immunity. Queen says that they ll be able to transfer the proper memories to his Hive for him to gain control."

Shibi stilled as he conversed with his own Queen before nodding sharply. Suo turned his attention to his Queen and told her to accept the nanos. She did so and immediately pulled a portion of his chakra away to begin producing a new generation from within his Hive. Once she was certain the new breed would survive she transferred the necessary memories to several of her first born Drones and a few of the new generation of nanos and sent them back to Torune. The toddler stilled as they integrated into his Hive. All three watched closely as the purple tint to his skin slowly began to fade away to nothing.
This seemed to exhaust the boy as he immediately started drooping. With a nod from Shibi, Suo picked up the boy and carried him to his room. He wasn t surprised when the boy started crying at the contact, most likely not having human contact since the death of his father. Once the boy was asleep Suo returned to Shibi. Hopefully, the trade would help the boy. He just didn t know how much.

Suo studied his teammates with an intensity that would have been frightening had the other two known of it. As it was, the lazy female, Hikari Nara, and the quiet Itachi Uchiha remained unaware of the intense scrutiny. Hikari was ten, a full two years older than Itachi and himself. Suo found himself feeling sorry for whoever ended up with them. All three of them were quiet individuals. He turned towards the door as someone stepped inside. It wasn't so much the fact it was a person, it was the size. He knew even before the teacher spoke that it was an Akimichi.
"Doto Akimichi, Team 13, your Sensei is here."
"Troublesome." Hikari groaned as the trio got up and followed their new Sensei outside. He led the way to a nearby restaunrant and they all sat down. A waitress immediately came by and took their orders, not bothering with Doto's. Though this was an Akimichi restaurant, he was most likely a regular with an well-known order. When the waitress moved off Doto turned back to them.
"I am Doto Akimichi, I like food and training with my Bo. My hobbies are trying new foods. My dream is to make my Clan proud. Now, you three go, ladies first."
Hikari sighed, head down on the table as she spoke.
"Hikari Nara. I like naps and shogi. My hobbies are tending to the deer in my Clan grounds. My dream is to live an average life, and to make Chunin so that my Mother will let me nap more often."
"Itachi Uchiha. I like Pokie and peaceful times. My hobbies are training with my little brother and reading. My dream is to keep my village safe and to have a peaceful world."
Suo 'glanced' at Itachi contemplatively.
"My name is Suo Aburame. I like playing shogi and dango. My hobbies are training and tending to my Hive. My dream is to help all of my Clan's Hives to gain immunity to Bijuu Chakra, to make it to Jonin, and to make the world a peaceful place."
Doto looked between his team with a happy expression.
"It is good that you have such dreams. Many graduates are more concerned with small things, such as gaining recognition for some great task, or gaining someone's approval and attention. You three have chosen dreams that you can work toward. This is good."
The waitress brought them their food and Doto made small talk with them as they ate. When the last of the dishes had been cleared away he spoke to them again.
"Graduating from the Academy tells older Shinobi that you have the skills to begin a career as Shinobi. However, you are not yet true Shinobi of Konohagakure. There is one last test you must take. Each Jonin tests their team to decide if they are ready to be Shinobi. So now, I will give my test to you. Hidden around the village are fourteen golden marbles. In order to pass my test you must find five of them and bring them back to me. If you fail in this task, you will be sent back to the Academy. You will have until dawn to find and bring them to me at Training Ground 3 by the Memorial Stone."
Doto was just about to stand up when Suo spoke.
"Then I forfeit. I will not become a Shinobi at the cost of my comrades. Even should we find all 14 marbles, someone will fail. I refuse."
Itachi nodded in agreement.
"I refuse as well."
"Troublesome, I refuse too. My Mother will just have to deal."
Doto stared at them all for a full five minutes, the trio beginning to squirm slightly under the stare before he smiled.
"You all pass, I will see you tommorow at the Memorial Stone, at dawn. Though I still expect you to have all 14 marbles."
He grinned at the trio of groans before the Genin scattered in search of the ellusive marbles.

Suo was leaning sleepily against his teammates, slumped a few feet from the Memorial Stone, as dawn crested the horizon. It had taken till midnight to find the marbles. The trio had simply decided to wait it out at the Memorial Stone so they wouldn't be late. Now, five hours later, they woke to an amused chuckle from Doto-sensei. He was standing next to the stone and carrying a large basket which he set down on the ground.
"It is good to see that you are punctual. Do you have the marbles?"
Itachi pointed to a small bag sitting on the stone. Doto picked it up and counted the marbles before pocketing the bag. He sat down and opened the basket before pulling out three regular sized bento boxes and one large one. The trio politely accepted the food and began to eat. Suo was under the impression that breakfast with their Sensei was goingto become a tradition. When they were finished he walked them through a morning routine before teaching them drills. It was during their free for all sparring session that Hikari got frustrated of throwing off Itachi's genjutsu that she rounded on Suo.
"I am not that bad at dispelling Genjutsu, but you act like they aren't even there! How?!"
Suo blinked before sheepishly scratching his head, inadvertantly knocking off his hood to reveal his crimson colored hair. With a sigh he pulled off his goggles to reveal blacked out eyes. Hikari stomped forward and leaned close enough that Suo could feel her breath on his face. Her voice, when she finally spoke, was hesitant.
"Are you blind?"
"Hai."
She took the time to chew that over.
"Then how do you take tests?"
With a slight smirk hidden behind his jacket he lifted a hand to reveal a Kikaichu.
"They see just fine."
"Oh, so that's how you get around too, right?"
Suo shook his head. The first Kikaichu disappeared and a Hibiku peaked out of his sleeve. It was hardly larger than a flee and bright silver.
"These are Hibiku, or 'Echo' bugs. They use Echolocation, and as such, transfer the information back to me. I 'see' through them. I, myself, can also use Echolocation Jutsu, but the Hibiku are much quieter, and their use cannot be sensed."
Itachi stepped forward with his own question.
"They tell you where we are?"
"Yes and no. I am highly Chakra Sensitive. I am a Level 5 Sensor."
"Huh." Hikari muttered. Itachi nodded as well before backing away. He returned to his side of the clearing, tossing a last question over his shoulder.
"I believe that the Aburame can disturb sensor abilities."
"That is why I have the Hibiku."
The other two let it go with an accepting nod of the head and the training resumed.

- To be continued...