Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. So if you recognize anyone or anything from the anime, I'm just borrowing.
Takes place sometime before Shippuuden. Or technically, it takes place in the Naruto world, but without Shippuuden in mind since the Konoha 11 are now 16ish.
Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews!
Chapter 10
OOOOO
The village of Little Spring had a surprisingly large number of eligible young women roaming the streets. It was a resort area, so perhaps many of them worked in the area and others were there for their own vacations.
Wherever the three young men walked, they drew the eyes, and giggles, of many girls. Tachoro, in particular, drew the most appreciative looks, although the Aburame brothers drew their fair share of whistles and coos. It was something about the cool, poised aloofness that almost dared the onlookers to try and melt their calm demeanor.
It was quite gratifying, Shibiki noted, to be in a place where no one knew you as the weird shinobi that had bugs in his body. He loved his kikaichuu, but it was rather difficult to find a woman who felt the same way. Shibiki chanced a glance at his brother. Shino seemed completely unaware of the appraising looks raking over his tall form. Even Tachoro appeared lost in thought.
A large gaggle of girls suddenly surrounded them and began asking them inane questions. Tachoro answered politely. A couple latched onto Shino in particular and wondered what his name was, what his favorite color was, and whatnot. Shino tried his best not to be rude, but this sort of interaction was not his cup of tea.
Several lampposts away, Hinata ducked behind the corner of a fence and peered at her teammate and his new fangirls. She'd managed to catch up to him after being informed by Shibi that the three boys had gone into town. Her cheerful little grin had faded, however, at the sight of a dozen girls surrounding her best friend and pressing into his personal space. Now she stood forlornly in the shadows feeling rather dumpy in her hooded sweatshirt and shinobi pants. All of those girls were wearing cute, tiny skirts and low-cut blouses.
Maybe…maybe it was wrong of her to come. It's not like Shino had invited her along. She'd just run off to follow him. Maybe he wanted to spend some time with normal girls, and that's why he hadn't told her he was leaving. Hinata bit her lip sadly and slipped away.
OOOOO
Back at the resort, the commotion of new arrivals had finally died down. The Ishitaka clan had arrived. The Ishitaka's were the blood relatives of Shino's paternal grandmother, Iiko, a gentile, loving woman that was an emotional pillar of the Aburame family. Her twin sister, Zuruiko was the polar opposite of her twin, though she, too, was a pillar of her clan.
Shibi withheld the sigh that longed to escape as his trickster septuagenarian aunt smacked his left cheek—and not the one on his face. His wife, Kinako, giggled as she always did. Shibi secretly thought the only reason his aunt tormented him so was to get his wife to laugh, which was also the only reason he put up with it. Surely Hyuuga Hiashi didn't have to live with such indignities.
Tachoro's immediate and not-so-immediate family had arrived. Taro, his little brother, stood in the center of his aunts' attention. His silken blond hair, big blue eyes, and cherubic face usually melted all of the women around him, and he knew it. He patiently allowed the various Aburame women to coo over him and kiss his cheeks. Each of them exclaimed how cute he was.
From the corner, Shinomaru quietly observed the proceedings. At the back of his perceptive little mind, he noted that his aunts never fussed over or kissed him like that even though he was technically a year younger than Taro, and he wondered why. Shinomaru briefly pondered if it was because he didn't have yellow hair. Unable to come up with a sound answer, he shrugged and decided to go bug-watching.
Taro waited through several more minutes of petting before slipping off to find his cousin. On the way out he passed a weird-looking servant girl that nodded politely at him.
OOOOO
Shinomaru enjoyed watching the water skeeters that danced over the surface of the small pond. They were so graceful to be able to walk on the water like that.
"That jacket. Shinomaru, does that mean you got your kikaichuu hive?" Taro asked from behind him.
Shinomaru turned his head to face his cousin and nodded.
A twinge of jealousy passed over Taro's face. The Ishitakas didn't receive their butterflies until they were older. Shinomaru returned his attention to the bugs gliding over the water.
"What're you doing?"
"I'm watching the bugs. They're very pretty."
"They don't look all that special to me. Butterflies are much prettier," Taro argued.
"They can dance on the water," Shinomaru pointed out.
"So?"
"I'd like to do that," Shinomaru admitted quietly.
Taro laughed. "That's stupid. People can't dance on the water."
"Yes, they can," Shinomaru frowned.
"Can't."
"Can."
"Can't."
"Can."
"Can't!"
"Can."
"CAN'T!!!"
"Can."
"Fine then! Prove it!" Taro huffed and crossed his little arms over his chest. "Show me. Dance on the water."
Shinomaru hesitated, but he knew he was right. He stood up and balanced on a flat rock at the edge of the pond. Sunlight winked up at him from the surface of the dark water. He placed one sandaled foot on the water and imagined himself standing there. Shinomaru held his foot there for a full minute before swinging his other foot down.
The cold water swallowed him up with a splash. For several disorienting seconds he lost his bearings and couldn't tell which way was up. Then a strong pair of hands yanked him up into the air. Coughing and spluttering, he was still able to hear Taro's derisive laughter.
"I told you it wouldn't work, baka!"
"Shinomaru! What were you thinking?" his uncle Soru asked worriedly. "You could have drowned doing something like that."
Shinomaru looked down dejectedly and apologized.
"It's alright. Just…just think about it carefully next time, okay?"
Shinomaru nodded.
"You should get changed into dry clothes or you'll catch a cold," his uncle suggested, not unkindly.
Shinomaru trudged away toward his room.
OOOOO
"Shinomaru-kun! How did you get so wet?" Hinata exclaimed.
His small mouth trembled and he looked down in shame.
"Shinomaru-kun? What's the matter?"
He shook his head and wouldn't say anything. He didn't want Hinata-neesan to laugh at him.
Hinata gently took his hand and led him to the bathroom to get him one of the large, fluffy, white towels that belonged to the resort. She helped him out of his wet jacket and toweled him off.
"Were you going for a swim?" Hinata asked casually.
From down the hall came a burst of raucous laughter. Shinomaru cringed visibly, increasing Hinata's worry tenfold.
"Shinomaru!" Kaoru came running down the hall. When she saw her son safely wrapped in a towel, she sighed with relief. "Shinomaru, what were you thinking doing something so dangerous? You could have drowned!"
"I'm sorry," he mumbled.
"Just…just be careful next time, okay?"
He nodded, just as he had with his uncle. His mother gave him a reassuring squeeze before going to find him some dry clothes. She returned a minute later with a full set of her son's clothes, except the jacket, which simply had to hang dry.
"Shinomaru-kun, where are your sunglasses?" Hinata wondered.
"I lost them in the water," he admitted in defeat. "They're special because they're really small, and I don't have another pair. My daddy gave them to me." He sniffed a bit, trying not to be a crybaby.
"Show me," Hinata answered.
"What?" Shinomaru looked up. Hinata smiled inwardly, noting that his eyes were just like Shino's.
"Show me where you lost them." She tugged on his hand gently.
He led her to the small pond and pointed at where he'd fallen in, but there was no way to get the glasses back. The pond water was dark and cloudy.
"There they are," Hinata reassured him, having already scanned the water with her Byakugan.
"What?"
Hinata leaped lightly onto the water and embedded a small amount of chakra below her. Moments later, a little whirlpool appeared and a spout of water shot into the air depositing a small pair of sunglasses into her outstretched hand. She wiped them off on her jacket and turned to find Shinomaru gaping at her in shock.
"Y-You're standing on the water!"
"Huh? Oh, um, hai," Hinata answered. It wasn't anything special, so his sudden delighted expression took her by surprise.
"I knew it was possible!" Shinomaru exclaimed. "Taro didn't believe me, but I knew it!"
"Water walking?"
Shinomaru nodded eagerly, his uncovered eyes shining with happiness.
"Actually, it's quite common," Hinata admitted.
"Really?"
"Really. Shinomaru-kun, is this what you were trying to do when you fell in?" Hinata asked.
Shinomaru nodded sheepishly.
Hinata blinked and then laughed in delight.
For some reason, Hinata-neesan's laughter didn't make him feel as bad as Taro's did.
"Shinomaru-kun, you really are going to be a great shinobi soon," she smiled.
Shinomaru blinked. She was complimenting him for falling in the water?
"Most shinobi don't start water training until they're much older, and usually after they've mastered wall and tree climbing. To skip right ahead to water walking is quite ambitious of you." She held out his sunglasses.
His wide expressive eyes blinked up at her before he accepted his glasses back and positioned them on his little nose.
"I didn't. I failed," he pointed out.
"The whole point in training is to learn new things, and the things that are most worth learning take a while to master," she said encouragingly. She held out her hands to him, "Come."
Shinomaru looked at her uncertainly. He'd already had one bad experience at this pond today.
"That's exactly why you must try again today," Hinata answered as if she could read his mind. "Come."
Shinomaru stood on the rock once more, except this time Hinata directed him to step right on top of her feet. She held his hands and supported him as he placed one foot and then the other on top of hers. She helped him a little by using chakra to stick the bottoms of his feet to the tops of hers.
"My feet are tingling."
"That's my chakra. Do you know about chakra?"
Shinomaru nodded. "Shino-niisan and Daddy have told me about it. I can make a little chakra with my hand."
"To walk on water, you need to be able to send chakra to the bottom of your feet and use it to hold you up on the water's surface. You mustn't be discouraged if you don't get it right away. As I said, most people don't even start learning this until they're already Genin.
Shinomaru bobbed his head eagerly. It didn't matter if he couldn't do it alone. It didn't even matter if he couldn't do it for several more years. Hinata-neesan could do it, and that's what mattered.
He looked up at her in wonder. "Does Shino-niisan know how to do this?"
"Hai."
Shinomaru grinned.
OOOOO
Shibi watched silently as Shinomaru held up his hands and formed a little glowing ball of chakra between his palms. His little face was deep in concentration. He and Hinata sat on the grass beside the pond on the grounds.
"That's amazing, Shinomaru! Do you think you could do the same thing with your feet?"
Shinomaru peered down at his bare feet and screwed up his face as he focused. Nothing happened.
Hinata waited several more minutes before gathering chakra on her fingertips and gently touching the bottom of his foot.
"That tickles my toes!" squealed Shinomaru.
"What, this?" Hinata asked innocently before tickling his other foot.
Shinomaru rolled on the grass and burst into hysterical giggles.
When he settled down, he cuddled against her side and asked, "Hinata-neesan, do you know any stories?"
"Stories? I know a few. Would you like to hear one?"
Shinomaru nodded eagerly.
"Well, there's one in particular that I think you would like. It starts like this…"
Author's Notes:
1) Can't...indent… (Sigh…my carefully spaced family chart was all squished into one blob of text. Sorry!)
2) Sorry if the chapter's too long. I considered cutting it off earlier, but I wanted to end on a happy note.
Thanks again for all of the encouraging reviews!
