AN: Well, here is another chapter of The Bird And The Bug for you to enjoy. Please review and tell me what you think. I am hoping to have the next chapter out pretty soon. I've already started on it but I do not know exactly when it will be done. Soon is really all I can say. But hopefully less than a week. I made a really cute banner for this and you know I can't get it to show. But here is a link for it and the profile page I made of Mizuki. Banner: (copy and paste into your web address bar) .com/albums/l161/SAsukeIsMyLoveSlave/?action=view¤t=

Enjoy and review! ~ Doku

Sono Tori Ken Sono Konchuu

Chapter 3: Family Dinner

Shino had went back to his room after waking Mizuki still mentally shaken; so to speak. He remembered the slight part of her pink lips as she moaned out her protest to being awakened. Shino had also allowed his eyes to linger at the curve of her breast beneath the black tank she wore. Heat rushed through his body causing him to force his mind from her memory less he not make it to his room.

It bothered him that his kikai needed a release after the slightest touch or thought of her. They hummed, romped around and more or less threw a tantrum for the girl. Shino quickened his pace to his room.

Once in the security of his own chambers he took a long shower in order to relieve his troubled mind. Unh! Why is this happening now? It's not even spring. Why…ugh…a total stranger?… He did not understand this need of his body and in a way he did not even care.

Once he was finished and confident that his kikai could last the night he dressed himself in his yukata leisurely and pondered the possible scenarios of dinner. After running his fingers through his hair, he left his own chambers in search of Mizuki's.

The corridors were quiet and once he got to her room he heard no initial movement. Shino knocked once and waited. He heard footsteps and a voice call out, "Come in." He opened the door slowly.

Shino's breathing slowed when he laid eyes on Mizuki. Her raven tresses hung down her back in a perfect cascade and her bangs were brushed out of her eyes. Those beautiful eyes seemed even more electrified by the green of her jade yukata. Along with the amethyst chrysanthemum print the yukata fit her like no other.

The kikai grew restless but Shino contained them. Or so he had thought until Mizuki reached for her neck and withdrew one of his bugs. He felt suddenly ashamed. "I apologize. It is one of mine." He watched her release the kikai with a frown. Her aura had changed and grown cold. The sudden change puzzled him.

The door opened slowly to reveal a freshly showered Shino sporting a river blue yukata printed with pine trees. Mizuki's lips parted slightly and a faint blush rose in her cheeks. With the coats gone she could clearly see Shino's facial features -- and he was perfect.

His skin was pale and completely smooth over his finely chiseled face. Her eyes were drawn to his lips. He had such a kissable mouth with those subtle soft looking lips. His jaw line was angular and well formed and his nose was very proud. Mizuki felt her hand rise involuntarily towards him. She quickly looked away from his face in an attempt to break the trance she had unwillingly placed herself under.

She felt something on her neck and used this as an excuse for the raising of her hand. When she pulled it away there was a small bug between her thumb and forefinger. It hummed hysterically in her firm grip. "I apologize, it is one of mine." Mizuki looked over to Shino's hand raised with his forefinger pointing at the bug in her grasp. She looked back down at the struggling insect and then released it. She watched it fly back to Shino with a cold gaze.

It crawled up his sleeve and seemingly disappeared. How is it his bug? People don't own bugs…Unless it is his pet. An insect for a…pet.

She let an emotionless façade cover her. Her gaze held nothing when she looked back up at Shino. "Would you be so kind as to lead the way to dinner, Aburame-san?" Mizuki asked in a calm level voice.

The sudden change in Mizuki's attitude concerned Shino. His kikai had even changed their view of her. They were still restless but not in the way they were before. Now they were anxious. They treated her as if she were an enemy they needed to watch.

He could not blame them with the aura that had come over her. He had thought she was friendly and sociable but he was not so sure now. And the sexual frustration he was feeling earlier was now gone. This relieved him to a certain extent but he could not help but yearn for that indescribable feeling.

Shino watched her from the corner of his eye as they walked down the corridors to the formal dining room. She held her icy demeanor with a certain grace. It was like this was her true self and the earlier girl who had just experienced a traumatizing event was just a personification of her few bottled up emotions.

She was still beautiful but she affected him as much as any other pretty face; not at all. He then realized that her demeanor only changed after she saw his lone kikai. Does she fear or even hate insects? Why would she show blind hate for a creature that did her no wrong?" Either way he was disappointed by a stranger he did not even know.

Mizuki felt Shino's gaze but she never looked in his direction. She knew her behavior probably puzzled him but someone who loves insects would not understand her hate of them. Being attacked by the scorpion was not the first she had received from a bug.

Throughout her childhood, Mizuki had been plagued with unprovoked insect attacks. Her family could not tell her why she was being hurt and it depressed Mizuki while she was young. Eventually she grew to hate the creatures that injured her without reason.

Her mother had tried to ease the angered feelings of Mizuki when they first started but they took hold quickly and during adolescence the number of the attacks increased along with their ferocity. She could not shake the memory of one such incident.

A few years ago Mizuki was gathering berries in a light summer dress. She had wandered astray from her mother and grandmother but was still in a familiar part of the forest near her village. A butterfly had just floated into her field of view and distracted Mizuki for moment. That is when she was attacked viciously.

Her strangled scream is what sent her mother and grandmother running. They were there in only a few moments but the sight they were met with wounded their heart deeper than any other.

Mizuki was covered in shallow wounds from thousands of biting and pinching insects. Her muffled sobs played a sorrowful staccato between breathes. "Hold on, Mizuki. We'll get these bugs off." Her mother's voice did little to soothe Mizuki with its own hysterical hue. Her grandmother was completely calm and sat stroking Mizuki's hair as the two worked to clear her body of the pests.

"You're okay now. Shhh, don't cry. You're okay, Mizuki." She clung to her grandmother as the two women petted her and soothingly whispered soft nothings into her ear.

She forced her mind to wander from the painful memory. "Hatake-chan." Mizuki looked in the direction her fake name was called from. Shino was holding a door open for her. His frown showed his slight impatience with her spacing out.

"I'm sorry, Aburame-san. Thank-you." She ducked past him into the room. The lighting of the room was set at a medium level with a few candles here and there. The dining table was long and could seat up to 30 people, but only one seat was occupied.

At the head of the table Aburame-sama was seated and waiting for them to be seated as well. "Ah, Shino, Mizuki-chan. Have a seat. Dinner will be served shortly." Mizuki was seated on the left of Shibi and Shino on his right.

Shibi was dressed in a dark brown yukata with a grey boulder print. His dark bushy hair was similar to his son's but Shino's was not as bushy and his seemed much softer than his father's. The two had the same jaw and bone structure but Shino did not inherit his father's scraggly facial hair. All that aside Shibi was still very handsome for his age; exactly what that was Mizuki could not quite guess anything but around the forties or so.

"Did you have a good rest, Mizuki-chan?" Shibi asked as the servants filled small goblets with white wine. Mizuki faked a smile before her reply.

"Yes, sir. I feel much better now." Despite the cheerful disposition of her voice Shibi picked up on the change of her aura. He glanced at his son. Their gazes met through their tinted glasses. Father and son shared the understanding that something was different about this girl.

The servants brought out an appetizer of grilled fish and fruit. Mizuki reached for her untouched glass of wine. "I propose a toast." She raised her glass with a smile. "To the Aburame clan who have so graciously allowed me to stay at their beautiful compound." The group clinked glasses and drank. Mizuki shock was genuine.

"What's wrong?" Shino looked a little concerned while Shibi's face remained emotionless. Mizuki shook her head to show nothing was wrong.

"I was just surpised. The wine is still cold and very sweet." Her voice held true warmth and her smile seemed to light up the dim room. Father and son once again exchanged a glance -- yes, this girl was very different. They ate the appetizer in relative silence. A comment here or there is the only thing that disturbed their quiet chewing. Soon after they finished the main course, lemon chicken and rice pilaf, was brought out for them.

"Shino, you are to take Mizuki-chan to the academy tomorrow. I think you will be able to find your way there and back if you are taken once." He directed the second half at Mizuki. She nodded.

"You are correct in your assumption, Aburame-sama." Shibi nodded. Shino continued to eat in silence. He was not looking forward to spending more time with the mysterious girl. After a few more moments he made up his mind to request a mission from the hokage.

"So, Mizuki-chan, what have you heard of the Aburame clan?" Mizuki was caught off guard by Shibi's question.

"N-nothing at all. Actually, I am very curious about what your clan's talent is exactly." The interest hidden in her eyes was apparent and Shibi could not help but ease her curiosity if only in the slightest.

"He are insect handlers. We control insects called Kikaichu, or destruction bugs, to do our bidding in exchange for our chakra and in some cases our body is used as a hive for their colonies." Mizuki's cold façade once again slipped firmly into place. She could not judge the people who had so kindly given her a roof under which to reside but she was furious.

How can anyone let such despicable creatures live under their skin. She shuddered involuntarily. "Does this displease you?" Shibi's voice was guarded -- his face possessing a darkness to it. Mizuki knew she would have to explain her contempt honestly and also explain that she did not judge them. It was their choice and she had no right to judge.

"When I was a young girl," She began. "I was attacked by insects frequently. As I matured the attacks increased and their ferocity escalated. I started to hate any and all insects." She looked down at her lap, her hands clenched into fists there. "I do not harbor any ill will towards you and I know that they are important to the stability of any environment but I loathed them all the same. What creature would go out of their way to hurt a child who had never once done them any wrong?" Shino's gaze darkened.

"Have humans not done the same?" Mizuki stood. She was nearly at her breaking point.

"May I be excused?" She asked in a strained voiced. Shibi consented before Mizuki quickly exited the dinning hall. Shibi then turned his gaze on his son.

"You should not have agitated her so." Shino remained silent.

"I know." He conceded before rising as well. "If you'll excuse me." Shibi was left alone to finish the meal. A servant came to his side.

"Will you want the dessert you requested?" The elderly servant waited patiently for his master's reply.

"No. This will be all, thank-you." The servant nodded and moved away. Shibi sighed. He too would be in his chambers in a moment.

Mizuki stormed into her room and slammed the door harder than she had wanted. She winced as the noise reverberated off the walls of her chamber and the halls outside. She undressed and opened the wardrobe doors. She took out a sheer pearl nightgown and slipped it on over her naked body.

After placing the yukata and tabi back in their rightful places Mizuki walked to the bathroom. She picked up her small ivory brush and smiled. It had been her grandfather's gift to her grandmother on their wedding day. Her grandmother had given it to her mother on her wedding day. Mizuki then frowned. She was given it on her thirteenth birthday, right after she learned to adequately control her kekkei genkai -- Sumirehime.

Her mother and grandmother were very proud when she got a handle on her rare dojutsu. They said that her father possessed it. Mizuki did not question the information they gave about her father. She had also never wondered why they gave her the brush early. Why did they not wait until my wedding day? It is as if they knew they would not be there…

She pushed all thought from her mind and began to brush her hair robotically. She finished up her nightly routine and sought out the comfort of her bed. Mizuki quickly drifted off to sleep.

-To Be Continued-

AN: Well, that's it for this chapter. I hope it was adequate for all of you Shino lovers -- Not exactly one myself but I had a craving for him so I'm writing this. (And not in a totally perverted way. xp) But review if you feel like it and keep watch for the next chapter. You can also check out my profile page to see updates on how new chapters are coming along. ~Doku