A collection of one-shots about the secret lives of our favorite characters. I'll be writing one every day or every other day. If you have any requests for new characters to do, please input it into a review. I may or may not do the character depending on my feelings about the character. Leave suggestions, critiques, flames, etc in a review, and I'll reply when I have time to.

After years of fighting to the death with each other, they each thought they knew each other. But did they really? Everyone has their own secrets, and the Rookie 12 are no exceptions. Collection of one-shots. Dark. Mentions of cutting, rape, abuse, etc. Ratings may go up.

.:The Secrets Within:.

.:Shino: Isolation:.

I flipped through my small collection of books about entomology and assorted bugs and insects. Reading and bug collecting were two of my favorite hobbies—and only hobbies, for that matter. Between team meetings, missions, and training by myself, in my spare time, all I could do was read or collect new species of bugs. They filled up the holes in my schedule and made me feel less lonesome than I really was.

If I had to be honest with myself, I would much rather spend that time with a friend, or even two. I would like to do what normal friends do. They eat together, joke around together, play pranks on each other. I've never gotten that type of experience. My teammates, Kiba and Hinata—although their personalities are rough on the edges,—they are kind to me and try to sympathize and understand me. However, they don't connect with me. It's uncomfortable whenever I'm with them; I feel like the odd man out. That's my fault, though. I've rarely ever had human contact. My discomfort makes it hard for them to approach me.

My name is Aburame Shino, and I am the sole heir of the Aburame clan. Because of that, my parents make sure that I inherit the majority of their insect collection and clan techniques. The Aburame clan has a symbiotic relationship with the kikaichuu, the type of bugs that our clan members host inside ourselves. These bugs are used to fight and track at the disposal of the shinobi. However, because of this, our clan members, especially me, being the heir, aren't allowed much independence and self-expression.

"Daddy, I keep hearing these buzzzz sounds inside me," a toddler-sized Shino stated as-a-matter-of-factly. "What are they?"

Aburame Shibi stared at his son. "They are kikaichuu, our clan's secret weapons. We use them to fight." His father had a distinct speaking style that wasted no words, his son adapting a similar speaking pattern at his age. "They don't mean you any harm, but you have to be very careful with them. They like to keep close to their host in warmth and darkness. They hate sudden movements and loud noises unless you control them."

Shino was a bright kid at his age, curious of the world and its inhabitants. "Why is that?"

Shibi wasn't sure how to answer his son's question, so he just worked around it. "I'll tell you when you're older. However, this is the reason that Aburames wear such thick, covering clothes and rarely show our emotions. Kikaichuu are sensitive to those feelings."

"So I can't be happy? Or sad? Or mad? Why is that?"

The older of the pair held back a flustered sigh and placed his hand over his son's chest. "This is where your heart is. Different emotions bring out different rates of heartbeats, but the loud, thudding noises startle your bugs."

Shibi removed his hand off the boy's chest. Shino looked at his hands—much smaller than his father's in size,—and placed his hand over his heart with a small frown. He could already tell that he wasn't going to be a very happy child.

Sometimes, when I can't seem to find any new insect species or when my reading my books become boring and sluggish to me, I remember about lunch and recess at the Ninja Academy. I was always that boy in the corner, or the boy on the swings by himself. No one wanted to walk up to me, and as much as I wanted to befriend others, my legs wouldn't permit it, nor would my bugs.

Shino sat still on the swing, not even risking to use it, since his bugs would become unsettled. Other kids would glance at him and whisper, probably debating whether or not to invite him over to be their last member on the dodgeball team or something of that sort. But in the end, no one came, and the bell rang, signifying the end of recess. He remained alone in self-isolation.

It wasn't always my complete fault for being friendless, either.

"Why don't you just give up on Sasuke-kun? We both know that he'll end up with me," Ami chattered with her friend, Fuki. Fuki scoffed in disbelief, an annoyed scowl on her face. "There are lots of other fish in the sea. Like, look at that boy over there," she said. It took Shino a while to realize that she was pointing at him. He tried to ignore the pair, and continued eating his homemade bento that his mother made for him. "He's kinda cute. He has that dark, mysterious aura around him, like Sasuke-kun."

Fuki had a horrifying look on her face and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Him? He's from the Aburame clan, so he always has those icky bugs all over his body!"

"Seriously? Bugs? How lame and gross!" Ami agreed, and walked off in the other direction with her friend.

Shino pretended to not care about the hurtful words that the two mouthed to each other about him, but inside, it really hurt, and it wasn't the kikaichuu, either. It wasn't his fault that he was an Aburame. He didn't ask for his family to be walking houses for bugs. But eventually, he had grew to like his insect friends. They were a part of him, both literally and figuratively. He just wished that other people could see that, too.

I blinked out of my thoughts and glanced at the clock. It was already late outside; my reminiscence distracted me for a while. I sighed, and prepared myself for bed. It was like this every day. My life was a repetitive schedule, a routine. Each day, I would wake up and train. Then I would meet with my team to spar, train, and complete missions. Lastly, I would train by myself or with my father, and then any time I have left, I would read before I go to bed. There was nothing new. I realized how much having a friend—just one—would change everything.

My name is Aburame Shino, and my darkest secret—the secret that I want no one to know—is that I just want a friend that can understand me and like me for who I really am.

Seventh chapter done. I liked doing this chapter. Poor Shino... I can't wait to do Kurenai's chapter; I have a really good idea for it. Btw, thank you so much for all of the reviews, favorites, alerts, and views. And I just got archived into my first Community/C2! Yay! It's a small community, but it's still one, nonetheless. Beggars can't be choosers.

Next Chapter: Yuuhi Kurenai

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