Chapter 1 – The Arrival

Grouped together like ladybugs trying to stay warm in the Fall, every Aburame family member stood expectantly at the large bamboo doors at the front of the clan. Their clan wasn't a large one, even including the new arrival they were all patiently waiting for, they totaled only 21.

Their special reason for waiting was that they heard their clan "king and queen bee" (As they affectionately called them), should be coming back from the hospital that chilly, late January day. The clan heir had been born.

The birth of a clan heir was a pretty big deal to the Aburames. It represented a continuation of a bloodline that traced back to the founder of the family; the person who first established a relationship between kikaichu and humans. Even though their clan's jutsu was not a blood inheritance, as technically any child could be given kikaichu and learn how to speak to insects. However, of course, their jutsu secrets were not shared with outsiders, the same as how clans like the Nara's and Inzuka's keep their techniques within their ichizoku's.

It was even not uncommon for outsiders to marry into the clan.

However, this symbolic appointing of the clan head was something that gave them pride. They had never been let down by their clan leaders. All had been talented, intelligent, kind, and respectful ninja. It just seemed to be genetic, so in a way there was a special something passed down by blood in their clan. A trait of leadership.

All looked up as they heard the bamboo doors opening.

"Welcome back," Some could be heard saying, most saying it with just a look, as they grouped in closer.

Shibi gave a respective nod to his clan as he held the doors open for his wife, and then closed them quietly behind. They were a little surprised to see everyone there to meet them, but Kaho couldn't help but smile with pride. She unwrapped the little bundle in her arms, the blanket covered in painted images of insects, just enough so everyone could see.

"…Awee…" Sakuya had to say before anyone else could.

"Heh, looks just like you did as a baby," Shen said with a glance towards Shibi.

Shibi tilted his head from inside his collar in a manner of embarrassment.

"It's a boy then?"

"Ah," Shibi nodded.

"His name is Shino," Kaho said softly.

All seemed to approve of the name.

"…better get inside before he catches a cold," Kuroji spoke up from he back. He needed not be near the front of the crowd as he was tall enough to see over all of them. Shibi gave him a knowing look, and the darkly clothed Aburame averted his gaze, not removing his hands from his pockets.

Kaho instantly went to the couch after they disappeared into their home.

"Are you feeling okay?" Shibi asked. He was still quite worried about her health. After all, his own mother had died giving birth to him. It was one of just two documented cases of an Aburame woman with kikai bugs dying in childbirth. Shibi's mother's death was not even caused by the birth itself; she had an aneurysm in her brain no one know about, so even her kikaichu could do nothing to heal her when it burst.

"I'm fine," Kaho almost laughed, "Like most Aburame women it was an easy birth, right?" She took off her dark, slanted sunglasses (which resembled the eyes of a praying mantis) and rubbed her hand across her face, "Thank goodness…but don't let that make you think that it was enjoyable," She frowned at him.

Shibi put on an innocent look, "What would you like for dinner?"

Changing the subject before I start to rag on him about the whole 'you did this to me' bit…She thought.

He stood in front of her. Little Shino was still asleep and curled up inside his blanket close to her breast. Shibi felt a smile come over him. He's so small…hard to believe he'll grow up to be clan leader. I hope…I can do half as good a job as my father. I still don't think I…

She was about to answer his query when there was a knock on the door.

"Enter," Shibi voiced.

In peeked the faces of Sakuya and Ussa. In his hands was a ceramic pot with a lid on it.

"You two must be hungry, so we brought something for you," Sakuya flicked her long sleeves.

"I hope you like sweet potatoes with marshmallows and honey,"

"Do I?" Kaho grinned.

"Thank you," Shibi gave a bow as Ussa handed it to him, which was returned with even deeper bows on their parts.

Just as they were leaving, they bumped into Shen.

"You beat me to it?" He gave a nervous smile to the two.

"What did you bring?" Ussa looked at the bento in Shen's hand.

"Bean sprout and water chestnut salad…"

"…" Yusuro came up behind Shen. Although thirteen, she was only 3 inches shy of him height wise (Shen being 6' tall). She was holding a bento as well.

"Is the whole clan going to be feeding us now?" Shibi blinked at them.

"Sit down you ungrateful man," Kaho said as she walked over to the kitchen.

Not too long after extra tables and chairs were brought in, and everyone in the clan was nestled into Shibi and Kaho's kitchen / living room around the combined table, sharing a dinner they had all brought pieces of. Getting the entire clan in one place was a noteworthy event.

"I love pot luck dinners," Ussa said to Sakuya, who nodded in agreement.

"Thanks everyone," Kaho said.

The 'noise' from 20 talking Aburames wasn't even enough to bother baby Shino, who was still fast asleep, curled up in a blanket on Kaho's lap.

…

"You have some clan you know," Kaho said as they began preparing for bed.

"…what do you mean 'you'? Don't you mean 'we'?"

"…Oh right," She blinked, "I don't think I'll ever fully come to accept that I am technically a clan leader...well, 'second in command',"

"And the mother of the clan heir, don't forget that either," he sat next to her and ran a hand across the fuzzy little head of their sleeping son.

…

They were relived from missions for three months without penalty. New ninja parents were allowed to; it was to let them to bond and have time with their babies. Kaho especially was allowed to stay off missions for an additional 9 months, something she considered, but was not sure if she would take or not.

They quickly discovered something interesting. Little Shino refused to sleep alone in his crib in his room next door. The second he was left alone at night he cried as if being bitten by fire ants. The noise was plenty to make them both cringe. Then, when Shibi or Kaho picked him up he was instantly calm.

So it came to be that he slept nestled in-between the two of them in their bed, and he slept soundly all though the night. Shibi and Kaho couldn't believe they were getting sleep at ALL (opposite of expected from a newborn), but then again, with such sleeping arrangements they weren't getting anything else either. They figured the quiet was worth it.

They figured later, perhaps, he cried when alone because he missed the soft, humming sound of the kikaichu from inside them; that it was like a sort of soothing noise he had come to like (not surprising considering he spent 9 months hearing it from inside Kaho). They tried leaving some kikaichu with him in his crib around the end of the third month. It seemed to work. A baby surrounded by humming, sleeping destruction bugs, not too strange at all…for an Aburame family.

Shibi had to return to his ninja duties. He had never been home around the clan for so long (at least since he was a kid), and it was strange to him. He was reluctant to leave his wife and baby alone at home, which Kaho told him was silly, she had the rest of the clan there. She had decided to take the extra 9 months off; she found she was liking being a mother. Shibi was jealous that she could spend all that extra with their son, but he didn't tell her that. However, Kaho knew what a proud father he was…nothing about him was kept secret to her for very long.

…

"Welcome back you two!" Kaho said as Sakuya and Ussa entered through the bamboo doors. Kaho was sitting on a spread out blanket under the shade of a cherry blossom, which was in full bloom (as it was April). Shino was close next to her on his back, and batting at the falling petals like a cat.

"Oh, Kaho, hello," she sighed in a tired tone. She had been on a mission with Ussa and a few other ninja for about 2 weeks.

"You look understandably tired,"

"There have been some skirmishes near the border, we were called in on backup….and it was drawn out longer then we thought." Ussa sighed, sitting down cross-legged in front of Kaho. Sakuya did the same.

"What kind of skirmishes?"

"People are uneasy, but more than usual."

"Humm…" Kaho nodded.

"I just need some well-earned rest," Sakuya leaned onto Ussa's shoulder.

Kaho glanced down at Shino, who struggled and rolled over. His interest was caught by a 3-inch long jewel beetle crawling on a blade of grass right in front of him. He stared at it as if it was the coolest thing in the world. She smiled, "Better get home then, before you fall asleep right here," she looked back to the tired ninjas.

She waited for a time, and they didn't move or reply. Sakuya still looked the same as before, it's pretty hard to tell if a fully dressed Aburame is asleep or not. Ussa was obviously asleep though since he lacked sunglasses.

Oh, too late, she thought.

"…ga!" Shino suddenly decided he had to have the jewel beetle. He missed it (not that he had the coordination at 4 months to catch it anyway). It flew up in a panic and banged right into his head.

"Shino!" She scolded him and picked him up, putting out her finger which the beetle quickly flew to (away from 'baby-zilla'). Shino burst out crying.

"Ahh!" Ussa and Sakuya startled awake.

Kaho sighed, putting the beetle on her head and cradling her son.

"W…what happened?" Ussa said, not really awake.

"A jewel beetle startled him after he tried to grab it," She picked him up and looked at him in the face. He stopped wailing, but still was sniffling slightly. Shino could see himself reflected in her glasses.

"Oh, poor thing," Sakuya smiled as she got up.

"We don't try to grab bugs Shino," She told him in a serious mother tone, knowing that he really couldn't fully understand her, but she always had talked to him like an adult since he was born. Dumbed down baby talk was not in her repertoire.

"Shibi not here I'm guessing?" Ussa asked as he stood up.

"No, he's been gone for four days now." She placed Shino in her lap. He was quiet again but still not very pleased. He eyed the beetle that was still on his mothers head.

"He'll be back soon," Sakuya yawned, "We're off to bed, so please excuse us,"

"Going to bed at 3:00 in the afternoon?"

"You better believe it." She nodded, "Oyasumi."

She watched them leave. Shino tried to crawl up her shirt and swat at the beetle again.

"Shino!" She scolded again, pulling him away.

"Baa!" He struggled.

"Oh you," She shook her head and plunked him back into her lap so he couldn't escape this time. The beetle quite smartly decided to fly off to safer, non-baby-Shino occupied areas.

Kaho sat for a time in silence. The cicadas all around the tree groves called to each other. Their vibrating churrring was not as loud or fast as usual. It seemed the laziness of that afternoon got to them too. A few crickets hiding under rocks and leaf piles joined in as well. Shino quieted down. The birds from outside the clan walls could be distantly heard. She leaned against the cherry tree's trunk and began to feel herself falling asleep. Shino already was. Just as she was closing her eyes she heard the distinctive plucking of the strings of a biwa lute. Not just any biwa, she knew this one well, as it was the one-of-a kind gourd biwa owned by Jima.

She opened her eyes and saw Jima sitting under a cherry blossom a few meters in front of them. She rustled Shino's fuzzy short hair to wake him up, and he peeked out to listen to her playing.

After a few minutes, "Ga!" He tried to escape from the crook in her folded legs to get closer.

Jima smiled softly and looked over, "Enjoying the afternoon?" She was the only Aburame to not wear a high collar, so her subdued smile was quite visible to Kaho. Instead, she had a large encompassing hood on her coat that nearly covered all of her sunglasses with its draped-down front. A sheer veil was suspended from the hood's edges across her face from the nose down. Her flowing, ankle-long silk skirt (in varied panels of patterned browns, golds, reds, and purples) echoed it in a similar style.

Kaho nodded, pulling Shino up to her chest, "No mission today?"

"I have the week off, I was away for a month on reconnaissance." She said softly. Kaho then noticed the bandages on her ankles, she must have gotten slightly injured while gone so long.

Jima was one of the single, middle-aged Aburame's. To Kaho's knowledge she was 36-ish. She was quiet and generally polite. She enjoyed music, so much so that she had Kuroji make a specially modified kikai gourd, so that it was also functional as an instrument. Her gourd/biwa was pear-shaped but had a long, skinny neck, with the larger bottom part being somewhat smaller than Shibi's round gourd. It was decorated with woven beads along its bottom half and from those hung a few fabric gohei.

"A month of reconnaissance? Something big must be happening on the border."

"Indeed. But whatever it is, we never found it. Just some skirmishes in the Grass and Rice countries." She plucked at the stings once with the bachi pick in her hand.

"…Ah."

"Gaaa!" Shino struggled.

"Sorry, he's been really jumpy today, I don't know what's got into him." Kaho got up and carried him over. He stared at Jima suspiciously.

"I don't think I've seen him since the arrival dinner," She stared right back, "My, he's growing fast."

"Stop it, before I know it he'll be in the academy."

Jima smirked ever so slightly.

"Gaawaa…" Shino reached out.

"….No Shino you can't have Jima's pick, she needs that." Kaho turned him around so he was buried into her chest.

Jima reached it out, "He can see it if he wants."

"You don't need to pander to him just because he's the clan heir."

"I'm not, trust me. Children are curious; they just want to learn about their world."

She thought for a moment, "…well, if you don't mind him chewing on it, be my guest,"

She put Shino down on the ground and he happily took the bachi from her.

"Is he going to be a musician now?" Kaho heard a male voice say. They looked up.

"He'll be number one in chewed-on-bachi," Kaho grinned at Shen.

"I don't think we ever had a clan leader like that," Shen replied.

"…heh."

"…" Shen watched as Shino flung the pick and it thwacked into his foot.

"…" Kaho sighed.

Jima picked it up and wiped it off.

"I'm sorry,"

"It's understandable," Jima replied.

There was a pause.

"I actually came by because I wanted to know if either of you wanted to train?" Shen said, "I asked Sakuya and Ussa but they walked right by me like zombies…"

"Of course Shen," Kaho smiled and stood up with Shino in her arms.

Soon the three were all together in the clan courtyard warming up with some tai chi exercises. Shino was put on a blanket not too far off, with some of her kikaichu to keep watch on him if she should try and wander off. They all moved in a similar, slow unison. The meditative tai chi warm ups they liked to do helped to focus them and their kikaichu, since the real training was far more intensive and chaotic.

Not too long after, kikaichu were buzzing and swooshing through the air like acrobatic birds. Mushi bunshin scattered left and right, and kunai swooshed through the air. Shino sat still, the calmest he had been all day, fascinated by the swirling kikaichu.