Chapter 12 – Homecoming
It was a warm April afternoon with a cool breeze blowing through the tree groves.
Kaho was coming back from a mission and closing the bamboo doors behind her, when she saw a familiar but long-unseen sight. It was Aburame Genjo, who had not been back in the clan wall besides the Spring Festival since Shino had been born. He was talking with Yusuro, the clan member closest to is age (Yusuro being 18, him being 16), under the large oak in the left hand corner of the grove.
"Kaho-sama, welcome back," Yusuro said calmly to her with a respective bow as she walked up.
Genjo bowed respectfully as well.
"Ah, arigatou. And you, it's nice to see you around again."
"I'm not just visiting."
Kaho pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows, "Are you done with your training already?" she said astutely.
"For the most part yes," He adjusted his small, round sunglasses, whose frames didn't entirely encompass the dark blue-tinted lenses, "I am not quite to master level, but my sensei allowed me leave."
"So you're back to stay then?"
Genjo had left the clan three years prior to seriously take up the discipline of Kendo.
Hand to hand (or sword to sword) combat specifically was not something the Aburame clan dealt with. Taijutsu was taught and practiced of course, as with any ninja, but not as a main discipline. Aburame's trained to stay at longer distances, and use their justus with their insects to keep attacks at bay, so they could finish off an enemy as quickly, silently, and cleanly with little physical contact as possible.
Genjo's chakra affinity happened to be wind. It was a known style for wind-chakra users to have special made weapons tuned to chakra, and mold their sharp, wind chakra over the blade to extend / harden it into a weapon that could pass through even stone. (The Third's son Asuma Sarutobi is one such example.) Aburame's use molded chakra with their kikaichu to have them create solid forms, everything from clones, Mushikabe no Jutsu, or the ever useful kikaichu bridge for spanning short distances (like what Shibi and Kuroji used when escorting the weapons merchant Tsu on a mission to the Hidden Grass).
Genjo wanted to use his insects in a similar fashion. He had an idea to take an empty sword hilt, and have his kikaichu use their bodies to make the shape of whatever sword type weapon he desired, and extend wind chakra over it to make a sharp blade. He couldn't make the shape of the weapon without a base first, something the kikaichu can do easily with training. That, and they are already tuned to their master's chakra, making such a thing possible without specially made metal weapons.
However, the fact he was going to be using his kikaichu in a very taijustu way was very unusual and not something that went over well in the clan.
Not because the safety of the insects was in question, it was a valid technique, but it just…
…
…wasn't their way.
The fact that Aburame Tao uses his kikaichu to create the wire of a sansetsukon (three part nunchuck) and a vine sword from his cane is very strange, but less controversial because Tao does not follow any conventional fighting disciplines (he just made up his own style), which are like religions or clans of their own, as what Genjo wanted.
He just didn't want to use his wind chakra-kikaichu weapons as weapons, he wanted to use them as tools as kendo samurai had for generations. A style that was different from being a ninja, a totally different discipline.
After much debate (and mind preoccupied with worry about little Shino on the way) Shibi let the 13 year old go off to be a full apprentice under a Kendo master at the far end of the village, living and working there, as long as he promised to not stop his Konoha ninja training.
"As in, coming back to live with the ichizoku again." Yusuro confirmed Kaho's words.
He nodded once and glanced off to the side, "I missed here, the atmosphere of the clan."
"Understandable," Kaho replied, putting the back of her hand to her cheek.
"You look good, the pants suit you," Yusuro playfully grabbed at his large, dark blue kendo 'hakama' pants.
"Hey," He drew off to avoid her 'attack'.
"And nice hair," She smirked. It was buzzed short against all of his head except for a tall, tied up poof, like Kaho's hair poofs, but solitary and taller up from his head.
"I could say the same of you,"
"It's always been like this, it's just longer and spikier now."
"So you claim."
"I'm not claiming anything."
"Are you trying to impress anyone in particular?"
"…what was that?"
"I…should get home for dinner," Kaho slowly inched away.
They paused, then said in unison, "Konbanwa Kaho-sama."
There was a pause as Yusuro and Genjo watched her go.
"Humm, she looks exhausted." Yusuro said before turning her head back again.
"I've forgotten what missions were like, I've done almost no ninja duties during my training." He said.
"Will they put you back on missions now?"
He nodded.
"You'll be fine," She smirked again.
…
"Mommy!" Shino jumped up from his spot playing on the floor so he could cling like a katydid to his mom's leg.
"Shino…" She laughed tiredly.
Shibi walked up and was trapped in a kiss before he could welcome her back, "You look tired." He was able to say finally with worry.
"Just a little, nothing unusual,"
"Mommy, look," Shino toddled off and came back, holding his plushie cicada in one hand and a piece of paper in the other.
"Oh, what have you been up to?" She looked at it.
"This iz a beetul, this iz a butterfly, this is a kaydeedid," He pointed at the different buggies on the paper.
"Oh, very nice," She smiled, "They look like they were stamped on?"
"Ah…that's right, you haven't seen it," Shibi grinned, "Jima, Tao, and Yusuro were having 'arts and crafts' time this past week while watching Shino when we were both away on missions. They carved some wooden handles for something, and had extras, so Jima made stamps." He held one up, picking it off the floor near Shino's crayons.
"BUG stamps?"
"Well, of course." Shibi adjusted his sunglasses.
Kaho smiled, "How cute!"
"I'm gonna 'ake a forest," Shino sat back down and started scribbling trees with a crayon around the bugs.
Kaho sat at the kitchen table still watching him hard at work crayon-ing.
"Here," Shibi put a bowl in front of her with some miso-rice-pork soup in it.
"Thank you," She sighed. She was very hungry. Meals on missions were not always generous.
Between spoonfuls she said, "Genjo is back."
"He is?" Shibi said, both surprised and pleased.
"I talked to him on the way in."
"Finally," Shibi leaned back.
"Good to see the clan all together," Kaho said.
"I'll have to give him a test, to check he's been keeping with his kikaichu training."
She nodded in reply.
"For-est!" Shino held up the piece of paper.
"That's one for the fridge."
…
Kuroji walked through his living room, a small jar full of flies in his hand. He'd open it occasionally, quickly grab one, and toss it into a spider web of one of the many scattered about the room. He'd long since learned not to listen to the dying pleas of them, not that flies were that intelligent, they barely understood they were in a jar. It was one of the reason's he used flies. He used grasshoppers for the larger ones, for similar reasons.
"Hey Tesuro," he overheard Yusuro talking to her younger brother in the kitchen, "Genjo is home."
Kuroji heard a plate smash to the floor.
Sticking his head in with a displeased look on his face, he saw Yusuro smirking. They had not noticed his spying,
"Did I startle you?" She said.
"No," Tesuro replied, seeming disinterested, picking up pieces of the plate. He sent his kikaichu for the hand-broom.
"He cut his hair."
"Really?" Tesuro looked up.
"Mmmhum," She nodded, "I remember you two playing a little as kids,"
"He's only about two years older than me, so we were close in age for it you know."
"I know, so you should go welcome him back, being his friend and all.",
"In the morning…" Tesuro replied.
"Right." Yusuro took the broom from his kikaichu and started sweeping up the shards.
"Kuroji-san?" a voice said behind him.
He turned and jumped up - putting on a posture of 'I wasn't doing anything.' It was Hina who had come up behind him. Her gray and white dog Gomaru sat panting next to her. He was quite full grown, the size of a large wolf, and rather intimidating to those not knowing of his intelligence and kind nature.
"Hina-san - I didn't hear you come in," Kuroji said calmly.
"Did I startle you?" She blinked.
"No."
"Cause it seemed to me you were doing something worth being startled over,"
"I was just feeding my spiders, nothing more," he brought out the jar and walked past her to go about his work again.
She smiled with narrowed eyes, watching him, then walked into the kitchen, coming up behind Yusuro, "Gotcha!"
"Ruuf!" Gomaru smiled.
"I am defeated!" Yusuro 'distressed'.
She nuzzled her poofy Aburame hair, "Mmm hum. Yea." She paused, blinking at the mess on the floor, "Did you break a plate?"
Yusuro pointed at Tesuro in a manner of accusing.
"It was an accident," Tesuro pouted, hiding in his collar.
"Clumsy boy," Hina teased him. Gomaru pawed the plate pieces.
Tesuro ignored her and got out some more plates to set the table with. At the same time he sent out his kikaichu, who flew out from his collar , to get him a broom and dustpan to sweep up the shards with.
"We're still on for midnight training after dinner, right?" Hina asked.
"Indeed." Yusuro replied.
"Excellent!"
"You better be quiet coming in at 3:00 AM if you're doing that again," They heard Kuroji say from the other room.
"Yes sir / father…" they chimed together in the same monotone.
…
"Humm…house looks the same as I left it… dusty…Aunte Jima not keeping up with the cleaning…" He poked around, muttering to himself.
"That's because I moved out to live with Tao about a year ago," Genjo heard a voice from the door frame.
"Jima," He breathed, a little surprised, "Don't go skulking about in the shadows like that." He walked over.
She grabbed him as if saying 'damn give me a hug already'. After they separated out from their light hug, there was a pause, before Jima spoke,
"I heard you came back."
"…Yes."
"This house is yours anyway now, you're old enough."
He smiled gingerly, "You said…you moved in with Tao?"
She looked to the side.
"So you two are…"
She nodded.
"Married?"
She laughed lightly in her throat, "Not quite, maybe next spring. We're not in a rush."
"Congratulations!"
"Don't," She adjusted her hood.
"I know," He turned, absently dusting off a table.
She smiled under the veil hung across her hood front.
Jima had cared for Genjo after his last living parent, his father, was killed while on a dangerous mission, which wasn't for that long, as he made the decision to leave for his training less than a year after (around the time Shino was born). She had always been a good aunt to him, like how Shen was a good uncle to Sakuya, and was kind of like a big sister / mentor. Being his 'foster parent' for a year just reminded her how much she wanted a child of her own. It was all in good time, perhaps soon she and Tao could query to adopt, and hope someone would put up a child and not mind it being adopted into the Aburame Ichizoku.
"Come by for dinner tonight."
"…Thanks Aunte Jima."
"…"
"…"
"Come," She turned, the gohei on her gourd flicking around with her motion.
…
…
…
"Shen-san?" Shibi meandered through Shen's living room, avoiding all the hanging butterfly and moth chrysalises, strung about from the rafters like decorative ornaments. There were always a few strung up, he had a certain love for the delicate creatures. Like with Kuroji and his spiders or Kaho and her mantises, they just seemed to like one another.
But in this coming fortnight to the spring festival he had quite a number of them, all ready to hatch for the occasion. He always made sure to have plenty of luna moth cocoons; they were set aside on their own little potted tree, sitting in the corner of the living room.
"I'm here," Shen poked his head down from upstairs.
"I am going to give Genjo a test to check his kikaichu skills, as he just got back a few days ago…and I could use another party. Are you up for some heavy training?"
"Of course Shibi-sama," He came down, buckling his giant pear-shaped kikaichu gourd around his coat.
"I didn't disturb you did I?"
He shook a hand, "Not at all. I was just lazily working on new jutsu scrolls."
"Ah," Shibi nodded, "Come, I'll explain my plan to you…"
…
…
"OOhh…." Shino toddled around the blooming gardens. Sakuya was not too far off checking all her herbs. As usual, poor Ussa was put in charge of watching the kids. Yesetteru, now 7, claimed she could watch Uschi and Shino all by herself. Ussa of course said a resounding no.
"Awee…" She pouted.
"Maybe in another year. You just don't pay enough attention."
"I dooo…" She sat down.
Uschi rolled over and followed Shino with his eyes. Shino was looking at all the milkweeds, checking out the fat, striped, black-white-and-yellow monarch caterpillars on the undersides of the leaves.
"You should be training with me," Ussa stressed.
"I'm kinda tired…" she smiled and laid back, a fuzzy milkweed moth caterpillar catching her eye on a leaf underside, 'fighting' with a monarch caterpillar for the same milkweed plant to eat.
Ussa sighed, "Sakuya, did you sleep with a Nara clansman by any chance?"
"What?" She said confused and a little insulted, standing up from her gardening.
"Nothing! Just kidding!" Ussa laughed.
"NOT funny," She furrowed her brow over her sunglasses.
He paused to let her sober and go back to her work, then continued, "How else to explain Yesetteru's utter lack of energy?"
"She's just taking recovering from her kikaichu a little hard, that's all."
"It'd not just that…" He muttered under his breath.
"Eee ga-wa-ere! Uschi babbled.
"That's right Uschi, your sister is a lazy bum."
"What?!" She sat up frowning, echoing her mother's tone a minute before.
"Ooo-saa Ooo-saa!" Shino tugged at Ussa's khaki's.
"Yes?" He leaned over.
"Daddy! That was mean." Yesetteru pouted.
"Kay-dee-did," Shino said softly, and put a big, light green katydid in his hand, then toddled off.
"Daddy!?"
"Thanks Shino-sama…?" He blinked, and smiled.
"DA-DEE! Stop avoiding me!"
"Did I hear something?"
"Both of you be quiet, I'm counting!" Sakuya bellowed, her kikaichu churring angrily.
They all fell silent.
…
The katydid went KRrreeKRrreee once.