Exploiting Bugs

Chapter 6 – Confronting Fear

As we headed outside, I checked my status screen once more.

Name: Aburame Taiki

Age: 6

Level: 1

Exp: 0/1000

HP: 35 (+7 p/h)

SP: 33 (+7 p/h)

CP: 80 (+16 p/h)

Str: 2

Dex: 2

Con: 3

Int: 11

Wis: 6

Cha: 4

Free Points: 0

Chakra Control: 20%

Needless to say, I was happy with the increase in mental stats, although the increase did not seem to have affected any of my secondary statistics. I was quite unclear as to what effect all of the stats would have. The first four seemed quite self explanatory, however wisdom and charisma I was a little unsure about. I was somewhat worried that they would influence my thought process and behaviour as they increased. It would likely only be for the better, but the idea of it made me feel quite helpless at the prospect of my usual behaviour potentially being influence by something outside of my knowledge and control. Still, there was not much I could do about it except for worrying.

As we arrived outside, there was already a crowd of adults waiting for us. Shibi was easy to spot, right at the front, with most people giving a respectful amount of distance to him and the other senior ninja who were waiting for their children. Whilst Shibi stood slightly appart from his peers, Yamanaka Inoichi, Akimichi Choza, and Nara Shikaku stood conversing as they waited for their children, and also perhaps some auxillary members of their clans if their situation was anything like mine. Seemingly eager to be away from the crowd, Shibi motioned for Shino and I to follow him as soon as he caught sight of us. We left the Academy grounds in short order, but quite quickly had made our way past the turning towards my own apartment, and were heading further away from what I thought was the centre of the village. Shibi turned his head towards the two of us as we walked.

"Good work both of you. Do you feel confident having completed the exam?".

I was about to reply, but, rather surprisingly, Shino beat me to it.

"I think we will both pass. Why, you ask? Because Taiki put in great effort during the test, and answered many of the questions on the written exam."

Shibi tilted his head towards me questioningly, and I hurried to agree with Shino's assessment.

"Yes, Shibi~sama, Shino~sama was far ahead of most of our group on the physical tests, and I actually managed to answer all of the written questions.".

I saw Shibi's brow furrow slightly at my reply.

"I'm glad you are both confident Taiki, but I hope you did not answer all of the questions wantonly. If you answered too many of them incorrectly, it could damage your score quite badly. Remember, as ninja, we musn't leave things up to chance."

That was a sobering thought. I had definitely rushed through the paper, and couldn't guarantee that I hadn't made any silly mistakes anywhere. Still, I was very confident in my ability to pass a test that was designed for six year olds.

"Of course, Shibi~sama, I made sure that I answered the questions to the best of my ability. I didn't make guesses for any of them.".

His brow relaxed at that, before he continued.

"Good. Your day is not over yet, however. You will try once more to expose yourself to our insects without falling into a panic. If you are to cultivate our clan's hidden techniques, you must start by the end of your fourth year at the very latest. Even then, the longer it is left, the more limited in our clan's techniques your achievements will be. We have no time to waste in preparing you for forming your first nest.".

Even though the bugs were only slightly alluded too, it still sent a shiver up my spine; something that did not seem to go unnotticed by Shibi. The furrow between his brows returned, and I bowed my head slightly to him in accedence, although it was mainly to hide any signs of panice that might be showing on my face. I suspected that high level ninja would be far more perceptive than anyboday that I'd met in my previous life.

It wasn't long before we arrived at the Aburame clan grounds. It lay towards the outer edge of the village, and despite being within the walls, it almost seemed like I was entering the forest proper. As we entered the first patch of trees, the hair on the back of my neck began to rise. I wasn't quite sure why at first, until I noticed the low level buzzing sound that had been slowly growing as we approached. It was immediately obvious to me what would be causing it, on Aburame clan land in a patch of forest. It could only be some kind of insect swarm. As soon as I reached that conclusion, I felt fear gripping my stomach, and a cold chill throughout my body, my step faltering. Shibi must have either expected that to happen, or immediately noticed my change, as he had slowed down and was looking towards me. He glanced towards Shino.

"Go and collect Torune, you can start with shuriken practice in the inner training room for today, Taiki will meet you there shortly.".

Shino nodded his acquiessence and walked away, whilst Shibi took me by the shoulder and led me past the trees. As we walked, I caught sight of a small cloud of bugs through the bushes, which sent a tremor down my spine. Shibi squeezed my shoulder a little in comfort, but I was too busy reading the new notification that popped up to truly appreaciate it.

Due to your continued exposure to your fears, your [Fear Resistance} skill has increased by 1

I was in two minds about the current situation. It was good to be gaining a skill that would help to negate my negative trait, but it certainly didn't feel particularly fun levelling it up. The unfortunate part was, to completely negate the effects of my fear, I'd have to level the skill up to level 200, if that were even possible. If it capped out at 100, or god forbid even lower, I'd have to find another way to mitigate the negative effects, else I might be stuck with my phobia forever.

Once we had left the trees, Shibi knelt before me, dropping to my eye level, his hand still on my shoulder.

"I'm aware how difficult this is for you Taiki, and I appreciate your efforts. This is further inside the clan than you have been since you left, and I see even making it past the trees this time around as good progress to make. Do you feel like this is helping you to overcome your fears?".

I looked at Shibi, suddenly feeling an immense amount of respect for the man. My knowledge of him from the anime that I had watch left him as quite a one dimensional character; and understandably so; and given his personality and profession, I had assumed him to be quite cold and unfeeling, yet so far he had subverted my expectations during our every interaction. I swallowed thickly, and managed to stutter out a reply despite the lasting effects that my fear was having upon me.

"Y-yes Shibi~sama. Even though its hard, I feel better about it than I did before. I think I will get accustomed to it eventually, and I refuse to allow this to prevent me from becoming a ninja.".

Shibi nodded firmly at my reply.

"Good. I was greatly saddened when your parents passed. They loved you very much, and even on his death bed, your father thought only of you. I promised him that I would do my best to help you to overcome your issues, and I mean to stick to that promise. Coming inside the clan today is a very good start, so we won't keep pushing you too far right now. We have an indoor training room for young students, and that will be free of bugs since none of them have formed their first nest yet. Please take the opportunity to get to know Shino a little better. Torune will be leaving when the two of you start at the academy, and I would like it very much if Shino and you could support each other during the course of your training.".

I smiled weakly, and nodded my head as vigourously as I felt able.

"Good, lets go then, the training room is over this way.".

I followed Shibi across the compound, which was incredibly spacious. I was unsure just how many clan members there were living here, but it felt almost like a small university campus. In essence, it was like a large open meadow, ringed by trees and a small hill towards one side that rose above the rest of the land, upon which was what I assumed to be the main compound of the clan, since it was the most densely packed with structures. There were a few other clusters of structures around, including some large greenhouses, but I pointedly tried to avoid looking around too much in case I caught sight of a large swarm of insects.

Shibi led me to a building on the edge of the main compound, and gestured for me to go inside. I gave a nod of thanks, and pushed open the door. The room inside was of a decent size, a square with walls around ten metres long. At one end there were a few strew men set up, with target zones marked in vital areas. Shino and another unfamiliar Aburame child were practicing throwing shuriken at the targets. I watched as the two of them completed the same drill that had been used in our entrance exam earlier, with Shino surpassing his earlier best and scoring a total of nine hits out of twenty this time. The other kid, Torune I'd heard Shibi call him, did even better, scoring eleven hits. It was a little puzzling, since he hadn't taken the entrance exam with us earlier, but he seemed to be better at this than even Shino was. He looked to be our age as well, so I wondered why he would be so good and not attend the academy. Although, Shibi had mentioned that Torune would be leaving once Shino and I began at the academy, so it must be something to do with that. Torune noticed me stepping through the door and smiled, beginning to walk over to me.

"You must be Taiki, Shino told me you would be coming.".

He extended his hand towards me in greeting, which I took nervously. His smile and his actions seemed quite genuine to me, which I hadn't been expecting from a member of a clan that seemed to be comprised of mainly very stoic members to my knowledge. Torune seemed to sense my hesitancy.

"Haha don't worry, this is normal for me. I'm used to having to cheer up old stone face over there.".

Shino, seemed to bristle a little at the nickname.

"You actually came at a good time Taiki. Why, you ask? Because Torune is normally even louder than this.

Torune punched Shino on the shoulder playfully.

"I told you already Shino, I'm just feeling a littled under the weather since Danzo~sama applied that seal."

That comment sparked a memory of mine, and I don't think I entirely managed to hide the response, though I played it off as something else.

"You have a seal? I'm actually really interested in them, could you let me see?".

Torune thought over my request for a moment, before nodding, and sticking out his tongue, confirming my suspiscions. I knew that there was at least on Aburame in Root, and in quite a senior position if I remembered correctly. That must be why he hadn't taken the exam with us, he was about to be inducted. I was a little surprised at the apparent openness of the whole ordeal, having thought that Root inductions would basically amount to kidnapping a poor child off of the streets or from an orphanage. Perhaps that was the way it worked for orphans, but the power of the Aburame clan must have allowed Shibi to negotiate on somewhat even terms with Danzo.

"Oh wow, can I see the bottom too?".

Torune complied, although only briefly, before closing his mouth and smiling at me once again.

"Well thats enough messing about I think, lets get back to practicing. If you're going to struggle with the clan jutsu for now, then you may as well make sure all your other skills are as good as they can be in the meantime. Even Shino could do with some brushing up."

He stuck his tongue out at Shino then, who surprisingly, returned the gesture. Even if he was quiet, kids would be kids, espescially with their friends. It was actually refreshing to see him so animated after he'd been utterly impassive all day.

The three of us practiced our throws for what must've been at least a couple of hours until Shibi returned. During that time I'd managed to gain another point of dexterity and two levels in Shurikenjutsu, which felt like quite big progress. With the miniscule increases per level that the skills provided, it by no means made me into some kind of deadeye, but having repeated the exercise so many times, I was lucky enough to have one round where I managed to score five hits. On average though, I mostly only hit one or two times out of twenty. Still, it was a lot easier to feel like I was progressing when I could see actual numbers increasing that were telling me that I was.

We left Shino and Torune still practicing, and Shibi began to walk me home. On the way back through the copse of trees on the path back toward the centre of the village, I once again felt a little chill of fear. It was a little easier this time, a combination of having one extra level in the skill, and it having gotten dark enough that I didn't actually see any stray bugs this time around, I think. I got no new levels in fear resistance this time around, but I did seem to gain a little of Shibi's respect for not having faltered in my steps this time around. Once that little obstacle was behind us, he began to speak.

"I'm glad to see you a little more confident on the return journey Taichi." I smiled weakly in response. "Its thursday today, you will receive a letter tomorrow telling you the results of your exam. Regardless of what happens, I want you to come to see me at the clan compound and tell me the results. If you pass, I expect you to come home with Shino every day after you're done at the academy. We'll gradually try to expose you to our techniques more and more, and you'll be more than welcome to train here also. You're welcome to come over on the weekends as well. It would show good dedication for your training, and I'm sure Chika would love to see you for dinner more often. She misses your mother deeply."

I was glad to hear his proposition of assistance in my training, and quite touched at his sincerity.

"Of course, Shibi~sama, I will come over every day.".

He actually smiled at that.

"Good; and, Taiki. By blood, we are not that closely related, but Chika and I were close with your parents since our days in the academy. You can feel free to call me Oji~san. I think if you don't call Chika Oba~san she might actually be upset with you.".

I nodded my head, unsure really of how to respond. Shibi just continued to smile, and ruffled my hair.

"Well, here we are." He gestured to my apartment block not far ahead of us. "I will see you tomorrow Taiki.".

I turned to thank him, but he seemed to flicker out of existence and was gone before I could fully open my mouth. From the sounds of what he'd said, that conversation may have been quite hard for him. Either that or he was just paying lip service. This new Oji~san of mine truly was quite endearing.

I made my way inside, flicking on the light and getting immediately changed into the pyjamas I had left discarded on my bed earlier that morning. It had been quite a physically and mentally taxing day, and exhaustion hit my body like a truck. As I lay in bed, eyes drooping, I pulled up my stats and skills one final time.

Name: Aburame Taiki

Age: 6

Level: 1

Exp: 0/1000

HP: 38 (+8 p/h)

SP: 35 (+7 p/h)

CP: 90 (+18 p/h)

Str: 2

Dex: 3

Con: 3

Int: 11

Wis: 6

Cha: 4

Free Points: 0

Chakra Control: 20%

Skills:

Observe - Level 1:
Gain some basic information about your target. Detail of information gained depends on both level of this skill, and the relative strenght of the two parties.

Fear Resistance – Level 2:

Gain 0.5* skill level resistance against fear inducing effects.

Running – Level 2:

Gain 1* Skill level increase to running speed. Costs 1 sp per second.

Body Conditioning – Level 2:

Your physical stats increase 2* skill level percent faster from physical training

Shurikenjutsu – Level 3:

Increases power and decreases the deviance of your thrown shuriken and kunai by 1% per level.

A/n: Another decent chapter I think. A little under 3k words, but I think I'm finding a groove with the kind of chapter length I want. Relatively happy with the dialogue in this chapter, but still not 100% convinced. I think it may just be my fate to hate everything I ever write just a little bit.