A Bug's Life (A Shino Aburame Love Story and Naruto Shippuden Fanfiction) ON HOLD

S-Rank Mission

    When I reached my teammates, Temari and Kankuro were already there with two other ninja, one a guy looking about our age, the other a girl who looked about twenty.

    We started off by introducing ourselves, Riko beginning, me taking her lead, Sora next, and then Kokoko Sensei. Temari and Kankuro must have assumed we all knew who they were, which we did, and allowed the strangers to go next. The girl went first, her mouth caught in a snarl, her eyes intelligent and on guard, seeming to always keep on watch. She had Halloween purple hair, dark, almost black, that was pulled back in a ponytail. Her flickering eyes were a light yellow, and scanned over us as she spoke. “My name is Jackie Homoichi. My partner and I are normally part of ANBU, so we may not act very...open toward you. We're here to back you up on various parts of the mission.”

    The boy standing next to her gave a small smile, most likely fake on account of him being ANBU. He had light blue hair that was spiked slightly, and big kind eyes, shining and purple. “Hello, my name is Nathan Violet, and, like Jackie said, we will be your new teammates as of today. We may not say much throughout the mission, but, after all, that's what we're used to.” The way he spoke had a soft feeling to it, shy and vulnerable.

    Temari nodded quickly, and, without warning, we set off at full speed across the desert, our legs but a blur. Miles and miles of sand stretched ahead of us, and, even worse, after that, an expanse of watery and wooded area.

    Kill me.

    But, after all, this was a special mission. There was no way I was going to sissy out just because I was going to have to run in some tough terrain. No siree! After all, a Fuji never quits! (At least, that's what my crazy Uncle Lenny always said...)

    After a couple hours of running, I was about steamed. The blueness of the sky was tainted with the orange of dusk, tangerine coloring kissing the horizon, which showed only more sand. The sun was starting to droop from a long day's work.

    Temari skidded to a halt, and the rest of us followed in suit. “We'll set up camp over there,” she said, pointing to our left at a collection of several large rocks and numerous cacti. We slowly walked over, catching our breath, and set up for the night, using our packs as pillows, and some blankets Konkuro brought along.

    Sitting around our roughly made fire, which was helpful, since the turning of night had made the atmosphere chilly, we became silent. Everyone's eyes flicked about, not really sure of what to say and do.

    It was Nathan that broke the silence. “There are more kunoichi here than shinobi!” he laughed, his eyes grazing across us. “We guys will have to stay together!”

    Konkuro smiled. “We will, won't we...uh...Sora, is it?”

    Sora closed his eyes, as if annoyed, and put his hands on his knees, rubbing his forehead. “Sure. Whatever,” he mumbled, looking like their small talk was the most agitating thing in existence.

    I smiled, a piece of my super curly hair falling into my eyes, clouding my vision with dark pink. “Oh, don't you listen to him. Sora can be a real downer, but honestly, he's just a big teddy bear.” I picked at the hem of my cherry skirt, taking a second to peer at the ground.

    Something caught my eye.

    Scuttling across the sand between my black sandals was an assassin beetle, brown and deadly to any insect that crosses its path. I bent down, scooping the thing up, and brought it up to my face, so I could study it more closely. It crawled across my hand, settling down in my palm.

    I smiled. If there's one thing that makes me happy, it's bugs. Don't ask me why, I just love the things. Beetles, flies, any kind, just name them. The others must have noticed, because everyone but those on my team were giving me looks.

    Riko stepped in to explain. “Hotaru over here has a thing for creepy crawlies. Eventually you have to get used to it. After all, we're going to be on this mission for a while.” She took the beetle from my hand, softly setting it on a nearby rock.

    “Anyway,” she continued, “We should be heading off to bed. Who's keeping watch?”

    Nathan nodded to us, turning to face away from the camp, sitting patiently on a rock. I frowned, settling in for a night of sleep. I dreamed of bugs, as I always do, and the night seemed to pass quickly. I had an hour of watch, then passed the turn off to Sora. Eventually, morning came, and we set off one more time. While we were running, Temari spoke. “Okay guys, today we'll be heading into the Land of Rivers. We have time to catch up to the Hidden Leaf ninja, so no lagging, you hear?”

    “Hai!” we all exclaimed in unison, our feet a fuzz.

   Eventually, after hours of running, the sand beneath our feet began to mingle with small patches of grass. We came upon trees, rocks, bushes, and even passed a small stream. Konkuro, who had joined Kokoko Sensei and Temari in the lead, turned back to face the five of us that followed. “We’ll be crossing into the Land of Rivers soon. It’s almost noon, but I think we’ll have enough time to meet the Leaf shinobi before sunset, so don’t wear yourselves out. If you need to slow down, just say so, okay?”

    I nodded, picking up my pace a little. It seemed Riko wasn’t so flattered by what he said. “Yea, yea, yea, wise guy. We’re not genin anymore, ‘ya hear? We’ve been on missions so we know how to run.”

    Kokoko Sensei whipped her head around, her eyes wide and daring. “Shh!” she hissed, giving Riko a stare. Temari simply laughed.

    “Don’t worry, Kokoko. Konkuro needs the occasional bite on the butt. It’d help his cocky personality simmer down a bit. As for you, Riko, we know you’re not genin any longer, and we recognize that as your fellow Hidden Sand shinobi. That’s why your team was chosen for this mission. Lord Gaara thinks you’re valuable and strong ninja, and he’s right. Konkuro probably just doesn’t want you wearing yourselves down proving what we already know.”

    I didn’t really understand what they were talking about. I was full of energy and ready to run like a cheetah all flopping day long! Nathan was speeding along next to me now, Jackie a step behind him. On my other side raced Sora, behind him the fired-up Riko. Feeling an odd source of adrenalin fling through my body, I picked up my pace, coming to run next to Temari. She smiled at me, keeping her even pace.

    Now only grass met our speeding feet and trees zipped past us left and right. Kokoko Sensei, Konkuro, and Temari had slowed down, and I had taken the slight lead. Beginning to jump through the branches of the trees, I heard Sensei speak up from behind me.

    “Hotaru? Are you sure you don’t want to rest a little bit? You’ve been going the same speed for a long while now. You must be tired,” she said, her hushed, shy voice barely reaching me. I smirked, picking up my pace even more. The sky was darkening, and I knew we were close to the Hidden Leaf ninja.

    “Nah, Sensei,” I responded. “I’m fine, I swear. We have to be close to the Leaf now, so what’s the rush for me to slow down?”

    Konkuro’s voice followed mine. “We should see them at any moment now, but I’ll warn you, you’re going to crash at this rate. Have you had any water today?”

    Groaning, I threw my head back in exasperation, slapping my palm against my forehead. “I’m fine, you nagging little-”

    Jumping to the next limb in the middle of my sentence, I found a man standing in my way, and, without the means to stop, ran straight in to the guy. He let out a yelp, and we fell downward, dropping right in the middle of a small shinobi camp.