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

Chopper the Kevin

    Riko’s grip on me tightened to the point that I couldn’t breathe.  At first I thought she was kidding around, but as seconds passed I gulped for air, scrambling at her arms, trying to escape, it seemed as though her body had gained an unnatural strength. I fell to my knees, and she followed me down, her grasp not wavering. Something in my arm snapped beneath her clutch, and white hot pain flashed throughout my body. I tried to scream, but it came out as a strangled rasp. My other arm made a cracking noise, and black tugged at my sight.

    In the corner of my eye, I saw Jackie snatch up a decently large rock, sprinting toward us. She lifted it to the sky, and, with a bellow of power, brought it down against Riko’s head. My friend became limp, and flopped to the ground in a heap. Warm air gushed into my lungs, and I allowed it to come, gulping it in blissfully. My arms burned, my rips ached, and my face was hot. “Th-thanks, Jackie,” I croaked, my throat raw. In response, the ANBU Black Op simply nodded her violet head, tossing her rock to the side.

    Kakashi came forward, lifting Riko up and lying her next to Shino without a word. His one eye, the other being hid behind his headband, studied her, then gave me a pondering look. “Does anyone have any idea what just happened?” he asked, raising a silver eyebrow. I shook my head, still on edge from the attack.

    Sakura knelt next to me, poking at my arm. Wherever she touched felt like it temporarily burst into flames, and I yelped, scooting away. She furrowed her brow, glancing from me to Kakashi and from Kakashi to Kokoko Sensei. “Riko broke her arms.”

     Say what now?!

     This was not my day.

     I started to say something, but Kokoko Sensei beat me to it. “How is it possible they have that much strength? Riko is used to long distance fighting, and her chakra isn’t strong enough to simply break arms. As for Sora, he hit Shino under the chin with the strength of about six trained shinobi. On top of that, they both tried to hurt not only Hotaru, but also gave Shino a concussion! A serious one!”

    I became quiet, deep in thought, and Sakura shrugged, beginning to heal my arms with medical ninjutsu. Nathan, though seeming timid about it, came forth to feel Sora’s forhead. In response, Sora groaned, squeezing his eyes shut even tighter. The blue-headed ANBU then moved to Shino, lightly touching his jaw, which was obviously broken, and then took Riko’s hand, squeezing it lightly.

    “Hinata, is it? You use Byakugan, correct?” he asked, turning toward the timid Leaf shinobi. She blushed, nodding quickly. Nathan then glanced at Kiba. “And you a strong smeller?”

    “The best!” Dog Boy bragged, beaming pleasantly. Lastly, he raised an eyebrow at Naruto, who was fixated by the swelling redness of my arms for some reason.

    “And Naruto,” he said, attracting the Jinchuuriki’s attention. “You can detect chakra with your Sage Mode, correct?”

    Naruto blinked, his bright blue eyes widening. “Yes? How do you know all of this?” he asked, scratching the back of his spiky blonde head. Nathan stood from being at Riko’s side to begin lightly brushing his fingers over the red section of my right arm, frowning when I winced.

    He opened his mouth to speak, pausing for a moment. He shot Jackie a glance, then returned his attention to the host of the Nine Tails. “Jackie and I are a part of the Hidden Sand ANBU. We know lots about you, all of you. Before I explain what we should have when we first began this mission, I suggest you start building up nature chakra for your Sage Mode. I’m going to need the three of you to survey the area.”

    For a moment, Naruto hesitated, but soon afterward he found a place by a singular tree, sitting crisscross applesauce (or Idian style, even though, technically, there isn’t an India or a North America in the Naruto series). He sat there for several minutes, his eyes closed in concentration, his fists pressed together before him. Soon enough, orange and red came to adorn his closed eyelids, and he stood, back to attention, his pupils horizontal rectangles, his irises amber in color. He nodded at Hinata and Kiba, who blinked in response. “Byakugan!” Hinata called, veins webbing around her eyes, lines appearing in her pupil-less eyes. Kiba began sniffing the air, and Naruto gazed into the trees with concentration.

    After a short moment, they all gave each other a shocked look. “Six powerful ninja are watching us,” Hinata hissed in a whisper, causing my spine to tingle in anxiousness.

    “Yea,” Kiba snapped. “They smell like bad news.”

    A strong wind blew past us, rustling the leaves of the trees around us, lifting my pile of pink hair off my shoulders, throwing it into the wind. I tried to control the bundle of rosy locks, but, seeing as my arms were broken, it was pretty hard. “Ow, darn it,” I hissed, unaware of what was happening.

    I tore my gaze from my hair, focusing on the object- no- person that had just appeared. He was a monster of a man, with massive, muscled shoulders, who stood easily over 6’ 5”. He had long, navy blue hair, scowling black eyes, and wore a tightly fitting gray kimono. “Hello,” he said in a gravelly voice that sent a chill up my throbbing arms. “My name is Kevin.”

     For a moment, we all stood in silence, the uninjured preparing for attack, drawing kunai and regaining fighting stances. I stood awkwardly, my arms limp at my sides, and looked him over. Everyone was glaring at the human bear.

    That is, everyone but me.

    I broke the silence with a laugh, which soon turned into many. Eventually, I was standing there guffawing like some sort of drunk lunatic. “Kevin?!” I burst, attempting to hold a stitch in my side and failing miserably. “Here you are, this massive, scary man, with scars on yours hands and more muscles than a T-Rex, and your name is some random thing like Kevin?! Bahaha!”

    Kevin glared like I’d stolen his exercise machine and burnt it. “What did you say?” he rawred (yes, I am aware that I just said rawred). “Because it sounds like you just insulted my name.”

    I giggled one last time, wiping a tear of bemusement from my eye with my shoulder. “I was thinking something like Chopper. How about Kevin the Chopper? Kevin Chopper? Chopper Kevin? Something along those lines.”

    Chopper Kevin ground his teeth together, knitting his eyebrows together in a massive, fuzzy caterpillar on his forehead. “I’ll kill you if you don’t shut up.”

     To be honest, Mr. Chopper, I want to real bad. I just feel like insulting someone, considering the fact that my best friend broke both my arms and all. I need to make someone feel stupid. Why not a guy named after the big-nosed Jonas Brother?! I thought to myself.

    “Chopper the Kevin.”

    “That is it!” he growled, racing forward, knocking my teammates aside like bowling pins. His hand in a fist, his neck vein pulsing. In seconds, he was right in front of me, his fist held to the sky. With one arm clutching the other, my eyes wide, my hair still floating in the wind, I watched as he brought his fist, roughly the size of head, down toward my face, ready to kill me with one massively strong hit.