Bamboo Hearts Firefly

The Bug Master

O' Spider Lily that grows on the mountain called Waiting, is there someone you also promised to meet this autumn?

-Ono No Komachi

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Our last mission as Team 8, huh?...Will Kiba and Hinata remember me when it's over? ...That is, unlike that time Naruto couldn't remember my name...Not even an insect would make that mistake. The reason is because even an ant remembers the scent trail left behind by his comrades...It seems I'm always the last-

But just like every other time Shino talked, his private musings were cut off by Kiba's bark shattering the buggishly harmonious calm of the Sora-Ku forest.

"First, I'll track this guy down with my nose," Kiba rambled on. "And then when I find him, send in your insects!"

"It seems you've never met a Beekeeper before," Shino quietly called him out. "In that case, leave this to me."

"And what are you gonna do? Challenge him to a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors again?" Kiba remarked. "No way I'm gonna let you take all the credit for Hinata's wedding present! Besides, I've met plenty of bees and keepers before. This one won't be any different."

"Beekeepers are honored sages in their clan," Shino said. "So, unless you like getting stung, I suggest we-"

"Hey, do you think that cat-girl we met back there is still talking about us?" Kiba interrupted him again.

"Why? You got a crush on her?"

"Huh? Are you crazy?" Kiba downplayed his interest with a dismissive wave. "Nah, it's nothing like that. This is a crucial time if I'm gonna become the Hokage. There's no time for love!"

"You're too easy to read, Kiba," Shino shook his head, walking ahead of his teammate.

Or maybe it was Shino who read him too deeply.

Always the first to notice the subtlest changes in his teammates, even when they remembered him last.

"Mastering jutsu is more than just about technique. It's about detail," Shibi Aburame always lectured his son, when Shino complained about his rowdy classmates. "Every person, including Kiba and Naruto, knows something you don't. Learn from them."

And so, the young bug master became a collector of his teammates closely guarded secrets.

Like why Hinata always fainted when she saw Naruto. How badly Kiba wished he could prove himself as a respectable alpha male. Or how much Kurenai Sensei's heart still terribly hurt for Asuma.

And Shino?

Could anyone look at him now and guess what he wanted most?

But that was an unfair question to hold against his teammates. Why, you ask?

Because not even Shino understood Shino sometimes.

And when he really thought about the question, Shino couldn't answer it for even himself.

"Dreams, huh?" He contemplated the conversation he'd left off with the Academy students back at the Leaf. "The first step in following your dreams is to..."

The logical answer to that question was simple.

Dream it.

But Shino's dreams weren't an insect, or a hidden jutsu, or a ranked mission, all of which he had successfully mastered as a ninja.