Bamboo Hearts Firefly

The Bee Sage

Shino couldn't see the thousands of yellow jackets behind the veil of the fog.

But he felt the magnitude of the chakra that commanded them, forming a predatory circle around their prey.

The calling card of a Bee Sage.

"Hm," Shino muttered, pushing his sunglasses up against the bridge of his nose. "It seems I've finally gotten your attention, Beekeeper."

"You, shameless antagonizer," came the voice of his approaching opponent from the fog. "You're from the Aburame Clan of the Hidden Leaf."

"That's right," Shino answered.

"Then you must have a death wish," Beekeeper finally showed himself, stepping out from the fog into the battle with Shino. 

His features completely hidden by his massive beekeeping mask.

"To break through my Barrier Mist Jutsu and drag your murderous crimes into my forest, you Aburame ninja continue to prove yourselves as the termites of the shinobi world," Beekeeper declared. "All you ever hunger for is violence! When is it ever enough for you? What do you Aburame have against peace?"

The bees' buzz song was deafening, sharing their insect master's frustrated rage.

"It seems we've misunderstood each other," Shino said calmly. "The reason is because I'm not here to-"

"You will pay greatly if she dies. Turning your kikaichū against her will not go unavenged," Beekeeper warned Shino. "Surrender her to me and leave this bamboo grove immediately. That is the only compassion you will be shown. If you choose to hold her captive, I and the others like me will hunt you to the ends of the Ninja world."

"That won't do for me. That's because I have questions only she can answer. Until then, she stays with me. So, if you wish to take her," the Aburame muttered, his beetles twitching restlessly as they crawled out of his jacket sleeve and around his forearm. "Then you'll have to capture me too."

"Careful what you ask for, Beetle User," Beekeeper reacquainted Shino with the fog barrier surrounding them. "You're already caught in my web."

But Shino had decided the kunoichi assassin he had defeated would return with him to the Hidden Leaf for questioning.

And he would make sure of that.

"Insect Cocoon Jutsu," Shino commanded, using his insects to enclose an impenetrable husk around his captive, moving her out of harm's way of the impending battle.

"And yet again, Aburame, you've chosen violence. So be it," Beekeeper accepted Shino's defiant move as a challenge. "If I win, you will remain in this bamboo grove forever. The moment you followed her into my jutsu, you chose to share my endless dark night as your destiny."

Gathering a larger swarm of his insects, Shino formed his own spinning wall of beetles against the onslaught of bees that came charging at him next.

His nimble Kikaichū rolling through the fog as they tackled their heavy-weight bee opponents. But what they lacked in size, Shino's insects made up for in speed and their insatiable hunger for chakra.

Nonetheless, the Beekeeper wielded limitless stamina, summoning hive after hive from the bamboo forest.

Knowing that his Aburame rival would only go so far to counterattack his bees, if it meant saving more of his Kikaichū in the end.

The second Shino's bugs clashed antennae to antennae with their yellow jacket contenders, the beetles were outnumbered and brutally devoured at a faster rate than Shino could counter.

And every time a Kika beetle died in battle, Shino felt their life force vanish from his chakra.

Tiny but meaningful holes punctured into his own psyche, leaving him cold and empty with loss, where his insect had once existed but could never return to him again.

Tiny parasitic holes of grief tearing pieces out of his soul.

Kofura, Konushi, Komure, Kononoka...

He counted the loss of every one by name.

And unable to stand the unbearable loss of his colony dying all at once, Shino pulled back.

Refusing to risk anymore of his precious bugs so needlessly.

His insects had done enough to protect him in this fight.

And now, he would protect them this time.

Taking every bee sting against his own body as he used Taijutsu to battle the hive, shielding the rest of his Kikaichū colony safely inside of him.

"You and I knew this day would come," Beekeeper said. "Yet even in the solitude of my exile, you refuse to acknowledge me by my true name...But I suppose behind this Beekeeper's mask, you wouldn't recognize the monster you made out of my face after our last battle. Yet I am still the shinobi who will not be killed. Not until he faces you in battle again one day, Shibi Aburame."

"Wait. It appears you've misjudged me too," Shino tried to reason with him. "The reason is because my name isn't-"

But the beekeeper wasn't listening as he gathered his yellow jackets for the kill.

"1000 Bee Stings!" he declared.

And this time, he was sure he'd win against his long-lived rival.