This fic is a oneshot written for the Naruto Crack Pairing Challenge. For other crack pairing oneshots, see my 'Improbability' series. Check my profile for the rules of the challenge. The pairing for this fic was decided by random number generator, so please don't tell me it's improbable. I know that. That is the point of the challenge.

A/N: This was way, way too hard to write for a multitude of reasons. Mostly because I ship Shikamaru and Temari with a burning passion, and switching ships is harder than you'd think, even if it's just for a crackfic. The other reason was because I had the bright idea to write in third-person-limited for Shino, and Shino is ridiculously hard to write. I hope it's compelling...

For other crackfics in this series, check out:

Red Spider Lilies (Ino x Kimimaro)
Rivals (Konohamaru x Hanabi)
Sunrise (Karin x Tenten)

The next oneshot will be either Sasuke x Gaara or Hinata x Suigetsu. My nanowrimo account is linked in my profile. Check there for more information about future pairings and stats about my progress.

Perspicacity
Shikamaru x Shino
Difficulty: Medium
Ship name: Insightshipping

They never noticed him.

It had been that way as long as Shino could remember. When his parents had taken him to the playground to let him be with other children his age for the first time, the other children never even stopped to look at him. They'd just kept running about, shrieking and jumping and climbing over things. Shino had waited in the shade of the big oak tree watching ants until his parents had come to pick him up again.

The next time, he'd tried to introduce himself.

But he hadn't even gotten past, "Pleasure to make your acquaintance-" before another kid with Inuzuka marks on his face had held up a stick and screamed "Who wants to play ninja?" and the boy he'd been talking to turned and ran to play in the middle of his sentence.

Shino had been left in the corner of the playground alone, as all the other children flocked around the Inuzuka boy, declaring themselves ninja princesses and villainous feudal lords and ANBU agents.

Shino had waited under the tree that time, too. He'd put down pieces of his apple for the ants, and watched them carry it away to their home. But even the ants never noticed him. They only noticed the apple.

He didn't know how to play the other children's games, but that was to be expected. He was an only child, and all of his cousins were much older than him. At home, he read books and played by himself in the grove of trees surrounding the Aburame clan residence. The Aburame weren't a very big clan, but they were big enough to have a small area of the neighborhood where most of them lived and a little park with trees. Not like the Hyuga, who had a series of compounds, or the Uchiha, who had a whole district to themselves. So there weren't many children his age.

The third time he went to the park, things went a little differently.

He gave up on trying to talk to the other children. He went straight under his tree, and watched a caterpillar crawling up the bark for a few minutes.

The other children had ignored him. That still hurt, even though he'd begun to expect that much from his visits to the playground. He was still wondering whether he could convince his father to let him stay home and read instead of going to the playground, since he wasn't socializing with children his age either way.

That's when a young boy with his hair in a spiky ponytail ambled by, following a round-faced boy with spirals on his cheeks.

The boy with the ponytail didn't say anything, but as he passed by, his eyes flicked to Shino.

He noticed him.

His black eyes were keen. He didn't say anything to Shino, but he saw him. As he passed, he gave Shino a nod.

Shino nodded back.

It wasn't quite as good as a conversation, but at least someone had finally seen him, noticed him standing in the shadow of the tree watching the other children play. Someone had nodded at him. He'd been acknowledged.

The boy with the ponytail and the round-faced boy were heading for the group of the other children who were playing hide-and-seek. They were talking to the ringleader, the boy with the Inuzuka stripes on his cheeks, when the Inuzuka boy glanced over to where Shino was sitting under the tree.

Mere moments later, the Inuzuka nodded and headed towards Shino.

Shino stared back, nonplussed.

"Hey, you!" the Inuzuka called. "I'm Kiba! What's your name?"

"My name is Shino," he said, confused. "What do you want?"

"Shikamaru said you wanted to play with us but you were too shy to ask." Kiba frowned. "You don't gotta ask, y'know. Just come play."

"Shikamaru?" he questioned.

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Shikamaru Nara. Over there." He pointed- not altogether surprisingly- towards the boy with the ponytail.

So his name was Shikamaru. Of the Nara clan, no less. Shino glanced at him, but he had his hands in his pockets and wasn't looking in his direction.

"Oh. I see."

"So do you wanna play or not?"

"I would enjoy engaging in recreational activities with you, yes."

Kiba snorted. "You're weird."

Shino tensed up, but the Inuzuka just waved at him. "Come on, we're playing Pirates versus Ninjas and we need one more." He grinned. "You can be on Akamaru's and my team- we're gonna be the Pirates!"

He took Shino by the arm and dragged him over to where the other children were standing.

As Kiba marshaled his forces, Shino walked over to where Shikamaru slouched against the swing set.

"Thank you for helping me," he said, bowing formally. "I am indebted to you. Why? Because you told Kiba I wanted to join his group."

Shikamaru glanced at him out of the corner of the eye. "Troublesome," he muttered. "I didn't do anything much."

"I am grateful nevertheless."

"Whatever. Just go talk to him yourself next time. It's a pain, but it's better than standing around waiting for someone to notice you."

Shino nodded, and then paused. "How did you know I wanted to play with them?" he asked in honest curiosity. "I didn't say anything."

Shikamaru stifled a yawn. "S'obvious," he mumbled. "Anyone could see it."

"I don't think so."

"Dunno." Shikamaru turned away, clearly indicating the conversation was over. Shino accepted this with a nod and went back over to the group of children.

Whatever Shikamaru might say, Shino knew better. People didn't notice him. If they did, they shied away, assuming he preferred to be left alone. They didn't look at him for a moment, realize what he actually wanted, and then go make it happen. That meant that Shikamaru was, contrary to all appearances, both very bright and very kind.

"Are you playing or not?" demanded Kiba. "C'mon, I want you on my team. Akamaru likes you."

It was, therefore, entirely thanks to Shikamaru that Shino entered the Ninja Academy with a small group of casual friends.

It was a priceless gift- loners at the Academy were bullied mercilessly despite the best efforts of the chunin instructors. The civilian girl Sakura Haruno and the war orphan Naruto were the primary targets, since they lacked any clan affiliations or impressive skills to defend themselves. Nevertheless, they probably would have gone after Shino if he weren't indubitably part of Kiba's crew.

On the first day of school, when Iruka-sensei had called attendance for the first time, Shino was first, as 'Aburame'. Akimichi, Choji was next.

Perhaps midway through: "Nara, Shikamaru."

"Here," mumbled a boy's voice.

Shino turned his head to look, hiding his surprise.

He'd assumed Shikamaru was older than him by at least a year. If he didn't look it, he definitely acted like it. But if he was here in the same Academy class as him, then they must be the same age.

"Speak up, please. Uchiha, Sasuke?"

"Here."

"Uzumaki, Naruto?"

"I'm here, dattebayo!"

Iruka finally finished calling roll with 'Yamanaka, Ino', and nodded in satisfaction.

"It looks like everyone's present and accounted for," he said. "Now, let's go around the room and introduce ourselves. Tell everyone your name and what you like, and why you want to become a ninja. Shino-kun?"

Shino froze as all eyes turned to him. He wasn't used to being the center of attention. "My name is Shino," he said, keeping his voice carefully flat. "I am from the Aburame clan-"

"Eww…" muttered one of the girls. "Bugs. Gross."

There were titters from some of the other students.

Shino folded his arms and glared at her.

"Silence!" Iruka said sharply. "The Aburame clan are an invaluable part of Konoha's Shinobi Corps. You would do well to remember that. Shino-kun, please continue."

"I am from the Aburame Clan," he repeated. "My dream is to research, discover, and tame new kinds of insects. Why? Because insects are fascinating and it is my duty to succeed my father as the clan head. It is for this same reason I would like to become a ninja."

"Very good. Choji-kun?"

"I'm Choji Akimichi," said the round-faced boy. Shino recognized him as being friends with Shikamaru. "I like eating yummy food and watching the clouds. I want to become a ninja to protect my friends and family."

Iruka continued down the line. The Yamanaka girl looked especially miffed as he proceeded down with her at the very end. Shikamaru looked as though he'd fallen asleep.

A girl with striking pink hair and wide green eyes stood up. "I'm Sakura Haruno," she said, sounding anxious. "I like to read. I want to become a ninja to become strong and learn every technique in the whole world."

Hinata Hyuga was a tiny girl with dark hair and pale eyes. She spoke in a small voice. "M-my name is H-Hinata Hyuga. I like sweet things and sunflowers. I want to become a great ninja someday: s-strong like my father and kind like my mother."

Not long after that, Kiba was called up.

"My name is Kiba Inuzuka," he said cheerfully. "This is my buddy Akamaru. We're partners."

A few of the girls went 'Awww…' at the small white puppy on Kiba's shoulder.

"I like playing with Akamaru and running around the village," he declared. "I want to be a ninja so I can be my sister's second-in-command when she's head of the Inuzuka clan. Also, I think it'll be super cool."

There wave of appreciative laughs at that. Kiba grinned and sat down.

Two more boys went, and then a girl. Then Iruka-sensei called "Shikamaru?"

The boy with the ponytail pushed himself up from his desk. He regarded the classroom with apathy uncharacteristic of a seven-year-old.

"I'm Shikamaru Nara," he said. "I like napping. I don't really want to be a ninja."

Then he yawned. He sat back down, crossed his arms on his desk and rested his head on top of them. He closed his eyes, and promptly fell asleep in front of the entire Academy class and a dismayed chunin instructor Iruka.

Shino hid a smile behind his coat collar.

"But Sensei," Choji protested, tears in his eyes. "I can't fight Shikamaru. He's my best friend. I don't want to hurt him."

"Choji, you aren't going to seriously injure him. But you both need to learn to fight. I can't let you graduate if you aren't ready to fight in any situation."

Choji just shook his head miserably. "I can't."

"I understand. But it's my job to train you to be ninja," Iruka said. "Ninja have to fight a lot of the time. You won't be able to choose then, so you have to practice now to prepare yourself for the danger."

"I'm sorry, Sensei." Choji looked down at his feet.

Shikamaru yawned and casually walked outside of the circle. "Hey, sensei," he called. "I left the boundaries after the match started. Doesn't that mean I'm disqualified?"

"Shikamaru!" Iruka remonstrated. "You know better than that."

Shikamaru just shrugged. "Anyway, that means Choji wins, right? Can I go sit down now?"

Iruka sighed. "You kids, I swear. Fine, go sit down. Sakura, Naruto, it's your turn up next."

Kiba was standing next to Shino outside the sparring circle. He huffed and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Shikamaru is so lazy," he groused. "He's never going to get promoted past genin. He'll get his headband and spend all day watching the clouds. What is he even in the Academy for?"

Shino considered that.

"I don't think so," he said quietly. "You can't know that for certain. Why? Because Shikamaru might live for many years. Anything could happen in that time. It's possible he could even become a Jounin commander or a strategist like his father someday."

Kiba snorted. "Yeah, right. That's less likely than Naruto becoming Hokage."

"Anything could happen," Shino insisted.

"Aw, quit nitpicking. Why do you even care?"

"Because-"

"Hush up already. I'm tryn'a watch Naruto beat up Sakura."

"I doubt that will happen." Shino said. "Why? Because Naruto has a crush on Sakura. It seems likely that he will also be unwilling to fight her."

Sure enough, Naruto was already protesting to Iruka-sensei that he couldn't possibly fight a girl because he was afraid to hurt her. Sakura was taking offense at this and insisting that he fight her because it might hurt her grade to abstain from fighting.

"Come on, already," Kiba groaned. "I wanna watch someone get beat up already."

The vein in Iruka-sensei's temple was pulsing dangerously. "Fine," he ground out. "Go sit down, both of you. Shino, Kiba, get up here. I hope you two at least don't have any kind of objection to fighting each other?"

Kiba grinned. "None at all. Can Akamaru fight too?"

"I suppose so," Iruka said. "Now get up here. The younger students will be using the training yard at noon, so we have ten minutes to fit in a good exhibition match. You can use the Academy kata, no ninjutsu."

"Awesome. No hard feelings when I crush you, Shino!"

Years passed and Shikamaru and Shino spoke to each other only rarely.

Shino did not care to join Kiba, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji in skipping class on the occasion, and for whatever reason Iruka-sensei rarely put them together for team projects or two-on-two battles. Perhaps he thought that with Shino's reticence and Shikamaru's evident lack of motivation, they wouldn't make a very good combination.

Gradually, they became upper years in the Academy. They studied hard and mastered their techniques, finally passing their final exams. When team selection came around, Shino found himself hoping vaguely that they might be put on the same team.

"Team Seven," Iruka began. "Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto cheered; Sakura groaned. The Uchiha looked out the window impassively.

"Team Eight. Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, and Kiba Inuzuka."

Shino wasn't disappointed, exactly.

He knew Kiba well, and while the Inuzuka sometimes rubbed him the wrong way, their relationship was more friendly than adversarial. Kiba was loud but reliable, and he'd be a great shinobi someday.

As for Hinata, he didn't know her well. Still, he'd observed that while she was soft-spoken, she had enormous determination and focus when she was working toward a goal. She too had great potential. Her main obstacle was her confidence, and she would gain that quickly enough with some field experience.

All the same, he couldn't resist glancing at Shikamaru out of the corner of his eye.

Shikamaru glanced up at him, though he couldn't possibly have known that Shino was looking at him from that angle, and caught his eye briefly.

Shino looked away. What had he been expecting? Iruka-sensei would have made the teams based on who worked well together in class- though that didn't quite account for Team Seven- and he shouldn't be surprised that he and Shikamaru would be separate. What compatibility had the two of them ever demonstrated?

"Team Ten. Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka."

Choji looked pleased; Ino looked outraged. Shikamaru yawned.

That, too, was expected. Their fathers had been a great team. It was natural that they would be assigned together, to achieve that same combination of abilities. Likewise, Team Seven was most likely designed to be a front-line battle squad- with Naruto, who was a powerhouse of stamina if nothing else, Sakura, who had potential to be a medic or a genjutsu specialist, and Sasuke, who was already showing proficiency several kinds of ninjutsu.

As for his own team, it was clearly designed as a tracking or search team. The combination of Hyuga and Inuzuka was less common- typically Hyuga were put in heavy-hitter squads for their strong offensive melee capabilities. It was a gesture of how much the instructors underestimated Hinata that they would put her on a team of mere trackers.

"You'll meet your jounin instructors shortly." Iruka informed them. "They should be by in the next half hour. Wait here until then." He smiled. "Now, for the last time, class is dismissed. I'm so proud of you all."

Kurenai-sensei was very skilled for being promoted to Jounin at such a young age.

She was also very kind. She made a special effort to make Hinata feel welcome first of all, clearly having heard previously about her issues with confidence. It was had to tell whether this had much effect, since Hinata was stuttering and red-faced at meeting a new person. She'd also resumed her usual habit of fiddling with the hem of her sleeves.

Then she'd addressed Kiba, complimenting him on how well he'd raised Akamaru. She wasn't just playing nice, either: Shino could see how she was looking at Kiba's partner ninken, analyzing his strength and his growth, how large he was and how much of an asset he was likely to be in battle. Kiba didn't notice, but Shino did.

Like everyone else, she noticed Shino last.

"I hear you're a member of the Aburame clan," she said thoughtfully. "Does that mean you have your insect colony already?"

"Yes," he said quietly. Kiba looked surprised- that was because Shino hadn't mentioned it to anyone. He'd see how people reacted to seeing his insects, and he'd learned not to bring it up in class. But he couldn't avoid a direct question from his jounin instructor.

She didn't look bothered by it at all, though. Rather, she looked pleased. "That's great! It'll be a great help on missions to have them. Would you mind showing us?"

Shino held out his hand and instructed his insects to follow his chakra signal out of his body. They did so, and a thin stream of beetles formed a thick dark cloud around him. A few of them landed on his face.

"Ew," Kiba said, wrinkling his nose.

Shino stiffened.

"Now, Kiba," Kurenai-sensei scolded him. "That's no way to talk about your teammate's abilities."

"Yeah, sorry," Kiba said, only sounding a little bit apologetic. "But yuck, I mean, look, they're going up his nose and everything! That's nasty!"

"Do you know what his beetles do?" Kurenai asked patiently.

"Not really?"

"Shino, would you care to explain?"

He didn't want to explain, not really. He wasn't good at talking to people- Kiba criticized his 'nitpicking' often enough. But it wouldn't do to refuse an order from his jounin instructor on the very first day of training."

"My beetles live off of the chakra of the ninja they form colonies in," Shino explains. "Why? Because it is a symbiotic relationship in which both parties benefit. My beetles eat my chakra, as well as the chakra of my enemies, and in exchange I tame them for battle."

"So they're a very important asset to Konoha," added their jounin instructor. "We are very lucky to have the Aburame clan contributing to the defense of the village."

"But if they eat your chakra..." Kiba said, trailing off.

"They eat only a portion of it. While I have less chakra than most of my peers as a result, I also have a very valuable skill that they do not."

"Yes," Kurenai said with a smile. "That's true. Actually, everyone in this team is blessed with a special set of clan abilities. Have any of you inherited any of your clan's hidden techniques yet?"

"Akamaru and I are working on that," Kiba said with a grin. "Mom already taught us Dynamic Marking, and we can do Man-Beast clones. Our Fang-Over-Fang technique is awesome!"

"I-I am learning Jyuken," Hinata said miserably. "I am not very good at it. I'll try to improve."

"But you can use the Byakugan, can't you?"

"Y-yes... but not as well as Neji-nii-san or even Hanabi."

"Well, I don't know anything about your sister, but I'm given to understand that your older cousin is something of a prodigy. I'm acquainted with his jounin instructor, Maito Gai, and he says Neji is quite outside the norm. In any case, not everyone has the same skill sets. This team will focus on tracking and espionage, so it isn't necessary to have much martial prowess with the Byakugan."

"I see," Hinata said. She didn't sound terribly comforted by this. Shino realized that she probably knew that being put on a tracker team didn't speak well of the Academy's appraisal of her skills. "I'll do my best."

Kurenai realized her mistake and winced. "Being a tracker is harder than it sounds. Don't think that just because you aren't a front-line strike squad that you won't face conflict. I'm going to focus on taijutsu for all of you much more strongly than espionage. You're genin, so undercover missions will be more important later."

Hinata was still looking down. Kiba just looked nonplussed.

"And you, Shino, what techniques can you use?"

"I can make Insect Clones," Shino said diffidently. "The rest of my techniques rely on my being able to unfailingly direct my beetles, which so far has proven difficult for me. I can manipulate them to an extent, but not much farther."

"I see. That's something we'll have to work on. Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all. As you all know, I'm Kurenai Yuuhi. I was just recently promoted to jounin, so you're all my first team. I specialize in genjutsu, but I promise that isn't all I have to teach you.

"So what now?" Kiba enquired.

"Well, there's a tradition for students fresh out of the Academy. It's expected that their new jounin instructor will test their abilities in a mock-mission situation. For us, I think the best thing for you to do would be to work together to attack me, so I can get an idea of your attacking styles and abilities. You each have strikingly unique techniques, so it's best to make sure that I and your other teammates have a good notion of what you can do in battle."

"Fight you?" Hinata asked, looking horrified. "B-but there's no way that we could possibly beat you-!"

"That's not the point," Kurenai-sensei said kindly. "The point is that we learn about each other and practice working together. As your instructor, I need to know what you've already learned and what areas we need to work on."

"C'mon, Hinata, we can totally win!"

"That seems unlikely," Shino said blandly. "Why? Because even though the Academy teaches us that three genin can take on a jounin and potentially escape, it isn't said that three genin can defeat a jounin. Moreover, we are not trained as genin yet, but are rather fresh out of the Academy. The rule of three genin against one jounin applies to genin with several years of seniority and training."

"Don't be such a spoilsport, Shino," Kiba said dismissively. "We can take her."

"I merely state the truth."

"Please, don't fight," Hinata said timidly. "M-maybe we should just try our hardest and hopefully everything will work out."

"I like your attitude, kid." Kiba said approvingly.

"You shouldn't be so condescending," Shino pointed out. "You're the same age, anyway."

Hinata looked down. "I don't mind. You can call me whatever you like, Kiba-kun."

"Naw, it's fine. Hinata it is."

The Hyuga offered him a tentative smile, but her eyebrows were still drawn together worriedly. "When shall we start, Kurenai-sensei?" She asked uncertainly. "Are we going to do the survival test right away?"

"No," Kurenai said with a smile. "Meet back here tomorrow. I wouldn't give you a test without warning you about it beforehand. I want to see the full extent of your abilities, so make sure you get a full night's sleep and eat a good breakfast before you come. We'll start at eight in the morning, and hopefully we'll be able to wrap it up by noon."

"All right," Kiba said agreeably. "That sounds fair."

On a rooftop across town, Kakashi sneezed.

"What were you saying, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked curiously. "About a survival test?"

Kakashi grinned behind his mask. "That's right. It'll be terrifying, so you might want to skip breakfast. You'd just puke it up out of fear, anyway."

Naruto's eyes widened in dismay. "It's going to be that bad?"

"I'd better not say anymore," Kakashi said in mock dismay. "I wouldn't want you to lose sleep over it."

"No worries!" Naruto said. "I'm going to stay up late and get some extra training in."

Kakashi gave a mental sigh. Were all genin so hopelessly easy to manipulate? This was why he never accepted a genin team. Honestly.

Sasuke stared him down menacingly, but didn't make any comments on the ridiculousness of that advice. In Kakashi's experience, the only time you really and truly didn't want to eat before training was if you were doing tracking training- in which case you could just eat odorless food- or before torture desensitization training, in which case you really would throw it up almost immediately and regret having eaten. Basically any other time, it was better to have something in your gut than to go it on an empty stomach.

Sakura nodded obediently. Clearly she didn't even think of disobeying an order from a superior. That was a good trait in some situations- but not in others. She needed to learn to use her judgment in the field.

As for Naruto... well, he was just hopeless, wasn't he?

Kakashi sneezed again. Curse his allergies, it was pollen season again.

"Of course. There's no way I could judge the full extent of your abilities if you didn't come into this prepared," Kurenai agreed. "No jounin instructor would try to trick their students on the first day of training."

"What time are we meeting?" Shino asked

"Six in the morning should be fine. I expect to see you all there, on time. I don't want us to have an adversarial relationship, but I expect each and every one of you to always try your hardest as a part of Team 8. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sensei," they chorused.

"Good. You're dismissed for the day, then."

The survival test went well.

Everyone had arrived at six o'clock on the dot, except for Shino, who'd shown up exactly five minutes early as was his wont. To his dismay, Hinata, who had arrived after him, didn't seem to notice him lurking in the shadow of the oak tree in the center of the practice field. It seemed that for all of his hopes, Shikamaru was still the only one who noticed him all the time.

He'd quietly made his presence known though, and she'd greeted him cheerfully enough. When Kiba showed up just a little while later, he'd proclaimed that he had his 'war face' on and was 'ready to roll'.

They'd fought Kurenai-sensei and lost in pretty short order.

It hadn't gone badly, though. It could have been much worse. They'd worked together well enough, and afterwards Kurenai-sensei had praised them for their determination and good teamwork.

Then she'd lectured them strictly on all the things they'd done wrong and what they needed to work on for the future. It had been a long discussion, with her soliciting suggestions and self-criticisms, as well as ideas for how to improve their battle strategy. Hinata proved to have several good ideas, and Kiba a propensity for interrupting.

It would be a good team, Shino could tell.

Lives change slowly.

It wasn't long before Shino found himself growing accustomed to his new teammates and his status as a genin. As a team, he had to admit he, Kiba, and Hinata were a well-balanced trio. Kurenai-sensei was quick to figure out how best to manage them, how to keep Kiba from saying all of the tactless things that sprang to his tongue at a moment's notice, but how to still give him the freedom he craved and not make him feel stifled. Shino could tell that she would have been willing to be a confidant or a special mentor to Hinata, but Hinata herself didn't seem to notice this and in then end the silent offer was never taken up.

As for Shino himself, Kurenai-sensei treated him much like the others.

They began going on D-rank missions: painting houses, pulling weeds from the farmers' rice plots, even babysitting. Kiba grumbled at the work, but Kurenai-sensei gave them the talk about how it was important to do D-ranks to hone the proper temperament and focus you would need for more difficult missions. Kiba still hadn't been happy, but she'd promised to try and get them a C-ranked mission after they'd finished their first ten or so D-ranks. After that, he'd been eager to finish them all as quickly as possible.

Lives change slowly, and so do people.

Shino remembered when he first realized that Kurenai and Asuma were a couple, or at least headed in that direction.

It was after that second D-rank, the one where they'd all ended up splattered in paint after Hinata had tripped and fallen into the scaffolding where they were painting the house. It hadn't been enough to tip over the entire scaffolding, but it had definitely been enough to knock the buckets of paint from the top.

Kurenai had just finished giving them a lecture about mindfulness as they trooped miserably to the mission center (to report the mission as completed but failed) when a vaguely familiar-looking man approached them with a grin.

He was tall, with darkly tanned skin and sideburns. Two trench knives hung from his belt; they glinted silver in the light. On the other side hung a rumpled breechcloth with the insignia of the land of fire stamped on it. Shino recognized it almost immediately from his lessons in history class- a white breechcloth with a red insignia on it was the symbol of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve, the ones who were the personal bodyguards of the Daimyo and his inner circle. It was a mark of extreme status.

Once Shino noticed that, it was easy to tell who the man was.

Asuma Sarutobi, the son of the Third Hokage and the only shinobi currently alive in Konoha to have been part of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve. There was another survivor; a man named Chiriku in the Fire temple on the outskirts of Konoha's forest. The rest had died in the line of duty, for all of their skills, for all of their abilities.

Asuma also had a cigarette in his mouth; when he saw Kurenai, he hurriedly pulled it out and ground it under his foot.

Interesting.

He had a wide smile as he surveyed them.

"So this is your troop of misfits, huh, Kurenai?"

Kurenai looked up from her lecture and smiled.

"Asuma! Yes, I suppose so. Where are yours?"

"In the mission office. Ino already knows how the process goes, so I don't need to walk them through it every time. That's what comes of having a father in the T&I division- you already know how to fill out all the paperwork."

So that was where he'd recognized Asuma- he was Team Ten's jounin leader.

Asuma and Kurenai kept talking as Kurenai led them inside. Asuma put his hand on her elbow in a companionable manner, and she didn't shrug him off. Instead, she smiled warmly as he asked her about what her genin had gotten themselves into to get them covered head-to-toe in paint.

"What's up with that guy?" Kiba asked in confusion. "Well, whatever. If he got Kurenai-sensei to stop halfway through a lecture, he's all right in my book."

That was when it clicked. Because Kurenai was very serious about her students learning from their mistakes, and stopping in the middle of a justified lecture after a very big and very embarrassing mission failure was something she just didn't do. Even Hinata looking miserable and giving the unconscious puppy-dog-eyes wasn't enough to compel her. She didn't stop lecturing until she was sure each of them understood what they'd done wrong and how to rectify their errors in the future.

"Kurenai-sensei seems very fond of Asuma-sensei," Hinata whispered, as though she was afraid someone might get angry if she said it out loud.

Kiba frowned; then something seemed to register, and his expression cleared. "Oh, you mean they're dating," he said loudly. "That's cool."

Up ahead, Asuma missed a step and nearly tripped. Kurenai sensei seemed to be holding in laughter.

"I guess they're trying to keep it a secret?"

"Maybe. Hey, look! It's Choji and them!"

Sure enough, as they walked into the mission assignment room, they found team ten. Ino was in the front, reporting on their mission-something about a garden, apparently- as Choji munched on a bag of chips beside her. Shikamaru was slouching, looking entirely disinterested with the whole thing.

As they walked in, Shikamaru's eyes flicked up to them. As always, he noticed Shino- although it was hard to tell whether it was because of any unusual level of perspicacity on Shikamaru's part, or whether it was due to the fact that Shino had a large splatter of yellow paint on the front of his jacket.

The two team leaders stepped apart, nodding deferentially to the Hokage as they walked in. It was hard to tell whether they actually thought they were hiding the fact that they were obviously completely head over heels in love with each other, but that was at least what it looked like they were trying to accomplish.

Shino looked back to Team Ten. It wasn't clear whether or not Shikamaru was amused at seeing their team in a paint splattered state, but it didn't matter. Ino turned to them, mouth agape and eyes wide.

"What did you DO to yourselves?" she demanded. "Why is Shino yellow? What even happened?"

"Painting accident, lady, now get out of our faces!" Kiba snapped.

Ino drew herself up. "Excuse me?"

The Hokage coughed. "If you would care to continue your mission report, Yamanaka-chan?"

Ino flushed. "Of course, Lord Hokage. Sorry."

She shot Kiba a dirty look. Kiba just raised an eyebrow- a pink-paint spattered eyebrow, which didn't much help his case.

After the briefing, Shino slipped outside as Kiba and Ino were still arguing.

He'd managed to rub off the better part of the yellow paint splatter on his jacket when he heard the sound of motion beside him. When he turned to look, he saw Shikamaru sitting down to his left on the bench.

"What do you want?" he asked.

Shikamaru shrugged, tilting his head back to look at the clouds. "A place to sit."

"Won't your team miss you?"

"I doubt it."

"Did you want to talk?"

"I guess."

Shino waited. Shikamaru would get around to saying what he'd come to say at some point, and until he was ready to talk, no amount of prodding would compel him to say anything.

A few moments passed. Then Shikamaru sighed, pulling his knee to his chest.

"It's a warm day," he said pensively.

"Yes," Shino agreed.

"Are you trying to hide from someone?"

Shino cast him an odd look. "Why do you ask?"

"You get worked up about being noticed. Then you go hide under a tree outside the mission center. It's like you're trying deliberately not to be noticed, even though I know it bothers you a lot."

Shino frowned. "I'm not hiding from anyone."

"Hinata worries when you disappear like that. She thinks you do it because you're upset with her or Kiba."

"How do you know that?"

Shikamaru just shrugged. "People are just too obvious about what they're thinking. When she gets stressed out or thinks someone's angry with her, she does this thing where she pulls at the sleeves of her jacket. Then she looks at the ground and her eyebrows come together. That's what she does when she notices you're gone suddenly."

"And Kiba?"

"He hasn't noticed you're gone yet. When he does, he'll get irritated and think you're trying to skip out on doing the work."

"Why were you paying so much attention to them, anyway?"

Shikamaru cast an uncomfortable glance over his shoulder. "I don't like unsolved puzzles. So you do stupid things that only ever end up making you miserable, and I want to know why. You weren't surprised when I told you Hinata worries, so you must have known that already. I don't know why you would just not pay attention to that when you're clearly someone who cares about what his teammates think."

"How do you do it?" Shino asked without looking at him.

"Do what?" Shikamaru asked disinterestedly.

"See me. Notice me."

Shikamaru shrugged. "You're always in plain sight."

"Most people don't. See me, that is."

"You over think things. So you're troublesome. Hard to miss, even if I wanted to."

"I don't understand."

Shikamaru rubbed his forehead irritably. "You're just always standing there. Worrying about things, thinking about things. Whatever. And even if there's a simple solution, you don't do anything about it. Which is fine, whatever. But you just get more and more worked up. I don't get why."

"Thinking about things?"

"Yeah. You think too hard, and I can see it, and it's troublesome."

"I don't understand," Shino confessed. "Why does it matter to you?"

Shikamaru cast him a weary glare. "Why do you think?"

"I don't know. That's why I asked the question. I should think that was self-evident."

Shikamaru huffed. "I hate having to do other people's thinking for them. Work it out yourself. I'm tired."

"You like to hear yourself talk," Shino muttered under his breath.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Are you always so melodramatic? That's just way too troublesome."

"Usually I don't say it all out loud," Shino admitted.

Shikamaru huffed a laugh and folded his arms over his knee. "I'll bet you don't. You probably strike most people as the silent type."

"And what kind of person do I strike you as?" Shino questioned. "Not silent?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Do you even listen to yourself? You do nothing but think. You're always working yourself up over something small."

Shino folded his arms. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't pretend. I can see it all going through your head. You're terrible at hiding your emotions."

"To the contrary, I have been reliably informed that concealing emotions is an area in which I excel. It is a talent of the Aburame."

"Aburame, maybe, but not you. You worry about what other people think, all the time. Anytime someone else notices you, you perk up. It's kind of-"

"Kind of-?" Shino prompted, when he seemed reluctant to continue.

"Never mind." Shikamaru rubbed at his nose. "It isn't important."

"Do you always do this?" Shino wanted to know.

"Do what?"

"Act all unnecessarily cryptic at people."

Shikamaru quirked a corner of his mouth. "Nope. Only with my friends."

Before Shino could react appropriately to that sudden declaration, Ino stalked over, muttering something about responsibility, and seized Shikamaru by the elbow.

"You're coming with me, mister," she snapped.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

He shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded at Shino. "See you at the exams."

"What?"

"Never mind."

After they'd completed 14 D-rank missions and one C-rank mission, Kurenai-sensei informed them that she was planning on nominating their team for the chunin exams.

The team discussion that followed was unusually long and very serious. She warned them that the exams could be very dangerous and there was a possibility that one or more of them might be severely injured or even killed over the course of the exams. Nevertheless, she said, she believed that they were ready to give it a try, even though they were rookies.

Hinata seemed uncertain, so they'd talked about that.

Even Kiba had assured her that she didn't have to try for the exams if she didn't feel certain that she was ready to give it a try. That was a generous display of thoughtfulness on his part- he'd wanted desperately to be in the chunin exams ever since Kurenai-sensei broached the topic.

In the end, Hinata had decided that she did want to participate- for herself, not just as a favor to her teammates. The words "show Naruto I've improved" slipped out before she realized what she was saying, and suddenly the absence of most of the blushing and stammering she'd displayed in the Academy made rather more sense than before.

Kiba was eager, of course, and so he said yes.

Shino took only a short moment to consider. If Kurenai-sensei believed they were ready, he trusted her judgment. They were strong enough that they probably wouldn't get themselves killed. Anything short of that would be a valuable learning experience.

He didn't hear that Team Ten had also been nominated until later.

And so it was that they entered the Chunin Exams for the first time.

In the beginning, everything went smoothly. Shino's beetles alerted him to a disturbance in the chakra flow of a certain corridor where a lot of genin were gathered. He saw Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke there, as well as a group of older Konoha genin under Maito Gai- Team Nine, he thought they were called? Kiba argued for going in to check out the problem, but Hinata said it looked like some of the genin were getting into fights, and Shino vetoed that suggestion. It was less due to the odd chakra disturbance and more due to the fact that Hinata flinched at the sight of the Hyuga boy and wouldn't meet him in the eye. It wouldn't do to have her so distracted at the beginning of the test.

They found a different way to the exam room, going around to another stairwell.

When they entered, they found that Team Ten was already there. Choji was munching on chips; Shikamaru was leaning against a pillar looking as though he very much wanted to take a nap; and Ino pounced on them to eagerly ask about Sasuke's whereabouts.

"We saw him downstairs," Kiba snapped. "He'll be up sometime. Cool it already."

Ino sighed in bliss. "Oh, Sasuke! I bet he'll be the first one out of all of us to make chunin!"

Kiba just rolled his eyes.

"I wonder what the first phase of the exam is? Maybe there's an interview or something? It just seems kinda weird to have a ninja exam in a classroom. You think it might be like the final exam at the Academy, and we have to show them ninjutsu?"

"That seems unlikely," Shino said. "Why? Because chunin are expected to cultivate different kinds of jutsu with more destructive force than any Academy student. Only think what would happen if you attempted to use one of your techniques in such an enclosed space."

"Fair point," Kiba said with a sigh. "Aw, now I think of it, that would've been a lot of fun."

Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Shikamaru said he thinks it's going to be a test of resolve and stealth," Ino informed them archly.

Shikamaru cast an irritated look. "Ino, think before you talk."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. These guys are our classmates. It isn't like they're going to be a big threat to us in the exams."

"Excuse me?" Kiba snarled. "Who do you think you're talking about?"

"Whatever," Shikamaru said with a yawn. "I don't really want to become a chunin anyway. This whole thing is just way too troublesome."

"Then why did you do it?" Shino asked. "Entrance into the exams is strictly voluntary. You didn't have to participate."

Shikamaru sighed hugely. "Well, that's what I was planning to do. But these days there are just way too many people who get on my case. Ino would've thrown a fit, and my mom wouldn't have ever let me hear the end of it. And Asuma-sensei would've lectured me over really terrible shogi. It just wasn't worth the trouble."

"You entered in a highly dangerous exam because you thought a lecture was too troublesome?" Shino asked. "There are some noticeable flaws in your logic."

"Yeah. I guess at the time it seemed like the better option. Definitely rethinking that."

"You are SO lazy," Kiba said, sounding almost impressed. "How did you even pass the Academy?"

Shikamaru shrugged uncomfortably. "Same way you did."

"You slept through every lecture and every test," Kiba pointed out. "You got even worse grades than Naruto."

The Nara wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Yeah. I was hoping if I flunked out I wouldn't have to be a ninja. Didn't work, though. Don't know why. It's such a pain."

"You wanted to flunk the Academy? You have problems, man."

Shikamaru just shrugged. "Look where being a ninja got me. I could've just taken a nap today. Instead, here I am. I have a bad feeling that this whole test is going to be a lot more trouble than it's worth."

"Don't be so lazy!" Ino scolded. "You're next in line to be head of the Nara clan. How can you shirk your responsibilities like that?"

He shrugged again. "Not really. I mean, yeah, since I'm a ninja, I might not be able to get out of the job. But if I didn't end up being a ninja, they could have just found someone else to do it. It isn't just hereditary, the Clan Head can appoint whoever he wants as successor."

"Really?" Hinata asked softly. She looked troubled. "That must be... nice."

Shikamaru glanced at her. Shino could've sworn he saw a hint of understanding and pity in the other boy's eyes.

"Yeah. But then, we're a pretty small clan."

Hinata looked down. "Of course."

"I don't know why you don't want the position," Ino muttered. "No wonder your mother is always lecturing you. You don't have any ambition at all. You just want to sit around all day and sleep and not get anything done. I swear, both of my teammates are so... so... so-"

"Mellow?" Choji offered.

"Complacent?" Shino suggested.

"Boring?" said Kiba.

"Yes!" Ino snapped. "Why couldn't I have been on a team with Sasuke? He takes his training seriously, and he's so strong, and he always works hard to achieve his goals. You two are just unbearable."

Neither Shikamaru nor Choji looked surprised or hurt by her outburst in the slightest. Clearly they'd heard it all before, and didn't take it seriously.

"Yeah," Kiba snarked. "Sasuke's just perfect. Nothing wrong with him but the stick up his-"

They were interrupted by the door opening. Team Seven had arrived at last.

"Sasuke!" Ino squealed. She pounced on him. "It's so good to see you!"

"Speak of the devil," Kiba muttered sourly.

The first portion of the exam went well, after the close call between Kabuto and the Sound ninja.

Shino figured out quickly enough that there was a trick to the written exam. He'd scored second place in the Academy's written final exam (second only to Sakura Haruno, who had to be some kind of certifiable genius) and he'd never had any trouble with the kinds of questions posed on the exam- cryptography, mathematics, strategy. Despite this, he didn't even know how to begin answering any of them, and even if he tried he was certain he wouldn't get them right.

He wasn't arrogant- he knew he probably wasn't as smart as the average chunin- but he wasn't that self-deprecating, either. If they were problems a chunin should know how to solve, he'd have been able to solve at least one or two of them. The fact that he couldn't solve ANY of them told him that something was very wrong- after all, Kurenai-sensei had told them she believed that they had at least a reasonable shot at becoming chunin this time around, and she was usually good with her skill assessment. She wouldn't have sent them to take an exam they were so grossly unprepared for.

So he reviewed Ibiki's instructions in his mind, and soon caught the discrepancy. The special mention of cheating, the reminder not to get caught, and the elaborate penalties- all of the hints came together to form a second picture in his mind. Clearly, the instructors were trying to make them cheat.

He recalled what Ino had told them Shikamaru said- a test of resolve and stealth.

He'd learned long ago that Shikamaru was almost always right. If he said something, the smartest thing to do was to listen well and do as he suggested. If this was a test of stealth, that meant being caught cheating would be bad, but not getting caught cheating would be good. That meant either you had to be unusually intelligent or unusually stealthy.

Shino caught Kiba's eye, and Kiba nodded.

It was lucky that Kiba was quick on the uptake- a quick glance around the room showed that not all the other participants were as perspicacious. Naruto, for one, was still staring at his paper in apparent bewilderment. Sakura seemed not to have noticed her teammate's plight and was busy scribbling. Clearly she wasn't having any trouble at all.

Shino glanced at Hinata and noticed in relief that she was frowning in concentration as she worked out the first problem slowly. She'd always been good at logic problems, so even if she didn't get all of them right, the chances were that she'd at least get enough correct to pass the exam.

That was good. He'd had a momentary stab of panic that she might not have figured it out, since she had a strong sense of fair play in most situations, but luckily even if she was still as principled as always, it wasn't going to keep her from completing the exams.

He'd also worried that she might use the Byakugan to cheat. He didn't know whether the examiners might take her Byakugan as not being stealthy enough, since anyone who was remotely familiar with her bloodline would be able to tell exactly what she was up to. If she did know the answers, or at least some of them, not cheating was the best way to go.

Shino glanced around the classroom.

Some of the students still looked befuddled, while others wore carefully blank expressions- they'd evidently figured it out. A swirl of sand danced past his right shoulder, and a brief flash of light caught his eye. He glanced up. Someone- he couldn't say for certain who- had rigged a set of mirrors and ninja wire. If they'd done it in advance, that was impressive foresight. If they'd set it up just now, that was incredible stealth.

Akamaru yipped quietly. Kiba was writing on his paper, an ill-concealed smirk on his face. That was a good plan- the examiners could hardly fault him if they couldn't understand what Akamaru was saying: and no one but the Inuzuka could communicate with ninken who didn't speak the human language.

Likewise, no one could fault a few insects flying around the room.

After Shino had admitted his weak control of his insects, Kurenai-sensei had drilled him for hours every day in practice. It had been challenging, but he was incredibly grateful for it now.

He twitched his fingers, directing his flow of chakra to instruct the beetles. One of them crawled out from under his sleeve, fluttering its wings.

It took a moment to formulate the command- the concept of finding words on paper wasn't one they'd practiced frequently, and he had to make sure they went to the right person. Sakura would be a good target, but it seemed likely that there were chunin plants in the assembly who would be more amenable to a bit of espionage.

It worked. A few minutes later, he put down his pen and flipped over his paper after putting the finishing touches on his answer sheet.

Shikamaru was, he noticed with a vague sense of amusement, already asleep.

If any of their team had been planning on giving up before the tenth question (Shino hadn't really), Naruto's impromptu speech on bravery would have stopped them. As it was, they made it through the written exam with little to no trouble at all.

The Forest of Death was much more difficult.

They pushed through more quickly than other teams. They found the scroll they needed and the only close call they had was with that team of Sand ninja- the Desert Siblings, he'd heard them called in anxious whispers. All that was certain about them was that the youngest of them, the boy named Gaara with the blood-red hair, was bloodthirsty and far, far too dangerous to go near carelessly.

Akamaru still whimpered when he heard someone saying Gaara's name. Kiba had tried to reassure him to no avail. There was something deeply terrifying about that boy, something that inspired a primal kind of fear in your stomach, something roiling and cold that made even Shino shiver.

In the end, they reached the tower and ended up with almost a whole day to recuperate before the prelims.

Seven teams, including them, had made it through the Forest of Death.

Eighteen teams had failed- for one reason or another, they'd been unable to reach the tower at the center of the forest with the correct scrolls. Some of them had been defeated, some of them had been disqualified for breaking the rules, others had wandered the forest until the end, fruitlessly searching for the scrolls they needed.

As for the remaining two teams…

Six genin had died in the forest.

Shiore, Mazuku, and Banto from the Hidden Grass had been reported as dead, but no one seemed to know for certain who or what had killed them.

Baiu, Midare, and Shigure from the Hidden Rain had been killed by Gaara of the Desert. Theirs were the bloody remains in the sandy field. Team Eight had been witness to their deaths.

If Team Eight had been even fractionally less fortunate, they could well have brought the total number of deaths to nine.

Shino didn't want to think about that.

The prelims were something Shino was much more comfortable with.

The Forest of Death had been far too aptly named.

The prelims, by contrast, were organized, supervised. While it was true that survival in enemy territory was a valuable skill, as was thinking on your feet and avoiding opponents who outmatched you, the mere thought of the Forest of Death still gave Shino chills.

It was one thing to know that you might one day be sent into enemy territory and killed by hostile ninja. It was another thing to fear that the same could happen to you in a training ground within the perimeter of your own village, just a fifteen-minute walk from your own home. It brought the fear somewhere familiar; somewhere he'd thought he was safe.

He felt as though an invisible weight had been lifted off of his shoulders as the jounin proctor Hayate explained that killing opponents was frowned upon in this arena.

Sasuke fought Yoroi Akado. Despite the worried looks of his teammates, Sasuke won with little difficulty, using incredible taijutsu and little ninjutsu at all.

Then the monitor flashed again and it was Shino's turn.

Shino didn't take great pride in his victory. Nor did he feel any great sadness over Kiba's defeat.

It was their first time taking the exam. Statistically, they were unlikely to make it all the way through to the end. In the end, this was nothing more than a learning experience. As long as none of them was seriously injured, any loss could still be counted as beneficial- they'd have learned something that would help them in the future.

When Hinata's name appeared, he forgot all that.

"Hinata Hyuga vs. Neji Hyuga," called the proctor.

Hinata's eyes widened and her face lost all color. She swallowed. She turned mechanically to the stairs, her face as grave as if she were going to confront her own execution.

Neji's mouth thinned.

Byakugan against Byakugan was both incredible and horrifying.

The two of them moved faster and faster, palms swathed in blue chakra, gritting their teeth, circling around each other, searching for weaknesses. Neji was fierce where Hinata was hesitant. He deflected each one of her strikes, landing a blow to one of her chakra points each time he did so.

His eyes burned with an intense emotion- Shino would have guessed hatred.

"Go for it, Hinata!" Naruto bellowed. "You can do it!"

Since becoming Hinata's teammate and discovering her ill-concealed crush on Naruto, Shino had always had a vague feeling that Naruto wasn't good enough for her.

It wasn't that he disliked the blond-haired boy especially. But Hinata was sweet, for all her determination and ferocity in battle, and she was easily hurt by those she cared about. Naruto had always tended towards insensitivity and thoughtlessness. He hadn't even picked up on her feelings for him, and beyond that he had such a huge crush on Sakura that he might end up breaking her heart without ever hearing her confess.

If anything could have changed Shino's mind about Naruto, it was hearing him cheer Hinata on, even as she stumbled and coughed wetly in the arena.

Shino couldn't have done it. Protests welled up in his throat. He wanted to say something, ask her to stop. Because he didn't, he couldn't have that much faith in her, not if it meant that she get even more badly hurt.

When they carried Hinata away on a stretcher after her match, he wondered whether letting Naruto cheer her on had been a good decision.

But Naruto knelt down in the middle of the arena.

When he stood up again, he held out a fist dripping with Hinata's blood, and his eyes burned with fury.

"Don't you dare call Hinata weak," Naruto snarled. "She's stronger than you'll ever be. And if we meet in the tournament, I'll crush you in her place!"

Maybe, just maybe, Naruto might someday be worthy of Hinata's affection.

Shino never even got to fight in the tournament.

Later, he would reflect that he really should have seen it coming. When, after all, had he last been given the spotlight? He just wasn't suited to being the center of attention. Perhaps it was for the best that he never got his match, never got to prove his strength, never got the chance to earn his vest.

He did feel a certain satisfaction when he took down Kankuro.

He didn't like it when people ignored him, and skipping out on a fight was something Shino wouldn't forgive.

He'd never liked puppets anyway.

"Sasuke-kun was kidnapped?" Hinata squeaked in horror. "But who would do such a thing?"

Kiba shrugged. "Kakashi-sensei thinks it was Orochimaru. Something Naruto said about some freaky ninja from Sound Village. Anyway, the Lady Hokage authorized a retrieval mission for him. Shikamaru's the team leader, and we're leaving in an hour."

"Shikamaru?" Shino asked, keeping his voice even. "'We?'"

"Yeah. Naruto petitioned the Hokage, and apparently she's got a soft spot for him, because she's letting him go. Anyway, so she put Shikamaru in charge of the mission. They're taking Naruto, Choji, me, and Hinata's freaky cousin as backup. We're leaving as soon as we can all get ready."

Shino's mind spun.

He hadn't spoken to Shikamaru since before the chunin exams, and he still wasn't quite sure what they'd been talking about. Their short exchange before the written exam hadn't helped any. But even if they weren't quite sure of one another, they had an uneasy friendship at least. That was more than Shikamaru had ever shared with Kiba, or Naruto, or Neji. Shino could be useful. So why?

Perhaps it was the same thing the Academy teachers thought, coming back to bite him again with a vengeance. Maybe they just weren't suited to work together. Maybe their temperaments clashed, though it was hard to imagine Shikamaru being any worse off with him than with Kiba. Shino was at least better at following instructions.

You think too much, Shikamaru had said. You overthink things, and worry about things when just talking to someone would be far less troublesome. You ignore the simple solution right in front of you because you're too busy nitpicking problems with the worst possible hypothetical outcome.

Shino didn't know if that was true, but he did know that Shikamaru was very intelligent, and that he was rarely wrong when it came to watching people and predicting their actions.

So maybe it was time to give that advice a try.

"Shikamaru. I would like to talk to you."

Shikamaru turned. He was wearing his new chunin vest, Shino realized. The look in his eyes was something tense, sharply focused to a point. He looked older than the perpetually yawning boy that he'd known all these years. Maybe it was the vest. Maybe it was the result of seeing your village partially destroyed. Maybe it was just the responsibility of the promotion.

Or maybe it had been there all this time, and no one had ever noticed.

Shikamaru didn't look surprised at his arrival or his sudden declaration. He seemed resigned, as though he'd been expecting it.

"All right," he said. "But it'll have to be quick."

Shino nodded. "I want to know why you didn't choose me for this mission."

Shikamaru gave him a look askance. "Why do you think?"

"I thought you told me to make this quick. Please answer my questions."

Shikamaru sighed, looking far more like a thirteen-year-old boy as he did. The chunin vest seemed to weigh on his shoulders. "I don't know why they promoted me," he said. "I'm a terrible leader."

"That isn't true. Are you trying to change the subject?"

The boy quirked up a corner of his mouth. "Huh. Maybe."

"Shikamaru-"

"Earlier you asked why I noticed you. Have you figured that out yet?"

Shino shook his head mutely.

"I know you watched me through the Academy," Shikamaru said bluntly. "I know you wanted to be on a team with me, at least once. I know you were disappointed we didn't end up on the same team."

Shino froze, uncertain what to say to that.

"The Academy teachers had it wrong, of course," Shikamaru continued casually, as though he'd said nothing of any great interest. "They thought you had poor self-confidence and that I required someone energetic to draw me into a task. In reality, you have decent self-confidence; it's just your interpersonal skills that suck. And I wouldn't have put much effort into their assignments no matter who they put me with."

"You were paying attention to me?" Shino asked in confusion.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I guess. It wasn't exactly hard to tell, though. You're entirely transparent when you have something on your mind."

"Not to most people," Shino pointed out.

"Most people don't pay attention."

"Most people aren't you."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Anyway. I know you wanted to work with me, and you still want to work with me. And that's why I won't assign you to my mission."

"I don't understand."

Shikamaru glanced at the clock and winced. "I only have a few minutes. I'm not leaving you behind because I don't think you're suited for the mission, or because I forgot about you. But I can't work with you, not until you figure some stuff out. It would definitely be a bad idea to try and make it as your team leader."

"That doesn't make sense."

"I told you, work it out. Why are you here talking to me?"

"Kiba is on the mission. I don't understand why I didn't qualify."

"You or Hinata? What do the two of you have in common, do you think?" Shikamaru laughed dryly. "I have to go. I guess I'll see you, if we ever get back. You should go find Kiba and wish him luck. He does care what you think, even if he doesn't act like it. He's going to be anxious without either of his teammates around. It'd be helpful if you could tell him you think he'll make it through."

"Don't you need someone to wish you luck?"

"If you like," he said, sounding disinterested. "I'm the team leader. It's my job to know what's really going on, not what we hope will happen."

"What do you think will happen?"

Shikamaru looked at him, and Shino felt suddenly uncomfortable. Of course, that's how it always was with Shikamaru. When he looked at you, really looked at you, when you were the focus of all his attention, it was like being pinpointed by an archer with no escape. Shino held his gaze.

"I think we'll fail," he said simply. "I don't think we'll get Sasuke back. Whether we'll survive the attempt- even I don't know that."

"I understand," Shino said, but he didn't.

"Get lost," Shikamaru said.

Shino nodded, and went to find Kiba.

He didn't know why, but he felt a little ashamed now for having gone to find Shikamaru first thing when his teammate- and really, the closest thing he had to a best friend- was also going out on a potentially life-threatening mission.

When the team returned, Shikamaru was the only one still conscious.

Kiba and Akamaru were both unconscious and in surgery, and they were in the best condition of the remaining four. They had several broken limbs and cuts, but nothing life-threatening. Hinata's cousin Neji was in intensive surgery. He'd been completely impaled by several projectiles, from what Shino had gathered from listening to the hospital officials. Shino felt somewhat bad about this, though it was nothing compared to his worry for Kiba.

Neji and Hinata had made amends, to some extent, and she was inconsolable for both him and her teammate. To say nothing of Naruto.

Naruto had a hole through his chest. Shino hadn't seen him except in passing as Kakashi-sensei carried him in personally, but the limp form of his former classmate was jarring. The smell of burnt flesh was sickening. Shino had heard whispers among the hospital attendants that it hadn't been an enemy ninja at all- Naruto had been fighting his teammate, the one he'd begged to be allowed to rescue. Sasuke had repaid him by shoving his hand through his best friend's chest.

Choji was also in surgery. He was apparently in critical condition. Shino had never known Choji well, but he'd known him as a kind, thoughtful boy who cared deeply about his friends. He'd never loved to fight so much as he hated pain and bloodshed. The hospital attendants didn't meet his gaze when he asked after Choji's condition.

Shikamaru had returned with a broken finger and a few minor scratches.

His eyes were clouded with self-hate.

Shino had stayed quietly out of the way as Shikamaru and his father had words. The girl from the Hidden Sand, the older sister of Gaara of the Desert, had said something to him as well. It seemed like it had gotten to him, whatever it was.

He didn't want to bother Shikamaru when he was in a state like that. He turned to go, but a quiet voice stopped him.

"Don't go. We need to talk." Shikamaru's voice was hoarse and weak, but firm.

Of course Shikamaru would notice him. He always had.

"I don't know what we could have to say to each other."

Shikamaru set his chin. "Tch. I'm not going to try to apologize, so don't tense up. It was my fault Kiba's hurt. It's the same for Neji and Naruto and Lee and Choji. It was all my fault."

The Nara raised a hand to his head. Shino didn't say anything. Shikamaru hadn't finished saying his part.

"But I don't need forgiveness," Shikamaru said roughly. "Because they aren't dead, and it's never going to happen again."

Shino folded his arms, meeting Shikamaru's eyes.

Shikamaru met his gaze for a moment. Then, for the first time, he was the one to look away. He muttered a curse under his breath. "It's troublesome," he said, flattening his expression. "But I'm going to get better."

"Do I get to apologize?" Shino asked quietly.

"What for?"

"I wasn't there."

"Don't be stupid. Apologies are troublesome things." Shikamaru drew in a shaky breath. "It isn't as though you asked to be left behind."

"No," Shino said flatly. "I didn't."

"I don't regret leaving you here, if that's what you're asking."

"I could have helped."

"There's only so many people you can fit in a hospital room."

"You think we'd have lost anyway?"

"Probably."

"Hinata and I were both free. We both would have gone as soon as you asked us. Sakura Haruno would have gone- I don't know how you convinced her to stay behind."

"It was easier than you'd think."

"Tenten was free. Ino was free. Didn't you think of your own teammates?"

Shikamaru cast him a sharp look. "Don't. It was bad enough when Choji-" He cut himself off raggedly, and raised a hand to cover his face.

After a moment, he continued, and his voice was steady. "Hinata doesn't have the confidence for a mission like that yet," he said flatly. "Tenten isn't versatile enough. Ino, Sakura, none of it would have made any difference."

"What about me?"

"What about you?"

"Why?"

Shikamaru just glanced up at him. "Why do you think?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I knew," Shino pointed out. "Should I know?"

"By now? Definitely." Shikamaru laughed wryly and sat back down on the bench outside the surgery room. "You always over think things, though, don't you?"

"Your hands are shaking," Shino observed.

"And you haven't slept since we left on the mission. Worried about Kiba?"

"Certainly not. I have confidence in my teammate."

"Uh-huh. And now he's in a hospital bed. I'll bet you had confidence in me, too, huh? We're all equally disappointing, then."

"What?" Shino asked, brow creasing.

"I didn't even manage to get myself as injured as everyone else. How about that? I bring home four teammates in critical condition, and all I have to show for it as their leader is a broken finger."

"Don't," Shino said. "Don't talk about them like that."

Shikamaru subsided, and the desperate look in his eye faded somewhat. "Yeah, you're right."

"How did you know?"

"I've pulled enough all-nighters to know what a person looks like after missing a night's sleep."

"You?" Shino asked skeptically. "I find that unlikely."

"All the time. Playing shogi. With my dad, of course. Asuma-sensei sucks."

"Are you changing the subject?"

"Not overtly."

Shino frowned, but fixed Shikamaru with a searching look. "I don't know how the mission went or what you did or didn't do. But I would have considered myself lucky to be assigned you as a commanding officer."

"Changed your mind?"

"Not in the slightest," Shino told him.

He held Shikamaru's gaze for a few moments more. Then he turned away. They had more to say to one another, but that was a conversation for a later time. So instead he just put his hands in his pockets and glanced over his shoulder.

"Now, if you'll excuse me. Hinata is quite upset. I should go and keep her company."

Shikamaru nodded.

A moment after Shino left, Shikamaru pressed his fingers to his face. Why was his face so hot, he wondered crossly, when it was so cold in the hospital?

Unfortunately, he was Shikamaru Nara. And that meant he knew the answers to all the stupid questions he asked himself.

That idiot, he thought. Why is he so oblivious?

Shino found Hinata outside of Neji's surgery.

It had been the first place he'd looked. Of the three people she might have been inclined to visit- Kiba, Naruto, and Neji- Naruto was the most badly injured, but Neji was the one who was currently in critical condition. If something went wrong in the next few hours, that was where she'd want to be.

She was white as a sheet, but she still offered him an encouraging nod. "Shino," she said quietly. "Have you been visiting Kiba?"

"Briefly," Shino said. "I also spoke with Shikamaru outside Choji's surgery."

He felt guilty again, then, for spending time visiting a friend when his teammate- two of his teammates, actually, since Akamaru was as much a part of the team as Hinata- were so badly injured.

Hinata didn't look at all surprised. Instead she nodded, her eyes showing an odd sympathy that he didn't quite expect or understand.

"How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," she said, sounding just a fraction bitter. "I spent the last few days in the village."

Shino regarded her, and she colored.

"I- I mean-" she said hurriedly. "I'm so sorry for speaking so rudely to you; I don't know what came over me."

Shino shrugged. "I feel the same way."

"Oh," Hinata said. Her voice was full of sorrow. "Of course you do. I should have thought of you, too."

"How is Neji, then?"

"He's stable," she said. "For now, I think. They're going to extract something from the wound in a few minutes- the projectile shattered against his bones- and then things will get dicey again. But until then, they've managed to re-grow a lot of his flesh. He isn't bleeding out right now."

She managed to keep her tone even. She was a ninja, after all. Shino felt oddly proud of her for a moment. She'd come far from her days at the Academy in only a few months. They all had. Shikamaru most of all, but Hinata just behind him.

"You'll make a great jounin one day," he said thoughtfully. "I hope we'll still be on the same team when that happens."

Hinata blinked in surprise, and then smiled warmly. "Me too."

It took three weeks until everyone who was injured in the Sasuke retrieval mission was well enough to be removed from the intensive care ward. Of course, it didn't take that long for everyone. Kiba was injured less severely, and thanks to Lady Tsunade, he was moved in just a week and a half. Naruto had somehow recovered from his critical condition in just four days, a fact which delighted Hinata and somewhat unnerved Shino.

Neji and Choji each took three whole weeks to return to stable condition. They were far more seriously injured than even Kiba. Naturally, Shikamaru spent the better part of that time wandering the hospital, pretending he wasn't worried, until Shizune finally let him into Choji's room.

After that, he spent the better part of his time sitting beside Choji's bed replaying games of shogi.

Two weeks after that, Naruto was almost completely healed. He left the village to train with Lord Jiraiya.

Shino really wasn't sure how he'd managed to get one of the Legendary Sannin to train him- but then he'd always had a knack for bothering people until he got their attention. And apparently he'd also brought down Gaara of the Desert in his bijuu form almost singlehandedly. That wasn't really what you expected from a kid who flunked out of the Academy just a few months before.

Kiba and Akamaru left the hospital next.

Hinata suggested a celebratory picnic, and Kiba seized upon the idea with enthusiasm. They met atop the Hokage monument, where they found a small grassy field. From there, they could see almost the entire village- a mishmash of brightly colored rooftops: orange, green, blue, red, and gold, the colors of fallen leaves.

"Thanks for the food!" Kiba cheered. The only reminders of his injury were a few faint bruises and a bandaged arm.

Hinata smiled. "I hope you like it," she said. "I brought some bits of meat for Akamaru. I hope he likes them."

Kiba whooped. "You're the best, Hinata! Naruto doesn't know what he's missing."

Hinata blushed scarlet.

Kurenai rolled her eyes. "Kiba," she scolded. "Be more tactful."

"Oh, sorry. Hey-" Kiba frowned. "Is that Shikamaru? Since when does he leave the hospital? I thought he was pretty much glued to Choji's bedside."

Shino looked up. Sure enough, a ponytailed boy in a green chunin vest could be seen climbing the stairs to the top of the Hokage monument. Not in the conventional way, of course. He was climbing them vertically, up the side of the cliff; as would any ninja with sense.

He tilted his head as Shikamaru raised a hand in greeting.

When he'd approached close enough to be heard, Shikamaru called, "Hey! What's up?"

"Picnic," Kiba said, mouth full. "Obviously."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that was rhetorical."

"What do you want?"

"I was wondering if I could talk to Shino. Privately." The Nara seemed casual, at least externally. He had his hands in his pockets and his typical vague frown as a resting face. But underneath it seemed to run a thin string of tension.

Shino turned to Kurenai. "Sensei? I know it's supposed to be a team picnic-"

An odd smile played around the edges of her mouth. She shook her head. "Go ahead, Shino. We'll still be here when you come back."

Why was Hinata blushing again? Naruto was nowhere near the village.

"All right," he said.

He pushed himself up and followed Shikamaru away from his team. They walked a little ways, to the edge of the field and into a stand of trees. Shikamaru found a small clearing that he evidently liked and leaned against a tall oak.

"What did you need to talk about?" Shino asked curiously.

"I was wondering," Shikamaru began, not quite meeting his eyes. "Whether you'd figured out the answer to that question you're always asking me."

"Why you act so oddly sometimes?"

The other boy snorted. "Usually you phrase it differently, but yeah, that's the one."

"I have not yet reached an answer," Shino admitted. "Is that problematic?"

"Kind of. I'm not feeling too patient anymore."

"Does that mean you'll tell me the answer?"

"You can't work it out on your own?"

"I've tried for years, to little effect."

"Come on, already," Shikamaru said, but his voice didn't hold much heat. "I know you're smart. Why is it you can never see what's literally right in front of you?"

"The only thing literally in front of me is you," Shino pointed out.

Shikamaru folded his arms and met his gaze squarely. "That's exactly correct."

"I fail to see what relevance this has to our discussion."

The Nara sighed. "You really are slow," he grumbled. "It's such a pain."

Shino shrugged helplessly.

"I like you."

"Oh. Okay," Shino said. "But-"

Then he paused.

"Wait," he said, as Shikamaru's words slowly, slowly, finally thudded into place. "You mean you…"

"Yes." Shikamaru said in total exasperation. "I like you. There's no need to act so surprised. I wasn't exactly being subtle this whole time."

If Shino weren't a member of the Aburame clan, he would have gaped. As it was, he had the uncomfortable feeling that it didn't make much difference; Shikamaru always knew what he was feeling, no matter how impassive he was on the outside.

"But," he said, his mouth moving seemingly without direction from his brain. "Me?"

"Yes, you," Shikamaru said, leaning back with a snort. "There isn't exactly anyone else here, is there?"

Shino couldn't hold back a small smile. He ducked his head down so his collar would hide it, but Shikamaru noticed anyway. Of course he did. He always had. He always did.

"Still waiting for a response," Shikamaru said, but his voice was less tense than it had been. "Or at least an acknowledgement. I want to make sure you don't have any weird misconceptions about this. Actually, I should probably just clarify in advance: when I say I like you, I do actually mean that I have a crush on you. We aren't talking about 'I like you' in the sense of friendship, so don't give me that stupid 'You're a great friend too' crap that Naruto gives Hinata half the time."

"You're rambling," Shino pointed out.

"You're stalling."

"I'm not," Shino said honestly. "I don't need to. I like you too, of course."

"You do?" Shikamaru demanded. Then he seemed to realize how he'd sounded. He shook himself and leaned back. "Oh. I mean, that's good. I guess."

"Yes. I guess," Shino said, hiding a smile. "So does that mean we're going out?"

"If you want," Shikamaru said, in a pathetic attempt at indifference. "I mean, I'd like to of course, but-"

"I'd like to as well."

"Oh. Okay. That's good. Really good."

"You know, someone once told me that I shouldn't think so much when there's a simple solution right in front of me."

"Yeah?"

"Yes." Shino held out his hand. "Here's your solution."

Shikamaru stared at the outstretched hand. Then he smiled crookedly and took Shino's hand in his own, interlacing their fingers.

"You're such a sap," he said. "C'mon, we should head back. You have your team, and I need to get some sleep."