Hello everyone, welcome to the story!

I always thought that Shino and Naruto would make great friends due to having similar problems involving what they hold.

I hope you like the idea, please tell me what you think and don't forget to follow if you like it.

In the story, Naruto and Shino are both around 7, that's one year away from attending the academy. There will be jumps, so be prepared for the future. With further ado, here is 'It's What's Inside That Counts'

Chapter 1

Shino walked through the park with indifference plastered on his face. Passing by other children, uncaring if they ran from him or the kikaichu that fluttered around him.

He didn't understand why Tou-san and Kaa-san wanted him to go out and 'socialize' with other children. He didn't understand the need to socialize. He would be going to the academy next year, meaning the people he would be working with are mainly for professional reasons. He did not need to be their friend, only a teammate.

There was also the point of misunderstanding his kikaichu. Most of the kids his own age were too afraid of his kikaichu. They didn't understand that the insects that he hosted were a part of him. To take them away was be like taking away a vital organ. He needed them.

But to all of them, he was a freak of nature, just like the rest of his clan. The few experiences he had with other children resulted in being called bug boy, insect head, or bug freak. Even if he din't show it, the insults hurt.

But he was an Aburame. Emotions didn't come easy to him.

Passing by all the swings and the playground equipment, he found himself in a more flower filled area. Taking notice of the new location, he looked around with curiosity at the beauty that engulfed him. A plethora of color surrounded him. Trees in bloom, flowers budding, and gardens of fresh nature sprouted about.

He felt some of his kikaichu leave to explore the new territory. They fluttered to the flowers and into the trees, most likely looking for something to snack on or to enjoy the new smells. Shino sighed, knowing that it would take him some time to collect them from the environment.

He would have to ask for more training from Tou-san regarding his control over kikaichu. Sometimes, they just liked to run around.

Passing by shrubbery, he focused his chakra on collecting his insects. His chakra signiture should alert his colony members to retunrn. As he passed by more of the terrain, he felt more and more of his precious little helpers return to him.

Unfortunately, he felt some of them had not come back. Walking around some more in the nature filled environment, he couldn't find the last of his colony anywhere.

Sighing once more, he adjusted his signature Aburame glasses and pushed through some of the bushes of flowers. He hoped that his stragglers had not been caught by some frogs or spiders. The last thing he needed was for some in his colony to be injured or killed.

As he pushed through another bush, he came across a small boy facing away from him. He had blond hair and appeared to be around his own age.

He circled around a little bit and found the boy had his hand out. He was holding something and from the sound of the boy's laughter, he liked it.

Getting a closer look, he saw it was something small and black. It was a group of his kikaichu! So this is where they went. But why would they come to this boy rather than himself?

"Excuse me." The boy turned around, still holding the insects in his palm. "Huh?"

"I believe that you have my kikaichu." The blond looked down at the bugs in hand. "Oh, these are yours?"

"Correct." the blond stood up and put his hand out in front of Shino, trying to give the small group of insects back to the Aburame. Before Shino could even collect the insects from the blond, hundreds of his colony came out from inside him and jumped onto the smaller boy's hand and arm, crawling onto the rest of his body.

Shino was positive he knew what was going to follow, he simply wondered what insult he was going to get this time.

"ha ha ha ha, qu-quit it!"

Shino tried not to show it but failed to hide his surprise when the blond began to laugh and giggle. "St-stop, hahaha, it- i- it tickles!" The boy began to roll around on the grass in a fit of giggles.

Shino thought the boy would run away in fear after his bugs touched him, let alone hundred now running all over his body. But the boy was just laughing at the entire situation.

Channeling his chakra once more, Shino commanded his kikaichu to come back. Bit by bit, the horde of insects began to leave the laughing boy and returned to the inside of their host. As each bug returned, Shino noticed that they contained much more chakra now than before. They had been feeding off the blond.

While his kikaichu were not as strong as his Tou-san's, they would still drain a genin dry with the amount of time they were on the other boy.

Yet the blond was just staring at him with a grin, obviously not noticing the lack of chakra.

His kikaichu also seemed happier, buzzing with glee within him. It kind of tickled.

Before Shino could say anything, the boy got up from the ground brushing grass off his clothes and stuck his hand out. "Hi! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! What's yours?"

Shino adjusted his coat and glasses and returned the handshake. "Aburame Shino."

"Well Shino, you have some pretty cool bugs! Do ya wanna play a game?" With that, Shino had made his first friend, even if he didn't realize it.

-;-;-;-;-;-;-

Shino returned to the Aburame district much happier than thought he would. After spending some time together at the park's greenlands, Naruto and himself ran around the village in search of fun stuff to do.

Shino didn't understand how, but he very much enjoyed watching a white haired pervert be pushed off a tree and into a bathhouse.

They ordered ramen from a stand, which was very good in his opinion, looked for new insects all around Konoha, and then played on the swings.

Though every once and a while his kikaichu would jump on to Naruto, the blond didn't mind. In fact, he enjoyed the company of the little insects.

It made Shino feel nice for once. He was not only tolerated, but enjoyed as a person. His kikaichu were not shunned, but included in the entire adventure. It made him feel...normal for once.

Naruto was weird. He had lots of energy, played pranks sometimes, and apparently ate too much ramen if the guy at the stand had anything to say about it. But all in all, Shino was happy that he lost a few of his kikaichu today.

Walking into his home and to the living room, he saw both his Tou-san and Kaa-san sitting on the couch with a fresh pot of hot tea on the table. "Konbanwa(1) Tou-san, Kaa-san."

"Konbanwa Shino. You are home much later than I expected you." His father stated.

"Hai. I returned much later due to the fact that I have made a friend today." Shino said back indifferently.

"Oh!" His Kaa-san said happily. "That's wonderful Shino!"

His mother was often called the most expressive Aburame when it came to emotions. Many people wondered how she ever married Shino's father, do to them being very different, but the marriage was and is very strong. Shibi reins her in when needed and Misaki brings Shibi out of his shell when she wants. People don't understand how it works, but it does.

"Can you please describe what you did today?" Tou-san (Shibi) asked.

"First, we played in the grasslands near the Academy park, then we went and knocked a pervert into a bathhouse that he was spying on." Shibi raised his eye at that, as that was not normal Aburame attitude. However, Misaki was proud of her son for doing that. She wondered who the pervert was.

"Next, we went and enjoyed ramen at a place call 'Ichiraku's', which was very enjoyable. We then searched for different insects around Konoha and discovered a strange horned beetle." Shibi nodded. He had eaten at the little ramen stand before. While he did not believe that Shinobi should eat there too often, as it contains lots of carbs and salt and not strong nutrients, it was still very satisfying every once in a while.

"After looking around Konoha, we went back to the playground and played on the swings together until I was to leave." Kaa-san smiled.

"Well, I'm happy that you had fun today Shino. It's always nice to hear that you enjoyed yourself." Shino let a small smile ghost across his face. His Kaa-san was always very emotional. His Tou-san even stated that Shino himself might inherit some of her attitude.

"I also feel a similar feeling as your mother. Although, I have one more question. What is the name of this child you spent time with?" Shino nodded to his father's question.

"Thank you Kaa-san, Tou-san for the encouragement. To answer your question Tou-san, his name is Uzumaki Naruto."

For the first time in his life, Shino watched his father lose his relaxed stoic appearance.

-;-;-;-;-;-;-

Naruto skipped back to his apartment with glee. He didn't care if anybody was glaring at him as he walked passed by.

While he was kind of bummed this morning when his Jiji said he couldn't hang out with him today, it was totally worth it.

He made a friend today!

Naruto went to the park in hopes to hang out with some other kids today, but was pushed away by parents and older children that didn't want the 'freak' to play with them.

After being rejected, Naruto brushed it off and decided to just hang out in the park's greener area. It was so pretty and the flowers in bloom. He walked around for a bit before getting bored and just sat in a clearing. When he was ready to leave and go play a prank, a few little bugs landed on his hand. They just hung out there and tickled his fingers, which he kind of liked.

After a few moments of hanging out with his new bug buddies, someone showed up. Someone his own age wearing a coat and black glasses. That's when he met Shino.

Shino was so cool! While he was a bit dull when it came to smiling or laughing, he was fun to hang out with. His bug buddies were awesome and they tickled whenever they crawled across his skin.

He and Shino had so much fun today. They did all the stuff that he usually does in a daily basis, minus the pranking.

But doing all that stuff with someone else was way better! Pushing that pervert into the bathhouse would have not been as enjoyable had Shino not been there.

Shino also brought some new things to the table. He had never done it before, but he had to agree with Shino that looking for new weird bugs could be pretty fun.

Except when it grabbed onto his pants and he had to run around to get it off.

The good news was, he almost got Shino to laugh when it happened. Almost. Naruto guessed he would have to work harder to get the black haired boy to be more... what's the word... emotional.

But he was really glad that he went to the park. He met a new friend that was his own age, and they had tonnes of fun today! The best part was, Shino treated him like a person! He wasn't a freak or demon to the bug filled boy, he was just a friend.

He was just Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto.

That's the end of the chapter!

I hope you liked it.

1: Konbanwa mean good evening in Japanese.

Tou-san means father or dad, and Kaa-san means mother or mom.

I hope you liked it, more to come soon, but I have several other story in works right now, so please be patient.

Please follow and review.

Until next time, see ya!