The day's already begun a few hours ago, and in steps someone.
She walks over to Iruka. She's wearing a big hat over her head; her hair tied up and covered. And she's at least no older than twelve years of age. At least I think she is...
She hands a slip of paper she held along the way. He gladly takes it and reads. After finishing, he stands and announces to the whole class.
"Everyone, it seems that we have a new student joining us today. Her name is Shino Hatsumomo." But then she clears her throat before retorting back to Iruka.
"Um, I'm a boy. MALE. Not a female, but a male." Iruka's face, and as well as everyone else's, goes white as a white Crayola crayon because they never expected that one at all.
"O-Okay... Now she--"
"He." Shino says interrupting-ly.
"Right. Now he may be a few years older than the rest of you, so please respect her." Shino clears his throat, but in anger.
"He..."
"Y-Yes. I apologize. And would you like to tell us a little about yourself?" Iruka smiles politely while Shino pauses to think, "My name is Shino Hatsumomo." He finally said. And the crickets chirped. And a student coughed uncontrollably. Iruka is sweat dropping.
"That's it?" He asks, and Shino just nods his head lazily. "Just go sit in the seat in the back." Iruka stuttered to say as he pointed while Shino nods. AGAIN.
And after the day comes to an end, Shino goes straight home. He seems to be in a rush, even. But as he steps inside, he hurriedly sets his shoes aside and goes upstairs.
"Mother, I'm home." He turns on his mother's room light and slowly strides in. "Do you need anything? A snack?" She nods and says in barely a whisper, "I just want a glass of water. And be careful while in the kitchen with those sharp knives." Shino gets angry in a fraction of a second and tries not to yell.
"They can't hurt me..." Then he angrily stomps out of the room.
"What has gotten into Shino today?" She sighs and shrugs as she cautiously looks around the room while Shino is fetching her glass of water.
"How troublesome..." Whines the worn-out boy as he climbs up the staircase once again. And as he reaches back to the room, he finds his mother staring at a wall. He sighs angrily, "What now?" She doesn't say anything for a moment.
"They're back..." He sighs and just places the glass on the bedside table and shuts slams the door behind him with much force. And he stomps all the way to his own haven; his bedroom.
It is already after midnight and Shino can't seem to get asleep. He's tried and tried; but all of the attempts failed. He's even tired, exhausted, but can't.
Shino turns over on his back and stares at the ceiling.
"I'm not crazy... She's the one crazy..." He whispers to himself as he tries to fall asleep.
In the morning, Shino is still awake, not being able to sleep a wink. He goes to check on his mother, but to see that she's sleeping peacefully. He manages a small smile, "And to believe that she's the opposite when she's awake..." He walks up beside her and places the back of his palm on her forehead, but quickly pulls it back.
"Ouch. That's... She's got a fever!" Instead of getting ready and whatnot for class, he runs to the hospital to get a doctor. He was in such a hurry; he even forgot to put on his shoes.
"So, Rei-san, do you know what's wrong with her?" Shino is nervous as he gnaws on his nails. The doctor sighs as she puts away her medical utensils. She stands, "I am sorry ma'am, but I do not know. But I do know it's something very serious. Make sure to take care of your mother." He nods as the doctor begins to leave, but then realizes he's been called a girl once more.
"I'm a boy, for your information." Just like everyone else's reaction, the doctor freezes in her steps and without looking at his face; you can tell she's blushing a really deep, dark red.
Same routine as yesterday.
Shino walks in the class during the middle of a lesson. Everyone turns to his direction, and it seems that Iruka is mad. Out. Of. His. Mind. Suddenly, he explodes, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! CLASS HAS ALREADY STARTED A FEW HOURS AGO!!" Shino quickly bows and apologizes.
"I am very sorry, but I had to deal with something. Something very important to me." Iruka sighs as he tries to calm down.
"Just take your seat. Today's the graduation exam..." He seemed very fed up with Shino already. "Oh yeah. Speaking of that, I forgot to tell you yesterday. I apologize for that." Shino just waves him off; literally and said, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever..." It's like he doesn't even care about anything at all...
The day has ended once again, but of course differently; Shino had managed to pass the exam but just at the fraction of an inch, and was sent home with a Leaf Village headband.
But just like the day before, Shino has rushed home again. He checks his mother's temperature, and he believes it has gotten worst. He calls the previous doctor from the morning. And once again, the doctor doesn't know what is wrong.
"But I think I will be able to find an antidote if you were to let me get a blood sample of your mother." Shino is thinking hard about it, but really wants his mother to be all right.
"Okay. But are you sure there's an antidote?" The doctor sighs as she injects the needle, "There should be. I've seen this before, but we were surprised that it was mild. This... This is really fatal." Just by hearing the word fatal, Shino panics and gulps. He's even screaming in his head.
The blood sample has already been taken, and the doctor starts to leave, but Shino interrupts. "Thank you so much, Rei-san. If it weren't for you, my mother would certainly have had a 100 percent chance of death." The doctor smiles, "No problem." She counters back and leaves.
She lied... She's a liar.
That fearful Shino is gone now. Long gone. This Shino is the real me... Shino stared down at his mom. You used to say I wasn't able to take care of myself. But I can take care of both myself and you, now... Just you watch.
Everything has been pretty much the same. That is for about a week when Shino is woken up by his mother's calls.
"Shino! Shino, I'm thirsty!!" Shino sleepily went to her aid and brought back the water. He was really tired, so he immediately went back to bed. And even though he had to go meet his team today, he went and did it anyways.
I prefer her a lot better when she was asleep than now... He lazily thought as he paced to his room. But he was so tired that he had fell asleep in the hallway, standing. And he was only a foot away from his room.
Immediately, after about a second or two (theoretically), he awoke and ran into his room to get ready. He rushed around and before you knew it, he was already running down the stairs. But unluckily for him, he had tripped on the last step and fell flat on his face, "Ow..." He mumbled.
After he recovered, he ran all the way to the training ground only to find out that his sensei hadn't arrived yet. He was pretty mad, so he had to hold his anger in while he spoke, "So I ran here and hurt myself for nothing...?!" A chuckled was heard.
"Pretty much, Shino-chan!!" He quickly turned around to face him and took a breathe in and out slowly, "Naruto, I suggest you run now..." Being as stupid as he was, Naruto just blinked at him in confusion. But it wasn't too long until Shino started chasing him around the field. The other two team members ignored them.
Well, let's just say tried and not lie. Because, basically, Shino's life is full of lies right now. So let's not bring in some more when it's not necessary at all.
"Why am I the only female in this group...?" Sakura quietly sulked as she was in her little 'corner'. "I could get raped any second of any minute! Although I wouldn't mind if Sasuke-kun raped me..."
How weird is she?
"Kakashi-sensei!! You're late!!" Both Naruto and Sakura yelled as Shino just sighed from the two being annoying. He actually liked Sasuke because he was just as secretive and mysterious as he was himself. And best of all, he barely spoke, so that meant he wasn't at all much annoying as the other two.
"I know. I'm sorry. It's because a black cat had crossed my path." He explains, but unfortunately, they all don't buy it. And that's including Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Shino. Oh, and we must not forget the cat as well.
But after Naruto and Sakura calm down, Kakashi begins to explain the Survival Training.
"There are two bells. The first two people to get one passes. The other two fails and goes back to the academy." He said as simply as it could get.
Are you serious? That easy? And he's so... BLUNT. Shino thought in slight hatred and annoyance.
Well I hate you, too. But he's way too blunt. It annoys me. Ugh. And he's perverted. I can tell. That's just way too wrong for twelve and thirteen year old students he has to train. Shino kept on going with his racing thoughts as Kakashi explained a little more.
The rules basically.
But since Shino was too busy thinking and not paying attention, he didn't know that Kakashi had told them to begin. So, he was just there sitting near one of the poles. Staring at the sky. And having Kakashi stare right back at him; Confused.
"Shino..." That caught his attention. "What?" Kakashi told him that he said to start already. And with that, he ran off to hide. And sleep. In a tree.
That was a lie as well. Although he was Raikage, that wasn't the real why reason he had to leave. He had kept telling me that he loved his job and never wanted to quit. But the real reason he left was because of Hina; another woman. And although the both of them and my mother thought I wouldn't find out, I did.
I only found out because I saw him when you were asleep around two in the morning, asleep. I was up waiting for him. And I saw him kiss her.
My life is full of lies. My mother is schizophrenic and bipolar. So you can see why my life is hell. But although depression is a sign of being bipolar, I'll still call her that.
Me? I act like I'm happy. It's called being two-faced. I hate it. But it's only because I have to. The people I soon make friends with might hate me. So I act.
And I always feel like I'm trapped in a never-ending nightmare. It won't stop. Even when I try to make it stop, it won't. It's as if life is a game of chess. And I'm the pawn. A slave of life...
After about at least fifteen minutes pass, Shino begins to wake up.
How much time do we have left...? Shino needed to know so he can tell when to take action to attempt to get the bells. Well, it's not that he actually cared that much about passing and all, it's just that he had nothing better to do and he didn't want to go back to sleep.
And so, he eventually comes up with a plan to get the bells. He makes sure that the plan will most likely work by going over it.
"Hm... It should work. If it doesn't... Oh well. Not like I cared that much at all." He then went after Kakashi. But no luck whatsoever. He couldn't find him anywhere at all. He was now standing in the middle of the field.
All alone.
But all he could hear was the wind blowing and the rustling of the leaves that had been caught by the wind.
"So it's your turn... Huh, Shino?"
BIIIIIIING
Apparently, the bell had sounded. Shino was panting heavily already and Kakashi started to walk away. But then he stops mid-way and says, "Times up. Head back to the poles now." Kakashi says lazily like he normally does.
"You four won't need to go back to the academy at all." Kakashi began as they all gathered by the poles... But Naruto was tied to one. And as soon as Kakashi spoke those very twelve words, the three got excited.
"Really?!" Naruto was the most excited one.
"Seriously? All I did was scream and pass out..." Sakura recalled. Sasuke just smirked all happily while Shino just ignored them and stared at the flying birdies up in the sky.
"In fact, you all should just quit being ninjas! First of all, who could tell me what the answer was to the Survival Training?" Nobody answered. "Teamwork." Shino even stared at the clouds as they slowly floated by as Kakashi began lecturing the group.
But I never mutilated myself! And it wasn't even on purpose... It was a mistake when I tripped. An acc-i-dent. And she worries too much about me... Way too much.
"But Kakashi-sensei... Where are the bells?" Naruto had spoken. Kakashi was quite confused and looked down to locate the bells, but it was not there. He started panicking, "Where are they?! Did I drop them...?" Shino just remembered...
"Oh yeah. I forgot... That I had them..." He took the two bells out of his pockets and handed one to Sasuke and Sakura. "I don't want them..." He got up and sat on the pole on the left of the one Naruto was tied to.
Kakashi... He was astonished that Shino had actually been able to take both bells from him.
"Even though that was a show of teamwork, you all failed the Survival Training!" Kakashi said after a quite awkward silence.
That was only a year ago... Time sure does go by rather quickly. But was that really why I killed him...? Or was it a lie? Well it seems as if my whole life is full of lies already, so...
"Shino?" Sakura called to him, "Yeah?" He answered as he was brought back to reality.
"Kakashi-sensei left and gave you, Sasuke-kun and I lunch to eat. And we can't give any to Naruto..." He sighed and stood up as he accepted the food. He stared at it for a couple of seconds before speaking.
"Here, Naruto." Shino had placed it in front of him, and then began walking away to the K.I.A Memorial Stone, "But Shino--!" Sakura tried butting in the situation.
"Shut it. I don't care what Kakashi said. Naruto needs it a lot more than I do. No matter how much I want it so badly..." He had whispered his last sentence under his breathe, and began walking back to where he was going.
Maybe it's because I'm cursed. Become my friend... And you get killed or mysteriously die. He stared at a couple names forever carved in the stone.
Maybe I am cursed... My first best friend I ever made when I came to Konoha died a few weeks after we met. And so did the other six people.
"Shino! Shino! Shino!" The calls got louder until Shino had actually turned around to see Sakura and Naruto calling him over.
"We passed! Can you believe it?!" Naruto jumped in the air.
Hopefully... My new friends won't have the same destiny as all the others...
"Come on, already! We're going to Ichiraku Ramen for a celebration!" He slowly stood up and smiled, "All right, all right! I'm coming already! Have patience, Naruto." And as he caught up to them, Naruto and him were the only ones who ended up having ramen.
Sakura was way too busy stalking Sasuke.
Sasuke was way too busy running away from Sakura's stalking.
Kakashi... He was way too busy reading his weirdo books.
"So, what would you like, Shino?" Naruto questioned. Shino was thinking before he made up his mind, "Any kind. I don't mind if you order for me..." Naruto was actually surprised, but he quickly dismissed it and ordered.
"Two chicken teriyaki ramen, please!" Naruto grinned.
"Shino? The ramen is here..." Naruto said and smiles at him.
"Um, Naruto... I'm allergic to chicken..." Naruto's eyes widen, "Whoa. Seriously?"
"Heck no. I was kidding." Shino smiles. "And thank you, Naruto..." Shino grabs a pair of chopsticks and begins eating the ramen.
Quietly while Naruto basically shoved it down his throat.
Does he ever choke at all?
"Listen, Naruto... I've got to get home. And thanks a lot for the food." Shino thanked as he got up from the chair. "Actually... Nevermind. I'll just pay for the both of us." Naruto was onto his fifteenth bowl as Shino got out money to pay.
"Are you sure?" Naruto asked after swallowing a mouthful of ramen.
"Yeah." He nods, "It's my pleasure. And it was nice spending some time with a teammate of mine for once." And he heads into the direction of his home.
At least, for once, I didn't lie...
"Mother, I'm home. Are you okay?" He asks and hands his mother a glass of water.
"I'm fine... But are you?" She counters with a caring voice and he thinks.
"Well, I think I made a new friend today... He took me to eat ramen." His mother smiles like the sun shining bright, "That's good... And can you bring me something to snack on?" He nods and smiles simultaneously.
"Sure! Are rice balls good enough?"
"Yes. And let's try and reminiscence this Mother-Daughter moment together another day... Because it was very nice." She continues to smile.
'Daughter'? Has my own mother forgotten?
Shino just ignores the mistake and goes to make the snack.
But it was actually a nice moment together... Just like it used to be.
"Good morning, Shino!" Naruto called him over. "I wanted to ask you something..." The both walk closer to one another. "I wanted to know why you were looking at the K.I.A stone." Thinking, Shino paused for a couple of seconds.
Rest be in le results. >>
"I'm not sure I can tell you, Naruto..." Naruto began to sulk, "Aww... Why not? Is it that you don't trust me...?" He sulked some more as a few tears leaked out.
"No! It's not that it's just... I'm afraid you won't be my friend any more..." Naruto's eyes widened.
"No, no, no! I promise I'll still be your friend! And I won't tell any one!" He pleaded and begged. Shino was surprised.
"R-Really?" Naruto nods. "Okay. But come over here so Sasuke and Sakura won't hear..." He leads him a good distance from the other two. "Well, it's because my father's name is on there..."
"Are you serious? How did he die?" Naruto's question startled him.
"If you promise not to hate me..." He shook his head, eager to want to know Shino's secrets. "Well... I killed him..."
"What?! Why?" Shino turned to face the opposite direction before answering back; crying.
"Because he hurt my mother! And I hated him because of that!"
"But now I regret doing that because I miss him. He was so warm when he hugged me..."
Right now, he must be looking down at me with such hate...
"You know... You're really weird, Shino-san!" Naruto grinned. "But in a good way! Believe it!" Naruto began laughing and Shino joined in.
"And you know what?" Naruto says. "I never once saw you cry until now! So I can finally scratch that off from my list of things I want to see about Shino Hatsumomo!!" Shino cocked his head to one side.
"You've got to be joking. I mean, who in the right mind keeps a list like... Yours...?" Naruto shrugs his shoulders and replies, still smiling, "Me! I do!" Shino shakes his head as he laughs.
