Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Courage is a Dirty Word ❯ Like Picking Flowers ( Chapter 1 )

Courage is a Dirty Word

Chapter 1: Like Picking Flowers

There were lines upon lines of the fresh recruits from the military academies, the finest of the bunch mixed in with those others who were not so fortunate as to be able to attend a Victorian Cross college. Of course, the true geniuses themselves were not among the company of the regular cannon-fodder, they were the ones who were immediately promoted to sergeants still smelling of starch and polish.

Shino still remembered for a brief moment, how he had felt when he had first arrived, coming through the doors by the truckload and looking at each face feeling the same way that they did. Apprehensive, nervous, and not knowing what to expect of his future knowing only that he would find out shortly whether he wanted to or not. Filing neatly through the great doors, exactly the same then as they now, to stand in those same lines, green-uniformed shoulder neatly aligned with green-uniformed shoulder, subjecting the hairline in front of him to a thorough inspection, knowing full well that the soldier behind him had nothing better to do either. He remembered the collective intake of breath, as the inspecting officers strode down from the stage to take in the pick for their first batch, as each soldier stood an inch straighter, shoulders back a little more than they had been before. The first batch; the imperial fighting force, the pride of the nation, the dream and ultimate goal of every graduate. Only now he knew them to be the first to be killed in the action, the first to be sent on death missions, and the first to be called as expendable in a losing war.

He walked among the hopefuls now, looking at every face as he remembered his inspecting officer had done to him. Looking for flaws; a psychotic nature perhaps, taking pleasure from killing and excitement from the inevitable prospect of being killed, or a haunted look in the eyes of those who could not care otherwise. He picked from his section, forty of those he deemed fit for the first batch, as he glanced up at the others and saw that they had sent much more than he did out of the doors, he was slightly uneasy. Perhaps he was being too soft on his first inspection. No matter, the call for the second batch was on way and Shino made his way up to the start of the line again.

The seconds were the spies and strategists and the thirds were technicians. Anyone left were either hurriedly sorted through the groups again or, as more often the case, put straight away into the second batch: a bad spy was a dead spy. No one who had not been picked for the first batch was added to their numbers, it was an unspoken rule. You made the final decision as they were hurried out the doors, the same way that you could not change your mind about a command as it was being executed. Too late then, they had told him, to change your mind. The men either didn't trust you afterwards or it was already too late as other plans had been made around yours. Learn to make your decision final or quit while you were still ahead.

As he tapped the final candidate for the fourth batch, Shino realised that he had missed out on one last soldier, someone who he had probably skipped over because he looked so out of place. His uniform was slightly scruffier than everybody else's, not overly noticeable but obvious in a way that made you rack your brain for the reason. The hair stuck out and up more than it should on a day such as this and something in the front of his shirt moved. The name tag said: `Inuzuka Kiba'. Shino leaned in close, so close that he could see his dark glasses mirrored in Kiba's eyes and said so quietly that no one could possibly hear it except for the two of them,

"The dog will not be permitted while you are in an officer's presence, but any other time is alright with me as long as it cannot be seen."

His hand reached out from within the recesses of his deep pockets and grabbed the animate object and felt a strange satisfaction when he heard a soft whine. "Understood?"

Kiba nodded pushing down his feelings of anger and outrage as he felt Akamaru fall still against his chest. "Yes sir."

Kiba glanced down at his inspector's white card: `Sergeant Aburame Shino'. Ah.

"Sergeant Aburame!" Shino turned, wondering what the matter was and noticed that the hall was empty bar the two of them and Sergeant Hyuuga on the stage who was calling him.

"Coming Hyuuga, just give me a moment!" he shouted back.

He turned back to Kiba and decided to hurry his little game on a bit.

"What'll it be soldier? Take your pick."

Kiba grinned at this indirect and insincere apology to the silencing of Akamaru.

"I'll take the second, sir. Never afraid for a change to die for my country, sir, that's what this whole thing's about, innit?"

Shino patted him on the shoulder, a conscientious objector? He hoped that he had not been wrong about Kiba in the picking of the first batch. "Second it is then but don't make me regret my choice."

As he watched Kiba saunter off through the second door, Shino heard a soft, "Afraid of a little dog bug-man?" that he chose to ignore. But as he made his way out by the small back door with Neji, he took refuge in his self-reassurance that Kiba would have been wasted in the first.