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The rustling of leaves in the summer breeze was gentle enough that Naruto hovered on the verge of sleep. There was the comforting weight of his girlfriend’s head buried in his chest, and the weather was warm and dry. He was just about to slide fully into a well-deserved nap when a shout broke the calm.
“It’s happening!”
Shino was usually a quiet, laid-back sort of guy. Some days, Naruto would hang out with the other kids he went to the Academy with, and Shino wouldn’t say a single word the entire time, just sitting and playing with ants or other creepy crawlies.
If he was this excited, something big was happening.
Naruto gently moved Hinata’s head off his chest and onto his balled-up jacket, though she woke up moments later anyway. They’d been enjoying the summer sunshine and napping on the grass near the Hokage monument, making the most of a quiet mission, but truth be told Naruto was getting a bit bored.
“What’s happening?” he asked.
“How much of the briefing did you pay attention to?” Shino shot back, catching his breath.
Naruto shrugged. He went to a lot of briefings these days, and most of them were really dull. “There’s some butterflies hatching soon, and we need to catch them or something?”
“We need to keep them contained, and wait for them to become safe to handle, then we catch them,” Hinata quietly corrected him. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
Naruto grinned at her. “You’re so smart and stuff! Wait, why aren’t they safe all the time?”
“Why? Because my family have spent generations breeding them to emit lightning chakra as they emerge from their cocoons, and to return to their hatching sites to lay eggs,” Shino explained. “It is a very useful trait for a number of– We don’t have time for this. The butterflies are beginning to hatch and we need to ensure they stay inside the glade or away from the village. They could injure civilians or even careless ninja.”
That last line was said with a meaningful look at Naruto, who brushed it off. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
The clearing was still mostly empty by the time they arrived, though there was a scent of ozone in the air and a dozen or so butterflies were already flying around and trailing sparks. Between the vibrant greenery and the soft mossy earth, it was a romantic place, and Naruto found Hinata’s hand slipping into his.
“These are metalmark butterflies, but the Aburame have cultivated the breed in order to give them chakra for self-defence,” Shino explained. As he droned on, Naruto tuned him out and took a closer look at the nearest butterfly. It landed on his outstretched finger and flapped its wings, but as soon as he moved it took off again.
It also delivered a nasty jolt of electricity, and he jumped, as did Hinata. She was still holding his other hand and the current went straight through them both.
“That is why you should not touch the butterflies.” Shino sounded so matter-of-fact that it wrapped back around to being smug. “And also pay attention when I am telling you important information.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Naruto grumbled. “So what, we just blow back any butterflies that try to escape?”
“A vast oversimplification, but in essence you are correct.”
More butterflies were hatching from their cocoons in the meantime, their iridescent patterns sparkling in the sunlight. The smell of ozone grew stronger as their wings took their first few experimental flaps.
With an interesting job in front of him, and plenty more relaxing to do afterwards, Naruto was happy to get stuck in. Touching the butterflies would hurt him, and attacking them would hurt the butterflies (and therefore Shino), so he sent gentle gusts of wind spiralling inwards and upwards, funnelling the butterflies safely away from the village. They’d find their way back to their hatching sites, Shino had said, so Naruto figured this was the safest option.
Hinata circled the clearing, capturing any stragglers that made it past Naruto’s wind. With her fingers lined with chakra, she could handle them safely despite the lightning flickering around them. She pushed them into the middle of the wind where they would be carried out of the way.
Above them, the butterflies were hardly recognisable as individuals. They danced around and over and under each other, flashing their wings and brushing up against one another. It looked like every colour of the rainbow was present in the swarm.
It took half an hour for the spectacle to be over, and then the shimmering mass slowly returned to the glade.
“They’re still agitated,” Hinata murmured, letting a pair of butterflies settle on her outstretched arm.
Shino peered at one of them. “They’ve spent too much energy flying in the wind,” he said after a moment. “They need feeding before they can lay eggs. Chakra, preferably, though I do also have some sugar water available.”
“Come here,” Naruto said, an idea forming. He wrapped his arms around Hinata from behind and she giggled. “Let’s do this.”
He sent out a slow, unformed wave of chakra, and the butterflies responded. First one, then a couple, and then like a great flood every single butterfly in the clearing flocked to them, landing on them until they were buried in a living blanket of shifting wings.
“Smile,” Shino said, utterly deadpan, as he took a photograph.
Naruto kissed the top of Hinata’s head. “That’s a picture I’m going to cherish forever.”