Character Name: Aburame Shino

Series: Naruto

Age: 19


Affiliation: Rebellion, he has a strong sense of representing the oppressed—especially since he hates lazy people who don’t appreciate their status. Currently he is simply helping the efforts with various tactics of sabotage and spying, but he is not a full member. He has been offered a hefty position within the rebellion—since his intelligence would help organize the cause. So far, he has refused for reasons he will not disclose.

Physical Description: Shino is rather lean, but still well muscled, with quick reflexes to match (though one wouldn’t know with the high-collared coats that are his signature). In fact, Shino’s general appearance is mostly unknown, as he keeps his eyes hidden behind sunglasses and his face obscured by his jacket. He stands at almost six feet tall, wears nondescript colors like black, browns and greys, and

has a deep, slightly resonating voice. The most outlandish thing about him is possibly his obsession with insects, and the analogies he always makes to them. It makes him a little creepy.
On a normal day, Shino will likely be wearing an oversized grey coat with a collar that obscures the lower half of his face, and black slacks with boots. He’s not one to be overly fashionable, and goes for comfort and practicality before anything else. No one has ever seen his eyes, but they are, according to rumor a rather unexceptional shade of grey.


Personality: Introverted, observant, analytical and stoic. Shino is the type to go into things with a calculated plan and a goal-oriented mindset. He’s not one to be very affectionate, nor is he very good at keeping friends. However, he does look after those he deems weaker than himself or that he feels responsible for. He has a pointed sense of justice, and rarely feels pity for those who are lazy, cruel or undeserving. He values hard work and cleverness but he also understands that some people are just more intelligent than others.

His personality quirks and unlikeable traits include his sharp tongue and his tendency to talk down to people. Shino is also a little OCD when it comes to keeping his things organized, and doesn’t put up with a messy work area.

Shino has an affinity for insects that borders paraphilia. In this sense his silent aura is rather creepy.


Abilities/Strengths/Weaponry: Shino’s greatest asset is always his ability to plan ahead, though his secondary skill is commanding swarms of various robotic smart-bugs (nicknamed: “kikaichu” after the old Japanese meaning “destruction bugs”).

Due to his hobby of collecting from the tech dumps for materials, Shino has developed very quick, acrobatic reflexes not unlike that of an ancient Japanese ninja. He is quick with both fighting with and throwing knives as well as with hand-to-hand combat, but would find a way to escape (usually using his kikaichu as a distraction) before engaging in combat. He has had to dodge many things dangerous on his hunt for ready materials to build with. He also has a mod chip, illegally acquired and implanted as payment for his services when he built spybots for the Rebellion—so his hearing and other senses are especially acute.


Weaknesses: Shino has a hard time emphasizing with other people, and tends to hold to the fact that one can work to get themselves into a better position. In this sense, Shino tends to be lacking in close friends, and social ability and charm. He also has the tendency to over-think situations, and sometimes attempts to find a way out of a conflict where it would be easier just to face it. Physically, he is quite able, but he is limited to being only one person and sometimes doesn’t know when to ask for assistance. He is also surprisingly stubborn, and gets irritated with people a lot faster than he would with puzzles or challenges.


History: The Aburame family has never been substantially well off—but neither have they been quite so low as the slums. Shino was born into his family as an only child. He lived through a relatively normal childhood, and even while he was younger he hardly expressed much emotion and was always rather matter-of-fact and stoic. He tended to focus on goals and analytical approaches to everything, and was mostly socially lacking. Because of his tendency to become annoyed with children his age, he developed a strange passion for insects, though the reasoning behind this has yet to be divulged. He has, however, been experimenting with and building robotic bugs for various purposes since he was very young.

When Shino was fourteen, his uncle was killed by the Yakuza. His uncle had grown tired of living as a low-class citizen, borrowed money, lived extravagantly for two years and then ran into trouble trying to pay it back. While Shino’s immediate family had never been directly affected as far as threats, they would never be able to borrow money if ever they needed it. While Shino did not fell any pity for his uncle (who had been lazy and irresponsible) he found this news troubling. So when he turned eighteen, Shino left home to make his own way—leaving his parents and his widowed aunt to run their small used electronics shop. It wasn’t a dramatic goodbye, but Shino did hope his parents would do better off.

Living on his own, Shino soon found himself in the slums of East Shinjuku, not quite as poor as many of the other residents of the area—but well hidden. With his technological genius, Shino had eventually began to use his skills with electronics to build various implements and tools for the Rebellion in hopes that things might eventually become better for his family. He has also always been quite athletic all of his life, as he has always gathered his materials from the tech dumps.


Third-Person Writing Sample: Shino rummaged through the debris, careful of any sparking or jagged pieces. He wore thick gloves to protect himself, careful not to wander too far away from the edge of the large landfill. He walked lightly, keeping his ears alert as his eyes roved the fragments beneath his feet. Although the light was fading and dusk was coming, Shino’s eyes were hidden behind dark-tinted goggles. He kept the lower half of his face covered by his high collared coat, trying not to inhale the toxic fumes of various technological circuitries that had been exposed to the elements.

Stooping, he groped for a corner of a circuit-board. He had to use both hands to pull it out from between some other things and held it close to his face to examine it and tossed it behind him, deeming it inadequate. It clattered and rattled, a plastic sounding clank echoing throughout the premises. Shino froze, listening over the sudden thud of his heartbeat. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end and he had broken into a sudden, cold sweat.

“…” Shino slowly started backing down the incline of debris, to the edge of the pile where his bag was sitting half-full of new raw materials. He was alarmed to see that it was dangerously close to dusk—and he was a couple of miles away from his residence. He didn’t bother with a flashlight. It wouldn’t help anyway.

He spun on his heel, pausing only long enough to grab his bag. Sprinting, Shino jumped and dodged various obstacles in his way with a practiced grace. He focused on breathing, on getting back within the vicinity of his home before full dark. He dodged shadows, staying in the dying light. A sudden fear struck him, and with it a crash of adrenaline. Grinding his teeth, Shino gripped his bag as it bounced on his shoulder. Only a few blocks to go…he heard a trashcan behind him crash over…

He hit the ring of bright lights that marked the residential areas, sliding to a halt. Sweat was tracing a path down the side of his face as he panted. His temples and body were uncomfortably warm, and trembling very slightly. He straightened and hurried into his home, which he had rigged for the lights to turn on when it was dark. Some logical part of his brain told him it was illogical to fear the dark—the other part, the one that survived, told him that it wasn’t the dark it was what was in it.

Shino locked his door and turned to his workstation, tossing the bag onto his cot.


First-Person Blog Post: {Modifications on the new spybot have failed. I will perhaps need to find new wiring for it. Also, I will have to acquire more tools very soon. Funds are short. Contacting the Rebellion seems to be my only option until I find other costumers. But in the slums, local prospects are dim. …perhaps the Yakuza…? I am loathe to turning to that group—no matter how much they pay.}.

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