Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Reading Totems	By : GrizzlyTeddyBear Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 1242 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Author�s pre-ramblings:� Yay!� I
love my reviewers and readers!� And I
keep getting more of both!� OX King,
HumanInfiltrator, Lady Slave, kodama, MsMina, eva24, Alaskantiger,
Darksteel1992, Pan12398, and now wildkit and Navygirl19999 join the review
fun!� *claps*� You guys deserve praise too!� By sitting at your computers, obsessively
checking for my updates ;-) and reviewing within hours of my postings you make
me feel so awesome�especially when I know there are tons of other
authors/stories out there that don�t get this much attention.� It brightens my mornings before I go off to
work and my evenings when I come home from work and I have email alerts with
reviews in them waiting for me.� So kudos
to you for being the reason I keep posting my story instead of hoarding it all
on my hard drive.

Title:� Reading
Totems
By:�
GrizzlyTeddyBear
Disclaimer:� I don�t
own Naruto, and this makes me sad.� I do
own Paige Stone, my OC!�
Main Pairings:�
Eventual ShinoxOC, NaruxHina, SasuxSaku
Rating:� M for
mentioned adult themes
Warning:� AU,
Post-series start time.� Rookie 9 is
23-24 years old.� Fic mentions pagan religions,
if you can�t handle it, don�t read! Also is OC-centric.� Hold your pants, all will be revealed as the
story progresses.� I like to take my
time.

Chapter Summary:�
Paige meets up with her mysterious bug totem man again for
meditation.� He gets a personal
reading.� He reveals his name.� They practice together, but something goes
wrong.

***Chapter 9***

Paige woke up early again on her third full day in
Konoha.� At least she had gotten a good
night�s rest this time.� Resigning
herself to become an early riser, she set about getting ready for her day.� She grabbed her bag of meditation items and was
about to open her door to skip out on her escort to walk to the red bridge on
her own, when she felt fox.� Grinning she opened the door to find Naruto
on the other side with his hand raised�poised to knock on her door.� �Hi Kit!�
Are we meeting on the bridge again for training?��

Naruto gave her a confused look.� �Yeah.��
He paused for a moment.� �You seem
to be in a good mood today.�

Paige took a moment to notice that she was in a good
mood.� She had a bounce in her step and a
smile on her face.� �I guess I am.�

�Good.� You�ve been
really serious ever since we arrived in Konoha.�
You look better with a smile.�

She beamed at the compliment, but then she took the time to
observe Naruto while they walked towards the bridge.� �You�re in a good mood, too.�

It was his turn to beam.�
�Hinata got back yesterday morning.�
She came to watch us spar at the training grounds after you got lost.�

Her grin turned slightly wicked.� �Get any sleep last night?�

Naruto blushed.

Paige giggled.

They continued their light banter until they came to the
bridge.� They were greeted with curious
stares.

�I know why he�s so happy,� Kakashi pointed at Naruto, �but
why are you glowing this morning?�� His
tone was teasing, but the look that went with it was assessing.

�Yesterday�s meditation ended well, and I had a good night�s
sleep�Today is going to be a good day.��
Paige couldn�t help the grin on her face.� She was also hoping her bug totem visitor would
be in the clearing when she wandered off later.�
She didn�t exactly understand why she was having these feelings for a
guy she barely knew, but she was enjoying it anyway.� She enjoyed his quiet presence.

Kakashi gave her an odd look, but nodded.� As they were walking down the path towards
the training grounds he declared to no one in particular, �Right.� We�re going to do the same training program
today as yesterday.�

Paige nodded.� She was
to �get lost� when he and Sakura go off to check any injuries that Sasuke and
Naruto inflicted on each other from sparring.�
But until then she settled herself under the same tree as yesterday
watching Sakura �help� Kakashi with his training.� She occupied herself by going over her
notebook from the past few days.�

She was looking over her first meditation in the clearing
when she heard, �Insects?� from above her.�
Looking up she saw where Kakashi and Sakura had disappeared from their
one fingered push-up session.� He was
currently dangling upside down by his legs from a tree branch and doing
sit-ups.� Sakura was sitting next to him
and counting.

�Yes.�� She gave him a
raised eyebrow.� �Are you in the habit of
reading over people�s shoulders while hanging upside down?�

�Ninja,� was the reply.�

Paige took that as a �yes,� but figured she would answer his
previously implied question.� �I was
getting a lot of insect totems originally, but I think I�m getting an
understanding about what it means from my session yesterday.�� She paused and then volunteered, �I don�t
often read insect totems.�� She still
wasn�t sure if she wanted to share about her bug totem visitor.

Kakashi gave her that assessing look on his next count of
�down� from Sakura.� It looked like he
knew she wasn�t telling the whole truth.

Paige shrugged and decided to make her inttentions of
telling him later known.� �It�s still
confusing, but I promise it�s nothing threatening.� When I understand more, I�ll let you know.�

He nodded and then said, �Oh look, I think Sasuke is
bleeding.�

He clearly was not bleeding from what Paige could see, but
Sakura�s head whipped around to check Sasuke visually from her vantage point on
the tree branch.� �Yes, I see it.� Let�s go check it out Kakashi.�� They jumped down from their branch without
any effort and walked over to the formerly sparring boys.

Paige wandered off to the clearing hoping to see her bug
totem visitor again.� Maybe she would
learn his name today?� It was getting to
be a hassle to call him �Bug Totem Visitor�.�
And somehow calling him �Bug Boy� didn�t seem nice.

***

She smiled when she finally made her way over to the
clearing through the tree line and made her way to the center.� Paige could feel beetle coming from the area, and if she concentrated a little, she
noticed he was just behind the tree line opposite from how she had entered the
clearing.� She addressed the spot she
figured he occupied, �I know you�re there.�

Surprise and Intrigue were his emotions as he stepped
from behind the tree that was his hiding spot and walked towards her.� �How?�

A single word, but there was so much behind it.� Paige figured she would attempt to answer all
of the implications.� �I could sense your
totem coming from the area you were.�
Yesterday it was your emotions that gave you away.� You were annoyed at me then curious as to
what I was doing.�

He nodded, taking all of this information in stride.� When she set her bag down and began to set up
her blanket, he moved to help her�taking an edge of the blanket and smoothing
it to lay flat.

She smiled, �Thank you.��
They sat down on the blanket facing each other.� Paige decided to break the silence after a
while.� She did have work to do, but
wanted to see if this guy would be willing to make it a little more
entertaining.� �Are you interested in
learning about your totem?�

He tilted his head to the side as if considering her offer,
then nodded at her.

�If you would like I could do a medicine wheel totem reading
for you.� You might learn about more
totems than the one I can sense without it, and it would give me some practice
for the council.�� When he did not appear
to give an answer verbally, nonverbally, or any discernable emotions of
curiosity she added, �It�s my personal practice not to share this kind of
information with anyone.� I won�t even
write it in my notebook for my own reference if you don�t want me to.�

He raised an eyebrow at her.

She shrugged in response.�
�I trained to be a therapist.�
Confidentiality is something I understand�although I would like to know
your name when you�re willing to give it to me.�� She got the feeling of being scrutinized
behind those dark sunglasses of his, but he still made no outward movements�at
first.

Finally he gestured with his hand towards her and Paige felt
Curiosity and maybe she was just
imagining the slight bit of anticipation, but it didn�t matter.� He was going to let her practice on him.

Paige smiled at him and set about setting up her medicine
wheel.� She made a mental note that he
was observing all of her actions, but he appeared to be just interested in what
she was doing.� She scratched her head
before she began the process of cleansing, smudging, and making an
offering.� It would be more polite to ask
him instead of smudging without consent.�
�This might seem a little strange,� she waved the materials for smudging
in her hands at him, �but since you�re a part of the process you get smudged
too.� You�re supposed to visualize
yourself being cleansed, but just being quiet and respectful works if you have
trouble with visualization.�

He nodded.

With a nod of her own she tapped into her gifts to begin the
formal reading.� She decided he was
definitely quiet and respectful, and she would have no way of knowing if he was
doing the visualization.� After finishing
the smudging she made another offering of tobacco to the six directions.� Paige then closed her eyes and set about
asking the spirits willing to communicate with her to show her the totems of
the man sitting across from her.� She was
not disappointed.�

Beetle came first,
but that was no surprise.� It appeared to
be his main totem.� Butterfly totem of the Air Clan aligned with energy of intellect
and insight appeared next.� After
butterfly came the impression of firefly
the totem of illumination.� Lastly Paige
was given the impression of ant totem
of strength because of its ability to work with its colony to carry many times
more than its body weight.� It appeared
he had many insect totems walking with him and guiding him.� He was truly fortunate�not everyone had
totems, let alone four of them!�

Paige also noted how each of the totems she read for him
corresponded with an insect totem she had read during her very first medicine
wheel journey in this clearing.� The
medicine wheel, it appeared, was trying to tell her about meeting him.

She opened her eyes now, but they were still unfocused.� Paige was concentrating now on the man
sitting across from her to see if she could determine what the totems meant
specifically for him.� After a moment,
she figured she gathered the information she needed.�

He hadn�t appeared to be uncomfortable under her strangely
penetrating gaze.

�You have four totems�all insects.� Your main totem is the beetle.� It was the one I sensed earlier, and I also
sensed it yesterday after you showed yourself.�
The beetle has influence over your other totems.� It�s a symbol of resurrection and new
life�they help process decaying flesh into fertile soil for new growth.� Beetles also are a symbol of protection
because they are well guarded by their personal armor.� For you beetles are a symbol of your over
protective nature both of yourself and of those you hold close to you, but with
the power of new life it is possible to open yourself more and learn to trust
others with a fresh beginning.�� Paige
paused.� That was kind of personal.� �Would you like me to continue?�

He nodded.

�You also have the totem of butterfly�symbol of the Air Clan
and the energies of intellect and insight.�
Similar to this is the totem of firefly�symbol of illumination.� You have the ability to see and perceive what
others cannot in a situation.� These two
totems are powerful together.� As a
shinobi you use these to your advantage in and out of battle.� They work with the beetle�s protectiveness to
come to the aid of friends and comrades in trouble before they realize they are
in danger�again both in and out of battle.

�You�re last totem is the ant�symbol of strength.� The ant is also a colony minded insect.� Its ability to work with its colony members
gives it the ability to lift many times its body weight.� You have the tendency to take responsibly,
even when you are not asked.� You are
also more than capable of handling this responsibility because you do not try
to accomplish everything on your own.�
You rely on you colony�family, friends�.and beetles?� Paige concluded
her last sentence with a question.� She
wasn�t quite sure how he relied on beetles for help, but she was just telling
him everything that she got from the reading.�
It only had to make sense to him.

After a long pause he nodded.

�Please give me a moment to ground myself and you can ask me
questions.�� She didn�t wait for a reply,
but closing her eyes, she set about reconnecting herself with the physical
world after thanking the insect totems and the spirits in general for their gifts
and insights.� Paige came back to herself
with a sheepish grin.� �Do you have any
questions for me?�

�No.�

�Was I accurate in the reading?�

�Yes.�

She realized this was the most consistent interaction she�s
had with him so far.� She hadn�t been
forced to interpret his gestures or emotions yet.� Paige wanted to push her luck to see what
would happen now that she had him talking.�
�Can I ask you a question then?�

He nodded.

Well, they had been talking.�
Paige went ahead anyway, hoping he would chose to answer her.� �I would like to know about that last part I
told you.� How do you rely on the help of
beetles?�

He shook his head and corrected her.� �Not beetles.�
Kikaichu.�

�Kikaichu?�

Rolling up his sleeves a little to show strange holes on his
forearms he continued, �They are insects my family has a bond with.�� He paused for a moment, appearing to consider
his next statement:� �My name is Aburame
Shino.�

Paige watched with wide eyes as the kikaichu came out of the
holes in his forearms and formed a little cloud hovering between them.� �Well, Shino�that�s some bond you family
has.�� She was alternating staring at the
cloud of bugs and the holes in his forearms which they had came from.

�You reacted well.�

Paige gave him a confused look.� �How was I supposed to act?�

He shrugged.

Finally her gaze came back to his dark colored
sunglasses.� It was the closest thing to
eye contact she was going to get for now.�
She wanted to make sure he knew that she didn�t think he was gross or
weird or whatever he was expecting.�
�I�ll admit to reacting badly when startled by bugs�when startled by
anything.� I also have a tendency to spaz
out when they�re on me�mainly because they tickle like hell.� But I don�t hate them or anything.�� She watched as the bugs answered some silent
command and re-entered his body through the holes on his forearms.

He noticed her stare.�
�I have them all over my body.� It
is why I keep covered.�

Realization struck Paige.�
�I won�t lie.� I find them
odd.� But I don�t find them repulsive.� And it can�t be too much stranger than
tattoos.�� She kept her gaze on his
sunglasses, hoping he would use that heightened perception she told him he had
to know that she was telling him the truth.�
She watched as one kikaichu flew back out and landed on his index
finger.� He held it out towards her.

�Can I have your hand?�

Paige grinned, held out her hand, and let the insect crawl
along her fingers.� She couldn�t help the
giggle that escaped because it did tickle her�a lot.� But suddenly the tickling was gone.� The bug was still walking along her skin, but
it didn�t tickle anymore.� She raised an
eyebrow at him.

�I asked her not to tickle so much.�

�Definitely some bond your family has,� she said in
wonder.� She watched the kikaichu roam on
her hand before holding her hand out for the bug to return to her owner and
apparently home.� She grinned at
him.� �I guess its official now.� We�re friends.�

�You would want that?��
He seemed actually confused by the idea.

�Sure.�

�Why?� he asked.

�Why not?� Paige replied.�
�You are a genuinely nice guy.� I
enjoy your company and the kikaichu.��
She blushed at the thought of her next statement.� �You let me be�me.� I like that.��
She figured she would stop there, otherwise she might add on the fact that
now that she knew more about him, heard more of his sexy voice, and that
watching him roll up his sleeves was almost like watching a strip tease, she
thought she was developing a nice crush on him.

�I don�t have many friends outside of my teammates.� Shino
ventured into the silence that followed.

She smiled at him in understanding.� And going on a hunch, she got up into a
kneeling position so that she could slowly, very slowly reach over the medicine
wheel still between them and put her hand on top of his forearm, making sure to
touch the holes the kikaichu used to enter and leave his body.� She wanted to move slowly enough that he
could pull back.� Paige knew he was not
used to letting people get close, and he was letting her get really close
really fast�definitely not the usual for him.�
She wanted to be polite and let him back away if he chose to.� But she also wanted him to know she wanted to
be close to him.� Again keeping her gaze
locked on his, �That makes two of us with not many friends.�

Shino nodded slowly at her.

Paige thought she detected a hint of surprise on his face
when she touched his forearm.� She also
thought she detected a hint of a smile, but it was gone after an instant.� Not wanting to overstay her permission to
touch him, she withdrew her hand and again sat opposite from him.� �We still have several hours of
daylight.� If you don�t mind, I�d like to
do some more practice for myself.� And
thank you for letting me do a reading on you.�

�Your welcome.�

�I�d like your help again.�

�How?�

�Well, I might need to be able to divide my attention for
the council meeting�being able to answer questions when in the meditation.� I did it a little with you, but I want to
practice that more.�

Shino nodded his agreement.�
�Ok.�

�Let�s work up with the difficulty.� If you could just move around and make little
distractions at first, and then work up to just talking to me that might
work.� I�m used to people going still
with shock which actually helps me concentrate.�� She laughed lightly, �I even managed to
surprise the Hokage into stillness.�

Paige thought she saw a slight smirk that went with the
feeling of Amusement, but she wasn�t
sure.� When she was sure Shino was ready
for her to begin, she sank into another journey with the medicine wheel, this
time asking for messages for herself and with her eyes open.�

The process was draining.�
At first it was easy to keep her attention split between the spiritual
and the physical, but then Shino began to do more than just move around.� He didn�t do anything drastic at first except
for freely looking around the clearing�twisting and turning to take everything
in.� But then he started a small
commentary on all of the insects in the clearing.� Paige was baffled about how anyone could know
so much just about insects, but reasoned his family must like insects in
general and kikaichu specifically.� She
was also getting frustrated with herself.�
Shino was really good at distracting her, or it could have been that
Paige was easily distracted by Shino.�
The medicine wheel was trying to tell her something.� Remembering the
feelings of encouragement she felt when letting go of her spiritual control
before passing out, Paige decided to try again, but slowly this time.� She was supposed to be testing her limits.�

She also decided to warn Shino this time too.� With still unfocused eyes she spoke, �I�m
going to try to go�deeper.� I�m having a
hard time getting anything, but I know there�s something there.�

�I�m sorry.�

�Don�t be.� This is
exactly what I need.� I don�t know how
the council will react, and I need to plan for worst case scenarios.� I need to be able to not get thrown out of a
meditation with a blaring headache like yesterday.�

Shino nodded.� �I�m
ready.�

Slowly Paige reached into her mind again, but deeper this
time.� Feeling her connection with the
spiritual become stronger, but still trying to keep track of Shino and his
little nature show narration, she just decided to�let go.� It was the only way to describe it.� With a deep cleansing breathe Paige just gave
up on trying to control the spiritual side of herself and let Wakan Tanka guide
her.�

It was overpowering.�
It was mesmerizing.� Feelings of Warmth Love Acceptance Encouragement Comfort
Accomplishment were coming from the medicine wheel. �She didn�t realize she was crying until Shino
asked, �Paige?�

With a shaky voice she tried to explain, �I�m not used to
such direct communication.� I didn�t have
that before coming here.� It�s�� she
trailed off trying to find the right words.�
��heady and almost intoxicating.�
Definitely need to practice this more��
She trailed off once more, but this time into darkness.� But right before the dark embraced her, the
totem of raven came to her.� Paige also thought she saw Shino�s face
contorted in worry hovering above her.

***

She had returned to the ancient forest of her true
visions.� This was the forest in which
Mudjekeewis had told her that her path was for a greater purpose�one in
Konoha.� Paige waited patiently to see
what this vision would bring her, which totem would visit her and communicate
more directly.� She often had to do much
of the interpretation when she used the medicine wheel on the physical
plane.� Visions were a more�efficient
form of communication with less room for misinterpretation.

It was not until she heard the sound of wings flapping
overhead that she directed her attention up and notice the rather large flock
of ravens which were in the trees surrounding her spot in the forest.� When she looked straight ahead again,
Mudjekeewis the grizzly bear Spirit Keeper of the West regarded her from his
position sitting across from her.

�Mudjekeewis, I am honored once more to be worthy of your
presence.�� She bowed her head briefly as
a sign of respect.

�You have let yourself be more open to the spirits and
decided to place you trust more in Wakan Tanka.�
Let your faith in him be your reassurance that no harm will come to you
while you journey the wheel.� There will
be other changes to keep the balance.� was the Spirit Keeper�s reply.

Paige gave a nod of her head.� It would be foolish to think that no harm
would ever come to her, but she did take comfort in the thought of no harm
coming to her while working with totems.�
She did wonder what the change he was referring to was though.� If she got more in touch with the spiritual,
would something else happen with the physical?

�Tell me the last message from the medicine wheel.�

�Ravens.� I saw
ravens.� They are messengers that go between
the worlds and help others to walk between the worlds to gain knowledge.�� Paige paused in thought.� �You bring me the gift of ravens as a
personal totem.�

�Use them to gain the knowledge you seek and to further your
ability to help others to heal.��
Mudjekeewis was not one for small talk.

She nodded.� �I thank
you for the gift of your ravens.� I will
attempt to only use them as you wish.�

Mudjekeewis gave her a nod, got up on all four legs, and
walked back into the forest from Paige�s view.�
After a moment her attention was once more drawn upwards as the ravens
took flight in a great black cloud which took over her vision.�

***

When the blackness cleared, she discovered herself to be in
her bedroom, lying on top of her bed with all of her clothes on.� Next to her was her bag of medicine wheel
items and on top of the bag was her notebook lying open.� Reaching over to examine her notebook and her
bag, she noticed the handwriting in the notebook was unfamiliar.� However, the content of the writing was her
reading with Shino.� At the bottom was a
note, �I brought you home. �Shino.��
Paige made a mental note that he was as succinct in writing as he was in
talking.� She also wondered how he had
known where she lived.� �I�ll have to
thank him anyway, for bringing me home and the permission to use his totem
information,� she thought with a smile.�
Paige attempted to fall into a more traditional sleep when she noticed
it was nearly 4:00AM.

***

Author�s notes:�
*evil laughter*� There�s chemistry
brewing!� As a slight insight into where
I�m going with Shino�s character, I�m working on a public/private kinda
thing:� Shino being quiet and reserved in
public, and more open (for Shino) in private with friends�and especially with
Paige.� Because well, let�s face it, if
you have a relationship, you need to communicate with each other somehow!� And it can�t all be gestures and
emoting.� It may seem OOC for Shino later
on, but I argue that:� (1) He�s 24 in
this fic, something he�s never been within manga/anime and people do change
with age and, (2) we see so little of him in general, who knows how he is in
private with a woman he has feelings for.�
I think he�s my favorite character because he�s so unknown and you can
just spend lots of time imagining how he would act in different situations...or
maybe I�m just obsessed�a little.�
Whee!� *author runs off*
- 8
- 9
- 10
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Reading Totems