Work Text:
Shino often finds himself thinking about his teammates. From simple thoughts like what Hinata must be having for dinner and whether Kiba will be late to training again. Sometimes, though his thought tend to be more… philosophical.
Kiba has eyes like stars, and shines as brightly as one.
At the same time, he has a habit of getting into petty conflicts, is impulsive and is easily tempted by promises of food or play. Despite his status as a shinobi, despite his pedigree, despite the kills under his belt and the weapons he carries, he has the mindset of a child, treating life almost unnervingly like a game.
And yet.
He is confident, almost cocky, with a stubbornness only his mother could rival, but his movements are purposeful and never wasteful, his gait is steady and once past the surface one would find him extremely reliable, like a dog.
As degrading as that might sound.
Shino knows otherwise, however. Being in a team with any Inuzuka, let alone the son of the clan Head would make anyone know otherwise. He is strong and solid and ready, and he always will be, he knows.
And yet. He is a child, he is twelve and perhaps Shino shouldn’t think his teammate, his best friend, childish. They all are children, still genin, by any law, shinobi or civilian.
But perhaps it is his upbringing that gives Shino this impression, raised not just as clan child but as clan Heir. Hinata, too, despite never receiving the respect deserving of a Heir, was raised formally like him, trained in diplomacy as well as killing.
Kiba is different, in that regard.
Kiba is a second child. His sister is the Heir, and he is the spare. From anyone else’s mouth this would sound resentful, but Kiba has always said it casually, happily, even. He is free, he had explained. Without duties beyond what is normally expected weighing him down, without having to mind the clan and the village as well.
And Shino… resents that, just a little.
Not Kiba, never Kiba, but he resents the fact he does not have that choice.
His own father is kind, and his training is tough but fair. He is not ignored and looked down upon the way Hinata is. But all the same, sometimes, while letting his kikaichu fly off to scout ahead, he wishes for more.
But he knows that the kikaichu fly free only as much as he lets them, knows the same applies to Kiba and the village as a whole. His sister would not chain him, would not trap him in a cage, would let him fly free until the sky is broken past and Kiba is amongst the stars as he should be, Shino is sure.
But the Inuzuka can only do so much, when they are looked down on by those in power as uncouth and barbaric, when a female clan head remains a preposterous concept, even under Tsume’s reign.
So Shino supposes he knows why he was born as a Heir, and not a spare.
If the Inuzuka cannot do it alone, then the Aburame will do it with them.
He, at least, will, in his full capacity as future Head.
That is how his father operates as well, he knows. What Tsume wants, the Aburame, and occasionally the Hyuuga, will support to the best of their not inconsiderable ability.
Shibi tells him of growing up, of childhood days and pacts between friends when he and Tsume were still Heir and spare, before Tsume’s aunt died an untimely death and thrust her into the position of Heir. Shibi tells him of promises that he has not broken, tells to do the same with Hinata and Kiba, tells him that these childhood alliances are what stay the longest into adulthood.
That’s how Shino knows, armed with his father’s wisdom and the unrelenting stubbornness of a twelve year-old:
He was born as Heir, to allow Kiba to live free as spare.