Dedication---To Rachel (Lady Rage) for laughing when I told her my idea, and to me for going through with it!

Explanatory Note:

OMG. This story came to me as a random idea, just because I was thinking up a list of names, and then I thought the two in the title consecutively and realized that together they were a complete name.

So I in turn decided to write a story about them, mainly in jest. But when I started writing, I realized that the two were more than just two parts of a name, they were really two parts of the same soul. Ino is everything Shino isn't. And, well, opposites attract, do they not? When I wrote it out, everything seemed so right and true that I chose not to change it around so it would be humor like I originally intended. This was---although I'm not a hopeful for this pairing to really happen in the manga or anything---TRUE LOVE. A miracle romance, if I may say so (that's from the Japanese Sailor Moon theme). It was perfection at it's best.

So that's how I got this story here before you. I hope you enjoy, and be sure to leave your input in a review!

And btw, the equal signs wouldn't show up when I uploaded so I changed it to words in astericks, so I hope you get what I mean.

Love you all for even reading such a strange pairing,

Kenzie493

Shino minus Ino equals sh

Shino had always been a quiet boy. He was solitary and, well, he LIKED it that way. In fact, Shino thought that the world was best when it was silent, especially at night--no yells and screams of his fellow ninjas in battle, no cries of children on the street, and most of all, none of Kiba's endless yapping. But what else could you expect from a dog?

Well, if Kiba was a dog, then Shino might as well be classified as a rare species of insect. And like his fellow bugs, he was--you guessed it--virtually completely silent.

Now, Shino knew that due to the nature of your inner animal, as he liked to think of it (hell, his inner animal was thousands of bugs, literally), your outer self acted a particular way.

Kiba was a puppy. He was energetic and lively, with the loyalty only man's best friend could give you. And besides that, his bloodline gave him dog characteristics that made him think he was the alpha male.

Hinata was as docile as a rabbit. She was shy, but there was an edge to her; a tricky side of Hinata shown only in her most intense battles. Then she could he as difficult as a rabbit to catch and defeat.

Lee was more like a drunk frog. Shino couldn't think of any other way to describe him. Twitchy and fast, he had eyes that, as ugly as they may seem, showed his sweet vulnerability and the intense passion in his soul.

Tenten was like a wildcat. Her claws were her weapons, and everyone knew that she was amazingly skilled with them. She fought with a fire in her heart that only a lioness or jaguar could match, despite her seemingly sweet voice and exterior.

Neji was a bird. Neji spent only fast fleeting moments not training, and his training was like a cage he wasn't aware of. Shino knew that with this prodigy in the branch house, he was already a caged bird anyhow, but he only built on it further with his reclusiveness and cold demeanor.

Sasuke was a slippery snake. There was no way you could get a hold on him, no weaknesses, no emotions. He could swallow you whole without wincing, and you could tell just by looking at him.

Naruto was a cat. Shino had heard others say he was like a fox before, but foxes were too cunning and sly for someone like Naruto. No, a cat suited him better--he did what he wanted when he so pleased and he sure as hell didn't wait around for permission... And ramen was like his saucer of milk.

Sakura, whose name meant cherry blossoms, was anything but a flower. Surely, she was delicate enough when it came to Sasuke plucking away at her heart like a vulture, but she was in reality most similar to a fish in his opinion. She hid her true emotions with a mask, like the never-changing face of a fish, but she was free to move and swim and live as she pleased. Furthermore, she splashed, or rather, beat on, people like the fish that you try to catch in a pond would.

Shikamaru was a deer. His eyes shone with hidden intelligence and awareness. He was calm and lax until battle drew near him, and then he put his heart into it with an unexpected fervor. He had patience.

Chouji was a butterfly. He was emotionally delicate and frail. You could snap his heart in two like the wings of his namesake, yet he was boisterous and full of life. He was vivacious and kind, a masterpiece of creation.

Ino was definitely a wild boar of the mountain. Her first trait that came to mind was loud, the complete opposite of Shino in her volume. She was also emotional, another opposite. Ino cared about what others thought of her. She wanted what was best for her first, and then if it suited her needs, she would do whatever she could to help those around her. All in all, Ino was Shino's polar opposite. He was nothing---just an ant crawling on the ground beside her, while she was a boar, standing tall and proud and ready to run you down on a moment's notice. She was everything.

And though Shino loved his solitude, his silence and relaxed atmosphere, there was more to life than being nothing but a bug observing all the bigger things in life. That was more like death. And Shino wanted to live. He wanted to live with the passion his fellow nin lived by. He wanted to be like Ino, with her undeniable charisma and love for even the most unimportant things, like flowers...or bugs...or even, someday, Shino.

Because he loved her. He loved Ino like it was the only thing he had to hold onto. Without her, he was just a moment of silence. Without Ino...Shino was just another face in the crowd. Without Ino he was half a man.

But with Ino, he was complete. Their opposites created the most perfect being in the world when melded together. If he could be with Ino, he would no longer be that ant on the ground, waiting for his dangerous lifestyle to squash him. He would become the ant hidden in her boar's hair, along for the ride as long as she'd let him freeload. And that's what he needed. He needed someone to travel through the dangerous and fruitless life of a shinobi with him.

And who better for him than Ino? Who better than that loud woman, because Shino minus Ino equals shhhhh.