After the First Great Shinobi War ended, the Village had many orphans, not just commoner orphans, but also many from the Shinobi Clans.
Adding an Insect Sister to the family didn't attract much attention.
Explaining to the neighbors that she was a relative's child was enough, and the Clan would also cover for them.
Miki found her usual long robe and a new mask. After putting them on the Insect Sister, her identity as an insect wouldn't be exposed.
Unless she happened to appear in front of the Hyuga Clan with their Byakugan activated.
This problem could be solved as long as she didn't run around recklessly.
The only annoyance was that there was an extra mouth to feed, and sure enough, her appetite was enormous.
One person could eat ten times Miki's portion.
Although her mother, Yumi, didn't say much, Miki knew she was worried about money.
The small inn they ran didn't generate much profit. In a Shinobi Village like Konoha, the clientele were merchants who issued missions and hired Shinobi.
Under competitive pressure, prices were low and quality was good.
In Miki's opinion, it was only a matter of time before it went out of business.
Because it truly lacked any unique features. They couldn't possibly serve the Aburame secret recipe of roasted insects, could they?
Business would definitely be even worse.
Most merchants would choose hot spring inns, which not only had hot springs but also girls.
Feeding Miki was no problem, but feeding a whole soccer team would be a huge problem.
And after the Insect Sister cleared out all the family's stored food in one night, Miki decisively forbade her from eating at home.
During school, she would send the Insect Sister to the forbidden forest to hunt for herself.
This was not a situation where she could be soft-hearted.
During this process, Miki discovered that the Insect Sister particularly liked licking honey.
Any beehive in the forest was fair game.
Her exoskeleton was incredibly hard, so bees were completely helpless against her.
This forced Miki to forbid the Insect Sister from raiding beehives.
If she continued to spoil them at this rate, she would eventually make the bees extinct.
Who would pollinate then, and how would plants reproduce?
During class, Miki was even a little distracted from her experiments, frequently checking on the Insect Sister's situation, worried sick.
Unexpectedly, the Insect Sister basically didn't hunt live creatures in the wild, but she would snatch prey that had already been killed.
From morning to afternoon, a group of unlucky dogs had their meals stolen by the Insect Sister three times. After their first fight, they basically avoided the Insect Sister.
But the Insect Sister still found them by their scent.
Then, it was one punch per dog.
The biting force of those dogs was completely ineffective against the Insect Sister's defenses.
It was like playing a game; she easily chased away the pack of dogs.
If Miki hadn't really been unable to watch anymore, this group of dogs wouldn't have gotten a single warm bite today.
So, Miki was still soft-hearted. She didn't confine the Insect Sister to the house, but simply issued new prohibitions based on the Insect Sister's situation.
In Miki's eyes, this child was quite kawaii.
"Kawaii~" The little girl beside her looked at Miki and asked, "What kind of insect is this?"
It was currently the Ninja Academy's Kunai throwing class, and the one asking was Uchiha Naori, who happened to be standing next to her.
"A moth," Miki said indifferently, "You have good taste, as expected of an Uchiha."
Flipping her hair, Haruyo said, in a rarely feminine manner, "It's an insect I've never seen before, surprisingly cute."
"Want to eat it?" Miki said, and the silkworm moth perched on her shoulder flapped its wings.
"No, thank you!" Haruyo said with a dark expression.
"You're welcome," Miki said politely.
"Are you intentionally trying to make me angry?" Haruyo said with a smile.
"Don't worry, I absolutely mean well," Miki chuckled. "If you don't try it because you're scared, you'll never know its wonderfulness."
"Really?" Haruyo asked.
"Want to eat it?" Miki asked.
"It's so cute, it would be too cruel to eat it," Haruyo said. "However, you're much friendlier than I imagined. Indeed, you won't know until you try."
"People always judge by appearances," Miki said. "What did you imagine I was like?"
Haruyo thought for a moment, then turned and glanced at Miki, then turned back, ignoring Miki.
Then she said, "Like this?"
"Do I need to imitate Tsunade?" Miki chuckled and hummed, mimicking Tsunade's posture with her arms crossed.
"Hehehe," Haruyo covered her mouth and snickered. "Tsunade must be fuming because of you."
As deskmates, this was basically their daily routine with Tsunade.
"That's just great," Miki said.
"Crunch!"
Not far away, Tsunade gnashed her teeth fiercely.
She glared at Haruyo.
"Wow, how scary." Although she said this, Haruyo showed no fear, grinning as she said to Miki, "Can I have this insect? I want to raise a puppy, but taking care of a puppy is difficult, and I'm afraid I won't do well. If it's an insect, it would be much simpler, right?"
"Giving it to you is no problem, but you won't be able to keep it alive," Miki said.
"Why?" Haruyo asked, puzzled.
"This insect's lifespan is only one day."
"Oh, I see." Haruyo looked disappointed and said, "That's too short."
"What is the purpose of living like this?" Haruyo murmured sadly.
"To put it romantically, they come into this world to catch a glimpse of this beautiful world."
Haruyo's eyes lit up at the words.
"To put it cruelly, a moth itself is just a tool; its genes are merely for the purpose of transmitting its own genes."
"That's really…" Haruyo said, "A novel way of looking at it."
As a Bloodline Limit Shinobi, she was not unfamiliar with the concept of genes.
But this was the first time she had heard such a perspective.
"It gets very complicated if you go into detail," Miki said. "Want to hear it?"
Haruyo decisively shook her head and said, "That's too boring. Don't you have any more girlish topics?"
"Sorry," Miki shook her head. "I'm not a normal girl, and I'm not interested in the things normal girls like."
"Honestly, neither am I," Haruyo said. "They're all discussing who's handsome, and I always feel like I can't join in."
"Who's the most handsome?" Miki became a little interested. No girls in her class ever talked to her about such things; they were too busy avoiding her.
"Orochimaru-kun from the next class," Haruyo said, a name that surprised Miki.
"Then who's the ugliest? Jiraiya?" Miki asked.
"Of course, it's you," Haruyo said. "Jiraiya-kun also has his handsome side."
"…" As expected.
Miki chuckled, a little annoyed.
Never mind, don't argue with a child.
If she wanted to refute, she could just take off her mask, but she didn't want to. She would never take it off in this life, to avoid boys flocking to her and being a nuisance.
"Are you angry?" Haruyo asked.
"No," Miki replied.
"You're angry," Haruyo said. "You can't hide it from these eyes of mine."
"Shut up, idiot."
"Hehehehe…" Haruyo giggled, covering her mouth.
Miki couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
"Miki-kun is so gentle," Haruyo said.
Miki froze for a moment, unsure how to respond.
Just then, Teacher Ogawa's voice rang out, "Aburame Miki, it's your turn."
Saved.
Miki breathed a sigh of relief.
She stepped forward, took out a Kunai, and threw it with a flick of her wrist.
Since it was her first time touching one, it naturally missed the target.
Not having practiced, this was a normal phenomenon.
"Zero points!"
In fact, Miki had been serious and not distracted.
This kind of score…
Under her mask, Miki raised an eyebrow.
It was just a tiny bit off, grazing past.
A little unacceptable.
"Hahahahahahaha!"
In a situation where no one in the class dared to laugh, Tsunade laughed unrestrainedly.
Her laughter was a bit like a barbell.
"Dying of laughter!"
"Hahahahahahaha!"
Mainly, those two words, "dying of laughter," Tsunade had always wanted to return to Miki.
Miki silently walked back into the crowd.
Teacher Ogawa opened his mouth several times, wanting to speak but holding back, then called the next person.
"Don't worry, shuriken are very simple, I'll teach you," Haruyo comforted Miki.
"No need, I don't need shurikenjutsu at all," Miki said through gritted teeth.
Seriously, Miki really didn't need shurikenjutsu.
Even carrying them was taking up too much space.
If it was just to force movement, small clusters of insects were more effective than shuriken.
Haruyo looked at Miki, blinked, and smiled, "Kawaii~"
Under her mask, Miki pouted.
This child definitely has some kind of problem.