Reincarnation of the Aburame God (Naruto Fanfic)

"The ant is a model of hard work."

- Aesop

...

I found an anthill near to where I had found that rotten log full of termites. It was time to test whether the reason the insects hated me was my divine chakra or not.

I approached the anthill slowly, with very cautious steps. Well, that was before I remembered I was like a Founding Titan next to those little living beings. My careful steps were like earthquakes to them. I almost laughed out loud when I realized that.

Anyway, I got into a crouched position while observing the anthill. It was a medium-sized anthill, nothing very impressive.

I remember seeing somewhere in my past life that anthills can be surprisingly bigger than they look on the outside. The small ones are over two square meters in size, so any human can fit inside a small anthill. The average anthill can be up to twenty meters long, and the large ones no one knows how far they can stretch.

It's amazing how such small creatures can do such big things, isn't it?

For a few seconds, I watched the ants at work. Before I tried to approach them, I wanted them to get used to my presence.

Soon, I realized that they weren't running away like the termites did. That was a good sign.

'Oh, yes. I almost forgot about that.'

I reached into the right pocket of my white jacket and pulled out the piece of bread I had saved from lunch. Then I turned the piece into a few crumbs and put the rest back in my bag. I couldn't risk giving everything to these ants and having them reject me.

With a few crumbs in my right hand, I threw them around the anthill.

It was curious to see how agitated the ants were at first. They ran into the anthill, and I thought:

'What do they think is happening? An enemy bombardment?'

So, I remembered it was natural to be frightened by something falling from the sky, especially something good. I was the only stranger who didn't even suspect that when I woke up in the afterlife with the opportunity to be reincarnated.

Could it be that the fact that I could choose was because I had always expected it? My past life was very complicated, and seeing so many protagonists reincarnate made me wish for it.

Anyway, watching those ants was gratifying for some reason. It made me relax more than I had in years in my old life. It was nice to have a bit of simplicity at last, without the extravagance of a CEO's life.

'It's not as if having a Gacha System is something simple, but it's nice to have small goals again. Like taming insects... when did I imagine that would happen?'

It didn't take long for the frightened ants to realize that it wasn't an attack on their anthill. One of them approached one of the crumbs I had thrown, picked up a tenth of the crumb, and ran into the anthill. Seconds later, one of them came out, accompanied by a row of other ants. I couldn't tell if the one leading the line was the same ant as before, because they all looked the same to me.

Together, the ants collected the crumbs from the bread I had distributed. It was little to me, very little in fact, but to them it was like a feast.

Worker ants broke each measly piece of bread into smaller pieces with their tweezers before carrying it into the anthill.

This meant a breakthrough for me. They were not only tolerating my presence by the anthill. They were also accepting something that had passed through my hands. It had my pheromones and a tiny part of my chakra.

I wanted to explore more. So, I took some bread from my pocket. I held it over my left palm, which I rested on the ground.

To take this larger piece, they would have to touch me.

If the ants touched me without problems, it meant I had successfully calmed my chakra, completing the third and penultimate stage of my plan.

As most of the ants were busy, it took a few minutes for one of them to approach my left hand.

'I bet it smelled the bread.' I thought, and only didn't say it out loud so as not to startle its with my voice.

For a few moments, the ant in question seemed a little uncertain about whether it should approach me or not. But it was a living being, and every living being has its own level of greed. This one was apparently very greedy, brave, and exploitative. It crawled up the tip of my ring finger and circled around until it reached the piece of bread in my palm.

However, just as a cheery smile was forming on my face and the ant was about to cut off a piece of bread for itself, I felt something fall on my head.

When I looked up, I saw that clouds had formed in the sky, heavy clouds. Soon, another drop fell and then another, this time right on the tip of my nose.

"Damn..." I said.

"Damn it, a deluge is starting! I've got to run!" I heard a low, but still audible, voice.

Wide-eyed, I looked down and saw the ant in my hand already running towards the anthill.

I could hardly believe that I had heard the voice of an ant. It was cute, very cute. Similar to a child's voice, or at least as high-pitched.

I stood up, put my hand in my pocket again, and walked back to my house as the rain got heavier.

-:-

Hours later...

It was dinnertime. My first dinner with my new family. However, the atmosphere was not as welcoming as you would expect from a family. It was more like a professional air.

Seated at the dinner table were Shibi Aburame, my father, Torune, my younger brother, and me. No one else was in the room. The clan servants just brought the food, put it on the low table, and left. They only came at mealtimes to bring the food.

Torune and Shibi were chatting while they ate.

"Have you made any progress with those beetles?" Shibi asked Torune.

"Not yet, actually. They're... temperamental. Also, they're selfish and want too much of my chakra to obey my commands."

"I figured you'd have problems. Even the most talented Aburame face problems when training with the Black Beetles. You'll be able to tame them."

"Any tips, sir?"

"I'll just tell you not to give them what they want. Try to come to an agreement. They need you more than you need them."

It was funny for me to see them talking about insects like that.

I had to want to remember Aiden's memories to succeed. That is why some moments, like this, were still new unless I tried to remember them.

Anyway, throughout dinner, no one directed any questions at me, not even about how my day at the academy went. It was almost as if Shibi knew I would have nothing interesting to say.

However, when Shibi put his hands on the table, to excuse himself and left, I talked to him.

"Sir," I called out, using the correct way Aiden always called his father because Shibi was the head of the clan.

Shibi looked at me. "Yes? What is it, Aiden?"

"What happens to anthills when it rains?" I asked, and that made Shibi's eyes widen behind those glasses.

I wasn't angry with Shibi Aburame for ignoring me during dinner. After all, this distant relationship between father and son was also the fault of old Aiden.

From a young age, insects frustrated Aiden, and he always focused only on the normal subjects at the Ninja Academy. As a result, Shibi and Aiden never shared an interest in insects and therefore didn't have much to talk about.

Mentioning a subject that was practically forbidden between them surprised the head of the Aburame Clan.

"Why are you asking?" Shibi asked.

"I was in the forest today, then it started raining. I saw ants running into an anthill and wondered if it wasn't a dumb idea. There's a good chance the anthill will flood."

Shibi sat back down at the table and said: "Actually, the anthills would only be flooded if they did nothing."

"What do you mean?"

"The ants know they need to be quick and band together to have a better chance of not doing too much damage to the anthill. That's why they rush into the anthill when it rains. Near the main entrances, they form a kind of barrier, joining legs with legs and pincers with pincers. All this is to form a large dam with their own bodies. This stops the water from taking everything to the deepest parts of the anthill."

I frowned. "But many must die doing that."

"Some die. They all know they must do it to protect the egg chambers and food too. If they didn't, it would be the end of the anthill. That's part of what I admire about ants."

"That's also why some of them choose on their own to take shelter inside us, right?" asked Torune.

Shibi nodded. "Although most of us Aburames only use the Kikaichuus, there are individuals who use the ants. For them, it's a great trade-off. Shelter and food in abundance, plus they get stronger by consuming our chakra."