Shino Aburame

is a ninja from Konohagakure.

Background
Shino Aburame is a Chunin from Naruto's graduating year (originally from Kurenai Yuhi's Genin Team 8 along with Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka). As a part of Aburame clan tradition, Shino was infused at birth with a special breed of insects that feed on chakra, and in return, the insects attack and do other tasks as he commands.

Personality
Shino Aburame is a cool, collected, and solitary Chunin who is quite mysterious. He is portrayed as being somewhere between being merely stoic and matter-of-fact, rarely ever smiling or showing emotion at all; rather than thank his teammates for congratulating him on his victory in the preliminaries, he tells them that he expects them to do the same (both Kiba and Hinata lose their matches). He also has a tendency of holding grudges and being rather intimidating, such as seen when Naruto fails to recognize him in Part II, but easily recognizes Kiba and Hinata, despite him wearing clothing that covers much of his body.

Behind his reserved demeanor, though, Shino places a lot of value on his friends and teamwork. While he can often be stern with Kiba over his impulsiveness, Kiba holds his abilities in high regard. Shino gets along well with Hinata, appearing extremely concerned as she went into cardiac arrest after her match with Neji, and believing that she has the potential to become strong. When Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Pakkun went after Sasuke, he followed discreetly to help them.

Shino is extremely intelligent and consistently makes shrewd judgments and pinpoint reasoning which confirm his excellent analytical and observational skills. Like Shikamaru Nara, Shino prevails in battles by systematically staying several steps ahead of the enemy. He cares very much for bugs, and can control them in exchange for his chakra.

Shino's favorite food is wild grass salad and winter melon, and his least favorites are tofu balls and any strong-smelling foods. As an entomologist, Shino's hobby is observing bugs and will spend his spare time collecting new specimens. His favorite phrase is "Trump card" ("Ace up the Sleeve" in the English version).

Shino speaks in a curious fashion, as noted by both Naruto and Kiba: a rudimentary explanation of his syntax is that he will ask a question before explaining a point, whereas most people will leave the question unspoken. Also, he tends to restate facts in a more technically correct fashion.

Appearance
Shino has bushy dark brown hair and is the tallest ninja of his graduating class. Shino is regularly seen sporting the same style as the rest of his clan, consisting of dark sunglasses and a high upturned collar jacket.

During Part II, his appearance became even more mysterious with his jacket hanging down to his knees and the addition of constantly wearing a hood that obstructs his face even more, making it harder for people like Naruto to recognize him initially.

Chunin Exams
In the first part of the Chunin Exams, Shino used his insects to read the answers on other people's tests. During the second part, his knowledge of insects allowed his team to take another team's scroll with little effort; when leeches attack another team (from the Rain Village in the anime, from the Leaf Village in the manga), they stumbled into a net trap.

During the preliminaries of the Chunin Exam, Shino was matched against Zaku Abumi, whom he defeated by plugging up the air tubes in his arms with bugs, rendering them useless. (In the manga, Zaku's right forearm was blown off completely when he tries to use the air tubes; in the anime they were merely riddled with holes.) He appeared very confident in his abilities, and demonstrated his strategic thinking in this battle. During most of the fight, he simply recommended that Zaku forfeit for his own good, a recommendation that turned out to be genuine, as well as a distraction tactic.

During the third stage, he was set up to fight Kankuro, who forfeited the battle in order to keep the abilities of his puppet, Karasu, a secret. When the Sand and Sound ninja began their attack on Konoha, Shino overheard Might Guy and Kakashi Hatake telling Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Shikamaru Nara to find Sasuke Uchiha. Shino decided to help by following Sasuke. He caught up just as Sasuke was about to battle Kankuro. He then challenged Kankuro in Sasuke's place, claiming that Kankuro was his opponent, allowing Sasuke to continue chasing a fleeing Gaara and Temari. During the fight, Kankuro managed to poison Shino with some gas from Karasu. Shino, however, had placed a female insect on Kankuro beforehand, allowing his insects to track down Kankuro,destroy the chakra strings controlling Karasu, and drain his chakra. Shortly after Kankuro was defeated, Shino lost consciousness as well, regretting that he wasn't able to follow Sasuke. His father, Shibi Aburame, later arrived and uses his bugs to draw out the poison from Shino's body.

Anime Filler arcs
Shino was the only male of the Rookie Nine left out of the mission to retrieve Sasuke Uchiha, having neither been recruited by Shikamaru, nor having gone after the group like Rock Lee, having been on a mission with his father at the time. Shino felt some bitterness and guilt over the matter, and felt a strong obligation to help with the attempt to find Sasuke, he strongly believed that if he was helping Shikamaru, the mission would have succeeded.

Bikochu Beetle Hunt arc
Shortly after Naruto's confrontation with Mizuki, and a subsequent lack of any information on Orochimaru's whereabouts, Shino led Team 8 and Naruto to find the Bikochu Beetle, a rare insect with legendary tracking abilities. During this arc, he demonstrated his intelligence and cunning in battle, as well as his hobby of observing and collecting bugs. He also explained a former rivalry between his clan and another insect clan from Hidden Rock that uses bees, the Kamizuru clan.

This arc shows how well their team works together and how much they care for each other. It also shows that he is good friends with both Kiba and Hinata, despite him being so mysterious. Although he and Naruto didn't get along at first, they do become good friends. During the last confrontation between the Kamizuru clan and Hinata, he explained and understood every step that Hinata took to change herself. In addition, he believed in her, allowing her to fight the bee-users alone while Naruto attempted to intervene. Despite this, Naruto farted on the Bikochu, causing it to follow his scent, and rendering it useless. He and Kiba helped Hinata to train herself and develop her Protection of the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms ability.

Land of Sea arc
Shino also appeared in the Land of the Sea arc, this time being paired with Naruto and Ino under the command of Anko Mitarashi. They were ordered to find out what was terrorizing the country and defeat it if possible. Here, they met two old enemies from the Chunin exams, both of whom were working for Orochimaru. He and Naruto got along a lot better in this arc. He's shown having more confidence in Naruto, and worried about him when Naruto was separated from the group, but knew that Naruto will be fine. He engaged Yoroi Akado in battle during the group's raid on the laboratory, and fought him alone so that Naruto and Ino would be able to reach Amachi. His battle resumed outside, during the battle over the ship carrying the payment, and he defeated Yoroi with Ino's help.

Motoyoshi Village arc
Shino was sent on another mission with Naruto alone to Motoyoshi Village, where Shino was to be a stand-in for a man named Fuuta. The goal of the mission was to not laugh during a funeral. Fuuta would lose his inheritance otherwise, and the ever serious Shino was sent as the perfect weapon for this task. However, due to sabotage (being drugged with a poison that causes one to faux-laugh), Shino had to sit out - leaving Naruto to attend the funeral in his place. Shino, unable to play his original role, learns that the man the funeral is for wasn't actually dead, and conspired with him to get everyone at the funeral to laugh, posing as the old man and using bug clones to take the form of the man's children when they were young. The man had staged the funeral to get his family to laugh once again. At the end of the mission, Shino threatened Naruto to keep him quiet about his discovery of Shino's sense of humor though he never actually mentioned what he would do if Naruto told anyone.

Kurama clan arc
Shino had a supporting role in the Kurama clan arc, as while Kiba complained about Kurenai leaving the team, Shino suggested that it was her decision to do so. He also correctly guessed that Kurenai was lying when she said that she sealed Yakumo's abilities out of jealousy, noting that while her hands were trembling when talking about her past, they stopped when she gave her reason. His bugs proved useful against the Genjutsu techniques used by the Kurama clan members and Yakumo, as according to him, insects' simpler nervous systems are harder to manipulate. He used this knowledge to see through the Genjutsu. Shino sent his bugs into the room where Yakumo was holding Kurenai in order to save his sensei, only to see them come back. He reunited with Kurenai after the Idou's defeat.

Part II
Shino reappeared when Naruto returns after helping Gaara and he left to recruit someone to replace Kakashi for their mission to meet with Orochimaru's spy. Naruto at first failed to recognize Shino, only remembering him from his "annoying way of talking". When Naruto immediately recognized Kiba and Hinata, Shino took to sulking with his back turned, apparently hurt that Naruto didn't remember him. Neither Shino nor his teammates were able to help Naruto, as their team had already accepted a mission, and he was still bitter about not being recognized. In an anime omake segment, Shino got upset when Hinata and Kiba do not pay attention to him when they talk about their development over time, seeing that he has developed a better personality to the outside world and not so gathered up to himself.

Three-Tails Arrival arc
Tsunade makes a searching team presenting to Kakashi for leading it which he accepts saying that it's the perfect team and couldn't be another to do this job. Kakashi leads Team Kurenai on a mission to search one of Orochimaru's bases. They go without saying anything, especially not to Naruto. Shino was determined to make Naruto regret not recognizing him by finding important information. After finding the remains of the deceased ANBU, Team Kurenai quickly uses their respective surveillance to search the area. Eventually they find Orochimaru's hideout, only for it to be destroyed by a trap.

Although their official mission was to find Orochimaru's hideout, Shino convinced Kakashi to continue searching for new information. They soon found to their horror several people encased in crystal before shattering into pieces. This unknown jutsu even affected some of Shino's insects. Kakashi then has Pakkun deliver one Shino's insects to Tsunade for an analysis on the crystal. It is later learned that Shino's insect was crystallized to a molecular level. While waiting for Pakkun to return with the information, Shino had more of his insects search the area. He then learns that some of his insects somehow survived the crystal jutsu, hencing developing some level of immunity to it. He then goes off to search for any other surviving insects so they can breed new insects that also inherit immunities.

He successfully finds some surviving bugs and begins the breeding process, although is unsure how effective they will still be against the source of the crystal jutsu. After reporting his work to his team, it is decided that he would stay behind and cultivate as many new insects to improve their jutsu resistance as much as possible.

Later, he reunites with his team in time to help them from the big amount of enemies preparing a trap with his insects, urging the enemies to retreat. Unfortunately, it soon becomes clear that Shino's insects have not produced enough of a resistance to the crystal jutsu as he finds his insects have begun acting irrational. It is they discovered that they have been trapped in a crystal of prison. There, Shino and his team begin fighting several clones of Guren. Team Kurenai then soon finds that Hinata has been captured and held hostage.

Fortunately, Team Yamato appeared after Naruto used his new synchro blast to break down the crystal barrier. Together, they were able to save Hinata. Later, they were amazed that Hinata survived unharmed when the crystal shattered. Shino found this odd after seeing what happened to all his insects that were affected by the crystal jutsu. When Hinata revealed that she used her chakra as a protective coat before she was sealed, Shino realized his insects that survived must have also exerted their chakra in a similar manner.

While searching again for the enemies, Shino and Kakashi decide to use the surveillance bats against their enemies by letting themselves get spotted and then follow them. While managing to find the enemies, they manage to escape again after the appearance of a huge tidal wave. Afterwards, a strong fog appears that confuses Shino's insects.

While waiting for the fog to clear, the team meets up with a backup unit from Konoha under new orders to seal the newly discovered Three-Tailed Giant Turtle. Shino was placed under Kakashi's command as a primary defense against attackers. Knowing that his insects were the team's best chance against Guren's crystal techniques, Shino waited in the background to build up enough chakra for his insects. When finally joining the battle, his insects were able to completely overpower Guren's crystal techniques.

After Guren managed to escape, Shino joined his team in directly protecting the seal. While not arriving in time, Shino and his allies instead find an unconscious Yukimaru and decide to bring him back to their hideout. After Yukimaru revealed that Naruto was trapped inside the Three-Tails, Shino was assigned the duty of protecting Yukimaru while the boy used his powers to find and rescue Naruto.

When it came time to try sealing the Three-Tails again, Shino was ordered to protect the sealing team. As expected, the enemies appeared again. Shino found himself up against Nurari whose unique abilities were perfectly countering Shino's insects. However, thanks to prior knowledge of Nurari's abilities from Hinata, Shino was able to break through his enemy's ability and defeat him.

Hunt for Uchiha arc
When Kakashi needed to build a squad for the hunt for Itachi Uchiha, he assembled Team Kurenai, and thus Shino along with his team joined the Eight Man Squad. When the squad encountered Tobi, and after several failed formations, Shino prepared to use his clan's secret techniques on the Akatsuki member, appreciating the opportunity to make up for not having been available to retrieve Sasuke. By using the Bug Globe, Shino managed to completely trap Tobi, only to have him escape with a seemingly impossible space/time jutsu.

Invasion of Pain
Together with Choji, Hinata, Ino, and Kiba, Shino witnessed from afar the smoke as Pain, a member of the Akatsuki, attacked the village. Shino, his father Shibi, and two members of the Aburame clan stopped Konan from killing a ninja with their insects. Shibi told Shino not to hold back at all. It is unclear if they actually fought, as shortly afterward Konan and Pain pulled back for the Shinra Tensei technique. Shino was next seen greeting Naruto upon his return wtih the rest of the village.

Naruto Shippūden 2: Bonds
Shino played a brief role in the movie. He came to aid Kakashi, Sai and Shikamaru by sending all his insects to the enemies base and destroy it. In the end they watched Naruto destroy the ruins with the Guts Rasengan.

Strategical Planning
In battle, Shino is able to take great use of his intelligence, being able to use his analytical and observational skills to make shrewd judgments with pinpoint reasoning. Like Shikamaru Nara, Shino prevails in battles by systematically staying several steps ahead of the enemy, as well as being known for a mid to long range fighter keeping a good distance to avoid enemy attacks. Because of this, Shino is fairly confident in his abilities and that he will win a battle, and tends to try to communicate this to an opponent for their own well-being. Still, Shino enjoys fighting and dislikes being denied a chance to battle a skilled opponent, as seen when he goes out of his way during the invasion of Konoha to fight Kankuro after he forfeited to avoid revealing his puppets' secrets.

Aburame Clan Bug Techniques
As a member of the Aburame clan, Shino was infused at birth with a special breed of insects that feed on chakra. Though still able to use chakra in part 2 when he displays his bug gathering technique he still has the average amount of chakra of most chunin. In return, the insects attack and do other tasks as he commands.

A female bug can be left on a target, which then can be tracked by its' scent by the male bug, or scout bugs can be sent out and return to tell the host information about the area. Shino can communicate with the bugs, and the bugs specialize in stealth because they make no noise or motion during combat, making Shino highly adept in espionage.

Shino has found a number of uses for these bugs, and as such has devised a number of jutsu that utilize them for varying purposes. The first of these jutsu that is seen is his Bug Clone Technique, which uses the bugs to create a copy of himself that is able to reform once struck. He can also use Bug Wall Technique to create a protective wall of insects to shield himself. Shino has also been shown to be able to command a large number of his bugs at one time as seen in his bug globe jutsu, which completely engulfs the target in bugs making escape seemingly impossible. His bugs, as well as his fighting style, have allowed him to progress to the rank of Chunin over the timeskip.

Additionally, as seen during the 'Three-Tails Arrival Arc', it is demonstrated that the Kikaichū ('Parasitic' or 'Destruction' Bugs) are always undergoing evolutionary adaption through mutation and natural selection. While the Kikaichū only have a lifespan of a few hours, their lifecycle ensures that there will always be females with eggs. Any variations that prove useful to the individual bug, (and consequently the bug-user) in combat will be passed on to the next generation, which can then be cultivated for their success against dangerous opponents in combat.

When Shino and the Konoha recon team lead by Kakashi Hatake first came across the Crystal Release Style, a number of Shino's bugs were exposed. While most died from being crystalized, Shino knew that a number of the Kikaichū had survived and tracked down as many as possible, so as to rapidly breed more of those who were resistant to Crystal Style. Later, after Hinata had escaped being crystalized by exerting her chakra to shield herself, Shino speculated that this may have been how his Kikaichū had resisted the Crystal Style.

Armed with this knowledge, Shino was able to command his bugs to use this new defense mechanism to counter against Guren's Crystal Release, because his Kikaichū could "evolve limitlessly" and become "resistant" to a brand of jutsu like Crystal Release, by exerting their Chakra to protect themselves from being crystalized, free themselves from their individual prisons, and break through Guren's defenses by using their Chakra to shatter her Crystal Release techniques on contact--giving justification to their name, 'Destruction Bugs'. Although intervention on Gozu's part allowed Guren to avoid capture, Shino comments that his Kikaichū had performed flawlessly against her.

Other Media

 * Shino Aburame is a playable character in the video game series Naruto "Clash of Ninja Revolution", "Ninja Council 3", and "Ultimate Ninja". He appears only in 4 out of 7 games. He also appears in the new japanese game Naruto Shippūden Gekito Ninja Taisen EX 2.

Trivia

 * "Shino" is the given name of the samurai Inuzuka of Hakkenden, a novel about a dog samurai. Kiba Inuzuka, too, is based off of Inuzuka of Hakkendan.
 * Abu can mean "Horsefly" and Rame can mean "Lame". His last name can mean "Lame Horsefly" or "Oil Woman".
 * Shino was ranked as the 26th most popular character in the sixth and most recent Naruto character popularity poll. He was the 21st most popular in the fifth poll. 25th in the fourth poll. He achieved his highest ranking, #12, in the third poll.
 * Unlike most of the other characters in the four central teams, the sole exception being Tenten of Team Guy, Shino's backstory has never been divulged. In fact, other than brief appearances in flashbacks focused on other characters, Shino has yet to appear in his own flashback from before the start of the series.
 * His favorite foods are wild grass salad and winter melon.
 * Dupring episode 149 of the Bikochu filler arc, Shino's eyes were momentarily seen. However, it was a side view that had too much distance to tell what the eye-color was.

Quotes

 * "This is what a real trump card is."
 * "I hate explaining the same thing twice."
 * (To Naruto) "Even if it's been a while, you should remember your comrades' faces. Why? Because otherwise you will hurt their feelings when they call out to you."
 * "Never underestimate your opponent, no matter how small they may seem."
 * "If you fight me, you won't be able to recover. Forfeit and withdraw."
 * "Naruto... you really need to know more about me... because it would be strange if a newcomer knew more about me than an old friend."