I do not own Naruto
Many thanks and dedication of the fic goes to wickedone43 and Kiyasume for the cool suggestions. And you are definitely right, those Aburame fellas are pretty hot. Inner Sakura will be coming out to play, along with a new little guy that'll be the personification of the Aburame ID. A little side note: I'm not sure of the Japanese custom for married names, so I assumed that Kurenai changed her last name to Sarutobi.
Yeah, I know what the title means, in both the old and new sense, but since it was an Aburame story, I just couldn't resist. And if you don't know what it means, don't expect me to tell you...that's what Google is for.
Shibi(44)/Kurenai(32) and Shino(17)/Sakura(17), two years after the Shippuuden time line.
No lemon in this chapter, but there will be in the future.
"Bugger Up!"
Chapter One
It was almost sunset when Aburame Shibi, Leader and Pride of the Kikaichu Master Clan and his son, Aburame Shino, fellow Bug Master and Clan Heir, stomped through the Konohakagure Gates and made their way down the crowded streets of the Hidden Leaf village. As they stalked down the street, everyone within listening distance, or more if one was a shinobi, could hear the irritated Kikaichu clicking and chattering a raucous storm around their human hosts. People were peeking out of their windows and doors to hear the strange noises rising from the two men.
It was extremely unusual for any of the Aburame Clan to let their symbiotic beetles openly unnerve the public in such a manner, but then the two men had just come back from their A-rank mission frustrated and empty handed. Scared citizens and wary shinobi scrambled out of the way as the Aburame pair headed straight for the Hokage Tower to give the Godaime their report.
Straightening her shoulders and clasping her hands on the desk, Tsunade looked back and forth between the two stiff shinobi before her. She had heard the beetles before they set foot on her Tower steps, but they had respectfully simmered down by the time their hosts arrived at her office doors. The Hokage narrowed her brown eyes at the impassive men standing in front of her desk.
"So a failure," grumbled the blond woman as she stared them down, "I do understand the significance of your assignment pitting you against the Kamizuru Clan, but perhaps you may have taken clan pride a little too far. Aburame-sama, two weeks ago, I let you and your son go alone without a full team, because you convinced me that the mission would be a success. True, we are running a bit thin on shinobi this year, but that doesn't mean letting you two abort a mission when all you needed was a little assistance."
The men remained silent with their loose trench coats and dark sunglasses hiding every reaction. She always hated those damn glasses. Those dark shades hid a multitude of emotions. They could be rolling their eyes in annoyance or crossing them at her in hidden defiance, but those shades were as much a part of their uniform as Kakashi's mask. It served a purpose and no official order was going to change that.
Sighing, the Hokage waved a hand, "Well, from what information you have gathered, there is still time to finish the job, but this time you WILL have teammates assigned." Tsunade caught the snarl curling on Shibi's lips.
"Bitch and moan all you want, Shibi-kun. It ain't changin'. So I suggest you two rest up and come back tomorrow. I will have your partners sorted out by then. Dismissed!"
The Aburame men walked out of the room and stood outside the Hokage's for a minute. Shino could feel the irritation coming from his father, despite the facade he kept up. The younger Aburame was actually grateful for a little help. He did value these Father-Son missions, but this time the Godaime was right in bringing in others. It had been a while since his father had been on a team. Perhaps he had forgotten the ingenuity that could emerge from diversity.
"So..." started Shino as he tested his father's temperament.
Shibi crossed his arms but still stared straight ahead, "So..."
"My teammates are at the north grounds. Do you mind," asked Shino as he thumbed in the direction of the training grounds.
Shibi shrugged, but waved a hand for his son to go ahead, "Just be back for dinner." The older Aburame watched his son disappear down the hallway. In truth, he didn't feel like going home so soon either, especially since they were leaving it the following day. He debated where to go. There were the usual food stands and restaurants, but this time he had a strong need to drown his problems in something alcoholic.
Shino walked onto the North grounds to find his teammates standing among the training posts, enjoying the lovely sunset before them. Akamaru was nuzzling and begging more scratches from a giggling Hinata, while Inuzuka Kiba blissfully watched the Hyuuga girl with a blush rising on his face.
The young Aburame sighed and shook his head at those two. Despite the obvious reactions Hinata gave off whenever she was around Uzumaki Naruto, Kiba never gave up on wooing their shy teammate. So many times, he wished that Hinata would wake up to Kiba's feelings, but despite her famous Byakugan, she remained blind to the Inuzuka's attentions. His teammates stood up to greet Shino as he neared them.
"Shino-san," said Hinata softly with a little wave, "Welcome b-back. How d-did your mission go?"
Shino nod was barely perceptible from under his deep hood, "Hello, Hinata-san. It didn't go as well as planned, but the Godaime is setting us up with a full team."
Kiba peered at his teammate with one eye, "Bah! We kicked those Kamizuru asses before. I don't see why we couldn't go with you guys the first time. Even Hinata had those Stone-nin's jaws on the ground!"
The Hyuuga girl fidgeted her fingers together and turned bright red to hear Kiba's boasting of her jutsu. She tried to say something along the lines of a thank you, but her nervousness got the best of her and could barely make out a coherent sentence
Shino noticed the girl's reaction, turned his head so only Kiba could hear him, and gave the Dog-nin a nudge, "Oi, Kiba. Hurry up and pick some flowers for her."
Kiba blinked in surprise for a second then jumped into action. He ran for the closest clump of flowers, which happened to be some daisies growing from behind one of the training stumps. His hands pulled up the flowers then he ran back before Hinata finished her nervous blithering.
The delicate girl looked up from staring at the ground to see a blushing Kiba coming back with a handful of daisies. His face sported a grin then finally presented his longtime crush a token of true affection. Just as Hinata's hand reached out to take the flowers, Kiba found himself knocked several feet to the side by a familiar blur of orange jumpsuit and blond hair.
Annoyed greatly, Shino sighed as he watched Uzumaki Naruto and Kiba wrestle on the ground like a couple of mismatched pups. He and Akamaru cooly quirked their heads to one side as the two boys reeled across the grass.
Hinata just stood there, pearl eyes wide and mouth gaping at the tussling boys until she saw a black glove wave in front of her eyes, "Hmmm? Sakura-san, wh-why hello."
Pulling her hands behind her back, Haruno Sakura gave the girl a smile and happy nod of greeting, "Hello, Hinata-chan! Sorry about Naruto. Don't mind the baka. He's just being silly again." The pinkette waved a hand and gave an embarrassed laugh. Both girls' attention returned to the rambunctious boys' wailing and winced in sympathy when Naruto and Kiba spun into a patch of stinging nettles.
"Sakura-san," murmured a deep voice from behind the medic-nin, "A word, please."
Sakura turned to see the Aburame curling a finger at her.
'Uh oh,' said Sakura's Inner self, 'What does the Bug Boy want now?'
Pink eyebrow raised, she followed him to behind a post, leaving the fidgeting Hinata to worry about the whimpering boys. Shino frowned down at the medic-nin, at least that was the impression Sakura got when the guy finally spoke up.
"Sakura-san, if you are trying to match up Uzumaki with Hinata-san. I should give you fair warning that Kiba would be a better mate for her and I plan on making sure it happens."
Inner Sakura crossed her arms and shrugged with one shoulder, 'Hey, whatever gets the baka off our backs for a date. I'm all for it!'
The pinkette lifted up both hands and shook her head vehemently, "OH NO! NO! I'm not doing anything like that. I think Kiba and Hinata make a perfect pair too. It's just that last week, Sai recklessly told the blockhead about Hinata's crush on him. He was going to ask her out this evening, but... well..." Sakura rolled her green eyes and thumbed over her shoulder at the two guys limping their way back to the flabbergasted Hinata.
"I see," sighed the young Aburame, "I guess stepping into the Matchmaker role was a bad idea. I should have kept my nose out of it completely."
"Hey," Sakura tentatively took a step closer to boy and gave his shoulder a comforting pat, "You seemed to be doing a good job to me. Don't take it so hard. Naruto has natural talent to turn things on their heads."
Thinking back to the failed Bikouchuu mission when Naruto managed to "Foul" it up at the last possible moment, Shino had to nod and grumble darkly, "You've got a point."
As Sakura gently removed her hand from his shoulder, she realized she managed to enter Shino's personal space without him pulling away. That never happened! All these past years, she's known him, the boy had always shied away from personal contact with anyone. Shino even kept a companionable distance from his own teammates.
Curious to this miracle, the pinkette decide to test her limits of her beetle hosting friend, "Uh, if you need any help," she took a step closer, "I can always try to distract Naruto away from Hinata." She shuffled a little closer.
Watching the blushing Hinata and growling suitors, the young Aburame paused in thought then replied, "That might help, Sakura-san. Thank you... Ah uh, Sakura-san?"
"Hmmm," Standing only a few centimeters away, the pinkette clasped her hands together and innocently smiled up at Shino, "Is something wrong?"
Shino didn't know why, but his hood and trench suddenly felt a little too warm and his throat a little too dry. From behind his dark sunglasses he could look deep into Sakura's inquisitive eyes as she fluttered her pink lashes at him.
"Ah- dah- um-," The young Aburame's tongue became twisted and he tried to quickly back away from the clueless pinkette, but his back crashed into a post, knocking him forward onto Sakura, causing her to squeak aloud.
Shino found himself on the ground with both arms outstretched on either side of Sakura, hovering above so as not to crush the poor girl. He looked down at the blushing pinkette and it took a moment for him to realize that his collar was pushed down and his shades had dropped forward.
'HOLY SHIT,' screamed Inner Sakura as she hopped around inside Sakura's head and pointed at Shino's handsome face with eyes so dark a girl could get lost in them for days, 'BUG BOY'S A HOTTIE!'
Panicking, the young Aburame snatched up his glasses from above the girl's hair and pushed them back over his eyes, "G-gomenasai, Sakura-san." He scrambled away and pushed himself upright, then held out a nervous hand to the pinkette.
Sakura laid on the ground in shock as the memory of Shino's face replayed itself over and over. She stared dumbly at the outstretched hand until Inner Sakura rolled her eyes and forced her hand to grasp Shino's.
Shino pulled Sakura up and they both stood there, trying to think of what to say next.
Inner Sakura sarcastically tapped her bottom lip in thought, 'How about you say... PLANT A WET ONE RIGHT HERE, BIG BOY!'
"P-p-pl," The pinkette quickly slapped both of hands over her mouth before Inner took control again.
As Sakura was having an internal struggle over who commanded the mouth, Shino noticed something was not quite right with his own body. He looked over one shoulder to see a single Kikaichu hovering outside it's host.
'What are you doing out here,' asked Shino. The beetle flittered around in a strange pattern before flying past his host. Puzzled, he watched the Kikai carefully circle the distracted pinkette then settle into her soft hair.
The young Bug Master tried to mentally summon the beetle back, but it only happily fluttered to the girl's neck, "Ah um... Sakura-san, I-I need to get m-my Kikai."
"You're Kikai?" The pinkette dropped her hands from her face and tilted her head in confusion.
Shino took advantage of the moment and scooped up the bug off the girl's soft skin, "Sorry, Sakura-san. I don't know what got into it."
Sakura had stopped breathing when she felt the young man's hand caress her skin in acquiring his beetle, "Eh heh heh, no problem."
She cleared her throat and failed to push her blush away, "Oh gee, look at the time. It's past sunset and I really should be heading back home." Sakura waved her flopping hand in a random direction as she backed away.
"I'll see you around, Shino-san," said the panicking pinkette, before running off like lightning into Konoha and forgetting all about her baka teammate.
Shino let out the breath he had been holding for the past two minutes and opened up his hands to uncover his troublesome beetle... to find nothing. He looked through his sleeves, his pockets. He even resorted to his Mushi Yose no Jutsu to lure the beetle back.
"Where the hell did... it...," Shino turned around and looked where Sakura had disappeared to, "Uh oh."
Inside a smoky bar, a dark-haired man with a goatee peered around his rotund friend's back, "Choza, have you heard the one about a Bug Master walking into a bar?"
The Akimichi shook his head, "No Shikaku, what happened?"
"Don't know, but we're gonna find out," Nara Shikaku waved a hand to the Aburame Clan Leader at the bar entrance, "Oi, Shibi! Haven't seen in you in ages. Come sit with us!"
The man walked through the grimy tavern, slipped his beetle gourd off his his back, and took a seat at the bar with the three men. Smiling warmly, Choza finished ordering three pages of food then immediately handed the menu to their companion.
"Thank you, Choza," Shibi nodded at the trio, looked through the food list, but decided he needed a stiff drink more than a snack.
"So Shibi," started Shikaku, "What's up? We could hear you and your boy's bug buddies chirping like mad not too long ago."
Shibi raised one finger to the bartender for his usual, who nodded immediately, "Crickets chirp, Nara. Kikaichu do not."
"Forgive me, Shibi," the Shadow Shinobi tried to bow his head as he flourished his cup in the air, accidentally spilling sake on the man's coat, "They uh...warble?"
Sighing, the Aburame picked up a napkin and dabbed at the wet spot, "That's birds."
"Purr?"
"Cats," the barman sat down Shibi's sake and glanced nervously at the inebriated Shikaku.
"Buzz?"
The last thing Shibi wanted to hear was anything resembling a buzz, but he just grit his teeth under his high collar and threw the napkin down, "Bees and wasps."
"Twitter?"
"Birds... Again," Shibi already was in a bad mood and it was all he could do not to hit the drunk upside the head. The bartender paled when he heard the famous Kikaichu loudly reflected the slippery slope that was this dangerous shinobi's foul demeanor.
"Ah HISS," the drunken Shikaku announced to the world as he raised his sake cup in triumph, "They HISS!"
Eyeing the vibrating Bug Master, Inoichi leaned down to whisper in his friend's ear, "And they'll do a lot more than that, if you don't shut up now."
"Oh, don't mind him, Aburame-san," said Choza as he smoothly inserted himself between Shibi and his former teammate, "Just tell us what's the matter. Whatever is bothering you now, couldn't be any worse that the rest of us have been through."
Shibi slowly took a sip of his sake and paused dramatically, "I failed my mission."
The other three shinobi sat their glasses down at the same time.
"And?" Inoichi waved a hand, encouraging the man to continue with the real problem.
"I failed my mission," the Bug Master repeated, "I've never failed a mission since becoming Chuunin."
"I see then," Choza and Inoichi glanced at each other in understanding.
Shikaku walked around to the other side of the Aburame, threw a friendly arm over the man's shoulder, and poured more sake into Shibi's cup, "Tch! Another troublesome overachiever learns his lesson the hard way. Relax! You and your boy made it home safely. All limbs are attached and there's always the next one!"
"Not this time," said Shibi, "Tsunade-sama said we still have time to finish, but now we'll be assigned... partners." He slowly spat out the last word with as much venom as possible.
The grinning Akimichi gave the Bug Master a soft pat on the back, "Just remember the main objective is to complete the mission THEN kick the living shit out of your partners."
Shikaku and Inoichi laughed out loud until the four men heard a sultry voice murmur from behind them.
"Hey Stud, wanna buy a pretty girl a drink?"
On the other side of the bar, Kurenai stirred her drink with a little toothpick and rolled her eyes at her baka friends as they giggling at the lame-ass jokes thrown their way by some drunk. The man didn't seem to understand they were laughing at him, not with him. Shizune and Anko finally got the guy to order them some drinks before all three slipped away into the shadows.
"That was pretty cruel, Anko," scolded the genjutsu specialist, "You didn't even give the guy a chance."
The Snake Kunoichi snorted, "With those jokes, he's lucky I didn't stick a snake down his throat. Then he'd get a real laugh!" Anko gave her friends an evil grin before drinking down her bottle of sake.
Kurenai pulled the bottle away from the other woman's lips, "Oi! Take it easy. The last time you drank yourself unconscious, you managed to vomit on everyone within three feet before collapsing to the floor." She took an experimental whiff of the bottle to feel her nose burn from the toxicity.
The snake kunoichi just shrugged and happily slapped Kurenai on the back, "That's why we have you with us, Kurenai-chan! We can always count on you to keep us from sleeping in the gutter or sleeping with the gutter!"
Shizune giggled incessantly at Anko's feeble joke and accidentally spilled her Fuzzy Navel on Kurenai's lap.
"This is the last time I play babysitter for you two," said the crimson-eyed brunette as she wiped the liquid with a napkin, "You know I have better things to do than be your designated cock blocker."
Anko raised an eyebrow and poked a finger at her friend, "Oh really? Like what? It's not like you're going to meet a guy."
Kurenai frowned and poked Anko back, "And why not? I'm a widow, not a corpse. It's not taboo for me to go man-hunting."
"Actually," Shizune lifted a finger, but was kicked silent by Anko.
The Snake Kunoichi gave Kurenai a push towards the bar, "Go on then! Show us that you still have ol' sex appeal!"
"Fine," Kurenai furiously brushed off Anko's hand and walked away from her friends, swinging her hips like there was no tomorrow.
She stopped next to the only men sitting at the bar and momentarily panicked, when she heard laughter erupt from them. Second thoughts raced through her mind and the brunette began to back away until she saw Anko's smug grin from across the room.
Steeling her resolve, Kurenai put on a sexy smile and licked her lips, "Hey Stud, wanna buy a pretty girl a drink?"
All four men looked up and past the bartender's shoulder into the large mirror to glimpse at the hot brunette asking for a drink.
Choza leaned into Inoichi, "Is she talking to you?"
"Nope," the blond man shook his head and pointed to the woman looking expectantly at Shibi's back, "She's talking to the Aburame."
The four shocked shinobi turned as one to find Sarutobi Kurenai coyly smiling at her target. Then the beautiful kunoichi got a better look at her supposed conquest.
'That hair... The coat... THOSE GLASSES,' Kurenai felt dread and embarrassment creep from the pit of her stomach and sit firmly on her bright red cheeks.
"Pardon, but were you talking to me, Sarutobi-san, " said Shibi as he looked down at her frozen smile with amusement.
Kurenai glanced around to see if there were any other guys at the bar, but found the other clan leaders chuckling at her floundering, "Uh, s-sumenasai, Aburame-sama. I thought you were somebody else. Please excuse me!"
"Please, Sarutobi-san," Shibi held up a hand to stop her escape and directed her to the bar, "Allow me to buy you at least one drink. Bartender another one of whatever she's having."
The man nodded and hurried through his mixing, "Here ya' go, little lady! Virgin Sex On The Beach!"
Inoichi and Shikaku snickered behind their hands and even Choza couldn't hold back the smirk from twitching onto his face.
Feeling her face heat up a thousand degrees, Kurenai wanted the earth to swallow her up right then and there, "Thank you, Aburame-sama." After grabbing her drink, she gave him a quick bow before rushing back to her guffawing friends.
"Well, that's gotta make you feel better, Shibi," said Shikaku and thumbed to the retreating kunoichi, "I can't remember the last time a hot chick came on to me."
Inoichi snorted, "It may have to do with your wife screeching the poor girl's ears off, then knocking you out cold."
"Oh yeah", the drunk Shadow Wielder chuckled proudly then toasted to the joys of amnesia.
Shibi sighed patiently, "Sarutobi-san thought I was somebody else, Nara. I wasn't wearing my gourd like usual, so she didn't recognize me." Then the Bug Master felt a tiny flicker of misplacement hovering over one shoulder. He looked to his left to see a lone Kikaichu beetle hovering his shoulder.
'Get back with the others,' he commanded then frowned with the bug refused to obey.
Instead of returning to his host's body, it fluttered away and headed for the other end of the bar. To be more specific, he was flying for a certain scrumptious crimson-eyed brunette. Growling, Shibi chased after the tiny rebel, repeatedly grasping at the bug only to catch air. The beetle flew up to the booth where Kurenai and her friends were sitting and lightly landed on the privacy lattice.
Then the Bug Master's eyes widened behind his dark glasses when he saw the Kikai rise in the air once more and begin it's mating dance.
Shibi crept on his knees under the women's view then snatched the little guy in the middle of it's figure eight and held his fist firmly closed, 'Cheeky little bugger! You are going into the gourd for the rest of the night!'
Then he heard a woman crack up in the booth, "HA! HA! Kami, the Aburame Clan Leader! Oh, Kurenai, I can't believe you hit on that old coot!"
The man knit his brows in a deep frown, 'OLD COOT! I'm only forty... four.' Shibi slumped as the technical truth hit him square between the eyes.
"I didn't know it was him, Anko," said the blushing kunoichi, "It's dark and smoky in here. Besides, whenever I see him at Shino's home, he's wearing his gourd. It's not my fault!" Kurenai held her head in her hands, trying to live down the embarrassment.
Shizune giggled into her drink, "You should've told me you were into older men, Kurenai! I could always hook you up with Jiraiya."
Kurenai glared angrily at her 'Friends', "Would you girls stop it! I don't date geezers!"
'GEEZERS! Alright, I heard enough,' Fuming, Shibi slipped away and returned to his place by the curious Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
"Hey Shibi! I thought Aburames were supposed to be Bug MASTERS, not Bug-Chasers," teased Inoichi as Choza and Shikaku chuckled heartily.
Ignoring the men's snickering, Shibi pulled open the cork of his gourd, and flicked the little rebel inside, 'And stay there!'
"I'm going to head out now," said the Aburame curtly as he finished off his drink, "Thanks for the company and I'll see you around." He strapped the gourd onto his back and strode out the bardoors into the evening air.
Kurenai eyed the Aburame's back as he strapped his gourd on and left the bar, "So much for a fun night on the town. This has been a total disaster. Find someone else to clean up your puke, girls. I'm going home!"
To the other girls' whining, she threw a few hundred yen on the table then slunked out the door. All that wasted effort in keeping a dignified air around the Clan Leader and now he'll think she's more airhead than dignified. How idiotic was it to throw a pick-up line at her student's father? It's not that the guy wasn't easy on the eyes. Kami knows she got weak in the knees for a goatee or mustache, but this was Shino's Dad! That was a major No-No and if anyone qualified for total hands off policy, it was him!
Making her way back home, the brunette sighed and looked up at the evening sky. The city lights were pushing the lower stars out of view, but the iridescent moon hovered majestically in the sky as it surrounded itself with glittering stars. It was a perfect night to share quiet hours wrapped in the warm arms of a handsome beau. Kurenai sadly pulled her hands up to rub her arms as she walked through her lonely apartment hallway.
Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi looked up from the couch when they heard keys rattling from the other side of the door.
"Is she home already," asked Udon as he looked at his teammates, "She couldn't have been gone for more than one hour, forty-seven minutes."
Moegi hopped off the couch and helped open the rest of the door locks, "Sensei, You're home early!"
The curious Konohamaru Corp watched the woman slip off her shoes and gently place them next to the door.
"What happened, Kurenai-sama," said Konohamaru as he turned off the T.V., "Shizune-san and Mitarashi-san said they planned to keep you out all night!"
Kurenai dropped her keys on the kitchen counter and shrugged, "Plans change. They do that. How's Asuma-kun?"
Konohamaru gave her a thumbs up and threw his red scarf over his shoulder, "Out like a light! I told you, Auntie! If I could handle the Daimyou's hellcat, I could handle him."
"Well, thank you Konohamaru-kun," chuckled Kurenai, "That's one more D-rank mission under your belts! Why don't you and your teammates head home now." She ruffled her nephew's dark hair and watched the trio file out the door.
Kurenai peeked through her son's room to see him sleeping soundly in his toddler bed. The boy's dark hair was already losing it's baby softness, turning scruffy and poking out from underneath the light blanket. It was hard to believe that that much time had passed. Two years since he had been born and in another few more, the baby will be heading to the Academy. Asuma would have been ecstatic to see that day.
Taking a deep breath, the melancholy woman turned around and walked into her bedroom, only to flop onto her empty bed. Looking to one side, her crimson eyes drifted to the glowing moon outside her window, floating high above the apartment building across from hers. As she watched the moon glimmer its soft light, Kurenai felt her lids grow heavy until they stayed closed for the rest of the evening.
A few neighborhoods away, the Aburame Clan Leader was cutting his way through the bustling crowds of Downtown Konoha. The Kikaichu were no longer hissing like earlier, but their annoyed chattering gave Shibi a clear path down the street.
He couldn't believe he was letting those shallow flirts get to him. Sure, he was a few years older than the girl, but Shibi had always been polite to his son's sensei, "Old Coot... Geezers! What do they know! Pretty soon they'll turn around one morning to find kids around them calling them Old Maids and Crones."
"Well, she won't have to deal with this GEEZER again," he mumbled out loud and stalked past the startled guards to his clan's gates.
As the irritated Shibi walked through the Aburame Compound, his thoughts kept returning to the lovely Sarutobi Kurenai. Now that her husband, Asuma, had been buried for these past two years, he had been seeing her around the Aburame Clan Compound a lot more. Since Team Eight had become Chuunin, she had intensified training with Shino and the rest of his team. He had always found her attractive and charming, if only acting like a foolish girl sometimes, but she was Asuma's widow and it went unsaid among the single crowd that she was off limits.
Looking up, Shibi found the full moon rising over the Main House, bathing his ancient home with soft ethereal light. The Kikaichu designs carved into the cherrywood beams seemed to come alive when illuminated by the moonlight. It was a sight to behold and a shame there wasn't a sweetheart to share it with.
Sighing mournfully, he trudged up the steps and pushed open the door. He wasn't surprised to see Shino sitting comfortably on the living room couch, flipping the pages of a large book.
"Usually, I'm the one trying to come up with excuses, but this is a nice turnaround," chuckled the boy as he closed the book and watched his father sit his gourd down, "But I'd rather you not tell me all the details. I can only handle so much mental trauma, thank you very much."
Shibi snorted at his son, "Don't think you can use this as blackmail, 'cause I still have a treasure trove full of bare bottom baby pics."
"And there goes another hour with a therapist," Shino narrowed his eyes at the older Aburame as he stood up and stretched, "I'm gonna head to bed now. Good Night, Dad."
The senior Aburame watched his son disappear down the hall and into his room, 'Kami, had it been seventeen years already. Where had the time gone?' Pretty soon, the boy will be called a man and someday, the man will take a wife, making Shibi... A GRA-GRANDFATHER!
Groaning pitifully, Shibi stumped his way to his oversized bedroom. He never liked this master bedroom from the beginning. It was cold, impersonal, and too big for one person. Once Shino's mother came along, she was able to fill the room with warmth and make the austere Aburame house, a home full of love. How he missed her...
The man let out a huge sigh as he sat down on the bed's edge. He looked out the open window to find the same heavenly moon lingering in full view. After removing his shades, Shibi lifted his feet up and rolled over to study the beautiful orb. Despite the moonbeams on his face, he found his eyelids falling and closing for slumber.