Notes: You may wonder at the size (and guest list) of this event, given that the two characters involved are really side characters and not closely attached in any way to the main character(s) of the series itself. My answer: any excuse to party in Konoha, my friend. Plus, some large clans are involved in this one, from the Aburame to the Hyuuga (teammates on both sides), to the Akimichi (whom I have turned into Konoha's caterers, it seems). So why wouldn't everyone be there? Plus, it was an excuse to annoy the hell out of Shino, which is always fun.
Goals: A good, lighthearted scenario before things get hairy. A believable Shino POV (in an unusual situation – I struggled with this one), and a theory about how motherhood might work in the kunoichi world (and a very mild spoiler/speculation about Kurenai's life post-Asuma arc).
Warnings: Stray curse word or two, a little bit more mush than I typically write, and more talking than action.
Chapter 2
The Party of the First Part (Knows How to Party)
"Dude, you're practically naked," Kiba laughed. "You realize there's a ton of people out there, right?"
"Shino looks very nice," Hinata said in a mildly reproving tone. She reached out and carefully adjusted the low collar of Shino's sleek black formal jacket and offered him a small smile. "It's not so unusual to see you without your overcoat," she added, but just a touch too quickly to be completely convincing.
"Yeah, right. You can see his face," Kiba pointed out, jabbing a hand at Shino's chin. "And his neck and stuff. If he just took the shades off, no one would know who he was. And then they'd all be like," Kiba affected a goofy, cross-eyed expression and pitched his voice higher. "'Hey, who's the weird guy marrying Tenten? Never seen him, wow, he's a bigger loser than that Shino -' Ow! Hey!"
Shino stared passively as Kiba danced around, scratching at his shoulder blades and trying to dislodge the small, biting kikkai planted firmly in the middle of his back, just out of reach. "Okay, okay," Kiba growled. "You look fine, alright? Call it off, asshole!"
The kikkai fluttered out from Kiba's collar, neatly dodged his half-hearted swipe at it, and sunk back into Shino's outstretched hand. Shino dropped his arm, and immediately had to stifle the urge to stick his hands into his pockets. The form-fitted black jacket he wore today had none, so he was forced to let his hands swing at his sides. As much as he hated to admit it, Kiba was right about one thing – he was more exposed in this outfit than he typically cared to be. His face, neck, and hands were bare, and today his glasses alone felt oddly inadequate as a shield.
But he was not heading into battle, so it hardly mattered. This was not a mission, Shino reminded himself absently. Just a...demonstration. A formality. Really more of a legal technicality, made public. Very public. Through the hive link, Shino heard a babble of different voices and smelled a variety of different chakra-scents milling around in the large room just outside the small antechamber where he stood with Kiba and Hinata. Several Konoha shinobi from Shino and Tenten's age group had come (mostly for the ensuing party, since he didn't imagine the standard Aburame ceremony would be all that entertaining for them), and of course the majority of his clan were seated out in the large room. And in another small room just past the ceremonial chamber, he knew Tenten waited with her own teammates, preparing to face the crowd and sign the contract that would bind their lives together.
Shino resisted the urge to sneak a kikkai into the room to check on her. Not only would she undoubtedly find it (or her Hyuuga teammate would), but it was a pointless exercise. He would see her in a few minutes. Only a few minutes. It would be quick, just a brief reiteration of some of the key clauses, then they would sign, and then it would be settled. He would sign, Tenten would sign, and it would be done. Easy. The hard part would come after the ceremony, Shino thought, when they had to start figuring out how to make two separate lives into a single connected one. They would have to work out their mission schedules, their living arrangements, their future plans...today was just a brief formality, really. Today he just signed a piece of paper, and Tenten would sign next to him and they would officially be married. No big deal.
"Yo," Kiba's rough voice cut into Shino's cyclic thoughts. "You look like you're about to hurl."
Shino blinked. "I am..." he swallowed. "Not."
Hinata put a soft hand on his arm. "It's alright to be nervous," she said. "This is a very big day for you."
"There is no need for nerves," Shino said sharply.
"No," Hinata agreed. "But it happens anyway."
Shino felt his mouth jerk into a brief, jittery smile. "Hm," he grunted, the smile gone as quickly as it had come. His hands were clenching slightly, he realized, and with a slow, even breath he forced his body to relax, willing the excited kikkai in his chest to calm. Perhaps she had a point, after all. "I suppose it does," he admitted reluctantly.
There was no point lying to himself about it, particularly if it was so obvious to his teammates. So, I am nervous, he thought, forcing himself to be rational and self-assessing. Very well, now that I know it, how can I overcome it? Perhaps I should consider why I am nervous in the first place.
Well, that was simple enough. He was...unaccustomed to crowds. That was the most logical reason. He didn't like being the center of so much attention. And he felt uncomfortable without his usual coat, high collar, or hood. He'd even changed out his combat-glasses, the heavy wraparound style shades, for the less concealing standard shades favored by the older members of his clan. Surely that was it, the only cause for his discomfort -
"She's gonna sign, you know," Kiba said, leaning on the door and picking his teeth as he regarded Shino through narrow eyes. "That's what's got you all twisted up, ain't it?"
Shino stared at him. It is a sad day, he decided privately, when Kiba has to tell me what I am thinking because I am too...'twisted up' to do it myself.
"Don't sweat it, man," Kiba continued, flapping a hand at his friend, "I mean, I can't say I'm an expert on Tenten, but I can tell she's pretty hung up about you. And you're totally stupidly in love with her, or something." He shrugged. "And you got like, the same ethics and stuff. So you're gonna do well in this married thing."
Shino raised an eyebrow. "Inuzuka Kiba, Relationships Expert and Advisor."
Kiba barked a laugh. "Hey, I'm just callin' it like I smell it, right? Besides, I've known you for approximately forever and I can interpret your weirdness pretty good."
"It's time," Hinata murmured, and Shino promptly forgot whatever retort he had lined up against Kiba. He snapped his mouth shut and flexed his fingers, wishing heartily for his heavy jacket and high collar.
With one last slap on the back from Kiba and quick comforting squeeze from Hinata, Shino walked through the door and into the ceremonial hall. They followed him, taking up station on either side behind him. Tenten had insisted on both Lee and Neji standing as her 'bridesmaids' - and she'd said it with a perfectly straight face, too, although her eyes had sparkled with mischief as Neji scowled and Lee boomed a delighted laugh. Shino had smiled in response and agreed, pointedly ignoring the exasperated, ever-so-slightly pleading expression the Hyuuga shot him behind her back. But once Kiba had discovered the arrangement (and after he had finished laughing himself sick), he had demanded that both he and Hinata should be allowed to stand with their teammate as well. At the time Shino had rolled his eyes, but now, nervous, exposed, and at the center of so much attention, he was glad to have his teammates at his back.
The room was full of familiar faces: his classmates and their families, Aburame clan members, and a few prominent faces from the Hokage's office (including the woman herself, seated in the front and actually wearing the official hat of office). Maito Gai sobbed loudly next to Kurenai-sensei, who smiled warmly at Shino and nodded encouragingly. Shino kept his eyes trained forward, but of course Kurenai knew his kikkai were watching the crowd. He nodded slightly in return, and made his way to the front of the room. His palms felt clammy, and he once again wished for his heavy jacket, this time if only to give him something to do with his hands. Having them hanging loose at his sides felt awkward and uncomfortable, as if he was waiting for an attack.
Shino's father stood by the small table on the little stage in front of the crowd. The gold and red-bound marriage contract was laid out with care on the table, with a calligraphy brush and an ink stone sitting next to it. Shino had a brief moment of...concern as he realized that he had not warned Tenten about the calligraphy. Then he realized that she had seen at least one of these affairs before, and besides she'd mentioned something about calligraphy being linked to swordsmanship once, so she ought to know -
The door across from him opened, and Tenten walked into the room.
Tenten was not given to displays, Shino knew. She preferred function to fashion, rarely doing anything to her appearance besides keeping it neat, practical, and professional. Shino had never even seen her in anything that couldn't be worn to a fight, and she stuck to neutral or plain colors in general. She always wore clothes that would allow her at a moment's notice to blend into the background if she so chose.
Today, however, she seemed to have made an exception.
Tenten was dressed in a bright red, full-length cheong-sam dress embroidered in gold, with red and gold pins in her hair and gold bangles on her slender wrists. Her makeup was still fairly low-key, but he could see a hint of gold eyeshadow on the corners of her eyelids and red on her lips. The lights of the room seemed to reflect off the gold edging and shimmering red fabric as she walked, giving the impression of live flames as she glided smoothly across the floor and stood in front of Shino. She looked up at him gravely, and up close he could see the pulse in her neck racing, see the slight compression on her lips and the overly-alert expression in her eyes. She was nervous, perhaps even more than Shino himself.
Then Tenten met his gaze, and she smiled. It was only a slight pull at the corner of her mouth, far less than her usual full grin. Nevertheless, Shino felt the agitated kikkai calm in his chest. Suddenly, the size of the crowd and the enormity of what he was about to do seemed...less significant. That smile threw a wall around them, shutting out everyone else and giving Shino and Tenten a small, quiet space between that no other could enter. It was a private conversation, an inside joke, a secret that she shared with him alone. Shino smiled back at her, and forgot for a moment that his face was bare.
"This contract," his father said suddenly from Shino's left, "is to certify and legalize the marital status of one Aburame Shino and one Tenten of Konoha, and to bind them before witnesses to each other for so long as they live." Shibi read through the few highlights of the contracts stipulations, but Shino tuned him out for a moment. He already knew what it said, had mentally signed the document months ago when he had decided to marry this woman before him and known that she wanted the same. Instead, he took the chance to appreciate the red tint of her flushed cheeks and the way her dark eyes stared straight into his, the way her lips twitched into another little smile when Gai let out a particularly loud bawl of joy, and the way her chakra-scent continued to spike and ripple through the kikkai's senses. Almost as soon as he noted the patterns, though, her chakra patterns seemed to pause briefly, as if she was tensed up and waiting for something to happen. At the same time, she tilted her head at him questioningly.
With a jolt, Shino realized that his father was holding the calligraphy brush out to him, that the ink stone was wet and the short silence he was only now registering meant the reading was over and they were all waiting for him to take the brush and sign his name. Carefully, feeling like his hand was somehow not properly attached to his body and might fall off at any moment, he took the brush and dipped it into the ink. He had been trained in calligraphy as a child, of course, but he was not particularly proficient. He forced his hand to remember how to grip the brush, how to swirl the ink in the pattern that was his name. With the smallest of smiles at his son's tense fingers, Shino's father took the brush back when he was finished. Shino already knew that Shibi would have some remark concerning his penmanship after the ceremony, but then Tenten reached for the brush and Shino's attention focused sharply on her small wrists, her tanned and calloused fingers.
She held the brush like an expert, and in a few smooth, flowing strokes painted the symbols of her name next to Shino's. Shibi nodded in approval of her handiwork, and Shino felt a little pulse of pride. And with that, there was only one formality remaining.
Shino held out his hand, palm up, and said in as clear a voice as he could manage, "I am Aburame Shino, and I accept you as my wife."
Tenten's face wreathed in one of her brightest smiles, and she reached out to twine her fingers firmly through his. "And I am Aburame Tenten," she said with finality, sending a little thrill of...something (incredulity? adrenaline? joy? he couldn't think of a word, and for once, it didn't matter) shooting through Shino's body. "And I love that you're my husband," she finished, the little sparkle of mischief back in her eyes as she deliberately altered the traditional script.
In response, Shino lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her fingers, enjoying the way her face instantly flushed as the crowd cheered.
Behind him, Kiba suddenly let out an ear-piercing whistle; Tenten's eyes went wide as the kikkai buzzed a warning, but Shino was already moving, slamming forward into Tenten as something hot, bright, and loud shot past his back and into the crowd. He felt Tenten wrap her arms around his waist and step backwards with him, pulling him clear of the second blast that flew immediately after the first.
Shino pivoted on his heel, letting Tenten go and raising his arms to summon a bug-shield, but Tenten snagged his wrist, forcing one arm back down. "Don't," she gasped, but he was already ordering the kikkai back into the hive and glaring with disgust at his complete idiot of a teammate.
"WOOHOO!" Kiba screamed happily, and fired another blue and red rocket into the yelling, scrambling crowd. Beside him, Uzumaki Naruto pulled the strings of a handful of exploding crackers all at once, shooting streamers and confetti out over the chaos. "Congratulations!" They hollered simultaneously, then chucked several handfuls of spinning, whistling firecrackers into the now mostly vacated, upturned chairs. Cries of 'hey, watch it!', 'oh no, duck!', and several variations of 'you idiots, wait until I get my hands on you!' abounded as guests dove out of the way of the spark trails, colored smoke bombs, and wild rockets that filled the room.
"Naruto!" Sakura bellowed from amidst the chaos. "I'm going to paste your stupid, fluffy head on the wall!"
Tenten leaned against Shino's side, one arm still looped around his waist and her whole body shaking with laughter. He dropped to one knee, dragging her down with him to avoid a particularly large green and gold rocket that shot through the space where their heads had been a moment before. "Kiba," he grunted, seriously considering summoning a legion of fleas. The nasty, welt-raising, hard-to-kill kind. But as the last of the sputtering fireworks rattled and died in the smoke-filled room and both Kiba and Naruto bolted out of a window with a roaring herd of furious shinobi on their heels, Tenten leaned up and kissed the corner of his mouth softly.
Well, Shino thought as he turned to face her, no real harm done. There were plenty of vengeful shinobi hot on Kiba's heels to deal suitable punishment, and anyway, Shino had better things to do at present. The fleas could wait.
"Of course, he wouldn't sit right for a couple days," Sakura explained to Shino, "but it would definitely teach him a lesson. And Kiba too, if you want."
"Unnecessary," Shino remarked, making a mental note to avoid ever getting on Haruno Sakura's bad side. "But thank you for the offer."
"Well, if you're sure." She shrugged once, then smiled. "So you two are headed for the capital city tomorrow morning right? It's really gorgeous this time of year, but a little crowded. I'm kind of surprised you guys picked it. But I guess Tenten will like the craftsman's quarter and it's within a decent recall range of the village if something comes up at home-"
Shino let the kunoichi's cheerful, polite conversation wash over him, scanning the crowd over her pink head idly. Ah, there was Tenten, several yards away engaged in conversation with Hyuuga Neji and her old genin sensei, Maito Gai. She laughed at something Neji said, reaching out to tug deftly at a lock of his long hair. Once the smoke had cleared, the party had adjourned to the brightly lit patio outside the ceremonial hall, and Tenten had more or less been snatched away from him to mingle among the guests. She had also changed into a less eye-catching pink dress, this one slit up the sides to allow for freedom of movement and matched with long, dark leggings. Doubtless there were copious amounts of deadly tempered steel tucked securely in every seam and pocket, too. Shino would hold the golden image of Tenten in the back pocket of his soul for the rest of his life, where he could take it out and hold up to the light when he needed it, but it was a strange sort of ...relief to see her in more practical clothes again.
"-so maybe I'll see you around. We could do dinner or something if you guys are free," Sakura was saying, and Shino quickly had the kikkai replay the last few minutes through his mind. Ah, the kunoichi was planning on being in the capital at the same time as Shino and Tenten, on a mission to hunt for an organ farm somewhere in the city's black market.
"That will be up to Tenten," Shino said after a moment. "Why? I have left the planning mostly in her hands."
Sakura giggled and nodded. "I figured as much. I was going to set it up with her later. But, um, Shino," She sighed and shifted her weight, and Shino directed the attention of a few more kikkai her way. Her face was still pleasant and lighthearted, but his hive could detect a faint scent of weariness and a little guilt mixed in her unfamiliar red and yellow chakra-scent. She was about to ask him something that she did not like to ask. "Look, I know you're already getting tasked by Shikamaru and the Hokage and I know it's totally unfair to pile more on you, especially now, but, well..."
"You could ask the Hokage's office for a partner on your mission," Shino interjected, sensing where this was going and trying to keep the sharp tone from his voice. "There are plenty of shinobi who specialize in tracking."
Sakura held up her hands in a placating gesture. "I know, I know," she said. "And normally that's exactly what I would do. But there's been an influx of missions requiring trackers right now, and this one isn't the highest priority, so it's hard to get anyone re-designated. I don't need you to do much more than you were going to do anyway," she added. "I already know you were going to look around for your target. I'm just asking that you keep an ear out for any rumors about a rogue organ farm that specializes in children." Her face turned hard and her voice dropped to a much more serious tone. "These sickos are kidnapping little kids and cutting them up, Shino. And we're too swamped with all these spy missions and thief hunts and stuff to muster the manpower to stop them."
Shino hesitated a moment longer, then nodded. "Very well," he said.
Sakura brightened. "Thank you! I really appreciate it, you know." She looked about to say more, when suddenly a bright orange ball screamed past them.
"What's wrong, Granny?" Uzumaki Naruto taunted over his shoulder. "Can't keep up with the young folks anymore?"
"C'mere you obnoxious little brat!" Tsunade bellowed, shoving through the crowd and shaking a menacing fist. "Sakura, get him!"
Sakura sprinted after her rogue teammate instantly, face turning as red as her shirt and eyes ablaze. "Naruto, you ass! You just wait until I catch you!"
"Aw, Sakura, it was just a little fun!" Naruto's voice faded into the night as he leaped up a building and vanished, Sakura still hot on his heels.
"If he survives the night, I'm going to have to find more work for that kid to do," Tsunade grunted, coming to a halt next to Shino and planting her hands on her hips. "Clearly I'm not keeping him busy enough to stay out of trouble."
Shino nodded politely and cautiously attempted to sidle back into the shadows, dispersing a small portion of his chakra throughout the kikkai to further deemphasize his withdrawal. Across the crowd (which had resumed eating, chatting, and making irritated comments about Naruto as soon as the chase had lapsed out of view), Tenten was now avoiding another Hug of Tearful Joy from Maito Gai by pointing out Rock Lee in close vicinity to a table full of alcoholic drinks. Shino's lips quirked slightly at the expression of sheer horror on both Neji and Gai's faces as they sprang to stop Lee from sipping a glass of wine. Tenten's laugh was clearly audible to the kikkai even over the hum of the crowd, but Shino wanted to be close enough to hear it for himself.
"Hold it, Aburame," Tsunade said from where she still stood, facing into the night with her hands on her hips. Shino froze, then quietly recalled his chakra-dispersed kikkai and stepped back towards the Hokage. "You can't slink off without getting the official congratulations from your boss," she said wryly. "That would just be rude."
"Apologies, Lady Hokage," Shino said. "And thank you for the well-wishes."
"Hn," Tsunade replied, shrugging a shoulder at him in an offhand way. She raised an imperious eyebrow at someone off to the side, and Shino followed her gaze in time to see Shikamaru heave a sigh and force himself slowly out of the chair where he'd been lounging. The dour-faced analyst made his way grumpily towards them, and Shino considered attempting to sneak off again. He enjoyed being a shinobi, understood his duty to Konoha, and had long ago figured out that fairness had no part in such a life – but on occasion, his job did...well, as Kiba put it, suck.
"Tell him," Tsunade said without preamble as soon as Shikamaru reached them.
"We got confirmation from the decoders," Shikamaru said, hunching his shoulders and sticking his hands into his pockets (Shino felt a little flash of envy – he still had not reclaimed his own overcoat and seriously missed it). "Someone has been selling information about shinobi villages in the Earth Country. The target that was in your mission scroll was found dead in a river yesterday, though." Shikamaru lapsed into silence as Chouji and some other jounin Shino recognized from the dispatch office walked past, singing drunkenly at the top of their lungs about love, beer, and mashed potatoes. The dispatch jounin looked ready to walk their way and assault Shino with his drunken congratulations, but Chouji took a quick look at Shikamaru, then slung a heavy arm over the other man and steered him away, presumably in search of another food table. Shikamaru smirked for a moment, then turned back to Shino. "So don't worry about him. But we think he may have been on his way to a rendezvous with someone in the capital, so we still need you to take a look around while you're there."
"Dead," Shino repeated. Well, that at least negated the secret status of his mission. And the Hokage and Shikamaru talking about the modified mission here in the open meant that the priority had dropped and he could tell Tenten about it now. To his left, his wife (his wife - the words sounded foreign even in his thoughts) was now talking to Ino and Sai, a startled expression on her face at whatever Sai was saying. Then she laughed politely, edging away as Ino turned bright pink and slapped his shoulder, a disgusted look on her face.
"Yeah, dead," Shikamaru replied. "We're not sure, but maybe someone figured out what he was. Or even," Shikamaru's face darkened, "that we were looking for him."
"If that's the case, then someone knew about your mission, Shino," The Hokage interjected, looking up from the bottle of sake that had somehow appeared in her hand when Shino was distracted. "And I really don't like the implications of that. So take a good look around in the capital. See what you can find, and report anything that might indicate a security leak in Konoha immediately."
"Understood," Shino said.
"Shikamaru!" Ino's voice cut in. The blonde kunoichi stomped angrily towards them, still red in the face. "You would not believe the filthy jokes Sai has been telling. Who the hell told him dirty jokes were good conversation starters? Seriously, get over here and explain to him what a jackass he's being."
"Why do I have to do it?" Shikamaru grumbled.
"Because," Ino snapped, grabbing his arm and towing him away.
Shino looked past the retreating duo and started a little to see that Tenten had vanished somehow in the last few moments. He scanned the crowd, both with his senses and the kikkai's, but she was missing from the large crowd of partying shinobi.
"Bathroom," Tsunade supplied, strolling past Shino with a lazy chug of her sake bottle.
Shino waited a moment to see if anyone else was going to come up and assign him another task during his honeymoon, then told himself to cease the childish behavior. With a small sigh, he slumped against a wall and tried to relax his free-hanging hands. Perhaps he could slip away for a few moments, get back to his house and grab his jacket...although it might take him a moment to find it. He and Tenten had been given a whole wing of the main branch house, and with the help of both their teams had managed to move all of their possessions into it in a relatively short time. Of course, 'move in' and 'settle in' were not mutually inclusive terms, and Shino's tendency towards...unconventional organization combined with Tenten's vast and varied arsenal of weaponry made wandering around their new living space something of a hazardous venture.
"Unconventional organization?" Tenten had said when Shino had shared that point of view with her. "Lover, this isn't organization in any sense of the word – it's insanity." Shino chuckled a little at the memory and raised his head as the kikkai reported Tenten's proximity. She walked back into the brightly lit patio from around the fence, and nearly ran into a tall, gray coat. Shino's grandfather had appeared out of nowhere, a cup of tea in one hand and a small box in the other. Tenten shot a quick glance of surprise at Shino around Aburame Katsu's imposing back, then smiled at the old man, taking the box carefully. Shino was about to push himself away from the wall and join them when something in the shadows behind him went, "Psst!"
Shino was not much given to profanity, but for a moment, he considered it. Instead, he said, "This was an unwise move. I say this because you are currently high on the hit list of several shinobi in Konoha, most of whom are gathered in this area right now."
"Why the hell d'you think I'm up this tree, jerkface?" Kiba hissed at him. "Look, I'm really not sorry or anything, but Hinata gave me one of those looks when I snuck in to steal some food earlier. You know, one of those looks that makes you feel like the world's biggest turd?"
Shino nodded slightly, having been the recipient of one of Hinata's reproachful 'looks' once or twice, though he preferred not to think too much about those occasions. The woman could make a saint feel guilty, and then feel make him feel guilty again for making her feel bad for making him guilty. It was a terrible situation all around. "So yeah, I figured I at least better make the effort to apologize or something. But you know," Kiba hesitated, and his next words came out slightly rushed, "I only did it 'cause you're my best friend, uh, human friend, and I figured someone should lighten you up and make you have a good time 'cause you're such a stick in the mud, and anyway it would make a good story for your family and all."
Shino processed that for a moment, watching Tenten examine with delight the small, thin blade she pulled from Katsu's gift box. She flung her arms around the old man and hugged him tightly, breaking away to show her new weapon to Neji. Shino's grandfather said something to her that made her laugh aloud, then strolled casually off, sipping his tea. Shino lowered his chin in respect and thanks to the Aburame patriarch, then turned his face slightly to look over his shoulder. "So you blew up my wedding because...you care?"
Shino didn't need to see his rambunctious teammate to know that the dog-nin was grinning with all his sharp teeth. "I knew you'd understand, you crusty old bastard."
"Hinata is going to see you in a moment," Shino replied. "You had better run if you wish to avoid another look."
"Yeah, one was enough for a night. A few nights, maybe longer. Like forever." Shino heard Kiba shifting his weight slightly, preparing to spring away. "Oh hey, bug-breath! Have a good trip. I'll be in the capital hunting down some stupid camera thief, so maybe I'll catch you guys for lunch or something."
"I won't help you find the thief."
"Who asked you, asshole? I can do it fine myself! 'sides, you're on your honeymoon, ain't you? Go frickin' unwind or something for awhile."
Shino chuckled quietly, then stopped as someone said, "So there you are."
He looked over to see Kurenai-sensei walking towards him, her face set in an expression he recognized from his genin days as the prelude to a 'Mister, you've got a lot of explaining to do' lecture. He had rarely been the recipient of such a lecture himself – ah, if he followed her eyeline, she was looking over his head, angled towards the lower branches of the overhanging trees just outside the lights of the patio. A quick scuffle of sound as Kiba launched hurriedly off the branch and into the night confirmed it. Kurenai-sensei glared into the trees for a moment longer, then relaxed and leaned casually next to Shino on the low wall.
"So," she said, as if nothing had happened, "how are you enjoying the evening?"
Shino circled a few more kikkai around the wall top to watch his old teacher. "Well enough."
"He really does love you like a brother," she said, jerking her head slightly towards the now empty tree branches. "A twin brother, equal in status and age. Which is why he also loves to mess with you so much. If he can't be your superior then he can at least be your tormentor."
"That," said Shino dryly, "is a somewhat disturbing analysis of our relationship, sensei."
"Not all brothers look and act alike, Shino, not even twins," Kurenai-sensei laughed softly, "but they're still brothers. And trust me on this; I've been watching the lot of you since you were kids, you know."
Shino inclined his head slightly at that, and they lapsed into comfortable silence. Nearby, Tenten and Neji had been joined by the local smith, Taneda Jiro. The short, reedy man was examining the kunai himself now, and he and Tenten appeared deep in a conversation about it's various properties. Shino noted with a small sense of personal satisfaction that Tenten had completely discarded her careful, guarded attitude towards her former enemy and could now speak to him as happily as she could to any other weapons-enthusiast.
"Have you decided how many children you will have?" Kurenai-sensei asked suddenly, and Shino's focus snapped back to her.
"What?" He blurted before he could stop himself.
Kurenai-sensei smiled at his discomfort, and raised a gently chiding eyebrow. "Oh come, now, Shino. Don't tell me that as the heir to the Aburame clan, you haven't put at least some thought into the question of succession?"
Shino fought the faint flush on his cheeks and instinctively hunched his shoulders slightly; he should have slipped home for that coat when he had the chance. "There is time for such...considerations later," he muttered.
He expected his sensei to laugh and tease him a little more, but instead her face turned serious as she turned to face him fully. "That is a dangerous sentiment for a shinobi to have," she said admonishingly. "Particularly high ranking shinobi like you and Tenten."
Shino nodded. "Yes. But that does not mean it would be wise to rush the decision."
Kurenai-sensei studied him for a moment, and then folded her arms, the no-nonsense she had been directing at Kiba back on her face. "Shino, tell me you've at least discussed it with her."
"We have," he reassured her. "And while we agree on the eventuality, we have made no commitment to time or...quantity," he finished after a beat, feeling suddenly like a teenager having one of those awkward conversations with a parent.
"Well, talk about it some more then," Kurenai-sensei said decisively. "And bear in mind, Shino, that children will have more of an impact on Tenten than you, career-wise. Not only will she be out of commission while she's pregnant, but afterwards Konoha shinobi law regulates every new mother's ability to preform certain missions, like the kind that send you far away for a long time. Some kunoichi never recover from the break in their training," she added, her face and voice suddenly distant and unreadable. "Field qualifications lapse, muscle memory and technique-training fades, and all your priorities shift so much that even your thought-processes start to...change."
She shook herself a little, and looked Shino right in the eyes. "So you better make sure that you're both ready for it, if and when it happens."
Shino regarded her for a moment, then pushed off of the wall and bowed to her. He remembered the last time he had done this, years ago and right after his promotion to jounin rank. "Thank you, sensei," he said gravely, as he had then. "I hope that I can make you proud in this endeavor."
"You are one of the best people I have ever met," she smiled as she recognized what he was doing, and played along, repeating her words from his promotion. "I have always been proud of you." Then she reached out a hand and placed it on his shoulder, something she had not done last time, and added, "And I know that your mother would have been thrilled beyond words today."
Through the kikkai link, Shino saw Tenten watching him, noted the slight concern in her eyes and absently wondered if that concern was due to Kurenai's expression or his own. Probably his own; she had not spent much time with his genin sensei, and was particularly sensitive to his emotional state. Hastily, Shino schooled his features and stood fully upright, once again in complete control.
And not a moment too soon, he realized, as the noise of the crowd suddenly swelled into an irate murmur at something that was now standing directly behind Shino.
He turned to find Uzumaki Naruto standing on top of the low wall of the patio, arms crossed and a pronounced scowl on his face. "Hey, Aburame Shino!" Naruto called in a voice that carried across the crowded space. "We gotta talk."
A few shinobi from the Academy started to shout something insulting, but Naruto made a rude gesture and cut them off with an imperious, "Shut up! Can't you see I'm talking to the important guy, here? So, Shino," he started again, hopping off the wall and striding to stand a few feet away, arms still crossed and body language defiant. Shino turned to square off with him, bracing himself for anything from an attack to a sudden proclamation of devotion. This was, after all, Konoha's number one surprising shinobi.
Abruptly, Naruto clapped his hands in front of his face and bowed his head. "I'm sorry if I upset you or Tenten," he said, in a loud but sincere voice. "Really sorry. So, so will you forgive me?"
Shino stared at the bright blond head for a moment, amused at this sudden turn of events. Before he could marshal a response, he felt a hand slide against his palm, and he curled his fingers around Tenten's with a quiet sense of satisfaction. Finally. Without looking at her, he asked aloud, "Were you upset?"
"Not really," Tenten replied.
"Then, in the interest of preserving the peace," Shino told the top of Naruto's head, "we forgive you."
One sly blue eye peered at them through Naruto's still-clasped hands. "You're cool with it?"
"Yep," Tenten answered.
"Me and Kiba?"
"There is still some food left," Shino told him, sensing the underlying question.
"And no one will attack you if you come out of the shadows and join in the fun," Tenten finished, with just a hint of a smothered giggle in her voice.
Naruto blinked, and then burst into a wide smile. "You hear that, buddy?" He shouted over his shoulder. "It's all good now! Let's get some chow!"
"Awesome!" Kiba appeared immediately on the wall behind him. From where he sprawled next to Hinata, Akamaru gave a welcoming bark. Kiba flipped a jaunty salute to his furry partner and hastily beat feet to follow Naruto to the food tables. "Hey, save some, you hog!"
The crowd stared after them for a long moment; then Ino said, "Idiots," and the conversational buzz picked back up where it had left off.
At his side, Tenten laughed and squeezed Shino's hand. "Alright, 'fess up, Aburame," she said. "What's with avoiding the bride all night? Or is it just the company I've been keeping?" To their left, there was a resounding crash, a cry of "Naruto, you doofus, smuggling Lee alcohol is not funny" followed by a booming, "YOSH! Ya want a piece a me, eh? Do ya? What'r'you lookin' at, blurry-face? Ya wanna make blurry faces at th' Beautiful Konoha Beast of Green, 's that it? Punk?"
"Oh, no. Come on," Tenten tugged his hand urgently, and Shino was all too willing to let her drag him away from the noise and lights of the patio and out into the dark, quiet streets of Konoha. She stopped just outside the wall and dropped his hand, slipping her arms around his waist instead. "You weren't avoiding me, were you?" she asked, leaning back to look up at his face.
Shino pulled her in close and rested his forehead against her hair, allowing himself to relax. For the first time all night, he stopped wishing for his jacket and heavy wraparound goggles. "No," he said with finality.
"Good," she said against his chest. "Because that would be a terrible beginning, wouldn't it? If you couldn't even talk to me on the first night of our marriage?"
Shino considered telling her that on the contrary, he had an abundance of things to discuss with her, not the least of which concerned their trip to the city capital in the morning. But he decided that now was not the time. "You were extremely popular tonight," he said instead.
"Yeah, weirdly enough. I think at least a dozen people who've never spoken to me before all seemed to suddenly be my best friend tonight." She shrugged. "I guess big events like this sort of do that to people. They distort reality a little."
"Did you enjoy it?" he asked.
"Yes," Tenten leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Your family is great, you know? And watching all our friends relax and have some fun together is always nice. It doesn't happen very often, does it?"
"Hm," Shino bent his head to meet her halfway.
"You'll have to keep talking to me," she said a moment later, pulling back. Her fingers tapped against his arm earnestly. "Living together will make it easier to see each other," she explained. "But we're still going to have crazy schedules that don't always match up and we'll be apart a lot. And I've heard all kinds of stories about people who get married and then just sort of take each other for granted, never talk or do stuff together or whatever, and next thing you know, they realize that they're both totally different people who don't even recognize each other any more."
Tenten shook her head as if to clear it. "So you're going to have to talk to me, even if you don't have anything to say but 'I did paperwork all day; it was very boring.' And I'll talk to you too." Her face lit up with another of her sudden smiles. "You pretty much can't avoid that." She reached up and tugged at his jacket playfully, then ran a palm across his chest down to his waist. "Promise you'll talk to me," she said in a lower, more serious tone.
Shino slid his hand along the smooth fabric on her shoulder to the smoother skin on the back of her neck, noting with interest how her cheeks flushed slightly and her back arched a little in response. "I will," he promised.
"Oy! Whar's Shino 'n' Tenten?"
"Who?"
"Shino. An' Tenten. The, uh, bug guy an' the chick with the, uh, y'know, hair."
"Wha' 'bout 'em?"
"They aren't here 'nymore. 'S their weddin', ain't it?"
"Who?"
"Bug guy! Shino! And knives….with the hair. Tententen. Hee. Too many tens."
"Twenties?"
"Yer so freakin' drunk."
"So're you!"
"So where're they?"
"…Who?"