Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it.

X.

- Mend –

He woke up painfully slow but it was fine by him, at least his bugs didn't feel like they tried to destroy him from the inside anymore. His body was exhausted as never before so he didn't hurry to open his eyes. What did he do?

Took him a while to return to reality, reminiscing yesterday's events. Guilt and dread struck him right away and he could feel the throbbing pain in his head increasing with every flash of a memory.

How did all this even happen? When did he manage to unleash anger in such scales?

Not a day had passed that he has broken the promise he made to himself, to not let emotions rule his mind. He was almost convinced that nothing could shake him in a way that he'd lose his composure fully, as it happened last night. Even sealing Torune turned out something that he could handle. He remembered a heart-wringing sensation that went on for a few days then, leaving him sad and mute to his very soul but he figured it out. After a few sleepless nights, he regained his control and continued on his path. His shinobi path.

Protect the village, protect the innocent? He couldn't even protect himself from that wrath that poured out like a massive wave, and he didn't know where it all got from. A stream of hatred washed through him as if he had never tried to keep himself from it, as if he hadn't built walls against it in all his years. That was a form of weakness that usually led to fatal mistakes, and in his rage, he almost made those fatal mistakes.

For the sake of common sense and his Aburame title, he had to fix everything. But that was always the hardest part.

A heavy, tormented sigh fell off his lips. The light was faint but it stung him in the second he attempted to open his eyes. He shrunk away but the closest object he found was Amaya herself and although he knew she was awake, it was terribly inconvenient for him to have to hide his eyes from the light in such way, buried in her hair.

"You alright?" Amaya was a tad surprised but didn't push him away; instead caressed his hair calmingly.

"Sorry. T-the light…" Shino explained, trying to shift in a more comfortable for her position but she had hugged him, arms and legs wrapped around his torso; her skin was warm to the touch… and a tad rugged. That was the bees' doing, likely, his own skin had a similar aspect; he absolutely hated this on his own skin but it was reassuring now, to have someone like him near. To feel that familiar asperity onto him made his heart shrink; it simultaneously gave him another reason to hate himself and need her. Did he have to detach from her?

"Oh. There is a small beam of light, yes." She chuckled quietly and the vibrations went through him as well. "But I barely see anything, I didn't know it irritated you."

"I… I think I might have something to cover my eyes with, in the cabinet."

She reached for the bedside cabinet, heaved up, and searched through it.

"There is a black cloth I sometimes tie around my eyes. Should be there somewhere." He incited her but she already found what she looked for, letting out a huff.

"Here it is. But you won't see anything with it." Amaya proceeded to wrap and tie the band around his eyes. "There you go."

"Thank you."

She was right, he couldn't see anything and it's never bothered him until he met her. Sometimes he thought that he'd be better off blind. His vision was half-and-half anyway. Never able to see the light, he only wondered what it's like to not cover his eyes with anything. But as he thought about it further, blindness was not a good choice either. His senses were developed but without his specific vision he'd probably be disoriented and lost. He'd rather feel than see though.

They laid back on the pillow but Shino couldn't resist and hugged her in the same way, in need to feel the sweet scent her skin gave out. She didn't seem to mind; just the opposite, she chuckled again.

"Everything fine now?"

"No, it's not. " He grumped tiredly, wondering how she could still laugh after everything she's been through. "I hurt everyone."

Amaya exhaled slowly, her warm breath dancing on his skin. Her lips brushed his hair absently as she kept on with her light caress, like the motion of her fingers helped her calm down more than it helped him. She was indeed a fairy, she has always been; from the moment he saw her sitting on his table. So much younger and so much brighter, it killed him to think he could've harmed her in his senseless fit.

Her fear was grand when she came in last night, it even overpowered his own - that he had lost her affection forever with what he did. It wasn't fair. All this time, he balanced within the normal, within the law of what's allowed and then Kamizuru showed up and shook his foundations. He could not possibly remain indifferent to such an insult to his clan but remaining indifferent also meant hurting the one he cared about. He cared about her and knowing that she's cared too, but only to distract him from the edge she pressed deeper into his back hurt him immensely. In measures he hadn't thought possible.

Now… she held no fear. Overwhelming sadness was what replaced fear. He felt it, it was clear, serene.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked, curious; severing the prolonged silence.

"That I actually love you." Amaya drawled.

Shino went over the words a few times and the way she said them; he especially examined the use of the word actually, it was as if she hasn't been sure until now but now she had no doubt about it. Surprise took over him at first, he realized he didn't know what he's supposed to say to this, but then something else.

She was sad and he wasn't sure why. Perhaps because she had plenty of feelings but didn't know what to do with them without the trust and the safety they were supposed to come with. It was the same with him, he understood the impasse she was in.

He knew nothing of relationships but he was pretty sure what both of them went through was not a good example of one. Everything about it was wrong, from their very first conversation. Lies, deception, secrets… they didn't even know each other. He was drowning in remorse, wishing that circumstances had offered him a better opportunity to show what he was capable of, wishing that both of them weren't standing in the middle of ruins now. His only hope was that she hasn't left yet. All the more, she came back. Despite everything.

"You should've let me die."

The words rolled out of his mouth before he could think them through. There was a part of him that still desired death. Because it seemed the easier way to escape the shame and the consequences, and this pulse of his heart, beating slow, with a wistful ache. If only…

Amaya tightened her grip around him, her body trembling with that breeze-like, delicate sadness she contained. She was on the verge of crying again and it didn't make him feel any better, at all.

"Did you not hear what I just said?" Her whisper was lost in the shaky breath she released.

How was she to know that he wasn't what he showed he was? He was not a brute, nor a sadist, neither was he violent. It was natural that she'd want to leave and he wasn't sure how he'd accept that. Any promise he could make would only shape him further in the very image he never intended to present. What if he snaps again, though? Was he even sure of his perfect control? Last night he was out of any control he could possibly have - his own bugs did not listen to him.

That was it, he had to let go. For the sake of her safety and his dignity.

A heavy lump set itself in his throat at the very notion.

"What… what time is it? I have to… go to the school." Shino wearied, trying to reach his phone. But Amaya let him know the time first, her voice still a bit hoarse.

"It's almost noon." She touched his shoulder to stop him and he faced her again.

"Noon?" It's been hours... Shino groaned, attempting to get out of the bed. "They're probably still waiting-"

"It's fine!" Amaya exclaimed. "I called the school a few hours ago and told them you're not coming because you're not feeling well."

Shino stopped mid-motion, fazed at the new information. He must've slept a lot after losing so much chakra. It was his fault for using so many techniques at once.

"You did?"

"Yeah. It's alright." Amaya paused. "Everyone's heard about what happened yesterday and I doubt…" Her voice trailed off but he caught the tinge in it; they were reluctant to let him near children before, but now, after this accident, they'd probably forbid him to even get close to them. He had to say goodbye to this profession too. That long-forgotten heart-wringing sensation returned with its full power.

Shino slowly returned back on the pillow next to her and sighed heavily. "They'll be happy anyway, without me."

"I'm pretty sure they'll miss you." Amaya let out a breathy laugh.

There was a small pause between them but Shino could feel a dreadful tension in his body and he couldn't chase it away.

"Amaya, we must stop-"

"I'll go make some tea." She cut him off, louder.

Acting like nothing's wrong because it was not a good idea to keep it all going, he wanted to finish, but didn't. Instead, he stilled with surprise.

She wasn't giving up, then. Fighting to keep them alive, keep the flicker between them he was so determined to extinguish, alive. He turned mute again, unsure what to say. Was it right to keep this going? No, but he didn't find the strength to oppose her and something told him that she did not want opposition. It only troubled him that he couldn't look her in the eyes because she was always so eloquent, even a few days ago, when she was trying her best to deceive him.

"Lay still." She pressed him back on the pillow gently and loomed over him for a brief second, with an abated breath. "You need rest."

He couldn't read through her, she had sealed everything within. But she slightly quivered, as if hesitating whether to speak or not.

"I could ask you if you want us to start anew if I didn't know that's impossible." She breathed out, and an urge to silence her hit him right after, but she continued, "But I can ask you to pick things up where we left them, before we both messed up. Can you do that?"

The chasm between what he could and what he should do was way too wide. It was true, they couldn't just erase what happened but he nodded, nevertheless, knowing that she'd notice, as close as she was. She then placed a kiss on his forehead and parted him lightly, stepping off the bed.

Amaya left the room with a few supple, quiet steps and left him pondering over her words. Shino heaved up a bit, leaning on his pillow, his fingers skimmed over his forehead absent-mindedly. A wave of relief washed through him. He, with his terrible lack of social skills and rancorous mind, and delinquent habits, couldn't possibly solve this situation with anything as plausible. Thank all divinities that she was better than him, at everything. Well, not everything. Alright, almost everything.

Anyway, he had missed her touch so badly that he seriously considered getting out of his bed and going straight to the kitchen to seek it again.

Pains covered his whole body but he couldn't recognize the feeling. Never before had he experienced an attack from his own kidaichu and the sensation was strange. Visceral, dull soreness irritated him relentlessly since the moment he woke up, his muscles ached too and he was dizzy with some minor fever, and with deep sorrow, he found out that all he managed was to shift from a lying to a sitting position and nothing more. After his conversation with Amaya, he also discovered that forcing his mind to think of complicated subjects was causing sharp pangs to appear in his head so he avoided thinking of anything at all, in hopes that it'd better his wretched condition.

A quiet hum reached his ears and he held his breath, listening. It was the same song she sang that morning when he thought he was dreaming. He relaxed back with a sigh. Such a pleasant voice she had, so fluent and unostentatious, that it almost healed him. It's what this house's been missing all these years. A woman's voice and touch. Somehow, Amaya had the power to make these stone walls pleasant and these wide rooms not so dark. One thing bothered him a lot, though. His father was not a Kamizuru fan. That fact alone called problems that he hadn't the power to think through right now.

He suspected his glasses were where he left them last night, on a drawer he couldn't reach…

Amaya returned soon after, poised and calmer than before, and he sensed the herbal tint that came with her. Mild, caramel taste along with something bitter, positively lemon. Should be Hojicha, the roasted green tea she had drunk a week ago before they went to Naruto's birthday. She must've taken a liking in it.

"Don't blame me if I spill it on your bed, I don't see a thing." Amaya admonished, before setting herself on the bed next to him and taking his hand to let him know she was near.

He slightly shivered when her cold fingers came in touch with his, but he hurried to take the cup from her, grateful. It was indeed Hojicha, he tried it and savored the pleasant and warm sweetness of it.

"Thank you." He said, but it somewhat sounded like a question and he heard her puff at his reaction.

It had turned into an obligation, a pressing desire, to look at her, to observe her, and so it burned him from the inside. He couldn't resist. "Could you…" He lowered his cup but it suddenly became frustrating, when he imagined such a wish spoken out loud.

Silence. She waited for his request with no sensible antagonism.

"Could you bring me the glasses? I left them… on a drawer across the room."

"You want to see?" Amaya huffed playfully, probably amused by the controversial thought that the dense darkness of his room was not a problem to his eyes.

"I want to see you." He corrected, and fazed her; the shuffling of the sheets ceased abruptly.

Nothing moved in one brief second before he heard the shuffling again and the sound a cup placed on a cabinet. Amaya returned to him right away and carefully untied the band over his eyes, trying her best not to interact with the tea in his hands as she switched the band for his glasses and then retreated. He had to blink a few times to readjust his vision and once he did, he found Amaya sitting next to him, squeezing her own cup and looking down, at an indefinite point in the sheets.

Her hair was loose, only a few locks tucked behind her right ear, and her face was paler than he remembered, ashen and tired. Maybe he imagined it, maybe it was just a prejudice but she was different. Everything about her was different, except-

She looked up, a tad confused, and her eyes stilled on him, lips slightly twitching.

Except for that shift in her features - the hope, the fire, that little smile of hers that captivated and branded his heart, it was the same as ever. So strange, she held all those things he did about ten years ago. All the things he lost along the way, with time. Here, in this very moment, she was his living silence and breathing melancholy, the blind vigor he had when he was younger, that joy he often woke up with after the war ended – joy that there was life blooming around him and he was alive to see it.

He was sad to acknowledge all these things were lost from his sight and he had slowly become a man, consumed by his sorrows. Given up, shutting everything and everyone out. It was as if the need for attention had made him more fractious and picky and… hurt, but he could fix those things. All he needed was a little bit of help.

"Do you think I'm a bad person?" He mouthed the words absently. "I think I might be a bad person because I always-"

Amaya suddenly chuckled, catching him unprepared. Briefly and quietly but it sounded like she couldn't suppress it. Which suggested she has found in his question something very funny.

"You, a bad person?" She asked again, and hushed, to think the question through, sinking into a serious reflection. Then she groped about, finding the cabinet only to leave her tea there and near him. He was a little stupefied, unsure of her intentions as she came inches away from his face, still wearing a thoughtful expression. She tilted her head, estimating. Her breath was warm on his skin when she spoke. "Only on Mondays."

They stood in silence for a while but then the moment was lost with the ringing of Shino's phone.

"I'll-"

"Yeah." She smiled, backing away.

Shino reluctantly reached for his phone and picked up slowly, lips sealed. He saw who called but wasn't prepared to talk with him just yet. Facing the consequences was part of the fixing, he knew, so he braced himself and waited for his sentence.

"The Tsuchikage is already on her way to Konoha. The Council will gather too." Naruto's voice echoed through the speaker, with a rare grim tint. "There will be trials for you, Amaya, and the other Kamizuru as well. I think that's fair."

"It is." Shino agreed, glancing at the woman next to him.

She was concerned, furrowing at him.

"When I say trial, I mean it'll include every possible outcome, do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good." Naruto snapped. "The ambassador better have a convincing alibi for what she's done. You, at least, have a reason, but that doesn't mean you'll receive any condescension from the Council, you know what they're like."

"And you?" Shino couldn't help but ask.

There was a pause and he could feel the hesitation in the silence he opened.

"I'm still your friend," Naruto said, a tad muffled, as if through a heavy pout, but then he let out a hiss of annoyance. "The only reason the Police still hasn't breached through your house and hasn't arrested you two yet is that I stopped them. Sakura told me Amaya's with you. Give her the phone."

Shino was aware that Naruto could become angry to that extent but he had never felt that same anger upon his shoulders. Something bitter rose within him at the thought… he's caused so much trouble to his one true friend. But then again, he didn't think much last night.

He placed the phone in Amaya's hand and she trembled at the unexpected touch.

"The Hokage." Shino clarified, smoothing out the furrow on her face. She quickly brought the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" Amaya's voice shook a bit.

A long pause followed. Shino could distinguish some of the words he heard just now so he figured Naruto explained the situation to her too, using the same words. But at the end, after a few affirmations from her, he caught a few words that fazed him.

Feel threatened… call… is dangerous… underestimate…

"I will surely do, Lord Seventh. Thank you." Amaya's amber eyes flickered to Shino's for a millisecond, then she hung up and returned the phone to him.

Curiosity haunted him and he tried to fight it at first, staring at her. She was sipping on her tea again, her distant look only intriguing him more and more. Did she hide something? His head ached way too much for him to jump into this game all over again.

"He told me to contact the Police if I feel threatened by you even the slightest." Amaya pondered out loud, answering the questions in his head. "They don't think it's safe for me to be around you after your attempts to kill me last night." A small smile adorned her features and she sipped from her cup once more.

"It's not."

"Let me decide that."

She was so casual about it that it convinced him then and there, fully and undeniably, once and for all, that she was insane. All the more, she was his kind of insane. And because of that, he has never been as attracted to someone before as he was right now, to her.

A/N: Remember when I said I'd write 10 chapters only? Nope. I've got a few chapters more in my head, so I'm totally not finishing this soon. I'm really sorry I couldn't update quickly, was busy with finally getting to publish some original work.

ANYWAY, I know Shino and Amaya's relationship is not healthy, please don't freak out, they don't know each other that well yet, there's time for everything. Also, I'm still not sure about where I'm going with this story. Lately, I've been imagining some things about them both and I'm not sure what my brain wants me to do anymore. All I know is that I love it. See ya next time.

SORRY, barrrbs, love, I had so many things to do! Hope you won't be mad at me for being so slow with the updates.

Thank you so much for the review, Rockgrl14, I appreciate everything you said and I'm sorry that you feel let down by the way I've described everything (I am aware the fight was too quick) but I felt like writing it that way by the time. As for Shino and Amaya's relationship, please calm down, there is still a lot to develop there. Positively, I wasn't going to leave everything like that! Thanks, again.

Evalyd Yamazaki, thanks for leaving a review, dear! I agree that Kishimoto didn't care to focus on Aburame at all. They were as intriguing to me as were Uchiha as well as the other noble clans. As for your first question, he kissed her because she was beautiful and kind to him and he didn't know how else to reply to her kindness. As to how he knew she was lying to him – that was the moment he realized no one has ever been so kind to him and her kindness was like some glitch he failed to catch in the beginning, too mesmerized. He is aware no one's ever been interested in him that much and that opened his eyes.

Thanks to all the Guest reviews, you are all so kind and… a bit needy lol. I don't really write lemons, for the record. Mine are more like some soft smuff but I'm not sure what will it be for this story, I'll see what works and what feels right for me.