SPOILERS: Through the current manga and anime.
NOTES: This is set about five years after the war. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who wants Shino to have some love! Although I've told each non-Guest reviewer personally, please allow me to thank everyone reading and reviewing this series—I really appreciate it!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto.
YATSUMI AND THE TRUTH
"Lord Aburame," she whispered with breathless anticipation and a darkening blush. Hazel eyes gazed at him with unabashed longing as she slipped the upper folds of his kimono aside, exposing his skin to the cool air and her warm touch.
The sensation of her fingers skimming across his chest caused his blood to heat as he drew her to him. She came without resistance and curved her back to better fit against him. Bowing his head to kiss her neck, he felt as much as heard her little gasps of pleasure against his ear. He was distinctly aware of the lines of her kimono along his bare skin as she pressed closer and ran her hands through his hair. Her eager yet gentle intimacy caused his heart to ache with wonder, but his desire drove him to press her back firmly against a wall.
"Yes," she murmured with desperate need. "Please..."
xXx
Shino woke with a start from the first vividly carnal dream he'd had in months. It was frustrating and mortifying. More importantly, it was too much. While he enjoyed Yatsumi's company enough to not want to cause a change, that was not sufficient to keep him from revealing what he was to her. Doing so would end this nonsense. Once he had driven her away with the reality of the Aburames' power, maybe he could go back to the peaceful solitude of his regular existence.
In the meantime, he would have to pay a late-night visit to the restrooms and deal with his over-stimulated id.
Could this be more awkward?
Not only had she learned how lofty Lord Aburame really was but now he had also seen her all but naked! Despite how discouraging the former was and embarrassing the latter, neither really changed how she felt about him. Even so, how did one talk to a male guest after that? Goodness only knew, her attempts at their regular, comfortable chatter had sputtered and died ungainly deaths once the guests had left. Worse, she could tell something was troubling him, as well, but she seemed incapable of pulling it out of him. Maybe she needed to ask him directly in hopes of clearing the air.
While mulling over all that, she tripped over the same stupid cherry tree root she had tripped over a dozen times before and ought to have known better.
Lord Aburame caught her, his hand grasping hers as his arm supported her. "You're blushing." His inflectionless tone made it impossible to know why such a thing might matter to him. Was he annoyed? Embarrassed? Making fun of her? Merely articulating an observation? Who could tell?
"I'm sorry." It was the only sensible response she could offer, though it wasn't completely true. Now she knew that his hands were strong and warm, with slight callouses across the tops of his palms. They were good, honest hands that had seen real work, not the hands of a pampered lordling.
"Why?" One of his dark brows rose ever so slightly above his goggles. "Because you tripped or because you blushed?"
She could feel her cheeks darken further. Although he had given no indication it was his intent, she couldn't immediately think of a reason he might ask, other than to tease her. "Either. Both. Whichever might offend you, my lord."
"Why might either offend me?" He faced her fully, which she took as an indication he actually wanted an answer.
Taking her hand from his, she gave a blithe gesture. "I would think a shinobi would never be so uncoordinated as to trip in their own garden. So you might have found my lack of grace distasteful." Again, she wondered if a shinobi would every be satisfied with a regular person for their romantic partner. "On the other hand, as the heir of your clan, you no doubt have countless girls blushing at you on a regular basis and find it droll."
"No."
"No?" By that point, a regular guest of Lady Reiko's would be going on and on about the difficulties of being such a desirable catch. "Which part is in error?"
"Both."
Perhaps being terse was a professional asset among ninja on missions, but heaven help his friends when he chose to be so mulish! While she tried to keep the awkwardness from getting to her, it took effort, and she felt her control slipping from frustration. "Well, it's most kind of you to not judge poorly those of us who are less graceful. But you can not tell me the tall, handsome, capable heir of a powerful clan doesn't have girls blush at him as a matter of course."
Although he turned his face slightly away, she couldn't help feeling his eyes were still on her. "Yet that is, indeed, the case. Why?" His goggles glinted as his head shifted back to her. "Because I am an Aburame."
There was a sense of drama to the statement that made her unsure if he was being sincere, since it seemed like hogwash to her. It was time to let him know she knew his clan's secret. "So you can manipulate bugs, and some might find that unappealing. I have seen the lengths people will go for wealth and power and can not believe bugs would be enough of a deterrent, especially given how attractive your stature and prowess are."
"You do not understand." He stepped closer, and she had to tilt her head to look him in the eye. "Aburames do not merely summon and control insects." There was a subtle emphasis to his words, which hung in the air between them until, at last, she saw what he seemed disinclined to express in words. On his left cheek, a trio of holes appeared, and several of the little black beetles she had seen before crawled out.
She was at once fascinated and horrified. Reaching up, she touched his other cheek, searching for telltale signs of the insects beneath his skin. "How is it possible?" Spreading her fingers further apart, she just caught a flicker of movement under her thumb when she realized his cheeks were turning pink. Her own blush flared back to life as she realized how thoughtlessly forward she was being. Jerking her hand away, she shifted so she could bow without hitting her head against his chest. "My apologies, Lord Aburame! I did not mean to-"
"You are not afraid?"
"Afraid?" Straightening, she found him back to normal. No blush or holes or bugs to mar the flawless surface of his face. How had he done it? "Of what?" Her fingers twitched with the desire to touch his cheek once more.
Suddenly the little black bugs were pouring out of his sleeves and from his collar. The handful she had seen before had been one thing, but now she understood—all of them lived within him. It was a daunting enough prospect to wrap her head round without having to suddenly endure the touch of countless insect legs against her skin, swarming along her hands and up her arms under her sleeves. With effort she didn't move to try to dislodge the tiny creatures. After all, they were an extension of him, and she would no more harm him than he would her. But there was something petty and small in his harsh demonstration that disappointed her. Closing her eyes and drawing a deep breath to calm herself, she fought the urge to cry with all her might. Staring hard at his goggles, she didn't even try to smile, just hide her displeasure and building anger. Despite her effort, her voice sounded shaken.
"Such an ungentlemanly means of proving your point."
After a long moment during which he seemed to do nothing more than study her face, he shifted slightly and disappeared in a blur of motion. Alone in the garden, she was left to wonder if she had somehow just scared away her best hope at a secure future as the beetles on her arms slowly dispersed to trail after their master.
Yatsumi had not provided the response he had expected. She hadn't screamed or fainted or cowered in terror. While she had definitely been scared, she had seemed more offended than anything else, as her last words to him suggested, causing him to feel a bit guilty about his behavior.
Although he had intended on showing her the truth, that had not been the way he'd planned on demonstrating it. Touch was so exceptionally personal to Aburames that she had startled him with her warm fingers against his cheek. Regular people were not supposed to want to touch him after they'd seen his kikai emerge, let alone with such an awe-struck expression. It was shameful and difficult to admit his decision to swarm her had been a panicked reflex to distance himself from the unbidden memory of his inappropriate but unsurprising dream. Erotic dreams were all a part of being a healthy, young male, but the one he'd had of her had disturbed him more than he'd realized. Once he had admitted it to himself, that left him with a very thorny question. Why was he afraid of having perfectly normal male interest in a perfectly interested woman?
There was often a sense of surface to Maemi; she only shared what she wanted to. Shino respected her need for a personal life separate from what they shared. It made her moments of candidness all the more notable. "It's not unique to Aburames, you know, having problems admitting your feelings." On their walk in the park, they had witnessed a young man confess his love to a disinterested girl. At best, it had been an uncomfortable scene. "Unless they have an ego so great that they're oblivious, everyone worries about rejection. It takes courage to be honest about how you feel, whether it's with others or yourself."
As he poked and prodded his psyche for the answer, he saw his mission-mate approaching his perch in the one tree in the neighborhood that was tall enough to provide him a view of the whole Zeniya estate.
"Good job, Shino." The sarcasm in Ino's voice did nothing to soothe his agitation. "I've spent the whole afternoon trying to calm the staff down after that little stunt of yours with Yatsumi. If you dislike her so much, you should just tell her to lay off."
"I never said I disliked her." As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. The statement was too revealing, and he had yet to work it out himself.
Blue eyes narrowed at him accusingly. "I heard them describe what they saw. You swarmed her. What? Was she attacking you with her smile or something?" Throwing her hands in the air, she made an exasperated noise. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"You were right." Agreeing with the person you were arguing with was a tactic he had learned from Yatsumi, and it worked perfectly. Ino blinked at him in surprise. "I felt Yatsumi's interest had become too..." He put effort into finding what he wanted to say but failed anyway. "...much. I was thinking it was unfair to her that she did not know what I truly am. I was thinking it was time I ended her fanciful notion that she might be interested in me." That he had to say those words to a Yamanaka made them especially difficult.
She confused him by huffing dismissively. "Well, all you managed to do was scare the shit out of half the staff. When I confronted Yatsumi about it, she defended you, saying she had provoked you. What a pile of bull." After giving him a long, stony gaze, she shook her head in disgust. "You're an idiot." Then, without another word, she left him and headed back to the estate.
