I'm glad more people are reviewing. Many of you are eager to see Sachi's reaction to knowing Kai-san's death, I had to break up this really long scene becasue it was just far too so we will see it next chapter.

Chapter 9

Practice makes perfect

"You haven't told your family about the insect. How do I know? You have been making it around town without your cane, relying on your chakra and the kikai to lead your way yet your mother doesn't know."

She sighed. "Your right." She folded up her cane and stored it in her jacket. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone about Kai-san, right? And I just thought Kaachan might not understand me using chakra. My family is entirely civilian. We respect shinobi but I don't know if she would like the idea of me learning to use chakra because I'm blind." Her tone was melancholy. "She doesn't really restrict me but a couple years ago they asked Kaito-kun if he wanted to join the academy but they never bothered to ask me." She bit her lip and tilted her head towards him. "I don't know why I let it bother me. I didn't want to be a shinobi but it seemed unfair that no one ever bothered to ask." She sighed again. "I know I can't do things the way everyone else does and there are some things I just can't understand because I'm blind but I would have liked the option to say no or discover for myself that it wasn't for me." She pouted and continued, "Sorry, I'm rambling. You probably don't like that."

"What would make you think that?"

"Well you're always so quiet, I would think you appreciate silence rather than just space filling conversation."

"Your words are not unwelcome," he stated plainly. "That is because words that tell what kind of person you are are not space fillers. You may speak often but you do not ramble on about nonsense."

She hummed. "I guess you're right about that. Anyway, what is so special about this new place?"

"It will be a quieter environment."

"I liked training in your family's compound. All the sounds are relaxing."

"You may find this place equally relaxing."

"Oh, great!" She said with enthusiasm and he noticed an increase in the spring in her step. "Hey, I hope my family didn't bother you. Sometimes they can seem a bit much."

Shino wondered exactly what was 'too much' about them and why he might find it unfavorable. Several words came to mind, but he dared not voice them.

"While my clan is generally quiet, I've no shortage of dealing with a variety of other groups and individuals."

"Well, that is good to know. How far is this place?"

"Not much farther."

They walked along a dirt path in the forest for some minutes. Sachi remained quiet as she navigated the winding, rooted path with the help of her chakra and the occasional observation from Kai-san. When they reached a clearing in the forest they stopped.

This particular clearing in the wide Konoha forests intersected with one of the small streams that ran through it. The water pooled in the immediate area to create a small lively pond holding a variety of insect and plant life among the shimmering waters. It was far enough from the main streets of Konoha to drown out the sound of the busy street life and was instead alive with animal life. It was not suited to regular shinobi training. Shino only frequented the place as it was a perfect breeding grounds for many insects he would take to study.

"I would like to teach you to refine the skill I have taught you. It would not be possible to sense your surroundings while completely hiding your chakra. This way you should still be able to navigate the world without undue attention by using less chakra. It will likely take longer to learn than either process I have previously taught you."

He sat at the base of a tree close to the pond. She took his example and sat next to him.

He began by reviewing what he had already taught her and she was very eager to show him how far she had come.

"The two skill you know are opposites. With one, you push your chakra out and with the other, you pull it within yourself. The easy way to explain it would be that you will only be emitting a low level of chakra. You will learn to sense more while using less chakra."

"Well, that doesn't sound so hard."

Moving to face each other, Sachi with her hands held up between them, they worked diligently for some time. Shino coached her to properly execute the way to enhance her senses while remaining less detectable to the kikai. Every so often he warned her that she wasn't as inconspicuous as she needed to be and with a frown, she would fix her mistake. After the fourth reminder, she groaned in exasperation and let her head fall back against the trunk of the tree with an audible thunk.

"This is hard. It's nothing like using my hands!"

"You may be relying too much on your hands. Try pushing chakra from your torso outward rather than from your palms.

She pursed her lips and focused her chakra ahead of her and found it went farther than before. Her head canted slightly to the side as if she yearned to listen as well as feel the area but she found that when her head turned her chakra tended to follow the direction she faced. She turned her head back to him.

Her lips parted slightly as she tested the new range of her abilities farther and farther into the air until-

She jumped in surprise.

She could sense Shino no more than 3 feet away, the spot she knew where his voice originated from.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I can sense you," she said without much thought. It was so similar and so different from feeling the world around her with her hands that she could hardly spare the brainpower to fully answer his question as she marveled at the new sensation.

"How much detail can you sense?"

She analyzed what she could perceive. Where feeling had previously been at the forefront of understanding the complexities of textures, shapes, and forms this new sense was like an overload of information. When feeling something she would have started by getting the rough shape of an object and then proceed into more detail. But her chakra assaulted her mind with all details at once. Rather than slowly learning what he looked like her mind's eye instantly created an idea of him.

It was a much more effective and detailed method. That is... if she had done this right.

"You're about 3 feet away. You're wearing glasses and a long jacket with a hood."

"Yes. What else?"

"Uh... You've got your hands in your lap." She smiled suddenly and laughed as she spoke. "I like the way your hair stands up." She calmed her laughter and continued with more confidence. "You're wearing open toed shoes and long pants."

"Can you tell what I look like?"

She didn't speak as she concentrated. Her brow furrowed and she toyed with her fingers in her lap. Her first instinct had been to reach up to his face upon his question. She had to remind herself that it had not been an invitation to touch him, rather than a question of her sensing abilities. She leaned forward closing about a foot of the distance between their faces and noticed the proximity sharpened her focus.

"It gets more detailed the closer I get," she supplied. Remembering her earlier observation she added, "and it bends where ever I face."

For her benefit he leaned closer to her, eating up more space till their faces were almost intimately close. Her mouth parted slightly and she held her breath as she focused harder on his face. Her focus remained solely on his features as he watched her own slowly change into a bright smile.

While he waited he mused that this was the longest time her face had been turned in his direction. With any other conversation that they had, she kept her head tilted to have her ear in his direction, listening rather than seeing him talk. As she passed more and more time facing him he let his own eyes rove over her.

She was quite pretty. Her face was rounded gently and her features were feminine and gentle. When she smiled her teeth were shown to be straight and white and though he couldn't see her eyes through the dark sunglasses she wore he imagined they would be just as soft and kind as the rest of her features.

For the first time in her life, she could understand what someone looked like without having to touch them. The sensation was foreign but wonderful, quite the novel experience. She thoroughly enjoyed taking in his appearance for the first time.

His jaw curved sharply as it smoothed out over a square chin. His angular eyes met flesh at a point just below his eyebrows. She could tell his nose was slightly longer and sharper than her own rounder one and his thin lips turned slightly downward as the silence stretched on.

She felt conflicted upon this observation. She was beyond ecstatic to have witnessed a change in his expression. But his frown brought her out of her concentration and back to the present where she realized their faces were far too close to be completely innocent. Her mind called attention to the rudeness of her actions and she sat back clearing her throat which did nothing to distract from the heat she could feel adorning her cheeks.

Shino hoped she would speak soon if only so he wouldn't have to repeat his question. He guessed it had been close to two minutes before she began to smile again. Her lips curved upward in a smile so big her cheeks touched the bottom of her sunglasses.

"I like the way you look."

Shino prayed she couldn't sense the sudden heat on his face.

I loved being able to imagine Shino this way! I wish there were more stories about him.