It's a good thing this story is completely finished. Life is catching up to me.

Chapter 16

Cross your fingers

Shino sat at the table where his father explained the events of the days he missed. He did not expect the council to act so quickly. If Sachi hadn't come to his home the day he left they wouldn't have known and he would have had some time to explain himself before they confronted the issue on their own.

He had wished to keep her out of the unnecessary dramas but she had been dragged in all the same. That was his only regret in this situation, that Sachi had to take the brunt of the anger from the elders. That was not what he wanted but when a mission came up he couldn't say no.

His father left him to his thoughts, which he was grateful for. He needed time to process all that had happened and what he was to do.

He was slowly coming to accept that the outcome was probably the best they could have hoped for in such a situation.

He had planned to inform the council of the female insect he had given to her and all the connotations that went with it. And knowing how they would respond he wanted to convince them not to interfere with their budding relationship. He knew their cold, bureaucratic hearts would not be swayed by speeches of possible lost love and so he had carefully lined out the benefits of having Sachi as a part of their clan, to convince them to leave them well enough alone.

It might have been a good, successful plan if it had been given the opportunity. But it's time was long overdue.

At least this way they were willing to set clear guidelines for their relationship and step back and let it take its course which was, more or less, the outcome he had hoped for.

He had at least come to terms with the facts. And now he had to decide what he wanted to do about this situation.

He wanted to continue to date Sachi. He sincerely hoped she still wanted to date him. But his father's message from her: 'we need to talk' did not bode well.

Shino knew what he wanted and he needed to know what Sachi wanted before they decided on a course of action. Though, whatever she wanted, she deserved an apology from him.

His actions had imposed quite a lot of unwanted stress, attention, and obligations unto Sachi. And that was perhaps the largest issue of them all.

The problem with his clan was still in the way, it felt as if it was hanging over his head. A council of stuffy elders breathing down his neck about marrying the girl he had only just started dating. They expected them to be at least engaged in a years time. And what was even more troubling, an engagement was the condition upon Shino freely replacing Kai-chan when she died. He knew she found life with a "seeing-eye bug" to be in her favor. Without it, she felt confined and restrained. If Sachi didn't want to marry him she would have to give up her beloved insects. And Shino did not want her to feel an obligation to marry him so she would have access to more insect replacements.

If it were up to Shino he would see where the year took them. If the connection he already felt between them grew and flourished with time he had no doubt he would enjoy being bonded to such a woman.

The first thing he wanted to do was apologize. He knew she would be upset and the longer he delayed it the more hurt she would be by his absence.

He checked the time. At the late afternoon hour, she would most likely be home after working at the bookstore. As he approached her home his kikai buzzed gently in anticipation. They seemed to have taken a greater liking for being near Sachi and her chakra. The knowledge that they were nearing her excited them. He was several steps away from the door when it was wrenched open to allow a very irritated Sachi through to the street.

No doubt she heard the kikai as he approached and knew he was coming. She stalked down the front steps, her face pinkened in her ire and her stormy gray eyes hardened in his direction.

Shino blinked his own eyes in surprise and halted where he stood. She had always kept her eyes hidden beneath her sunglasses. He had only a few seconds to reflect on this before she was upon him.

"Aburame Shino! You didn't think it was important enough to tell me that giving me a female kikai was some ancient marriage proposal that still holds some credibility today even when I asked you the difference between having a female kikai as opposed to a male one?" All of this was said in a rush of a single breath as she questioned all of the implications and his reasoning for all he had done.

She did not stop to let him speak."I don't even believe you! You just did all that without letting me know the consequences? And then you were just gone when your whole clan is freaking out over the clan heir potentially being engaged to a common blind girl like me? Do you even understand how embarrassing it is to have people commenting on our life together when we have only been dating for days? We haven't even gone on a date yet and they are talking about us having kids and getting married and all that!"

She paused to replenish the air in her lungs and he took his chance to speak, his tone deep and regretful. He had carefully chosen his words on his walk over. But in the face of her ire, he was left feeling unprepared.

"I'm truly sorry for what my actions have put you through. It was never my intention to force you into such an embarrassing situation." It wrenched at her heart to hear his implication that he thought her embarrassed to be with him rather than her embarrassment felt by the pressures of what everyone wanted from them. "If you never wish to see me again I would understand. But I would always regret losing a woman as wonderful as you. If you will allow me I would like to make it up to you."

Her lips hung apart as her irritation all but completely dissolved. His calm and resolute voice made her sorry for raising her own and the hurt she sensed from him made her regret her strong approach. She sighed.

"I don't want to lose you either. I'm sorry for yelling at you like that."

"You have every right to be upset. I knew the consequences of giving you a female kikai and I planned to take care of the elders myself to avoid what happened in my absence. I'm sorry for all they have done to you."

"Why didn't you just tell me in the first place?" Sachi inquired.

"I knew how much the kikai meant to you." How exactly could he tell her he didn't want to scare her off with intentionally giving her such a meaningful gift? He would have had to explain all that it meant and hope she stuck around long enough to know he wasn't trying to move their relationship as fast as it seemed. Likely that explanation would have been akin to digging himself deeper and deeper into a hole until there was no way out. "I would have handled it without involving you to such an extent. My father informed me of everything that happened. I knew they would approve of you."

"So..." she trailed off sheepishly, "what do we do in a year?"

"I would prefer to think of what we do now. Our decision is our own in a years time. As for now, I would like the chance to explore what we are and not dwell on what will be. I hope you can agree."

She huffed out a breath and her expression hardened again slightly.

"First of all, don't think that 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean it' speech will get you off so easily. This is a big thing! A very big, big thing. And I expect you to make it up to me. And I would really like to keep dating you Shino-kun. I really like you. I've never had a boyfriend before."

"Nor I a girlfriend. I understand."

Her lips split into an innocent and bright smile. For the first time, he could see her smile extend to her eyes. They crinkled on the edges of her unseeing gaze as she beamed up at him.

"I like your eyes."

Her smile disappeared with a gasp and her eyes snapped shut tightly. In her haste to confront him, she hadn't thought to retrieve her sunglasses. Shino hadn't said a word about them until now. Was it really possible they didn't bother him? Not only that, but did he really like them? His words took a moment to sink in.

"You do? Really?" she asked disbelievingly. She let her eyelids flutter open hesitantly.

"Yes. Why do you hide them?"

"People think they're creepy." He knew that word all too well. "I didn't use to wear my sunglasses all the time. Kaachan wanted me to be comfortable with who I am. But I always overheard what people said about them. Someone said they look dead and bothersome. After that I never let anyone see my eyes. It took a couple months for me to stop wearing them around my family. You really don't think they're..." she paused, trying to find the right word.

"They're beautiful." Normally he would not have embellished his views to such an extent. His words were not untrue, simply more unrestrained than he usually preferred.

He was rewarded with a shy smile that was amplified by the blush coloring her cheeks, which only served to make her eyes stand out more among the darkening skin around it.

He found himself with a prominent desire to embellish his words more in the future.

"Thank you." She sighed heavily. "I still haven't told my parents about all this clan business. I'm kind of afraid of what they will say. I would have explained it to them before but I thought it would be best to wait till you came back. If you didn't want to see me anymore I didn't see the point in telling them when it wouldn't matter. So, if you would like to start making it up to me, now might be better than later to do it."

Shino let out a short sigh, much like Sachi had done. They could probably expect approval from Noriko. As for Aoi, he was sure to react negatively.

Even so, Shino agreed and he followed her inside.

Sachi had taken the forefront of leading the conversation over all the details of the days he missed as well as the council's conclusion. She had to explain that the original insect she had possessed had been replaced and the difference between the two.

Shino went on to provide his perspective on the situation. He explained his clan's desire to count them among their ranks and emphasized his desire to continue to date Sachi as well as explain he would respect any decision she made as far as it concerned him.

Both of Sachi's parents remained uncharacteristically quiet. Noriko listened to all the facts with an impassive look, whereas her husband seemed to take every word as fuel for his building anger. He sat in his chair doing a remarkable impression of a teapot that was nearly ready to whistle.

Sachi, in her optimistic tendencies, thought her father would be relieved that she wouldn't be another girl abandoned by a clan heir after a hot minute, as he had previously assumed. If this had brought him any peace he had not shown it. The dichotomy of an engagement or no replacement for Sachi's beloved insect was the tipping point for the redheaded man that was quickly turning the same shade as his hair.

"You mean to tell me that you knew what would happen if you gave her this bug and you just went and did it anyway?" Aoi pointed an accusatory finger at Shino. "You knew you would be putting Sachi right in the light of your clan's council and purposely put her between a rock and a hard place by making her dependent on these bugs and you? You have been planning this from the beginning, haven't you? You mentioned before how desirable Sachi is to you and your clan and you planned all this to force her into this." Aoi had stood from the table, shoving the chair back with a scrape of wood on wood, and placed his hands upon the surface. "You may say it's her decision but when you give her such undesirable choices she only has the lesser of two evils to choose!"

Aoi stopped his tirade when his wife's hand gripped his forearm. He seemed to remember himself and sat back in his chair roughly, breathing deeply to abate a large amount of his anger.

The calm Noriko took a large breath with her eyes closed as if she was trying to settle her own feelings before she spoke. When her eyes opened again she stared at Shino with a penetrating gaze as if she was looking right through him.

It was not unlike the feeling of being examined by one that held the byakugan. She studied him as if looking for something specific and yet at the same time it seemed she was studying his every move. In this moment it was not hard to see the connection between mother and daughter. While their methods of gathering information were different, both had a way to see through a person to their heart. When she spoke her voice remained reasonable and calm, quite unlike her usual flamboyance.

"He does have a point," she agreed with her husband. "You knew the ramifications of what you did. And like it or not the elders of your clan will not easily give up on having Sachi join your clan. You have indeed put her between a rock and a hard place. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"It was never my intention to bring such trouble onto Sachi-chan. My reasons have never been anything malicious. I came here today with the intention of apologizing to Sachi-chan with the full expectation of being let down. Had that been the case I would have respected her decision. Any decision she will make in the future will be of her own free will and I will continue to respect whatever she decides."

"I want to be with Shino-kun," Sachi interjected. "He just made a mistake, but I'm sure he will make up for it. And all of this is my decision anyway. I am not so dependent on the kikai that I would choose to marry Shino-kun just for them." Her face turned to a slightly disgusted wince. "Do any of you think I would really be that shallow?"

This made Aoi scowl. He hadn't meant to imply such a thing. He had never been good with his words. Recently, it seemed every time he dealt with these two he always ended up sticking his foot in his mouth. Twice now he had said something with the intent to defend his daughter and only ended up insulting her both times.

He was only trying to protect Sachi as any father would protect their daughter. He didn't want to see her get hurt and it seemed no matter how hard he tried she was doing everything he warned her against. Teenagers!

Shino felt a twinge of shame within himself. Just earlier he had assumed she may consider marrying him for the sole purpose of always having kikai for her personal use. But now that she was the one to call it to attention he knew she would never do such a thing. He suddenly felt guilty to impose such assumptions onto her personal character.

"I suppose I have a few questions then," Noriko stated with confidence, her penetrating gaze never leaving Shino's form. "Can you honestly tell me that you only ever had and will have the best of intentions where Sachi-chan is concerned?"

Shino thought it was a crying shame that Noriko had never pursued a career in interrogation. Shino could tell the woman could see every facet of his being and could smell a lie a mile away. It was lucky for him he had no intention of lying.

"That is correct."

"And if it just so happens that you do not get what you want out of your relationship you will not force or coerce Sachi-chan into changing her mind, be this concerning marriage or anything else?"

"Sachi-chan's decisions will be her own. She may choose whatever she desires," he stated, looking Noriko in the eye behind his sunglasses.

"If you don't decide to get married what will your clan do?"

"There will be nothing they can do to Sachi-chan. They have no authority or control over her."

Her eyes stared into his for another moment before she nodded and turned her attention to Sachi.

"Sachi-chan, I take it you have forgiven him and you want to see where your relationship goes?"

"Yes," Sachi said confidently, very much accustomed to her astute mother. Noriko nodded in finality.

"In that case, I trust you both. You are both adults. You can make decisions for yourselves."

Aoi gave a grunt, possibly in affirmation. He was not arguing with his wife, knowing her to be an excellent judge of character and far too stubborn to listen to his rants any longer. Still, that didn't mean he had to like her conclusion.

Noriko patted her husband's arm comfortingly and smiled at the young couple. She believed in the two of them. She could see something between the two that was precious and rare to find. Shino made her daughter happy and she would fight for her daughter's happiness no matter who threatened it.

"Why don't you two take some time to talk. It may have been just a few days since you saw each other but it sounds like a lot has happened since then."

Shino was grateful to be excused and even more grateful to Noriko for her support. He would have to remember to thank her properly.

Sachi had taken a moment to retrieve her glasses and they left soon after.

Have you been enjoying this story so far? Did anyone see that coming?