The festival will be taking place in this chapter and the next. Too much was going on to make it one chapter.

Chapter 20

A Doubting Tomas

"It seemed they were eager to make us leave," Shino mentioned just as the door to Sachi's home closed behind them.

"Oh, they just wanted the house to themselves. It may not seem like it but they are madly in love. Tousan can be a bit coarse but Kaachan says she mellowed him out over the years."

Shino raised an eyebrow skeptically, leading Sachi from her home towards the main street. If that was how Aoi was after he had been smoothed out by his wife he did not want to see what he was like before. "They are an interesting pair."

Sachi seemed to recognize doubt in Shino's tone. "Tousan is a lot sweeter when you aren't around. He just feels the need to make sure you treat me right."

"I would do so even without your father intervening because it is the right thing to do. All women deserve to be treated with respect. You father and I agree on that much."

"I always knew you were a gentleman." She hugged the arm she was holding with a flood of fondness overwhelming her heart. She heard the bustling of many people as they approached one of the largest streets where a large amount of the festival stands had been set up.

"What's the festival look like?" she asked.

Shino cast his eyes around at the varied decor. "There are a variety of food stands lining the streets, colorful banners streaming from streetlights, people milling about the streets in a wide array of yukata. Children are getting their faces painted. Many are enjoying the local cuisine. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves."

"What colors are the banners?"

"Bright, warm, summery colors."

She hummed contentedly and breathed deeply.

"Oh! I smell dango. Can we get some?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile

"Hey! Forehead!" The voice of Ino Yamanaka cut through the crowd, dragging her pale boyfriend along with her towards her pink haired friend and her long time love.

"Have you heard about Shino-kun?" Ino asked the pink haired medic, holding the arm of her tall, handsome, love interest, Sasuke.

"Shino-kun?" Sakura questioned. "Is everything okay? Did something happen on a mission?" she asked with concern, wondering if this was a message for her to get to the hospital immediately.

Ino waved her hand dismissively, impatient to get to the heart of the matter. "Of course he is okay. I just saw him a few hours ago. I'm asking if you heard about his girlfriend."

"Shino-kun has a girlfriend?" She asked, effectively answering Ino's question.

"You mean you guys don't know either?" She groaned. "He just told me this morning."

"What did he say?" Sakura asked, sure that Konoha's foremost gossip queen would have gotten as many details as possible.

"He said her name is Sachi Hara. She's a civilian. Apparently, they haven't been dating long but from the way he talks about her they seem to be pretty serious."

"Well, that's great. I'm happy for him," Sakura said with a smile.

"I'm not so sure we should jump ahead of ourselves so soon."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"All I'm saying is that the evidence doesn't work in their favor. They haven't dated long but they seem so serious. She's probably a hag cozying up to Shino-kun because he is a clan heir!"

"Shino-san isn't stupid enough to fall for that sort of thing," Sasuke interjected.

Sai nodded. "I agree. From what I can tell it could be a case of love at first sight. Or perhaps they are in the honeymoon phase of their new relationship."

Ino grumbled, unhappy that no one seemed to agree with what she viewed as a suspicious relationship between their friend and his love interest.

"Fine then," Ino ground out with a pout. "We'll just have to meet her and see. Shino-kun said they were on a date out here to the festival. They have to be around here somewhere."

It was then that Sakura spotted a familiar blond among the crowd.

"Wait a minute," Sakura called to halt her friend. "There's Naruto-kun and Hinata-chan. She might know something."

She waved and called to the couple. Naruto caught sight of them and made their way through the crowd.

"Hey, what's up? Enjoying the festival?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah it's great," Ino rushed out, eager to get the niceties out of the way. "Hinata-chan, have you heard about Shino-kun's girlfriend?"

"You mean Sachi-chan? I've met her a few times."

"What's she like?"

"She's very kind. They seem good for each other. I've never seen Shino-kun so happy."

"So you don't think Shino-kun is being used?"

Hinata looked startled at the question. "Of course not. I don't think Sachi-chan is that kind of girl."

Sakura snickered and poked her friend's side. "Looks like you were wrong, Ino-pig."

"Hey, I had a good point," she defended. "It just turned out I wasn't exactly right."

"That's still called wrong, Ino."

"Whatever!" Ino shouted. "I still want to meet her. I'm dying to know what kind of girl Shino-kun is so interested in. Let's find them."

They made their way down the main street with six pairs of eyes scanning the crowd for their former classmate.

"Hey, Hinata-chan," Sakura said, "What is it about this girl that Shino-kun likes so much? I've never even heard of him being interested in anyone."

"Well, they seem to make each other happy. From what I can tell Sachi-chan knows about Shino-kun's clan and she was never put off by it." The pause following this statement held an almost palpable sense of guilt for any past thoughts or words they might have said about their friend and his symbiosis with the kikai he held. Even Hinata, who was known for always being polite, had wished she had spoken up in her youth to stand up against any who had called him creepy.

"She even seems to like the kikai."

"Like them?" Ino asked as if the woman were crazy. She may be far more tolerant of the bug user than she used to be but actually liking the insects was far from sane in her mind.

"Yes, from what Shino-kun has told me she can hear the kikai and she finds it relaxing. It's apparently a distinctive sound and she can hear him coming even in a crowd. So it seems she doesn't easily forget he is there."

Naruto groaned, slumping a little. "Yeah, well he would like that, wouldn't he? I still don't know why he is so sore about that."

"But Shino-kun said she was a civilian. How can she hear that well?" Ino asked.

"She's blind, so her sense of hearing is better than some," Hinata answered.

"She's blind? Did something happen?" Sakura asked with worry. She wondered if she should somehow offer her services as a medic if she had received an injury.

"Nothing happened. Sachi-chan has been blind since birth." Sakura hummed in response, understanding that case to be different. "I think that might be one of the reasons they are together."

"Because she's blind?" Ino asked with a great amount of confusion.

"Shino-kun spent a lot of time with her to teach her to use her chakra to get around. So, when she walks around, she doesn't use a cane much anymore. I think all that time they spent together brought them closer."

"Hey, there he is!" Naruto pointed through the crowd to the dango stand. "Hey, Shino-kun!" he shouted.

How are you enjoying things so far? Not that I'm asking for negative things but do you really have nothing bad to say about this story? No helpful hints? Constructive criticism?