Here is a little fluffy chapter for you. Sachi gets to meet Shino's team.

Chapter 22

A whole new ball game

A few days had passed that they had spent apart due to a short mission Shino was sent on. But when he had seen her the evening he returned he had a particular request of her.

Noriko was the first to greet Sachi the next morning as she descended the stairs. Seeing her daughter dressed and ready so early in the day was unusual on her days off.

"You're dressed early. Going somewhere?"

"Yeah. Shino-kun is picking me up to meet his team for breakfast."

Noriko made a distressed noise. "Why didn't you tell me?" she intoned with a disappointed pout. "I could have helped you get ready."

"What's wrong with how I am?" She patted her leg, ensuring she did indeed remember to wear pants. She wasn't usually forgetful.

"You should at least wear that new shirt I bought you and comb your hair."

"You know those glittery shirts are too itchy to wear and my hair is too short to do anything else. Running a comb through it won't do anything."

Noriko sighed. Gone were the days she could dress her daughter however she liked. But teenagers did desire their independence, sadly.

"I miss when you were little and had long hair. You used to let me do it for you every morning."

"I'm a big girl now, Kaachan. I can do my own hair."

"Washing it and letting it air dry is hardly 'doing' your hair!" Noriko said indignantly as if the very idea of not styling one's hair was enough to make her grind her teeth.

"That's how I do it," Sachi defended vehemently.

"At least consider leaving your hat here."

"What's wrong with my hat?"

"You wear it every day. You should change it up a bit. I'm sure Shino-kun would appreciate it."

"I'm sure Shino-kun doesn't care. Why?" Her voice turned hard and accusatory. "Did you take my hat?"

"Of course not dear-" her higher tone and lighter air told Sachi all she needed to know.

"You had Kaito-kun take it, didn't you?" She groaned. Her little brother was excellent at hiding things, especially from his blind older sister. "What did you bribe him with? Cookies before dinner?"

"I'm disappointed that you would think I would do such a thing," Noriko said lightly.

As astute as Noriko was she was conversely terrible at lying, especially to her child that had inherited her perceptive qualities in spades.

Sachi groaned again and stomped up the stairs intending to track down her stolen hat.

When Shino arrived at the Hara household's front door he thought it curious that this was the first time he had to knock of all the times he had been here before. Sachi had always heard him coming and opened the door before he could raise his hand. Not that it bothered him to complete such a simple task as knocking but he did wonder why this time was different.

When the door did open he was met with the teasing eyes of a smaller redhead that called this house home.

"I knew you liked my sister," Kaito smirked up at him.

"She is very likable," he returned.

Kaito wrinkled his nose in thought. "Do you two-like-kiss and stuff?"

Shino only stared down at the young man pragmatically. They had kissed only once but he was unsure what 'stuff' the boy referred to.

Kaito chose to take his silence as an omission of guilt and wrinkled his nose further.

"Ew! I don't want to think of my sister like that!"

"Perhaps you should not ask questions if you do not wish to know the answer."

Kaito stepped back to let him in finishing their conversation with a, "yeah, whatever."

Sachi appeared in the kitchen and strode over menacingly to Kaito. She ruffled his hair hard, sending the usually tame locks in all directions. Kaito exclaimed loudly and shoved her hand away.

"Hope the cookies were worth it, Otouto." Kaito smirked as he fixed his hair and made a teasing sound with his tongue out, hoping to rile his older sister some more.

"Well, Shino-kun, I'm ready when you are." Her head turned to the side, and he knew she was hearing something from within her own house. She grabbed his hand and began pulling him to the door frantically. "In fact right now would be great." If he hadn't been so quick on his feet she may have pulled him to the floor in her haste to run from whatever she heard.

"Sachi-chan, wait!" Shino afforded a sidelong glance behind them. Noriko stood in the doorway with her hands helplessly holding a comb and a barrette. Sachi didn't permit them to slow in their retreat until they were down the street and around the next corner where she panted in relief.

"Sorry about that. Kaachan is always trying to force her fashion sense on me."

"Neither of you seem forthcoming in an agreement."

"No," she agreed as they began to walk. "I don't think we will ever fully agree. We come to a compromise with my clothes. She won't have me just wearing anything as it could be mismatched, which she hates. And I don't want her daily help with picking out my clothes. So she helps me choose pants and shoes that are neutral colors and she has a little more reign over my shirts as long as they match any combination of pants and shoes I could wear. I couldn't care less as long as my clothes are comfortable. This way both of us are fairly happy."

"Why does she insist on interfering with your appearance when she knows you don't care?"

"Usually she doesn't. Some days like today neither of us wants to give in. But for the most part, she wants me to feel normal and be seen as normal but she encourages me to be who I am blindness and all. I used to be so self-conscious. I felt so limited in what I could do as a child but for the most part, it was just my own mind telling me I couldn't lead a normal life. I convinced myself that I couldn't have a regular job or life. At some point, I thought I would die old and alone because no one wants to live their life with a blind wife." She sighed. "I don't believe that now. Once I got older I distanced myself from all that negativity and stopped thinking so little of myself. I got a job, one that most people wouldn't think a blind person could handle and I made friends. I've come a long way and most of it was helped along by Kaachan. All of what you saw was just her way of loving and helping me."

Shino was pleased she was not who she claimed she once was. It would be a shame for such a bright and kind woman to think so little of herself. She must have been intensely strong to make that change in herself.

"It seems as if your younger self was very wrong."

"Yeah," she said in a tone of self-deprecation. "I always thought if I could go back in time I would smack some sense into myself for thinking like that."

"It is better to doubt oneself and be proven wrong than to always only assume one is right."

"I think you're right about that. Have you ever doubted yourself like that, Shino-kun?"

He had doubted many things in his life. It wasn't a heartening life growing up with children that usually referred to him as 'the creepy bug boy', being avoided or unnoticed by all his peers. He had often thought much the same as Sachi had, that he would grow old all alone because no one would want him.

They arrived at the restaurant, Kiba and Hinata greeted them, saving him from providing an answer. Another voice interjected into their pleasantries.

"Akakiba! Kibamaru!" Mirai shouted and ran up to Kiba and Akamaru.

"Sorry, we're late. Mirai needed a bath just before we left," Kurenai said, following her daughter up to the table, who was now hugging Akamaru.

Hinata responded first. "That's okay. We just arrived ourselves."

"So, this is Sachi-san?" Kurenai said as she set a bag down and slid into the booth. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Kurenai and this is my daughter Mirai."

"It's nice to meet you, too," Sachi said.

"Oka-chan it's Uncle Buggy and Hina-nee too!" Mirai shouted.

Shino grumbled his dislike, attempting to explain that he was too young to be considered her uncle. Sachi repressed a giggle.

"Who you?" Mirai asked, pointing a small finger at the only unfamiliar face at the table.

Sachi smiled brightly at the little girl. "My name is Sachi, Mirai-chan." Mirai seemed to consider her a moment.

"Akasachi, I Mirai," she said tapping her chest proudly.

"Are you?" Sachi cooed. "That's such a nice name."

Kurenai chuckled quietly. "It seems she's nicknamed you, too. She seems to do that with everyone."

"Is that what that 'Akasachi' was?" she asked.

"Yeah," Kiba said, "she still gets Akamaru and I mixed up. I keep telling her... maybe it has something to do with Akamaru being white and his name meaning red. That's probably why she tagged it on your name, you know, 'cause your hair is red."

The rest of breakfast had gone much like it had meeting Shino's mother. They asked her about herself. It seemed Shino hadn't given away too many details about her.

Mirai was sad to see everyone go their separate ways when their meal ended. Yet, she said her goodbyes with a smile. She said her rather enthusiastic goodbyes to Kiba and Akamaru, the latter of which didn't seem to mind the child pulling at his ears. Hinata had bent down for a hug before she left, leaving Kurenai, Mirai, Sachi, and Shino for their own parting.

Sachi was taken by surprise when Mirai hugged her legs. She didn't think the little girl would warm up to a stranger so quickly.

"Bye bye, Akasachi! I see you 'gain?"

Sachi gently patted the girl's head in lieu of awkwardly bending to reciprocate the hug around her legs. "Yes, I think we will see each other again."

Mirai then hugged Shino who had the forethought to kneel to receive the girl.

"Bye bye, Uncle Buggy."

"Mirai-chan, I am Buggy-niisan because I am not old enough to be an uncle."

She seemed to hear nothing but his last word. She only smiled and ran back to her mother and waved as they walked away.

As usual, Sachi wrapped her arm around Shino's.

"Mirai-chan really seems to like you, Uncle Buggy." Sachi giggled, no longer able to contain her mirth at his nickname.

Shino seemed to deflate slightly. "Do I really look that old?" he wondered aloud.

Sachi patted his shoulder consolingly. "Of course not, Shino-kun. I don't think you look too old at all."

A few seconds passed just before two things happened, Shino realized her joke and Sachi began to laugh, hard.

"You're making fun of me," he said over the sound of her laughter.

"No, no, I'm not," she said between fading giggles. "It's just that 'Uncle Buggy' is hands down the cutest thing I have ever heard," she gushed.

When she finally stopped laughing she could tell he was still in a sour mood. She patted his arm without her previously hidden sarcasm. "You really shouldn't feel bad about it. Kids her age don't have a great concept of numbers yet. Kaito thought 8 came right after 2 for nearly a year."

"Shino-kun," she said seriously, "I know my opinion won't matter much but I'm sure you look very handsome and young."

"Your opinion of me does matter because as my girlfriend, your perception of me matters a great deal."

"If that's the case then you shouldn't worry. All of my senses agree that you are nice."

All of her senses?

"You think I taste nice?" he asked.

"What?" she asked with confusion.

"You said you find me pleasing with all of your senses. That would mean you like the taste of me. Is that correct?"

"Well," she began with a half laugh, "I guess I enjoy it when you kiss me."

"And your sense of smell?"

"Yes, you do smell nice."

"You have already explained you enjoy my voice. But what about your sense of touch?"

"Well, I usually only touch your arm like this," she said indicating her hold on his arm. "That's not really good or bad. I did get to sense you with my chakra."

"You mentioned you wanted to wait until mastering your chakra sense to see what I look like with your hands. Would you like to now?"

"Yes, I would." He took off his glasses and she placed her hands on his cheeks.

"Soft, smooth skin," she said as her hands roamed his face, "a strong jaw, nice nose, soft hair, almost exactly how I thought you were. I didn't think your hair would be so soft. And you definitely don't have wrinkles."

"So you like the way I look?" he asked, replacing his glasses. She smiled.

"From what I can tell, I like it very much."

I feel bad that I didn't write more about the team meeting her but I don't like to repeat things. If I were to have all of them ask her similar questions to what Shino's mother did then it would get very boring to read. So I'm very sorry, dear readers. You all wanted more interaction between Sachi and the rest of the rookies but I feel I let you down here.