Thank you all for your dedication in this journey. We are nearly finished and the last few chapters will be considered more like bonus chapters.

Chapter 34

On cloud nine

Several months had gone by in idyllic happiness. Sachi and Shino were wed in a quiet affair, as quiet as a clan marriage could hope to be. While Shino's family and clan made up a majority of the guests, it came to no one's surprise that Sachi's family was far louder and made up for the absence of sound from the rather quiet clan.

Noriko and Yuki, for example, had broken down in several bouts of happy sobs. While Aoi casually wiped at his face proclaiming that he most certainly had something in his eye.

Soon after the moved into a house within the clan grounds the new school year started and Shino was the newest instructor. Sachi knew first hand how wonderful a teacher he was and she was sure he would do well molding the minds of the young shinobi.

Their lives were wonderful together but as the rhyme goes, first comes love, then comes marriage, then...

Yuki screamed louder than a banshee, flapping her arms around about her like a fledgling attempting to take it's first flight. She bounced and squealed so loudly that Sachi had to plug her ears.

"Yuki-chan!" Sachi shouted over her enthusiastic friend, fingers still firmly in her ears. "Stop or I swear you will damage my eardrums."

Yuki quieted to smaller squeaks more indicative of a distressed mouse. Her frame continued to shake. She seemed so excited that she couldn't speak, a first for the flamboyant young woman.

"Did I not stress the word 'might' enough?"

Sachi had suspicions why mother nature was several days late in her monthly unwanted visit. The test for such suspicions was, unfortunately, a very visual one. So Sachi had picked up the tests at a small store and made her way to Yuki's house where she still lived with her parents and made it up to the room they had spent so many sleepovers in.

Though Sachi could have gone to anyone to help her read the results of the test, if it came out positive she had wanted to surprise Shino with it. She needed someone close to her, that would be excited to be the first to know, to be able to keep the secret from her family until she was ready to tell them, and most of all she needed someone subtle enough around Shino to not give away the surprise.

Perhaps Yuki wasn't the best choice.

"But 'might' is still a possibility!" She squealed again. "Oh! Sachi-chan and Shino-kun are going to have a baby!"

"Yuki-chan!" Sachi protested. "I don't know for sure that I am. So quit saying it, my nerves are already making me sick."

Yuki's voice grew so high that she was sure it would start attracting dogs. "That's one of the first signs!"

Sachi heaved a sigh and held out the small grocery bag with the tests in it. "Will you just read out the instructions for me?"

There was little back and forth between them. Yuki calmed enough to read out the details from the package insert through the door of the bathroom. When all instructions were complete Sachi emerged from the bathroom with a tight hold on the test and a thumb over the reading.

"Let me see! Let me see! Let me see!" Yuki bounced, reaching for the test. Sachi had anticipated such an action and held the test away.

"No, the time's not up."

"Well, just let me hold it!" Yuki whined impatiently.

"No, if I let you have it, you are going to peek before it's done."

Not even bothering to argue Yuki sprang across the hallway reaching for the test just as it was pulled out of her reach.

Yuki and Sachi were very nearly the same height with Sachi having, perhaps a half inch on Yuki's height. So when said exuberant blonde began to try to climb her redheaded friend like a tree, it did not go over well. Both women fell to the floor with a great thump and wrestled with each other.

Though Sachi was hardly the type for such childish physical behavior this was not the first time she had found herself an unwilling participant in a wrestling contest with Yuki. It was only natural that the instigator, powerhouse of energy, and willing exuberant brawler was always the winner. There were several shouts of 'Yuki, no!' and 'Sachi, yes!' heard among the scuffling and sounds of exertion before Yuki finally plucked the test from Sachi's hand after pinning her arm.

Yuki jumped up victoriously holding the small white stick up as her prize. Sachi rose from the floor with a sigh.

"So?" Sachi asked, wondering why she hadn't exploded in joy or disappointment yet. "What's it say?"

"Uh," Yuki droned as she looked at the test several different ways. "How are you supposed to read this thing?"

Sachi sighed once again, not bothering to point out that she was the one to read the instructions and should already know.

"You said, one pink line for no and two pink lines for yes."

The world remained silent for all of two seconds before it exploded in an excited scream.

"Sachi! You're going to have a baby! There are two pink lines!" Caught in the moment, Sachi began to shout and bounce around with Yuki. Yuki dropped to her knees and hugged Sachi around the middle.

"Don't you worry, little one!" she cooed to the child, rubbing her face on Sachi's belly like a cat. "Auntie Yuki will always be there to spoil you rotten."

"Yuki-chan..."

"Auntie Yuki will give you everything you could ever ask for."

"Yuu-ki..."

"Anytime anyone tells you no, Auntie Yuki will say yes."

Yuki was interrupted by the sharp snap of knuckles on her head and she looked up into the gray eyes of the mother she had been ignoring.

"Yuki-chan, I'm pretty sure the baby can't hear you yet."

"Aww, Sachi-chan that doesn't matter." She rubbed her cheek on Sachi's belly again. "My little niece needs to know that she is loved."

"Yuki-chan we don't know if the baby will be a boy or girl."

Yuki looked up in confusion. "Isn't that why the lines were pink?"

"No, Yuki-chan."

She shrugged. "Either way. A spoiled Prince or Princess will be coming!" Yuki sang. She jumped up suddenly and ran for her purse. "I have to start buying baby clothes!" She spared a second to make sure her wallet and keys were inside. "Diapers alone! Onesies and shirts and shorts and-Oh! Tiny baby socks are so cute! But dresses or overalls? Dresses or overalls? Both obviously we have to account for either gender, and a girl would look so cute in overalls anyway-"

"Yuki!" Sachi shouted again for her friend's attention. "No baby clothes!" she said with an extra added, "no," for emphasis. "You can't start announcing to the world that we are having a baby. Shino-kun and I are the ones that get to do that. I know it's going to be hard for you but I need you to keep it a secret at least until I tell Shino-kun and our parents. Okay?"

Yuki deflated. "Yeah, alright," she said tiredly. "Your right. It's not my secret to tell. But," Yuki grabbed her friend's shoulders and became deadly serious, each of her words dripping with more determination than Sachi had ever heard from her, "you have to let me know as soon as the secret is out. Okay?"

Sachi had promised and quickly made her way home, trying to plan out exactly how she would tell Shino in just a few short hours when he came home from work.

She decided to invite their parents for dinner and that would give her enough time to tell Shino before they arrived. So, with plenty of time to spare, she stopped at both homes and gained the assurance that both couples would be in attendance. She excused herself politely from each house with the reason that she had to go grocery shopping. It was true, but she didn't want to stay too long and ruin their surprise.

She returned home with her shopping bags and began to worry over how to tell Shino in just a few short hours. She knew Shino would probably just appreciate a straight forward statement but she really wanted to make it a memory that she would cherish.

When she returned home she immediately began on dinner. And with less than an hour until Shino returned home she racked her brain for ways to tell him the happy news. When, at last, he returned she greeted him cheerfully with a never ending smile.

"How was your day?" she asked.

"Fine. Most of my students take to classes very well but some are more troublesome than I would like to admit."

"I'm sure they will do just fine with a teacher like you."

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "How was your day?"

"Busy. I went to see Yuki-chan and I invited our parents to dinner."

Shino thought for a moment, wondering on the occasion. It couldn't be her birthday or his. And it was not yet their anniversary.

"Why is that?" he asked.

She smiled. "Well, we have something important to tell them."

Again he racked his brain. Had he been so consumed with his students that he forgot an important piece of news?

"What exactly are we telling them?" he asked with a furrowed brow.

Sachi couldn't stop smiling as she placed Shino's hands at her belly.

"We have to tell them that we are going to be parents."

The word seemed to echo in his mind, repeating over and over growing soft before returning louder and louder.

Parents. Parents. Parents!

His gaze canted downward to her navel. He knew it was possible of course but it had been the last thing he expected.

"Really?" he asked breathlessly.

"Yes."

They embraced long and lovingly. Never had Shino experienced bliss such as this moment. He and the woman he loved would have a child together and it made him both happy and strangely anxious.

Their parents had arrived on schedule and enjoyed a lovely meal together before they had broken the news. There was excitement apparent from each soon-to-be-grandparent. Noriko, being the boldest, had squealed out her congratulations and hurried to envelop her daughter in a tight hug.

The questions had begun just after that. How far along? When will you know the gender? When is it due? Have you picked out names?

Sachi had been a bit flustered at the questions due to the fact she could not answer any of them yet. While Youko and Sachi discussed a little more, Shino noticed Noriko become a little paler and clammed up suddenly. When Noriko was sure Shino noticed she motioned her head in the direction of the kitchen. He rose and followed.

"Yes, Noriko-san?"

"First of all, congratulations, dear. We are all so happy for you both. But there is something very important you must do. Shino-kun, whatever happens, you can't let Sachi name your children." She was dead serious. There was no trace of the typical joyful attitude that encompassed her.

"What do you mean?"

"You may have noticed Sachi isn't exactly creative with naming things."

He had noticed.

"Yes. Each time she named a kikai she essentially took the given name and added an honorific."

Noriko shook her head at her daughter's antics. "She once had a hamster she named 'Piggy-chama'. Please, don't let her name them. Otherwise we will be left with something like 'Baby-chan Aburame'."

Shino's eyebrows turned downward in his disapproval. That was entirely likely and equally unacceptable. He would definitely have to encourage her to choose better names.

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