Sorry for another late update!

Chapter 35

The jury is out

Shino watched the gentle rise and fall of his wife's chest as he meandered through the house, trying not to wake her. He had several tasks he wished to complete this weekend, not least of which was to work on the nursery they would soon need. He looked back to his wife as he passed the sofa she chose to nap on every morning. Surrounded by no less than four pillows behind her head, back, under her belly and between her legs, she looked the picture of comfort with her face lax in sleep. He resisted the urge to join her as the pillows would not accommodate another body and a Sachi deprived of her mid-morning nap in the latter months of her pregnancy was a very disagreeable creature. He saw her stir slightly and knew she would be awake in the next few minutes.

He had just finished his current task when Sachi began to stretch and someone knocked on their door. He strode across their home to get the door.

"Oh, I'm glad you're getting that," Sachi said as she meticulously removed the pillows and stacked them on the end of the couch. "I think they would leave by the time I got there," she quipped.

He was surprised to find, of all people, his cousin Kazu at the door. Kazu Aburame bowed low and greeted him with an obligatory, "Shino-sama," recognizing him as the newest clan head.

"Kazu-san, to what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I'm afraid I require help that cannot be found anywhere else," he said. "My apologies for dropping in unexpectedly but I could not give any notice."

Shino stood aside and let his cousin enter. He led him to the sitting room where Sachi managed to sit up on the couch, not the easiest feat with a large baby belly.

Kazu bowed to the newest Aburame matriarch.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Sachi-sama. I am Kazu Aburame, Shino-sama's cousin."

Sachi smiled, still tickled pink at the addition of the relatively new honorific at the end of her name.

"It's lovely to meet you too, Kazu-san. Please have a seat and forgive me for not rising to greet you."

Kazu's eyes flicked to her large belly and he nodded. "Understandable," he answered. He sat in one of the armchairs surrounding the coffee table and Shino sat on the couch next to his wife.

"What is it you require my help with?" Shino asked.

"It is not your help I require, Shino-sama; it is Sachi-sama's."

"Oh?" Sachi said in surprise and curiosity. "What do you need my help with?"

"You may have yet to hear, my wife gave birth to our first child two days ago. He is premature and ill but the doctors are sure he will recover eventually. But the problem is the elders are still pushing to infuse the kikai as scheduled."

Sachi let out a tone of worry. Shino had told her about the infusion of the kikai and what she could expect for their child. For clan tradition, newborn Aburames were to be given the kikai no late than a week after their birth. Anytime after a week, the chances of rejection would increase with every passing day.

Through the years of inter-clan marriages, healthy babies and pregnancies were becoming more and more rare. And the more unhealthy and premature a baby was, the higher the chance that the baby's body and the kikai would reject each other and such a rejection was life threatening to the child.

"I fear my son is not strong enough to survive receiving the kikai. But I have heard about how powerfully attractive your chakra is to the kikai, Sachi-sama. I thought if you could infuse your chakra into his body before the ceremony then it may increase his chances of surviving."

"Could that really work?" Sachi asked.

"It is entirely possible," Shino said thoughtfully. "When the kikai are presented with a new host they must decide if the host is healthy enough to house them. Your chakra within the child would increase the chances of acceptance."

"What about after my chakra fades from his system?"

"After the kikai accept a host there is no reneging the decision," Shino added. "If this can be pulled off it should have no negative effects."

"Alright, I'll do what I can," she promised. "When is the ceremony scheduled?"

"Three days from now, on Tuesday."

"Alright, if we are going to do this then I want to practice it at least once to get it right. Will you take us in for a visit now?"

Kazu looked a bit surprised at her sudden acceptance. "Of course."

"Excellent but first things first," she said turning to Shino. "Can we stop for pork buns on the way? I'm hungry."

Sachi managed to finish her snack before they arrived at the hospital. Kazu lead them to the maternity ward where his wife and child currently resided. They entered to see the new mother watching over her baby as it slept in a cradle. It was clear that underneath the loose blanket were several medical tubes and wires hooked to various machines and fluids.

"Nori-chan," Kazu spoke. The woman looked up. "This is Shino-sama and Sachi-sama. They have agreed to help us. This is my wife, Nori-chan."

Nori turned and bowed deeply to the clan heads.

"Thank you. Please do what you can."

"I'll do my best," Sachi said quietly. "What's the baby's name?"

"Kenji," Nori answered.

Shino led her up to the cradle and began to coach her through how to infuse her chakra into the infant. Sachi laid her hands on the baby's belly and winced. She had been told Kenji was premature but she hadn't realized how much until she felt how tiny he was. Kenji was smaller than both of Sachi's hands, making it difficult to put both hands on his belly. She settled for just her fingertips. She took a deep breath and pushed her chakra into the center of the baby's chakra system.

Kenji jerked and began to whine. Sachi recoiled, frightened she had hurt him. Only after Shino assured her she was doing well and she wasn't injuring Kenji did she continue. The more she continued the more Kenji wiggled and cried.

She stopped when Shino thought it was enough.

"I-I didn't hurt him, did I?" she said with a quiver in her voice.

"No," Nori gasped out. "He's never been so lively," she said ecstatically.

"Then, did it work?" Sachi asked.

"Yes, this will temporarily make him more likely to be accepted by the kikai," Shino answered.

"Provided you are willing to perform the same process just before the ceremony."

"Of course. If I can help then I will."

The new parents thanked them profusely and they left with promises to come back just before the ceremony.

Tuesday came and Sachi hardly slept for her worry over young Kenji. Though they remained confident that everything would go smoothly fear of what may come still gripped her tightly. Shino consoled her often and it was for those brief few moments that she was at ease.

Shino made her eat and helped her to fall asleep for her mid-morning nap, knowing she would need the energy for the day. He woke her in time to eat lunch and they left for the hospital.

Kazu and Nori waited anxiously for them to arrive. And were visibly relieved to see them.

"Thank you so much for coming," Kazu said sincerely.

"Of course," Sachi said with a wan smile. "How is Kenji-kun? I've been so worried about him."

It was not lost on the parents how concerned their matriarch was for their child. It reassured them that she was well suited to join and care for their clan. Though she was the only one in the room not born an Aburame they were left confident that their clan leader chose a woman that felt deeply for them.

"The doctors say he is progressing well. They know about the infusion today and they don't recommend it."

Sachi sighed. "Should we get started?"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Sachi fidgeted far too much. She was listening to an audiobook on the couch, bouncing her leg and taking in none of the story. Shino, while also worried over Kenji, also concerned himself with his wife and unborn child. He was discreetly checking on her with his kikai, assuring himself that her heart rate was not so high as to cause concern. He returned to his own book, highlighting baby names he found acceptable.

They weren't permitted to stay for the infusion. It was a ceremony regularly done by only the clan elders and the parents. Kazu had promised to stop by tonight to let them know how it went and Sachi could focus on nothing due to her worry.

Occasionally, Shino would hear her sigh, conscious of how tense she was and would make an attempt to relax but it never lasted long.

When at last there was a knock on the door, Sachi had been so anxious she lifted herself from the seat and waddled as fast as she could to the door, an impressive feat in her third trimester.

She wrenched the door open to find Kazu on the doorstep.

"He's doing well," Kazu said, wasting no time in easing their worry.

Sachi was visibly elated as the stress of the past few days left her body.

"Oh! Thank goodness! Oh! Kazu-san I'm so happy Kenji-kun will be alright."

Kazu bowed low to Sachi. "Thank you very much Sachi-sama. Without your help, our son would have surely died. Thank you. If you ever need anything, please do not hesitate to ask."

XXXXXXXXXX

Sachi collapsed on the couch, thoroughly tired after the events of the day. He was pleased to know she felt much better and that she would be getting the sleep she needed tonight. He lifted his book again and sat next to her.

"What have you been reading?" she asked.

"It's a book on baby names." He flipped back to the section for girl names.

"I've been thinking about what to name her, too."

He hesitated. "Have you found anything?"

"You're worried aren't you?"

"That's a strange and long name." Sachi poked his side and he smiled.

"I know Kaa-chan told you I'm horrible at naming things. But I've put a lot of thought into this one. I thought it was a lot easier because 'Shino' and 'Shibi' are similar."

"What do our names have to do with our daughter's?"

"Well, it's a tradition in my family to name children something similar to their parents'. See, 'Noriko' and 'Kaito' both end in 'O'. 'Aoi' and 'Sachi' both end in 'I'. So, I found the name 'Shina' because it's like 'Shibi' and 'Shino'. What do you think?"

Shino was surprised at how much he liked it. Though he had looked through the entire book in his hands he hadn't found anything he liked as much as "Shina".

"Shina Aburame," he tested. It sounded right. No doubt his father would be pleased to know his grandchild was named with him in mind. He closed the book and set it aside. "It's perfect."

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