Author's note:

Hey, what's up? Here's another chapter of Losing Control!

Oh, and if you guys wouldn't mind, I've been thinking about pairing up Shiku and Miura! What do you think? Vote on it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Do I really have to tell you this!

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Losing Control: Chapter 7

By: Maiyuko-chan

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Well, Shino had certainly taken a beating in the last, what? Two, three days? No wonder he had never eaten chocolate before. Miura seemed to be the black sheep who was able to eat the stuff.

Tenten sighed and got together a glass of milk and some chicken noodle soup. It may not help allergic reactions, but she figured that it might make Shino feel a little better about the whole situation.

"Here, Shino-san." she said, putting the bowl and glass in front of him on the table.

"Thank you." he said simply. He didn't touch the food. Tenten sighed.

"I'm sorry." she started. "It was a bad idea to bring chocolate into this house, I didn't know." she bowed her head slightly, and then sat down across from him.

The two were pretty much alone in the house. Shino's father had left with a few others, and the family altogether wasn't as big as you'd suspect.

Tenten watched Shino as he ate and wondered what he may be thinking. Probably something along the lines of, "You watching me eat makes you seem as creepy as I am," or, "I'm going to get revenge on you," even though his face indicated no such thoughts.

Shino looked across at Tenten, who was looking at him intently. It didn't really bother him too much, though.

Does she blame herself for my mistake? he thought. He cleared his throat.

"Tenten-san, I do not believe that this is your fault." he said quietly. Tenten's face lit up.

"You don't?"

"No." he said.

"Thank you, Shino-san." she said. "But I'm still sorry!" she said with a smile. "Is your family coming home tonight?"

Shino shook his head. "Not all. Some are on missions. We only eat all together if we are all here."

Tenten nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that we don't eat together every night." She reached up to the pots and pans. "I'll make dinner for us tonight, then. Is Miura coming home?"

Shino nodded.

"Anyone else?"

"They will most likely come home and then leave to eat out."

"Okay… so what do you want to eat?"

"Hn." Shino obviously didn't care. Tenten rolled her eyes. She would just find something. And if he disapproved, then Hail Mary.

Miura walked into the kitchen and sat next to Shino.

"Cousin…" she said quietly. Shino looked at her. "I'm sorry…" she said, bowing her head. "I should have already known…"

"It's fine, Miura." he said. "It was my fault as much as yours. I knew, too." Miura smiled, her face now visible because she had taken off her jacket.

"Hey, Miura-san," said Tenten. "Do you feel like anything in particular to eat." Miura shrugged.

"Are you making dinner?" she asked. "If you are, I will help you." Tenten smiled.

"You can if you want!" Miura stood up and started to help Tenten cook. Shino got up and reached the pans for them and such and, in his own quiet way, helped as well.

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Tsunade leaned her head on her desk and started to doze off. So… tired…

And then the door slammed open and she jumped about three feet in the air.

"What the hell do you want!" she screamed. Jiraiya jumped back.

"Nothing!" he yelled quickly and ran away. Tsunade rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair. It was almost nightfall, and she had so much work to do. She reached for the sake stash under her desk, but screamed and fell back when one of the bottles of sake 'poofed' and turned into… Naruto?

"You brat!" Tsunade made to punch the chuunin, but he dodged and somehow wound up in front of her desk. Tsunade sighed. "You're gonna make me not want to drink sake again…" she said. "What are you here for, gaki?"

"Well, Tsunade-baa-chan, I had to report for the mission, duh!" he said happily.

"Took you long enough," she muttered. "So what did you find out about that Okita guy?" Naruto frowned.

"Nothing we didn't already know…" he sighed. "It was a bad investigation."

Tsunade nodded. "Naruto, this is very important. You need to take this very seriously. I need you to give Aburame Shino a message for me, telling him to come here at eight o'clock tomorrow." Naruto nodded.

"'Kay, Tsu-baa-chan." he started to walk out the door. "I loooove you!" he drawled, and then ran out the door. Tsunade raised an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes and reached again for a bottle of sake.

And they all turned into Naruto bunshins in which she violently destroyed.

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Shino woke up and yawned silently. He sat up and stayed like that for awhile, just kind of looking at the ground and thinking of what he had to do that day. He had to go to the hokage's office, and most likely discuss the encounter with Okita, and then train. He would walk Hinata and Kiba home, and eat dinner, and fall asleep again.

Brutal cycle.

He sighed as he pulled on his jacket and put on his sunglasses. He slipped on a pair of black cargo pants. His hitai-ate was pulled on and tied around his head.

He went outside of his room and walked through the hall into the living room, where he saw Tenten lying on the couch. He silently wondered why she was there. She had her own room, didn't she? Perhaps she was very tired then, and just fell asleep there.

He silently considered picking her up and carrying her into her room, but decided against it. He had somewhere to go.

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Shino knocked on the door to Tsunade's office and heard a faint, "Come in", before he opened the door and walked into the office. He sat in a chair across from Tsunade at her desk.

"Shino-san, I think you know what this is about." she said firmly.

He nodded.

"I want you to tell me everything that happened with Okita." she said. "Do you remember?" Shino nodded.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama." he sighed quietly, knowing that he would have to tell a story, which included a lot of dialogue. Damn.

"I used a powerful technique that is taught to Aburame once their chakra is fully developed. It uses kikai, of course. In mid-attack, he seemed to stop my justu and put me in a state of unconsciousness. That is all." Tsunade wrote down notes on a piece of paper, and then held the bridge of her nose.

"This is bad." she stated. Shino nodded. "Well, Shino-kun, that isn't all. About personal affairs," her face lightened up. "Where are you planning to take Tenten for your date?"

Shino felt a bit taken aback. What? What date?

Oh, yes, the date. He was possibly-engaged to Tenten-san, of course.

"I do not know." Tsunade's eyes shifted.

"Well… You'd better think of something…" she said with a devious smile. "Or I'll choose a place for you. How about a Karaoke Bar?" she asked cheerfully. Shino's eye twitched under his sunglasses.

"… I will find a place, Lady Hokage." he said. He stood up and bowed slightly. "I must go and train, Tsunade-sama. The meeting was pleasant."

He left as quickly as possible. He felt it was best to get away from the hokage and her… suggestions.

The walk to the training grounds was silent until he saw one of his little cousins at the academy. He was sitting alone outside of the gate during break. The six-year old was shaking.

"Little cousin." he said simply. The coat and sunglasses-clad boy looked up his cousin.

"Yes, Shino-nii?" he asked silently, wiping his face.

"What are you upset about?" he asked, kneeling over. The small child wrapped his arms around his big cousin and let out a small sob.

"The other kids make fun of me. They call me icky. I'm not icky, Shino-nii!" he cried. Shino wrapped his arms around the small boy and picked him up.

"We will take you home." he said.

"No, no, Shino-nii! I'm okay!" His tears were quickly dried. "Momma said I could become a ninja if I went here! I'm okay!" Shino nodded and put him down.

"Raki. Do not listen to the other children." said Shino. "They will make fun of you only because you are different."

"Oh, hey, there, little one!" Shino heard a voice from behind him and he turned around to see… Ino?

"Hey, Shino, you two must be related!" she said to him. "Look at this kid! He's so cute!" Ino fussed.

"He is my little cousin." said Shino.

"I can tell!" said Ino. "So what are you doing at the academy?" she asked. Little Raki watched his cousin and this girl talk.

"I was just passing through." he said simply. "I should be going now." he turned to Raki. "You will be fine, little one. Don't cry; you're not icky." He looked away, remembering being called 'icky' at that age.

"Who called you icky!" cried Ino. Shino suppressed a smirk, remembering her calling him names like that when they went to the academy.

"Uhm…" Raki looked to Shino for some kind of support, of which he tended to provide poorly. "J-just the other kids…" Ino knelt over.

"You remind me of forehead-girl, you know? You flaunt that icky-ness!" said Ino. Raki sweat dropped and nodded.

Ino got up to her real level. "So, Shino-kun, whatycha doin' here? Aren't you supposed to be training?"

"… I'm late. What about you?" Raki waved to Shino.

"Bye, cousin. It's time to go inside." Shino nodded.

Ino yawned. "We don't have training today."

"Hn."

"So how's Tenten?" she asked.

"She's doing well." he said simply. Ino's face was serious.

"I haven't talked to her about her mother." she said. "She hasn't said a word. She acts as if she doesn't care."

"…" Shino looked at Ino. She was truly concerned for her friend, and it was something he inwardly admired her for.

"How are you?" she asked. "Are you okay with this whole 'marriage thing'? I know I wouldn't be." she said as she sighed. Shino glanced at her, wondering what made her the way she was. On the outside, she was vibrant and 'vixen-ish', while on the inside, he could tell there was an intellectual and mature person.

"I… will do whatever is best for my clan. There are not as many people in my family as it seems." Ino laughed.

"Yeah, you don't see many people going around Konoha wearing big coats and sunglasses. But I have been seeing a lot of little kids like that."

"…" Shino didn't know what to say. She was right.

"Well, I'll see you later, Shino-kun, I have to go and run the shop. But if you ever need flowers…" she grinned widely. "You know where to go. You have a date with Tenten soon, ne?" Shino nodded, although he didn't intend on getting Tenten flowers.

"Goodbye." he said nonchalantly. Ino waved and started off to the shop. Shino continued his journey to the training grounds.

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Tenten sighed silently. There was no training today for Team Gai, because Gai-sensei had apparently set a day for him to defeat Kakashi, even though Kakashi-san didn't know that yet. Lee had agreed to 'help his wonderful sensei in defeating his eternal rival!'.

She got her shinobi equipment together and went outside. She may as well train anyway, since all the other teams had training. Maybe she could join Sakura's team for the day.

She quickly shoved that thought aside, remembering that Gai and Lee would probably be there, waiting in the bushes for Kakashi…

Screw it. she thought. She'd train alone.

She started out to the forest training grounds. There was nothing like ruining a few trees with your kunai to get your blood pumping.

So she mercilessly did so.

Meanwhile, Shino, Kiba, and Hinata watched as Kurenai-sensei preformed a few basic hand seals.

"This," she started, "is a healing justu. I've made a mistake by neglecting teaching you these. Now you try." Each of her students practices the hand seals.

"This justu will heal minor cuts and bruises. It probably won't be good enough for major injuries." Hinata was the first to get the seals just right.

"K-Kiba-kun, do you have any cuts? If you do, could I try to heal one?" Kiba blushed and nodded and he showed her his knee. Shino smirked under the collar of his coat. How cute. After Hinata was done, Kiba got uncomfortably close to Shino.

"Shino-kun…" said Kiba softly as he inched up to Shino. "I'd like to heal one of your cuts or bruises…" Shino inched away and Hinata giggled. "C'mon, Shino-kun…" he whimpered. Kuranai shook her head and laughed.

"Hey, you two, not in public. There are ladies around." Hinata blushed. You know, if she didn't like Kiba so much, him and Shino would look… cute together. She shoved those thoughts aside. Kurenai started packing up her things.

"Training's over. You can relax for a bit, it's a nice day." she said, and disappeared in a 'poof' of smoke.

"Alright!" yawned Kiba. "We should just sit here and rest, what do you guys think?"

Hinata nodded, and Shino stayed silent. They sat there under a tree for awhile, just enjoying the cool breeze that treated them. Kiba was the first to speak.

"So, Shino," he said. "You're engaged." He grinned widely. Hinata blushed a bit, knowing where this was going.

"Possibly." replied Shino.

"Most likely, right?"

"I… don't know."

"So what about wedding night?" Kiba's grin turned mischievous. Shino turned to look at him, not fully understanding what he meant.

"… What about it?" Hinata blushed even more. Kiba suppressed delighted giggles at his friend's unlikely naivety.

"You know," said Kiba. "Wedding night. Don't tell me you don't get it."

Shino really, honest-to-god, didn't understand what his friend was getting at.

"…"

"You really don't get it?" Kiba almost squealed in delight. This was rich! Hinata coughed and looked away. Poor Shino-kun…

"…No…"

"Okay okay okay okay." said Kiba, sitting up and crossing his legs. "Think: What do couples do on the night of their wedding?"

Was this some kind of riddle? Shino couldn't tell.

"They go to bed." Shino answered. Kiba and Hinata looked at each other. Kiba laughed.

"That's a start…" he said happily.

"Shino-kun," said Hinata, who had been silently recruited into the riddle game. "What do they…" She coughed. "What do they do in bed?" Shino was confused. What did they know that he didn't?

"They… sleep?" Hinata buried her face in her hands trying not to laugh, but Kiba laughed long and hard.

"Shino, Shino…" he started, but his words were overwhelmed by laughter, so he didn't finish. It took him a moment to get situated.

"Shino-kun," said Hinata shyly. "On wedding night, it's tradition to… to bed the wife, whether it's an arranged marriage or not…" she giggled. "Th-that way, you two are bonded for the rest of your life." she buried her face in her hands again, trying not to chuckle too hard.

Shino's face was bright red under his collar, and his eyes were wide. He had to bed her? But... but…

Kiba wiped away some tears from his eyes and sat up to breath.

"You made my day, Shino." he breathed. Shino stood up.

"I… have things to do." he said, and he walked away briskly. Hinata and Kiba's laughter could be heard as he left.

Was this true? If he married Tenten, he would have to… but… he couldn't do that! It was just…

He shook off those thoughts and calmed down. This was nothing to worry about. This was the whole reason he was possibly-engaged to Tenten; they were to have children for the Aburame clan. That's what she was being married off for, right? Technically, she was a breeding tool.

He walked through the forest. He had some things to think about. That, and he really needed to calm down.

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Tenten was sure that the enemy (or tree) was dead. She had missed her target only once, but it was very far off. She had thrown a kunai and somehow it hit at least six yards up from where she had aimed. This had resulted in her training until her muscles could barely move, but she knew for a fact that she needed the vigorous practice.

She started to collect her weapons, picking each one up and putting it in it's proper place. They would need cleaning later, for sure, but she was way too tired to do it now. After each one had been picked up, she looked at the one she had thrown way up into the tree. She was tired, but she still had to get that kunai. No weapon left behind!

She used a bit of chakra to get up the tree, and simply walked up to get it.

This was the start of a chain of events. Fate had a way of screwing with people's heads.

The kunai would not dislodge from the tree. Not matter what she tried, it would not come out. She eventually resorted to grasping the kunai with both hands and putting each of her feet on either side of it and pulling.

"Augh!" she cried angrily. It wouldn't come out! She pulled again, and it budged a bit. She smiled, almost madly. Yes! It was starting to work.

Meanwhile, Shino was walking in kind of a daze through the forest. He wasn't really thinking, or paying attention, as he should have been, but it didn't really matter at the moment.

He had, somehow, happened to walk right under the tree that Tenten was in, but he hadn't noticed.

At that moment, the kunai had slipped easily out of the tree, and while Tenten had her balance, a white bird rammed into her face at top speed, causing her to fall face-first to the ground.

An ugly, hideous bird…

But no time to think of that now!

Shino looked up when he heard a faint bird screech, and before he was able to think, a girl crashed into him. But it isn't what it seems. Let's take this into slow-motion.

Tenten was falling face-first, correct? Well, Shino had looked up. When they made contact, Her lips had happened to meet his. The impact caused Shino's sunglasses to get knocked off, and it caused Tenten to drop her kunai as well. When they hit the ground, Tenten was on top of Shino, her eyes wide, their lips still touching. She scrambled off of him.

"Sh-Shi-" she couldn't speak. He looked at her, eyes wide, his sunglasses forgotten. For a moment, she snapped out of the shock to look at his eyes. They were a unique color of purple-ish black, and she was drawn into them for a moment.

"I'm sorry!" she yelled, and ran off, forgetting the kunai altogether. Shino watched her run away in shock, unable to think.

Author's note:

I'm done! And I'm so sorry it took so long! I did encounter a kind of writer's block in the middle of the chapter, but I'm over it. I hope you liked! Because I sure liked writing it.

Remember to vote whether Shiku and Miura should be paired up or not. I have a very kawaii idea!

Review!