Koishii (Beloved) Part XXI
By: Rylolynn
This is the sequel to Shadow of Hinata continuing after Shino and Hinata's first kiss.
Summary: Hinata and Shino share an empathic bond that is tied to their feelings for each other. (If the premise sounds familiar it is loosely based on Imzadi.)
Team 8 are now all Chuunin ranked ninja. (Timeline wise, Tsunade is Hokage, Naruto is away training, Sauske is a expletive who ran away with Orochimaru—basically a little before the Shipuuden series, pre-time-skip.)
Warning: lovey dovey fluff, WAF (warm and fuzzy) prolly a little angsty too. Takes a different direction then the canon and now things get "complicated".
A/N: Imzadi belongs to Peter David, Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Italics: Thoughts
Koishii (Beloved/yearned for)
Shitawashii (Beloved/dear)
Otosan (Father)
Okasa (Mother)
Kami (God)
Obaasan (Grandma)
Tenketsu (Chakra point)
Chibi (Small, cute cartoons)
Previously
"I have offered her a home here Otosan."
"She is more then welcome Shino-kun…but things might get," The elder Aburame flashed a sly grin through his serious demeanor "complicated."
"…that's what she said." Shino looked towards his room.
Chapter 21
"Shino-kun was right I feel worse…" Hinata tried to move her body but felt strangely heavy.
"Toothbrush…" The messy haired Hyuuga made her way into the bathroom to scrub the awful taste out of her mouth with tooth paste.
"Good morning beautiful. You can keep that toothbrush."
Hinata's pale eyes were dry and ached.
"Not funny and why aren't you suffering?" She huffed still trying to focus on the taunting Shino.
"Kikaichu… they are a little inebriated but alcohol affects me—" Shino corrected as an afterthought, "us, a little differently then others."
"Really? Come here and walk in a strait line." She giggled.
A small scout took a less the direct route to Hinata's extended finger and began an unsteady path down her finger.
"Your right." Hinata giggled again. "Ok you can go home now." The small kikai scout flew strait towards a tenketsu at Hinata's shoulder.
"I know you already imprinted on Hinata…but Hinata is not from our clan, and as husband and wife…" Shibi made a pointed look at his son.
"Yes…I know it is complicated." Shino rubbed his temples.
"Ummm… Shino what's he doing?"
"Return." Shino summoned back his stray scout.
Hinata rubbed her tired eyes in confusion, still very much feeling the after effects of the "Shibi…Shibi—never again am I going to drink anything he has concocted."
She smiled softly to herself. "Aburame Shibi and Aburame Shino are so different…" A stray memory of a smirking Shibi surfaced her previously inebriated mind. Hinata's own lip curled into a small smirk. "But then again…"
"He tells me I'm more like okasa…but my kikai—okasa would say they are more like him…more like otosan."
The raven haired Hyuuga strained to hear the last part of Shino's sentence as his words lost their usual conviction.
The young Aburame's hazel eyes trailed around the room gazing at everything, except for the young Hyuuga clan leader who was looking at him with a very confused expression.
An image of a young Shino and his hive of little chibi kikai playing practical jokes on unsuspecting Aburame children popped into Hinata's overactive imagination.
"Eh…does that mean Shino has very… 'Shibi-like' kikai? Or does that mean Shibi-san's kikai are actually serious" Hinata regarded her teammate and fiancé, his calm and stoic demeanor had been a constant for her, yet she wondered what other aspects of him she hadn't known yet.
"Ugh… my head hurts." As small hands tried to tame a case of "bed-head" a sudden realization hit her harder then her pounding headache.
"Shino's kikai always had a signature chakra that was similar to his but not exactly the same. It was also very similar to his otosan…"
The tall Aburame's gaze finally met Hinata's once again. "Shino looks puzzled… no irritated…no worried… or is that annoyed? Kuso, I feel as confused about reading him as Kiba-kun usually is."
The instant that Hinata thought of her other teammate she heard a very Kiba like pound on the door.
"Oh, kami, I haven't heard from Hanibi-chan… please don't let it be her…
What if it's news of the branch house, please don't be the branch house…
Oh Hanibi-chan please be safe… I should have been with her, she's all alone, or maybe with Neji—and his new haircut, he can't be in a good mood.
Why the hell is he pounding so hard!?!" Frantic thoughts raced through her mind as she rushed to the front door.
The large door flew open to reveal a disheveled looking Kiba.
"Kiba what is it? Where's Hanibi-chan?"
The panting Inzuka took a moment to catch his breath before he used a clawed hand to scratch behind his ear.
"I dunno, with Neji probably" he said shrugging his shoulders. Hinata could hear the distinct sound of a snicker. Apparently he'd seen his new haircut.
"What is it?" Hinata's eyes search Kiba for an answer.
"Jiraya-sama."
"Jiraya-sama?"
"Yeah, he's here. Tsunade-obaasan wanted me to run across the whole of Kohona to tell you that." Kiba rolled his eyes.
The nearly out of breath Inzuka made an accusatory glance at Shino as he caught the state of Hinata's tousled mane. He then flinched slightly as the Aburame's loomed over the trembling kunoichi.
"IS THAT ALL!" Hinata screamed.
Kiba visibly flinched again. "…that and Naruto's here too." He added silently to himself.
Shino's warm hands covered Hinata's shoulders.
"Naruto?" She thought to herself.
"Naruto." Shino stated.
Shino noticed Neji's strategically placed ponytail and couldn't help but smirk to himself.
It almost looked just as it always had in its ebony flow of silken perfection, but Shino knew better.
The Hyuuga genius deliberately failed to acknowledge the Aburame's presence. His pale eyes were focused on a similar pair of colorless eyes across the table before him.
"Go fish."
"Neji-niisama… how much longer is Hinata-oneesama going to be?" Hanibi questioned before picking up a card from the pile in front of her.
"Hinata is meeting with the two sannin should conclude shortly." Shino interjected.
"Oh."
Neji's pallid eyes narrowed towards the sound of heavy doors opening.
Shino stepped to the side, not liking the way Neji seemed to look right through him.
A small form stood between the two great sannin undaunted.
"Neji-niisan. Hanibi-chan." Hinata smiled softly a quiet conviction in her voice.
"The Hyuuga Bunke Juinjutsu is an aberration, stealing away the essence of humanity; freedom. It seals away the true potential of this clan, as one that is united with the bonds of family. The juinjutsu has cursed and divided my clan for too long. And my last act as clan leader is to unite the branch house and main house by dispelling the practice and have Neji-niisama succeed my place as clan leader." Hinata breathed deeply feeling as though a weight was being lifted off her.
"Hanabi-chan, do not be afraid. This is the right thing to do."
"I'm not afraid… but, what about Neji-niisama…"
Hinata walked towards her speechless cousin and traced a thumb across his forehead protector. "There is a price for my vision…" Hinata made a crooked smile. "But then again what are the Hyuuga's known for if not for their vision?"
The embolden Hyuuga found Shino's side. "And now that my vision is known, so will be my union…" Hinata interlaced her fingers with Shino's.
The once crooked smile turned full grin. "Get the main hall ready, there's going to be an engagement party."
It wasn't that Shino was withdrawn when in large crowds per se, he was very reserved it was true, it was just that he did not enjoy "dealing" with large groups of people very much.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Hyuuga Hinata, soon to be former clan leader of the Hyuuga clan, soon to be Aburame Hinata, wife."
"Should I be afraid?"
"Of what, the fact we are going to have a huge party with two very reclusive clans, or that I am going to name Neji-niisan a former branch house member clan leader, or that I'm going to be your wife?"
"Do I have to choose?"
"So my koishii, should we assign seating arrangements or just do open seating?"
"How about open bar?"
"Only if you promise that your otosan is not the bartender."
A/n: Sorry about the delay. I had reworked this chapter several times before posting this, hope it didn't suck. Love to everyone who has commented so far.