Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. So if you recognize anyone or anything from the anime, I'm just borrowing.
Takes place sometime before Shippuuden. Or technically, it takes place in the Naruto world, but without Shippuuden in mind.
Thank you to all of my lovely reviewers!
Chapter 9
OOOOO
Many of the older Aburames had gone to bed. Usually they were early-to-bed, early-to-rise sorts of people, but it was tradition to stay up late and chat during the first few nights. Tachoro was catching up with Shibiki. The two had always gotten along well, for they were both rather easygoing people. Shibiki had just finished explaining his latest mission when Shino and Hinata stepped into the family room to join the others.
Hinata made her way over to him.
"A-Ano," she began shyly. "Would you like me to heal your injuries, Tachoro-san?"
"Please, don't call me –san. And you didn't injure me. You are very skilled, but I was able to block all of your attacks. Except the kick," he added, jokingly rubbing his left side. Though it actually did hurt, he didn't want to make her feel bad.
"A-Ano..." Hinata trailed off, unsure how to proceed. "The thing is, I-I'm pretty sure I actually hit with all of my attacks."
"It's really alright," he assured her with a smile. "I blocked them all with my arms."
"Th-That's the thing," she murmured, poking her fingers together uncomfortably. "I-I was a-attacking your arms. I think I c-closed off most of the chakra points in your arms, so I should heal them or you might not be able to use your chakra effectively for a few days."
"Huh? Closed my chakra points? You can do that?" Tachoro rolled back the long sleeves of his shirt. Sure enough, there were small dot-shaped bruises all over his arms.
"I-I'm pretty good at reopening closed chakra points, so i-it won't take very long."
"I'll put myself in your care, then, Hinata-chan," Tachoro replied with a soft smile.
Hinata sat beside him on the couch and took his arm into her lap. There was no more seating, so Shino sat cross-legged by her feet. Point by point, Hinata applied warm, healing chakra to each of Tachoro's bruise marks. They slowly disappeared as if wiped away by magic.
Hinata's touch is incredibly gentle, Tachoro mused. Sitting this close to her, he was able to scent the lilac from her hair. A lock of the silken strands brushed over his skin as she worked.
Shino frowned imperceptibly. For some reason, Hinata's closeness to Tachoro made him uncomfortable. He couldn't quite figure out why. Was it the fight? No, he hadn't been afraid of Hinata getting hurt. Suddenly he remembered the feeling of lying beside her with his arm in her lap and the way her hand had rested comfortably on his abdomen. A light blush passed over his cheeks. Then the cold reality washed over him. Hinata had treated him the same way she was treating his cousin, with warmth, kindness, politeness, and concern—the same way she treated everyone.
He sighed quietly and stood up. Hinata had just finished healing Tachoro. She looked up at her teammate with a quizzical look. Shino tucked his hands into his pockets, a quiet gesture of emotional withdrawal.
"Shino-kun? Is something the matter?" Hinata worried.
Shino shook his head and replied quietly. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed."
"Oh, that's a good idea," she agreed.
"Oyasumi." Without another word, Shino slipped out of the room and headed to the room where he'd stowed his bag with his brother's.
"Oyasumi, Shino-kun!" Hinata called after him.
Shibiki sighed sadly. He'd known his brother for all of Shino's lifetime, and it was obvious something was bothering him. Not to mention, he'd just seen the widest range of emotions play over his brother's face as Shino watched his lovely teammate, and most of those looks weren't exactly happy.
Hinata nibbled her lower lip and fiddled with her fingers. Tachoro thought it was very cute and sweet. Everything about Hinata was cute and sweet—well, except for the parts that were capable and deadly. Luckily, he'd managed to avoid most of that. Most of it…
"Ano…Hinata-chan, are you as good at healing bruises as you are at reopening chakra points?"
"Hm?" Hinata turned her attention back to him.
"Would you mind healing my ribs?" he asked sheepishly. "That is, if it's not too much trouble."
"Oh! Of course."
Shibiki's frown went unnoticed. As much as he liked his cousin, Tachoro, he didn't quite like the way he was hitting on Hinata. He was torn between going to talk with his brother and playing unofficial chaperon to Hinata. In the end, Hinata made the decision for him by politely excusing herself as soon as Tachoro was completely healed.
With a quick goodnight, Shibiki slipped out of the family room and went to find his little brother.
OOOOO
For all intents and purposes, his brother appeared to be asleep.
"Shino," Shibiki said quietly.
No answer.
"You love her, don't you?"
Shino sighed in the dark. Several minutes of silence passed before he answered.
"She is my teammate and a good friend."
"Is that really all you feel? Are you really okay with that being as far as you go?"
But Shino refused to say anything else, and Shibiki finally gave up and settled down to sleep.
OOOOO
Hinata ran her comb through her recently toweled dry hair. Something was bothering Shino. She could just tell. But what was it? He didn't seem like himself.
"Oh no! It couldn't be!" she said to the empty hallway before hurrying to find her teammate.
She slipped her pack onto the ground and silently slid the door shut before activating her Byakugan. It didn't seem likely. She was probably being paranoid. Look where paranoia had led her—to beating up several of Shino's relatives. Still, she wouldn't be able to sleep without checking, and if something bad happened to Shino because she didn't take enough precautions, she would never forgive herself.
Hinata raked Shino's body with her eyes, carefully searching for another pair of Supaichuu. He seemed clean. He murmured something quietly in his sleep.
Hinata leaned closer trying to hear him. A lock of her hair fell forward and brushed against his cheek. Shino unconsciously tilted his face toward her scent.
"Hinata…" he murmured quietly.
She waited. He didn't say anything else. Oh. He'd probably been telling her to go to sleep, but he was too tired to say it clearly. Hinata watched Shino's sleeping form for a full minute before unrolling her sleeping bag and setting it up beside her team leader, as she'd done on every mission since they'd become genin together years ago.
She was asleep within minutes.
In the pitch darkness, one of Shibiki's eyebrows practically hit his hairline. Well, that was interesting.
OOOOO
Shino sighed once more.
"Drop it, Shibiki."
"But it's very clear that you like her! And she seems to return your feelings! I just don't understand why you won't take this one risk. Why can't you just admit you love her?" Shibiki knew the difficulty of finding one's true love. Shino couldn't lose such a special girl, not if his big brother had anything to say about it.
Shibi paused outside the doorway.
Shino sighed once more. It seemed he'd sighed more in the past twenty four hours than he had in his entire life.
"Father, did you need something?"
"Nothing in particular," Shibi replied smoothly as he stepped into the room.
He noted the respective expressions of frustration and aloofness on his sons' faces.
"Something the matter?" he asked casually. A little too casually.
"No, Father."
Shino was almost believable, Shibi decided. But not quite.
Shibi stared at his son for several minutes straight. To his credit, Shino never fidgeted or looked away. The Aburame clan elder had trained his son well.
"Hinata is a very special girl."
"I know."
"If you do want to pursue her, know that your mother and I give you our full support."
Several moments passed in silence. "Thank you, Father, but…"
Shibi waited.
Shino made up his mind. He would just have to tell them, or they would keep hounding him in their own quietly persistent—and not-so-quiet in the case of his brother—ways.
"You do care for her," Shibi noted.
Shino nodded. It was good to be honest with your family. "I care for her a great deal, but…Hinata's heart belongs to someone else." Somehow, admitting that information out loud was even more painful than thinking it quietly. It's like it was immutable now, carved in stone and incapable of being erased.
Shibiki blinked. Hinata loved someone else? He didn't know much about her, but her general behavior toward Shino…didn't match the actions of a girl who already had a boyfriend. Not that Hinata was ever improper. Quite the opposite, she was always refined and ladylike. It was quite subtle and probably unnoticeable if one wasn't looking for it. A shy but warm glance here, a gentle tug there, and the way she stood and sat just a bit closer than one would with a regular acquaintance; all of these clues added up to…something. But this was troubling news. Shibiki knew the pain of unrequited love. Many of the girls he'd expressed interest in had gently turned him down saying they were already interested in someone else. In some cases, he'd even suspected them of making up prior interests, just to avoid hurting his feelings. Shino's big brother sighed. What could he do to help his brother?
"Hey, Shino, let's go into town together," he decided.
Shino narrowed his eyes suspiciously behind his sunglasses. "Why?" he asked carefully.
"It's a vacation. We should go out, maybe meet some interesting people. It won't hurt you. Come on. It's still early in the day."
Shino appeared to consider. Then he nodded. "Alright."
Shibi watched his sons cross the courtyard. Tachoro joined them on the way out, and the three made their way to the village. The Aburame clan leader stood thinking for several minutes before going to find his wife.
(Author's Note: Oh dear. I wanted to mirror the names of the Aburame Clan with that of the Hyuuga, but I know it gets confusing. I have trouble keeping them straight, and I made them up! Thank you all for being patient!)
The confusing cast so far:
Shibi, Shino's Dad married to Kinako children are Shino and Shibiki
Shiribi, Shino's uncle married to Kaoru child is Shinomaru
Shino(well, yeah)
Shibiki, Shino's brother
Shoromaru, Shino's uncle/Shibi's cousin; sons are as follows
Sora married to Karimi child is Soramaru
Soru married to Karime child is Sorumaru
Sori married to Karika child is Kariko
