Welcome to England
Welcome to my world…
When Shino Aburame had gone down the pub with his old team mates, Kiba and Hinata, and told them that he and his girlfriend Emiko Mizuhara were expecting their first child, Kiba had spat out his drink and said, "Bollocks."
"'Bollocks'?" repeated Shino. "Really?"
"Sorry," said Kiba, wiping foam from his beard. "It's just, well, you're…oh, gods, how do I put this? I never thought you of all people would be having kids."
Shino sighed. "Where did you get that impression? I'm not like your husband. I like children. It's been in the pipeline for a while now. Why? Because the Aburame clan will need an heir. And also, more importantly, because Emiko and I have always wanted larvae…I mean, children of our own." Shino sometimes forgot that most people outside the Aburame clan did not generally refer to babies as 'grubs' or 'larvae'.
Hinata's reaction had been more normal, unsurprisingly. She was a mother of three herself. She had hugged Shino and plagued him with questions. When did they find out? (When Emiko had been sick one too many times, and had bought a pregnancy test.) Was Emiko bothered about the incubation? (A little, but she understood why it had to be done, and Shibi had reassured her that they would take the utmost care not to hurt the baby, and to do it as quickly as possible.) Were they going to find out the sex of the baby beforehand? (No, they wanted it to be a surprise. Why? Because all that concerned them was that the baby was alive, and healthy.) She had some of Hiyori, Hiroshi and Kanae's old baby clothes left if he needed any, and so on.
"You and Kou are going to have to give us parenting advice," Shino had said, laughing. "And Sensei as well." Then Kiba proposed a toast to the new baby. The three former members of Team 8 banged their glasses of sake together. Shino was not much of a drinker – it made him talk too much – but this night warranted one.
Nine months later, a rather soaked messenger from Konoha Hospital appeared at the ANBU headquarters asking for Captain Aburame. "Captain Shino Aburame," she specified, since there were several members of the clan in the ANBU. "He's wanted down the hospital. Emiko's in labour."
Sai Yamanaka, Shino's friend and ANBU squad partner, and the father of a young boy himself, found Shino outside in the pissing rain, throwing kunai at a target. "Hey," he said, "you'd better get down the hospital. Looks like the baby's coming." He clapped Shino on the back awkwardly. "Welcome to the club, or whatever it is I'm supposed to say."
"Best get going, then," said Shino. "I'll send word via the bugs." He walked away from the range, and then, in a sudden fit of spontaneity, broke out into a run. Raindrops spattered on his insect mask, and the noise was irritating, but at least he could see through the eyeholes. It was not good weather for sunglasses. He was running against the rain, and it was getting torrential and unpleasantly cold. Luckily, the hospital was only a few blocks away. Seeing the ANBU uniform, people automatically stepped out of the way to let him pass.
Shino leaned against the doorframe at the main entrance of Konoha Hospital, caught his breath, and entered. The familiar white walls calmed him. A young receptionist with lurid pink hair, whose nametag said 'Dr Yuka Yamaguchi, Neurology', looked up from her computer. Shino removed his mask.
"Rotten weather," said Dr Yamaguchi sympathetically. "You'd better bring your own sun." She looked down at her computer. "Can I take your details?"
Shino gave his name, address and academy number, and showed his ANBU ID card. "Could you tell me what ward Emiko Mizuhara's on, please?"
"Mizuhara…Mizuhara…" Yuka repeated, typing frantically. "Let me see…ah yes, Tsubaki Ward. Corridor that way, take the stairs at the end, then take the blue route, it's all signposted. They might not let you in, though. Let me ring them." Shino waited patiently while the doctor dialled the ward's extension. Unlike Kiba, he could wait. In the ANBU, it paid to be patient. He sat down on one of the benches padded with red vinyl that lay against the wall, ignoring the magazines on the table.
Dr Yamaguchi was on the phone. She had her back to Shino – not good practice for a receptionist, he thought, but maybe the presence of an ANBU, a member of one of Konoha's stealthiest clans at that, had reassured her. Then she turned round, a big smile on her face, and said, "Go on up. They're waiting for you. Emiko had the baby about five minutes ago, apparently."
In the Tsubaki Ward, behind daisy-covered curtains, Emiko Mizuhara lay exhausted in bed as the blue-haired midwife – clan unknown, if any – gently wiped down her new baby son. The curtains parted, and Shino appeared.
"Sorry I couldn't be with you," said Shino. "Why? Because I was training. Target practice."
"At least you're here now," Emiko said sleepily. She was a thin little thing with frizzy light brown hair and freckles, and, like most small women in Konoha, had looked positively gargantuan while she was pregnant. As though she were about to burst open, Shino thought, though he did not say as much.
The midwife passed Shino the baby, saying, "Look, here's Daddy." Shino looked down at the little bundle, swaddled in blankets like a real larva.
This is my son. I am a father now. My father is a grandfather.
He was not a demonstrative man. Other men would have sung or danced or swung the baby around, perhaps (Kiba would have), but Shino simply looked at the bundle in his arms, smiling slightly, and said, "Hello, little one."
In ten days' time, the insects, as per Aburame tradition, would be implanted in the baby's body. He and Emiko had been through it all once they realised their relationship was serious. "I'm going to go through the process with you step by step," Shino had explained. "Why? Because many outsiders find the idea of insects being implanted into their baby disgusting, and I want to be honest with you. Even if you find the idea repellent." He told her how, when a new baby was born in the clan, they were given a spoonful of medicine which contained tiny bug larva. The larva would hatch and multiply, feeding off the baby's chakra and living within its belly, then spreading out into its body, hiding under its skin. Apart from some slight itching, it was generally not a painful process, but the idea of turning people into human hives was one that disgusted outsiders, and it was for this reason that members of the clan generally did not marry out. Shino had dated women in the ANBU before, but Emiko was different. For a start, she actually liked insects. She reckoned that if she hadn't joined the ANBU, she would have been an entomologist, or perhaps kept bees. "Insects are so underrated," she had once said. "Everyone cares about cute fluffy mammals, your cats, your dogs, your bunnies, but insects? Nah, not cute enough. Even though bees keep the ecosystem going…" As he had listened to her enthusing about bees, Shino had thought, And there it is. Now, she was smiling up at him.
"Is there anything I should get you from home?" Shino asked, and Emiko said, "No, I think I've got everything. I must have at least five pairs of knickers in here."
Then it was time to let mother and baby rest. Shino left the hospital, with the promise that he would return in the next visiting slot a few hours later. Outside, bright slices of sunlight pierced the clouds.