102How and Why
Chapter 27:
A/N:The end is nigh. I wonder if I'll write anything else for this pairing. I still really like this pairing and the fandom is sparse. I don't guess I'll know if I lost anyone for a while with the new style or not, but if I do, drop a review anyways. I know the new material sometimes sucks when you've got the nostalgia going. I hope I'm doing this justice since the original plot ending is pretty much been redesigned completely. I got the gist, but that's about it.
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While unconscious the tenuous distance on the shadow hold slipped and the reverberations controlling the Kikaichu echoing through the air in Konoha weren't enough to keep their wedding crashers informed on what was happening. They hadn't planned on Shino's family and friends to conspire against him and lock him in genjutsu so powerful the fog was impenetrable. The girl had seemed to have fallen for their plan and trusted him again for just a moment. Conniving witch.
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Together the three of them busied themselves removing his clan trait, the Kikaichu. Sakura carefully replaced his glasses for when he awoke and would no longer be able to adjust his eyes. She bit her lip. "This is temporary."
Shibi gave the girl a small smile and continued his concentration, flushing his son's system with a current of chakra to drown the Kikaichu in, washing through, creating new holes trying to escape the flux of unfamiliar and deadly energy. On his chest, through his shirt small pores opened up in a grid of insects attempting to escape and later return to their familiar chakra signature and master. Only to be destroyed upon exit by Tsunade. Sakura kept everything hygienic and cleaned up, unable to concentrate on much else, truly wondering if destroying something that made Shino himself would be a forgivable offense.
So positive in her conviction that she was right about what had happened in this regard, when Shibi declared the last Kikaichu was dead and swept away from him, she leaned her head to his forehead and wept for the umpteenth time that night.
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Shino woke up groggy. Apparently someone had moved him to the bed after deciding to have mercy on him. His father sat on the end of the bed in a darkened room with the curtains drawn watching him as Sakura grasped his hand and drifted in and out of sleep.
Wait. His father. "What day is it?"
"Good morning. Well, afternoon. Sakura said something about you having a deadline. Today's the 18th. What's supposed to happen? You've been out for 2 days already."
"That's perfect," He growled, "I was all worried and it's not even the 19th yet! Here you are in front of me, and it's not even the day I'm supposed to kill you!"
"Oh... Well aren't I fortunate." Shino, had he been as emotional as his two days of anesthetic would have allowed, could've gaped slack jawed at him.
"You figured it out? When you saw it. I don't remember you being there, dad, although I can't say I'm not grateful." He tacked onto the end, looking at Sakura who was at least okay enough to doze off around him without crying.
"I was only in the house when you were asleep and to be fair I was rather late. She figured you had something wrong with you in the killing me vein and decided to keep me away until I was necessary. She's the one who figured it out. Her and the Hokage. Care to illuminate to the ANBU who did this?"
Shino smirked. "It was you, dad, and your horrible taste in women. One of my suitors was a sound Ninja in disguise hoping to be more powerful, Keiko. I don't think she got the bugs in the skin memo," Shibi flinched internally, "she and her brother pretended to be the ninja from the waves. They were rather sharp, I'm surprised we didn't notice it. I don't know where they held me though."
In an instant the ANBU in the room faded into darkness and disappeared to inform the Hokage and begin updated the bingo book. They would probably start looking for leads too he imagined.
As Shino began to stir, Sakura followed suit and she immediately sat up and released his hand. Shibi leaned forward and told Sakura something quietly, waited for her nod and looked back at Shino. "Well, you both have things to discuss, so I'll be right out in the living room. Sakura, your mother should be back soon if you need anything. Shino," Shibi faltered, briefly seeming alarmingly choked up for how calm or proper he usually alternated between, "remember, there's nothing more important than the fact that you're here and safe. I'm right outside."
This certainly was a surprising coma to wake up from. He turned to Sakura sitting rigid on the bed beside him and situated himself accordingly. "Did you... I can explain again for you."
"I caught some of it. Everything I needed anyways. It's not your fault Shino."
"Sakura, I-" He swallowed, "of course now I can't talk. I'm just, I'm so sorry. I thought you'd hate me. I could remember bits of everything" he looked down and picked at a fiber on the blanket coming loose, "I was worse than Sasuke and it was in front of everyone and I could hear it coming out and I knew what I was going to say and I couldn't stop it. I hate myself for doing that to you." He leaned forward and touched her arms where she had dug her nails in.
"Okay, while I don't know about that because you definitely had a worse venue, but Sasuke did that forever, and you couldn't control any of it. Shino, there's something I've got to tell you."
He prepared himself for the leaving him conversation, opened his mouth but nothing came out again so he just nodded.
"Shino, I told you I love you and that hasn't changed, but the way they were controlling you wasn't all a shadow control. They messed with the Kikaichu somehow. Overloaded them into listening to someone other than you."
He closed his eyes, having been so focused on hating himself and Sakura rejecting him he hadn't noticed. "They're... all gone, aren't they."
"Tsunade and I talked to Shibi, and we didn't know what the danger was or the time constraint and he couldn't think of a way to take them away when we don't know how they were controlled and they were specific to you." She hung her head and grabbed his hand again hugging it to her face. "We didn't know how much time we had. If we had any at all. Please, Shino, it was my fault. My idea."
Racking through the channels, Shino realized that indeed they were empty. "I wasn't expecting this, but I understand. My timeline was for tomorrow, but I didn't have the days nailed down. I can see why you wouldn't tell me." He leaned forward and moved her hair with the hand she refused to let go of. "I probably prefer you and my father and the village alive to a clan trait anyways." Watching her face shift up into a vibrant smile as she stole his glasses so he could see her pretty green eyes made everything fall away from him. "I'm so sorry I ever made this smile falter. Tsunade was right. I should be imprisoned."
"You're too much, ya know that." Sakura giggled and shoved him back a bit.
Of course nothing to interrupt like a knock at the door. Sayuri slipped in with her eyes closed. "Am I interrupting the reunion?"
Sakura rolled her eyes, "Mom it's not like you know there's a happy reunion taking place."
Peeking out from between her fingers, she laughed, "Well true but I can hear you laughing through the door. Thin walls and all. Shino, your dad wanted me to tell you that he's going to the other clan members to try and find a solution for your situation. Also I know you all didn't notice or anything but Shino the bugs kind of left a lot of non self healing holes in you that we should gauze up. At least until they try to reintroduce you to bugs... I'm going to stay home for that part. I'll run to talk to Shibi, tell him your up, but I'll be back okay."
Sakura rolled her eyes. "Okay. Do you want food Shino? You've been asleep."
"Ah. Probably." Like nothing had changed, Shino put his glasses on and walked out of their room trudging behind Sakura awestruck that she ever even looked back at him.
As she started digging through the kitchen, he watched he smile and hum to herself like everything in her world had been righted and she'd never felt any pain.
"Sakura."
"Yeah? Do you want muffins? Or Pancakes? Or Lunch things?"
"Whatever you want."
"Pancakes! Yay." She glimmered in the light and began preparing.
He caught her wrist one more time and stopped her walking away. "I couldn't imagine a more perfect Aburame. You're wonderful. Beautiful. Sakura. Will you please, I mean, would you want to marry me?"
"I'm surprised it took you this long." She smiled and leaned into his embrace, "I only wish I could take your glasses off." She teased as she kissed him, sweet and renewed and full of promise and happiness.
He smiled into the embrace. "Soon."
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Shibi sighed as he sat down on the bench, since Sayuri wouldn't let him go into the house. "Exactly how long am I supposed to wait for to knock."
She glared at him, mostly teasing and replied, "Well ideally until tomorrow! You think they want to have anything to do with us when you know they've just made up? Honestly."
"This is great news though! Working with extended members of the clan to give Shino back a very important part of himself is extremely important. He's lucky they even considered it since it keeps a vast majority of them from becoming clan leader opportunists."
"Chibi-chan, you're just going to have to deal with the fact that being alive and in love is better news."
He rolled his eyes skyward and he heard another peal of giggles through the door as he went to knock.
At this rate, he'd sit on the bench all night.
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A/N: That's the end... I hope it didn't seem rushed or cheesy or anything. I did my best with a very old prompt. Leave me reviews and maybe I'll make an epilogue or something, to return to a completely light subject matter chapter. I've literally worked on this from 6 am to 3pm today, which this story deserved. So for now I'm done. Thank you so much if you've made it this far. I know the waits been long.
I kind of miss the story already- S. Savior.