"Shiba, you're starting to scare me." Shimuro stared at Shiba, who bounced slightly on her tip toes as she glanced out the window.

"Hm?" she hummed as she continued her off-beat bouncing.

"You've been doing that for the past hour." Shimuro stated.

"I concur." Shibi spoke as he walked in to the room. "You're quite excited, Shiba."

"I am, aren't I?" Shiba replied.

"Quite. We would love to partake in this excitement. What, may I ask, has you in such a jolly mood?" Shibi asked.

"Oh, nothing." Shiba smiled and continued her humming.

Shibi planted his good hand on his hip and stared at his sister, his glasses conveniently lowered as he quirked his brow. Shimuro crossed his arms, and both brothers continued their glaring until she turned around.

"What?" Shiba asked.

"There's something you're not telling us." Shimuro answered.

Shiva scoffed. "Nonsense."

"Liar. All of us here know you have an excitement tick you can't control." Shibi replied, "Every time you're overjoyed, or excited, you rock yourself back and forth on your toes until, eventually, you start to bounce. You do the same thing... when you know something we don't."

Shiba bit her lip. "You're being too over-observant, Shibi."

"Yes, I am." Shibi grinned. "It's what happens when you're part of the interrogation team among the Jonin ranks. It's what happens when you're in the line of work where it means the life or death of you and your entire squad if even the most minuscule and irrelevant detail is overlooked. And, quite frankly, it's also what happens when you grow up with an older sister who always has the potential to be...secretive."

"So, spit it out, Shiba." Shimuro fought back a smile. "What are you hiding?"

Shiba nibbled on her lip. She did not hide her excitement too well at all, and now she was screwed. There was no getting out of this situation with her two brothers, especially now that they knew she was hiding something. Something that they had every right to know.

She began to pace.

The conflict formed itself in her mind on whether or not she should tell them Hinata's great news. She had asked her not to tell anyone until she had told Shino, and Shiba was more than okay with that. But now, her brothers were on to her, and the urge to slip was too great for her to ignore.

"Nothing." Shiba spoke firmly. "I am hiding nothing. What do I need to hide from you, my brothers?"

"The last dango stick that was on the table, apparently." Shibi frowned, "Not to mention the million things you've hidden from us in the past, like our glasses, our weapons, our shoes, your many boyfriends. The list is endless."

"First of all," Shiba grinned. "It's a boyfriend, who just so happens to be the same man I married. You know that. Secondly," she placed her palms on her hips. "That dango stick was on the table, an empty table, in the kitchen, and an empty kitchen at that. You know as well as I do that any food that's unclaimed in this house belongs to the person who finds it in the first five minutes."

"I told you you should have eaten it when you had the chance." Shimuro grumbled lowly.

"That could have been poisoned for all you knew." Shibi grumbled.

Shiba smiled triumphantly. "But it wasn't. So, I win. Hahaha."

Shibi smiled. "You're still avoiding the subject."

"I am not avoiding anything." Shiba answered.

"There is something you're hiding."

"No, I am not." she bit her lip in an attempt to hide her smile.

Shibi and Shimuro turned to each other and then to her, making Shiba groan. They were not going to let her get out of this that easily.

Hinata's heartbeat thundered through her ears as she held Shino's hands in an attempt to remain calm and recollect her thoughts. There were many ways this could go wrong. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him because of any sort of agitation. She needed to choose her words carefully.

Shino, on the other hand, was already on edge. The longer the silence loomed over them, the more his anxiety spiked. He tried to focus on the gentle strokes of Hinata's hands over his own, but it ceased to help him once he noticed her hands tremble a little more with each passing moment until he felt the cold sweat from her palms.

"Hinata?" Shino spoke.

Hinata broke away from her concentration. "I-I'm sorry." she began.

Shino tightened his grip over her hands and held them close. "Hinata," he murmured, "What is it?"

Hinata nibbled her lower lip and took a deep breath. "I'm trying to...say this to you without hurting you, Shino."

Shino's heart almost plummeted to the pit of his stomach. "Is.. Is there something wrong?"

Hinata blinked, then the realization of what she had said set in. "Oh, no, no." she gripped his hands gently, "No, nothing's wrong. I just, have some...good news, but... I don't want to... make you hurt yourself...you know?"

"Oh..." Shino exhaled and sat up slowly.

Hinata sighed and sat closer to him. "Shino, promise me you won't...over react."

Shino chuckled. "When have I ever over reacted, Hinata?"

"Just promise me... It's.. kind of hard enough to tell you this as it is."

"Alright, alright. I promise." Shino stroked her hand. "What is it?"

Hinata hesitated. "Do...do you remember the night of the festival?"

Shino stiffened and blushed. "Yes." he replied sheepishly.

Hinata blushed as well. "Do...you know how long it's been?"

Shino remained silent and cleared his throat. "About... a month or so ago. Why?"

Hinata swallowed the lump lodged in her throat as she exhaled. Slowly, she brought his hands up and held them over her abdomen. She bit her lip as she raised her head to look at him.

He seemed puzzled. Then, the longer his fingers slowly felt around her stomach, his body became rigid with the sudden realization.

"Hinata." His voice sounded almost hoarse. "Are you..."

"I am." She spoke softly. "I... I found out today."

Shino's jaw slacked as he held his hands firmly against her. He let out a soft chuckle as he cupped his mouth with his hand.

"Please, Shino." Tears fell down her face as she tried to keep him calm. "Please, don't hurt yourself."

"I'm...fine." Shino's voice rasped softly.

Relief pooled itself through every single one of his pores like a refreshing splash of water. Yet, though it calmed him, he had already strained himself emotionally from the tension. Even so, he fought the pull of exhaustion and the urge to weep out of the intense joy that he felt. He held Hinata close, gently palming her abdomen as he smiled.

"How..did you find out?"

Hinata placed her hands over his own and smiled to herself. "Shiva looked me over after I told her that I've been nauseous pretty frequently over the past couple of weeks.."

"Shiva...knows?" Shino asked.

Hinata nodded. "Yes."

He groaned. Hinata smiled and laughed nervously.

"I made her promise not to tell anyone until I had the chance to tell you, Shino." Hinata explained sheepishly.

Shino sighed. "That means everyone knows by now."

"Probably so..." Hinata frowned.

They remained quiet while they enjoyed each other's company, and for a moment, time disappeared. It was soothing, the way that he held her, and though Hinata tried not to lean too much of her weight on him for fear of hurting him, she almost melted into his arms. It felt like it had been an eternity since he last held her so close.

"Hinata?" he finally spoke.

"Yes?"

She looked at him and blinked.

"Do...you think I'll be a good father?" he almost whispered.

"Of course you will, Shino." Hinata responded. "Why wouldn't you be?"

He remained silent for a moment. Hinata gently stroked his jawline with her finger and gently brought his face to hers.

"Shino..." she began, "Why would you say that?"

Though he was more than overjoyed that he was going to be a father, he knew all too well what would happen next: the hive ritual that paired each Aburame with their chosen insects. He tensed.

The child would, without a doubt, inherit Hinata's kekkei-genkai. The Byakugan was embedded into every Hyuuga, and even though the child in question would be only half-Hyuuga, this specific bloodline trait would be strong enough to where it will still be present in the child's gene pool. If that was the case, the child would have a higher chance of surviving the ritual. However, that would also increase the chances of the child being blind for the rest of their life.

The Byakugan, when used properly, will allow the person in question to have hyper-vision, thus enabling them to have a near 360 degree field of vision as well as seeing incredibly small objects from far away and seeing in infrared. Despite all of the perks of the kekkei-genkai, it does cause temporary blindness when over-used. That downside would more than triple if the child also manipulates the Aburame Clan's kikaichu.

"Shino!"

Shino jolted. Hinata held his head up, her hands quivering.

"Shino, are you alright?" she spoke.

"I'm fine...Hinata." He replied.

He took her hands in his and held them.

"Are you sure?" Hinata asked.

"Yes.. I'm just a bit tired, is all."

He forced a smile and kissed her palms. "Hinata... I'm absolutely ecstatic that you're with child. I'm honored...that you've given me a chance to experience that with you. I just... I feel that you need to know that-"

The words lodged in his throat when Hinata embraced him gently. Slowly, she helped him lie down, much to his surprise, and kissed him. "We can talk about it after you rest, alright?"

Shino breathed softly and nodded. Hinata ran her fingers through his hair and pulled his blanket up to his torso. Her gentle administrations did little to soothe him now that the realization had set in, but the stress of it was already taxing up what little energy he had left. Instead of fighting with his thoughts, he made himself as comfortable as he could. There was time for discussing the details later.

"Will you stay?" Shino asked softly.

Hinata smiled. "After all that's happened, do you think I would leave?"

Shino stroked his thumb over her hand. "I wouldn't try to stop you if you did want to leave." he murmured.

As much as it would hurt to let you go...

Hinata kissed his forehead and embraced him as gently as she could. "I won't leave, Shino.. Not now or ever."

Good God, it's been too long... ;-; Good news is that I'm graduating soon, bad news is I just don't have time for anything else anymore. This has been sitting around for a good while in my computer, so I tidied it up as best as I thought would do. It's about time I updated this :) We're almost to the end, people! :D