"Please consider." The woman pleaded, seeming almost desperate to convince the Chunin. She held her child close to her chest, clenching the blankets that kept the sleeping child warm and safe. Iruka wanted to sigh, but instead looked at the woman, sympathetic, before speaking.
"Look, Aiya..." He spoke, sitting down in front of her as the brunette woman anxiously listened. "I...I would really like to help, but..." Iruka paused after a phrase.
Aiya blinked a few times. "...What do you mean?" Her eyes widened, almost crying. "Iruka, please! We don't have much time! I need to--We need to--!"
She burst into tears, looking back at her friend, once again desperate. When she spoke, her voice was softer, more emotional, but continued to keep her voice down. "Iruka, please. If you won't do it for me, if you won't do it for Goemon, please, do it for her."
Aiya stood up, gently laying the child in his arms as Iruka was hesitant to hold her, but he did so anyway.
"Please... Do it for Hisako. Goemon and I had a future planned together... A future planned with Hisako, but now..." Aiya shook her head, a sad smile on her face as she wiped away her tears. "We may no longer accompany her."
Iruka rocked the child back and forth as he bit his lip. He looked back up at Aiya.
"You're... You're really dealing with this all by yourself? Aiya, at this point..." Iruka gulped, looking her directly in the eye. "...You'll end up just like your husband."
The woman smiled, her eyes narrowing in gentle despair as she chuckled slightly. "I don't want to run away forever, Iruka. Not with Hisako." She glanced down at her child. "She'll be safer if she's with you. Let me deal with the problems Goemon and I caused, just as it was meant to be."
Iruka opened his mouth to speak, but then he stayed quiet. Aiya sighed, calming down after a minute or so.
"When will you be back?"
The Chunin asked, sweat trickling down his neck at the thought of this child losing her mother. She didn't have to go through the same thing as he did, but it could still happen. Aiya's smile slowly disappeared, but then came back in a comforting manner.
"I may be back two weeks from now, or maybe two years from now. I might not even return." Aiya gently caressed her child's sleeping face, her eyes filled with all the love only a mother could truly give. "Years from now, if I still don't return, you can enroll her in the Ninja Academy. However..."
Aiya's face dimmed a bit, and Iruka raised an eyebrow. "However...?"
She glanced down at Hisako once more as the young child slowly awoke, looking around curiously as Iruka widened his eyes.
"Her eyes...! She's--"
"Yes." Aiya nodded before Iruka could even finish his question. It was once again clear that she was in a hurry. "She was blinded by a smoke bomb on the way here."
"Then won't it be futile for her to join the Academy like this?" Iruka asked, worried for the child's future.
"Don't worry about her, Iruka." Aiya chuckled, giving a warm smile. "She possesses her father's Ryogaegan. It was his clan's Kekkei Genkai, allowing her to borrow someone else's eyesight. With this ability, she should be able to keep up fairly with her classmates."
"Even so." Iruka sighed once more, looking back up at the woman. "Why is it important for her to attend the Ninja Academy anyway?"
"Think about it. If I...die, during my personal mission. They will be after her. Even if I succeeded, there are still many who may hunt her down just because of Goemon."
"I understand." Iruka nodded, standing up with Hisako in his arms. "I'll care for her until you return."
"M-mom...?" Hisako's meek voice spoke, slightly shivering when she realized the one who carried her was some unknown man. "M-mom... Are you there? Where am I? My eyes hurt..."
"I'm sorry, Hisako... Iruka will take care of you from now on. I may return one day, please wait for me."
Aiya smiled, walking up to them and bending over to give her child one last tender kiss. She wiped away another tear, breathing in and exhaling sharply when she snapped back to reality.
"I'm counting on you, Iruka."
A/N: I haven't seen many Shino fanfics out there, and I really like him so here it is guys! The art is mine and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!
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Why Me? || Shino Aburame x OC (Naruto)
Fanfiction"...Why me?" "Hm?" Hisako looked away, "Why me? It's a simple question." The girl with a hair of strawberry blonde blushed, not wanting to make eye contact with the boy. It's not like she could, anyway. She couldn't even see his eyes, even if she...
