Why Me? || Shino Aburame x OC (Naruto)

6 : Hisako's Personal Training

'Focus, Hisako. Focus.'

The girl stood by the shore, feeling the cool winds against her skin. Her ears had little plugs in them, not allowing her to hear the waves that were close to crashing onto her feet.

Hisako stepped back from the waves, using only her instincts to do so. This method was a lot more calming than what she and Iruka used to do. She smiled to herself, remembering how Iruka would stand behind her and bonk her on the head with a rolled up piece of paper, and she had to dodge it in time. That training was the reason her instincts were so sharp, but it seems she still has trouble maintaining that focus.

She proved her own point once more when she felt the water splash at her feet, little droplets able to reach her top and even her face. Hisako sighed, slouching as she realized she lost focus once again. Before she even tried to dodge another wave, a bigger one splashed onto her even harder, her leggings and the edges of her skirt already beginning to become soaking wet. Hisako decided that would be enough of her personal training, and that she would return to the village.

It was already late at night, and she could hear the crickets sing about their nightly songs. Hisako hopped from branch to branch, a small yawn rising up from her throat. As she did so, her foot slipped from the branch, earning a shriek from the young girl as she fell down several feet onto the ground. She groaned in pain, feeling her body ache against the spiky feeling of branches and leaves. She definitely had cuts and bruises here and there, but she had the bush to thank for breaking her fall. Hisako tried pushing herself back onto her feet, but the aching pain was too much for her brittle body, so instead she lay there.

It was not long until she heard a pair of footsteps getting louder and louder, moving at a running pace towards the now injured girl.

"H-hello?" She called out to whoever it was. It was pretty careless for her, a shinobi, to be doing so, but she was desperate for help at this point. Besides, based on the length of her travel, she was already pretty close to the village.

The person stopped in front of her, sitting down in front of the bush and gently putting a hand on her bruised arm. Hisako winced, turning to the direction of where she thought the person was.

"A-are you evil?" She asked along with a nervous laugh. "I kinda just assumed you arent and I'm pretty helpless right now, so please just say yes or no."

"No."

Hisako widened her eyes. She recognized this voice.

"Shino Aburame!" Hisako said with a smile. "Oh thank the gods it's just you! I was kind of worried I'd run into some sort of gangster or criminal."

The girl laughed once more, feeling a lot more lighthearted when she recognized the person. Shino wanted to ask why she was here this late at night and how she even ended up like this, but knew he had to tend to her minor injuries first. He put his hand on her arm which was where most of the cuts were, and small insects began crawling from his hand to hers, making their way to suck up the blood and help close up the wound. Hisako squirmed as she felt this, but Shino put his other hand on his shoulder to try and reassure her.

"Don't worry." He spoke calmly. "They're going to stop the bleeding and help close the wound." Shino watched his insects silently before they crawled back into his sleeve and he sat the girl up.

"Woah... So you are a bug lover, but a way cooler one!" Hisako giggled, standing up and dusting the leaves off of her clothes. She tried to take a step but her foot felt like it would shatter as she walked. Shino noticed her pained gesture and stood beside her, putting her arm around his shoulders as he had his around her waist.

"Does it still hurt?" Shino asked, his voice showing concern despite it being very minimal.

"It's just from the fall, I don't think I broke anything!" Hisako laughed once more, making light out of any and every situation she was in. She leaned into Shino, accepting the support he was lending her as they began to make their way back to the village.

"I didn't expect to find anyone out here." Shino spoke first, sparking the mood of conversation between them.

"Neither did I, but here we are." Hisako gently shrugged. "Sekiro-sensei said I should train more, but I think I took it too far by training for this long..."

"It's dangerous to be out this late with no one to accompany you." Shino turned his head to look at her. "I'm sure training with other people will help greatly, as well."

"What about you?" She frowned. "You're out here all alone, too."

Well, that was true. Shino had no one else with him at the moment, so he sort of diminished his own point.

"I wanted to observe many of the more nocturnal insects, so I happened to run into you." For a moment, it was clear he let out a soft sigh, but with a thick turtlenecked jacket around his mouth, such soft sounds were muffled. "I didn't plan on going far, but then I heard you scream."

Hisako frowned. "It's a good thing it was just you, huh?"

Shino nodded. After a few seconds of thought, he responded with a simple "Yes."

The two eventually reached the village. Shino hopped down to the entrance, still holding Hisako close to him. He walked in, supporting her all the while. They stopped in their tracks, seeing Iruka and a few other ninja running towards them with worried faces. Shino glanced at Hisako, then back at the ninja before Iruka took her from his arms.

"Where did you go?!" Iruka asked, his voice full of worry as he hugged her close. "You didn't tell me anything!"

"Oops." Hisako laughed, rubbing the back of her neck gently. "I forgot to tell you I was going to go do my personal training... sorry."

Iruka sighed. He was simply relieved she had returned. He looked at Shino who still stood silently in front of them, giving the boy a gentle smile and nod, thankful for what he has done.

"Thank you, Shino." Iruka said gently and Shino nodded.

As the two continued their reunion/scolding, Shino and the other ninja had turned away and went back on their own tracks. Iruka had lifted Hisako onto his back as they began to head back home, laughing into the quiet streets as Iruka lightly teased the girl about her recent encounter. When they arrived home, Hisako entered her room as she changed out of her clothes and undid her hair.

The girl stretched, slowly walking to her desk and sat down, feeling the nightly breeze coming from outside her window. As she put her hands down on her desk, she flinched, feeling something that she doesn't remember putting there. In fact, it was something she doesn't remember owning. She picked up the two items; a hairpin and a note. The hairpin felt a bit heavy as well as cold, like it was made from some sort of stone or jewel. She set it aside, most shocked by the letter.

She felt it with her thumbs, noticing that whoever had written the letter had made the words pop out of the paper, allowing her to feel what was written on it. Whoever wrote this must have known she was blind, so it was from someone she already knew. After much delay, she finally decided to read what was written.

'To my dearest Hisako,'

Dearest? That felt a little creepy. She shuddered a bit, but continued on.

'It has been years since I last saw you, and you have been growing well under Iruka's care. I'm not sure if he told you the story of your mother, but I hope he did.'

Hisako sighed softly. He did tell her that story, and she thinks about it more than she probably should.

'Your mother had promised to come back for you, but I'm afraid that won't be fulfilled. I am filled with guilt of my inability to protect her, and I won't let that happen to you. I promise you Hisako, this will all be over and we can once again be the family we were. Your mother is no longer with us, but I won't give you any false hope that she is. I love you so much, and I'm sorry I'm only reaching out now.'

Your father,
Goemon Ishikawa.'