Ojos Asi [[private -- nyrax]]

Shino gave the smallest of laughs at Shai's comment before turning his head to look at the boy. "Well how will I know she's not smiling at you? After all I'm holding you, maybe it's you that she's in love with?" Shino suggested in a teasing voice before using one hand to very lightly tickle Shai.

Shai burst into a small fit of laughter. "W-well, I guess that you won't know. After all, everyone loves me, and I bet she loves me too. But..." She Uchiha child said, pulling Shino's jacket. "I bet she loves you more than me."

"I guess that's another thing on my list to ask her once she wakes up huh?" Shino said with a laugh as he really did appreciate what Shai was doing. So many people had just asked how he was feeling, Shai in his childish innocence was just himself. It made Shino smile, as the boy always did.

"So, did you all come just to give Aaliyah her treatment? Or was there anything else?" Shino asked curiously as he glanced in the direction of Sakura and Karin.

Sakura nodded. "That's pretty much it, yes."

Sasuke wasn't looking at Sakura, however. Instead, he was watching Karin. "No." He stated, seeing the look that crossed the tracker's face. "There's more to it than that." He watched his wife as she turned to him rather surprised. "What is it, Sakura?"

The pink haired shinobi turned to her husband, surprised. She bit her lip and sighed, her eyes going to Karin.

Karin, feeling that everyone was now looking at her, rolled her eyes and pushed up her glasses. "I have sensed shinobi around the village in a means that makes me believe that they're surveying the village. The Hokage is already aware and has done something about it. So, now we just wait until they return."

Shino was quiet for a moment as Karin explained why they had come here, apparently there really was another reason that they were here. Shino had a feeling, but it was nice to confirm that even in his vulnerable state he wasn't losing his ability to read people. Once the entire situation was explained Shino couldn't help but wonder if there was any more. "Have you found anything to believe that Youki is somehow involved with any of this?"

Karin shook her head. "I haven't sensed his chakra or the chakra of any of his siblings. I would have reported that much sooner than just shinobi approaching the immediate border of the village. At first, because they were Kiri shinobi, I assumed they were checking the village to make sure it's safe for when the Mizukage arrives, but apparently that's not the case, since I've sensed chakra signatures that are common in other villages."

Sasuke had just picked up Shai from Shino and was stopping the boy from fussing. "Tsunade expected that as well. ANBU was instructed to watch them but let them pass through. The Mizukage will arrive tomorrow with whatever bodyguards they see fit to protect them. We have some shinobi on standby to receive the Mizukage and they're spread out at checkpoints. Kakashi is one of the shinobi that went to Kiri to escort her back to Konoha." He shifted Shai in his arms and bent down to pick up the toy his son was trying to grab and handed it to him so he could keep talking.

"I assume that it was more than just security. Suna is on alert in case anything happens, and Gaara sent us a team of shinobi in case anything happens." He paused for a moment, looking at his wife who was now beside him.

Sakura bit her lip, resting a hand on Sasuke's chest. "There's a rumor that they're going to have a kage summit." She said quietly. "The way that things are going now seems to demand it. With the Mizukage here and Gaara so close by it makes sense that with three Kage together, they would do something like that. And, whereas Konoha isn't the best place to hold it, it's probably the most likely village for such a thing to be agreed upon."

"Things are escalating quickly," Shino remarked more to himself than anyone else. His eyes were closed, despite the fact that no one seemed to be able to tell, which is what he usually did when he was concentrating on something. Why were so many shinobi from different villages all investigating Konoha. It was one coincidence to find them spying, but it was another altogether for so many villages to be doing this all at the same time. What could it all mean?

Shino didn't know, and that worried him more than anything else.

"A kage summit, damn I don't even remember when the last one was," Suigetsu chimed in as the conversation seemed to keep getting more and more intense. He just wasn't sure what any of this was going to lead to, whatever it was it couldn't be good though. "Everything just seems to keep escalating. The more victories we make, the more problems that keep showing up."

"It's more than that." Sasuke said to build off the point Suigetsu made. "It's more than Konoha winning victories, it;s Youki too. It's invaded other villages, stolen their shinobi, their resources. He's been feeding off of other villages cast aways. That's how he made his teams, it's how he's made a living and survived. It's starting to get annoying to the leaders of those villages, since he is in part targeting them as well. He involved Suna in the last ploy he had and there's rumors that he's pulled the same general stunts with other villages. Now, there are rumors that he's made an alliance with the Akatsuki. The dynamic of the world is changing and we need to make sure that that part of the world doesn't get the upper hand."

"Call it whatever you want, it's annoying as hell," Suigetsu said bluntly after Sasuke made his point. He could see where the Uchiha was coming from, but it didn't serve to make him feel any better about the situation. Of course, Sasuke was never one to really provide the positive spin of a situation. Rather, he spoke the needed truth so that no one would forget what was important and necessary. Youki was either spreading his wings, or he was only securing the noose around his neck. If the villages got wise, they'd see the cumulative threat that he was becoming and promptly silence him.

"At any rate, whatever this thing is...we'll deal with it."

Sasuke smirked at Suigetsu. "We're already dealing with it. Youki has caused a mess everywhere and we're still cleaning it up." He said with a sigh, wrapping the arm that wasn't supporting his son around his wife. He kissed Sakura's temple and looked down at her. Things were okay. Despite all that happened, they were all still standing. Konoha was still standing and all of them were still alive.

"No matter what he's planning, we'll be there to kick his a--" He winced when Sakura elbowed him in the ribs. He glanced down at her.

"Kick his what?" Shai asked suddenly.

"We'll get him good." Sasuke corrected himself.

"I guess that's true," Suigetsu admitted with a small smile as he thought about everything that they had done in order to counter Youki's movements to this point. It was still annoying to deal with the same pest over and over again. They had bested him and his strategies, so why didn't he die and fade away like all old warriors needed to do? Suigetsu just wanted this madness to end, and to think that it wasn't even his village.

Shino laughed as Sasuke was nearly caught swearing in front of his son. "Get him good is right, Youki won't know what hit him when we're done with him," Shino remarked as he glanced to both Sasuke and Suigetsu before nodding in both of their directions.

Sasuke smiled when Shino laughed. It was the first time he'd seen him smile before Shai came and for that, it made the Uchiha grateful for his son. Shai was truly his redemption and his reason to live for something other than himself, something other than revenge. And, it seemed that Shai had the same power over others that he did on Sasuke. That made him grateful and he rubbed the top of his son's head and kissed his forehead.

Shai looked up at his father, blinking his large green eyes. While he wasn't surprised by the affection, he wasn't sure what motivated it, especially since Shai assumed he had said something bad in the presence of his father. "I'll help you kick his butt!" Shai said, thrusting out one of his hands in a punch.

"I have no doubt of that, if your ability right now is anything to be measured you'll make a great shinobi one day. You'll have your own victories to celebrate some day," Shino said as he held his smile in Shai's direction. The boy truly was everything that a parent could hope for, and he was the perfect child to remind Sasuke what he was fighting for. It wasn't just the village anymore.

Shai smiled at Shino and started to squirm in Sasuke's arms. It seemed that when Shai was talking to someone, he didn't bother to ask to be put down, but rather attempted to get free instead. Truthfully, Sasuke didn't have a problem with this, so he put Shai down when he started to squirm.

The Uchiha child then walked over to Shino, looking up at him with a broad smile on his face. He nodded happily. "I'll make you proud. I already promised that, remember? But the good new is that I'll be able to help you now. I'll be there to help take down Youki. He's a bad man and he hurts people. I won't let him hurt anyone!"

"I do remember Shai," Shino said as he got down on to one knee in order to look the boy more closely in the face. He wanted to talk to Shai like he was an equal, not like a child. While Shai was a child, he knew that he didn't really like it when people went out of their way to treat him like one. "We'll deal with Youki as he comes, and I promise that he'll fall soon enough Shai. He can't defeat all of the strength that Konoha has to offer."

Shai had always liked Shino because he treated him differently than most people did. Much like Naruto, Shino listened to Shai when he spoke and treated him as an equal because of it. Such a thing made the boy happy and drew him to both men. "And when he falls we'll have a party to celebrate because it means that Aaliyah will be completely free, right?" Whereas Shai didn't always understand everything that was said around him, he did a pretty good job remembering it all and could bring it up in correct context.

"Believe me Shai, it'll be a party unlike what Konoha has seen in YEARS," Shino said as he emphasized the last word strongly. He wanted Shai to really believe what he was saying, and Shino wanted to believe it as well. "Everyone will be there, and there will be food, music, dancing, fireworks, everything that a party needs. It'll be a real victory for the village Shai, and you'll see how happy this home of ours can get," he said as he upheld his smile with the boy. "Just wait and see, it'll happen."

A smile spread across the boy's face and he nodded, truly believing what he was told. "Okay!" He chimed happily. He was glad that Shino believed that, and, being a child having someone else believe in something so strongly made him follow that faith blindly and truly believe it himself. Now, the child had something to look forward to, a party that the village had never seen in celebration of the eliminiation of a powerful enemy that, frankly the village, and the world, could do without.

"I'll wait for that day then." He said, gleefully. "I can't wait for that day."

((I think we should jump to some other characters or do a timeskip. I'm not sure what to write right now))

(Whenever that happens you can feel free to timeskip to whatever you want.

It was several hours later. Most of the group had left, each of them going to do their own things. It was late, so Sakura had taken Shai home in order to get the boy to sleep, much to the boy's annoyance. Suigetsu and Karin had other plans involving their mission, they were out now preparing to attack and trap anyone that came towards Konoha. Now, Sasuke and Shino were the only one in Aaliyah's room.

While a real bed and room had been offered to Shino, he chose to decline it in order to stay with Aaliyah. Tsunade predicted that she might wake up at any time now after all. Shino didn't want to be away when that happened, he needed to make sure that he was here. So now, he was sitting in a chair, his head laying down on to the mattress that Aaliyah's body rested on. Sasuke had been kind enough to drape a blanket over him as Shino slept, but otherwise he hadn't changed or moved for the past few hours.

Sasuke's back was starting to hurt from sleeping sitting up. He figured that he could go sleep in one of the other rooms for a little while and no one would really notice. Shino was asleep, and had a blanket. Worse came to worse, Shino would wake up with just Aaliyah. Sasuke needed to sleep for a while before he went back in there.

The hours passed on in the hospital and the moonlight shone into the windows, drifting across the sky. The shadows danced, the stars shone. Slowly, there was movement in the quiet hospital in a room that had seen much movement in the past few days, but the patient had remained immobile. She stirred, very slowly, her eyes opening and adjusting easily to the dull light in the room. Shifting on the bed, there was a figure beside her, which brought a smile to her smooth lips, bruised face.

Her lips parted and her voice danced from between her lips, across her tongue, "Yesterday I met a sky without sun
and a man without shame
A saint in prison
and a sad song without an owner
And I met your black eyes
And now I cannot
live without them..." Her hand moved across his cheek, then to where his glasses rested on his face.

He moved, and her smile widened, but she didn't stop singing to him. "I went from the north to the south pole
and I never found eyes like those
Like those that you have..."

Shino began to stir lightly in his sleep. Normally his insects would wake him up at a time like this, but as of late he hadn't slept well. His mind was on too many other things. Like him, they needed their rest. In this hospital there was no apparent danger, and so they with Shino rested for the night. Even with Aaliyah's touch, Shino would wake himself up. His bugs didn't do the work for him this time.

His eyes slowly opened, his eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness around him. More than his sight though, it was his ears though that brought him the greatest sound that he could have ever hoped for. He caught the last bit of it, and he recognized it immediately. That song, the same song that Aaliyah had sung on the day that they met. They hadn't known each other at that point...but Shino still remembered it well.

"If this is a dream, it is a good one," Shino slowly uttered before pushing himself up. His head wasn't facing Aaliyah yet. Part of him legitimately worried that this was a dream, and that by turning around he would find that his mind had played tricks on him while Aaliyah remained unconscious. He slowly turned around, his face finally becoming level with hers.

"Aaliyah," was all that Shino managed to say before tears began to fall from his eyes. He gently moved over towards her before wrapping his arms lightly around her. He just held her, holding her body to his. This touch, seeing that smile on her face, it was everything he could have hoped for.

It took him longer to wake up than she thought, but didn't doubt that it was because he hadn't been sleeping. How long had it been? She wondered. Who had saved her? How long had it been before ANBU brought her back to the village? So many questions that she honestly had no interest in having answered. She wanted Shino there with her. Shino was all she wanted.

A dream? No, she thought, it would be a nightmare, for her to be awake and singing to him if it wasn't true.

Slowly, she shifted close to him and wrapped her arms around him as he held her. "I told you that I would come back to you." She whispered, almost as if that would bring him some form of comfort, considering all that had happened. She hugged him tighter and kissed his cheek. When his grip loosed, just slightly, she shifted so that he could fit on the bed with her. She'd much rather him be at her side than in a chair.

"I love you, Shino." She said, in a normal voice, louder than a whisper, to allow it to fill the room.

"That you did, I was so scared when they found you. For a little while, we thought that we might have lost you," Shino whispered as he continued to hold the embrace of his love. Eventually Aaliyah moved and Shino moved on to the bed in order to be next to his love. He wanted to be so close to her right now. Shino had to admit that he was grateful no one else was here. As much as he appreciated their support, he wanted this moment to himself right now.

"I love you too," Shino said back as his smile couldn't have gotten larger if he tried. His passion was so powerful right now, just seeing her speaking and acting normally was such a blessing. "You were in surgery for hours. They had Tsunade, Sakura, Ino, Shizune, and Karin fix you up. It was a close call....but you didn't break your promise," he said with a smile.

Shino suddenly shook his head as if he realized something. "You....you're not in any pain are you? If you are I can go get a nurse, I can get Sakura, I....I," Shino went on stammering as his concern for Aaliyah's health was becoming very apparent.