#alright I get it you're all without fathers-- Shino: I'm not. I love my dad. My dad's awesome.

[shinoposting]

The Mom Problem

I've always thought Shino was a half-orphan.

Shibi comes off as a bit of a helicopter parent. Shino is always under his wing, and he's always got his insects with him making sure he's safe. He's calm and reassuring. Protecting but also nurturing. He's looking out for him much more closely than any other shinobi parent. And he has less reason to than any of them. Shino is very capable.

He's playing both Dad and Mom for Shino. He's a very traditional man, even a bit of a sulky bitch at times, but he puts that aside to be what Shino needs him to be. What he's not getting from a mother.

It doesn't help that he lost Torune. He only has one son left. That's his baby. He can't help but worry.

It's sweet, but it has a serious negative impact on Shino. He has all the confidence in the world in his clan's jutsu. But in himself? None. He falls apart when he fails. He's nothing. He's unworthy. Shibi's concern only makes Shino feel like he can't be trusted to do things on his own.

But Shino doesn't resent him. Even as an adult, at the point when many people start griping with their parents' ridiculous affairs he considers his family so close that other people couldn't understand. And this too is sweet, but it probably speaks to some unhealthy enmeshment.

Personal headcanon: Shino's mother was one of many Aburame who were overwhelmed by Kurama's chakra and died during the Nine-Tails Attack. He would have been ten months old at the time.

We see that as a younger man, Shibi was just as handsome as Shino and extremely detached. I like to think on top of everything else he's trying to atone for being a terrible husband and never apologizing to Shino's mother before her death. An adulterer even-- after all, you can't have a bad reputation if you have no reputation.