[thread] want to kiss and kill you too [Team 8, Kureno]
[[after the team decides they really need to get together and see Kureno, shortly after Hoshino assassinates visits Asuka in the hospital]]
None of them really looked... well.
Every member of Team Eight currently present showed signs of wear, so to speak. There was no comfortable banter between them, banter meaning Kiba talking and Hinaji adding in a word or two and Hoshino only speaking telling her to shush. There were no smiles, no laughter, only a wearied exhaustion almost. It hurt Kiba physically as much as it did emotionally but she was smart enough to realize that she was not in a position to truly help her teammates. Right now, all they could do was do what they had all been unable to do at first.
Go see Kureno.
The thought pained Kiba more then she thought it would, and it made her stomach twist sickly- she hadn't even eaten breakfast that morning. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Kureno- she did, almost desperately so; she needed to know that he was really all right... at least physically. It was that the chance, that hope, to have them back as their sensei was too slim to see now and it was very hard to accept. Part of her feared as well he might pull back completely, and that would just... it would be like losing part of her family, part of who she was.
But they were going to see him anyway. The day was exactly a nice one, windy and cold and Kiba get her hand shoved in Akako's fur to help keep it warm. The other remained curled in Hinaji's hand as they went to go fetch her to bring along. Once she came along, there was no doubt that Kiba would likely take her hand too.
They needed each other.
Hinaji both wanted and dreaded this encounter. It had been much too long since they'd seen their sensei, and he felt guilty about that, but there was no way he could have gone without his teammates and none of them were ready before now. And with his hand in Kiba's, on their way to Hoshino's, he felt like now was the perfect time.
He really hoped this was the perfect time.
He didn't let his worry show though, instead just squeezing Kiba's hand tighter. When they were all together, that's when he could voice any questions. They needed to be together first.
It was like going to a funeral. At least, that was the tentative ripple through the air as two familiar pitches warbled into connection with the web of tones that kikai wove into the world around the Aburame compound.
Hoshino didn't wait for them at the gate, as she might have on any normal day. She simply fell into step beside them. They all knew the shortest routes from each of the homes to the others like they knew Henge no Jutsu; somewhere deep and secure in the backs of their minds. It had shifted slightly when Kureno had moved and forced a reorientation. For the best tracking team in Konoha, it hadn't been much of a problem. The Aburame had picked the place to join her team with it in mind: two less turns to their final destination if they started heading straight now.
Which was something of a problem, given the vibrations her friends' kikaichuu were giving off.
Someone else might have said something to ease the tension. Tsking softly (well, exhaling in a moderately audible--and annoyed--fashion), Hoshino reached out. She'd found her peace with the situation (more or less; some cold hard stares needed to be cast in certain directions). It was her protective instinct that rose now, pulling her closer into the unit of the team. Her fingers first found Hinaji's shoulder, squeezing gently before smoothing delicately at the fabric of his shirt. Attention then flitted to Kiba, fingers moving to the base of the other girl's neck for a minute to soothe over the skin there comfortingly. At last she settled into her habitual spot in the line, absently reaching out to Akako as well for a quiet pat on the back.
This was a good idea. It had to be. All of this--whatever "this" was--was going to start feeling better. It just had to feel a lot more worrisome first.
None of them really looked... well.
Every member of Team Eight currently present showed signs of wear, so to speak. There was no comfortable banter between them, banter meaning Kiba talking and Hinaji adding in a word or two and Hoshino only speaking telling her to shush. There were no smiles, no laughter, only a wearied exhaustion almost. It hurt Kiba physically as much as it did emotionally but she was smart enough to realize that she was not in a position to truly help her teammates. Right now, all they could do was do what they had all been unable to do at first.
Go see Kureno.
The thought pained Kiba more then she thought it would, and it made her stomach twist sickly- she hadn't even eaten breakfast that morning. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Kureno- she did, almost desperately so; she needed to know that he was really all right... at least physically. It was that the chance, that hope, to have them back as their sensei was too slim to see now and it was very hard to accept. Part of her feared as well he might pull back completely, and that would just... it would be like losing part of her family, part of who she was.
But they were going to see him anyway. The day was exactly a nice one, windy and cold and Kiba get her hand shoved in Akako's fur to help keep it warm. The other remained curled in Hinaji's hand as they went to go fetch her to bring along. Once she came along, there was no doubt that Kiba would likely take her hand too.
They needed each other.
Hinaji both wanted and dreaded this encounter. It had been much too long since they'd seen their sensei, and he felt guilty about that, but there was no way he could have gone without his teammates and none of them were ready before now. And with his hand in Kiba's, on their way to Hoshino's, he felt like now was the perfect time.
He really hoped this was the perfect time.
He didn't let his worry show though, instead just squeezing Kiba's hand tighter. When they were all together, that's when he could voice any questions. They needed to be together first.
It was like going to a funeral. At least, that was the tentative ripple through the air as two familiar pitches warbled into connection with the web of tones that kikai wove into the world around the Aburame compound.
Hoshino didn't wait for them at the gate, as she might have on any normal day. She simply fell into step beside them. They all knew the shortest routes from each of the homes to the others like they knew Henge no Jutsu; somewhere deep and secure in the backs of their minds. It had shifted slightly when Kureno had moved and forced a reorientation. For the best tracking team in Konoha, it hadn't been much of a problem. The Aburame had picked the place to join her team with it in mind: two less turns to their final destination if they started heading straight now.
Which was something of a problem, given the vibrations her friends' kikaichuu were giving off.
Someone else might have said something to ease the tension. Tsking softly (well, exhaling in a moderately audible--and annoyed--fashion), Hoshino reached out. She'd found her peace with the situation (more or less; some cold hard stares needed to be cast in certain directions). It was her protective instinct that rose now, pulling her closer into the unit of the team. Her fingers first found Hinaji's shoulder, squeezing gently before smoothing delicately at the fabric of his shirt. Attention then flitted to Kiba, fingers moving to the base of the other girl's neck for a minute to soothe over the skin there comfortingly. At last she settled into her habitual spot in the line, absently reaching out to Akako as well for a quiet pat on the back.
This was a good idea. It had to be. All of this--whatever "this" was--was going to start feeling better. It just had to feel a lot more worrisome first.