[thread] want to kiss and kill you too [Team 8, Kureno]

[aburame_h]

[[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

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[chicks_dig_dogs]

There was some comfort to be had in the fact that all of them were together; not much, but some. And Hoshino's mildly neurotic touch soothed sort of. Kiba's hand slid from Akako's fur to catch Hoshino's as it patted the large ninken. A hand was firmly holding on to each teammate and she was not letting go.

The 'march' to Kureno's was too long and yet not long enough. That sick feeling in the Inuzuka's stomach had only grown and she held onto her teammates' hands harder, not wanting to let go.

She couldn't bare to lose them too.

Unsurprisingly, when they got to the house it was empty and cold although Kureno's scent was there. The Inuzuka looked inbetween the other two, all three (four) of them huddled together against the wind. "So... should we wait inside for him?"

[hyuuga_hinaji]

"I think...he wouldn't mind. ...Right?" Perhaps it was the wrong thing to do, but standing out here in the wind wasn't really going to be very effective. And a small part of Hinaji--the part that had turned just a little cynical--worried that if Kureno saw them he might try to dodge this talk.

...But Kureno wasn't like that, so Hinaji very quickly put that fear aside. Nothing good came from that form of thought and he felt guilty for it.

"...Maybe we could help clean or something...?" Kureno had been in prison a long time, after all.

Really though, Hinaji just couldn't think of something to make this any less awkward than it felt.

[aburame_h]

"We don't need to." It was a firm and directional thing to say, much like tugging Kiba's hand was a firm and directional movement to bring the other two into the house. They didn't need to sneak around Kureno's house like so many thieves, she added silently with a pointed glance over her shoulder.

Whatever had happened to their official relationship, they were still Team 8 and Kureno was still Kureno-sensei. If he felt otherwise, he would tell them directly. The respect had to have remained in tact, even if the trust had not.

Besides that, inside would be warm. And a much better strategic vantage point from which to prevent Kureno from blowing them off.

Not that Hoshino felt cynical in the least bit.

[chicks_dig_dogs]

It seemed all of them were feeling a little cynical.

Kiba carefully picked Kureno's lock (after having Hinaji check for traps) before all four of them slipped inside. It was a slightly tight fit with the ninken but they all managed to get inside somehow. The house was warmer, but still dark and dreary and it didn't seem right. Kiba had only been over here twice since Kureno had moved and it just... she didn't know, it just didn't settle well.

Normally Kiba would have leaped at the chance to take charge. But Hoshino seemed to be best at it right now and slitted eyes moved over to her teammate as she slid one hand back in Hinaji's and the other back in Hoshino's.

Now what?

[yuuhi_kureno]

They didn't have to wait much longer. While his new "job" kept him at the academy long after the cadets had all left, he didn't wander around the village much anymore before going straight home. Today his routine didn't differ.

Well, except for the moment halfway up the walk to his house when he realized there was someone on his property, waiting for him. Old instincts kicking in, Kureno didn't give any hint that he was aware of this fact as he took out his keys, ignoring signs of break in, and putting a jutsu in place to be used if it became necessary. Best way to ruin an ambush was turn the element of surprise back around on them...

Only...this didn't turn out to be the kind of ambush he would have been expecting.

The look on his face when he entered his living room already relayed his confusion at the presence of his st--former students. But the question as to why they were there was soon replaced after analyzing their body language. After that, there was only one thing to ask.

"What's wrong?"

[chicks_dig_dogs]

For a moment after Kureno spoke, Kiba was unsure of whether she wanted to run up and punch him, or tackle him in a hug. The end result was that for awhile she was frozen in place, unsure suddenly of where they stood. Had it been before, when he was just sensei, she could have shoved her finger in his face and told him off, even when he gave her that cross look that indicated she better stop before he really got angry.

But now he wasn't sensei, he was just Kureno and it left her in a bit of a bind. Even as she struggled to figure out where they all stood though, tangled up and knotted as they were, some part of her was utterly relieved that he was all right (physically) and it one piece (physically) and she didn't want to think about the emotional mess they were all in.

She was just grateful he was there and still being himself, in a twisted wayNot bothering to wait, she pushed up from where she was, and moved over to Kureno. Slitted eyes watched him for a moment (he was still so much taller then her) before she leaned forward and

[hyuuga_hinaji]

Hinaji stood by awkwardly, just as unsure as everyone else about what to do. There were so many things unsaid and he didn't know what should be spoken and what shouldn't or even just what to do and--

...And worrying like this was pointless, wasn't it? Start simple, start small, like Kiba was doing.

"A lot, sensei." He almost flinched at the use of the term before squaring his shoulders and looking directly at Kureno. Nothing could take away the feelings they'd all associated with that word towards the jounin. And while it was technically incorrect now he couldn't believe it was.

"...We all really miss you."

[aburame_h]

It was like a contest to see who could make the Understatement of the Year. As she was prone to, the Aburame girl hung back from making much more of an insightful comment than a soft sound which might simply have been the almost-vocalization of an ellipsis. Which was fine, really, because everyone in the room knew how much more important than words it was that Kiba was hugging and Hinaji was standing tall. The fact that Hoshino was silently staring at the Yuuhi man with her head tilted at a distinctly displeased angle to the right only added to the general tableaux of emotions