Aburame Shino, a brown haired Chunnin who wore shaded goggles, a high collared jacket with his headband around his forehead.
Hyuuga Hinata, a black haired Chunnin who wore a beige jacket and her headband around her neck, her eyes the unnatural shade known only to the Hyuuga clan.
Those were the only two of team eight at their meeting spot. Kurenai was out on a mission with a different squad, leaving Team eight a week or so of free time. Even though they had free time, they met at the same place everyday.
There they talked about what bothered them, or why they won't be there for a while, or even what had happened in their lives that had made them sad, or happy, or anything.
Inuzuka Kiba, a brown haired boy with red fang markings on his cheeks, was the third member. He'd gone on a mission with his sister and mother a week ago and was supposed to come back today.
They were worried slightly. Okay, more than slightly. They were teammates, but Kiba was more than that to Shino. The two had been officially dating for almost three months. Of course, very few knew this because of Shino' quiets nature and Kiba's refusal to speak of his personal life.
Shino was fidgeting, which wasn't something he would normally do. He was very surreptitiously drumming his stubby fingernails against the wood of the log him and Hinata were seated on. Hinata was watching him worriedly, knowing full well what was making him so nervous.
"Shino-kun?" Hinata started, startling the teen from his nervous trance, though he hid it well, carefully looking up at her through his sun goggles. "Why don't you go visit Kiba-kun? See if he's home so you can stop worrying." She told him to which he discreetly nodded, standing and starting to walk away.
"Thank you, Hinata-chan." He muttered just loud for her to hear as he left her earshot. Shino forced the urge to run to the back of his mind. Nothing was wrong, he kept telling himself, though the nagging feeling that something awful had happened to his young canine like friend wouldn't relent it's barrage on his usually calm mind.
Kiba had always been very rash and able to sacrifice himself for anything if it meant saving somebody close to him. This had caused him to get injured many a time before, most of those times Shino being nowhere nearby to help.
Finally reaching the Inuzuka estate, he immediately realized something was wrong. There wasn't the playful bark of dogs that the Inuzuka family insisted on owning, or the soft chime of the wind chimes in Kiba's room, that chimed all the time due to the window in his room never closing.
Shino walked very carefully to the door, finding the gates open, and knocked lightly, rapping his knuckles against the smooth wood. No answer. He knocked again. Still nothing. Now he was beginning to really worry. No, he'd been really worrying before. I think most would call this, um, spazzing out very calmly?
Shino tried to turn the doorknob, finding the door locked. Odd. Shino had found that Kiba's front door was never locked, the laidback nature of his family either not caring enough to lock the door, or not finding the energy to lock it.
The Aburame boy found himself walking around to the tree nearby Kiba's window on the second story. Easily scaling the tree, he peered into the dimly lit room.
He found himself looking at Kiba laying on his bed, his back to the window, one arm used as a pillow as the other simply lay on his side. Something wasn't right. Kiba's breath was a little too shallow for him to be asleep, but if the boy wasn't asleep, and he wasn't bouncing off the walls, then something was seriously wrong.
He tapped lightly against the glass, hoping to rouse the boy inside. There wasn't an answer. Shino's eyes narrowed as he tapped a little harder. The boy didn't even stir. Shino was very worried now.
Shino knocked loudly against the glass, finally rousing the boy. Kiba twisted his torso to stare at Shino blankly, as if not recognizing him. Kiba pulled himself from bed, dragged himself to the window, and slid the glass to the side, letting the other Nin inside.
"Hey." Kiba greeted, seating himself on the bed. Shino took a seat beside him after he closed the window.
"Hey, is something wrong?" Shino asked bluntly, never being one for a subtle question. Kiba looked at him blankly, giving no answer in his stare. Shino stared right back, his eyes narrowing again in worry at the resistance to answer.
"'Course not." Kiba lied quite plainly, turning so he didn't look Shino in the eye. Shino almost growled in indignation. He hated being lied to, especially to his face.
"You're lying." Shino told the boy brusquely but immediately regretted it as he saw the slightly younger ninja flinch. Kiba got up quickly, starting to pace the room slowly. "What's wrong?" Shino asked sympathetically, standing quick enough to make his hood fall.
"It's nothing, Shino-kun." Kiba lied again, still not looking at his best friend. Kiba hated to lie to Shino, but it was all he could do right now. He didn't want to shove his worries and petty fears onto his best friend
"Tell me, Kiba." Shino ordered softly, making Kiba stop in his pacing. Kiba wrung his hands together before sighing.
"Well, on our last mission, something bad happened." Kiba muttered quietly, facing the wall. He felt two arms wrap around his chest protectively, a chin landing on his shoulder. Kiba leaned into the comforting arms, knowing full well whom they belonged too.
Shino rested his chest lightly against Kiba's back, arms wrapped around the boy firmly. "Come on Kiba, you know you don't have to hide anything from me, so out with it." Shino muttered into Kiba's ear. Kiba's head fell to stare at the ground.
"Akamaru, Mom, and sis, they all got hurt. And it was because of my stupid mistakes." Kiba told him, biting his lip to keep his voice from shaking.
"It'll be better. And if not, I'll make it better." Shino told him, making Kiba smile slightly.
It was…comforting that Shino hadn't changed all that much. Even before they were dating, Shino would do anything in his power to keep his friends from being upset. He'd kill for his friends, and he'd die for his friends.
"Thanks…Shino." Kiba muttered, turning in his grasp to face Shino. He wrapped his arms firmly around him, pressing his face into the boy's jacket. Shino rubbed a soothing hand on Kiba's back.
Shino wasn't surprised when he felt tears soaking into his jacket, but that didn't make him happy about it. He hated it when Kiba was upset.
Slightly clawed hands were clenched into the cloth of Shino's jacket. Kiba had no idea how good it would feel to talk to Shino. He didn't know how much he missed Shino when he was on a mission.
He also missed, how Shino's arms fit him perfectly.