"Paying a Visit"
Nikoru paused on the sidelines to the yard, seeing Akimaru sitting by and reffing, so going over to him. He barked a greeting to her, or so she thought, and she waved lightly in hello. Saddling up next to him she shivered, crossing her arms over her breast and moving as close to the giant as he would allow for body warmth; he didn't seem to mind sharing though. She heard yipping and saw Zetsu running around at her's and Akimaru's feet, bouncing all over the bigger Hidan, tugging at his ears and biting at his tail. Hidan growled, shoving the little dog off and settling between Akimaru and Nikoru, leaning against her boot once more.
He looked up at the over sized dog, who looked down at him with narrowed and distrusting eyes. Hidan snorted and so did Akimaru, both looking away with disgusted shakes of their heads. Zetsu bounced over between Akimaru's big paws again, settling on top of them and against his belly like a baby penguin. Akimaru expressed upset at this, but did nothing to remove the little animal, who did nothing to remove itself. Nikoru laughed softly to herself, shaking her own head, then looked up at the battling going on in front of her, watching Hotaru with bright and proud eyes.
She wasn't sure how Hotaru hadn't caught pneumonia with what she had on, but she guessed moving like she was had been keeping her warm. She had on short gym shorts, rolled down once or twice around the top, the legs clinging tightly to her upper thighs and backside, despirately trying to stay down enough to cover her ass from the world. A tight, white tank top with spaghetti straps clung to her breasts and stomach, falling lower and lower the more violently she moved. Her hair was in a sloppy ponytail, curls straying and streaming over her fist sized silver hoop earrings. On her little feet were her black, standard issue ninja sandals. She had on her black, fingerless gloves with the thick silver plating over the knuckles, and she had a kunai pack strapped to her bare thigh.
Hotaru backed up, turning to the side and holding her kunai out to Kiba, grinning excitedly at him, blood dried in the corner of her mouth and beginning to flake in the cold. "Come on!" Kiba ran for her, barking a laugh at her taunts as she turned to block him, catching his kunai with the blade of her own. He had anticipated this, throwing his free hand up and slashing for her face with a second blade. She cried out, bending backwards and exposing her body to his own; he took the advantage and dove for the kill.
She dropped to the ground though, lashing her leg out and taking his knees from under him, sending him crashing to the ground. He groaned, feeling her weight atop him in seconds, her blade at his throat as she held his head back, panting heavily and grinning in triumph. "Gotch'yah!" He coughed, giving a small nod of his head, waiting for her to get off his arms and let him up. After a moment of reveling in her victory she climb off, going to slip the winning blade back into its pack, turning her back to the still downed Kiba.
Akimaru tensed at Nikoru's side, making her glance at him, then back at the scene unfolding before her. Kiba lunged up, striking Hotaru with a knife hand to the side, sending her to the ground easily. "That's a foul, you bastard!" Nikoru shouted out, Akimaru growling at her side in agreement, or so she thought. Kiba laughed, turning to look over his shoulder at them and toss them a grin, but Hotaru struck his knee again, this time hitting the one closest to her from behind with a knife hand of her own. He dropped to kneel beside her, but hurried to scramble back up, by this time Hotaru had gotten up and quickly moved away to regain herself.
He staggered to his own feet, tiredly looking at her as she clutched at her side. "Still wanna keep goin'?" She nodded, flexing her grip on the knife before running towards him. He lifted his arms, crossing them lightly in front of himself in a block. She feinted a punch and he dodged, sending her into the air quickly. She did a back flip in front of him, propelling herself off his stomach in the process, kicking him in the jaw as she went.
He snarled, moving behind her as she landed, grabbing her arm and putting the kunai to her own throat. Hotaru grinned, stepping on his foot, elbowing him in the stomach, then punching him in the nose. At that Kiba gave up. He staggered backwards, holding onto his face as blood spilt from one nostril, Hotaru's punch was a little quick and off the mark.
Akimaru ran over, nudging Kiba in the side, sniffing for internal weaknesses. Hotaru put her kunai away, walking over and calmly touching Kiba's shoulder, "Sorry...too into the moment there." She blushed and gently lifted his head, lightly holding his chin up with two fingers, turning his face this way and that so she could examine it. "I don't think I broke anything necessarily...I think it's just bleeding..." She muttered, more to herself than to him, but he pulled his face from her grasp with a casual smile.
"I'm fine, I'm fine, y'all back off." Kiba brushed it away, lightly shoving both of them back with a soft laugh as he wiped the blood away on his jacket sleeve. Hotaru shook her head, sobering up from the adrenalin rush.
"Come on, inside, we'll wash you up." She took his hand and they started inside, catching sight of Nikoru and the two puppies at the doorway. Hotaru's eyes lit up at the sight of her best friend's smile. "Nikoru-chan! When did you get here?" She beamed, hugging her briefly with one arm before escorting her into the house as well, the three dogs following behind.
"Don't tell me you didn't see me, Hotaru-chan. You must be slipping if you didn't." Nikoru giggled, glad for the warmth of the kitchen as they stepped into it and Akimaru shut the door with his tail.
"I saw you, but I didn't exactly register you getting here." Hotaru told her over her shoulder, walking Kiba to the sink and wetting a cloth. Nikoru walked over to the table, shedding her jacket, scarf, and mittens, dumping them in a chair and sitting down.
"We'll you both looked great, how long have y'all been at it?" She smiled, watching Hotaru take care of Kiba's nose, gently dabbing at it and wiping at it as he tried to brush her off and sucked in sharp breaths of air every now and then. They still acted like a couple sometimes.
"For a while...I lost track though. What time is it?" Kiba gave one last swipe and Hotaru rolled her eyes a final time, dropping the cloth to the counter. "Big baby." She huffed and he laughed, picking up the cloth and dabbing at the corner of her lip, causing her to close one eye in pain.
"Look who's talking." He muttered quietly, watching her lips as he cleaned them, running the cloth over the whole of her bottom lip just to see it glisten in the light like it did when she put on gloss. His free hand rested on the side of her face, gently holding it still for him to clean her up, but now his thumb deftly ran over her mouth, parting her lips a bit farther as the rest of his body stilled. Hotaru watched his eyes glaze and soften, her own softening as the hand she had on the counter shifted a bit, threatening to betray her want to touch him like he was her. Nikoru watched them for a moment, then decided to step in, wanting to make sure she nor Kiba had to put up with one of Hotaru's "Sasuke-Attacks" later on tonight.
"So, Hotaru-chan, what are you making for dinner? It smells great in here!" She beamed, getting up and walking past them, shaking Hotaru's shoulder lightly as she walked to the pot on the stove. Both of them blinked, then quickly looked away, Kiba quickly turning and dumping the cloth back on the counter as Hotaru spun to face Nikoru and the stove; both of them blushing fiercely.
"Umm...I'm making..." She touched her forehead, laughing softly and putting a hand on Nikoru's shoulder, as if to feel a neutral presence in the room. Nikoru just beamed and waited.
"Curry." Kiba mumbled, walking to the table and dropping into his chair. Akimaru walked over, putting a paw on Kiba's lap and looking up at him, making the boy put a hand absentmindedly on the animal's head as he studied Hotaru's backside.
"Yeah, curry. I'm thinking about doing miso soup too...it's so cold out I think it'll go good tonight." She smiled gently, brushing hair out of her eyes before doing the same for Nikoru.
"I might stay for dinner then!" Nikoru giggled and Hotaru did too, nodding her head.
"You can if you want, I'm sure Kiba and Shino won't mind." She turned to Kiba for support.
"Nah, go ahead and stay, we like the company. Been a long time since we've seen you girls." Kiba waved a hand and grinned, Nikoru blushing lightly and glancing away, nodding her head. Something about Kiba's grin made any girl blush a little, probably because it was so ungaurded and honest.
"I may..." She smiled at the thought of eating with a happy Hotaru and mutual friend again.