#fightingdreamcrs

Kankuro frowned at her and rolled his eyes.

Things have definitely been different between the three siblings and it was nice. He was protective of Gaara and Temari but...mainly their younger brother. He and Temari were always somewhat close but rarely saw eye to eye.

They still argue but it's different now, and more in the playful sense.

actions speak louder than words

Kankuro sighed and looked down at the ground as his sister was patching a wound of his on his arm.

“My grip?” At the instruction, Habiki turns their attention to see what it is they are missing, glad that Genma has caught it. With any luck, they’ll be able to correct it and come next group training they’ll be able to show the rest of their squad just how awesome they are. Instructions receive a nod as a studious gaze is applied to the three senbon, noting the position between fingers and angle of the entire tool before pulling out three senbon of their own.

Fingers catch the senbon and they pause to adjust the grip with their free hand, shifting the needles until they sit at the right angle. It doesn’t feel comfortable yet - an understandable sensation for a new grip - but they do feel better balanced and they can note the difference already. Their tongue pushes between lips, caught between teeth as they face the target, taking a measured breath before letting loose. This time all three find the target, not a perfect centre, but still all hitting the mark. A whoop of delight follows and a splayed hand held up for a high five of victory.

“Hell yeah now that’s what I’m talking about! Now I just gotta refine it!”

Genma watched Habiki practice a throw with the new grip with a kind of pride he had never expected to ever feel. The concept of children had always been as frightening to him as having a partner for any significant length of time, and he'd been certain early on that the Shiranui name wouldn't be carried on through him. Yet standing there, watching Habiki successfully hit the target with all three senbon in the first attempt... he imagined it was the kind of pride a father might feel.

Or perhaps just a really good teacher. Either way, he couldn't stop himself from beaming down at the kid.

this is a super late response bc i'm trash | @fightingdreamcrs

He barely had the time to be surprised before a bag was held up to his face, temporarily blocking Naruto's face from his gaze. The first thing he noticed was that it was a gift bag - patterned in bold colours that wouldn't normally be offensive to the eyes, if it weren't for the glitter foil splashed over them in blinding spots. So dazzled by the bag, he almost missed Naruto's explanation for what was, clearly, some kind of present for him.

                    The things we lost… Tenzo stiffened lightly, his expression unchanged. Kakashi was talking about them, wasn’t he? About her… Did he miss them after all this time so desperately? Why now? Memories of Kakashi sharing deep thoughts with Tenzo were scarce, if existent. The last time he felt he caught a glimpse of the Hatake’s soul, his maroon hair fell under his shoulder blades and he was called by another name. Years had passed since then. Years of silence.

He wasn’t afraid of her. He wasn’t in the least bit intimidated. He was used to strong, terrifying women. He lived with two of them, and had for his entire life, so... no, he wasn’t afraid of her. Except he was, just a little. She probably scared him more than Gaara did, actually, and he’d never forget what he’d seen in the Forest of Death during the chunin exams. Really, it only made him wonder why Kankuro was so... chill. At least, in comparison.

Pretending that his palms weren’t a little sweaty, he plastered on his friendliest grin and strode right up to her. “Heeeey, Temari.” Okay, a strong start. His only problem now was he didn’t know how to follow that up. “Uhh... how.... how’ve you been? Was the trip from Suna okay? No problems at all?” Great, now he was rambling, bombarding her with questions she’d probably already answered. 

Kiba was, by his own admission, not the brightest spark on his team, but he was by no means an idiot. Well... maybe sometimes. Regardless, a few things definitely hadn’t slipped his attention in the recent weeks, and whilst his teammates opted for polite silence, he wasn’t going to let this one lie.

As Shino aided Hinata in some training, he sidled up to where his sensei sat beneath the shade of a tree, plonking himself down beside her unceremoniously. Akamaru circled them a couple of times, padding lightly through the grass, until he settled in a comfortable curl with his head resting against Kurenai’s leg. He’d noticed, too, after all.