Kankuro Dream Story

His eyes were drilling holes into the woman's back as they walked. He was supposed to be a bodyguard, not a pack mule. Yet there he was, carrying his own equipment as well as the woman's umbrella. At least the moment they got to the hidden grass village he would be shot of her and could go back home. A rustle of leaves brought his mind back to the mission. They were out of the desert at least, but that meant people were more capable of hiding.

He couldn't quite remember what this woman was. Something wealthy from the grass village, probably some form of diplomat or ambassador, though she didn't look much like one. She looked like she thought of herself as a princess of some kind. That wasn't what annoyed Kankurou, though. No, it might have been the fact that she looked at him like he was nothing more than a bug when he was assigned to her, or the way she held her nose and pulled a face whenever she passed him, maybe all the nasty things she felt obliged to say about his family and fighting style or that she was determined not to let the squad rest, or maybe even the fact that she insisted she didn't need guarding and the ninja around her were nothing more than a waste of resources, but whatever it was that really grinded his gears, Kankurou hated this woman. He'd rather be in charge of a skunk, for goodness' sake.

Focus on the mission, he scolded himself, casting his eyes about the surrounding forest, ears straining for the slightest noise before little miss loudmouth decided to start complaining about sore feet.
"There was a tea shop half a mile back, but you didn't want to stop." Kankurou reminded her, eye twitching.
"Well, you should have made me stop before my feet hurt!" She insisted, stamping one foot with a whimper. God, she was getting on his nerves. "I'm hungry, too. Are you hungry? Maybe we can find something to eat around here."
"If you leave the path, I am going to kill you."
She turned and stared at him like he'd grown an extra head. After a moment, she burst into a fit of laughter. "You're so childish."
"No wonder they wanted me to watch you. If I'm that childish, I'll at least know your mind well."
She gave him a blank look as he passed her, as though she didn't understand, but didn't miss the chance to close off her nose and scowl.
"You smell like glue and wood and sweat."
"Well, you don't exactly smell like a bouquet of roses yourself." He muttered, eyes flickering from tree to tree, but ignoring his own feet. Had he let his mood get the best of him? Not that it mattered once the wire was tripped.

A scream, a long white bandage flying through the air, the sound of kunai thudding into wood...
"What are you trying to do? Get us all killed?" The woman shrieked, stalking over to him, past Karasu, and hitting him around the head as hard as she could.
"Cut it out!" Kankurou snapped back, bringing his puppet round closer. It was just a trap, so most likely the ones who set it were already gone...right?

Wrong. One moment things were tense, but he couldn't sense a soul around, and the next moment, it was raining weaponry.

Kuroari. He needed Kuroari. He couldn't tell where the enemies were, but it looked like they were surrounded. A quick push sent the girl into Kuroari, where she would at least be safe from the kunai and shuriken. This wasn't a good situation for him, no doubt about that. The girl was screaming and already giving him a headache, one of the weapons had impaled one of his hands, and without knowing what was going on fully, the most he could do for now was deflect. It wasn't a good defence under the circumstances. He could feel things getting through but there was no way he could attack without completely bringing down that defence. Maybe if he could plant himself between Kuroari and Karasu...

Only moving to do just that proved to not be the wisest choice. Something thudded into his chest, things were slashing across his stomach, face, neck, arms and legs, anywhere they could. One last attempt to save himself, send what he had out in all directions...

Thud.

Screams.

The clatter of metal, the taste of blood, the sounds of people moving amongst the shadows.

Was he safe?

With a flick of his wrist, he unlocked Kuroari, and the girl launched herself out, screaming about how it stank in there of death. She found her eyes drawn to the weapons littering the floor, alongside a copious amount of blood. A shudder ran through her, and shifting her gaze a little further along, she let out another scream.

Kankurou covered his ears with his hands.
No, he didn't. He tried to, but his hands stayed on the ground, keeping his face and chest out of the mud. He wasn't that badly hurt though, surely. Just as long as he could get his stupid body to obey...

He tried to stand, but instead just managed to lurch forward. He hissed in pain as something wrapped around his torso. The girl he was supposed to be protecting heaved him up. They were far closer to Kusa than anywhere else, that much she knew, so to the hidden village of the grass it was.

He must have passed out at some point. When he awoke, he was in a dazed state, semi-sedated, mildly aware of the presence of doctors in the room with him. Nobody he knew, but part of him hoped he wouldn't have to heal up here. Heck, the moment he saw an opening, he was off home, no matter what they said. Firstly, the sooner he could get home the less the others would worry about him (although being covered in bandages probably wouldn't help ease their minds). Maybe it was the drugs messing with his better judgement, but he still decided the best course of action would be to take the trek back to Suna. It would probably throw up some dumb high alert about the missing patient.

By the time he got to the deserts in the country of the wind, night had fallen and the cold slashed at his skin even through his clothes. The painkillers had long since worn off, and he was slowed considerably by hunger and thirst, but he'd come so far and really he was more likely to make it to Suna alive than Kusa right there and then. He just had to power through. The village was in sight, and soon he'd even be able to see the stupid lookouts, provided he didn't faint for the fifth time that day...

Only to wake up in a warm, familiar bed, hot water bottle tucked under the sheets...The curtains were drawn across the window, the room set in darkness despite it being midday. There was a tray of warm food on the nightstand, settled behind a cracked picture of himself with his siblings. He tried to sit up, but just got a sharp shot of agony through his chest for his efforts. Laying back with a groan, he tensed up a little as someone walked over from his work table. A hand was there to brush his hair off his face and then arms were around him, helping him sit up. He was unaware he had asked...or maybe it was a reaction to the grumbling complaints his stomach was making. Light flooded into the room as the curtains were drawn open.
"It wasn't wise of you to walk all the way here in your state." Gaara began as he moved the tray, resting it across Kankurou's lap so he could eat his fill. "You're lucky you were noticed. You could have frozen to death out there."
He took a moment to respond. The way his younger brother spoke made it sound more like he was informing him of facts than proper concern, but he had known the younger man for years, he had learnt to interpret the emotion, though it had taken a while from that first apology he had heard from the boy. Slowly, they'd grown closer. "I was drugged." He admitted with a nervous laugh. "I wasn't exactly bothered about whether it was wise or not, you know? I just wanted my big sister and my baby brother."
Another long moment of silence.
"We're both glad you got back okay though. I'll be back later to clear things away."
"How long have you been in here with me?"
More silence.
"Three hours. I wanted to make sure you would be okay."
The sentiment sunk in deep. "I'm okay. Thank you...for wanting to make sure..." His brother had wanted to make sure he would be okay. It probably shouldn't have meant as much as it did to him, but for some strange reason, he thought as he watched Gaara leave the room, he was undoubtedly touched.