This definitely was not a C rank mission, and by God, his pay had better reflect that...if he ever made it back to Sunagakure alive, that is.
Running through the sparse forest that bordered the lands of Wind and Fire was alright. Bearable. There was some cover and some space to hide, though that worked the same for those after him. The open space of the desert was another thing entirely. If his enemies were still on his tail, he would likely be an easy target, and all his years living in the desert had failed to teach him to camouflage or hide amongst the dunes.
On the other hand, being surrounded by sand did give the solitary and rather terrified ninja a slight advantage. He was good with sand. Gradually, he slowed to a stop. It would do him no good to panic and get himself lost and ultimately killed by his own stupidity on home turf, so he had to stop, catch his breath, get his bearings. It was dark, but he considered his night vision fairly good, and couldn't see any sign of anyone.
At all.
Which way was Sunagakure? He was still in a panicked state, and more out of breath than he should have been, and he couldn't quite tell...and he hadn't seen his team mates for a good four hours now, at least. They'd scattered, like idiots, and sure as hell didn't have a meeting point to regroup at. And the team leader, who was frankly painfully underqualified to lead two peers, had been chased all the way back to the Sand.
The team leader in question was a cold genin by the name of Sajin, and one that certainly thought himself capable of accomplishing at the very least your average genin mission without his sensei hanging over him, but this? This was ridiculous. It was supposed to be a simple job involving going to meet someone, getting a package and delivering it back to someone else within the village who was too feeble to go out and get it himself. Not even the slightest suggestion someone might try and kill them over the damn thing. Heck, it had sounded for all intents and purposes like nothing more than, say, a teddy bear for the recipient's niece or something. And Sajin was the loser who ended up carrying the package, meaning he was the one most of them seemed to be after.
He could only hope Mujin and Mijin were still alive.
Okay, bearings. He needed to figure out where he was going and what his next move would be. Did he continue to the village or go back for the guys? No, he couldn't go look for the guys. That would be a foolish move and undoubtedly get him killed. He would have to go back the way he came, where his enemies were, and had no idea which way they'd gone in the first place. The smart thing would be to get to the safety of the village and explain what had happened, get a search party or some back-up. With the 5th in charge, he was sure he would get some help. So he hunkered down against a dune and took stock of his surroundings. He was facing west, Suna was to the east and a little to the south of the country...looking at things logically, he had to still be to the east of the village, he hadn't been travelling long enough to pass it. Locating south was simple enough. He could see the moon, and if he could see the moon, he could find south. If Sajin prided himself on anything, it had to be his way with directions. It was something he was very good at, so facing southwest...
With newfound determination, he set off, ready to complete this stupid mission. Only he didn't. He took one step, and pain lanced across his back and something struck the back of his knees hard, sending him sprawling. And he panicked, for what had to be the billionth time that day, gathering sand to him and sending it behind him in a spurt. Not offensive enough, but enough to momentarily blind whoever had attacked him. Staying and fighting was not an option, and he didn't fancy his chances if he surrendered, so he scrambled to his feet and started running again. He was pretty sure the people on his tail were S rank or Jounin something, so fighting was only a last resort if he was cornered.
And all too soon, he was more trapped than cornered.
~*~*~*~*~
Ever since the ever hanging threat of painful and brutal death when walking around at night had stopped being an issue, Korobi and Yaoki found they liked taking the odd walk around the village or the surrounding area. The Land of Wind could be a beautiful place, after all. They never ventured far, not unless they had good cause to do so, because to them it just seemed like common sense. Stay near the gates where the guards could see them.
That morning, Korobi had been waiting. Yaoki had told him to wait near the gates, and he chose to wait just outside, watch the sun rise, chatting amicably with one of the guards. It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky and Yaoki was undoubtedly late that the puppeteer noticed something out of the corner of his eye, off in the horizon.
"Hey, Kanso, do you see that?"
The guard followed Korobi's finger to the black blob in the distance. "What is that?"
"Is it a person? I think it's a person."
"Korobi-" And without another word, he set off to investigate, the guard following shortly after.
It must have been a lucky spot. The guy was one of theirs, lying unconscious in torn clothes and covered in blood. It looked like he'd dragged himself for quite a while after being injured. He was still breathing, still alive, but worryingly pale. Lord only knew how long he'd been out there. Korobi crouched beside him, trying to assess the damage. Not that he could tell much. He gently shook the man's shoulder (an idiotic move, as anyone with basic first aid knowledge would tell you) and called to him. "Hey, wake up! Can you hear me? Wake up!"
No reaction. "Pick him up. We'll take him back to the village." Kanso said, standing at the genin's shoulder.
The moment Korobi started to lift the injured shinobi, he let out a sound midway between a groan and a gurgle. Instantly, the puppeteer snatched his hands back with a very slight yelp. Kanso rolled his eyes and kicked him in the back, prompting him to speak again.
"Ah! Hey, can you hear me? Are you okay?" Stupid question.
The injured shinobi cracked open a dark and slightly swollen eye. "Who...?"
"It's okay...I'm Korobi. We're going to get you back to safety." He went to pick him up again, and almost drew back when the guy cried out. Almost. "What happened to you?"
"Fuck...no..." Was all the guy managed to get out. That and a choked sound. Korobi took that as his cue to lift the stranger. He'd seen him around the village before. A good looking guy with a permanent scowl on his face. They'd never spoken before but he'd never looked that friendly. Honestly, Korobi believed it would be no big loss if they never did speak. He didn't like rude, selfish and unkind people. But he himself always tried to be nice...
"What's your name?"
The guy didn't answer. He instead just turned his head until his face was buried against Korobi's flak jacket and passed out again.
~*~*~*~*~
Mijin and Mujin had made it back to the village before morning, before Sajin was found. They'd managed to regroup and figured, as Sajin was heading towards the village anyway, heading that way was the best way to go. It was honestly a shock when he was brought in after them, battered and bruised and long since defeated. Sajin was arguably more shocked when he woke up and saw those two idiots hanging over him, as well as the guy that had carried him in standing in the corner of the room. He spoke to his team mates, relieved but angry. He'd lost the package and failed the mission, almost lost his life and, had whoever chased them not already seen Sajin with it, Mijin and Mujin could have died as well. After the chunin exams, he'd learnt a little, and that little was that his friends were important, and sacrificing them for his own gain would only hurt him in the long run. He'd definitely regret it in future when he had no-one to turn to.
The guy with the box on his back, Korobi, coming across him was pure luck, but pure luck that likely saved his stupid life. A knight in shining armour, he would joke with his friends later.
It probably didn't help his addled mind that his rescuer was strong and cute and warm. All the stupid things he remembered. Feeling safe enough to fall asleep once someone was carrying him. He would have felt safe with any Suna ninja carrying him home after the night he'd had! He'd likely forget the guy within a week, provided they didn't speak.
Korobi, however, came to speak to him when his team mates left. Ensure he was okay or whatever. He seemed so kind. It was annoying, and by the end of the day, Sajin had a stupid crush. It was only infatuation or transference, he was sure of it, and equally sure that it would fade eventually, whether they interacted or not. It wasn't like they were fated to meet or fall for each other or whatever.
((I haven't properly written a story for the vast majority of the year, primarily because I lost all confidence in my ability. This piece focuses on minor-ass Suna genin because it's essentially a writing exercise to help me get back into things should I ever want to write again. I do enjoy writing, but sometimes find things difficult or don't have the time or motivation, so I have a lot of unfinished projects. Essentially, whether this is good or not, I was not intending to make this an especially good piece. Just messing around with the basic 'how your ship met' story. I crack ship a lot of minor characters in Naruto.))
