Light My Fire ((Kankuro X Reader))

Chapter Two: Sand Brothers

"Hello. I wasn't expecting any other ninja to be in the forest right now." The sensei stood up, waving his hand two the younger ninja. "This is Sasuke and Sakura. Team Seven of the Leaf Village. It looks like you met Naruto already." His voice was calm, almost sounding full of... Nothing actually. Where was his emotion? "I'm Kakashi. A pleasure to meet you."
You cracked a smile, the first one since everything happened. "I'm (Y/N). From the Village of Kasai." At least they seemed like people you could talk to.

"What are you doing out here?" Sasuke asked, raising his much softer voice. It almost sounded like he didn't care, that the question was just a courtesy, yet you couldn't help yourself from spilling everything to the four total strangers. If anything, it was therapeutic, but it still crushed your heart to relive it, remembering every little detail.
Sakura's eyes filled with pain by the time you finished pouring everything out
She was the first to clasp her hands together before running at you with speed too quick to react. Before you realized it, you were wrapped in a warm, comforting hug. "Oh (Y/N), I'm so sorry, we would have done something if we knew I promise!"
While her words were kind, they gave no comfort.
"Release the poor kid," Kakashi ordered the girl before his attention turned to you. "You may come back with us. We should report what happened to the Hokage."
Before you could say 'thank you', Sasuke pulled himself up.

"And how do we know we can trust them? The headband means nothing. If the village really did burn down, there could have been plenty to swipe of the dead. How do we know they're not a spy? An assassin after the Hokage?" His eyes narrowed sharply. "We could be leading the enemy right to our Hokage."
Naruto's mouth opened, then closed like a fish unable to get his words out. Finally, he took a proud stance, pointing right at you.
"We'll take you, but you better not touch the Hokage, got it!?"
"R-Right..." Was the only thing that you could utter out before looking back to the rest of the team. You had no intention for such things. "That mission you're on, what is it?"
Sakura shrugged, hands on her hips. "A boring C rank mission."
"We were hunting for a white-tailed quail weasel," Kakashi added on, ignoring her remark completely. "It's an endangered bird and we were entrusted to keep a record on any current nests on the village outskirts."

You'd never heard of such a bird, although that's probably a good tell they were endangered. Although they were still strangers, it didn't seem like the team had any ill intent. Even their mission was kind. Finally, you forced a smile.
"Perhaps I can help? You... You're helping me, so the least I can do is look for some bird nests."
"Yes!" The pink-rose-haired girl clapped. "Some extra help sounds perfect!"
"They can come with us, right Kakashi-Sensei?" Naruto looked to his teacher, but Sasuke remained silent, his eyes locked on you suspiciously. It was only fair you supposed, to be just a little suspicious. You could only hope you proved yourself enough to the last remaining team member.
"I don't see why not, but let's get you bandaged up first." Kakashi slowly nodded to the now blood-dried gash on your arm and pulled a roll of bandages out of his green jacket to kneel in front of you.

You couldn't exactly stop an adult from catering to your wounds, plus it felt comforting to have it wrapped from any infection. He moved carefully, almost like a parent would to their own child that skinned their knee. When your arm was securely wrapped, he stood up again and gave a silent hand gesture to the team to spread out once more.
The three obeyed his command and taking the hint, you followed after, going a different direction from the rest to cover more ground.
The trees were all fresh green, and the air smelled warm with spring. You couldn't find any bird nests but the feeling of the woods...
It was incredible. You could almost have forgotten about-
Well, you didn't even have a chance to finish the thought when Sakura's terrified scream rang out, stopping you in your tracks.
What was it? Murderers? Supervillains?
... Lions?
No, that's ridiculous! And you wouldn't sit around thinking about it either. You changed direction, running back towards the scream. Your heart was beating out of your chest, your feet moved on their own. Why did you want to protect a stranger so much?