Light My Fire ((Kankuro X Reader))

Chapter Sixteen: Hurt

After what seemed like an eternity, Temari and Gaara emerged through the trees, the redhead only carrying a measly goose with him.

With a hint of annoyance, he tossed the bird on the ground and sat down by the water's edge.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" The puppeteer chuckled playfully.
For such an awkward conversation a while ago, it was nice to be talking again, even if your question led him into changing the topic into something wildly different, it was almost what you needed.

"It's almost getting dark," You confirmed after, "Just one bird?"
"Just one, (Y/N) says," Gaara huffed, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"Turns out geese like to travel in packs and they really don't like being hunted," Temari crossed her arms. "Who knew they'd try to swarm?"

"Let's just eat," Gaara quickly diverted away from Temari's explanation.
Now that you could get behind.

Luckily for the siblings, you had fire Jitsu, meaning starting a small, controlled fire pit was as easy as could be, and before long, your stomachs were full and the four of you were sleeping under the stars.

Only the quiet sounds of the lake filled the silence, but your inner mind couldn't be more of a turmoil. Sacrifice yourself? You couldn't do anything like that, but the fire scroll... The attacker had to be using the Kasai ruins as a base, wasn't he?
He wanted Akuma badly enough to try and kill you for it, but you may lose more of yourself than you want if you sacrifice yourself and may as well be dead.

Neither choice sounded great, you had to admit.
Pulling your gaze from the stars, you looked to the peacefully sleeping Temari on your left, Kankuro to your right, and offered a glance to Gaara still sitting at the lake's edge, boredly staring into the water. Another sleepless night for the redhead it appeared like.

Rolling over to your side, you opted to cuddle up against the puppeteer's back before wrapping an arm around him lightly, careful not to put pressure on any of his still healing bruises.

For sleeping on the ground in the open, this was pretty nice, if a bit chilly.

Maybe you were still a bit upset at him, but you couldn't really stay mad, not when Kankuro made your heart smile just by thinking about him. How annoying, but enjoyable too.
As an exhale left your cold lips, you buried your face into his back, using the dark fabric of his costume to warm your face from the nipping night air.

With the rise of the next morning, the scent of cooked fish awoke the pair of you to a breakfast cooked by Temari. Fishing in the lake was possible, much to your surprise. it didn't seem big enough to have any fish living in it, but the one that was being devoured by the group was plenty filling.

Once breakfast finished, Gaara stood up, stretching out and rolling his shoulders with a wince of annoyance.
"I'm getting stiff from all this sitting around. Going to scout the area."
"What about the guy in black?" You quickly interjected. It wasn't as though you traveled all that far, he could appear at any moment, couldn't he?

Rather than answering, the redhead simply waved a hand to brush off your remark. Well, he was strong, but Itachi was powerful and it didn't seem right to ignore how much he could be capable of.
Kankuro pulled himself to his feet with a pained gruff only to meet his brother's eyes,
"I'll come with, you guys will hold it over me if I'm not helpful somehow."
"Absolutely not," Temari swiftly snapped, "You're still hurt, this is an exception to being useful."
The puppeteer chuckled before wrapping an arm around his stomach,
"Just a few bruises, some bruises never killed anyone. Let's just go already."

You weren't sure of that, bruises probably could be deadly, but he was persistent about wanting to scout, wasn't he?
With a sigh, you stood up as well,
"I'm going with you too then."
The last time you left this guy alone, he got himself beat up.
Gaara was kind, but you couldn't see him slowing down for an injured person to keep up, even if that injured person was a sibling.

With eyes now all turned to Temari, the sister crossed her arms as she pondered the final choice.
Although it didn't seem much of a choice right then, considering it was three against one on a scouting mission. She groaned ere standing up,
"Fine, guess we'll all go. Not like there's much of a camp here to guard anyway. Where does the map say the cave is?"

After a quick briefing over the lazily scribbled map and trying to decipher how close the cave was from the lake, the next thing you knew, Kankuro was thirty feet above, clinging tight to a tree trunk.

"Do you see anything?!" Temari yelled out, only for Gaara to raise an eyebrow,
"We allowed the injured one to climb a tree. He's going to fall and kill himself."
"There's something over there!" Kankuro echoed back down before anyone could retort Gaara. "I think we're close to Kasai!"

Your heart jumped, tensing up in your chest.
It was hard not to think about your village, let alone know you were so close to it. Temari jumped up and began to make her way up to help her brother back down, but your feet remained firmly planted to the ground.

How did you end up getting so close back home? There wouldn't be anyone to greet you, just shattered memories of what used to be.
You wanted to look forward to the future, but you were so close to the past now that it just...

A hand fell upon your shoulder and you turned a glance to the redhead beside you,
"You look troubled. If it's about Kankuro, it was a mere joke, he'll be fine."
"No, it's not about that," You forced a smile. Sure you were concerned about him pushing himself, but he wasn't stupid enough to fall out of a tree and die like that, "I'm just... A bit stressed thinking about Kasai so soon after their death."

At first, he appeared a bit taken aback, but Gaara's bright eyes softened as he lowered his hand,
"You can mourn the past, but don't let it halt your future. You're one of us now."

His small lips cracked the smallest of smiles to match them. While it didn't help much in total to calm your nerves, you could certainly appreciate the attempt he was making to offer a pep talk. You've been getting a lot of those recently, haven't you?

Kankuro and Temari's feet hit the ground and the siblings nearly sighed in unison.