Desert Ruins || Ancient
He thought the exchange program was a waste of time. There was no reason that the two countries needed to work together after an alliance was formed. They were ‘friends’. What more did they want from two peoples who had warred against each other for such a long time? But here he was, sitting inside an old abandoned building that a small camp had been set up in. Suna on one side, Konoha on the other.
He eyed the foreign students, many wore bright colors, had odd-looking faces and expressions. Maybe that was the weird part. They so easily wore their hearts on their sleeves without the fear of it being stabbed.
As the teacher standing in the front of the room started listing off names, he turned his gaze down to the paper he’d been given before arriving. Each group had an assignment in the area. It would seem his assignment was looking through old ruins, the exhibition group. Several clusters of two-man teams he was told. Easier to listen in on secrets when one person was around and you were the only living thing to talk to. He wouldn’t like this. Listening the entire time as someone blabbed on—or that was the hope. He would squash that and make something up if asked.
“Lastly, Sasori, you’ll be working with Sakura. The two of you have similar interests so hopefully you can get a lot done in your working together!” The teacher at the front of the room called over his partner. She waved over in his general direction, smiling.
Pink hair. She had pink hair. Who in the world had hair that color? He didn’t think it was genetically possible for someone to have hair like that. Wrong it seemed, unless she colored it, which would make her a liability to her village. Vain with bright hair. What was it with this village and flaunting how little worries they had?
“Hello, Sasori, I’m Sakura Haruno. I hope that we can work well together. Iruka said we have—”
He had no qualms about cutting her off. “We’re in the exhibition route. Let’s get going. I don’t have the patience to wait around and introduce myself when we could easily do that while walking.” Turning, he started down the halls of the unfamiliar building.
Ninja from both countries, and mainly the capital villages, gathered up nice and orderly in an old ruinous village that bordered both countries. The grand assignment was to learn more about the people who had lived there when the two countries were one, or one ruled the other. That was another goal more under the table. Find out which country actually gets the land and pick up secrets along the way.
“You know, if you had just introduced yourself in a normal manner it would have taken less time than cutting me off and being a di—”
“Sasori Akasuna. I’m sixteen just as you are and apparently we like similar things. No idea how that conclusion could have been come to.”
He could feel her fuming behind him. “Well, maybe we should chat a bit about what we like and figure that out? Isn’t that the whole point of this mission? To build ties?”
Her face showed she was taken by surprise as he spun on his heels in the middle of the hall. Her green eyes wide with surprise. “What sort of ties do they want us to build? Enough for us to want to settle down and have babies together? Not when we’re of a prime age for going out and ending crimes on their behalf. We’re tools of war, not building up a population. And friendships cause a liability on the field. So I don’t think it’s worth anything getting attached to anyone—”
Sharp pain exploded from his stomach as her fist collided with the entirety of his gastrointestinal tract. A strong grip on his shoulder kept him from tumbling backward. He could feel his ribs shattering upward from the impact of sudden force.
That was how he was going to die? Getting punched in the gut by a vain sixteen-year-old girl. Kankuro would pee himself laughing over his shallow grave.
The pain was gone in the next instant. His hearing returned, he hadn’t realized it’d left him.
“I’m a fun kind of tank. I can deal damage, take it, and heal it. I enjoy studying medicine and the ways I can use it to help the people I love. Love motivates me.”
He staggered backward, wiping the spit that had trailed down his mouth with the back of his hand. “And you couldn’t have told me that without—”
She brushed past him, “you said you didn’t want to waste time talking. Thought it would be easier to show you. Didn’t realize how slow you were to catch up, Sasori.” She didn’t wait for him to catch up to her down the hall.
“Wow! Nice one Sakura!” A young boy with electric blond hair cried from down the hallway. It seemed he was paired with Gaara. His cousin looked less than pleased at the arrangement, but possibly more chipper at being paired with someone slightly less violent.
“Hurry up Sand Boy!” Sakura called, rounding the corner to the stairs. “We don’t have all day to wait about!”
~*~
The ruins were in pieces. Unsurprising to her. That’s what the name implied after all.
“So, are you feeling up to more talking yet? Or are you still upset?” She asked, lifting a sizable rock above her head to check for anything secretive and interesting underneath. Finding nothing she settled it back in place.
A grunt was all she got in return from the boy.
She’d ruined the whole trip. If she had kept her temper in check for a few more moments, maybe things would have gone swimmingly. Doubtful, but there was a chance at it that she shattered along with her left hook. Talks of peace. They were told to make peace, to listen to what everyone had to say and see if something could grow from that!
It was aggravating! She was trying to put effort into something he clearly had no interest in. She knew that was unfair, expecting someone to care about something they didn’t want to. But it was for the betterment of both countries. Trade would open up, they’d have an ally when in need. All they had to do was get along and not fight. Build bonds.
Though, perhaps the anger came as the insulation of breeding them. The village wouldn’t do that, Tsunade wouldn’t allow for something like that, ever.
She peered over her shoulder to see Sasori flinging small stones out of his way with chakra strings—a technique she’d been interested in when the talks of alliances between Suna and Konoha moved into serious territory.
His figure wasn’t horrible. Maybe a few inches taller than her, clear skin, nice hair. Overall, attractive and brooding. Just how she liked them apparently. If they were forced to breed, their babies would be cute at least. Cute and brooding—not a combo she wanted to think about. And babies? Plural? What was she having, twins?
“Have you found anything interesting as you continuously move the crust of the earth?” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
She wanted to deck him again.
“No,” She lifted another rock, a burst of air rushed past her. “Yes!” She settled the rock beside the stairs and peered down.
“Ah, we’ve finally found something. We can head back now—”
“Are you kidding me, Sasori? This is incredible! We’ve got to explore this.” A quick rummage through her pack put a flame tag and stick in her hand. Flooding them with chakra had them lit and ready for exploration.
“No, I’m not kidding. Besides, we’ve done what we came to do, talk, find something old for anyone older than us to explore and or exploit. I don’t feel like exploring whatever death awaits us down there. Old civilizations are known for trapping their things from outsiders.”
“Or, perhaps this was a place of trust. These ruins could be a school building of some kind—”
“Or a place where pure maidens were slaughtered and their blood was used for ancient rituals. Though you’d have to be pure for us to find out.”
She spun on her feet, the branch cracking in her grasp. “What is that supposed to mean.” The words hissed through her teeth.
“I’m saying your bottle-pink hair isn’t the purest thing this side of death.” He twirled a strand of her hair around his finger and grinned at her. When had he gotten so close?
Oh she was going to murder him down there and claim it an accident. He was in murderable range now. Or. . .
“I’ll have you know this is my natural hair color.” She grabbed his hand and started dragging him behind her down the stairs. “So if anyone would be murdered down there by crazy old people it’d be me! But instead, I’m just going to murder you.”
The hallway was surprisingly clear of any obstacles. Cobwebs, dust, anything. The landing at the bottom only revealed a hallway, long and thin. They’d be able to walk side by side, if they wrapped an arm around the other.
She released Sasori and let him gather himself before doing such and starting down the hall, not minding his dragging feet or protests as she reestablished her grip on his arm.
“Goodness, would you stop!” The world froze around her, muscles unwilling to listen to her commands. Even her lungs felt the sudden seizure. “Look, I—”
A rumbling came from behind them. Suddenly the light that flooded them from above was snuffed and gone.
Feeling returned to her body. “Oh yeah we’re getting murdered down here.”
“Would you be quiet. Just get back up there and push the rock back.”
“Or, we could keep going forward.” She started down the hall, happy as could be. Or, projecting herself as happier than she actually was. Sasori eventually followed, their steps echoing around them, sounding like an army.
“What do you actually think they did down here? The land is technically closer to Sunan build. Do you have anything like this back home?” She looked over her shoulder at him. The flames danced across his face as he thought.
“Not really. I see things that remind me of buildings back in Suna, but there are attributes that are unknown to me. Possibly from your culture, or an outside influence.”
“So, they really worked together. That’s wonderful.” A smile overtook her face.
“How so?”
“Well, if our people were able to work together all that time ago, there’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to do the same today. Having allies doesn’t make you weak, or give one a liability. It gives you something worth fighting for. Like I said earlier, I learned to heal so I could take care of my friends.”
“What drove you to learn to punch a man in half?”
“My friends.”
He scoffed. “So you could protect them?”
A laugh burst free from her chest. “Oh goodness no, to show them that I was much worse than anything else they could ever be afraid of. I learned to punch a man in half so I could better teach them a lesson.”
“Well, that’s a notion I could get behind.” His voice sounded rounded—he’d dropped the sharp edge he’d been talking all day with. His voice showed that his own words had taken him by surprise. A slip up of a mash, a crack in the facade of a wooden door.
“It takes a lot of chakra control to do that. I could easily teach you how to do the same.”
His voice hardened again. “I’m a puppeteer. I fight from a distance. I gather intel and report back.”
“I’m a medic, supposed to stay where it’s safe. But the world isn’t safe. Sometimes things get closer than we’d like to let them. Slipping behind our walls and defenses. And sometimes we have to go out of our way to protect the things we love.” They broke into an open room, ceilings tall and floors lined with pews that lead to an altar where a figure of a man and woman, just larger than them, holding hands stood unchanged by the test of time.
She spun right to face him, now standing parallel to the statues, the torch light catching on his face revealing his wide eyes and slacked mouth. “Let me teach you how to protect the things you love when the fight gets close. In return, you can teach me how to control the things just out of reach. I have a feeling we could be a great team.”
He didn’t say anything for a long moment, only stared at her.
Something changed in his eyes. A spark of interest?
“I like your suggestion, Sakura. I look forward to working with you.” He stuck a hand out, mirroring the position of the male figure.
She took his hand and shook it. “You’ve got a deal, Sasori. I look forward to working with you. Ancient bonds made modern.”
He smiled as he nodded at her words. “I think look forward to seeing what comes of this.”
“What are you thinking, the village is going to make us have babies?”
“One or two couldn’t hurt.”