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Kiba’s head hit the tree he leaned against with a loud thump and a sigh of relief escaped his lips. Inhaling deeply, he looked over to where Kankuro stood, tending to his puppets. With Sakon and Ukon defeated, he could finally rest for a moment. He hoped Naruto had been able to catch up to Sasuke.
Akamaru stood by his side, his eyes trained on Kankuro. His ears laid flat on his head. Oh right, the last time Kankuro had been around, they had been on opposing sides. He reached up to pet Akamaru and smooth him at least a little.
“That was close,” he said as he watched Kankuro wipe the blood off his hands. “You really saved my ass, man.”
After Kankuro finished with his puppets, he kneeled next to Kiba, earning a growl from Akamaru. “Damn right I did.” He snorted. “Another minute and you would’ve been dead.” He dropped Kiba’s coat in his lap, having retrieved it from Sakon.
Kiba clicked his tongue, his lips twitching. “Bastard was too strong for his own good.” Attempting to sit up more, he winced and tightened his grip on his side. “Fuck.” His vision went blurry for a few seconds and he squeezed his eyes shut. He slumped back against the tree, trying to catch his breath. Akamaru nudged him with his nose and whined.
“Let me see.” Kankuro pushed Kiba’s hands away to assess the injury. “Damn, he got you good.” Rummaging through his pouch, he fished out some bandages. He gingerly pulled Kiba’s shirt off, frowning when he hissed in pain, before quickly securing them around Kiba’s wound. While it didn’t do much, it would at least stop the bleeding for the time being.
Kankuro crouched in front of Kiba. “Come on, we need to meet up with the others. Assuming they defeated their targets, that is. Besides you need medical attention I can’t give you.”
Shrugging, Kiba carefully wobbled to his feet and climbed onto Kankuro’s back. Curling his arms around Kankuro’s neck, he grimaced at the pain in his side. “Thanks.” Kankuro wrapped his arms around Kiba’s legs and stood up. Akamaru barked and jumped up onto Kiba’s shoulders before wiggling his way between Kiba’s chest and Kankuro’s back.
Kankuro tsked at the extra weight, but said nothing. He leapt up into the trees, hopping from one branch to another. He moved more slowly as to not jostle Kiba too much.
“How did you know where to find us?” Kiba rested his head on the back of Kankuro’s neck.
“We were informed of your mission and Gaara took care of the rest. It wasn’t very hard to find your trail.”
“Hm.” Kiba tightened his arms around Kankuro. “I guess we weren’t trying to cover our trail anyway. Does that mean Gaara and your sister are close by?”
“Temari stopped to help the one who looks like he hates his life and Gaara had gone on to follow Naruto’s trail.”
“Ah, Shikamaru.” Kiba nodded. “Good luck to Naruto with dealing with Gaara.”
“Gaara thinks quite highly of Naruto, just so you know.” Kankuro tilted his head back to glance at Kiba.
Kiba laughed. “Of course he does. Naruto is that type of person, I guess. We all owe you guys one.”
“Is that so?” Kankuro’s fingers dug into Kiba’s thighs. “And how will you repay us?”
“Actually forget that since you guys attacked us first during the Chunin exams.” Kiba grinned at the playful tone Kankuro had taken on; he certainly didn’t look like he was one to tease or be anything but serious.
“That was all but a misunderstanding.”
“Mhm, sure thing.”
They continued their banter as they traveled to meet up with the others. Kiba felt the most relaxed ever since this mission began and found himself enjoying conversing with Kankuro. His body sagged against Kankuro’s as exhaustion set it and he could barely keep his eyes open.
It wasn’t too long until they found Shikamaru and Temari after they had finished their fight. The rest of the original team for the mission had also joined them as well as a few jonin-ranked ninja from the Leaf Village.
Kankuro gently set Kiba down as one of the Leaf Village ninja approached them to treat Kiba’s wounds. He stayed near the other boy while Temari spoke to him of her fight. Kiba absently pet Akamaru as he was tended to, his eyes wandering over to Kankuro. The other leaned against a tree and watched as Temari went back over to Shikamaru, the two of them speaking in low voices.
Once his wounds had been taken care of, Kiba stood up and approached Kankuro. He wasn’t quite sure why he wanted to be by the Sand ninja, but his feet led him there regardless.
“All patched up?” Kankuro said as Kiba pressed his back against the same tree as Kankuro.
“Yeah,” Kiba said, his head tilted towards Kankuro. There was a moment of silence between them.
“Gaara is on his way back so Temari and I are going to meet up with him,” Kankuro said as he adjusted his leg pouch. He nodded at Kiba before turning away.
“Uh, wait!” Kiba grabbed Kankuro’s hand to stop him. His face flushing, he quickly let go of Kankuro and squirmed under the other boy’s gaze. “Thanks again for helping me out. I really would have died if you hadn’t stepped in.” Kiba felt the tips of his ear burning. Of course Kankuro would have stepped in, it was his mission after all, why did he feel he had to keep thanking him?
“Don’t worry about it,” Kankuro shrugged. “But you know-” Kankuro paused, a thoughtful look crossing his face. Kiba blinked in confusion and raised an eyebrow.
“Hm, I suppose I could find more excuses to visit the Hidden Leaf Village.” He reached out a hand, ruffling Kiba’s hair, letting his fingers linger for a moment.
Kiba froze, his eyes widening, and Akamaru growled at the taller man. “H-huh?”
“See you around,” was all Kankuro said before he disappeared to meet with his siblings before they departed.
Kiba looked down at Akamaru, dazed. “Do you know what just happened?” Akamaru barked and head-butted Kiba’s leg.
He stared at the spot where Kankuro once stood for a minute before smiling. “He seems like a pretty interesting guy, wouldn’t you say, Akamaru?”