Hatake✔️

30

I had a hard time falling asleep.

I was less eager this day. Just letting them talk and discuss the mission.

I listen to the sounds of our feet rhythmically hitting the branches.

"Dog?" I hear.

I look up to see Bear next to me.

"Yeah?" I reply.

"Make sure you're not zoning out too much. Alright? It's harder to tell if one of us is listening when we can't see their face." He says.

"Oh, sorry." I say feeling the judgmental glare in the back of my head from Tiger.

"Anyway we were asking about your close combat skills." Bat says.

"Oh that's one of my strengths." I say.

"Good." Crane says.

I look to my left. I could have sworn I saw something.

Maybe it's the paranoia from not sleeping enough.

I switch spots with Crane and match pace with Tiger.

I feel the uneasy tension again.

"Shhh." I say.

That was a signal I learned from Bat we all stop immediately.

I hear the sound of a branch stressing under someone's feet.

My body is faster than my eyes. I lurch forward blocking a kunai from hitting Tiger in the chest.

An ambush.

Our agreed plan if it happened was to flee. We are not here to fight. This is not even our destination.

Tiger pulls me roughly along with him down to the ground. I squeeze my arm and keep up with him.

He runs until he's out of breath. I signal him to go to a small cave. We have to crawl to get in but the space is enough to sit up comfortably.

I see now that his mask is cracked, there must have been two kunai. He is holding it together with his hand.

I move my hand from my arm and see the kunai is sticking through my arm. Visible from both sides.

I whimper as I try to straighten out my arm.

I pull my mask off. I feel suffocated by it.

I look in my small bag and tear some fabric off of my other shirt.

I take a deep breath then slowly pull on the kunai. Trying to keep it straight.

I get halfway then a sob gets caught in my throat.

I pull it all the way out and drop it to the ground. I begin packing the wound with my scrap fabric.

"Can you..." I say but start seeing stars.

"Your arm is fucked." Tiger says finishing dressing my wound.

"Can you look for a tube or something in my bag?" I say squeezing my eyes shut.

"I don't see anything. There's this." He says.

I open my eyes to see some medicine.

"Okay." I say.

"Tiger, that kunai had poison on it." I say cringing at the pain in my arm.

"What?! No... ah what do I do?" Tiger says. For once he's not mad at me.