A/N: Alright, I'm kind of nervous here. This is the first fanfic I'm letting anyone but myself read. At first, I had the idea of a LeeTen fic with this song, but after watching about a hundred KankTen AMVs, I fell in love with the couple.
At first, this was going to be a simple oneshot. But as I went on, my imagination ran rampid, so instead, we end up with multiple chapters for each verse instead of one short and sweet story. Damn my muse...
Anyway, this is a KankTen songfic to the song Travelin' Soldier by the Dixie Chicks.
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Sasuke and Kabuto would be long dead. And if I owned the Dixie Chicks, I would murder country music as we know it.
Two days past eighteen,
He was waitin' for the bus in his army greens.
Sat down in a booth, at a café there,
Gave his order to a girl with a bow in her hair.
He's a little shy, so she gave him a smile.
And he said, "Would you mind sittin' down for awhile
And talkin' to me? I'm feelin' a little low."
She said, "I'm off in an hour, and I know where we can go."
A light spring breeze filled the streets of Konoha, providing a sweet respite from the unusual heat. Slumped across a bench alongside the busy streets, a tall shinobi sighed in relief as the wind fell over him. He had been boiling hot all day- and the black jumpsuit he was wearing didn't help his condition much, go figure. No, all Kankuro wanted to do was return home to Suna, where he at least knew what the hell the weather was going to do next. He had had enough of the crazy Leaf Village for a while.
Beads of sweat had made their way down Kankuro's forehead and into his brown eyes. Grumbling, the sand shinobi sat up, stretching his arms and yawning widely. He looked up and down the street in front of him, frowning slightly.
"Where the hell are Gaara and Temari?" he mumbled to himself, standing up impatiently. "They said they'd be here, like, half an hour ago! I fell asleep, for Kami's sake!"
After searching one more time for his siblings and failing, he picked up his three scrolls angrily and attached them to his back. "Well, I'll be damned if I just sit here like a bump on a log," he grumbled, then wiped a bit of sweat off his forehead. Glaring up at the sun, he sighed. "I don't want to actually move, though. It's way too hot..."
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small tea shop across the street... with air conditioning?? Kankuro smiled, satisfied, then checked the streets one more time. "I'm sure Gaara and Tema won't mind if I stop for a drink," he told himself innocently, then made his way across the street to the tiny shop.
Stepping inside, Kankuro was greeted with a delicious gust of cold air. He stood still for a few seconds, enjoying the feel of the coldness against his burning skin. Kankuro sighed contently, then looked around the shop, deciding to sit at a small booth in the back.
"Oh, man, this is so much better than that stupid bench," he said to himself happily as he stretched out the length of his seat. Setting his scrolls down on the spot across from him, he leaned back and closed his eyes.
"Are you going to take a cat nap, or do you want something to drink?"
That voice sounds familiar...
Kankuro reluctantly opened one eye to see who had decided to disturb him, wanting to confirm his suspicions. Sure enough, he recognized the girl standing in front of him, even if she was wearing a white apron and her hair half-down, a section tied back with a silver ribbon. Even though her appearance had changed, he could recognize those huge brown eyes anywhere. This was the kunoichi weapon specialist... the girl Temari had beaten in the Chuunin third round pre-lims! Now, if only he could remember her name...
"Tenten!" he finally blurted out. The kunoichi smiled, seeming somewhat surprised that this kid from Suna still remembered her name. Recovered from his embarrassing blurt-out, Kankuro gave her his trademark smirk, grateful that his purple face paint could cover any trace of a humiliated blush on his face. "Never thought you'd be one to work in a little shop like this, eh?"
Tenten rolled her large brown eyes at him, running a hand through her dark brown hair impatiently. "I really want to buy this new katana I saw down in a shop," she explained matter-of-factly, "but it's way expensive. I would go on missions to earn the money, but since the rest of my team is made up of a bunch of idiot guys, they decided to leave on an S-rank without me!"
Kankuro laughed at the frustrated expression on Tenten's face, doing his best to play the part of the smooth but tough male that he had been perfecting over the years as his flirting instincts took over. "Sounds like you're not feelin' so hot," he drawled, leaning back on the cushioned bench. "Looks like I'm not the only one who got ditched, eh?"
The waitress cocked her head, confused. "You got ditched?" she asked, sounding as if she was trying to stifle a laugh. "Who left the mighty Kankuro behind?"
"Har, har, har." Kankuro's voice was positively dripping with sarcasm. "First off, I'm both surprised and flattered that you managed to remember my name. And second, if you must know, I wasn't exactly ditched. My brother and sister just... forgot to come get me today."
"Oh, right," Tenten replied, pretending to smack her forehead as she ignored his first comment. "There IS a difference between those two! How could I forget? Silly Tenten!"
"You think you're so funny. don't you?" Kankuro shook his head, but failed to hide the smile that was growing on his purple lips. "Sounds like we both need to unload a little, eh? Tell ya what. How about you sit down and we can complain to each other."
Tenten raised an eyebrow and stared at him, her expression disbelieving. "And why would I want to do that?" she asked, and Kankuro couldn't help but chuckle. Temari was all wrong about this chick, he thought to himself. She's really spunky... and not too bad looking, either.
"Well, think of the benefits," he said matter-of-factly as he sat up straighter. "We each get to rid ourselves of the boredom and neglect that always follows getting... forgotten." She made a wow-you're-smooth face at him, but he did his best to ignore her. "Plus, you get the better end of the deal. I mean, you get to spend time with me."
As Tenten threw her head back and laughed, Kankuro was struck by a though that both pleased and horrified him. Wait... am I flirting with the girl my sister tried to kill three years ago? What the hell is wrong with me?
Thankfully, Tenten spoke before Kankuro had time to ponder about his poor (or not so poor?) choice in females. "Well, I'm off in an hour," she informed him, picking up the pen and pad she had dropped on the table before raising her eyebrows at him. "By the way, Mr. Smooth, you never ordered your drink."
"Right," Kankuro said quickly, giving her an "I meant to do that" look that didn't fool either of them. "Wanna get me a green tea?"
"I don't necessarily want to, but since it's my job, I have no other choice." Smirking, the kunoichi turned and headed back towards the kitchen. As she walked, Kankuro couldn't help but stare. Oh, sure, he knew it was impolite to stare at women- he had learned that lesson the hard way, and he still had to get back at that crazy bitch. Er... anyway, although he knew it was impolite, the puppet master of Suna was hypnotized by Tenten's newly developed hips, swaying as she walked, keeping in time with the motion of her hair, still tied up by that silver ribbon. Shaking his head as if coming out of a trance, Kankuro sighed and hit himself in the forehead.
"Man," he muttered to himself, once again settling down for a nap. "Either I've lost my mind, or I'm totally desperate."
A/N: Some parts of it were indeed dumb and cheesy. My muse tends to be a bit moody when it comes to helping me.
I would enjoy some R&R-ing, if it's not too much of a hassle. Flaming doesn't tend to bother me much.
