A/N: This was a fun idea I got while laying in bed watching my cat climb up to the top shelf in my closet. His name is also Sasuke.
As the sun began to set, Sasuke sat upon his horse on top of the mountain, looking over his hunt. He had spent three days looking for Hidan and by some form of sheer luck on his part or stupidity on the part of Hidan (maybe both), he came across the man making up his camp just at the base of the mountain. He could blame how long it took on the fact that he worked alone and never with a partner, but for all he knew, it would have taken longer with a partner. He was a lone ranger. Partner work was just never the thing for him. He tried it once and almost ended up killing the poor guy for merely taking a breath as Sasuke was about to pull the trigger on a hit they had been hunting for a week. After that, Sasuke vowed that he would not work with a partner.
Sasuke dismounted his horse, crouching low to the ground to get a good view of the small camp below him. He could make the shot from the distance he was at. It would not be the hardest shot of his life. It was getting darker out and it was almost time for Sasuke to make the kill.
Hidan's bounty was a beautiful five thousand. Sasuke only ever went after the hefty bounties. Nothing under twenty-five hundred. What made it better was that Hidan was wanted dead, not alive. It was much easier to carry a corpse back to the nearest town than it was to have to tie someone up and keep them quiet the whole way. Sasuke liked the peaceful rides. The dead could never give him lip about their bounty. The dead would not try to buy him out of turning them in either. He watched Hidan as he sat next to his sleeping bag, hunched over a small campfire, unsuspecting of his impending doom. Hidan's horse was off to the side, grazing on a small patch of grass.
As his hand hovered over the pistol at his hip, Sasuke formed his quick plan to take the shot, ride down to the body, collect the body, ride back to the town and collect his bounty. Easy enough plan. He did not care what happened to the man's horse. Sasuke unholstered his pistol and aimed right at Hidan's head. Just as he was about to pull the trigger on his pistol, Hidan dropped dead. Yet, no bullet ever left Sasuke's gun. "No," Sasuke breathed. He looked down at the man he was about to kill. The man who was now dead. Someone had stolen his kill. His head whipped around, looking for what could have taken him down. Just beyond the small camp, on another mountain, there was the silhouette of another horse against the setting sun. Sasuke's brow furrowed as he did not see a rider and there was no way the horse could have killed Hidan from up there. He looked back down at Hidan's body and took immediate notice of another man with white hair approaching the camp.
The other man rode fast, dismounting the horse just as it slowed down to a trot. He wasted no time in picking up Hidan's body and throwing it over the back of Hidan's horse, strapping the corpse onto the saddle. Sasuke's eyes darted back to the horse silhouette on the mountain. Now there was someone on it. A sniper. The man below whistled, signaling the second rider to meet him at the camp. Sasuke watched on in utter disbelief at the amazing teamwork he had just witnessed happen in just under two minutes. It was not enough to convince him to work with another person, however. The sniper made it to the camp and the white-haired man jumped onto his own horse. They rode off together, towing the dead body on the third horse between them. Sasuke shook his head, blinking at what he just saw.
After a couple of moments of gathering his thoughts, he rode off, following the two people who had just taken his kill. He rode down the mountain, following the winding path down until he was on the flat ground. He pushed his horse fast, wanting to catch up to them before they could reach the town. Or better yet, before they could reach the mountain pass. After about twenty minutes, he saw the dust kicked up by their horses. He was gaining on them. And they had no idea.
Or so he thought.
Sasuke noticed the white-haired man look back at him then back at his partner. They exchanged a couple of words before the man toward him again and aimed a pistol. Immediately, Sasuke reached for his own pistol. He fired a warning shot at them, just grazing the man's arm which made him lower his pistol. He smirked, finding that he had the upper hand now that one of them was injured. He pushed his horse to go faster, getting a little closer to the two strangers. He watched the pair exchange more words as they kept riding. The white-haired man took the reins of Hidan's horse and rode ahead of his partner.
"Dammit," Sasuke growled to himself, watching the second person strategically lay stomach-down on the back of their horse. "What are they doing?" he mumbled to himself. He barely had time to process the rifle being aimed at him.
Sasuke did not even hear the gunshot before he was shot in the side. He almost fell off of his horse but somehow managed to keep hold of his reins and pulled himself back up. He looked at the sniper who had made it further ahead. He pushed his horse to go faster, wanting to catch up to this stranger. He could not see their face and he did not know the face of the other man. The sniper shot again, this time hitting Sasuke in the shoulder and causing him to fall off of the horse. He hit the ground with a pained grunt. His horse kept going, running in the direction of the town. He sighed heavily. Never before had he fallen off of a horse. He also never had a kill stolen from him. The dust being kicked up by the sniper's horse disappeared. They were gone. He growled to himself, frustrated with his misfortunes and sat up, huffing hard. Slowly, he got on his feet, holding his hand to his side where he was shot and started walking toward the town, bearing the pain.