Rating: T
Words: 900
Pairing/Characters: Genma and Fynta (original character, borrowed from Cinlat's Star Wars ff)
Warnings/Summary: Action, explosions, some talk of npcs death, banter, humor, etc
Author's Note: January Drabble Challenge day four, the prompt was running. This story borrows a character from SWtoR, but it's set in Naruto so I didn't actually mark this as crossover on here. Anyway, just go with it lol enjoy!
"You are the worst ninja I've ever met," Genma groused, pausing with one hand against a tree. "Even the most basic genin can run through the trees."
"Well, I'm not a ninja," Fynta huffed, flinging her blonde braid over one shoulder. "So, there's that."
Genma didn't continue the argument, especially since Fynta had a point. "You were the one who wanted to come along," he reminded her. "Because you couldn't stand-how did you put it-to be stuck in this shabbing village one minute longer."
Fynta whirled around. "Well, I didn't realize it was a stealth mission at the time."
"It was a rescue," Genma burst out. "What did you think we'd be doing?"
A rain of shuriken tearing through their previous location cut Fynta's reply short. Her breath came out in a grunt when Genma dropped her a dozen feet away. Shunshin could only save them so many times before the enemy caught on. On the surface, their assignment had been straight forward: rescue the son of a local nobleman and return him, more or less unharmed. Then, Sarutobi agreed let Fynta tag along, changing everything.
Genma had arrived back in Konoha and had only just started to wrap his head around the idea that a hole in time and space pulled him into Fynta's world when the woman showed up in his. After the initial shock wore of, Genma had teased Fynta about arriving without weapons and armor as he could only think of one situation that would leave her without them. She'd only grinned and waggled her eyebrows when he'd suggested as much. If only she had a blaster with her now.
"Take him," Genma commanded, holding out their target. Due to Fynta's complete lack of understanding of stealth, they hadn't had time to try and figure out how to bring the boy around from whatever his captors had used to keep him docile.
Fynta heaved the boy onto one shoulder. "What are you going to do?"
Genma opened the pouch on his hip and produced half a dozen senbon, coated with poison. Six weapons against five enemies; he'd had better odds. "Can you make it back to the village?"
Realization filled Fynta's eyes, but Genma held up his hand. There wasn't time for discussion. "Make it back soldier," she agreed, inclining her head.
"I will, you probably can't find Konoha without me." Genma leaped for the trees without looking back. Fynta would complete the mission, and, with any luck, Genma would be there to see her do it.
At home in the foliage, Genma assessed their enemy. Judging from the amount of shuriken thrown, he thought there were five, but he couldn't tell for a certain. Their stronghold had been well fortified, so there could have been twice that number. He found the enemy easily; their pursuers had grown careless. The first fell from his perch with a thud, senbon sprouting from his neck. Genma took the second mid-jump, then moved to look for the rest.
Shinobi could move at twice the pace of a civilian on foot, and the enemy was gaining on Fynta too quickly. Growling silently, Genma doubled his pace. If only Minato had taught him the Flying Thunder God technique. He spotted a third shinobi, but the man shifted and Genma's senbon went wide. Genma was moving for a second attack when he heard the shout go up.
Fynta stood maybe a hundred yard away, arms conspicuously empty. The enemy moved cautiously, unsure where their captive had gone and what jutsu the woman might possess. Genma could use that in his favor. Except, there were no less than ten enemy moving toward the clearing. The target must have been worth a lot.
Without thinking, Genma leaped, releasing two more senbon. That left two for eight enemies. Fynta's eyes widened at the sight of Genma. She had picked a good spot to make a last stand: trees pressed close enough to make ground attacks difficult, but not impossible. A river wound through the forest at her back, and it would have kept kept the enemy in front of her. But, shinobi could walk on water.
Fynta gave Genma a disconcerting grin when he landed beside her. He drew a kunai as the enemy moved closer. "On the count of three, move," Fynta whispered. Before he could ask what she meant, the countdown started. "One, two, three!"
The world exploded in heat, fire, and noise. Something drove Genma backward, and he hit the water hard. Cold waves closed over his head, and he came up spluttering and gasping. Fynta rose beside him, hair plastered to her forehead and blue eyes wild. The space where they had stood moments before was completely obliterated.
"What did you do?" Genma asked, staring at the torn and smoldering remains of trees, shinobi, and earth.
"You gave me those explosive tag things!" Fynta reasoned, dragging herself toward the shore.
Genma followed, putting the pieces together. "There were thirty in there. That's at least a month's supply."
"And now there are considerably less," Fynta answered, then nodded further up river. "I stashed our target over there, safely away from the blast."
"What if you had been wrong? What if I'd come at the wrong moment? What if-"
Fynta rolled her eyes. "What if we stopped having this conversation and got back to the village?" The woman gave Genma an infuriating smirk. "Look on the bright side, at least we don't have to run anymore."