Khawagah

Comments: Hello, all! I hope I didn't keep everyone waiting too long. All the love for spieg who looked this over and made it beautiful.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter Three

The first thing Naruto was aware of upon waking was that it felt like there was a gallon of sand between the crack of his butt cheeks and that he was being dragged across the ground.

"Stop, stop, stop!" he yelled to Sasuke, who halted in enough time for Naruto to roll to all fours and vomit. He took in a few deep, shaky breaths and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

"I'm sorry for dragging you. I'm not strong enough to carry you, or else I would have."

Naruto sat up, raising his head to finally look at Sasuke. The man's shirt was torn and Naruto could see a shallow gash on his stomach. "You okay?" Sasuke followed where Naruto's eyes were aimed, pulling the ripped edge of his shirt down to cover the wound.

"Yeah, yeah, it's just a scratch. Got it when I was trying to get you out of the plane."

Naruto glanced back behind them. The aircraft was a good kilometer away, just a dark blight against the early morning sky. "Where's the pilot?" The last thing he remembered before falling unconscious was the man giving his all to keep them alive.

"He's trying to get the radio to work. He thinks there might be a signal we can reach way out here."

Naruto sat up, confused. "Then, why aren't we with him? Why are we way out here? Our be—"

"There was a fuel leak," Sasuke cut him off. Naruto whipped his head back towards the wreckage. Now he could see the thin line of smoke rising up from the smoldering plane that he didn't recognize before.

"It was only a matter of time. He knew that. I had to keep you safe." Naruto felt Sasuke kneel down onto the sand next to him, laying a comforting hand upon his shoulder. Naruto shrugged it off roughly, swinging his fist around to hit Sasuke. The man dodged it easily.

"You got us into this! No one asked you to whisk me away to a private island to keep your secret about me safe! You could have gone alone, you bastard!" Naruto launched himself at Sasuke, driving his body into the man's middle. Sasuke fell onto his back with Naruto on top, the man shielding his face from his onslaught.

"I hate you! I hate you! We're going to die out here!"

Sasuke flipped him then, shoving Naruto's head into the soft sand beneath them. Naruto's hands were pinned above his head as Sasuke glared down at him. "We're not going to die out here. That only happens in movies. Now shut up so I can think properly."

Naruto bit back his retort, ignoring the sharp bite of gritty sand clinging to his cheek. Sasuke was licking his lip gingerly as he eventually released his hold on Naruto's hands. A drop of fresh blood swelled there and Naruto felt guilty for attacking Sasuke like he did. It wasn't really Sasuke's fault; Naruto just had an overwhelming urge to blame someone.

"We need to find people… a town or something. But which direction?" Sasuke muttered more to himself than to Naruto.

"Yeah, which direction indeed? Who knows where the hell we are, Sasuke." Naruto sat up, leaning his weight on his arms. "I bet whatever map our pilot may have had is gone now. Though, it shouldn't be too hard to find civilization. Libya isn't that big."

Naruto sensed Sasuke glaring at him, but in the dark it was hard to tell.

"I feel like I shouldn't have to remind you of the seriousness of the situation. After all, weren't you the one a moment ago carrying on how about we're doomed to our deaths?"

"I decided to play the optimistic card for once." Naruto stood, brushing the sand off the side of his face. Extending a hand to Sasuke, he pulled the man to his feet. A quick survey of the murky blue-black of land around them had him wishing he had a compass and a map.

Since he had neither, he set off to his right and let his gut instinct guide him. Sasuke trotted to keep up and Naruto noticed then the man had managed to save Naruto's dilapidated backpack from the wreckage. The fact that Sasuke had thought to grab his bag, consciously or not, warmed him inside. If there was ever a person he would want to be stranded in the middle of the desert with, it'd be Sasuke.

They moved along for a while and the sun was steadily climbing to its place in the middle of the sky when Naruto heard Sasuke stifle a gasp. He cast a sideways glance to see if everything was alright, halting immediately when he saw the man holding his hand to his stomach directly where he had been cut earlier.

"How is it?" He could obviously see Sasuke bite back a grimace. Between his fingers, Naruto can just make out the puffy edge of the wound. Anybody who wasn't a fool knew that his cut was worse than what he had originally let on.

"It's fine. Walking just makes it ache. We're bound to run across someone soon."

It did little to assuage Naruto's concerns, but he shut up anyway, content on letting the man take care of himself if he so wished. An hour later, Naruto wished Sasuke's assumptions had been wrong.

Their hands were bound tightly behind their backs and their assailant had them backed up against each other. Unfortunately, their arms were trapped by zip ties which meant they couldn't untie each other.

"Mind telling me why the two of you are out wandering the desert alone?" The feminine voice issuing from their attacker had the both of them doing a double take; it came as more of a surprise than the fact she spoke in English. She was dressed head to foot in heavy robes and her face and head were wrapped well to protect from the sand, so it was no wonder they had assumed it was a man with how easily she had subdued them.

"Please… our plane crashed. We're trying to find a town to get some help."

The woman sneered. "So I'm guessing you've never been here before. It's dangerous to be out here all by yourself; you'll get robbed."

"Isn't that what you planned to do anyway?" Sasuke questioned, haughtily. Naruto jabbed him hard with his elbow; it was not wise to anger the crazy chick who had them immobilized.

"What little foreign cash you're carrying in your wallets is of no use or interest to me. However, I do like that watch you're wearing. Mind if I take a look?"

She had it in her hand easily enough. "Thanks. It'll bring me a bit in the market."

"So, are you just some kind of vagrant? Go around and pickpocket and terrorize every helpless person you come across?"

For a brief second, Naruto imagined he saw a flash of hurt cross the woman's features. He jabbed Sasuke harder with his elbow; anything to get him to just shut up. He sure had gotten mouthy in their time apart.

"You two are really pushing my fucking buttons."

Naruto couldn't contain his outburst this time. "We're pushing YOUR buttons?"

The woman sneered loudly before reaching a hand to her face. She grabbed a handful of the fabric around her head and pulled down.

Her face did not reflect back what a vagrant's should look like. In fact, she was actually striking. Her skin was tanned to a soft olive shade and her eyes were such a shade of brown that they looked almost blood-red in the sunlight.

Her hair, however, was the most compelling. It was the color of blood, no doubt a byproduct of henna dye, but out in the desert she almost resembled a brilliant phoenix.

"Yes, you certainly are," she shot back, adjusting her glasses on her face from where they had been knocked askew. "You two are obviously too clueless to be who I thought you were. So, for my sake and sanity, I'm letting you off the hook."

"You won't help us?" Naruto got up the nerve to ask.

"Yeah, nearest town's that-a-way," the woman replied haughtily, thumbing towards her left.

"We have no water though. And… and look at Sasuke! He's already so red! At this rate, he'll be crisp by tonight."

"Not my problem. Look, if you come with me I can get you to town, but I want nothing to do with you after that." Upon untying them, she simply walked away.

"We stand our best chance with her," Naruto reasoned immediately.

"As much as I would like to disagree with you, I think you're right on this one."

The two men scrambled over the sand in the direction their mysterious savior set off in. They found her at the rise of the dune near them, coaxing an ancient camel from its seated position.

"Wise choice, gentlemen. I'll lead, you ride." The animal bellowed in response. "She hates men," she said matter-of-factly. "By the way, my name's Karin."

Naruto caught the apprehension on Sasuke's face. "Can't be much different than riding a horse."

"I've never ridden a horse though."

With a little prodding, Naruto was able to get Sasuke situated in front of the camel's hump. It was a tight fit for both of them together though, so Naruto perched behind, hoping desperately the animal didn't kick out and throw him off. Karin passed them a couple of water bottles she had hidden in the sack that hung off the side of the camel. The water was lukewarm, but Naruto guzzled greedily, immediately forgiving Karin for tying them up. Sasuke sipped his quietly, lost in thought. Naruto ached to ask him what was wrong, but given their present company and situation, he clamped his lips together on all the things that wanted to leak out.

Thirty minutes into their ride, Sasuke pointed ahead of them to the blurred image of a town. To realize they were so close all along and yet they had been traveling in the wrong direction had Naruto's nerves rattled. Karin was turning more into a blessing than the bad omen she seemed as the day wore on.

"The city is called Tobruk. It's a port city, so understand everybody is going to want to talk to you and to sell you something you've never seen before," Karin said, amusement in her voice as they approached the outskirts.

Dusty children playing by the roadside stared them down, eyes wide with open curiosity.

"The sooner we get to Cyprus, the better," Sasuke mumbled in front of him. "We need to get our bearings. Find out where we are first and then make a couple of calls. I'll have to get in touch with Rhaivosky's family…"

Naruto felt disgusted with himself in that moment. He didn't even know the name of the man who so valiantly saved their lives. Sasuke must have caught the look on his face, because he squeezed his hand in return.

"It would have been better if we stayed in Japan. I'm sorry I've brought you into this mess, Naruto."

Naruto wanted to retort and make it clear that it wasn't Sasuke's fault what had happened, but his words were drowned out amongst the shouts and mayhem that they suddenly found themselves in the middle of. He made a mental note to let Sasuke know how appreciative he was that if they had to go through Hell, at least they went together.