Hunted or Busted
Dusted 30: Take the Challenge Part 1
Hey everyone! Welcome back!
Ice Queendom is coming to an end and the dub will be premiering soon so I thought I'd celebrate with an update.
The update of the main story? Fools! That would mean I have focus and clarity of which to write! And we all know that ain't me!
JK. I've got chapters in the chamber and just want to work through a few things before I proceed. I also have an idea for this story based on what IQ had to offer, but it's going to be awhile before we get somewhere for me to update it.
Until then, I have a lot of side stories and fun content I want to get through first. Starting with a little background to how we met our favorite flying Faunus.
((((((((Hunted))))))))
Walking through miles upon miles of sand sucked.
Having barely enough water to properly hydrate even one person sucked.
Realizing they had to choose between conserving their Aura to battle the heat for as long as possible and turning it off when they needed it so they had some later also sucked.
In summation-
"THIS SUUUUUUCCCKKKKSSSS - Guh!" Kiba bent over and gave a ragged cough that quickly turned into a fit.
Sasuke stopped his trek through the sand and looked back at his partner as he doubled over and hacked out whatever was caught in his throat, "You okay?"
"Peachy," Kiba answered with a raspy voice as he gingerly rubbed his neck. He hacked something up and spat it aside into the sand before grimacing, "That sucked."
Sasuke pulled out his canteen, swished it around, and realized there was very little left, before offering it to his partner. Kiba thanked him and started drinking, "You know you shouldn't be screaming like that right now. I don't think your throat is fully healed."
"My throat's fine." Kiba argued in a hoarse voice as he handed it back, "Just got some sand caught in it."
"Well, maybe you can avoid getting any more sand in there by not screaming at the top of your lungs."
"But this sucks!" Kiba groused with an irritating twitch in his eyes, "This whole place is one big sandbox and it sucks! You know that right?"
"I know it's hardly ideal, but a huge portion of the population has learned to live with it." Sasuke stopped at the top of a dune and looked back at his partner cautiously, "Also, make sure not to voice those kinds of grievances where the natives can hear you."
"What? Do they consider this sandlot an oasis or something?"
"Oh no, they know how harsh it is and how it can suck. But they firmly believe that only they should be allowed to say anything about it since they live here." Sasuke warned, "If they hear some stranger talk about it like that, you're painting a target on your back that says you're weak and not from around here."
"So…" Kiba drawled, "This is just a nice place with real comforting hospitality, isn't it?"
"Toughest place in the world," Sasuke answered with a shrug as he made it over the last dune and looked out over the sands. For the last few hours, it had been fruitless traveling and no reward as they trekked through the desert after the last settlement. Vacuo was a desolate place and the places of relief were few and far between if you were unlucky.
But it looks like fate had their backs.
Sasuke smiled as Kiba trudged up to his side on the top of the dune. There they looked out to the settlement nested in a flat and level zone of sand. Kiba let out a breath of relief as Sasuke patted his back, "Almost there."
"Great," The bearded fighter said as he started making his way down the dune, "Then let's keep going. I feel like I'm about to dry out-"
The sands around them suddenly shifted and moved unnaturally. Both men stepped back, wary of what might pop out of the shifting sands below them. Sasuke and Kiba's backs knocked into each other as they reached for their weapons.
Claws started to sprout out of the sands and snap at the air before the rest of the bodies started to emerge. The two aspiring Huntsmen quickly found themselves surrounded by a pack of giant crabs that snapped and trilled at them.
"Are these-"
"Mole Crabs. Big ones."
"Dammit." Kiba cursed as he tried to look between the spaces of the crabs' bodies to see the settlement just across the way, "They're in the way! If we can just push through-"
"No." Sasuke interrupted, "We need to slay these things?"
"What? What for? They're not attacking the settlement or anything."
"No," Sasuke shrugged, "But they'll earn us brownie points and make the people a lot more welcoming."
((((((((Hunted))))))))
Sasuke and Kiba marched through the front of the camp. Some of the people that lived there noticed their arrival and watched them walk through. Not just because they were newcomers walking into their homes.
But because they were newcomers dragging a long line of giant crabs behind them with their arms and claws hooked around each other as a makeshift line.
Sasuke dragged his score ahead as Kiba carried the much larger load behind him.
An elderly man stepped out to watch them as he nodded up at Sasuke, "Hello young travelers. May I inquire what you all are doing in our settlement."
"Greetings." Sasuke nodded respectfully to the old man as he released his hold on the crab, "My name is Sasuke and this is Kiba. We-"
Their discussion was interrupted by the very loud and startling sound of something cracking the shell of the crab. Sasuke looked back and saw Kiba had ledges his fist through the shell and was digging into the meat. With a grunt, the bearded fighter tore his hand back out with a palm full of fresh meat dripping with juice.
"Kiba…you okay?"
"Just hungry and thirsty man. And we got plenty of crabs to spare."
"Young man, you know we have ways to cook that properly."
"Is there a way to do that several seconds ago?"
"Um…no?"
"Then I'll survive." Kiba dug his teeth into it and tore the crab meat apart. His expression nearly melted as he tasted the rich crab meat on his tongue. He moaned, "Holy shit, that is good. I usually don't eat fish but damn that is to die for."
"Crabs aren't actually-"
"Dude shut up and eat." He took another bite before looking at all the hungry faces of the people watching him. He waved at the line of crabs, "Don't just stand there! If you wanna eat, eat! Plenty to go around!"
The nomads took that as the signal to move in, rushing to the crab closest to them as they started to break off pieces and partake with each other. Kiba steadily found himself surrounded and celebrating with equally hungry folks satiating their appetites and patting him on the back.
"We appreciate your generosity," The leader spoke to Sasuke to get his attention, "But you can understand why I'm a little cautious about two strangers bearing gifts."
"Yes, especially with two people not from around here." Sasuke pulled out his Scroll and showed it to the elder, "We don't mean any trouble. We were just looking for Huntsmen and Huntresses. We come from Vale, and we were there during the Fall." The elder still stayed quiet but he nodded sympathetically, "So we wanted to request the help of others to avoid a similar catastrophe from happening."
"I see." The elder nodded, "Well you'll find plenty of capable Huntsmen and Huntresses in Vacuo. And you could probably convince quite a few of them to your goal. However, you should know that many here fight for coin instead of a cause. So unless you have piles of Lien to burn…"
"Damn." Sasuke cursed, looking over as Kiba turned their way as the spoke. He shook his head and his partner seemed disappointed that they had hit another block in the road, "That's unfortunate."
"The second group recently to come along asking for someone."
"Second?"
"Yes," The elder nodded, "After those awful punks from the White Fang."
Sasuke's eyes widened before he turned to Kiba. The tattooed fighter had approached during the tail end of their conversation and heard the same thing he did.
And just like that their aim for this trip had found a detour.
((((((((Hunted))))))))
"This looks like the spot."
Kiba looked out over the next settlement they had been pointed towards after leaving the last one. This one looked to have small buildings and homes built from sandstone and rock. And there was a massive chasm in the desert - like the sands and ground beneath had suddenly been scooped out unnaturally. And from the looks of the old excavation equipment, it hadn't been used in a long time. A dig site for Dust generations ago that had been abandoned once the vein had run dry.
"Looks like they gathered rock and support from the valley to create sturdier homes against the sand." Sasuke noted, "You can always rely on Vacuo to be resilient and resourceful when faced with a problem."
"I'll admit, that is pretty impressive." Kiba nodded as they started making their way through the sand and towards the settlement. He looked around at the vast plains of sand that stretched in every direction before shaking his head, "I don't get why the White Fang would be here. Are you sure that old man was right?"
"I mean it's not hard to identify them." Sasuke reasoned, "Faunus features. Grimm masks. Hard to get them confused."
"But what could they be doing out here? What's in it for them?"
"Maybe the same reason we're out here?"
Sasuke and Kiba shared a concerned look-
"Over there!"
Both men immediately dropped to the sand and were kept as low as possible to avoid getting spotted. Sasuke's eyes shifted red with the activation of his Semblance while Kiba's senses heightened with Feral. Both men were ready to engage in case things got out of hand-
"She went that way!"
"No, she was over there!"
"Dammit, we lost her!"
"How were we supposed to even catch her?!"
Both men watched the squad of White Fang members argue and bark at each other. After a few moments of letting their tempers flare the White Fang members relented and turned back to make their way to the settlement. It wasn't until they were all far away enough to disappear before Sasuke and Kiba picked themselves up.
"Okay, yeah, definitely White Fang." Kiba agreed before tilting his head, "But what were they arguing about? They lost someone?"
"A female by the sounds of it." Sasuke stood up and looked around at the sands. There was nothing but the settlement for what looked like miles in every direction, "But where could she have gone? There are not many spots outside of the dunes to hide in-"
"AAAHHHHHHHH!"
They both panicked and looked up as they heard a scream draw closer and closer. When they looked up they spotted someone falling through the air towards the sand. Despite how tired they were and how strange the situation was, their training immediately kicked in and they acted.
Sasuke planted his foot down into the sand as firmly as he could. After he did, Kiba stepped on his knee and jumped off it to launch himself into the air. He opened his arms and caught the falling girl just in time before they both slammed back into the sand. Sasuke walked over as the sand settled and the two inside of it finished coughing up their lungs.
Kiba groaned and coughed once more before looking down at the woman sitting on him, "You alright?"
"Holy crap, there are people out here?" The young woman; a fresh-faced, dark-skinned girl with mint green hair looked between them in surprise before giggling, "Wow, I didn't think anyone would make the trek out here on foot. You guys must be tough." She jumped off Kiba's chest and dusted off her ribbed pants with a giggle, "Thanks for catching me, but you kinda ruined my flow."
"Your flow?"
"Yeah, I was enjoying the drop before I was gonna turn it around with a rush upward, but ya caught me first so I ended up all sandy." She pulled on her scratched-up jacket and saw the sand particles flutter down when she did, "Ah man, I need to air it out again."
"Seriously? You were dropping for fun?" Kiba got to his feet with a growl as she slipped her arms out of her jacket, "You know maybe you could apologize for wasting our-"
Sasuke put a hand to his chest to calm him down as he watched the girl flap her jacket around. After she took it off he got a good look at the insect wings that were supposed to be sprouting from her back but were shredded and reduced to nubs between her shoulder blades.
He shared a look with Kiba and they both understood without saying a word.
This was the woman the White Fang had been looking for out in the sand.
"Excuse me?" Sasuke stepped up and spoke to the stranger as she slipped her arms back into her jacket after cleaning it out, "Are you affiliated with the White Fang that was searching through here moments ago?"
"They were still looking for me?" The girl whistled in surprise before giggling, "Man, bless them for trying so hard. But it looks like they're giving up for today. Maybe they'll try again later."
The Huntsmen shared a confused look, "So…you're not a member of the White Fang?"
"No, but they want me to join."
"Why?"
She looked back at the and grinned, "That's none of your business." She skipped along the sand and away from them, "See ya! It was fun but I've wanna do other things-"
"Hey, hold on!" Kiba and Sasuke followed after her, "Look if the White Fang is here trying to get you to join then we can't let that happen!"
"Why not?" She turned to face them and curiously wonder why they were so intent on this. The girl showed an intrigued smile before jumping back a few feet, "Well if you guys wanna know so bad, why don't you do the same thing those White Fang dudes are trying?"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "And what's that?"
"Accept my challenge."
The wind suddenly picked up violently as Sasuke and Kiba had to shield their faces from the rush of sand. Once the worst of it was over they both looked at her…
And they saw a female figure cloaked in green Aura floating a few feet over the sand with a rush of wind underneath her. They looked on at her in shock as things started to click into place…
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "A Noble Guard."
"If you guys wanna talk to me so badly, you just gotta catch me." The girl's cheery voice permeated through her Aura as she giggled, "My name's Fū Shira, now let's have some fun!"
((((((((Hunted))))))))
Done
I wish there was more we could know about Fū and have seen of her in the Naruto story. All we ever got was a filler arc of her participating in the Chūnin Exam, and from that we got a fun-loving weirdo that just enjoys being out and around and experiencing new things.
I think it was a fun but challenging idea to give the Jinchūriki in this story such an important role. I mean it's easy for ones like Naruto, Gaara, and Bee because we have so much history and depth with them. But for the others ones we only get allusions of who they are and the bare bones entires even in their wiki pages. I had to experiment and go wild with how to write them as I entered them into the world of Remnant. I hope you guys enjoyed them as they've popped up in the story.
Anyway, Fū likes to have fun and would obviously issue a game if she wanted to commit to anything. So now it's up to Sasuke and Kiba to do what they can to get her on their side.
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Thank You and Bye
