<\\ Finders \\ Hidan \\ \\ 1\3 \\ Keepers \\>

Kaze no Kuni.

Also known as the Land of Wind.

A country known for its copious amounts of sand, unrelenting heat, and famous Kazekage. Well known for being a certain death-trap for any unfortunate traveler who finds themselves lost and without water.

Except for the small village of Kousamura. It is located far to the south of Sunagakure, and set up along one of the few rivers that diverge from the coastline. A sort of oasis, it is the only water source around for miles of desert. Over the years many lost travelers have been saved from certain death by the waters of this river.

Not only do people arrive from the surrounding landscape, but objects wash up along the river's shores, sometimes carried thousands of miles by the ocean's currents.

There is an old saying among the villagers, "All things will eventually find their way to Kousamura's shores."

And this is ultimately true.

It was one of those days.

One of those horribly typical days.

One of those days where you wake up, fall out of bed, hit the side table on the way down, and discover that the underside of the bed was not nearly as clean as you thought it was.

And thus started Sokudo Fuukin's day.

"Son of a--!"

Fuukin shut her eyes tightly. This was not how her morning was supposed to start off.

Not wanting to see the colossal dust-bunnies that made their home under her bed, Fuukin rolled sideways towards her wall--

--and the mirror that was propped up against it.

Clunk

"SUNOVA--!"

The dull edge of the mirror hit her square in the chest, but Fuukin managed to catch it before it clattered to the ground and broke. Sighing with relief, she starred at her reflection in the square object.

Her long, dirty blonde hair was an absolute mess. That was forgivable, seeing as she had just woken up. Her blue eyes were still crusted with sleep, and she rubbed them in an attempt to clear them of the sand. Sand of course is a constant when you live in Kaze no Kuni.

Sighing, Fuukin stood up and placed her mirror back against her wall--

Only to knock her bookshelf over in the process.

She groaned.

It was just going to be one of those days.

Fuukin got dressed in her usual ninja garb; black capris, a long sleeve white shirt, and yellow short sleeve sweatshirt before combing out her hair. Situating her Sunagakure hitai-ate around her upper arm, she picked her shelf back up and set her books on it before moving to the kitchen.

On the counter lay a note from her grandmother;

Fuukin stuffed the note in her pocket. She and her grandmother lived in Kousamaru together, in their own little house at the edge of the village.

Walking over to the front door, she pulled a long cream-colored scarf off the hanger and wrapped it loosely around her neck. Momentarily forgetting her Obaa-san's wish to be careful, she bounced over to the fruit bowl to grab an apple. Unfortunately, her arm hit the bowl and it crashed to the ground, apples and ceramic flying everywhere.

Groaning to herself, Fuukin hurriedly gathered the escaped apples and lined them up n the counter before sweeping the shards of the bowl out the back door and into the sand. She would deal with that later.

Dashing out the door before anything further destructive happened to her, she hurried off down the street.

Fuukin walked along the outskirts of the town, her light hair tossed about by the slight breeze.

A few feet off to the side of the sandy road was the river. It was lined with grasses and small shrubs, all thirsty for the life-giving water the river provided. The shrubbery was usually the first indication for travelers that you were getting close to Kousamura.

Smiling to herself, Fuukin pushed past the brush and soon found herself standing next to the wide river. This was her favorite place to be in all of Kousamaru village. The water and plants were a refreshing change from the sand and heat.

She walked rather close to the river, but was careful not to get too close. Knowing her balance, she would end up falling in the river and being pulled out to the ocean, maybe floating away to some distant land.

Sighing wistfully, Fuukin kept her eyes down by the river's edge. Every now and then, something would wash up on it's shore. Most of the time it would just be trash. But other times it would be something worthwhile like a silver chain or a sea shell. Fuukin had always dreamed of finding a message in a bottle.

"Let's see what we can find today . . ."

She murmured to herself, her eyes combing the sand for any tell-tale traces of items washed ashore.

Up ahead, half way in the water, was a lump.

Just a lump sticking out of the sand. Her curiosity peaked; Fuukin walked toward the lump and bent down to get a better look. It was covered in sand and dark smudges, still wet from the water that lazily drifted by next to it.

As she got a closer look at it, she noticed that it was kind of stringy. And beneath all the dirt was grey. How strange.

Cautiously, Fuukin broke off a short stick from a near-by bush. She childishly poked to object once.

Then twice.

Satisfied that it did not seem to be alive, she reached out and gingerly picked it up. It weighed a couple pounds and seemed to be made out of some matted, stringy material.

A deep noise came from the object. Fuukin froze.

"What the hell is going on!?"

The thing talked.

It freaking talked.

With a cry, Fuukin quickly dropped the thing in the sand, and began to slowly back away. The thing let out a string of profanities and . . . spitting noises?

"Holy shit! Pick me back up already! I'm getting sand in my fucking mouth!"

The thought of running flashed through her mind. Maybe it was dangerous. What ever it was, it was definitely alive. But Fuukin's curiosity got the best of her.

She bent down again and slowly reached out to pick it up.

"Finally! What are you trying to do, fucking kill me!?"

The thing shouted at her.

"Uh . . . sorry . . . ?"

"You better be fucking sorry! Damn it! Where the hell am I!?"

"Kousamaru village. In Kaze no Kuni."

"Kaze no Kuni!? Holy shit!"

Fuukin nearly dropped the thing at it's outburst. It wasn't everyday that you found a talking . . . what was it, anyways? Fuukin interrupted another string of curses coming from the thing,

"Um, excuse me, what are you?"

"What am I?! I'm a fucking person you idiot!"

Fuukin raised a skeptical brow,

"No offense, but you don't really look like a person."

"Idiot. Turn me over."

Frowning, Fuukin did so. And screamed.

Loud.

"For Jashin's sake, woman! You're going to make me go deaf!"

The face shouted from where Fuukin had once again dropped it in the sand. She was currently scooting away from the head, having fallen on the ground in surprise.

"W-w-what are y-you, exactly?"

Fuukin asked. She could feel her erratic heartbeat pounding away in her rib cage.

"Exactly?"

The head asked, then deliberated for a moment,

"A disembodied head."

Fuukin's eye twitched,

"And you're . . . surviving without the help of your body?"

"I'm talking to you, aren't I?"

She paused for a moment, in an effort to compose herself. The head was quiet for once, watching her with interest.

"And your body . . .?"

"I have no fucking idea."

"I see."

There was silence for a moment before Fuukin cried out hysterically,

"You're supposed to be dead!"

She pointed an accusing finger at the head,

"Your head is off! That constitutes dead!"

"Fuck! Calm down! Shit, don't freak out on me now!"

The head yelled as Fuukin stood up,

"You're not supposed to be able to talk! Or breathe! How are you breathing?!"

"Now hold on a second--"

"Ahhhhhh!"

Fuukin cried out, mock tears streaming down her face. She swung out blindly, her foot connecting with the side of the head's . . . head. It went flying off into the water shouting yet another string of vulgarities. The projectile head landed in the middle of the river with a satisfying splash.

Beginning to calm down now, Fuukin seated herself down on the bank and took deep breaths. Much better.

Then another thought struck her. If the head really was human, (it was human-looking enough under the dirt and sand), and Fuukin had just kicked it in the water, then wouldn't it drown? And if it drowned, then wouldn't that mean Fuukin would have killed it?

Shinobi or not, she really did not like the idea of killing someone. Even if that someone should already be dead in the first place.

The girl stood up in alarm and stripped off her outer shirt before splashing into the water.

"Head! Head!? Where are you!?!"

Fuuken called out, desperately plunging her hands down into the water to try and feel around for it.

"I'm sorry! Really, don't drown!"

A little ways down stream, she caught up with the head. It was drifting along face-down in the water. She quickly pulled it out and turned it around to face her.

"Head!? Are you okay!?"

"Holy shit, woman! What the fucking-hell was that for!?"

"I'm sorry!"

She cried out, hugging the disembodied head. Then realizing how strange that sounded, she pulled it back away from her. It just gave her an odd look. Fuukin scratched the back of her head uncertainly,

"Uh, let's get back to land, then."

A few minutes later Fuukin and the head were both seated along the river bank, sopping wet. The bath in the river had washed away most of the dirt and sand from the head's face, and it now looked relatively human.

It was a male head, (how weird did that sound?), with a strong, angular jaw. He had very pale skin, and creepy bright purple eyes. His hair was actually white beneath the dirt. Along the bottom of his neck, where it was supposed to be attached to a body, were little holes in the skin.

Fuukin had squeezed most of the water out of her hair for now and rolled her pants up, letting her feet dangle in the cool water. The head was sitting next to her.

"So, um . . . head, I--"

"I have a name, you know."

He said, grudgingly. This caught Fuukin's interest. Who knew disembodies heads had names? Well, technically they would have names regardless, but then they would be dead seeing as their head was cut off. This head seemed to be an exception to that rule, as Fuukin had unpleasantly found out earlier.

"Hmm? What is it?"

"Hidan."

"Just Hidan?"

"Yes, just Hidan!"

Ohhh, it was mad at her again. She quickly tried to fix it,

"Uh, Hidan, my name is Sokudo Fuukin!"

"Hn."

Hidan said, dismissively. Fuukin tried again,

"It's nice to meet you!"

"Not much of a fucking greeting."

He was referring of course to when she had kicked him.

"I'm sorry for that! Really!"

"Hn."

The conversation relapsed back into silence. Fuukin wiggled her toes in the water.

"So, how are you able to survive without . . ."

Fuukin trailed off. Hidan was silent for a moment,

"If I tell you, you're going to freak out again."

"I will not!"

She said indignantly.

"You will."

"Try me!"

"I'm immortal."

Fuukin opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. And closed it. Her breathing increased and her shoulders shook slightly.

Hidan threw her a sideways glance. If she was going to freak out again, he was out of here. No way was he going to get another foot to the face. Maybe he could roll--

But Fuukin got control of herself and took a deep breath. She gave a satisfied smile,

"See? Fine."

"Good."

Hidan said, relieved he wasn't going to be sent flying.

"So how did you get those holes in your neck?"

"My head usually gets sewn back onto my body."

"Ahhhhhh!"

"OHSHI--"

Splash

<3 --->

Ahhhh, Hidan~!

You're so cute, even when you're nothing but a head ~<3

Feedback is loved :D

<3333