Boulders

Epidosite

"So you're telling me you have zero practice with any ninja art?" Kisame asked incredulously. "Seriously?"

The blind girl perched on the bar stool shrugged. They had been sitting there across from each other for almost twenty minutes now, and Kisame was starting to find himself amused and slightly charmed by the confident young woman. She had a charismatic presence and spoke well, her tongue often tripping him up.

Although...

He eyed the thick white patch over her cheek, the pinprick bruises dotting her shoulder (from being pushed down against rocks, Kisame knew), and the tidy bandaging around her calf, where the leg of her tan shorts ended in charred black lines.

"What happened?" He asked.

Her hand reached for her cheek, but she stopped herself before her fingers touched the pad. "Konoha ANBU."

"Huh." That had been unexpected. Konoha was known as the 'nice village', but their ANBU were pretty tough. He had tangled with a few himself, and while they weren't as brutal as Mist nin, they were still very deadly.

And yet this little disabled girl had fended them off long enough to escape them? Something wasn't adding up.

There were a few loud thumps, then Hidan stomped in, covered in blood.

He opened his mouth.

Kisame was behind Toph in a millisecond, clapping his hands over her ears as the foul mouthed monk let loose a slew of bad language.

Maybe it wasn't his place or anything, but this kid was exactly that: a kid. He would put money down on her not being older than 15, and if he had a less than 15 year old kid, he would absolutely refuse to let them anywhere near Hidan.

You know? Protect their innocence and all that.

And anyway, she didn't instantly try to get away, so there was that, too.

"Who the ~bleep~ is that?" He asked, finally seeming to notice her.

She blinked at him.

"Hidan, this is the kid the creepy ghost lady from the meeting was talking about. She is a kid. Don't swear in front of her or I'll rip your tongue out of your face. Got it?" Kisame glared.

"Why the ~bleep~ should I?" The other man demanded. "Is she really that ~bleep~ special?"

"Kakuzu," Kisame hissed.

He threw his hands into the air, spattering a few droplets of blood onto the kitchen ceiling. "Fine!"

Cautiously removing his hands from Toph's ears, Kisame kept an eye on Hidan's face and an ear on whatever would come out of his mouth.

"Hi there," she chirped. "What's your name?"

"None of your d- buisness," he cut himself off abruptly. "What the... heck are you doing here?"

Her mouth twisted wryly. "Some dude named Tobi and a stupid Onryo brought me here, believe it or not."

There was a tense silence when Hidan traded significant glances with him. Their facial conversation went something like this.

Is she talking about that fool's spirit? Hidan jerked his head towards where Tobi especially liked to nap. Yes, it was in that space above the fridge, and sometimes inside the fridge itself, but the shark man caught his drift.

Probably. Kisame shrugged. Don't know.

She seems to have been through some sh- stuff. Hidan gestured at the bandages.