CIRCLE IN THE SAND

By ardenilia

Summary: Before that brat buried him six feet under, he swore to Jashin's name that he will come back and hunt him down. And when he did, he never expected that his vendetta will be resolved starting from the village hidden within the sands before it finds its way to Konoha. HidanTema.

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Prologue

The sun was shining rather, blandly if one might put it that way as a tall figure, garbed in a worn-out light brown cloak walked out of an underground cave. While he paced on the flowing river that stood between the cave's entrance and the land, the giant red scythe swayed unsteadily when his still-recovering and newly-connected limbs trembled due to the heavy weight of the three-bladed weapon.

"Bloody hell…" the curse words fell out nonchalantly from the silver-haired man's lips when he shifted most of the scythe's burden onto his back. When his feet touched the opposite land, a big plant-like form appeared miraculously from a tree beside him.

"Do you think revenge is worth it, Hidan?" the newcomer asked as he stepped in view and out of the tree. The newcomer's black cloak, adorned with red clouds waved slowly in the morning breeze.

"It's easy for you to say, Zetsu. You're not the one who 'died'. I swear to Jashin's name that I won't be satisfied until I took out that fucker's life for blowing me into pieces and left me to rot in that stinking hole for 3 fucking years!"

"I did not dig you out only to get yourself 'killed' again. After Sasori and Kakuzu died, we are losing members. And need not I remind you that Kakuzu's ring is still in Konoha?"

"If you cared so much about losing members…" he took out the ring on his left index finger and laid it on the ground. As much as he hated the whole organization, at least it deserves a last respect from his as a former member. "…you can tell the Leader he can have this back and I don't give a damn what you wanna do with it."

"The Leader won't be pleased…"

"As if I fucking care. I'm as good as dead to him and the organization's as good as dead to me. I've given you two bloody bijuus so stay the fuck away from my life."

"We still haven't been successful in seizing the Kyuubi. You fought with the Konoha nins before. You have the advantages in overtaking the opponent."

Hidan's violet eyes glittered under the sun as he let out a mocking laugh. "Feh, what are you fuckers been doing for the whole 3 years? Jeez, you guys sure are immobile if you have lesser members, huh?"

"………………."

"No freaking way. You guys can rot in hell for all I care."

"A wonder why I didn't just leave you where you were buried."

"You owed me a favor, Zetsu. There's no need for me to thank you for that."

"One day, some of us might just need to hunt you down for leaving the organization."

"You freaks can try. Hopefully by that time, I'll be ready to die….For real." A smug grin appeared on his beatific face, the same grin that appeared just before he let the final blow that sealed thousands and thousands of innocent life into eternal departure from the face of this earth for the sake of Jashin.

Without letting his former comrade have the last word, Hidan turned around on the soles of his feet and started to walk forward to an unknown destination. He couldn't care less where his feet might take him just as long as he can accomplish his goals.

Jashin-sama had given him another chance of 'life' and because of that, he will never rest until he completed his obligations to his God. With every step he took, he kept repeating these two resolutions on and on like a silent mantra;

One, kill that mother-fucker.

Two, please Jashin-sama.

Oh shit! He was out for three freaking years and not three freaking months! How was he gonna make up for the last 36 months that he missed. Fuck. The last useful information that he received from Zetsu was that their current location was somewhere in between Land of Earth, Land of Wind and Land of Fire.

It was perfect. He'll just arrange and rotate his visits from Iwagakure to Sunagakure and lastly, Konohagakure. He won't be moving towards Konoha and hunt down that obnoxious son-of-a-bitch as yet. Not until he had performed the rituals enough for the 3 years that he lost.

For the mean time, he hoped that Deidara and the departed puppet-boy wouldn't mind him using a 'few' of their former villagers as submissions to Jashin.

Huh, not that he actually cared what they think.

He took out the rosary that Zetsu retrieved and touched his lips gently to the silver pendant that held the Jashin symbol before closing his eyes. 'Jashin-sama…I've pledged my loyalty to you and I wouldn't ask more. Bless me with the lives of those faithless heathens that I will offer you tonight.'

A sharp sting bit on his neckline as the bandages grazed against his freshly-covered wounds. 'Ouch'. A small moan escaped his pale thin lips. But hearing it coming from a man who had his head severed from his own body and had never been attached until 3 years later…It's such an understatement.

He just can't wait for the moment when he would separate that bastard's body in two…no…make it five parts. And he'll dispose his remains within the five shinobi nations. And he just can't wait to have the last laugh as he bestowed the sweet final blow into the brat's skull.

Oh, he'll be enjoying every second of it.

End of Prologue

Preview of next chapter:

Hidan learn first-hand that sometimes, karma works in really eerie ways and serendipity could get nasty with you. As the thing that you're chasing might just caught up with you first when you least expected it. And for the first time ever in his life, he learnt of the true meaning behind the word 'compassion'.

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Author's Note:

My latest installment ofcrack pairings after 'In His Touch' (which I know I haven't been updating for quite a while now XD). To my fellow HidanTema supporters, I apologize for not doing fair justice to Hidan's character because as you can see, this is my first attempt in writing a story that features Hidan as a main character nevertheless. Call it OOC, I don't mind because he is OOC. XD But I'll do more in-depth research on him and polish my portrayal of his character from time-to-time. And I'm really sorry for the over-usage of the "F" word. I'm a person who does not swear a lot and my vocabularies of 'foul-words' are not that 'enriched'. XD Till next chapter, minna-san. Take care.