Author's note: I know so very little about Naruto and its characters, so the way I portray them may be less than satisfactory. I apologize in advance to Deidara fangirls-I had to get this first part out of the way so the rest of the plot could flow more smoothly. Forgive me ArtsyIowan. T_T

Chapter 1:Shooting Star

An explosion rocked the foundations of the world. A gold light streaked across the sky.

A group of nine men in black cloaks with red clouds watched as the light was unexpectedly snuffed out. Each man was odd in his own way-one seemed to be more spectral than flesh, another was bleeding profusely, one wore a mask, and yet another seemed to have blue scales.

"Was that-," a man who resembled a plant breathed.

"Where did Deidara-sempai go?" the orange mask asked.

"I saw a gate," a man with red irises stated.

***

A blond girl lay on her side. The twitterings and flutterings of the birds did not stir her, yet she wasn't dead.

Suddenly, the birds lifted to the sky. The dirt road was damp with the morning dew, but loud, clanking footsteps could be heard in the distance. It sounded like someone was wearing armor.

Two travelers turned the corner-a tall man in armor and a young man.

"Ed! Ed, there's a dead girl over there!" a tall man exclaimed. The two rushed over to the girl.

The two were a rather odd couple. The tall man in the heavy suit of armor did not seem to be tired or hot in the tin can. His eyes glowed red and his voice was slightly childlike. The other was a young man with blond hair and gold eyes. He was substantially...smaller than his companion, choosing a red jacket and white gloves over armor.

Ed put his left hand to the girl's throat and felt for a pulse or a breath. He felt both.

"She's alive, Al. Come on, let's get her to a doctor!"

"But what if she knocks on me and finds out?"

"She's got a pretty high fever. If she finds out, we can pass her off as delusional," Ed said as he helped Al to pick the girl up. The girl had a black dress on that had crimson clouds all over and was tattered and filthy.

The two brothers rushed back to the town.

***

"She's just got a little cold," the doctor announced. "Her fever should go down by eight tonight so she'll be ready to travel by morning. She keeps murmuring names like 'Sakura' and 'Tamari'. Odd names don't you think?"

"I'll say," Ed laughed, "But...she could be a foreigner. Well, doc, we'll come back this afternoon to see if she's okay," Ed said. Al followed his brother.

After they left, the girl began coughing hard. As she coughed, two others coughed with her. The doctor looked around quizzically then shook the thought away.

***

Ed and Al returned to find the doctor inspecting the blond girl's throat.

"How goes the work?" Ed asked.

"This girl has an odd cough," he grumbled, "It's like she's got three throats or something, and it's driving me up the wall."

"Move over, I'll wake her up," Ed sighed. The doctor moved away. Ed shook the girl.

"Hey, lazybones, it's time to wake up."

The girl stirred. She opened two pale blue eyes a little. Then, her eyes shut tight as she yawned and stretched. As she yawned, two extra mouths opened. Ed pulled away when he saw that the girl had mouths on her hands. The girl sat up and tugged at her dress.

"W-why am I in a dress?" she asked, her eyes a little squinty from just waking.

"Well, most girls like to wear dresses," Al pointed out.

"But, who am I?" she asked.

"Do you not know, miss?" the doctor asked.

'No. I remember fire and light and not being able to breathe...but me? I don't remember who I am."

"Amnesia, eh? I haven't had an amnesia case in eight years!" the doctor said almost happily. Then, he began to wax on and on about amnesia while the three listened. This was obviously a topic he loved and was good at. He finished with, "This looks like partial amnesia after a traumatic event. You should begin to remember fragments of who you are almost immediately."

"Look in your pockets for identification," Al suggested.

Deftly, the girl unzipped the front of her dress. Beneath she wore a midriff with a fishnet-like shirt poking out from beneath and some odd pants. Ed froze.

The girl looked around and found that she had two pouches on either side of her waist. She opened them up.

"It's clay," she stated.

"You might be an alchemist! Do you have a state alchemist's watch?" Al asked.

"Maybe," the girl said. She searched her pockets. She pulled out a small scroll and opened it. There was a writing that none of them could recognize. She turned it upside down and read from left to right, top to bottom.

"It's a letter to me I think. It's from a guy named Pein who wants me to catch a raccoon. He's calling me 'Deidara'."

"A raccoon? What does that guy want a raccoon for?"

Ed raised an accusatory finger at Deidara with the face of a haunted man, "Man...you are a man...." Deidara looked at himself.

"Of course I'm a guy! Did I ever say I wasn't, shorty?" Deidara yelled.

"Who are you calling so small an amoeba could squish you?" Ed exploded.

"You!" Deidara yelled. Ed pulled out a piece of chalk and Deidara reached into one of his pouches. The two glared at each other for a long minute. Suddenly, Deidara's face turned tomato red and he fainted.

"Don't stress her-him out," the doctor snapped, "He's still sick. Leave him alone till morning."

"We won't be back for him," Ed growled.

"You know, this young man is your age, but someone has done cruel human alchemy on him. By the structure of his bones and age, I'd say that the alchemy was applied shortly after birth if not while in the womb."

Edward turned away from Deidara's feverish face.

"Brother, don't be so mean. Deidara is in need. He's got amnesia and those mouth-hands. Maybe we can help him," Alphonse chastised.

"How?"

Al lowered his voice and reminded Ed, "We're going after something that could help him. And if he's with us he could be a big help. He could know alchemy."

Ed glared at Deidara. The doctor was placing ice packs all over.

***

It was late in the morning when Deidara finally woke. The doctor seemed to be out. Deidara stood and staggered to the window. He wasn't familiar with the glass, but he looked out on the street. There were signs with writing that he couldn't read.

Deidara began to fold his arms but something made him stop and look at his hands. Both palms faced him. They looked like normal palms. Suddenly, they opened a little two tongues stuck out a little.

"Ugh," he groaned, disgusted. He held his hands away from himself as though they'd infect the rest of him. Something in the back of his mind told him to flex a muscle in each hand to close the mouths. Sure enough, he kept the weird mouths closed as effortlessly as standing.

He staggered over to his bed and shrugged into the tattered cloak. Somehow, he felt that he should have a hat to go with it. But he didn't have his hat, so he'd have to go without it.

Footsteps closed on the little medical practice. Deidara slid into a shadow. For some reason, he felt that he had to be ready for an attack.

Ed and Al burst in, "Surprise!"

"We bear gifts for the sleeping beauty!" Ed laughed holding up a slim box. Al laughed along holding a similar box.

***

Deidara gazed at his reflection. His tattered cloak had been replaced by a new black one with red trim and a red symbol on the left sleeve. He'd been given new clothes, too. Apparently, his previous look was too foreign.

Ed pulled at Deidara's topknot.

"Hey!" he yelped at the sudden pull.

"Your ponytail is too high. You'll look like a girl if you don't get it fixed. There. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Ed said as he re-did the topknot. When Deidara looked up again, he found that he exuded the same feel as Ed and the doctor had. But something was missing. His bangs seemed lower than they should be. Did he wear a headband?

"Do you want to come with us?" Ed asked.

Deidara found himself saying, "Sure. Why not?"