Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters…. etc, etc. If I did, then the Akatsuki would be more of a big player in the story! Oh, something important: These first couple chapters were kind of like a prologue. Now the real story starts!

Azu's Akatsuki Tale, Chapter 06: Three Years Past

Anpan sat down at the table, sighing as she made herself a cup of tea. It had been a long day at the ninja academy. Being enrolled as a teacher there wasn't as easy as she thought it would have been…

The photo hanging on the wall caught her eye. It was from three years ago, a picture of her nice, Azumi, and her. They had spent three months together in training… Anpan sighed again. There was no use dwelling in the past, but she still wondered where Azumi had disappeared off to. During the invasion of Konoha, Anpan had stayed at Konoha for only a week or two. By the time she came back, Azumi had vanished. The Konoha search squad had only found a blood-stained bit of her clothes lying near the road, and Anpan had assumed the worst. But there was still something a bit odd about it…

But she had more to worry about than that. Tsunade-sama had put out the word that a dangerous organization called the Akatsuki had been seen around lately…

I was panting pretty hard as I ran out in to the forest. The moon was a beautiful full one, shining brightly in the sky.

My only thought was: You don't really realize how hard it is to run as fast as you can, breath as lightly as you can, step softly as you can, and hide as efficiently as you can until you actually try it. Trust me, it's difficult.

Behind me, I heard several loud BANG!s. Then, I heard faintly a curse. Good news: He had stumbled in to my traps. Bad news: I was close enough to hear him curse.

Damn!

I kept running, because if he caught me, it was game over. I'd never be able to get away.

Footsteps were drumming behind me, as I saw a huge lake looming in front of me. With a light "splish" sound, my feet hit the water. Sneaking a look behind me, I only had time to see a looming red-cloud-black-cloth wall before he hit me.

"Hah!" Deidara announced happily. "Caught you, you little brat."

Due not impartially to the fact that he was sitting on my stomach, I couldn't find the breath to reply. Another thing you don't usually notice: How heavy someone is before they pounce/tackle you. Those shapeless Akatsuki cloaks certainly didn't help me determine how fat or skinny any of them were. Then, I noticed he wasn't pinning my arms down. I poked him in the stomach. Hard.

"GAH!" Deidara yelled as I slid in to the water from underneath him. "YOU! COME BACK HERE! I CAUGHT YOU FAIR AND SQUARE!!!"

I swam in the gloomy water away from where he was yelling furiously. Then, things went silent. I bubbled a swear word underwater, swimming faster and deeper. My lungs were aching for air, and I shot towards the surface as quickly as I could.

Risking a look upwards, I yelled, "Damn!" A giant white bird was floating way up in the air, and it appeared to have seen me. I dove back in to the water.

I barely got underwater before the water jetted up violently where I had been a second ago. Briefly, I saw a giant beak pierce the water. In a moment, only churning bubbles revealed where the bird had been.

We played this game of cat-and-mouse for a while, and then he stopped. Since I was totally winded, I had to go to the surface for a long breath. I broke the lake's surface, and looked around. No bird to be seen.

That's when I felt the hands around my ankles. A tongue gently licked the bottom of my foot.

I shrieked loudly as I was abruptly pulled upside down in to the air. The tongue on Deidara's hand continued to lick the bottom of my foot.

Soon, I was skimming upside-down over the face of the lake. My face kept getting wet, because Deidara's stupid bird kept dipping up and down.

"PULL ME-GLGGH-UP!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed at him, getting a couple of lake-water mouthfuls along the way. Did I mention that I would keep my mouth shut or time my words better, but I was also laughing because I was REALLY ticklish on my feet?

He grinned at me. "Say please."

I would be my usual stubborn self, but another face-dunk in the lake reminded me I wasn't exactly in a good position. "Please?" I asked.

A moment later, I was sitting besides him on the top of his clay bird. I gave him a glare. "You didn't have to do that!"

He answered, "If you don't get some inspiration to do better, you'll never get anywhere on this exercise." His damn-cocky smile was ruined by the fact that I spit a mouthful of half-spit, half-lake water on to his face. "Hey, I got farther this time than anytime before," I reminded him. "All the way to the lake. And when Sasori-sama did this training with me, he would never let me get this far. And he would NEVER have fallen for my trigger bombs. You weren't trying, were you, Deidara-baka?"

Deidara winced. "Yuck. Azu-ne-chan's spit." He always called me "sister" when I was right, he was wrong, and we both knew it. Smiling at me, he asked, "So, will Azu-ne-chan forgive me for not trying? I just wanted to let you go to the lake so I could totally dunk you. You know I could have caught you before you were halfway off the starting point."

I gently punched him in the shoulder, and he winced. "Don't underestimate me that much! Okay, so the first time we did this, I only got five steps out before you caught me. I got a lot better! Last time, Sasori-sama didn't even catch me until I was way out in the forest."

Deidara made his voice whiny and little-boy-ish. "Oh, Azu-ne-chan, please forgive me! I am unworthy of your queenly presence…"

I laughed. "But, seriously, I've gotten better since I first came here. Right, Deidara-san?"

"Yeah. Three years, man, big difference. I mean, twelve year old you against fifteen year old you. I actually had to use my bird this time!" Brushing wet, blonde hair out of his eyes, Deidara leaned against me and put an arm over my back. The first time he had done this (also when we were wet), I had punched him hard and told him he was a total perv. Now, I realized it was for mutual benefit of warmth, since the night was cold and we were both wet. It was still a bit too intimate for me, but hey, whatever works when I'm freezing.

His bird went higher and higher, and we zoomed back towards the Akatsuki headquarters. I quit talking and leaned back against his arm. I always joined flying, and I was really grateful to Deidara, because he always took me on a ride when I asked.

A few dizzyingly wonderful triple-axel loops in the sky later and we were home. The adrenaline had slowly stopped pumping through me, and the wind had slowly dried us out. Deidara dismissed his bird, and we walked in to the cave.

Hidan was standing just inside the entrance. He snickered.

"What?" I demanded.

"You guys look like a friggin' couple like that," he answered.

The only way to deal with Hidan effectively was to get him back, so I leaned up to him, wrapping my arms around his chest. He didn't move. I whispered in his ear, "Jealous?"

He laughed again, loudly. "No, but I can't say I'm not enjoying this…"

Deidara was laughing, while I said, "You ARE a perv." I moved away from him, grinning. "I wish I had some non-perverted, female friends. And a good night to you, too, Hidan-san."

I went back to my bedroom laughing, because I actually got a smile out of him this time. Hidan didn't usually smile, he smirked. Different things, trust me. You got a lot of one and almost none of the other in the Akatsuki.

Along the way back, I met Sasori-sama. He stared at me for a second, and then said, "Azumi-san. Deidara informs me you did well today in training."

I ducked my head respectfully, and answered, "I can't say he was trying very hard, Sasori-sama. Maybe next time I could train with you, so I can tell my true progress?"

"Maybe," he said. "Now go."

"Good night, Sasori-sama," I said as I left.

The dawn would rise slowly outside. I had long learned to stop yearning to see it. In fact, ever since I entered the Akatsuki, I accepted that I would abide by their rules. And I made friends: Hidan, Kisame, Deidara, and that adorable idiot Tobi… but I still wished for it every day.

It had been over three years since I had last seen the sun.