Deidara loved birds.
He was playing with one right now; a small finch inordinately fond of bread. He loved the feel of the small animal's tiny feet grasping his finger, pecking at the small piece he'd brought as a small treat for the gold-plumed avian.
Birds. He loved birds; they were his favorite animal. When he was younger, he used to watch them soar effortlessly through the sky, imagining what it would be like to live as a bird; free, with nothing to restrain you from going where you wanted, living simple lives with no more wants than food and sleep.
When he was younger, ask him what his favorite thing was, and he'd instantly chirp "Birds!" When asked why not his parents, or his home, or his older sister, he'd stare at them blankly and ask why they would be his favorite thing.
When he was younger, Deidara liked to create birds, too. Clay was the easiest substance, the most forgiving, that he could use. The special mouths on his hands he had been born with could create copies that flew, played, and acted like the real ones he'd modeled them after.
He still liked to create them, and sometimes made clay spiders for his birds to play with- both the real birds he kept as pets and the clay ones he made.
He thought for a moment, sitting on the tree branch of the black pine not to far from the hideout. Life had never been easy. He had never been free. Maybe that was why he loved- no, envied birds so much?
His father had been the rigorous patriarch of the family. What he said happened. His word was the law.
And he had always hated his younger, useless son.
It was his sister that his father had doted on. If she wanted a new kimono, the next day there would be two. If she wanted to go to the festival, she was given permission to stay out as long as she liked and received several thousand yen for any and all of her possible desires.
Deidara hated her. His father loved her.
His mother, a weak-willed woman, adored her. It was far easier to care for the favored child than oppose the violent man she had married.
The blonde could not remember how many beatings he had received from his father. They nearly always ran together into his head until his childhood memories of his father seemed to be of nothing but pain and hurt.
So he had always loved the birds, able to be free from their parents as soon as they could fly.
When he had graduated from Iwagakure's shinobi academy, he had had hopes of maybe being praised by his father.
He was not entirely surprised when he didn't. Instead, his father had wondered aloud how he had ever passed the exam. This finally destroyed the last of Deidara's hopes of recognition from him.
From then on, he hardly ever paid attention to his parents. He stayed away from home as much as possible. It was during these few years he learned how to make explosives from his clay, and he now had his birds go on kamikaze missions as he graduated from genin, to chunnin, to jounin. His chakra slowly became greater and more developed. His interest in art had expanded to the point that in his personal opinion, fine art was a brief thing, which further clinched the exploding birds as part of his signature fighting style.
One day on a mission with a hardy veteran anbu, they encountered a vicious demon, hell-bent on destruction. The anbu, without so much as a by-your-leave, sealed the damned thing into him using a seal the man had constructed himself on the second using the last of his chakra, and killing him afterwards. Deidara, thoroughly exhausted by that time (the fight had not been easy, and he had been injured several times) had simply fallen into a coma-like state of sleep, and was later found by a few men on a hunting trip. They had taken the blonde back to their village, where he spent a month recovering from his injuries (a broken arm, small gash that bled like hell, and a depletion of chakra) and acquiring a tenacious truce with the Kaku. Though the demon would lend him chakra when in need, he would not have any otherwise.
When he returned to Iwa, he had been severely reprimanded by the Tsuchikage for returning from his mission three weeks overdue and without his partner. When he told the kage about the demon's encounter, he had been laughed out of the office. Unlike Konoha, Iwa did not have an Uchiha or a Hyuuga clan to verify his story.
His punishment, he was told, would be two months of suspension and after that, another month's worth of D and C rank missions only.
When he went home that night, his father was waiting for him. At the dinner table he denounced him as his son, and asked how he could have managed both to not complete the mission and kill his comrade. It was the worst scolding he had ever received from his father, escalating to what promised to be a beating. He insulted Deidara continuously, making demands as to how he had ever graduated, or even gotten to the rank of jounin by sitting around and watching birds!
That had been the last straw. Without further ado, Deidara had shown him. Then he had shown his mother, and his older sister.
As he stared at the wreckage of his former home, Deidara decided it was better off that way. But he had to leave soon. Most of the neighbors had probably heard the explosions of his little birds, and the screams of his mother and his sister. But his anger had simmered for so long over the years that he really felt no need to stop the murderous feelings he had let loose. So, he decided to at least take out a chunk of the village before he left.
As he wanted to conserve chakra, he did not make his "C3" no Bakuhatsu with its usual power, but he did detonate it in the half of the village with the most ninja. The subsequent explosion destroyed fully a third of the village and laid waste to another, including the Tsuchikage's tower.
He left making use of his clay, riding a giant bird over the walls and into Waterfall Country, the next country over. From then on, for the next three months, he spent his time wandering around. He eventually found himself in Sand Country, and there he had met Aka no Suna Sasori and his partner, Seiji Toshiro. After Seiji had insulted him, he blew him up. Sasori had looked at him for a long time, then told him that he might be welcome in Akatsuki. Deidara took Seiji's ring, Seiryu.
They had traveled together to the Akatsuki hideout, on the fringes of Fire Country. Sasori had introduced him the leader, a shadowy holographic outline that also stared at him for a long time. He then pronounced that Deidara was free to join Akatsuki if he wanted to. The blonde joined without a second thought. He had nowhere else to go, and this was a good a place as any; also, he had heard rumors that this was the organization to join if you were a S-Class criminal. While he hadn't considered himself as such, his former village had apparently declared him so. He didn't find out about this until a year later, though.
Sasori had become his partner, and had taught him the ways of the organization he had joined. He learned all the other members' names and info, from the semi-famous Uchiha Itachi to the little-known Zetsu. He also learned how to work and fight with Sasori, and the unknown fact that the puppet master was no more than a puppet. But still deadly. The blonde held him in the highest regard, which was where his customary name of "Sasori-dono" originated.
Deidara had been delighted when he found his partner also appreciated fine art, though his view was that fine art was made to last for a long time, in contrast to his fleeting version.
Originally, after joining Akatsuki, he had been confused by the freedom he had. With no more controlling father, he could have friends. When he was younger, it had been safer not to have any; he could never invite them over, and they might notice his many bruises and cuts. Later on, his father had become more violent, so he didn't dare think of it.
But in the new organization he had been met with friendliness (from Kisame) and tolerance (Itachi and Sasori). After he finally came to terms with his new 'liberation,' the pranking hyperactive side of his personality that had somehow managed to survive his father came out. He was a little wild for a while, but after he annoyed Itachi a little to much he had calmed down somewhat when the Sharingan user had thrown him into a wall.
He had been sixteen when he was picked up by Akatsuki, and was now nineteen, and the youngest member. He had friends- Sasori, Kisame, and also Itachi (somewhat)- and a life.
He smiled. He had become a bird.
A/n- Briefly, I'd like to say that this is possibly the most serious piece I've ever written. I'll also say that this is a complete work of fiction- this is not Deidara's true past and joining of Akatsuki; all that is really known is that he came from Iwagakure and that he joined Akatsuki. The information about the ring he collected is true, but the person he collected it from (Seiji Toshiro) is a character I made up for the sake of the fanfiction. Sasori's original partner was actually Orochimaru, but the time period I wrote this in was about two to three years after he left.
Deidara really is the youngest member of Akatsuki, and also the weakest (though everyone in Akatsuki is stronger than Orochimaru), and many of his techniques he uses in the story- exploding birds (Torigata Nendo), clay spiders (Kumogata Nendo), and "C3" no Bakuhatsu (Explosion of Clay)- are all techniques he uses in the manga. I do not know if he was sixteen when he joined Akatsuki, but for the purposes of the fanfiction, he is.
I mention Deidara as having the Kaku (seven tailed badger) sealed in him. Some people speculate he is its jinchuuriki because of his affinity for clay, but it is not proven, and exists in this story because I happen to be one of those people.