AN: Though, in my previous story, Deidara's eyes were amber or golden, in this story I'm going to keep them his actual eye color . . . turquoise. This is the sequel to Aurora Borealis, read that story and you won't be confused.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story! Except the ones that my insane mind creates! MWAHAHAHA!

Aurora Australis

Chapter One

"Eos…" His head dropped to hers, his throat now successfully closing and his chest seized itself from opening.

"Dei…dara…?"

The soft and cracked voice of the woman in his arms startled him and he quickly drew away from her face. His eyes grew wide as she tried to look up at him but continually failed to even open her eyes. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes, but that wasn't what caught Deidara's attention. Instead, it was the soft smile that drifted over her lips and slowly fell.

He watched her, not truly knowing what to do with her. Her hand, frail and now white, touched his cheek and for a second, he saw those beautiful emerald eyes.

"Dei…dara… I … I…sor…" her breathy voice shattered something within him; pieces of glass inside him fell to the darkness below.

Eos's hand fell bit by bit back toward her blood-soaked side, and letting out a breath of air, the woman's body finally relaxed in his arms.

He stared at her for what seemed like hours, but was only a moment in time. A drop of water fell to her cheek and rolled down her soft curve. Deidara looked up but saw no clouds, just a pure blue sky. He looked down at her and then felt something wet fall down his own cheek. Slightly surprised, Deidara felt his cheek for a moment and realized he was crying.

Eos was . . .

Gone…

The rain was falling once again . . . A rain that sent shivers up his spine everytime he was near it. Memories of old, caged inside his artsy book, yet the pages were always read. It was times like these that he wished it were him and not the one he tried to protect.

As the drizzle fell upon the broken ground, it created puddles all around the worn teashop, and removed all of the sounds of people rushing in from the rain. The trees around the shop were tall and green, beautiful in every aspect of true perfection and yet the knowledge that the beauty would disappear still inspired him. He was an artistic rogue who was no longer part of the organization Akatsuki. Amusingly, Deidara had fallen back into his old habits of getting contracts to blow things up again.

Blue eyes lazily peered out into the falling rain, the landscape behind and around faded away as if it were but a mere genjutsu, only there to deceive him. A familiar voice echoed out from it in a melodic tune, a voice that sounded like that of a swallow that he had once known. Her body, thin and tall, with her light brunette hair touching her lower back carefully, and her face turned away from him. There she was, caught in the rain, just like the times back then, however . . . her form wasn't really there. Her voice wasn't actually echoing through the teashop and filling each individual with the sweet happiness she always clung to. He couldn't actually walk out there and grab her and hold her tight. She was a moment in time, one that held a graceful grandeur that he had really never seen.

Most of all, she was a ghost.

Taking a small sip from the teacup in his hand, he once thought how to remove that wonderful woman from his mind, to make her just another face in the crowd of many. He willingly wanted to take away the pain from his heart, just like any normal human being, and continue on with his plot to destroy the girl who had caused his heart to bleed.

"Sir, would you like some more tea?" asked the young lady who looked at him kindly, her brown almond eyes peering down at him in almost a soothing way. He waved her away and she politely returned to her own business. His eyes went back to the area where the rain had once created an illusion for him of a simply stubborn, volatile, nineteen year old that had made his own scars sew themselves together.

It had been five years, five long years of remembering her death. He wasn't allowed to give her a most suitable burial but instead, he had to give her to the morgue in the nearest town. That was the last time he had seen her, her blue lips and breathless body lying on the metal table.

Two years after her death, the Akatsuki had been annihilated, or in better terms, disbanded because of some blond brat who thought that the world would be a better place if they were gone. If that brat only knew the beginning of the miseries in the world . . .

Since that time, he'd been on the run constantly and trying to pry his way into this new organization called "The Underground." He laughed everytime he heard it and even thought it; however, it was quite a good way to get to the person he most wanted to kill. Since the underground was basically an organization of assassin wannabe's and people who had connections to many of the places he needed to go.

Each time he tried to get in, they only pushed him away.

A coy smile worked its way onto his lips and his blue eyes closed, "if only they knew what they are dealing with, un." He whispered under his breath as to not gain any attention from the people who stood relatively close to him. At one time in the past, he was considered a true murderer, a person no one could stand being next to because of fear and other emotions. They would always steer clear of him in any time of the day or even in the night. He was an Akatsuki back then, making many people respect him and hate him.

Standing up from his table, he proceeded to leave the necessary amount of change when the waitress tapped his arm. Curiously, he turned his head toward the now short lady and felt a small grin work its way back onto his face.

Holding up the tray over her mouth, her eyes shook as she stared at him.

A familiar smirk grew bold onto his still rather young lips as his face turned fully toward her. "What, un?"

With the sudden sound of his smooth voice, the waitress jumped and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry to bother you . . . but, what was your name?" Her eyes shut tight and she quickly bowed her head.

The smirk grew as he watched the blush work wonders to her small face. He still knew that it wasn't wise to tell others his name even when they believed he was dead. Nearly chuckling out loud, he took a silent step away from the waitress and jumped high into the trees.

When the lady opened her eyes next, the man she had been talking to had disappeared, all but his money for the tea remained.

"Excuse me leader, but I just received a message that a man named 'Deidara' wanted to join our organization. I suppose he's been trying to join for quite some time now." Said a man shadowed in the darkness of the barely lit room, only a small outline of his slender face was seen. On the other side of the room was a woman who sat underneath the light. Her blond locks glistened lightly as her turquoise eyes shot toward the man.

"I created this organization to attract the attention of a certain man . . . " her words were merely that of a hiss as she leaned further back in her chair and peered over the table to the mysterious man.

"It seems that the trap has been set, all he can do now is go by instinct . . . Let this man 'Deidara' join our little organization. He is, after all, a former member of the infamous Akatsuki."

Curious from this new information, the man across from her perked up, his voice carrying no enthusiasm, "Akatsuki, wow, he must be really something to be from that group. After all, it was only made up of S-rank missing nins, am I correct? Judging from that information . . . I would say that this guy 'Deidara' is probably a formidable ally."

Nami's eyes narrowed, "or, in other words, enemy."

Darkness - something that most people would call the epitome of evil - he, on the other hand, saw it as another part of himself. All around him there was nothing, no light, no refractions, nothing. It was a world void of art, of beautiful creations and beings so great that could only last in a few lingering moments.

He could feel his body become awash with loneliness. Turning around, he still couldn't see anything. There was still nothing around him. Maybe he was blind? Or maybe this was what his soul appeared to look like from within?

He shifted his weight slightly when he turned his head barely; scanning for something that probably wasn't there.

Then, something caught his eye and he turned his head completely too where he was first looking. Suddenly, he stood before an ocean, the first bits of light danced on the waves as if celebrating new life. The sky appeared to be that of a painting, with elaborate colors gracing the clouds.

He smiled and closed his eyes; he could almost smell the salty air. Almost feel the embrace of the wind and the warmth of the light.

When he opened his eyes next, a pair of feet stood before him. Intrigued, he completely opened his eyes and froze.

In front of him was a woman, her hair swaying to and fro around her waist. Her long blue kimono caught the strands of light that had been touching him.

His heart launched into his throat as he stared at the figure.

When the woman turned around, familiar fiery emerald met his blue eyes.

Eos?

She smiled, "Time to wake up, Sensei."

Deidara launched himself from his makeshift bed and took in labored breaths. If he had known that he would be dreaming of Eos, he would've forced himself to stay awake. Looking above him, he could see the rays of the sun.

It was noon.

He stared off into nothingness, not concentrating on anything in particular. He sat there until his racing heartbeat came to a regular rhythm.

Scoffing, Deidara pushed himself off the ground and proceeded to dust himself off, "Better late than never, un."

Ting!

He stopped in mid-movement.

Something had hit him in the head.

And that something better pray that it isn't animated, for it to get passed his defenses is rather rare.

Glaring in the direction of his feet, Deidara immediately noticed the evil-doer in the form of a paper airplane. It was a poorly made piece of work with no true use at all. Also, paper airplanes flew in such awkward paths, that it'd be impossible to find the one who threw it.

Picking it up, he proceeded to unfold it and refold it in a better and faster version, minutely glancing at the word 'Underground.' Origami may not be in his field of fancy, but damn it, if someone should make an airplane out of paper, do it correctly!

Holding it up in both his hands, Deidara chuckled at his piece of art, "Now that's how you make a paper airplane! Un!"

Throwing the airplane in a direction he thought it would've come from, he watched in almost complete agony as it exploded into a puff of smoke.

Wait a second…

It had the word 'Underground' in it…

"Damn it, that probably had some information in it!"

Huffing, Deidara went back to the makeshift bed and grabbed his stuff, "That shinobi better give me another, un!"

Said shinobi, who had been watching the entire incident, had already hit his forehead in frustration. Then he attempted to make a better note with the needed information inside, however, this time tying it around the handle of a kunai.

Making it a test to see if this man was really capable of being part of the organization, the shinobi threw it toward Deidara's head.

Yet again, the note was deflected when the blond had thrown a shuriken at the darting kunai. He was good, even that shinobi had to admit, and no wonder that the leader of the organization wanted him so badly…

The shinobi grinned underneath his mask and disappeared, leaving a rather ruffled Deidara with his hand stuck in his clay bag.

"Hmph, he was a coward, un." said Deidara as he walked over to the knife lying on the ground.

"Any weapon that an enemy leaves behind will be beneficial to me, un." Grinning, he picked up the knife and saw that attached to it was a piece of paper. The grin on his face grew as he glanced to the place behind the tree where the shinobi had been located.

Inside the note, Deidara read aloud:

"Deidara-san,

The Underground base is located 50 kilometers southeast of Stone village. Meet the members at the Green river, there they will take you to the base.

-Leader"

It had been quite some time since he heard someone refer to themselves as a 'leader.' Tossing the paper to the ground, Deidara let a word slip from the tip of his tongue.

"Whatever."

Only a few seconds after it hit the ground though, it again exploded into a puff of grey smoke.

"So, Hisoka, how'd it go?" queried a woman dressed in a strange golden kimono – one not at all like regular springtime kimonos. Her short dark brown hair intruded on her face and made her head appear larger than normal.

Landing hard on the ground, the shinobi removed his mask and the fabric wrapping his head, revealing a strong face with multiple scars across his cheeks, nose, and chin.

"Annoying," came his gruff voice as he squatted near the river, "he obliviously recreated my paper airplane note and let it detonate. It appeared he wasn't even aware that it had instructions on it."

"Maybe he was preoccupied?" Came another man as he slowly emerged from the barren landscape. His spiky brown head bent down as he strode toward the other two.

"Jun, what's the leader's commands?" once again asked the woman who now sat neatly on a rock.

Jun's narrow black eyes softened, "She wants us to make him feel pain."

"How?" said the bulky man by the river.

Shrugging, the smaller man smiled, "No clue, but if we can't make him feel some pain… then we lead him to the base. That's all she told me."

"Ho? She must love this newbie then?" The woman laughed meekly to herself, knowing that the leader would silence her if she had heard her.

"No, actually Suzume, he's a member of the Akatsuki."

Suzume angrily huffed, "Those men must enjoy killing since we've seen some of them already."

"If he's anything like the last one, we're doomed for." said Hisoka as he shivered at the thought of a power so evil, that it sent him to the ground. The bulky man may appear cruel and mean on the outside, but he really wasn't what he looked like on the inside.

"I think . . . It's best that we separate this time and give him little tests. Suzume, you'll be first, then Hisoka, and then me." The smile on Jun's face grew in that brief moment, and Suzume watched in amusement.

"Don't tell me . . . You're going to use that against him?"

Jun hid his smile, "Now, now, little sparrow, I don't find it fair if I do that."

Next Chapter

In the shadows, they wait silently, waiting for an opportunity to snare their victim and cause him absolute grief! However, they didn't plan the sadistic nature of one artist and his clay creations… Next chapter of Aurora Australis: The Underground.

Suzume: Sparrow

Hisoka: reserved

Jun: Obedient

A/N: So the first chapter isn't as long as I wanted it to be, but it was long enough to get the story going and to give you guys a hint as to what could possibly happen next. This story I only plan to be as long as 5 – 6 chapters. And as for Deidara, well, you guys get to read more about him!

Fanfic by ione