AN: I still haven't entirely decided where I want this to go in the long run, but I've been spending some time planning out the next couple story arcs and a few things I want to happen at some point in the story. Please let me know if you come across any errors.

Three days and three nights had passed since Kazumi found herself in the Akatsuki. She spent the days meditating on the rocks just outside the cave entrance, constantly watched by one of her new associates. It was mostly the blond whose spare cloak she wore, and occasionally Sasori observed from within one of his defensive puppets. She hadn't seen Itachi since Pain and Konan explained the location of the ring she was supposed to retrieve. Her laughter had rang against the tunnel walls until her abdomen began bleeding and her head threatened to burst.

She spent the nights wandering the tunnels, when her thoughts wouldn't let her sleep. Not that she wanted to, surrounded by her enemies. She had every turn burned into her memory on the first night. She found Deidara snoring softly from a remote corner; Sasori sat nearby, staring blankly ahead. Kisame slept lightly in an area halfway to the room she woke in, stirring whenever she passed; he was gone after she returned his cloak. She never saw a sign of the Uchiha.

It was the fourth day now, and her body felt heavy, her eyes slow. She strode outside, black and red fabric billowing around her. She had discovered the smaller cloak folded neatly on the stone slab she was meant to sleep on. She hated to admit how comfortable it was now that the garment actually fit. It didn't swallow her like Kisame's, nor did it constantly slip from her shoulders like Deidara's. She had foregone the sandals, preferring the steal-toed boots Kazumi normally wore. She had found her new uniform with a fresh shirt and her item pouch, a small note attached.

Pain was hesitant to return your weapons, but there was no reason to keep your other items. You'll find everything in place.

-Konan

"I'm ready." She said, approaching the hulking mass that was the puppet master.

"Are you sure?" Came the surprisingly deep voice of the youngest Akatsuki member. "We won't be coming back here, un."

"Yeah." Despite being told she would be placed with Hoshigaki and Uchiha, Kazumi was on her first official mission with a more appropriate squad. "How long will it take us to reach Otogakure?" Kazumi didn't know their position in Tsuchi no Kuni; it could take anywhere from three days to two weeks.

"Three and a half days," Deidara announced, a prideful grin adorning his boyish features. He tossed a small, white object into the air and released a jutsu. The object inflated into a massive clay bird, more than large enough for the three of them.

"Impressive." Kazumi stayed on the ground as her companions hopped onto the fake animal. "No doubt it's explosive."

"Of course," the kid sounded offended, "it is made of C4," and a little condescending.

"No offense," she spoke slowly, not wanting to light Deidara's short fuse. It was sensitive enough that she had already witnessed two arguments with Sasori, both resulting in Deidara storming off to bomb something in the distance. "But I think I'd rather walk. You know, get my body fighting fit." There was no way she'd get on something so unstable, something she couldn't control.

"It would take approximately a week to walk. We're flying." Sasori demanded. "Get on. You're wasting time." She changed her mind.

"It's ugly." Kazumi stated. Deidara seemed to pop.

"Excuse me?" The blond dropped back to the ground while Sasori grumbled to himself. "This here is one of my masterpieces! Who do you think you are, insulting my beautiful work, hn?" His anomalous hands were on her collar, dragging her up the half inch to his height. Kazumi barely hid the triumphant smile that threatened to break loose, instead adopting her most intimidating gaze.

"Hey kid," Her voice was much lower than she normally allowed it. She stared him down, despite her feet hardly being on the ground. "You aren't challenging me, are you?" Don't be stupid, a vaguely familiar voice chided from somewhere in her mind. Kazumi spared it no thought.

"So what if I am?" Deidara nearly growled into her face. She didn't bite back her smile this time.

"Then what do you say we make this interesting?" She pressed her thumbs into his wrists and sent out a miniscule pulse of her chakra. His grip faltered and she returned to solid ground. "If I win, we walk. If you win, we take your stupid bird."

"No." Sasori landed beside Deidara. "If I win, you follow my lead for the rest of the mission."

"I can handle this, Sasori-donna."

"Knowing you, you'll end up wasting time." Deidara grit his teeth and turned to his partner. Kazumi spoke before he had a chance to retort.

"I'll take you both on." Stupid, the voice was a little louder this time. Are you trying to get yourself killed? Kazumi slipped her hands in her pockets. "Well?"

"Fine." The blond returned to his bird as two puppets were summoned in front of the copper haired kunoichi. "Let's make this quick. Try to remember not to kill her." With an affirmative from the younger shinobi, the massive bomb took to the air, the lift from its wings nearly blowing Kazumi off her feet.

Her muscles groaned as she sped forward, her fist splintering the wood of Puppet Number 1. Her knuckles began to ache with the impact, but she had packed enough chakra in the hit to keep them from breaking. Puppet Number 2 swiped at her with a fiercely curved blade. She jumped, landed on it's head, and jumped again, rocketing toward the demolitions expert. Her gaze focused on three thumbnail sized spiders coming to meet her.

Realizing what they were, Kazumi changed her course. She tucked herself into a ball and let herself tumble through the air. Explosions reverberated through her tender skull, and she landed on a boulder with unsteady feet. If only I had my blade and some trees. As far as she could see, there was only barren shrubbery and too many rocks. She rolled away as Puppet Number 2 came crashing down above her, and glanced to see Puppet Number 3 had replaced Puppet Number 1. Number 3's jaw creaked open, and a storm of senbon shot out at her. She danced around them, picking up a pebble that caught her eye.

Number 3's jaw snapped closed as Kazumi charged the pebble with her chakra. She spun around to see a colorless bird flapping toward her. She threw the stone, and her chakra cut through it's breast. The artificial being collapsed, sliding to a stop at her feet. She had no time to admire her handiwork, jumping away just in time to avoid being snatched by Puppet 3. Puppet 2 slashed at her and Kazumi caught the wooden arm, snapping it clean off. She pried the sword from its grip and dropped the lifeless arm, her feet hardly touching the ground for a moment as she dodged Deidara's C4 rain. Puppet 2 held its other palm open toward her, and fire burst from it's hand.

Kazumi somersaulted out of range and hacked through Puppet Number 3. Her head pounded as the wood clattered against the stones. Deidara hadn't ceased his bombings and Kazumi was beginning to get irritated. She charged her legs with chakra, and jumped. She vaulted through the air with dizzying velocity. It was getting difficult to keep her eyes open. Still, Kazumi sliced through the falling explosives until she was close enough to the kid that was throwing them.

She focused on the bird as it flew in a lazy circle above her. With a burst of chakra, she teleported, transformed, and coated her blade in blue sparks simultaneously. Kazumi struck through the bird as a lightning bolt, narrowly missing Deidara and defusing the C4. As she fell through the air, Puppet Number 4 came up to greet her. She scattered herself into a murder of crows, reassembling on the ground. Her breathing was labored, her grip on the scimitar loose, and her vision blurred.

Number 4 rushed at her, and Kazumi dashed to the side with hardly a moment to spare. She swayed when she stopped and faintly wondered why is was so dark again. Sasori caught her with his puppet as her knees gave out, and he pulled them back to his side. Deidara was seething a few feet behind.

"Was that your goal this whole time?" Deidara yelled as he approached. "Taking out my bird, hn?"

"Quiet, Deidara." Sasori didn't want to hear it from the kid right now.

"Not until she answers me!" He grabbed her by her hair, yanking her head back so the peaceful face of the Undertaker met his, her breath nearly still. Deidara froze, his anger plummeting. "She's sleeping."

"Yeah." Sasori answered as Deidara dropped her head. It lolled in the puppet's grasp. He reached into his pocket for more C4.

"Why?" His hand munched the clay into a replica of the bird she destroyed.

"She's been awake since she got here." Sasori dropped her onto the new bird, stored his puppet in its scroll, and hopped up beside Deidara. The boy was staring at the Konoha shinobi. "If this had been serious, she'd be dead."

"To think," Deidara began, "she fought that well sleep deprived and still recovering from the injuries she got from Kakuzu and Hidan..." a grin lit up his sky blue eye. "I can't wait to try again when she's back in shape, un!"

"She took down three of my puppets with what looked like reflex alone," Sasori watched her hair shift slightly as they took to the sky. "I'd rather not fight her again."

"Hn? Why not? You've got plenty more."

"Every puppet that gets broken means another I have to fix."

"What a dumb excuse, un! You're always tinkering with those things. Obviously you enjoy it."

"You wouldn't understand." Sasori ignored the questioning glance Deidara sent his way. How could you possibly understand? Sasori curled up within Hiruko. Four days. Four days, and we get the ring, and then we rendezvous with Itachi and Kisame.

? ﾟﾍﾥ?

It was raining, always raining. A copper headed child glared at every drop as she made her way to the only standing structure in town. She adjusted the strap of her messenger bag and struggled to carry the heavy object in her arms as she maneuvered through the door.

She stepped lightly across the room, heading for a young woman kneeling beside the farthest bed, her hands clasped in prayer. As she passed, the child glanced at a shinobi, the stumps of his legs bandaged in dirty linens and the gash in his side stitched with wire. He was going to be the next to die, she knew. The civilian a few cots down was likely to follow within a day.

"Miss Reyla," her voice was quiet but still the woman jumped at the sound.

"You startled me, child." Reyla's tone was warm and enveloping, a strange sound in times of war. "What have you found?" She stood and moved to the next cot, the little girl shuffling silently behind.

"A little more wire, maybe a couple weeks' worth of soldier pills, a few cases of senbon," the girl set the bag on the ground and held up the object in her hands. "And this." Reyla turned to see what her charge held, and immediately stepped back.

"Why would you bring that in here? This is a place of healing." She was not mad, but scared. Her heart filled with sorrow as she gazed at the mere toddler with a sword in her hands.

"The bone saw is too dull -"

"To hold a shinobi's blade is to curse yourself, child." The woman knelt before her as she pulled the blade back to her torso. Her arms were getting tired.

"…curse?" the girl's head tilted, innocent curiosity burning behind teal eyes.

"To live a life of death." Reyla reached out and placed her warm hands on the girl's shoulders. She turned her around, careful not to touch the blade. "Please, return it where you found it."

The child did not argue, and began to retrace her steps. Once again, she glanced at the dying shinobi, but this time she stopped. He was awake. He had no eyes, no nose, no mouth, just a blank face framed by bloody brown hair. Still, he was looking at her, directly in her eyes, and something inside the girl made her want to cry, to rush to his side and hold his hand.

"Kazu…mi…" the child clutched the sword tighter, stepping closer to the stranger. "I'm… so happy… you're…" his body went limp, and all the child could hear was the soft breath of her caretaker's prayers, muffled by the steady rain beating against her war torn world.

The door creaked open.

? ﾟﾍﾥ?

Teal eyes snapped open to a slate sky, the somber scent of precipitation greeting her nose. Kazumi sat up, wind rushing through her ears and whipping her hair all around her.

"You're finally awake, un!" She tilted her head back to see Deidara standing over her, the wind revealing a mechanical eye his golden locks usually hid. "You slept for two days, you know!" Kazumi dropped back against the bird, watching the clouds threaten rain as a hollow rumbling passed through her stomach.

"My stomach thinks it's been longer," she called over the turbulence. "Where are we? Are there any restaurants nearby?"

"Can't you just take some soldier pills?" Sasori asked.

"Yuck." Kazumi scrunched her nose. "That's all I was eating in those caves," she rested a hand on her sore abdomen. "I need a warm meal if I want to be fighting fit when we reach the Sound."

"She's right, Sasori-donna." Deidara had a glossy look in his eye. "Constantly using soldier pills sucks."

"Tell me about it," Kazumi sat back up, crossing her legs beneath her. "I haven't had a proper meal in weeks." She began to salivate as she daydreamed of beef and broccoli stir-fry, seafood udon, and her favorite: a dragon roll with a nice fat eel on top.

"I get it." Sasori snapped. Kazumi's eyes flew open and a blush crept up her face as she realized she had been mumbling all of that. Deidara laughed as she wiped a dribble of drool from her chin.

"I'm turning this bird around, un!" The bomber made a sharp turn, causing the kunoichi to tumble of the side as the artificial bird knifed through the air. Adrenaline rushed through her bloodstream as she spun to face the ground, her thumb to her teeth.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" She threw her arms out and summoned a crow half the size of the bird she just fell from. It let out an ear splitting squawk as she smacked into it's back. "Good to see you again too, Mehrunes!" she laughed as she stood from his silky feathers. Deidara leveled out beside her, and the two criminals stared at her.

"I thought you didn't like birds!" Deidara yelled. Kazumi cupped her hands around her mouth.

"I love birds!" she called back. "It's bombs I don't like!" She couldn't help but laugh to herself as the teen glared at her.

"My bird is way better than your's, un!" Kazumi rolled her eyes.

"His name is Mehrunes!" Another caw punctuated her statement. "And he's capable of thinking for himself, unlike your clay!" Another caw, this one sounding almost amused. Kazumi saw Deidara clench his fists before shouting again.

"Yeah? Well I bet mine is way faster than Mehrunes!"

"You sure about that, kid?" He pointed the direction their mounts were facing.

"Forty-seven miles to the closest village, un! Loser pays for the meal!" Kazumi's stomach rumbled again, so loud she almost expected the missing nin before her to hear.

"You're on!" As soon as the words left her lips, Mehrunes darted forward. A shadow passed over his black wings, and Kazumi watched as Deidara held up both his hands and stuck all three tongues out at her. Her eye twitched and she ignored the urge to flip him off. He may be a criminal, but he was still a kid. "Bring me to its tail, Mehrunes!" The bird obliged with another great caw, and a moment later, Kazumi was running up the back of the giant bomb.

"You two are ridiculous," she heard Sasori complain as she pounced on the blond. She pressed her hands on his shoulders, forcing him down as she flipped over his head.

"Respect your elders, kid!" With that, she was falling back into Mehrune's glossy feathers.

"Don't call me kid!" the youngest of the three yelled as he once again took the lead. Three little spiders came falling down on Kazumi and her corvid.

"Not again…" she mumbled. Mehrunes dove forward, leaving the explosions behind them and losing ground in the race. Well, if you could call it losing ground. Deidara suddenly rocketed in a downward spiral, tossing a clay monkey in Kazumi's face as he passed in front of her.

She smacked it away, his laughter piercing through the wind. Kazumi noticed a lack of explosion as Mehrunes swooped down, cutting in front of the white bird. He navigated through a small wooded area with expert precision while Deidara glided above the treetops. The tree line broke a few yards away from a little village, a crowd of civilians watching as the C4 bird landed directly in front of the crow. They shielded their eyes from the sudden gust of wind the wings sent their way.

"That was a dirty race!" Kazumi called as she slid from Mehrune's back. She pet the bird briefly before allowing him to return to Corvoterra.

"No it wasn't." Deidara shrunk his bird, pocketing the little clay creature. "We never settled for rules." Kazumi stepped between her two companions, and they began walking through the tiny village, the crowd parting around them.

"Whatever, kid. You know I don't have any weapons."

"Stop calling me kid!" He glared at her, and Kazumi wondered if her hair was nearly as messy as his. "I'm seventeen, un!"

"And I'm twenty-three."

"You're only six years my senior - that doesn't give you the right to call me kid!"

"Shut it, Deidara." Sasori's voice drifted through his favorite puppet, low and menacing. "You're too young to remember the war, so in our eyes you're still a kid." Kazumi stuffed her hands in her pockets.

"You should count yourself lucky to still have such an innocent view of the world." She watched her feet as she spoke, debating whether or not she should paint her toes. She refused to think of all the horrors she's witnessed in her life.

"My life may not have been touched by the war," Kazumi was surprised to hear his voice at a normal volume. "But it's never been anywhere close to 'innocent'." They unanimously let the conversation drop, as the younger two instead focused on following their noses. Kazumi couldn't help but notice a little girl hide behind her mother's skirts, a doll clutched tightly to her chest. She glanced around the village to see countless civilians openly glaring at them as they passed, some from within their homes, most on the edges of the streets.

"Ignore them." Sasori urged. And so she did, until they reached a little noodle shop on the northern end of town.

"We're closed." A middle-aged woman called as soon as they entered, despite serving a steaming bowl to another patron.

"Come on," Deidara began, "we just want some food. We'll be gone as soon as we eat, un."

"We don't serve criminals." Kazumi glanced down at herself. Black cloak and red clouds. That's right, she thought, I'm a rogue now.

"Ka-chan." A nearly identical youth emerged from the kitchen. "Let them stay. The sooner they eat, the sooner they'll leave the village."

"Fine. You'll eat whatever we give you. I will not wait on you." The woman's scowl didn't leave her face as she followed her son into the kitchen. Some of the patrons left as the trio sat at an empty table in the corner by the door. Others stared at them, their food left forgotten. A few kept their heads down, and ate in silence.

"This happen a lot?" Kazumi questioned as she removed her cloak. She folded it and set it on the bench beside her.

"You'll get used to it." Deidara mumbled as he and Sasori sat across from her. Kazumi could see the lie in his sad blue eye. "People like us don't need to make friends."

"You're only saying that because you've never had any." Kazumi ran a lazy hand through the short part of her hair, unknotting it as best she could as Deidara's face erupted at the insult. "I'm only saying that because I know," she continued, before he could cause a scene. "I know what it's like to be alone in the world." Why do you think I hunted the Akatsuki so long? she wanted to ask. "Once you connect with someone, you realize everyone needs a meaningful bond in their life." The proprietor's son placed three half empty bowls in front of them, the meat the undesirable portions consisting of mostly fat, and more than likely covered in spit. I've had worse. "It gives you something to fight for." She finished as the youth walked away.

Kazumi stared at the two men before her, one of which was eagerly devouring his unappetizing meal. That when the laughter started. It bubbled up within in her, unwilling to be held back. Deidara froze, his visible eye wide and noodles hanging from his mouth. He slurped them up as he continued to watch the strange kunoichi in front of him. Kazumi was acutely aware of the wary glances from the other patrons, but she didn't care - laughter was her favorite thing in the world.

"What's so funny, hn?" She quieted down and ate some of her food before replying.

"I'm sharing a meal with two of the world's most wanted criminals," she took another bite, realizing just how hungry she was. "And I'm surprisingly okay with it."