• Raye and Tsukiko walked together down the busy streets of Konoha. Though they'd only lived in the village for ten years, they'd been inseparable since birth. Raye, with her short, red-tipped black hair and icy blue eyes was a striking contrast to Tsukiko's long indigo locks and silvery eyes. Both had a few small scars and extremely pale skin.
    The duo had been born in Hoshigakure, but due to war had been captured and left for dead in the forests outside Konoha. If not for two ninjas returning from a mission taking pity on them, they wouldn't have survive.
    Now fifteen, they were excited to be called to the Hokage's office for a mission. It had been several months since they'd received an assignment and they were eager for anything Tsunade might throw at them. Had they know in advance exactly what the mission would entail, they might not have accepted so readily.
    Standing in front of the desk, Raye and Tsukiko waited impatiently for the blonde to tell them their mission. After several minutes of dead silence, Tsunade spoke. "I have an assignment for you," She began, but was cut off by a pair of incredibly eager jounin.
    "WE'LL TAKE IT!" Both girls screamed, forgetting the proper decorum required in the presence of the Hokage.
    Tsunade stared for a moment, blinking dramatically, then smiled. "Okay then. Your objective is to infiltrate the criminal group Akatsuki and pass along their secrets to the village." She paused for a moment, letting the idea sink in. "There's a chance you won't return alive, but I believe you can handle it."
    Blue eyes met silver and the girls grinned. Life threatening experiences were just the cure for their boredom. Smiling, Tsunade handed them their mission scrolls.
    "You leave tomorrow." She informed the pair before dismissing them. The two barely managed to hold in their excitement until they were out of the office. After that, all that could be heard was indistinct screaming.
    Raye and Tsukiko ran home at full speed, arriving all the way across town on a few moments. Throwing their shoes on the floor in the foyer, they dove into the main room and opened their scrolls. There wasn't much information, other than their objective, to obtain as much information on Akatsuki’s latest plans as possible. At the bottom, they noticed an odd note. Their time limit was set at no more and no less than three weeks, beginning the moment they opened their scrolls.
    'No problem’ They thought.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    The next morning, well before the sun rose, the two girls set off. They had packed very little, mostly food and camp supplies. For their mission they dressed casually, which, for normal people, could be considered quite odd.
    Tsukiko was clad in a jade flutter-sleeve top and long, practical pants. Her hair was pulled into a messy loop at the nape of her neck and pinned with a pair of butterfly chopsticks. Raye's hair was worn lose, as usual. Her loose-fitting t-shirt was sky blue with navy designs on it. Both girls' wrists were covered in an assortment of bracelets and bangles over arm warmers.
    This innocent appearance was what made them such good ninja. Just by looking at them you would never guess that the arm warmers concealed flat knives or the butterfly chopsticks were really senbon.
    As they headed for the gates they were stopped by a pair of shinobi, one with short hair and the other with spiked hair..
    "Thought you were leaving without saying goodbye?" The short-haired boy asked, smiling at Tsukiko.
    "Never," she smiled.
    Raye and Sasuke stood off to the side as Tsukiko said goodbye to her boyfriend, Lee. Expecting to have to stand around for a while, Raye pulled out a bag of chips from her pack, the one luxury item she had allowed herself to bring.
    "Chips?" Raye asked the Akimichi hesitantly.
    "Sure." Sasuke shrugged, taking a handful.
    Once the two had finished their bag of chips and Tsukiko and Lee had finished their goodbyes, and Sasuke had said what he came to say (“Don’t die.”)to Raye, the kunoichi set off. The two traveled until noon, when Raye's stomach refused to remain silent any longer.
    "Kiko!" She whined, "I’m starving!!!" Okay, when Raye refused to be silenced any longer.
    "Fine!" Tsukiko sighed, tired of Raye's whining and a little hungry herself.
    So the two stopped for a quick lunch before setting off again. This time they didn't stop until nearly sunset, much to the dismay of Raye's stomach. Finding a suitable clearing at last, they set up camp and built a small fire. Tsukiko got out the supplies for dinner and left to find a stream to fish. Raye was their cook. Tsukiko was perfectly capable of any household chores, but when it came to cooking she could burn water. Raye got off with fewer chores since she did all the cooking, which was fine with her. So she happily went to work, cooking rice and the fish Tsukiko brought back from the stream.
    "Uhh Raye," Tsukiko called to her best friend.
    "Yea?" Raye asked over her shoulder, more interested in the fish fillet grilling over the fire than whatever had her neurotic friend worried.
    "Do you hear something?"
    Raye stopped, suddenly more concerned with what her companion had to say. "Hm-mm."
    "I'm going to see what it is. You stay here and finish dinner." Tsukiko instructed and took off in the direction of the noises.
    By the time the fish was nice and flaky Tsukiko had returned with two men in tow. One was incredibly effeminate with blonde hair worn in a style similar to that of the Yamanaka family. The other was a raven-haired man who reminded Raye a great deal of Sasuke.
    "Raye, Deidara and Itachi," Tsukiko gestured to the two respectively.
    "Nice to meet you! I'm Raye," She smiled, brushing her hair out of her face casually.
    "They say they're shinobi!" Tsukiko exclaimed suddenly, as if unable to contain an enormous secret any longer.
    "Wow!" Raye’s eyes widened in feigned shock.
    "I told them that we've never seen real ninja before," Tsukiko admitted as if she'd committed some unspeakable crime.
    Over the sudden shock of visitors, Raye remembered the food. "We were just about to eat some supper. Would you like some?" She gestured to the food by the fire.
    Both men nodded and Raye handed each of them a bowl of rice topped with a fillet and a pair of chopsticks. Digging through her pack she pulled out another set of dishes and set out some food for Tsukiko and herself. They ate in near-silence, Raye and Tsukiko's stray questions the only punctuation to the quiet. When dinner was finished Raye collected the dishes and started for the stream to wash them.
    "Would you like some help? Un." Deidara asked, standing up.
    "You don't have to help," She responded, but then amended herself. "But if you would like to help I will gladly accept your offer.
    "It's my pleasure. Un." He nodded before following Raye into the trees to the small stream a few hundred yards from the campsite.
    As they scrubbed the dishes, Raye asked Deidara the same question she knew Tsukiko would be asking Itachi right about now.
    "If you're a ninja, then where is your headband?" She glanced at him trying to look as innocent as she could.
    Deidara hesitated a moment, but upon hearing an explosion coming from the direction of the campsite, smiled conniving. "So you figured it out. Un?"
    Raye nodded. "So you are Deidara, one of the two artist of the Akatsuki." It was a statement, not a question.
    "Indeed I am." the blonde replied, somewhat flattered that she had acknowledged him as an artist, not a shinobi.
    Raye smiled and jumped back as far as she could. Fractions of a second later two clay birds flew towards her, menacing in their intricate artistry.
    "Aww! They're so cute!" She called to her opponent, all thoughts of dishes forgotten entirely.
    Deidara couldn't help but let a small smile play on his lips for a split second. Nobody had ever complimented his art before. Then he snapped his fingers and the birds exploded. Raye, taken by surprise didn't have enough time to dodge and was thrown against a tree. She lay there for a moment, but before Deidara could get close she pulled a scroll from the bag she wore at her side. Biting her thumb, she used the blood to summon a wolf. The wolf she chose was still quite young, standing at only a few inches taller than her knees.
    "This is Kai," She introduced her black-furred familiar.
    "Adorable," Deidara admitted.
    Raye smiled, "I know."
    Then before anything else could happen Tsukiko was thrown into a tree by the riverbank. Unlike Raye she was severely injured and bleeding profusely. Itachi walked out of the trees next, not even short of breath. Raye's eyes widened at the sight of her best friend in that condition.
    "YOU b*****d!" She yelled as loud as her voice would allow.
    "Itachi-san, you aren't supposed to kill her!" Deidara scolded.
    Itachi simply shrugged and continued to advance towards the now unconscious girl. Raye and Kai ran to her. They got there before Itachi and stood in defense of their fallen teammate.
    The Uchiha merely stopped and performed a sequence of hand signs in rapid succession, muttering, "Mangekyo Sharingan."
    Raye froze, her body tensing as she felt unbelievable pain. Kai whimpered, feeling only some of the agony Raye was in. Within moments both has collapsed, Kai disappearing in a puff of smoke. Itachi walked over and picked up Tsukiko bridal style. Deidara, angry that Itachi had felt the need to cause the girls so much pain, picked Raye up carefully. With a silent glare from Deidara, the two were off to their current headquarters.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Raye sat up groggily, every muscle in her body crying out in agony. Trying not to move more than necessary, she searched the room for her best friend. Tsukiko's still limp form lay across the room. Ignoring the screams of protest from her body she limped over to the purple haired girl and shook her gently.
    "Tsukiko," She whispered. "Kiko-chan, please wake up."
    Tsukiko's eyes opened slowly. "Ah! Everything hurts." She closed her eyes tightly.
    "Yes, I know what you mean." Raye tried to smile, to no avail.
    "Where are we?" Tsukiko's silver eyes took in the small dark room as Raye had.
    "I don't know," Her companion admitted sheepishly.
    They sat in silence for a few moments until Raye noticed the fresh blood coming from Tsukiko's various wounds. Glancing at her friend's face, she was scared by how pale Tsukiko was. Raye stood up and limped to the door, banging as hard as she could, which, admittedly, wasn't very formidable.
    "Yes?" Called a somewhat excited voice from the other side.
    "Hey, we need some bandages in here!" Raye ordered severely.
    "Ok, hold on a minute." Came the reply, quickly followed by shuffling footsteps.
    Raye drummed her fingers anxiously as she glanced at Tsukiko every few seconds. Whoever it was returned a few minutes later, this time accompanied by at least two others.
    "B-but Tobi was trying to be a good boy!" The guard whimpered.
    "You did fine," Came another voice.
    "No, he shouldn't have left his post." A third intoned as someone opened the door.
    "What are you doing?" The same voice asked.
    "Trust me, they are in no shape to fight." The voice that had stuck up for Tobi replied, and Raye was sure she had heard him before.
    Raye stepped back as the door opened fully. The first thing she saw was a boy in a swirly orange mask. He waved and Raye struggled to wave back. The next person was a ninja with a somewhat shark-like appearance. He, she assumed, was the one who had yelled at Tobi. The third person she saw was Deidara. She attempted a weak smile at him, which he nodded in return to. She wondered if anyone in this place smiled.
    "So you two are the ones Deidara and Itachi captured." The shark man smirked.
    'I wonder if smirking counts as smiling at all' Raye mused, tilting her head slightly to one side.
    "Kisame you don't have to be here. Un." Deidara said calmly.
    "To bad. I wanted to see the newest members of Akatsuki." He retorted.
    "WHAT?!?" Both Raye and Tsukiko exclaimed, quite loudly despite their condition.
    "Kisame! You moron!" Deidara glared.
    "Yes, and I'll tell you the reason too. You see," Kisame started.
    "LOOK I'LL WILL WORRY ABOUT THIS LATER, RIGHT NOW I JUST WANT YOU TO DO SOMETHING TO HELP TSUKIKO. RIGHT NOW!!!" Raye was practically in the blue ninja's face. He took a startled step back.
    Deidara blinked once, wondering how the dark-haired girl could have so much energy without fainting. Almost as if in response to Deidara's musing, Raye's eyes closed and she fell forward. Tobi quickly reached out and caught her. Deidara immediately took her from the hyper boy.
    "Grab her friend." He instructed Tobi. Nodding, he picked up the indigo-haired kunoichi and followed his superior.
    "Where are you two going?" Kisame demanded.
    "The infirmary," Was the only response he was given, and then the other two men were gone.
    Kisame sighed, "I wonder why Itachi likes that girl, she’s not even cute..." He shrugged and walked off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Deidara and Tobi sat in the chairs, waiting for permission to see the girls. Tobi was fidgeting, unable to keep still very long and Deidara was starting to get very annoyed.
    "Tobi, If you want to leave you can," Deidara informed the masked ninja.
    "No Deidara-sempai." Tobi said, shaking his head.
    The two sat there for almost thirty minutes before the medic came out. Deidara looked at him expectantly. He nodded and a nurse led both ninja down the hall to a blue door.
    "The shorter one insisted they share a room. She was very persistent for one with so little strength." She shrugged before turning to leave. Deidara nodded, then knocked on the door, not wanting to be rude.
    "What the hell do you want now you annoying b*****d ?" Came an irritated reply.
    "Hey. Un." Deidara said, as he entered.
    "Oh its you." Tsukiko hissed.
    "Hey Raye." He turned towards the shorter Kunoichi.
    "Hi." She waved weakly. "Don't mind Tsukiko, she's still pissed at Sasuke's brother." Raye shrugged, "Not that I cant blame her."
    Deidara nodded once, the girls didn’t know it but he knew exactly how they felt and it made him feel a little bad. Tobi, apparently feeling a bit left out decided to introduce himself then.
    "Hi! I'm Tobi! Tobi's a good boy!" He said…well it was more like yelling.
    "Nice to meet you. . . I think. I'm Raye." She looked up at him and attempted a smile. As she did this the piece of hair that covered her scar fell away, almost immediately catching Deidara's and Tobi’s attention. The scar ran from the corner of her eye to her jaw. Seconds later Raye noticed the stares of the two nin and she flipped her hair back over her face, and looked tat the other side of the room.
    "Raye absolutely despises it when people stare at her scar. The memories aren't something either of us should have to re-live." Tsukiko informed them quietly, though she still hadn‘t looked at either Akatsuki member.
    Deidara began to speak but was interrupted by a suddenly very excited Raye, "Can I see one of your clay birds up close? I mean, without it exploding on me?" She asked eager to change the topic.
    "Of course. Un." Deidara formed two birds with what seemed like no effort and sent them flying off in Raye's direction.
    "They're so cute!" She repeated her complement from their battle.
    Deidara smiled again as the birds flew up in the air. "Art is a bang. Un." The tiny clay creations exploded, coating the room in a fine layer of dust.
    "That is so cool." Raye stated, her eyes moving from where the clay had exploded to Deidara. She looked just as his smile faded.
    "Oh my God!" Raye exclaimed.
    "What?" Asked a somewhat confused Deidara and Tobi jumped a bit.
    "Akatsuki members can smile." Raye replied triumphantly a smiled forming on her lips.
    "Damn it." Tsukiko muttered.
    "Ha! I was right again!" Raye said smugly to her best friend.
    "Huh?" Deidara blinked in confusion.
    "We bet whether or not any of you bastards could smile, and I lost." Tsukiko sighed.
    "Kiko-chan," Raye scolded, but her friend just shrugged. Raye sighed, "Sorry. Like I said she still isn't exactly thrilled right now." Raye really didn't want to lose the friendship of only person who seemed remotely nice in this place.
    Deidara nodded, "I understand. Un."
    "Why do you do that?" Tsukiko asked. Deidara looked at her curiously. "That 'un' thing at the end of your sentences." She clarified.
    Deidara opened his mouth to answer, looking slightly uncomfortable when Raye interrupted him, "Tsukiko." This time it was more begging than anything. Tsukiko nodded, understanding that Raye wanted her to be a whole lot nicer. She stood up and stretched, wincing slightly from the wounds that still hadn’t fully healed, figuring she might as well just get away from Deidara for now, long enough to cool off at least
    "I'm leaving. Follow if you want, kid." She added, rudely addressing Tobi, who actually looked about their age, or older.
    The other ninja nodded and stood up quickly, "If it's ok with Deidara-sempai..."
    "Yea, go. Un." He nodded his approval, somewhat glad to be rid of Tobi, though confident that, in her state, Tsukiko was in no condition to fight a member of Akatsuki.
    Tsukiko left, Tobi in tow, and Raye watched them. As they disappeared through the door, she turned her attention back to the blonde nin. She was intent on learning all she could, as fast as she could, then her and Tsukiko would have to leave. Both girls knew it was very dangerous for Raye to be this close to the Akatsuki.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “I want answers,” Raye demanded, turning her full attention to Deidara.
    “To what questions?” He replied lazily.
    “Why are we here?” The kunoichi asked.
    “Because you were both badly injured by Itachi and needed medical treatment.”
    “Not what I meant.” Raye glared at the blonde.
    “Then be more specific.” He smirked.
    “Why are we in the Akatsuki’s base?” She demanded, standing and instantly feeling lightheaded.
    Deidara smiled. “Itachi sensed a couple powerful ninjas and he decided their powers would be useful.”
    “Why where you with Itachi?” Raye had just noticed this, that bugged her. She was excellent at noticing minor things like that so why had it taken her so long?
    “Every one here has a partner.” Deidara shrugged.
    “Yes, but he works with…uh…Kisame. And I believe you work with Sasori?” Raye’s eyes narrowed as she tried to remember these things.
    “How do you know this?” Deidara’s face showed he was startled.
    “s**t,” Raye cursed, shaking her head a little, “I think that b*****d Itachi screwed up my memories." Raye paced, muttering quietly to herself. Deidara only managed to catch a fragment of her monologue ". . . shouldn’t last very long . . .”
    Raye sat back down and leaned against her pillow. Her head was buzzing and she couldn’t quite make sense of half the things swimming around in that empty space. This made her uneasy as the duo relied heavily on Raye's excellent memory for deatail. She closed her crystal blue eyes tightly, hoping that it would help. It didn’t, and when she opened her eyes Deidara was looking at her oddly.
    “What?” Raye asked, a faint blush coloring her pale cheeks.
    “Are you alright?” He sounded worried, but Raye may have been mistaken.
    “Fine, my head just hurts a bit.” She muttered.
    “Should I get the medic?” He moved to stand, but Raye reached up and quickly grabbed his sleeve, shaking her head.
    “N-no I’m fine.” She really didn’t want the annoying medic to come back with more questions.
    Deidara returned to his seat and an uncomfortable silence settled in the room. Raye felt insecure without Tsukiko's familiar presence. Though she was certain her friend could take care of herself, Raye wasn't sure if she would be able to if it came down to it.
    “Where are our weapons?" Raye demanded, shattering the silence at last.
    “Itachi put them up." Deidara smiled. "You'll get them back, though."
    Raye closed her eyes again and shook her head violently, inducing dizziness and in the process shaking out of the way the lock of hair which usually concealed her scar. Deidara could see it clearly now. It looked old; the injury must have been severe for the scar to still be so visible. Instinctively he reached forward and lightly traced it from her eye to her jaw. Raye shivered and her eyes flew open, tears forming unbidden.
    Thinking he'd done something wrong, Deidara started to apologize, but Raye began shaking violently before he could say a word. In her mind she was reliving a nightmare from long ago. The kunoichi gave a shrill cry that seemed too high a pitch for her to manage. Before he had time to think about the implications of his actions, Deidara reached forward and wrapped his arms around her. She instantly calmed, her violent tremors quieting to a slight shiver.
    “Shhh, I’m sorry.” Deidara apologized.
    “N-not you’re fault, I-it was them.” Raye whispered with so much venom in the last word it was scary.
    “Who?” The blonde knew he should let it go while she was calm, but he was curious now.
    “Raye shivered again. “Orochimaru and Hoshikage-sama.”
    Deidara wanted to know more, but before anything else was said the door burst open and Tsukiko ran in, closely followed by Tobi. Both seemed slightly nervous. Tsukiko glanced at the missing nin, clearly not pleased that he was holding her friend.
    “What did you do?” Raye sighed, knowing that it had to be ‘fun’ as Tsukiko would put it.
    “Well we were just out for a stroll when we came across Itachi and the shark-dude.” Tsukiko began, grinning.
    “Kisame.” Raye corrected.
    “Yeah, him." Tsukiko shrugged, “Well, you see, there might have been a minor little argument over whether or not I injured him during our fight . . ." She trailed off, pausing for dramatic effect. "And now, well, let's just say that Sasuke might be the only one capable of caring on the Uchiha clan name . . ." She smiled, obviously enjoying her revenge.
    At this point Raye sighed dramatically and the two men in the room traded a nervous glance. Well, as close to a nervous glance as you can get when wearing an orange, swirly mask. Tsukiko lounged on her bed and shot a look at Raye.
    “Anything you'd care to share?” Tsukiko smirked.
    “Itachi screwed up my memories.” Raye shrugged.
    “What! Are you serious?”
    Raye nodded, “That b*****d! You memory for details is way too important to lose.”
    Raye nodded as Tsukiko glared daggers at the doorway, probably imagining more ways to torment the poor Uchiha. Deidara, who still had his arms around Raye was looking at the taller of the kunouchi nervously.
    “How long are you gonna hold her like that Deidara-Sempai?” Tobi asked, naively breaking the silence which had settled over the group.
    Tsukiko giggled at Raye, whose face had turned at least sixteen different shades of red. Clearing his throat, Deidara stood.
    “Well I think its about time Tobi and I left.” And with that Deidara turned and began walking away, Tobi waved at the girls happily before following the blonde.
    Tsukiko inclined her head slightly in Raye direction, too lazy to put forth more effort.
    “Itachi’s gonna kill you.” Raye announced in monotone.
    “Let him try.” Tsukiko smirked, tossing an unlit bomb in the air like a baseball.
    Raye sighed. “I’m gonna go back to sleep for a bit.”