Akatsuki question. (Possible spoilers.)

[bleu.livejournal.com]

It's been bothering me for a while, and I'm going to cut this for possible eventual manga spoilers just in case...

Has Kishimoto ever stated -- anywhere, just once -- that there is to be a female member to Akatsuki?

Speculations on Deidara's gender aside; I'm curious about the other members. I haven't found any excerpt from the manga or anywhere else that Kishimoto has said there was to be a female in Akatsuki. Even more, I'm reading the exact same manga as everyone else, and none of the members strike me as possessing feminine builds either... by the way I'm seeing people speak of Akatsuki, some are dead-set on the belief that there is some unknown female member to Akatsuki--almost as if Kishimoto has said it to be true.

So straight foward, yes or no: has Kishimoto ever said there's to be a female character to Akatsuki?

Even more, if he hasn't... anyone know how the idea come around this time? *face palm* (I am over-whelmed by the speculations!)

PS: are we allowed to use the tags when it comes to subjects like this, or do the mods have to tag them? ^^;