"Deidara-Sempai?"

Oh, God. Someone just shoot him. Shoot the Orange-masked annoying menace of–

"Sempai, are you awake?"

"No." I frowned. If he thinks I'm really asleep, even after answering, I'm going to label him the biggest dumbass on the face of the Earth.

"Oh. Well, Sempai, you need to wake up–"

"Tobi," I started, sitting up with a look of disdain on my face, "that was sarcasm, un."

"Oh," was all he could think of. What was with this guy? It was like he was last in line when they were handing out common sense.

"Wait. Sempai, I forgot to mention, we have a mission today so–"

"So you woke me up at–" I lazily glanced over to the clock, "One-fifteen A.M."

"Yeah."

"You're one messed-up person, un."

"Sorry."

I let out a sigh, signaling to him that I forgave him, but if he did something like this again I'd smack him. Hard. He took the hint and bounded out the room, leaving me to fall back onto my pillow and black out for another hour or so.

- - -

Thankfully, the mission was relatively quick. There was no real struggle, and I lost no excessive amount of stamina. Ha. Those stupid Mist ninjas.

Tobi, however, looked as if he was ready to collapse. Fancy that.

"Tobi! Hurry the fuck up, un!" I called out behind me. He was about ten yards away, acting like a pansy or something.

"Coming, Sempai," he tittered back. I closed my eyes and shook my head at him. He could be so– I turned to face forward. Instead I faced Tobi.

"How did you . . . " I trailed off, at a loss for words.
"How did I what, Deidara-Sempai?" he asked, acting completely oblivious to what I was gaping at.

"Jackass," I mumbled.

"Sempai, when can we rest?"

"You asked that ten minutes ago, un."

Actually, I was starting to wonder if we'd make it back to the lair on time. It was nearing dusk and Tobi's incessant whining about finding a resting place clung to me like the odd humidity in Mist village.

"On second-thought, un," I said on a high note, "It'd be better to wait until dawn to continue."

Tobi gave an indescribable noise of excitement.

"Really?"

"No, un. I'm just going to tease you, because you're cute. You idiot!" I whapped him. Honestly, I was fed up with his stupidity. It's like he was acting idiotically, just to get on my nerves.

He didn't reply. Probably for the better.

"Whatever, un. Let's … Let's just find a secluded area to rest." I wasn't in the mood to do anything but keep what little sanity I had left. Talking to Tobi made that impossible.

- - -

"What are you doing, Deidara-Sempai?" Tobi asked. I continued to block him out as I ran my hand through my hair, like a make-shift brush or comb. My fingers occasionally laced themselves into a knot, and I had to carefully untangle my blonde locks, grimacing with each painful mistake.

It wasn't until I felt my palm against Tobi's that I even realized he was near me, let alone playing with my hair.

"Tobi."

"Hmm?" he said, sounding relaxed.

"What the hell are you doing." I said it more as a statement then a question.

"Uh." He sounded more surprised than I did.

" 'Uh.'?" I repeated, wanting to know an answer to why he was still absentmindedly toying with my hair.
It took him a minute to realize he hadn't let go of my hair. I patiently waited. This wasn't anything I needed to get upset about. I . . . really didn't mind.

- - -

"Tobi?" I asked, looking up from a clay spider I was molding in case we were ambushed, "Why haven't I seen your face before, un?"

"Because," he hesitated, fixing the very mask that hid what I was yearning to see. I hated when he did this roundabout way to say "I don't know" or "I can't tell you". It was his way of playing with my mind and molding it to his desire. It drove me mad.

"Because . . . ?"

"Because it's a secret."

Damn it! He got me . . . Again.

"Can't you give me a straight answer, un?"

"Depends. Can I ask you a question?"

"You already did, un. What is it?"

It was just a volley of questions at one another. Would it end?

"Can I play with your hair again?"

"Sure..."

As he got near enough to gently brush against me, I thought about why I said "sure", rather than give him an appalling look and flipping him off. I only said this because I kind of . . . enjoyed it. His company, I mean. Just being near him, I guess. It gave a little inward smile as I felt him parting a section of my hair to braid.

I guess.