edited 5/12/12
Warnings: Terribly written, foul language, slight OOC-ness, and the future 'pairing'. Please do not bother reading if you don't like yaoi. If a decent wirter can't change your mind, I seriously doubt I can.
I don't own NARUTO Masashi Kishimoto does as well as TvTokyo, I do however own the plot.
0-0-0
Quiet is a word some people do not understand.
And for one of the temporary inhabitants of a leaky, old two story house, lost somewhere deep within the forest of Kusagakure, this was a lesson that hit far too close to home to ever be comfortable.
"Senpai!," the high pitched voice of Tobi rang, bouncing off of ever hard surface of the was all of it.
As you'll notice today was starting off terribly for Deidara. Who was by far the worst morning person the masked ninja had ever met in his life.
Tobi -who was walking up the stairs with one hand on the wooden rail- was already humming and giggling excitedly at the thought of awakening his beloved senpai, and seeing the sleepy expression he loved to see. Eye lids drooped in mock seduction, hair free from its tie running over his slender shoulders.
It was much too dreary outside to have such an up-beat attitude. As many would agree.
"Senpai!," Tobi knocked on Deidara's door, when he -much to suspicion- received no threat of death or screams to go away, he opened it. "It's time to-," He stopped mid-sentence, finding the room empty aside from his partners sloppy looking futon.
The blanket was pulled off to the side, most of it laying on the floor, the pillow was slouched over against the wall like it had been thrown and the window was open letting in the heavy smell and sound of the pouring rain outside.
"Did he leave already?," Tobi mumbled, stepping through the threshold. He went over to the window, stepping on the futon as he did so, and leaned out the window. There was a bright red flash in the single dark eye-hole of his mask as his sharingan began to spin.
The blond wasn't out there, but ''Tobi'' could sense his chakra. It was pulsing and faint and there was a strange much stronger foreign chakra about the same distance away. but it was there.
And not here, like it was supposed to have been.
The raven closed his eyes and clenched his hand, forcing the ring on his left thumb into the hidden skin of his palm, the smooth purple (1) stone flashed with a streak of light.
''Tobi's'' eyes snapped open in a fierce red glare. He quickly spun on his heel and stomped out of the room, slamming the door as hard as he could behind him.
The resulting vibration sent the bombers hip pouch tumbling to the floor off of a high wall shelf, and to the floor, where it landed with a hollow thunk.
(Tanto lose Long Ranger! D:...Sorry couldn't help myself XD)
0 0 0
Miles away, where the land was scarred black and the tree stumps that remained were smoldering, blown away by the two engaged in a fierce battle.
The missing blond terrorist slid back as he landed on the ground, his cloak shredded, his right arm mangled and all but a small coin size of his signature explosive clay left. He panted and through his eye narrowed in pain, glared heatedly at his opponent.
Said opponent was an odd looking man with sickly green and purple skin -which reminded the bomber of a decaying corpse-, grossly protruding ribs, arm bones, vertebrae and leg bones, shown to all by the poncho made of a monks robe ( red and yellow, the colors of Iwa-gakures temple) that ended just above an uneven set of extra rib bones.
His teeth where pointed and his nose was virtually nonexistent. Of all these things, what stuck out the most was his lack of a left arm (which suddenly ended right up to where the elbow was) and the strange zig-zagged shaped ornament that stood erect at the top of his head and appeared to be imbedded in his scalp.
His physical appearance wasn't the only thing that shocked Deidara. his physical strength was phenominal as well. The fact that he didn't have a single hand held weapon, had not used a single hand sign, but still managed to knock Deidara off his clay bird -as he was flying to Kusa for supplies- with hundreds of lightning bolts that appeared out of a perfectly blue sky.
Which brought both him and his bird down to the ground, his creation exploded and quickly made work of the strange circle of dead trees they crashed into. Burning them to a crisp.
Shook the bomber to the core.
Deidara blamed himself for lowering his guard, he should've sensed something.
Even if the man suppressed his chakra. He was strong, and the kind of chakra it would take to create and control lightning in such a way... there would be no way to hide it completely, a genin would've been tipped off.
But even now, he could barely sense a thing.
Such attacks would take a tole on anyone, even a Jinchuuriki which are well known to have massive chakra reserves.
Worse yet, he had no way of knowing if the guy was losing chakra. Hell if he didn't know any better he'd think that with every blast his enemy seemed to get even stronger!
The strange man lifted his remaining arm, chirping like a bird as he did so.
Deidara closed his gaping mouth and creased his brow, "What the hell? hmm," he muttered to himself, straitening his back.
Small chirps continued to make their way out of the mans throat as his lips pulled up in a devilish smirk.
"Red," Finally it spoke, it's voice sounded forced as if it weren't used to speaking or was in pain. Deidara racked his brain over what it had said.
Red?
"SENPAI!," Initially Deidara flinched half out of surprise and half out of instinct, then he inwardly sighed in relief, at least he had back up now.
Even it was only Tobi.
"Tobi! yeah," he yelled back, the flash of black that was his partner appeared in front of him.
Underneath his mask the Uchiha's eyes widened to the size of saucers.
Damn, Deidara looked terrible. His arm was mangled and burnt, his face was covered in bruises and scratches, and his infamous fringe that covered his eye was matted in blood and stuck to the side of his face, the mechanism he usually had on his eye was gone so he had it closed.
Madara didn't overlook his strange opponent either, honestly he was about as hard to miss as Deidara was.
In all his days he'd never seen something so hideous. And the smell, like singed hair times a thousand. It wasn't overpowering but he was wearing a mask and could still smell it, he couldn't imagine what it was like for Deidara even if he didn't show that it bothered him at all.
"You," The stranger pointed directly at the masked ninja.
'Tobi' looked around before pointing to himself, "Tobi?," he asked.
Deidara sneered, "Of course you would know such a freak! yeah."
Tobi shook his head raising his arms and crossing them together in an X like shape, "Tobi's never seen him before senpai, no way, no how," he said seriously.
It was true, the Uchiha had never seen such a creature (or whatever he may be) before. Zetsu and Kisame were the closest he'd ever come to human-like beasts- but not quite so.
That was all over now though.
He'd have to tell Zetsu, the plant man would get a kick out of it for sure.
The masked man flinched when he noticed Deidara's look that said 'Tell the truth or else.'
Something told him he knew what the 'or else' entailed.
"I'm telling the truth senpai, I've never seen him before," The Iwa looked away, knowing his partner was one hundred-percent serious, his habit of speaking in the third person always gave away when he was lying, 'Now won't be any different,' Deidara thought.
"Damn, yeah...I could've used this as an excuse to finally kill you!," Madara looked at him with surprise.
He believed him...He ACTUALLY believed him.
The creature/man rose his hand,"Truth." he once again pointed to the masked man. The ornament on his head streaked white before sparks started to fly off the points, he laughed wildly as a giant streak of lightning flew at his intended target.
"Aiiii!," Tobi screamed, flailing his arms comically.
In between the spazzing of his partner and the lightning bolt headed strait for him "Shit!," Deidara momentarily lost his senses, instinct took over and he pushed off to tackled his frantic partner just in time.
The bolt just barely missed the blond yet he still felt painful shocks through his body.
The when light from the bolt faded, Deidara glared up at the masked man,"You idiot! hmm," he yelled.
"Sorry Sempai," Tobi apologized off-handedly, in the darkness of the mask his eye began to spin, watching their enemy ready another attack.
The masked ninja quickly wrapped an arm around Deidara , jumped to his feet and leaped out of harms way, past the burnt trees and into the green ones farther back. The blond yelling curses and threats all the way.
The beast chirped curiously when the one he went after reappeared alone, his chakra spiking, and his overall demeanor completely different.
Madara put his hands on his hips and stared the creature down, making it frown and step back submissively, it chirped and bobbed its head before he disappeared in a burst of light.
"Watch him run, just a like a scared dog!"
Madara shook his head and took a deep breath. 'Now is not the time to be hearing things.' he thought to himself.
After standing there for a few seconds while he scanned the area, and feeling assured that there was no longer an immediate threat, he returned to the safety of the trees where he left his partner.
At the tippy top of a towering pine tree.
Any normal, none injured, ninja would've been able to jump down. But Deidara was injured.
He was also stuck...
Shut up!
The blond held onto the trunk with a grip a bear would be proud of, his nails digging into the bark as he cursed at his partner when he appeared.
"You bastard i'll fucking kill you for leaving me up here! yeah,"
"Tobi's Sorry, but it was for Senpai's own good," Tobi waved his finger at the Iwa in a mock scold.
The bomber gave him a childish pout and looked away,"I don't hear the forest being fried, where is he?," he grumbled.
"He's gone sempai," Deidara deflated at his partners words, his already bruised pride throbbing.
He would have given a sarcastic remark, or barked some more...Had the world not started spinning.
The Uchiha crossed his arms as he looked at the Iwa. His aura was a mirror image as that of a child that had just been told his dog died. His glazed over eyes of disbelief, his furrowed eyebrows, his gushing torn arm, his weaving back and forth as he tried to stay conscious.
...Wait.
"Senpai!," Tobi called out, grabbing the blond by the collar of his fishnet shirt when his eyes closed and he tipped back, nearly falling of the branch.
'Hm he isn't going to go anywhere anytime soon...' God-dammit.
The Uchiha pulled the bomber back upright, his head followed his limp body forward, landing on Madara's shoulder.
He was out cold. Great.
Madara put one arm across Deidara's back and managed to maneuver his other arm underneath his legs. Picking him up bridal style, he easily bounced him to assure his grip.
Flashback
The holograms of the Akatsuki members stood on their assigned fingertips of the Gedo Mazo. Said members were patiently (some more patiently than others, namely Itachi) awaiting the heavily pierced man currently consulting with Tobi, to finish and tell them they could leave.
The ''leader'' Pain had just finished handing out mission assignments to them.
Taking his time with the usually hyper and 'in your face' member. Who had been strangely quiet through-out the meeting.
It was obvious to the red head that his boss' mind was someplace else.
"Tobi, do you understand your mission?," Pain asked the masked ninja in a calm even tone. His voice was softer than it usually was.
"Yes sir." Tobi answered, taking a dull note of what he'd managed to catch of his mission details for later.
A quick trip to the Village Hidden In the Grass to meet up with an Intel ninja that worked for them, simple enough.
Satisfied with the answer the ringed eyed man nodded,"You may go," he watched Tobi's image flicker a couple of times before going out.
"That kid's always so active, wonder what's wrong with him," Kisame pondered out loud.
Itachi gave a grunt,"He's upset, you know how much he loves his sempai." he said emotionlessly.
"How long will he be like this?" Zetsu's golden eyes burrowed in the ravens head.
"Who knows." With a shrug, Itachi and the shark-nin vanished as well. Eager to take on and finish their mission.
"Leader." The two halves of the plant man chorused at the remaining ninja.
"Go, I will speak with him when he returns." Pain assured him.
"Sir."
0 0 0
The horrible weather had cleared, not that it had any effect on the soaking wet ninja sitting on the ground.
Tobi cursed and stood, swaying on his feet as his head spun. He had only been sitting there for a couple hours at most, but it felt like so much longer.
He didn't know his legs could ever be so numb.
Ah well, what can you do. he had a mission, no use whining about getting dizzy or his legs falling asleep.
The Village Hidden in the Grass. Kusagakure. Damn he had a long way to walk! Why couldn't Nagato have wanted something from Suna? It was so much closer.
It was almost too stupid of a distance to consider venturing, at least for someone who had walked the path so many times that quite frankly he was sick of walking it!
But only almost. There was one reason as to why he accepted.
And that why was the reason he was sitting just off an isolated forest path.
What could it hurt if he took a brief stop before heading to Kusa?
The sides of Madara's mask furled out and spiraled, sucking him up and spitting him out a few miles away, appearing on a path that headed south.
He ran a hand through his hair -the only thing that had dried during the transport- to smooth down the frizzy strands before interlocking his fingers together behind his head and calmly walking up the new road he was presented with.
There was supposed to be a village along the path if you followed it long enough. It really had no description except that it was small (barely even had one-hundred citizens) and ,according to Zetsu, was pretty well known for Inarizushi.
If there was one thing that could make the elder feel better, it was his favorite snack.
He was soon so lost in his thoughts about the tongue tingling treats that he didn't even notice the food stand he was passing (for wandering tourists and just about anyone with a craving for over priced tea.) or the smirking man sitting there.
"Not bouncing around today I see. Heh, Seeing you so calm is strange, hmm," A familiar voice said with an amused tinge.
Tobi snapped his head around at the food stand,"Senpai!," he visibly perked up at the sight of his partner.
"Hey idiot." Deidara's smirked grew, "Got caught in the rain huh?" he looked the ninja up and down with a critical eye.
The black cloak was droopy and soaked through to the inner layer with water. His shoes weren't much better off either, having given away the wearers advancments with their loud 'Squish'ing. And yet for some reason his hair appeared to be as dry as a bone
Hardly an unusual phenomena, it usually took their cloaks hours to dry enough to be wearable. Why Pain didn't give them back up cloaks he would never know.
"Yeah, Tobi's fine though!," There was a barely audible sniff from underneath the heavy wooden mask.
The bomber rose from his seat wearing an uninterested look and rested a hand on his partners clothed neck. He could feel Tobi's pulse as well as an extreme heat resonating from his skin through the fabric.
What he didn't feel (or even notice visually) was Tobi's shiver as the tongue from his hand snaked its way out and swiped against the area it was pressed against.
It had licked him and decided that it quite liked the taste.
Suddenly sensing danger the masked man stiffened. Preparing for some serious pain.
"'Fine' right, yeah," Deidara pulled his hand back right as the mouth was about to take a bite.
A breath of relief.
That was close.
The spiky haired ninja blinked to snap himself back to conscious thought,"B-but Tobi is! Fine I mean." he stuttered with a little less enthusiasm than he was going for.
Suspicion flashed through Deidara's eyes and Madara sweated nervously ,catching his verbal mistake.
His nerves washed away and relief flooded through him as the blond he spun on his heel, shrugged and threw his hand in the air, his way of saying ''I don't care anymore''.
Madara followed after him as he started walking, thankfully in the direction of the village the elder was heading to in the first place.
"Leader told me we are heading to Kusagakure, hmm."
"Yes senpai."
Catching up to walk beside him Tobi asked,"Sooo how about you sempai, that storm was pretty bad! Are you feeling alright?"
"My arms are kind of sore, yeah." Deidara rubbed lower arm through the long thick sleeve.
Tobi bounced,"That doesn't answer my question senpai!" he exclaimed.
"Che, I'm fine dweeb. hmm." Patience wearing thin and they hadn't even been together for more than a few minutes.
"Tobi is sooooo glad sempai is okay, Tobi doesn't know what he'd do if his senpai got hurt!"
The volume, the pitch. God.
Deidara's eye twitched, "Shut up." he hissed icily.
"Tobi's sorry senpai!"
The blong growled, "I told you to shut up!"
"Tobi is sorry." Tobi repeated in a softer tone.
Deidara turned away from his partner and pulled his arm into the body of his cloak. Giving him easy access to the pouch of clay on his hip, his hand dipped inside and the mouth on his palm took a bite out of the soft clay it was presented with.
Madara frowned beneath his mask, if he didn't play his cards right he'd be blown sky high.
Typical Deidara, get annoyed and just blow the annoyance up. Madara would hate to see how he acted around a crying baby...on second thought no, he would love to see that.
Still though he was-
"Such a fucking hot head." the words passed through his lips at a much louder volume than he had intended.
Deidara frazzled at the comment like a cat that had just gotten its tail stepped on.
He was NOT a hot head!
He was a fucking psycho.
The difference was obvious and it just so happened that the bomber took great pride in all of his self given titles. even the not so flattering ones.
Deidara's arm shot back through his sleeve, the tendons on the back of his hand moving as he extended it to catch the little creation being spat out.
He turned to his partner, his gaze as frigid as a block of ice. "Five second head start! yeah." he lifted his hand and opened his fingers, revealing a small parakeet.
A C2 parakeet.
"Meep!," Tobi took off like a bullet back down the path the two had been walking down.
Deidara tossed the bird which took off after the masked man.
"AHH! GET IT OFF!,"
"KATSU!,"
0 0 0
"Ooow," Madara groaned. Limping after Deidara at a snail like pace.
Despite Tobi playing it off almost comically, moaning every five seconds about how much his back and foot hurt, he really was in a pain.
Yes folks the great Madara Uchiha was actually in pain, somebody call the newspapers, the one man that could only be defeated by Hashirama senju is showing physical distress!
From the tips of the toes on his right foot all the way up to the ankle there was a severe burning which would turn into a throbbing when he applied too much pressure to his foot.
Easily could be blamed on the pounding he was given by gravity after being flung into the air by Deidara's parakeet and the crash into the ground miles away.
Good news, he didn't think any of his bones broke in the fall, probably sprained his ankle but that was something he could easily over come if he took his time.
Bad news, he ended up flying so far that there was no way he would be able to hobble to the village.
There would be no Inarizushi.
Wost day ever!
And how was Deidara reacting to the fact that he had hurt his partner? Something he had previously never been able to do?
"Could you hurry up?" He was being a total prick.
Naturally the sweet ,loving Uchiha was not happy about this.
"Tobi would love to! If only he could." ''Tobi'' said bitterly.
Deidara halted in the middle of the path...
Oh come on! It wasn't like he EXPECTED Tobi to get hurt! He had always hoped he would, hell he wanted the annoying ass dead, but they had to go somewhere and there was a date and time at which they had to arrive.
The blond ran his hand over his face.
Madara too stopped and watched his partner swipe his bang out of his face,"Senpai?," the masked ninja asked warily.
Slightly concerned Deidara would throw another bomb at him.
"Damn it." With that (along with a stomp of his foot) he quickly turned and made his way over to his partner.
Bewildered, Madara stood in place, barely even blinking as Deidara situated himself under his right arm, letting the taller man lean on him like a crutch.
"It'll take a week to get there if you're limping the whole way." The older shinobi's light laugh was replaced with a nervous bead of sweat at the comment that quickly followed suit, "Oh and if you say a word about this to anyone, you die,"
Of course, here was Deidara doing something nice for once and he can't let his own mask of indifference slip for even a second. He really was a bastard sometimes, not that the Uchiha had a right to judge.
Tobi put his free hand on the smaller mans head,"Thanks," he said, happiness evident in his voice.
A light blush dusted Deidara's cheeks,"Yeah, yeah, the second we find a place to stay though you'll be on your own, I need a bath,"
This made the raven laughed again, only louder, " I didn't know you had a sense of humor Sempai,"
"What's that supposed to mean?, hmm," The terrorist's blush disappeared. Of course he had a sense of humor, if he didn't he would've killed himself long ago instead of constantly trying to blow up his partner all the time.
Tobi winced,"W-well, I've never heard you laugh at anything, anything not related to murder anyway," Deidara pushed the childish ninja's arm off roughly and elbowed him in the chest, he coughed and fell backward onto his backside.
"YOU'RE why i don't!," The ex-Iwa ninja quickly fled the scene.
"Ugh," Tobi let himself fall onto his back, "Smooth Madara...Real smooth." he grumbled.
end flashback
Madara gently laid the blond down on his Futon and pulled the blankets over him. Leaving the pillow where it had been earlier (thrown against the wall), who knew if Deidara hurt his neck during the fight. It'd be best to just let him lay flat.
On the way back to the house, the Uchiha noticed his partner was no longer unconscious but had instead fallen asleep, at that point he just teleported back. Not seeing a reason in walking anymore.
Using his teeth he tore a long strip of fabric from the sleeve of his cloak, and used it to wrap Deidara's mangled arm. He did wash it in the rain dripping from the roof as a rough attempt at making it sanitary, but he knew it wouldn't be a suitable substitute for a bandage for long.
The house they were in wasn't suitable either, too many germs, too much mold, to warm. It was like one giant infection standing on its own.
The raven sat on the floor and pressed his back against the wall closest to the bomber, which happened to be right beneath the drafty window. The breezes that passed through made him shiver and pull his cloak tighter around himself. He sniffed, feeling his sinuses throb with his heart beat.
What a perfect time for this to happen.
Just as his body began to relax against the wall 'the voice' returned.
"Will he be alright?"
Madara sucked in a breath, startled by its sudden appearance.
"Whoa, sorry." the voice chuckled, "Didn't mean to scare you!"
The Uchiha grumbled, it was quiet in the house except for the occasional pitter patter of rain on the roof. He couldn't pass off the voice this time.
It was time to get to the bottom of this.
'Who the hell are you?' Madara thought slowly and maliciously.
"Who?"The voice asked thoughtfully," I am...Nobody. I don't exist."
Less than satified with this answer Madara pressed,'So...you're a figment of my imagination?'
There was a 'tsk' ing sound and a hum,"More psychological than that I believe."
What was more psychological than an imaginary friend? Uuhhh..
'My Conscience.' It was more of a blunt statement than a question. However the voice answered it as though it had been.
"Huh. That doesn't sound quite right, I suppose I'm more like a mix of your subconscious and you conscience."
Hn, Madara grunted, the term subconscious pertains to mental activity beyond the level of consciousness...And a conscience is what makes somebody feel guilty or tell them what they're doing is wrong. It's something ninja's can't have.
Or so Madara remembered being told as a child.
His eyes narrowed,'If that's so, why can I hear you?'
Madara could almost feel the aura in his head change(as strange as that may sound) as the voice chimed happily,"Ah dear Madara! Why is the sky blue? Why is it sometimes colder under a blanket than in a freezing cold room? How can bee's fly despite the fact that logically their wings should be incapable of hoisting their comically over-size insect bodies? There are many mysteries in this world, my being here is simply one of them!"
Finding himself growing more tired (might have something to do with his growing boredom) Madara yawned.
That 'monologue' hadn't even begun to answer his question.
"Well excuse me! Why don't you come up with something if you're so interested in finding the answer!"
At this the Uchiha smirked, 'I'd love to, if you weren't technically one of my thought processes.'
"Huh?"
'You're me, I'm sure you can figure out what I meant.'
"Curse you and your damn logic." The voice spat.
With his curiosity having been quenched enough for him to be comfortable tonight Madara again closed his eyes to try to get some rest.
"You didn't answer my question earlier."
"Hn." Madara grunted, agitated but not enough to open his eyes.
"Will Deidara be alright?"
"I don't know."
tbc
(1) Remember this was Sasori's ring and was originally a green color, but somehow it changed to purple after Tobi got it.
The upcoming chapter flashbacks ARE very important to the story and are key points as to what happened to Deidara, next chapter you'll learn a bit about the creature that attacked Dei. Thank you for reading!