SJ: Another Naruto oneshot dealing with my three favorite Akatsuki!members…Tobi, Zetsu and Deidara. –Grins- This oneshot is actually my first shot at a different writing style, too! For those of you familiar with my work, I usually put things in present form, like, "She says…" but now I'm going to try the style of, "She said…" instead. It was pretty fun to write, and I enjoyed writing this for sure.

…Bye, Dei-Dei-chan. –Sniffles- You went out with a BANG alright. –Pouts-

Ah and please—no complaining about the oneshot not connecting with the manga. I know Tobi's evil and stuff—NOOO TOBIIII—but I really don't need you telling me that he's not Obito or something. –Sweatdrops- Thanks!

Enjoy!

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Keep On Smiling

A Tobi/Zetsu/Deidara-centered oneshot

Disclaimer: Psh…a girl could dream.

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When his sempai died, Tobi wasn't quite sure what to do. His mind went blank and wouldn't offer a single suggestion of action no matter how hard he tried to think—to put it blankly, he was utterly dumbstruck, rooted to his spot instead of running away.

"You're such an idiot, un! Can't you ever think for yourself?"

When his sempai died, Tobi remembered thinking of it as a joke—a prank even--just something to make him look like a fool and make others laugh. It had happened plenty of times before, leading from a simple and quick movement of a foot to make him trip, to embarrassing him in front of Leader. So if that was the case, this shouldn't be any different—just a little joke from his sempai.

…Right?

"Oh, stop being such a crybaby—it was only a little explosive, un. But you gotta hand it to me! Your reaction was priceless!"

When his sempai died, Tobi felt something in the left side of his chest give a nasty twitch, his stomach lurch, and his whole body go cold despite the heat of the explosion that sent him flying. He flew through the air and didn't even know he was flying and landed hard on his body and didn't even feel the pain as he felt so numb. Then he just lay there, unmoving, with a broken branch scattered across his equally broken body.

"Clumsy fool…get up, un!"

When his sempai died, Tobi didn't even remember how long he was unconscious for. He simply continued to subconsciously remember the fire that lit up the sky, the earth-shattering power that sent him flying, the ground shaking boom, the last few words of his blonde-haired sempai…he didn't even feel somebody picking him up, carefully and gingerly, and carrying him away—or if he did, he did nothing to stop it.

Before he knew it, he was back at Akatsuki Headquarters, in his little room in his little bed and his gaze immediately flickered to his bed's empty companion, propped up against the wall on the other side of the room, the bed's blankets untouched.

And the funny—but rather familiar— feeling in the left side of his chest came back again.

"Gah! Next time, I'm gonna just LET you get captured, un! What do you think of that?!"

When his sempai died, Tobi found it was oddly hard to talk, as if his mouth was suddenly much too heavy to move to form words. So he stayed quiet, only coming out of his room to cook food whenever he heard his companions' complaints from lack of substance. His companions in return were surprised at his silence and were both grateful and annoyed at it—Hidan went so far as to shoot burning insults at Tobi in hopes of the masked boy telling him how 'naughty' his words were, but to no avail.

He would not—could not—talk.

"Tobi, shut UP, un! I need to concentrate!"

When his sempai died, Tobi's thoughts drifted more and more to his past, allowing flickers of images to pass through his mind. A flash of a silver-haired boy and a smiling girl…a time when he saw the world fully…a blonde-haired leader…

It wasn't until the images became less and less pleasant and even frightening that Tobi forced himself to get up and make his way out of his room, walking slowly to another destination; the distant screams and remembrance of pain kept him blank-minded until he bumped into his plant-like friend, who was stepping out of his own room, snapping him out of his trance.

"Tobi," Zetsu blinked down at him, briefly surprised, before a frown crossed over his face as he asked rather slowly, almost hesitantly, "Are you… feeling better?"

Tobi didn't answer and merely looked at Zetsu; both sides of his face looked concerned and his glowing golden orbs had a softness only the masked boy ever saw—it was no mystery that his mentor was worried.

"Stop worrying so much and keep quiet, un. We can't just run in there screaming!"

When his sempai died, Tobi realized his blonde-haired had never showed him such concern…not so openly…not so comfortingly…not so softly; his sempai had preferred to snapping at him and showed his worry through harsh demands of telling him what was wrong—never a patient request like Zetsu, that was for sure.

"Tobi," the plant man repeated gently and Tobi remembered he was still standing in front of him; he looked up and saw Zetsu's expression had gone grave as he added, "You do not have to tell me if you do not want to."

He was only being a good friend, Tobi knew that, and it was for that reason alone that the masked boy murmured back in a croaky, hoarse voice, "No…no, Zetsu-san…I think…I can tell you, out of all people. You're…my friend."

This answer seemed to make the plant man relax a little—was he afraid Tobi wouldn't want to confide in him?—and say, "Let's go outside…I was just on my way out there to water my plants, so if you don't mind—?"

Tobi shook his head, followed Zetsu outside and, as an afterthought, stuck close to the plant man in hopes of warming his still cold and numb body. Startled, Zetsu looked down at him puzzedly, but said nothing and didn't move away; he probably guessed that Tobi was still suffering.

How right he was.

"What's with your sulking? It's no use to me if you keep all your horrible emotions bottled up until you burst, un…just spit it out already!"

When his sempai died, Tobi found himself sometimes lying in the blonde's empty bed, curled up in a little ball on top of the blankets; his sempai's scent was comforting, but not even that could stop Tobi from feeling so cold—so very, very cold—and it usually only wound up with the masked boy tumbling off the bed, tangled in the sheets. One night he did this, his mask tumbled off and not even he was startled to spot a single tear fall onto the floor and feel a small sob rack his body.

"The others are curious of your silence, Tobi," Zetsu told him once they were outside and at Zetsu's little garden, the plant man using a watering can to water his plants (though Kisame had offered to drown the plants in enough water for a week), "and I believe they miss 'good-boy Tobi'. Do you know when he'll be coming back?"

It was an innocent question, but Tobi knew that his friend's questions were always meant to make you think thanks to the way Zetsu said it. The masked boy looked at his shoes, wary of Zetsu's eyes on him, and resisted the urge to wince at thinking, Deidara-sempai would never have asked me that…

"I…" he started, but broke off, not knowing what to say. He looked up at Zetsu and his shoulders sagged in defeat. "I…don't—"

Then it happened.

His voice was overcome by a loud sob and, somehow ashamed, Tobi turned away from his friend despite the fact his mask protected his teary face. A little bundle of desperation and frustration bloomed inside him and he desperately tried to smother it to no avail—hadn't he cried enough after all those nights after his sempai had died?

Zetsu made no comment to his tears and the masked boy found himself rather grateful; any other member of the Akatsuki would've frowned down at him for being such a 'sissy' or 'weakling'.

He didn't, however, expect the plant man to walk up behind him, gently turn him around, pull him into his chest and place his arms over him in a light—but comforting—hug that made the painfully empty spot in Tobi's chest lighter and a little warmer.

"H-Hug you?! Why the HELL would I EVER—n-no. Never mind…I'm going now, un. Don't follow me if you don't want a bomb in your face."

When his sempai died, Tobi realized that he was—to sum it all up—lonely. His sempai's harsh words and reprimanding had become second nature for the masked boy and he found himself listening for the blonde's familiar voice snapping at him to hurry up or be quiet in the midst of his quiet little room. (Even though the words were anything but nice Tobi knew that his sempai meant…well and even cared…a little.)

And now, being hugged so tenderly by Zetsu, Tobi was able—if only for a moment—to banish the loneliness from his mind.

"I am sorry, Tobi," the plant man's voice drifted to his ears and Tobi wondered if he was apologizing for his sempai's death or the fact that he was hugging him. Either way, the masked boy voiced his concern and looked up at his friend.

"Why is Zetsu-san apologizing?"

Both sides of Zetsu's face didn't even waver in their seriousness, though the masked boy spotted the faint flicker of remorse in the golden hues that blinked by for a split second. Did Deidara-sempai ever have such a look in his eyes…? He wondered, but banished the thought instantly in fear of beginning to cry again.

"Tobi is a good boy," Zetsu murmured, startling Tobi, and the white half of his face smiled slightly. "No matter what happens, Tobi will always be a good boy because of his innocence."

"Oi, y'know something? You're way too innocent for your own good, un. Definitely too innocent for Akatsuki."

"Tobi should always be happy, too. Because nobody else will—"

"Jeez…do you take happy pills or something? Stop dancing all over the place, un!"

"—and I like seeing Tobi happy," Zetsu finished softly, placing his hand on Tobi's head and ruffling his hair affectionately. He didn't smile, however, and frowned instead, "but I am sorry, Tobi. I know it may be hard for you to be happy for a while."

"Gah…I think your cheerfulness gave me a headache, un!"

"Zetsu-san…?" Tobi started questioningly, but the plant man let him go and walked past him, the water inside the watering can sloshing back and forth. He paused, however, at seeing the masked boy merely standing there staring off after him, and shot him a small, barely noticeable, smile.

"Come, Tobi. Let's go home."

"Man, I'm tired, un. Let's head back, Tobi!"

When his sempai died, Tobi had wondered if the blonde had known how the masked boy would react to his death; if he had known that he would cry over him; if he had known that a little piece of Tobi's heart would break at the knowledge that his sempai—no, his friend—was dead with no body to leave behind to mourn over and bury.

But the key word was that he had wondered.

"Coming, Zetsu-san!" Tobi rushed after the plant man, feeling loads better than before—he even hummed a little tune as the two Akatsuki members made their way back and, despite the fact that he was in the middle of doing a little skip as he walked, Tobi caught a glimpse of Zetsu smiling a real smile and felt something inside him grow warm at his seeing his friend happy.

And somewhere, Tobi knew, his sempai was rolling his eyes at him but grinning his mischievous grin anyway as he looked down—or up, he supposed—at him.

"…About time you got it, un."

fin