"Come on Tobi!" Deidara yelled, "If you don't keep up, I'll leave you behind."

Deidara watched as Tobi rushed forward through the snowy forest and fall flat on his face. Deidara sighed and backed tracked to help his clumsy partner up. Tobi cleaned the snow off his uniform and quickly shoveled out the snow that had gotten under his mask as he followed Deidara further into the forest. That was the tenth time Tobi fell and Deidara knew that Tobi was slowing them both down dramatically. Deidara stopped and leaned up against a tree and watched as Tobi fell exhausted.

"Sempai, can you now tell me what our mission is?" Tobi's tired voice whined as he dug out more snow that got under his uniform, "You have kept me in the dark since dawn and it's now noon."

Deidara took out a map and showed Tobi an area that was circled, "Our mission is to get to this area here in the land of Fire. Pein said that Konan was traveling in this area when something fell from the sky. She was about to go and investigate when some Leaf ninja got in her way. We are to see what happened before the Leaf does."

"Why would the Leaf be interested in something that fell out the sky?" Tobi asked as he examined the map closely.

"I rather know why Pein is interested in this thing. It's in the land of Fire so naturally the Leaf would investigate." Deidara folded the map up and looked ahead. "We'll arrive in the area by tonight if we aren't delayed any longer, but judging by our current speed, I'd say we'll arrive by daybreak tomorrow if we're lucky."

"It's not my fault!" Tobi exclaimed when he saw Deidara's accusing glance, "The snow is hiding everything!"

"Just get up." Deidara offered his hand to help Tobi up, "To avoid tripping, step in my footprints. You can step in the fresh snow on the way back to the hideout."

"Okay!" Tobi jumped up and followed in Deidara's footprints, "Hey Sempai, you do know what tomorrow is right?"

Deidara sighed, "No, and I don't care. You can tell me what tomorrow is when we get back to the hideout. We need absolute silence so we can hear if the Leaf is around or not."

Night fell sooner than Deidara expected, but they had at least gotten closer to their destination than what he predicted earlier. With Tobi following Deidara in his footprints, they arrived at the crash site as the sun fell below the horizon. That gave Deidara only a few hours to look around, but even that was useless. With it being winter, there was less daylight so Deidara could only see a few feet in front of him. He thought of using explosives to light up the area, but feared that there were Leaf ninja around and didn't want to alert them. The thought of sending Tobi out crossed Deidara's mind, but ever since Halloween, he found that his friendship with Tobi grew. He quickly dismissed the thought and helped Tobi set up camp.

"It looks like we'll have to wait for tomorrow to investigate." Deidara sighed as he poked at the fire Tobi started, "We made great time, but it got dark earlier than expected."

Tobi nodded, "We can at least expect a whole lot of presents when we return!"

"Presents?" Deidara laughed as he sat down on a log that was cleared of snow, "What are you talking about Tobi?"

"Tomorrow is Christmas! Santa is going to come and give everyone presents."

"Baka!" Deidara yelled making Tobi jump. He hadn't called Tobi that since October ended and it startled them both, but Deidara continued. "There is no such thing as Santa! Santa is just some fictional character parents made up to cover up the reason why presents appear out of nowhere under a stupid tree."

"But, Sempai-"

"Now, even if Santa did exist, we wouldn't be receiving anything because we are criminals. We are bad people and bad people only get coal!"

"But Tobi is a good boy! Also, the Akatsuki is only-"

"Tobi, enough!" Deidara shouted and grabbed hold of Tobi's collar, "You aren't a good boy. If you were a good boy, you wouldn't be an Akatsuki member. You're a bad… no, you're an evil boy because you're a part of the Akatsuki!" Deidara stared angrily at Tobi for a moment before he shoved Tobi into the snow. "Get some sleep Tobi." He turned around and his voice sounded sad, "Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

Tobi sat up and watched as Deidara went into his tent. He seemed sad and Tobi wondered if he felt sorry for yelling at him or if it was the fact that he wasn't going to get a present tomorrow. Tobi sighed sadly, unsure what to think. He spent most of the night by the fire, poking at it with a stick and feeding it to keep himself warm. Tobi every now and then would look at Deidara's tent and then look up to the stars, wishing with all of his heart his Sempai would believe that the Akatsuki could get presents too. Tobi then had an idea. He would buy everyone presents and leave a note saying it was Santa! Tobi realized the presents would be given out pretty late since the stores would be closed for the holiday season, but he thought Santa could just give his companions a belated Christmas present. Tobi smiled and he fell asleep right there by the fire.

Tobi jumped up and looked at his surroundings. The fire had gone out and the stars were shining brightly in the night sky. Was it only my imagination? Tobi thought as he tried to see through the darkness of the forest. Tobi strained to hear anything unusual, but he only heard Deidara's light snoring in the tent. Tobi sighed and looked at the dead fire. There were a few hot embers, but it wasn't going to be good enough to start another fire. Tobi got up and stretched out his stiff back. He was about to head into his tent when he heard a soft jingle of bells.

Tobi spun around and realized the sound was coming from the crash site, "I wasn't imagining things. I did hear something." Tobi looked at Deidara's tent and took a step towards it before stopping. "No, let Sempai sleep. I can take care of a few Leaf ninja myself."

Tobi walked into the crash site, but only saw a clearing with a lake in it. The moon shined and gave enough light to see. Sempai could have searched this whole area, Tobi thought looking around. But the moon wasn't out then. Tobi stayed in the shadow of the trees as he circled the clearing, looking for the Leaf ninja. Tobi heard the bells again and looked in the general direction the sound came from. Tobi's jaw dropped and he rushed out into the clearing without a second thought to what he was doing. He just couldn't believe his eyes.

"Reindeer!" Tobi exclaimed, "Even a red sleigh? Santa's sleigh!"

Tobi saw the giant sack of overflowing presents in the back of the red sleigh. Tobi stared at the sleigh with awe as some of the reindeer shook excitedly, making the bells jingle loudly. Tobi jumped up into the air, narrowly avoiding several ninja stars. The weapons dug into the sleigh as Tobi landed on the other side of the sleigh. Tobi listened as he heard heavy footsteps crunch through the snow and got out a paper bomb to stick on the ninja that dared to attack him. The reindeer became more excited and the sound of the bells was loud enough to make Tobi deaf.

"Come on out Tobi!" a booming male voice was even louder than the bells, "Or should I say Madara?"

Tobi stayed still, frozen with fear. The only other person who knew his other identity was Pein. How does this ninja know? Tobi thought as he brought out a ninja star.

"There is no need to fight." the booming voice was quieter, "I just want to know what the Akatsuki wants with presents given to good little boys and girls."

"The Akatsuki don't want the presents!" Tobi's voice wasn't the usual high pitch it usually was, "We just want to know what fell in this area."

"So, you are after one of my reindeer? Your plan must be to ruin Christmas for everyone."

Tobi peeked over the edge of the sleigh and saw a man dressed in red and white garments that fit his big figure. The man wore a headband that held a sign of none of the known ninja. The sign looked almost like a snowflake, and the headband was on the man's hat that was also red and white. Tobi's eyes widened and he couldn't stifle his gasp.

"Santa!" Tobi's voice was back to normal. Tobi jumped toward Santa who in return threw a star at Tobi. "No, stop!" Tobi ducked, "Tobi is a good boy."

"Tobi? A good boy? Don't make me laugh!" Santa sounded angry, "You're a bad boy and that's why you and the Akatsuki aren't going to get any presents."

Tobi looked up at the man who everyone thought was a fictional character. He was exactly how everyone said he was… except he was a ninja. Tobi took a side glance at Santa's reindeer and concluded that they were ninjas too. Everything fell into place. No wonder Santa was able to travel around the world in one night! Tobi looked up at Santa with awe, unable to conceal his happiness.

"Santa is a ninja like Tobi!" Tobi laughed.

"Yes, I'm a ninja, but I'm not like you." Santa glared at Tobi, "I bring happiness to all the good little children. You only bring sorrow and destruction."

"Tobi has been trying to change his ways! Tobi just wants to be a good boy."

"Then why are you working for the Akatsuki and trying to steal one of my reindeer?"

"Tobi has never thought of stealing one of Santa's reindeer! I was just ordered to check to see-" Tobi realized why Santa was being so protective, "One of your reindeer fell from the sky? That's what Konan saw?"

"Yes, that was one of my reindeer. He got hurt while doing a routine flight route with one of my elves when he got hit by a paper bomb shaped like a cannon! Now I can't even go and deliver the presents."

"Why can't you deliver the presents? It's not going to be a foggy Christmas Eve is it?"

"Rudolph isn't the only lead reindeer up in my village." Santa crossed his arms.

"OH! Then was it Dasher! No, it's probably Dancer. Then again, it could be Prancer. What about Vixen? No, we still have Comet. But I bet it was Cupid! No, I'm starting to think its Donner. Wait! Don't tell me. It's Blitzen!"

"It's none of them!" Santa shouted, "I have more than nine reindeer up in the North Pole."

"Then who was it?" Tobi cocked his head.

"His name doesn't matter. The only thing that matters right now is getting back to the North Pole, but I can't fly without a lead."

"Santa, he won't make it if we don't move right now." A small female voice came from the back of Santa's sleigh. Tobi looked and saw a small head wearing a green pointed hat pop up. The face Tobi saw was shy and showed a hint of fear as it gave a side glance at Tobi, "We'll have to trust that the other reindeer can steer us correctly."

"You can't heal him Saya?"

"I'm sorry Santa." the elf known as Saya said sadly, "I may be a medical ninja, but I'm not as good as Haru. For me to heal him completely, I need more time. Unfortunately, we don't have any to spare."

"Oh dear." Santa started to massage his temples, "This isn't good. If we have to go back to the North Pole, we might not get the presents out in time for Christmas."

Tobi looked upon Santa's sad face feeling helpless. Santa nodded and he sat in his seat. He grabbed the reins as he sighed and looked around the clearing. Santa scanned the area and his eyes fell on Tobi who continued to stare at Santa. Santa's eyes hardened and he looked away and his grip tightened on the reins. Santa was about to tell his reindeer to take off when Tobi jumped up and ran in front of all the reindeer. The reindeer reared up and Tobi was nearly hit with their hooves.

"Are you trying to kill yourself?" Santa yelled.

"Tobi has an idea!" Tobi shouted.

"I don't care to listen to what you have to say."

"Please, just listen! I know of a way to deliver the presents."

"Santa," Saya's voice was quiet, "maybe we should listen." Santa turned and his face was filled with surprise. "Please Santa. We don't have anyone else to turn to. He may be our only hope."

Santa's eyes softened up and he turned to Tobi, "Okay, what's the plan."

"You know very well that I have a Sharingan." Tobi said proudly.

"Yes, you use it for evil." Santa grunted.

"In the past I did. Now, I can see many things with my eyes, but I can also do genjutsu."

"What are you going to do? Make all the children think they're opening presents?"

"No. That would take up too much chakra. Rather, I would make the reindeer think there is a lead in front of them! Then Saya can spend as much time with the real lead as she needs."

"That might actually work." Santa thought out loud. He looked Tobi straight in the eyes with determination, "Okay, I trust you won't double cross us."

"Tobi promises."

"What about Madara?"

"Tobi and Madara are one. If one agrees to something, the other agrees as well. But if it makes you feel better, Madara promises too."

Santa nodded and motioned to the seat next to him, "Then I must ask, Tobi, with your Sharingan so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

"I would be honored Santa." Tobi did a small bow before he jumped in the sleigh right next to Santa

Tobi put each reindeer under a genjutsu and Santa did the usual roll call. Together, Santa and Tobi dashed away and traveled around the world. Santa snuck down chimneys and opened up doors to deliver presents to all the good little boys and girls. A few times, Santa allowed Tobi to come in a house with him and Tobi got to help Santa put presents under the tree and eat a few cookies too. By the time Tobi was returned back to the clearing, the sun was beginning to rise and the lead reindeer was completely healed. Santa let Tobi off by the lake and he just stared at Tobi.

"Tobi," Santa said after a moment of silence, "thank you. I can see that you are trying to be the good boy you claim to be, but I believe the Akatsuki will corrupt the goodness in you. I must ask that you go and try to break away when you get the chance."

"I'm not sure if I can Santa." Tobi shook his head, "My Sempai is in the Akatsuki, and I can't leave him behind. He's my good friend and if I leave him behind, he might get killed."

"Then I suggest you get him out if you can." Santa nodded and he was about to do roll call when he looked back at Tobi, "Tobi, about my lead reindeer. I want you to know his name." Santa smiled and his eyes shined brightly, "My lead reindeer is Tobi."

"Wow!" Tobi jumped with excitement, "Tobi makes an extra special promise to Tobi that Tobi will break with the Akatsuki." Tobi petted the lead reindeer just as Saya triple checked to see if the reindeer's reins were attached correctly. Tobi looked up at Santa for the last time and asked, "Santa, may I ask you a favor. My Sempai doesn't believe that you exist. Can you send him and the rest of the Akatsuki presents? I know they have done evil, but…"

"Tobi," Santa smiled, "I will accept your request. You have done me a favor that I can never repay you for. Therefore, I will grant your friends a few presents."

With those last words, Santa did roll call and dashed away into the rising sun. Tobi stared up at the brightening sky, feeling happiness well up inside him. Tobi spun around and when he came full circle, Deidara was in front of him with two unconscious men on his shoulders. Tobi jumped back with surprise and fell backwards into the snow. Deidara dropped the two men in the snow and crossed his arms as he stared down at Tobi.

"Tobi, what did I tell you?" Deidara sighed, "Check the surrounding area before you jump head first into an open area."

"S-Sempai," Tobi stuttered, "I-I was just-"

"Let me guess," Deidara offered his hand, "You were looking for the thing that fell out of the sky."

"Y-Yeah." Tobi lied as he let Deidara help him up, "I wanted to surprise you."

"I already checked out the area last night. I even checked when you fell asleep by the fire. There was nothing there."

"Tobi just wanted to surprise you. It was going to be your Christmas present."

Deidara's face twisted up with surprise, "Tobi, you didn't have to go through all that trouble." Deidara stared at Tobi for a few seconds and smiled as he put Tobi in a headlock, "But I thank you anyway." Deidara laughed as Tobi got free from the headlock, "Well, let's head back. We have to report to Pein as soon as we can."

It took Deidara and Tobi until noon to get back to the hideout. Tobi was praising Deidara's beautiful art when they walked in to the smell of cinnamon. They both went silent and stopped in mid-step as their eyes scanned the room. It was filled with Christmas decoration and there was even a Christmas tree that was fully decorated. The other members of the Akatsuki didn't notice Deidara and Tobi walked in. They were each staring at an unopened present that sat right in front of them. They seemed confused and suspicious at the same time.

"What the hell happened in here?" Deidara said out loud.

"That's what we were wondering." Hidan glanced in Deidara's direction, "Everyone just woke up and found the place like this."

"It looks like someone went through the trouble of getting each of us presents." Konan said as she lightly fingered the ribbon on her present, "Nobody knows what to do."

"Why don't you just open them up?" Tobi asked happily as he went to the tree and picked up his own present, "Santa was nice enough to go and give these out to us."

"Santa?" Zetsu asked.

"Tobi," Deidara eyed his present with suspicion and longing, "Did you set this up?"

"How could I Sempai?" Tobi's smile was invisible under his mask, "I was with you the whole time."

"Then who- never mind." Deidara picked up his present and ripped it open, "If you can't beat them, join them."

Once Deidara's present was opened, he started to laugh. In his hands was a large pouch to store all of his clay. Deidara went and opened up the pouch and found it was full to the top with clay. He put the pouch around his waist and found it better suited him than the old one he had. Once everyone saw that Deidara's present was safe, they went and tore open their presents like a little child would have. Tobi watched as everyone found they got something to better their lives with. He looked down at his own and ripped it open. Inside, he found a pair of sunglasses and a note. Tobi picked up the note and read it quietly to himself:

Dear Tobi,
There isn't much I can give you this Christmas. Every one of your friends has received a present as you have asked, but I wasn't sure on what to give you. Saya went and made these for you. They were made so that if you put it on, you would never be affected by a genjutsu. I hope you never have to use them.
Santa

"Hey Tobi, you got glasses!" one of the Akatsuki members shouted, "Why don't you try them on?"

Tobi slipped on the glasses over his mask. He received several laughs and a big applause.

"Hey Tobi," Deidara smiled, "you look badass with those on."

Tobi gave his Sempai a thumbs up. Christmas was going to be a blast.