Deidara groaned in irritation as he had to stop for the millionth time to remind Tobi that they were on a mission, not a say-hello-to-the-butterflies outing or a pick-flowers-for-Zetsu vacation.
"Tobi, hurry up, hn! We don't have all day!" Deidara growled.
The masked man perked up at hearing his name and ran to catch up with his partner. "Sorry senpai!"
Deidara just kept glaring at him as he laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, remaining carefree as ever.
It was already bad enough that they had to walk the rest of the way to their destination as to not be seen since two giant clay birds would be easily noticed. But then that paired with being stuck alone for such a long time with Tobi's idiocy was unbearable. It was times like these that Deidara genuinely missed Sasori and his jibes at the bomber's art.
As they walked, Deidara felt his nerves snapping as Tobi skipped ahead and hummed rather loudly and very annoyingly.
Taking a deep breath, Deidara said, "Tobi, hn? Why did you join the Akatsuki? And how did you get accepted in?"
Tobi stopped right where he was at that, though didn't look back at the blonde. "You really want to know?"
"Yeah, hn." Deidara replied, though suddenly felt a bit uneasy. That ever present aura of friendliness was gone from his partner, and instead of his usual higher-pitched childish voice, it had deepened to a more mature tone.
"Hm, very well.. You'll find out eventually anyways, so what's the harm in it?" Tobi murmured, turning to face Deidara, who unconsciously took a step back.
Yes, he's definitely changed... Deidara thought. There wasn't anything friendly about him anymore. Deidara never thought it was possible, but Tobi radiated a sense of danger, power, hatred, and rage. Deidara briefly wondered if Tobi was bipolar. He had always known the man was insane, and while always being stupid, immature, and innocent, had his moments of maniacal laughter and morbid jokes. But something about bipolar didn't quite fit... Perhaps DID..?
"I'm the true leader of the Akatsuki." Tobi said.
Deidara remained silent for a moment before breaking down laughing, mostly out of need to release the tension in him. "G-Good one Tobi..! But we need to stop joking around now! We need to get this mission done, yeah?"
"I am not joking Deidara..." Tobi said in a low voice, taking a step towards him.
Deidara backed away again at his approach, gulping nervously. "Tobi, this isn't funny anymore, hn..."
"I'm not trying to be funny... I joined the Akatsuki with Zetsu back when it was only Konan and Pein... While Pein was the face of the Akatsuki leader, I was the one behind the scenes pulling all the strings... I dictated many of Pein's orders as well as who joined the Akatsuki... All of it was me..."
The terrorist shook his head, backing up against a tree. "No way, hn... There's no way you..."
Tobi kept a slow steady pace towards him. "It is true Deidara... You may think Pein is the genius behind the Akatsuki's movements, and while some decisions are his own, the majority are still mine..."
"But... No... Tobi, you-"
"My name isn't Tobi." The masked man interrupted, stopping only a few feet in front of the blonde.
"Wh-Who are you then..?" Deidara asked carefully. He was mad at himself for stuttering. His heart was racing in fear and he hated himself for it. It was just Tobi pulling a really cruel prank after all, right?
Deidara stiffened in panic and shock as Tobi's eye began to change. The usual soft grey turned bright crimson with black marks.
No... Not them... Not those eyes... Anything but them..!
"My name... Is Madara Uchiha."
Deidara felt sick. Terror pulsed through his mind at the mention of that name.
Tobi had turned his back on the bomber, saying, "I am using the Akatsuki for cover to help me realize my dream. I am going to dispose of this world in order to create the Dream World, a place where-"
"You're not Madara." Deidara blurted out, though almost immediately regretted it.
Tobi glanced over his shoulder at his partner. "What..?"
Deidara wasn't sure why he said it, but he couldn't make himself believe that Madara Uchiha would do this, would work under cover as such a fool as Tobi. "You're not Madara, hn... Madara is dead..."
Tobi thought for a moment, then said, "I am surprised you were the one to say that. All the others believed me without question when I told them I was Madara. Well, save Zetsu of course. He's been with me since the beginning."
Deidara always wondered why the plant man had always shown such interest in his partner and had a tendency to follow him around.
Tobi turned around fully to face his partner. "I'm impressed... I never would have thought you would see past that... I'm glad I'm telling you in private then. If anyone questioned me I would have assumed Itachi would be the one, though looks like I was wrong."
"Who are you really then, hn..?"
Tobi's eye narrowed and Deidara shuddered. He hated the Sharingan, and he hated Tobi for making
him feel scared of him.
"My real name doesn't matter. I have thrown away my identity a long time ago to follow Madara's plans and dreams, for I have the same desires as he did." Tobi told him.
"I want to know... You said it won't matter anyways..."
"Hm, that's true... I was planning on remaining under the name of Madara, but I suppose it doesn't matter that much... But know you will have a heavy weight of the truth on your shoulders if I tell you... I will not have you ruining my plans... You will keep what I tell you a secret, and it will be a secret you take to your grave... And if I think you can't keep quiet, or if I find out you tell anyone, and trust me, I'll know with Zetsu on my side, I will kill you.. And no one will ever find your body... Do you understand me?"
Deidara swallowed and nodded. He had gotten too far into this now to turn back. He felt he needed to get to the bottom of who his partner really is now.
"Alright... My true name is Obito Uchiha." Tobi told him, and despite Deidara not believing it to be possible, he felt his heart beat faster as the man went to take off his mask. He had always wondered what Tobi kept so carefully concealed under his mask, and it seemed he would finally know.
Tobi removed the orange swirl-patterned mask from his face, slipping the cloth band from behind his head and held it down at his waist.
Deidara didn't know what to expect Tobi to look like, but it wasn't what he saw. If he had to guess what he looked like before he saw the man's true face, he would have said Tobi was only about his own age or younger and probably still had the face of a child to match his immature personality.
Instead, Tobi- no, Obito -was older than himself, probably somewhere between 25 and 30, and his left eye was closed and presumably missing based off the fact that even his mask hadn't had a hole for it. Most noticeable though was the deep scars that marred the entire right side of his face.
Deidara was speechless; he'd never expected this from his partner and frankly, he was still petrified by all of this.
"You will remain quiet about this, correct?"
He nodded, unable to form words.
Obito smiled, though it was a dark expression on his face, and he replaced his mask on his face. "Good.. Now, I believe we have a mission to finish."
Deidara blinked. He'd completely forgotten about the mission. It took him a moment, but he suddenly realized Obito had started walking away from him, and he soon followed, though kept a safe distance between them.
How am I going to focus on the mission after this..? He thought to himself. If everything he said is true, which I have an awful feeling it us, then maybe he can take care of it on his own while I recover...
After the mission, and Deidara and Tobi had returned to the base, it didn't take very long for the others to notice something seemed off with Deidara.
Itachi, Kisame, Kakuzu, and Hidan were all in the lobby together when the blonde entered the room and curled up in a chair. Usually he was calm, cool, and relaxed, but now he seemed paranoid. Deidara was never paranoid.
"Hey fucktard, what's wrong with you?" Hidan asked, his lack of manners and boldness making him the first to question the terrorist.
Deidara jumped slightly at his voice. "H-Huh? Oh, nothing..."
"You're not fooling anyone, Deidara. Did something happen on that mission?" Itachi questioned.
"Nothing happened!" Deidara snapped, getting up and stomping off to his room.
"He is acting really strangely." Kisame observed.
Kakuzu snorted. "We're aware... As long as I don't have to buy him medication or anything, I don't really care..."
Hidan laughed. "Don't even worry about it, dickhead. He's just on his fucking man period again. He can share tampons with Konan."
Kisame snickered at that, though Itachi and Kakuzu rolled their eyes at their partners' immaturity.
Meanwhile in Obito's room, Zetsu was frowning at the said man. "That was very risky of you... Are you sure telling Deidara the truth was a good idea?"
"Don't worry about it Zetsu. I know what I'm doing. I can guarantee you, he is far too afraid of me to say anything to anyone. I doubt you even need to keep that much of an eye on him. Just pop up every so often as warning and let him think you're keeping close watch on him."
"Alright... You just better not screw this up..." The black half of Zetsu growled.
"I won't. You know how much the Eye of the Moon plan means to me. Just leave it all to me. I've gotten us this far, haven't I?" Obito reasoned with him.
"Yes, of course Obito. Just don't get cocky... It's not too late for something to go wrong..."
Obito frowned. "I will remain careful of who I tell what. It'll all be fine. And I thought I told you to stop calling me by that name... It is Tobi or Madara, depending on who is around."
"No one is around. It's only the two of us. You don't need to hide your identity from me or yourself." Zetsu murmured.
"I don't care. I have abandoned that name years ago and you know it. You will call me Madara even if we are alone. Do you understand me?"
Zetsu sighed sadly and nodded. "Yes Madara..."
"Good. Don't forget your orders of scaring Deidara, alright? You're dismissed."
As Zetsu disappeared through the floor, Obito replaced the mask onto his face and sighed. All was going according to plan, and while he felt he should be satisfied at that, he still felt empty as ever. While he may have put the weight of his true name in Deidara's hands, he still had many, many secrets inside his head, threatening to drag him down and break his mind. But he pushed them aside and choked them back, walking on as if there was no struggle inside his head.
He had to admit, confessing his true name had lifted a small portion of his burdens from his shoulders and had been relieving, though he knew he could never release such personal information again. It would come around to stab him in the back if he did, and Zetsu wouldn't be happy. At least the black half wouldn't be, that was for sure. Sometimes he wasn't sure how to read the white half anymore. He seemed to want Obito to keep in touch with his former self, though he wanted him to keep silent about it as well. He supposed he wanted the Uchiha to remember himself, though didn't want him to get himself killed over telling the wrong people too much.
Everything was complicated, he had to admit. His former self hardly mattered to him anymore. He couldn't hardly feel anything anyways. He could feel anger and hate, and that was about it. Everything else was emptiness and nothingness, and on very few occasions, grief when he thought of the young girl he had loved and watch die.
Maybe if he opened up to someone, he could learn to feel again, but he quickly shoved the thought away. He needed to remain calm, collected, and indifferent. If he started feeling pity and guilt again, he might hesitate to do what was necessary for the dream world.
No, he couldn't say anything to anyone. He would keep everything buried inside and deal with the consequences of his past on his own. He was strong because he would hang on for the one he held dear.
Rin would help his mind, body, heart, and soul bear the burden of his secrets, no matter how long he had to hold them inside.