So this is one of three parts that received from three sisters, each who have their own favourite Akatsuki character. Each of the stories are especially the same but with different dialog and whatnot. This is one is for Amber who has muchos of a thing for Tobi, the masked psychopath. Im not here to judge folks. And thats that baby, peace off.

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"Oh no! Now where did I put that book?"

You swivelled on the spot, a 360 degree turn in the middle of your large but cosy room. Your eyes locked onto various little nooks and crannies in the bookshelves and chests and drawers that decorated the space, only to pass on in growing distress in finding that the spot had already been checked. What a klutz you were, to misplace such an important item! Honestly! With Deidara's birthday only a few days away, what else could you give him as a present that would be as perfect as that book?!

With a trembling sniff and on the verge of tears you collapsed, defeated, on your embroidered bedspread. You sighed, letting your shoulders slump until you had your head buried in your hands. You had had such plans for how to give it too him as well! Sneaking it onto his lap whilst he was eating breakfast with a surprise chorus of 'Happy Birthday' would have been the perfect method to ensure that Dei-Dei had a wonderful birthday. Now he would have nothing, for you were sure the other Akatsuki members hadn't gotten him anything. Except Tobi, but as delightful as it was, his handmade paper Mache glitter fountain might not be quite Deidara's style…

Giving into the fact that the book ( 'Explosive art through the ages' How nauseatingly brilliant was that as a present for him?! ) was lost forever in the clutter of your room, you let a tear slide unhindered down your paling cheek. Curses to this room and its mess! Albeit it wasn't even your mess. Many of the members couldn't even perform the simplest of household chores and so it was only right that when you arrived all laundry, cooking and cleaning tasks were immediately taken into your eager hands. The result was an onslaught disarray of un-sewn buttons, thread bare clothes, cooking requests and an all round need to be gently spoon fed from the hapless men bursting into your room as soon as they realised you were willing to take care of them. Such a loving clutter now enveloped the space and you had gladly accepted it, knowing that they were all grateful in their hearts. Ok, maybe Hidan wasn't very able to show it, but you knew that he was thankful and kind deep down.

However, such a mess was not welcome just now. Why oh why hadn't you placed the book in an obvious place where it could be easily found? Oh right, because Deidara the inquisitive boy he is, had been searching your room for days now, knowing you had prepared something for him. Ask,…you were so disappointed…You really needed cheered up…

"TOGERI!" The whole room shook as there as an ear-splitting BANG. You braced yourself to hit the floor as you were propelled backwards by a blur of orange throwing itself at you. Such an occurrence was normal.

"Good morning Tobi…" You sniff against his shoulder, trying to hide your tears from the boisterous repressible boy; he shouldn't have to see such things, not one such as Tobi. Even without seeing his swirly-twirly orange mask or shock of black silken hair you could tell it was him. No one else in the Akatsuki would wrap themselves around you so much, no one else giggles madly like him, no one else has such a high pitched lovely voice. Out of all your new friends you had to admit, you liked Tobi the very best.

"Oh no! Are you crying Togeri? Or are you ill?" Tobi untangled his limbs from around your neck and torso and leaned a few inches back so that he could see your teary face and glistening eyelashes. He gave a high gasp and immediately began fussing, flapping his hands uselessly around before settling them on your head to pet your smooth hair as if you were a kitten. It felt so soothing and kindly that you forgot about restraint and allowed the tears welling up in your eyes to spill over onto your cheeks. You pushed your face back onto his shoulder and cried your heart out to your friend, enjoying the closeness to the boy and the heat that radiated from him. All the while you were sobbing you cursed yourself for always being so emotional over the slightest little thing. So childish, it was usually you who took care of others. But it was so frustrating that you had lost Deidara's gift!

"You lost it?" Tobi's perky voice came like a bell over your sad sobs and rang clear and true in your ears, it was the best sound in the world and always made you smile. And that was just what you needed now, someone to make you smile and cheer you up.

"Yeah, and its his birthday in a few days! How am I going to find it?" Even though you were usually the mothering member of the group, discouraging any arguments and fights, making sure all the members had on clean cloaks everyday and being the permanent group shoulder-to-cry-on, Tobi was your rock. You didn't know what you would do without him.

He hushed you and helpfully fished out a hanky for you to dry your eyes and blow your nose, all the while stroking your hair gently, starting from the wispy strands at your forehead all the way down to the amber ends, sifting through the silken strands with his smooth fingers. Though the others in the base, Deidara especially, didn't realise it, Tobi was a very restful person to be with. Kind and gentle and caring, your best friend.

"Well, how about this Togeri," He spoke cheerfully as you blew your nose once more and turned your tear streaked face towards him. "Tobi will help you look for the book! And with Togeri AND Tobi looking, Tobi's sure we'll find it!"

You chuckled at his boundless optimism, dabbing at your face whilst trying not to muss up his hanky too much; he kept it so clean and crease free, one of the only boys who did. What Hidan did with his was just filthy…

As your smile returned, and your tears began to dry, Tobi immediately sprang to his feet and began to bounce around the room, searching all the obvious places that you knew you had checked at least two or three times. But it was nice to have him there all the same, useless as he was being, his optimism instantly making the situation seem less desperate and glum. Even as you were getting to your feet he began to chirp in excitement, brimming with ideas.

"Could Togeri have put it in the bin? Oh, of course not, Togeri would not have been so silly. Stupid Tobi!"

"Is it in the fridge?…umm…no…Tobi found some candy though!"

"What about on Togeri's bookshelf? That's usually where Deidara sempai keeps his books?"

After about half an hour of humouring the little ball of energies ridiculous brainwaves, he finally seemed to have struck gold. A place you hadn't checked, your ears pricked up at the sound of it eagerly.

"Has Togeri looked underneath her bed? When Tobi loses something he usually finds it there!"

You sighed a monumental breath of relief, perhaps the book was there! It could have easily slipped off the side through the crack between its frame and the wall. Oh please, please, pretty please let it be there!

"Good idea Tobi! Ill check…" You got to your knees and crawled over to the big double bed with its fluffy lilac duvets and its 12 or so bear sized pillows. Yup, you loved your bed, it was so snuggly! Tobi loved it too, any time he couldn't sleep he would come padding down the long dark corridor in search of a hot choco and a poofy corner of blanket to cuddle into. He was so sweet and innocent sometimes it really just melted your heart.

Even if he was perched happily on your desk behind you as you were the one breaking your back to get under this flipping bed! Well, in all fairness it was you who lost it in the first place, so Tobi really didn't have any obligation to find it, you shrugged as you bent your torso into a more suitable angle to get the length of your arm into the narrow space between the bed and the floor. You 'humph'ed' under your breath as your fingers came well short of reaching anywhere near the wall where the book would be if it was under there. You inched them closer, fraction by fraction, using your legs and hips as leverage. As you were huffing and puffing you heard a strange sound from behind you, not just strange, but creepy.

Tobi was giggling. A usual occurrence for him seeing as he spent most of his energy on laughing his way through the day, but this was a different giggle entirely. A mischievous giggle, borderline evil. And it did not seem to bode well for you…

"…Hee hee...Togeri…Tobi can see up your skirt…hee hee…!"

Oh dear lord; a hyperactive closet pervert who spends the day getting strung up on sugar. Who'd have thought it? Sweet, lovely Tobi was sitting there taking advantage of your, ahem, rather compromising position and getting all giggly about it.

"W-What?! T- Tobi! Be quiet!"

Unfortunately your back was now wedged painfully into the tight space restraining you from pulling away and running. Fast. And struggling just made your behind wiggle in the air suggestively in the vague direction of the sniggers.

"Hee hee! I didn't know Togeri wore such pretty underwear!" Oh no, his voice sounded a lot closer than what it had, a lot less muffled. Could he be..? No of course not…IS PLANNING ON FEELING YOU UP?!

"Get away from me Tobi! Or ill…I-I'll-" As you spoke you realised you had made a big mistake. Although your boys all had very different personalities they each had one common trait; as soon as you tell them not to do something you can be sure they will do it at the first opportunity.

Sure enough even before you had finished the exposed flesh at your ass was touched very gently. The contact sent the sharp cold of shock speeding up your spine, jerking you into hasty action. You wretched your torso out from under the bed, wrapped your ankles around the neck of the boy behind you and used all your momentum and strength to throw him bodily into the adjacent wall. His head made a satisfying 'crack!' on impact and you took the opportunity to stretch your cramped body out, ready for your next attack.

"….Owww…" His crumpled form rose groggily from the floor and Tobi held his head in his hands as though holding it together. Which, judging on the sound of that crack, is entirely plausible. He shook it from side to side gingerly, letting the bits of plaster that had come loose from your wall in the impact, fall out and fall with dull thuds. After a seemingly all-systems-go analysis, Tobi's eyes lifted to meet yours and it was in that moment you realised something.

Tobi was not wearing his mask anymore. It must have fallen of when you threw him. How strange, that you had never wondered what he really looked like and yet that his features should take you completely by surprise.

His pale face was well structured; high cheekbones, a strong jaw gave the impression of a long ago lost fashion. He would have been considered fairly handsome in some grand Elizabethan hall, or at a Georgian ceremony, distinct remnants of good breeding etched in those gaunt features. His dark eyes betrayed none of his playful nature, or childish spirit, but would seem to belie a much more composed man underneath those deep pools of black. The silken locks that usually animated his mask pooled more dramatically around his face and matched perfectly with his eyes.

Why would he hide his face then, if he were perfectly good looking? Sure enough perhaps the bigger picture was marred somewhat by the lived purple bruise and spatter of blood on his forehead.

However there was one thing…Strange, difficult to put your finger on it…it seemed almost as if…well, as if he were…some paining by an old unknown artist so long, long ago. One that had been around for too long to remember and bears the signs of doing so. Blurred slightly, around the edges. Cracks of some sort hiding in his features. A translucency when the light touched him. Curious. He was a mystery.

And a pervert, lets not forget.

Tobi was straightening himself, trying to brush off the dust that had begun to settle on his cloak. Trying, his hands were clumsy and his balance taking a turn for the worst as he swayed where he stood. Sensing danger and your mother-hen instinct kicking in, you immediately abandon thoughts of attack and sweep in to catch him, shuffling him over to the bed. Laying his him down there you brush stray strands of hair off his face, examining his wound carefully. Not too deep, maybe your losing your touch?

Tobi's eyes watch you carefully in your ministrations, filled with reproach as you meet their gaze.

"Don't look at me like that," You said frankly, he was still in big trouble. "It was your clever idea to grope me. You should have expected nothing less for such childish behaviour."

He gave a restrained sigh and turned his head away. Why did the sound seem so filled with unhappiness? You still managed to treat his forehead as he stared at the wall away from you. This wasn't Tobi-like behaviour at all. Temper tantrum? Didn't look like it, he seemed so sad…

"What's wrong Tobi?" You asked gently, tilting your head to the side to get a better view of his face.

His breathing was steady but he gave a little sniff.

"Nothing." He replied.

You let the silence brood for a while, probing his cut softly with some gauze to get rid of the blood. The air lay thick with sadness, unspoken, unguarded, so thick it was making your eyes well up a little. It was contagious.

"Is it your forehead? I'm sorry, I never meant to overreact like that." Guilt overwhelmed you as you spoke; all he did was touch you, it hardly called for such an act of violence. Your head hung a little in shame at your unnecessary outburst.

"No, Tobi's sorry. Tobi just wanted to…Tobi shouldn't have touched you."

"Well, um...it's…it's alright Tobi...I didn't mind…" You remembered the feeling of his gentle touch and shivered. It had been a shock, but not entirely an unpleasant one…

"Tobi wont do it ever again, I promise." He sounded subdued, lifeless. What got him so sad? Was it because you had thrown him, or because you had thrown as he was touching you? Did he think you wouldn't like him anymore? He swallowed, his face still turned to the wall making his Adam's apple bob up and down. 'Tobi has an Adam's apple?' You thought, immediately realising how ridiculous such a question was. Of course he did, he was a guy wasn't he? Its just…you had never really thought of him as a man, more a child, innocent little boy. How strange, but considering the recent unveiling of his face he seemed almost like a different person, especially without his chirpy voice spouting nonsense incessantly. But even with such a stranger you wanted to make him feel better, make him happier again and insist on a no-hard-feelings approach.

"Its fine Tobi," You said smoothly, "No harm done, yeah? I was just taken by surprise that's all." To complete the goodwill you leaned down and ever so gently pushed your lips to his hurt forehead in a tender kiss. He turned into the kiss so that he was facing you as your came away from his wound, his eyes closed and lips parted slightly. There was a moment of content, an innocent silence as his eyes opened to meet yours.

You realised with a smile they weren't the deep ominous black you thought, but instead a rich chocolaty brown, warm and inviting. Looking into them as they sparkled in the afternoon light filtering through the windows, you did not protest as he traced your cheek with a slender fingertip. You did not draw back when he leaned up and pressed his lips to yours in a chaste and sweet kiss. You did not feel disgusted or angry when he pulled back slightly to smile at you brightly, dazzled. You did not even bother to hide the wide smile that stretched happily across your face at the contact, or contain the giggle you let loose when he nudged you with his nose.

It was all very sweet and innocent, a moment of bliss as you looked at your old friend with clear eyes and saw him in a new light, this handsome, kind man who smiled and laughed with you so honestly. You wrapped your arms around his torso and snuggled into his chest.

Something jabbed bluntly at your cheek and you sat up alarmed. Now that he was lying down there was a clearly defined rectangular shape protruding subtly from his chest. Before he could stop you your hands shot and scrambled in his cloak to pull the mysterious object out.

Tobi blinked fearfully at you as you examined the missing book you had spent god knows how long looking for.

"H-Ha…well, Togeri…um…"

"TOBI!"