Consciousness swept itself back and forth from Deidara like a ship in a storm. Half-nightmares consumed the darkness. They were not of the tangible kind but rather the feeling of impending fear and vertigo, and they came with a hot, stifiling feeling that was almost like an oven around him. His personal torture was only soothed for half a moment, when he felt a damp, cool cloth put onto his forehead. The water from it left ghostly trails down his brow and dripped into his eyes and he moaned softly.

He tried to force his eyelids open, tried to speak, but all that suceeded was a thin sliver of space between eyelashes. A shadow, blurred by the water droplets on his eyes, hung before it. Is that Tobi...? No, it can't be... There's no orange mask. Then who?

He leaned foreward and immediately yet more pain sprung from his chest. He cried out softly under his breath in reaction and the shadow, whoever it was, pushed him back down.

"Shhh..." A hand gently stroked his hair, comforting him. "Just rest."

Could that have been Tobi's voice? Deidara couldn't tell. His mind soon drifted back to the abyss, back to the swirling ocean of pain and dreams.

---------------------------------------

...I'm not dead, am I?

Deidara's thoughts drifted through his mind freely. The pain he remembered wasn't present, or at least, it was much less sharp. His muscles still felt loose, and he felt hot and slowed down, like he was drifting through some thick liquid.

He pulled himself up, but as soon as he did, he regretted it. The constant soreness all over had masked the pain in his chest until he sat up. He ignored the added pain, however, and proceded to sit up. That bastard kicked hard...

He forced his eyes to open, squinting in the noonday sun. He squeezed his eyes back closed and rubbed them, forcing them to adjust. Tobi's voice drifted over from behind him.

"Senpai! You're awake! How are you feeling?"

Deidara managed a weak laugh. "Like I've been through a meat grinder, hm." He turned around and continued speaking. "How do you expect-"

He stopped speaking when realized what he was seeing. Tobi was standing near by, maskless.

Tobi's hair spilled low over the left side of his face, where it looked like it was hiding an old bandage. There were a few old scars on his face, but beneath that, it was soft it fit him well. His eye, the visible one, was dark. Innocence seemed to spill out of it.

Tobi realized what Deidara was looking at and his face lit up bright red.

"I... Um... My mask broke when I was saving you..." He turned his head away, blocking his face from view.

Tobi saved me? Then it hadn't been part of the dreams.

Deidara leaned foreward more, trying to stand up and walk over to Tobi. However, as soon as he tried to push his muscles any further, the pain in them spiked and he fell to the ground from his already low position.

Tobi, forgetting about his lack of mask, hurried to help Deidara up.

"Don't strain yourself, Deidara-senpai!" Deidara grabbed onto Tobi's arm for support and pulled himself back up.

"I'll be fine, Tobi." He sat down on the ground, trying to nurse his pride. How did Tobi get out of that unscathed? I've seen him take hits before, but he's always gotten up from them immediately. I saw him go down that time! He wanted to refuse being saved by the least threatening member of Akatsuki, but he couldn't. No other explention, hm.

Silence hung between the members. Tobi sat a ways off, half hiding his face from Deidara out of what appeared to be shame.

What's his problem? He thought to himself. It's not like there's anything wrong with his face.

"Senpai, are you hungry?" Tobi broke the thick silence as he rummaged through a bag. "After all-"

"I'm fine, hm."

It was only partly true. Deidara felt hungry, but presently couldn't stomach the idea of eating. The world still felt thick and dreamlike, and if he turned his head too fast, there were a few seconds of dizziness. However, it was an improvement from his earlier state.

"We should actually get going. We were a week behind before this little incident and now we're even later, hm." Deidara pushed himself up onto one knee, half getting up. "You know how the leader is with punctuality. 'Do it now or not at all'" He added in a bitter mocking voice. "Art takes time, hm."

He pushed himself the rest of the way up and stood waveringly.

"Deidara-senpai, are you sure you're up to it? You look like you need more rest."

Deidara nodded. "We need to get back, Tobi. Come on, help me start packing stuff up...un." He took a step foreward and faltered, falling foreward. Tobi caught him just in time.

"I told you to be careful, senpai." He helped Deidara get back up and then stepped back and again looked away. Why doesn't he just deal with it? Thought Deidara to himself.

Just then, Tobi stepped away into a large thicket of trees and bushes. "Just a second! I've got an idea!"

Deidara wondered just what he was going on about when suddenly Tobi emerged from the copse with a long, thick stick. Deidara stared blankly.

"What's that for? Hm."

Tobi scurried up to him and held it out. "It's a walking stick for you!"

Deidara crossed his arms, pride biting into him like a predator. "I don't need a crutch!"

"It's not a crutch," said Tobi, edging it closer. "It's a walking stick."

Deidara looked again at it. Damn. He's just waiting for me to either take it or walk away, isn't he? Why does he have to be right!?

Deidara reached out and grabbed it. Tobi had definately found hte perfect random walking stick lying around in the trees. He leaned on it as he took a step and almost fell over again. Dammit, if I ever run into that man again, hm...!

"You just sit down and I'll pack everything up, okay senpai?" Tobi spoke cheerfully, although Deidara could tell some of the cheerfulness was a farce. However, Deidara had to admit that he appreciated the gesture of doing the work. He sat down roughly and winced as the impact caused a sharper pain to shoot up his side.

---------------------------------------------------

Night fell on the pair as they slowly travesed through the wilderness. Tobi spent most of the time trying to both hide his exposed face from Deidara while at the same time keeping an eye on him. And, with every step, it annoyed Deidara more. Eventually, the sun set and they had to stop and rest for the night.

"All right, senpai. This looks like a good spot."

Deidara nodded in agreement. "Good enough, un."

He was about to sit down when Tobi turned from him completely and his question finally broke out.

"Tobi, why do you keep trying to hide your face?"

Tobi froze mid motion of taking off his hat. He lowered it to the ground and set it down.

"Because... People will see me."

Deidara stopped mid thought with his mouth half open. It was a stupid answer, but it suddenly hit him. He's been wearing that mask so long that he feels naked without it. Deidara sighed and slowly walked over to Tobi. He put a hand on Tobi's shoulder and turned him around, dropping the walking stick.

"Tobi, either you turn around or I'm going to fall, hm."

Slowly, Tobi turned around. However, as he did, he raised his hands to cover his face.

"Oh, for pete's sake... un." Deidara let go of Tobi's shoulder and gently took hold of Tobi's hands. "Tobi, you don't need to hide your face from me. Whatever reason you started hiding your face for, you don't need to use with me. It's just me, hm."

Slowly, Tobi's hands slipped down. He cast a wary smile to Deidara.

"All right, senpai. For you I won't."

Deidara nodded. That's taken care of... Hm... I wonder why he did start wearing that mask, anyway? He stepped away from Tobi and slowly, carefully sat down.

"I'm beat, un. Sleep is definately good."

He reached over to his bag and opened it. Inside, at the top, as if it had hastily been thrown in the wrong bag, sat the remnants of Tobi's mask. Deidara looked at it for a moment. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

Tobi saved my life... the least I can do is even partially pay him back.

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A/N

Yay! Hat:3

Anyway, this was longer than my other chapter, probably the longest fanfic chapter I've ever done, since I usually split stuff up more. However, this one needed to end where it did. Thoughts?

Oh, and there's probably going to be a relationship between them growing. An awkward one.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, take the time to let me know or give a suggestion! I've got some plans, but a lot of it's still up for thought process!