Madara wondered if the world had turned upside-down without him noticing, because deidara keeping his mouth shut for more than five minutes was pretty freaky. The only clue the blond gave him that he hadn't returned to being mute was when he gasped soundly the moment the Uchiha revealed his true age. Embarrassed for being a tad rude, the blond had pressed his elder on. Madara hoped the fact Deidara now knew that he wasn't a kid wouldn't make him uneasy, until he remembered the artist didn't respect people for their age, but for their performance and talent.

On and on it went, about his blood-stained childhood, his brother's sacrifice, the segregation and treachery he had to go through, ending up by his founding of Akatsuki.

Deidara set his head upon Madara's chest, still dumbfounded. His silence was stretching out wider than the horizon and tensed the brunet, who was already considering whether or not Deidara would still be attached to him after learning about his horrifying past.

"Deidara, please say something" he implored quietly. Deidara looked up into his eyes with a confused expression.

"You're pretty strange, you know, un… Kidding around and acting like a retard when you could boss people around at will. You sure are different from Itachi" the young man pointed out. Madara grinned in spite of him.

"How many times, Deidara? You can't compare him with me. Personally, I don't mind being treated like a moron. At least it gives me a generous margin for fooling around, and it lowers other people's expectations." Deidara turned to face his lover.

"And why would you need to lower people's expectations, un?" he asked curiously. Madara's smile faltered.

"I'm not telling you" he snapped, hoping to close the subject once and for all. Deidara concentrated hard for a few seconds, hand on his chin and eyes staring away, before focusing on Madara again, a smug grin plastered on his face.

"Tell me how much is 7x6." Madara froze. How does he know?

"Pardon?" he answered numbly.

"7x6, un" Deidara said slowly, his smile broadening.

"Eeeeeeeeeeer… I-I only know my multiplication tables until 7" Madara invented hurriedly. In truth, he'd barely registered the third table.

"7x6 is in the 6 table, it's equal to 6x7, un" Deidara mentioned.

"Is it? I mean, yeah, only testing you, sempai! Soooo… Six times seveeen…"

"You don't know."

"I do too! I-I just need a little time, that's all!" Madara was now blushing furiously. In more than a century of existence, he'd never got the grip on maths.



He spent nearly 10 minutes trying to work it out before Deidara pitied him enough to bring him out of misery.

"It's 42, un" he said flatly, determined to keep it all in and not to burst out laughing at the poor sod.

"Ha! Just what I was going to say!" Madara yelled victoriously. Deidara merrily rolled his eyes. He tried to lift himself up against the headboard, but his trembling arms couldn't support his weight anymore. Madara gasped.

"Deidara! Here, let me help- God, look at the time! You should have had something to eat at least half an hour ago! Wait-" the Uchiha started to fuss, much to the blonde's displeasure.

"Cut it out, Tob-" he paused. Madara looked down at him quizzically.

"Is something wrong, Deidara?" he asked worriedly. The blond shook his head slowly.

"No… Madara. I meant to say Madara, un." The brunet gently hugged the blond from behind, kissing the top of his head.

"I'd like it if you still called me Tobi", he whispered in Deidara's ear. Two cerulean eyes faced him, gleaming with unshed tears.

"Does Tobi even exist, or did you make him up?" Deidara asked shakily. Madara's felt a sharp pain at the level of his heart. Sometimes he asked himself the same question. How did he come to create the persona of Tobi? At first, he'd tried acting like a docile idiot with Zetsu, but when he joined Deidara…

For the first time in years, or perhaps his whole life, he'd had the impression somebody had accepted him. Even thought the artist was harsh and exigent, he still considered Tobi like a disciple none of the less. He always protected him and waited until the masked man was out of the way before detonating his bombs, after what he'd nearly blow him up with C1 by means of expressing how worried he had been while he was on the battlefield wondering nervously whether the brunet had made it or not. The artist took his time to lecture Tobi instead of just sighing and ignoring him when he did an elementary mistake.

It was like having a bossy big brother who'd never admit he'd cared. And right now Madara knew where Tobi came from.

"I think the Tobi you know is simply the side of me which really wants to be with you, and taken care of by you. You created him." Madara speculated. Deidara face was still etched with angst.

"And… and the other side of you, un?" the blond uttered shyly. Madara smiled.

"It's the part of me that wishes to protect you." With that, the brunet held Deidara tight in his arms to prove his point. The younger man nuzzled his head onto the other's shoulder, groaning.

"Is something wrong, Deidara?" Madara asked.

"Head… 't's hurting, un…" the blond mumbled. Madara rolled off the bed.

"I'm getting you food" he said and without any further comment, he slid his mask on and left the room.



Deidara let his head fall numbly onto his pillows, aching too much to move.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Curled up in the warmth of his blanket, Deidara heard a deep voice calling for him, but didn't understand a word of it; his head felt stuffed with cotton and his vision was unfocused. As he was lifted up into a sitting position, he felt something pressing his mouth open, and soon enough it was full with hot, sticky rice. The blond chewed automatically, but even this was tiring him up so he dropped back on the mattress. All he wanted was some sleep…

Madara tried in vain to feed Deidara some more rice, but he figured he wouldn't be able to do so without exhausting his partner. The smaller man was protesting weakly and keeping his mouth clamped shut. The Uchiha felt Deidara's forehead and his eyes widened: the blond was burning up! He hurried to fetch a thermometer from their medical kit and shoved it slowly but forcefully into his lover's mouth. He took it out after a few moments and frowned.

40.2°C… That's a high fever…

Deidara has panting lightly, his skin pale and sweaty. Madara cradled his head and started sorting the different potion vials he'd feed him. The youth managed to down all the reeking liquids with little sips and much gagging. Finally, with no more treatment to endure, Deidara was left to slumber at leisure with a disgusting taste still lingering in his mouth.

Madara laid down beside the blond, caressing his skin. He knew he should leave Deidara alone to rest, but he couldn't resist the temptation of petting his precious Sempai. Slowly, he stroked the pale man's tits, his firm abdomen and thin waist, journeying down until he reached his pants. After a moment of hesitation, he gently slid his hand under Deidara's boxers and took a light hold on his length. The sleeping man gasped softly and involuntarily bucked his hips. Madara chuckled. He kissed Deidara at the joint of his neck and chest and used his free hand to pull the blonde's body against his. He carried on brushing his hand up and down his lover, getting aroused himself by the tiny moans protruding from Deidara's mouth. He squeezed a tad harder, burying his nose in the golden locks of his lover's hair, when-

Cough… cough…

Madara halted his ministrations, blushing furiously. Deidara was still asleep but his chest was rising and falling alarmingly fast. His breathing was ragged, and his body was trembling feverishly. The Uchiha quietly let go off him and went to the bathroom to fetch towels and cold water. He gentle dampened the soft white material and cooled Deidara's forehead. The blond relaxed and gave a content sigh.

Madara turned his gaze away from his partner. He knew Deidara was ill and cumulated breathing problems on top of all. Arousing him while he was sleeping was like interrupting his healing, but he hadn't stopped to think of that.

Inside, Madara was burning with shame because of his selfishness…